Passive Corrosion Behavior of Alloy 22

Alloy 22 (N06022) was designed to stand the most aggressive industrial applications, including both reducing and oxidizing acids. Even in the most aggressive environments, if the temperature is lower than 150 F (66 C) Alloy 22 would remain in the passive state having particularly low corrosion rates. In multi-ionic solutions that may simulate the behavior of concentrated ground water, even at near boiling temperatures, the corrosion rate of Alloy 22 is only a few nanometers per year because the alloy is in the complete passive state. The corrosion rate of passive Alloy 22 decreases as the time increases. Immersion corrosion testing also show that the newer generation of Ni-Cr-Mo alloys may offer a better corrosion resistance than Alloy 22 only in some highly aggressive conditions such as in hot acids

FOXP3+CD25− Tumor Cells with Regulatory Function in Sézary Syndrome

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) has been suggested by in vitro experiments to represent a malignant CD4+ T-cell proliferation with a regulatory T-cell (Treg) phenotype (CD4+CD25+FOXP3+). We investigated percentages of FOXP3+ and CD25+ cells in the blood of 15 Sézary, 14 mycosis fungoides (MF), and 10 psoriasis (Pso) patients and 20 normal healthy donors (NHDs). We found similar numbers of FOXP3+ cells in MF (10.4% of blood CD4+ cells) and Pso (11.1%) patients and NHDs (9.8%). In 8 of 15 (53%) Sézary patients, significantly reduced percentages of FOXP3+ cells were seen in blood (2.9%) and skin (10.4%). Interestingly, 6 of 15 (40%) Sézary patients showed significantly increased percentages of FOXP3+ cells (39.7% (blood), 20.3% (skin)); however, these cells did not express CD25. In these latter patients, clone-specific TCR-Vβ-chain antibodies were used to demonstrate that these FOXP3+CD25− cells were monoclonal CTCL tumor cells. FOXP3+CD25− CTCL tumor cells showed a highly demethylated status of the foxp3 gene locus similar to Treg cells, and they were functionally able to suppress IL-2 mRNA induction in TCR-stimulated conventional T cells. Thus, FOXP3+CD25− CTCL tumor cells with functional features of Treg cells define a subgroup of Sézary patients who might carry a different prognosis and might require differential treatment

Distribution of Breeding Shorebirds on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska

Available information on the distribution of breeding shorebirds across the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska is dated, fragmented, and limited in scope. Herein, we describe the distribution of 19 shorebird species from data gathered at 407 study plots between 1998 and 2004. This information was collected using a single-visit rapid area search technique during territory establishment and early incubation periods, a time when social displays and vocalizations make the birds highly detectable. We describe the presence or absence of each species, as well as overall numbers of species, providing a regional perspective on shorebird distribution. We compare and contrast our shorebird distribution maps to those of prior studies and describe prominent patterns of shorebird distribution. Our examination of how shorebird distribution and numbers of species varied both latitudinally and longitudinally across the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska indicated that most shorebird species occur more frequently in the Beaufort Coastal Plain ecoregion (i.e., closer to the coast) than in the Brooks Foothills ecoregion (i.e., farther inland). Furthermore, the occurrence of several species indicated substantial longitudinal directionality. Species richness at surveyed sites was highest in the western portion of the Beaufort Coastal Plain ecoregion. The broad-scale distribution information we present here is valuable for evaluating potential effects of human development and climate change on Arctic-breeding shorebird populations.Les renseignements qui existent en matière de répartition des oiseaux de rivage en reproduction sur la plaine côtière de l’Arctique en Alaska sont anciens, fragmentés et restreints. Ici, nous décrivons la répartition de 19 espèces d’oiseaux de rivage à partir de données recueillies à 407 lieux de recherche entre 1998 et 2004. Cette information a été recueillie grâce à une technique de recherche consistant en une seule visite rapide durant les périodes d’établissement du territoire et de début d’incubation, périodes pendant lesquelles les comportements sociaux et les vocalisations permettent de bien repérer les oiseaux. Nous décrivons la présence ou l’absence de chaque espèce, de même que le nombre général d’espèces, ce qui procure une perspective régionale de la répartition des oiseaux de rivage. Nous comparons et contrastons nos cartes de répartition des oiseaux de rivage à celles d’études antérieures, en plus de décrire les tendances les plus marquées en matière de répartition des oiseaux de rivage. Notre examen de la variation latitudinale et longitudinale en matière de répartition et de nombre d’espèces d’oiseaux de rivage à l’échelle de la plaine côtière arctique de l’Alaska nous a permis de constater que la plupart des espèces d’oiseaux de rivage se manifestaient plus souvent dans la région écologique de la plaine côtière de Beaufort (c’est-à-dire plus proche de la côte) que dans la région écologique des contreforts de Brooks (c’est-à-dire plus à l’intérieur des terres). Par ailleurs, l’occurrence de plusieurs espèces indiquait une directionalité longitudinale substantielle. La richesse des espèces aux sites à l’étude était à son meilleur dans la partie ouest de la région écologique de la plaine côtière de Beaufort. Les renseignements sur la répartition à grande échelle que nous présentons ici jouent un rôle dans l’évaluation des effets éventuels des travaux de mise en valeur par l’être humain et du changement climatique sur les populations d’oiseaux de rivage en reproduction de l’Arctique

High-pressure transport properties of CeRu_2Ge_2

The pressure-induced changes in the temperature-dependent thermopower S(T) and electrical resistivity \rho(T) of CeRu_2Ge_2 are described within the single-site Anderson model. The Ce-ions are treated as impurities and the coherent scattering on different Ce-sites is neglected. Changing the hybridisation \Gamma between the 4f-states and the conduction band accounts for the pressure effect. The transport coefficients are calculated in the non-crossing approximation above the phase boundary line. The theoretical S(T) and \rho(T) curves show many features of the experimental data. The seemingly complicated temperature dependence of S(T) and \rho(T), and their evolution as a function of pressure, is related to the crossovers between various fixed points of the model.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

The osteoporosis treatment gap in patients at risk of fracture in European primary care : a multi-country cross-sectional observational study

Summary This study in 8 countries across Europe found that about 75% of elderly women seen in primary care who were at high risk of osteoporosis-related fractures were not receiving appropriate medication. Lack of osteoporosis diagnosis appeared to be an important contributing factor. Introduction Treatment rates in osteoporosis are documented to be low. We wished to assess the osteoporosis treatment gap in women ≥ 70 years in routine primary care across Europe. Methods This cross-sectional observational study in 8 European countries collected data from women 70 years or older visiting their general practitioner. The primary outcome was treatment gap: the proportion who were not receiving any osteoporosis medication among those at increased risk of fragility fracture (using history of fracture, 10-year probability of fracture above country-specific Fracture Risk Assessment Tool [FRAX] thresholds, T-score ≤ − 2.5). Results Median 10-year probability of fracture (without bone mineral density [BMD]) for the 3798 enrolled patients was 7.2% (hip) and 16.6% (major osteoporotic). Overall, 2077 women (55%) met one or more definitions for increased risk of fragility fracture: 1200 had a prior fracture, 1814 exceeded the FRAX threshold, and 318 had a T-score ≤ − 2.5 (only 944 received a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry [DXA] scan). In those at increased fracture risk, the median 10-year probability of hip and major osteoporotic fracture was 11.2% and 22.8%, vs 4.1% and 11.5% in those deemed not at risk. An osteoporosis diagnosis was recorded in 804 patients (21.2%); most (79.7%) of these were at increased fracture risk. The treatment gap was 74.6%, varying from 53% in Ireland to 91% in Germany. Patients with an osteoporosis diagnosis were found to have a lower treatment gap than those without a diagnosis, with an absolute reduction of 63%. Conclusions There is a large treatment gap in women aged ≥ 70 years at increased risk of fragility fracture in routine primary care across Europe. The gap appears to be related to a low rate of osteoporosis diagnosis

Present and future nitrogen deposition to national parks in the United States: critical load exceedances

National parks in the United States are protected areas wherein the natural habitat is to be conserved for future generations. Deposition of anthropogenic nitrogen (N) transported from areas of human activity (fuel combustion, agriculture) may affect these natural habitats if it exceeds an ecosystem-dependent critical load (CL). We quantify and interpret the deposition to Class I US national parks for present-day and future (2050) conditions using the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model with 1/2° × 2/3° horizontal resolution over North America. We estimate CL values in the range 2.5–5 kg N ha−1 yr−1 for the different parks to protect the most sensitive ecosystem receptors. For present-day conditions, we find 24 out of 45 parks to be in CL exceedance and 14 more to be marginally so. Many of these are in remote areas of the West. Most (40–85%) of the deposition originates from NOx emissions (fuel combustion). We project future changes in N deposition using representative concentration pathway (RCP) anthropogenic emission scenarios for 2050. These feature 52–73% declines in US NOx emissions relative to present but 19–50% increases in US ammonia (NH3) emissions. Nitrogen deposition at US national parks then becomes dominated by domestic NH3 emissions. While deposition decreases in the East relative to present, there is little progress in the West and increases in some regions. We find that 17–25 US national parks will have CL exceedances in 2050 based on the RCP8.5 and RCP2.6 scenarios. Even in total absence of anthropogenic NOx emissions, 14–18 parks would still have a CL exceedance. Returning all parks to N deposition below CL by 2050 would require at least a 50% decrease in US anthropogenic NH3 emissions relative to RCP-projected 2050 levels.Engineering and Applied Science

Kondo engineering : from single Kondo impurity to the Kondo lattice

In the first step, experiments on a single cerium or ytterbium Kondo impurity reveal the importance of the Kondo temperature by comparison to other type of couplings like the hyperfine interaction, the crystal field and the intersite coupling. The extension to a lattice is discussed. Emphasis is given on the fact that the occupation number $n_f$ of the trivalent configuration may be the implicit key variable even for the Kondo lattice. Three $(P, H, T)$ phase diagrams are discussed: CeRu$_2$Si$_2$, CeRhIn$_5$ and SmS

Atmospheric Peroxyacetyl Nitrate (PAN): A Global Budget and Source Attribution

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) formed in the atmospheric oxidation of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) is the principal tropospheric reservoir for nitrogen oxide radicals $(NO_x = NO + NO_2)$. PAN enables the transport and release of $NO_x$ to the remote troposphere with major implications for the global distributions of ozone and OH, the main tropospheric oxidants. Simulation of PAN is a challenge for global models because of the dependence of PAN on vertical transport as well as complex and uncertain NMVOC sources and chemistry. Here we use an improved representation of NMVOCs in a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) and show that it can simulate PAN observations from aircraft campaigns worldwide. The immediate carbonyl precursors for PAN formation include acetaldehyde (44% of the global source), methylglyoxal (30%), acetone (7%), and a suite of other isoprene and terpene oxidation products (19%). A diversity of NMVOC emissions is responsible for PAN formation globally including isoprene (37%) and alkanes (14%). Anthropogenic sources are dominant in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere outside the growing season. Open fires appear to play little role except at high northern latitudes in spring, although results are very sensitive to plume chemistry and plume rise. Lightning $NO_x$ is the dominant contributor to the observed PAN maximum in the free troposphere over the South Atlantic.Engineering and Applied Science

Predictors of invertebrate biomass and rate of advancement of invertebrate phenology across eight sites in the North American Arctic

Average annual temperatures in the Arctic increased by 2–3 °C during the second half of the twentieth century. Because shorebirds initiate northward migration to Arctic nesting sites based on cues at distant wintering grounds, climate-driven changes in the phenology of Arctic invertebrates may lead to a mismatch between the nutritional demands of shorebirds and the invertebrate prey essential for egg formation and subsequent chick survival. To explore the environmental drivers afecting invertebrate availability, we modeled the biomass of invertebrates captured in modifed Malaise-pitfall traps over three summers at eight Arctic Shorebird Demographics Network sites as a function of accumulated degree-days and other weather variables. To assess climate-driven changes in invertebrate phenology, we used data from the nearest long-term weather stations to hindcast invertebrate availability over 63 summers, 1950–2012. Our results confrmed the importance of both accumulated and daily temperatures as predictors of invertebrate availability while also showing that wind speed negatively afected invertebrate availability at the majority of sites. Additionally, our results suggest that seasonal prey avail ability for Arctic shorebirds is occurring earlier and that the potential for trophic mismatch is greatest at the northernmost sites, where hindcast invertebrate phenology advanced by approximately 1–2.5 days per decade. Phenological mismatch could have long-term population-level efects on shorebird species that are unable to adjust their breeding schedules to the increasingly earlier invertebrate phenologies.publishedVersio

Gut γδ T cells as guardians, disruptors and instigators of cancer

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide with nearly 2 million cases per year. Immune cells and inflammation are a critical component of colorectal cancer progression, and they are used as reliable prognostic indicators of patient outcome. With the growing appreciation for immunology in colorectal cancer, interest is growing on the role γδ T cells have to play, as they represent one of the most prominent immune cell populations in gut tissue. This group of cells consists of both resident populations—γδ intraepithelial lymphocytes (γδ IELs)—and transient populations that each has unique functions. The homeostatic role of these γδ T cell subsets is to maintain barrier integrity and prevent microorganisms from breaching the mucosal layer, which is accomplished through crosstalk with enterocytes and other immune cells. Recent years have seen a surge in discoveries regarding the regulation of γδ IELs in the intestine and the colon with particular new insights into the butyrophilin family. In this review, we discuss the development, specialities, and functions of γδ T cell subsets during cancer progression. We discuss how these cells may be used to predict patient outcome, as well as how to exploit their behavior for cancer immunotherapy