The equation of state (EoS) and thermodynamic properties of non-magnetic liquid iron were investigated from energy (E)-pressure (P)-volume (V)-temperature (T) relationships calculated by means of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations at 60-420 GPa and 4000-7000 K. Its internally consistent thermodynamic and elastic properties, in particular, density, adiabatic bulk modulus, and P wave velocity, were then analyzed. Compared to the seismological data of the Earth's outer core, pure liquid iron is found to have an 8-10% larger density and 3-10% larger bulk modulus than the Earth's values. Results also show that the P wave velocity of liquid iron has marginal temperature dependence as the bulk sound velocity of solid iron. The new EoS model and thermodynamic properties of liquid iron may serve as fundamental data for the thermochemical modeling of the Earth's core.

Five years of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) data were used to investigate the time and space characteristics of the diurnal cycle of rainfall over and around Borneo, an island in the Maritime Continent. The diurnal cycle shows a systematic modulation that is associated with intraseasonal variability in the large-scale circulation pattern, with regimes associated with low-level easterlies or westerlies over the island. The lower-tropospheric westerly (easterly) components correspond to periods of active (inactive) convection over the island that are associated with the passage of intraseasonal atmospheric disturbances related to the Madden-Julian oscillation. A striking feature is that rainfall activity propagates to the leeward side of the island between midnight and morning. The inferred phase speed of the propagation is about 3 m s Ϫ1 in the easterly regime and 7 m s Ϫ1 in the westerly regime. Propagation occurs over the entire island, causing a leeward enhancement of rainfall. The vertical structure of the developed convection/rainfall system differs remarkably between the two regimes. In the easterly regime, stratiform rains are widespread over the island at midnight, whereas in the westerly regime, local convective rainfall dominates. Over offshore regions, convective rainfall initially dominates then gradually decreases in both regimes, while the storms develop into deeper convective systems in the easterly regime. Aside from leeward rainfall propagation, shallow storms develop over the South China Sea region during the westerly regime, resulting in heavy precipitation from midnight through morning.

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High-resolution Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) rainfall data for six wet seasons (December-March) were used to investigate the time and space structure of the diurnal cycle of rainfall over and around New Guinea, a major island of the Maritime Continent. The diurnal cycle shows a systematic modulation associated with intraseasonal variability in the large-scale circulation pattern, with regimes associated with low-level easterlies or westerlies over the island. Lower-tropospheric easterly (westerly) wind components correspond to periods of inactive (active) convection over the islands that are associated with the passage of intraseasonal atmospheric disturbances such as the Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO). A striking feature is the diurnal rainfall that develops over the central mountain ranges in the evening and propagates toward the southwest (northeast) of the island with an inferred phase speed of about 2-3 m s Ϫ1 under low-level easterly (westerly) flow. In the case of the easterly regime, diurnal rainfall is strongly concentrated over the southwestern part of the island, inhibited from spreading offshore southwest of New Guinea. Under the westerly regime, in contrast, the rainfall area spread far and wide along the low-level westerlies from the island toward the Pacific Ocean. Significant offshore rainfall propagation extending from the island appears during the night over the north-northeastern coast and moves with a phase speed of about 7-8 m s Ϫ1 , reaching the open ocean the following day. Possible processes for controlling the variability in diurnal rainfall through the interaction between large-scale circulation and previously denoted complex local circulation over the island are discussed.

The fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR)-3 gene encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase that is frequently mutated in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). A sensitive and quantitative assay using peptide nucleic acid-mediated real-time PCR was developed for detecting FGFR3 mutations in the urine samples and evaluated as a molecular marker for detecting intravesical recurrence of NMIBC in patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumor. FGFR3 mutation was examined in tumor tissues and serially taken pre-and postoperative urine sediments in 45 NMIBC patients with a median follow up of 32 months. FGFR3 mutations were detected in 53.3% (24/45) of primary tumor tissues, among which intravesical recurrence developed in 37.5% (9/24) of cases. FGFR3 mutation in the primary tumor was not a significant prognostic indicator for recurrence, while the proportion of FGFR3 mutation (i.e. tumor cellularity was ‡11%) in the preoperative urine sediments was a significant indicator for recurrence in patients with FGFR3 mutations in the primary tumors. FGFR3 mutations were detected in 78% (7/9) of postoperative urine samples from recurrent cases with FGFR3 mutations in the tumor, while no mutations were detected in the urine of 15 non-recurrent cases. Urine cytology was negative in all cases with FGFR3 mutations in the primary tumors, while the sensitivity of cytological examination was as high as 56% (5/9) in cases showing wild-type FGFR3 in the primary tumors. Urine FGFR3 mutation assay and cytological examination may be available in the future as complementary diagnostic modalities in postoperative management of NMIBC. (Cancer Sci 2010; 101: 250-258) U rothelial carcinoma (UC) is a histological subtype accounting for more than 90% of all bladder cancers, and there are 357 000 new cases every year worldwide.(1) Bladder UCs are generally divided into two groups for clinical management, depending on the pathological stage. Most of the newly diagnosed UCs are non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC; i.e., pTa or pT1), and the initial treatment is transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT). After the initial TURBT, the patients undergo intensive surveillance by cystoscopic examination at regular intervals; usually every 3 months, because up to 70% of these patients will experience intravesical recurrence, and 10-30% of the lesions will progress to lifethreatening muscle-invasive disease ( ‡pT2).(2) Cystoscopy is an inconvenient, invasive, and expensive diagnostic modality, but currently it is the gold standard for detecting intravesical recurrence in the postoperative follow up. Although urine bound diagnostic tests including urinary cytology, nuclear matrix protein (NMP)22, and bladder tumour antigen (BTA) tests are used in the management after TURBT or bladder cancer screening, their usefullness is limited due to their poor sensitivity or specificity.(3) In previous reports, various molecular markers detectable in urine have been considered as a useful and non-invasive clinical assay improving the sens...

The earth’s core is thought to be composed of Fe-Ni alloy including substantially large amounts of light elements. Although oxygen, silicon, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and hydrogen have been proposed as candidates for the light elements, little is known about the amount and the species so far, primarily because of the difficulties in measurements of liquid properties under the outer core pressure and temperature condition. Here, we carry out massive ab initio computations of liquid Fe-Ni-light element alloys with various compositions under the whole outer core P, T condition in order to quantitatively evaluate their thermoelasticity. Calculated results indicate that Si and S have larger effects on the density of liquid iron than O and H, but the seismological reference values of the outer core can be reproduced simultaneously by any light elements except for C. In order to place further constraints on the outer core chemistry, other information, in particular melting phase relations of iron light elements alloys at the inner core-outer core boundary, are necessary. The optimized best-fit compositions demonstrate that the major element composition of the bulk earth is expected to be CI chondritic for the Si-rich core with the pyrolytic mantle or for the Si-poor core and the (Mg,Fe)SiO3-dominant mantle. But the H-rich core likely causes a distinct Fe depletion for the bulk Earth composition.

[1] Fine structure of large-scale intraseasonal disturbance associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) was analyzed using the 3-hourly (3B42) TRMM rainfall data. Over the Maritime Continent, diurnal cycle becomes pronounced during the passage of MJO, and the eastward propagating diurnal disturbances (PDDs) dominate as an internal structure of large-scale convection system of MJO. Importantly, fast PDDs that penetrate through the islands are observed within the slowly propagating MJO system. This eastward penetration of PDDs through the islands result in a sudden shift of the convection center from the western part of the islands to the east, causing an overall propagation of the MJO from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Our results demonstrate that the diurnal cycle of convection over and around the major islands thus plays an active role in the propagation of the MJO over the Maritime Continent.

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