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Background:The scale of the 2022 global mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) outbreak has been unprecedented. In less than 6 months, non-endemic countries have reported more than 67 000 cases of a disease that had previously been rare outside of Africa. Mortality has been reported as rare but hospital admission has been relatively common. We aimed to describe the clinical and laboratory characteristics and outcomes of individuals admitted to hospital with mpox and associated complications, including tecovirimat recipients. Methods:In this cohort study, we undertook retrospective review of electronic clinical records and pathology data for all individuals admitted between May 6, and Aug 3, 2022, to 16 hospitals from the Specialist and High Consequence Infectious Diseases Network for Monkeypox. The hospitals were located in ten cities in England and Northern Ireland. Inclusion criteria were clinical signs consistent with mpox and MPXV DNA detected from at least one clinical sample by PCR testing. Patients admitted solely for isolation purposes were excluded from the study. Key outcomes included admission indication, complications (including pain, secondary infection, and mortality) and use of antibiotic and anti-viral treatments. Routine biochemistry, haematology, microbiology, and virology data were also collected. Outcomes were assessed in all patients with available data. Findings:156 individuals were admitted to hospital with complicated mpox during the study period. 153 (98%) were male and three (2%) were female, with a median age of 35 years (IQR 30–44). Gender data were collected from electronic patient records, which encompassed full formal review of clincian notes. The prespecified options for data collection for gender were male, female, trans, non-binary, or unknown. 105 (71%) of 148 participants with available ethnicity data were of White ethnicity and 47 (30%) of 155 were living with HIV with a median CD4 count of 510 cells per mm3(IQR 349–828). Rectal or perianal pain (including proctitis) was the most common indication for hospital admission (44 [28%] of 156). Severe pain was reported in 89 (57%) of 156, and secondary bacterial infection in 82 (58%) of 142 individuals with available data. Median admission duration was 5 days (IQR 2–9). Ten individuals required surgery and two cases of encephalitis were reported. 38 (24%) of the 156 individuals received tecovirimat with early cessation in four cases (two owing to hepatic transaminitis, one to rapid treatment response, and one to patient choice). No deaths occurred during the study period. Interpretation:Although life-threatening mpox appears rare in hospitalised populations during the current outbreak, severe mpox and associated complications can occur in immunocompetent individuals. Analgesia and management of superimposed bacterial infection are priorities for patients admitted to hospital.

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Trusts are commonly used for asset protection, however the popularity of revocable trusts and reserved powers trusts has led to a tendency to draft trust deeds with extensive powers reserved to the settlor or some other person to ensure that an element of control over the trust is retained. That approach is not without risk and the extent and scope of any reserved powers can have unintended consequences and can lead to a trust's asset protection characteristics being eroded. In this article we look at some of the key decisions where the use of reserved powers resulted in a loss of the asset protection their trusts sought to achieve, highlighting the risks to trust structures in utilising reserved powers, and offer some practical guidance on how those risks might be mitigated when forming a new structure or dealing with existing structures where extensive powers have been reserved.

Background: We recently introduced the myocardial-ischemic-injury-index (MI3), a machine learning algorithm that predicts the likelihood of myocardial infarction in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome. Whether this algorithm performs well in routine clinical practice or predicts subsequent events is unknown.Methods: MI3 was validated in a prespecified exploratory analysis from a multi-centre randomised trial that included consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome undergoing serial high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I measurement. Patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were excluded. MI3 incorporates age, sex, and two troponin measurements to compute a value (0-100) reflecting an individual’s likelihood of myocardial infarction during the index visit and estimates diagnostic performance metrics at the computed score. Model performance for an index diagnosis of myocardial infarction, and for subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death at one year was determined using previously defined low- and high-probability MI3 thresholds (1·6 and 49·7, respectively). Findings: In total, 20,761 patients (64±16 years, 46% women) were included of whom 3,272 (15·8%) had myocardial infarction. MI3 had an area under the receiver-operating-characteristic curve of 0·949 (95% confidence interval 0·946-0·952) identifying 12,983 (62·5%) patients as low-probability (sensitivity 99·3% [99·0-99·6%], negative predictive value 99·8% [99·8-99·9%]), and 2,961 (14·3%) as high-probability (specificity 95·0% [94·6-95·3%], positive predictive value 70·4% [68·7-72·0%]). At one year, subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death occurred more often in high-probability compared to low-probability patients (17·6% [520/2,961] versus 1·5% [197/12,983], PInterpretation: In consecutive patients undergoing serial cardiac troponin measurement for suspected acute coronary syndrome, the MI3 algorithm accurately estimates the likelihood of myocardial infarction and predicts subsequent adverse cardiovascular events.

Concrete offers superior strength in compressive loadings and is implemented for many applications. The high compressive strengths enable concrete to resist high strain rate loading scenarios such as ballistic impacts. A variety of concrete denoted as Cor-Tuf, which is classified as ultra-high-performance concrete with a compressive strength of 210 MPa, is evaluated in this study. The response of this concrete is assessed through a finite element analysis under the high strain rate loadings of ballistic impacts. To capture the response of the concrete, a plasticity and damage constitutive model denoted as the HJC model is implemented. The parameters of this model are calibrated to the Cor-Tuf concrete using confined compression experiments, unconfined compression experiments, and shock experiments. The concrete target is impacted at speeds between 610 m/s through 1112 m/s, and the results are compared to existing experimental data. Our results show that the HJC model can predict the response of this impact to the Cor-Tuf concrete targets as an average error of 5.85% is found. The results of this study present parameters which can be implemented with the HJC concrete model for future studies to model the response of the Cor-Tuf UHPC.

Point of care ultrasound is a critical tool required for assessing all patients, providing rapid answers to clinical questions and facilitating high quality care for patients. This essential guide caters for all generalist clinicians beginning their ultrasound journey and extends to more advanced assessments for those with established ultrasound experience wishing to advance their knowledge and skills. It covers a wide range of ultrasound topics from echocardiography, thoracic and COVID-19 to emerging areas such as palliative care, hospital at home and remote and austere medicine. An extensive collection of colour images, videos and examples of clinical applications will inspire readers to acquire the skills of point of care ultrasound quickly, safely and systematically. The printed code on the inside of the cover provides access to an online version on Cambridge Core. An essential aid for acute clinicians, paramedics, general practitioners as well as remote medical providers, medical educators and students.

We show that a fixed smartphone network can provide robust Earthquake Early Warning for at least two orders of magnitude less cost than scientific-grade networks. Our software and cloud-based data architecture that we have constructed for the Alerta Sismica Temprana Utilizando Teléfonos Inteligentes (ASTUTI; Earthquake Early Warning Utilizing Smartphones) network in Costa Rica is easily scaled and exported. Implementation comprises provisioning and installing modern smartphones in judicious locations. Stand-up time for regionally operational networks can be on the order of days. We evaluated a non-parametric ground-motion detection and alerting strategy that would alert the entire Costa Rican population of any event with a ground motion detection threshold of 0.55–0.65 %g at four neighboring stations. During a 6-month evaluation period ASTUTI detected and alerted on five of 13 earthquakes with M_w 4.8–5.3 that caused felt Modified Mercalli Intensity shaking levels of 4.3–6. The system did not produce any false alerts and the undetected events did not produce wide-spread or significant felt shaking. System latencies were less than or similar to scientific-grade latencies. Alerts for all five detected events would have reached the capital city, San Jose, before strong S-wave shaking. This would have afforded time for Drop Cover Hold On actions by most residents. Two of the five alerts were triggered by P-waves suggesting that smartphone-based networks could approach the fastest theoretical EEW performance, especially with future expected improvements in smartphone sensors and processing algorithms.

Trustees are routinely faced with problems that need solutions, many of which are significant with no clear or easy resolution within reach. Both onshore and offshore, the Public Trustee v Cooper jurisdiction offers a helpful set of court-assisted solutions for a number of different types of issues encountered by trustees. But to what extent should beneficiaries of trusts be able to weave their way into the issue-resolution and decision-making processes, and just how far (and for how long) should the trustee remain engaged in that process? Recent decisions of the Cayman Islands courts offer some helpful guidance in this regard.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in excess morbidity and mortality as well as economic decline. To characterise the systemic host immune response to SARS-CoV-2, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing coupled with analysis of cell surface proteins, providing molecular profiling of over 800,000 peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a cohort of 130 patients with COVID-19. Our cohort, from three UK centres, spans the spectrum of clinical presentations and disease severities ranging from asymptomatic to critical. Three control groups were included: healthy volunteers, patients suffering from a non-COVID-19 severe respiratory illness and healthy individuals administered with intravenous lipopolysaccharide to model an acute inflammatory response. Full single cell transcriptomes coupled with quantification of 188 cell surface proteins, and T and B lymphocyte antigen receptor repertoires have provided several insights into COVID-19: 1. a new non-classical monocyte state that sequesters platelets and replenishes the alveolar macrophage pool; 2. platelet activation accompanied by early priming towards megakaryopoiesis in immature haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells and expansion of megakaryocyte-primed progenitors; 3. increased clonally expanded CD8+ effector:effector memory T cells, and proliferating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in patients with more severe disease; and 4. relative increase of IgA plasmablasts in asymptomatic stages that switches to expansion of IgG plasmablasts and plasma cells, accompanied with higher incidence of BCR sharing, as disease severity increases. All data and analysis results are available for interrogation and data mining through an intuitive web portal. Together, these data detail the cellular processes present in peripheral blood during an acute immune response to COVID-19, and serve as a template for multi-omic single cell data integration across multiple centers to rapidly build powerful resources to help combat diseases such as COVID-19.

Over the past two decades, two heavily funded initiatives of the Federal government of Australia have been founded on two very different and seemingly conflicting (if not antithetical) visi...

1. Researchers studying mammals have frequently interpreted earlier or faster rates of ageing in males as resulting from polygyny and the associated higher costs of reproductive competition. 2. Yet few studies conducted on wild populations have compared sex-specific senescence trajectories outside of polygynous species, making it difficult to make generalised inferences on the role of reproductive competition in driving senescence, particularly when other differences between males and females might also contribute to sex-specific changes in performance across lifespan. 3. Here, we examine age-related variation in body mass, reproductive output and survival in dominant male and female meerkats, Suricata suricatta. Meerkats are socially monogamous cooperative breeders where a single dominant pair virtually monopolize reproduction in each group and subordinate group members help to rear offspring produced by breeders. 4. In contrast to many polygynous societies, we find that neither the onset nor the rate of senescence in body mass or reproductive output show clear differences between males and females. Both sexes also display similar patterns of age-related survival across lifespan, but unlike most wild vertebrates, survival senescence (increases in annual mortality with rising age) was absent in dominants of both sexes, and as a result, the fitness costs of senescence were entirely attributable to declines in reproductive output from mid- to late-life. 5. We suggest that the potential for intrasexual competition to increase rates of senescence in females – who are hormonally masculinised and frequently aggressive – is offset by their ability to maintain longer tenures of dominance than males, and that these processes combined lead to similar patterns of senescence in both sexes. 6. Our results stress the need to consider the form and intensity of sexual competition as well as other sex-specific features of life history when investigating the operation of senescence in wild populations.

In singular cooperative breeders few females breed successfully, but those that acquire dominant positions can achieve high levels of breeding success, leading to strong selection for traits that enable individuals to acquire and maintain dominance status. However, little is known about the process by which females acquire dominant breeding status or the traits that enable them to do so. Female meerkats, Suricata suricatta, can acquire dominance either by inheritance after the death of the previous dominant, by displacing the incumbent dominant or at the foundation of a new group. Here we investigated the possible fitness benefits associated with these different routes to dominance and the traits that affect an individual's probability of acquiring dominance via these routes. We found that all routes to dominance had similar fitness benefits and that when a dominance vacancy arose, weight was the main determinate of succession, with age still influencing within-group succession and the eldest subordinate female, the beta, often succeeding to dominance. Since the chance that subordinate females will acquire dominance is also positively correlated with the duration of their tenure in the beta position, we tested whether beta females adjusted their growth or cooperative behaviour to avoid eviction and increased their tenure length as the beta. However, there was no indication that betas employed either strategy to increase their tenure. Given that the differing routes to dominance have equivalent fitness pay-offs and are triggered stochastically, selection probably favours flexibility rather than strategies that commit individuals to a specific route.

Internet technologies have created unprecedented opportunities for people to come together and through their collective effort generate large amounts of data about human behavior. With the increased popularity of grounded theory, many researchers have sought to use ever-increasingly large datasets to analyze and draw patterns about social dynamics. However, the data is simply too big to enable a single human to derive effective models for many complex social phenomena. Computational methods offer a unique opportunity to analyze a wide spectrum of sociological events by leveraging the power of artificial intelligence. Within the human factors community, machine learning has emerged as the dominant AI-approach to deal with big data. However, along with its many benefits, machine learning has introduced a unique challenge: interpretability. The models of macro-social behavior generated by AI are so complex that rarely can they translated into human understanding. We propose a new method to conduct grounded theory research by leveraging the power of machine learning to analyze complex social phenomena through social network analysis while retaining interpretability as a core feature.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Background: The introduction of more sensitive cardiac troponin assays has led to increased recognition of myocardial injury in acute illnesses other than acute coronary syndrome. The Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction recommends high-sensitivity cardiac troponin testing and classification of patients with myocardial injury based on pathogenesis, but the clinical implications of implementing this guideline are not well understood. Methods: In a stepped-wedge cluster randomized, controlled trial, we implemented a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assay and the recommendations of the Universal Definition in 48 282 consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome. In a prespecified secondary analysis, we compared the primary outcome of myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death and secondary outcome of noncardiovascular death at 1 year across diagnostic categories. Results: Implementation increased the diagnosis of type 1 myocardial infarction by 11% (510/4471), type 2 myocardial infarction by 22% (205/916), and acute and chronic myocardial injury by 36% (443/1233) and 43% (389/898), respectively. Compared with those without myocardial injury, the rate of the primary outcome was highest in those with type 1 myocardial infarction (cause-specific hazard ratio [HR] 5.64 [95% CI, 5.12–6.22]), but was similar across diagnostic categories, whereas noncardiovascular deaths were highest in those with acute myocardial injury (cause specific HR 2.65 [95% CI, 2.33–3.01]). Despite modest increases in antiplatelet therapy and coronary revascularization after implementation in patients with type 1 myocardial infarction, the primary outcome was unchanged (cause specific HR 1.00 [95% CI, 0.82–1.21]). Increased recognition of type 2 myocardial infarction and myocardial injury did not lead to changes in investigation, treatment or outcomes. Conclusions: Implementation of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays and the recommendations of the Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction identified patients at high-risk of cardiovascular and noncardiovascular events but was not associated with consistent increases in treatment or improved outcomes. Trials of secondary prevention are urgently required to determine whether this risk is modifiable in patients without type 1 myocardial infarction. Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01852123.

Background Major disparities between women and men in the diagnosis, management, and outcomes of acute coronary syndrome are well recognized. Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of implementing a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay with sex-specific diagnostic thresholds for myocardial infarction in women and men with suspected acute coronary syndrome. Methods Consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome were enrolled in a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized controlled trial across 10 hospitals. Myocardial injury was defined as high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I concentration >99th centile of 16 ng/l in women and 34 ng/l in men. The primary outcome was recurrent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death at 1 year. Results A total of 48,282 patients (47% women) were included. Use of the high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I assay with sex-specific thresholds increased myocardial injury in women by 42% and in men by 6%. Following implementation, women with myocardial injury remained less likely than men to undergo coronary revascularization (15% vs. 34%) and to receive dual antiplatelet (26% vs. 43%), statin (16% vs. 26%), or other preventive therapies (p, Central Illustration

Kin selection theory suggests that altruistic behaviors can increase the fitness of altruists when recipients are genetic relatives. Although selection can favor the ability of organisms to preferentially cooperate with close kin, indiscriminately helping all group mates may yield comparable fitness returns if relatedness within groups is very high. Here, we show that meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are largely indiscriminate altruists who do not alter the amount of help provided to pups or group mates in response to their relatedness to them. We present a model showing that indiscriminate altruism may yield greater fitness payoffs than kin discrimination where most group members are close relatives and errors occur in the estimation of relatedness. The presence of errors in the estimation of relatedness provides a feasible explanation for associations between kin discriminative helping and group relatedness in eusocial and cooperatively breeding animals.

The phenotype of parents can have long-lasting effects on the development of offspring as well as on their behaviour, physiology, and morphology as adults. In some cases, these changes may increase offspring fitness but, in others, they can elevate parental fitness at a cost to the fitness of their offspring. Here, we show that in Kalahari meerkats (Suricata suricatta) the circulating glucocorticoid hormones of pregnant females affect the growth and cooperative behaviour of their offspring. We performed a 3-year experiment in wild meerkats to test the hypothesis that stress-mediated maternal effects reduce the potential for offspring to reproduce directly and therefore cause them to exhibit more cooperative behaviour. Daughters (but not sons) born to mothers treated with cortisol during pregnancy were smaller early in life and exhibited significantly more of two types of cooperative behaviour (pup rearing and feeding) once they were adults compared to offspring from control mothers. They also had lower measures of stress hormones as they aged, which could explain the observed increases in cooperative behaviour. Because early growth is a crucial determinant of fitness in female meerkats, our results indicate that stress-mediated maternal effects may reduce the fitness of offspring but may elevate parental fitness as a consequence of increasing the cooperative behaviour of their daughters. Significance Statement Maternal characteristics can have a profound influence on offspring, which are referred to as maternal effects. It is widely assumed that selfish maternal effects, where mothers modify offspring to benefit their own fitness and decrease the fitness of offspring, are rare but this assumption is rarely tested. We show that a stress-mediated maternal effect in meerkats altered the growth, behaviour, and stress physiology of daughters in such a way that benefitted mothers at the expense of their daughters. Daughters from stressed mothers grew more slowly early in life, which should reduce their future reproductive opportunities, but exhibited more cooperative behaviour that should directly benefit their mother. This highlights the important role of sociality in the evolution of maternal effects.

BACKGROUND: High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays permit use of lower thresholds for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, but whether this improves clinical outcomes is unknown. We aimed to determine whether the introduction of a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assay with a sex-specific 99th centile diagnostic threshold would reduce subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death in patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: In this stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised controlled trial across ten secondary or tertiary care hospitals in Scotland, we evaluated the implementation of an hs-cTnI assay in consecutive patients who had been admitted to the hospitals' emergency departments with suspected acute coronary syndrome. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they presented with suspected acute coronary syndrome and had paired cardiac troponin measurements from the standard care and trial assays. During a validation phase of 6-12 months, results from the hs-cTnI assay were concealed from the attending clinician, and a contemporary cardiac troponin I (cTnI) assay was used to guide care. Hospitals were randomly allocated to early (n=5 hospitals) or late (n=5 hospitals) implementation, in which the high-sensitivity assay and sex-specific 99th centile diagnostic threshold was introduced immediately after the 6-month validation phase or was deferred for a further 6 months. Patients reclassified by the high-sensitivity assay were defined as those with an increased hs-cTnI concentration in whom cTnI concentrations were below the diagnostic threshold on the contemporary assay. The primary outcome was subsequent myocardial infarction or death from cardiovascular causes at 1 year after initial presentation. Outcomes were compared in patients reclassified by the high-sensitivity assay before and after its implementation by use of an adjusted generalised linear mixed model. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01852123. FINDINGS: Between June 10, 2013, and March 3, 2016, we enrolled 48 282 consecutive patients (61 [SD 17] years, 47% women) of whom 10 360 (21%) patients had cTnI concentrations greater than those of the 99th centile of the normal range of values, who were identified by the contemporary assay or the high-sensitivity assay. The high-sensitivity assay reclassified 1771 (17%) of 10 360 patients with myocardial injury or infarction who were not identified by the contemporary assay. In those reclassified, subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death within 1 year occurred in 105 (15%) of 720 patients in the validation phase and 131 (12%) of 1051 patients in the implementation phase (adjusted odds ratio for implementation vs validation phase 1·10, 95% CI 0·75 to 1·61; p=0·620). INTERPRETATION: Use of a high-sensitivity assay prompted reclassification of 1771 (17%) of 10 360 patients with myocardial injury or infarction, but was not associated with a lower subsequent incidence of myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death at 1 year. Our findings question whether the diagnostic threshold for myocardial infarction should be based on the 99th centile derived from a normal reference population. FUNDING: The British Heart Foundation.

Western Bhutan provides an ideal setting to understand the interplay between uplift, erosion, and fluvial sediment transport in an active mountain environment. Using in situ -produced 10 Be (49 samples) and 26 Al (5 samples) in fluvial sediment from nested catchments throughout the Puna Tsang Chhu drainage basin, we examine erosion rates in different geomorphic environments including two high-relief regions – a glacierized zone in the north and a high-rainfall zone in the south – as well as remnants of an uplifted, lower-relief paleosurface between them. The erosion rates roughly mirror this north–south zonation: lower rates (avg. 388 ± 32 m My − 1 , n = 16) prevail in the low-relief zone, roughly coinciding with lower-relief terrain where mean annual precipitation is ~ 1500 mm yr − 1 ; the highest rates (avg. 956 ± 160 m My − 1 , n = 13) are in the south (27.10°–27.35°N), where rainfall is > 4000 mm yr − 1 ; high rates (avg. 700 ± 62 m My − 1 , n = 15) also occur in the northern, glacierized region (27.70°–28.10°N). All 49 purified mineral separates used in this study contain measurable amounts of native 9 Be (up to 900 μg), violating the assumption of negligible 9 Be that is commonly made in the isotope dilution method used to quantify 10 Be. To correct for this native 9 Be, we use high precision, replicate measurements of 9 Be in each sample to calculate 10 Be concentrations from measured isotopic ratios. Neglecting native 9 Be would have led to erosion rate overestimates from 400%. The pervasive nature of 9 Be in these samples underscores the importance of quantifying the native 9 Be concentration in mineral separates used for cosmogenic 10 Be analysis.

Both climatic and tectonic processes affect bedrock erosion and exhumation in convergent orogens, but determining their respective influence is difficult. A requisite first step is to quantify long-term (~106 year) erosion rates within an orogen. In the Himalaya, past studies suggest long-term erosion rates varied in space and time along the range front, resulting in numerous tectonic models to explain the observed erosion rate distribution. Here, we invert a large data set of new and existing thermochronological ages to determine both long-term exhumation rates and the kinematics of Neogene tectonic activity in the eastern Himalaya in Bhutan. New data include 31 apatite and five zircon (U-Th)/He ages, and 49 apatite and 16 zircon fission-track ages along two north-south oriented transects across the orogen in western and eastern Bhutan. Data inversion was performed using a modified version of the 3-D thermokinematic model Pecube, with parameter ranges defined by available geochronologic, metamorphic, structural, and geophysical data. Among several important observations, our three main conclusions are as follows: (1) Thermochronologic ages do not spatially correlate with surface traces of major fault zones but appear to reflect the geometry of the underlying Main Himalayan Thrust; (2) our data are compatible with a strong tectonic influence, involving a variably dipping Main Himalayan Thrust geometry and steady state topography; and (3) erosion rates have remained constant in western Bhutan over the last ~10 Ma, while a significant decrease occurred at ~6 Ma in eastern Bhutan, which we partially attribute to convergence partitioning into uplift of the Shillong Plateau.

In many cooperatively breeding animal societies, breeders outlive non-breeding subordinates, despite investing heavily in reproduction [1-3]. In eusocial insects, the extended lifespans of breeders arise from specialized slowed aging profiles [1], prompting suggestions that reproduction and dominance similarly defer aging in cooperatively breeding vertebrates, too [4-6]. Although lacking the permanent castes of eusocial insects, breeders of vertebrate societies could delay aging via phenotypic plasticity (similar rank-related changes occur in growth, neuroendocrinology, and behavior [7-10]), and such plastic deferment of aging may reveal novel targets for preventing aging-related diseases [11]. Here, we investigate whether breeding dominants exhibit extended longevity and delayed age-related physiological declines in wild cooperatively breeding meerkats. We show that dominants outlive subordinates but exhibit faster telomere attrition (a marker of cellular senescence and hallmark of aging [12]) and that in dominants (but not subordinates), rapid telomere attrition is associated with mortality. Our findings further suggest that, rather than resulting from specialized aging profiles, differences in longevity between dominants and subordinates are driven by subordinate dispersal forays, which become exponentially more frequent with age and increase subordinate mortality. These results highlight the need to critically examine the causes of rank-related longevity contrasts in other cooperatively breeding vertebrates, including social mole-rats, where they are currently attributed to specialized aging profiles in dominants [4].

The Brahmaputra River of South Asia is the fourth largest river in the world in terms of annual discharge. The lower Brahmaputra River basin is susceptible to catastrophic flooding with major social, economic, and public health impacts. There is relatively little rainfall and snowpack information for the watershed, and the system is poorly understood hydrologically. Using a combination of available remotely sensed and gauge data, this study analyzes snow cover, rainfall, and monsoon period discharge for a 14-yr time period (1986–99). It is found that interannual rainfall variability is low and is a weak predictor of monsoon discharge volumes. Strong evidence is found, however, that maximum spring snow cover in the upper Brahmaputra basin is a good predictor of the monsoon flood volume. Despite the temporal and spatial limitations of the data, this study’s analysis demonstrates the potential for developing an empirical tool for predicting large flood events that may allow an annual early window for mitigating flood damages in the lower Brahmaputra basin, home to 300 million people.

We have used NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data and a Northern Hemisphere snow cover data set to analyze changes in freezing level heights and snow cover for the past three to five decades. All the major continental mountain chains exhibit upward shifts in the height of the freezing level surface. The pattern of these changes is generally consistent with changes in snow cover, both over the course of the year and spatially. We examined different free-air temperature parameters (dry bulb temperature, virtual temperature, and 700–500 hPa thickness) using the Reanalysis grid point values located over the different mountain areas as defined in this study. The different trend values were in reasonably good agreement with each other, particularly over the second half of the record. Freezing level changes in the American Cordillera are strongly modulated by the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and the freezing level heights (FLH) respond to both interannual and decadal-scale change in tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST). The ~0.5 °C increase in SST recorded in the tropical Pacific since the 1950s accounts for approximately half of the increase in FLH in tropical and subtropical latitudes of the Cordilleran region during that same time.

We report on the development of new combinatorial capabilities for both the synthesis of new solid state opto-electronic materials and optimization of existing materials for renewable energy applications especially photovoltaic devices. Some of the important materials for these renewable energy applications include semiconductors (such as for absorber layers), transparent conductors, energy storage materials and more. In this paper, we focus on the application of a combinatorial approach to two specific material areas, transparent conducting oxides and thin film Si. In the former case, libraries are generated by sputtering and in the latter by the hot-wire chemical vapor deposition. The application of a combinatorial approach to these materials areas can greatly accelerate the rate of discovery and optimization of new materials and the optimization of devices. We report on the development of tools for the production and characterization of libraries and on initial important results in both of these areas.

Numerical 2-D models based on the principle of minimum work were used to examine the space-time distribution of active faulting during the evolution of orogenic wedges. A series of models focused on thin-skinned thrusting illustrates the effects of arid conditions (no erosion), unsteady state conditions (accretionary influx greater than erosional efflux) and steady state conditions (accretionary influx balances erosional efflux), on the distribution of fault activity. For arid settings, a general forward accretion sequence prevails, although a significant amount of internal deformation is registered: the resulting fault pattern is a rather uniform spread along the profile. Under fixed erosional efficiency settings, the frontal advance of the wedge-front is inhibited, reaching a steady state after a given forward propagation. Then, the applied shortening is consumed by surface ruptures over a narrow frontal zone. Under a temporal increase in erosional efficiency (i.e., transient non-steady state mass balance conditions), a narrowing of the synthetic wedge results; a rather diffuse fault activity distribution is observed during the deformation front retreat. Once steady balanced conditions are reached, a single long-lived deformation front prevails. Fault activity distribution produced during the deformation front retreat of the latter scenario, compares well with the structural evolution and hinterlandward deformation migration identified in southern Bolivian Subandes (SSA) from late Miocene to present. This analogy supports the notion that the SSA is not in steady state, but is rather responding to an erosional efficiency increase since late Miocene. The results shed light on the impact of different mass balance conditions on the vastly different kinematics found in mountain ranges, suggesting that those affected by growing erosion under a transient unbalanced mass flux condition tend to distribute deformation along both frontal and internal faults, while others under balanced conditions would display focused deformation on a limited number of steady structures. Fil: Yagupsky, Daniel Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos ; Argentina Fil: Brooks, Benjamin A.. University Of Hawaii At Manoa; Estados Unidos Fil: Whipple, Kelin X.. Arizona State University; Estados Unidos Fil: Duncan, Christopher C.. University Of Massachussets; Estados Unidos Fil: Bevis, Michael. Ohio State University; Estados Unidos

Many studies of critical wedges treat the interior of the wedge as continuous and do not address the manner in which it grows from the undeformed state to a typical imbricate wedge. In this paper we present a 2D kinematic–mechanical model which attempts to explain the development of a critical wedge in a fold and thrust belt in terms of both gravitational and frictional work. In the undeformed model a series of thrust faults are defined which have the potential to take up an external displacement. The active fault at a given time is that which minimizes gravitational and frictional work as a result of displacement. Displacement on the active fault causes a change in topography and deformation of other faults which may favour an alternative fault at the next time step. The model is a mixed Lagrangian–Eulerian scheme in which the upper surface, in addition to being deformed, is also subject to erosion, transport and sedimentation. The model predicts propagation of thrust fault activity towards the foreland through time as a result of increasing topographic (gravitational) loads and frictional work on deformed hinterland faults. As the zone of fault activity progresses through the developing critical wedge several faults are active over time-scales of ≈1 Myr. However, a simple chronology or sequence of fault activity cannot be assumed as out-of-sequence thrusting occurs during this overall foreland propagation. The detailed spatial and temporal activity of faults is complex and reflects the interaction between the development of topography, the contrast between basal (decollement) and internal coefficients of friction and the effects of erosion and sedimentation. In particular, rates of erosion and sedimentation are found to be important controls on fault activity both spatially and temporally. Erosion, by locally removing topography above a fault, reduces gravitational and frictional work enabling continued fault activity or reactivation. Sedimentation, conversely, acts to increase gravitational and frictional work on a fault, and therefore has the potential to blanket faults and render them inactive. Model results illustrate the complex feedbacks that can exist between tectonic and surficial mass transport processes.

Late Pleistocene and modern ice extents in central Nepal are compared to estimate equilibrium line altitude (ELA) depressions. New techniques are used for determining the former extent of glaciers based on quantitative, objective geomorphic analyses of a ∼90-m resolution digital elevation model (DEM). For every link of the drainage network, valley form is classified as glacial or fluvial based on cross-valley shape and slope statistics. Down-valley transitions from glacial to fluvial form indicate the former limits of glaciation in each valley. Landsat Multispectral Scanner imagery for the same region is used to map current glacier extents. For both full-glacial and modern cases, ELAs are computed from the glacier limits using the DEM and a toe-to-headwall altitude ratio of 0.5. Computed ELA depressions range from 100–900 m with a modal value of ∼650 m and a mean of ∼500 m, values consistent with previously published estimates for the central Himalaya but markedly smaller than estimates for many other regions. We suggest that this reflects reduced precipitation, rather than a small temperature depression, consistent with other evidence for a weaker monsoon under full-glacial conditions.

Minimum-work methods may provide a useful way to examine mountain-building processes. Here we present forward models of crustal deformation in which faults form along paths that minimize the total (frictional and gravitational) work associated with slip. Our numerical model produces thrust wedges analogous to the wedges produced by viscous models but with explicit fault paths rather than diffuse internal deformation. The model reproduces the general geometry of real compressional belts, highlighting the basic competition between friction and topography (gravitational work) which may drive the evolution of orogenic zones. In particular, we replicate observed geologic features such as dendritic faulting patterns, thin-skinned thrust systems, and back thrusting. While some modeled features differ from observations, the results suggest that for many applications minimum work may be a good approximation for macroscale crustal deformation.

The topography of tectonically active mountain ranges reflects a poorly understood competition between bedrock uplift and erosion. Dating of abandoned river-cut surfaces in the northwestern Himalayas reveals that the Indus river incises through the bedrock at extremely high rates (2–12 mm yr-1). In the surrounding mountains, the average angles of hillslopes are steep and essentially independent of erosion rate, suggesting control by a common threshold process. In this rapidly deforming region, an equilibrium is maintained between bedrock uplift and river incision, with landsliding allowing hillslopes to adjust efficiently to rapid river down-cutting.

New and optimized metal-oxide thin films for both transparent-conductor and antireflection coatings have the potential to significantly improve photovoltaic devices. One approach to this task of discovery and improvement is to use a parallel optimization, i.e., a combinatorial, approach. Using internal seed funds, we have developed the initial deposition, characterization and analysis tools necessary for implementing a combinatorial approach to thin-film metal oxides, with a special focus on transparent conducting oxides (TCOs). 1. Introduction Transparent conducting oxides [1] play a key role in a number of thin-film opto-electronic devices, including photovoltaics, flat panel displays, low-e windows, electrochromic devices, and anti-static coatings [2]. The bulk of these applications rely on the established n-type transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), such as SnO 2 :F, ZnO:Al, and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) [3]. For many of these technologies, next-generation devices would be significantly enhanced with improved or new TCOs [4]. This is leading to the investigation of new n-type materials such as Cd

The benefit and utility of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction in patients with kidney impairment is unclear. Here, we describe implementation of hs-cTnI testing on the diagnosis, management, and outcomes of myocardial infarction in patients with and without kidney impairment. Consecutive patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome enrolled in a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized controlled trial were included in this pre-specified secondary analysis. Kidney impairment was defined as an eGFR under 60mL/min/1.73m2. The index diagnosis and primary outcome of type 1 and type 4b myocardial infarction or cardiovascular death at one year were compared in patients with and without kidney impairment following implementation of hs-cTnI assay with 99th centile sex-specific diagnostic thresholds. Serum creatinine concentrations were available in 46,927 patients (mean age 61 years; 47% women), of whom 9,080 (19%) had kidney impairment. hs-cTnIs were over 99th centile in 46% and 16% of patients with and without kidney impairment. Implementation increased the diagnosis of type 1 infarction from 12.4% to 17.8%, and from 7.5% to 9.4% in patients with and without kidney impairment (both significant). Patients with kidney impairment and type 1 myocardial infarction were less likely to undergo coronary revascularization (26% versus 53%) or receive dual anti-platelets (40% versus 68%) than those without kidney impairment, and this did not change post-implementation. In patients with hs-cTnI above the 99th centile, the primary outcome occurred twice as often in those with kidney impairment compared to those without (24% versus 12%, hazard ratio 1.53, 95% confidence interval 1.31 to 1.78). Thus, hs-cTnI testing increased the identification of myocardial injury and infarction but failed to address disparities in management and outcomes between those with and without kidney impairment.