Improved Mechanistic Understanding of Natural Gas Methane Emissions from Spatially Resolved Aircraft Measurements.

Divergence in recent oil and gas related methane emission estimates between aircraft studies (basin total for a midday window) and emissions inventories (annualized regional and national statistics) indicate the need for better understanding the experimental design, including temporal and spatial alignment and interpretation of results. Our aircraft-based methane emission estimates in a major U.S. shale gas basin resolved from west to east show (i) similar spatial distributions for 2 days, (ii) strong spatial correlations with reported NG production (R2 = 0.75) and active gas well pad count (R2 = 0.81), and (iii) 2× higher emissions in the western half (normalized by gas production) despite relatively homogeneous dry gas and well characteristics. Operator reported hourly activity data show that midday episodic emissions from manual liquid unloadings (a routine operation in this basin and elsewhere) could explain ∼1/3 of the total emissions detected midday by the aircraft and ∼2/3 of the west-east difference in emissions. The 22% emission difference between both days further emphasizes that episodic sources can substantially impact midday methane emissions and that aircraft may detect daily peak emissions rather than daily averages that are generally employed in emissions inventories. While the aircraft approach is valid, quantitative, and independent, our study sheds new light on the interpretation of previous basin scale aircraft studies, and provides an improved mechanistic understanding of oil and gas related methane emissions.

International parental migration and the psychological well-being of children in Ghana, Nigeria, and Angola.

When parents migrate, leaving their children in the origin country, transnational families are formed. Transnational family studies on children who are "left behind" indicate that children suffer psychologically from parental migration. Many of the factors identified as affecting children's responses to parental migration however are not considered in child psychology and family sociology studies. This study aims to bridge these areas of knowledge by quantitatively investigating the association between transnational families and children's psychological well-being. It analyzes a survey conducted in three African countries in 2010-11 (Ghana N = 2760; Angola N = 2243; Nigeria N = 2168) amongst pupils of secondary schools. The study compares children in transnational families to those living with their parents in their country of origin. Children's psychological well-being is measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses reveal that children in transnational families fare worse than their counterparts living with both parents but not in Ghana where living conditions mediate this relationship. This paper also looks at four characteristics of transnational families and finds that specific characteristics of transnational families and country contexts matter: (1) changing caregivers is associated with poorer well-being in all countries; (2) which parent migrates does not make a difference in Ghana, when mothers migrate and fathers are caregivers results in poorer well-being in Nigeria, and both mother's and father's migration result in worse outcomes in Angola; (3) the kin relationship of the caregiver is not associated with poorer well-being in Ghana and Nigeria but is in Angola; (4) children with parents who migrate internationally do not show different results than children whose parents migrate nationally in Ghana and Nigeria but in Angola international parental migration is associated with poorer psychological well-being. The study shows that broader characteristics in the population rather than parental migration per se are associated with decreased levels of well-being.

Dust and biological aerosols from the Sahara and Asia influence precipitation in the western U.S.

Winter storms in California's Sierra Nevada increase seasonal snowpack and provide critical water resources and hydropower for the state. Thus, the mechanisms influencing precipitation in this region have been the subject of research for decades. Previous studies suggest Asian dust enhances cloud ice and precipitation, whereas few studies consider biological aerosols as an important global source of ice nuclei (IN). Here, we show that dust and biological aerosols transported from as far as the Sahara were present in glaciated high-altitude clouds coincident with elevated IN concentrations and ice-induced precipitation. This study presents the first direct cloud and precipitation measurements showing that Saharan and Asian dust and biological aerosols probably serve as IN and play an important role in orographic precipitation processes over the western United States.

Farletuzumab (a monoclonal antibody against folate receptor alpha) in relapsed platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Farletuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody to folate receptor-α, which is over-expressed in most epithelial ovarian cancers but largely absent on normal tissue. We evaluated clinical activity of farletuzumab, alone and combined with chemotherapy, in women with first-relapse, platinum-sensitive ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers. METHODS: Fifty-four eligible subjects received open-label farletuzumab weekly, single agent or combined with carboplatin (AUC5-6) and taxane (paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) or docetaxel 75 mg/m(2)), every 21 days for 6 cycles, followed by farletuzumab maintenance until progression. Twenty-eight subjects with asymptomatic CA125 relapse received single-agent farletuzumab and could receive platinum/taxane chemotherapy plus farletuzumab after single-agent progression. Twenty-six subjects with symptomatic relapse entered the combination arm directly; 21 subjects entered after single agent. Primary endpoints included normalized CA125 and Overall Response Rate (ORR). Duration of each subject's second progression-free interval (PFI2) was compared with her own first response interval (PFI1). RESULTS: Farletuzumab was well-tolerated as single agent, without additive toxicity when administered with chemotherapy. Of 47 subjects who received farletuzumab with chemotherapy, 38 (80.9%) normalized CA125. In 9/42 (21%) evaluable subjects, PFI2 was≥PFI1, better than the historical rate (3%). There was a high response rate among subjects with PFI1 <12 months (75%), comparable to that in subjects with PFI1 ≥12 months (84%). Complete or partial ORR was 75% with combination therapy. CONCLUSION: Based on this study, farletuzumab with carboplatin and taxane may enhance the response rate and duration of response in platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer patients with first relapse after remission of 6-18 months.

Interrogating medical tourism: Ireland, abortion, and mobility rights.

Medical tourism in Ireland, like in many Western states, is built around assumptions about individual agency, choice, possibility, and mobility. One specific form of medical tourism­the flow of women from Ireland traveling in order to secure an abortion­disrupts and contradicts these assumptions. One legacy of the bitter, contentious political and legal battles surrounding abortion in Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s has been securing the right of mobility for all pregnant Irish citizens to cross international borders to secure an abortion. However, these mobility rights are contingent upon nationality, social class, and race, and they have enabled successive Irish governments to avoid any responsibility for providing safe, legal, and affordable abortion services in Ireland. Nearly twenty years after the X case discussed here, the pregnant female body moving over international borders­entering and leaving the state­is still interpreted as problematic and threatening to the Irish state.

Effect of organ size and position on out-of-field dose distributions during radiation therapy.

Mantle field irradiation has historically been the standard radiation treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. It involves treating large regions of the chest and neck with high doses of radiation (up to 30 Gy). Previous epidemiological studies on the incidence of second malignancies following radiation therapy for Hodgkin lymphoma have revealed an increased incidence of second tumors in various organs, including lung, breast, thyroid and digestive tract. Multiple other studies, including the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results, indicated an increased incidence in digestive tract including stomach cancers following mantle field radiotherapy. Assessment of stomach dose is challenging because the stomach is outside the treatment field but very near the treatment border where there are steep dose gradients. In addition, the stomach can vary greatly in size and position. We sought to evaluate the dosimetric impact of the size and variable position of the stomach relative to the field border for a typical Hodgkin lymphoma mantle field irradiation. The mean stomach dose was measured using thermoluminescent dosimetry for nine variations in stomach size and position. The mean doses to the nine stomach variations ranged from 0.43 to 0.83 Gy when 30 Gy was delivered to the treatment isocenter. Statistical analyses indicated that there were no significant differences in the mean stomach dose when the stomach was symmetrically expanded up to 3 cm or shifted laterally (medial, anterior or posterior shifts) by up to 3 cm. There was, however, a significant (P > 0.01) difference in the mean dose when the stomach was shifted superiorly or inferiorly by ≥2.5 cm.