scholarly journals Planetary habitability: lessons learned from terrestrial analogues

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louisa J. Preston ◽  
Lewis R. Dartnell
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Icy Moons ◽  
Habitable Zones ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Open Access Database ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Ground Truthing ◽  
Almost All

AbstractTerrestrial analogue studies underpin almost all planetary missions and their use is essential in the exploration of our Solar system and in assessing the habitability of other worlds. Their value relies on the similarity of the analogue to its target, either in terms of their mineralogical or geochemical context, or current physical or chemical environmental conditions. Such analogue sites offer critical ground-truthing for astrobiological studies on the habitability of different environmental parameter sets, the biological mechanisms for survival in extreme environments and the preservation potential and detectability of biosignatures. The 33 analogue sites discussed in this review have been selected on the basis of their congruence to particular extraterrestrial locations. Terrestrial field sites that have been used most often in the literature, as well as some lesser known ones which require greater study, are incorporated to inform on the astrobiological potential of Venus, Mars, Europa, Enceladus and Titan. For example, the possibility of an aerial habitable zone on Venus has been hypothesized based on studies of life at high-altitudes in the terrestrial atmosphere. We also demonstrate why many different terrestrial analogue sites are required to satisfactorily assess the habitability of the changing environmental conditions throughout Martian history, and recommend particular sites for different epochs or potential niches. Finally, habitable zones within the aqueous environments of the icy moons of Europa and Enceladus and potentially in the hydrocarbon lakes of Titan are discussed and suitable analogue sites proposed. It is clear from this review that a number of terrestrial analogue sites can be applied to multiple planetary bodies, thereby increasing their value for astrobiological exploration. For each analogue site considered here, we summarize the pertinent physiochemical environmental features they offer and critically assess the fidelity with which they emulate their intended target locale. We also outline key issues associated with the existing documentation of analogue research and the constraints this has on the efficiency of discoveries in this field. This review thus highlights the need for a global open access database for planetary analogues.

115 An Audit on Dexamethasone Prescribing Practice on Surgically Managed Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression Patients in the Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences: Lessons Learned in Closing the Loop

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Laurente ◽  
R Mohammed ◽  
M Elmalky
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Compression ◽  
Cord Compression ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression ◽  
Loading Dose ◽  
The Past ◽  
Prescribing Practice ◽  
Closing The Loop ◽  
Almost All

Abstract Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression is a surgical emergency owing to its propensity to cause significant morbidity and mortality. Dexamethasone is prescribed to reduce oedema and promote vascular membrane stabilization. The is done so until a more definitive management has been performed. This is a retrospective study evaluating the steroid-prescribing practice for MSCC patients in 2018 at a tertiary spinal unit in Greater Manchester. Thirty-three patients who underwent stabilisation were evaluated in terms of both steroid prescribing and weaning practices. Standards used against for both were the NICE guidelines and the Edinburgh/Christie’s guidelines. Of the 33 patients evaluated, only 1 patient received the correct loading dose of 16mg, whilst 27 went straight to being given 8mg BD. 5 did not receive dexamethasone at all. In terms of discontinuation/weaning, 26 were weaned accordingly and 2 were not weaned to continue as adjuvant treatment. Dexamethasone prescribing practises has since improved over the past two years. 93% of the patients have been correctly weaned as compared to 38% in the past. In terms of prescription, much needs to be done as almost all the patients evaluated did not get the correct loading dose despite receiving the appropriate maintenance.

scholarly journals Women and Gender in 1917

Slavic Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 694-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rochelle Goldberg Ruthchild
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Significant Issue ◽  
Women And Gender ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
History Of ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Revolution

This paper argues for greater integration of considerations of women and gender in the history of the 1917 Russian Revolutions. Two key issues have long been discussed by historians: the spontaneity/consciousness paradigm, and the role of class in the revolution. Neither has been adequately analyzed in relation to gender. Women's suffrage has been largely neglected despite the fact that it was a significant issue throughout the year and represented a pioneering advance won by a countrywide coalition of women and men from the working class and intelligentsia, and from almost all political parties. In this centennial year, accounts of the Revolution remain one-dimensional; women remain the other.

scholarly journals Comprehensive analysis of the expression and prognosis for COL4A family genes in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Qian ◽  
Bizhi Tu ◽  
Yaya Jia ◽  
Laifu Wei ◽  
Fei Gao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Survival Time ◽  
Clear Cell ◽  
Clear Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Renal Clear Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
Tumor Tissues ◽  
Open Access Database ◽  
Cancer Genome Atlas ◽  
Almost All

Abstract Background COL4A family genes are a group of genes related to the extracellular matrix, which have been proven to be associated with various cancers. However, its relationship with kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC) has not been reported. Methods Hence, we obtained the data of differential expression and survival time of COL4A genes in KIRC from an online open-access database including ONCOMINE, UALCAN, GEPIA, Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, cBioPortal, Metascape, and STRING. Results We found significant overexpression in COL4A1, COL4A2 while COL4A 3, COL4A4, COL4A5, and COL4A6 has decreased in tumor tissues. Moreover, almost all COL4A family genes obviously correlated with individual cancer stages of KIRC; and higher expression of COL4A1/2/3/BP/4 was found to accompany better overall survival time (OS) while COL4A5 with a lower OS in KIRC patients. We also found that the COL4A genes altered group had longer OS and DFS than unaltered teams.

scholarly journals Morphological Variations of Robusta Coffee As a Response to Different Altitude in Lampung

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-118
Author(s):  
Erwin Prastowo ◽  
Rina Arimarsetiowati
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Fruit Weight ◽  
Leaf Length ◽  
Qualitative Variable ◽  
Morphological Variations ◽  
Agronomic Practices ◽  
Robusta Coffee ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Key Issues

The coffee growth is considered to depend, partly, on the environmental condition at which they develop to accomplish both vegetative and generative stages. An exploratory survey in Lampung aimed at investigating the morphological characteristics of 13 Robusta coffee accessions growing on different altitudes.Local superior coffee clones were selected from eight farms, and subjected to identifications. Three key issues were concerned for both quantitatively, i.e. plant components of leaves, branches, and fruits, and qualitatively such as leaves and fruit characteristics, i.e. colour and shape. The analysis shows a similarity of about 60% of total qualitative variable identified among different accessions. The remaining characters are suggested to be more varying such as flush colour, leaf surface, ripe fruit colour, and stipule shape. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis showed a higher level of similarity for fruit characters, i.e. fruit length, -width, and -thickness, and to a slightly lower level for leaf characteristics, i.e. leaf length and -width, and number of productive branches. It was revealed that some variables, i.e. fruit weight; leaf and seed; and canopy characteristics, explaining the morphological variation of coffee throughout the accessions. Furthermore, cluster analysis may indicated a possible similarity of coffee morphologies either from area with different or the same environmental conditions. A high heterogeneity related to environmental conditions, genotypic variations, plant nutritional status, and agronomic practices, which unable to confirm in the present study, may limit the specific conclusions.

scholarly journals Using Biogeography to Assess Key Adaptation Strength in Two Bird Families

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdel H. Halloway ◽  
Christopher J. Whelan ◽  
Çağan H. Şekercioğlu ◽  
Joel S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
New World ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
The Other ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Old World ◽  
Extended Range

AbstractAdaptations can be thought of as evolutionary technologies which allow an organism to exploit environments. Among convergent taxa, adaptations may be largely equivalent with the taxa operating in a similar set of environmental conditions, divergent with the taxa operating in different sets of environmental conditions, or superior with one taxon operating within an extended range of environmental conditions than the other. With this framework in mind, we sought to characterize the adaptations of two convergent nectarivorous bird families, the New World hummingbirds (Trochilidae) and Old World sunbirds (Nectariniidae), by comparing their biogeography. Looking at their elevational and latitudinal gradients, hummingbirds not only extend into but also maintain species richness in more extreme environments. We suspect that hummingbirds have a superior key adaptation that sunbirds lack, namely a musculoskeletal architecture that allows for hovering. Through biogeographic comparisons, we have been able to assess and understand adaptations as evolutionary technologies among two convergent bird families, a process that should work for most taxa.

Durability of potential plutonium wasteforms under repository conditions

2012 ◽  
Vol 76 (8) ◽  
pp. 2911-2918 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Deissmann ◽  
S. Neumeier ◽  
G. Modolo ◽  
D. Bosbach
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Reactivity ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Geological Disposal ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Safety Case ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level ◽  
Radionuclide Release

AbstractSeparated stocks of UK civil plutonium are currently held as a zero value asset in storage, as there is no final decision about whether they should be treated as a resource for future use as nuclear fuel or as waste. Irrespective of future UK government strategies regarding plutonium, at least a portion of the UK civil plutonium inventory will be designated for geological disposal. In this context, we performed a high-level review of the performance of potential wasteforms for the disposal of separated civil plutonium. The key issues considered were the durability and chemical reactivity of the wasteforms in aqueous environments and the long-term radionuclide release under conditions relevant to geological disposal. The major findings of the review, relevant not only to the situation in the UK but to plutonium disposal in general, are summarized in this paper. The review showed that, in the event of a decision being taken to declare plutonium as a waste for disposal, more systematic studies would be required to constrain the wasteform performance under repository conditions in order to derive realistic source terms for a safety case.

Nanoplastic transport in aqueous environments: The role of chemo-electric properties and hydrodynamic forces for nanoplastic-mineral interaction.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sascha Müller ◽  
Jacek Fiutowski ◽  
Horst-Günter Rubahn ◽  
Nicole Rita Posth
Keyword(s):  
Specific Interaction ◽  
Chemical Processes ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Transport Studies ◽  
Subsurface Environments ◽  
Dissolved Species ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Interaction Scheme ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Mineral Interaction

The fate and transport characteristics of nanoplastic (NP) through different environmental systems is largely governed by physio-chemical processes and their specific interaction with environmental constituents (i.e., minerals, dissolved species, suspended particles). A hydrodynamic component present in almost all terrestrial and marine aqueous environments impact the physio-chemical processes micron-scale is largely overlooked in NP transport studies. Therefore, we tested the interaction behavior of nanosized plastic polystyrene particles of various coatings in the presence of minerals abundant in the Earth crust within a hydrodynamic continuum representing flow rates from groundwater to surface water systems. Our batch experiments show that particle-mineral adsorption is largely driven by the magnitude of opposite charge configurations, which is either produced by mineral type or specific nanoplastic surface coating. Zetapotential serves as a good predictor of adsorption between uncoated and carboxyl-coated polystyrene with minerals. It fails, however, to predict adsorption behavior between NH2 coated polystyrene and apatite or feldspars, due to the more complex and varying compositions of these minerals. Incorporating the hydrodynamic force component into the particle- mineral interaction scheme reproduces those adsorption trends at slow flowrates of 1e-04 m/d. However, increasing flow rates by a factor of 100 modifies charge-driven adsorption between minerals and plastics. This study highlights the unabating importance of hydrodynamic conditions when predicting nanoplastic transport in different subsurface environments, and has implications for nanoplastic behavior in both terrestrial and marine aqueous environments.

Case Studies

2018 ◽  
pp. 165-220
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Entry Points ◽  
Key Issues

This chapter offers a case study comparison in order to extrapolate lessons learned from different contexts and to investigate the key elements of effective mediation. The investigation and exploration looks at the following categories: (1) key lessons learned; (2) background of the conflict, including chronology of main event, causes of incompatibility, and balance of forces1; (3) pre-negotiation phase, including previous attempts to negotiate the issues and highlighting entry points for third parties; (4) negotiation phase, including style and strategy, key issues, participation and inclusivity, special considerations; and (5) assessment, including an appreciation of agreement, context, and outlook.

Successes and Failures in E-Partnering

2011 ◽  
pp. 145-174
Author(s):  
Fang Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Small Manufacturer ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Multiple Case Studies ◽  
Cross Case Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Discussion ◽  
Successes And Failures

The previous chapters have included a comprehensive discussion of general issues concerning e-partnership management from both technology and people perspectives, and, continuing this theme, this chapter presents extended and systematic multiple case studies which allow a more profound exploration of the way in which companies have partnered in e-business. It also contains an in-depth examination of specific issues and problems raised in e-partnerships. The cases selected for the case studies represent a broad range of interests, from big brand dotcoms like Yahoo! and Google to a small manufacturer that has embraced e-business and e-partnership technologies and practices. The case studies are followed by a cross-case analysis of the key issues in relation to the development of e-partnerships. Key successful factors are identified from the successful cases, along with the hard lessons learned from failure.

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