Lumber Spill in Central California Waters: Implications for Oil Spills and Sea Otters

A large quantity of lumber was spilled in the ocean off central California during the winter of 1978, and it spread through most of the range of the threatened California sea otter population within 4 weeks. The movement rates of lumber were similar to those of oil slicks observed elsewhere. These observations indicate that a major oil spill could expose significant numbers of California sea otters to oil contamination.

Virginia Barrier Island Configuration: A Reappraisal

The 12 Virginia barrier islands are divided into three groups on the basis of historical retreat rates and characteristics. The growth and reversal of inlet offsets is a long-term event that results from the operation of known coastal processes. Both geomorphic evidence and wave refraction analyses indicate that shoreline irregularity will diminish with time. There is no basis for the prediction (or expectation) that cape-like features will evolve along this shoreline.

Models of the Earth's Core

Combined inferences from seismology, high-pressure experiment and theory, geomagnetism, fluid dynamics, and current views of terrestrial planetary evolution lead to models of the earth's core with the following properties. Core formation was contemporaneous with earth accretion; the core is not in chemical equilibrium with the mantle; the outer core is a fluid iron alloy containing significant quantities of lighter elements and is probably almost adiabatic and compositionally uniform; the more iron-rich inner solid core is a consequence of partial freezing of the outer core, and the energy release from this process sustains the earth's magnetic field; and the thermodynamic properties of the core are well constrained by the application of liquid-state theory to seismic and laboratory data.

Blood filtrability in cerebrovascular disorders, with special reference to erythrocyte deformability and ATP content

Erythrocyte deformability was determined in 48 patients with cerebrovascular disease and 116 healthy controls as an index of blood filtrability in microcirculation. Hemo-rheological and blood chemical changes were also studied to assess their effect on filtrability. Erythrocyte deformability, determined by Reid's method, was expressed as the deformability index (DI). DI and ATP levels decreased with advancing age in controls and patients; these levels were lower in patients. In the controls, DI was inversely proportional to hematocrit, hemoglobin, fibrinogen, and lactate; in patients, it was directly proportional to albumin. There were no significant differences in DI and ATP levels in patients with cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. The values for DI and ATP levels were the same in arterial and venous blood.

The clinical impact of the newer research in blood rheology: an overview

Over the last two decades concepts of hemorheology became established and required methods and techniques developed. Progress was made in the formation of a field of clinical hemorheology. The role of viscosity factors in various disorders has been established, especially in heart disease and diabetes. It has been recognized that hyperviscosity can be present if any one of the blood viscosity factors is increased, even if the viscosity of whole blood appears normal or even subnormal. While hyperviscosity may result in ischemic and thromboembolic episodes, the causes of hyperviscosity may include cancer, genetic abnormality, infection, metabolic disorders, and many others. The basic causes can be, in their turn, affected and reinforced by hyperviscosity. Superimposition of an added hyperviscosity factor onto already elevated blood viscosity might lead to precipitation of ischemic episodes. This review deals with the correlations between hyperviscosity and heat disease and among diabetes, cancer, and chronic anxiety. The predictive value of hyperviscosity with respect to ischemic episodes and cancer metastases is discussed.