A description of the Xhosa construction ya ‘go’ plus subordinate imperfective

This paper offers a descriptive analysis of an aspectual periphrasis in Xhosa (Bantu S41). The construction in question consists of a form of ya ‘go’ plus a verb in the subordinate imperfective paradigm. It is argued that this construction works at the level of actionality (“lexical aspect” or “aktionsart”), rather than constituting an aspectual operator sensu stricto. The overall actional profile of this verbal unit is that of a degree achievement (Dowty 1979) or directed activity (Croft 2012), i.e. a process of change along a property scale. This change is construed as involving a plurality of successive steps. The contribution of the lexical item and its arguments is that of a property scale and/or target state. Throughout the description remarkable semantic parallels to a structure-wise comparable construction in Spanish (Romance, Indoeuropean) are pointed out. These structural and semantic parallels have implications for an oft-mentioned grammaticalization path leading from a motion-based construction to a marker of progressive aspect (Heine and Kuteva 2002, among others). The description of the construction is complemented by a note on a frequent collocation with an instrumental infinitive of the same verb stem.

Combination of Gemcitabine with Cell-Penetrating Peptides: A Pharmacokinetic Approach Using In Silico Tools

Gemcitabine is an anticancer drug used to treat a wide range of solid tumors and is a first line treatment for pancreatic cancer. Our group has previously developed novel conjugates of gemcitabine with cell-penetrating peptides (CPP), and here we report some preliminary data regarding the pharmacokinetics of gemcitabine, two gemcitabine-CPP conjugates and respective CPP gathered from GastroPlus™, and analyze these results considering our previous evaluation of gemcitabine release and conjugates’ bioactivity. Additionally, seeking to shed some light on the relation between the penetration ability of CPP and their physicochemical properties, chemical descriptors for the 20 natural amino acids were calculated, a new principal property scale (z-scale) was created and CPP prediction models were developed, establishing quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR). The z-scores of the peptides conjugated with gemcitabine are presented and analyzed with the aforementioned data.

Assessing lead exposure sources at the property scale in Indianapolis

Background and Hypothesis: Lead (Pb) was phased out of paint and gasoline over 40 years ago due to neurotoxicity in humans, but has persisted in soils and poses a legacy threat to many. The Indianapolis 46218 zip code has had >10% children exhibiting Pb poisoning. This zip code has had historically high soil Pb levels, and is undergoing redevelopment. We hypothesize that redevelopment will act to re-expose new populations of people to the legacy Pb present in the area. Experimental Design or Project Methods: We sampled 5 parks and 7 playgrounds. Stratified random sampling based on permit type was used to select properties from 25 issued and 25 closed permits from 527 identified demolition permits. Nearby residential properties were selected, with permission of residents. Samples were taken near the dripline of the house, front yard, and street, or from each quadrant at sites without houses. Samples were dried, crushed, sieved to 150 microns, and assessed using X-Ray Fluorescence. Results: Mean Pb levels from driplines (1026 ppm) were significantly higher than streets (p=0.001), parks (p=0.002), yards (p=0.001), and demolition sites (p=0.000). Pb concentrations for playgrounds had the lowest median lead levels (42 ppm), while dripline samples had the highest (289 ppm). The EPA standard for children’s play areas is 400 ppm. Conclusion and Potential Impact: While all samples from playgrounds were below 400 ppm, children are also likely playing at their homes, where no legislation effectively protects them from potential Pb poisoning and values were found above 400 ppm. An immediate outcome from this project is the education. Residents who agreed to testing (n=42) received results of the test and guidelines to prevent Pb poisoning. More work remains to ensure preventive rather than reactive strategies are employed to protect children’s health.

Mapping the Urban Lead Exposome: A Detailed Analysis of Soil Metal Concentrations at the Household Scale Using Citizen Science

An ambitious citizen science effort in the city of Indianapolis (IN, USA) led to the collection and analysis of a large number of samples at the property scale, facilitating the analysis of differences in soil metal concentrations as a function of property location (i.e., dripline, yard, and street) and location within the city. This effort indicated that dripline soils had substantially higher values of lead and zinc than other soil locations on a given property, and this pattern was heightened in properties nearer the urban core. Soil lead values typically exceeded the levels deemed safe for children’s play areas in the United States (<400 ppm), and almost always exceeded safe gardening guidelines (<200 ppm). As a whole, this study identified locations within properties and cities that exhibited the highest exposure risk to children, and also exhibited the power of citizen science to produce data at a spatial scale (i.e., within a property boundary), which is usually impossible to feasibly collect in a typical research study.

Mapping the Urban Lead Exposome: A Detailed Analysis of Soil Metal Concentrations at the Household Scale Using Citizen Science

An ambitious citizen-science effort in the city of Indianapolis (Indiana, USA) led to the collection and analysis of a large number of samples at the property scale, facilitating the analysis of differences in soil metal concentrations as a function of property location (i.e., dripline, yard, and street) and location within the city. This effort indicated that dripline soils had substantially higher values of lead and zinc than other soil locations on a given property, and this pattern was heightened in properties nearer the urban core. Soil lead values typically exceeded the levels deemed safe for children’s play areas in the US (&lt;400 ppm), and almost always exceeded safe gardening guidelines (&lt;200 ppm). As a whole, this study identified locations within properties, and cities, that exhibited the highest exposure risk to children, and also exhibited the power of citizen science to produce data at a spatial scale (i.e., within a property boundary) that is usually impossible to feasibly collect in a typical research study.

Multiscale soil moisture estimates using static and roving cosmic-ray soil moisture sensors

Soil moisture plays a critical role in land surface processes and as such there has been a recent increase in the number and resolution of satellite soil moisture observations and the development of land surface process models with ever increasing resolution. Despite these developments, validation and calibration of these products has been limited because of a lack of observations on corresponding scales. A recently developed mobile soil moisture monitoring platform, known as the rover, offers opportunities to overcome this scale issue. This paper describes methods, results and testing of soil moisture estimates produced using rover surveys on a range of scales that are commensurate with model and satellite retrievals. Our investigation involved static cosmic-ray neutron sensors and rover surveys across both broad (36 × 36 km at 9 km resolution) and intensive (10 × 10 km at 1 km resolution) scales in a cropping district in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. We describe approaches for converting rover survey neutron counts to soil moisture and discuss the factors controlling soil moisture variability. We use independent gravimetric and modelled soil moisture estimates collected across both space and time to validate rover soil moisture products. Measurements revealed that temporal patterns in soil moisture were preserved through time and regression modelling approaches were utilised to produce time series of property-scale soil moisture which may also have applications in calibration and validation studies or local farm management. Intensive-scale rover surveys produced reliable soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution while broad-scale surveys produced soil moisture estimates at 9 km resolution. We conclude that the multiscale soil moisture products produced in this study are well suited to future analysis of satellite soil moisture retrievals and finer-scale soil moisture models.

Multiscale soil moisture estimates using static and roving cosmic-ray soil moisture sensors

Soil moisture plays a critical role in land surface processes and as such there has been a recent increase in the number and resolution of satellite soil moisture observations and development of land surface process models with ever increasing resolution. Despite these developments, validation and calibration of these products has been limited because of a lack of observations at corresponding scales. A recently developed mobile soil moisture monitoring platform, known as the rover, offers opportunities to overcome this scale issue. This paper describes a research project aimed at producing soil moisture estimates at a range of scales that are commensurate with model and satellite retrievals. Our investigation involved static cosmic ray neutron sensors and rover surveys across both broad (36 × 36 km at 9 km resolution) and intensive (10 × 10 km at 1 km resolution) scales in a cropping district in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. We describe approaches for converting rover survey neutron counts to soil moisture and discuss the factors controlling soil moisture variability. Measurements revealed that temporal patterns in soil moisture were preserved through time and regression modelling approaches were utilised to produce time series of property scale soil moisture which may also have application in calibration and validation studies or local farm management. Intensive scale rover surveys produced reliable soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution while broad scale surveys produced soil moisture estimates at 9 km resolution. We conclude that the multiscale soil moisture products produced in this study are well suited to future analysis of satellite soil moisture retrievals and finer scale soil moisture models.

Geophysical signature of the Victoria property, vectoring toward deep mineralization in the Sudbury Basin

Exploration throughout KGHM International’s Victoria property in Sudbury, Ontario, occurred over an approximate 10-year period and resulted in the discovery of the Victoria Deposit. A variety of geophysical techniques were used with varying results to detect Cu-Ni-PGE-rich ore bodies at depth. Near-surface methods supplemented traditional mapping and geologic interpretation techniques to gain an understanding of property-scale depositional environments. The use of 3C borehole EM surveying facilitated the transition from a broad exploration program, which was based on surface geophysical signatures and geologic principles toward a targeted mineral definition campaign. The presence of off-hole features within several drillholes targeting a lesser massive sulfide lens identified a mass of strong conductors approximately 1 km deep. The drilling of thin-plate forward models derived from the borehole EMs resulted in the intersection of the Victoria Deposit. The tabular deposit has a downdip extent of more than 1500 m and remains open at depth. This significant discovery is an example of the opportunity that remains at depth within the Sudbury Basin, one of the world’s most prolific mining camps.