Recent studies suggest the increasing contribution of groundwater depletion to global sea‐level rise. Groundwater depletion has more than doubled during the last decades, primarily due to increase in ...water demand, while the increase in water impoundments behind dams has been tapering off since the 1990s. As a result, the contribution of groundwater depletion to sea‐level rise is likely to dominate over those of other terrestrial water sources in the coming decades. Yet, no projections into the 21st century are available. Here we present a reconstruction of past groundwater depletion and its contribution to global sea‐level variation, as well as 21st century projections based on three combined socio‐economic and climate scenarios (SRES) with transient climate forcing from three General Circulation Models (GCMs). We validate and correct estimated groundwater depletion with independent local and regional assessments, and place our results in context of other terrestrial water contributions to sea‐level variation. Our results show that the contribution of groundwater depletion to sea‐level increased from 0.035 (±0.009) mm yr−1 in 1900 to 0.57 (±0.09) mm yr−1 in 2000, and is projected to increase to 0.82 (±0.13) mm yr−1 by the year 2050. We estimate the net contribution of terrestrial sources to be negative of order −0.15 (±0.09) mm yr−1 over 1970–1990 as a result of dam impoundment. However, we estimate this to become positive of order +0.25 (±0.09) mm yr−1 over 1990–2000 due to increased groundwater depletion and decreased dam building. We project the net terrestrial contribution to increase to +0.87 (±0.14) mm yr−1 by 2050. As a result, the cumulative contribution will become positive by 2015, offsetting dam impoundment (maximum −31 ± 3.1 mm in 2010), and resulting in a total rise of +31 (±11) mm by 2050.
Key Points
Future projection of the contribution of groundwater depletion to sea‐level rise
The contribution of GW depletion outweighs the negative contribution by dams
GW depletion will be a dominant contribution to SLR from land in coming decades
We present Chandra and Very Large Array observations of GW170817 at ∼521-743 days post-merger, and a homogeneous analysis of the entire Chandra data set. We find that the late-time nonthermal ...emission follows the expected evolution of an off-axis relativistic jet, with a steep temporal decay F ∝ t − 1.95 0.15 and power-law spectrum F ∝ − 0.575 0.007 . We present a new method to constrain the merger environment density based on diffuse X-ray emission from hot plasma in the host galaxy and find n ≤ 9.6 × 10 − 3 cm − 3 . This measurement is independent from inferences based on jet afterglow modeling and allows us to partially solve for model degeneracies. The updated best-fitting model parameters with this density constraint are a fireball kinetic energy E 0 = 1.5 − 1.1 + 3.6 × 10 49 erg ( E iso = 2.1 − 1.5 + 6.4 × 10 52 erg ) and jet opening angle θ 0 = 5.9 − 0.7 + 1.0 deg with characteristic Lorentz factor Γ j = 163 − 43 + 23 , expanding in a low-density medium with n 0 = 2.5 − 1.9 + 4.1 × 10 − 3 cm − 3 and viewed θ obs = 30.4 − 3.4 + 4.0 deg off-axis. The synchrotron emission originates from a power-law distribution of electrons with index p = 2.15 − 0.02 + 0.01 . The shock microphysics parameters are constrained to ϵ e = 0.18 − 0.13 + 0.30 and ϵ B = 2.3 − 2.2 + 16.0 × 10 − 3 . Furthermore, we investigate the presence of X-ray flares and find no statistically significant evidence of ≥2.5 of temporal variability at any time. Finally, we use our observations to constrain the properties of synchrotron emission from the deceleration of the fastest kilonova ejecta with energy E k KN ∝ ( Γ β ) − into the environment, finding that shallow stratification indexes ≤ 6 are disfavored. Future radio and X-ray observations will refine our inferences on the fastest kilonova ejecta properties.
Background and purpose
Recent genome‐wide association studies have shown associations between multiple genetic variants and primary restless legs syndrome (RLS). Their roles in end stage renal ...disease (ESRD) related secondary RLS are not clear and studies in Asian populations are scarce. The association between candidate genetic variants and uremic RLS was investigated in a large cohort of Taiwanese dialysis patients.
Methods
Sixteen RLS‐related genetic variants at six loci, including MEIS1, BTBD9, MAP2K5/SKOR1, PTPRD, TOX3/BC034767 and the intergenic region of chromosome 2p14, in a total of 993 ESRD patients (259 subjects with and 734 subjects without RLS) were genotyped using TaqMan® genotyping assays. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to test for associations between the genotypes and RLS in ESRD. Power calculations were completed using the CATs Genetic Power Calculator with settings of a multiplicative genetic model.
Results
A modest association between the PTPRD variant rs4626664 and uremic RLS (odds ratio 1.52, 95% CI 1.03–2.23, P = 0.03) and a trend that TOX3/BC034767 variant rs3104767 may associate with the occurrence of RLS were observed in our dialysis population (odds ratio 1.74, 95% CI 0.97–3.11, P = 0.06). No associations between other genetic variants and risk and severity of RLS were observed in our ESRD cohort.
Conclusions
The genetic variants of primary RLS candidate genes did not play a major role in our uremic RLS populations. The ethnic difference and heterogeneous etiologies underlying renal failure may partly explain the minor genetic contribution to uremic RLS in our populations. Further studies for other ethnicities will be of worth.
Background
Combined esophageal high‐resolution impedance manometry (HRIM) measures multiple pressures and bolus transit simultaneously, facilitating detailed assessment of esophageal motility. ...Currently, normative values for water‐perfused HRIM systems for Chinese populations are lacking.
Methods
Healthy volunteers were enrolled for comprehensive anthropometric measures, blood biochemistry tests, and an HRIM study using 22 water‐perfused pressure sensors and 12 impedance channels. Ten 5‐mL liquid swallows of saline at 30‐second intervals were conducted. The following parameters were calculated: distal contractile integral (DCI), distal latency (DL), lower esophageal sphincter (LES) basal pressure, 4‐second integrated relaxation pressure (IRP‐4s), and complete bolus transit percentage. Normal values were established based on the 5th and 95th percentiles.
Key Results
All 66 participants (34 male, 32 female, aged 21‐64 years) completed the study and tolerated the HRIM procedure well. The upper normal limit (95th percentile) of IRP‐4 second was 20 mmHg. The 5th‐95th percentile range for DCI, DL, and complete bolus transit was 99‐2186 mmHg●s●cm, 6.2‐11.3 second, and 50%‐100%, respectively. Age was negatively correlated with DL. Females had significantly higher upper limits for IRP‐4s and median DCI than males. Multivariate analyses confirmed that IRP‐4s was higher in females, and that higher body mass index and waist circumference were associated with reduced DL and better bolus transit, respectively.
Conclusions and Inferences
We established normative values for the water‐perfused HRIM system for a Chinese population. Gender and anthropometric factors may affect various major HRIM parameters and should be taken into account when interpreting HRIM results in clinical practice.
The present study provides the first normative dataset for water‐perfused HRIM systems for the Chinese population, and confirms the importance of establishing respective normative datasets for different HRM/HRIM systems and populations. Moreover, we show that various demographic factors, especially gender, may affect the major parameters of esophageal motility that are obtained using HRIM. These factors may need to be accounted for when interpreting HRIM results in clinical practice.
Activated androgen receptor binds to androgen-responsive elements (AREs) in genome to regulate target gene transcription and, consequently, mediates physiological or tumorigenic processes of the ...prostate. Our aim was to determine whether genetic variants in AREs are associated with clinical outcomes after androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) in prostate cancer patients.
We systematically investigated 55 common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the genome-wide insilico-predicted AREs in a cohort of 601 men with advanced prostate cancer treated with ADT. The prognostic significance of these SNPs on disease progression, prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) and all-cause mortality (ACM) after ADT was assessed by Kaplan–Meier analysis and Cox regression model.
In univariate analysis, two, five, and four SNPs were associated with disease progression, PCSM, and ACM, respectively. After adjusting for known prognostic factors, ARRDC3 rs2939244, FLT1 rs9508016, and SKAP1 rs6504145 remained as significant predictors for PCSM and FBXO32 rs7830622 and FLT1 rs9508016 remained as significant predictors for ACM in multivariate analysis. Moreover, strong combined genotype effects on PCSM and ACM were also observed (Ptrend < 0.001).
Our results suggest that SNPs in AREs influence prostate cancer survival and may further advance our understanding of the disease progression.
Magnetostriction, the strain induced by a change in magnetization, is a universal effect in magnetic materials. Owing to the difficulty in unraveling its microscopic origin, it has been largely ...treated phenomenologically. Here, we show how the source of magnetostriction-the underlying magnetoelastic stress-can be separated in the time domain, opening the door for an atomistic understanding. X-ray and electron diffraction are used to separate the sub-picosecond spin and lattice responses of FePt nanoparticles. Following excitation with a 50-fs laser pulse, time-resolved X-ray diffraction demonstrates that magnetic order is lost within the nanoparticles with a time constant of 146 fs. Ultrafast electron diffraction reveals that this demagnetization is followed by an anisotropic, three-dimensional lattice motion. Analysis of the size, speed, and symmetry of the lattice motion, together with ab initio calculations accounting for the stresses due to electrons and phonons, allow us to reveal the magnetoelastic stress generated by demagnetization.
Cosmic-ray proton and helium spectra have been measured with the balloon-borne Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass experiment flown for 42 days in Antarctica in the 2004-2005 austral summer season. ...High-energy cosmic-ray data were collected at an average altitude of ~38.5 km with an average atmospheric overburden of ~3.9 g cm--2. Individual elements are clearly separated with a charge resolution of ~0.15 e (in charge units) and ~0.2 e for protons and helium nuclei, respectively. The measured spectra at the top of the atmosphere are represented by power laws with a spectral index of --2.66 ? 0.02 for protons from 2.5 TeV to 250 TeV and --2.58 ? 0.02 for helium nuclei from 630 GeV nucleon--1 to 63 TeV nucleon--1. They are harder than previous measurements at a few tens of GeV nucleon--1. The helium flux is higher than that expected from the extrapolation of the power law fitted to the lower-energy data. The relative abundance of protons to helium nuclei is 9.1 ? 0.5 for the range from 2.5 TeV nucleon--1 to 63 TeV nucleon--1. This ratio is considerably smaller than the previous measurements at a few tens of GeV nucleon--1.
Summary Objectives To investigate the association of ultrasound (US) features with pain and the functional scores in patients with equal radiographic grades of osteoarthritis (OA) in both knees. ...Methods Fifty-six consecutive patients with knee OA: 85 symptomatic knees (81 knees with medial pain) and 27 asymptomatic knees, and 10 healthy patients without knee OA as a control were enrolled. US was done by two ultrasonographers blinded to patient diagnoses. US features were semiquantitatively scored (0–3) when appropriate. Results In the OA group, common US findings were marginal osteophyte, suprapatellar synovitis, suprapatellar effusion (SPE), medial meniscus protrusion, medial compartment synovitis (MCS), lateral compartment synovitis, and Baker's cyst. Only SPE and MCS were significantly associated with knee pain. Visual analog pain scale (VAS) scores on motion were positively linearly associated with SPE and MCS ( P < 0.01). Only MCS was degree-dependently associated with VAS scores at rest, the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities pain subscale, and the presence of medial knee pain ( P < 0.01) after adjustments for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), radiographic grade, and other US features. In the control group, no US features were associated with knee pain. Conclusions US inflammation features, including SPE and MCS, were positively linearly associated with knee pain in motion. MCS was also degree-dependently associated with pain at rest and the presence of medial knee pain. These findings show that synovitis was one important predictive factor of pain. Further studies to confirm the association of US features and pain are warranted.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with risk variants in the human genome and dysbiosis of the gut microbiome, though unifying principles for these findings remain largely undescribed. ...The human commensal Bacteroides fragilis delivers immunomodulatory molecules to immune cells via secretion of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). We reveal that OMVs require IBD-associated genes, ATG16L1 and NOD2, to activate a noncanonical autophagy pathway during protection from colitis. ATG16L1-deficient dendritic cells do not induce regulatory T cells (Tregs) to suppress mucosal inflammation. Immune cells from human subjects with a major risk variant in ATG16L1 are defective in Treg responses to OMVs. We propose that polymorphisms in susceptibility genes promote disease through defects in "sensing" protective signals from the microbiome, defining a potentially critical gene-environment etiology for IBD.
Development of efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts has a direct impact on the water splitting efficiency and cost effectiveness. In this work, we report the successful ...synthesis of a new Ni(OH)
2
structure, strain-stabilized Ni(OH)
2
nanoribbons (NR-Ni(OH)
2
) two to three layers thick, with widths of 2-5 nm,
via
an electro-oxidation route. Conventional Ni(OH)
2
usually has negligible OER activity, while NR-Ni(OH)
2
shows high activity for the oxygen evolution reaction and an overpotential of 162 millivolts and furthermore exhibits long-term stability in alkaline electrolyte. The substantial reduction in the overpotential of NR-Ni(OH)
2
is due to its easier OOH* adsorption by the active four-coordinated Ni edge sites. The enhanced catalytic activity of NR-Ni(OH)
2
makes it an excellent candidate for industrial applications.
Development of efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts has a direct impact on the water splitting efficiency and cost effectiveness.
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