Normal and abnormal development of the aortic wall and valve: correlation with clinical entities

Dilation of the wall of the thoracic aorta can be found in patients with a tricuspid (TAV) as well as a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) with and without a syndromic component. BAV is the most common congenital cardiovascular malformation, with a population prevalence of 0.5–2 %. The clinical course is often characterised by aneurysm formation and in some cases dissection. The non-dilated aortic wall is less well differentiated in all BAV as compared with TAV, thereby conferring inherent developmental susceptibility. Furthermore, a turbulent flow, caused by the inappropriate opening of the bicuspid valve, could accelerate the degenerative process in the aortic wall. However, not all patients with bicuspidy develop clinical complications during their life. We postulate that the increased vulnerability for aortic complications in a subset of patients with BAV is caused by a defect in the early development of the aorta and aortic valve. This review discusses histological and molecular genetic aspects of the normal and abnormal development of the aortic wall and semilunar valves. Aortopathy associated with BAV could be the result of a shared developmental defect during embryogenesis

Extending the long-term record of volcanic SO 2

Uninterrupted, global space-based monitoring of volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions is critical for climate modeling and aviation hazard mitigation. We report the first volcanic SO2 measurements using ultraviolet (UV) Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) nadir mapper data. OMPS was launched on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite in October 2011. We demonstrate the sensitivity of OMPS SO2 measurements by quantifying SO2 emissions from the modest eruption of Paluweh volcano (Indonesia) in February 2013 and tracking the dispersion of the volcanic SO2 cloud. The OMPS SO2 retrievals are validated using Ozone Monitoring Instrument and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder measurements. The results confirm the ability of OMPS to extend the long-term record of volcanic SO2 emissions based on UV satellite observations. We also show that the Paluweh volcanic SO2 reached the lower stratosphere, further demonstrating the impact of small tropical volcanic eruptions on stratospheric aerosol optical depth and climate

Cosmological reason on a volcano

This chapter is about how the populated slopes of the active volcano, Mt. Merapi, in Java, are a battle ground of ideas about what geology is. I show that understanding this battle helps us grasp the processes that make geology a political entity. What occupies this chapter, then, are the spaces of encounter between people and geological materials, the meeting grounds, as multiple and complexly constituted as they are, in which geology comes to shape how people can relate to one another. This battle ground is a social space in which the power to define and describe is at stake but at the same time geological materials do not sit idly by, ordered and manipulated by their human cohabitants but dramatically, and sometimes spectacularly deform, slide, explode, or unpredictably rest in quietude for years. In doing so they are in a rhythm that has its own share in ordering the conflicts of those who live on the slopes and try to predict and understand those materials. They are subject to its explosions and the volatile debris that both destroys and creates new conditions for growth and economic activity. Here, the battle is over how to define and explain what the volcano is made of, and therefore, what causes it. Living with such a volatile entity has compelled the mobilisation of technologies of measure, observation, appeals to gods, spirits, and fate, as a way to get in advance of, control, manage, and make sense of living in that space. These competing modes of knowing have produced controversies that unfold at the intersection of technological mediation and non-human energies that shape what can be known and how