Geochemical Signatures as a Tool for Vermiculite Provenance Determination

Thirty-eight samples of known origin (China, Libby MT, South Africa, South Carolina) and 6 vermiculite product samples of unknown origin were analyzed for major and trace elements, including rare earth elements to determine the feasibility of distinguishing the provenance of the samples based upon a geochemical signature. Probability plots suggest that two of the four groups (Libby, South Carolina) were comprised of two subgroups. Results of hierarchical cluster analysis are highly sensitive to the linkage method chosen. Ward’s method is the most useful for this data and suggests that there are five groups within the data set (South African samples, two subsets of the Libby samples, a subset of the South Carolina samples, and a second subset of the South Carolina samples combined with the China samples). Similar results were obtained using k-cluster analysis. Neither clustering method was able to distinguish samples from China from the South Carolina samples. Discriminant analysis was used on a four-category model comprised of the original four groups and on a six-category model comprised of the five categories identified from the cluster analysis but with the China samples grouped into a sixth category. The discriminant/classification model was able to distinguish all of the groups including the China samples from one another for both the four- and six-category models with 100% of the samples properly classified. The 6 unknown product samples were classified with a probability of consistency of 99%. Both discriminant models were also run with a subset of our analyte set to be consistent with the smaller Gunter et al., (2005) analyte set. Twenty vermiculite samples (nine of known origin and eleven of unknown origin) from their study were classified based on our discriminant models with the reduced set of analytes. Of the twenty samples, Gunter et al. (2005) was able to classify 16 with cluster analysis while our 4-category discriminant analysis model allowed us to classify all twenty. Of the 16 samples Gunter et al. (2005) classified using cluster analysis, all but one sample was assigned the same classification by our 4-category model. Of the nine samples with known origin, all were correctly classified. Similar results were obtained for the six-category model. Comparison of the plots of the canonical roots, the Wilks’ L, and the square Mahalanobis distances suggest the full analyte set provides better discrimination of the groups than the reduced analyte set. The six-category model is more consistent with the results of the probability plots and the cluster analysis. Discriminant analysis of geochemical data from vermiculite ore is a powerful technique for determining the ore’s provenance

GEOCENTRIFUGE STUDIES OF FLOW AND TRANSPORT IN POROUS MEDIA, FINAL REPORT FOR GRANT NUMBER DE-FG02-03ER63567 TO THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO (RW SMITH), ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SCIENCE PROGRAM PROJECT NUMBER 86598, COUPLED FLOW AND REACTIVITY IN VARIABLY SATURATED POROUS MEDIA

Improved models of contaminant migration in heterogeneous, variably saturated porous media are required to better define the long-term stewardship requirements for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) lands and to assist in the design of effective vadose-zone barriers to contaminant migrations. The development of these improved models requires field and laboratory results to evaluate their efficacy. However, controlled laboratory experiments simulating vadose conditions can require extensive period of time, and often are conducted at condition near saturation rather than the much drier conditions common in many contaminated arid vadose zone sites. Collaborative research undertaken by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the University of Idaho as part of this Environmental Management Science Program project focused on the development and evaluation of geocentrifuge techniques and equipment that allows vadose zone experiments to be conducted for relevant conditions in time frames not possible in conventional bench top experiments. A key and novel aspect of the research was the use of the 2-meter radius geocentrifuge capabilities at the Idaho National Laboratory to conduct unsaturated transport experiments. Specifically, the following activities were conducted ** Reviewing of the theory of unsaturated flow in the geocentrifuge to establish the range of centrifuge accelerations/experimental conditions and the translation of centrifuge results to 1 gravity applications. ** Designing, constructing, and testing of in-flight experimental apparatus allowing the replication of traditional bench top unsaturated transport experiments on the geocentrifuge. ** Performing unsaturated 1-dimenstional column geocentrifuge experiments using conservative tracers to evaluate the effects of increased centrifugal acceleration on derived transport properties and assessing the scaling relationships for these properties. Because the application of geocentrifuge techniques to vadose transport is in its infancy experimental apparatus such as pumps, flow meters, columns, fraction collectors, etc. that would reliably function under the increased self weight experienced on the centrifuge had to be developed and tested as part of this project. Although, we initially planed to conduct experiments using reactive tracer and 2-dimensional heterogeneities, the cost and time associated with designing, building, and testing of experimental apparatus limited our experimental program to conservative tracer experiments using 1-dimensional columns. The results we obtained in this study indicate that the geocentrifuge technique is a viable experimental method for the study of subsurface processes where gravitational acceleration is important. The geocentrifuge allows experiments to be completed more quickly than tests conducted at 1-g, can be used to experimentally address important scaling issues, and permits experiments under a range of conditions that would be difficult or impossible using conventional approaches. The application of the geocentrifuge approaches and associated models developed in this project allows more meaningful investigation of DOE relevant vadose-zone issues under scalable conditions in time frames previously not obtainable

Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Loci for Liver Enzyme Concentrations in Mexican Americans: The GUARDIAN Consortium.

ObjectivePopulations of Mexican American ancestry are at an increased risk for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The objective of this study was to determine whether loci in known and novel genes were associated with variation in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (n = 3,644), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (n = 3,595), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) (n = 1,577) levels by conducting the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of liver enzymes, which commonly measure liver function, in individuals of Mexican American ancestry.MethodsLevels of AST, ALT, and GGT were determined by enzymatic colorimetric assays. A multi-cohort GWAS of individuals of Mexican American ancestry was performed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were tested for association with liver outcomes by multivariable linear regression using an additive genetic model. Association analyses were conducted separately in each cohort, followed by a nonparametric meta-analysis.ResultsIn the PNPLA3 gene, rs4823173 (P = 3.44 × 10-10 ), rs2896019 (P = 7.29 × 10-9 ), and rs2281135 (P = 8.73 × 10-9 ) were significantly associated with AST levels. Although not genome-wide significant, these same SNPs were the top hits for ALT (P = 7.12 × 10-8 , P = 1.98 × 10-7 , and P = 1.81 × 10-7 , respectively). The strong correlation (r2  = 1.0) for these SNPs indicated a single hit in the PNPLA3 gene. No genome-wide significant associations were found for GGT.ConclusionsPNPLA3, a locus previously identified with ALT, AST, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in European and Japanese GWAS, is also associated with liver enzymes in populations of Mexican American ancestry

SecurEarth: A Crosscutting Initiative for the Geo- and Environmental Sciences

"..addressing critical energy and environmental problems will probably have a larger societal impact than curing cancer. Now we just have to convince Congress of that." - Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in a 2005 presentation at the LBNL "..a new national energy program is essential and must be initiated with the intensity and commitment of the Manhattan Project, and sustained until this problem is solved" "Considering the urgency of the energy problem, the magnitude of the needed scientific breakthroughs, and the historic rate of scientific discovery, current efforts will likely be too little, too late." - 2003, Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee recommendation Over the next several decades, the U.S. will be facing critical decisions regarding extraction and utilization of the Earth’s resources and stewardship of the Earth. Demands for energy (e.g., fossil, geothermal) and useable water supplies, as well as for places and methods to deal with waste products (e.g., carbon dioxide, radioactive waste), are increasing rapidly. Moreover, the demands are usually interdependent and conflicting. Postponing decisions will become increasingly difficult and unpopular. Complex policy decisions (examples?) with long-range consequences that must be made in the near future will depend on several types of information: social, economic, political and scientific. To balance the urgency with which social, economic, and political information will be used, pertinent scientific information must also be readily available, practical, and possessed with high degree of certainty. Therefore, there is a vital need for timely and relevant scientific information related to energy, resource and environmental issues that will enable decision makers to make better decisions related to public policy. SECUREarth was launched several years ago as a proposition by scientists from DOE national laboratories, universities and industry who recognized two fundamental issues related to the role of the earth sciences, particularly subsurface science, in addressing resource and environmental issues. The first is that we are still struggling to make connections between pore-, molecular- and cellular-scale information and the complex, large-scale systems where we most need predictive capabilities. To take advantage of the growing wealth of scientific information about physical, chemical and biological processes we need to facilitate research leading to an understanding of how individual processes are coupled, how whole-systems behave and can be modeled, and how the response of large-scale systems to natural or engineered changes can be reasonably predicted. It will also be important to assess both the level of uncertainty associated with predictions and the potential consequences of that uncertainty, as well as to develop strategies for minimizing that uncertainty. The second issue for SECUREarth is that the rate at which the science related to the earth’s environment is progressing will not produce some of the most critically needed information by the time policy decisions must be made. Therefore, SECUREarth is concerned both with opening new frontiers for the earth sciences, and also with increasing the rate at which the science becomes useful and available to inform decision makers. The vision for SECUREarth is to facilitate the direction of funding from government and industry sources in order t

Resequencing and Analysis of Variation in the TCF7L2 Gene in African Americans Suggests That SNP rs7903146 Is the Causal Diabetes Susceptibility Variant

OBJECTIVE—Variation in the transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) locus is associated with type 2 diabetes across multiple ethnicities. The aim of this study was to elucidate which variant in TCF7L2 confers diabetes susceptibility in African Americans. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Through the evalua-tion of tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), type 2 diabetes susceptibility was limited to a 4.3-kb interval, which contains the YRI (African) linkage disequilibrium (LD) block containing rs7903146. To better define the relationship between type 2 diabetes risk and genetic variation we resequenced this 4.3-kb region in 96 African American DNAs. Thirty-three novel and 13 known SNPs were identified: 20 with minor allele frequencies (MAF).0.05 and 12 with MAF.0.10. These poly-morphisms and the previously identified DG10S478 microsatellite were evaluated in African American type 2 diabetic cases (n

Advancing Reactive Tracer Methods for Measurement of Thermal Evolution in Geothermal Reservoirs: Final Report

The injection of cold fluids into engineered geothermal system (EGS) and conventional geothermal reservoirs may be done to help extract heat from the subsurface or to maintain pressures within the reservoir (e.g., Rose et al., 2001). As these injected fluids move along fractures, they acquire heat from the rock matrix and remove it from the reservoir as they are extracted to the surface. A consequence of such injection is the migration of a cold-fluid front through the reservoir (Figure 1) that could eventually reach the production well and result in the lowering of the temperature of the produced fluids (thermal breakthrough). Efficient operation of an EGS as well as conventional geothermal systems involving cold-fluid injection requires accurate and timely information about thermal depletion of the reservoir in response to operation. In particular, accurate predictions of the time to thermal breakthrough and subsequent rate of thermal drawdown are necessary for reservoir management, design of fracture stimulation and well drilling programs, and forecasting of economic return. A potential method for estimating migration of a cold front between an injection well and a production well is through application of reactive tracer tests, using chemical whose rate of degradation is dependent on the reservoir temperature between the two wells (e.g., Robinson 1985). With repeated tests, the rate of migration of the thermal front can be determined, and the time to thermal breakthrough calculated. While the basic theory behind the concept of thermal tracers has been understood for some time, effective application of the method has yet to be demonstrated. This report describes results of a study that used several methods to investigate application of reactive tracers to monitoring the thermal evolution of a geothermal reservoir. These methods included (1) mathematical investigation of the sensitivity of known and hypothetical reactive tracers, (2) laboratory testing of novel tracers that would improve method sensitivity, (3) development of a software tool for design and interpretation of reactive tracer tests and (4) field testing of the reactive tracer temperature monitoring concept

Quantifying dietary vitamin K and its link to cardiovascular health: A narrative review

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Recent work suggests a link between vitamin K insufficiency and deficiency with vascular calcification, a marker of advanced atherosclerosis. Vitamin K refers to a group of fat-soluble vitamins important for blood coagulation, reducing inflammation, regulating blood calcium metabolism, as well as bone metabolism, all of which may play a role in promoting cardiovascular health. Presently, there is a lack of a comprehensive vitamin K database on individual foods, which are required to accurately calculate vitamin K1 and K2 intake for examination in epidemiological studies. This has likely contributed to ambiguity regarding the recommended daily intake of vitamin K, including whether vitamin K1 and K2 may have separate, partly overlapping functions. This review will discuss the presence of: (i) vitamin K1 and K2 in the diet; (ii) the methods of quantitating vitamin K compounds in foods; and (iii) provide an overview of the evidence for the cardiovascular health benefits of vitamin K in observational and clinical trials

Genomeâ Wide Study of Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue Reveals Novel Sexâ Specific Adiposity Loci in Mexican Americans

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141319/1/oby22074.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141319/2/oby22074_am.pd