In-Use Stocks of Iron in the State of Connecticut, USA

A “bottom-up” study was conducted for in-use stocks of iron in the State of Connecticut for the base year of 2000. The study covers 145 product types in the four major categories of transportation, buildings, equipment, and infrastructure. The method of calculation, as well as the allocation of iron in different use categories is discussed. The total result of 9,300 kg of iron per capita is slightly higher than that from a previous study for the city of New Haven, but below the results of national top-down analyses. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are considered. A sensitivity analysis and an error rating were applied to the calculations to examine uncertainties

Copper In-Use Stock and Copper Scrap in the State of Connecticut, USA

During the summer of 2006, the standing in-use stocks and associated discards of copper, centered about the year 2000, were quantified for the State of Connecticut.The methodology, results, and discussion are published here in three parts: Part A. In-Use Stocks of Copper in the State of Connecticut Part B. Discard Flows from In-Use Stocks of Copper in the State of Connecticut Part C. Recycling Rate of Old Scrap Copper in the State of Connecticut Among the most important and interesting results are as follows: 1) A “bottom-up” assessment of the in-use stocks of copper in the State of Connecticut, circa 2000, yields an overall result of approximately 540 Gg (thousand metric tons) of copper, or 157 kg for every person in the State. Buildings make up the largest category with 53% of the total, with residential buildings as the largest sub-category. 2) The discard flows of copper from in-use stocks were quantified by applying a lifetime analysis to the in-use stock estimates of copper in Connecticut. A total copper mass of 17 Gg/yr (thousand metric tons per year), or 5.1 kg/(capita*year), was discarded from in-use stocks at the beginning of the 21st century. Renovation and demolition debris make up the largest category with 36% of the total, followed by waste from electronic and electrical equipment (26%), transportation (23%), and infrastructure (14%). 3) The recovery rate, recycling efficiency, and recycling rate for copper from in-use stock discards were quantified for the State of Connecticut for the year 2000. With a recovery rate of 84%, and recycling efficiency of 75%, the overall recycling rate was found to be 63%. Neglecting sewage sludge, the lowest recycling rate occurred in end-of-life vehicles and waste from electronic and electrical equipment (45%). A rough estimate combining this old scrap recycling rate with that of new scrap puts the overall recycling rate of copper in Connecticut at approximately 70%

Dusty Disks Around Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae

Only a few percent of cool, old white dwarfs (WDs) have infrared excesses interpreted as originating in small hot disks due to the infall and destruction of single asteroids that come within the star's Roche limit. Infrared excesses at 24 micron were also found to derive from the immediate vicinity of younger, hot WDs, most of which are still central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPN). The incidence of CSPN with this excess is 18%. The Helix CSPN, with a 24 micron excess, has been suggested to have a disk formed from collisions of Kuiper belt-like objects (KBOs). In this paper, we have analyzed an additional sample of CSPN to look for similar infrared excesses. These CSPN are all members of the PG 1159 class and were chosen because their immediate progenitors are known to often have dusty environments consistent with large dusty disks. We find that, overall, PG 1159 stars do not present such disks more often than other CSPN, although the statistics (5 objects) are poor. We then consider the entire sample of CSPN with infrared excesses, and compare it to the infrared properties of old WDs, as well as cooler post-AGB stars. We conclude with the suggestion that the infrared properties of CSPN more plausibly derive from AGB-formed disks rather than disks formed via the collision of KBOs, although the latter scenario cannot be ruled out. We finally remark that there seems to be an association between CSPN with a 24 micron excess and confirmed or possible binarity of the central star.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, AJ, in pres

Flow and Fates of Discarded Copper in Sofia, Bulgaria, and New Haven CT, USA

In order to better understand the fate of copper following its use, the discard flows of copper were analyzed in Sofia, Bulgaria, and New Haven, CT, USA. These cities were chosen to compare discard copper generation and recovery between a city in a developed country and a city in a developing country. The comparison between these two cities can be problematic due to their different relative sizes, and generalizing the results to other cities cannot be done without some error. However, as the first study of its kind, this study provides insights into the relative copper recovery rates indifferent socioeconomic contexts. The total yearly per capita copper discards from in-use stocks in Sofia were found to be about 1.9 kg/person (for year 2003), while New Haven has total yearly per capita copper discards from in-use stocks of about 4.7kg/person (for year 2000). The associated recovery rates for copper in both cities are quite high, at about 87% in New Haven, and 97% in Sofia. The higher per capita copper discards and the lower recovery rate in New Haven is thought to be attributable to the higher average income level relative to Sofia

A Keck HIRES Investigation of the Metal Abundances and Kinematics of Three Damped Lya Systems Toward Q2206-199

We present high resolution, high SNR spectra of the QSO Q2206-199 obtained with HIRES on the 10m W.M. Keck Telescope. Our analysis focuses on the two previously identified damped \lya systems found at $z=1.920$ and $z=2.076$. For each system, we measure accurate abundances. The $z=1.920$ system exhibits the highest metallicity we have measured for a damped \lya system. We report the first confident ($>5 \sigma$) detection of Ti in a QSO absorption line system. By contrast the $z=2.076$ system is the most metal poor we have analyzed, showing absorption features for only the strongest transitions. We find no positive evidence for the presence of dust in either system. The two damped systems exhibit significantly different kinematic characteristics, yet we contend the two systems are consistent with one physical description: that of a thick, rotating disk. We investigate a very strong Mg II system at $z=0.752$ which is very likely yet a third damped \lya system. The very weak Mn II and Ti II transitions have been positively measured and imply $\log \N{HI} > 19.0$. We analyze the abundance ratios [Mn/Fe] and [Ti/Fe] and their values are inconsistent with dust depletion, yet consistent with the abundance pattern detected for halo stars in the Galaxy (see Lu et al. 1996a). Finally, we identify a C IV system at $z=2.014$ that shows a very narrow feature in Si IV and C IV absorption. The corresponding $b$ values (5.5 \kms and 8.9 \kms for Si IV and C IV) for this component suggest a temperature of 4.7 \sci{4} \rm K. Because collisional ionization can explain the observed abundances only for T > 8 \sci{4} \rm K, we contend these ions must have formed through a different physical process (e.g. photoionization).Comment: 55 pages, 16 encapsulated figures, uses aaspp4.sty. Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. Change: Fixed Title. Also available at http://nately.ucsd.edu/~xavier/DLA/obs.htm

A Latent Profile Analysis of Aggression and Victimization across Relationship Types Among Veterans Who Use Substances

Objective: This study examined patterns of violence victimization and aggression in both intimate partner and non-partner relationships among veterans, and used latent profile analysis to identify subtypes of violence involvement. Methods: Participants were 841 substance use treatment-seeking veterans (94% male) from a large VA Medical Center who completed screening measures for a randomized controlled trial. Self-report measures were: substance use, legal problems, depression, and violence involvement. Results: Past year violence involvement, including both intimate partner (IPV) and non-partner (NPV) were common in the sample; although NPV occurred at somewhat higher rates. When including either IPV or NPV aggression or victimization, over 48% reported involvement with physical violence, 31% with violence involving injury and 86% with psychological aggression. Latent profile analysis including both aggression and victimization in partner and non-partner relationships indicated a four profile solution: no-low violence (NLV, n = 701), predominantly IPV (n = 35), predominantly NPV (n = 83), and high general violence (HGV, n = 22). Multinomial logistic regression analyses revealed that compared to the no-low violence group, the remaining three groups differed in demographics, depressive symptoms, alcohol and other drug use, and legal involvement. Individuals within each profile had different patterns of substance use and legal involvement with the participants with an HGV profile reporting the most legal problems. Conclusions: IPV and NPV are relatively common among veterans seeking substance use treatment. Characteristics of violence and associated substance use, mental health, and legal difficulties may be useful in considering how to tailor substance use and mental health services

Hsp70 and Hsp40 inhibit an inter-domain interaction necessary for transcriptional activity in the androgen receptor.

Molecular chaperones such as Hsp40 and Hsp70 hold the androgen receptor (AR) in an inactive conformation. They are released in the presence of androgens, enabling transactivation and causing the receptor to become aggregation-prone. Here we show that these molecular chaperones recognize a region of the AR N-terminal domain (NTD), including a FQNLF motif, that interacts with the AR ligand-binding domain (LBD) upon activation. This suggests that competition between molecular chaperones and the LBD for the FQNLF motif regulates AR activation. We also show that, while the free NTD oligomerizes, binding to Hsp70 increases its solubility. Stabilizing the NTD-Hsp70 interaction with small molecules reduces AR aggregation and promotes its degradation in cellular and mouse models of the neuromuscular disorder spinal bulbar muscular atrophy. These results help resolve the mechanisms by which molecular chaperones regulate the balance between AR aggregation, activation and quality control

Electronic Structure and Epitaxy of CdTe Shells on InSb Nanowires

Indium antimonide (InSb) nanowires are used as building blocks for quantum devices because of their unique properties, i.e., strong spin-orbit interaction and large Land\'e g-factor. Integrating InSb nanowires with other materials could potentially unfold novel devices with distinctive functionality. A prominent example is the combination of InSb nanowires with superconductors for the emerging topological particles research. Here, we combine the II-VI cadmium telluride (CdTe) with the III-V InSb in the form of core-shell (InSb-CdTe) nanowires and explore potential applications based on the electronic structure of the InSb-CdTe interface and the epitaxy of CdTe on the InSb nanowires. We determine the electronic structure of the InSb-CdTe interface using density functional theory and extract a type-I band alignment with a small conduction band offset ($\leq$ 0.3 eV). These results indicate the potential application of these shells for surface passivation or as tunnel barriers in combination with superconductors. In terms of the structural quality of these shells, we demonstrate that the lattice-matched CdTe can be grown epitaxially on the InSb nanowires without interfacial strain or defects. These epitaxial shells do not introduce disorder to the InSb nanowires as indicated by the comparable field-effect mobility we measure for both uncapped and CdTe-capped nanowires

The ARF Tumor Suppressor Regulates Bone Remodeling and Osteosarcoma Development in Mice

The ARF tumor suppressor regulates p53 as well as basic developmental processes independent of p53, including osteoclast activation, by controlling ribosomal biogenesis. Here we provide evidence that ARF is a master regulator of bone remodeling and osteosarcoma (OS) development in mice. Arf-/- mice displayed increased osteoblast (OB) and osteoclast (OC) activity with a significant net increase in trabecular bone volume. The long bones of Arf-/- mice had increased expression of OB genes while Arf-/- OB showed enhanced differentiation in vitro. Mice transgenic for the Tax oncogene develop lymphocytic tumors with associated osteolytic lesions, while Tax+Arf-/- mice uniformly developed spontaneous OS by 7 months of age. Tax+Arf-/- tumors were well differentiated OS characterized by an abundance of new bone with OC recruitment, expressed OB markers and displayed intact levels of p53 mRNA and reduced Rb transcript levels. Cell lines established from OS recapitulated characteristics of the primary tumor, including the expression of mature OB markers and ability to form mineralized tumors when transplanted. Loss of heterozygosity in OS tumors arising in Tax+Arf+/- mice emphasized the necessity of ARF-loss in OS development. Hypothesizing that inhibition of ARF-regulated bone remodeling would repress development of OS, we demonstrated that treatment of Tax+Arf-/- mice with zoledronic acid, a bisphosphonate inhibitor of OC activity and repressor of bone turnover, prevented or delayed the onset of OS. These data describe a novel role for ARF as a regulator of bone remodeling through effects on both OB and OC. Finally, these data underscore the potential of targeting bone remodeling as adjuvant therapy or in patients with genetic predispositions to prevent the development of OS