Qualitative analysis by Means of Drop-Reactions: A Systematic Study of Interference

In a previous paper (1), the authors presented a system of qualitative microanalysis by means of drop tests based on a sodium carbonate-sodium peroxide separation. As was pointed out at that time, the separation gives two groups, namely the aqueous group, which consists mainly of elements that yield water-soluble carbonates and hydroxides, and the acid group which is made up chiefly of elements that give insoluble carbonates and hydroxides. It was further pointed out that one of the main advantages of the system offered was that the oxidation by the sodium peroxide yields the elements in a constant state of oxidation, usually the highest. This adjustment of valence has two main advantages; first, since all forms of an element are converted to one common valence, many tests are eliminated; second, the elimination of extra valence forms reduces the possible interferences and makes interference studies much more simple

Combined systemic and ocular chemotherapy for anterior segment metastasis of systemic mantle cell lymphoma.

BACKGROUND: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive subtype of non-Hodgkin\u27s lymphoma that rarely metastasizes to the iris and the anterior segment. Blastic/pleomorphic morphology is thought to have an adverse effect on prognosis in MCL. MCL is resistant to conventional chemotherapeutic regimens with a tendency for multiple relapses. Management of anterior segment metastasis of systemic MCL has not been described in literature. FINDINGS: A 58-year-old male presented with an aggressive, relapsing, metastatic, systemic blastic variant of MCL with ocular involvement. At the time of initial presentation, large tumor cells were visible in the anterior chamber (AC) along with hypopyon and fibrin. The AC cells stained positively for CD20. The iris was thickened and coated with lymphoma cells. Iris neovascularization was present. Given extensive systemic and ocular involvement, the patient was given combination chemotherapy with systemic ibrutinib and intravitreal injections of methotrexate and rituximab. The disease response was monitored using multimodal imaging, including anterior segment optical coherence tomography and ultrasound biomicroscopy. Following combination of systemic and intraocular chemotherapy, there was a marked decrease in the ocular tumor load and the systemic disease. CONCLUSIONS: Combination therapy with intravitreal injections of chemotherapeutic agents targeting monoclonal B-cell population and novel systemic agents may help to achieve remission in anterior segment metastasis of aggressive subtypes of NHL such as blastic variant of MCL. Multimodal imaging may assist in the management of these cases

Albedo and Reflection Spectra of Extrasolar Giant Planets

We generate theoretical albedo and reflection spectra for a full range of extrasolar giant planet (EGP) models, from Jovian to 51-Pegasi class objects. Our albedo modeling utilizes the latest atomic and molecular cross sections, a Mie theory treatment of extinction by condensates, a variety of particle size distributions, and an extension of the Feautrier radiative transfer method which allows for a general treatment of the scattering phase function. We find that due to qualitative similarities in the compositions and spectra of objects within each of five broad effective temperature ranges, it is natural to establish five representative EGP albedo classes: a ``Jovian'' class (T$_{\rm eff} \lesssim 150$ K; Class I) with tropospheric ammonia clouds, a ``water cloud'' class (T$_{\rm eff} \sim 250$ K; Class II) primarily affected by condensed H$_2$O, a ``clear'' class (T$_{\rm eff} \gtrsim 350$ K; Class III) which lacks clouds, and two high-temperature classes: Class IV (900 K $\lesssim$ T$_{\rm{eff}}$ $\lesssim$ 1500 K) for which alkali metal absorption predominates, and Class V (T$_{\rm{eff}}$ $\gtrsim$ 1500 K and/or low surface gravity ($\lesssim$ 10$^3$ cm s$^{-2}$)) for which a high silicate layer shields a significant fraction of the incident radiation from alkali metal and molecular absorption. The resonance lines of sodium and potassium are expected to be salient features in the reflection spectra of Class III, IV, and V objects. We derive Bond albedos and effective temperatures for the full set of known EGPs and explore the possible effects of non-equilibrium condensed products of photolysis above or within principal cloud decks. As in Jupiter, such species can lower the UV/blue albedo substantially, even if present in relatively small mixing ratios.Comment: revised LaTeX manuscript accepted to Ap.J.; also available at http://jupiter.as.arizona.edu/~burrows/paper

Magnetic inflation and Stellar Mass. II. On the radii of wingle, rapidly rotating, fully convective M-dwarf stars

Main-sequence, fully convective M dwarfs in eclipsing binaries are observed to be larger than stellar evolutionary models predict by as much as 10%–15%. A proposed explanation for this discrepancy involves effects from strong magnetic fields, induced by rapid rotation via the dynamo process. Although, a handful of single, slowly rotating M dwarfs with radius measurements from interferometry also appear to be larger than models predict, suggesting that rotation or binarity specifically may not be the sole cause of the discrepancy. We test whether single, rapidly rotating, fully convective stars are also larger than expected by measuring their $R\sin i$ distribution. We combine photometric rotation periods from the literature with rotational broadening ($v\sin i$) measurements reported in this work for a sample of 88 rapidly rotating M dwarf stars. Using a Bayesian framework, we find that stellar evolutionary models underestimate the radii by 10 \% \mbox{--}15{ \% }_{-2.5}^{+3}, but that at higher masses (0.18 < M < 0.4 M Sun), the discrepancy is only about 6% and comparable to results from interferometry and eclipsing binaries. At the lowest masses (0.08 < M < 0.18 M Sun), we find that the discrepancy between observations and theory is 13%–18%, and we argue that the discrepancy is unlikely to be due to effects from age. Furthermore, we find no statistically significant radius discrepancy between our sample and the handful of M dwarfs with interferometric radii. We conclude that neither rotation nor binarity are responsible for the inflated radii of fully convective M dwarfs, and that all fully convective M dwarfs are larger than models predict.The authors would like to thank the referee for the thoughtful report, which greatly improved the manuscript. The authors would also like to thank Lisa Prato and Larissa Nofi for IGRINS training, and Heidi Larson, Jason Sanborn, and Andrew Hayslip for operating the DCT during our observations. We would also like to thank Jen Winters, Jonathan Irwin, Paul Dalba, Mark Veyette, Eunkyu Han, and Andrew Vanderburg for useful discussions and helpful comments on this work. Some of this work was supported by the NASA Exoplanet Research Program (XRP) under grant No. NNX15AG08G issued through the Science Mission Directorate.These results made use of the Lowell Observatory's Discovery Channel Telescope, supported by Discovery Communications, Inc., Boston University, the University of Maryland, the University of Toledo and Northern Arizona University; the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS) that was developed under a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) with the financial support of the US National Science Foundation under grant AST-1229522, of the University of Texas at Austin, and of the Korean GMT Project of KASI; data taken at The McDonald Observatory of The University of Texas at Austin; and data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center/California Institute of Technology, funded by NASA and the NSF. (NNX15AG08G - NASA Exoplanet Research Program (XRP); Discovery Communications, Inc.; Boston University; University of Maryland; University of Toledo; Northern Arizona University; AST-1229522 - US National Science Foundation; University of Texas at Austin; Korean GMT Project of KASI; NASA; NSF

Lithium isotope evidence for enhanced weathering and erosion during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~55.9 Ma) was a geologically rapid warming period associated with carbon release, which caused a marked increase in the hydrological cycle. Here, we use lithium (Li) isotopes to assess the global change in weathering regime, a critical carbon drawdown mechanism, across the PETM. We find a negative Li isotope excursion of ~3‰ in both global seawater (marine carbonates) and in local weathering inputs (detrital shales). This is consistent with a very large delivery of clays to the oceans or a shift in the weathering regime toward higher physical erosion rates and sediment fluxes. Our seawater records are best explained by increases in global erosion rates of ~2× to 3× over 100 ka, combined with model-derived weathering increases of 50 to 60% compared to prewarming values. Such increases in weathering and erosion would have supported enhanced carbon burial, as both carbonate and organic carbon, thereby stabilizing climate

Assessing hydrological controls on the lithium isotope weathering tracer

To investigate the impact of riverine discharge and weathering intensity on lithium isotopes (δ7Li) in a mono-lithological terrain, this study examines the dissolved load and leached suspended load (exchangeable, oxide, and clay fractions) from Icelandic rivers spanning a wide range of discharge, weathering rates, and weathering intensity. The δ7Lidissolved co-varies inversely with the discharge, confirming that water-rock interaction time is a primary control on the secondary mineral formation that fractionates Li isotopes. The “boomerang” shape observed in global rivers between the weathering intensity (i.e. W/D = weathering rate/denudation rate) and δ7Lidissolved also exists for these basaltic rivers at low to medium W/D. However, these rivers do not extend to such low δ7Lidissolved values as seen in the global compilation at low W/D, indicating that there is a lithological control on this relationship arising from the type of the lithology-specific secondary minerals forming and their precipitation rates. In addition, the Δ7Lix-dissolved between each leached solid phase and the dissolved load also co-varies with discharge. At low discharge (long water-rock interaction times), Δ7Lix-dissolved values agree with experimentally-determined equilibrium values, whereas less fractionated values are observed at higher discharge (shorter water-rock interaction times). As a result, there is a different relationship between W/D and Δ7Liclay-source in this basaltic terrain than previously reported from global multi-lithological river sediment samples, with clay leachates from Iceland more closely mimicking the boomerang shape of the dissolved load. However, the relationship between δ7Li and weathering processes is complicated because the fractionation between the clay fraction and the dissolved load is not constant but varies with both W/D and discharge. Overall, this study confirms the utility of Li isotopes as a tracer of modern and palaeo-weathering processes, and also has important implications for the specific interpretations of detrital δ7Li values, which may be more sensitive to weathering parameters than previously thought

Assessing hydrological controls on the lithium isotope weathering tracer

To investigate the impact of riverine discharge and weathering intensity on lithium isotopes (δ7Li) in a mono-lithological terrain, this study examines the dissolved load and leached suspended load (exchangeable, oxide, and clay fractions) from Icelandic rivers spanning a wide range of discharge, weathering rates, and weathering intensity. The δ7Lidissolved co-varies inversely with the discharge, confirming that water-rock interaction time is a primary control on the secondary mineral formation that fractionates Li isotopes. The “boomerang” shape observed in global rivers between the weathering intensity (i.e. W/D = weathering rate/denudation rate) and δ7Lidissolved also exists for these basaltic rivers at low to medium W/D. However, these rivers do not extend to such low δ7Lidissolved values as seen in the global compilation at low W/D, indicating that there is a lithological control on this relationship arising from the type of the lithology-specific secondary minerals forming and their precipitation rates. In addition, the Δ7Lix-dissolved between each leached solid phase and the dissolved load also co-varies with discharge. At low discharge (long water-rock interaction times), Δ7Lix-dissolved values agree with experimentally-determined equilibrium values, whereas less fractionated values are observed at higher discharge (shorter water-rock interaction times). As a result, there is a different relationship between W/D and Δ7Liclay-source in this basaltic terrain than previously reported from global multi-lithological river sediment samples, with clay leachates from Iceland more closely mimicking the boomerang shape of the dissolved load. However, the relationship between δ7Li and weathering processes is complicated because the fractionation between the clay fraction and the dissolved load is not constant but varies with both W/D and discharge. Overall, this study confirms the utility of Li isotopes as a tracer of modern and palaeo-weathering processes, and also has important implications for the specific interpretations of detrital δ7Li values, which may be more sensitive to weathering parameters than previously thought

Essential Amino Acid Ingestion Facilitates Leucine Retention and Attenuates Myofibrillar Protein Breakdown following Bodyweight Resistance Exercise in Young Adults in a Home-Based Setting

Home-based resistance exercise (RE) has become increasingly prevalent, but its effects on protein metabolism are understudied. We tested the effect of an essential amino acid formulation (EAA+: 9 g EAAs, 3 g leucine) and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs: 6 g BCAAs, 3 g leucine), relative to a carbohydrate (CHO) placebo, on exogenous leucine retention and myofibrillar protein breakdown following dynamic bodyweight RE in a home-based setting. Twelve recreationally active adults (nine male, three female) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study with four trial conditions: (i) RE and EAA+ (EX-EAA+); (ii) RE and BCAAs (EX-BCAA); (iii) RE and CHO placebo (EX-CHO); and (iv) rest and CHO placebo (REST-CHO). Total exogenous leucine oxidation and retention (estimates of whole-body anabolism) and urinary 3-methylhistidine:creatinine ratio (3MH:Cr; estimate of muscle catabolism) were assessed over 5 h post-supplement. Total exogenous leucine oxidation and retention in EX-EAA+ and EX-BCAA did not significantly differ (p = 0.116) but were greater than EX-CHO (p < 0.01). There was a main effect of condition on urinary 3MH:Cr (p = 0.034), with post hoc analysis revealing a trend (p = 0.096) for reduced urinary 3MH:Cr with EX-EAA+ (32%) compared to EX-CHO. By direct comparison, urinary 3MH:Cr was significantly lower (23%) in EX-EAA+ than EX-BCAA (p = 0.026). In summary, the ingestion of EAA+ or BCAA provided leucine that was ~60% retained for protein synthesis following home-based bodyweight RE, but EAA+ most effectively attenuated myofibrillar protein breakdown

NLTT 41135: a field M-dwarf + brown dwarf eclipsing binary in a triple system, discovered by the MEarth observatory

We report the discovery of an eclipsing companion to NLTT 41135, a nearby M5 dwarf that was already known to have a wider, slightly more massive common proper motion companion, NLTT 41136, at 2.4 arcsec separation. Analysis of combined-light and radial velocity curves of the system indicates that NLTT 41135B is a 31-34 +/- 3 MJup brown dwarf (where the range depends on the unknown metallicity of the host star) on a circular orbit. The visual M-dwarf pair appears to be physically bound, so the system forms a hierarchical triple, with masses approximately in the ratio 8:6:1. The eclipses are grazing, preventing an unambiguous measurement of the secondary radius, but follow-up observations of the secondary eclipse (e.g. with the James Webb Space Telescope) could permit measurements of the surface brightness ratio between the two objects, and thus place constraints on models of brown dwarfs.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 10 tables, emulateapj format. Accepted for publication in Ap

Contemporary Art and Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland: The Consolation of Form

Abstract Contemporary artworks in Northern Ireland are explored here as critical constellations, in Walter Benjamin’s sense, that engage the cultural processes of transition through their problematisation of it. It is argued that the artworks become sites in which the assumptions of transition are opened up for critical reflection, requesting attention to the foreclosing of the meanings of memory, of past-and-future, of community. A mode of critical questioning of the present renders the present problematic not in terms of exclusions nor with reference to a past that cannot or will not be erased, but in terms of the present’s inability to be conceived through a linear conception of time. That is, the past and its relation to both the present and to the future are set in oscillation as artworks explore the complex temporalities of a present self-consciously attempting to narrate itself away from the past. The artworks, ‘without the bigotry of conviction’ as Seamus Deane put it, suggest that the task of dealing with the past is flawed wherever the past is conceived as a history that can be rendered present to be judged by subjects who are thereby placed beyond it. That is the illusion of a present ‘no-time’ that dovetails with the desires of commercial enterprise and neo-liberal conceptions of freedom. If this suggests an unceasing restlessness, the consolation is that this questioning does take a form, not as judgement or political decision but as artworks which by definition, remain open to reinterpretation and new understandings. These issues are discussed with reference to the work of four artists in Northern Ireland: the paintings of Rita Duffy, the photography and installation work of Anthony Haughey, and the sculptural works of Philip Napier and Mike Hogg