Mainlining

Mainlining is a collection of six original stories and a prose foreword. The six stories, each of which can stand on its own but when read together form a unified whole, divide into two sections. The first section introduces three main characters, and the second section details the various fortunes (and misfortunes) of these three main characters and additionally introduces a wide range of secondary characters. When analyzed as a group, these characters provide some insight into the collective experiences and emotions of the people living in Mainlining\u27s fictional community of Lincoln. Lincoln is a small city bearing more than a little resemblance to certain existing rust-belt areas found throughout the Midwest. The stories in Mainlining sketch a broad overview of the social, economic, and psychological pressures affecting the residents of a declining region, thus echoing the work of selected regional authors (for example, William Faulkner). Mainlining\u27s prose foreword briefly mentions some of the literary influences that have helped shape the stories in this collection. The foreword clarifies the creative link between these stories and the inspirations given by authors such as Bret Harte, Stephen Crane, Mark Twain, Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ken Kesey. The first section, Origins, presents a teenager, known only as Jeff, as he is seen through the eyes of his closest friend, Scott Richards. The young Jeff, who will appear as an adult in later stories in the collection, is characterized by his fascination with death, which quickly grows into an obsession overshadowing the more traditional and acceptable concerns facing American teenagers. The progress of Jeff\u27s obsession is watched by Jeff\u27s puzzled friend, Scott. Scott is reserved, quiet: too afraid to let a girl named Doreen know he is interested in her. Jeff refuses to let Scott passively observe anymore and tries to shock him out of his reticence by, as Jeff calls it, taking him along for the ride. What happens to Jeff and Scott during this time is told in the story Roadkill, which comprises the first section. The second section, Destinies, relates the events of approximately six years later in the lives of Jeff, Scott, and Doreen. The first story in Destinies, entitled Starlet, takes place on the night when Doreen, former girlfriend of both Jeff and Scott, meets a human predator who specializes in small-town girls working in isolated bars. The second story, Fishing, centers around Detective Williams, a cop in the process of losing his perspective and who regains it through an investigation involving Doreen and Jeff. The third story, New Semester, tells what happens when Scott comes back to Lincoln and renews his neglected friendship with Jeff. Connection is the next story, which describes one woman\u27s wish that Jeff and Scott represent relief from Lincoln\u27s dismal choices for existence. The last story in the collection, The Toast, is Scott\u27s goodbye to his friend Jeff. The tone of the stories in this second section is one of resignation. The characters involved are fully aware of their limited options, and the ways in which they select their options form the interest of the stories

The role of discharge variability in determining alluvial stratigraphy

We illustrate the potential for using physics-based modeling to link alluvial stratigraphy to large river morphology and dynamics. Model simulations, validated using ground penetrating radar data from the Río Paraná, Argentina, demonstrate a strong relationship between bar-scale set thickness and channel depth, which applies across a wide range of river patterns and bar types. We show that hydrologic regime, indexed by discharge variability and flood duration, exerts a first-order influence on morphodynamics and hence bar set thickness, and that planform morphology alone may be a misleading variable for interpreting deposits. Indeed, our results illustrate that rivers evolving under contrasting hydrologic regimes may have very similar morphology, yet be characterized by marked differences in stratigraphy. This realization represents an important limitation on the application of established theory that links river topography to alluvial deposits, and highlights the need to obtain field evidence of discharge variability when developing paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Model simulations demonstrate the potential for deriving such evidence using metrics of paleocurrent variance

Neuron-oligodendrocyte myelination co-culture derived from embryonic rat spinal cord and cerebral cortex

An in vitro myelination model derived from rat central nervous system (CNS) remains to be established. Here, we describe a simple and reproducible myelination culture method using dissociated neuron-oligodendrocyte (OL) co-cultures from either the embryonic day 16 (E16) rat spinal cord or cerebral cortex. The dissociated cells are plated directly on poly-L-lysine-coated cover slips and maintained in a modified myelination medium that supports both OL and neuron differentiation. The spinal cord derived OL progenitor cells develop quickly into myelin basic protein (MBP)+ mature OLs and start to myelinate axons around 17 days in vitro (DIV17). Myelination reaches its peak around six weeks (DIV40) and the typical nodes of Ranvier are revealed by paranodal proteins Caspr and juxaparanodal protein Kv1.2 immunoreactivity. Electron microscopy (EM) shows typical myelination cytoarchitecture and synaptic organization. In contrast, the cortical-derived co-culture requires triiodothyronine (T3) in the culture medium for myelination. Finally, either hypomyelination and/or demyelination can be induced by exposing proinflammatory cytokines or demyelinating agents to the co-culture, suggesting the feasibility of this modified in vitro myelination model for myelin-deficit investigation

Direct Observation of Long-Lived Isomers in 212 Bi

Long-lived isomers in Bi212 have been studied following U238 projectile fragmentation at 670 MeV per nucleon. The fragmentation products were injected as highly charged ions into a storage ring, giving access to masses and half-lives. While the excitation energy of the first isomer of Bi212 was confirmed, the second isomer was observed at 1478(30) keV, in contrast to the previously accepted value of >1910 keV. It was also found to have an extended Lorentz-corrected in-ring half-life >30 min, compared to 7.0(3) min for the neutral atom. Both the energy and half-life differences can be understood as being due a substantial, though previously unrecognized, internal decay branch for neutral atoms. Earlier shell-model calculations are now found to give good agreement with the isomer excitation energy. Furthermore, these and new calculations predict the existence of states at slightly higher energy that could facilitate isomer deexcitation studies. � 2013 American Physical Society

Influence of Dunes on Channel‐Scale Flow and Sediment Transport in a Sand Bed Braided River

This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Geophysical Union via the DOI in this recordData availability: Project data is stored in, and available from, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (http://eidc.ceh.ac.uk).Current understanding of the role that dunes play in controlling bar and channel-scale processes and river morphodynamics is incomplete. We present results from a combined numerical modeling and field monitoring study that isolates the impact of dunes on depth-averaged and near-bed flow structure, with implications for morphodynamic modeling. Numerical simulations were conducted using the three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics code OpenFOAM to quantify the time-averaged flow structure within a 400 m x 100 m channel using DEMs for which: (i) dunes and bars were present within the model; and (ii) only bar43 scale topographic features were resolved (dunes were removed). Comparison of these two simulations shows that dunes enhance lateral flows and reduce velocities over bar tops by as much as 30%. Dunes influence the direction of modeled sediment transport at spatial scales larger than individual bedforms due to their effect on topographic steering of the near-bed flow structure. We show that dunes can amplify, dampen or even reverse the deflection of sediment down lateral bar slopes, and this is closely associated with 3D and obliquely orientated dunes. Sediment transport patterns calculated using theory implemented in depth-averaged morphodynamic models suggests that gravitational deflection of sediment is still controlled by bar-scale topography, even in the presence of dunes. However, improved parameterizations of flow and sediment transport in depth-averaged morphodynamic models are needed that account for the effects of both dune- and bar- scale morphology on near-bed flow and sediment transport.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC

Quantification of bedform dynamics and bedload sediment flux in sandy braided rivers from airborne and satellite imagery

Images from specially‐commissioned aeroplane sorties (manned aerial vehicle, MAV), repeat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) surveys, and Planet CubeSat satellites are used to quantify dune and bar dynamics in the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM) techniques and application of a depth‐brightness model are used to produce a series of Digital Surface Models (DSMs) at low and near‐bankfull flows. A number of technical and image processing challenges are described that arise from the application of SfM in dry and submerged environments. A model for best practice is presented and analysis suggests a depth‐brightness model approach can represent the different scales of bedforms present in sandy braided rivers with low‐turbidity and shallow (< 2 m deep) water. The aerial imagery is used to quantify the spatial distribution of unit bar and dune migration rate in an 18 km reach and three ~1 km long reaches respectively. Dune and unit bar migration rates are highly variable in response to local variations in planform morphology. Sediment transport rates for dunes and unit bars, obtained by integrating migration rates (from UAV) with the volume of sediment moved (from DSMs using MAV imagery) show near‐equivalence in sediment flux. Hence, reach‐based sediment transport rate estimates can be derived from unit bar data alone. Moreover, it is shown that reasonable estimates of sediment transport rate can be made using just unit bar migration rates as measured from 2D imagery, including from satellite images, so long as informed assumptions are made regarding average bar shape and height. With recent availability of frequent, repeat satellite imagery, and the ease of undertaking repeat MAV and UAV surveys, for the first time, it may be possible to provide global estimates of bedload sediment flux for large or inaccessible low‐turbidity rivers that currently have sparse information on bedload sediment transport rates

A Bayesian palaeoenvironmental transfer function model for acidified lakes

A Bayesian approach to palaeoecological environmental reconstruction deriving from the unimodal responses generally exhibited by organisms to an environmental gradient is described. The approach uses Bayesian model selection to calculate a collection of probability-weighted, species-specific response curves (SRCs) for each taxon within a training set, with an explicit treatment for zero abundances. These SRCs are used to reconstruct the environmental variable from sub-fossilised assemblages. The approach enables a substantial increase in computational efficiency (several orders of magnitude) over existing Bayesian methodologies. The model is developed from the Surface Water Acidification Programme (SWAP) training set and is demonstrated to exhibit comparable predictive power to existing Weighted Averaging and Maximum Likelihood methodologies, though with improvements in bias; the additional explanatory power of the Bayesian approach lies in an explicit calculation of uncertainty for each individual reconstruction. The model is applied to reconstruct the Holocene acidification history of the Round Loch of Glenhead, including a reconstruction of recent recovery derived from sediment trap data.The Bayesian reconstructions display similar trends to conventional (Weighted Averaging Partial Least Squares) reconstructions but provide a better reconstruction of extreme pH and are more sensitive to small changes in diatom assemblages. The validity of the posteriors as an apparently meaningful representation of assemblage-specific uncertainty and the high computational efficiency of the approach open up the possibility of highly constrained multiproxy reconstructions

Global REACH: Assessment of brady-arrhythmias in Andeans and Lowlanders during apnea at 4330m

BACKGROUND: Ascent to altitude increases the prevalence of arrhythmogenesis in low-altitude dwelling populations (Lowlanders). High altitude populations (ie. Nepalese Sherpa) may have arrhythmias resistant adaptations that prevent arrhythmogenesis at altitude, though this has not been documented in other High altitude groups, including those diagnosed with chronic mountain sickness (CMS). We investigated whether healthy (CMS-) and CMS afflicted (CMS+) Andeans exhibit cardiac arrhythmias under acute apneic stress at altitude. METHODS AND RESULTS: Electrocardiograms (lead II) were collected in CMS- (N=9), CMS+ (N=8), and Lowlanders (N= 13) following several days at 4330m (Cerro de Pasco, Peru). ECG rhythm and HR were assessed at both rest and during maximal volitional apnea (End-Expiratory [EXP]). Both CMS- and CMS+ had similar basal HR (69 ± 8 beats/min vs. 62 ± 11 beats/min), while basal HR was higher in Lowlanders (77 ± 18 beats/min; P<0.05 versus CMS+). Apnea elicited significant bradycardia (nadir -32 ± 15 beats/min; P<0.01) and the development of arrhythmias in 8/13 Lowlanders (junctional rhythm, 3° atrio-venticular block, sinus pause). HR was preserved was prior to volitional breakpoint in both CMS- (nadir -6 ± 1 beat/min) and CMS+ (1 ±12 beats/min), with 2/17 Andeans developing arrhythmias ( 1 CMS+ and 1 CMS-; both Premature Atrial Contraction) prior to breakpoint. CONCLUSIONS: Andeans showed an absence of arrhythmias and preserved HR response to volitional apnea at altitude, demonstrating that potential cardio-resistant adaptations to arrhythmogenesis exist across permanent HA populations. Acclimatized Lowlanders have further demonstrated an increased prevalence of arrhythmias at altitude