Characteristics, Distribution and Persistence of Thin Layers Over a 48 Hour Period

The biological and physical processes contributing to planktonic thin layer dynamics were examined in a multidisciplinary study conducted in East Sound, Washington, USA between June 10 and June 25, 1998. The temporal and spatial scales characteristic of thin layers were determined using a nested sampling strategy utilizing 4 major types of platforms: (1) an array of 3 moored acoustical instrument packages and 2 moored optical instrument packages that recorded distributions and intensities of thin layers; (2) additional stationary instrumentation deployed outside the array comprised of meteorological stations, wave-tide gauges, and thermistor chains; (3) a research vessel anchored 150 m outside the western edge of the array; (4) 2 mobile vessels performing basin-wide surveys to define the spatial extent of thin layers and the physical hydrography of the Sound. We observed numerous occurrences of thin layers that contained locally enhanced concentrations of material; many of the layers persisted for intervals of several hours to a few days. More than one persistent thin layer may be present at any one time, and these spatially distinct thin layers often contain distinct plankton assemblages. The results suggest that the species or populations comprising each distinct thin layer have responded to different sets of biological and/or physical processes. The existence and persistence of planktonic thin layers generates extensive biological heterogeneity in the water column and may be important in maintaining species diversity and overall community structure.

Novel genetic markers associate with atrial fibrillation risk in Europeans and Japanese

OBJECTIVES This study sought to identify nonredundant atrial fibrillation (AF) genetic susceptibility signals and examine their cumulative relations with AF risk. BACKGROUND AF-associated loci span broad genomic regions that may contain multiple susceptibility signals. Whether multiple signals exist at AF loci has not been systematically explored. METHODS We performed association testing conditioned on the most significant, independently associated genetic markers at 9 established AF loci using 2 complementary techniques in 64,683 individuals of European ancestry (3,869 incident and 3,302 prevalent AF cases). Genetic risk scores were created and tested for association with AF in Europeans and an independent sample of 11,309 individuals of Japanese ancestry (7,916 prevalent AF cases). RESULTS We observed at least 4 distinct AF susceptibility signals on chromosome 4q25 upstream of PITX2, but not at the remaining 8 AF loci. A multilocus score comprised 12 genetic markers demonstrated an estimated 5-fold gradient in AF risk. We observed a similar spectrum of risk associated with these markers in Japanese. Regions containing AF signals on chromosome 4q25 displayed a greater degree of evolutionary conservation than the remainder of the locus, suggesting that they may tag regulatory elements. CONCLUSIONS The chromosome 4q25 AF locus is architecturally complex and harbors at least 4 AF susceptibility signals in individuals of European ancestry. Similar polygenic AF susceptibility exists between Europeans and Japanese. Future work is necessary to identify causal variants, determine mechanisms by which associated loci predispose to AF, and explore whether AF susceptibility signals classify individuals at risk for AF and related morbidity.

An appeal to the British Nation on behalf of the Jews

by Barnard van Oven

Ought Baron de Rothschild to sit in parliament? : an imaginary conversation between Judaeus & Amicus Nobilis

by Barnard van Oven

Promoting palliative care in the community: production of the primary palliative care toolkit by the European Association of Palliative Care Taskforce in primary palliative care

BACKGROUND A multidisciplinary European Association of Palliative Care Taskforce was established to scope the extent of and learn what facilitates and hinders the development of palliative care in the community across Europe. AIM To document the barriers and facilitators for palliative care in the community and to produce a resource toolkit that palliative care specialists, primary care health professionals or policymakers, service developers, educationalists and national groups more generally could use to facilitate the development of palliative care in their own country. DESIGN (1) A survey instrument was sent to general practitioners with knowledge of palliative care services in the community in a diverse sample of European countries. We also conducted an international systematic review of tools used to identify people for palliative care in the community. (2) A draft toolkit was then constructed suggesting how individual countries might best address these issues, and an online survey was then set up for general practitioners and specialists to make comments. Iterations of the toolkit were then presented at international palliative care and primary care conferences. RESULTS Being unable to identify appropriate patients for palliative care in the community was a major barrier internationally. The systematic review identified tools that might be used to help address this. Various facilitators such as national strategies were identified. A primary palliative care toolkit has been produced and refined, together with associated guidance. CONCLUSION Many barriers and facilitators were identified. The primary palliative care toolkit can help community-based palliative care services to be established nationally.

On the decline of life in health and disease, being an attempt to investigate the causes of longevity : and the best means of attaining a healthful old age

by Barnard van Oven

Pressure core barrel characteristics and composition of gases at DSDP Site 76-533

A pressure core barrel (PCB), developed by the Deep Sea Drilling Project, was used successfully to recover, at in situ pressure, sediments of the Blake Outer Ridge, offshore the southeastern United States. The PCB is a unique, wire-line tool, 10.4 m long, capable of recovering 5.8 m of core (5.8 cm in diameter), maintained at or below in situ pressures of 34.4 million Pascals (MPa), and 1.8 m of unpressurized core (5.8 cm in diameter). All excess internal pressure above the operating pressure of 34.4 MPa is automatically vented off as the barrel is retrieved. The PCB was deployed five times at DSDP Site 533 where geophysical evidence suggests the presence of gas hydrates in the upper 600 m of sediment. Three cores were obtained holding average in situ pressures of 30 MPa. Two other cores did not maintain in situ pressures. Three of the five cores were intermittently degassed at varying intervals of time, and portions of the vented gas were collected for analysis. Pressure decline followed paths indicative of gas hydrates and/or dissolved gas. The released gas was dominantly methane (usually greater than 90%), along with higher molecular-weight hydrocarbon gases and carbon dioxide. During degassing the ratio of methane to ethane did not vary significantly. On the other hand, concentrations of higher molecular-weight hydrocarbon gases increased, as did carbon dioxide concentrations. The results from the PCB experiments provide tentative but equivocal evidence for the presence of .gas hydrates at Site 533. The amount of gas hydrate indicated is small. Nevertheless, this work represents the first successful study of marine gas hydrates utilizing the PCB.

Algunas reflexiones acerca de la construcción del espacio en el cuento "A Drink in the Passage" de Alan Paton : Desafíos para la traducción

El presente trabajo constituye un primer acercamiento al estudio de los cuentos comprendidos en Tales of a Troubled Land del escritor sudafricano Alan Paton (1903-1988). A modo de introducción, haremos una breve reseña histórico-social de la Sudáfrica del apartheid (Cottrell, 2005; Gibson, 2009) que vincularemos con información biográfica del escritor (Paton, 1966; Lirola, 2008). Esta información resultará, a nuestro entender, relevante al momento de hacer una lectura profunda del cuento. Luego, estudiaremos cómo se conforman los espacios interno / externo (Foucault, 1986), especialmente aquellos que posibilitan el encuentro de blancos y negros (Barnard, 2007), con el fin de explorar cómo aparecen las barreras raciales en el texto. Por último, y a la luz de lo anterior, plantearemos algunas cuestiones centrales que se constituyen en desafíos al momento de abocarnos a la tarea de traducir este cuento, especialmente las relacionadas a la metáfora cristalizada en el 'passage' que, nombrado en el título, sirve de eje estructurador de la acción. Según nuestra hipótesis, la traducción de la construcción del espacio se vuelve un desafío ya que la distribución de los espacios y la circulación de la población en y entre ellos son inherentes al apartheid, no sólo en cuanto al sistema de segregación que el término designa, o al momento histórico en el que fue implementado, sino a la (im)posibilidad de que los individuos de las diferentes razas coexistan y se interrelacionen en una tierra que (no) les es común, en un espacio construido culturalmente desde la separación en lugar de desde la unidad

Algunas reflexiones acerca de la construcción del espacio en el cuento "A Drink in the Passage" de Alan Paton : Desafíos para la traducción

El presente trabajo constituye un primer acercamiento al estudio de los cuentos comprendidos en Tales of a Troubled Land del escritor sudafricano Alan Paton (1903-1988). A modo de introducción, haremos una breve reseña histórico-social de la Sudáfrica del apartheid (Cottrell, 2005; Gibson, 2009) que vincularemos con información biográfica del escritor (Paton, 1966; Lirola, 2008). Esta información resultará, a nuestro entender, relevante al momento de hacer una lectura profunda del cuento. Luego, estudiaremos cómo se conforman los espacios interno / externo (Foucault, 1986), especialmente aquellos que posibilitan el encuentro de blancos y negros (Barnard, 2007), con el fin de explorar cómo aparecen las barreras raciales en el texto. Por último, y a la luz de lo anterior, plantearemos algunas cuestiones centrales que se constituyen en desafíos al momento de abocarnos a la tarea de traducir este cuento, especialmente las relacionadas a la metáfora cristalizada en el 'passage' que, nombrado en el título, sirve de eje estructurador de la acción. Según nuestra hipótesis, la traducción de la construcción del espacio se vuelve un desafío ya que la distribución de los espacios y la circulación de la población en y entre ellos son inherentes al apartheid, no sólo en cuanto al sistema de segregación que el término designa, o al momento histórico en el que fue implementado, sino a la (im)posibilidad de que los individuos de las diferentes razas coexistan y se interrelacionen en una tierra que (no) les es común, en un espacio construido culturalmente desde la separación en lugar de desde la unidad

Algunas reflexiones acerca de la construcción del espacio en el cuento "A Drink in the Passage" de Alan Paton : Desafíos para la traducción

El presente trabajo constituye un primer acercamiento al estudio de los cuentos comprendidos en Tales of a Troubled Land del escritor sudafricano Alan Paton (1903-1988). A modo de introducción, haremos una breve reseña histórico-social de la Sudáfrica del apartheid (Cottrell, 2005; Gibson, 2009) que vincularemos con información biográfica del escritor (Paton, 1966; Lirola, 2008). Esta información resultará, a nuestro entender, relevante al momento de hacer una lectura profunda del cuento. Luego, estudiaremos cómo se conforman los espacios interno / externo (Foucault, 1986), especialmente aquellos que posibilitan el encuentro de blancos y negros (Barnard, 2007), con el fin de explorar cómo aparecen las barreras raciales en el texto. Por último, y a la luz de lo anterior, plantearemos algunas cuestiones centrales que se constituyen en desafíos al momento de abocarnos a la tarea de traducir este cuento, especialmente las relacionadas a la metáfora cristalizada en el 'passage' que, nombrado en el título, sirve de eje estructurador de la acción. Según nuestra hipótesis, la traducción de la construcción del espacio se vuelve un desafío ya que la distribución de los espacios y la circulación de la población en y entre ellos son inherentes al apartheid, no sólo en cuanto al sistema de segregación que el término designa, o al momento histórico en el que fue implementado, sino a la (im)posibilidad de que los individuos de las diferentes razas coexistan y se interrelacionen en una tierra que (no) les es común, en un espacio construido culturalmente desde la separación en lugar de desde la unidad

Gas content, composition of gas hydrate and volumetric gas/water ratios of ODP and DSDP sites

Gas hydrate samples were recovered from four sites (Sites 994, 995, 996, and 997) along the crest of the Blake Ridge during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 164. At Site 996, an area of active gas venting, pockmarks, and chemosynthetic communities, vein-like gas hydrate was recovered from less than 1 meter below seafloor (mbsf) and intermittently through the maximum cored depth of 63 mbsf. In contrast, massive gas hydrate, probably fault filling and/or stratigraphically controlled, was recovered from depths of 260 mbsf at Site 994, and from 331 mbsf at Site 997. Downhole-logging data, along with geochemical and core temperature profiles, indicate that gas hydrate at Sites 994, 995, and 997 occurs from about 180 to 450 mbsf and is dispersed in sediment as 5- to 30-m-thick zones of up to about 15% bulk volume gas hydrate. Selected gas hydrate samples were placed in a sealed chamber and allowed to dissociate. Evolved gas to water volumetric ratios measured on seven samples from Site 996 ranged from 20 to 143 mL gas/mL water to 154 mL gas/mL water in one sample from Site 994, and to 139 mL gas/mL water in one sample from Site 997, which can be compared to the theoretical maximum gas to water ratio of 216. These ratios are minimum gas/water ratios for gas hydrate because of partial dissociation during core recovery and potential contamination with pore waters. Nonetheless, the maximum measured volumetric ratio indicates that at least 71% of the cages in this gas hydrate were filled with gas molecules. When corrections for pore-water contamination are made, these volumetric ratios range from 29 to 204, suggesting that cages in some natural gas hydrate are nearly filled. Methane comprises the bulk of the evolved gas from all sites (98.4%-99.9% methane and 0%-1.5% CO2). Site 996 hydrate contained little CO2 (0%-0.56%). Ethane concentrations differed significantly from Site 996, where they ranged from 720 to 1010 parts per million by volume (ppmv), to Sites 994 and 997, which contained much less ethane (up to 86 ppmv). Up to 19 ppmv propane and other higher homologues were noted; however, these gases are likely contaminants derived from sediment in some hydrate samples. CO2 concentrations are less in gas hydrate than in the surrounding sediment, likely an artifact of core depressurization, which released CO2 derived from dissolved organic carbon (DIC) into sediment. The isotopic composition of methane from gas hydrate ranges from d13C of -62.5 per mil to -70.7 per mil and dD of -175 per mil to -200 per mil and is identical to the isotopic composition of methane from surrounding sediment. Methane of this isotopic composition is mainly microbial in origin and likely produced by bacterial reduction of bicarbonate. The hydrocarbon gases here are likely the products of early microbial diagenesis. The isotopic composition of CO2 from gas hydrate ranges from d13C of -5.7 per mil to -6.9 per mil, about 15 per mil lighter than CO2 derived from nearby sediment.