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The Amundsen Sea Embayment of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet contains Thwaites and Pine Island Glaciers, two of the most rapidly changing glaciers in Antarctica. To date, Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers have only been observed by independent airborne radar sounding surveys, but a combined cross-basin analysis that investigates the basal conditions across the Pine Island-Thwaites Glaciers boundary has not been performed. Here, we combine two radar surveys and correct for their differences in system parameters to produce unified englacial attenuation and basal relative reflectivity maps spanning both Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers. Relative reflectivities range from -24.8 to +37.4 dB with the highest values beneath fast-flowing ice at the ice sheet margin. By comparing our reflectivity results with previously derived radar specularity and trailing bed echoes at Thwaites Glacier, we find a highly diverse subglacial landscape and hydrologic conditions that evolve along-flow. Together, these findings highlight the potential for joint airborne radar analysis with ground-based seismic and geomorphological observations to understand variations in the bed properties and cross-catchment interactions of ice streams and outlet glaciers., (© 2021. The Authors.)

Radar-sounding surveys associated with the discovery of a large impact crater beneath Hiawatha Glacier, Greenland, revealed bright, flat subglacial reflections hypothesized to originate from a subglacial groundwater table. We test this hypothesis using radiometric and hydrologic analysis of those radar data. The dielectric loss between the reflection from the top of the basal layer and subglacial reflection and their reflectivity difference represent dual constraints upon the complex permittivity of the basal material. Either ice-cemented debris or fractured, well-drained bedrock explain the basal layer's radiometric properties. The subglacial reflector's geometry is parallel to isopotential hydraulic head contours, located 7.5-15.3 m below the interface, and 11 ± 7 dB brighter than the ice-basal layer reflection. We conclude that this subglacial reflection is a groundwater table and that its detection was enabled by the wide bandwidth of the radar system and unusual geologic setting, suggesting a path for future direct radar detection of subglacial groundwater elsewhere., (© 2021. The Authors.)

In response to the need for physician leaders, the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell developed the Klar Leadership Development and Innovation Management program. This novel program leverages its partnership with a large Northeast health system to longitudinally provide students with leadership fundamentals and mentored experiences., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© International Association of Medical Science Educators 2020.)

Greenland's bed topography is a primary control on ice flow, grounding line migration, calving dynamics, and subglacial drainage. Moreover, fjord bathymetry regulates the penetration of warm Atlantic water (AW) that rapidly melts and undercuts Greenland's marine-terminating glaciers. Here we present a new compilation of Greenland bed topography that assimilates seafloor bathymetry and ice thickness data through a mass conservation approach. A new 150 m horizontal resolution bed topography/bathymetric map of Greenland is constructed with seamless transitions at the ice/ocean interface, yielding major improvements over previous data sets, particularly in the marine-terminating sectors of northwest and southeast Greenland. Our map reveals that the total sea level potential of the Greenland ice sheet is 7.42 ± 0.05 m, which is 7 cm greater than previous estimates. Furthermore, it explains recent calving front response of numerous outlet glaciers and reveals new pathways by which AW can access glaciers with marine-based basins, thereby highlighting sectors of Greenland that are most vulnerable to future oceanic forcing.

Many animals use structural coloration to create bright and conspicuous visual signals. Selection of the size and shape of the optical structures animals use defines both the colour and intensity of the light reflected. The material used to create these reflectors is also important; however, animals are restricted to a limited number of materials: commonly chitin, guanine and the protein, reflectin. In this work we highlight that a particular set of material properties can also be under selection in order to increase the optical functionality of structural reflectors. Specifically, polarization properties, such as birefringence (the difference between the refractive indices of a material) and chirality (which relates to molecular asymmetry) are both under selection to create enhanced structural reflectivity. We demonstrate that the structural coloration of the gold beetle Chrysina resplendens and silvery reflective sides of the Atlantic herring, Clupea harengus are two examples of this phenomenon. Importantly, these polarization properties are not selected to control the polarization of the reflected light as a source of visual information per se. Instead, by creating higher levels of reflectivity than are otherwise possible, such internal polarization properties improve intensity-matching camouflage.This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'., (© 2017 The Authors.)

Many biophotonic structures have their spectral properties of reflection 'tuned' using the (zeroth-order) Bragg criteria for phase constructive interference. This is associated with a periodicity, or distribution of periodicities, parallel to the direction of illumination. The polarization properties of these reflections are, however, typically constrained by the dimensional symmetry and intrinsic dielectric properties of the biological materials. Here we report a linearly polarizing reflector in a stomatopod crustacean that consists of 6-8 layers of hollow, ovoid vesicles with principal axes of ~550 nm, ~250 nm and ~150 nm. The reflection of unpolarized normally incident light is blue/green in colour with maximum reflectance wavelength of 520 nm and a degree of polarization greater than 0.6 over most of the visible spectrum. We demonstrate that the polarizing reflection can be explained by a resonant coupling with the first-order, in-plane, Bragg harmonics. These harmonics are associated with a distribution of periodicities perpendicular to the direction of illumination, and, due to the shape-anisotropy of the vesicles, are different for each linear polarization mode. This control and tuning of the polarization of the reflection using shape-anisotropic hollow scatterers is unlike any optical structure previously described and could provide a new design pathway for polarization-tunability in man-made photonic devices.

Multilayer optical reflectors constructed from 'stacks' of alternating layers of high and low refractive index dielectric materials are present in many animals. For example, stacks of guanine crystals with cytoplasm gaps occur within the skin and scales of fish, and stacks of protein platelets with cytoplasm gaps occur within the iridophores of cephalopods. Common to all these animal multilayer reflectors are different degrees of random variation in the thicknesses of the individual layers in the stack, ranging from highly periodic structures to strongly disordered systems. However, previous discussions of the optical effects of such thickness disorder have been made without quantitative reference to the propagation of light within the reflector. Here, we demonstrate that Anderson localization provides a general theoretical framework to explain the common coherent interference and optical properties of these biological reflectors. Firstly, we illustrate how the localization length enables the spectral properties of the reflections from more weakly disordered 'coloured' and more strongly disordered 'silvery' reflectors to be explained by the same physical process. Secondly, we show how the polarization properties of reflection can be controlled within guanine-cytoplasm reflectors, with an interplay of birefringence and thickness disorder explaining the origin of broadband polarization-insensitive reflectivity.

We describe the bi-directed eyes of a mesopelagic teleost fish, Rhynchohyalus natalensis, that possesses an extensive lateral diverticulum to each tubular eye. Each diverticulum contains a mirror that focuses light from the ventro-lateral visual field. This species can thereby visualize both downwelling sunlight and bioluminescence over a wide field of view. Modelling shows that the mirror is very likely to be capable of producing a bright, well focused image. After Dolichopteryx longipes, this is only the second description of an eye in a vertebrate having both reflective and refractive optics. Although superficially similar, the optics of the diverticular eyes of these two species of fish differ in some important respects. Firstly, the reflective crystals in the D. longipes mirror are derived from a tapetum within the retinal pigment epithelium, whereas in R. natalensis they develop from the choroidal argentea. Secondly, in D. longipes the angle of the reflective crystals varies depending on their position within the mirror, forming a Fresnel-type reflector, but in R. natalensis the crystals are orientated almost parallel to the mirror's surface and image formation is dependent on the gross morphology of the diverticular mirror. Two remarkably different developmental solutions have thus evolved in these two closely related species of opisthoproctid teleosts to extend the restricted visual field of a tubular eye and provide a well-focused image with reflective optics.

The cornea is the first optical element in the path of light entering the eye, playing a role in image formation and protection. Corneas of vertebrate simple camera-type eyes possess microprojections on the outer surface in the form of microridges, microvilli, and microplicae. Corneas of invertebrates, which have simple or compound eyes, or both, may be featureless or may possess microprojections in the form of nipples. It was previously unknown whether cephalopods (invertebrates with camera-type eyes like vertebrates) possess corneal microprojections and, if so, of what form. Using scanning electron microscopy, we examined corneas of a range of cephalopods and discovered nipple-like microprojections in all species. In some species, nipples were like those described on arthropod compound eyes, with a regular hexagonal arrangement and sizes ranging from 75 to 103 nm in diameter. In others, nipples were nodule shaped and irregularly distributed. Although terrestrial invertebrate nipples create an antireflective surface that may play a role in camouflage, no such optical function can be assigned to cephalopod nipples due to refractive index similarities of corneas and water. Their function may be to increase surface-area-to-volume ratio of corneal epithelial cells to increase nutrient, gas, and metabolite exchange, and/or stabilize the corneal mucous layer, as proposed for corneal microprojections of vertebrates.

Dielectric multilayer reflectors that are non-polarizing are an important class of optical device and have numerous applications within optical fibres [1], dielectric waveguides [2] and LEDs [3]. Here we report analyses of a biological non-polarizing optical mechanism found in the broadband guanine-cytoplasm "silver" multilayer reflectors of three species of fish. Present in the fish stratum argenteum are two populations of birefringent guanine crystal, each with their optic axes either parallel to the long axis of the crystal or perpendicular to the plane of the crystal. This arrangement neutralizes the polarization of reflection due the different interfacial Brewster's angles of each population. The fish reflective mechanism is distinct from existing non-polarizing mirror designs [4, 5, 6, 7] with the important feature that there is no refractive index contrast between the low index layers in the reflector and the external environment. It is a mechanism that could be readily manufactured and exploited in synthetic optical devices.

Several silicon dioxide sources were used as reagents in the base-mediated reaction with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) to make tetramethoxysilane (Q'). Several commercially available diatomaceous earth materials were investigated. High throughput screening was employed to explore over 200 silicate rocks and minerals as alternative silicon dioxide sources for formation of Q' from DMC and base. Amorphous silicon dioxide materials are effective reagents for the Q' forming reaction. Effective silicon dioxide sources in addition to the diatomaceous earth materials include opal and various synthetic silicates (Li, Co, and Ca).

We report experimental measurements of neutron production from collisions of neutron beams with polyethylene blocks simulating tissue at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Neutron Science Center and 1 GeV/amu iron nuclei with spacecraft shielding materials at the Brookhaven National Laboratory AGS.

We evaluated the effects of a single application of granular carbaryl made against nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say on the diversity and abundance of forest arthropods taken in pitfall traps in oak and mixed oak-pine forest sites for 12 wk after treatment in central New Jersey. Significant short-term changes in arthropod assemblages were detected immediately posttreatment. Effects were not distributed equally across taxa. Seasonal changes in numbers and diversity of forest arthropods in the study areas may have affected the impact of the acaricide in the treatment area. Comparison with control areas indicated that reductions in abundance of some arthropod taxa in the treatment area were detectable 12 wk after treatment.

Current shoulder rehabilitation programs encourage scapular stabilization components although, to date, no scientific studies have evaluated changes in scapular position following such rehabilitation. Four different measurement methods of scapular position have been reported in the literature. The purpose of this study was to examine the intratester and intertester reliability of these four methods and to also examine if significant differences exist in scapular position between dominant and nondominant extremities. Thirty-two subjects volunteered for this study. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) revealed acceptable intratester reliability (ICC = 0.81-0.95) for all measurement methods. However, while one method also proved to be acceptable (ICC = 0.91-.92) for intertester measurements, the other three methods were unacceptable (ICC = 0.18-0.69). One tester reported significant differences in scapular position of the dominant and nondominant extremities when using the most reliable method. The second tester found no significant differences with either method. Future research is recommended to reexamine reliability of these methods and measure subjects with shoulder pathology.

Study Objective: We compared the performance of the Fenem FEF end-tidal CO2 detector with the TRIMED capnometer to verify endotracheal intubation., Design: The FEF indicates the presence of CO2 by the color change of a chemically treated indicator; the TRIMED uses infrared technology. Both devices were used during 60 intubations., Setting: Intubations during in-hospital emergency situations outside of the operating room were studied., Type of Participants: Adult patients undergoing intubation for respiratory failure, CPR, and other airway protection situations were enrolled in the study., Interventions: The TRIMED monitor and FEF detector were placed in series between the manual resuscitator and the patient's endotracheal tube adapter after endotracheal tube placement., Measurements and Main Results: We defined the acceptable criterion for detection of CO2 as production of a positive signal within six manual resuscitator bag breaths. The TRIMED met this criterion in 58 of 60 patients (sensitivity, 0.97) and the FEF met this criterion in 59 of 60 patients (sensitivity, 0.98). A paired t test showed no statistically significant difference in performance between the two devices. In five of nine cases of intubation during CPR, the color change of the FEF was described as "subtle." In one CPR case, a positive signal was not obtained by either device., Conclusion: We conclude that the performance of the FEF CO2 detector is equal to that of the TRIMED monitor for verification of endotracheal intubation in nonCPR situations. Interpretation of FEF color changes during CPR should be approached with caution until further studies using the FEF during CPR are completed.

Presented are results from a parametric study of the shielding effectiveness of low and high atomic number shields on biological dose equivalent for low-earth-orbit and interplanetary manned missions.