Storage of Fresh Water in Saline Aquifers Using a Well Field.

The computational procedure presented in this disser­ tation should enable the practicing engineer to design well fields for the storage of fresh water in horizontal saline aquifers in which there is no pre-existing ground-water movement. The recovery efficiency of the injection/storage/ retrieval process can now be reliably computed, thus making possible an economic analysis of the process in any speci­ fied area. An economic comparison of the storage of ap­ proximately one billion gallons in a saline aquifer that underlies the New Orleans area was made with the present most feasible alternate--steel tanks. The results favored the saline aquifer storage project by a factor of more than 50 to 1. The validity of the computational procedure was de­ termined by comparing recovery efficiencies obtained from a laboratory-size miniature aquifer (miniaquifer) with re­ covery efficiencies predicted by the computational pro­ cedure. The computational procedure predicted the experi­ mental data within 10 percent for multiple well systems. The predicted recovery efficiencies were invariably lower than the experimentally determined recovery efficiencies. The aquifer parameters that must be determined before the computational procedure can be used are thickness, permeability, porosity, storativ1ty, longitudinal disper­ sivity coefficient, and viscosity and density of the native fluid. Of the parameters mentioned above the longitudinal dispersivity coefficient is the most difficult to obtain. The procedure used in this investigation to determine the longitudinal dispersivity coefficient for the miniaquifer can be readily adapted to field use. In addition to the aquifer parameters, the well field configuration, the operation schedule of the field, the volume of fresh water to be injected, injection rates, probable duration of storage, production rates, and frac­ ture pressure of the upper confining bed must be known in order to make an economic analysis. When fresh water is injected into a horizontal, homogeneous, saline aquifer which has no pre-existing ground-water movement, the two most important factors which determine the amount of usable water that can be recovered are: (1) mixing of the two fluids due to molecular diffu­ sion and convective dispersion, and (2) gravitational seg­ regation of the two fluids due to density difference

The geology of the rattlesnake hill granite of Sharon, Massachusetts

Thesis (B.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy, 1913.Accompanied by a graph in a folder.by W. L. Whitehead.B.S

Protection and mechanism of action of a novel human respiratory syncytial virus vaccine candidate based on the extracellular domain of small hydrophobic protein

Infections with human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) occur globally in all age groups and can have devastating consequences in young infants. We demonstrate that a vaccine based on the extracellular domain (SHe) of the small hydrophobic (SH) protein of HRSV, reduced viral replication in challenged laboratory mice and in cotton rats. We show that this suppression of viral replication can be transferred by serum and depends on a functional IgG receptor compartment with a major contribution of FcRI and FcRIII. Using a conditional cell depletion method, we provide evidence that alveolar macrophages are involved in the protection by SHe-specific antibodies. HRSV-infected cells abundantly express SH on the cell surface and are likely the prime target of the humoral immune response elicited by SHe-based vaccination. Finally, natural infection of humans and experimental infection of mice or cotton rats does not induce a strong immune response against HRSV SHe. Using SHe as a vaccine antigen induces immune protection against HRSV by a mechanism that differs from the natural immune response and from other HRSV vaccination strategies explored to date. Hence, HRSV vaccine candidates that aim at inducing protective neutralizing antibodies or T-cell responses could be complemented with a SHe-based antigen to further improve immune protection

A systems approach to evaluate One Health initiatives

Challenges calling for integrated approaches to health, such as the One Health (OH) approach, typically arise from the intertwined spheres of humans, animals, and ecosystems constituting their environment. Initiatives addressing such wicked problems commonly consist of complex structures and dynamics. As a result of the EU COST Action (TD 1404) “Network for Evaluation of One Health” (NEOH), we propose an evaluation framework anchored in systems theory to address the intrinsic complexity of OH initiatives and regard them as subsystems of the context within which they operate. Typically, they intend to influence a system with a view to improve human, animal, and environmental health. The NEOH evaluation framework consists of four overarching elements, namely: (1) the definition of the initiative and its context, (2) the description of the theory of change with an assessment of expected and unexpected outcomes, (3) the process evaluation of operational and supporting infrastructures (the “OH-ness”), and (4) an assessment of the association(s) between the process evaluation and the outcomes produced. It relies on a mixed methods approach by combining a descriptive and qualitative assessment with a semi-quantitative scoring for the evaluation of the degree and structural balance of “OH-ness” (summarised in an OH-index and OH-ratio, respectively) and conventional metrics for different outcomes in a multi-criteria-decision-analysis. Here, we focus on the methodology for Elements (1) and (3) including ready-to-use Microsoft Excel spreadsheets for the assessment of the “OH-ness”. We also provide an overview of Element (2), and refer to the NEOH handbook for further details, also regarding Element (4) (http://neoh.onehealthglobal.net). The presented approach helps researchers, practitioners, and evaluators to conceptualise and conduct evaluations of integrated approaches to health and facilitates comparison and learning across different OH activities thereby facilitating decisions on resource allocation. The application of the framework has been described in eight case studies in the same Frontiers research topic and provides first data on OH-index and OH-ratio, which is an important step towards their validation and the creation of a dataset for future benchmarking, and to demonstrate under which circumstances OH initiatives provide added value compared to disciplinary or conventional health initiatives

Genomic and physiological footprint of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on resident marsh fishes

The biological consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are unknown, especially for resident organisms. Here, we report results from a field study tracking the effects of contaminating oil across space and time in resident killifish during the first 4 mo of the spill event. Remote sensing and analytical chemistry identified exposures, which were linked to effects in fish characterized by genome expression and associated gill immunohistochemistry, despite very low concentrations of hydrocarbons remaining in water and tissues. Divergence in genome expression coincides with contaminating oil and is consistent with genome responses that are predictive of exposure to hydrocarbon-like chemicals and indicative of physiological and reproductive impairment. Oil-contaminated waters are also associated with aberrant protein expression in gill tissues of larval and adult fish. These data suggest that heavily weathered crude oil from the spill imparts significant biological impacts in sensitive Louisiana marshes, some of which remain for over 2 mo following initial exposures

Milder Alzheimer\u27s Disease Pathology in Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation

Introduction:Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) have been associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whether HF and AF are related to AD by enhancing AD neuropathological changes is unknown. Methods:We applied network analyses and multiple logistic regression models to assess the association between HF and AF with severity of AD neuropathology in patients from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center database with primary neuropathological diagnosis of AD. Results:We included 1593 patients, of whom 129 had HF and 250 had AF. HF and AF patients were older and had milder AD pathology. In the network analyses, HF and AF were associated with milder AD neuropathology. In the regression analyses, age (odds ratio [OR] 0.94, 95