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Highly concentrated NaCl brines are important geothermal fluids; chloride complexation of metals in such brines increases the solubility of minerals and plays a fundamental role in the genesis of hydrothermal ore deposits. There is experimental evidence that the molecular nature of the NaCl-water system changes over the pressure-temperature range of the Earth's crust. A transition of concentrated NaCl-H.sub.2O brines to a \"hydrous molten salt\" at high P and T has been argued to stabilize an aqueous fluid phase in the deep crust.

Highly concentrated NaCl brines are important geothermal fluids; chloride complexation of metals in such brines increases the solubility of minerals and plays a fundamental role in the genesis of hydrothermal ore deposits. There is experimental evidence that the molecular nature of the NaCl-water system changes over the pressure-temperature range of the Earth's crust. A transition of concentrated NaCl-H O brines to a \"hydrous molten salt\" at high and has been argued to stabilize an aqueous fluid phase in the deep crust. In this work, we have done molecular dynamic simulations using classical potentials to determine the nature of concentrated (0.5-16 ) NaCl-water mixtures under ambient (25°C, 1 bar), hydrothermal (325°C, 1 kbar) and deep crustal (625°C, 15 kbar) conditions. We used the well-established SPCE model for water together with the Smith and Dang Lennard-Jones potentials for the ions ( ., 1994, , 3757). With increasing temperature at 1 kbar, the dielectric constant of water decreases to give extensive ion-association and the formation of polyatomic (Na Cl ) clusters in addition to simple NaCl ion pairs. Large polyatomic (Na Cl ) clusters resemble what would be expected in a hydrous NaCl melt in which water and NaCl were completely miscible. Although ion association decreases with pressure, temperatures of 625°C are not enough to overcome pressures of 15 kbar; consequently, there is still enhanced Na-Cl association in brines under deep crustal conditions.

The N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)-nitrosamine (BBN) mouse model is an attractive model system of muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) as it recapitulates the histology of human tumors in a background with intact immune system. However, it was unknown whether this carcinogen-induced model also mimicked human MIBC at the molecular and mutational level. In our study, we analyzed gene expression and mutational landscape of the BBN model by next-generation sequencing followed by a bioinformatic comparison to human MIBC using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and other repositories. BBN tumors showed overexpression of markers of basal cancer subtype, and had a high mutation burden with frequent Trp53 (80%), Kmt2d (70%), and Kmt2c (90%) mutations by exome sequencing, similar to human MIBC. Many variants corresponded to human cancer hotspot mutations, supporting their role as driver mutations. We extracted two novel mutational signatures from the BBN mouse genomes. The integrated analysis of mutation frequencies and signatures highlighted the contribution of aberrations to chromatin regulators and genetic instability in the BBN tumors. Together, our study revealed several similarities between human MIBC and the BBN mouse model, providing a strong rationale for its use in molecular and drug discovery studies.

Describes a rare case of native mitral valve thrombosis in a patient with rheumatic mitral valve disease without predisposing thrombophilia. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted social, political, and economic life across the world, shining a light on the vulnerability of many communities. The objective of this study was to assess injury patterns before and after implementation of stay-at-home orders (SHOs) between White children and children of color and across varying levels of vulnerability based upon children’s home residence. Methods A multi-institutional retrospective study was conducted evaluating patients < 18 years with traumatic injuries. A “Control” cohort from an averaged March-September 2016–2019 time period was compared to patients injured after SHO initiation-September 2020 (“COVID” cohort). Interactions between race/ethnicity or social vulnerability index (SVI), a marker of neighborhood vulnerability and socioeconomic status, and the COVID-19 timeframe with regard to the outcomes of interest were assessed using likelihood ratio Chi-square tests. Differences in injury intent, type, and mechanism were then stratified and explored by race/ethnicity and SVI separately. Results A total of 47,385 patients met study inclusion. Significant interactions existed between race/ethnicity and the COVID-19 SHO period for intent ( p  < 0.001) and mechanism of injury ( p  < 0.001). There was also significant interaction between SVI and the COVID-19 SHO period for mechanism of injury ( p  = 0.01). Children of color experienced a significant increase in intentional (COVID 16.4% vs. Control 13.7%, p  = 0.03) and firearm (COVID 9.0% vs. Control 5.2%, p  < 0.001) injuries, but no change was seen among White children. Children from the most vulnerable neighborhoods suffered an increase in firearm injuries (COVID 11.1% vs. Control 6.1%, p  = 0.001) with children from the least vulnerable neighborhoods having no change. All-terrain vehicle (ATV) and bicycle crashes increased for children of color (COVID 2.0% vs. Control 1.1%, p  = 0.04 for ATV; COVID 6.7% vs. Control 4.8%, p  = 0.02 for bicycle) and White children (COVID 9.6% vs. Control 6.2%, p  < 0.001 for ATV; COVID 8.8% vs. Control 5.8%, p  < 0.001 for bicycle). Conclusions In contrast to White children and children from neighborhoods of lower vulnerability, children of color and children living in higher vulnerability neighborhoods experienced an increase in intentional and firearm-related injuries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding inequities in trauma burden during times of stress is critical to directing resources and targeting intervention strategies.

We explore micropatterned director structures of aqueous lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (LCLC) films created on square lattice cylindrical-micropost substrates. The structures are manipulated by modulating the LCLC mesophases and their elastic properties via concentration through drying. Nematic LCLC films exhibit preferred bistable alignment along the diagonals of the micropost lattice. Columnar LCLC films, dried from nematics, form two distinct director and defect configurations: a diagonally aligned director pattern with local squares of defects, and an off-diagonal configuration with zig-zag defects. The formation of these states appears to be tied to the relative splay and bend free energy costs of the initial nematic films. The observed nematic and columnar configurations are understood numerically using a Landau-de Gennes free energy model. Among other attributes, the work provide first examples of quasi-2D micropatterning of LC films in the columnar phase and lyotropic LC films in general, and it demonstrates alignment and configuration switching of typically difficult-to-align LCLC films via bulk elastic properties.