New structural interpretation, microstructural analyses, and preliminary monazite geochronology of Proterozoic rocks in the central Manzano Mountains, New Mexico

The Manzano Mountains of central New Mexico, on the east flank of the Rio Grande Rift, provide excellent outcrops of Proterozoic basement. Rock types in the area include Sevilleta metarhyolite, amphibolitic metavolcanic rocks, schist, meta-lithic arenite, banded metarhyolite, the White Ridge and related quartzites, and the Blue Springs schist. Plutonic activity included the emplacement of the Monte Largo (1656Ma) and Priest (1427Ma) plutons. Proterozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks were multiply deformed during at least three deformation events. D1, D2, D3 of rocks in the Manzano Mountains have all produced movement along the NE striking Monte Largo shear zone (MLSZ). The movement sense within this shear zone is consistently top-to-the-northwest. Analysis of microstructures from the MLSZ, combined with studies of overprinting relationships of folded rocks of the area provides a better understanding of the kinematics associated with each deformation event. Geochronologic studies of metamorphic monazite grains will place time constraints on when movement occurred within the area. Metamorphic monazite grown during tectonic deformation can have incremental growth patterns such as rim and core features. The ability to relate grain orientation to overall fabric of the rocks combined with the ability to obtain geochronological information of individual grains (and individual parts of each grain, i.e rim/core features) helps in interpreting how and when deformation occurred. Examination of thin sections of quartzites within the MLSZ as well as from the folded quartzites within the metasedimentary package provides information to help understand the kinematics and time constraints of each deformational event

A Nitro Enolate Approach to the Synthesis of 4, 5-Disubstituted-2-Aminoimidazoles. Pilot Library Assembly and Screening for Antibiotic and Antibiofilm Activity

This is the published version. Copyright Royal Society of ChemistryA library of 4,5-disubstituted-2-aminoimidazoles was synthesized using a nitroenolate route and then screened for antibiofilm and antimicrobial activity. These compounds displayed notable biofilm dispersal and planktonic microbicidal activity against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria

Capstone Design Hub: Building the Capstone Design Community

Capstone design courses are common across engineering programs nationwide. Yet, many departments and programs rely on one faculty member or a small handful of faculty members to teach their capstone design course. As a result these faculty members find themselves isolated, with limited mechanisms for sharing ideas and networking with peers who have similar responsibilities and concerns. This paper reports on the ongoing efforts to support the broader capstone design community through the development of the Capstone Design Hub (CDHub) as a web resource for capstone design programs. The features and structure of the CDHub are being developed through capstone faculty input, including results from a survey of the capstone community. To build awareness of the CDHub as well as to solicit additional feedback from the community, this paper describes development of the hub to meet community needs, initial population of the hub with resources focused on communication, and plans for continued expansion of the hub. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education

Effect of timed dosing of usual antihypertensives according to patient chronotype on cardiovascular outcomes:the Chronotype sub-study cohort of the Treatment in Morning versus Evening (TIME) study

Background: Timing drug administration to endogenous circadian rhythms may enhance treatment efficacy. In the Chronotype sub-study of the Treatment in Morning versus Evening (TIME) clinical trial we examined whether timing of usual antihypertensive medications according to patient chronotype (a behavioural marker of personal circadian rhythm) may influence clinical cardiovascular outcomes.Methods: This was a cohort sub-study of TIME, a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint, UK clinical trial of morning versus evening dosing of usual antihypertensive medications and cardiovascular outcomes. On August 3rd, 2020, all active TIME participants were invited to complete a validated chronotype questionnaire. Chronotype was quantitatively assessed as the mid sleep time on free days corrected for sleep debt on workdays (MSFsc). We analysed associations between chronotype and antihypertensive dosing time and explored their combined effect on cardiovascular outcomes (a composite endpoint of hospitalisation for non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) or non-fatal stroke, and single components) using proportional hazard time-to-event models adjusted for baseline covariates. These were used to specifically test for interactions between dosing time and chronotype.Findings: Between August 3, 2020, and March 31, 2021, 5358 TIME participants completed the online questionnaire. 2778 were previously randomised to morning dosing and 2580 to evening dosing of their usual antihypertensives. Chronotype was symmetrically distributed around a median MSFsc of 3:07 am. The composite endpoint increased for later MSFsc (later chronotype) dosed in the morning but not in those dosed in the evening (hazard ratios 1.46 [95% CI 1.14-1.86] and 0.96 [95% CI 0.70-1.30] per hour of MSFsc, respectively; interaction p = 0.036). Later chronotype was associated with increased risk of hospitalisation for non-fatal MI in the morning dosing group, and reduced risk in the evening dosing group (hazard ratios 1.62 [95% CI 1.18-2.22] and 0.66 [95% CI 0.44-1.00] per hour of MSFsc, respectively; interaction p &lt; 0.001). No interaction between chronotype and antihypertensive dosing time was observed for stroke events.Interpretation: Alignment of dosing time of usual antihypertensives with personal chronotype could lower the incidence of non-fatal MI compared to a 'misaligned' dosing time regimen. Future studies are warranted to establish whether synchronizing administration time of antihypertensive therapy with individual chronotype reduces risk of MI.</p

Institutional strategies for capturing socio-economic impact of academic research

Evaluation of socio-economic impact is an emerging theme for publicly-funded academic research. Within this context the paper suggests that the concept of institutional research capital be expanded to include the capture and evaluation of socio-economic impact. Furthermore, it argues that understanding the typology of impacts and the tracking from research to impact will assist the formulation of institutional strategies for capturing socio-economic impact. A three-stage approach is proposed for capturing and planning activities to enhance the generation of high-quality impact. Stage one outlines the critical role of user engagement that facilitates the tracking of such impact. Stage two employs an analytical framework based on the criteria of ‘depth’ and ‘spread’ to evaluate impacts that have been identified. Stage three utilizes the outcomes of the framework to devise strategies, consisting of either further research (to increase depth) or more engagement (to increase spread) that will improve the generation of higher quality impact

NESC Peer-Review of the Flight Rationale for Expected Debris Report

Since the loss of Columbia on February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) has significantly improved the understanding of launch and ascent debris, implemented hardware modifications to reduce debris, and conducted tests and analyses to understand the risks associated with expected debris. The STS-114 flight rationale for expected debris relies on a combination of all three of these factors. A number of design improvements have been implemented to reduce debris at the source. The External Tank (ET) thermal protection system (TPS) foam has been redesigned and/or process improvements have been implemented in the following locations: the bipod closeout, the first ten feet of the liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank protuberance air load (PAL) ramp, and the LH2 tank-to-intertank flange closeout. In addition, the forward bipod ramp has been eliminated and heaters have been installed on the bipod fittings and the liquid oxygen (LO2) feedline forward bellows to prevent ice formation. The Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) bolt catcher has been redesigned. The Orbiter reaction control system (RCS) thruster cover "butcher paper" has been replaced with a material that sheds at a low velocity. Finally, the pad area has been cleaned to reduce debris during lift-off

Development of a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for coupled electron-photon transport

Monte Carlo simulation is the most accurate method for absorbed dose calculations in radiotherapy. Its efficiency still requires improvement for routine clinical applications, especially for online adaptive radiotherapy. In this paper, we report our recent development on a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose calculation code for coupled electron-photon transport. We have implemented the Dose Planning Method (DPM) Monte Carlo dose calculation package (Sempau et al, Phys. Med. Biol., 45(2000)2263-2291) on GPU architecture under CUDA platform. The implementation has been tested with respect to the original sequential DPM code on CPU in phantoms with water-lung-water or water-bone-water slab geometry. A 20 MeV mono-energetic electron point source or a 6 MV photon point source is used in our validation. The results demonstrate adequate accuracy of our GPU implementation for both electron and photon beams in radiotherapy energy range. Speed up factors of about 5.0 ~ 6.6 times have been observed, using an NVIDIA Tesla C1060 GPU card against a 2.27GHz Intel Xeon CPU processor.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, and 1 table. Paper revised. Figures update

Kepler-68: Three Planets, One With a Density Between That of Earth and Ice Giants

NASA's Kepler Mission has revealed two transiting planets orbiting Kepler-68. Follow-up Doppler measurements have established the mass of the innermost planet and revealed a third jovian-mass planet orbiting beyond the two transiting planets. Kepler-68b, in a 5.4 day orbit has mass 8.3 +/- 2.3 Earth, radius 2.31 +/- 0.07 Earth radii, and a density of 3.32 +/- 0.92 (cgs), giving Kepler-68b a density intermediate between that of the ice giants and Earth. Kepler-68c is Earth-sized with a radius of 0.953 Earth and transits on a 9.6 day orbit; validation of Kepler-68c posed unique challenges. Kepler-68d has an orbital period of 580 +/- 15 days and minimum mass of Msin(i) = 0.947 Jupiter. Power spectra of the Kepler photometry at 1-minute cadence exhibit a rich and strong set of asteroseismic pulsation modes enabling detailed analysis of the stellar interior. Spectroscopy of the star coupled with asteroseismic modeling of the multiple pulsation modes yield precise measurements of stellar properties, notably Teff = 5793 +/- 74 K, M = 1.079 +/- 0.051 Msun, R = 1.243 +/- 0.019 Rsun, and density 0.7903 +/- 0.0054 (cgs), all measured with fractional uncertainties of only a few percent. Models of Kepler-68b suggest it is likely composed of rock and water, or has a H and He envelope to yield its density of about 3 (cgs).Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures, Accepted to Ap

Disturbance distance: quantifying forests' vulnerability to disturbance under current and future conditions

Disturbances, both natural and anthropogenic, are critical determinants of forest structure, function, and distribution. The vulnerability of forests to potential changes in disturbance rates remains largely unknown. Here, we developed a framework for quantifying and mapping the vulnerability of forests to changes in disturbance rates. By comparing recent estimates of observed forest disturbance rates over a sample of contiguous US forests to modeled rates of disturbance resulting in forest loss, a novel index of vulnerability, Disturbance Distance, was produced. Sample results indicate that 20% of current US forestland could be lost if disturbance rates were to double, with southwestern forests showing highest vulnerability. Under a future climate scenario, the majority of US forests showed capabilities of withstanding higher rates of disturbance then under the current climate scenario, which may buffer some impacts of intensified forest disturbanceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio