Analysis of water-level data in the Yucca Mountain area, Nevada, 1985--95

From 1985 through 1995, a water-level network that consists of 28 wells for monitoring 36 depth intervals has been maintained in the Yucca Mountain area. The network includes wells that were measured manually, approximately monthly, and/or measured hourly with a transducer/data logger system. Manual water-level measurements were made with either calibrated steel tapes or single or multiconductor-cable units. All wells monitor water levels in Tertiary volcanic rocks, except one that monitors water levels in Paleozoic carbonate rocks. Annual mean water-level altitudes for all wells for the period 1985-95 ranged from 727.93 to 1,034.60 meters. The maximum range in water-level change between monthly measurements and/or monthly mean values was 12.22 meters in well USW H-3 lower interval, and the minimum range was 0.31 meter in wells UE-25 b-1 upper interval, and J-11. In 31 of the 36 depth intervals monitored, the range of water-level change was less than 1 meter. The range of standard deviation of all depth interval measurements for all wells that were monitored was 0.053 to 3.098 meters. No seasonal water-level trends were detected in any of the wells, and regional ground-water withdrawals did not appear to cause water-level changes. Most annual water-level fluctuations can be attributed to barometric and Earth-tide changes. Regional earthquakes, which occurred on June 28--29, 1992, might have simultaneously affected the water level in seven wells. Periods of rising and declining water levels were observed in most wells. However, 11 years of record were not sufficient to determine if these periods were cyclic. Because a goal of monitoring water levels at Yucca Mountain is to determine if there are water-level trends that could affect the potential repository, observed water-level changes over the period of this report may not be representative of the overall long-term trends in water levels

Highly diastereoselective boron and titanium mediated aldol reactions of a mannitol derived 2,3-butanediacetal ethyl ketone

A mannitol derived 2,3-butanediacetal ethyl ketone displays high levels of diastereoselectivity in boron and titanium mediated aldol reactions with a range of aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes to afford syn aldol products in high yield. The stereochemical outcome of the reaction was determined using J-value analysis, NMR analysis of O-acetylmandelate derivatives and X-ray crystallography

Guideline for the management of acute asthma in adults: 2013 update

Acute asthma attacks (asthma exacerbations) are increasing episodes of shortness of breath, cough, wheezing or chest tightness associated with a decrease in airflow that can be quantified and monitored by measurement of lung function (peak expiratory flow (PEF) or forced expiratory volume in the 1st second) and requiring emergency room treatment or admission to hospital for acute asthma and/or systemic glucocorticosteroids for management. The goals of treatment are to relieve hypoxaemia and airflow obstruction as quickly as possible, restore lung function, and provide a suitable plan to avoid relapse. Severe exacerbations are potentially life-threatening and their treatment requires baseline assessment of severity, close monitoring, and frequent reassessment using objective measures of lung function (PEF) and oxygen saturation. Patients at high risk of asthma-related death require particular attention. First-line therapy consists of oxygen supplementation, repeated administration of inhaled short-acting bronchodilators (beta-2-agonists and ipratropium bromide), and early systemic glucocorticosteroids. Intravenous magnesium sulphate and aminophylline are second- and third-line treatment strategies, respectively, for poorly responding patients. Intensive care is indicated for severe asthma that is not responsive to first-line treatment. Antibiotics are only indicated when there are definite features of bacterial infection. Factors that precipitated the acute asthma episode should be identified and preventive measures implemented. Acute asthma is preventable with optimal control of chronic asthma

Surprises in the Orbital Magnetic Moment and g-Factor of the Dynamic Jahn-Teller Ion C_{60}^-

We calculate the magnetic susceptibility and g-factor of the isolated C_{60}^- ion at zero temperature, with a proper treatment of the dynamical Jahn-Teller effect, and of the associated orbital angular momentum, Ham-reduced gyromagnetic ratio, and molecular spin-orbit coupling. A number of surprises emerge. First, the predicted molecular spin-orbit splitting is two orders of magnitude smaller than in the bare carbon atom, due to the large radius of curvature of the molecule. Second, this reduced spin-orbit splitting is comparable to Zeeman energies, for instance, in X-band EPR at 3.39KGauss, and a field dependence of the g-factor is predicted. Third, the orbital gyromagnetic factor is strongly reduced by vibron coupling, and so therefore are the effective weak-field g-factors of all low-lying states. In particular, the ground-state doublet of C_{60}^- is predicted to show a negative g-factor of \sim -0.1.Comment: 19 pages RevTex, 2 postscript figures include

Development and calibration of an on-line aerosol monitor for PHEBUS test FPT1

An on-line aerosol monitor (OLAM2) has been developed and tested for PHEBUS test FPT1. OLAM2 utilizes new detachable fiber optic cables and sapphire light pipes for light transmission between the OLAM and the electronics. This light transmission system was tested and found to provide better signal-to-noise performance than was achieved with the continuous fibers used for test FPT0. An additional advantage of the detachable fiber/light pipe system is ease of installation. Aerosol testing (OLAM calibration) was performed in order to verify adequate signal-to-noise performance of the new fiber optic system over the specified operating conditions and to check the quantitative light attenuation measurements against theoretical predictions. Results of the testing indicated that light extinction measurements obtained during Phebus tests could be used to estimate aerosol volume concentrations, if diamond window fouling can be avoided. OLAM2 was also subjected to a proof pressure test and a long-term thermal stability test. These tests verified the mechanical and thermal integrity of the OLAM within design specifications. Long-term output signal stability was also verified with the system maintained at design temperature and half-design pressure

The long helical jet of the Lighthouse nebula, IGR J11014-6103

Jets from rotation-powered pulsars have so far only been observed in systems moving subsonically trough their ambient medium and/or embedded in their progenitor supernova remnant (SNR). Supersonic runaway pulsars are also expected to produce jets, but they have not been confirmed so far. We investigated the nature of the jet-like structure associated to the INTEGRAL source IGR J11014-6103 (the "Lighthouse nebula"). The source is a neutron star escaping its parent SNR MSH 11-61A supersonically at a velocity exceeding 1000 km/s. We observed the Lighthouse nebula and its jet-like X-ray structure through dedicated high spatial resolution observations in X-rays (Chandra) and radio band (ATCA). Our results show that the feature is a true pulsar's jet. It extends highly collimated over >11pc, displays a clear precession-like modulation, and propagates nearly perpendicular to the system direction of motion, implying that the neutron star's spin axis in IGR J11014-6103 is almost perpendicular to the direction of the kick received during the supernova explosion. Our findings suggest that jets are common to rotation-powered pulsars, and demonstrate that supernovae can impart high kick velocities to misaligned spinning neutron stars, possibly through distinct, exotic, core-collapse mechanisms.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 1 table. Discussion (sec.3) expanded and typos fixed; results unchanged. Published on A&

Report on developing bottom-up Marginal Abatement Cost Curves (MACCS) for representative farm types.

bitstream/item/177181/1/D11.2-Report-on-developing-bottom-up-MACCs-for-representative-farm-types-0263D69D-63D3-4EA3-A333-EDA004AFDFCB1.pd

Some Like It Fat: Comparative Ultrastructure of the Embryo in Two Demosponges of the Genus Mycale (Order Poecilosclerida) from Antarctica and the Caribbean

0000-0002-7993-1523© 2015 Riesgo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License [4.0], which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The attached file is the published version of the article

The acquisition of Sign Language: The impact of phonetic complexity on phonology

Research into the effect of phonetic complexity on phonological acquisition has a long history in spoken languages. This paper considers the effect of phonetics on phonological development in a signed language. We report on an experiment in which nonword-repetition methodology was adapted so as to examine in a systematic way how phonetic complexity in two phonological parameters of signed languages — handshape and movement — affects the perception and articulation of signs. Ninety-one Deaf children aged 3–11 acquiring British Sign Language (BSL) and 46 hearing nonsigners aged 6–11 repeated a set of 40 nonsense signs. For Deaf children, repetition accuracy improved with age, correlated with wider BSL abilities, and was lowest for signs that were phonetically complex. Repetition accuracy was correlated with fine motor skills for the youngest children. Despite their lower repetition accuracy, the hearing group were similarly affected by phonetic complexity, suggesting that common visual and motoric factors are at play when processing linguistic information in the visuo-gestural modality