NASA Sees Tropical Cyclone Nathan Sporting Hot Towers, Heavy Rainfall (with video)

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NASA-JAXA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite showed that the heaviest rainfall occurring in Tropical Cyclone Nathan on March 18 at 0758 UTC (3:58 a.m. EDT) was falling at a rate of over 119 mm (4.7 inches) on the eastern side of Nathan's eye. At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in

Greenbelt, Maryland, TRMM Precipitation Radar data were used to create a 3-D view of cyclone Nathan that showed storm heights in a rain band circling the storm's northwestern side reached heights of over 16 km (9.9 miles). Those data also showed "hot towers" or storm tops in Nathan's eyewall were reaching heights of over 13 km (8 miles).

"A "hot tower" is a tall cumulonimbus cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately nine miles (14.5 km) high in the tropics. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. NASA research shows that a tropical cyclone with a hot tower in its eyewall was twice as likely to intensify within six or more hours, than a cyclone that lacked a hot tower.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this visible image of Tropical Cyclone Nathan off the Queensland, Australia coast on March 18, 2015.Image Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team

On Mar. 18 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) noted that Nathan had reached hurricane force with maximum sustained winds near 65 knots (75 mph/120.4 kph). It was centered near 14.9 south latitude and 148.9 east longitude, about 225 nautical miles (258.9 miles/416.7 km) east-northeast of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. It was moving to the west at 2 knots (2.3 mph/3.7 kph) and generating wave heights to 22 feet (6.7 meters).

The MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Cyclone Nathan off the Queensland, Australia coast on March 18, 2015 at 04:15 UTC (12:15 a.m. EDT). The MODIS instrument showed a pinhole eye, about 5 nautical miles (5.7 miles/9.2 km) wide.

JTWC forecasters noted that Nathan is moving into an area of warm sea surface temperatures that will allow the storm to strengthen before making landfall on the Cape York Peninsula. JTWC forecasts call for Nathan to strengthen to 85 knots (97.8 mph/157.4 kph) by March 19 at 0600 UTC (2 a.m. EDT). For updated warnings and forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, visit:

It is forecast to make landfall north of Cairns on March 19 (by 1800 UTC) and move in a west-northwesterly direction across the Cape York Peninsula and into the Gulf of Carpentaria.

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NASA Sees Tropical Cyclone Nathan Sporting Hot Towers, Heavy Rainfall (with video)

NASA sees Cyclone Nathan target landfall in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula

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IMAGE:From March 18 at 12:56 to 14:29 UTC, RapidScat showed sustained winds over 30 meters per second (in red) (108 kph/67 mph) around and south of Cyclone Nathan's center.... view more

Credit: Image Credit: NASA JPL, Doug Tyler

NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Nathan early on March 19 as it was headed for landfall in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula. NASA's RapidScat instrument saw those winds increasing late on March 18.

On March 18 from 12:56 to 14:29 UTC, the RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station analyzed Nathan's strengthening surface winds. RapidScat showed sustained winds had increased to over 30 meters per second (108 kph/67 mph) around and south of Cyclone Nathan's center.

Less than 12 hours later, Nathan had strengthened to hurricane force on March 19 as it moved through the warm waters of the Coral Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible picture of the hurricane. The MODIS image showed that Nathan's center was surrounded by powerful thunderstorms. Despite the visible image not showing an eye because it is cloud-covered, microwave imagery revealed a 15 nautical-mile-wide (17.2 miles/27.7 km) eye. In the MODIS image, the majority of convection (rising air that forms the thunderstorms that make up a tropical cyclone) and a band of thunderstorms from the south of the center wrapped into the low-level center of circulation.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued a tropical cyclone warning from Lockhart River to Cape Tribulation, extending inland to areas including Laura and Palmerville. For updates and details on tropical cyclone warnings, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone.

At 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT) on March 19, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center noted that Nathan was poised for landfall north of Cairns. It was centered near 14.7 south latitude and 146.9 east longitude, about 146 nautical miles (168 miles/270.4 km) north-northeast of Cairns. Nathan's maximum sustained winds had increased to 90 knots (103.6 mph/166.7 kph). Hurricane-force winds extended up to 30 miles from the center. Tropical Storm-force winds extended 80 miles from the center, making Nathan a compact storm.

Nathan was moving to the west at 6 knots (6.9 mph/11.1 kph) and generating 28-foot high seas. Rough surf and coastal erosion are likely as Nathan comes ashore.

After crossing the Cape York Peninsula, Nathan is forecast to regenerate in the Gulf of Carpentaria to 70 knots (80.5 mph/120 kph) before making a second landfall in Arnhem Land.

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NASA sees Cyclone Nathan target landfall in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula

Nano Labs, DerTek form JV for biofuels production in North America

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EBR Staff Writer Published 17 March 2015

US-based nanotechnology research and development firm Nano Labs has formed a joint venture (JV) with Mexican firm DerTek to produce biofuels in North America.

The JV will focus on the research and development, marketing, and production of biofuels in Mexico before expanding to other countries in the continent.

DerTek will share its catalyzer technology to produce biofuels from organic oils using non-food sector raw materials.

The oils from different crops like the Castor Oil or Ricinus Communis plant can be used as a substitute for diesel fuel.

With an annual capacity to produce more than 25 million liters of biofuel, DerTek hopes to cash in on the recent opening of market in Mexico.

Nano Lab president Bernardo Chavarria said: "With this joint venture, our goal is to bring value and new opportunities in the energy sector by developing and manufacturing better fuels at a lower cost and at an ecofriendly way at the same time reducing Carbon emissions."

DerTek and Nano Labs will each own 50% stake in the JV.

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Nano Labs, DerTek form JV for biofuels production in North America

Hospital data bill clears both chambers

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Legislation that will make hospital prices and information such as rates of complications and re-admissions available on a public website by 2018 has now passed the House and Senate and is awaiting the governors signature to become law.

The House passed the Senate Judiciary Committee substitute for SBs 323 and 474 on Wednesday night.

Hospitals and health facilities already are required to report on an extensive list of data to the state Department of Health, including medical outcomes, mortality and health-system costs. But the department is not allowed to publicly release it in a way that identifies a specific hospital or other type of health facility.

The bill amends the Health Information System Act to allow the release of hospital-specific quality and cost information. It would create an advisory committee to determine how to present the information and directs the department to create a user-friendly website where it can be presented.

The bill says the information would be presented in a way that complies with federal and state laws to maintain the confidentiality of patient information.

SB 323 was sponsored by Rep. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque; SB 474 was sponsored by Sens. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, and Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque.

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Hospital data bill clears both chambers

Researchers in Berlin tweak the immune system to target cells bearing tumor antigens

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Researchers at the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch and Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Campus Berlin-Buch, have succeeded in generating cells of the immune system to specifically target and destroy cancer cells. The research findings of Matthias Obenaus, Professor Thomas Blankenstein (MDC and Charit), Dr. Matthias Leisegang (MDC) and Professor Wolfgang Uckert (Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin and MDC) as well as Professor Dolores Schendel (Medigene AG, Planegg/Martinsried) have now been published in Nature Biotechnology online (doi:10.1038/nbt.3147)*.

The immune system of the body is trained to distinguish between "foreign" and "self" and to recognize and destroy exogenous structures. In cancer, however, the immune system appears to be quite docile in its response. While it is capable of detecting cancer cells because they often bear characteristics (antigens) on their surfaces that identify them as pathologically altered cells, usually the immune system does not mount an attack but rather tolerates them. The reason: The cancer cells are endogenous to the body, and immune cells do not recognize them as foreign, as they would pathogens. The researchers want to break this tolerance in order to develop therapies against cancer.

T cells are the linchpin in the attack of the immune system. On their surface they have anchor molecules (receptors) with which they recognize foreign structures, the antigens of bacteria or viruses, and thus can target and destroy invaders. Cancer researchers and immunologists are attempting to mobilize this property of the T cells in the fight against cancer. The objective is to develop T cells that specifically recognize and attack only cancer cells but spare other body cells.

Now Matthias Obenaus, Professor Blankenstein, Dr. Leisegang, Professor Uckert and Professor Schendel have developed human T cell receptors (TCRs) that have no tolerance toward human cancer antigens and specifically recognize the antigen MAGE-A1, which is present on various human tumor cells. Instead of directly using human-derived TCRs, which do not mediate substantial anti-tumor effects, the scientists took a "detour" over a mouse model.

First, the researchers transferred the genetic information for human TCRs into the mice, thus creating an entire arsenal of human TCRs (Nature Medicine, doi: 10.1038/nm.2197). When the humanized mouse T cells come into contact with human cancer cells, they perceive the tumor antigens as foreign - like viral or bacterial antigens. Thus, the T cells can specifically target, attack and destroy the tumor cells.

The researchers subsequently isolated the human T-cell receptors of these mice, which are specifically targeted toward the tumor antigen MAGE-A1. Then they transferred the T-cell receptors into human T cells, thereby training them to recognize the cancer cells as foreign.

Some people possess T cells which naturally recognize MAGE-A1 on tumor cells, but only in the Petri dish. In studies using an animal model, only the human TCRs derived from mice were shown to be effective against the tumor. The TCRs from human T cells ignored the tumor completely. The comparison with the tweaked human TCRs from the mouse model shows that the TCRs of patients cannot recognize the tumor antigens sufficiently; they are too weak. "The fact that our TCRs from the mouse are better is a strong indication that the T cells of a human are tolerant toward MAGE-A1," said Matthias Obenaus and Professor Blankenstein.

Using the T-cell receptors they developed, the researchers are planning an initial clinical trial with patients with MAGE-A1 positive multiple myeloma, a malignant disease of the bone marrow.

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*Identification of human T-cell receptors with optimal affinity to cancer antigens using antigen-negative humanized mice Matthias Obenaus1, Catarina Leito1,7, Matthias Leisegang1, Xiaojing Chen1, Ioannis Gavvovidis1 Pierre van der Bruggen2,3, Wolfgang Uckert1,4, Dolores J Schendel5 & Thomas Blankenstein1,6 1Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany. 2Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Brussels, Belgium. 3De Duve Institute, Universit Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. 4Institute of Biology, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. 5Medigene AG, Planegg/Martinsried, Germany. 6Institute of Immunology, Charit Campus Buch, Berlin, Germany. 7Present address: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Porto, Portugal.

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MDC researchers uncover regulatory network in the kidney

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The kidney carries out vital functions by continuously filtering the blood and excreting waste products into the urine. This is achieved by a complex system of tubules which transports the urine and regulates its composition. PhD student Annekatrin Aue, Dr. Christian Hinze and Professor Kai Schmidt-Ott of the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) have now discovered how parts of these kidney tubules establish an inner space (lumen) and form a tight barrier against adjacent structures. The epithelial cells which line the tubules coordinate these processes through a novel molecular signaling pathway (Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, doi: 10.1681/ASN.2014080759)1.

The starting point of the MDC researcher's analyses was the transcription factor grainyhead-like 2 (Grhl2). As the research group led by Professor Schmidt-Ott discovered a few years ago, Grhl2 regulates the formation and structural integrity of epithelial cells lining the inner and outer surfaces of the body. Now, the researchers have shown that this gene regulator also plays a role in the kidney.

The studies, which were funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Urological Research Foundation, revealed that Grhl2 is primarily expressed in the renal collecting duct and in its embryonic precursors, the nephric duct and the ureteric bud. The collecting ducts form particularly tight, impermeable segments of the nephron, which is the basic structural unit of the kidney. The kidney filters around 1700 liters of blood every day, producing about 180 liters of primary urine. However, after passing through the tubular system only one to two liters of urine are excreted, while the remaining vital components are reabsorbed. The collecting ducts carry out the fine-tuning of the urinary composition, thereby ensuring life-sustaining processes like blood pressure regulation and body water homeostasis.

To determine the function of the Grhl2 transcription factor in the kidney, the researchers investigated cell cultures of collecting duct cells and nephric ducts of mouse embryos deficient for this factor. The result: If Grhl2 is missing, the barrier function of these epithelial cells is significantly reduced and lumen expansion is defective.

Furthermore, the MDC researchers found that the transcription factor Grhl2 does not work alone. It teams up with and regulates another transcription factor, ovo-like 2 (Ovol2). This tandem controls a gene that is important for the sealing of epithelial cell clusters (claudin 4), thus ensuring an impermeable barrier, as well as another gene (Rab 25), which controls cellular trafficking of constituents between the cell and the internal environment of the lumen. Hence, the researchers could elucidate a novel molecular signaling pathway in the kidney.

Barrier formation and lumen expansion are essential components for normal kidney development and function. However, they also participate in kidney pathology, such as cystic kidney diseases, which lead to an uncontrolled expansion of the tubular lumen. Further research must demonstrate whether the insights obtained by the MDC researchers are of clinical importance.

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1A Grainyhead-Like 2/Ovo-Like 2 Pathway Regulates Renal Epithelial Barrier Function and Lumen Expansion Annekatrin Aue*, Christian Hinze*, Katharina Walentin*, Janett Ruffert*, Yesim Yurtdas*?, Max Werth*, Wei Chen*, Anja Rabien?, Ergin Kilic, Jrg-Dieter Schulzke**, Michael Schumann** and Kai M. Schmidt-Ott* *Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany Experimental and Clinical Research Center, and Departments of Nephrology, Urology, Pathology, and **Gastroenterology, Charit Medical University, Berlin, Germany; and ?Berlin Institute of Urologic Research, Berlin, Germany #Corresponding author: Prof. Dr. Kai M. Schmidt-Ott, MDC, email: kai.schmidt-ott@charite.de

A micrograph of the kidney can be downloaded from the Internet at: https://www.mdc-berlin.de/44046890/en/news/2015

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MDC researchers uncover regulatory network in the kidney

Medicine Crow speaks at groundbreaking for new middle school

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Construction of "a new house of learning" began Wednesday when Joseph Medicine Crow joined School District 2 officials, community members and Crow tribal leaders to break ground on the middle school that is to bear the dignitary's namesake.

The phrase was Medicine Crow's as he addressed a crowd of perhaps 100 who had gathered on the campus for the new school in the Billings Heights, the first public school to be constructed in Billings in nearly 30 years.

"Right now, work is in process to build a new house of learning, a new school right here," Medicine Crow said.

At 101 years old, Medicine Crow is the oldest living Crow veteran and often considered the last Plains War chief for deeds performed during World War II. He's alsoa scholar, author and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The decision to name the school in his honor had generated controversy after school board trustees selected it over options that had received more votes in a public survey.

On Wednesday, the feeling was of warmth, honor and awe.

Bouck presented the honorary guest with a blanket, which was draped over Medicine Crow's lap as he addressed the crowd in Apsaalooke and English.

"Billings is, like me, getting older," Medicine Crow joked. "But also, like me, better."

Wearing a headdress, sunglasses and a trio of honorary medals, he called the city his "second town," adding that he's been coming to Billings for the past 100 years.

"Billings is my town, and I'm certainly proud and glad to see Billings growing bigger and better in the field of education," Medicine Crow said.

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UofL Is First to Launch Free Open Access Internal Medical Education Series

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Newswise LOUISVILLE, Ky. The University of Louisville Department of Medicine has launched what is believed to be the first open-access internal medicine education online community in the United States.

LouisvilleLectures.org provides free evidenced-based medical education lectures that are available to anyone. The project was developed by resident physicians in internal medicine physicians who have received their medical degrees but are still in training before practicing on their own. The lectures are presented by faculty from the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

The project makes internal medicine didactic lectures, grand rounds and other special lectures easily accessible to UofL residents and for the education of medical students, physicians and other medical professionals everywhere. Over 40 lectures are already online, attracting more than 1,400 subscribers from over 100 countries, with over 25,000 views.

The LouisvilleLectures.org program was developed under the leadership of Jennifer Koch, M.D., program director of UofLs internal medicine residency program with support from Jesse Roman, M.D., chair of the Department of Medicine. Internal medicine resident physician Michael Burk, M.D. serves as the founder and managing director of the site along with a team of resident physicians including Laura Bishop, M.D., Brady Wright, M.D., Chris Migliore, M.D., Shanna Barton, M.D. and chief medical resident Ishan Mehta, M.D.

We have faculty at the UofL School of Medicine who are extremely knowledgeable and amazing teachers. Why keep this knowledge to ourselves, when we can contribute to the international community of medical education? Koch said. Our goal is to teach the world medicine.

The effort is part of the international #FOAMed movement. Advocates of #FOAMed seek to accelerate medical knowledge sharing.

The hashtag refers to the concept of Free Open Access Meducation (medical education), first promoted at the 2012 International Conference on Emergency Medicine in a lecture by Mike Cadogan, an emergency medicine physician, educator and digital media enthusiast from Australia. Frustrated by the resistance of many physicians and medical educators to the serious potential of social media, he decided to rebrand what he and others were doing online as a form of continuing education.

"We've actively managed to engage a large group of researchers and significant academics who are moving away from writing textbooks and journal articles to doing more in the online arena," Cadogan said. "That's lending a sense of credence to what we're doing."

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2008 Jeep Liberty Alternator Removal & AC Compressor Dismounted do not disconnect AC hoses – Video

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2008 Jeep Liberty Alternator Removal AC Compressor Dismounted do not disconnect AC hoses
The pulley next to the tensioner must be removed in order to wedge the alternator between the AC compressor and the wheel well do not disconnect the AC compressor hoses just take the 4 AC bolts...

By: Kerman 559 Sanchez

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2008 Jeep Liberty Alternator Removal & AC Compressor Dismounted do not disconnect AC hoses - Video

Carousel Kings – Stuck (Live – Liberty Mountain Skate Park, Lynchburg, VA) 3/17/15 – Video

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Carousel Kings - Stuck (Live - Liberty Mountain Skate Park, Lynchburg, VA) 3/17/15
Carousel Kings - "Stuck" live at LMSP 3/17/15 CK (FB) - https://www.facebook.com/carouselkings Liberty Mountain Skate Park - https://www.facebook.com/LibertyMountainSkatePark?fref=ts Lyrics:...

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Carousel Kings - Stuck (Live - Liberty Mountain Skate Park, Lynchburg, VA) 3/17/15 - Video