Thermal records from boreholes in young oceanic crust, in which water is flowing up or down, are used to assess formation and borehole flow properties using three analytic equations that describe the transient thermal and barometric influence of downhole or uphole flow. We link these calculations with an iterative model and apply Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis to quantify ranges of possible values. The model is applied to two data sets interpreted in previous studies, from Deep Sea Drilling Project Hole 504B on the southern flank of the Costa Rica Rift and Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1026B on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and to two new records collected in Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Holes U1301A and U1301B, also on the eastern flank of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Our calculations indicate that fluid flow rates when thermal logs were collected were ∼2 L/s in Holes 504B, 1026B, and U1301A, and >20 L/s in Hole U1301B. The median bulk permeabilities determined with MCMC analyses are 4 to 7 × 10^-12 m² around the uppermost parts of Holes 504B, 1026B, and U1301A, and 1.5 × 10 ^-11 m² around a deeper section of Hole U1301B, with a standard deviation of 0.2 to 0.3 log cycles at each borehole. The consistency of permeability values inferred from these four holes is surprising, given the range of values determined globally and the tendency for permeability to be highly variable in fractured crystalline rock formations such as the upper oceanic crust. © 2013. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Integrins link the extracellular matrix to the cellular cytoskeleton and serve important roles in cell growth, differentiation, migration, and survival. Ablation of beta1 integrin in all murine tissues results in peri-implantation embryonic lethality. To investigate the role of beta1 integrin in the myocardium, we used Cre-LoxP technology to inactivate the beta1 integrin gene exclusively in ventricular cardiac myocytes. Animals with homozygous ventricular myocyte beta1 integrin gene excision were born in appropriate numbers and grew into adulthood. These animals had 18% of control levels of beta1D integrin protein in the heart and displayed myocardial fibrosis. High-fidelity micromanometer-tipped catheterization of the intact 5-week-old beta1 integrin knockout mice showed depressed left ventricular basal and dobutamine-stimulated contractility and relaxation (LV dP/dt(max) and LV dP/dt(min)) as compared with control groups (n=8 to 10 of each, P<0.01). Hemodynamic loading imposed by 7 days of transverse aortic constriction showed that the beta1 integrin knockout mice were intolerant of this stress as they had 53% survival versus 88% in controls (n=15 each). By 6 months of age, mice with depressed ventricular expression of beta1 integrin developed a dilated cardiomyopathy that was not evident in any control animals and had patchy decrease in glucose metabolism as determined by positron emission tomography. Myocyte membrane integrity as determined via Evan's blue dye staining was disrupted in the beta1 integrin knockout mice. This model provides strong evidence for the importance of beta1 integrin in cardiac form and function and indicates that integrins can be linked to development of cardiomyopathies.

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2015 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt with (I) new developments relevant for high precision Standard Model calculations, (II) the new PDF4LHC parton distributions, (III) issues in the theoretical description of the production of Standard Model Higgs bosons and how to relate experimental measurements, (IV) a host of phenomenological studies essential for comparing LHC data from Run I with theoretical predictions and projections for future measurements in Run II, and (V) new developments in Monte Carlo event generators.

We present constraints derived from a search of four years of IceCube data for a prompt neutrino flux from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). A single low-significance neutrino, compatible with the atmospheric neutrino background, was found in coincidence with one of the 506 observed bursts. Although GRBs have been proposed as candidate sources for ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, our limits on the neutrino flux disfavor much of the parameter space for the latest models. We also find that no more than ∼1% of the recently observed astrophysical neutrino flux consists of prompt emission from GRBs that are potentially observable by existing satellites.

We present a search for a neutrino signal from dark matter self-annihilations in the Milky Way using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory (IceCube). In 1005 days of data we found no significant excess of neutrinos over the background of neutrinos produced in atmospheric air showers from cosmic ray interactions. We derive upper limits on the velocity averaged product of the dark matter self-annihilation cross section and the relative velocity of the dark matter particles ⟨ σAv⟩. Upper limits are set for dark matter particle candidate masses ranging from 10 GeV up to 1 TeV while considering annihilation through multiple channels. This work sets the most stringent limit on a neutrino signal from dark matter with mass between 10 and 100 GeV, with a limit of 1.18·10-23cm3s-1 for 100 GeV dark matter particles self-annihilating via τ+τ- to neutrinos (assuming the Navarro–Frenk–White dark matter halo profile).