After 53 years of quiescence, Mount Agung awoke in August 2017, with intense seismicity, measurable ground deformation, and thermal anomalies in the summit crater. Although the seismic unrest peaked ...in late September and early October, the volcano did not start erupting until 21 November. The most intense explosive eruptions with accompanying rapid lava effusion occurred between 25 and 29 November. Smaller infrequent explosions and extrusions continue through the present (June 2019). The delay between intense unrest and eruption caused considerable challenges to emergency responders, local and national governmental agencies, and the population of Bali near the volcano, including over 140,000 evacuees. This paper provides an overview of the volcanic activity at Mount Agung from the viewpoint of the volcano observatory and other scientists responding to the volcanic crisis. We discuss the volcanic activity as well as key data streams used to track it. We provide evidence that magma intruded into the mid-crust in early 2017, and again in August of that year, prior to intrusion of an inferred dike between Mount Agung and Batur Caldera that initiated an earthquake swarm in late September. We summarize efforts to forecast the behavior of the volcano, to quantify exclusion zones for evacuations, and to work with emergency responders and other government agencies to make decisions during a complex and tense volcanic crisis.
The current work reviews the importance of engineering the interface between nanofillers and polymers to achieve unique dielectric properties in nanocomposites. Although many improved dielectric ...properties of nanocomposites have been attributed to the presence of the interface, the interface can also be an attractive location for water to accumulate, which may otherwise jeopardize the dielectric properties of nanocomposites. Consequently, the use of surface functionalization and calcination techniques in removing water-related moieties on nanofillers is highlighted. Specifically, the effects of nanofiller calcination on two exemplar oxide-based nanocomposite systems, namely, silica-based nanocomposites and zirconia-based nanocomposites, are discussed. Evidence suggests that nanofiller calcination influences not only the water-related chemistry, but also the structure of oxide-based nanofillers. Significantly, for detailed interfacial chemistry of nanofillers to become relevant in engineering the dielectric properties of nanocomposites, effective removal of interfacial water on nanofillers is crucial.
Neutron production in antineutrino interactions can lead to bias in energy reconstruction in neutrino oscillation experiments, but these interactions have rarely been studied. MINERvA previously ...studied neutron production at an average antineutrino energy of ~3 GeV in 2016 and found deficiencies in leading models. In this paper, the MINERvA 6 GeV average antineutrino energy dataset is shown to have similar disagreements. A measurement of the cross section for an antineutrino to produce two or more neutrons and have low visible energy is presented as an experiment-independent way to explore neutron production modeling. This cross section disagrees with several leading models’ predictions. Neutron modeling techniques from nuclear physics are used to quantify neutron detection uncertainties on this result.
We present measurements of the cross section for anti-neutrino charged-current quasielastic-like scattering on hydrocarbon using the medium energy NuMI wide-band neutrino beam peaking at antineutrino ...energy $\langle E_\bar{v} \rangle$ 6 GeV. The measurements are presented as a function of the longitudinal momentum ($p_{||}$) and transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) of the final state muon. This work complements our previously reported high statistics measurement in the neutrino channel and extends the previous anti-neutrino measurement made in the low energy beam at $\langle E_\bar{v} \rangle$ ~ 3.5 GeV out to $p_{T}$ of 2.5 GeV/c. Current theoretical models do not completely describe the data in this previously unexplored high $p_{T}$ region. The single differential cross section as a function of four momentum transfer ($Q^{2}_{QE}$) now extends to 4 GeV2 with high statistics. The cross section as a function of $Q^{2}_{QE}$ shows that the tuned simulations developed by the MINERvA collaboration that agreed well with the low energy beam measurements do not agree as well with the medium energy beam measurements. Newer neutrino interaction models such as the GENIE 3 tunes are better able to simulate the high $Q^{2}_{QE}$.
The current work investigates the effects of filler calcination on the structure and dielectric properties of polyethylene/zirconia (ZrO 2 ) nanocomposites. Calcination temperatures of 600 and 900 °C ...have been applied to ZrO 2 in an attempt to modify its surface chemistry and structure. Calcination results in a slight reduction in the concentration of physically adsorbed water on ZrO 2 and, in addition, structural reorganization of the ZrO 2 nanopowder. Consequently, the real permittivity of nanocomposites containing calcined ZrO 2 is reduced compared to nanocomposites containing uncalcined ZrO 2 . Furthermore, the DC breakdown strength of nanocomposites containing calcined ZrO 2 improves compared to nanocomposites containing uncalcined ZrO 2 . Since the removed water content is minimal, we primarily attribute the observed dielectric results to structural changes in ZrO 2 rather than water-related effects. As such, calcining can have positive effects in enhancing the dielectric properties of ZrO 2 -based nanocomposites.
In brain death, cerebral injury contributes to systemic biological dysregulation, causing significant cellular stress in donor kidneys adversely impacting the quality of grafts. Here, we hypothesized ...that donation after brain death (DBD) kidneys undergo proteolytic processes that may deem grafts susceptible to posttransplant dysfunction. Using mass spectrometry and immunoblotting, we mapped degradation profiles of cytoskeletal proteins in deceased and living donor kidney biopsies. We found that key cytoskeletal proteins in DBD kidneys were proteolytically cleaved, generating peptide fragments, predominantly in grafts with suboptimal posttransplant function. Interestingly, α‐actinin‐4 and talin‐1 proteolytic fragments were detected in brain death but not in circulatory death or living donor kidneys with similar donor characteristics. As talin‐1 is a specific proteolytic target of calpain‐1, we investigated a potential trigger of calpain activation and talin‐1 degradation using human ex vivo precision‐cut kidney slices and in vitro podocytes. Notably, we showed that activation of calpain‐1 by transforming growth factor‐β generated proteolytic fragments of talin‐1 that matched the degradation fragments detected in DBD preimplantation kidneys, also causing dysregulation of the actin cytoskeleton in human podocytes; events that were reversed by calpain‐1 inhibition. Our data provide initial evidence that brain death donor kidneys are more susceptible to cytoskeletal protein degradation. Correlation to posttransplant outcomes may be established by future studies.
This study describes brain death‐specific cytoskeletal protein degradation in deceased donor kidneys, the impact of TGFβ ‐Calpain interaction in proteolytic processing of key cytoskeletal proteins, and suggests an association with suboptimal 12‐month post‐transplant outcomes
This paper reports on an investigation of the effects of calcination on the structure and dielectric properties of polyethylene/silica (SiO 2 ) nanocomposites. Calcination temperatures of 600 and 900 ...°C have been used in order to modify the surface chemistry and surface structure of the SiO 2 . The results show that, after calcination, the concentration of surface hydroxyl groups and water molecules around SiO 2 and within resulting nanocomposites is reduced. The real permittivity of nanocomposites containing calcined SiO 2 decreases compared to nanocomposites based on uncalcined SiO 2 . The DC breakdown strength of nanocomposites containing calcined SiO 2 becomes higher than those containing uncalcined SiO 2 . In contrast, AC breakdown was found not to be significantly affected by addition of any of the silicas considered here. The use of calcined nanofillers can have positive effects akin to the use of chemically functionalized nanofillers in enhancing the dielectric properties of nanocomposites; both approaches remove polar surface hydroxyl groups.
In Vietnam, Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of disease, including meningitis. Antibiotics are available without physician prescription at community pharmacies and rates of antibiotic ...non-susceptibility are high. Appropriate treatment and antibiotic stewardship need to be informed by surveillance data.
To report community-based pneumococcal antibiotic susceptibility testing data from children enrolled in a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine trial in Ho Chi Minh City the Vietnam Pneumococcal Project (ViPP) and compare these with published hospital-based data from the nationwide Survey of Antibiotic Resistance (SOAR) to determine whether hospital surveillance data provide an informative estimate of circulating pneumococcal resistance.
Pneumococcal isolates from 234 nasopharyngeal swabs collected from ViPP participants at 12 months of age underwent antibiotic susceptibility testing using CLSI methods and the data were compared with SOAR data.
Antibiotic susceptibility testing identified penicillin-non-susceptible pneumococci in 93.6% of pneumococcus-positive ViPP swabs (oral, non-meningitis breakpoints). Non-susceptibility to erythromycin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin and tetracycline also exceeded 79%. MDR, defined as non-susceptibility to three or more classes of antibiotic, was common (94.4% of swabs). Low or no resistance was detected for ceftriaxone (non-meningitis breakpoints), ofloxacin and vancomycin. Antibiotic non-susceptibility rates in ViPP and SOAR were similar for several antibiotics tested.
A very high proportion of pneumococci carried in the community are MDR. Despite wide disparities in population demographics between ViPP and SOAR, the non-susceptibility rates for several antibiotics were comparable. Thus, with some qualification, hospital antibiotic susceptibility testing data in Vietnam can inform circulating pneumococcal antibiotic non-susceptibility in young children, the group at highest risk of pneumococcal disease, to guide antibiotic prescribing and support surveillance strategies.
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