Well Water Quality in Southern Butler County, Pennsylvania

The increase in unconventional shale gas extraction in Pennsylvania has resulted in an increased number of groundwater contamination claims. Well water quality was investigated in southern Butler County, PA where 387 unconventional gas wells have been drilled since 2006. A total of 121 households participated in a survey and 238 well water samples were tested. Specific conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen in these samples were measured in the field and seven anion concentrations and thirty metal concentrations were measured in the lab. A subset of 91 water wells was also tested for light hydrocarbons (methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, propane, butane). Pennsylvania DEP file reviews were used to create GIS maps indicating legacy oil and gas, unconventional wells, and plot water testing results. Results indicate few wells had high quality groundwater, with 86% containing one or more contaminants above (secondary) Maximum Contaminant Levels, with manganese (56%), iron (47%), fluoride (18%), TDS (18%), pH (17%), aluminum (17%) the most common

Mynydd Parys & Afon Goch

I am the founding member of the artist-led collective Environmental Resistance. This publication combines photographs of an abandoned copper mine ('Parys Mine' or 'Mynydd Parys') in Anglesey, and an eco-toxic river of leachate emerging from the same mine (the Afon Goch River), with mineral sample results taken from within the frame of the image at the time of making the photograph. The Mynydd Parys & Afon Goch publication represents an attempt to visualise the scientific process, using multimodal design techniques, in order to promote the need for environmental remediation of abandoned metal mine sites in the UK and beyond

Automation and Other Extensions of the SMAC Modal Parameter Extraction Package

As model validation techniques gain more acceptance and increase in power, the demands on the modal parameter extractions increase. The estimation accuracy, the number of modes desired, and the data reduction efficiency are required features. An algorithm known as SMAC (Synthesize Modes And Correlate), based on principles of modal filtering, has been in development for a few years. SMAC has now been extended in two main areas. First, it has now been automated. Second, it has been extended to fit complex modes as well as real modes. These extensions have enhanced the power of modal extraction so that, typically, the analyst needs to manually fit only 10 percent of the modes in the desired bandwidth, whereas the automated routines will fit 90 percent of the modes. SMAC could be successfully automated because it generally does not produce computational roots

No Al Carbone Brindisi

I am the founding member of the artist-led collective Environmental Resistance. Working under the name of Environmental Resistance, this publication represents a collaboration with the activist group No Al Carbone ('No to Coal'), who are a group of environmental activists from Brindisi, Puglia. This publication was dedicated to No Al Carbone and was intended to provide the activists with a ‘toolkit’ for engaging in advocacy debates with public or state officials in the Brindisi region. In the No Al Carbone, Brindisi publication, meaning in the photographs of the polluted Brindisi Industrial Zone, is anchored to a series of captions alluding to various scientific studies, which point towards Brindisi having elevated rates of cancer, COPD, congenital birth defects, when compared to other regions in Italy and beyond

The role of interleukin-1β as a predictive biomarker and potential therapeutic target during clinical ex vivo lung perfusion

BACKGROUND: Extended criteria donor lungs deemed unsuitable for immediate transplantation can be reconditioned using ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP). Objective identification of which donor lungs can be successfully reconditioned and will function well post-operatively has not been established. This study assessed the predictive value of markers of inflammation and tissue injury in donor lungs undergoing EVLP as part of the DEVELOP-UK study. METHODS: Longitudinal samples of perfusate, bronchoalveolar lavage, and tissue from 42 human donor lungs undergoing clinical EVLP assessments were analyzed for markers of inflammation and tissue injury. Levels were compared according to EVLP success and post-transplant outcomes. Neutrophil adhesion to human pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (HPMECs) conditioned with perfusates from EVLP assessments was investigated on a microfluidic platform. RESULTS: The most effective markers to differentiate between in-hospital survival and non-survival post-transplant were perfusate interleukin (IL)-1β (area under the curve = 1.00, p = 0.002) and tumor necrosis factor-α (area under the curve = 0.95, p = 0.006) after 30 minutes of EVLP. IL-1β levels in perfusate correlated with upregulation of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 in donor lung vasculature (R(2) = 0.68, p < 0.001) and to a lesser degree upregulation of intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (R(2) = 0.30, p = 0.001) and E-selectin (R(2) = 0.29, p = 0.001) in conditioned HPMECs and neutrophil adhesion to conditioned HPMECs (R(2) = 0.33, p < 0.001). Neutralization of IL-1β in perfusate effectively inhibited neutrophil adhesion to conditioned HPMECs (91% reduction, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Donor lungs develop a detectable and discriminatory pro-inflammatory signature in perfusate during EVLP. Blocking the IL-1β pathway during EVLP may reduce endothelial activation and subsequent neutrophil adhesion on reperfusion; this requires further investigation in vivo

Polysaccharide-based films for the prevention of unwanted postoperative adhesions at biological interfaces

Postoperative adhesions protect, repair, and supply nutrients to injured tissues; however, such adhesions often remain permanent and complicate otherwise successful surgeries by tethering tissues together that are normally separated. An ideal adhesion barrier should not only effectively prevent unwanted adhesions but should be easy to use, however, those that are currently available have inconsistent efficacy and are difficult to handle or to apply. A robust hydrogel film composed of alginate and a photo-crosslinkable hyaluronic acid (HA) derivative (glycidyl methacrylate functionalized hyaluronic acid (GMHA)) represents a solution to this problem. A sacrificial porogen (urea) was used in the film manufacture process to impart macropores that yield films that are more malleable and tougher than equivalent films produced without the sacrificial porogen. The robust mechanical behavior of these templated alginate/GMHA films directly facilitated handling characteristics of the barrier film. In a rat peritoneal abrasion model for adhesion formation, the polysaccharide films successfully prevented adhesions with statistical equivalence to the leading anti-adhesion technology on the market, Seprafilm®. Statement of Significance: Postoperative adhesions often remain permanent and complicate otherwise successful surgeries by tethering tissues together that are normally separated and pose potentially significant challenges to patients. Therefore, the generation of adhesion barriers that are easy to deploy during surgery and effectively prevent unwanted adhesions is a big challenge. In this study robust hydrogel films composed of alginate and a photo-crosslinkable hyaluronic acid (HA) derivative (glycidyl methacrylate functionalized HA, GMHA) were fabricated and investigated for their potential to act as a solution to this problem using a rat peritoneal abrasion model for adhesion formation. We observed the polysaccharide films successfully prevented adhesions with statistical equivalence to the leading anti-adhesion technology on the market, Seprafilm®, suggesting that such films represent a promising strategy for the prevention of postoperative adhesions

Defining the cognitive phenotype of autism

Although much progress has been made in determining the cognitive profile of strengths and weaknesses that characterise individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), there remain a number of outstanding questions. These include how universal strengths and deficits are; whether cognitive subgroups exist; and how cognition is associated with core autistic behaviours, as well as associated psychopathology. Several methodological factors have contributed to these limitations in our knowledge, including: small sample sizes, a focus on single domains of cognition, and an absence of comprehensive behavioural phenotypic information. To attempt to overcome some of these limitations, we assessed a wide range of cognitive domains in a large sample (N = 100) of 14- to 16-year-old adolescents with ASDs who had been rigorously behaviourally characterised. In this review, we will use examples of some initial findings in the domains of perceptual processing, emotion processing and memory, both to outline different approaches we have taken to data analysis and to highlight the considerable challenges to better defining the cognitive phenotype(s) of ASDs. Enhanced knowledge of the cognitive phenotype may contribute to our understanding of the complex links between genes, brain and behaviour, as well as inform approaches to remediation

Quantification of Hydrological, Geochemical, and Mineralogical Processes Governing the Fate and Transport of Uranium over Multiple Scales in Hanford Sediments

A long-term measure of the DOE Environmental Remediation Sciences Division is to provide sufficient scientific understanding to allow a significant fraction of DOE sites to incorporate coupled biological, chemical, and physical processes into decision making for environmental remediation and long-term stewardship by 2015. Our research targets two related, major obstacles to understanding and predicting contaminant transport at DOE sites: the heterogeneity of subsurface geologic media, and the scale dependence of experimental and modeled results

Macrophages directly contribute collagen to scar formation during zebrafish heart regeneration and mouse heart repair

Canonical roles for macrophages in mediating the fibrotic response after a heart attack include extracellular matrix turnover and activation of cardiac fibroblasts to initiate collagen deposition. Here we reveal that macrophages directly contribute collagen to the forming post-injury scar. Unbiased transcriptomics shows an upregulation of collagens in both zebrafish and mouse macrophages following heart injury. Adoptive transfer of macrophages, from either collagen-tagged zebrafish or adult mouse GFPtpz-collagen donors, enhances scar formation via cell autonomous production of collagen. In zebrafish, the majority of tagged collagen localises proximal to the injury, within the overlying epicardial region, suggesting a possible distinction between macrophage-deposited collagen and that predominantly laid-down by myofibroblasts. Macrophage-specific targeting of col4a3bpa and cognate col4a1 in zebrafish significantly reduces scarring in cryoinjured hosts. Our findings contrast with the current model of scarring, whereby collagen deposition is exclusively attributed to myofibroblasts, and implicate macrophages as direct contributors to fibrosis during heart repair