TUNNEL GEOLOGY AS SEEN BY GEOLOGISTS: MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY

Current exploratory boring operations in and around Manhattan, New York City are providing geologists and geotechnical engineers with a plethora of new and interesting geological information, which has not been previously reported. The rocks encountered, mostly medium to high-grade metamorphic rocks, with both mafic and felsic intrusives, are highly variable in competency and mechanical durability. One of the most frequently encountered rock types is a garnetiferous-muscovite-biotite schist which grades into schistose gneiss and displays a wide variety of structural, compositional, and textural attributes. Metamorphic minerals showing the variable degree of metamorphism include graphite, talc, garnet, kyanite, tourmaline, emory, and occasionally sillimanite. The presence of magnetite-rich zones within the muscovite-garnet schist suggests a mechanism for the concentration of iron during metamorphism. Concentrations of garnet both in the schist and intrusive pegmatite is perhaps indicative of anatectic melting of the protolith. Marble is the dominant rock type east of CAMERON\u27S LINE and it varies from pure white calcitic to dolomitic coarsely crystalline marble, to siliceous calcitic to dolomitic marble. In places, highly pyrite-rich zones, perhaps suggesting hydrothermal alteration of the parent rock due to subsequent mineral-rich fluid flow, are observed. The timing of the sulfide-rich fluid-flow through the original bedrock is yet to be determined. Partial dissolution of marble at various depths has resulted in void (cave) formation and has posed a threat to the boring operations. Rocks of lower abundance include amphibolite, granodiorite, quartzite, serpentinite, and aplite. The overall structural fabric is controlled by the Taconic and Acadian Orogenic events and manifested in the development of characteristic foliation, joint patterns, intrusives, and the degree of metamorphism of the protoliths

Recent Global Warming: A New Approach to Interpreting Some of the Data

The authors have done an analysis of meteorological data which may add to the growing body of information addressing the cause or causes of recent global warming. If an augmented greenhouse effect, due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, has been a significant factor producing global warming, then this should be indicated by an increase in the interval of time between the time of maximum insolation, and the time of maximum surface temperature, as well as a decrease in the interval of time between the time of minimum insolation and the time of minimum surface temperature, in the mid latitudes. However, the magnitude of this effect should not be as great during the Northern Hemisphere summer as during the Northern Hemisphere winter because of the reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide due to increased photosynthesis. The authers have examined surface air temperature data from a mid-latitude, continental area to see if the above expected changes have, in fact, occurred. The results of this study indicate that global warming, during the ca. 50 year study period, is consistent with an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the earth\u27s atmosphere. A comparison of the summer vs winter lag data show that increases in heat retention have occurred mainly during the Northern Hemisphere winter, when annual carbon dioxide concentrations are greatest. The augmentation of the greenhouse effect appears to be mitigated during the Northern Hemisphere summer. The data suggest that factors other than anthropogenic increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide have also significantly influenced the heat budget at the surface of the earth during the period from 1950 to 2003

APOE-ɛ4, white matter hyperintensities, and cognition in Alzheimer and Lewy body dementia

Objective To determine if APOE ε4 influences the association between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Methods A total of 289 patients (AD = 239; DLB = 50) underwent volumetric MRI, neuropsychological testing, and APOE ε4 genotyping. Total WMH volumes were quantified. Neuropsychological test scores were included in a confirmatory factor analysis to identify cognitive domains encompassing attention/executive functions, learning/memory, and language, and factor scores for each domain were calculated per participant. After testing interactions between WMH and APOE ε4 in the full sample, we tested associations of WMH with factor scores using linear regression models in APOE ε4 carriers (n = 167) and noncarriers (n = 122). We hypothesized that greater WMH volume would relate to worse cognition more strongly in APOE ε4 carriers. Findings were replicated in 198 patients with AD from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI-I), and estimates from both samples were meta-analyzed. Results A significant interaction was observed between WMH and APOE ε4 for language, but not for memory or executive functions. Separate analyses in APOE ε4 carriers and noncarriers showed that greater WMH volume was associated with worse attention/executive functions, learning/memory, and language in APOE ε4 carriers only. In ADNI-I, greater WMH burden was associated with worse attention/executive functions and language in APOE ε4 carriers only. No significant associations were observed in noncarriers. Meta-analyses showed that greater WMH volume was associated with worse performance on all cognitive domains in APOE ε4 carriers only. Conclusion APOE ε4 may influence the association between WMH and cognitive performance in AD and DLB

APOE-ε4 associates with hippocampal volume, learning, and memory across the spectrum of Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies

Introduction Although the apolipoprotein E ε4-allele (APOE-ε4) is a susceptibility factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), its relationship with imaging and cognitive measures across the AD/DLB spectrum remains unexplored. Methods We studied 298 patients (AD = 250, DLB = 48; 38 autopsy confirmed; NCT01800214) using neuropsychological testing, volumetric magnetic resonance imaging, and APOE genotyping to investigate the association of APOE-ε4 with hippocampal volume and learning/memory phenotypes, irrespective of diagnosis. Results Across the AD/DLB spectrum: (1) hippocampal volumes were smaller with increasing APOE-ε4 dosage (no genotype × diagnosis interaction observed), (2) learning performance as assessed by total recall scores was associated with hippocampal volumes only among APOE-ε4 carriers, and (3) APOE-ε4 carriers performed worse on long-delay free word recall. Discussion These findings provide evidence that APOE-ε4 is linked to hippocampal atrophy and learning/memory phenotypes across the AD/DLB spectrum, which could be useful as biomarkers of disease progression in therapeutic trials of mixed disease

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI