P-T Constraints of Orthogneiss, Metapelites, and Ultra-Mafic Lenses Located in the Virgin Mountains of Northwestern Arizona

The Virgin Mountains, located in northwestern Arizona, host a variety of different geologic features. Many workers have focused on Tertiary extension within the mountain range, but little work has been done on the Paleo-Proterozoic basement rocks. Tertiary extension has exposed 1.73 – 1.80 Ga basement material that exhibits intense shear deformation and evidence of high temperature/high pressure and possibly ultra-high pressure metamorphism. These rocks are well exposed throughout Elbow and Lime Kiln Canyons, which are located east and south of Mesquite, Nevada. Some exposures enclose ultra-mafic lenses containing pyroxene/spinel pseudomorphs after garnet. These features suggest decompression through the garnet-spinel transition. These rocks occur in a broad shear zone exposed over 80-100 km in the Virgin Mountains and the Beaver Dam Mountains to the north. Most samples are mylonitic, but contain polygonal quartz grains consistent with shearing under high-temperature conditions. Other shear indicators include sigma and delta structures, mica-fish and S-C textures. Sillimanite and biotite within the S-C shear fabric suggest deformation and equilibration under upper amphibolite to lower granulite facies conditions (650o-800oC and 0.6-1.1 Kilobars). Also, sillimanite pseudomorphs after kyanite found within metapelites suggests decompression from high pressure conditions. Decompression of ultra-mafic lenses through the garnet-spinel transition documents pressures in excess of 2.0 GPa and depths of at least 70 Km. Structural considerations as well as the presence of high-pressure metamorphism are consistent with a collisional suture. The Virgin Mountains appear to host the Paleoproterozoic collisional boundary between Mojave and Yavapai crustal provinces

Characterization and Productivity of Microalgae Species Grown on Bioreactor for Wastewater Remediation

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of various plastics as growth substrates for microalgae, to aid in making the treatment of wastewater more efficient and sustainable, and to identify the strains of algae that culture best on the given materials. Ten 1.2 meter disks were fashioned from ten different polymer based materials and fixed to rotate vertically in a bioreactor treating municipal wastewater at the larges treatment plant in the state of Utah at 60 million gallons per day. Polystyrene disks were also cut and fixed to one side of each plastic disk to serve as controls. The disks were inoculated with algae taken from the trickling filters of the plant. Weekly samples of biomass collected on the disks were harvested and examined under a microscope to identify microalgae species present. Biomass productivity of each disk was also calculated through measuring the dry weight of harvested samples. The filamentous Stigeoclonium and Klebsormidium genera were dominant, while other diatom strains, such as Nitzschia, were observed at smaller frequencies. Microalgae productivities will be used to determine the rate of nutrient uptake and removal from the wastewater, including nitrogen and phosphorus, to prevent eutrophication of receiving waters

An apparatus to measure frictional, inelastic, and viscous behavior in ice at temperate and planetary conditions

In this paper, we describe a cryogenic, servo-controlled biaxial friction apparatus designed to measure the deformational behaviors of ice. The apparatus is specifically designed to accurately achieve and measure the low differential stresses applicable to deforming ice on earth and on icy satellites. We can apply loads in the range ∼2–1800 kPa and velocities up to 4 mm/s, with resolution of 39 Pa and 0.7 μm, respectively. Precise temperature control, measurement, and insulation allow testing at constant temperature (from −2 to −30 °C) for prolonged periods of time. The apparatus is tested with various plastics as well as with polycrystalline ice samples and the results are consistent with previously published values. Critical components of the instrument are described along with examples of data collection schemes and preliminary results. The flexibility of the design allows for both glaciological and planetary applications over a range of deformational behaviors including friction, anelastic, and viscous

LPP3 mediates self-generation of chemotactic LPA gradients by melanoma cells

Melanoma cells steer out of tumours using self-generated lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) gradients. The cells break down LPA, which is present at high levels around the tumours, creating a dynamic gradient that is low in the tumour and high outside. They then also migrate up this gradient, creating a complex and evolving outward chemotactic stimulus. Here we introduce a new assay for self-generated chemotaxis, and show that raising LPA levels causes a delay in migration rather than loss of chemotactic efficiency. Knockdown of the lipid phosphatase LPP3 - but not its homologues LPP1 or LPP2 - diminishes the cell's ability to break down LPA. This is specific for chemotactically active LPAs, such as the 18:1 and 20:4 species. Inhibition of autotaxin-mediated LPA production does not diminish outward chemotaxis, but loss of LPP3-mediated LPA breakdown blocks it. Similarly, in both 2D and 3D invasion assays, knockdown of LPP3 diminishes melanoma cells' ability to invade. Our results demonstrate that LPP3 is the key enzyme in melanoma cells' breakdown of LPA, and confirm the importance of attractant breakdown in LPA-mediated cell steering

Type Inference for Correspondence Types

AbstractWe present a correspondence type/effect system for authenticity in a π-calculus with polarized channels, dependent pair types and effect terms and show how one may, given a process P and an a priori type environment E, generate constraints that are formulae in the Alternating Least Fixed-Point (ALFP) logic. We then show how a reasonable model of the generated constraints yields a type/effect assignment such that P becomes well-typed with respect to E if and only if this is possible. The formulae generated satisfy a finite model property; a system of constraints is satisfiable if and only if it has a finite model. As a consequence, we obtain the result that type/effect inference in our system is polynomial-time decidable

Aerodynamic Electrical Energy: Wind Turbine Engineering

Renewable resources such as wind, solar, and water, are important in energy production. This project was to design a wind turbine electricity generation system and gain an understanding of the engineering involved in producing electricity from the wind. Having observed the wind patterns on the campus of Utah State University, it was decided to obtain both a horizontal axis (HAWT) and a vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and mount them on the roof of the USU Dean F. Peterson, Jr. Engineering Laboratory Building. The outputs of both turbines were measured and compared. For the low wind conditions of Logan, Utah, the HAWT was found to be the most effective

Layered architecture for quantum computing

We develop a layered quantum computer architecture, which is a systematic framework for tackling the individual challenges of developing a quantum computer while constructing a cohesive device design. We discuss many of the prominent techniques for implementing circuit-model quantum computing and introduce several new methods, with an emphasis on employing surface code quantum error correction. In doing so, we propose a new quantum computer architecture based on optical control of quantum dots. The timescales of physical hardware operations and logical, error-corrected quantum gates differ by several orders of magnitude. By dividing functionality into layers, we can design and analyze subsystems independently, demonstrating the value of our layered architectural approach. Using this concrete hardware platform, we provide resource analysis for executing fault-tolerant quantum algorithms for integer factoring and quantum simulation, finding that the quantum dot architecture we study could solve such problems on the timescale of days.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figure

Acoustic and Microstructural Properties of Partially Molten Samples in the Ice-Ammonia System

We measured the ultrasonic properties and the microstructure of two-phase binary mixtures of the ice-ammonia partial melt system, which was selected based on its importance for numerous planetary bodies. The equilibrium microstructure of ice-ammonia melt was examined using a light microscope within a cold room. The measured median dihedral angle between the solid and melt at 256 K is approximately 63deg, with a broad distribution of observed angles. P-wave velocities in the partially molten samples were measured as a function of temperature and composition. We compare the results of this study to those of other potential binary systems by normalizing the datasets using a vertical lever and articulating the potential effects on the mechanical behavior and transport capabilities of partially molten ice in icy satellites