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BACKGROUND: Few epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) on air pollutants exist, and none have been done on transportation noise exposures, which also contribute to environmental burden of disease. OBJECTIVE: We performed mutually independent EWAS on transportation noise and air pollution exposures. METHODS: We used data from two time points of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) from 1,389 participants contributing 2,542 observations. We applied multiexposure linear mixed-effects regressions with participant-level random intercept to identify significant Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine (CpG) sites and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in relation to 1-y average aircraft, railway, and road traffic day-evening-night noise (Lden); nitrogen dioxide (N[O.sub.2]); and particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter RESULTS: We found no statistically significant CpGs at false discovery rate CONCLUSIONS: Mutually independent DNA methylation was associated with source-specific transportation noise and air pollution exposures, with distinct and shared enrichments for pathways related to inflammation, cellular development, and immune responses. These findings contribute in clarifying the pathways linking these exposures and age-related diseases but need further confirmation in the context of mediation analyses. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP6174, Introduction Transportation-related noise (including road traffic, railway, and aircraft noise) and air pollution [including nitrogen dioxide (N[O.sub.2]) and particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter DNA methylation alterations may mediate part [...]

Critique is the opening of categories that are closed, to reveal the antagonism within them, to reveal the crisis that they conceal. The understanding of critique as the unmasking of domination is reactionary claptrap. Keywords Crisis, critique, abstract and concrete labour, open Marxism, I come home to Capital & Class with a mission, a challenge, an attack. I come to split the atom. Critique is a splitting of the atom, the opening of [...]

Purpose To determine if common polymorphisms in the endotoxin recognition complex influence the acute phase response as determined by the development of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and platelet count on admission. Methods This was a prospective observational cohort study. Paediatric intensive care patients (n = 913) were genotyped for common functional polymorphisms in the endotoxin recognition complex, including Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). We also selected potentially confounding polymorphisms in other genes of the innate immune system. SIRS was defined by age-specific consensus criteria. Platelet counts were recorded on admission. Results The development of SIRS was primarily determined by the nature of the insult, but carriers of TLR4 variant alleles had lower platelet counts than children with wild-type genotype [mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) 143 ± 7 vs. 175 ± 4; p = 0.0001)-independent of other innate immune system polymorphisms. These findings were validated using a patient cohort of 1,170 adults with coronary artery disease. Carriers of TLR4 polymorphisms with a history of myocardial infarction (n = 573) had lower platelet counts than those with the wild-type genotype (217 ± 7 vs. 237 ± 2.8; p = 0.021). Conclusions Our results show that TLR4 variant alleles are associated with lower platelet counts across a range of ages and precipitating insults but that they do not influence the incidence of SIRS. This result may reflect redundancy and 'robustness' in the pathways leading to SIRS or the lack of specificity of this endpoint. Platelet count may vary with TLR4 genotype because it may be sufficiently sensitive and more linearly related to inflammation than other markers or, alternatively, there may be a direct TLR4-mediated platelet effect., Author(s): Rachel S. Agbeko [sup.1] [sup.2], John W. Holloway [sup.3], Meredith L. Allen [sup.2], Shu Ye [sup.4], Katy J. Fidler [sup.5], John Pappachan [sup.6], Allan Goldman [sup.1], David Pontefract [sup.3], [...]

Halogen atoms and oxides are highly reactive and can profoundly affect atmospheric composition. Chlorine atoms can decrease the lifetimes of gaseous elemental mercury (1) and hydrocarbons such as the greenhouse gas methane (2). Chlorine atoms also influence cycles that catalytically destroy or produce tropospheric ozone (3), a greenhouse gas potentially toxic to plant and animal life. Conversion of inorganic chloride into gaseous chlorine atom precursors within the troposphere is generally considered a coastal or marine air phenomenon (4). Here we report mid-continental observations of the chlorine atom precursor nitryl chloride at a distance of 1,400 km from the nearest coastline. We observe persistent and significant nitryl chloride production relative to the consumption of its nitrogen oxide precursors. Comparison of these findings to model predictions based on aerosol and precipitation composition data from long-term monitoring networks suggests nitryl chloride production in the contiguous USA alone is at a level similar to previous global estimates for coastal and marine regions (5). We also suggest that a significant fraction of tropospheric chlorine atoms (6) may arise directly from anthropogenic pollutants., Night-time reactions of nitrogen oxides are known to convert inorganic chloride into chlorine atom ([Cl.sup.*]) precursors (7) (for example, Fig. 1). [N.sub.2][O.sub.5], a nocturnal N[O.sub.x] reservoir (N[O.sub.x] = No 1 [...]

Byline: Sigurdur Jakobsson (1), John R. Holloway (2) Keywords: Melting; Peridotite; Komatiite; COH-fluid Abstract: Partial melting experiments on a San Carlos peridotite were done in a Walker type multi-anvil press at pressures from 5 to 12.5 GPa. Experiments were done in the presence of a COH-fluid and at oxygen fugacity controlled by the Fe--FeO buffer. Olivine, clinopyroxene, garnet and orthopyroxene are stable in all but the highest temperature 10 GPa experiments where olivine and garnet coexist, and the highest temperature 5 GPa experiments where olivine is the single crystalline phase. The solidus at 5 GPa was found to be at approximately 1,200degC and the liquidus was estimated to be at 1,325degC, which is [proportional to]500degC lower than has been reported for dry melting of peridotite. The aluminum concentration of the melts decreases with increasing melt fraction and decreases also with increasing pressure. At 5 GPa the melts have a [CaO/Al.sub.2]O.sub.3-ratio of 0.85--1.0, which is similar to that of undepleted komatiites major element concentrations are also identical to those of undepleted komatiites such as the Munro komatiites. At 10 and 12.5 GPa the partial melts have [CaO/Al.sub.2]O.sub.3-ratios above 1.5 and major element composition almost identical to aluminum depleted komatiites such as the Barberton komatiites. We therefore conclude that in the presence of a reducing COH-fluid both aluminum-depleted and -undepleted komatiites could have formed at temperatures much lower than generally accepted. Author Affiliation: (1) Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland (2) School of Earth and Space Exploration and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA Article History: Registration Date: 11/07/2007 Received Date: 02/03/2007 Accepted Date: 11/07/2007 Online Date: 15/08/2007 Article note: Communicated by T.L. Grove.

Primordial organic molecules may have evolved in seafloor hydrothermal systems by mineral catalysis. Most organic compounds decompose in >3110 [degrees]C vent fluid; however, we show that smectite-type clays can protect and promote development of diverse organic compounds that may be precursors to biomolecules. Smectite provides a safe haven for the synthesis of organic molecules, essentially like a 'primordial womb.' Our experiments simulated seafloor hydrothermal conditions (300 [degrees]C, 100 MPa) and reacted common clays (montmorillonite, saponite, illite) with dilute methanol as a source of C. Montmorillonite reacts under these conditions to illite, while the other clays do not change. We observed increased organic synthesis over time with montmorillonite during mineralogical reaction. Approaching equilibrium, smectite contracts and organic molecules are expelled. Organic compounds unstable in hot fluid where the smectite reacts may survive in cooler waters outside the vent. Keywords: smectite, seafloor hydrothermal systems, organic synthesis.

Primordial organic molecules may have evolved in seafloor hydrothermal systems by mineral catalysis. Most organic compounds decompose in >300 [degrees] C vent fluid; however, we show that smectite-type clays can protect and promote development of diverse organic compounds that may be precursors to biomolecules. Smectite provides a safe haven for the synthesis of organic molecules, essentially like a 'primordial womb.' Our experiments simulated seafloor hydrothermal conditions (300 [degrees]C, 100 MPa) and reacted common clays (montmorillonite, saponite, illite) with dilute methanol as a source of C. Montmorillonite reacts under these conditions to illite, while the other clays do not change. We observed increased organic synthesis over time with montmorillonite during mineralogical reaction. Approaching equilibrium, smectite contracts and organic molecules are expelled. Organic compounds unstable in hot fluid where the smectite reacts may survive in cooler waters outside the vent. Keywords: smectite, seafloor hydrothermal systems, organic synthesis.

In his intervention, Holloway engages with his critics in a fruitful dialogue. To Holloway, the distinction between fetishism-as-accomplished-fact and fetishism-as-process is key to his argument, because it enriches Marxism as a libertarian understanding. The book is intended to contribute to the process of seeking the way forward: not in search of any one, true and only strategy, but as part of a general attempt to reinvent revolution., The book is an invitation to discuss, and to all those who have commented on the book, however adverse their criticism, I am very grateful for their acceptance of the [...]

Experiments performed on the basalt + [H.sub.2]O system at 2.2 to 3.4 GPa and 625 to 750 [degrees]C demonstrate the importance of amphibole, zoisite/clinozoisite, and lawsonite as [H.sub.2]O carriers in subducting oceanic crust. Amphiboles are sodic-calcic (barroisite) at low pressures (2.2 and 2.4 GPa) but become sodic (glaucophane-ferroglancophane) with increasing pressure. Zoisite/clinozoisite and lawsonite vary little in composition over this P-T range. Garnet and elinopyroxene compositions respond to the progressive disappearance of amphibole and zoisite with increasing pressure. [H.sub.2]O contents of eclogitic assemblages based on modal abundances calculated from electron microprobe analyses were combined with recent results from thermal modeling of subduction zones to discuss fluid release from the slab. The results indicate that, for cold subduction zones, the basaltic crust does not dehydrate, and lawsonite transports [H.sub.2]O to depths greater than 250 km. For intermediate temperature paths, the destabilization of lawsonite will trigger the release of 0.9 wt% [H.sub.2]O at ~110 km, within the sub-are region. The remaining 0.1 wt% [H.sub.2]O is transported by phengite to depths greater than 300 km. In hot subduction zones, the [H.sub.2]O-saturated basalt solidus is crossed, and partial melting of the crust leads to the generation of 'adakite' type melts.

The zapatista uprising poses fundamental challenges for how we think about social theory and political practice. The great contribution of the zapatistas has been to break the connection between revolution [...]

The fractionation of B and its isotopes between aqueous fluid and silicate melt has been studied from 550 to 1100 [degrees] C and 100-500 MPa. Fluid-melt partition coefficients are 1 for rhyolite melt. This shows that B is not always strongly extracted from melts into hydrous fluids. Boron isotopic fractionation is large compared with the carbon and oxygen stable isotopic systems (especially at high T) and is most simply explained by differences in coordination (trigonal vs. tetrahedral) among coexisting phases. Combined with earlier measurements on illite-water (300-350 [degrees] C), B isotopic fractionation defines a temperature-dependent trend from 300 to 1100 [degrees] C. Because of the large magnitude and apparent low sensitivity to bulk composition, B isotopic fractionation can be readily applied to studies of diagenesis, hydrothermal alteration of planetary bodies, subduction-zone processing and arc magma generation, and magma chamber evolution.

Methods for evaluating school superintendents is discussed. The author maintains one the most significant aspects of the evaluation process is to evaluate and understand the job itself, and then define the standards by which the superintendent must follow.

A prototype solid-state, multispectral hybrid laser has been designed and tested. The laser provides simultaneous outputs at several wavelengths. The hybrid-laser concept is based on the efficient use of flash-lamp-pump energy distributed between two complementary lasing materials, Nd:YAG and Cr: LiSAF, that share the same pump cavity. The prototype Q-switched hybrid laser provides dual-fundamental-wavelength output at 850 and 1064 nm as well as frequency-doubled output at 532 nm. The laser achieved 3.6% slope efficiency (combined) in free-running operation and 2.4% when Q switched. Higher efficiencies can be obtained with improvements in laser crystal quality and pump cavity configuration.

Problems associated with intermittent and variable degrees of sample blackening are often reported for studies involving the preparation of C[O.sub.2]-bearing silicate glasses in piston-cylinder apparatus. This phenomenon is generally attributed to H infiltration, which leads to the reduction of C[O.sub.2] and the precipitation of graphite with the concomitant formation of water. In this study we demonstrate that carbon diffusion into platinum capsules may be a common cause of blackened glasses and this process may be detected using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify the presence of CO without elevated [H.sub.2]O contents. The simulated infiltration of 12C from a graphite furnace into a 13C-bearing sample is illustrated using secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and microFTIR analysis. Careful FTIR monitoring of variable sample reduction has helped to identify the precautions required to reduce C (and H) infiltration in solid media assemblies and it appears that physical barriers can be more important than the chemical buffers traditionally employed.

Forged in volcanoes, nursed on sulfur, the first organisms may have evolved at the bottom of the sea--here and on other celestial bodies The story began not with one discovery, [...]

Wadsleyite [[Beta]-[(Mg,Fe).sub.2]Si[O.sub.4]] is known to accept variable amounts of H and may be an important reservoir of H in the transition zone of the mantle. The crystal structure of [Fo.sub.94.6] hydrous wadsleyite ([Mg.sub.1.730][Fe.sub.0.098] [Al.sub.0.008][Si.sub.0.0991][H.sub.0.355][O.sub.4]) synthesized at 1400 [degrees] C and 17 GPa was refined in space group I2/m from 1784 measured intensities of which 830 were unique, and, of these, 650 were of intensity greater than 4[Sigma]. Unit cell parameters are a = 5.6715(7), b = 11.582(2), c = 8.258(1) [Angstrom], and [Beta] = 90.397(9) [degrees]. The final R(F) for all reflections was 0.026 ([R.sub.w] = 0.024); goodness of fit was 1.68. An H position was located on the nonsilicate O atom (O1). Partial occupancy of a normally vacant tetrahedral site adjacent to M3 was observed. This is postulated to be the result of Si moving from M3 to the adjacent tetrahedral void on decompression. Deviation from orthorhombic symmetry appears to result from ordering of H, (Mg, Fe), and possibly Si, within the two nonequivalent M3 sites.

The articles on Corelli's op.5 by Neal Zaslaw:, Robert Seletsky and Peter Walls in the February 1996 issue of Early music(1) appeared at a particularly apposite time for me and [...]

A review of the carbon monoxide measurement in rural and remote locations based on the principle of gas filter correlation, nondispersive infrared adsorption is presented. The optimization of the sensitivity through signal enhancement and noise reduction to attain parts per billion precision is likewise described. This precision is estimated to be a factor 10 improvement over previously reported uses for such an instrumentation.

In this article, John Holloway makes a strong case for national state development to be understood only in relation to the development of global capital.

The determination of solubility of CO2 in leucitite as a function of pressure, oxygen concentration and temperature is positively influenced by pressure and negatively by temperature. The mature effect has no influence on the solubility of CO2 in leucitite. The determination is performed by Fourier transform micro-infrared and secondary ion mass spectroscopies.

Analysis of an iron-rich martian mantle composition involved extraction of primary melt and coexisting mineral composition at increasing degrees of partial melting at 15 kbar. Basalt-peridotite sandwich experiments provided estimates of the composition of primary melts near the solidus. The primary melts' liquidus mineralogy was also examined.

An iron-rich martian mantle composition is subjected to anhydrous partial melting experiments at 10 to 30 kbar from solidus to near liquidus temperature. A spinel lherzolite is the main solidus assemblage in the source sites of the Tharsis plateau and for most of the martian mantle.

Ruthenium(V) fluoride and osmium(V) fluoride are subjected to electron diffraction experiments, and the vapor phase reveals the geometries to be a mixture comprising trimers and dimers. The potential bonding between metal and metal across the ring is not stimulated by the occurrence of exterior d electrons in the metal atom orbitals. The later transition metal(V) fluorides reveal an absence of planarity in their geometries due to the occurrence of the electrons in the metal atom orbitals.

Despite its acknowledged importance, the role of water in the genesis of subduction zone volcanism is poorly understood. Amphibole dehydration in subducting oceanic crust at a single pressure is assumed to generate the water required for melting, but experimental constraints on the reaction are limited, and little attention has been paid to reactions involving other hydrous minerals. Experiments on an oceanic basalt at pressure-temperature conditions relevant to subducting slabs demonstrate that amphibole dehydration is spread over a depth interval of at least 20 kilometers. Reactions involving other hydrous minerals, including mica, epidote, chloritoid, and lawsonite, also release water over a wide depth interval, and in some subduction zones these phases may transport water to deep levels in the mantle., Water plays an important role in subduction zones. It is incorporated in basaltic oceanic crust by hydrothermal alteration at mid-ocean ridges, and during subduction it is released in a series [...]

Measurement of the levels of ozone and carbon monoxide (a tracer of anthropogenic pollution) at three surface sites on the Atlantic coast of Canada allow the estimation of the amount of ozone photochemically produced from anthropogenic precursors over North America and transported to the lower troposphere over the temperate North Atlantic Ocean. This amount is greater than that injected from the stratosphere, the primary natural source of ozone. This conclusion supports the contention that ozone derived from anthropogenic pollution has a hemisphere-wide effect at northern temperate latitudes., Transport of pollutants from populated and industrialized continental areas affects the chemistry and radiation balance of the global atmosphere[1]. A pollutant of particular interest is ozone ([O.sub.3]), because its photolysis [...]

A study was conducted on activity-composition relationships in the Fe-Pt system at 1300 and 1400 degrees celcius (C), 1 atmosphere and 20 kilobars. In the alloy, the Fe activity coefficient was found to be best represented by log gamma-Fe = (1 - X(sub Fe))squared(B + C(4X(sub Fe) - 1)), where B = -3.579 and C = -0.151 at 1400 degrees C and B = -4.202 and C = -0.323 at 1300 C. In alloys with poor Fe, Fe partial molar volume was found to have a significant negative deviation from ideal values. In addition, as Fe content increased, volume composition relationships exhibited a positive deviation and will likely reach ideality.

A internally heated pressure vessel and furnace system were designed for use in rapid-quench operations. The vessel/system retains the sample size and hydrostatic loading advantages found in an internally heated, air-medium vessel. The system has a quench rate of several hundred degrees Celsius per second and operates at temperatures of at least 1,300 degrees Celsius and pressures of up to 1,500 bars. The pressure system also provides simple and rapid loading and unloading.

A study was conducted on the transformation from orthorhombic zoisite to clinozoisite in the system Ca2Al3Si3O12(OH)-Ca2Al2Fe3+Si3O12(OH). Results indicated the presence of a steep transformation loop in the T-X sections. The position of the two-phase zoisite-clinozoisite area in a T-X section were also found to be dependent on pressure. A smaller two-phase area beside those from the high-pressure regimes was also surmised. The effect of a low-temperature miscibility gap on the phase diagram was also examined.

Results of a study to establish the association between 17q21 variants and exposure to smoking on early-onset asthma confirm the hypothesis. It has been observed that asthma is syndromic rather than a single disease entity.

Minority students face numerous academic barriers for achievement in the classroom as well as outside the school. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) suggests six principles for maintaining the standard of school mathematics.

National Center for Education Statistics found that teachers take part in professional development, study the subject area in depth and apply new methods of teaching. Professional development supports the goal of ensuring the success of all students.

School principals can use a number of factors as the basis for evaluating computer hardware and software. These include descriptions of products, the needs that a particular product will address, the users of the products and the history of use of the product. The long-term impact of products must also be considered as well as the costs involved, their educational importance and the availability of technical support services.

The [H.sub.2]O-saturated solidus of a model mantle composition (Kilborne Hole peridotite nodule, KLB-1) was determined to be just above 1000 ° C from 5 to 11 gigapascals. Given reasonable [H.sub.2]O abundances in Earth's mantle, an [H.sub.2]O-rich fluid could exist only in a region defined by the wet solidus and thermal stability limits of hydrous minerals, at depths between 90 and 330 kilometers. The experimental partial melts monotonously became more mafic with increasing pressure from andesitic composition at 1 gigapascal to more mafic than the starting peridotite at 10 gigapascals. Because the chemistry of the experimental partial melts is similar to that of kimberlites, it is suggested that kimberlites may be derived by low-temperature melting of an [H.sub.2]O-rich mantle at depths of 150 to 300 kilometers., [H.sub.2]O lowers melting temperatures of mantle peridotites and also affects the chemistry of their partial melts (1, 2). Earlier experiments demonstrated that partial melting of [H.sub.2]O-saturated peridotite produces andesitic or [...]

Researchers who have worked on administrator mentoring program reveal some benefits of mentoring. The various characteristics of a successful mentoring program are presented.

Research indicates that family literacy programs can provide opportunities for educational success for parents and children. The benefits reaped by the children in family literacy workshops are presented.

Methods for retaining experienced teachers are described. They include providing opportunities for professional development and continuing education and offering continuing support and mentoring throughout a teacher's career.

This article examines how child development influences kindergarten readiness, focusing on what kindergarten schools can do to delay the entrance of younger students. Topics include how to identify and support children at-risk for kindergarten failure.

This article examines how teachers can promote racial and ethnic tolerance among their students, focusing on the role of families, schools, and communities. Topics include how classroom diversity does not always equal a greater amount of student tolerance.

This article examines how different countries measure student performance, focusing on England, France, China, Japan, and Hong Kong. Topics include the international comparison of standardized testing scores.

This article examines the special educational needs of homeless children, focusing on how homelessness impacts school attendance and social and emotional development. Topics include school services that provide food and after-school programs for homeless youth.

This article examines how teachers can work to improve academic standards in various content areas while also focusing on students' literacy skills. Topics include methods to increase student motivation, reading comprehension, and writing skills.