The synthesis and full characterisation of four discrete tetrametallic titanium complexes is reported. These well-defined compounds are isostructural in the solid state and share the same general formula: Ti₄(μ-O)₂L₄ (L = 1, 2, 3 or 4). Using a combination of NMR techniques the complexes are found to be stable in solution, even at elevated temperatures. Further studies show that the carboxylate moieties of the supporting amine bis(phenolate) ligands can be displaced by a more strongly coordinating solvent. This reversible process causes the coordinatively saturated Ti₄(μ-O)₂L₄ complexes to separate into two Ti₂(μ-O)L₂ subunits which we envisaged would be catalytically active. Proof-of-concept experiments establish that all four of these complexes display catalytic activity in the ring-opening polymerisation of rac-lactide. These aggregates can therefore be viewed as air and moisture stable pre-catalysts for a range of reactions.

Warm waters in several domestic and municipal water wells in and around the City of Wells, Nevada, along with several hot springs a few kilometers away, suggest economical geothermal resources that could meet residential and commercial space heating demands, perhaps even geothermal electricity generation. To date, only a few low-temperature, single-user space heating applications have been developed. Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Vouchers Pilot (SBV) Program, research teams from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), in collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), Better Cities, and Lumos & Associates, advised the Elko Heat Company and the City of Wells in their recent drilling of a shallow geothermal gradient well, based on new field work along with a compilation and review of existing geologic, geochemical, geothermal, and geophysical data for this area. New field data include ground temperature measurements with shallow 2-meter probes and with Geoprobe holes penetrating to depths of 5 to 9 meters, new geochemical analysis of springs and wells, revision of geologic maps through geologic and structural mapping, and shallow direct current resistivity and electromagnetic induction surveys. All 51 datasets collected and created throughout the project were cataloged and categorized according to their metadata and attributes, and compiled into a data catalog and ESRI ArcGIS geodatabase and map package, all of which are available as shared, public resources through NETL’s Energy Data eXchange (EDX)1. Once assembled, 11 surface- and subsurface- spatial-datasets were incorporated into NETL’s Cumulative Spatial Impact Layers (CSIL) tool, and imported into EarthVision, a 3-dimensional visualization software, to demonstrate regions of high-data density, construct an interpolated temperature model, and identify favorable locations to drill a geothermal exploration well. Anomalously high temperatures (≥43°C) at shallow depths (5 to 9 m) were found along the north floodplain margin of the Humboldt River, northwest of the City of Wells and coinciding with the possible intersection of N-S and E-W faults. While no subsurface waters have been analyzed in this anomaly, water samples from springs and wells to the east and west of this zone were found to display differing chemical and isotopic characteristics, suggesting two different deep circulations on either side of the shallow anomaly that could provide shallow hydrothermal flow: outflow from the hot spring system northwest of the City, and outflow from a blind system further east following the regional hydraulic gradient. Maximum temperatures at depth for the two fluid types as estimated by multicomponent geothermometry are ~180°C for the hot spring system and ~150°C east of the shallow temperature anomaly. The drilling of four temperature gradient wells (GEO#1 -- GEO#4) within and near the shallow temperature anomaly failed to encounter a useful resource, but other shallow prospects and deeper resource prospects remain untested.

Liao ning virus (LNV) was first isolated in 1996 from mosquitoes in China, and has been shown to replicate in selected mammalian cell lines and to cause lethal haemorrhagic disease in experimentally infected mice. The first detection of LNV in Australia was by deep sequencing of mosquito homogenates. We subsequently isolated LNV from mosquitoes of four genera (Culex, Anopheles, Mansonia and Aedes) in New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia; the earliest of these Australian isolates were obtained from mosquitoes collected in 1988, predating the first Chinese isolates. Genetic analysis revealed that the Australian LNV isolates formed two new genotypes: one including isolates from eastern and northern Australia, and the second comprising isolates from the south-western corner of the continent. In contrast to findings reported for the Chinese LNV isolates, the Australian LNV isolates did not replicate in vertebrate cells in vitro or in vivo, or produce signs of disease in wild-type or immunodeficient mice. A panel of human and animal sera collected from regions where the virus was found in high prevalence also showed no evidence of LNV-specific antibodies. Furthermore, high rates of virus detection in progeny reared from infected adult female mosquitoes, coupled with visualization of the virus within the ovarian follicles by immunohistochemistry, suggest that LNV is transmitted transovarially. Thus, despite relatively minor genomic differences between Chinese and Australian LNV strains, the latter display a characteristic insect-specific phenotype.