72 research outputs found
Understanding and Assessing Climate Change: Implications for Nebraska
This report was commissioned by the UNL Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) with the objective of evaluating and summarizing the existing scientific literature related to our changing climate. Scientists from the IANR’s School of Natural Resources and the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences have been the principal contributors to the report under the able leadership of long-time, internationally leading applied climate scientist Professor Don Wilhite. Their efforts have resulted in a timely and seminal reference for state and local policy-makers, government agency leaders, private industry, and indeed all citizens of our great state.
Globally, we face significant economic, social, and environmental risks as we confront the challenges associated with climate change. The body of scientific evidence confirms with a high degree of certainty that human activities in the form of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, changes in land use, and other factors are the primary cause for the warming that the planet has experienced, especially in recent decades. Is there a debate within the scientific community with regard to observed changes in climate and human activities as the principal causal factor? The short answer here is “no”, at least certainly not among climate scientists—that is, those scientists who have actual expertise in the study of climate and climate change. For more than a decade, there has been broad and overwhelming consensus within the climate science community that the human-induced effects on climate change are both very real and very large. The debate in 2014 is restricted to precisely how these changes will play out and what actions we will need to take to adapt to and mitigate the effects of these changes. The magnitude and rapidity of the projected changes in climate are unprecedented. The implications of these changes for the health of our planet, and the legacy we will leave to our children, our grandchildren and future generations are of vital concern. Therefore, it is imperative that we develop strategies now to adapt to the multitude of changes we are experiencing and will continue to experience in our climate. This process of adaptation must begin at the local level, where these changes are being observed and their impacts felt. However, global agreements on the reduction of GHG emissions are a critical part of the solution in terms of mitigating as much future warming as possible. The approach taken in this report is to review the voluminous scientific literature on the subject and interpret—given time and resource constraints—our current understanding of the science of climate change and the implications of projections of climate change for Nebraska. The goal of this report is to inform policy makers, natural resource managers, and the public about 1) the state of the science on climate change, 2) current projections for ongoing changes over the twenty-first century, 3) current and potential future impacts, and 4) the management and policy implications of these changes. Hopefully, this report will lead to a higher degree of awareness and the initiation of timely and appropriate strategic actions that enable Nebraskans to prepare for and adapt to current and future changes in our climate
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The Predictability of Winter Snow Cover over the Western United States
A set of model runs was made with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community
Climate Model, version 3 (CCM3) to investigate and help assess the relative roles of snow cover anomalies and
initial atmospheric states on the subsequent accumulation and ablation seasons. In order to elucidate the physical
mechanisms responsible for the large impact in one case but small impact in the other, two experiments with
CCM3 were made that imposed an exaggerated initial snow cover [1-m snow water equivalent (SWE)] over the
western U.S. domain. One run was started on 1 December, the other on 1 February. These runs made it clear
that the high albedo of snow was the dominant physical process. An additional set of runs with realistic yearly
snow anomalies was also made. Results suggest that for runs starting in February (late winter), the initial
prescription of snow cover is more important than the initial atmospheric state in determining the subsequent
evolution of snow cover. For runs starting in December (early winter), the results are less clear, with neither
the initial snow cover nor the initial state of the atmosphere appearing to be the dominant factor. In February,
when the sun is relatively high in the sky and days are longer, the albedo effect is a dominant factor; while in
December the sun was too low in the sky and days too short for the albedo effect to be important. As the winter
season progressed, the subsequent accumulation of snow eliminated the effects of the initial December anomalies
Deputy Director
Nonresidential Buildings to be effective on July 1, 2014 now include the following Energy Commission approved and adopted Nonsubstantive errata
Enhanced Radiative Auger Emission From Lithiumlike S13+16
The radiative Auger emission (RAE) from 0.946.25-MeV/u 16S13+ (lithiumlike) projectiles excited in collisions with He target atoms has been measured. For these highly stripped ions the intensity of RAE photons relative to K x-ray emission is enhanced by about a factor of five compared with theoretical calculations and an earlier experimental measurement for S ions with few electron vacancies. The enhancement of RAE for S13+ is qualitatively similar to results reported previously for lithiumlike 23V20+; however, some differences between S and V are evident. © 1990 The American Physical Society
Phase II Trial of IL-12 Plasmid Transfection and PD-1 Blockade in Immunologically Quiescent Melanoma.
PurposeTumors with low frequencies of checkpoint positive tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (cpTIL) have a low likelihood of response to PD-1 blockade. We conducted a prospective multicenter phase II trial of intratumoral plasmid IL-12 (tavokinogene telseplasmid; "tavo") electroporation combined with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced melanoma with low frequencies of checkpoint positive cytotoxic lymphocytes (cpCTL).Patients and methodsTavo was administered intratumorally days 1, 5, and 8 every 6 weeks while pembrolizumab (200 mg, i.v.) was administered every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was objective response rate (ORR) by RECIST, secondary endpoints included duration of response, overall survival and progression-free survival. Toxicity was evaluated by the CTCAE v4. Extensive correlative analysis was done.ResultsThe combination of tavo and pembrolizumab was well tolerated with adverse events similar to those previously reported with pembrolizumab alone. Patients had a 41% ORR (n = 22, RECIST 1.1) with 36% complete responses. Correlative analysis showed that the combination enhanced immune infiltration and sustained the IL-12/IFNÎł feed-forward cycle, driving intratumoral cross-presenting dendritic cell subsets with increased TILs, emerging T cell receptor clones and, ultimately, systemic cellular immune responses.ConclusionsThe combination of tavo and pembrolizumab was associated with a higher than expected response rate in this poorly immunogenic population. No new or unexpected toxicities were observed. Correlative analysis showed T cell infiltration with enhanced immunity paralleling the clinical activity in low cpCTL tumors
1966: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text
THE BIBLE TODAY
Being the Abilene Christian College Annual Bible Lectures 1966
Price: $3.95
Published by
ABILENE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS EXCHANGE
ACC Station Abilene, Texa
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