Effects of Longwall Mining on Hydrology, Leslie County, Kentucky Part 2: During-Mining Conditions

The effects of longwall coal mining on hydrology in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field are being investigated. The study area is in the Edd Fork watershed in southern Leslie County, over Shamrock Coal Company\u27s Beech Fork Mine. Longwall panels approximately 700 ft wide are separated by three-entry gateways that are approximately 200 ft wide. The mine is operated in the Fire Clay (Hazard No. 4) coal; overburden thickness ranges from 300 to 800 ft. Mining began in panel 1 in September 1991 and concluded with panel 8 in September 1994. Long-term monitoring consisting of a network of piezometers and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) cables previously installed over panel 7, in conjunction with a continuously recording rain gage and flume, is continuing after the completion of mining. Mining in panel 5 affected water levels in three of 24 piezometers installed over panel 7; the level went down in one piezometer and rose in two. Mining in panel 6 affected 16 of 24 piezometers; the level went down in 11 piezometers and rose in five. Mining in panel 7 affected water levels in 20 of 24 piezometers. Different water-level responses were recorded as the mine approached and passed by the instrumental sites. Thirteen piezometers failed as a result of undermining. These piezometers penetrated the zone of deep fracturing that extends upward approximately 450 ft (or 60 times greater than the mined thickness) above the mine. Only one piezometer showed a net increase in water level as a result of mining. Mining-induced surface fractures, observed along roads in the watershed, were generally parallel to the slope of the land surface or mining direction and probably contributed to ground-water recharge. The surface stream was unaffected until it was undermined by panel 8; then the stream went dry. TDR cables in the Hazard coal zone were deformed as mining passed by on the adjacent panel. Water levels in piezometers in the Hazard coal zone declined at the same time. TDR cables broke completely twice. The deepest complete break was in the Hazard coal zone and occurred when the active mine face was approaching, but still approximately 1,000 ft away from, the affected cable in panel 7. This corresponds to an angle of influence of 60 to 70°. Rock broke in the shallow subsurface (less than 50 ft deep) when the cable was directly undermined. Water-level responses in piezometers adjacent to mining are related to the complex flow system, rather than a defined angle of hydrologic influence. Coal beds and other conductive strata transmit water-level responses as far away as 1,450 ft, whereas nonconductive strata transmit little water-level change at closer distances. The water-level responses observed in this study support existing subsidence models. Piezometers in the zone of intensive fracturing failed as a result of rock breakage. An aquiclude zone developed in the ridge. The integrity of strata and piezometers was generally maintained. The most variable effects were observed in the zone of surface fracturing, within 50 ft of the surface

Effects of Longwall Mining on Hydrogeology, Leslie County, Kentucky Part 3: Post-Mining Conditions

The effects of longwall coal mining on hydrology in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field have been investigated since 1991. The study area is in the Edd Fork watershed in southern Leslie County, over Shamrock Coal Company\u27s Beech Fork Mine. Longwall panels approximately 700 ft wide are separated by three-entry gateways that are approximately 200 ft wide. The mine is operated in the Fire Clay (Hazard No. 4) coal; overburden thickness ranges from 300 to 800 ft. Mining began in panel 1 in September 1991 and concluded with panel 8 in September 1994. Long-term monitoring consisting of a network of piezometers and time-domain reflectometry (TDR) cables previously installed over panel 7, in conjunction with a continuously recording rain gage and flume, began after the completion of mining. Two new core holes were drilled over panel 7 approximately 1 year after mining ceased in panel 8 to determine depth of collapse and hydraulic conductivity of strata. Water levels were measured in two new monitoring wells installed after mining to complement the 11 piezometers installed prior to mining that were still functioning. Precipitation was measured through July 1996, and streamflow was measured in Edd Fork on a monthly basis using a cross-section gaging method. Physical failure of piezometers, core drilling, and the movement of air into deeper piezometers after mining indicate that extensive fracturing occurred to a height of 450 ft above the mine, which is approximately 60 times the extracted coal-seam thickness. Hydraulic conductivity values determined from pressure-injection tests were 10 to 100 times greater after mining than before mining; many values were in the range of 10-2 to 10-4 ft/min for all lithologies. At a minimum, a zone of rock approximately 200 ft above the mined coal was dewatered beneath Edd Fork. Ground-water levels in ridgetop piezometers fluctuated slightly more after mining than they did before, which indicates that the upper part of the ridge is more hydraulically connected to surface recharge from precipitation since mining took place. The existence of ground water in the shallow ridgetop piezometers suggests that an underlying aquitard zone developed during mine collapse, which retards the downward movement of shallow ground water to the mined-out area. Water level declined in a sandstone unit approximately 300 ft above the mine after mining, but recovered within a year. This indicates that the underlying regional aquitard still retards downward ground-water movement, despite the hydraulic conductivity of the unit increasing 100 times after mining. Edd Fork, approximately 375 ft above the mine in panel 7, resumed surface flow 2 months after completion of mining; however, flow diminishes downstream at about the centerline of panel 8. Mining is still active in other areas of the mine, and mechanical dewatering activities will most likely keep water levels in the deep zones artificially depressed in the study area until mining is completed and dewatering activities cease

Regulatory Polymorphisms in the Cyclophilin A Gene, PPIA, Accelerate Progression to AIDS

Human cyclophilin A, or CypA, encoded by the gene peptidyl prolyl isomerase A (PPIA), is incorporated into the HIV type 1 (HIV-1) virion and promotes HIV-1 infectivity by facilitating virus uncoating. We examined the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and haplotypes within the PPIA gene on HIV-1 infection and disease progression in five HIV-1 longitudinal history cohorts. Kaplan-Meier survival statistics and Cox proportional hazards model were used to assess time to AIDS outcomes. Among eight SNPs tested, two promoter SNPs (SNP3 and SNP4) in perfect linkage disequilibrium were associated with more rapid CD4+ T-cell loss (relative hazard = 3.7, p = 0.003) in African Americans. Among European Americans, these alleles were also associated with a significant trend to more rapid progression to AIDS in a multi-point categorical analysis (p = 0.005). Both SNPs showed differential nuclear protein-binding efficiencies in a gel shift assay. In addition, one SNP (SNP5) located in the 5′ UTR previously shown to be associated with higher ex vivo HIV-1 replication was found to be more frequent in HIV-1-positive individuals than in those highly exposed uninfected individuals. These results implicate regulatory PPIA polymorphisms as a component of genetic susceptibility to HIV-1 infection or disease progression, affirming the important role of PPIA in HIV-1 pathogenesis

Genesis and growth of extracellular vesicle-derived microcalcification in atherosclerotic plaques

Clinical evidence links arterial calcification and cardiovascular risk. Finite-element modelling of the stress distribution within atherosclerotic plaques has suggested that subcellular microcalcifications in the fibrous cap may promote material failure of the plaque, but that large calcifications can stabilize it. Yet the physicochemical mechanisms underlying such mineral formation and growth in atheromata remain unknown. Here, by using three-dimensional collagen hydrogels that mimic structural features of the atherosclerotic fibrous cap, and high-resolution microscopic and spectroscopic analyses of both the hydrogels and of calcified human plaques, we demonstrate that calcific mineral formation and maturation results from a series of events involving the aggregation of calcifying extracellular vesicles, and the formation of microcalcifications and ultimately large calcification zones. We also show that calcification morphology and the plaque’s collagen content – two determinants of atherosclerotic plaque stability - are interlinked

The 2MASS Redshift Survey - Description and Data Release

We present the results of the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS), a ten-year project to map the full three-dimensional distribution of galaxies in the nearby Universe. The 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) was completed in 2003 and its final data products, including an extended source catalog (XSC), are available on-line. The 2MASS XSC contains nearly a million galaxies with Ks <= 13.5 mag and is essentially complete and mostly unaffected by interstellar extinction and stellar confusion down to a galactic latitude of |b|=5 deg for bright galaxies. Near-infrared wavelengths are sensitive to the old stellar populations that dominate galaxy masses, making 2MASS an excellent starting point to study the distribution of matter in the nearby Universe. We selected a sample of 44,599 2MASS galaxies with Ks =5 deg (>= 8 deg towards the Galactic bulge) as the input catalog for our survey. We obtained spectroscopic observations for 11,000 galaxies and used previously-obtained velocities for the remainder of the sample to generate a redshift catalog that is 97.6% complete to well-defined limits and covers 91% of the sky. This provides an unprecedented census of galaxy (baryonic mass) concentrations within 300 Mpc. Earlier versions of our survey have been used in a number of publications that have studied the bulk motion of the Local Group, mapped the density and peculiar velocity fields out to 50 Mpc, detected galaxy groups, and estimated the values of several cosmological parameters. Additionally, we present morphological types for a nearly-complete sub-sample of 20,860 galaxies with Ks = 10 deg.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. The 2MRS catalogs and a version of the paper with higher-resolution figures can be found at http://tdc-www.harvard.edu/2mrs

Sepharadim/conversos and premodern Global Hispanism

Sepharadim participated in the Hispanic vernacular culture of the Iberian Peninsula. Even in the time of al-Andalus many spoke Hispano-Romance, and even their Hebrew literature belies a deep familiarity with and love of their native Hispano-Romance languages. However, since the early sixteenth century the vast majority of Sepharadim have never lived in the Hispanic world. Sepharadim lived not in Spanish colonies defined by Spanish conquest, but in a network of Mediterranean Jewish communities defined by diasporic values and institutions. By contrast, the conversos, those Sepharadim who converted to Catholicism, whether in Spain or later in Portugal, Italy, or the New World, lived mostly in Spanish Imperial lands, were officially Catholic, and spoke normative Castilian. Their connections, both real and imagined, with Sephardic cultural practice put them at risk of social marginalization, incarceration, even death. Some were devout Catholics whose heritage and family history doomed them to these outcomes. Not surprisingly, many Spanish and Portugese conversos sought refuge in lands outside of Spanish control where they might live openly as Jews. This exodus (1600s) from the lands formerly known as Sefarad led to a parallel Sephardic community of what conversos who re-embraced Judaism in Amsterdam and Italy by a generation of conversos trained in Spanish universities. The Sephardic/Converso cultural complex exceeds the boundaries of Spanish imperial geography, confuses Spanish, Portuguese, Catholic, and Jewish subjectivities, and defies traditional categories practiced in Hispanic studies, and are a unique example of the Global Hispanophone

Elevated 20-HETE Impairs Coronary Collateral Growth in Metabolic Syndrome Via Endothelial Dysfunction

Coronary collateral growth (CCG) is impaired in metabolic syndrome (MetS). microRNA-145 (miR-145-Adv) delivery to our rat model of metabolic syndrome (JCR) completely restored and neutrophil depletion significantly improved CCG. We determined whether low endogenous levels of miR-145 in MetS allowed for elevated production of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE), which in turn, resulted in excessive neutrophil accumulation and endothelial dysfunction leading to impaired CCG. Rats underwent 0-9 days of repetitive ischemia (RI). RI-induced cardiac CYP4F (neutrophil-specific 20-HETE synthase) expression and 20-HETE levels were increased (4-fold) in JCR vs. normal rats. miR-145-Adv and 20-HETE antagonists abolished, and neutrophil depletion (blocking antibodies) reduced (~60%) RI-induced increases in CYP4F expression and 20-HETE production in JCR rats. Impaired CCG in JCR rats (collateral-dependent blood flow using microspheres) was completely restored by 20-HETE antagonists ((collateral-dependent zone)CZ/(normal zone)NZ flow ratio was 0.76±0.07 in JCR+20-SOLA, 0.84±0.05 in JCR+20-HEDGE vs. 0.11±0.02 in JCR vs. 0.84±0.03 in normal rats). In JCR rats, elevated 20-HETE was associated with excessive expression of endothelial adhesion molecules and neutrophil infiltration which were reversed by miR-145-Adv. Endothelium-dependent vasodilation of coronary arteries, eNOS Ser1179 phosphorylation, eNOS-dependent NO.- production and endothelial cell survival were compromised in JCR rats. These parameters of endothelial dysfunction were completely reversed by 20-HETE antagonism or miR-145-Adv delivery, whereas neutrophil depletion resulted in partial reversal (~70%). We conclude that low miR-145 in MetS allows for increased 20-HETE, mainly from neutrophils, which compromises endothelial cell survival and function leading to impaired CCG. 20-HETE antagonists could provide viable therapy for restoration of CCG in MetS

Cardiovascular Function in Male and Female JCR:LA-Cp Rats: Effect of High Fat/High Sucrose Diet

30% of the world population is diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. High fat/high sucrose diet (HF/HS, Western diet) correlates with metabolic syndrome prevalence. We characterized effects of the HF/HS diet on vascular (arterial stiffness, vasoreactivity, coronary collateral development) and cardiac (echocardiography) function, oxidative stress and inflammation in a rat model of metabolic syndrome (JCR). Furthermore, we determined whether male vs. female animals were affected differentially by the Western diet. Cardiovascular function in JCR male rats was impaired vs. normal rats (SD). HF/HS diet compromised cardiovascular (dys)function in JCR but not in SD male rats. In contrast, cardiovascular function was minimally impaired in JCR females on normal chow. However, cardiovascular function in JCR females on the HF/HS diet deteriorated to levels comparable to JCR males on the HF/HS diet. Similarly, oxidative stress was markedly increased in male but not female JCR rats on normal chow, but was equally exacerbated by the HF/HS diet in male and female JCR rats. These results indicate that the Western diet enhances oxidative stress and cardiovascular dysfunction in metabolic syndrome and eliminates the protective effect of female sex on cardiovascular function, implying that both males and females with metabolic syndrome are at equal risk for cardiovascular disease

Added Economic Benefits of Energy and Protein Supplements for Calves Grazing Rye-Ryegrass Pastures

Last updated: 5/29/201