Pattern formation in individual-based systems with time-varying parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashcroft, Peter; Galla, Tobias

2013-12-01

We study the patterns generated in finite-time sweeps across symmetry-breaking bifurcations in individual-based models. Similar to the well-known Kibble-Zurek scenario of defect formation, large-scale patterns are generated when model parameters are varied slowly, whereas fast sweeps produce a large number of small domains. The symmetry breaking is triggered by intrinsic noise, originating from the discrete dynamics at the microlevel. Based on a linear-noise approximation, we calculate the characteristic length scale of these patterns. We demonstrate the applicability of this approach in a simple model of opinion dynamics, a model in evolutionary game theory with a time-dependent fitness structure, and a model of cell differentiation. Our theoretical estimates are confirmed in simulations. In further numerical work, we observe a similar phenomenon when the symmetry-breaking bifurcation is triggered by population growth.

Phase transitions triggered by quantum fluctuations in the inflationary universe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nagasawa, Michiyasu; Yokoyama, Junichi

1991-01-01

The dynamics of a second-order phase transition during inflation, which is induced by time-variation of spacetime curvature, is studied as a natural mechanism to produce topological defects of typical grand unification scales such as cosmic strings or global textures. It is shown that their distribution is almost scale-invariant with small- and large-scale cutoffs. Also discussed is how these cutoffs are given.

Regional hydro-climatic impacts of contemporary Amazonian deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanna, Jaya

More than 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared in the past three decades triggering important climatological and societal impacts. This thesis is devoted to identifying and explaining the regional hydroclimatic impacts of this change employing multidecadal satellite observations and numerical simulations providing an integrated perspective on this topic. The climatological nature of this study motivated the implementation and application of a cloud detection technique to a new geostationary satellite dataset. The resulting sub daily, high spatial resolution, multidecadal time series facilitated the detection of trends and variability in deforestation triggered cloud cover changes. The analysis was complemented by satellite precipitation, reanalysis and ground based datasets and attribution with the variable resolution Ocean-Land-Atmosphere-Model. Contemporary Amazonian deforestation affects spatial scales of hundreds of kilometers. But, unlike the well-studied impacts of a few kilometers scale deforestation, the climatic response to contemporary, large scale deforestation is neither well observed nor well understood. Employing satellite datasets, this thesis shows a transition in the regional hydroclimate accompanying increasing scales of deforestation, with downwind deforested regions receiving 25% more and upwind deforested regions receiving 25% less precipitation from the deforested area mean. Simulations robustly reproduce these shifts when forced with increasing deforestation alone, suggesting a negligible role of large-scale decadal climate variability in causing the shifts. Furthermore, deforestation-induced surface roughness variations are found necessary to reproduce the observed spatial patterns in recent times illustrating the strong scale-sensitivity of the climatic response to Amazonian deforestation. This phenomenon, inconsequential during the wet season, is found to substantially affect the regional hydroclimate in the local dry and parts of transition seasons, hence occurring in atmospheric conditions otherwise less conducive to thermal convection. Evidence of this phenomenon is found at two large scale deforested areas considered in this thesis. Hence, the 'dynamical' mechanism, which affects the seasons most important for regional ecology, emerges as an impactful convective triggering mechanism. The phenomenon studied in this thesis provides context for thinking about the climate of a future, more patchily forested Amazonia, by articulating relationships between climate and spatial scales of deforestation.

Stable micron-scale holes are a general feature of canonical holins

PubMed Central

Savva, Christos G.; Dewey, Jill S.; Moussa, Samir H.; To, Kam H.; Holzenburg, Andreas; Young, Ry

2014-01-01

Summary At a programmed time in phage infection cycles, canonical holins suddenly trigger to cause lethal damage to the cytoplasmic membrane, resulting in the cessation of respiration and the non-specific release of pre-folded, fully active endolysins to the periplasm. For the paradigm holin S105 of lambda, triggering is correlated with the formation of micron-scale membrane holes, visible as interruptions in the bilayer in cryo-electron microscopic images and tomographic reconstructions. Here we report that the size distribution of the holes is stable for long periods after triggering. Moreover, early triggering caused by an early lysis allele of S105 formed approximately the same number of holes, but the lesions were significantly smaller. In contrast, early triggering prematurely induced by energy poisons resulted in many fewer visible holes, consistent with previous sizing studies. Importantly, the unrelated canonical holins P2 Y and T4 T were found to cause the formation of holes of approximately the same size and number as for lambda. In contrast, no such lesions were visible after triggering of the pinholin S2168. These results generalize the hole formation phenomenon for canonical holins. A model is presented suggesting the unprecedentedly large size of these holes is related to the timing mechanism. PMID:24164554

Stable micron-scale holes are a general feature of canonical holins.

PubMed

Savva, Christos G; Dewey, Jill S; Moussa, Samir H; To, Kam H; Holzenburg, Andreas; Young, Ry

2014-01-01

At a programmed time in phage infection cycles, canonical holins suddenly trigger to cause lethal damage to the cytoplasmic membrane, resulting in the cessation of respiration and the non-specific release of pre-folded, fully active endolysins to the periplasm. For the paradigm holin S105 of lambda, triggering is correlated with the formation of micron-scale membrane holes, visible as interruptions in the bilayer in cryo-electron microscopic images and tomographic reconstructions. Here we report that the size distribution of the holes is stable for long periods after triggering. Moreover, early triggering caused by an early lysis allele of S105 formed approximately the same number of holes, but the lesions were significantly smaller. In contrast, early triggering prematurely induced by energy poisons resulted in many fewer visible holes, consistent with previous sizing studies. Importantly, the unrelated canonical holins P2 Y and T4 T were found to cause the formation of holes of approximately the same size and number as for lambda. In contrast, no such lesions were visible after triggering of the pinholin S(21) 68. These results generalize the hole formation phenomenon for canonical holins. A model is presented suggesting the unprecedentedly large size of these holes is related to the timing mechanism. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Scientific, Engineering, and Financial Factors of the 1989 Human-Triggered Newcastle Earthquake in Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, C. D.

2006-12-01

This presentation emphasizes the dualism of natural resources exploitation and economic growth versus geomechanical pollution and risks of human-triggered earthquakes. Large-scale geoengineering activities, e.g., mining, reservoir impoundment, oil/gas production, water exploitation or fluid injection, alter pre-existing lithostatic stress states in the earth's crust and are anticipated to trigger earthquakes. Such processes of in- situ stress alteration are termed geomechanical pollution. Moreover, since the 19th century more than 200 earthquakes have been documented worldwide with a seismic moment magnitude of 4.5

On Event-Triggered Adaptive Architectures for Decentralized and Distributed Control of Large-Scale Modular Systems

PubMed Central

Albattat, Ali; Gruenwald, Benjamin C.; Yucelen, Tansel

2016-01-01

The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in physical systems controlled over wireless networks (networked control systems). These systems allow the computation of control signals via processors that are not attached to the physical systems, and the feedback loops are closed over wireless networks. The contribution of this paper is to design and analyze event-triggered decentralized and distributed adaptive control architectures for uncertain networked large-scale modular systems; that is, systems consist of physically-interconnected modules controlled over wireless networks. Specifically, the proposed adaptive architectures guarantee overall system stability while reducing wireless network utilization and achieving a given system performance in the presence of system uncertainties that can result from modeling and degraded modes of operation of the modules and their interconnections between each other. In addition to the theoretical findings including rigorous system stability and the boundedness analysis of the closed-loop dynamical system, as well as the characterization of the effect of user-defined event-triggering thresholds and the design parameters of the proposed adaptive architectures on the overall system performance, an illustrative numerical example is further provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed decentralized and distributed control approaches. PMID:27537894

On Event-Triggered Adaptive Architectures for Decentralized and Distributed Control of Large-Scale Modular Systems.

PubMed

Albattat, Ali; Gruenwald, Benjamin C; Yucelen, Tansel

2016-08-16

The last decade has witnessed an increased interest in physical systems controlled over wireless networks (networked control systems). These systems allow the computation of control signals via processors that are not attached to the physical systems, and the feedback loops are closed over wireless networks. The contribution of this paper is to design and analyze event-triggered decentralized and distributed adaptive control architectures for uncertain networked large-scale modular systems; that is, systems consist of physically-interconnected modules controlled over wireless networks. Specifically, the proposed adaptive architectures guarantee overall system stability while reducing wireless network utilization and achieving a given system performance in the presence of system uncertainties that can result from modeling and degraded modes of operation of the modules and their interconnections between each other. In addition to the theoretical findings including rigorous system stability and the boundedness analysis of the closed-loop dynamical system, as well as the characterization of the effect of user-defined event-triggering thresholds and the design parameters of the proposed adaptive architectures on the overall system performance, an illustrative numerical example is further provided to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed decentralized and distributed control approaches.

Landslides and Landscape Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Densmore, A. L.; Hovius, N.

2017-12-01

Landslides have long been recognised as a major hazard, and are a common product of both large earthquakes and rainstorms. Our appreciation for landslides as agents of erosion and land surface evolution, however, is much more recent. Only in the last twenty years have we come to understand the critical role that landslides play at the landscape scale: in allowing hillslopes to keep pace with fluvial incision, in supplying sediment to channel networks and sedimentary basins, in divide migration, and in setting the basic structure of the landscape. This perspective has been made possible in part by repeat remote sensing and new ways of visualising the land surface, and by extending our understanding of failure processes to the landscape scale; but it is also true that the big jumps in our knowledge have been triggered by large events, such as the 1999 Chi-Chi and 2008 Wenchuan earthquakes. Thanks in part to a relative handful of such case studies, we now have a better idea of the spatial distribution of landslides that are triggered in large events, the volume of sediment that they mobilise, the time scales over which that sediment is mobilised and evacuated, and the overall volume balance between erosion and tectonic processes in the growth of mountainous topography. There remain, however, some major challenges that must still be overcome. Estimates of landslide volume remain highly uncertain, as does our ability to predict the evolution of hillslope propensity to failure after a major triggering event, the movement of landslide sediment (especially the coarse fraction that is transported as bedload), and the impact of landslides on both long-term erosion rates and tectonic processes. The limited range of case studies also means that we struggle to predict outcomes for triggering events in different geological settings, such as loess landscapes or massive lithologies. And the perspective afforded by taking a landscape-scale view has yet to be fully reflected in our approach to landslide hazard. We close by outlining some promising future research directions by which these challenges might be overcome.

Constraining AGN triggering mechanisms through the clustering analysis of active black holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gatti, M.; Shankar, F.; Bouillot, V.; Menci, N.; Lamastra, A.; Hirschmann, M.; Fiore, F.

2016-02-01

The triggering mechanisms for active galactic nuclei (AGN) are still debated. Some of the most popular ones include galaxy interactions (IT) and disc instabilities (DIs). Using an advanced semi-analytic model (SAM) of galaxy formation, coupled to accurate halo occupation distribution modelling, we investigate the imprint left by each separate triggering process on the clustering strength of AGN at small and large scales. Our main results are as follows: (I) DIs, irrespective of their exact implementation in the SAM, tend to fall short in triggering AGN activity in galaxies at the centre of haloes with Mh > 1013.5 h-1 M⊙. On the contrary, the IT scenario predicts abundance of active central galaxies that generally agrees well with observations at every halo mass. (II) The relative number of satellite AGN in DIs at intermediate-to-low luminosities is always significantly higher than in IT models, especially in groups and clusters. The low AGN satellite fraction predicted for the IT scenario might suggest that different feeding modes could simultaneously contribute to the triggering of satellite AGN. (III) Both scenarios are quite degenerate in matching large-scale clustering measurements, suggesting that the sole average bias might not be an effective observational constraint. (IV) Our analysis suggests the presence of both a mild luminosity and a more consistent redshift dependence in the AGN clustering, with AGN inhabiting progressively less massive dark matter haloes as the redshift increases. We also discuss the impact of different observational selection cuts in measuring AGN clustering, including possible discrepancies between optical and X-ray surveys.

Demographic disequilibrium caused by canopy gap expansion and recruitment failure triggers forest cover loss

Treesearch

Martin Barrette; Louis Bélanger; Louis De Grandpré; Alejandro A. Royo

2017-01-01

In the absence of large-scale stand replacing disturbances, boreal forests can remain in the old-growth stage over time because of a dynamic equilibrium between small-scale mortality and regeneration processes. Although this gap paradigm has been a cornerstone of forest dynamics theory and practice for decades, evidence suggests that it could be disrupted, threatening...

A scale-invariant cellular-automata model for distributed seismicity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barriere, Benoit; Turcotte, Donald L.

1991-01-01

In the standard cellular-automata model for a fault an element of stress is randomly added to a grid of boxes until a box has four elements, these are then redistributed to the adjacent boxes on the grid. The redistribution can result in one or more of these boxes having four or more elements in which case further redistributions are required. On the average added elements are lost from the edges of the grid. The model is modified so that the boxes have a scale-invariant distribution of sizes. The objective is to model a scale-invariant distribution of fault sizes. When a redistribution from a box occurs it is equivalent to a characteristic earthquake on the fault. A redistribution from a small box (a foreshock) can trigger an instability in a large box (the main shock). A redistribution from a large box always triggers many instabilities in the smaller boxes (aftershocks). The frequency-size statistics for both main shocks and aftershocks satisfy the Gutenberg-Richter relation with b = 0.835 for main shocks and b = 0.635 for aftershocks. Model foreshocks occur 28 percent of the time.

TRIGGERED STAR FORMATION SURROUNDING WOLF-RAYET STAR HD 211853

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu Tie; Wu Yuefang; Zhang Huawei

The environment surrounding Wolf-Rayet (W-R) star HD 211853 is studied in molecular, infrared, as well as radio, and H I emission. The molecular ring consists of well-separated cores, which have a volume density of 10{sup 3} cm{sup -3} and kinematic temperature {approx}20 K. Most of the cores are under gravitational collapse due to external pressure from the surrounding ionized gas. From the spectral energy distribution modeling toward the young stellar objects, the sequential star formation is revealed on a large scale in space spreading from the W-R star to the molecular ring. A small-scale sequential star formation is revealed towardmore » core 'A', which harbors a very young star cluster. Triggered star formations are thus suggested. The presence of the photodissociation region, the fragmentation of the molecular ring, the collapse of the cores, and the large-scale sequential star formation indicate that the 'collect and collapse' process functions in this region. The star-forming activities in core 'A' seem to be affected by the 'radiation-driven implosion' process.« less

Aperiodic Robust Model Predictive Control for Constrained Continuous-Time Nonlinear Systems: An Event-Triggered Approach.

PubMed

Liu, Changxin; Gao, Jian; Li, Huiping; Xu, Demin

2018-05-01

The event-triggered control is a promising solution to cyber-physical systems, such as networked control systems, multiagent systems, and large-scale intelligent systems. In this paper, we propose an event-triggered model predictive control (MPC) scheme for constrained continuous-time nonlinear systems with bounded disturbances. First, a time-varying tightened state constraint is computed to achieve robust constraint satisfaction, and an event-triggered scheduling strategy is designed in the framework of dual-mode MPC. Second, the sufficient conditions for ensuring feasibility and closed-loop robust stability are developed, respectively. We show that robust stability can be ensured and communication load can be reduced with the proposed MPC algorithm. Finally, numerical simulations and comparison studies are performed to verify the theoretical results.

Flux Cancelation: The Key to Solar Eruptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panesar, Navdeep K.; Sterling, Alphonse; Moore, Ronald; Chakrapani, Prithi; Innes, Davina; Schmit, Don; Tiwari, Sanjiv

2017-01-01

Solar coronal jets are magnetically channeled eruptions that occur in all types of solar environments (e.g. active regions, quiet-Sun regions and coronal holes). Recent studies show that coronal jets are driven by the eruption of small-scale filaments (minifilaments). Once the eruption is underway magnetic reconnection evidently makes the jet spire and the bright emission in the jet base. However, the triggering mechanism of these eruptions and the formation mechanism of the pre-jet minifilaments are still open questions. In this talk, mainly using SDO/AIA and SDO/HMI data, first I will address the question: what triggers the jet-driving minifilament eruptions in different solar environments (coronal holes, quiet regions, active regions)? Then I will talk about the magnetic field evolution that produces the pre-jet minifilaments. By examining pre-jet evolutionary changes in line-of-sight HMI magnetograms while examining concurrent EUV images of coronal and transition-region emission, we find clear evidence that flux cancellation is the main process that builds pre-jet minifilaments, and is also the main process that triggers the eruptions. I will also present results from our ongoing work indicating that jet-driving minifilament eruptions are analogous to larger-scale filament eruptions that make flares and CMEs. We find that persistent flux cancellation at the neutral line of large-scale filaments often triggers their eruptions. From our observations we infer that flux cancellation is the fundamental process for the buildup and triggering of solar eruptions of all sizes.

How Robust Is Your Project? From Local Failures to Global Catastrophes: A Complex Networks Approach to Project Systemic Risk.

PubMed

Ellinas, Christos; Allan, Neil; Durugbo, Christopher; Johansson, Anders

2015-01-01

Current societal requirements necessitate the effective delivery of complex projects that can do more while using less. Yet, recent large-scale project failures suggest that our ability to successfully deliver them is still at its infancy. Such failures can be seen to arise through various failure mechanisms; this work focuses on one such mechanism. Specifically, it examines the likelihood of a project sustaining a large-scale catastrophe, as triggered by single task failure and delivered via a cascading process. To do so, an analytical model was developed and tested on an empirical dataset by the means of numerical simulation. This paper makes three main contributions. First, it provides a methodology to identify the tasks most capable of impacting a project. In doing so, it is noted that a significant number of tasks induce no cascades, while a handful are capable of triggering surprisingly large ones. Secondly, it illustrates that crude task characteristics cannot aid in identifying them, highlighting the complexity of the underlying process and the utility of this approach. Thirdly, it draws parallels with systems encountered within the natural sciences by noting the emergence of self-organised criticality, commonly found within natural systems. These findings strengthen the need to account for structural intricacies of a project's underlying task precedence structure as they can provide the conditions upon which large-scale catastrophes materialise.

Global Distribution of Extreme Precipitation and High-Impact Landslides in 2010 Relative to Previous Years

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschbaum, Dalia; Adler, Robert; Adler, David; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Huffman, George

2012-01-01

It is well known that extreme or prolonged rainfall is the dominant trigger of landslides worldwide. While research has evaluated the spatiotemporal distribution of extreme rainfall and landslides at local or regional scales using in situ data, few studies have mapped rainfall-triggered landslide distribution globally due to the dearth of landslide data and consistent precipitation information. This study uses a newly developed Global Landslide Catalog (GLC) and a 13-year satellite-based precipitation record from TRMM data. For the first time, these two unique products provide the foundation to quantitatively evaluate the co-occurrence of precipitation and landslides globally. Evaluation of the GLC indicates that 2010 had a large number of high-impact landslide events relative to previous years. This study considers how variations in extreme and prolonged satellite-based rainfall are related to the distribution of landslides over the same time scales for three active landslide areas: Central America, the Himalayan Arc, and central-eastern China. Several test statistics confirm that TRMM rainfall generally scales with the observed increase in landslide reports and fatal events for 2010 and previous years over each region. These findings suggest that the co-occurrence of satellite precipitation and landslide reports may serve as a valuable indicator for characterizing the spatiotemporal distribution of landslide-prone areas in order to establish a global rainfall-triggered landslide climatology. This study characterizes the variability of satellite precipitation data and reported landslide activity at the globally scale in order to improve landslide cataloging, forecasting and quantify potential triggering sources at daily, monthly and yearly time scales.

Mid-Holocene cluster of large-scale landslides revealed in the Southwestern Alps by 36Cl dating. Insight on an Alpine-scale landslide activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zerathe, Swann; Lebourg, Thomas; Braucher, Régis; Bourlès, Didier

2014-04-01

Although it is generally assumed that the internal structure of a slope (e.g. lithology and rock mass properties, inherited faults and heterogeneities, etc.) is preponderant for the progressive development of large-scale landslides, the ability to identify triggering factors responsible for final slope failures such as glacial debuttressing, seismic activities or climatic changes, especially when considering landslide cluster at an orogen-scale, is still debated. Highlighting in this study the spatial and temporal concordant clustering of deep-seated slope failures in the external Southwestern Alps, we discuss and review the possible causes for such wide-spread slope instabilities at both local and larger (Alpine) scale. High resolution field mapping coupled with electrical resistivity tomography first allows establishing an inventory of large landslides in the Southwestern Alps, determining their structural model, precising their depth limit (100-200 m) as well as the involved rock volumes (>107 m3). We show that they developed in the same geostructural context of thick mudstone layers overlain by faulted limestone and followed a block-spread model of deformation that could evolve in rock-collapse events. Cosmic ray exposure dating (CRE), using both 36Cl and 10Be in coexisting limestone and chert, respectively, has been carried out from the main scarps of six Deep Seated Landslides (DSL) and leads to landslide-failure CRE ages ranging from 3.7 to 4.7 ka. They highlighted: (i) mainly single and fast ruptures and (ii) a possible concomitant initiation with a main peak of activity between 3.3 and 5.1 ka, centered at ca 4.2 ka. Because this region was not affected by historical glaciations events, landslide triggering by glacial unloading can be excluded. The presented data combined with field observations preferentially suggest that these failures were climatically driven and were most likely controlled by high pressure changes in the karstic medium. In effect, the chronicle of failure-ages is concomitant to a well-known climatic pulse, the “4.2 ka” climate event characterized by intense hydrological perturbations associated to the heaviest rainfall period of the entire Holocene. Despite requiring further investigations and discussions, the dating of numerous events across the entire Alps during the middle Holocene period suggests a potential synchronous triggering of several large-scale gravitational-failures induced by the mid-Holocene climatic transition.

Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations for Studying Solar Flare Trigger Mechanism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Muhamad, J.; Kusano, K.; Inoue, S.

In order to understand the flare trigger mechanism, we conduct three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations using a coronal magnetic field model derived from data observed by the Hinode satellite. Several types of magnetic bipoles are imposed into the photospheric boundary of the Nonlinear Force-free Field model of Active Region (AR) NOAA 10930 on 2006 December 13, to investigate what kind of magnetic disturbance may trigger the flare. As a result, we confirm that certain small bipole fields, which emerge into the highly sheared global magnetic field of an AR, can effectively trigger a flare. These bipole fields can be classified into twomore » groups based on their orientation relative to the polarity inversion line: the so-called opposite polarity, and reversed shear structures, as suggested by Kusano et al. We also investigate the structure of the footpoints of reconnected field lines. By comparing the distribution of reconstructed field lines and observed flare ribbons, the trigger structure of the flare can be inferred. Our simulation suggests that the data-constrained simulation, taking into account both the large-scale magnetic structure and small-scale magnetic disturbance (such as emerging fluxes), is a good way to discover a flare-producing AR, which can be applied to space weather prediction.« less

The Triggering Mechanism of coronal jets and CMEs: Flux Cancelation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panesar, Navdeep K.; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Moore, Ronald L.

2017-01-01

Recent investigations show that coronal jets are driven by the eruption of a small-scale filament (10,000 - 20,000 km long, called a minifilament) following magnetic flux cancelation at the neutral line underneath the minifilament. Minifilament eruptions appear to be analogous to larger-scale solar filament eruptions: they both reside, before the eruption, in the highly sheared field between the adjacent opposite-polarity magnetic flux patches (neutral line); jet-producing minifilament and larger-scale solar filament first show a slow-rise, followed by a fast-rise as they erupt; during the jet-producing minifilament eruption a jet bright point (JBP) appears at the location where the minifilament was rooted before the eruption, analogous to the situation with CME-producing larger-scale filament eruptions where a solar flare arcade forms during the filament eruption along the neutral line along which the filament resided prior to its eruption. In the present study we investigate the triggering mechanism of CME-producing large solar filament eruptions, and find that enduring flux cancelation at the neutral line of the filaments often triggers their eruptions. This corresponds to the finding that persistent flux cancelation at the neutral is the cause of jet-producing minifilament eruptions. Thus our observations support coronal jets being miniature version of CMEs.

Aftershocks and triggering processes in rock fracture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davidsen, J.; Kwiatek, G.; Goebel, T.; Stanchits, S. A.; Dresen, G.

2017-12-01

One of the hallmarks of our understanding of seismicity in nature is the importance of triggering processes, which makes the forecasting of seismic activity feasible. These triggering processes by which one earthquake induces (dynamic or static) stress changes leading to potentially multiple other earthquakes are at the core relaxation processes. A specic example of triggering are aftershocks following a large earthquake, which have been observed to follow certain empirical relationships such as the Omori-Utsu relation. Such an empirical relation should arise from the underlying microscopic dynamics of the involved physical processes but the exact connection remains to be established. Simple explanations have been proposed but their general applicability is unclear. Many explanations involve the picture of an earthquake as a purely frictional sliding event. Here, we present experimental evidence that these empirical relationships are not limited to frictional processes but also arise in fracture zone formation and are mostly related to compaction-type events. Our analysis is based on tri-axial compression experiments under constant displacement rate on sandstone and granite samples using spatially located acoustic emission events and their focal mechanisms. More importantly, we show that event-event triggering plays an important role in the presence of large-scale or macrocopic imperfections while such triggering is basically absent if no signicant imperfections are present. We also show that spatial localization and an increase in activity rates close to failure do not necessarily imply triggering behavior associated with aftershocks. Only if a macroscopic crack is formed and its propagation remains subcritical do we observe significant triggering.

A SOLAR CORONAL JET EVENT TRIGGERS A CORONAL MASS EJECTION

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jiajia; Wang, Yuming; Shen, Chenglong

2015-11-10

In this paper, we present multi-point, multi-wavelength observations and analysis of a solar coronal jet and coronal mass ejection (CME) event. Employing the GCS model, we obtained the real (three-dimensional) heliocentric distance and direction of the CME and found it to propagate at a high speed of over 1000 km s{sup −1}. The jet erupted before the CME and shared the same source region. The temporal and spacial relationship between these two events lead us to the possibility that the jet triggered the CME and became its core. This scenario hold the promise of enriching our understanding of the triggeringmore » mechanism of CMEs and their relations to coronal large-scale jets. On the other hand, the magnetic field configuration of the source region observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/HMI instrument along with the off-limb inverse Y-shaped configuration observed by SDO/AIA in the 171 Å passband provide the first detailed observation of the three-dimensional reconnection process of a large-scale jet as simulated in Pariat et al. The eruption process of the jet highlights the importance of filament-like material during the eruption of not only small-scale X-ray jets, but likely also of large-scale EUV jets. Based on our observations and analysis, we propose the most probable mechanism for the whole event, with a blob structure overlaying the three-dimensional structure of the jet, to describe the interaction between the jet and the CME.« less

Triggering of tremors and slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico, by the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule, Chile, earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zigone, Dimitri; Rivet, Diane; Radiguet, Mathilde; Campillo, Michel; Voisin, Christophe; Cotte, Nathalie; Walpersdorf, Andrea; Shapiro, Nikolai M.; Cougoulat, Glenn; Roux, Philippe; Kostoglodov, Vladimir; Husker, Allen; Payero, Juan S.

2012-09-01

We investigate the triggering of seismic tremor and slow slip event in Guerrero (Mexico) by the February 27, 2010 Maule earthquake (Mw 8.8). Triggered tremors start with the arrival of S wave generated by the Maule earthquake, and keep occurring during the passing of ScS, SS, Love and Rayleigh waves. The Rayleigh wave dispersion curve footprints the high frequency energy envelope of the triggered tremor, indicating a strong modulation of the source of tremors by the passing surface wave. This correlation and modulation by the passing waves is progressively lost with time over a few hours. The tremor activity continues during the weeks/months after the earthquake. GPS time series suggest that the second sub-event of the 2009-2010 SSE in Guerrero is actually triggered by the Maule earthquake. The southward displacement of the GPS stations starts coincidently with the earthquake and tremors. The long duration of tremors indicate a continuing deformation process at depth, which we propose to be the second sub-event of the 2009-2010 SSE. We show a quasi-systematic correlation between surface displacement rate measured by GPS and tremor activity, suggesting that the NVT are controlled by the variations in the slip history of the SSE. This study shows that two types of tremors emerge: (1) Those directly triggered by the passing waves and (2) those triggered by the stress variations associated with slow slip. This indicates the prominent role of aseismic creep in the Mexican subduction zone response to a large teleseismic earthquake, possibly leading to large-scale stress redistribution.

A neural network z-vertex trigger for Belle II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neuhaus, S.; Skambraks, S.; Abudinen, F.; Chen, Y.; Feindt, M.; Frühwirth, R.; Heck, M.; Kiesling, C.; Knoll, A.; Paul, S.; Schieck, J.

2015-05-01

We present the concept of a track trigger for the Belle II experiment, based on a neural network approach, that is able to reconstruct the z (longitudinal) position of the event vertex within the latency of the first level trigger. The trigger will thus be able to suppress a large fraction of the dominating background from events outside of the interaction region. The trigger uses the drift time information of the hits from the Central Drift Chamber (CDC) of Belle II within narrow cones in polar and azimuthal angle as well as in transverse momentum (sectors), and estimates the z-vertex without explicit track reconstruction. The preprocessing for the track trigger is based on the track information provided by the standard CDC trigger. It takes input from the 2D (r — φ) track finder, adds information from the stereo wires of the CDC, and finds the appropriate sectors in the CDC for each track in a given event. Within each sector, the z-vertex of the associated track is estimated by a specialized neural network, with a continuous output corresponding to the scaled z-vertex. The input values for the neural network are calculated from the wire hits of the CDC.

Triggering of Solar Magnetic Eruptions on Various Size Scales Alphonse Sterling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sterling, A.C.

2010-01-01

A solar eruption that produces a coronal mass ejection (CME) together with a flare is driven by the eruption of a closed-loop magnetic arcade that has a sheared-field core. Before eruption, the sheared core envelops a polarity inversion line along which cool filament material may reside. The sheared-core arcade erupts when there is a breakdown in the balance between the confining downward-directed magnetic tension of the overall arcade field and the upward-directed force of the pent-up magnetic pressure of the sheared field in the core of the arcade. What triggers the breakdown in this balance in favor of the upward-directed force is still an unsettled question. We consider several eruption examples, using imaging data from the SoHO, TRACE and Hinode satellites, and other sources, along with information about the magnetic field of the erupting regions. In several cases, observations of large-scale eruptions, where the magnetic neutral line spans few x 10,000 km, are consistent with magnetic flux cancellation being the trigger to the eruption's onset, even though the amount of flux canceled is only few percent of the total magnetic flux of the erupting region. In several other cases, an initial compact (small size-scale) eruption occurs embedded inside of a larger closed magnetic loop system, so that the smaller eruption destabilizes and causes the eruption of the much larger system. In this way, small-scale eruptive events can result in eruption of much larger-scale systems.

Effects of rainfall spatial variability and intermittency on shallow landslide triggering patterns at a catchment scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Ruette, J.; Lehmann, P.; Or, D.

2014-10-01

The occurrence of shallow landslides is often associated with intense and prolonged rainfall events, where infiltrating water reduces soil strength and may lead to abrupt mass release. Despite general understanding of the role of rainfall water in slope stability, the prediction of rainfall-induced landslides remains a challenge due to natural heterogeneity that affect hydrologic loading patterns and the largely unobservable internal progressive failures. An often overlooked and potentially important factor is the role of rainfall variability in space and time on landslide triggering that is often obscured by coarse information (e.g., hourly radar data at spatial resolution of a few kilometers). To quantify potential effects of rainfall variability on failure dynamics, spatial patterns, landslide numbers and volumes, we employed a physically based "Catchment-scale Hydromechanical Landslide Triggering" (CHLT) model for a study area where a summer storm in 2002 triggered 51 shallow landslides. In numerical experiments based on the CHLT model, we applied the measured rainfall amount of 53 mm in different artificial spatiotemporal rainfall patterns, resulting in between 30 and 100 landslides and total released soil volumes between 3000 and 60,000 m3 for the various scenarios. Results indicate that low intensity rainfall below soil's infiltration capacity resulted in the largest mechanical perturbation. This study illustrates how small-scale rainfall variability that is often overlooked by present operational rainfall data may play a key role in shaping landslide patterns.

Impact of sea-level rise on earthquake and landslide triggering offshore the Alentejo margin (SW Iberia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neves, M. C.; Roque, C.; Luttrell, K. M.; Vázquez, J. T.; Alonso, B.

2016-12-01

Earthquakes and submarine landslides are recurrent and widespread manifestations of fault activity offshore SW Iberia. The present work tests the effects of sea-level rise on offshore fault systems using Coulomb stress change calculations across the Alentejo margin. Large-scale faults capable of generating large earthquakes and tsunamis in the region, especially NE-SW trending thrusts and WNW-ESE trending dextral strike-slip faults imaged at basement depths, are either blocked or unaffected by flexural effects related to sea-level changes. Large-magnitude earthquakes occurring along these structures may, therefore, be less frequent during periods of sea-level rise. In contrast, sea-level rise promotes shallow fault ruptures within the sedimentary sequence along the continental slope and upper rise within distances of <100 km from the coast. The results suggest that the occurrence of continental slope failures may either increase (if triggered by shallow fault ruptures) or decrease (if triggered by deep fault ruptures) as a result of sea-level rise. Moreover, observations of slope failures affecting the area of the Sines contourite drift highlight the role of sediment properties as preconditioning factors in this region.

The three-dimensional evolution of a plane mixing layer. Part 2: Pairing and transition to turbulence

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moser, Robert D.; Rogers, Michael M.

1992-01-01

The evolution of three-dimensional temporally evolving plane mixing layers through as many as three pairings was simulated numerically. Initial conditions for all simulations consisted of a few low-wavenumber disturbances, usually derived from linear stability theory, in addition to the mean velocity. Three-dimensional perturbations were used with amplitudes ranging from infinitesimal to large enough to trigger a rapid transition to turbulence. Pairing is found both to inhibit the growth of infinitesimal three-dimensional disturbances and to trigger the transition to turbulence in highly three dimensional flows. The mechanisms responsible for the growth of three-dimensionality as well as the initial phases of the transition to turbulence are described. The transition to turbulence is accompanied by the formation of thin sheets of span wise vorticity, which undergo a secondary roll up. Transition also produces an increase in the degree of scalar mixing, in agreement with experimental observations of mixing transition. Simulations were also conducted to investigate changes in span wise length scale that may occur in response to the change in stream wise length scale during a pairing. The linear mechanism for this process was found to be very slow, requiring roughly three pairings to complete a doubling of the span wise scale. Stronger three-dimensionality can produce more rapid scale changes but is also likely to trigger transition to turbulence. No evidence was found for a change from an organized array of rib vortices at one span wise scale to a similar array at a larger span wise scale.

Use of controlled dynamic impacts on hierarchically structured seismically hazardous faults for seismically safe relaxation of shear stresses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruzhich, Valery V.; Psakhie, Sergey G.; Levina, Elena A.; Shilko, Evgeny V.; Grigoriev, Alexandr S.

2017-12-01

In the paper we briefly outline the experience in forecasting catastrophic earthquakes and the general problems in ensuring seismic safety. The purpose of our long-term research is the development and improvement of the methods of man-caused impacts on large-scale fault segments to safely reduce the negative effect of seismodynamic failure. Various laboratory and large-scale field experiments were carried out in the segments of tectonic faults in Baikal rift zone and in main cracks in block-structured ice cove of Lake Baikal using the developed measuring systems and special software for identification and treatment of deformation response of faulty segments to man-caused impacts. The results of the study let us to ground the necessity of development of servo-controlled technologies, which are able to provide changing the shear resistance and deformation regime of fault zone segments by applying vibrational and pulse triggering impacts. We suppose that the use of triggering impacts in highly stressed segments of active faults will promote transferring the geodynamic state of these segments from a metastable to a more stable and safe state.

Deciphering landslide behavior using large-scale flume experiments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reid, Mark E.; Iverson, Richard M.; Iverson, Neal R.; LaHusen, Richard G.; Brien, Dianne L.; Logan, Matthew

2008-01-01

Landslides can be triggered by a variety of hydrologic events and they can exhibit a wide range of movement dynamics. Effective prediction requires understanding these diverse behaviors. Precise evaluation in the field is difficult; as an alternative we performed a series of landslide initiation experiments in the large-scale, USGS debris-flow flume. We systematically investigated the effects of three different hydrologic triggering mechanisms, including groundwater exfiltration from bedrock, prolonged rainfall infiltration, and intense bursts of rain. We also examined the effects of initial soil porosity (loose or dense) relative to the soil’s critical-state porosity. Results show that all three hydrologic mechanisms can instigate landsliding, but water pathways, sensor response patterns, and times to failure differ. Initial soil porosity has a profound influence on landslide movement behavior. Experiments using loose soil show rapid soil contraction during failure, with elevated pore pressures liquefying the sediment and creating fast-moving debris flows. In contrast, dense soil dilated upon shearing, resulting in slow, gradual, and episodic motion. These results have fundamental implications for forecasting landslide behavior and developing effective warning systems.

3-Dimensional Root Cause Diagnosis via Co-analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zheng, Ziming; Lan, Zhiling; Yu, Li

2012-01-01

With the growth of system size and complexity, reliability has become a major concern for large-scale systems. Upon the occurrence of failure, system administrators typically trace the events in Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS) logs for root cause diagnosis. However, RAS log only contains limited diagnosis information. Moreover, the manual processing is time-consuming, error-prone, and not scalable. To address the problem, in this paper we present an automated root cause diagnosis mechanism for large-scale HPC systems. Our mechanism examines multiple logs to provide a 3-D fine-grained root cause analysis. Here, 3-D means that our analysis will pinpoint the failure layer,more » the time, and the location of the event that causes the problem. We evaluate our mechanism by means of real logs collected from a production IBM Blue Gene/P system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It successfully identifies failure layer information for 219 failures during 23-month period. Furthermore, it effectively identifies the triggering events with time and location information, even when the triggering events occur hundreds of hours before the resulting failures.« less

Development of a Dmt Monitor for Statistical Tracking of Gravitational-Wave Burst Triggers Generated from the Omega Pipeline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jun-Wei; Cao, Jun-Wei

2010-04-01

One challenge in large-scale scientific data analysis is to monitor data in real-time in a distributed environment. For the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) project, a dedicated suit of data monitoring tools (DMT) has been developed, yielding good extensibility to new data type and high flexibility to a distributed environment. Several services are provided, including visualization of data information in various forms and file output of monitoring results. In this work, a DMT monitor, OmegaMon, is developed for tracking statistics of gravitational-wave (OW) burst triggers that are generated from a specific OW burst data analysis pipeline, the Omega Pipeline. Such results can provide diagnostic information as reference of trigger post-processing and interferometer maintenance.

A 16 channel discriminator VME board with enhanced triggering capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borsato, E.; Garfagnini, A.; Menon, G.

2012-08-01

Electronics and data acquisition systems used in small and large scale laboratories often have to handle analog signals with varying polarity, amplitude and duration which have to be digitized to be used as trigger signals to validate the acquired data. In the specific case of experiments dealing with ionizing radiation, ancillary particle detectors (for instance plastic scintillators or Resistive Plate Chambers) are used to trigger and select the impinging particles for the experiment. A novel approach using commercial LVDS line receivers as discriminator devices is presented. Such devices, with a proper calibration, can handle positive and negative analog signals in a wide dynamic range (from 20 mV to 800 mV signal amplitude). The clear advantages, with respect to conventional discriminator devices, are reduced costs, high reliability of a mature technology and the possibility of high integration scale. Moreover, commercial discriminator boards with positive input signal and a wide threshold swing are not available on the market. The present paper describes the design and characterization of a VME board capable to handle 16 differential or single-ended input channels. The output digital signals, available independently for each input, can be combined in the board into three independent trigger logic units which provide additional outputs for the end user.

Building rainfall thresholds for large-scales landslides by extracting occurrence time of landslides from seismic records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yen, Hsin-Yi; Lin, Guan-Wei

2017-04-01

Understanding the rainfall condition which triggers mass moment on hillslope is the key to forecast rainfall-induced slope hazards, and the exact time of landslide occurrence is one of the basic information for rainfall statistics. In the study, we focused on large-scale landslides (LSLs) with disturbed area larger than 10 ha and conducted a string of studies including the recognition of landslide-induced ground motions and the analyses of different terms of rainfall thresholds. More than 10 heavy typhoons during the periods of 2005-2014 in Taiwan induced more than hundreds of LSLs and provided the opportunity to characterize the rainfall conditions which trigger LSLs. A total of 101 landslide-induced seismic signals were identified from the records of Taiwan seismic network. These signals exposed the occurrence time of landslide to assess rainfall conditions. Rainfall analyses showed that LSLs occurred when cumulative rainfall exceeded 500 mm. The results of rainfall-threshold analyses revealed that it is difficult to distinct LSLs from small-scale landslides (SSLs) by the I-D and R-D methods, but the I-R method can achieve the discrimination. Besides, an enhanced three-factor threshold considering deep water content was proposed as the rainfall threshold for LSLs.

Liquidity crises on different time scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corradi, Francesco; Zaccaria, Andrea; Pietronero, Luciano

2015-12-01

We present an empirical analysis of the microstructure of financial markets and, in particular, of the static and dynamic properties of liquidity. We find that on relatively large time scales (15 min) large price fluctuations are connected to the failure of the subtle mechanism of compensation between the flows of market and limit orders: in other words, the missed revelation of the latent order book breaks the dynamical equilibrium between the flows, triggering the large price jumps. On smaller time scales (30 s), instead, the static depletion of the limit order book is an indicator of an intrinsic fragility of the system, which is related to a strongly nonlinear enhancement of the response. In order to quantify this phenomenon we introduce a measure of the liquidity imbalance present in the book and we show that it is correlated to both the sign and the magnitude of the next price movement. These findings provide a quantitative definition of the effective liquidity, which proves to be strongly dependent on the considered time scales.

Liquidity crises on different time scales.

PubMed

Corradi, Francesco; Zaccaria, Andrea; Pietronero, Luciano

2015-12-01

We present an empirical analysis of the microstructure of financial markets and, in particular, of the static and dynamic properties of liquidity. We find that on relatively large time scales (15 min) large price fluctuations are connected to the failure of the subtle mechanism of compensation between the flows of market and limit orders: in other words, the missed revelation of the latent order book breaks the dynamical equilibrium between the flows, triggering the large price jumps. On smaller time scales (30 s), instead, the static depletion of the limit order book is an indicator of an intrinsic fragility of the system, which is related to a strongly nonlinear enhancement of the response. In order to quantify this phenomenon we introduce a measure of the liquidity imbalance present in the book and we show that it is correlated to both the sign and the magnitude of the next price movement. These findings provide a quantitative definition of the effective liquidity, which proves to be strongly dependent on the considered time scales.

Large-scale particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection during solar flares

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X.; Guo, F.; Li, H.; Li, G.; Li, S.

2017-12-01

Magnetic reconnection that triggers explosive magnetic energy release has been widely invoked to explain the large-scale particle acceleration during solar flares. While great efforts have been spent in studying the acceleration mechanism in small-scale kinetic simulations, there have been rare studies that make predictions to acceleration in the large scale comparable to the flare reconnection region. Here we present a new arrangement to study this problem. We solve the large-scale energetic-particle transport equation in the fluid velocity and magnetic fields from high-Lundquist-number MHD simulations of reconnection layers. This approach is based on examining the dominant acceleration mechanism and pitch-angle scattering in kinetic simulations. Due to the fluid compression in reconnection outflows and merging magnetic islands, particles are accelerated to high energies and develop power-law energy distributions. We find that the acceleration efficiency and power-law index depend critically on upstream plasma beta and the magnitude of guide field (the magnetic field component perpendicular to the reconnecting component) as they influence the compressibility of the reconnection layer. We also find that the accelerated high-energy particles are mostly concentrated in large magnetic islands, making the islands a source of energetic particles and high-energy emissions. These findings may provide explanations for acceleration process in large-scale magnetic reconnection during solar flares and the temporal and spatial emission properties observed in different flare events.

Electron acceleration via magnetic island coalescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinohara, I.; Yumura, T.; Tanaka, K. G.; Fujimoto, M.

2009-06-01

Electron acceleration via fast magnetic island coalescence that happens as quick magnetic reconnection triggering (QMRT) proceeds has been studied. We have carried out a three-dimensional full kinetic simulation of the Harris current sheet with a large enough simulation run for two magnetic islands coalescence. Due to the strong inductive electric field associated with the non-linear evolution of the lower-hybrid-drift instability and the magnetic island coalescence process observed in the non-linear stage of the collisionless tearing mode, electrons are significantly accelerated at around the neutral sheet and the subsequent X-line. The accelerated meandering electrons generated by the non-linear evolution of the lower-hybrid-drift instability are resulted in QMRT, and QMRT leads to fast magnetic island coalescence. As a whole, the reconnection triggering and its transition to large-scale structure work as an effective electron accelerator.

Ips typographus and Ophiostoma polonicum versus Norway spruce: joint attack and host defense

Treesearch

Erik Christiansen

1991-01-01

During the years 1971 to 1982, major epidemics of the spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus L., occurred in southeastern Norway and adjoining parts of Sweden. The outbreaks were triggered by large-scale wind-felling and long-lasting drought (Worrell 1983). This "epidemic of the century," hitting our important timber tree, Norway spruce,...

The initial subevent of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake: Is earthquake size predictable?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kilb, Debi; Gomberg, J.

1999-01-01

We examine the initial subevent (ISE) of the M?? 6.7, 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake in order to discriminate between two end-member rupture initiation models: the 'preslip' and 'cascade' models. Final earthquake size may be predictable from an ISE's seismic signature in the preslip model but not in the cascade model. In the cascade model ISEs are simply small earthquakes that can be described as purely dynamic ruptures. In this model a large earthquake is triggered by smaller earthquakes; there is no size scaling between triggering and triggered events and a variety of stress transfer mechanisms are possible. Alternatively, in the preslip model, a large earthquake nucleates as an aseismically slipping patch in which the patch dimension grows and scales with the earthquake's ultimate size; the byproduct of this loading process is the ISE. In this model, the duration of the ISE signal scales with the ultimate size of the earthquake, suggesting that nucleation and earthquake size are determined by a more predictable, measurable, and organized process. To distinguish between these two end-member models we use short period seismograms recorded by the Southern California Seismic Network. We address questions regarding the similarity in hypocenter locations and focal mechanisms of the ISE and the mainshock. We also compare the ISE's waveform characteristics to those of small earthquakes and to the beginnings of earthquakes with a range of magnitudes. We find that the focal mechanisms of the ISE and mainshock are indistinguishable, and both events may have nucleated on and ruptured the same fault plane. These results satisfy the requirements for both models and thus do not discriminate between them. However, further tests show the ISE's waveform characteristics are similar to those of typical small earthquakes in the vicinity and more importantly, do not scale with the mainshock magnitude. These results are more consistent with the cascade model.

Extreme weather: Subtropical floods and tropical cyclones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaevitz, Daniel A.

Extreme weather events have a large effect on society. As such, it is important to understand these events and to project how they may change in a future, warmer climate. The aim of this thesis is to develop a deeper understanding of two types of extreme weather events: subtropical floods and tropical cyclones (TCs). In the subtropics, the latitude is high enough that quasi-geostrophic dynamics are at least qualitatively relevant, while low enough that moisture may be abundant and convection strong. Extratropical extreme precipitation events are usually associated with large-scale flow disturbances, strong ascent, and large latent heat release. In the first part of this thesis, I examine the possible triggering of convection by the large-scale dynamics and investigate the coupling between the two. Specifically two examples of extreme precipitation events in the subtropics are analyzed, the 2010 and 2014 floods of India and Pakistan and the 2015 flood of Texas and Oklahoma. I invert the quasi-geostrophic omega equation to decompose the large-scale vertical motion profile to components due to synoptic forcing and diabatic heating. Additionally, I present model results from within the Column Quasi-Geostrophic framework. A single column model and cloud-revolving model are forced with the large-scale forcings (other than large-scale vertical motion) computed from the quasi-geostrophic omega equation with input data from a reanalysis data set, and the large-scale vertical motion is diagnosed interactively with the simulated convection. It is found that convection was triggered primarily by mechanically forced orographic ascent over the Himalayas during the India/Pakistan flood and by upper-level Potential Vorticity disturbances during the Texas/Oklahoma flood. Furthermore, a climate attribution analysis was conducted for the Texas/Oklahoma flood and it is found that anthropogenic climate change was responsible for a small amount of rainfall during the event but the intensity of this event may be greatly increased if it occurs in a future climate. In the second part of this thesis, I examine the ability of high-resolution global atmospheric models to simulate TCs. Specifically, I present an intercomparison of several models' ability to simulate the global characteristics of TCs in the current climate. This is a necessary first step before using these models to project future changes in TCs. Overall, the models were able to reproduce the geographic distribution of TCs reasonably well, with some of the models performing remarkably well. The intensity of TCs varied widely between the models, with some of this difference being due to model resolution.

Where do we stand after twenty years of dynamic triggering studies? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prejean, S. G.; Hill, D. P.

2013-12-01

In the past two decades, remote dynamic triggering of earthquakes by other earthquakes has been explored in a variety of physical environments with a wide array of observation and modeling techniques. These studies have significantly refined our understanding of the state of the crust and the physical conditions controlling earthquake nucleation. Despite an ever growing database of dynamic triggering observations, significant uncertainties remain and vigorous debate in almost all aspects of the science continues. For example, although dynamic earthquake triggering can occur with peak dynamic stresses as small as 1 kPa, triggering thresholds and their dependence on local stress state, hydrological environment, and frictional properties of faults are not well understood. Some studies find a simple threshold based on the peak amplitude of shaking while others find dependencies on frequency, recharge time, and other parameters. Considerable debate remains over the range of physical processes responsible for dynamic triggering, and the wide variation in dynamic triggering responses and time scales suggests triggering by multiple physical processes. Although Coulomb shear failure with various friction laws can often explain dynamic triggering, particularly instantaneous triggering, delayed dynamic triggering may be dependent on fluid transport and other slowly evolving aseismic processes. Although our understanding of the global distribution of dynamic triggering has improved, it is far from complete due to spatially uneven monitoring. A major challenge involves establishing statistical significance of potentially triggered earthquakes, particularly if they are isolated events or time-delayed with respect to triggering stresses. Here we highlight these challenges and opportunities with existing data. We focus on environmental dependence of dynamic triggering by large remote earthquakes particularly in volcanic and geothermal systems, as these systems often have high rates of background seismicity. In many volcanic and geothermal systems, such as the Geysers in Northern California, dynamic triggering of micro-earthquakes is frequent and predictable. In contrast, most active and even erupting volcanoes in Alaska (with the exception of the Katmai Volcanic Cluster) do not experience dynamic triggering. We explore why.

Experimental study of rotating wind turbine breakdown characteristics in large scale air gaps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yu; Qu, Lu; Si, Tianjun; Ni, Yang; Xu, Jianwei; Wen, Xishan

2017-06-01

When a wind turbine is struck by lightning, its blades are usually rotating. The effect of blade rotation on a turbine’s ability to trigger a lightning strike is unclear. Therefore, an arching electrode was used in a wind turbine lightning discharge test to investigate the difference in lightning triggering ability when blades are rotating and stationary. A negative polarity switching waveform of 250/2500 μs was applied to the arching electrode and the up-and-down method was used to calculate the 50% discharge voltage. Lightning discharge tests of a 1:30 scale wind turbine model with 2, 4, and 6 m air gaps were performed and the discharge process was observed. The experimental results demonstrated that when a 2 m air gap was used, the breakdown voltage increased as the blade speed was increased, but when the gap length was 4 m or longer, the trend was reversed and the breakdown voltage decreased. The analysis revealed that the rotation of the blades changes the charge distribution in the blade-tip region, promotes upward leader development on the blade tip, and decreases the breakdown voltage. Thus, the blade rotation of a wind turbine increases its ability to trigger lightning strikes.

Mapping Government Reforms in Quality against Higher Education Theory: Is the Relationship Symbiotic?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alderman, Lyn

2016-01-01

In Australia, a review of the higher education sector is usually triggered by a change in government leadership, followed by the development and implementation of the government's response in the form of a reform package to enact change. The aim of this study was to conduct an independent evaluation of a large-scale national government policy…

The effect of various parameters of large scale radio propagation models on improving performance mobile communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinem, M.; Fauzi, R.

2018-02-01

One technique for ensuring continuity of wireless communication services and keeping a smooth transition on mobile communication networks is the soft handover technique. In the Soft Handover (SHO) technique the inclusion and reduction of Base Station from the set of active sets is determined by initiation triggers. One of the initiation triggers is based on the strong reception signal. In this paper we observed the influence of parameters of large-scale radio propagation models to improve the performance of mobile communications. The observation parameters for characterizing the performance of the specified mobile system are Drop Call, Radio Link Degradation Rate and Average Size of Active Set (AS). The simulated results show that the increase in altitude of Base Station (BS) Antenna and Mobile Station (MS) Antenna contributes to the improvement of signal power reception level so as to improve Radio Link quality and increase the average size of Active Set and reduce the average Drop Call rate. It was also found that Hata’s propagation model contributed significantly to improvements in system performance parameters compared to Okumura’s propagation model and Lee’s propagation model.

Upper crustal fault reactivation and the potential of triggered earthquakes on the Atacama Fault System, N-Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Victor, Pia; Ewiak, Oktawian; Thomas, Ziegenhagen; Monika, Sobiesiak; Bernd, Schurr; Gabriel, Gonzalez; Onno, Oncken

2016-04-01

The Atacama Fault System (AFS) is an active trench-parallel fault system, located in the forearc of N-Chile directly above the subduction zone interface. Due to its well-exposed position in the hyper arid forearc of N-Chile it is the perfect target to investigate the interaction between the deformation cycle in the overriding forearc and the subduction zone seismic cycle of the underlying megathrust. Although the AFS and large parts of the upper crust are devoid of any noteworthy seismicity, at least three M=7 earthquakes in the past 10 ky have been documented in the paleoseismological record, demonstrating the potential of large events in the future. We apply a two-fold approach to explore fault activation and reactivation patterns through time and to investigate the triggering potential of upper crustal faults. 1) A new methodology using high-resolution topographic data allows us to investigate the number of past earthquakes for any given segment of the fault system as well as the amount of vertical displacement of the last increment. This provides us with a detailed dataset of past earthquake rupture of upper plate faults which is potentially linked to large subduction zone earthquakes. 2) The IPOC Creepmeter array (http://www.ipoc-network.org/index.php/observatory/creepmeter.html) provides us with high-resolution time series of fault displacement accumulation for 11 stations along the 4 most active branches of the AFS. This array monitors the displacement across the fault with 2 samples/min with a resolution of 1μm. Collocated seismometers record the seismicity at two of the creepmeters, whereas the regional seismicity is provided by the IPOC Seismological Networks. Continuous time series of the creepmeter stations since 2009 show that the shallow segments of the fault do not creep permanently. Instead the accumulation of permanent deformation occurs by triggered slip caused by local or remote earthquakes. The 2014 Mw=8.2 Pisagua Earthquake, located close to the creepmeter array, triggered large displacement events on all stations. Another event recorded on all stations was the 2010 Mw=8.8 Maule earthquake located 1500km south of the array. Exploring observations from both datasets, we can clearly state that triggering of upper crustal faults is observed for small-scale displacements. These findings allow us to speculate that the observed larger events in the past are likely being triggered events that require a critically prestressed condition of the target fault that is unclamped by stress changes triggered by large or potentially even small subduction zone earthquakes.

Theory for substorms triggered by sudden reductions in convection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lyons, L. R.

1996-01-01

Many substorm expansions are triggered by interplanetary magnetic field changes that reduce magnetospheric convection. This suggests that expansion onsets are a result of a reduction in the large-scale electric field imparted to the magnetosphere from the solar wind. Such a reduction disrupts the inward motion and energization of plasma sheet particles that occur during the growth phase. It is proposed that the resulting magnetic drift of particles and a large dawn to dusk gradient in the ion energies leads to a longitudinally localized reduction in the plasma pressure, and thus, to the current wedge formation. This theory accounts for the rapid development of the expansion phase relative to growth phase, the magnitude of the wedge currents, the speeds of tailward and westward expansion of the current reduction region in the equatorial plane, and the speeds of the poleward and westward motion of active aurora in the ionosphere.

The frequency response of a coupled ice sheet-ice shelf-ocean system to climate forcing variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldberg, D.; Snow, K.; Jordan, J. R.; Holland, P.; Arthern, R. J.

2017-12-01

Changes at the West Antarctic ice-ocean boundary in recent decades has triggered significant increases in the regions contribution to global sea-level rise, coincident with large scale, and in some cases potentially unstable, grounding line retreat. Much of the induced change is thought to be driven by fluctuations in the oceanic heat available at the ice-ocean boundary, transported on-shelf via warm Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW). However, the processes in which ocean heat drives ice-sheet loss remains poorly understood, with observational studies routinely hindered by the extreme environment notorious to the Antarctic region. In this study we apply a novel synchronous coupled ice-ocean model, developed within the MITgcm, and are thus able to provide detailed insight into the impacts of short time scale (interannual to decadal) climate variability and feedbacks within the ice-ocean system. Feedbacks and response are assessed in an idealised ice-sheet/ocean-cavity configuration in which the far field ocean condition is adjusted to emulate periodic climate variability patterns. We reveal a non-linear response of the ice-sheet to periodic variations in thermocline depth. These non-linearities illustrate the heightened sensitivity of fast flowing ice-shelves to periodic perturbations in heat fluxes occurring at interannual and decadal time scales. The results thus highlight how small perturbations in variable climate forcing, like that of ENSO, may trigger large changes in ice-sheet response.

Energy transfer, pressure tensor, and heating of kinetic plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yan; Matthaeus, William H.; Parashar, Tulasi N.; Haggerty, Colby C.; Roytershteyn, Vadim; Daughton, William; Wan, Minping; Shi, Yipeng; Chen, Shiyi

2017-07-01

Kinetic plasma turbulence cascade spans multiple scales ranging from macroscopic fluid flow to sub-electron scales. Mechanisms that dissipate large scale energy, terminate the inertial range cascade, and convert kinetic energy into heat are hotly debated. Here, we revisit these puzzles using fully kinetic simulation. By performing scale-dependent spatial filtering on the Vlasov equation, we extract information at prescribed scales and introduce several energy transfer functions. This approach allows highly inhomogeneous energy cascade to be quantified as it proceeds down to kinetic scales. The pressure work, - ( P . ∇ ) . u , can trigger a channel of the energy conversion between fluid flow and random motions, which contains a collision-free generalization of the viscous dissipation in collisional fluid. Both the energy transfer and the pressure work are strongly correlated with velocity gradients.

Triggering of solar magnetic eruptions on various size scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sterling, Alphonse

A solar eruption that produces a coronal mass ejection (CME) together with a flare is driven by the eruption of a closed-loop magnetic arcade that has a sheared-field core. Before eruption, the sheared core envelops a polarity inversion line along which cool filament material may reside. The sheared-core arcade erupts when there is a breakdown in the balance between the confining downward-directed magnetic tension of the overall arcade field and the upward-directed force of the pent-up magnetic pressure of the sheared field in the core of the arcade. What triggers the breakdown in this balance in favor of the upward-directed force is still an unsettled question. We consider several eruption examples, using imaging data from the SoHO, TRACE and Hinode satellites, and other sources, along with information about the magnetic field of the erupting regions. In several cases, observations of large-scale eruptions, where the magnetic neutral line spans ˜ few ×10,000 km, are consistent with magnetic flux cancelation being the trigger to the eruption's onset, even though the amount of flux canceled is only ˜ few percent of the total magnetic flux of the erupting region. In several other cases, an initial compact (small size-scale) eruption occurs embedded inside of a larger closed magnetic loop system, so that the smaller eruption destabilizes and causes the eruption of the much larger system. In this way, small-scale eruptive events can result in eruption of much larger-scale systems. This work was funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate thought the Living With a Star Targeted Research and Technology Program, the Supporting Research and Program, and the Hinode project.

Hazard potential of volcanic flank collapses raised by new megatsunami evidence

PubMed Central

Ramalho, Ricardo S.; Winckler, Gisela; Madeira, José; Helffrich, George R.; Hipólito, Ana; Quartau, Rui; Adena, Katherine; Schaefer, Joerg M.

2015-01-01

Large-scale gravitational flank collapses of steep volcanic islands are hypothetically capable of triggering megatsunamis with highly catastrophic effects. Yet, evidence for the generation and impact of collapse-triggered megatsunamis and their high run-ups remains scarce or is highly controversial. Therefore, doubts remain on whether island flank failures truly generate enough volume flux to trigger giant tsunamis, leading to diverging opinions concerning the real hazard potential of such collapses. We show that one of the most prominent oceanic volcanoes on Earth—Fogo, in the Cape Verde Islands—catastrophically collapsed and triggered a megatsunami with devastating effects ~73,000 years ago. Our deductions are based on the recent discovery and cosmogenic 3He dating of tsunamigenic deposits found on nearby Santiago Island, which attest to the impact of this giant tsunami and document wave run-up heights exceeding 270 m. The evidence reported here implies that Fogo’s flank failure involved at least one fast and voluminous event that led to a giant tsunami, in contrast to what has been suggested before. Our observations therefore further demonstrate that flank collapses may indeed catastrophically happen and are capable of triggering tsunamis of enormous height and energy, adding to their hazard potential. PMID:26601287

The ATLAS high level trigger steering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berger, N.; Bold, T.; Eifert, T.; Fischer, G.; George, S.; Haller, J.; Hoecker, A.; Masik, J.; Nedden, M. Z.; Reale, V. P.; Risler, C.; Schiavi, C.; Stelzer, J.; Wu, X.

2008-07-01

The High Level Trigger (HLT) of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider receives events which pass the LVL1 trigger at ~75 kHz and has to reduce the rate to ~200 Hz while retaining the most interesting physics. It is a software trigger and performs the reduction in two stages: the LVL2 trigger and the Event Filter (EF). At the heart of the HLT is the Steering software. To minimise processing time and data transfers it implements the novel event selection strategies of seeded, step-wise reconstruction and early rejection. The HLT is seeded by regions of interest identified at LVL1. These and the static configuration determine which algorithms are run to reconstruct event data and test the validity of trigger signatures. The decision to reject the event or continue is based on the valid signatures, taking into account pre-scale and pass-through. After the EF, event classification tags are assigned for streaming purposes. Several new features for commissioning and operation have been added: comprehensive monitoring is now built in to the framework; for validation and debugging, reconstructed data can be written out; the steering is integrated with the new configuration (presented separately), and topological and global triggers have been added. This paper will present details of the final design and its implementation, the principles behind it, and the requirements and constraints it is subject to. The experience gained from technical runs with realistic trigger menus will be described.

On the interplay between neoclassical tearing modes and nonlocal transport in toroidal plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, X. Q.; Xu, Y.; Hidalgo, C.; Diamond, P. H.; Liu, Yi; Pan, O.; Shi, Z. B.; Yu, D. L.

2016-09-01

This Letter presents the first observation on the interplay between nonlocal transport and neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs) during transient nonlocal heat transport events in the HL-2A tokamak. The nonlocality is triggered by edge cooling and large-scale, inward propagating avalanches. These lead to a locally enhanced pressure gradient at the q = 3/2 (or 2/1) rational surface and hence the onset of the NTM in relatively low β plasmas (βN < 1). The NTM, in return, regulates the nonlocal transport by truncation of avalanches by local sheared toroidal flows which develop near the magnetic island. These findings have direct implications for understanding the dynamic interaction between turbulence and large-scale mode structures in fusion plasmas.

Overview of the SVOM Gamma-Ray Burst mission under development with a focus on its Trigger system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schanne, Stephane

2017-08-01

The SVOM mission (Space-based Variable Objects Monitor) is a Chinese-French satellite mission under development, devoted to collecting a complete sample of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) observed at multi-wavelengths with a high fraction of redshift determinations. In January 2017 the mission entered Phase C, starting officially construction, and the launch is foreseen in 2021. The SVOM satellite is equipped with 4 instruments, 2 of which cover the prompt GRB phase. The ECLAIRs coded-mask imager surveys a 2-sr large portion of the sky in the 4-150 keV energy range, well suited for the detection of X-ray rich and highly redshifted GRBs. The ECLAIRs trigger system continuously searches for GRBs using two algorithms, a count-rate trigger for short time scales and an image trigger for long time scales. In case of a localized new GRB candidate or a bright outburst of a known source, it promptly requests a satellite slew and sends an alert to ground. The onboard GRM (Gamma-Ray Monitor) extends the prompt energy coverage up to 5 MeV. After slew, 2 more onboard instruments study the GRB afterglow and refine the GRB localization: the MXT (Multi-pore optics X-ray Telescope) and the VT (Visible Telescope). Two types of ground telescopes are dedicated to SVOM. The GFTs (Ground Follow-up Telescopes) repoint autonomously to GRB alerts, refine their localization and provide photometric redshift. The SVOM observing strategy with roughly antisolar pointing combined with Galactic plane avoidance, ensures that most GRBs are quickly visible by the GFTs and large spectroscopic telescopes. The GWAC (Ground Wide Angle Camera) will observe the sky simultaneously with ECLAIRs to detect prompt optical GRB emissions. Today part of the GWAC is already operational. The SVOM GRB program is complemented by pre-planned target observations and ground-commanded targets of opportunity, e.g. to search for electromagnetic counterparts of gravity-wave events. On behalf of the SVOM and ECLAIRs teams, this paper presents an overview of SVOM with a focus on its GRB trigger system.

Climate, Water, and Human Health: Large Scale Hydroclimatic Controls in Forecasting Cholera Epidemics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akanda, A. S.; Jutla, A. S.; Islam, S.

2009-12-01

Despite ravaging the continents through seven global pandemics in past centuries, the seasonal and interannual variability of cholera outbreaks remain a mystery. Previous studies have focused on the role of various environmental and climatic factors, but provided little or no predictive capability. Recent findings suggest a more prominent role of large scale hydroclimatic extremes - droughts and floods - and attempt to explain the seasonality and the unique dual cholera peaks in the Bengal Delta region of South Asia. We investigate the seasonal and interannual nature of cholera epidemiology in three geographically distinct locations within the region to identify the larger scale hydroclimatic controls that can set the ecological and environmental ‘stage’ for outbreaks and have significant memory on a seasonal scale. Here we show that two distinctly different, pre and post monsoon, cholera transmission mechanisms related to large scale climatic controls prevail in the region. An implication of our findings is that extreme climatic events such as prolonged droughts, record floods, and major cyclones may cause major disruption in the ecosystem and trigger large epidemics. We postulate that a quantitative understanding of the large-scale hydroclimatic controls and dominant processes with significant system memory will form the basis for forecasting such epidemic outbreaks. A multivariate regression method using these predictor variables to develop probabilistic forecasts of cholera outbreaks will be explored. Forecasts from such a system with a seasonal lead-time are likely to have measurable impact on early cholera detection and prevention efforts in endemic regions.

Physical conditions in star-forming regions around S235

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirsanova, M. S.; Wiebe, D. S.; Sobolev, A. M.; Henkel, C.; Tsivilev, A. P.

2014-01-01

Gas density and temperature in star-forming regions around Sh2-235 are derived from ammonia line observations. This information is used to evaluate formation scenarios and to determine evolutionary stages of the young embedded clusters S235 East 1, S235 East 2 and S235 Central. We also estimate the gas mass in the embedded clusters and its ratio to the stellar mass. S235 East 1 appears to be less evolved than S235 East 2 and S235 Central. In S235 East 1 the molecular gas mass exceeds that in the other clusters. Also, this cluster is more embedded in the parent gas cloud than the other two. Comparison with a theoretical model shows that the formation of these three clusters could have been stimulated by the expansion of the Sh2-235 H II region (hereafter S235) via a collect-and-collapse process, provided the density in the surrounding gas exceeds 3 × 103 cm-3, or via collapse of pre-existing clumps. The expansion of S235 cannot be responsible for star formation in the southern S235 A-B region. However, formation of the massive stars in this region might have been triggered by a large-scale supernova shock. Thus, triggered star formation in the studied region may come in three varieties, namely collect-and-collapse and collapse of pre-existing clumps, both initiated by expansion of the local H II regions, and triggered by an external large-scale shock. We argue that the S235 A H II region expands into a highly non-uniform medium with increasing density. It is too young to trigger star formation in its vicinity by a collect-and-collapse process. There is an age spread inside the S235 A-B region. Massive stars in the S235 A-B region are considerably younger than lower mass stars in the same area. This follows from the estimates of their ages and the ages of associated H II regions.

2:1 for naturalness at the LHC?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arkani-Hamed, Nima; Blum, Kfir; D'Agnolo, Raffaele Tito; Fan, JiJi

2013-01-01

A large enhancement of a factor of 1.5 - 2 in Higgs production and decay in the diphoton channel, with little deviation in the ZZ channel, can only plausibly arise from a loop of new charged particles with large couplings to the Higgs. We show that, allowing only new fermions with marginal interactions at the weak scale, the required Yukawa couplings for a factor of 2 enhancement are so large that the Higgs quartic coupling is pushed to large negative values in the UV, triggering an unacceptable vacuum instability far beneath the 10 TeV scale. An enhancement by a factor of 1.5 can be accommodated if the charged particles are lighter than 150 GeV, within reach of discovery in almost all cases in the 8 TeV run at the LHC, and in even the most difficult cases at 14 TeV. Thus if the diphoton enhancement survives further scrutiny, and no charged particles beneath 150 GeV are found, there must be new bosons far beneath the 10 TeV scale. This would unambiguously rule out a large class of fine-tuned theories for physics beyond the Standard Model, including split SUSY and many of its variants, and provide strong circumstantial evidence for a natural theory of electroweak symmetry breaking at the TeV scale. Alternately, theories with only a single fine-tuned Higgs and new fermions at the weak scale, with no additional scalars or gauge bosons up to a cutoff much larger than the 10 TeV scale, unambiguously predict that the hints for a large diphoton enhancement in the current data will disappear.

Sedimentation as a Control for Large Submarine Landslides: Mechanical Modeling and Analysis of the Santa Barbara Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoecklin, A.; Friedli, B.; Puzrin, A. M.

2017-11-01

The volume of submarine landslides is a key controlling factor for their damage potential. Particularly large landslides are found in active sedimentary regions. However, the mechanism controlling their volume, and in particular their thickness, remains unclear. Here we present a mechanism that explains how rapid sedimentation can lead to localized slope failure at a preferential depth and set the conditions for the emergence of large-scale slope-parallel landslides. We account for the contractive shearing behavior of the sediments, which locally accelerates the development of overpressures in the pore fluid, even on very mild slopes. When applied to the Santa Barbara basin, the mechanism offers an explanation for the regional variation in landslide thickness and their sedimentation-controlled recurrence. Although earthquakes are the most likely trigger for these mass movements, our results suggest that the sedimentation process controls the geometry of their source region. The mechanism introduced here is generally applicable and can provide initial conditions for subsequent landslide triggering, runout, and tsunami-source analyses in sedimentary regions.

Evaluating the influence of gully erosion on landslide hazard analysis triggered by heavy rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruljigaljig, Tjuku; Tsai, Ching-Jun; Peng, Wen-Fei; Yu, Teng-To

2017-04-01

During the rainstorm period such as typhoon or heavy rain, the development of gully will induce a large-scale landslide. The purpose of this study is to assess and quantify the existence and development of gully for the purpose of triggering landslides by analyzing the landslides hazard. Firstly, based on multi-scale DEM data, this study uses wavelet transform to construct an automatic algorithm. The 1-meter DEM is used to evaluate the location and type of gully, and to establish an evaluation model for predicting erosion development.In this study, routes in the Chai-Yi were studied to clarify the damage potential of roadways from local gully. The local of gully is regarded as a parameter to reduce the strength parameter. The distribution of factor of safe (F.S.) is compared with the landslide inventory map. The result of this research could be used to increase the prediction accuracy of landslide hazard analysis due to heavy rainfalls.

Spontaneous Release Regulates Synaptic Scaling in the Embryonic Spinal Network In Vivo

PubMed Central

Garcia-Bereguiain, Miguel Angel; Gonzalez-Islas, Carlos; Lindsly, Casie

2016-01-01

Homeostatic plasticity mechanisms maintain cellular or network spiking activity within a physiologically functional range through compensatory changes in synaptic strength or intrinsic cellular excitability. Synaptic scaling is one form of homeostatic plasticity that is triggered after blockade of spiking or neurotransmission in which the strengths of all synaptic inputs to a cell are multiplicatively scaled upward or downward in a compensatory fashion. We have shown previously that synaptic upscaling could be triggered in chick embryo spinal motoneurons by complete blockade of spiking or GABAA receptor (GABAAR) activation for 2 d in vivo. Here, we alter GABAAR activation in a more physiologically relevant manner by chronically adjusting presynaptic GABA release in vivo using nicotinic modulators or an mGluR2 agonist. Manipulating GABAAR activation in this way triggered scaling in a mechanistically similar manner to scaling induced by complete blockade of GABAARs. Remarkably, we find that altering action-potential (AP)-independent spontaneous release was able to fully account for the observed bidirectional scaling, whereas dramatic changes in spiking activity associated with spontaneous network activity had little effect on quantal amplitude. The reliance of scaling on an AP-independent process challenges the plasticity's relatedness to spiking in the living embryonic spinal network. Our findings have implications for the trigger and function of synaptic scaling and suggest that spontaneous release functions to regulate synaptic strength homeostatically in vivo. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Homeostatic synaptic scaling is thought to prevent inappropriate levels of spiking activity through compensatory adjustments in the strength of synaptic inputs. Therefore, it is thought that perturbations in spike rate trigger scaling. Here, we find that dramatic changes in spiking activity in the embryonic spinal cord have little effect on synaptic scaling; conversely, alterations in GABAA receptor activation due to action-potential-independent GABA vesicle release can trigger scaling. The findings suggest that scaling in the living embryonic spinal cord functions to maintain synaptic strength and challenge the view that scaling acts to regulate spiking activity homeostatically. Finally, the results indicate that fetal exposure to drugs that influence GABA spontaneous release, such as nicotine, could profoundly affect synaptic maturation. PMID:27383600

Political Influence on Japanese Nuclear and Security Policy: New Forces Face Large Obstacles

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

Fukushima incident immediately triggered a resurgence of the anti- nuclear power movement in Japan, and quickly enlarged it to national scale.80...Bottom-up Activism,” Asia-Pacific Issues 103 (January 2012). 57 time passes after the Fukushima incidents. Anti- nuclear -power sentiment in Japan...spread well beyond the areas immediately affected by either the Fukushima disasters themselves or by other nuclear plants

A variational approach to probing extreme events in turbulent dynamical systems

PubMed Central

Farazmand, Mohammad; Sapsis, Themistoklis P.

2017-01-01

Extreme events are ubiquitous in a wide range of dynamical systems, including turbulent fluid flows, nonlinear waves, large-scale networks, and biological systems. We propose a variational framework for probing conditions that trigger intermittent extreme events in high-dimensional nonlinear dynamical systems. We seek the triggers as the probabilistically feasible solutions of an appropriately constrained optimization problem, where the function to be maximized is a system observable exhibiting intermittent extreme bursts. The constraints are imposed to ensure the physical admissibility of the optimal solutions, that is, significant probability for their occurrence under the natural flow of the dynamical system. We apply the method to a body-forced incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, known as the Kolmogorov flow. We find that the intermittent bursts of the energy dissipation are independent of the external forcing and are instead caused by the spontaneous transfer of energy from large scales to the mean flow via nonlinear triad interactions. The global maximizer of the corresponding variational problem identifies the responsible triad, hence providing a precursor for the occurrence of extreme dissipation events. Specifically, monitoring the energy transfers within this triad allows us to develop a data-driven short-term predictor for the intermittent bursts of energy dissipation. We assess the performance of this predictor through direct numerical simulations. PMID:28948226

A Multiscale Survival Process for Modeling Human Activity Patterns.

PubMed

Zhang, Tianyang; Cui, Peng; Song, Chaoming; Zhu, Wenwu; Yang, Shiqiang

2016-01-01

Human activity plays a central role in understanding large-scale social dynamics. It is well documented that individual activity pattern follows bursty dynamics characterized by heavy-tailed interevent time distributions. Here we study a large-scale online chatting dataset consisting of 5,549,570 users, finding that individual activity pattern varies with timescales whereas existing models only approximate empirical observations within a limited timescale. We propose a novel approach that models the intensity rate of an individual triggering an activity. We demonstrate that the model precisely captures corresponding human dynamics across multiple timescales over five orders of magnitudes. Our model also allows extracting the population heterogeneity of activity patterns, characterized by a set of individual-specific ingredients. Integrating our approach with social interactions leads to a wide range of implications.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chiang, Nai-Yuan; Zavala, Victor M.

We present a filter line-search algorithm that does not require inertia information of the linear system. This feature enables the use of a wide range of linear algebra strategies and libraries, which is essential to tackle large-scale problems on modern computing architectures. The proposed approach performs curvature tests along the search step to detect negative curvature and to trigger convexification. We prove that the approach is globally convergent and we implement the approach within a parallel interior-point framework to solve large-scale and highly nonlinear problems. Our numerical tests demonstrate that the inertia-free approach is as efficient as inertia detection viamore » symmetric indefinite factorizations. We also demonstrate that the inertia-free approach can lead to reductions in solution time because it reduces the amount of convexification needed.« less

Quaternary base-level drops and trigger mechanisms in a closed basin: Geomorphic and sedimentological studies of the Gastre Basin, Argentina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilmes, Andrés; Veiga, Gonzalo D.; Ariztegui, Daniel; Castelltort, Sébastien; D'Elia, Leandro; Franzese, Juan R.

2017-04-01

Evaluating the role of tectonics and climate as possible triggering mechanisms of landscape reconfigurations is essential for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions. In this study an exceptional receptive closed Quaternary system of Patagonia (the Gastre Basin) is described, and examined in order to analyze factors triggering base-level drops. Based on a geomorphological approach, which includes new tectonic geomorphology investigations combined with sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis, three large-scale geomorphological systems were identified, described and linked to two major lake-level highstands preserved in the basin. The results indicate magnitudes of base-level drops that are several orders of magnitude greater than present-day water-level fluctuations, suggesting a triggering mechanism not observed in recent times. Direct observations indicating the occurrence of Quaternary faults were not recorded in the region. In addition, morphometric analyses that included mountain front sinuosity, valley width-height ratio, and fan apex position dismiss tectonic fault activity in the Gastre Basin during the middle Pleistocene-Holocene. Therefore, we suggest here that upper Pleistocene climate changes may have been the main triggering mechanism of base-level falls in the Gastre Basin as it is observed in other closed basins of central Patagonia (i.e., Carri Laufquen Basin).

Small beetle, large-scale drivers: how regional and landscape factors affect outbreaks of the European spruce bark beetle

PubMed Central

Seidl, Rupert; Müller, Jörg; Hothorn, Torsten; Bässler, Claus; Heurich, Marco; Kautz, Markus

2016-01-01

Summary 1. Unprecedented bark beetle outbreaks have been observed for a variety of forest ecosystems recently, and damage is expected to further intensify as a consequence of climate change. In Central Europe, the response of ecosystem management to increasing infestation risk has hitherto focused largely on the stand level, while the contingency of outbreak dynamics on large-scale drivers remains poorly understood. 2. To investigate how factors beyond the local scale contribute to the infestation risk from Ips typographus (Col., Scol.), we analysed drivers across seven orders of magnitude in scale (from 103 to 1010 m2) over a 23-year period, focusing on the Bavarian Forest National Park. Time-discrete hazard modelling was used to account for local factors and temporal dependencies. Subsequently, beta regression was applied to determine the influence of regional and landscape factors, the latter characterized by means of graph theory. 3. We found that in addition to stand variables, large-scale drivers also strongly influenced bark beetle infestation risk. Outbreak waves were closely related to landscape-scale connectedness of both host and beetle populations as well as to regional bark beetle infestation levels. Furthermore, regional summer drought was identified as an important trigger for infestation pulses. Large-scale synchrony and connectivity are thus key drivers of the recently observed bark beetle outbreak in the area. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our multiscale analysis provides evidence that the risk for biotic disturbances is highly dependent on drivers beyond the control of traditional stand-scale management. This finding highlights the importance of fostering the ability to cope with and recover from disturbance. It furthermore suggests that a stronger consideration of landscape and regional processes is needed to address changing disturbance regimes in ecosystem management. PMID:27041769

Development of an Interferometric Phased Array Trigger for Balloon-Borne Detection of the Highest Energy Cosmic Particles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieregg, Abigail

Through high energy neutrino astrophysics, we explore the structure and evolution of the universe in a unique way and learn about the physics inside of astrophysical sources that drives the acceleration of the highest energy particles. Neutrinos travel virtually unimpeded through the universe, making them unique messenger particles for cosmic sources and carrying information about very distant sources that would otherwise be unavailable. The highest energy neutrinos (E>10^{18} eV), created as a by-product of the interaction of the highest energy cosmic rays with the cosmic microwave background, are an important tool for determining the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays and still await discovery. Balloon-borne and ground-based experiments are poised to discover these ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmogenic neutrinos by looking for radio emission from two different types of neutrino interactions: particle cascades induced by neutrinos in glacial ice, and extensive air showers in the atmosphere induced by the charged-particle by-product of tau neutrinos interacting in the earth. These impulsive radio detectors are also sensitive to radio emission from extensive air showers induced directly by UHE cosmic rays. Balloon-borne experiments are especially well-suited for discovering the highest energy neutrinos, and are the only way to probe the high energy cutoff of the sources themselves to reveal the astrophysics that drives the central engines inside the most energetic accelerators in the universe. Balloon platforms offer the chance to monitor extremely large volumes of ice and atmosphere, but with a higher energy threshold compared to ground-based observatories, since the neutrino interaction happens farther from the detector. This tradeoff means that the sensitivity of balloon-borne experiments, such as the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) or the ExaVolt Antenna, is optimized for discovery of the highest energy neutrinos. We are developing an interferometric phased array trigger for these impulsive radio detectors, a new type of trigger that will improve sensitivity substantially and expedite the discovery of the highest energy particles in our universe. We have developed an 8- channel interferometric trigger board for ground-based applications that will be deployed in December 2017 with the ground-based Askaryan Radio Array (ARA) experiment at the South Pole. Preliminary Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the cosmogenic neutrino event rate will go up by a factor of 3 with the new trigger. The true power of the interferometric trigger is in scaling to large numbers of channels, and the discovery space that is only available from a balloon platform at the highest energies is extremely appealing. We will build on and extend the NASA investment in the ANITA Long Duration Balloon (LDB) mission and the many other complementary particle astrophysics LDB missions by developing the electronics required to bring a large-scale radio interferometric trigger to a balloon platform, extending the scientific reach of any future LDB or Super Pressure Balloon (SPB) mission for radio detection of the highest energy cosmic particles. We will develop an interferometric trigger system that is scalable to O(100) channels and suitable for use on a balloon platform. Under this proposal, we will: 1) Design and fabricate interferometric trigger hardware for balloon-borne cosmic particle detectors that is scalable to large numbers of channels O(100) by reducing the power consumption per channel, increasing the number of channels per board, and developing high-speed communication capability between boards. 2) Perform a trade study and inform design decisions for future balloon missions by further developing our Monte Carlo simulation and adapting it to balloon geometries.

Distinct regions of the Phytophthora essential effector Avh238 determine its function in cell death activation and plant immunity suppression.

PubMed

Yang, Bo; Wang, Qunqing; Jing, Maofeng; Guo, Baodian; Wu, Jiawei; Wang, Haonan; Wang, Yang; Lin, Long; Wang, Yan; Ye, Wenwu; Dong, Suomeng; Wang, Yuanchao

2017-04-01

Phytophthora pathogens secrete effectors to manipulate host innate immunity, thus facilitating infection. Among the RXLR effectors highly induced during Phytophthora sojae infection, Avh238 not only contributes to pathogen virulence but also triggers plant cell death. However, the detailed molecular basis of Avh238 functions remains largely unknown. We mapped the regions responsible for Avh238 functions in pathogen virulence and plant cell death induction using a strategy that combines investigation of natural variation and large-scale mutagenesis assays. The correlation between cellular localization and Avh238 functions was also evaluated. We found that the 79 th residue (histidine or leucine) of Avh238 determined its cell death-inducing activity, and that the 53 amino acids in its C-terminal region are responsible for promoting Phytophthora infection. Transient expression of Avh238 in Nicotiana benthamiana revealed that nuclear localization is essential for triggering cell death, while Avh238-mediated suppression of INF1-triggered cell death requires cytoplasmic localization. Our results demonstrate that a representative example of an essential Phytophthora RXLR effector can evolve to escape recognition by the host by mutating one nucleotide site, and can also retain plant immunosuppressive activity to enhance pathogen virulence in planta. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Large-scale landslide triggering mechanisms in Debre Sina area, Central Ethiopian Highlands at the western Afar rift margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiros, T.; Wohnlich, S.; Hussien, B.

2017-12-01

The Central Highlands of Ethiopia have repeatedly experiencing large-scale landslide events. Debre Sina area is one of the most landslide prone areas located along the western Afar rift margin of Ethiopia, which is frequently affected by large-scale and deep-seated landslides. Despite that, urban and rural development is currently taking place in almost all constricted valleys as well as on the imposing cliffs. Therefore, understanding the major triggering factors and failure mechanisms in the Debre Sina area and surroundings is of critical importance. In the present study, we investigate the landslide in the area using geological and topographic analysis, structural settings, geophysical investigation (seismic refraction), rainfall data and seismicity. Furthermore, petrographical as well as X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis are conducted to explain the mineral composition of parent rock and its weathering products. The topographic analysis result revealed that the slope range from 100 - 400, with elevation of 1,800 - 2,500m, with aspect to east and southeast are highly prone to landslide. The seismic refraction method identified four main layers of geomaterials which contained a subsurface landslides anomaly within the layers. The results consist of clay, loosely cemented colluvial sediments and highly weathered agglomerates (1000-1500m/s) 7-15m, highly to moderately fractured porphyritic basalt, ignimbrite, rhyolite/trachyte and volcanic ash (1500-2500m/s) 10-30m, moderately to slightly fractured ignimbrite, rhyolite/trachyte and basalt (2500-3500m/s) 30-50m and very strong, massive, fresh rock/bed rock (>3500m/s) from 45m depth. The large-scale and deep-seated landslides problem in the study area appears to be caused by heavy rainfall, complex geology and rugged topography, the presence of geological structures oriented parallel to the rift margin N-S fault (NNE-SSW trending) of the central Ethiopian highlands and coinciding with the head scarp of the slides and seismicity. These findings could serve as a basis for planners and policy-makers, and will lead to an increased level of understanding of the natural geohazards problems in the country.

Modeling Magma Mixing: Evidence from U-series age dating and Numerical Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philipp, R.; Cooper, K. M.; Bergantz, G. W.

2007-12-01

Magma mixing and recharge is an ubiquitous process in the shallow crust, which can trigger eruption and cause magma hybridization. Phenocrysts in mixed magmas are recorders for magma mixing and can be studied by in- situ techniques and analyses of bulk mineral separates. To better understand if micro-textural and compositional information reflects local or reservoir-scale events, a physical model for gathering and dispersal of crystals is necessary. We present the results of a combined geochemical and fluid dynamical study of magma mixing processes at Volcan Quizapu, Chile; two large (1846/47 AD and 1932 AD) dacitic eruptions from the same vent area were triggered by andesitic recharge magma and show various degrees of magma mixing. Employing a multiphase numerical fluid dynamic model, we simulated a simple mixing process of vesiculated mafic magma intruded into a crystal-bearing silicic reservoir. This unstable condition leads to overturn and mixing. In a second step we use the velocity field obtained to calculate the flow path of 5000 crystals randomly distributed over the entire system. Those particles mimic the phenocryst response to the convective motion. There is little local relative motion between silicate liquid and crystals due to the high viscosity of the melts and the rapid overturn rate of the system. Of special interest is the crystal dispersal and gathering, which is quantified by comparing the distance at the beginning and end of the simulation for all particle pairs that are initially closer than a length scale chosen between 1 and 10 m. At the start of the simulation, both the resident and new intruding (mafic) magmas have a unique particle population. Depending on the Reynolds number (Re) and the chosen characteristic length scale of different phenocryst-pairs, we statistically describe the heterogeneity of crystal populations on the thin section scale. For large Re (approx. 25) and a short characteristic length scale of particle-pairs, heterogeneity of particle populations is large. After one overturn event, even the "thin section scale" can contain phenocrysts that derive from the entire magmatic system. We combine these results with time scale information from U-series plagioclase age dating. Apparent crystal residence times from the most evolved and therefore least hybridized rocks for the 1846/47 and 1932 eruptions of Volcan Quizapu are about 5000 and about 3000 yrs, respectively. Based on whole rock chemistry as well as textural and crystal-chemical data, both eruptions tapped the same reservoir and therefore should record similar crystal residence times. Instead, the discordance of these two ages can be explained by magma mixing as modeled above, if some young plagioclase derived from the andesitic recharge magma which triggered the 1846/47 AD eruption got mixed into the dacite remaining in the reservoir after eruption, thus lowering the apparent crystal residence time for magma that was evacuated from the reservoir in 1932.

Autonomous stimulus triggered self-healing in smart structural composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, C. J.; White, J. A. P.; McCombe, G.; Chatterjee, P.; Bond, I. P.; Trask, R. S.

2012-09-01

Inspired by the ability of biological systems to sense and autonomously heal damage, this research has successfully demonstrated the first autonomous, stimulus triggered, self-healing system in a structural composite material. Both the sensing and healing mechanisms are reliant on microvascular channels incorporated within a laminated composite material. For the triggering mechanism, a single air filled vessel was pressurized, sealed and monitored. Upon drop weight impact (10 J), delamination and microcrack connectivity between the pressurized vessel and those open to ambient led to a pressure loss which, with the use of a suitable sensor, triggered a pump to deliver a healing agent to the damage zone. Using this autonomous healing approach, near full recovery of post-impact compression strength was achieved (94% on average). A simplified alternative system with healing agent continuously flowing through the vessels, akin to blood flow, was found to offer 100% recovery of the material’s virgin strength. Optical microscopy and ultrasonic C-scanning provided further evidence of large-scale infusion of matrix damage with the healing agent. The successful implementation of this bioinspired technology could substantially enhance the integrity and reliability of aerospace structures, whilst offering benefits through improved performance/weight ratios and extended lifetimes.

The 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake - a human-caused event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, C. D.

2013-12-01

A catalog of global human-caused earthquakes shows statistical evidence that the triggering of earthquakes by large-scale geoengineering activities depends on geological and tectonic constrains (in Klose 2013). Such geoengineering activities also include the filling of water reservoirs. This presentation illuminates mechanical and statistical aspects of the 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake in light of the hypothesis of being NOT human-caused. However, available data suggest that the Wenchuan earthquake was triggered by the filling of the Zipungpu water reservoir 30 months prior to the mainshock. The reservoir spatially extended parallel and near to the main Beichuan fault zone in a highly stressed reverse fault regime. It is mechanically evident that reverse faults tend to be very trigger-sensitive due to mass shifts (static loads) that occur on the surface of the Earth's crust. These circumstances made a triggering of a seismic event of this magnitude at this location possible (in Klose 2008, 2012). The data show that the Wenchuan earthquake is not an outlier. From a statistical view point, the earthquake falls into the upper range of the family of reverse fault earthquakes that were caused by humans worldwide.

Disorder in the Disk: The Influence of Accretion Disk Thickness on the Large-scale Magnetic Dynamo.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hogg, J. Drew; Reynolds, Christopher S.

2018-01-01

The evolution of the magnetic field from the enigmatic large-scale dynamo is often considered a central feature of the accretion disk around a black hole. The resulting low-frequency oscillations introduced from the growth and decay of the field strength, along with the change in field orientation, are thought to be intimately tied to variability from the disk. Several factors are at play, but the dynamo can either be directly tied to observable signatures through modulation of the heating rate, or indirectly as the source of quasiperiodic oscillations, the driver of nonlinear structure from propagating fluctuations in mass accretion rate, or even the trigger of state transitions. We present a selection of results from a recent study of this process using a suite of four global, high-resolution, MHD accretion disk simulations. We systematically vary the scale height ratio and find the large-scale dynamo fails to develop above a scale height ratio of h/r ≥ 0.2. Using “butterfly” diagrams of the azimuthal magnetic field, we show the large-scale dynamo exists in the thinner accretion disk models, but fails to excite when the scale height ratio is increased, a feature which is also reflected in 2D Fourier transforms. Additionally, we calculate the dynamo α-parameter through correlations in the averaged magnetic field and turbulent electromotive force, and also generate synthetic light curves from the disk cooling. Using our emission proxy, we find the disks have markedly different characters as photometric fluctuations are larger and less ordered when the disk is thicker and the dynamo is absent.

Landslide database dominated by rainfall triggered events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devoli, G.; Strauch, W.; Álvarez, A.

2009-04-01

A digital landslide database has been created for Nicaragua to provide the scientific community and national authorities with a tool for landslide hazard assessment. Valuable information on landslide events has been obtained from a great variety of sources. On the basis of the data stored in the database, preliminary analyses performed at national scale aimed to characterize landslides in terms of spatial and temporal distribution, types of slope movements, triggering mechanisms, number of casualties and damage to infrastructure. A total of about 17000 events spatially distributed in mountainous and volcanic terrains have been collected in the database. The events are temporally distributed between 1826 and 2003, but a large number of the records (62% of the total number) occurred during the disastrous Hurricane Mitch in October 1998. The results showed that debris flows are the most common types of landslides recorded in the database (66% of the total amount), but other types, including rockfalls and slides, have also been identified. Rainfall, also associated with tropical cyclones, is the most frequent triggering mechanism of landslides in Nicaragua, but also seismic and volcanic activities are important triggers or, especially, the combination of one of them with rainfall. Rainfall has caused all types of failures, but debris flows and translational shallow slides are more frequent types. Earthquakes have most frequently triggered rockfalls and slides, while volcanic eruptions rockfalls and debris flows. Landslides triggered by rainfall were limited in time to the wet season that lasts from May to October and an increase in the number of events is observed during the months of September and October, which is in accord with the period of the rainy season in the Pacific and Northern and Central regions and when the country has the highest probability of being impacted by hurricanes. Both Atlantic and Pacific tropical cyclones have triggered landslides. At the medium scale, the influence of topographic and lithologic parameters on the occurrence of landslides was also analyzed and the physical characterization of landslides was done to better understand the landslide dynamics and run-out distances in both volcanic and non-volcanic areas. Data from fairly well documented events in Nicaragua were compared with other similar events in Central America and elsewhere and treated statistically to search for possible correlations and empirical relationships to predict run-out distances for different types of landslides, knowing the height of fall or the volume. The empirical relationships showed that debris flows and debris avalanches at volcanoes have the highest mobility and reach longer distances compared to other types of landslides. Because of their characteristics and downstream behaviour (long run-out distances and large volumes) both types of landslides have produced the highest number of victims in the country being the most dangerous to life and property.

The Crotone Megalandslide, southern Italy: Architecture, timing and tectonic control.

PubMed

Zecchin, Massimo; Accaino, Flavio; Ceramicola, Silvia; Civile, Dario; Critelli, Salvatore; Da Lio, Cristina; Mangano, Giacomo; Prosser, Giacomo; Teatini, Pietro; Tosi, Luigi

2018-05-17

Large-scale submarine gravitational land movements involving even more than 1,000 m thick sedimentary successions are known as megalandslides. We prove the existence of large-scale gravitational phenomena off the Crotone Basin, a forearc basin located on the Ionian side of Calabria (southern Italy), by seismic, morpho-bathymetric and well data. Our study reveals that the Crotone Megalandslide started moving between Late Zanclean and Early Piacenzian and was triggered by a contractional tectonic event leading to the basin inversion. Seaward gliding of the megalandslide continued until roughly Late Gelasian, and then resumed since Middle Pleistocene with a modest rate. Interestingly, the onshore part of the basin does not show a gravity-driven deformation comparable to that observed in the marine area, and this peculiar evidence allows some speculations on the origin of the megalandslide.

Triggering effect of mining at different horizons in the rock mass with excavations. Mathematical modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eremin, M. O.; Makarov, P. V.

2017-12-01

On the basis of a quite simple structural model of rock mass, containing coal seams on two horizons, coal mining is numerically modeled. A finite difference numerical technique is applied. At first, mining starts at the upper horizon and then moves to the lower horizon. It is shown that a mining process at the lower horizon has a significant triggering influence on the growth of damage zones in the roof and floor at the upper horizon. The features of spatiotemporal migration of deformation activity are studied numerically. Foci of large-scale fracture are located at the boundary of the seismic silence zone and the zone where the deformation activity migrates. This boundary has an additional characteristic: the maximum gradient of rock pressure is observed in this zone.

A study of geomagnetic storms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Patel, V. L.

1975-01-01

Twenty-one geomagnetic storm events during 1966 and 1970 were studied by using simultaneous interplanetary magnetic field and plasma parameters. Explorer 33 and 35 field and plasma data were analyzed on large-scale (hourly) and small-scale (3 min.) during the time interval coincident with initial phase of the geomagnetic storms. The solar-ecliptic Bz component turns southward at the end of the initial phase, thus triggering the main phase decrease in Dst geomagnetic field. When the Bz is already negative, its value becomes further negative. The By component also shows large fluctuations along with Bz. When there are no clear changes in the Bz component, the By shows abrupt changes at the main phase onet. On the small-scale behavior of the magnetic field and electric field (E=-VxB) studied in details for the three events, it is found that the field fluctuations in By, Bz and Ey and Ez are present in the initial phase. These fluctuations become larger just before the main phase of the storm begins. In the largescale behavior field remains quiet because the small scale variations are averaged out.

LANDPLANER (LANDscape, Plants, LANdslide and ERosion): a model to describe the dynamic response of slopes (or basins) under different changing scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, Mauro; Torri, Dino; Santi, Elisa; Bacaro, Giovanni; Marchesini, Ivan

2014-05-01

Landslide phenomena and erosion processes are widespread and cause every year extensive damages to the environment and sensible reduction of ecosystem services. These processes are in competition among them, and their complex interaction control the landscapes evolution. Landslide phenomena and erosion processes can be strongly influenced by land use, vegetation, soil characteristics and anthropic actions. Such type of phenomena are mainly model separately using empirical and physically based approaches. The former rely upon the identification of simple empirical laws correlating/relating the occurrence of instability processes to some of their potential causes. The latter are based on physical descriptions of the processes, and depending on the degree of complexity they can integrate different variables characterizing the process and their trigger. Those model often couple an hydrological model with an erosion or a landslide model. The spatial modeling schemas are heterogeneous, but mostly the raster (i.e. matrices of data) or the conceptual (i.e. cascading planes and channels) description of the terrain are used. The two model types are generally designed and applied at different scales. Empirical models, less demanding in terms of input data cannot consider explicitly the real process triggering mechanisms and commonly they are exploited to assess the potential occurrence of instability phenomena over large areas (small scale assessment). Physically-based models are high-demanding in term of input data, difficult to obtain over large areas if not with large uncertainty, and their applicability is often limited to small catchments or single slopes (large scale assessment). More those models, even if physically-based, are simplified description of the instability processes and can neglect significant issues of the real triggering mechanisms. For instance the influence of vegetation has been considered just partially. Although in the literature a variety of model approaches have been proposed to model separately landslide and erosion processes, only few attempts were made to model both jointly, mostly integrating pre-existing models. To overcome this limitation we develop a new model called LANDPLANER (LANDscape, Plants, LANdslide and ERosion), specifically design to describe the dynamic response of slopes (or basins) under different changing scenarios including: (i) changes of meteorological factors, (ii) changes of vegetation or land-use, (iii) and changes of slope morphology. The was applied in different study area in order to check its basic assumptions, and to test its general operability and applicability. Results show a reasonable model behaviors and confirm its easy applicability in real cases.

A retrospective study on the incidences of adverse drug events and analysis of the contributing trigger factors

PubMed Central

Sam, Aaseer Thamby; Lian Jessica, Looi Li; Parasuraman, Subramani

2015-01-01

Objectives: To retrospectively determine the extent and types of adverse drug events (ADEs) from the patient cases sheets and identify the contributing factors of medication errors. To assess causality and severity using the World Health Organization (WHO) probability scale and Hartwig's scale, respectively. Methods: Hundred patient case sheets were randomly selected, modified version of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Global Trigger Tool was utilized to identify the ADEs; causality and severity were calculated utilizing the WHO probability scale and Hartwig's severity assessment scale, respectively. Results: In total, 153 adverse events (AEs) were identified using the IHI Global Trigger Tool. Majority of the AEs are due to medication errors (46.41%) followed by 60 adverse drug reactions (ADRs), 15 therapeutic failure incidents, and 7 over-dose cases. Out of the 153 AEs, 60 are due to ADRs such as rashes, nausea, and vomiting. Therapeutic failure contributes 9.80% of the AEs, while overdose contributes to 4.58% of the total 153 AEs. Using the trigger tools, we were able to detect 45 positive triggers in 36 patient records. Among it, 19 AEs were identified in 15 patient records. The percentage of AE/100 patients is 17%. The average ADEs/1000 doses is 2.03% (calculated). Conclusion: The IHI Global Trigger Tool is an effective method to aid provisionally-registered pharmacists to identify ADEs quicker. PMID:25767366

Testing for the 'predictability' of dynamically triggered earthquakes in The Geysers geothermal field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aiken, Chastity; Meng, Xiaofeng; Hardebeck, Jeanne

2018-03-01

The Geysers geothermal field is well known for being susceptible to dynamic triggering of earthquakes by large distant earthquakes, owing to the introduction of fluids for energy production. Yet, it is unknown if dynamic triggering of earthquakes is 'predictable' or whether dynamic triggering could lead to a potential hazard for energy production. In this paper, our goal is to investigate the characteristics of triggering and the physical conditions that promote triggering to determine whether or not triggering is in anyway foreseeable. We find that, at present, triggering in The Geysers is not easily 'predictable' in terms of when and where based on observable physical conditions. However, triggered earthquake magnitude positively correlates with peak imparted dynamic stress, and larger dynamic stresses tend to trigger sequences similar to mainshock-aftershock sequences. Thus, we may be able to 'predict' what size earthquakes to expect at The Geysers following a large distant earthquake.

Testing for the ‘predictability’ of dynamically triggered earthquakes in Geysers Geothermal Field

USGS Publications Warehouse

Aiken, Chastity; Meng, Xiaofeng; Hardebeck, Jeanne L.

2018-01-01

The Geysers geothermal field is well known for being susceptible to dynamic triggering of earthquakes by large distant earthquakes, owing to the introduction of fluids for energy production. Yet, it is unknown if dynamic triggering of earthquakes is ‘predictable’ or whether dynamic triggering could lead to a potential hazard for energy production. In this paper, our goal is to investigate the characteristics of triggering and the physical conditions that promote triggering to determine whether or not triggering is in anyway foreseeable. We find that, at present, triggering in The Geysers is not easily ‘predictable’ in terms of when and where based on observable physical conditions. However, triggered earthquake magnitude positively correlates with peak imparted dynamic stress, and larger dynamic stresses tend to trigger sequences similar to mainshock–aftershock sequences. Thus, we may be able to ‘predict’ what size earthquakes to expect at The Geysers following a large distant earthquake.

Seismic wave triggering of nonvolcanic tremor, episodic tremor and slip, and earthquakes on Vancouver Island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubinstein, Justin L.; Gomberg, Joan; Vidale, John E.; Wech, Aaron G.; Kao, Honn; Creager, Kenneth C.; Rogers, Garry

2009-02-01

We explore the physical conditions that enable triggering of nonvolcanic tremor and earthquakes by considering local seismic activity on Vancouver Island, British Columbia during and immediately after the arrival of large-amplitude seismic waves from 30 teleseismic and 17 regional or local earthquakes. We identify tremor triggered by four of the teleseismic earthquakes. The close temporal and spatial proximity of triggered tremor to ambient tremor and aseismic slip indicates that when a fault is close to or undergoing failure, it is particularly susceptible to triggering of further events. The amplitude of the triggering waves also influences the likelihood of triggering both tremor and earthquakes such that large amplitude waves triggered tremor in the absence of detectable aseismic slip or ambient tremor. Tremor and energy radiated from regional/local earthquakes share the same frequency passband so that tremor cannot be identified during these smaller, more frequent events. We confidently identify triggered local earthquakes following only one teleseism, that with the largest amplitude, and four regional or local events that generated vigorous aftershock sequences in their immediate vicinity. Earthquakes tend to be triggered in regions different from tremor and with high ambient seismicity rates. We also note an interesting possible correlation between large teleseismic events and episodic tremor and slip (ETS) episodes, whereby ETS events that are "late" and have built up more stress than normal are susceptible to triggering by the slight nudge of the shaking from a large, distant event, while ETS events that are "early" or "on time" are not.

Zombie Turbulence and More in Stratified Couette Flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcus, Philip; Barranco, Joe; Pei, Suyang; Jiang, Chung-Hsiang

2016-11-01

Zombie turbulence occurs in rotating, shearing vertically-stratified flows such as stratified Couette flows. The turbulence is triggered by a neutrally-stable eigenmode with a critical layer receptive to finite-amplitude perturbations. Once excited, the critical layer becomes a vortex layer pair that rolls up into discrete vortices. Those vortices excite new critical layers, and the process repeats ad infinitum. When the vortex amplitudes become sufficiently large, the flow becomes turbulent. Although possessing a mid-range energy spectrum with E (k) k - 5 / 3 , the turbulence is non-Kolmogorov, highly anisotropic, and with large turbulent, but coherent, structures that retain the length scales of the spacing between the critical layers. The motivation for this study is protoplanetary disks (PPDs) where new stars form. In the PPD the Brunt-Vaisala frequency N increases as a function of distance from the midplane where it is zero. We cannot trigger the initial finite amplitude instability where N is small (close to the midplane). However, computations in PPDs and Couette flows show that zombie turbulence forms where N is large, and then a new type of turbulence, that is neither zombie nor Kolmogorov turbulence, fills in the remainder of the domain even where N = 0 .

Diffraction measurements using the LHC Beam Loss Monitoring System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalliokoski, Matti

2017-03-01

The Beam Loss Monitoring (BLM) system of the Large Hadron Collider protects the machine from beam induced damage by measuring the absorbed dose rates of beam losses, and by triggering beam dump if the rates increase above the allowed threshold limits. Although the detection time scales are optimized for multi-turn losses, information on fast losses can be recovered from the loss data. In this paper, methods in using the BLM system in diffraction studies are discussed.

Chemicals to enhance microalgal growth and accumulation of high-value bioproducts

PubMed Central

Yu, Xinheng; Chen, Lei; Zhang, Weiwen

2015-01-01

Photosynthetic microalgae have attracted significant attention as they can serve as important sources for cosmetic, food and pharmaceutical products, industrial materials and even biofuel biodiesels. However, current productivity of microalga-based processes is still very low, which has restricted their scale-up application. In addition to various efforts in strain improvement and cultivation optimization, it was proposed that the productivity of microalga-based processes can also be increased using various chemicals to trigger or enhance cell growth and accumulation of bioproducts. Herein, we summarized recent progresses in applying chemical triggers or enhancers to improve cell growth and accumulation of bioproducts in algal cultures. Based on their enhancing mechanisms, these chemicals can be classified into four categories:chemicals regulating biosynthetic pathways, chemicals inducing oxidative stress responses, phytohormones and analogs regulating multiple aspects of microalgal metabolism, and chemicals directly as metabolic precursors. Taken together, the early researches demonstrated that the use of chemical stimulants could be a very effective and economical way to improve cell growth and accumulation of high-value bioproducts in large-scale cultivation of microalgae. PMID:25741321

Dynamics of Large-scale Coronal Structures as Imaged during the 2012 and 2013 Total Solar Eclipses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alzate, Nathalia; Habbal, Shadia R.; Druckmüller, Miloslav; Emmanouilidis, Constantinos; Morgan, Huw

2017-10-01

White light images acquired at the peak of solar activity cycle 24, during the total solar eclipses of 2012 November 13 and 2013 November 3, serendipitously captured erupting prominences accompanied by CMEs. Application of state-of-the-art image processing techniques revealed the intricate details of two “atypical” large-scale structures, with strikingly sharp boundaries. By complementing the processed white light eclipse images with processed images from co-temporal Solar Dynamics Observatory/AIA and SOHO/LASCO observations, we show how the shape of these atypical structures matches the shape of faint CME shock fronts, which traversed the inner corona a few hours prior to the eclipse observations. The two events were not associated with any prominence eruption but were triggered by sudden brightening events on the solar surface accompanied by sprays and jets. The discovery of the indelible impact that frequent and innocuous transient events in the low corona can have on large-scale coronal structures was enabled by the radial span of the high-resolution white light eclipse images, starting from the solar surface out to several solar radii, currently unmatched by any coronagraphic instrumentation. These findings raise the interesting question as to whether large-scale coronal structures can ever be considered stationary. They also point to the existence of a much larger number of CMEs that goes undetected from the suite of instrumentation currently observing the Sun.

The interaction between active normal faulting and large scale gravitational mass movements revealed by paleoseismological techniques: A case study from central Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moro, M.; Saroli, M.; Gori, S.; Falcucci, E.; Galadini, F.; Messina, P.

2012-05-01

Paleoseismological techniques have been applied to characterize the kinematic behaviour of large-scale gravitational phenomena located in proximity of the seismogenic fault responsible for the Mw 7.0, 1915 Avezzano earthquake and to identify evidence of a possible coseismic reactivation. The above mentioned techniques were applied to the surface expression of the main sliding planes of the Mt. Serrone gravitational deformation, located in the southeastern border of the Fucino basin (central Italy). The approach allows us to detect instantaneous events of deformation along the uphill-facing scarp. These events are testified by the presence of faulted deposits and colluvial wedges. The identified and chronologically-constrained episodes of rapid displacement can be probably correlated with seismic events determined by the activation of the Fucino seismogenic fault, affecting the toe of the gravitationally unstable rock mass. Indeed this fault can produce strong, short-term dynamic stresses able to trigger the release of local gravitational stress accumulated by Mt. Serrone's large-scale gravitational phenomena. The applied methodology could allow us to better understand the geometric and kinematic relationships between active tectonic structures and large-scale gravitational phenomena. It would be more important in seismically active regions, since deep-seated gravitational slope deformations can evolve into a catastrophic collapse and can strongly increase the level of earthquake-induced hazards.

Mesoderm Lineage 3D Tissue Constructs Are Produced at Large-Scale in a 3D Stem Cell Bioprocess.

PubMed

Cha, Jae Min; Mantalaris, Athanasios; Jung, Sunyoung; Ji, Yurim; Bang, Oh Young; Bae, Hojae

2017-09-01

Various studies have presented different approaches to direct pluripotent stem cell differentiation such as applying defined sets of exogenous biochemical signals and genetic/epigenetic modifications. Although differentiation to target lineages can be successfully regulated, such conventional methods are often complicated, laborious, and not cost-effective to be employed to the large-scale production of 3D stem cell-based tissue constructs. A 3D-culture platform that could realize the large-scale production of mesoderm lineage tissue constructs from embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is developed. ESCs are cultured using our previously established 3D-bioprocess platform which is amenable to mass-production of 3D ESC-based tissue constructs. Hepatocarcinoma cell line conditioned medium is introduced to the large-scale 3D culture to provide a specific biomolecular microenvironment to mimic in vivo mesoderm formation process. After 5 days of spontaneous differentiation period, the resulting 3D tissue constructs are composed of multipotent mesodermal progenitor cells verified by gene and molecular expression profiles. Subsequently the optimal time points to trigger terminal differentiation towards cardiomyogenesis or osteogenesis from the mesodermal tissue constructs is found. A simple and affordable 3D ESC-bioprocess that can reach the scalable production of mesoderm origin tissues with significantly improved correspondent tissue properties is demonstrated. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Large-scale mapping of landslides in the epicentral area Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989, Santa Cruz County

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Spittler, T.E.; Sydnor, R.H.; Manson, M.W.

1990-01-01

The Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989 triggered landslides throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains in central California. The California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology (DMG) responded to a request for assistance from the County of Santa Cruz, Office of Emergency Services to evaluate the geologic hazard from major reactivated large landslides. DMG prepared a set of geologic maps showing the landslide features that resulted from the October 17 earthquake. The principal purpose of large-scale mapping of these landslides is: (1) to provide county officials with regional landslide information that can be used for timely recovery ofmore » damaged areas; (2) to identify disturbed ground which is potentially vulnerable to landslide movement during winter rains; (3) to provide county planning officials with timely geologic information that will be used for effective land-use decisions; (4) to document regional landslide features that may not otherwise be available for individual site reconstruction permits and for future development.« less

Remote Triggering of Microseismicity in Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, M.; Li, C.; Peng, Z.; Walter, J. I.

2017-12-01

It is well known that large distant earthquakes can trigger microearthquakes/tectonic tremors during or immediately following their surface waves. Globally, triggered seismicity is mostly found in active plate boundary regions. Recent studies have shown that icequakes in Antartica can also be triggered by teleseismic events. However, it is still not clear how widespread this phenomenon is and whether there are any connections between large earthquakes and subsequent glacial movements. In this study, we conduct a systematic search for remotely triggered activity in Antarctica following recent large earthquakes, including the 2004 Mw9.1 Sumatra, 2011 Mw9.1 Tohoku, 2012 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean and 2014-2015 Chile earthquakes. We download seismic data recorded at the POLENET (YT) and the Argentina Antarctica Network (AI) from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Center (DMC). We apply a 2-8 Hz band-pass-filter to the continuous waveforms and visually identify local events during and immediately after the large amplitude surface waves. Spectrograms are computed as additional tools to identify triggered seismicity and are further confirmed by comparing the signals before and after the distant mainshocks. So far we have identified possible triggered seismicity in both networks' area following the 2010 Chile and 2011 Tohoku earthquakes. Our next step is to apply a waveform matching method to automatically detect possible triggered seismicity and check through all the available networks in Antarctica for the last decades, which should help to better understand the potential interaction between large earthquakes and icequakes in this region.

Contrasting styles of large-scale displacement of unconsolidated sand: examples from the early Jurassic Navajo Sandstone on the Colorado Plateau, USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryant, Gerald

2015-04-01

Large-scale soft-sediment deformation features in the Navajo Sandstone have been a topic of interest for nearly 40 years, ever since they were first explored as a criterion for discriminating between marine and continental processes in the depositional environment. For much of this time, evidence for large-scale sediment displacements was commonly attributed to processes of mass wasting. That is, gravity-driven movements of surficial sand. These slope failures were attributed to the inherent susceptibility of dune sand responding to environmental triggers such as earthquakes, floods, impacts, and the differential loading associated with dune topography. During the last decade, a new wave of research is focusing on the event significance of deformation features in more detail, revealing a broad diversity of large-scale deformation morphologies. This research has led to a better appreciation of subsurface dynamics in the early Jurassic deformation events recorded in the Navajo Sandstone, including the important role of intrastratal sediment flow. This report documents two illustrative examples of large-scale sediment displacements represented in extensive outcrops of the Navajo Sandstone along the Utah/Arizona border. Architectural relationships in these outcrops provide definitive constraints that enable the recognition of a large-scale sediment outflow, at one location, and an equally large-scale subsurface flow at the other. At both sites, evidence for associated processes of liquefaction appear at depths of at least 40 m below the original depositional surface, which is nearly an order of magnitude greater than has commonly been reported from modern settings. The surficial, mass flow feature displays attributes that are consistent with much smaller-scale sediment eruptions (sand volcanoes) that are often documented from modern earthquake zones, including the development of hydraulic pressure from localized, subsurface liquefaction and the subsequent escape of fluidized sand toward the unconfined conditions of the surface. The origin of the forces that produced the lateral, subsurface movement of a large body of sand at the other site is not readily apparent. The various constraints on modeling the generation of the lateral force required to produce the observed displacement are considered here, along with photodocumentation of key outcrop relationships.

How kinetics drives the two- to three-dimensional transition in semiconductor strained heterostructures: The case of InAs/GaAs(001)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arciprete, F.; Placidi, E.; Sessi, V.

2006-07-24

The two- to three-dimensional growth mode transition in the InAs/GaAs(001) heterostructure has been investigated by means of atomic force microscopy. The kinetics of the density of three-dimensional islands indicates two transition onsets at 1.45 and 1.59 ML of InAs coverage, corresponding to two separate families, small and large dots. According to the scaling analysis and volume measurements, the transition between the two families of quantum dots and the explosive nucleation of the large ones is triggered by the erosion of the step edges.

Effect of groove width of modified current collector on internal short circuit of abused lithium-ion battery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Meng; Shi, Yang; Noelle, Daniel J.; Le, Anh V.; Qiao, Yu

2017-10-01

In a lithium-ion battery (LIB), mechanical abuse often leads to internal short circuits (ISC) that trigger thermal runaway. We investigated a thermal-runaway mitigation (TRM) technique using a modified current collector. By generating surface grooves on the current collector, the area of electrodes directly involved in ISC could be largely reduced, which decreased the ISC current. The TRM mechanism took effect immediately after the LIB was damaged. The testing data indicate that the groove width is a critical factor. With optimized groove width, this technique may enable robust and multifunctional design of LIB cells for large-scale energy-storage units.

Low temperature electroweak phase transition in the Standard Model with hidden scale invariance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arunasalam, Suntharan; Kobakhidze, Archil; Lagger, Cyril; Liang, Shelley; Zhou, Albert

2018-01-01

We discuss a cosmological phase transition within the Standard Model which incorporates spontaneously broken scale invariance as a low-energy theory. In addition to the Standard Model fields, the minimal model involves a light dilaton, which acquires a large vacuum expectation value (VEV) through the mechanism of dimensional transmutation. Under the assumption of the cancellation of the vacuum energy, the dilaton develops a very small mass at 2-loop order. As a result, a flat direction is present in the classical dilaton-Higgs potential at zero temperature while the quantum potential admits two (almost) degenerate local minima with unbroken and broken electroweak symmetry. We found that the cosmological electroweak phase transition in this model can only be triggered by a QCD chiral symmetry breaking phase transition at low temperatures, T ≲ 132 MeV. Furthermore, unlike the standard case, the universe settles into the chiral symmetry breaking vacuum via a first-order phase transition which gives rise to a stochastic gravitational background with a peak frequency ∼10-8 Hz as well as triggers the production of approximately solar mass primordial black holes. The observation of these signatures of cosmological phase transitions together with the detection of a light dilaton would provide a strong hint of the fundamental role of scale invariance in particle physics.

Regional dry-season climate changes due to three decades of Amazonian deforestation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanna, Jaya; Medvigy, David; Fueglistaler, Stephan; Walko, Robert

2017-02-01

More than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared in the past three decades, triggering important hydroclimatic changes. Small-scale (a few kilometres) deforestation in the 1980s has caused thermally triggered atmospheric circulations that increase regional cloudiness and precipitation frequency. However, these circulations are predicted to diminish as deforestation increases. Here we use multi-decadal satellite records and numerical model simulations to show a regime shift in the regional hydroclimate accompanying increasing deforestation in Rondônia, Brazil. Compared with the 1980s, present-day deforested areas in downwind western Rondônia are found to be wetter than upwind eastern deforested areas during the local dry season. The resultant precipitation change in the two regions is approximately +/-25% of the deforested area mean. Meso-resolution simulations robustly reproduce this transition when forced with increasing deforestation alone, showing that large-scale climate variability plays a negligible role. Furthermore, deforestation-induced surface roughness reduction is found to play an essential role in the present-day dry-season hydroclimate. Our study illustrates the strong scale sensitivity of the climatic response to Amazonian deforestation and suggests that deforestation is sufficiently advanced to have caused a shift from a thermally to a dynamically driven hydroclimatic regime.

Tremor, remote triggering and earthquake cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Z.

2012-12-01

Deep tectonic tremor and episodic slow-slip events have been observed at major plate-boundary faults around the Pacific Rim. These events have much longer source durations than regular earthquakes, and are generally located near or below the seismogenic zone where regular earthquakes occur. Tremor and slow-slip events appear to be extremely stress sensitive, and could be instantaneously triggered by distant earthquakes and solid earth tides. However, many important questions remain open. For example, it is still not clear what are the necessary conditions for tremor generation, and how remote triggering could affect large earthquake cycle. Here I report a global search of tremor triggered by recent large teleseismic earthquakes. We mainly focus on major subduction zones around the Pacific Rim. These include the southwest and northeast Japan subduction zones, the Hikurangi subduction zone in New Zealand, the Cascadia subduction zone, and the major subduction zones in Central and South America. In addition, we examine major strike-slip faults around the Caribbean plate, the Queen Charlotte fault in northern Pacific Northwest Coast, and the San Andreas fault system in California. In each place, we first identify triggered tremor as a high-frequency non-impulsive signal that is in phase with the large-amplitude teleseismic waves. We also calculate the dynamic stress and check the triggering relationship with the Love and Rayleigh waves. Finally, we calculate the triggering potential with the local fault orientation and surface-wave incident angles. Our results suggest that tremor exists at many plate-boundary faults in different tectonic environments, and could be triggered by dynamic stress as low as a few kPas. In addition, we summarize recent observations of slow-slip events and earthquake swarms triggered by large distant earthquakes. Finally, we propose several mechanisms that could explain apparent clustering of large earthquakes around the world.

Remote modulation of neural activities via near-infrared triggered release of biomolecules.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Luo, Rongcong; Lin, Xudong; Jadhav, Amol D; Zhang, Zicong; Yan, Li; Chan, Chung-Yuan; Chen, Xianfeng; He, Jufang; Chen, Chia-Hung; Shi, Peng

2015-10-01

The capability to remotely control the release of biomolecules provides an unique opportunity to monitor and regulate neural signaling, which spans extraordinary spatial and temporal scales. While various strategies, including local perfusion, molecular "uncaging", or photosensitive polymeric materials, have been applied to achieve controlled releasing of neuro-active substances, it is still challenging to adopt these technologies in many experimental contexts that require a straightforward but versatile loading-releasing mechanism. Here, we develop a synthetic strategy for remotely controllable releasing of neuro-modulating molecules. This platform is based on microscale composite hydrogels that incorporate polypyrrole (PPy) nanoparticles as photo-thermal transducers and is triggered by near-infrared-light (NIR) irradiation. Specifically, we first demonstrate the utility of our technology by recapitulating the "turning assay" and "collapse assay", which involve localized treatment of chemotactic factors (e.g. Netrin or Semaphorin 3A) to subcellular neural elements and have been extensively used in studying axonal pathfinding. On a network scale, the photo-sensitive microgels are also validated for light-controlled releasing of neurotransmitters (e.g. glutamate). A single NIR-triggered release is sufficient to change the dynamics of a cultured hippocampal neuron network. Taking the advantage of NIR's capability to penetrate deep into live tissue, this technology is further shown to work similarly well in vivo, which is evidenced by synchronized spiking activity in response to NIR-triggered delivery of glutamate in rat auditory cortex, demonstrating remote control of brain activity without any genetic modifications. Notably, our nano-composite microgels are capable of delivering various molecules, ranging from small chemicals to large proteins, without involving any crosslinking chemistry. Such great versatility and ease-of-use will likely make our optically-controlled delivery technology a general and important tool in cell biology research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Systematic Detection of Remotely Triggered Seismicity in Africa Following Recent Large Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayorinde, A. O.; Peng, Z.; Yao, D.; Bansal, A. R.

2016-12-01

It is well known that large distant earthquakes can trigger micro-earthquakes/tectonic tremors during or immediately following their surface waves. Globally, triggered earthquakes have been mostly found in active plate boundary regions. It is not clear whether they could occur within stable intraplate regions in Africa as well as the active East African Rift Zone. In this study we conduct a systematic study of remote triggering in Africa following recent large earthquakes, including the 2004 Mw9.1 Sumatra and 2012 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean earthquakes. In particular, the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake is the largest known strike slip earthquake and has triggered a global increase of magnitude larger than 5.5 earthquakes as well as numerous micro-earthquakes/tectonic tremors around the world. The entire Africa region was examined for possible remotely triggered seismicity using seismic data downloaded from the Incorporated Research Institutes for Seismology (IRIS) Data Management Center (DMC) and GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences. We apply a 5-Hz high-pass-filter to the continuous waveforms and visually identify high-frequency signals during and immediately after the large amplitude surface waves. Spectrograms are computed as additional tools to identify triggered seismicities and we further confirm them by statistical analysis comparing the high-frequency signals before and after the distant mainshocks. So far we have identified possible triggered seismicity in Botswana and northern Madagascar. This study could help to understand dynamic triggering in diverse tectonic settings of the African continent.

New constraints on mechanisms of remotely triggered seismicity at Long Valley Caldera

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brodsky, E.E.; Prejean, S.G.

2005-01-01

Regional-scale triggering of local earthquakes in the crust by seismic waves from distant main shocks has now been robustly documented for over a decade. Some of the most thoroughly recorded examples of repeated triggering of a single site from multiple, large earthquakes are measured in geothermal fields of the western United States like Long Valley Caldera. As one of the few natural cases where the causality of an earthquake sequence is apparent, triggering provides fundamental constraints on the failure processes in earthquakes. We show here that the observed triggering by seismic waves is inconsistent with any mechanism that depends on cumulative shaking as measured by integrated energy density. We also present evidence for a frequency-dependent triggering threshold. On the basis of the seismic records of 12 regional and teleseismic events recorded at Long Valley Caldera, long-period waves (>30 s) are more effective at generating local seismicity than short-period waves of comparable amplitude. If the properties of the system are stationary over time, the failure threshold for long-period waves is ~0.05 cm/s vertical shaking. Assuming a phase velocity of 3.5 km/s and an elastic modulus of 3.5 x 1010Pa, the threshold in terms of stress is 5 kPa. The frequency dependence is due in part to the attenuation of the surface waves with depth. Fluid flow through a porous medium can produce the rest of the observed frequency dependence of the threshold. If the threshold is not stationary with time, pore pressures that are >99.5% of lithostatic and vary over time by a factor of 4 could explain the observations with no frequency dependence of the triggering threshold. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

Distant storms as drivers of environmental change at Pacific atolls.

PubMed

Gardner, Jonathan P A; Garton, David W; Collen, John D; Zwartz, Daniel

2014-01-01

The central Pacific Ocean with its many low lying islands and atolls is under threat from sea level rise and increased storm activity. Here, we illustrate how increasing frequency and severity of large scale storm events associated with global climate change may be particularly profound at the local scale for human populations that rely on lagoon systems for provision of a variety of goods and services. In August 2011 a storm originating in the Southern Ocean caused a large amplitude ocean swell to move northward through the Pacific Ocean. Its arrival at Palmyra Atoll coincided with transient elevated sea surface height and triggered turnover of the lagoon water column. This storm-induced change to the lagoon reflects long distance connectivity with propagated wave energy from the Southern Ocean and illustrates the increasing threats generated by climate change that are faced by human populations on most low-lying Pacific islands and atolls.

Distant Storms as Drivers of Environmental Change at Pacific Atolls

PubMed Central

Gardner, Jonathan P. A.; Garton, David W.; Collen, John D.; Zwartz, Daniel

2014-01-01

The central Pacific Ocean with its many low lying islands and atolls is under threat from sea level rise and increased storm activity. Here, we illustrate how increasing frequency and severity of large scale storm events associated with global climate change may be particularly profound at the local scale for human populations that rely on lagoon systems for provision of a variety of goods and services. In August 2011 a storm originating in the Southern Ocean caused a large amplitude ocean swell to move northward through the Pacific Ocean. Its arrival at Palmyra Atoll coincided with transient elevated sea surface height and triggered turnover of the lagoon water column. This storm-induced change to the lagoon reflects long distance connectivity with propagated wave energy from the Southern Ocean and illustrates the increasing threats generated by climate change that are faced by human populations on most low-lying Pacific islands and atolls. PMID:24498232

Climate variability rather than overstocking causes recent large scale cover changes of Tibetan pastures.

PubMed

Lehnert, L W; Wesche, K; Trachte, K; Reudenbach, C; Bendix, J

2016-04-13

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a globally important "water tower" that provides water for nearly 40% of the world's population. This supply function is claimed to be threatened by pasture degradation on the TP and the associated loss of water regulation functions. However, neither potential large scale degradation changes nor their drivers are known. Here, we analyse trends in a high-resolution dataset of grassland cover to determine the interactions among vegetation dynamics, climate change and human impacts on the TP. The results reveal that vegetation changes have regionally different triggers: While the vegetation cover has increased since the year 2000 in the north-eastern part of the TP due to an increase in precipitation, it has declined in the central and western parts of the TP due to rising air temperature and declining precipitation. Increasing livestock numbers as a result of land use changes exacerbated the negative trends but were not their exclusive driver. Thus, we conclude that climate variability instead of overgrazing has been the primary cause for large scale vegetation cover changes on the TP since the new millennium. Since areas of positive and negative changes are almost equal in extent, pasture degradation is not generally proceeding.

Land Use Induced Hydroclimatic Variability Over Large Deforested Areas in Southern Amazon Rainforest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khanna, J.; Medvigy, D.

2017-12-01

Contemporary Amazonian deforestation, which occurs at scales of a few hundreds of kilometers, has been found to induce systematic changes in the regional dry season precipitation. The replacement of rough forest with smooth pasture induces a low level atmospheric convergence and uplift in the downwind and divergence and subsidence in the upwind deforested areas. The resulting precipitation change is about ±30% of the deforested area mean in the two regions respectively. Compared with the increase in non-precipitating cloudiness triggered by small scale clearings prevalent in the early phases of deforestation, this `dynamical mesoscale circulation' can have regional ecological impacts by altering precipitation seasonality and in turn ecosystem dynamics. However, the seasonality and variability of this phenomenon hasn't been studied. Using observations and numerical simulations this study investigates the relationships between the dynamical mechanism and the local- and continental-scale atmospheric conditions to understand the physical controls on this phenomenon on the inter-annual, inter-seasonal and daily time scales. We find that the strength of the dynamical mechanism is controlled mostly by regional scale thermal and dynamical conditions of the boundary layer and not the continental and global scale atmospheric state. The lifting condensation level (thermodynamic control) and wind speed (dynamic control) within the boundary layer have the largest and positive correlations with the dipole strength, which is true although not always significant across time scales. Due to this dependence it is found to be strongest during parts of the year when the atmosphere is relatively stable. Hence, overall this phenomenon is found to be the prevalent convective triggering mechanism during the dry and parts of transition seasons (especially spring), significantly affecting the hydroclimate during this period.

The LAAS network observation for studying time correlations in extensive air showers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ochi, Nobuaki; Iyono, A.; Kimura, Hitoomi; Konishi, Takeharu; Nakamura, Toru; Nakatsuka, Takao; Ohara, Soji; Ohmori, Nobuharu; Saito, Katsuhiko; Takahashi, Nobusuke; Tsuji, Shuhei; Wada, Tomonori; Yamamoto, Isao; Yamashita, Yoshihiko; Yanagimoto, Yukio

2003-02-01

The Large Area Air Shower (LAAS) group has been performing a network observation of extensive air showers (EAS) since 1996 in Japan. Ten compact EAS arrays are operating simultaneously at distant stations (up to ≍1000 km) and detecting EAS with mean energy of ≍1015 eV. Each station has 4--12 scintillation counters and a Global Positioning System (GPS), which provides time stamps of EAS triggers with an accuracy of 1μs. As a consequence of the comparable time stamps, uniformly-adjusted detectors and a standardized data format among all stations, we can treat the independent observations as a gigantic EAS detector system as a whole. The primary purpose of the network observation is to study large-scale correlations in ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. On the other hand, three nearby stations within 1~km distance at Okayama area have a possibility to detect extremely-high-energy EAS (≍1019 eV) as coincident triggers of the three stations. The present status of the network and some results from computer simulations are reported here.

Eyjafjallajökull and 9/11: The Impact of Large-Scale Disasters on Worldwide Mobility

PubMed Central

Woolley-Meza, Olivia; Grady, Daniel; Thiemann, Christian; Bagrow, James P.; Brockmann, Dirk

2013-01-01

Large-scale disasters that interfere with globalized socio-technical infrastructure, such as mobility and transportation networks, trigger high socio-economic costs. Although the origin of such events is often geographically confined, their impact reverberates through entire networks in ways that are poorly understood, difficult to assess, and even more difficult to predict. We investigate how the eruption of volcano Eyjafjallajökull, the September 11th terrorist attacks, and geographical disruptions in general interfere with worldwide mobility. To do this we track changes in effective distance in the worldwide air transportation network from the perspective of individual airports. We find that universal features exist across these events: airport susceptibilities to regional disruptions follow similar, strongly heterogeneous distributions that lack a scale. On the other hand, airports are more uniformly susceptible to attacks that target the most important hubs in the network, exhibiting a well-defined scale. The statistical behavior of susceptibility can be characterized by a single scaling exponent. Using scaling arguments that capture the interplay between individual airport characteristics and the structural properties of routes we can recover the exponent for all types of disruption. We find that the same mechanisms responsible for efficient passenger flow may also keep the system in a vulnerable state. Our approach can be applied to understand the impact of large, correlated disruptions in financial systems, ecosystems and other systems with a complex interaction structure between heterogeneous components. PMID:23950904

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Evans, David Edward

A description of the development of the mc_runjob software package used to manage large scale computing tasks for the D0 Experiment at Fermilab is presented, along with a review of the Digital Front End Trigger electronics and the software used to control them. A tracking study is performed on detector data to determine that the D0 Experiment can detect charged B mesons, and that these results are in accordance with current results. B mesons are found by searching for the decay channel B ± → J / Ψ K ± .

Triggering for Magnetic Field Measurements of the LCLS Undulators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hacker, Kirsten

A triggering system for magnetic field measurements of the LCLS undulators has been built with a National Instruments PXI-1002 and a Xylinx FPGA board. The system generates single triggers at specified positions, regardless of encoder sensor jitter about a linear scale.

Experimental scaling law for the subcritical transition to turbulence in plane Poiseuille flow.

PubMed

Lemoult, Grégoire; Aider, Jean-Luc; Wesfreid, José Eduardo

2012-02-01

We present an experimental study of the transition to turbulence in a plane Poiseuille flow. Using a well-controlled perturbation, we analyze the flow by using extensive particle image velocimetry and flow visualization (using laser-induced fluorescence) measurements, and use the deformation of the mean velocity profile as a criterion to characterize the state of the flow. From a large parametric study, four different states are defined, depending on the values of the Reynolds number and the amplitude of the perturbation. We discuss the role of coherent structures, such as hairpin vortices, in the transition. We find that the minimal amplitude of the perturbation triggering transition scales asymptotically as Re(-1).

The cosmic web and microwave background fossilize the first turbulent combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibson, Carl H.; Keeler, R. Norris

2016-10-01

Collisional fluid mechanics theory predicts a turbulent hot big bang at Planck conditions from large, negative, turbulence stresses below the Fortov-Kerr limit (< -10113 Pa). Big bang turbulence fossilized when quarks formed, extracting the mass energy of the universe by extreme negative viscous stresses of inflation, expanding to length scales larger than the horizon scale ct. Viscous-gravitational structure formation by fragmentation was triggered at big bang fossil vorticity turbulence vortex lines during the plasma epoch, as observed by the Planck space telescope. A cosmic web of protogalaxies, protogalaxyclusters, and protogalaxysuperclusters that formed in turbulent boundary layers of the spinning voids are hereby identified as expanding turbulence fossils that falsify CDMHC cosmology.

Remotely Triggered Earthquakes Recorded by EarthScope's Transportable Array and Regional Seismic Networks: A Case Study Of Four Large Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco, A. A.; Cerda, I.; Linville, L.; Kilb, D. L.; Pankow, K. L.

2013-05-01

Changes in field stress required to trigger earthquakes have been classified in two basic ways: static and dynamic triggering. Static triggering occurs when an earthquake that releases accumulated strain along a fault stress loads a nearby fault. Dynamic triggering occurs when an earthquake is induced by the passing of seismic waves from a large mainshock located at least two or more fault lengths from the epicenter of the main shock. We investigate details of dynamic triggering using data collected from EarthScope's USArray and regional seismic networks located in the United States. Triggered events are identified using an optimized automated detector based on the ratio of short term to long term average (Antelope software). Following the automated processing, the flagged waveforms are individually analyzed, in both the time and frequency domains, to determine if the increased detection rates correspond to local earthquakes (i.e., potentially remotely triggered aftershocks). Here, we show results using this automated schema applied to data from four large, but characteristically different, earthquakes -- Chile (Mw 8.8 2010), Tokoku-Oki (Mw 9.0 2011), Baja California (Mw 7.2 2010) and Wells Nevada (Mw 6.0 2008). For each of our four mainshocks, the number of detections within the 10 hour time windows span a large range (1 to over 200) and statistically >20% of the waveforms show evidence of anomalous signals following the mainshock. The results will help provide for a better understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in dynamic earthquake triggering and will help identify zones in the continental U.S. that may be more susceptible to dynamic earthquake triggering.

The fuelling of active galactic nuclei

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shlosman, Isaac; Begelman, Mitchell C.; Frank, Julian

1990-01-01

Accretion mechanisms for powering the central engines of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and possible sources of fuel are reviewed. It is a argued that the interstellar matter in the main body of the host galaxy is channeled toward the center, and the problem of angular momentum transport is addressed. Thin accretion disks are not a viable means of delivering fuel to luminous AGN on scales much larger than a parsec because of the long inflow time and effects of self-gravity. There are also serious obstacles to maintaining and regulating geometrically thick, hot accretion flows. The role of nonaxisymmetric perturbations of the gravitational potential on galactic scales and their triggers is emphasized. A unified model is outlined for fueling AGN, in which the inflow on large scales is driven by gravitational torques, and on small scales forms a mildly self-gravitating disk of clouds with inflow driven by magnetic torques or cloud-cloud collisions.

Cascading failure in the wireless sensor scale-free networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hao-Ran; Dong, Ming-Ru; Yin, Rong-Rong; Han, Li

2015-05-01

In the practical wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the cascading failure caused by a failure node has serious impact on the network performance. In this paper, we deeply research the cascading failure of scale-free topology in WSNs. Firstly, a cascading failure model for scale-free topology in WSNs is studied. Through analyzing the influence of the node load on cascading failure, the critical load triggering large-scale cascading failure is obtained. Then based on the critical load, a control method for cascading failure is presented. In addition, the simulation experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of the control method. The results show that the control method can effectively prevent cascading failure. Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, China (Grant No. F2014203239), the Autonomous Research Fund of Young Teacher in Yanshan University (Grant No. 14LGB017) and Yanshan University Doctoral Foundation, China (Grant No. B867).

A giant mass failure in the northern flank of the Kueishantao Island off northeastern Taiwan: debris avalanches and related structures in the offshore downslope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, P. C.; Hsu, S. K.; Tsai, C. H.; Chen, S. C.

2016-12-01

Based on the ignimbrite layers, previous studies have shown that Kueishantao volcanic island has probably erupted four times in 7000 years. Strong smell of sulfur can easily detect at east of the island with some plumes from the seabed. In May 2016, an earthquake with magnitude 5 occurred to northeast of the island which has triggered small collapse events in the eastern subaerial part. Recent geophysical surveys have also revealed the distribution of submarine debris avalanches in the north, south and east part off Kueishantao volcanic island. With high-resolution swath bathymetric data, we can observe some debris avalanches distributed with hummocky relief around the island. In this study, we present the marine geophysical data in order to have better understanding of the landslide mechanism from the offshore data of the Kueishantao island, especially with the multi-beam bathymetric data, acoustic backscatter analysis, subbottom profile, sidescan sonar and 3.5kHz echo-sounder. At the north of the island, large-scale debris avalanches extend around 4 km northward with the several blocks height up to more than twenty meters; and, the offshore area of deposit is about 5 km2 of hummocky topography distribution. The scale of debris avalanches may be related to the horseshoe scar of subaerial flank and also submarine flank collapsed events. Nevertheless, to identify the landslide history, we need to analyze the related core data in the future. By analyzing the high-resolution geophysical data, we will discuss the possible mechanism or factors that trigger subaerial flank collapse events and also the transportation of the debris avalanches to the submarine basin. The large-scale collapse events may produce tsunamis and directly affect the coast of northeastern Taiwan.

Advances in the Quantitative Characterization of the Shape of Ash-Sized Pyroclast Populations: Fractal Analyses Coupled to Micro- and Nano-Computed Tomography Techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rausch, J.; Vonlanthen, P.; Grobety, B. H.

2014-12-01

The quantification of shape parameters in pyroclasts is fundamental to infer the dominant type of magma fragmentation (magmatic vs. phreatomagmatic), as well as the behavior of volcanic plumes and clouds in the atmosphere. In a case study aiming at reconstructing the fragmentation mechanisms triggering maar eruptions in two geologically and compositionally distinctive volcanic fields (West and East Eifel, Germany), the shapes of a large number of ash particle contours obtained from SEM images were analyzed by a dilation-based fractal method. Volcanic particle contours are pseudo-fractals showing mostly two distinct slopes in Richardson plots related to the fractal dimensions D1 (small-scale "textural" dimension) and D2 (large-scale "morphological" dimension). The validity of the data obtained from 2D sections was tested by analysing SEM micro-CT slices of one particle cut in different orientations and positions. Results for West Eifel maar particles yield large D1 values (> 1.023), resembling typical values of magmatic particles, which are characterized by a complex shape, especially at small scales. In contrast, the D1 values of ash particles from one East Eifel maar deposit are much smaller, coinciding with the fractal dimensions obtained from phreatomagmatic end-member particles. These quantitative morphological analyses suggest that the studied maar eruptions were triggered by two different fragmentation processes: phreatomagmatic in the East Eifel and magmatic in the West Eifel. The application of fractal analysis to quantitatively characterize the shape of pyroclasts and the linking of fractal dimensions to specific fragmentation processes has turned out to be a very promising tool for studying the fragmentation history of any volcanic eruption. The next step is to extend morphological analysis of volcanic particles to 3 dimensions. SEM micro-CT, already applied in this study, offers the required resolution, but is not suitable for the analysis of a large number of particles. Newly released nano CT-scanners, however, allows the simultaneous analysis of a statistically relevant number of particles (in the hundreds range). Preliminary results of a first trial will be presented.

Real-time prediction of rain-triggered lahars: incorporating seasonality and catchment recovery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, Robbie; Manville, Vern; Peakall, Jeff; Froude, Melanie J.; Odbert, Henry M.

2017-12-01

Rain-triggered lahars are a significant secondary hydrological and geomorphic hazard at volcanoes where unconsolidated pyroclastic material produced by explosive eruptions is exposed to intense rainfall, often occurring for years to decades after the initial eruptive activity. Previous studies have shown that secondary lahar initiation is a function of rainfall parameters, source material characteristics and time since eruptive activity. In this study, probabilistic rain-triggered lahar forecasting models are developed using the lahar occurrence and rainfall record of the Belham River valley at the Soufrière Hills volcano (SHV), Montserrat, collected between April 2010 and April 2012. In addition to the use of peak rainfall intensity (PRI) as a base forecasting parameter, considerations for the effects of rainfall seasonality and catchment evolution upon the initiation of rain-triggered lahars and the predictability of lahar generation are also incorporated into these models. Lahar probability increases with peak 1 h rainfall intensity throughout the 2-year dataset and is higher under given rainfall conditions in year 1 than year 2. The probability of lahars is also enhanced during the wet season, when large-scale synoptic weather systems (including tropical cyclones) are more common and antecedent rainfall and thus levels of deposit saturation are typically increased. The incorporation of antecedent conditions and catchment evolution into logistic-regression-based rain-triggered lahar probability estimation models is shown to enhance model performance and displays the potential for successful real-time prediction of lahars, even in areas featuring strongly seasonal climates and temporal catchment recovery.

Flux Cancelation: The Key to Solar Eruptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panesar, Navdeep K.; Sterling, Alphonse; Moore, Ronald; Chakrapani, Prithi; Innes, Davina; Schmit, Don; Tiwari, Sanjiv

2017-01-01

Solar coronal jets are magnetically channeled eruptions that occur in all types of solar environments (e.g. active regions, quiet-Sun regions and coronal holes). Recent studies show that coronal jets are driven by the eruption of small-scare filaments (minifilaments). Once the eruption is underway magnetic reconnection evidently makes the jet spire and the bright emission in the jet base. However, the triggering mechanism of these eruptions and the formation mechanism of the pre-jet minifilaments are still open questions. In this talk, mainly using SDOAIA and SDOHIM data, first I will address the question: what triggers the jet-driving minifilament eruptions in different solar environments (coronal holes, quiet regions, active regions)? Then I will talk about the magnetic field evolution that produces the pre-jet minifilaments. By examining pre-jet evolutionary changes in line-of-sight HMI magnetograms while examining concurrent EUV images of coronal and transition-region emission, we find clear evidence that flux cancelation is the main process that builds pre-jet minifilaments, and is also the main process that triggers the eruptions. I will also present results from our ongoing work indicating that jet-driving minifilament eruptions are analogous to larger-scare filament eruptions that make flares and CMEs. We find that persistent flux cancellation at the neutral line of large-scale filaments often triggers their eruptions. From our observations we infer that flux cancelation is the fundamental process from the buildup and triggering of solar eruptions of all sizes.

A large scale membrane-binding protein conformational change that initiates at small length scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grandpre, Trevor; Andorf, Matthew; Chakravarthy, Srinivas; Lamb, Robert; Poor, Taylor; Landahl, Eric

2013-03-01

The fusion (F) protein of parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5) is a membrane-bound, homotrimeric glycoprotein located on the surface of PIV5 viral envelopes. Upon being triggered by the receptor-binding protein (HN), F undergoes a greater than 100Å ATP-independent refolding event. This refolding event results in the insertion of a hydrophobic fusion peptide into the membrane of the target cell, followed by the desolvation and subsequent fusion event as the two membranes are brought together. Isothermal calorimetry and hydrophobic dye incorporation experiments indicate that the soluble construct of the F protein undergoes a conformational rearrangement event at around 55 deg C. We present the results of an initial Time-Resolved Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (TR-SAXS) study of this large scale, entropically driven conformational change using a temperature jump. Although we the measured radius of gyration of this protein changes on a 110 second timescale, we find that the x-ray scattering intensity at higher angles (corresponding to smaller length scales in the protein) changes nearly an order of magnitude faster. We believe this may be a signature of entropically-driven conformational change. To whom correspondence should be addressed

Conceiving processes in atmospheric models-General equations, subscale parameterizations, and 'superparameterizations'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gramelsberger, Gabriele

The scientific understanding of atmospheric processes has been rooted in the mechanical and physical view of nature ever since dynamic meteorology gained ground in the late 19th century. Conceiving the atmosphere as a giant 'air mass circulation engine' entails applying hydro- and thermodynamical theory to the subject in order to describe the atmosphere's behaviour on small scales. But when it comes to forecasting, it turns out that this view is far too complex to be computed. The limitation of analytical methods precludes an exact solution, forcing scientists to make use of numerical simulation. However, simulation introduces two prerequisites to meteorology: First, the partitioning of the theoretical view into two parts-the large-scale behaviour of the atmosphere, and the effects of smaller-scale processes on this large-scale behaviour, so-called parametrizations; and second, the dependency on computational power in order to achieve a higher resolution. The history of today's atmospheric circulation modelling can be reconstructed as the attempt to improve the handling of these basic constraints. It can be further seen as the old schism between theory and application under new circumstances, which triggers a new discussion about the question of how processes may be conceived in atmospheric modelling.

Sliding scale HCG trigger yields equivalent pregnancy outcomes and reduces ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: Analysis of 10,427 IVF-ICSI cycles.

PubMed

Gunnala, Vinay; Melnick, Alexis; Irani, Mohamad; Reichman, David; Schattman, Glenn; Davis, Owen; Rosenwaks, Zev

2017-01-01

To evaluate pregnancy outcomes and the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) using a sliding scale hCG protocol to trigger oocyte maturity and establish a threshold level of serum b-hCG associated with optimal oocyte maturity. Retrospective cohort. Academic medical center. Fresh IVF cycles from 9/2004-12/2011. 10,427 fresh IVF-ICSI cycles met inclusion criteria. hCG was administered according to E2 level at trigger: 10,000IU vs. 5,000IU vs. 4,000IU vs. 3,300IU vs. dual trigger (2mg leuprolide acetate + 1,500IU hCG). Serum absorption of hCG was assessed according to dose and BMI. Oocyte maturity was analyzed according to post-trigger serum b-hCG. Fertilization, clinical pregnancy, live birth and OHSS rates were examined by hCG trigger dose. Post-trigger serum b-hCG 20-30, 30-40, and 40-50 mIU/mL was associated with reduced oocyte maturity as compared b-hCG >50 (67.8% vs. 71.4% vs. 73.3% vs. 78.9%, respectively, P<0.05). b-hCG 20-50 mIU/mL was associated with a 40.1% reduction in live birth (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.41-0.87). No differences in IVF outcomes per retrieval were seen for varying doses of hCG or dual trigger when controlling for patient age. The incidence of moderate to severe OHSS was 0.13% (n = 14) and severe OHSS was 0.03% (n = 4) of cycles. Moderate stimulation with sliding scale hCG at trigger and fresh transfer is associated with low rates of OHSS and favorable pregnancy rates. Doses as low as 3,300IU alone or dual trigger with 1,500IU are sufficient to facilitate oocyte maturity.

Sliding scale HCG trigger yields equivalent pregnancy outcomes and reduces ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: Analysis of 10,427 IVF-ICSI cycles

PubMed Central

Schattman, Glenn; Davis, Owen; Rosenwaks, Zev

2017-01-01

Objective To evaluate pregnancy outcomes and the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) using a sliding scale hCG protocol to trigger oocyte maturity and establish a threshold level of serum b-hCG associated with optimal oocyte maturity. Design Retrospective cohort. Setting Academic medical center. Patients Fresh IVF cycles from 9/2004–12/2011. Intervention 10,427 fresh IVF-ICSI cycles met inclusion criteria. hCG was administered according to E2 level at trigger: 10,000IU vs. 5,000IU vs. 4,000IU vs. 3,300IU vs. dual trigger (2mg leuprolide acetate + 1,500IU hCG). Serum absorption of hCG was assessed according to dose and BMI. Main outcome measures Oocyte maturity was analyzed according to post-trigger serum b-hCG. Fertilization, clinical pregnancy, live birth and OHSS rates were examined by hCG trigger dose. Results Post-trigger serum b-hCG 20–30, 30–40, and 40–50 mIU/mL was associated with reduced oocyte maturity as compared b-hCG >50 (67.8% vs. 71.4% vs. 73.3% vs. 78.9%, respectively, P<0.05). b-hCG 20–50 mIU/mL was associated with a 40.1% reduction in live birth (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.41–0.87). No differences in IVF outcomes per retrieval were seen for varying doses of hCG or dual trigger when controlling for patient age. The incidence of moderate to severe OHSS was 0.13% (n = 14) and severe OHSS was 0.03% (n = 4) of cycles. Conclusions Moderate stimulation with sliding scale hCG at trigger and fresh transfer is associated with low rates of OHSS and favorable pregnancy rates. Doses as low as 3,300IU alone or dual trigger with 1,500IU are sufficient to facilitate oocyte maturity. PMID:28441461

Geological, Geophysical, and Stochastic Factors in Nepal's Gorkha Earthquake-Triggered Landslide Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kargel, J. S.; Shugar, D. H.; Haritashya, U. K.; Leonard, G. J.; Fielding, E. J.; Hudnut, K. W.; Jibson, R.; Collins, B. D.

2015-12-01

On 25 April 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal. Subsequently many large aftershocks shook the region, including one of magnitude 7.3. Much damage and over 4300 landslides were triggered. The landslides were mapped by a volunteer group who self organized to undertake an emergency response to the earthquake disaster. The number of landslides is fewer than expected based on total released seismic energy. This may be because of lack of a surface rupture and possibly also because of high surface-wave attenuation due to rugged surface topography or to the geological and geophysical characteristics of the upper crust. The observed landslides were primarily in the southern half of the Himalaya in areas where the steepest slopes occur and where peak ground accelerations were relatively high. The landslides are also concentrated on the tectonically downdropped block. However, the distribution is complex and varies dramatically from valley to valley. Furthermore, different types of landslides are concentrated in different geologic materials, which suggests local factors control the valley-scale attenuation or amplification of seismic waves or the way wave disturbances couple to the local geologic materials. Across the earthquake-affected zone on the regional scale, wave attenuation and also net downdrop and uplift may also explain as much about the distribution of landslides as slopes and distance from large slips on the fault. We will offer the regional distribution results and some specific case studies to illustrate a set of possible controlling factors.

Nonlinear detection of large-scale transitions in Plio-Pleistocene African climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donges, J. F.; Donner, R. V.; Trauth, M. H.; Marwan, N.; Schellnhuber, H. J.; Kurths, J.

2011-12-01

Potential paleoclimatic driving mechanisms acting on human development present an open problem of cross-disciplinary scientific interest. The analysis of paleoclimate archives encoding the environmental variability in East Africa during the last 5 Ma (million years) has triggered an ongoing debate about possible candidate processes and evolutionary mechanisms. In this work, we apply a novel nonlinear statistical technique, recurrence network analysis, to three distinct marine records of terrigenous dust flux. Our method enables us to identify three epochs with transitions between qualitatively different types of environmental variability in North and East Africa during the (i) Mid-Pliocene (3.35-3.15 Ma BP (before present)), (ii) Early Pleistocene (2.25-1.6 Ma BP), and (iii) Mid-Pleistocene (1.1-0.7 Ma BP). A deeper examination of these transition periods reveals potential climatic drivers, including (i) large-scale changes in ocean currents due to a spatial shift of the Indonesian throughflow in combination with an intensification of Northern Hemisphere glaciation, (ii) a global reorganization of the atmospheric Walker circulation induced in the tropical Pacific and Indian Ocean, and (iii) shifts in the dominating temporal variability pattern of glacial activity during the Mid-Pleistocene, respectively. A statistical reexamination of the available fossil record demonstrates a remarkable coincidence between the detected transition periods and major steps in hominin evolution. This suggests that the observed shifts between more regular and more erratic environmental variability have acted as a trigger for rapid change in the development of humankind in Africa.

Accelerating Progress in Eating Disorders Prevention: A Call for Policy Translation Research and Training.

PubMed

Austin, S Bryn

2016-01-01

The public health burden of eating disorders is well documented, and over the past several decades, researchers have made important advances in the prevention of eating disorders and related problems with body image. Despite these advances, however, several critical limitations to the approaches developed to date leave the field far from achieving the large-scale impact that is needed. This commentary provides a brief review of what achievements in prevention have been made and identifies the gaps that limit the potential for greater impact on population health. A plan is then offered with specific action steps to accelerate progress in high-impact prevention, most compellingly by promoting a shift in priorities to policy translation research and training for scholars through the adoption of a triggers-to-action framework. Finally, the commentary provides an example of the application of the triggers-to-action framework as practiced at the Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, a program based at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston Children's Hospital. Much has been achieved in the nearly 30 years of research carried out for the prevention of eating disorders and body image problems, but several critical limitations undermine the field's potential for meaningful impact. Through a shift in the field's priorities to policy translation research and training with an emphasis on macro-environmental influences, the pace of progress in prevention can be accelerated and the potential for large-scale impact substantially improved.

Low-Field-Triggered Large Magnetostriction in Iron-Palladium Strain Glass Alloys.

PubMed

Ren, Shuai; Xue, Dezhen; Ji, Yuanchao; Liu, Xiaolian; Yang, Sen; Ren, Xiaobing

2017-09-22

Development of miniaturized magnetostriction-associated devices requires low-field-triggered large magnetostriction. In this study, we acquired a large magnetostriction (800 ppm) triggered by a low saturation field (0.8 kOe) in iron-palladium (Fe-Pd) alloys. Magnetostriction enhancement jumping from 340 to 800 ppm was obtained with a slight increase in Pd concentration from 31.3 to 32.3 at. %. Further analysis showed that such a slight increase led to suppression of the long-range ordered martensitic phase and resulted in a frozen short-range ordered strain glass state. This strain glass state possessed a two-phase nanostructure with nanosized frozen strain domains embedded in the austenite matrix, which was responsible for the unique magnetostriction behavior. Our study provides a way to design novel magnetostrictive materials with low-field-triggered large magnetostriction.

Hidden Outgassing Dynamics at Kilauea (Hawaii) Lava Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Del Bello, E.; Taddeucci, J.; Orr, T. R.; Houghton, B. F.; Scarlato, P.; Patrick, M. R.

2014-12-01

Lava lakes offer unique opportunities for understanding how magmatic volatiles physically escape from low-viscosity, vesicular magma in open-vent conditions, a process often referred to as magma outgassing. Large-scale lava convection movements and meter-scale bubble explosions, sometimes triggered by rock falls, are acknowledged outgassing processes but may not be the only ones. In 2013 we used high-frequency (50-500 Hz) thermal and visible imaging to investigate the short-timescale dynamics of the currently active Halema`uma`u lava lake. At that time, besides the dominant release of large bubbles, three types of peculiar outgassing features were observed on the lava lake surface. The first, diffusely observed throughout the observation experiment, consisted of prolonged (up to seconds) gas venting from 'spot vents'. These vents appeared to open and close without the ejection of material or bubble bursting, and were the site of hot gas emission. Spot vents were located both between and inside cooling plates, and followed the general circulation pattern together with the rest of the lava lake surface. The second feature, observed only once, consisted of the transient wobbling of the whole lava lake surface. This wobbling, with a wavelength of meters to tens of meters, was not related to any external trigger, and dampened soon without apparent consequences on the other lake dynamics. Finally, we observed large (meters) doming areas of the lake surface randomly fluctuating over seconds to minutes. These areas were either stationary or moved independently of the general lake surface circulation, and usually were not affected by other lake surface features (e.g., cooling plate boundaries). These three features, though trivial for the overall lake outgassing, testify that the lava lake has a complex shallow subsurface architecture, in which permeable channels and gas pockets act independently of the more common bubble bursts.

Seismic and aseismic fault slip in response to fluid injection observed during field experiments at meter scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cappa, F.; Guglielmi, Y.; De Barros, L.; Wynants-Morel, N.; Duboeuf, L.

2017-12-01

During fluid injection, the observations of an enlarging cloud of seismicity are generally explained by a direct response to the pore pressure diffusion in a permeable fractured rock. However, fluid injection can also induce large aseismic deformations which provide an alternative mechanism for triggering and driving seismicity. Despite the importance of these two mechanisms during fluid injection, there are few studies on the effects of fluid pressure on the partitioning between seismic and aseismic motions under controlled field experiments. Here, we describe in-situ meter-scale experiments measuring synchronously the fluid pressure, the fault motions and the seismicity directly in a fault zone stimulated by controlled fluid injection at 280 m depth in carbonate rocks. The experiments were conducted in a gallery of an underground laboratory in south of France (LSBB, http://lsbb.eu). Thanks to the proximal monitoring at high-frequency, our data show that the fluid overpressure mainly induces a dilatant aseismic slip (several tens of microns up to a millimeter) at the injection. A sparse seismicity (-4 < Mw < -3) is observed several meters away from the injection, in a part of the fault zone where the fluid overpressure is null or very low. Using hydromechanical modeling with friction laws, we simulated an experiment and investigated the relative contribution of the fluid pressure diffusion and stress transfer on the seismic and aseismic fault behavior. The model reproduces the hydromechanical data measured at injection, and show that the aseismic slip induced by fluid injection propagates outside the pressurized zone where accumulated shear stress develops, and potentially triggers seismicity. Our models also show that the permeability enhancement and friction evolution are essential to explain the fault slip behavior. Our experimental results are consistent with large-scale observations of fault motions at geothermal sites (Wei et al., 2015; Cornet, 2016), and suggest that controlled field experiments at meter-scale are important for better assessing the role of fluid pressure in natural and human-induced earthquakes.

Multi-scale mass movements: example of the Nile deep-sea fan (NDSF)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loncke, L.; Droz, L.; Bellaiche, G.; Gaullier, V.; Mascle, J.; Migeon, S.

2003-04-01

The almost 90 000 km2 NDSF, fed by one of the major river in the world, has been nearly entirely surveyed by swath bathymetry and back-scatter imagery during the last four years. Seismic-reflection and 3-5 kHz profiles, and in some places, high resolution data were collected. Some profiles have been provided by BP-Egypt. Using this set of data, we have conducted a multi-scale regional synthesis which stresses the importance of gravity processes in the edification and evolution of this major deep turbidite system. Gravity processes range from regional gravity-driven spreading and gliding of the Plio-Pleistocene sediments above the Messinian mobile evaporites, to huge collapses of large areas of the upper continental slope as well as very localized levee destabilizations and related avulsion mechanisms. The Eastern - tectonized - area of the NDSF is characterized by lens-shaped transparent bodies, likely indicating debris-flow deposits, settled at crestal graben flanks, themselves generated by reactive diapir rise. Debris flows are probably triggered by local readjustments of salt-related tectonic features destabilizing their sedimentary cover. In contrast, within the poorly deformed Western part of the NDSF, we mainly observe recent slumping and gliding phenomenons, incising the upper slope where salt layers are absent. These slumps and glidings evolved downslope to large debris flows. Some of them exhibit volumes up to 1900 km3 and are covered by recent stacked channel-levees units. Smaller scale debris-flows are inter-fingered within these constructional units and led to numerous channel migrations and avulsions, characterized by typical HARP's seismic facies. Recent sedimentary destabilizations seem to be associated with gas seeping or under-compacted mud ascents: in the Central NDSF, the association between pock-marks (or mounds) and destabilizated masses suggest the existence of gas hydrates. Given the variety of processes (either triggered by tectonics, sedimentary overloading, sea-level fluctations, or fluids) and scales of the identified destabilizations, the NDSF appears as an excellent natural laboratory to study mass movement processes.

Effective control parameters in a deep convection scheme for improved simulation of the Madden-Julian oscillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Jin-Ho; Seo, Kyong-Hwan

2017-06-01

This work seeks to find the most effective parameters in a deep convection scheme (relaxed Arakawa-Schubert scheme) of the National Centers of Environmental Prediction Climate Forecast System model for improved simulation of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). A suite of sensitivity experiments are performed by changing physical components such as the relaxation parameter of mass flux for adjustment of the environment, the evaporation rate from large-scale precipitation, the moisture trigger threshold using relative humidity of the boundary layer, and the fraction of re-evaporation of convective (subgrid-scale) rainfall. Among them, the last two parameters are found to produce a significant improvement. Increasing the strength of these two parameters reduces light rainfall that inhibits complete formation of the tropical convective system or supplies more moisture that help increase a potential energy to large-scale environment in the lower troposphere (especially at 700 hPa), leading to moisture preconditioning favorable for further development and eastward propagation of the MJO. In a more humid environment, more organized MJO structure (i.e., space-time spectral signal, eastward propagation, and tilted vertical structure) is produced.

Time-Resolved Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Reveals Millisecond Transitions of a DNA Origami Switch.

PubMed

Bruetzel, Linda K; Walker, Philipp U; Gerling, Thomas; Dietz, Hendrik; Lipfert, Jan

2018-04-11

Self-assembled DNA structures enable creation of specific shapes at the nanometer-micrometer scale with molecular resolution. The construction of functional DNA assemblies will likely require dynamic structures that can undergo controllable conformational changes. DNA devices based on shape complementary stacking interactions have been demonstrated to undergo reversible conformational changes triggered by changes in ionic environment or temperature. An experimentally unexplored aspect is how quickly conformational transitions of large synthetic DNA origami structures can actually occur. Here, we use time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering to monitor large-scale conformational transitions of a two-state DNA origami switch in free solution. We show that the DNA device switches from its open to its closed conformation upon addition of MgCl 2 in milliseconds, which is close to the theoretical diffusive speed limit. In contrast, measurements of the dimerization of DNA origami bricks reveal much slower and concentration-dependent assembly kinetics. DNA brick dimerization occurs on a time scale of minutes to hours suggesting that the kinetics depend on local concentration and molecular alignment.

Early warning of climate tipping points

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lenton, Timothy M.

2011-07-01

A climate 'tipping point' occurs when a small change in forcing triggers a strongly nonlinear response in the internal dynamics of part of the climate system, qualitatively changing its future state. Human-induced climate change could push several large-scale 'tipping elements' past a tipping point. Candidates include irreversible melt of the Greenland ice sheet, dieback of the Amazon rainforest and shift of the West African monsoon. Recent assessments give an increased probability of future tipping events, and the corresponding impacts are estimated to be large, making them significant risks. Recent work shows that early warning of an approaching climate tipping point is possible in principle, and could have considerable value in reducing the risk that they pose.

The ATLAS Simulation Infrastructure

DOE PAGES

Aad, G.; Abbott, B.; Abdallah, J.; ...

2010-09-25

The simulation software for the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is being used for large-scale production of events on the LHC Computing Grid. This simulation requires many components, from the generators that simulate particle collisions, through packages simulating the response of the various detectors and triggers. All of these components come together under the ATLAS simulation infrastructure. In this paper, that infrastructure is discussed, including that supporting the detector description, interfacing the event generation, and combining the GEANT4 simulation of the response of the individual detectors. Also described are the tools allowing the software validation, performance testing, andmore » the validation of the simulated output against known physics processes.« less

Small vulnerable sets determine large network cascades in power grids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Yang; Nishikawa, Takashi; Motter, Adilson E.

The understanding of cascading failures in complex systems has been hindered by the lack of realistic large-scale modeling and analysis that can account for variable system conditions. By using the North American power grid, we identified, quantified, and analyzed the set of network components that are vulnerable to cascading failures under any out of multiple conditions. We show that the vulnerable set consists of a small but topologically central portion of the network and that large cascades are disproportionately more likely to be triggered by initial failures close to this set. These results elucidate aspects of the origins and causesmore » of cascading failures relevant for grid design and operation and demonstrate vulnerability analysis methods that are applicable to a wider class of cascade-prone networks.« less

Small vulnerable sets determine large network cascades in power grids

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yang; Nishikawa, Takashi; Motter, Adilson E.

2017-11-17

The understanding of cascading failures in complex systems has been hindered by the lack of realistic large-scale modeling and analysis that can account for variable system conditions. By using the North American power grid, we identified, quantified, and analyzed the set of network components that are vulnerable to cascading failures under any out of multiple conditions. We show that the vulnerable set consists of a small but topologically central portion of the network and that large cascades are disproportionately more likely to be triggered by initial failures close to this set. These results elucidate aspects of the origins and causesmore » of cascading failures relevant for grid design and operation and demonstrate vulnerability analysis methods that are applicable to a wider class of cascade-prone networks.« less

Intentional Voice Command Detection for Trigger-Free Speech Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obuchi, Yasunari; Sumiyoshi, Takashi

In this paper we introduce a new framework of audio processing, which is essential to achieve a trigger-free speech interface for home appliances. If the speech interface works continually in real environments, it must extract occasional voice commands and reject everything else. It is extremely important to reduce the number of false alarms because the number of irrelevant inputs is much larger than the number of voice commands even for heavy users of appliances. The framework, called Intentional Voice Command Detection, is based on voice activity detection, but enhanced by various speech/audio processing techniques such as emotion recognition. The effectiveness of the proposed framework is evaluated using a newly-collected large-scale corpus. The advantages of combining various features were tested and confirmed, and the simple LDA-based classifier demonstrated acceptable performance. The effectiveness of various methods of user adaptation is also discussed.

Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bauer, Susanne

2015-02-09

We participated in a FASTER SCM intercomparison for which we ran our SCM for 3 years at the SGP to analyze statistics of the precipitation field (Song et al., 2013). An important feature of these simulations was the use of relaxation forcing to observed T, q, which decouples the model convection from the forcing and allows precipitation errors to emerge. Because the GISS cumulus parameterization includes a trigger that prevents convection until sufficient lifting is present, and because convection at the SGP is usually triggered by mesoscale motions that are not represented in the forcing when relaxation is applied, themore » duration of SCM precipitation is shorter than observed (Del Genio and Wolf, 2012) and thus its mean precipitation less than observed. However, its diurnal cycle phase is correct, and it is the only operational cumulus parameterization in the intercomparison that does not produce excessive warm season precipitation under weak large-scale forcing conditions.« less

FLOWS AND WAVES IN BRAIDED SOLAR CORONAL MAGNETIC STRUCTURES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pant, V.; Datta, A.; Banerjee, D., E-mail: vaibhav@iiap.res.in

We study the high frequency dynamics in the braided magnetic structure of an active region (AR 11520) moss as observed by the High-Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C). We detect quasi-periodic flows and waves in these structures. We search for high frequency dynamics while looking at power maps of the observed region. We find that shorter periodicities (30–60 s) are associated with small spatial scales which can be resolved by Hi-C only. We detect quasi-periodic flows with a wide range of velocities, from 13–185 km s{sup −1}, associated with braided regions. This can be interpreted as plasma outflows from reconnection sites. Wemore » also find short period and large amplitude transverse oscillations associated with the braided magnetic region. Such oscillations could be triggered by reconnection or such oscillations may trigger reconnection.« less

Trophic cascades triggered by overfishing reveal possible mechanisms of ecosystem regime shifts.

PubMed

Daskalov, Georgi M; Grishin, Alexander N; Rodionov, Sergei; Mihneva, Vesselina

2007-06-19

Large-scale transitions between alternative states in ecosystems are known as regime shifts. Once described as healthy and dominated by various marine predators, the Black Sea ecosystem by the late 20th century had experienced anthropogenic impacts such as heavy fishing, cultural eutrophication, and invasions by alien species. We studied changes related to these "natural experiments" to reveal the mechanisms of regime shifts. Two major shifts were detected, the first related to a depletion of marine predators and the second to an outburst of the alien comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi; both shifts were triggered by intense fishing resulting in system-wide trophic cascades. The complex nature of ecosystem responses to human activities calls for more elaborate approaches than currently provided by traditional environmental and fisheries management. This implies challenging existing practices and implementing explanatory models of ecosystem interactions that can better reconcile conservation and ecosystem management ideals.

An illness-specific version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF IPQ-R): Unpacking beliefs about treatment control, personal control and symptom triggers.

PubMed

Taylor, Elaina C; O'Neill, Mark; Hughes, Lyndsay D; Moss-Morris, Rona

2018-04-01

This study modified the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). Qualitative interviews and think-aloud techniques informed modification of the IPQ-R to be specific to AF patients. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) (n = 198) examined the validity of the modified IPQ-R (AF-IPQ-R). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) examined the new AF-triggers scale. Construct validity examined associations between the AF-IPQ-R, quality of life (QoL) and beliefs about medicines. Test-retest and internal reliability were examined. Interviews indicated that patients viewed triggers of AF rather than initial causes of illness as more applicable. Patients believed specific behaviours such as rest could control AF. Treatment control beliefs related to pharmacological and procedural treatments. These data were used to modify the IPQ-R subscales and to develop a triggers of AF scale. CFA indicated good model fit. EFA of the triggers scale indicated three factors: emotional; health behaviours; and over-exertion triggers. Expected correlations were found between the AF-IPQ-R, QoL and treatment beliefs, evidencing good construct validity. The AF-IPQ-R showed sound psychometric properties. It provides more detailed specification than the IPQ-R of beliefs that may help to understand poor QoL in AF patients, and guidance for future interventions in this area.

Global Neuromagnetic Cortical Fields Have Non-Zero Velocity

PubMed Central

Alexander, David M.; Nikolaev, Andrey R.; Jurica, Peter; Zvyagintsev, Mikhail; Mathiak, Klaus; van Leeuwen, Cees

2016-01-01

Globally coherent patterns of phase can be obscured by analysis techniques that aggregate brain activity measures across-trials, whether prior to source localization or for estimating inter-areal coherence. We analyzed, at single-trial level, whole head MEG recorded during an observer-triggered apparent motion task. Episodes of globally coherent activity occurred in the delta, theta, alpha and beta bands of the signal in the form of large-scale waves, which propagated with a variety of velocities. Their mean speed at each frequency band was proportional to temporal frequency, giving a range of 0.06 to 4.0 m/s, from delta to beta. The wave peaks moved over the entire measurement array, during both ongoing activity and task-relevant intervals; direction of motion was more predictable during the latter. A large proportion of the cortical signal, measurable at the scalp, exists as large-scale coherent motion. We argue that the distribution of observable phase velocities in MEG is dominated by spatial filtering considerations in combination with group velocity of cortical activity. Traveling waves may index processes involved in global coordination of cortical activity. PMID:26953886

A z-Vertex Trigger for Belle II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skambraks, S.; Abudinén, F.; Chen, Y.; Feindt, M.; Frühwirth, R.; Heck, M.; Kiesling, C.; Knoll, A.; Neuhaus, S.; Paul, S.; Schieck, J.

2015-08-01

The Belle II experiment will go into operation at the upgraded SuperKEKB collider in 2016. SuperKEKB is designed to deliver an instantaneous luminosity L = 8 ×1035 cm - 2 s - 1. The experiment will therefore have to cope with a much larger machine background than its predecessor Belle, in particular from events outside of the interaction region. We present the concept of a track trigger, based on a neural network approach, that is able to suppress a large fraction of this background by reconstructing the z (longitudinal) position of the event vertex within the latency of the first level trigger. The trigger uses the hit information from the Central Drift Chamber (CDC) of Belle II within narrow cones in polar and azimuthal angle as well as in transverse momentum (“sectors”), and estimates the z-vertex without explicit track reconstruction. The preprocessing for the track trigger is based on the track information provided by the standard CDC trigger. It takes input from the 2D track finder, adds information from the stereo wires of the CDC, and finds the appropriate sectors in the CDC for each track. Within the sector, the z-vertex is estimated by a specialized neural network, with the drift times from the CDC as input and a continuous output corresponding to the scaled z-vertex. The neural algorithm will be implemented in programmable hardware. To this end a Virtex 7 FPGA board will be used, which provides at present the most promising solution for a fully parallelized implementation of neural networks or alternative multivariate methods. A high speed interface for external memory will be integrated into the platform, to be able to store the O(109) parameters required. The contribution presents the results of our feasibility studies and discusses the details of the envisaged hardware solution.

Large-scale transportation network congestion evolution prediction using deep learning theory.

PubMed

Ma, Xiaolei; Yu, Haiyang; Wang, Yunpeng; Wang, Yinhai

2015-01-01

Understanding how congestion at one location can cause ripples throughout large-scale transportation network is vital for transportation researchers and practitioners to pinpoint traffic bottlenecks for congestion mitigation. Traditional studies rely on either mathematical equations or simulation techniques to model traffic congestion dynamics. However, most of the approaches have limitations, largely due to unrealistic assumptions and cumbersome parameter calibration process. With the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Internet of Things (IoT), transportation data become more and more ubiquitous. This triggers a series of data-driven research to investigate transportation phenomena. Among them, deep learning theory is considered one of the most promising techniques to tackle tremendous high-dimensional data. This study attempts to extend deep learning theory into large-scale transportation network analysis. A deep Restricted Boltzmann Machine and Recurrent Neural Network architecture is utilized to model and predict traffic congestion evolution based on Global Positioning System (GPS) data from taxi. A numerical study in Ningbo, China is conducted to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. Results show that the prediction accuracy can achieve as high as 88% within less than 6 minutes when the model is implemented in a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU)-based parallel computing environment. The predicted congestion evolution patterns can be visualized temporally and spatially through a map-based platform to identify the vulnerable links for proactive congestion mitigation.

Large-Scale Transportation Network Congestion Evolution Prediction Using Deep Learning Theory

PubMed Central

Ma, Xiaolei; Yu, Haiyang; Wang, Yunpeng; Wang, Yinhai

2015-01-01

Understanding how congestion at one location can cause ripples throughout large-scale transportation network is vital for transportation researchers and practitioners to pinpoint traffic bottlenecks for congestion mitigation. Traditional studies rely on either mathematical equations or simulation techniques to model traffic congestion dynamics. However, most of the approaches have limitations, largely due to unrealistic assumptions and cumbersome parameter calibration process. With the development of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Internet of Things (IoT), transportation data become more and more ubiquitous. This triggers a series of data-driven research to investigate transportation phenomena. Among them, deep learning theory is considered one of the most promising techniques to tackle tremendous high-dimensional data. This study attempts to extend deep learning theory into large-scale transportation network analysis. A deep Restricted Boltzmann Machine and Recurrent Neural Network architecture is utilized to model and predict traffic congestion evolution based on Global Positioning System (GPS) data from taxi. A numerical study in Ningbo, China is conducted to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. Results show that the prediction accuracy can achieve as high as 88% within less than 6 minutes when the model is implemented in a Graphic Processing Unit (GPU)-based parallel computing environment. The predicted congestion evolution patterns can be visualized temporally and spatially through a map-based platform to identify the vulnerable links for proactive congestion mitigation. PMID:25780910

Dynamic triggering potential of large earthquakes recorded by the EarthScope U.S. Transportable Array using a frequency domain detection method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Linville, L. M.; Pankow, K. L.; Kilb, D. L.; Velasco, A. A.; Hayward, C.

2013-12-01

Because of the abundance of data from the Earthscope U.S. Transportable Array (TA), data paucity and station sampling bias in the US are no longer significant obstacles to understanding some of the physical parameters driving dynamic triggering. Initial efforts to determine locations of dynamic triggering in the US following large earthquakes (M ≥ 8.0) during TA relied on a time domain detection algorithm which used an optimized short-term average to long-term average (STA/LTA) filter and resulted in an unmanageably large number of false positive detections. Specific site sensitivities and characteristic noise when coupled with changes in detection rates often resulted in misleading output. To navigate this problem, we develop a frequency domain detection algorithm that first pre-whitens each seismogram and then computes a broadband frequency stack of the data using a three hour time window beginning at the origin time of the mainshock. This method is successful because of the broadband nature of earthquake signals compared with the more band-limited high frequency picks that clutter results from time domain picking algorithms. Preferential band filtering of the frequency stack for individual events can further increase the accuracy and drive the detection threshold to below magnitude one, but at general cost to detection levels across large scale data sets. Of the 15 mainshocks studied, 12 show evidence of discrete spatial clusters of local earthquake activity occurring within the array during the mainshock coda. Most of this activity is in the Western US with notable sequences in Northwest Wyoming, Western Texas, Southern New Mexico and Western Montana. Repeat stations (associated with 2 or more mainshocks) are generally rare, but when occur do so exclusively in California and Nevada. Notably, two of the most prolific regions of seismicity following a single mainshock occur following the 2009 magnitude 8.1 Samoa (Sep 29, 2009, 17:48:10) event, in areas with few or no known Quaternary faults and sparse historic seismicity. To gain a better understanding of the potential interaction between local events during the mainshock coda and the local stress changes induced by the passing surface waves, we juxtapose the local earthquake locations on maps of peak stress changes (e.g., radial, tangential and horizontal). Preliminary results reveal that triggering in the US is perhaps not as common as previously thought, and that dynamic triggering is most likely a more complicated interplay between physical parameters (e.g., amplitude threshold, wave orientation, tectonic environment, etc) than can be explained by a single dominant driver.

Mitotic trigger waves and the spatial coordination of the Xenopus cell cycle.

PubMed

Chang, Jeremy B; Ferrell, James E

2013-08-29

Despite the large size of the Xenopus laevis egg (approximately 1.2 mm diameter), a fertilized egg rapidly proceeds through mitosis in a spatially coordinated fashion. Mitosis is initiated by a bistable system of regulatory proteins centred on Cdk1 (refs 1, 2), raising the possibility that this spatial coordination could be achieved through trigger waves of Cdk1 activity. Using an extract system that performs cell cycles in vitro, here we show that mitosis does spread through Xenopus cytoplasm via trigger waves, propagating at a linear speed of approximately 60 µm min(-1). Perturbing the feedback loops that give rise to the bistability of Cdk1 changes the speed and dynamics of the waves. Time-lapse imaging of intact eggs argues that trigger waves of Cdk1 activation are responsible for surface contraction waves, ripples in the cell cortex that precede cytokinesis. These findings indicate that Cdk1 trigger waves help ensure the spatiotemporal coordination of mitosis in large eggs. Trigger waves may be an important general mechanism for coordinating biochemical events over large distances.

TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR SUBFLARES IN A BRAIDED CORONAL MAGNETIC STRUCTURE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tiwari, Sanjiv K.; Alexander, Caroline E.; Winebarger, Amy R.

Fine-scale braiding of coronal magnetic loops by continuous footpoint motions may power coronal heating via nanoflares, which are spontaneous fine-scale bursts of internal reconnection. An initial nanoflare may trigger an avalanche of reconnection of the braids, making a microflare or larger subflare. In contrast to this internal triggering of subflares, we observe external triggering of subflares in a braided coronal magnetic field observed by the High-resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C). We track the development of these subflares using 12 s cadence images acquired by SDO/AIA in 1600, 193, 94 Å, and registered magnetograms of SDO/HMI, over four hours centered on the Hi-Cmore » observing time. These data show numerous recurring small-scale brightenings in transition-region emission happening on polarity inversion lines where flux cancellation is occurring. We present in detail an example of an apparent burst of reconnection of two loops in the transition region under the braided coronal field which is appropriate for releasing a short reconnected loop downward and a longer reconnected loop upward. The short loop presumably submerges into the photosphere, participating in observed flux cancellation. A subflare in the overlying braided magnetic field is apparently triggered by the disturbance of the braided field by the reconnection-released upward loop. At least 10 subflares observed in this braided structure appear to be triggered this way. How common this external trigger mechanism for coronal subflares is in other active regions, and how important it is for coronal heating in general, remain to be seen.« less

Climate variability rather than overstocking causes recent large scale cover changes of Tibetan pastures

PubMed Central

Lehnert, L. W.; Wesche, K.; Trachte, K.; Reudenbach, C.; Bendix, J.

2016-01-01

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a globally important “water tower” that provides water for nearly 40% of the world’s population. This supply function is claimed to be threatened by pasture degradation on the TP and the associated loss of water regulation functions. However, neither potential large scale degradation changes nor their drivers are known. Here, we analyse trends in a high-resolution dataset of grassland cover to determine the interactions among vegetation dynamics, climate change and human impacts on the TP. The results reveal that vegetation changes have regionally different triggers: While the vegetation cover has increased since the year 2000 in the north-eastern part of the TP due to an increase in precipitation, it has declined in the central and western parts of the TP due to rising air temperature and declining precipitation. Increasing livestock numbers as a result of land use changes exacerbated the negative trends but were not their exclusive driver. Thus, we conclude that climate variability instead of overgrazing has been the primary cause for large scale vegetation cover changes on the TP since the new millennium. Since areas of positive and negative changes are almost equal in extent, pasture degradation is not generally proceeding. PMID:27073126

Climate variability rather than overstocking causes recent large scale cover changes of Tibetan pastures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehnert, L. W.; Wesche, K.; Trachte, K.; Reudenbach, C.; Bendix, J.

2016-04-01

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is a globally important “water tower” that provides water for nearly 40% of the world’s population. This supply function is claimed to be threatened by pasture degradation on the TP and the associated loss of water regulation functions. However, neither potential large scale degradation changes nor their drivers are known. Here, we analyse trends in a high-resolution dataset of grassland cover to determine the interactions among vegetation dynamics, climate change and human impacts on the TP. The results reveal that vegetation changes have regionally different triggers: While the vegetation cover has increased since the year 2000 in the north-eastern part of the TP due to an increase in precipitation, it has declined in the central and western parts of the TP due to rising air temperature and declining precipitation. Increasing livestock numbers as a result of land use changes exacerbated the negative trends but were not their exclusive driver. Thus, we conclude that climate variability instead of overgrazing has been the primary cause for large scale vegetation cover changes on the TP since the new millennium. Since areas of positive and negative changes are almost equal in extent, pasture degradation is not generally proceeding.

Small-scale impacts as potential trigger for landslides on small Solar system bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hofmann, Marc; Sierks, Holger; Blum, Jürgen

2017-07-01

We conducted a set of experiments to investigate whether millimetre-sized impactors impinging on a granular material at several m s-1 are able to trigger avalanches on small, atmosphereless planetary bodies. These experiments were carried out at the Zentrum für angewandte Raumfahrttechnologie und Mikrogravitation (ZARM) drop tower facility in Bremen, Germany to facilitate a reduced gravity environment. Additional data were gathered at Earth gravity levels in the laboratory. As sample materials we used a ground Howardites, Eucrites and Diogenites (HED) meteorite and the Johnson Space Center (JSC) Mars-1 Martian soil simulant. We found that this type of small-scale impact can trigger avalanches with a moderate probability, if the target material is tilted to an angle close to the angle of repose. We additionally simulated a small-scale impact using the discrete element method code esys-particle. These simulations show that energy transfer from impactor to the target material is most efficient at low- and moderate-impactor inclinations and the transferred energy is retained in particles close to the surface due to a rapid dissipation of energy in lower material layers driven by inelastic collisions. Through Monte Carlo simulations we estimate the time-scale on which small-scale impacts with the observed characteristics will trigger avalanches covering all steep slopes on the surface of a small planetary body to be of the order 105 yr.

Commercial associative memory performance for applications in track-based triggers at the Large Hadron Collider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Webster, Jordan

2017-01-01

Dense track environments in pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) motivate the use of triggers with dedicated hardware for fast track reconstruction. The ATLAS Collaboration is in the process of implementing a Fast Tracker (FTK) trigger upgrade, in which Content Addressable Memories (CAMs) will be used to rapidly match hit patterns with large banks of simulated tracks. The FTK CAMs are produced primarily at the University of Pisa. However, commercial CAM technology is rapidly developing due to applications in computer networking devices. This poster presents new studies comparing FTK CAMs to cutting-edge ternary CAMs developed by Cavium. The comparison is intended to guide the design of future track-based trigger systems for the next Phase at the LHC.

Monitoring of hydrogen along the San Andreas and Calaveras faults in central California in 1980-1984

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Motoaki; Sutton, A. J.; McGee, K. A.; Russell-Robinson, Susan

1986-11-01

Hydrogen (H2) has been monitored continuously at 1.5-m depth at nine sites along the San Andreas and Calaveras faults in central California since December 1980. Site characteristic small noninstrumental diurnal variations were recorded during quiescent periods at most sites. Abrupt H2 changes were observed concurrently at two sites on the Calaveras fault; some of these were correlated with oscillatory fault slips. Large (1000-4000 ppm) H2 increases were recorded at some sites on the San Andreas fault between July 1982 and November 1983, which may be correlated with eleven M ≥ 5 earthquakes that occurred near Coalinga during this period. We attribute both the H2 increases and the triggering of the earthquakes to a large-scale compressive stress field within the ductile mafic crust near the plate boundary. The stress perhaps caused bulging of the base of the brittle upper crust and thus caused dilation of the San Andreas fault zone, allowing the escape of pent-up H2 generated by hydration reaction of the mafic crust. At the same time, mobile serpentinites may have squeezed into the seismogenic fault beneath the Coalinga area triggering the earthquakes.

Flux Cancelation: The Key to Solar Eruptions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panesar, Navdeep K.; Sterling, Alphonse; Moore, Ronald; Chakrapani, Prithi; Innes, Davina; Schmit, Don; Tiwari, Sanjiv

2017-01-01

Solar coronal jets are magnetically channeled eruptions that occur in all types of solar environments (e.g. active regions, quiet-Sun regions and coronal holes). Recent studies show that coronal jets are driven by the eruption of small-scare filaments (minifilaments). Once the eruption is underway magnetic reconnection evidently makes the jet spire and the bright emission in the jet base. However, the triggering mechanism of these eruptions and the formation mechanism of the pre-jet minifilaments are still open questions. In this talk, mainly using SDO/AIA (Solar Dynamics Observatory / Atmospheric Imaging Assembly) and SDO/HIM (Solar Dynamics Observatory / Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager) data, first I will address the question: what triggers the jet-driving minifilament eruptions in different solar environments (coronal holes, quiet regions, active regions)? Then I will talk about the magnetic field evolution that produces the pre-jet minifilaments. By examining pre-jet evolutionary changes in line-of-sight HMI magnetograms while examining concurrent EUV (Extreme Ultra-Violet) images of coronal and transition-region emission, we find clear evidence that flux cancelation is the main process that builds pre-jet minifilaments, and is also the main process that triggers the eruptions. I will also present results from our ongoing work indicating that jet-driving minifilament eruptions are analogous to larger-scare filament eruptions that make flares and CMEs (Coronal Mass Ejections). We find that persistent flux cancellation at the neutral line of large-scale filaments often triggers their eruptions. From our observations we infer that flux cancelation is the fundamental process from the buildup and triggering of solar eruptions of all sizes.

Triggering of explosive reconnection in a thick current sheet via current sheet compression: Less current sheet thinning, more temperature anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, K.; Shinohara, I.; Fujimoto, M.

2016-12-01

Two-dimensional kinetic simulations of compression of thick current sheets are performed to see how it can lead to triggering of explosive magnetic reconnection. The current sheet under study is simply in a Harris-like anti-paralell and symmetric geometry. A one-dimensional pre-study shows that the compression is more effective to make the plasma anisotropy than to thin the current sheet width. When the lobe magnetic field is amplified by a factor of 2, the plasma temperature anisotropy inside the current sheet reaches 2 but the current sheet thickness is reduced only by 1/sqrt(2). If a current sheet thickness needs to be comparable to the ion inertial scale for reconnection triggering take place, as is widely and frequently mentioned in the research community, the initial thickness cannot be more than a few ion scale for reconnection to set-in. On the other hand, the temperature anisotropy of 2 can be significant for the triggering problem. Two-dimensional simulations show explosive magnetic reconnection to take place even when the initial current sheet thickness more than an order of magnitude thicker than the ion scale, indicating the resilient triggering drive supplied by the temperature anisotropy. We also discuss how the reconnection triggering capability of the temperature anisotropy boosted tearing mode for thick current sheets compares with the instabilities in the plane orthogonal to the reconnecting field.

Large-scale shrimp farming in coastal wetlands of Venezuela, South America: Causes and consequences of land-use conflicts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebastiani, Mirady; González, Sara Elena; Castillo, María Mercedes; Alvizu, Pablo; Oliveira, María Albertina; Pérez, Jorge; Quilici, Antonio; Rada, Martín; Yáber, María Carolina; Lentino, Miguel

1994-09-01

In Venezuela, large-scale shrimp farming began in the 1980s. By 1987, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARNR) had received 14 proposals for approval. A developer illegally started the construction of ponds at the Píritu Lagoon in the State of Anzoátegui before the authorization process was completed. This action triggered a land-use conflict. This study identifies the causes for public protest and determines the consequences of this conflict for land-use management. The results show that public protest was based on the impacts of the partial construction of ponds. These impacts were related to direct removal of wetlands, interruption of natural patterns of surface flows, and alteration of feeding grounds of some bird species with migratory status. Consequences were identified in relation to the role that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play in land-use conflicts and the actions that MARNR could take in the future to prevent and solve similar situations.

Wearable Large-Scale Perovskite Solar-Power Source via Nanocellular Scaffold.

PubMed

Hu, Xiaotian; Huang, Zengqi; Zhou, Xue; Li, Pengwei; Wang, Yang; Huang, Zhandong; Su, Meng; Ren, Wanjie; Li, Fengyu; Li, Mingzhu; Chen, Yiwang; Song, Yanlin

2017-11-01

Dramatic advances in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and the blossoming of wearable electronics have triggered tremendous demands for flexible solar-power sources. However, the fracturing of functional crystalline films and transmittance wastage from flexible substrates are critical challenges to approaching the high-performance PSCs with flexural endurance. In this work, a nanocellular scaffold is introduced to architect a mechanics buffer layer and optics resonant cavity. The nanocellular scaffold releases mechanical stresses during flexural experiences and significantly improves the crystalline quality of the perovskite films. The nanocellular optics resonant cavity optimizes light harvesting and charge transportation of devices. More importantly, these flexible PSCs, which demonstrate excellent performance and mechanical stability, are practically fabricated in modules as a wearable solar-power source. A power conversion efficiency of 12.32% for a flexible large-scale device (polyethylene terephthalate substrate, indium tin oxide-free, 1.01 cm 2 ) is achieved. This ingenious flexible structure will enable a new approach for development of wearable electronics. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sea-level-induced seismicity and submarine landslide occurrence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brothers, Daniel S.; Luttrell, Karen M.; Chaytor, Jason D.

2013-01-01

The temporal coincidence between rapid late Pleistocene sea-level rise and large-scale slope failures is widely documented. Nevertheless, the physical mechanisms that link these phenomena are poorly understood, particularly along nonglaciated margins. Here we investigate the causal relationships between rapid sea-level rise, flexural stress loading, and increased seismicity rates along passive margins. We find that Coulomb failure stress across fault systems of passive continental margins may have increased more than 1 MPa during rapid late Pleistocene–early Holocene sea-level rise, an amount sufficient to trigger fault reactivation and rupture. These results suggest that sea-level–modulated seismicity may have contributed to a number of poorly understood but widely observed phenomena, including (1) increased frequency of large-scale submarine landslides during rapid, late Pleistocene sea-level rise; (2) emplacement of coarse-grained mass transport deposits on deep-sea fans during the early stages of marine transgression; and (3) the unroofing and release of methane gas sequestered in continental slope sediments.

Large-scale drainage capture and surface uplift in eastern Tibet-SW China before 24 Ma inferred from sediments of the Hanoi Basin, Vietnam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clift, Peter D.; Blusztajn, Jerzy; Nguyen, Anh Duc

2006-10-01

Current models of drainage evolution suggest that the non-dendritic patterns seen in rivers in SE Asia reflect progressive capture of headwaters away from the Red River during and as a result of surface uplift of Eastern Asia. Mass balancing of eroded and deposited rock volumes demonstrates that the Red River catchment must have been much larger in the past. In addition, the Nd isotope composition of sediments from the Hanoi Basin, Vietnam, interpreted as paleo-Red River sediments, shows rapid change during the Oligocene, before ~24 Ma. We interpret this change to reflect large-scale drainage capture away from the Red River, possibly involving loss of the middle Yangtze River. Reorganization was triggered by regional tilting of the region towards the east. This study constrains initial surface uplift in eastern Tibet and southwestern China to be no later than 24 Ma, well before major surface uplift and gorge incision after 13 Ma.

Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations.

PubMed

Soares, Pedro A; Trejaut, Jean A; Rito, Teresa; Cavadas, Bruno; Hill, Catherine; Eng, Ken Khong; Mormina, Maru; Brandão, Andreia; Fraser, Ross M; Wang, Tse-Yi; Loo, Jun-Hun; Snell, Christopher; Ko, Tsang-Ming; Amorim, António; Pala, Maria; Macaulay, Vincent; Bulbeck, David; Wilson, James F; Gusmão, Leonor; Pereira, Luísa; Oppenheimer, Stephen; Lin, Marie; Richards, Martin B

2016-03-01

There are two very different interpretations of the prehistory of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), with genetic evidence invoked in support of both. The "out-of-Taiwan" model proposes a major Late Holocene expansion of Neolithic Austronesian speakers from Taiwan. An alternative, proposing that Late Glacial/postglacial sea-level rises triggered largely autochthonous dispersals, accounts for some otherwise enigmatic genetic patterns, but fails to explain the Austronesian language dispersal. Combining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and genome-wide data, we performed the most comprehensive analysis of the region to date, obtaining highly consistent results across all three systems and allowing us to reconcile the models. We infer a primarily common ancestry for Taiwan/ISEA populations established before the Neolithic, but also detected clear signals of two minor Late Holocene migrations, probably representing Neolithic input from both Mainland Southeast Asia and South China, via Taiwan. This latter may therefore have mediated the Austronesian language dispersal, implying small-scale migration and language shift rather than large-scale expansion.

Effects of Spatial Variability of Soil Properties on the Triggering of Rainfall-Induced Shallow Landslides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Linfeng; Lehmann, Peter; Or, Dani

2015-04-01

Naturally-occurring spatial variations in soil properties (e.g., soil depth, moisture, and texture) affect key hydrological processes and potentially the mechanical response of soil to hydromechanical loading (relative to the commonly-assumed uniform soil mantle). We quantified the effects of soil spatial variability on the triggering of rainfall-induced shallow landslides at the hillslope- and catchment-scales, using a physically-based landslide triggering model that considers interacting soil columns with mechanical strength thresholds (represented by the Fiber Bundle Model). The spatial variations in soil properties are represented as Gaussian random distributions and the level of variation is characterized by the coefficient of variation and correlation lengths of soil properties (i.e., soil depth, soil texture and initial water content in this study). The impacts of these spatial variations on landslide triggering characteristics were measured by comparing the times to triggering and landslide volumes for heterogeneous soil properties and homogeneous cases. Results at hillslope scale indicate that for spatial variations of an individual property (without cross correlation), the increasing of coefficient of variation introduces weak spots where mechanical damage is accelerated and leads to earlier onset of landslide triggering and smaller volumes. Increasing spatial correlation length of soil texture and initial water content also induces early landslide triggering and small released volumes due to the transition of failure mode from brittle to ductile failure. In contrast, increasing spatial correlation length of soil depth "reduces" local steepness and postpones landslide triggering. Cross-correlated soil properties generally promote landslide initiation, but depending on the internal structure of spatial distribution of each soil property, landslide triggering may be reduced. The effects of cross-correlation between initial water content and soil texture were investigated in detail at the catchment scale by incorporating correlations of both variables with topography. Results indicate that the internal structure of the spatial distribution of each soil property together with their interplays determine the overall performance of the coupled spatial variability. This study emphasizes the importance of both the randomness and spatial structure of soil properties on landslide triggering and characteristics.

Meta-analysis on Macropore Flow Velocity in Soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, D.; Gao, M.; Li, H. Y.; Chen, X.; Leung, L. R.

2017-12-01

Macropore flow is ubiquitous in the soils and an important hydrologic process that is not well explained using traditional hydrologic theories. Macropore Flow Velocity (MFV) is an important parameter used to describe macropore flow and quantify its effects on runoff generation and solute transport. However, the dominant factors controlling MFV are still poorly understood and the typical ranges of MFV measured at the field are not defined clearly. To address these issues, we conducted a meta-analysis based on a database created from 246 experiments on MFV collected from 76 journal articles. For a fair comparison, a conceptually unified definition of MFV is introduced to convert the MFV measured with different approaches and at various scales including soil core, field, trench or hillslope scales. The potential controlling factors of MFV considered include scale, travel distance, hydrologic conditions, site factors, macropore morphologies, soil texture, and land use. The results show that MFV is about 2 3 orders of magnitude larger than the corresponding values of saturated hydraulic conductivity. MFV is much larger at the trench and hillslope scale than at the field profile and soil core scales and shows a significant positive correlation with the travel distance. Generally, higher irrigation intensity tends to trigger faster MFV, especially at field profile scale, where MFV and irrigation intensity have significant positive correlation. At the trench and hillslope scale, the presence of large macropores (diameter>10 mm) is a key factor determining MFV. The geometric mean of MFV for sites with large macropores was found to be about 8 times larger than those without large macropores. For sites with large macropores, MFV increases with the macropore diameter. However, no noticeable difference in MFV has been observed among different soil texture and land use. Comparing the existing equations to describe MFV, the Poiseuille equation significantly overestimated the observed values, while the Manning-type equations generate reasonable values. The insights from this study will shed light on future field campaigns and modeling of macropore flow.

Design of an amplifier model accounting for thermal effect in fully aperiodic large pitch fibers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tragni, K.; Molardi, C.; Poli, F.; Dauliat, R.; Leconte, B.; Darwich, D.; du Jeu, R.; Malleville, M. A.; Jamier, R.; Selleri, S.; Roy, P.; Cucinotta, A.

2018-02-01

Yb-doped Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) have triggered a significant power scaling into fiber-based lasers. However thermally-induced effects, like mode instability, can compromise the output beam quality. PCF design with improved Higher Order Mode (HOM) delocalization and effective thermal resilience can contain the problem. In particular, Fully- Aperiodic Large-Pitch Fibers (FA-LPFs) have shown interesting properties in terms of resilience to thermal effects. In this paper the performances of a Yb-doped FA-LPF amplifier are experimentally and numerically investigated. Modal properties and gain competition between Fundamental Mode (FM) and first HOM have been calculated, in presence of thermal effects. The main doped fiber characteristics have been derived by comparison between experimental and numerical results.

Mechanical and statistical evidence of the causality of human-made mass shifts on the Earth's upper crust and the occurrence of earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, Christian D.

2013-01-01

A global catalog of small- to large-sized earthquakes was systematically analyzed to identify causality and correlatives between human-made mass shifts in the upper Earth's crust and the occurrence of earthquakes. The mass shifts, ranging between 1 kt and 1 Tt, result from large-scale geoengineering operations, including mining, water reservoirs, hydrocarbon production, fluid injection/extractions, deep geothermal energy production and coastal management. This article shows evidence that geomechanical relationships exist with statistical significance between (a) seismic moment magnitudes M of observed earthquakes, (b) lateral distances of the earthquake hypocenters to the geoengineering "operation points" and (c) mass removals or accumulations on the Earth's crust. Statistical findings depend on uncertainties, in particular, of source parameter estimations of seismic events before instrumental recoding. Statistical observations, however, indicate that every second, seismic event tends to occur after a decade. The chance of an earthquake to nucleate after 2 or 20 years near an area with a significant mass shift is 25 or 75 %, respectively. Moreover, causative effects of seismic activities highly depend on the tectonic stress regime in which the operations take place (i.e., extensive, transverse or compressive). Results are summarized as follows: First, seismic moment magnitudes increase the more mass is locally shifted on the Earth's crust. Second, seismic moment magnitudes increase the larger the area in the crust is geomechanically polluted. Third, reverse faults tend to be more trigger-sensitive than normal faults due to a stronger alteration of the minimum vertical principal stress component. Pure strike-slip faults seem to rupture randomly and independently from the magnitude of the mass changes. Finally, mainly due to high estimation uncertainties of source parameters and, in particular, of shallow seismic events (<10 km), it remains still very difficult to discriminate between induced and triggered earthquakes with respect to the data catalog of this study. However, first analyses indicate that small- to medium-sized earthquakes (M6) seem to be triggered. The rupture propagation of triggered events might be dominated by pre-existing tectonic stress conditions.

Autonomous smart sensor network for full-scale structural health monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rice, Jennifer A.; Mechitov, Kirill A.; Spencer, B. F., Jr.; Agha, Gul A.

2010-04-01

The demands of aging infrastructure require effective methods for structural monitoring and maintenance. Wireless smart sensor networks offer the ability to enhance structural health monitoring (SHM) practices through the utilization of onboard computation to achieve distributed data management. Such an approach is scalable to the large number of sensor nodes required for high-fidelity modal analysis and damage detection. While smart sensor technology is not new, the number of full-scale SHM applications has been limited. This slow progress is due, in part, to the complex network management issues that arise when moving from a laboratory setting to a full-scale monitoring implementation. This paper presents flexible network management software that enables continuous and autonomous operation of wireless smart sensor networks for full-scale SHM applications. The software components combine sleep/wake cycling for enhanced power management with threshold detection for triggering network wide tasks, such as synchronized sensing or decentralized modal analysis, during periods of critical structural response.

Extending earthquakes' reach through cascading.

PubMed

Marsan, David; Lengliné, Olivier

2008-02-22

Earthquakes, whatever their size, can trigger other earthquakes. Mainshocks cause aftershocks to occur, which in turn activate their own local aftershock sequences, resulting in a cascade of triggering that extends the reach of the initial mainshock. A long-lasting difficulty is to determine which earthquakes are connected, either directly or indirectly. Here we show that this causal structure can be found probabilistically, with no a priori model nor parameterization. Large regional earthquakes are found to have a short direct influence in comparison to the overall aftershock sequence duration. Relative to these large mainshocks, small earthquakes collectively have a greater effect on triggering. Hence, cascade triggering is a key component in earthquake interactions.

Dynamics of Fluvial Regime and its impact on the population displacement in the Gangetic Plain of West Bengal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, Suraj; Sen, Anjan

2017-04-01

River bank erosion is one of the major natural hazards in India. Basically it is a natural phenomenon, but the role of anthropogenic factor to trigger the problem is undeniable. In West Bengal, river bank erosion in Ganga River has become an acute problem in Malda and Murshidabad districts. In Musrshidabad district alone, more than 350 Km2 land has been lost in the past four decades and more than 80000 persons have been displaced in the entire state of West Bengal. The trigger for such large scale erosional work has been both natural as well as anthropogenic. Ganga River in West Bengal flows through an underdeveloped river channel, leading to frequent changes in the course of the river that further cause riverbank erosion along the riparian zones of the river. The construction of Farakka Barrage in Malda district in 1975 has only exacerbated the problem, causing siltation and associated erosional processes. The present work deals with the social impacts of the physical process of erosion, and primarily focuses on the migration pattern of uprooted communities of Malda and Murshidabad districts. The study uses Landsat Images and SRTM DEM to assess the changes in the course of Ganga River and primary survey to discern the present and future trends of migration in the affected areas, and concludes with an assessment of the social-ecological-landscape relationships in a region undergoing large scale physical as well as demographic change. Keywords: River Bank Erosion, Ganga River, Farakka Barrage, Landsat, SRTM DEM, Migration

Coupled Land-Atmosphere Dynamics Govern Long Duration Floods: A Pilot Study in Missouri River Basin Using a Bayesian Hierarchical Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Najibi, N.; Lu, M.; Devineni, N.

2017-12-01

Long duration floods cause substantial damages and prolonged interruptions to water resource facilities and critical infrastructure. We present a novel generalized statistical and physical based model for flood duration with a deeper understanding of dynamically coupled nexus of the land surface wetness, effective atmospheric circulation and moisture transport/release. We applied the model on large reservoirs in the Missouri River Basin. The results indicate that the flood duration is not only a function of available moisture in the air, but also the antecedent condition of the blocking system of atmospheric pressure, resulting in enhanced moisture convergence, as well as the effectiveness of moisture condensation process leading to release. Quantifying these dynamics with a two-layer climate informed Bayesian multilevel model, we explain more than 80% variations in flood duration. The model considers the complex interaction between moisture transport, synoptic-to-large-scale atmospheric circulation pattern, and the antecedent wetness condition in the basin. Our findings suggest that synergy between a large low-pressure blocking system and a higher rate of divergent wind often triggers a long duration flood, and the prerequisite for moisture supply to trigger such event is moderate, which is more associated with magnitude than duration. In turn, this condition causes an extremely long duration flood if the surface wetness rate advancing to the flood event was already increased.

Large-scale analysis reveals populational contributions of cortical spike rate and synchrony to behavioural functions.

PubMed

Kimura, Rie; Saiki, Akiko; Fujiwara-Tsukamoto, Yoko; Sakai, Yutaka; Isomura, Yoshikazu

2017-01-01

There have been few systematic population-wide analyses of relationships between spike synchrony within a period of several milliseconds and behavioural functions. In this study, we obtained a large amount of spike data from > 23,000 neuron pairs by multiple single-unit recording from deep layer neurons in motor cortical areas in rats performing a forelimb movement task. The temporal changes of spike synchrony in the whole neuron pairs were statistically independent of behavioural changes during the task performance, although some neuron pairs exhibited correlated changes in spike synchrony. Mutual information analyses revealed that spike synchrony made a smaller contribution than spike rate to behavioural functions. The strength of spike synchrony between two neurons was statistically independent of the spike rate-based preferences of the pair for behavioural functions. Spike synchrony within a period of several milliseconds in presynaptic neurons enables effective integration of functional information in the postsynaptic neuron. However, few studies have systematically analysed the population-wide relationships between spike synchrony and behavioural functions. Here we obtained a sufficiently large amount of spike data among regular-spiking (putatively excitatory) and fast-spiking (putatively inhibitory) neuron subtypes (> 23,000 pairs) by multiple single-unit recording from deep layers in motor cortical areas (caudal forelimb area, rostral forelimb area) in rats performing a forelimb movement task. After holding a lever, rats pulled the lever either in response to a cue tone (external-trigger trials) or spontaneously without any cue (internal-trigger trials). Many neurons exhibited functional spike activity in association with forelimb movements, and the preference of regular-spiking neurons in the rostral forelimb area was more biased toward externally triggered movement than that in the caudal forelimb area. We found that a population of neuron pairs with spike synchrony does exist, and that some neuron pairs exhibit a dependence on movement phase during task performance. However, the population-wide analysis revealed that spike synchrony was statistically independent of the movement phase and the spike rate-based preferences of the pair for behavioural functions, whereas spike rates were clearly dependent on the movement phase. In fact, mutual information analyses revealed that the contribution of spike synchrony to the behavioural functions was small relative to the contribution of spike rate. Our large-scale analysis revealed that cortical spike rate, rather than spike synchrony, contributes to population coding for movement. © 2016 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.

Statistical Seismology and Induced Seismicity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiampo, K. F.; González, P. J.; Kazemian, J.

2014-12-01

While seismicity triggered or induced by natural resources production such as mining or water impoundment in large dams has long been recognized, the recent increase in the unconventional production of oil and gas has been linked to rapid rise in seismicity in many places, including central North America (Ellsworth et al., 2012; Ellsworth, 2013). Worldwide, induced events of M~5 have occurred and, although rare, have resulted in both damage and public concern (Horton, 2012; Keranen et al., 2013). In addition, over the past twenty years, the increase in both number and coverage of seismic stations has resulted in an unprecedented ability to precisely record the magnitude and location of large numbers of small magnitude events. The increase in the number and type of seismic sequences available for detailed study has revealed differences in their statistics that previously difficult to quantify. For example, seismic swarms that produce significant numbers of foreshocks as well as aftershocks have been observed in different tectonic settings, including California, Iceland, and the East Pacific Rise (McGuire et al., 2005; Shearer, 2012; Kazemian et al., 2014). Similarly, smaller events have been observed prior to larger induced events in several occurrences from energy production. The field of statistical seismology has long focused on the question of triggering and the mechanisms responsible (Stein et al., 1992; Hill et al., 1993; Steacy et al., 2005; Parsons, 2005; Main et al., 2006). For example, in most cases the associated stress perturbations are much smaller than the earthquake stress drop, suggesting an inherent sensitivity to relatively small stress changes (Nalbant et al., 2005). Induced seismicity provides the opportunity to investigate triggering and, in particular, the differences between long- and short-range triggering. Here we investigate the statistics of induced seismicity sequences from around the world, including central North America and Spain, and natural earthquake swarms and non-swarm tectonic events from California, Nevada and Iceland. We compare the foreshock and aftershock Omori decay parameters and the Gutenberg-Richter frequency-magnitude scaling relationships for these different sequences in order to better understand the relationship between triggering and cascade sequences.

Regional Hydroclimatic Impacts of Contemporary Amazonian Deforestation and Their Spatiotemporal Variability - An Integrated Study Using Remotely Sensed Data and Numerical Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Medvigy, D.; Khanna, J.

2016-12-01

The Amazon rainforest has been under deforestation for more than four decades. Recent investigation of the regional hydroclimatic impacts of the past three decades of deforestation has revealed a strong scale-dependence of the atmospheric response to land use change. Contemporary deforestation, affecting spatial scales of a few hundreds of kilometers, has resulted in a spatial redistribution of the local dry season rainfall, with downwind and upwind deforested regions receiving respectively 30% more and 30% less rainfall from the area mean. This phenomenon is attributable to a `dynamical' response of the boundary layer air to a reduction in surface roughness due to deforestation, apparent in both satellite and numerically simulated data. This response is starkly different from a spatially uniform increase in non-precipitating cloudiness triggered by small scale clearings, prevalent in the early phases of deforestation. This study investigates the `generalizability' of the dynamical mechanism to understand its impacts on a continually deforested Amazonia. In particular, we investigate the spatiotemporal variability of the dynamical mechanism. The nature of this investigation demands long time series and large spatial converge datasets of the hydroclimate. As such, satellite imagery of clouds (GridSat) and precipitation (PERSIANN and TRMM) has proven particularly useful in facilitating this analysis. The analysis is further complemented by a reanalysis product (ERA-interim) and numerical simulations (using a variable resolution GCM). Results indicate the presence of the dynamical mechanism during local dry and transition seasons effecting the mean precipitation during this period. Its effect on the transition season precipitation can be important for the local dry season length. The dynamical mechanism also occurs in atmospheric conditions which are otherwise less conducive to thermally triggered convection. Hence, this mechanism, which effects the seasons most important for regional ecology, emerges as a possibly impactful convective triggering mechanism. This study provides context for thinking about the climate of a future, more patchily deforested Amazonia that is more favorable to the dynamical mechanism.

Multiscale modeling and general theory of non-equilibrium plasma-assisted ignition and combustion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Suo; Nagaraja, Sharath; Sun, Wenting; Yang, Vigor

2017-11-01

A self-consistent framework for modeling and simulations of plasma-assisted ignition and combustion is established. In this framework, a ‘frozen electric field’ modeling approach is applied to take advantage of the quasi-periodic behaviors of the electrical characteristics to avoid the re-calculation of electric field for each pulse. The correlated dynamic adaptive chemistry (CO-DAC) method is employed to accelerate the calculation of large and stiff chemical mechanisms. The time-step is dynamically updated during the simulation through a three-stage multi-time scale modeling strategy, which utilizes the large separation of time scales in nanosecond pulsed plasma discharges. A general theory of plasma-assisted ignition and combustion is then proposed. Nanosecond pulsed plasma discharges for ignition and combustion can be divided into four stages. Stage I is the discharge pulse, with time scales of O (1-10 ns). In this stage, input energy is coupled into electron impact excitation and dissociation reactions to generate charged/excited species and radicals. Stage II is the afterglow during the gap between two adjacent pulses, with time scales of O (1 0 0 ns). In this stage, quenching of excited species dissociates O2 and fuel molecules, and provides fast gas heating. Stage III is the remaining gap between pulses, with time scales of O (1-100 µs). The radicals generated during Stages I and II significantly enhance exothermic reactions in this stage. The cumulative effects of multiple pulses is seen in Stage IV, with time scales of O (1-1000 ms), which include preheated gas temperatures and a large pool of radicals and fuel fragments to trigger ignition. For flames, plasma could significantly enhance the radical generation and gas heating in the pre-heat zone, thereby enhancing the flame establishment.

Mass Transport Deposits in the Santaren Channel: Distribution, Characteristics, and Potential Triggering Mechanisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnyder, J.

2015-12-01

Submarine slope failures are a likely cause for tsunami generation along the East U.S. coast. A possible source are the large slope failures along western Great Bahama Bank (GBB). Numerical models simulate tsunami generation and propagation through the Straits of Florida, caused by these Pleistocene mass wasting events. In order to estimate the likelihood and extent of future landslides, distribution, characteristics, and possible triggering mechanisms of previous failures and their associated mass transport deposits (MTD) have to be investigated. In 2013, the University of Hamburg acquired 2D high-resolution multichannel seismic data, multibeam data, and subbottom profiles inside the Santaren Channel, along the slopes of western GBB and Cay Sal Bank (CSB). The two platforms are different in two ways. CSB is part of the Cuban Fold and Thrust Belt while GBB is situated in a tectonically quiet zone. In addition, the slopes of western GBB are on the leeward side of the bank, while the eastern slopes of CSB are in a windward position. Differences in nature and size of mass wasting events between the Cay Sal side and the western GBB side of the dataset show how influential the tectonically active Cuban Fold and Thrust Belt is to the generation of large MTDs in this area. In the study area, the slope failures can be divided in two categories; small-scale in situ failures with high frequencies on the slopes, dominant on the western GBB side, and large landslides with a lower frequency, but higher volumes and transport distances on the toe of the slope and in the basin, dominant on the Cay Sal side. The distribution of in situ failures, such as slump and debris flow alternation, shows the interplay between high and low inner strength of the sediment, respectively. On the other hand, large MTDs caused by submarine landslides suggest movement in an unconfined manner. Internal sediment preconditions derived from sea level oscillations are suggested as triggering mechanisms for slumps and debris flows, referring to their high frequency. Earthquake shaking is likely to be the causal process for large landslides clustered along northern Cay Sal.

Properties of convective oxygen and silicon burning shells in supernova progenitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Collins, Christine; Müller, Bernhard; Heger, Alexander

2018-01-01

Recent 3D simulations have suggested that convective seed perturbations from shell burning can play an important role in triggering neutrino-driven supernova explosions. Since isolated simulations cannot determine whether this perturbation-aided mechanism is of general relevance across the progenitor mass range, we here investigate the pertinent properties of convective oxygen and silicon burning shells in a broad range of pre-supernova stellar evolution models. We find that conditions for perturbation-aided explosions are most favourable in the extended oxygen shells of progenitors between about 16 and 26 solar masses, which exhibit large-scale convective overturn with high convective Mach numbers. Although the highest convective Mach numbers of up to 0.3 are reached in the oxygen shells of low-mass progenitors, convection is typically dominated by small-scale modes in these shells, which implies a more modest role of initial perturbations in the explosion mechanism. Convective silicon burning rarely provides the high Mach numbers and large-scale perturbations required for perturbation-aided explosions. We also find that about 40 per cent of progenitors between 16 and 26 solar masses exhibit simultaneous oxygen and neon burning in the same convection zone as a result of a shell merger shortly before collapse.

Imaging the distribution of transient viscosity after the 2016 Mw 7.1 Kumamoto earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, James D. P.; Yu, Hang; Tang, Chi-Hsien; Wang, Teng; Barbot, Sylvain; Peng, Dongju; Masuti, Sagar; Dauwels, Justin; Hsu, Ya-Ju; Lambert, Valère; Nanjundiah, Priyamvada; Wei, Shengji; Lindsey, Eric; Feng, Lujia; Shibazaki, Bunichiro

2017-04-01

The deformation of mantle and crustal rocks in response to stress plays a crucial role in the distribution of seismic and volcanic hazards, controlling tectonic processes ranging from continental drift to earthquake triggering. However, the spatial variation of these dynamic properties is poorly understood as they are difficult to measure. We exploited the large stress perturbation incurred by the 2016 earthquake sequence in Kumamoto, Japan, to directly image localized and distributed deformation. The earthquakes illuminated distinct regions of low effective viscosity in the lower crust, notably beneath the Mount Aso and Mount Kuju volcanoes, surrounded by larger-scale variations of viscosity across the back-arc. This study demonstrates a new potential for geodesy to directly probe rock rheology in situ across many spatial and temporal scales.

Effect of slip-area scaling on the earthquake frequency-magnitude relationship

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senatorski, Piotr

2017-06-01

The earthquake frequency-magnitude relationship is considered in the maximum entropy principle (MEP) perspective. The MEP suggests sampling with constraints as a simple stochastic model of seismicity. The model is based on the von Neumann's acceptance-rejection method, with b-value as the parameter that breaks symmetry between small and large earthquakes. The Gutenberg-Richter law's b-value forms a link between earthquake statistics and physics. Dependence between b-value and the rupture area vs. slip scaling exponent is derived. The relationship enables us to explain observed ranges of b-values for different types of earthquakes. Specifically, different b-value ranges for tectonic and induced, hydraulic fracturing seismicity is explained in terms of their different triggering mechanisms: by the applied stress increase and fault strength reduction, respectively.

Long-wave instabilities of two interlaced helical vortices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quaranta, H. U.; Brynjell-Rahkola, M.; Leweke, T.; Henningson, D. S.

2016-09-01

We present a comparison between experimental observations and theoretical predictions concerning long-wave displacement instabilities of the helical vortices in the wake of a two-bladed rotor. Experiments are performed with a small-scale rotor in a water channel, using a set-up that allows the individual triggering of various instability modes at different azimuthal wave numbers, leading to local or global pairing of successive vortex loops. The initial development of the instability and the measured growth rates are in good agreement with the predictions from linear stability theory, based on an approach where the helical vortex system is represented by filaments. At later times, local pairing develops into large-scale distortions of the vortices, whereas for global pairing the non-linear evolution returns the system almost to its initial geometry.

Dynamic triggering

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, David P.; Prejean, Stephanie; Schubert, Gerald

2015-01-01

Dynamic stresses propagating as seismic waves from large earthquakes trigger a spectrum of responses at global distances. In addition to locally triggered earthquakes in a variety of tectonic environments, dynamic stresses trigger tectonic (nonvolcanic) tremor in the brittle–plastic transition zone along major plate-boundary faults, activity changes in hydrothermal and volcanic systems, and, in hydrologic domains, changes in spring discharge, water well levels, soil liquefaction, and the eruption of mud volcanoes. Surface waves with periods of 15–200 s are the most effective triggering agents; body-wave trigger is less frequent. Triggering dynamic stresses can be < 1 kPa.

Tests of remote aftershock triggering by small mainshocks using Taiwan's earthquake catalog

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, W.; Toda, S.

2014-12-01

To understand earthquake interaction and forecast time-dependent seismic hazard, it is essential to evaluate which stress transfer, static or dynamic, plays a major role to trigger aftershocks and subsequent mainshocks. Felzer and Brodsky focused on small mainshocks (2≤M<3) and their aftershocks, and then argued that only dynamic stress change brings earthquake-to-earthquake triggering, whereas Richards-Dingers et al. (2010) claimed that those selected small mainshock-aftershock pairs were not earthquake-to-earthquake triggering but simultaneous occurrence of independent aftershocks following a larger earthquake or during a significant swarm sequence. We test those hypotheses using Taiwan's earthquake catalog by taking the advantage of lacking any larger event and the absence of significant seismic swarm typically seen with active volcano. Using Felzer and Brodsky's method and their standard parameters, we only found 14 mainshock-aftershock pairs occurred within 20 km distance in Taiwan's catalog from 1994 to 2010. Although Taiwan's catalog has similar number of earthquakes as California's, the number of pairs is about 10% of the California catalog. It may indicate the effect of no large earthquakes and no significant seismic swarm in the catalog. To fully understand the properties in the Taiwan's catalog, we loosened the screening parameters to earn more pairs and then found a linear aftershock density with a power law decay of -1.12±0.38 that is very similar to the one in Felzer and Brodsky. However, none of those mainshock-aftershock pairs were associated with a M7 rupture event or M6 events. To find what mechanism controlled the aftershock density triggered by small mainshocks in Taiwan, we randomized earthquake magnitude and location. We then found that those density decay in a short time period is more like a randomized behavior than mainshock-aftershock triggering. Moreover, 5 out of 6 pairs were found in a swarm-like temporal seismicity rate increase. They locate mostly in high geothermal gradient areas, which are probably triggered by a small-scale aseismic process. Thus it rather supports the argument of Richards-Dingers et al. in which dynamic triggering by small mainshock is untenable.

Large-scale Map of Millimeter-wavelength Hydrogen Radio Recombination Lines around a Young Massive Star Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen-Luong, Q.; Anderson, L. D.; Motte, F.; Kim, Kee-Tae; Schilke, P.; Carlhoff, P.; Beuther, H.; Schneider, N.; Didelon, P.; Kramer, C.; Louvet, F.; Nony, T.; Bihr, S.; Rugel, M.; Soler, J.; Wang, Y.; Bronfman, L.; Simon, R.; Menten, K. M.; Wyrowski, F.; Walmsley, C. M.

2017-08-01

We report the first map of large-scale (10 pc in length) emission of millimeter-wavelength hydrogen recombination lines (mm-RRLs) toward the giant H II region around the W43-Main young massive star cluster (YMC). Our mm-RRL data come from the IRAM 30 m telescope and are analyzed together with radio continuum and cm-RRL data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and HCO+ 1-0 line emission data from the IRAM 30 m. The mm-RRLs reveal an expanding wind-blown ionized gas shell with an electron density ˜70-1500 cm-3 driven by the WR/OB cluster, which produces a total Lyα photon flux of 1.5× {10}50 s-1. This shell is interacting with the dense neutral molecular gas in the W43-Main dense cloud. Combining the high spectral and angular resolution mm-RRL and cm-RRL cubes, we derive the two-dimensional relative distributions of dynamical and pressure broadening of the ionized gas emission and find that the RRL line shapes are dominated by pressure broadening (4-55 {km} {{{s}}}-1) near the YMC and by dynamical broadening (8-36 {km} {{{s}}}-1) near the shell’s edge. Ionized gas clumps hosting ultra-compact H II regions found at the edge of the shell suggest that large-scale ionized gas motion triggers the formation of new star generation near the periphery of the shell.

Triggered seismicity and deformation between the Landers, California, and Little Skull Mountain, Nevada, earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bodin, Paul; Gomberg, Joan

1994-01-01

This article presents evidence for the channeling of strain energy released by the Ms = 7.4 Landers, California, earthquake within the eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). We document an increase in seismicity levels during the 22-hr period starting with the Landers earthquake and culminating 22 hr later with the Ms = 5.4 Little Skull Mountain (LSM), Nevada, earthquake. We evaluate the completeness of regional seismicity catalogs during this period and find that the continuity of post-Landers strain release within the ECSZ is even more pronounced than is evident from the catalog data. We hypothesize that regional-scale connectivity of faults within the ECSZ and LSM region is a critical ingredient in the unprecedented scale and distribution of remotely triggered earthquakes and geodetically manifest strain changes that followed the Landers earthquake. The viability of static strain changes as triggering agents is tested using numerical models. Modeling results illustrate that regional-scale fault connectivity can increase the static strain changes by approximately an order of magnitude at distances of at least 280 km, the distance between the Landers and LSM epicenters. This is possible for models that include both a network of connected faults that slip “sympathetically” and realistic levels of tectonic prestrain. Alternatively, if dynamic strains are a more significant triggering agent than static strains, ECSZ structure may still be important in determining the distribution of triggered seismic and aseismic deformation.

Hydroclimatic variability in the Lake Mondsee region and its relationships with large-scale climate anomaly patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rimbu, Norel; Ionita, Monica; Swierczynski, Tina; Brauer, Achim; Kämpf, Lucas; Czymzik, Markus

2017-04-01

Flood triggered detrital layers in varved sediments of Lake Mondsee, located at the northern fringe of the European Alps (47°48'N,13°23'E), provide an important archive of regional hydroclimatic variability during the mid- to late Holocene. To improve the interpretation of the flood layer record in terms of large-scale climate variability, we investigate the relationships between observational hydrological records from the region, like the Mondsee lake level, the runoff of the lake's main inflow Griesler Ache, with observed precipitation and global climate patterns. The lake level shows a strong positive linear trend during the observational period in all seasons. Additionally, lake level presents important interannual to multidecadal variations. These variations are associated with distinct seasonal atmospheric circulation patterns. A pronounced anomalous anticyclonic center over the Iberian Peninsula is associated with high lake levels values during winter. This center moves southwestward during spring, summer and autumn. In the same time, a cyclonic anomaly center is recorded over central and western Europe. This anomalous circulation extends southwestward from winter to autumn. Similar atmospheric circulation patterns are associated with river runoff and precipitation variability from the region. High lake levels are associated with positive local precipitation anomalies in all seasons as well as with negative local temperature anomalies during spring, summer and autumn. A correlation analysis reveals that lake level, runoff and precipitation variability is related to large-scale sea surface temperature anomaly patterns in all seasons suggesting a possible impact of large-scale climatic modes, like the North Atlantic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on hydroclimatic variability in the Lake Mondsee region. The results presented in this study can be used for a more robust interpretation of the long flood layer record from Lake Mondsee sediments in terms of regional and large-scale climate variability during the past.

Comparison of recent sedimentation patterns in Mondsee and Hallstätter See (Upper Austria) and implications for palaeoflood reconstructions in the Eastern European Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauterbach, Stefan; Kämpf, Lucas; Swierczynski, Tina; Tjallingii, Rik; Brauer, Achim

2017-04-01

Rainfall-triggered flood events represent one of the most serious societal and economic threats in Central Europe. Nevertheless, the thorough assessment of this hazard is still limited by the restricted knowledge about the long-term spatio-temporal recurrence patterns and complex climatic trigger mechanisms of extreme flood events. As instrumental and documentary flood time series rarely exceed a few hundred years, long and precisely dated palaeoflood records from natural archives, e.g. lake sediments, offer an excellent opportunity to gain important information about long-term flood dynamics. This can improve the understanding of flood occurrence under different climatic boundary conditions as well as flood-generating processes and thus allow a more reliable assessment of future flood scenarios. However, the spatial coverage of lake sediment palaeoflood records across Europe is still limited and individual lakes are very heterogeneous in their sedimentological response and sensitivity to flooding. It therefore remains questionable whether single lake sediment palaeoflood records are representative on a larger spatial scale. Investigating adjacent lakes in terms of their individual flood response can therefore (1) help to improve the understanding of key hydro-climatological variables and lake internal processes, both controlling flood layer deposition, and (2) allow to assess the completeness and representativeness of single palaeoflood records, particularly with regard to different flood seasonality. Here we present first data from a project aiming at establishing a new palaeoflood record for the Eastern Alps by investigating the sediments of Hallstätter See in the Calcareous Alps of Upper Austria. These are compared with results from adjacent Mondsee (ca. 35 km to the northwest), located at the northern fringe of the Calcareous Alps. The recent sediments from these two lakes have been investigated with respect to their reflection of large flood events by using detailed sediment microfacies analysis on large-scale thin sections and high-resolution µ-XRF scanning. The depositional environment in Hallstätter See is mainly controlled by seasonally variable and largely runoff-triggered input of allochthonous clastic-detrital material by the Traun River, a major tributary of the Danube. In consequence, the sediments reveal a complex cm- to sub-mm-scale lamination, reflecting detrital input by frequent individual runoff events that are not necessarily extreme floods. This largely contrasts the depositional environment in Mondsee, where detrital material delivered through the relatively small tributaries is intercalated within the regular endogenic calcite varves only during major flood events. This comparison highlights that both lake systems are very different in their response to flooding, depending on catchment geology and morphology, tributary characteristics as well as flood seasonality. Hence, even for lakes in the same climatic domain, the comparison of resulting palaeoflood records is not necessarily straightforward since every lake sediment record only reflects certain aspects of regional flood history, strongly influenced by the individual characteristics of the lake system.

Global Search of Triggered Tectonic Tremor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Z.; Aiken, C.; Chao, K.; Gonzalez-Huizar, H.; Wang, B.; Ojha, L.; Yang, H.

2013-05-01

Deep tectonic tremor has been observed at major plate-boundary faults around the Pacific Rim. While regular or ambient tremor occurs spontaneously or accompanies slow-slip events, tremor could be also triggered by large distant earthquakes and solid earth tides. Because triggered tremor occurs on the same fault patches as ambient tremor and is relatively easy to identify, a systematic global search of triggered tremor could help to identify the physical mechanisms and necessary conditions for tremor generation. Here we conduct a global search of tremor triggered by large teleseismic earthquakes. We mainly focus on major faults with significant strain accumulations where no tremor has been reported before. These includes subduction zones in Central and South America, strike-slip faults around the Caribbean plate, the Queen Charlotte-Fairweather fault system and the Denali fault in the western Canada and Alaska, the Sumatra-Java subduction zone, the Himalaya frontal thrust faults, as well as major strike-slip faults around Tibet. In each region, we first compute the predicted dynamic stresses σd from global earthquakes with magnitude>=5.0 in the past 20 years, and select events with σd > 1 kPa. Next, we download seismic data recorded by stations from local or global seismic networks, and identify triggered tremor as a high-frequency non-impulsive signal that is in phase with the large-amplitude teleseismic waves. In cases where station distributions are dense enough, we also locate tremor based on the standard envelope cross-correlation techniques. Finally, we calculate the triggering potential for the Love and Rayleigh waves with the local fault orientation and surface-wave incident angles. So far we have found several new places that are capable of generating triggered tremor. We will summarize these observations and discuss their implications on physical mechanisms of tremor and remote triggering.

Design, Modeling, and Fabrication of Chemical Vapor Deposition Grown MoS2 Circuits with E-Mode FETs for Large-Area Electronics.

PubMed

Yu, Lili; El-Damak, Dina; Radhakrishna, Ujwal; Ling, Xi; Zubair, Ahmad; Lin, Yuxuan; Zhang, Yuhao; Chuang, Meng-Hsi; Lee, Yi-Hsien; Antoniadis, Dimitri; Kong, Jing; Chandrakasan, Anantha; Palacios, Tomas

2016-10-12

Two-dimensional electronics based on single-layer (SL) MoS 2 offers significant advantages for realizing large-scale flexible systems owing to its ultrathin nature, good transport properties, and stable crystalline structure. In this work, we utilize a gate first process technology for the fabrication of highly uniform enhancement mode FETs with large mobility and excellent subthreshold swing. To enable large-scale MoS 2 circuit, we also develop Verilog-A compact models that accurately predict the performance of the fabricated MoS 2 FETs as well as a parametrized layout cell for the FET to facilitate the design and layout process using computer-aided design (CAD) tools. Using this CAD flow, we designed combinational logic gates and sequential circuits (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XNOR, latch, edge-triggered register) as well as switched capacitor dc-dc converter, which were then fabricated using the proposed flow showing excellent performance. The fabricated integrated circuits constitute the basis of a standard cell digital library that is crucial for electronic circuit design using hardware description languages. The proposed design flow provides a platform for the co-optimization of the device fabrication technology and circuits design for future ubiquitous flexible and transparent electronics using two-dimensional materials.

Steps Towards Understanding Large-scale Deformation of Gas Hydrate-bearing Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, S.; Deusner, C.; Haeckel, M.; Kossel, E.

2016-12-01

Marine sediments bearing gas hydrates are typically characterized by heterogeneity in the gas hydrate distribution and anisotropy in the sediment-gas hydrate fabric properties. Gas hydrates also contribute to the strength and stiffness of the marine sediment, and any disturbance in the thermodynamic stability of the gas hydrates is likely to affect the geomechanical stability of the sediment. Understanding mechanisms and triggers of large-strain deformation and failure of marine gas hydrate-bearing sediments is an area of extensive research, particularly in the context of marine slope-stability and industrial gas production. The ultimate objective is to predict severe deformation events such as regional-scale slope failure or excessive sand production by using numerical simulation tools. The development of such tools essentially requires a careful analysis of thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical behavior of gas hydrate-bearing sediments at lab-scale, and its stepwise integration into reservoir-scale simulators through definition of effective variables, use of suitable constitutive relations, and application of scaling laws. One of the focus areas of our research is to understand the bulk coupled behavior of marine gas hydrate systems with contributions from micro-scale characteristics, transport-reaction dynamics, and structural heterogeneity through experimental flow-through studies using high-pressure triaxial test systems and advanced tomographical tools (CT, ERT, MRI). We combine these studies to develop mathematical model and numerical simulation tools which could be used to predict the coupled hydro-geomechanical behavior of marine gas hydrate reservoirs in a large-strain framework. Here we will present some of our recent results from closely co-ordinated experimental and numerical simulation studies with an objective to capture the large-deformation behavior relevant to different gas production scenarios. We will also report on a variety of mechanically relevant test scenarios focusing on effects of dynamic changes in gas hydrate saturation, highly uneven gas hydrate distributions, focused fluid migration and gas hydrate production through depressurization and CO2 injection.

Active accommodation of plate convergence in Southern Iran: Earthquake locations, triggered aseismic slip, and regional strain rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnhart, William D.; Lohman, Rowena B.; Mellors, Robert J.

2013-10-01

We present a catalog of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) constraints on deformation that occurred during earthquake sequences in southern Iran between 1992 and 2011, and explore the implications on the accommodation of large-scale continental convergence between Saudi Arabia and Eurasia within the Zagros Mountains. The Zagros Mountains, a salt-laden fold-and-thrust belt involving ~10 km of sedimentary rocks overlying Precambrian basement rocks, have formed as a result of ongoing continental collision since 10-20 Ma that is currently occurring at a rate of ~3 cm/yr. We first demonstrate that there is a biased misfit in earthquake locations in global catalogs that likely results from neglect of 3-D velocity structure. Previous work involving two M ~ 6 earthquakes with well-recorded aftershocks has shown that the deformation observed with InSAR may represent triggered slip on faults much shallower than the primary earthquake, which likely occurred within the basement rocks (>10 km depth). We explore the hypothesis that most of the deformation observed with InSAR spanning earthquake sequences is also due to shallow, triggered slip above a deeper earthquake, effectively doubling the moment release for each event. We quantify the effects that this extra moment release would have on the discrepancy between seismically and geodetically constrained moment rates in the region, finding that even with the extra triggered fault slip, significant aseismic deformation during the interseismic period is necessary to fully explain the convergence between Eurasia and Saudi Arabia.

Mass-transport deposits and reservoir quality of Upper Cretaceous Chalk within the German Central Graben, North Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arfai, Jashar; Lutz, Rüdiger; Franke, Dieter; Gaedicke, Christoph; Kley, Jonas

2016-04-01

The architecture of intra-chalk deposits in the `Entenschnabel' area of the German North Sea is studied based on 3D seismic data. Adapted from seismic reflection characteristics, four types of mass-transport deposits (MTDs) are distinguished, i.e. slumps, slides, channels and frontal splay deposits. The development of these systems can be linked to inversion tectonics and halotectonic movements of Zechstein salt. Tectonic uplift is interpreted to have caused repeated tilting of the sea floor. This triggered large-scale slump deposition during Turonian-Santonian times. Slump deposits are characterised by chaotic reflection patterns interpreted to result from significant stratal distortion. The south-eastern study area is characterised by a large-scale frontal splay complex. This comprises a network of shallow channel systems arranged in a distributive pattern. Several slide complexes are observed near the Top Chalk in Maastrichtian and Danian sediments. These slides are commonly associated with large incisions into the sediments below. Best reservoir properties with high producible porosities are found in the reworked chalk strata, e.g. Danish North Sea, therefore MTDs detected in the study area are regarded as potential hydrocarbon reservoirs and considered as exploration targets.

Triggering up states in all-to-all coupled neurons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngo, H.-V. V.; Köhler, J.; Mayer, J.; Claussen, J. C.; Schuster, H. G.

2010-03-01

Slow-wave sleep in mammalians is characterized by a change of large-scale cortical activity currently paraphrased as cortical Up/Down states. A recent experiment demonstrated a bistable collective behaviour in ferret slices, with the remarkable property that the Up states can be switched on and off with pulses, or excitations, of same polarity; whereby the effect of the second pulse significantly depends on the time interval between the pulses. Here we present a simple time-discrete model of a neural network that exhibits this type of behaviour, as well as quantitatively reproduces the time dependence found in the experiments.

Rapid magnetic reconnection caused by finite amplitude fluctuations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W. H.; Lamkin, S. L.

1985-01-01

The nonlinear dynamics of the magnetohydrodynamic sheet pinch have been investigated as an unforced initial value problem for large scale Reynolds numbers up to 1000. Reconnection is triggered by adding to the sheet pinch a small but finite level of broadband random perturbations. Effects of turbulence in the solutions include the production of reconnected magnetic islands at rates that are insensitive to resistivity at early times. This is explained by noting that electric field fluctuations near the X point produce irregularities in the vector potential, sometimes taking the form of 'magnetic bubbles', which allow rapid change of field topology.

Hard-X-Ray-Induced Multistep Ultrafast Dissociation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Travnikova, Oksana; Marchenko, Tatiana; Goldsztejn, Gildas; Jänkälä, Kari; Sisourat, Nicolas; Carniato, Stéphane; Guillemin, Renaud; Journel, Loïc; Céolin, Denis; Püttner, Ralph; Iwayama, Hiroshi; Shigemasa, Eiji; Piancastelli, Maria Novella; Simon, Marc

2016-05-01

Creation of deep core holes with very short (τ ≤1 fs ) lifetimes triggers a chain of relaxation events leading to extensive nuclear dynamics on a few-femtosecond time scale. Here we demonstrate a general multistep ultrafast dissociation on an example of HCl following Cl 1 s →σ* excitation. Intermediate states with one or multiple holes in the shallower core electron shells are generated in the course of the decay cascades. The repulsive character and large gradients of the potential energy surfaces of these intermediates enable ultrafast fragmentation after the absorption of a hard x-ray photon.

Friction Regimes of Water-Lubricated Diamond (111): Role of Interfacial Ether Groups and Tribo-Induced Aromatic Surface Reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuwahara, Takuya; Moras, Gianpietro; Moseler, Michael

2017-09-01

Large-scale quantum molecular dynamics of water-lubricated diamond (111) surfaces in sliding contact reveals multiple friction regimes. While water starvation causes amorphization of the tribological interface, small H2O traces are sufficient to preserve crystallinity. This can result in high friction due to cold welding via ether groups or in ultralow friction due to aromatic surface passivation triggered by tribo-induced Pandey reconstruction. At higher water coverage, Grotthuss-type diffusion and H2O dissociation yield dense H /OH surface passivation leading to another ultralow friction regime.

Rain-triggered lahars following the 2010 eruption of Merapi volcano, Indonesia: A major risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Bélizal, Edouard; Lavigne, Franck; Hadmoko, Danang Sri; Degeai, Jean-Philippe; Dipayana, Gilang Aria; Mutaqin, Bachtiar Wahyu; Marfai, Muh Aris; Coquet, Marie; Mauff, Baptiste Le; Robin, Anne-Kyria; Vidal, Céline; Cholik, Noer; Aisyah, Nurnaning

2013-07-01

The 2010 VEI 4 eruption of Merapi volcano deposited roughly ten times the volume of pyroclastic materials of the 1994 and 2006 eruptions, and is recognized as one of the most intense eruption since 1872. However, as the eruptive phase is now over, another threat endangers local communities: rain-triggered lahars. Previous papers on lahars at Merapi presented lahar-related risk following small-scale dome-collapse PDCs. Thus the aim of this study is to provide new insights on lahar-related risk following a large scale VEI 4 eruption. The paper highlights the high number of events (240) during the 2010-2011 rainy season (October 2010-May 2011). The frequency of the 2010-2011 lahars is also the most important ever recorded at Merapi. Lahars occurred in almost all drainages located under the active cone, with runout distances exceeding 15 km. The geomorphic impacts of lahars on the distal slope of the volcano are then explained as they directly threaten houses and infrastructures: creation of large corridors, avulsions, riverbank erosion and riverbed downcutting are detailed through local scale examples. Related damage is also studied: 860 houses damaged, 14 sabo-dams and 21 bridges destroyed. Sedimentological characteristics of volcaniclastic sediments in lahar corridors are presented, with emphasis on the resource in building material that they represent for local communities. Risk studies should not forget that thousands of people are exposing themselves to lahar hazard when they quarry volcaniclastic sediment on lahar corridors. Finally, the efficient community-based crisis management is explained, and shows how local people organize themselves to manage the risk: 3 fatalities were reported, although lahars reached densely populated areas. To summarize, this study provides an update of lahar risk issues at Merapi, with emphasis on the distal slope of the volcano where lahars had not occurred for 40 years, and where lahar corridors were rapidly formed.

Tremor evidence for dynamically triggered creep events on the deep San Andreas Fault

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Z.; Shelly, D. R.; Hill, D. P.; Aiken, C.

2010-12-01

Deep tectonic tremor has been observed along major subduction zones and the San Andreas fault (SAF) in central and southern California. It appears to reflect deep fault slip, and it is often seen to be triggered by small stresses, including passing seismic waves from large regional and teleseismic earthquakes. Here we examine tremor activity along the Parkfield-Cholame section of the SAF from mid-2001 to early 2010, scrutinizing its relationship with regional and teleseismic earthquakes. Based on similarities in the shape and timing of seismic waveforms, we conclude that triggered and ambient tremor share common sources and a common physical mechanism. Utilizing this similarity in waveforms, we detect tremor triggered by numerous large events, including previously unreported triggering from the recent 2009 Mw7.3 Honduras, 2009 Mw8.1 Samoa, and 2010 Mw8.8 Chile earthquakes at teleseismic distances, and the relatively small 2007 Mw5.4 Alum Rock and 2008 Mw5.4 Chino Hills earthquakes at regional distances. We also find multiple examples of systematic migration in triggered tremor, similar to ambient tremor migration episodes observed at other times. Because these episodes propagate much more slowly than the triggering waves, the migration likely reflects a small, triggered creep event. As with ambient tremor bursts, triggered tremor at times persists for multiple days, probably indicating a somewhat larger creep event. This activity provides a clear example of delayed dynamic triggering, with a mechanism perhaps also relevant for triggering of regular earthquakes.

Go in for the kill: How plants deploy effector-triggered immunity to combat pathogens. [Corrected].

PubMed

Wu, Liang; Chen, Huan; Curtis, Chad; Fu, Zheng Qing

2014-01-01

Plant resistance (R) proteins perceive specific pathogen effectors from diverse plant pathogens to initiate defense responses, designated effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Plant R proteins are mostly nucleotide binding-leucine rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins, which recognize pathogen effectors directly or indirectly through sophisticated mechanisms. Upon activation by effector proteins, R proteins elicit robust defense responses, including a rapid burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), induced biosynthesis and accumulation of salicylic acid (SA), a rapid programmed cell death (PCD) called hypersensitive response (HR) at the infection sites, and increased expression of pathogenesis-related (PR) genes. Initiation of ETI is correlated with a complex network of defense signaling pathways, resulting in defensive cellular responses and large-scale transcriptional reprogramming events. In this review, we highlight important recent advances on the recognition of effectors, regulation and activation of plant R proteins, dynamic intracellular trafficking of R proteins, induction of cell death, and transcriptional reprogramming associated with ETI. Current knowledge gaps and future research directions are also discussed in this review.

On the impact of forced roll convection on vertical turbulent transport in cold air outbreaks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gryschka, Micha; Fricke, Jens; Raasch, Siegfried

2014-11-01

We investigated the impact of roll convection on the convective boundary layer and vertical transports in different cold air outbreak (CAO) scenarios using large eddy simulations (LES). The organization of convection into rolls was triggered by upstream heterogeneities in the surface temperature, representing ice and water. By changing the sea ice distribution in our LES, we were able to simulate a roll and a nonroll case for each scenario. Furthermore, the roll wavelength was varied by changing the scale of the heterogeneity. The characteristics of the simulated rolls and cloud streets, such as aspect ratios, orientation of the roll axes, and downstream extensions of single rolls agreed closely with observations in CAO situations. The vertical turbulent fluxes, calculated for each simulation, were decomposed into contributions from rolls and from unorganized turbulence. Even though our results confirmed that rolls triggered by upstream heterogeneities can substantially contribute to vertical turbulent fluxes, the total fluxes were not affected by the rolls.

A framework for nowcasting and forecasting of rainfall-triggered landslide activity using remotely sensed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirschbaum, Dalia; Stanley, Thomas

2016-04-01

Remote sensing data offers the unique perspective to provide situational awareness of hydrometeorological hazards over large areas in a way that is impossible to achieve with in situ data. Recent work has shown that rainfall-triggered landslides, while typically local hazards that occupy small spatial areas, can be approximated over regional or global scales in near real-time. This work presents a regional and global approach to approximating potential landslide activity using the landslide hazard assessment for situational awareness (LHASA) model. This system couples remote sensing data, including Global Precipitation Measurement rainfall data, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and other surface variables to estimate where and when landslide activity may be likely. This system also evaluates the effectiveness of quantitative precipitation estimates from the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 to provide a 24 forecast of potential landslide activity. Preliminary results of the LHASA model and implications for are presented for a regional version of this system in Central America as well as a prototype global approach.

CO2 – Intrinsic Product, Essential Substrate, and Regulatory Trigger of Microbial and Mammalian Production Processes

PubMed Central

Blombach, Bastian; Takors, Ralf

2015-01-01

Carbon dioxide formation mirrors the final carbon oxidation steps of aerobic metabolism in microbial and mammalian cells. As a consequence, CO2/HCO3− dissociation equilibria arise in fermenters by the growing culture. Anaplerotic reactions make use of the abundant CO2/HCO3− levels for refueling citric acid cycle demands and for enabling oxaloacetate-derived products. At the same time, CO2 is released manifold in metabolic reactions via decarboxylation activity. The levels of extracellular CO2/HCO3− depend on cellular activities and physical constraints such as hydrostatic pressures, aeration, and the efficiency of mixing in large-scale bioreactors. Besides, local CO2/HCO3− levels might also act as metabolic inhibitors or transcriptional effectors triggering regulatory events inside the cells. This review gives an overview about fundamental physicochemical properties of CO2/HCO3− in microbial and mammalian cultures effecting cellular physiology, production processes, metabolic activity, and transcriptional regulation. PMID:26284242

Preface to the volume Large Rivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latrubesse, Edgardo M.; Abad, Jorge D.

2018-02-01

The study and knowledge of the geomorphology of large rivers increased significantly during the last years and the factors that triggered these advances are multiple. On one hand, modern technologies became more accessible and their disseminated usage allowed the collection of data from large rivers as never seen before. The generalized use of high tech data collection with geophysics equipment such as acoustic Doppler current profilers-ADCPs, multibeam echosounders, plus the availability of geospatial and computational tools for morphodynamics, hydrological and hydrosedimentological modeling, have accelerated the scientific production on the geomorphology of large rivers at a global scale. Despite the advances, there is yet a lot of work ahead. Good parts of the large rivers are in the tropics and many are still unexplored. The tropics also hold crucial fluvial basins that concentrate good part of the gross domestic product of large countries like the Parana River in Argentina and Brazil, the Ganges-Brahmaputra in India, the Indus River in Pakistan, and the Mekong River in several countries of South East Asia. The environmental importance of tropical rivers is also outstanding. They hold the highest biodiversity of fluvial fauna and alluvial vegetation and many of them, particularly those in Southeast Asia, are among the most hazardous systems for floods in the entire world. Tropical rivers draining mountain chains such as the Himalaya, the Andes and insular Southeast Asia are also among the most heavily sediment loaded rivers and play a key role in both the storage of sediment at continental scale and the transference of sediments from the continent to the Ocean at planetary scale (Andermann et al., 2012; Latrubesse and Restrepo, 2014; Milliman and Syvitski, 1992; Milliman and Farsnworth, 2011; Sinha and Friend, 1994).

A search for non-triggered events in the BATSE data base

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kommers, J. M.; Lewin, W. H. G.; Kouveliotou, C.

1998-05-16

The archival data from BATSE permit a search for transients that did not activate the onboard burst trigger. Examples of such non-triggered events include faint gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), emission from soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs), and bursts and flares from X-ray binaries. A GRB may fail to trigger onboard because it is too faint, because it occurs while the onboard trigger is disabled, or because it biases the onboard background estimation. We describe a search of the BATSE archival data that is sensitive to GRBs with peak fluxes fainter by a factor of {approx}2 than those detected with the onboard burstmore » trigger (on the 1.024 s time scale)« less

Natural hazard impact on the technosphere: "blackouts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrova, E. G.

2012-04-01

In recent years, natural-technological accidents (NTA) and disasters are increasing in their number and severity all over the world. The term "natural-technological accident (disaster)" applies for an accident (disaster) in the technosphere triggered by any natural process or phenomenon. Their growth is caused, on the one hand, by observed increasing in the frequency and intensity of some natural hazards and hazardous events due to climate change and, on the other hand, by a growing complication of the modern technosphere exposed to natural impacts and advancement of economic activities into the area at natural risk. The most large-scaled natural-technological disaster happened on March 11, 2011 in Japan, as a result of a massive earthquake and tsunami that caused a number of serious technological accidents, including accidents at "Fukushima-1" nuclear power plant, etc. Severe social, ecological and economic consequences of large-scaled NTA make investigation of these events especially important. The most frequent among NTA occurring in Russia are breakdowns in electric power supply systems that lead to so-called "blackouts" (accidental power outages). They are mainly caused by strong winds, snowstorms, deposition of ice, sleet, and snow, rainfalls, floods, and hailstones. Among other triggers earthquakes, hard frost, fierce heat, thunderstorms, landslides, snow avalanches, and debris flows should be mentioned. The great part of transmission facilities in Russia falls on overhead lines that are especially vulnerable to natural impacts. In general, natural triggers are responsible for more than 70 percent of all accidents in power supply systems. They occur more often in Far East, in the Southern and North-Western federal districts, and in some regions of the Central Russia, which are prone to hurricanes, cyclones, snowstorms, and heavy rainfalls accompanying by hailstones, icing, and sleet. A distinctive feature of these events is their synergistic nature, as power outages can cause a chain of other accidents at heat- and water supply, industrial plants, transport and communication facilities, producing so-called "domino effect". A modernization of facilities, replacement of overhead lines by underground cables and protection from falling trees can reduce the problem.

Geomodels of coseismic landslides environments in Central Chile.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Serey, A.; Sepulveda, S. A.; Murphy, W.; Petley, D. N.

2017-12-01

Landslides are a major source of fatalities and damage during strong earthquakes in mountain areas. Detailed geomodels of coseismic landslides environments are essential parts of seismic landslide hazard analyses. The development of a site specific geological model is required, based on consideration of the regional and local geological and geomorphological history and the current ground surface conditions. An engineering geological model is any approximation of the geological conditions, at varying scales, created for the purpose of solving an engineering problem. In our case, the objective is the development of a methodology for earthquake-induced landslide hazard assessment applicable to urban/territorial planning and disaster prevention strategies assessment at a regional scale adapted for the Chilean tectonic conditions. We have developed the only 2 complete inventories of landslides triggered by earthquakes in Chile. The first from the Mw 6.2, shallow crustal Aysén earthquake in 2007. Second one from the Mw 8.8, megathrust subduction Maule earthquake in 2010. From the comparison of these 2 inventories with others from abroad, as well as analysis of large, prehistoric landslide inventories proposed as likely induced by seismic activity we have determined topographic, geomorphological, geological and seismic controlling factors in the occurrence of earthquake-triggered landslides. With the information collected we have defined different environments for generation of coseismic landslides based on the construction of geomodels. As a result we have built several geomodels in the Santiago Cordillera in central Chile (33°S), based upon the San Ramón Fault, a west-vergent reverse fault that outcrops at the edge of Santiago basin recently found to be active and a likely source of seismic activity in the future, with potential of triggering landslides in the Santiago mountain front as well as inland into the Mapocho and Maipo Cordilleran valleys. In conclusion these geomodels are a powerful tool for earthquake-induced landslide hazard assessment. As an implication we can identify landslide-prone areas, distinguish different seismic scenarios and describe related potential hazards, including burial and river damming by large rock slides and rock avalanches.

Shaking up volcanoes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Prejean, Stephanie G.; Haney, Matthew M.

2014-01-01

Most volcanic eruptions that occur shortly after a large distant earthquake do so by random chance. A few compelling cases for earthquake-triggered eruptions exist, particularly within 200 km of the earthquake, but this phenomenon is rare in part because volcanoes must be poised to erupt in order to be triggered by an earthquake (1). Large earthquakes often perturb volcanoes in more subtle ways by triggering small earthquakes and changes in spring discharge and groundwater levels (1, 2). On page 80 of this issue, Brenguier et al. (3) provide fresh insight into the interaction of large earthquakes and volcanoes by documenting a temporary change in seismic velocity beneath volcanoes in Honshu, Japan, after the devastating Tohoku-Oki earthquake in 2011.

Relationships between Induced Seismicity and Fluid Injection: Development of Strategies to Manage Injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eichhubl, Peter; Frohlich, Cliff; Gale, Julia; Olson, Jon; Fan, Zhiqiang; Gono, Valerie

2014-05-01

Induced seismicity during or following the subsurface injection of waste fluids such as well stimulation flow back and production fluids has recently received heightened public and industry attention. It is understood that induced seismicity occurs by reactivation of existing faults that are generally present in the injection intervals. We seek to address the question why fluid injection triggers earthquakes in some areas and not in others, with the aim toward improved injection methods that optimize injection volume and cost while avoiding induced seismicity. A GIS database has been built of natural and induced earthquakes in four hydrocarbon-producing basins: the Fort Worth Basin, South Texas, East Texas/Louisiana, and the Williston Basin. These areas are associated with disposal from the Barnett, Eagle Ford, Bakken, and Haynesville Shales respectively. In each region we analyzed data that were been collected using temporary seismographs of the National Science Foundation's USArray Transportable Array. Injection well locations, formations, histories, and volumes are also mapped using public and licensed datasets. Faults are mapped at a range of scales for selected areas that show different levels of seismic activity, and scaling relationships used to extrapolate between the seismic and wellbore scale. Reactivation potential of these faults is assessed using fault occurrence, and in-situ stress conditions, identifying areas of high and low fault reactivation potential. A correlation analysis between fault reactivation potential, induced seismicity, and fluid injection will use spatial statistics to quantify the probability of seismic fault reactivation for a given injection pressure in the studied reservoirs. The limiting conditions inducing fault reactivation will be compared to actual injection parameters (volume, rate, injection duration and frequency) where available. The objective of this project is a statistical reservoir- to basin-scale assessment of fault reactivation and seismicity induced by fluid injection. By assessing the occurrence of earthquakes (M>2) evenly across large geographic regions, this project differs from previous studies of injection-induced seismicity that focused on earthquakes large enough to cause public concern in well-populated areas. The understanding of triggered seismicity gained through this project is expected to allow for improved design strategies for waste fluid injection to industry and public decision makers.

Systems biology for understanding and engineering of heterotrophic oleaginous microorganisms.

PubMed

Park, Beom Gi; Kim, Minsuk; Kim, Joonwon; Yoo, Heewang; Kim, Byung-Gee

2017-01-01

Heterotrophic oleaginous microorganisms continue to draw interest as they can accumulate a large amount of lipids which is a promising feedstock for the production of biofuels and oleochemicals. Nutrient limitation, especially nitrogen limitation, is known to effectively trigger the lipid production in these microorganisms. For the aim of developing improved strains, the mechanisms behind the lipid production have been studied for a long time. Nowadays, system-level understanding of their metabolism and associated metabolic switches is attainable with modern systems biology tools. This work reviews the systems biology studies, based on (i) top-down, large-scale 'omics' tools, and (ii) bottom-up, mathematical modeling methods, on the heterotrophic oleaginous microorganisms with an emphasis on further application to metabolic engineering. Copyright © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Increased topsoil carbon stock across China's forests.

PubMed

Yang, Yuanhe; Li, Pin; Ding, Jinzhi; Zhao, Xia; Ma, Wenhong; Ji, Chengjun; Fang, Jingyun

2014-08-01

Biomass carbon accumulation in forest ecosystems is a widespread phenomenon at both regional and global scales. However, as coupled carbon-climate models predicted, a positive feedback could be triggered if accelerated soil carbon decomposition offsets enhanced vegetation growth under a warming climate. It is thus crucial to reveal whether and how soil carbon stock in forest ecosystems has changed over recent decades. However, large-scale changes in soil carbon stock across forest ecosystems have not yet been carefully examined at both regional and global scales, which have been widely perceived as a big bottleneck in untangling carbon-climate feedback. Using newly developed database and sophisticated data mining approach, here we evaluated temporal changes in topsoil carbon stock across major forest ecosystem in China and analysed potential drivers in soil carbon dynamics over broad geographical scale. Our results indicated that topsoil carbon stock increased significantly within all of five major forest types during the period of 1980s-2000s, with an overall rate of 20.0 g C m(-2) yr(-1) (95% confidence interval, 14.1-25.5). The magnitude of soil carbon accumulation across coniferous forests and coniferous/broadleaved mixed forests exhibited meaningful increases with both mean annual temperature and precipitation. Moreover, soil carbon dynamics across these forest ecosystems were positively associated with clay content, with a larger amount of SOC accumulation occurring in fine-textured soils. In contrast, changes in soil carbon stock across broadleaved forests were insensitive to either climatic or edaphic variables. Overall, these results suggest that soil carbon accumulation does not counteract vegetation carbon sequestration across China's forest ecosystems. The combination of soil carbon accumulation and vegetation carbon sequestration triggers a negative feedback to climate warming, rather than a positive feedback predicted by coupled carbon-climate models. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Trigger and Readout System for the Ashra-1 Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aita, Y.; Aoki, T.; Asaoka, Y.; Morimoto, Y.; Motz, H. M.; Sasaki, M.; Abiko, C.; Kanokohata, C.; Ogawa, S.; Shibuya, H.; Takada, T.; Kimura, T.; Learned, J. G.; Matsuno, S.; Kuze, S.; Binder, P. M.; Goldman, J.; Sugiyama, N.; Watanabe, Y.

Highly sophisticated trigger and readout system has been developed for All-sky Survey High Resolution Air-shower (Ashra) detector. Ashra-1 detector has 42 degree diameter field of view. Detection of Cherenkov and fluorescence light from large background in the large field of view requires finely segmented and high speed trigger and readout system. The system is composed of optical fiber image transmission system, 64 × 64 channel trigger sensor and FPGA based trigger logic processor. The system typically processes the image within 10 to 30 ns and opens the shutter on the fine CMOS sensor. 64 × 64 coarse split image is transferred via 64 × 64 precisely aligned optical fiber bundle to a photon sensor. Current signals from the photon sensor are discriminated by custom made trigger amplifiers. FPGA based processor processes 64 × 64 hit pattern and correspondent partial area of the fine image is acquired. Commissioning earth skimming tau neutrino observational search was carried out with this trigger system. In addition to the geometrical advantage of the Ashra observational site, the excellent tau shower axis measurement based on the fine imaging and the night sky background rejection based on the fine and fast imaging allow zero background tau shower search. Adoption of the optical fiber bundle and trigger LSI realized 4k channel trigger system cheaply. Detectability of tau shower is also confirmed by simultaneously observed Cherenkov air shower. Reduction of the trigger threshold appears to enhance the effective area especially in PeV tau neutrino energy region. New two dimensional trigger LSI was introduced and the trigger threshold was lowered. New calibration system of the trigger system was recently developed and introduced to the Ashra detector

The Role of Deep Creep in the Timing of Large Earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sammis, C. G.; Smith, S. W.

2012-12-01

The observed temporal clustering of the world's largest earthquakes has been largely discounted for two reasons: a) it is consistent with Poisson clustering, and b) no physical mechanism leading to such clustering has been proposed. This lack of a mechanism arises primarily because the static stress transfer mechanism, commonly used to explain aftershocks and the clustering of large events on localized fault networks, does not work at global distances. However, there is recent observational evidence that the surface waves from large earthquakes trigger non-volcanic tremor at the base of distant fault zones at global distances. Based on these observations, we develop a simple non-linear coupled oscillator model that shows how the triggering of such tremor can lead to the synchronization of large earthquakes on a global scale. A basic assumption of the model is that induced tremor is a proxy for deep creep that advances the seismic cycle of the fault. We support this hypothesis by demonstrating that the 2010 Maule Chile and the 2011 Fukushima Japan earthquakes, which have been shown to induce tremor on the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas Fault, also produce changes in off-fault seismicity that are spatially and temporally consistent with episodes of deep creep on the fault. The observed spatial pattern can be simulated using an Okada dislocation model for deep creep (below 20 km) on the fault plane in which the slip rate decreases from North to South consistent with surface creep measurements and deepens south of the "Parkfield asperity" as indicated by recent tremor locations. The model predicts the off-fault events should have reverse mechanism consistent with observed topography.

Mini-filament Eruptions Triggering Confined Solar Flares Observed by ONSET and SDO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Shuhong; Zhang, Jun

2018-06-01

Using the observations from the Optical and Near-infrared Solar Eruption Tracer (ONSET) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), we study an M5.7 flare in AR 11476 on 2012 May 10 and a micro-flare in the quiet Sun on 2017 March 23. Before the onset of each flare, there is a reverse S-shaped filament above the polarity inversion line, then the filaments become unstable and begin to rise. The rising filaments gain the upper hand over the tension force of the dome-like overlying loops and thus successfully erupt outward. The footpoints of the reconnecting overlying loops successively brighten and are observed as two flare ribbons, while the newly formed low-lying loops appear as post-flare loops. These eruptions are similar to the classical model of successful filament eruptions associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However, the erupting filaments in this study move along large-scale lines and eventually reach the remote solar surface; i.e., no filament material is ejected into the interplanetary space. Thus, both the flares are confined. These results reveal that some successful filament eruptions can trigger confined flares. Our observations also imply that this kind of filament eruption may be ubiquitous on the Sun, from active regions (ARs) with large flares to the quiet Sun with micro-flares.

External versus internal triggers of bar formation in cosmological zoom-in simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zana, Tommaso; Dotti, Massimo; Capelo, Pedro R.; Bonoli, Silvia; Haardt, Francesco; Mayer, Lucio; Spinoso, Daniele

2018-01-01

The emergence of a large-scale stellar bar is one of the most striking features in disc galaxies. By means of state-of-the-art cosmological zoom-in simulations, we study the formation and evolution of bars in Milky Way-like galaxies in a fully cosmological context, including the physics of gas dissipation, star formation and supernova feedback. Our goal is to characterize the actual trigger of the non-axisymmetric perturbation that leads to the strong bar observable in the simulations at z = 0, discriminating between an internal/secular and an external/tidal origin. To this aim, we run a suite of cosmological zoom-in simulations altering the original history of galaxy-satellite interactions at a time when the main galaxy, though already bar-unstable, does not feature any non-axisymmetric structure yet. We find that the main effect of a late minor merger and of a close fly-by is to delay the time of bar formation and those two dynamical events are not directly responsible for the development of the bar and do not alter significantly its global properties (e.g. its final extension). We conclude that, once the disc has grown to a mass large enough to sustain global non-axisymmetric modes, then bar formation is inevitable.

Chapter two: Phenomenology of tsunamis II: scaling, event statistics, and inter-event triggering

USGS Publications Warehouse

Geist, Eric L.

2012-01-01

Observations related to tsunami catalogs are reviewed and described in a phenomenological framework. An examination of scaling relationships between earthquake size (as expressed by scalar seismic moment and mean slip) and tsunami size (as expressed by mean and maximum local run-up and maximum far-field amplitude) indicates that scaling is significant at the 95% confidence level, although there is uncertainty in how well earthquake size can predict tsunami size (R2 ~ 0.4-0.6). In examining tsunami event statistics, current methods used to estimate the size distribution of earthquakes and landslides and the inter-event time distribution of earthquakes are first reviewed. These methods are adapted to estimate the size and inter-event distribution of tsunamis at a particular recording station. Using a modified Pareto size distribution, the best-fit power-law exponents of tsunamis recorded at nine Pacific tide-gauge stations exhibit marked variation, in contrast to the approximately constant power-law exponent for inter-plate thrust earthquakes. With regard to the inter-event time distribution, significant temporal clustering of tsunami sources is demonstrated. For tsunami sources occurring in close proximity to other sources in both space and time, a physical triggering mechanism, such as static stress transfer, is a likely cause for the anomalous clustering. Mechanisms of earthquake-to-earthquake and earthquake-to-landslide triggering are reviewed. Finally, a modification of statistical branching models developed for earthquake triggering is introduced to describe triggering among tsunami sources.

Exploring the Web : The Active Galaxy Population in the ORELSE Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubin, Lori

What are the physical processes that trigger starburst and nuclear activity in galaxies and drive galaxy evolution? Studies aimed at understanding this complex issue have largely focused on the cores of galaxy clusters or on field surveys, leaving underexplored intermediate-density regimes where rapid evolution occurs. As a result, we are conducting the ORELSE survey, a search for structure on scales > 10 Mpc around 18 clusters at 0.6 < z < 1.3. The survey covers 5 sq. deg., all targeted at high-density regions, making it comparable to field surveys such as DEEP2 and COSMOS. ORELSE is unmatched, with no other cluster survey having comparable breadth, depth, precision, and multi-band coverage. As such, ORELSE overcomes critical problems with previous high-redshift studies, including cosmic variance, restricted environmental ranges, sparse cluster samples, inconsistent star formation rate measures, and limited spectroscopy. From its initial spectral and photometric components, ORELSE already contains wellmeasured properties such as redshift, color, stellar mass, and star formation rate for a statistical sample of 7000 field+cluster galaxies. Because X-ray and mid-IR observations are crucial for a complete census of the active galaxy population, we propose to use the wealth of archival Chandra, Spitzer, and Herschel data in the ORELSE fields to map AGN and starburst galaxies over large scales. When complete, our sample will exceed by more than an order of magnitude the current samples of spectroscopically-confirmed active galaxies in high-redshift clusters and their environs. Combined with our numerical simulations plus galaxy formation models, we will provide a robust census of the active galaxy population in intermediate and high-density environments at z = 1, constrain the physical processes (e.g., merging, intracluster gas interactions, AGN feedback) responsible for triggering/quenching starburst and nuclear activity, and estimate their associated timescales.

High cell density media for Escherichia coli are generally designed for aerobic cultivations – consequences for large-scale bioprocesses and shake flask cultures

PubMed Central

Soini, Jaakko; Ukkonen, Kaisa; Neubauer, Peter

2008-01-01

Background For the cultivation of Escherichia coli in bioreactors trace element solutions are generally designed for optimal growth under aerobic conditions. They do normally not contain selenium and nickel. Molybdenum is only contained in few of them. These elements are part of the formate hydrogen lyase (FHL) complex which is induced under anaerobic conditions. As it is generally known that oxygen limitation appears in shake flask cultures and locally in large-scale bioreactors, function of the FHL complex may influence the process behaviour. Formate has been described to accumulate in large-scale cultures and may have toxic effects on E. coli. Although the anaerobic metabolism of E. coli is well studied, reference data which estimate the impact of the FHL complex on bioprocesses of E. coli with oxygen limitation have so far not been published, but are important for a better process understanding. Results Two sets of fed-batch cultures with conditions triggering oxygen limitation and formate accumulation were performed. Permanent oxygen limitation which is typical for shake flask cultures was caused in a bioreactor by reduction of the agitation rate. Transient oxygen limitation, which has been described to eventually occur in the feed-zone of large-scale bioreactors, was mimicked in a two-compartment scale-down bioreactor consisting of a stirred tank reactor and a plug flow reactor (PFR) with continuous glucose feeding into the PFR. In both models formate accumulated up to about 20 mM in the culture medium without addition of selenium, molybdenum and nickel. By addition of these trace elements the formate accumulation decreased below the level observed in well-mixed laboratory-scale cultures. Interestingly, addition of the extra trace elements caused accumulation of large amounts of lactate and reduced biomass yield in the simulator with permanent oxygen limitation, but not in the scale-down two-compartment bioreactor. Conclusion The accumulation of formate in oxygen limited cultivations of E. coli can be fully prevented by addition of the trace elements selenium, nickel and molybdenum, necessary for the function of FHL complex. For large-scale cultivations, if glucose gradients are likely, the results from the two-compartment scale-down bioreactor indicate that the addition of the extra trace elements is beneficial. No negative effects on the biomass yield or on any other bioprocess parameters could be observed in cultures with the extra trace elements if the cells were repeatedly exposed to transient oxygen limitation. PMID:18687130

Performance of the NOνA Data Acquisition and Trigger Systems for the full 14 kT Far Detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norman, A.; Davies, G. S.; Ding, P. F.; Dukes, E. C.; Duyan, H.; Frank, M. J.; R. C. Group; Habig, A.; Henderson, W.; Niner, E.; Mina, R.; Moren, A.; Mualem, L.; Oksuzian, Y.; Rebel, B.; Shanahan, P.; Sheshukov, A.; Tamsett, M.; Tomsen, K.; Vinton, L.; Wang, Z.; Zamorano, B.; Zirnstien, J.

2015-12-01

The NOvA experiment uses a continuous, free-running, dead-timeless data acquisition system to collect data from the 14 kT far detector. The DAQ system readouts the more than 344,000 detector channels and assembles the information into an raw unfiltered high bandwidth data stream. The NOvA trigger systems operate in parallel to the readout and asynchronously to the primary DAQ readout/event building chain. The data driven triggering systems for NOvA are unique in that they examine long contiguous time windows of the high resolution readout data and enable the detector to be sensitive to a wide range of physics interactions from those with fast, nanosecond scale signals up to processes with long delayed coincidences between hits which occur at the tens of milliseconds time scale. The trigger system is able to achieve a true 100% live time for the detector, making it sensitive to both beam spill related and off-spill physics.

Imaging the distribution of transient viscosity after the 2016 Mw 7.1 Kumamoto earthquake.

PubMed

Moore, James D P; Yu, Hang; Tang, Chi-Hsien; Wang, Teng; Barbot, Sylvain; Peng, Dongju; Masuti, Sagar; Dauwels, Justin; Hsu, Ya-Ju; Lambert, Valère; Nanjundiah, Priyamvada; Wei, Shengji; Lindsey, Eric; Feng, Lujia; Shibazaki, Bunichiro

2017-04-14

The deformation of mantle and crustal rocks in response to stress plays a crucial role in the distribution of seismic and volcanic hazards, controlling tectonic processes ranging from continental drift to earthquake triggering. However, the spatial variation of these dynamic properties is poorly understood as they are difficult to measure. We exploited the large stress perturbation incurred by the 2016 earthquake sequence in Kumamoto, Japan, to directly image localized and distributed deformation. The earthquakes illuminated distinct regions of low effective viscosity in the lower crust, notably beneath the Mount Aso and Mount Kuju volcanoes, surrounded by larger-scale variations of viscosity across the back-arc. This study demonstrates a new potential for geodesy to directly probe rock rheology in situ across many spatial and temporal scales. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Remote Triggering in the Koyna-Warna Reservoir-Induced Seismic Zone, Western India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bansal, Abhey Ram; Rao, N. Purnachandra; Peng, Zhigang; Shashidhar, D.; Meng, Xiaofeng

2018-03-01

Dynamic triggering following large distant earthquakes has been observed in many regions globally. In this study, we present evidence for remote dynamic triggering in the Koyna-Warna region of Western India, which is known to be a premier site of reservoir-induced seismicity. Using data from a closely spaced broadband network of 11 stations operated in the region since 2005, we conduct a systematic search for dynamic triggering following 20 large distant earthquakes with dynamic stresses of at least 1 kPa in the region. We find that the only positive cases of dynamic triggering occurred during 11 April 2012, Mw8.6 Indian Ocean earthquake and its largest aftershock of Mw8.2. In the first case, microearthquakes started to occur in the first few cycles of the Love waves, and the largest event of magnitude 3.3 occurred during the first few cycles of the Rayleigh waves. The increase of microseismicity lasted for up to five days, including a magnitude 4.8 event occurred approximately three days later. Our results suggest that the Koyna-Warna region is stress sensitive and susceptible for remote dynamic triggering, although the apparent triggering threshold appears to be slightly higher than other regions.

Antarctic icequakes triggered by the 2010 Maule earthquake in Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Zhigang; Walter, Jacob I.; Aster, Richard C.; Nyblade, Andrew; Wiens, Douglas A.; Anandakrishnan, Sridhar

2014-09-01

Seismic waves from distant, large earthquakes can almost instantaneously trigger shallow micro-earthquakes and deep tectonic tremor as they pass through Earth's crust. Such remotely triggered seismic activity mostly occurs in tectonically active regions. Triggered seismicity is generally considered to reflect shear failure on critically stressed fault planes and is thought to be driven by dynamic stress perturbations from both Love and Rayleigh types of surface seismic wave. Here we analyse seismic data from Antarctica in the six hours leading up to and following the 2010 Mw 8.8 Maule earthquake in Chile. We identify many high-frequency seismic signals during the passage of the Rayleigh waves generated by the Maule earthquake, and interpret them as small icequakes triggered by the Rayleigh waves. The source locations of these triggered icequakes are difficult to determine owing to sparse seismic network coverage, but the triggered events generate surface waves, so are probably formed by near-surface sources. Our observations are consistent with tensile fracturing of near-surface ice or other brittle fracture events caused by changes in volumetric strain as the high-amplitude Rayleigh waves passed through. We conclude that cryospheric systems can be sensitive to large distant earthquakes.

Landslides triggered by the Minxian-Zhangxian, China, Mw 5.9 earthquake of 22 July 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Chong; Xu, Xiwei; Shyu, J. Bruce H.

2014-05-01

On July 22, 2013, an earthquake of Ms 6.6 occurred at the junction area of Minxian and Zhangxian counties, Gansu Province, China. This earthquake triggered many landslides of various types, dominated by small-scale soil falls, slides, and topples on loess scarps. There were also some deep-seated landslides, large-scale soil avalanches, and fissure-developing slopes. In this paper, an inventory of landslides triggered by this event is prepared based on field investigations and visual interpretation of high-resolution satellite images. The spatial distribution of the landslides is then analyzed. The inventory indicates that at least 2,330 landslides were triggered by the earthquake. A correlation statistics of the landslides with topographic, geologic, and earthquake factors is performed based on the GIS platform. The results show that the largest number of landslides and the highest landslide density are at 2,400m-2,600m of absolute elevation, and 200m-300m of relative elevation, respectively. The landslide density does not always increase with slope gradient as previously suggested. The slopes most prone to landslides are in S, SW, W, and NW directions. Concave slopes register higher landslide density and larger number of landslides than convex slopes. The largest number of landslides occurs on topographic position with middle slopes, whereas the highest landslide density corresponds to valleys and lower slopes. The underlying bedrocks consisting of conglomerate and sandstone of Lower Paleogene (Eb) register both the largest number of landslides and the highest landslide density value. There is no clear relationship between PGA and the co-seismic landslides. Correlations of landslide number and landslide density with perpendicular- and along-strike distance from the epicenter show an obvious spatial intensifying character of the co-seismic landslides. The spatial pattern of the co-seismic landslides is strongly controlled by a branch of the Lintan-Dangchang fault, which indicates the effect of seismogenic fault on co-seismic landslides. In addition, the landslide limit area related to the earthquake is compared to the relationship of "landslide limit area vs. earthquake magnitude" constructed based on earthquakes worldwide, and it is shown that the limit area of landslides triggered by the Minxian-Zhangxian earthquake is larger than that of almost all other events with similar magnitudes. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (41202235).

On the amplification of magnetic fields in cosmic filaments and galaxy clusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazza, F.; Brüggen, M.; Gheller, C.; Wang, P.

2014-12-01

The amplification of primordial magnetic fields via a small-scale turbulent dynamo during structure formation might be able to explain the observed magnetic fields in galaxy clusters. The magnetization of more tenuous large-scale structures such as cosmic filaments is more uncertain, as it is challenging for numerical simulations to achieve the required dynamical range. In this work, we present magnetohydrodynamical cosmological simulations on large uniform grids to study the amplification of primordial seed fields in the intracluster medium (ICM) and in the warm-hot-intergalactic medium (WHIM). In the ICM, we confirm that turbulence caused by structure formation can produce a significant dynamo amplification, even if the amplification is smaller than what is reported in other papers. In the WHIM inside filaments, we do not observe significant dynamo amplification, even though we achieve Reynolds numbers of Re ˜ 200-300. The maximal amplification for large filaments is of the order of ˜100 for the magnetic energy, corresponding to a typical field of a few ˜nG starting from a primordial weak field of 10-10 G (comoving). In order to start a small-scale dynamo, we found that a minimum of ˜102 resolution elements across the virial radius of galaxy clusters was necessary. In filaments we could not find a minimum resolution to set off a dynamo. This stems from the inefficiency of supersonic motions in the WHIM in triggering solenoidal modes and small-scale twisting of magnetic field structures. Magnetic fields this small will make it hard to detect filaments in radio observations.

Effects of acoustic waves on stick-slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, P.A.; Savage, H.; Knuth, M.; Gomberg, J.; Marone, Chris

2008-01-01

It remains unknown how the small strains induced by seismic waves can trigger earthquakes at large distances, in some cases thousands of kilometres from the triggering earthquake, with failure often occurring long after the waves have passed. Earthquake nucleation is usually observed to take place at depths of 10-20 km, and so static overburden should be large enough to inhibit triggering by seismic-wave stress perturbations. To understand the physics of dynamic triggering better, as well as the influence of dynamic stressing on earthquake recurrence, we have conducted laboratory studies of stick-slip in granular media with and without applied acoustic vibration. Glass beads were used to simulate granular fault zone material, sheared under constant normal stress, and subject to transient or continuous perturbation by acoustic waves. Here we show that small-magnitude failure events, corresponding to triggered aftershocks, occur when applied sound-wave amplitudes exceed several microstrain. These events are frequently delayed or occur as part of a cascade of small events. Vibrations also cause large slip events to be disrupted in time relative to those without wave perturbation. The effects are observed for many large-event cycles after vibrations cease, indicating a strain memory in the granular material. Dynamic stressing of tectonic faults may play a similar role in determining the complexity of earthquake recurrence. ??2007 Nature Publishing Group.

Large-scale deployment of the Global Trigger Tool across a large hospital system: refinements for the characterisation of adverse events to support patient safety learning opportunities.

PubMed

Good, V S; Saldaña, M; Gilder, R; Nicewander, D; Kennerly, D A

2011-01-01

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement encourages use of the Global Trigger Tool to objectively determine and monitor adverse events (AEs). Baylor Health Care System (BHCS) is an integrated healthcare delivery system in North Texas. The Global Trigger Tool was applied to BHCS's eight general acute care hospitals, two inpatient cardiovascular hospitals and two rehabilitation/long-term acute care hospitals. Data were collected from a monthly random sample of charts for each facility for patients discharged between 1 July 2006 and 30 June 2007 by external professional nurse auditors using an MS Access Tool developed for this initiative. In addition to the data elements recommended by Institute for Healthcare Improvement, BHCS developed fields to permit further characterisation of AEs to identify learning opportunities. A structured narrative description of each identified AE facilitated text mining to further characterise AEs. INITIAL FINDINGS: Based on this sample, AE rates were found to be 68.1 per 1000 patient days, or 50.8 per 100 encounters, and 39.8% of admissions were found to have ≥1 AE. Of all AEs identified, 61.2% were hospital-acquired, 10.1% of which were associated with a National Coordinating Council - Medical Error Reporting and Prevention harm score of "H or I" (near death or death). To enhance learning opportunities and guide quality improvement, BHCS collected data-such as preventability and AE source-to characterise the nature of AEs. Data are provided regularly to hospital teams to direct quality initiatives, moving from a general focus on reducing AEs to more specific programmes based on patterns of harm and preventability.

Triggers and maintenance of multiple shifts in the state of a natural community

PubMed Central

Schmitt, Russell J.; Holbrook, Sally J.

2010-01-01

Ecological communities can undergo sudden and dramatic shifts between alternative persistent community states. Both ecological prediction and natural resource management rely on understanding the mechanisms that trigger such shifts and maintain each state. Differentiating between potential mechanisms is difficult, however, because shifts are often recognized only in hindsight and many occur on such large spatial scales that manipulative experiments to test their causes are difficult or impossible. Here we use an approach that focuses first on identifying changes in environmental factors that could have triggered a given state change, and second on examining whether these changes were sustained (and thus potentially maintained the new state) or transitory (explaining the shift but not its persistence). We use this approach to evaluate a community shift in which a benthic marine species of filter feeding sea cucumber (Pachythyone rubra) suddenly came to dominate subtidal rocky reefs that had previously supported high abundances of macroalgae, persisted for more than a decade, then abruptly declined. We found that a sustained period without large wave events coincided with the shift to sea cucumber dominance, but that the sea cucumbers persisted even after the end of this low wave period, indicating that different mechanisms maintained the new community. Additionally, the period of sea cucumber dominance occurred when their predators were rare, and increases in the abundance of these predators coincided with the end of sea cucumber dominance. These results underscore the complex nature of regime shifts and illustrate that focusing separately on the causes and maintenance of state change can be a productive first step for analyzing these shifts in a range of systems. PMID:20526781

The upgrade of the ATLAS first-level calorimeter trigger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, Shimpei; Atlas Collaboration

2016-07-01

The first-level calorimeter trigger (L1Calo) had operated successfully through the first data taking phase of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Towards forthcoming LHC runs, a series of upgrades is planned for L1Calo to face new challenges posed by the upcoming increases of the beam energy and the luminosity. This paper reviews the ATLAS L1Calo trigger upgrade project that introduces new architectures for the liquid-argon calorimeter trigger readout and the L1Calo trigger processing system.

Sensor fusion of cameras and a laser for city-scale 3D reconstruction.

PubMed

Bok, Yunsu; Choi, Dong-Geol; Kweon, In So

2014-11-04

This paper presents a sensor fusion system of cameras and a 2D laser sensorfor large-scale 3D reconstruction. The proposed system is designed to capture data on afast-moving ground vehicle. The system consists of six cameras and one 2D laser sensor,and they are synchronized by a hardware trigger. Reconstruction of 3D structures is doneby estimating frame-by-frame motion and accumulating vertical laser scans, as in previousworks. However, our approach does not assume near 2D motion, but estimates free motion(including absolute scale) in 3D space using both laser data and image features. In orderto avoid the degeneration associated with typical three-point algorithms, we present a newalgorithm that selects 3D points from two frames captured by multiple cameras. The problemof error accumulation is solved by loop closing, not by GPS. The experimental resultsshow that the estimated path is successfully overlaid on the satellite images, such that thereconstruction result is very accurate.

Hydroclimatic drivers, Water-borne Diseases, and Population Vulnerability in Bengal Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akanda, A. S.; Jutla, A. S.

2012-04-01

Water-borne diarrheal disease outbreaks in the Bengal Delta region, such as cholera, rotavirus, and dysentery, show distinct seasonal peaks and spatial signatures in their origin and progression. However, the mechanisms behind these seasonal phenomena, especially the role of regional climatic and hydrologic processes behind the disease outbreaks, are not fully understood. Overall diarrheal disease prevalence and the population vulnerability to transmission mechanisms thus remain severely underestimated. Recent findings suggest that diarrheal incidence in the spring is strongly associated with scarcity of freshwater flow volumes, while the abundance of water in monsoon show strong positive correlation with autumn diarrheal burden. The role of large-scale ocean-atmospheric processes that tend to modulate meteorological, hydrological, and environmental conditions over large regions and the effects on the ecological states conducive to the vectors and triggers of diarrheal outbreaks over large geographic regions are not well understood. We take a large scale approach to conduct detailed diagnostic analyses of a range of climate, hydrological, and ecosystem variables to investigate their links to outbreaks, occurrence, and transmission of the most prevalent water-borne diarrheal diseases. We employ satellite remote sensing data products to track coastal ecosystems and plankton processes related to cholera outbreaks. In addition, we investigate the effect of large scale hydroclimatic extremes (e.g., droughts and floods, El Nino) to identify how diarrheal transmission and epidemic outbreaks are most likely to respond to shifts in climatic, hydrologic, and ecological changes over coming decades. We argue that controlling diarrheal disease burden will require an integrated predictive surveillance approach - a combination of prediction and prevention - with recent advances in climate-based predictive capabilities and demonstrated successes in primary and tertiary prevention in endemic regions.

Edge-localized mode avoidance and pedestal structure in I-mode plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Walk, J. R., E-mail: jrwalk@psfc.mit.edu; Hughes, J. W.; Hubbard, A. E.

I-mode is a high-performance tokamak regime characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement, without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle and impurity transport. I-mode operation appears to have naturally occurring suppression of large Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs) in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure and overall performance. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to themore » structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Analysis of I-mode discharges prepared with high-resolution pedestal data from the most recent C-Mod campaign reveals favorable pedestal scalings for extrapolation to large machines—pedestal temperature scales strongly with power per particle P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}, and likewise pedestal pressure scales as the net heating power (consistent with weak degradation of confinement with heating power). Matched discharges in current, field, and shaping demonstrate the decoupling of energy and particle transport in I-mode, increasing fueling to span nearly a factor of two in density while maintaining matched temperature pedestals with consistent levels of P{sub net}/n{sup ¯}{sub e}. This is consistent with targets for increased performance in I-mode, elevating pedestal β{sub p} and global performance with matched increases in density and heating power. MHD calculations using the ELITE code indicate that I-mode pedestals are strongly stable to edge peeling-ballooning instabilities. Likewise, numerical modeling of the KBM turbulence onset, as well as scalings of the pedestal width with poloidal beta, indicates that I-mode pedestals are not limited by KBM turbulence—both features identified with the trigger for large ELMs, consistent with the observed suppression of large ELMs in I-mode.« less

Novel Directional Protection Scheme for the FREEDM Smart Grid System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Nitish

This research primarily deals with the design and validation of the protection system for a large scale meshed distribution system. The large scale system simulation (LSSS) is a system level PSCAD model which is used to validate component models for different time-scale platforms, to provide a virtual testing platform for the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) system. It is also used to validate the cases of power system protection, renewable energy integration and storage, and load profiles. The protection of the FREEDM system against any abnormal condition is one of the important tasks. The addition of distributed generation and power electronic based solid state transformer adds to the complexity of the protection. The FREEDM loop system has a fault current limiter and in addition, the Solid State Transformer (SST) limits the fault current at 2.0 per unit. Former students at ASU have developed the protection scheme using fiber-optic cable. However, during the NSF-FREEDM site visit, the National Science Foundation (NSF) team regarded the system incompatible for the long distances. Hence, a new protection scheme with a wireless scheme is presented in this thesis. The use of wireless communication is extended to protect the large scale meshed distributed generation from any fault. The trip signal generated by the pilot protection system is used to trigger the FID (fault isolation device) which is an electronic circuit breaker operation (switched off/opening the FIDs). The trip signal must be received and accepted by the SST, and it must block the SST operation immediately. A comprehensive protection system for the large scale meshed distribution system has been developed in PSCAD with the ability to quickly detect the faults. The validation of the protection system is performed by building a hardware model using commercial relays at the ASU power laboratory.

Edge-localized mode avoidance and pedestal structure in I-mode plasmasa)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walk, J. R.; Hughes, J. W.; Hubbard, A. E.; Terry, J. L.; Whyte, D. G.; White, A. E.; Baek, S. G.; Reinke, M. L.; Theiler, C.; Churchill, R. M.; Rice, J. E.; Snyder, P. B.; Osborne, T.; Dominguez, A.; Cziegler, I.

2014-05-01

I-mode is a high-performance tokamak regime characterized by the formation of a temperature pedestal and enhanced energy confinement, without an accompanying density pedestal or drop in particle and impurity transport. I-mode operation appears to have naturally occurring suppression of large Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs) in addition to its highly favorable scalings of pedestal structure and overall performance. Extensive study of the ELMy H-mode has led to the development of the EPED model, which utilizes calculations of coupled peeling-ballooning MHD modes and kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) stability limits to predict the pedestal structure preceding an ELM crash. We apply similar tools to the structure and ELM stability of I-mode pedestals. Analysis of I-mode discharges prepared with high-resolution pedestal data from the most recent C-Mod campaign reveals favorable pedestal scalings for extrapolation to large machines—pedestal temperature scales strongly with power per particle Pnet/n ¯e, and likewise pedestal pressure scales as the net heating power (consistent with weak degradation of confinement with heating power). Matched discharges in current, field, and shaping demonstrate the decoupling of energy and particle transport in I-mode, increasing fueling to span nearly a factor of two in density while maintaining matched temperature pedestals with consistent levels of Pnet/n ¯e. This is consistent with targets for increased performance in I-mode, elevating pedestal βp and global performance with matched increases in density and heating power. MHD calculations using the ELITE code indicate that I-mode pedestals are strongly stable to edge peeling-ballooning instabilities. Likewise, numerical modeling of the KBM turbulence onset, as well as scalings of the pedestal width with poloidal beta, indicates that I-mode pedestals are not limited by KBM turbulence—both features identified with the trigger for large ELMs, consistent with the observed suppression of large ELMs in I-mode.

Using a large-n nodal array to search for remote dynamic triggering in a region of induced seismicity in northern Oklahoma.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peña-Castro, A. F.; Dougherty, S. L.; Harrington, R. M.; Cochran, E. S.

2017-12-01

Oklahoma has recently experienced a large increase in seismicity that has been linked to injection of large volumes of wastewater into deep disposal wells, a by-product of oil and gas production. Recent studies have shown that areas with active fluid injection and induced seismicity, such as Oklahoma, may be susceptible to dynamic triggering during passage of seismic waves from large, remote earthquakes. In spring 2016, the 1833-station LArge-n Seismic Survey in Oklahoma (LASSO) array was deployed for 30 days to examine an area of active seismicity in Gran County, located in northern Oklahoma. Here we use the LASSO array to look for dynamic triggering caused by teleseismic earthquakes with magnitudes between Mw 6-8 that produce Peak-Ground-Velocities (PGVs) exceeding 10 μm/s at the LASSO array, consistent with PGV values seen to have triggered seismicity at other locations. We focus on examining seismicity around the shallow Mw7.8 event in Ecuador on 04/16/2016 which generated the largest PGV at LASSO (250 µm/s). To establish if earthquake rates change during or following the passage of the teleseismic surface waves, we develop a catalog of earthquakes around the time of each teleseismic event. We first create a preliminary catalogue using a Short-Term Average/Long-Term Average (STA/LTA) detection algorithm window spanning +/- 24 hours around each teleseism,requiring detection at a minimum of 110 LASSO stations to identify an event. Next, we enhance the STA/LTA catalog with manual detections for a period of +/- 1.5 hours around the time of the teleseismic P-wave arrival to explore if triggering occurs that is not detected by the automated procedure. All detected events are then located using standard location techniques. Any observed seismicity rate changes following the teleseismic arrivals will be examined compared to the short-term background rates to determine whether they are statistically significant. If triggering is observed, focal mechanisms will be determined to estimate fault plane orientations and resolve triggering stresses on receiver fault planes. Our preliminary results for the Mw 7.8 Ecuador event suggest there may be delayed triggering that starts roughly 4 hours after the teleseismic phase arrivals, with event rates increasing from 0-5 to 15-25 events per hour.

Design of a ``Digital Atlas Vme Electronics'' (DAVE) module

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodrick, M.; Robinson, D.; Shaw, R.; Postranecky, M.; Warren, M.

2012-01-01

ATLAS-SCT has developed a new ATLAS trigger card, 'Digital Atlas Vme Electronics' (``DAVE''). The unit is designed to provide a versatile array of interface and logic resources, including a large FPGA. It interfaces to both VME bus and USB hosts. DAVE aims to provide exact ATLAS CTP (ATLAS Central Trigger Processor) functionality, with random trigger, simple and complex deadtime, ECR (Event Counter Reset), BCR (Bunch Counter Reset) etc. being generated to give exactly the same conditions in standalone running as experienced in combined runs. DAVE provides additional hardware and a large amount of free firmware resource to allow users to add or change functionality. The combination of the large number of individually programmable inputs and outputs in various formats, with very large external RAM and other components all connected to the FPGA, also makes DAVE a powerful and versatile FPGA utility card.

Stress modulation of earthquakes: A study of long and short period stress perturbations and the crustal response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Christopher W.

Decomposing fault mechanical processes advances our understanding of active fault systems and properties of the lithosphere, thereby increasing the effectiveness of seismic hazard assessment and preventative measures implemented in urban centers. Along plate boundaries earthquakes are inevitable as tectonic forces reshape the Earth's surface. Earthquakes, faulting, and surface displacements are related systems that require multidisciplinary approaches to characterize deformation in the lithosphere. Modern geodetic instrumentation can resolve displacements to millimeter precision and provide valuable insight into secular deformation in near real-time. The expansion of permanent seismic networks as well as temporary deployments allow unprecedented detection of microseismic events that image fault interfaces and fracture networks in the crust. The research presented in this dissertation is at the intersection of seismology and geodesy to study the Earth's response to transient deformation and explores research questions focusing on earthquake triggering, induced seismicity, and seasonal loading while utilizing seismic data, geodetic data, and modeling tools. The focus is to quantify stress changes in the crust, explore seismicity rate variations and migration patterns, and model crustal deformation in order to characterize the evolving state of stress on faults and the migration of fluids in the crust. The collection of problems investigated all investigate the question: Why do earthquakes nucleate following a low magnitude stress perturbation? Answers to this question are fundamental to understanding the time dependent failure processes of the lithosphere. Dynamic triggering is the interaction of faults and triggering of earthquakes represents stress transferring from one system to another, at both local and remote distances [Freed, 2005]. The passage of teleseismic surface waves from the largest earthquakes produce dynamic stress fields and provides a natural laboratory to explore the causal relationship between low-amplitude stress changes and dynamically triggered events. Interestingly, observations of dynamically triggered M≥5.5 earthquakes are absent in the seismic records [Johnson et al., 2015; Parsons and Velasco, 2011], which invokes questions regarding whether or not large magnitude events can be dynamically triggered. Emerging results in the literature indicate undocumented M≥5.5 events at near to intermediate distances are dynamically triggered during the passage of surface waves but are undetected by automated networks [Fan and Shearer, 2016]. This raises new questions about the amplitude and duration of dynamic stressing for large magnitude events. I used 35-years of global seismicity and find that large event rate increases only occur following a delay from the transient load, suggesting aseismic processes are associated with large magnitude triggered events. To extend this finding I investigated three cases of large magnitude delayed dynamic triggering following the M8.6 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake [Pollitz et al., 2012] by producing microseismicity catalogs and modeling the transient stresses. The results indicate immediate triggering of microseismic events that hours later culminate into a large magnitude event and support the notion that large magnitude events are triggerable by transient loading, but seismic and aseismic processes (e.g. induced creep or fluid mobilization) are contributing to the nucleation process. Open questions remain concerning the source of a nucleation delay period following a stress perturbation that require both geodetic and seismic observations to constrain the source of delayed dynamic triggering and possibly provide insight into a precursory nucleation phase. Induced seismicity has gained much attention in the past 5 years as earthquake rates in regions of low tectonic strain accumulation accelerate to unprecedented levels [Ellsworth, 2013]. The source of the seismicity is attributed to shallow fluid injection associated with energy production. As hydrocarbon extraction continues to increase in the U.S. the deformation and induced seismicity from wastewater injection is providing new avenues to explore crustal properties. The large magnitude events associated with regions of high rate injection support the notion that the crust is critically stressed. Seismic data in these areas provides the opportunity to delineate fault structures in the crust using precise earthquake locations. To augment the studies of transient loading cycles I investigated induced seismicity at The Geysers geothermal field in northern California. Using high-resolution hypocenter data I implement an epidemic type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model to develop seismicity rate time series in the active geothermal field and characterize the migration of fluids from high volume water injection. Subtle stress changes induced by thermo- and poroelastic strains trigger seismicity for 5 months after peak injection at depths 3 km below the main injection interval. This suggests vertical migration paths are maintained in the geothermal field that allows fluid propagation on annual time scales. Fully describing the migration pattern of fluids in the crust and the associated stresses are applicable to tectonic related faulting and triggered seismic activity. Seasonal hydrological loading is a source of annual periodic transient deformation that is ideal for investigating the modulation of seismicity. The initial step in exploring the modulation of seismicity is to validate that a significant annual period does exist in California earthquake records. The periodicity results [Dutilleul et al., 2015] motivate continued investigation of seismically active regions that experience significant seasonal mass loading, i.e. high precipitation and snowfall rates, to quantify the magnitude of seasonal stress changes and possible correlation with seismicity modulation. The implication of this research addresses questions concerning the strength and state of stress on faults. High-resolution water storage time series throughout California are developed using continuous GPS records. The results allow an estimation of the stress changes induced by hydrological loading, which is combined with a detailed focal mechanism analysis to characterize the modulation of seismicity. The hydrologic loading is augmented with the contribution of additional deformation sources (e.g. tidal, atmosphere, and temperature) and find that annual stress changes of 5 kPa are modulating seismicity, most notably on dip-slip structures. These observations suggest that mechanical differences exist between the vertically dipping strike-slip faults and the shallowly dipping oblique structures in California. When comparing all the annual loading cycles it is evident that future studies incorporate all the sources of solid Earth deformation to fully describe the stresses realized on fault systems that respond to seasonal loads.

Modelling the influence of land-use changes on biophysical and biochemical interactions at regional and global scales.

PubMed

Devaraju, N; Bala, G; Nemani, R

2015-09-01

Land-use changes since the start of the industrial era account for nearly one-third of the cumulative anthropogenic CO2 emissions. In addition to the greenhouse effect of CO2 emissions, changes in land use also affect climate via changes in surface physical properties such as albedo, evapotranspiration and roughness length. Recent modelling studies suggest that these biophysical components may be comparable with biochemical effects. In regard to climate change, the effects of these two distinct processes may counterbalance one another both regionally and, possibly, globally. In this article, through hypothetical large-scale deforestation simulations using a global climate model, we contrast the implications of afforestation on ameliorating or enhancing anthropogenic contributions from previously converted (agricultural) land surfaces. Based on our review of past studies on this subject, we conclude that the sum of both biophysical and biochemical effects should be assessed when large-scale afforestation is used for countering global warming, and the net effect on global mean temperature change depends on the location of deforestation/afforestation. Further, although biochemical effects trigger global climate change, biophysical effects often cause strong local and regional climate change. The implication of the biophysical effects for adaptation and mitigation of climate change in agriculture and agroforestry sectors is discussed. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Dynamo-driven plasmoid formation from a current-sheet instability

DOE PAGES

Ebrahimi, F.

2016-12-15

Axisymmetric current-carrying plasmoids are formed in the presence of nonaxisymmetric fluctuations during nonlinear three-dimensional resistive MHD simulations in a global toroidal geometry. In this study, we utilize the helicity injection technique to form an initial poloidal flux in the presence of a toroidal guide field. As helicity is injected, two types of current sheets are formed from the oppositely directed field lines in the injector region (primary reconnecting current sheet), and the poloidal flux compression near the plasma edge (edge current sheet). We first find that nonaxisymmetric fluctuations arising from the current-sheet instability isolated near the plasma edge have tearingmore » parity but can nevertheless grow fast (on the poloidal Alfven time scale). These modes saturate by breaking up the current sheet. Second, for the first time, a dynamo poloidal flux amplification is observed at the reconnection site (in the region of the oppositely directed magnetic field). This fluctuation-induced flux amplification increases the local Lundquist number, which then triggers a plasmoid instability and breaks the primary current sheet at the reconnection site. Finally, the plasmoids formation driven by large-scale flux amplification, i.e., a large-scale dynamo, observed here has strong implications for astrophysical reconnection as well as fast reconnection events in laboratory plasmas.« less

A novel in situ trigger combination method

DOE PAGES

Buzatu, Adrian; Warburton, Andreas; Krumnack, Nils; ...

2013-01-30

Searches for rare physics processes using particle detectors in high-luminosity colliding hadronic beam environments require the use of multi-level trigger systems to reject colossal background rates in real time. In analyses like the search for the Higgs boson, there is a need to maximize the signal acceptance by combining multiple different trigger chains when forming the offline data sample. In such statistically limited searches, datasets are often amassed over periods of several years, during which the trigger characteristics evolve and system performance can vary significantly. Reliable production cross-section measurements and upper limits must take into account a detailed understanding ofmore » the effective trigger inefficiency for every selected candidate event. We present as an example the complex situation of three trigger chains, based on missing energy and jet energy, that were combined in the context of the search for the Higgs (H) boson produced in association with a $W$ boson at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). We briefly review the existing techniques for combining triggers, namely the inclusion, division, and exclusion methods. We introduce and describe a novel fourth in situ method whereby, for each candidate event, only the trigger chain with the highest a priori probability of selecting the event is considered. We compare the inclusion and novel in situ methods for signal event yields in the CDF $WH$ search. This new combination method, by virtue of its scalability to large numbers of differing trigger chains and insensitivity to correlations between triggers, will benefit future long-running collider experiments, including those currently operating on the Large Hadron Collider.« less

A novel in situ trigger combination method

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Buzatu, Adrian; Warburton, Andreas; Krumnack, Nils

Searches for rare physics processes using particle detectors in high-luminosity colliding hadronic beam environments require the use of multi-level trigger systems to reject colossal background rates in real time. In analyses like the search for the Higgs boson, there is a need to maximize the signal acceptance by combining multiple different trigger chains when forming the offline data sample. In such statistically limited searches, datasets are often amassed over periods of several years, during which the trigger characteristics evolve and system performance can vary significantly. Reliable production cross-section measurements and upper limits must take into account a detailed understanding ofmore » the effective trigger inefficiency for every selected candidate event. We present as an example the complex situation of three trigger chains, based on missing energy and jet energy, that were combined in the context of the search for the Higgs (H) boson produced in association with a $W$ boson at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). We briefly review the existing techniques for combining triggers, namely the inclusion, division, and exclusion methods. We introduce and describe a novel fourth in situ method whereby, for each candidate event, only the trigger chain with the highest a priori probability of selecting the event is considered. We compare the inclusion and novel in situ methods for signal event yields in the CDF $WH$ search. This new combination method, by virtue of its scalability to large numbers of differing trigger chains and insensitivity to correlations between triggers, will benefit future long-running collider experiments, including those currently operating on the Large Hadron Collider.« less

Catastrophic volcanism

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lipman, Peter W.

1988-01-01

Since primitive times, catastrophes due to volcanic activity have been vivid in the mind of man, who knew that his activities in many parts of the world were threatened by lava flows, mudflows, and ash falls. Within the present century, increasingly complex interactions between volcanism and the environment, on scales not previously experienced historically, have been detected or suspected from geologic observations. These include enormous hot pyroclastic flows associated with collapse at source calderas and fed by eruption columns that reached the stratosphere, relations between huge flood basalt eruptions at hotspots and the rifting of continents, devastating laterally-directed volcanic blasts and pyroclastic surges, great volcanic-generated tsunamis, climate modification from volcanic release of ash and sulfur aerosols into the upper atmosphere, modification of ocean circulation by volcanic constructs and attendent climatic implications, global pulsations in intensity of volcanic activity, and perhaps triggering of some intense terrestrial volcanism by planetary impacts. Complex feedback between volcanic activity and additional seemingly unrelated terrestrial processes likely remains unrecognized. Only recently has it become possible to begin to evaluate the degree to which such large-scale volcanic processes may have been important in triggering or modulating the tempo of faunal extinctions and other evolutionary events. In this overview, such processes are examined from the viewpoint of a field volcanologist, rather than as a previous participant in controversies concerning the interrelations between extinctions, impacts, and volcanism.

Nanoscale detection of bacteriophage triggered ion cascade (Invited Paper)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dobozi-King, Maria; Seo, Sungkyu; Kim, Jong U.; Cheng, Mosong; Kish, Laszlo B.; Young, Ryland

2005-05-01

In an era of potential bioterrorism and pandemics of antibiotic-resistant microbes, bacterial contaminations of food and water supplies is a major concern. There is an urgent need for the rapid, inexpensive and specific identification of bacteria under field conditions. Here we describe a method that combines the specificity and avidity of bacteriophages with fluctuation analysis of electrical noise. The method is based on the massive, transitory ion leakage that occurs at the moment of phage DNA injection into the host cell. The ion fluxes require only that the cells be physiologically viable (i.e., have energized membranes) and can occur within seconds after mixing the cells with sufficient concentrations of phage particles. To detect these fluxes, we have constructed a nano-well, a lateral, micron-size capacitor of titanium electrodes with gap size of 150 nm, and used it to measure the electrical field fluctuations in microliter (mm3) samples containing phage and bacteria. In mixtures where the analyte bacteria were sensitive to the phage, large stochastic waves with various time and amplitude scales were observed, with power spectra of approximately 1/f2 shape over at 1 - 10 Hz. Development of this SEPTIC (SEnsing of Phage-Triggered Ion Cascades) technology could provide rapid detection and identification of live, pathogenic bacteria on the scale of minutes, with unparalleled specificity. The method has a potential ultimate sensitivity of 1 bacterium/microliter (1 bacterium/mm3).

A Physically-based Model For Rainfall-triggered Landslides At A Regional Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teles, V.; Capolongo, D.; Bras, R. L.

Rainfall has long been recognized as a major cause of landslides. Historical records have shown that large rainfall can generate hundreds of landslides over hundreds of square kilometers. Although a great body of work has documented the morphology and mechanics of individual slope failure, few studies have considered the process at basin and regional scale. A landslide model is integrated in the landscape evolution model CHILD and simulates rainfall-triggered events based on a geotechnical index, the factor of safety, which takes into account the slope, the soil effective cohesion and weight, the friction angle, the regolith thickness and the saturated thickness. The stat- urated thickness is represented by the wetness index developed in the TOPMODEL. The topography is represented by a Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN). The factor of safety is computed at each node of the TIN. If the factor of safety is lower than 1, a landslide is intiated at this node. The regolith is then moved downstream. We applied the model to the Fortore basin whose valley cuts the flysch terrain that constitute the framework of the so called "sub-Apennines" chain that is the most eastern part of the Southern Apennines (Italy). We will discuss its value according to its sensitivity to the used parameters and compare it to the actual data available for this basin.

Role of isotope mass and evidence of fluctuating zonal flows during the L–H transition in the TJ-II stellarator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Losada, U.; Estrada, T.; Liu, B.; van Milligen, B.; Cheng, J.; Silva, C.; Pastor, I.; Fontdecaba, J. M.; Hidalgo, C.; TJ-II team1, the

2018-07-01

Mean radial electric fields as well as low frequency Zonal Flow-like global oscillations in radial electric field have been identified during the low to high (L–H) transition in Hydrogen and Deuterium dominated plasmas in the stellarator TJ-II. No evidence of isotope effect on the L–H transition dynamics was observed in the investigated TJ-II plasma scenarios. These observations emphasize the critical role of both zero frequency (equilibrium) and low frequency varying large-scale flows for stabilizing turbulence during the triggering of the L–H transition in magnetically confined toroidal plasmas.

Active aeolian processes on Mars: A regional study in Arabia and Meridiani Terrae

USGS Publications Warehouse

Silvestro, S.; Vaz, D.A.; Fenton, L.K.; Geissler, P.E.

2011-01-01

We present evidence of widespread aeolian activity in the Arabia Terra/Meridiani region (Mars), where different kinds of aeolian modifications have been detected and classified. Passing from the regional to the local scale, we describe one particular dune field in Meridiani Planum, where two ripple populations are distinguished by means of different migration rates. Moreover, a consistent change in the ripple pattern is accompanied by significant dune advancement (between 0.4-1 meter in one Martian year) that is locally triggered by large avalanche features. This suggests that dune advancement may be common throughout the Martian tropics. ?? 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Remote Triggering of Microearthquakes in the Piton de la Fournaise and Changbaishan Volcanoes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, C.; Liu, G.; Peng, Z.; Brenguier, F.; Dufek, J.

2015-12-01

Large earthquakes are capable of triggering seismic, aseismic and hydrological responses at long-range distances. In particular, recent studies have shown that microearthquakes are mostly triggered in volcanic/geothermal regions. However, it is still not clear how widespread the phenomenon is, and whether there are any causal links between large earthquakes and subsequent volcanic unrest/eruptions. In this study we conduct a systematic search for remotely triggered activity at the Piton de la Fournaise (PdlF) and Changbaishan (CBS) volcanoes. The PdlF is a shield volcano located on the east-southern part of the Reunion Island in Indian Ocean. It is one of the most active volcanoes around the world. The CBS volcano is an intraplate stratovolcano on the border between China and North Korea, and it was active with a major eruption around 1100 years ago and has been since dormant from AD 1903, however, it showed signals of unrest recently. We choose these regions because they are well instrumented and spatially close to recent large earthquakes, such as the 2004/12/26 Mw9.1 Sumatra, 2011/03/11 Mw9.0 Tohoku, and the 2012/04/11 Mw8.6 Indian Ocean Earthquakes. By examining continuous waveforms a few hours before and after many earthquakes since 2000, we find many cases of remote triggering around the CBS volcano. In comparison, we only identify a few cases of remotely triggered seismicity around the PdlF volcano, including the 2004 Sumatra earthquake. Notably, the 2012 Indian Ocean earthquake and its M8.2 aftershock did not trigger any clear increase of seismicity, at least during their surface waves. Our next step is to apply a waveform matching method to automatically detect volcano-seismicity in both regions, and then use them to better understand potential interactions between large earthquakes and volcanic activities.

The Fogo's Collapse-triggered Megatsunami: Evidence-calibrated Numerical Simulations of Tsunamigenic Potential and Coastal Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Omira, Rachid; Ramalho, Ricardo S.; Quartau, Rui; Ramalho, Inês; Madeira, José; Baptista, Maria Ana

2017-04-01

Volcanic Ocean Islands are very prominent and dynamic features involving several constructive and destructive phases during their life-cycles. Large-scale gravitational flank collapses are one of the most destructive processes and can present a major source of hazard, since it has been shown that these events are capable of triggering megatsunamis with significant coastal impact. The Fogo volcanic island, Cape Verde, presents evidence for giant edifice mass-wasting, as attested by both onshore and offshore evidence. A recent study by Ramalho et al. (2015) revealed the presence of tsunamigenic deposits that attest the generation of a megatsunami with devastating impact on the nearby Santiago Island, following Fogo's catastrophic collapse. Evidence from northern Santiago implies local minimum run-ups of 270 m, providing a unique physical framework to test collapse-triggered tsunami numerical simulations. In this study, we investigate the tsunamigenic potential associated with Fogo's flank collapse, and its impact on the Islands of the Cape Verde archipelago using field evidence-calibrated numerical simulations. We first reconstruct the pre-event island morphology, and then employ a multilayer numerical model to simulate the flank failure flow towards and under the sea, the ensuing tsunami generation, propagation and coastal impact. We use a digital elevation model that considers the coastline configuration and the sea level at the time of the event. Preliminary numerical modeling results suggest that collapsed volumes of 90-150 km3, in one single event, generate numerical solutions that are compatible with field evidence. Our simulations suggest that Fogo's collapse triggered a megatsunami that reached the coast of Santiago in 8 min, and with wave heights in excess of 250 m. The tsunami waves propagated with lower amplitudes towards the Cape Verde Islands located northward of Fogo. This study will contribute to more realistically assess the scale of risks associated with these extremely rare but very high impact natural disasters. This work is supported by the EU project ASTARTE -Grant 603839, 7th FP (ENV.2013, 6.4-3), the EU project TSUMAPS-NEAM -Agreement Number: ECHO/SUB/2015/718568/PREV26, and the IF/01641/2015 MEGAWAVE - FCT project.

On sample size and different interpretations of snow stability datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schirmer, M.; Mitterer, C.; Schweizer, J.

2009-04-01

Interpretations of snow stability variations need an assessment of the stability itself, independent of the scale investigated in the study. Studies on stability variations at a regional scale have often chosen stability tests such as the Rutschblock test or combinations of various tests in order to detect differences in aspect and elevation. The question arose: ‘how capable are such stability interpretations in drawing conclusions'. There are at least three possible errors sources: (i) the variance of the stability test itself; (ii) the stability variance at an underlying slope scale, and (iii) that the stability interpretation might not be directly related to the probability of skier triggering. Various stability interpretations have been proposed in the past that provide partly different results. We compared a subjective one based on expert knowledge with a more objective one based on a measure derived from comparing skier-triggered slopes vs. slopes that have been skied but not triggered. In this study, the uncertainties are discussed and their effects on regional scale stability variations will be quantified in a pragmatic way. An existing dataset with very large sample sizes was revisited. This dataset contained the variance of stability at a regional scale for several situations. The stability in this dataset was determined using the subjective interpretation scheme based on expert knowledge. The question to be answered was how many measurements were needed to obtain similar results (mainly stability differences in aspect or elevation) as with the complete dataset. The optimal sample size was obtained in several ways: (i) assuming a nominal data scale the sample size was determined with a given test, significance level and power, and by calculating the mean and standard deviation of the complete dataset. With this method it can also be determined if the complete dataset consists of an appropriate sample size. (ii) Smaller subsets were created with similar aspect distributions to the large dataset. We used 100 different subsets for each sample size. Statistical variations obtained in the complete dataset were also tested on the smaller subsets using the Mann-Whitney or the Kruskal-Wallis test. For each subset size, the number of subsets were counted in which the significance level was reached. For these tests no nominal data scale was assumed. (iii) For the same subsets described above, the distribution of the aspect median was determined. A count of how often this distribution was substantially different from the distribution obtained with the complete dataset was made. Since two valid stability interpretations were available (an objective and a subjective interpretation as described above), the effect of the arbitrary choice of the interpretation on spatial variability results was tested. In over one third of the cases the two interpretations came to different results. The effect of these differences were studied in a similar method as described in (iii): the distribution of the aspect median was determined for subsets of the complete dataset using both interpretations, compared against each other as well as to the results of the complete dataset. For the complete dataset the two interpretations showed mainly identical results. Therefore the subset size was determined from the point at which the results of the two interpretations converged. A universal result for the optimal subset size cannot be presented since results differed between different situations contained in the dataset. The optimal subset size is thus dependent on stability variation in a given situation, which is unknown initially. There are indications that for some situations even the complete dataset might be not large enough. At a subset size of approximately 25, the significant differences between aspect groups (as determined using the whole dataset) were only obtained in one out of five situations. In some situations, up to 20% of the subsets showed a substantially different distribution of the aspect median. Thus, in most cases, 25 measurements (which can be achieved by six two-person teams in one day) did not allow to draw reliable conclusions.

Nonequilibrium electroweak baryogenesis at preheating after inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Bellido, Juan; Grigoriev, Dmitri; Kusenko, Alexander; Shaposhnikov, Mikhail

1999-12-01

We present a novel scenario for baryogenesis in a hybrid inflation model at the electroweak scale, in which the standard model Higgs field triggers the end of inflation. One of the conditions for successful baryogenesis, the departure from thermal equilibrium, is naturally achieved at the stage of preheating after inflation. The inflaton oscillations induce large occupation numbers for long-wavelength configurations of the Higgs and gauge fields, which leads to a large rate of sphaleron transitions. We estimate this rate during the first stages of reheating and evaluate the amount of baryons produced due to a particular type of higher-dimensional CP violating operator. The universe thermalizes through fermion interactions, at a temperature below critical, Trh<~100 GeV, preventing the wash-out of the produced baryon asymmetry. Numerical simulations in 1+1 dimensions support our theoretical analyses.

Cascade-based attacks on complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motter, Adilson E.; Lai, Ying-Cheng

2002-12-01

We live in a modern world supported by large, complex networks. Examples range from financial markets to communication and transportation systems. In many realistic situations the flow of physical quantities in the network, as characterized by the loads on nodes, is important. We show that for such networks where loads can redistribute among the nodes, intentional attacks can lead to a cascade of overload failures, which can in turn cause the entire or a substantial part of the network to collapse. This is relevant for real-world networks that possess a highly heterogeneous distribution of loads, such as the Internet and power grids. We demonstrate that the heterogeneity of these networks makes them particularly vulnerable to attacks in that a large-scale cascade may be triggered by disabling a single key node. This brings obvious concerns on the security of such systems.

Mapping color fluctuations in the photon in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

DOE PAGES

Alvioli, M.; Frankfurt, L.; Guzey, V.; ...

2017-02-20

Here, we model effects of color fluctuations (CFs) in the light-cone photon wave function and for the first time make predictions for the distribution over the number of wounded nucleons ν in the inelastic photon–nucleus scattering. We show that CFs lead to a dramatic enhancement of this distribution at ν=1 and large ν>10. We also study the implications of different scales and CFs in the photon wave function on the total transverse energy ΣE T and other observables in inelastic γA scattering with different triggers. Our predictions can be tested in proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC andmore » will help to map CFs, whose first indications have already been observed at the LHC.« less

A Study of Parameters of the Counterpropagating Leader and its Influence on the Lightning Protection of Objects Using Large-Scale Laboratory Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syssoev, V. S.; Kostinskiy, A. Yu.; Makalskiy, L. M.; Rakov, A. V.; Andreev, M. G.; Bulatov, M. U.; Sukharevsky, D. I.; Naumova, M. U.

2014-04-01

In this work, the results of experiments on initiating the upward and descending leaders during the development of a long spark when studying lightning protection of objects with the help of large-scale models are shown. The influence of the counterpropagating leaders on the process of the lightning strike of ground-based and insulated objects is discussed. In the first case, the upward negative leader is initiated by the positive downward leader, which propagates from the high-voltage electrode of the "rod-rod"-type Marx generator (the rod is located on the plane and is 3-m high) in the gap with a length of 9-12 m. The positive-voltage pulse with a duration of 7500 μs had an amplitude of up to 3 MV. In the second case, initiation of the positive upward leader was performed in the electric field created by a cloud of negatively charged aerosol, which simulates the charged thunderstorm cell. In this case, all the phases characteristic of the ascending lightnings initiated by the tall ground-based objects and the triggered lightnings during the experiments with an actual thunderstorm cloud were observed in the forming spark discharge with a length of 1.5-2.0 m. The main parameters of the counterpropagating leader, which is initiated by the objects during the large-scale model experiments with a long spark, are shown.

Regression-based season-ahead drought prediction for southern Peru conditioned on large-scale climate variables

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mortensen, Eric; Wu, Shu; Notaro, Michael; Vavrus, Stephen; Montgomery, Rob; De Piérola, José; Sánchez, Carlos; Block, Paul

2018-01-01

Located at a complex topographic, climatic, and hydrologic crossroads, southern Peru is a semiarid region that exhibits high spatiotemporal variability in precipitation. The economic viability of the region hinges on this water, yet southern Peru is prone to water scarcity caused by seasonal meteorological drought. Meteorological droughts in this region are often triggered during El Niño episodes; however, other large-scale climate mechanisms also play a noteworthy role in controlling the region's hydrologic cycle. An extensive season-ahead precipitation prediction model is developed to help bolster the existing capacity of stakeholders to plan for and mitigate deleterious impacts of drought. In addition to existing climate indices, large-scale climatic variables, such as sea surface temperature, are investigated to identify potential drought predictors. A principal component regression framework is applied to 11 potential predictors to produce an ensemble forecast of regional January-March precipitation totals. Model hindcasts of 51 years, compared to climatology and another model conditioned solely on an El Niño-Southern Oscillation index, achieve notable skill and perform better for several metrics, including ranked probability skill score and a hit-miss statistic. The information provided by the developed model and ancillary modeling efforts, such as extending the lead time of and spatially disaggregating precipitation predictions to the local level as well as forecasting the number of wet-dry days per rainy season, may further assist regional stakeholders and policymakers in preparing for drought.

Combined Electrocardiography- and Respiratory-Triggered CT of the Lung to Reduce Respiratory Misregistration Artifacts between Imaging Slabs in Free-Breathing Children: Initial Experience.

PubMed

Goo, Hyun Woo; Allmendinger, Thomas

2017-01-01

Cardiac and respiratory motion artifacts degrade the image quality of lung CT in free-breathing children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined electrocardiography (ECG) and respiratory triggering on respiratory misregistration artifacts on lung CT in free-breathing children. In total, 15 children (median age 19 months, range 6 months-8 years; 7 boys), who underwent free-breathing ECG-triggered lung CT with and without respiratory-triggering were included. A pressure-sensing belt of a respiratory gating system was used to obtain the respiratory signal. The degree of respiratory misregistration artifacts between imaging slabs was graded on a 4-point scale (1, excellent image quality) on coronal and sagittal images and compared between ECG-triggered lung CT studies with and without respiratory triggering. A p value < 0.05 was considered significant. Lung CT with combined ECG and respiratory triggering showed significantly less respiratory misregistration artifacts than lung CT with ECG triggering only (1.1 ± 0.4 vs. 2.2 ± 1.0, p = 0.003). Additional respiratory-triggering reduces respiratory misregistration artifacts on ECG-triggered lung CT in free-breathing children.

Landslides in the New Madrid seismic zone

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jibson, R.W.; Keefer, D.K.

1985-01-01

During the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12, bluffs bordering the Mississippi alluvial plain in the epicentral region underwent large-scale landsliding. Between Cairo, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee, the authors mapped 221 large landslides of three types: (1) old, eroded, coherent block slides and slumps; (2) old earth flows; and (3) young, fresh slumps that occur only along near-river bluffs and are the only landslides present along such bluffs. Historical accounts and field evidence indicate that most or all old coherent slides and earth flows date to the 1811-12 earthquakes and that the only currently active, large-scale landsliding in the area occursmore » along bluffs bordering the river. Analysis of old coherent slides and earth flows indicates that landslide distribution is most strongly affected by slope height, but that proximity to the hypocenters of the 1811-12 earthquakes also has a significant effect. Slope-stability analyses of an old coherent slide and an earth flow selected as representative of the principal kinds of landslides present indicate that both were stable in aseismic conditions even when water tables were at highest possible levels. However, a dynamic Newmark displacement analysis shows that ground shaking such as that in 1811-12 would cause large displacements leading to catastrophic failure in both slides. These results indicate that in large earthquakes landsliding in much of the study are is likely. Moderate earthquakes may also trigger landslides at some locations.« less

Investigation of high-voltage pulse trigger generator based on photo-conductive semiconductor switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Xu; Liu, Jin-Liang; Wang, Lang-Ning; Qiu, Yong-Feng

2018-06-01

The trigger to generate high-voltage pulse is one of the most important parts in a pulsed-power system, especially for the conduction characteristics of the main switch. However, traditional triggers usually have the drawbacks of large structure and worse long-term working stability, which goes against the demands of pulsed-power system miniaturization and stability. In the paper, a pulse trigger using photo-conductive semiconductor switch was developed, which is of small size, stable performance and steep leading edge of the output pulse rise. It is found that the output trigger pulse rise time is 14 ns, and the jitter of 20 shots is 330 ps. Applying the designed pulsed trigger in a field distortion switch and a triggered vacuum switch, experiments show that the switches could be triggered stably with reduced jitter.

Site-specific to local-scale shallow landslides triggering zones assessment using TRIGRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bordoni, M.; Meisina, C.; Valentino, R.; Bittelli, M.; Chersich, S.

2015-05-01

Rainfall-induced shallow landslides are common phenomena in many parts of the world, affecting cultivation and infrastructure and sometimes causing human losses. Assessing the triggering zones of shallow landslides is fundamental for land planning at different scales. This work defines a reliable methodology to extend a slope stability analysis from the site-specific to local scale by using a well-established physically based model (TRIGRS-unsaturated). The model is initially applied to a sample slope and then to the surrounding 13.4 km2 area in Oltrepo Pavese (northern Italy). To obtain more reliable input data for the model, long-term hydro-meteorological monitoring has been carried out at the sample slope, which has been assumed to be representative of the study area. Field measurements identified the triggering mechanism of shallow failures and were used to verify the reliability of the model to obtain pore water pressure trends consistent with those measured during the monitoring activity. In this way, more reliable trends have been modelled for past landslide events, such as the April 2009 event that was assumed as a benchmark. The assessment of shallow landslide triggering zones obtained using TRIGRS-unsaturated for the benchmark event appears good for both the monitored slope and the whole study area, with better results when a pedological instead of geological zoning is considered at the regional scale. The sensitivity analyses of the influence of the soil input data show that the mean values of the soil properties give the best results in terms of the ratio between the true positive and false positive rates. The scheme followed in this work allows us to obtain better results in the assessment of shallow landslide triggering areas in terms of the reduction in the overestimation of unstable zones with respect to other distributed models applied in the past.

Major coastal impact induced by a 1000-year storm event

PubMed Central

Fruergaard, Mikkel; Andersen, Thorbjørn J.; Johannessen, Peter N.; Nielsen, Lars H.; Pejrup, Morten

2013-01-01

Extreme storms and storm surges may induce major changes along sandy barrier coastlines, potentially causing substantial environmental and economic damage. We show that the most destructive storm (the 1634 AD storm) documented for the northern Wadden Sea within the last thousand years both caused permanent barrier breaching and initiated accumulation of up to several metres of marine sand. An aggradational storm shoal and a prograding shoreface sand unit having thicknesses of up to 8 m and 5 m respectively were deposited as a result of the storm and during the subsequent 30 to 40 years long healing phase, on the eroded shoreface. Our results demonstrate that millennial-scale storms can induce large-scale and long-term changes on barrier coastlines and shorefaces, and that coastal changes assumed to take place over centuries or even millennia may occur in association with and be triggered by a single extreme storm event.

A New Event Builder for CMS Run II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Albertsson, K.; Andre, J.-M.; Andronidis, A.; Behrens, U.; Branson, J.; Chaze, O.; Cittolin, S.; Darlea, G.-L.; Deldicque, C.; Dobson, M.; Dupont, A.; Erhan, S.; Gigi, D.; Glege, F.; Gomez-Ceballos, G.; Hegeman, J.; Holzner, A.; Jimenez-Estupiñán, R.; Masetti, L.; Meijers, F.; Meschi, E.; Mommsen, R. K.; Morovic, S.; Nunez-Barranco-Fernandez, C.; O'Dell, V.; Orsini, L.; Paus, C.; Petrucci, A.; Pieri, M.; Racz, A.; Roberts, P.; Sakulin, H.; Schwick, C.; Stieger, B.; Sumorok, K.; Veverka, J.; Zaza, S.; Zejdl, P.

2015-12-01

The data acquisition system (DAQ) of the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) assembles events at a rate of 100 kHz, transporting event data at an aggregate throughput of 100GB/s to the high-level trigger (HLT) farm. The DAQ system has been redesigned during the LHC shutdown in 2013/14. The new DAQ architecture is based on state-of-the-art network technologies for the event building. For the data concentration, 10/40 Gbps Ethernet technologies are used together with a reduced TCP/IP protocol implemented in FPGA for a reliable transport between custom electronics and commercial computing hardware. A 56 Gbps Infiniband FDR CLOS network has been chosen for the event builder. This paper discusses the software design, protocols, and optimizations for exploiting the hardware capabilities. We present performance measurements from small-scale prototypes and from the full-scale production system.

Bifurcations in models of a society of reasonable contrarians and conformists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bagnoli, Franco; Rechtman, Raúl

2015-10-01

We study models of a society composed of a mixture of conformist and reasonable contrarian agents that at any instant hold one of two opinions. Conformists tend to agree with the average opinion of their neighbors and reasonable contrarians tend to disagree, but revert to a conformist behavior in the presence of an overwhelming majority, in line with psychological experiments. The model is studied in the mean-field approximation and on small-world and scale-free networks. In the mean-field approximation, a large fraction of conformists triggers a polarization of the opinions, a pitchfork bifurcation, while a majority of reasonable contrarians leads to coherent oscillations, with an alternation of period-doubling and pitchfork bifurcations up to chaos. Similar scenarios are obtained by changing the fraction of long-range rewiring and the parameter of scale-free networks related to the average connectivity.

Bifurcations in models of a society of reasonable contrarians and conformists.

PubMed

Bagnoli, Franco; Rechtman, Raúl

2015-10-01

We study models of a society composed of a mixture of conformist and reasonable contrarian agents that at any instant hold one of two opinions. Conformists tend to agree with the average opinion of their neighbors and reasonable contrarians tend to disagree, but revert to a conformist behavior in the presence of an overwhelming majority, in line with psychological experiments. The model is studied in the mean-field approximation and on small-world and scale-free networks. In the mean-field approximation, a large fraction of conformists triggers a polarization of the opinions, a pitchfork bifurcation, while a majority of reasonable contrarians leads to coherent oscillations, with an alternation of period-doubling and pitchfork bifurcations up to chaos. Similar scenarios are obtained by changing the fraction of long-range rewiring and the parameter of scale-free networks related to the average connectivity.

A new event builder for CMS Run II

DOE PAGES

Albertsson, K.; Andre, J-M; Andronidis, A.; ...

2015-12-23

The data acquisition system (DAQ) of the CMS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) assembles events at a rate of 100 kHz, transporting event data at an aggregate throughput of 100 GB/s to the high-level trigger (HLT) farm. The DAQ system has been redesigned during the LHC shutdown in 2013/14. The new DAQ architecture is based on state-of-the-art network technologies for the event building. For the data concentration, 10/40 Gbps Ethernet technologies are used together with a reduced TCP/IP protocol implemented in FPGA for a reliable transport between custom electronics and commercial computing hardware. A 56 Gbps Innibandmore » FDR CLOS network has been chosen for the event builder. This paper discusses the software design, protocols, and optimizations for exploiting the hardware capabilities. In conclusion, ee present performance measurements from small-scale prototypes and from the full-scale production system.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Xie, Xueqian; Greuter, Marcel J. W.; Groen, Jaap M.

Purpose: Coronary artery calcium score, traditionally based on electrocardiography (ECG)-triggered computed tomography (CT), predicts cardiovascular risk. However, nontriggered CT is extensively utilized. The study-purpose is to evaluate the in vitro agreement in coronary calcium score between nontriggered thoracic CT and ECG-triggered cardiac CT.Methods: Three artificial coronary arteries containing calcifications of different densities (high, medium, and low), and sizes (large, medium, and small), were studied in a moving cardiac phantom. Two 64-detector CT systems were used. The phantom moved at 0–90 mm/s in nontriggered low-dose CT as index test, and at 0–30 mm/s in ECG-triggered CT as reference. Differences in calciummore » scores between nontriggered and ECG-triggered CT were analyzed by t-test and 95% confidence interval. The sensitivity to detect calcification was calculated as the percentage of positive calcium scores.Results: Overall, calcium scores in nontriggered CT were not significantly different to those in ECG-triggered CT (p > 0.05). Calcium scores in nontriggered CT were within the 95% confidence interval of calcium scores in ECG-triggered CT, except predominantly at higher velocities (≥50 mm/s) for the high-density and large-size calcifications. The sensitivity for a nonzero calcium score was 100% for large calcifications, but 46%± 11% for small calcifications in nontriggered CT.Conclusions: When performing multiple measurements, good agreement in positive calcium scores is found between nontriggered thoracic and ECG-triggered cardiac CT. Agreement decreases with increasing coronary velocity. From this phantom study, it can be concluded that a high calcium score can be detected by nontriggered CT, and thus, that nontriggered CT likely can identify individuals at high risk of cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, a zero calcium score in nontriggered CT does not reliably exclude coronary calcification.« less

The LUX experiment - trigger and data acquisition systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Druszkiewicz, Eryk

2013-04-01

The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) detector is a two-phase xenon time projection chamber designed to detect interactions of dark matter particles with the xenon nuclei. Signals from the detector PMTs are processed by custom-built analog electronics which provide properly shaped signals for the trigger and data acquisition (DAQ) systems. During calibrations, both systems must be able to handle high rates and have large dynamic ranges; during dark matter searches, maximum sensitivity requires low thresholds. The trigger system uses eight-channel 64-MHz digitizers (DDC-8) connected to a Trigger Builder (TB). The FPGA cores on the digitizers perform real-time pulse identification (discriminating between S1 and S2-like signals) and event localization. The TB uses hit patterns, hit maps, and maximum response detection to make trigger decisions, which are reached within few microseconds after the occurrence of an event of interest. The DAQ system is comprised of commercial digitizers with customized firmware. Its real-time baseline suppression allows for a maximum event acquisition rate in excess of 1.5 kHz, which results in virtually no deadtime. The performance of the trigger and DAQ systems during the commissioning runs of LUX will be discussed.

Rainfall characteristics associated to the triggering of fast- and slow-moving landslides - a comparison between the South French Alps and Lower Austria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Remaitre, Alexandre; Wallner, Stefan; Promper, Catrin; Glade, Thomas; Malet, Jean-Philippe

2013-04-01

Rainfall is worldwide a recognized trigger of landslides. Numerous studies were conducted in order to define the relationships between the precipitations and the triggering or the reactivation of landslides. Hydrological triggering of landslides can be divided in three general types: (1) development of local perched water tables in the subsoil leading to shallow slope instabilities and possible gravitational flows, (2) long-lasting rise in permanent water tables leading to more deep-seated slope instabilities, and (3) intense runoff causing channel-bed erosion and debris flows. Types (1) and (3) are usually observed during high rainfall intensities (hourly and daily rainfall) associated to heavy storms; type (2) is usually observed through increasing water content in the subsoil due to antecedent rainfalls (weekly or monthly rainfall) and/or massive snowmelt. Many investigations have been carried out to determine the amount of precipitation needed to trigger slopes failures. For rainfall-induced landslides a threshold may be define the rainfall, soil moisture or hydrological conditions that, when reached or exceeded, are likely to trigger landslides. Usually rainfall thresholds can be defined on physical process-based or conceptual models or empirical, historical and statistical bases. Nevertheless, both the large variety of landslides and to the extreme variety of climatic conditions leading to the triggering or the reactivation of a landslide lead to a regional definition of relationships between landslide occurrence and associated climatic conditions. The purpose of this case study is to analyze the relationships between the triggering of three types of landslides, debris flows, shallow landslides and deep-seated mudslides, and different patterns of rainfall in two study sites with different physiographic and climatic characteristics: the Barcelonnette basin in the South French Alps and the Waidhofen an der Ybbs area in Lower Austria. For this purpose, we exploit for the two test sites a landslide catalogue and rainfall data series to define a typology of rainfall induced-landslides for the relevant landslide types. Results from an analysis of the rainfall conditions associated to these events at different time scale (yearly, monthly, daily and hourly) show a clear distinction between these landslides. Slow-moving landslides are often associated to persistent rainstorms with low intensities during long periods causing the saturation of the soils while fast-moving landslides are usually triggered by short rainfall events with high intensities that occur in summer.

Genetically encoded lipid-polypeptide hybrid biomaterials that exhibit temperature-triggered hierarchical self-assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mozhdehi, Davoud; Luginbuhl, Kelli M.; Simon, Joseph R.; Dzuricky, Michael; Berger, Rüdiger; Varol, H. Samet; Huang, Fred C.; Buehne, Kristen L.; Mayne, Nicholas R.; Weitzhandler, Isaac; Bonn, Mischa; Parekh, Sapun H.; Chilkoti, Ashutosh

2018-05-01

Post-translational modification of proteins is a strategy widely used in biological systems. It expands the diversity of the proteome and allows for tailoring of both the function and localization of proteins within cells as well as the material properties of structural proteins and matrices. Despite their ubiquity in biology, with a few exceptions, the potential of post-translational modifications in biomaterials synthesis has remained largely untapped. As a proof of concept to demonstrate the feasibility of creating a genetically encoded biohybrid material through post-translational modification, we report here the generation of a family of three stimulus-responsive hybrid materials—fatty-acid-modified elastin-like polypeptides—using a one-pot recombinant expression and post-translational lipidation methodology. These hybrid biomaterials contain an amphiphilic domain, composed of a β-sheet-forming peptide that is post-translationally functionalized with a C14 alkyl chain, fused to a thermally responsive elastin-like polypeptide. They exhibit temperature-triggered hierarchical self-assembly across multiple length scales with varied structure and material properties that can be controlled at the sequence level.

Influence of asymmetric magnetic perturbation on the nonlinear evolution of double tearing modes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, G. Z.; Wang, L.; Li, X. Q.; Liu, H. F.; Tang, C. J.; Huang, J.; Zhang, X.; Wang, X. Q.

2017-06-01

The effects of asymmetric magnetic perturbation on the triggering and evolution of double tearing modes (DTMs) are investigated using nonlinear magnetohydrodynamics simulations in a slab geometry. We find that for reversed magnetic shear plasmas the resistive reconnection process induced by the initial perturbation at one rational surface can drive a new island at the other rational surface with the same mode number. The four typical states of the mode for the time evolution are found, and include: (i) a linear growth stage; (ii) a linear/nonlinear stable stage; (iii) an interactively driving stage; and (iv) a symmetric DTM stage. These differ from previous simulation results. Moreover, nonlinear DTM growth is found to strongly depend on the asymmetric magnetic perturbation, particularly in the early nonlinear phase. The initial perturbation strength scale of island width suggests that the left island enters into a Sweet-Parker growth process when the right island is sufficiently large to effectively drive the other. These results predict that although externally applied magnetic perturbations can suppress the neoclassical tearing mode they can also trigger new instabilities such as asymmetric DTMs.

Influence of central set on anticipatory and triggered grip-force adjustments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Winstein, C. J.; Horak, F. B.; Fisher, B. E.; Peterson, B. W. (Principal Investigator)

2000-01-01

The effects of predictability of load magnitude on anticipatory and triggered grip-force adjustments were studied as nine normal subjects used a precision grip to lift, hold, and replace an instrumented test object. Experience with a predictable stimulus has been shown to enhance magnitude scaling of triggered postural responses to different amplitudes of perturbations. However, this phenomenon, known as a central-set effect, has not been tested systematically for grip-force responses in the hand. In our study, predictability was manipulated by applying load perturbations of different magnitudes to the test object under conditions in which the upcoming load magnitude was presented repeatedly or under conditions in which the load magnitudes were presented randomly, each with two different pre-load grip conditions (unconstrained and constrained). In constrained conditions, initial grip forces were maintained near the minimum level necessary to prevent pre-loaded object slippage, while in unconstrained conditions, no initial grip force restrictions were imposed. The effect of predictable (blocked) and unpredictable (random) load presentations on scaling of anticipatory and triggered grip responses was tested by comparing the slopes of linear regressions between the imposed load and grip response magnitude. Anticipatory and triggered grip force responses were scaled to load magnitude in all conditions. However, regardless of pre-load grip force constraint, the gains (slopes) of grip responses relative to load magnitudes were greater when the magnitude of the upcoming load was predictable than when the load increase was unpredictable. In addition, a central-set effect was evidenced by the fewer number of drop trials in the predictable relative to unpredictable load conditions. Pre-load grip forces showed the greatest set effects. However, grip responses showed larger set effects, based on prediction, when pre-load grip force was constrained to lower levels. These results suggest that anticipatory processes pertaining to load magnitude permit the response gain of both voluntary and triggered rapid grip force adjustments to be set, at least partially, prior to perturbation onset. Comparison of anticipatory set effects for reactive torque and lower extremity EMG postural responses triggered by surface translation perturbations suggests a more general rule governing anticipatory processes.

Landslide triggering-thickness susceptibility, a simple proxy for landslide hazard? A test in the Mili catchment (North-Eastern Sicily, Italy)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardo, Luigi; Fubelli, Giandomenico; Amato, Gabriele; Bonasera, Mauro; Mai, Martin

2016-04-01

This study implements a landslide triggering-thickness susceptibility approach in order to investigate the landslide scenario in the catchment of Mili, this being located in the north-easternmost sector of Sicily (Italy). From a detailed geomorphological campaign, thicknesses of mobilised materials at the triggering zone of each mass movement were collected and subsequently used as a dependent variable to be analysed in the framework of spatial predictive models. The adopted modelling methodology consisted of a presence-only learning algorithm which differently from classic presence-absence methods does not rely on stable conditions in order to derive functional relationships between dependent and independent variables. The dependent was pre-processed by reclassifying the crown thickness spectrum into a binary condition expressing thick (values equal or greater than 1m) and thin (values less than 1m) landslide crown classes. The explanatory variables were selected to express triggering-thickness dependency at different scales, these being in close proximity to the triggering point through primary and secondary attributes from a 2m-cell side Lidar HRDEM, at a medium scale through vegetation indexes from multispectral satellite images (ASTER) and a coarser scale through a geological, land use and tectonic maps. The choice of a presence-only approach allowed to effectively discriminate between the two types of landslide thicknesses at the triggering zone, producing excellent prediction skills associated with relatively low variances across a set of 50 randomly generated replicates. In addition, the role of each predictor was assessed for the two considered classes as relevant differences arose in terms of their contribution to the final models. In this regard, predictor importance, Jack-knife tests and response curves were used to assess the reliability of the models together with their geomorphological reasonability. This work attempts to capitalize on fieldwork data in order to produce an example for a landslide triggering-thickness susceptibility which differently from more common approaches, may performs as a better proxy for more complex landslide hazard assessments.

A new analytical method for characterizing nonlinear visual processes with stimuli of arbitrary distribution: Theory and applications.

PubMed

Hayashi, Ryusuke; Watanabe, Osamu; Yokoyama, Hiroki; Nishida, Shin'ya

2017-06-01

Characterization of the functional relationship between sensory inputs and neuronal or observers' perceptual responses is one of the fundamental goals of systems neuroscience and psychophysics. Conventional methods, such as reverse correlation and spike-triggered data analyses are limited in their ability to resolve complex and inherently nonlinear neuronal/perceptual processes because these methods require input stimuli to be Gaussian with a zero mean. Recent studies have shown that analyses based on a generalized linear model (GLM) do not require such specific input characteristics and have advantages over conventional methods. GLM, however, relies on iterative optimization algorithms and its calculation costs become very expensive when estimating the nonlinear parameters of a large-scale system using large volumes of data. In this paper, we introduce a new analytical method for identifying a nonlinear system without relying on iterative calculations and yet also not requiring any specific stimulus distribution. We demonstrate the results of numerical simulations, showing that our noniterative method is as accurate as GLM in estimating nonlinear parameters in many cases and outperforms conventional, spike-triggered data analyses. As an example of the application of our method to actual psychophysical data, we investigated how different spatiotemporal frequency channels interact in assessments of motion direction. The nonlinear interaction estimated by our method was consistent with findings from previous vision studies and supports the validity of our method for nonlinear system identification.

Hybrid Markov-mass action law model for cell activation by rare binding events: Application to calcium induced vesicular release at neuronal synapses.

PubMed

Guerrier, Claire; Holcman, David

2016-10-18

Binding of molecules, ions or proteins to small target sites is a generic step of cell activation. This process relies on rare stochastic events where a particle located in a large bulk has to find small and often hidden targets. We present here a hybrid discrete-continuum model that takes into account a stochastic regime governed by rare events and a continuous regime in the bulk. The rare discrete binding events are modeled by a Markov chain for the encounter of small targets by few Brownian particles, for which the arrival time is Poissonian. The large ensemble of particles is described by mass action laws. We use this novel model to predict the time distribution of vesicular release at neuronal synapses. Vesicular release is triggered by the binding of few calcium ions that can originate either from the synaptic bulk or from the entry through calcium channels. We report here that the distribution of release time is bimodal although it is triggered by a single fast action potential. While the first peak follows a stimulation, the second corresponds to the random arrival over much longer time of ions located in the synaptic terminal to small binding vesicular targets. To conclude, the present multiscale stochastic modeling approach allows studying cellular events based on integrating discrete molecular events over several time scales.

Possible impacts of the pre-monsoon dry line and sea breeze front on nocturnal rainfall over northeast Bangladesh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stiller-Reeve, Mathew; Toniazzo, Thomas; Kolstad, Erik; Spengler, Thomas

2017-04-01

The northeast region of Bangladesh receives a large amount of rainfall before the large-scale monsoon circulation begins. For example, in April (a "pre-monsoon" month) 2010, 804 mm of rain fell in the regional capital Sylhet. It was the second wettest month of the entire year. From our conversations with the local people, we know that this pre-monsoon rainfall is extremely important to their livelihoods. We therefore need to understand it's triggering mechanisms. Several theories have been published, all of which are likely to be at play. However, in this work we look more closely at how the sea breeze front and prominent pre-monsoonal dry line in this region may play a role. If these mechanisms play a role in the convection, then it is likely that they trigger convection further afield, and then the resulting systems then propagate towards northeast Bangladesh. We believe this because rainfall associated with dry line/sea-breeze front convection often occurs during the late afternoon, but the rainfall over northeast Bangladesh shows a clear late-night/early-morning maxima. At present, the temporal and spatial resolution of the regional observations is inappropriate for examining these possible mechanisms. We therefore use a numerical model (WRF) to investigate the possible links between the convection and the sea breeze front and dry line. We use April 2010 as a case study since it was such a wet pre-monsoon month. The simulation shows that a sea breeze circulation often develops during the day in the coastal zone of Bangladesh and northeast India. After sunset the sea breeze front propagates inland pushing back the hot, dry air over India. On several days during the simulation, convection is triggered along the sea breeze front, which then propagates towards northeast Bangladesh and intensifies across the topography surrounding the Sylhet region. From our simulations, it appears that nocturnal convection over northeast Bangladesh is triggered by several mechanisms, but that the dry line and sea breeze front could also be an active contributor.

Remote Love Wave Triggering of Tremor in the Nankai Subduction Zone: New Observations and Dynamic Stress Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enescu, B.; Chao, K.; Obara, K.; Peng, Z.; Matsuzawa, T.; Yagi, Y.

2013-12-01

The triggering of deep non-volcanic tremor (NVT) in the Nankai region, southwest Japan, by the surface waves of several large teleseismic earthquakes has been well documented (e.g., Miyazawa & Mori, 2005). These previous studies report that the Nankai NVT is primarily triggered by the passage of Rayleigh waves from the teleseismic events (e.g., Miyazawa & Brodsky, 2008). The relative lack of Love wave triggering in Nankai would be, however, an exception to the general observation that triggered tremor shows a positive correlation with the triggering potential, defined using the Coulomb failure criteria (Hill, 2012). To clarify the Nankai NVT triggering mechanism, we have systematically searched for triggered tremor due to large teleseismic events (Mw ≥ 7.5) occurred from 2001 to 2012. Our present analysis focuses on western Shikoku, where triggered NVT has been previously reported (e.g., Miyazawa & Mori, 2006). From a total of 55 teleseismic events, 18 show associated triggered NVT. Our analysis presents clear evidence of triggered NVT that correlates well with the passage of Love waves. The most outstanding example is that of the 2012 M8.6 Sumatra earthquake, a strike-slip event characterized by relatively large amplitude Love waves. The incoming surface waves from this earthquake are almost strike-parallel to the Nankai subduction zone, which corresponds to a higher Love wave triggering potential (Hill, 2012). The 2001 M7.8 Kunlun, the 2003 M8.3 Tokachi-oki, the 2004 M9.2 & 2007 M8.5 Sumatra, the 2006 M8.3 Kuril-Islands and the 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquakes show as well Love-wave associated NVT triggering. In most of these cases the tremor is initiated by the incoming, faster-traveling Love waves and continues during the latter, larger-amplitude Rayleigh waves. We are also conducting dynamic stress modeling to better understand the triggering mechanism of tremor. Our approach builds up on the methods of Gonzalez-Huizar & Velasco (2011) and Obara (2012). In the case of the 2012 Sumatra earthquake, we found a high correlation between the Love waves dynamic Coulomb stress change at the tremor source and the triggered NVT, for a time period of about 400s, which starts from the first Love wave cycles. Afterwards, the tremor bursts have slightly larger amplitudes and the correlation with the surface waves becomes poor. Preliminary results indicate a shallower location for these later tremors. Our results indicate that the triggering mechanism of NVT in western Shikoku is essentially the same with the one operating (e.g., Hill, 2012) in other subduction regions around the world (e.g., Cascadia). The tremor responds to excitation by both Love and Rayleigh waves according to the Coulomb failure criterion; failure, once underway, might be controlled by other mechanisms (e.g., some form of rate-state friction), which we plan to address in future studies.

The Effects of Wave Escape on Fast Magnetosonic Wave Turbulence in Solar Flares

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pongkitiwanichakul, Peera; Chandran, Benjamin D. G.; Karpen, Judith T.; DeVore, C. Richard

2012-01-01

One of the leading models for electron acceleration in solar flares is stochastic acceleration by weakly turbulent fast magnetosonic waves ("fast waves"). In this model, large-scale flows triggered by magnetic reconnection excite large-wavelength fast waves, and fast-wave energy then cascades from large wavelengths to small wavelengths. Electron acceleration by large-wavelength fast-waves is weak, and so the model relies on the small-wavelength waves produced by the turbulent cascade. In order for the model to work, the energy cascade time for large-wavelength fast waves must be shorter than the time required for the waves to propagate out of the solar-flare acceleration region. To investigate the effects of wave escape, we solve the wave kinetic equation for fast waves in weak turbulence theory, supplemented with a homogeneous wave-loss term.We find that the amplitude of large-wavelength fast waves must exceed a minimum threshold in order for a significant fraction of the wave energy to cascade to small wavelengths before the waves leave the acceleration region.We evaluate this threshold as a function of the dominant wavelength of the fast waves that are initially excited by reconnection outflows.

Triggered tremor sweet spots in Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gomberg, Joan; Prejean, Stephanie

2013-12-01

To better understand what controls fault slip along plate boundaries, we have exploited the abundance of seismic and geodetic data available from the richly varied tectonic environments composing Alaska. A search for tremor triggered by 11 large earthquakes throughout all of seismically monitored Alaska reveals two tremor "sweet spots"—regions where large-amplitude seismic waves repeatedly triggered tremor between 2006 and 2012. The two sweet spots locate in very different tectonic environments—one just trenchward and between the Aleutian islands of Unalaska and Akutan and the other in central mainland Alaska. The Unalaska/Akutan spot corroborates previous evidence that the region is ripe for tremor, perhaps because it is located where plate-interface frictional properties transition between stick-slip and stably sliding in both the dip direction and laterally. The mainland sweet spot coincides with a region of complex and uncertain plate interactions, and where no slow slip events or major crustal faults have been noted previously. Analyses showed that larger triggering wave amplitudes, and perhaps lower frequencies (< 0.03 Hz), may enhance the probability of triggering tremor. However, neither the maximum amplitude in the time domain or in a particular frequency band, nor the geometric relationship of the wavefield to the tremor source faults alone ensures a high probability of triggering. Triggered tremor at the two sweet spots also does not occur during slow slip events visually detectable in GPS data, although slow slip below the detection threshold may have facilitated tremor triggering.

Triggered tremor sweet spots in Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gomberg, Joan; Prejean, Stephanie

2013-01-01

To better understand what controls fault slip along plate boundaries, we have exploited the abundance of seismic and geodetic data available from the richly varied tectonic environments composing Alaska. A search for tremor triggered by 11 large earthquakes throughout all of seismically monitored Alaska reveals two tremor “sweet spots”—regions where large-amplitude seismic waves repeatedly triggered tremor between 2006 and 2012. The two sweet spots locate in very different tectonic environments—one just trenchward and between the Aleutian islands of Unalaska and Akutan and the other in central mainland Alaska. The Unalaska/Akutan spot corroborates previous evidence that the region is ripe for tremor, perhaps because it is located where plate-interface frictional properties transition between stick-slip and stably sliding in both the dip direction and laterally. The mainland sweet spot coincides with a region of complex and uncertain plate interactions, and where no slow slip events or major crustal faults have been noted previously. Analyses showed that larger triggering wave amplitudes, and perhaps lower frequencies (<~0.03 Hz), may enhance the probability of triggering tremor. However, neither the maximum amplitude in the time domain or in a particular frequency band, nor the geometric relationship of the wavefield to the tremor source faults alone ensures a high probability of triggering. Triggered tremor at the two sweet spots also does not occur during slow slip events visually detectable in GPS data, although slow slip below the detection threshold may have facilitated tremor triggering.

Towards a Systematic Search for Triggered Seismic Events in the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, V.; Chao, K.; Van der Lee, S.

2017-12-01

Dynamic triggering of small earthquakes and tectonic tremor by small stress variations associated with passing surface waves from large-magnitude teleseismic earthquakes have been observed in seismically active regions in the western US. Local stress variations as small as 5 10 kPa can suffice to advance slip on local faults. Observations of such triggered events share certain distinct characteristics. With an eye towards an eventual application of machine learning, we began a systematic search for dynamically triggered seismic events in the USA that have these characteristics. Such a systematic survey has the potential to help us to better understand the fundamental process of dynamic triggering and hazards implied by it. Using visual inspection on top of timing and frequency based selection criteria for these seismic phenomena, our search yielded numerous false positives, indicating the challenge posed by moving from ad-hoc observations of dynamic triggering to a systematic search that also includes a catalog of non-triggering, even when sufficient stress variations are supplied. Our search includes a dozen large earthquakes that occurred during the tenure of USArray. One of these earthquakes (11 April 2012 Mw8.6 Sumatra), for example, was observed by USArray-TA stations in the Midwest and other station networks (such as PB and UW), and yielded candidate-triggered events at 413 stations. We kept 79 of these observations after closer visual inspection of the observed events suggested distinct P and S arrivals from a local earthquake, or a tremor modulation with the same period as the surface wave, among other criteria. We confirmed triggered seismic events in 63 stations along the western plate boundary where triggered events have previously been observed. We also newly found triggered tremor sources in eastern Oregon and Yellowstone, and candidate-triggered earthquake sources in New Mexico and Minnesota. Learning whether 14 of remaining candidates are confirmed as triggered events or not will provide constraints on the state of intraplate stress in the USA. Learning what it takes to discriminate between triggered events and false positives will be important for future monitoring practices.

A new Calibrated Deglacial Drainage History for North America and Evidence for an Arctic Trigger for the Younger Dryas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarasov, L.; Peltier, W. R.

2004-05-01

We present a new deglacial drainage history for the North American ice complex using the 3D University of Toronto glacial systems model calibrated against a large set of RSL and geodetic data. During melt-water pulse 1a, large order 0.15 to 0.2 Sverdrup century-scale melt-water discharges into both the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic occur. During this period, it has generally been inferred that strong thermohaline overturning circulation (TOC) was maintained. As such, our results suggest that the TOC is relatively insensitive to injection of melt-water into the Western Atlantic. In contrast with past inferences, we find the periods of strongest combined melt-water and ice calving discharge (with peak flows of order 0.2 Sverdrups over a century) into the NW Arctic to be during both the onset of and within the Younger Dryas. Model results also show no significant freshwater flux into the Western Atlantic during the Younger Dryas onset period. Given that the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian (GIN) seas basin was the only outlet route for Arctic waters at this time, we infer that some combination of reduced Canadian Basin sea surface salinities in combination with enhanced sea-ice export into the GIN seas basin played a critical role in triggering and sustaining the altered TOC that is believed to be responsible for the Younger Dryas cold interval. We also speculate that the prior lack of such large discharges into the Canadian Arctic Basin may explain the apparent uniqueness of the Younger Dryas interval.

Scaling of energy absorbing composite plates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Karen; Morton, John; Traffanstedt, Catherine; Boitnott, Richard

1992-01-01

The energy absorption response and crushing characteristics of geometrically scaled graphite-Kevlar epoxy composite plates were investigated. Three different trigger mechanisms including chamfer, notch, and steeple geometries were incorporated into the plate specimens to initiate crushing. Sustained crushing was achieved with a simple test fixture which provided lateral support to prevent global buckling. Values of specific sustained crushing stress (SSCS) were obtained which were comparable to values reported for tube specimens from previously published data. Two sizes of hybrid plates were fabricated; a baseline or model plate, and a full-scale plate with in-plane dimensions scaled by a factor of two. The thickness dimension of the full-scale plates was increased using two different techniques; the ply-level method in which each ply orientation in the baseline laminate stacking sequence is doubled, and the sublaminate technique in which the baseline laminate stacking sequence is repeated as a group. Results indicated that the SSCS is independent of trigger mechanism geometry. However, a reduction in the SSCS of 10-25 percent was observed for the full-scale plates as compared with the baseline specimens, indicating a scaling effect in the crushing response.

Scaling of energy absorbing composite plates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, Karen; Lavoie, J. Andre; Morton, John

1994-01-01

The energy absorption response and crushing characteristics of geometrically scaled graphite-Kevlar epoxy composite plates were investigated. Two different trigger mechanisms including notch, and steeple geometries were incorporated into the plate specimens to initiate crushing. Sustained crushing was achieved with a new test fixture which provided lateral support to prevent global buckling. Values of specific sustained crushing stress (SSCS) were obtained which were lower than values reported for tube specimens from previously published data. Two sizes of hybrid plates were fabricated; a baseline or model plate, and a full-scale plate with inplane dimensions scaled by a factor of two. The thickness dimension of the full-scale plates was increased using two different techniques: the ply-level method in which each ply orientation in the baseline laminate stacking sequence is doubled, and the sublaminate technique in which the baseline laminate stacking sequence is repeated as a group. Results indicated that the SSCS has a small dependence on trigger mechanism geometry. However, a reduction in the SSCS of 10-25% was observed for the full-scale plates as compared with the baseline specimens, indicating a scaling effect in the crushing response.

Scaling of energy absorbing composite plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Karen; Morton, John; Traffanstedt, Catherine; Boitnott, Richard

The energy absorption response and crushing characteristics of geometrically scaled graphite-Kevlar epoxy composite plates were investigated. Three different trigger mechanisms including chamfer, notch, and steeple geometries were incorporated into the plate specimens to initiate crushing. Sustained crushing was achieved with a simple test fixture which provided lateral support to prevent global buckling. Values of specific sustained crushing stress (SSCS) were obtained which were comparable to values reported for tube specimens from previously published data. Two sizes of hybrid plates were fabricated; a baseline or model plate, and a full-scale plate with in-plane dimensions scaled by a factor of two. The thickness dimension of the full-scale plates was increased using two different techniques; the ply-level method in which each ply orientation in the baseline laminate stacking sequence is doubled, and the sublaminate technique in which the baseline laminate stacking sequence is repeated as a group. Results indicated that the SSCS is independent of trigger mechanism geometry. However, a reduction in the SSCS of 10-25 percent was observed for the full-scale plates as compared with the baseline specimens, indicating a scaling effect in the crushing response.

Diet and lifestyle as trigger factors for the onset of heartburn.

PubMed

Oliver, Katie; Davies, Gloria; Dettmar, Peter

To examine prospectively the role of reported trigger factors on symptom onset in patients with heartburn and highlight the role of these factors in the management of heartburn in the primary care setting. METHOD Twenty-two patients with heartburn and 50 controls were recruited in Bedfordshire, UK. A seven-day symptom and trigger diary was completed by patients and controls. Patients reported a collection of heartburn symptoms varying in severity and time of day. Aspects of diet and lifestyle perceived as trigger factors included large meals, time of eating and posture. Multiple trigger factors were reported for heartburn. Although symptom onset varies between individuals, consideration should be given to trigger factors in the management of heartburn symptoms.

Natural hazards in the Alps triggered by ski slope engineering and artificial snow production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, C.

2012-04-01

In the Alps there is increasing concern of man-made triggering of natural hazards in association with ski slope engineering and pressures from climate change. However literature on the topic is rare. Ski run development has been intensified in the past decade to accommodate a higher density of skiers. In order to absorb the increased flux of skiers promoted by continually increasing lift capacity, ski runs are subject to more and more enlargement, straightening and leveling. This has required large-scale re-leveling of slopes with the removal of soil and protective vegetation using heavy machinery during the summer season. Slope-ward incision on steep slopes, creation of artificial embankments by leeward deposition and development of straight ski runs perpendicular to steep slopes have resulted in both shallow and deep erosion, gullying, triggering of small landslides and even bedload transport in marginal channels. Other natural hazards have been triggered directly or indirectly due to intensification of artificial snow production. This has increased exponentially in the last decade in order to secure the skiing season under increasingly warm temperatures and erratic snowfall and decreasing snow depth and snow duration in association with climate change. The consequences are multiple. Firstly, in order to economize both costs and quantity of artificial snow production, ski runs are leveled as far as possible in order to avoid topographical irregularities, protruding vegetation or rocks. The combination of topsoil removal and prolonged duration of artificial snow cover results in a decreased vegetation cover and period as well as species alteration. Together with greatly decreased permeability of the underground, snowmelt and intensive summer precipitation trigger surface runoff, erosion and even small landslides. After more than a decade of intensive cover by artificial snow, most such steep ski runs at altitudes above 1400 m are reduced into highly erosive, vegetation-poor scree slopes in summertime. Secondly, the production of artificial snow requires increasingly large quantities of water during low flow periods and causes an exponential increase in the construction of water reservoirs and pipelines. Such reservoirs are often constructed in depressions occupied by wetlands but also on slopes, hilltops and in proglacial locations at high altitudes up to 3000m. Reservoir construction removes vegetation, soil and regolith over surface areas of up to 150 000 m2 and depths of more than 20 m. During their construction, the temporary or permanent storage of large quantities of sediment on steep slopes has lead in several cases to the production of debris flows. Each reservoir requires road construction and vehicle parking areas for heavy weight vehicle access. These are frequently subject to erosion, gullying, and small landslides. Some reservoirs are vulnerable to catastrophic drainage triggered by earthquakes, avalanches and other natural hazards typical for mountain environments since they are only sealed with plastic membranes. Thirdly, the melt of artificial snow introduced by water transfers from other catchments can cause a relatively large local surplus of water which in turn increases spring and summer flood peaks as well as sediment transport. Most steep ski runs have introduced artificial drainage canals across the ski runs to avoid concentration of surface flow and to prevent erosion. Slopes are also covered with organic soils and re-vegetated where possible. However, given the present trends of intensification of use and precipitation extremes, it is unlikely that erosion and mass movements can be prevented in the next few decades for the duration of the amortization of investments.

Sinuous Flow in Cutting of Metals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeung, Ho; Viswanathan, Koushik; Udupa, Anirudh; Mahato, Anirban; Chandrasekar, Srinivasan

2017-11-01

Using in situ high-speed imaging, we unveil details of a highly unsteady plastic flow mode in the cutting of annealed and highly strain-hardening metals. This mesoscopic flow mode, termed sinuous flow, is characterized by repeated material folding, large rotation, and energy dissipation. Sinuous flow effects a very large shape transformation, with local strains of ten or more, and results in a characteristic mushroomlike surface morphology that is quite distinct from the well-known morphologies of metal-cutting chips. Importantly, the attributes of this unsteady flow are also fundamentally different from other well-established unsteady plastic flows in large-strain deformation, like adiabatic shear bands. The nucleation and development of sinuous flow, its dependence on material properties, and its manifestation across material systems are demonstrated. Plastic buckling and grain-scale heterogeneity are found to play key roles in triggering this flow at surfaces. Implications for modeling and understanding flow stability in large-strain plastic deformation, surface quality, and preparation of near-strain-free surfaces by cutting are discussed. The results point to the inadequacy of the widely used shear-zone models, even for ductile metals.

Development of Micro and Nanostructured Materials for Interfacial Self-Healing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blaiszik, Benjamin James

2009-01-01

Damage in polymeric coatings, adhesives, microelectronic components, and composites spans many length scales. For small scale damage, autonomic self-healing can repair multiple damage modes without manual intervention. In autonomic self-healing materials, a healing response is triggered by damage to the material. Size scale considerations, such as…

Remotely triggered microearthquakes and tremor in central California following the 2010 Mw 8.8 Chile earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peng, Zhigang; Hill, David P.; Shelly, David R.; Aiken, Chastity

2010-01-01

We examine remotely triggered microearthquakes and tectonic tremor in central California following the 2010 Mw 8.8 Chile earthquake. Several microearthquakes near the Coso Geothermal Field were apparently triggered, with the largest earthquake (Ml 3.5) occurring during the large-amplitude Love surface waves. The Chile mainshock also triggered numerous tremor bursts near the Parkfield-Cholame section of the San Andreas Fault (SAF). The locally triggered tremor bursts are partially masked at lower frequencies by the regionally triggered earthquake signals from Coso, but can be identified by applying high-pass or matched filters. Both triggered tremor along the SAF and the Ml 3.5 earthquake in Coso are consistent with frictional failure at different depths on critically-stressed faults under the Coulomb failure criteria. The triggered tremor, however, appears to be more phase-correlated with the surface waves than the triggered earthquakes, likely reflecting differences in constitutive properties between the brittle, seismogenic crust and the underlying lower crust.

The electric field changes and UHF radiations caused by the triggered lightning in Japan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kawasaki, Zen-Ichiro; Kanao, Tadashi; Matsuura, Kenji; Nakano, Minoru; Horii, Kenji; Nakamura, Koichi

1991-01-01

In the rocket triggered lightning experiment of fiscal 1989, researchers observed electromagnetic field changes and UHF electromagnetic radiation accompanying rocket triggered lightning. It was found that no rapid changes corresponding to the return stroke of natural lightning were observed in the electric field changes accompanying rocket triggered lightning. However, continuous currents were present. In the case of rocket triggered lightning to the tower, electromagnetic field changes corresponding to the initiation of triggered lightning showed a bipolar pulse of a relatively large amplitude. In contrast, the rocket triggered lightning to the ground did not have such a bipolar pulse. The UHF radiation accompanying the rocket triggered lightning preceded the waveform portions corresponding to the first changes in electromagnetic fields. The number of isolated pulses in the UHF radiation showed a correlation with the time duration from rocket launching up to triggered lightning. The time interval between consecutive isolated pulses tended to get shorter with the passage of time, just like the stepped leaders of natural lightning.

Stochastically-forced Decadal Variability in Australian Rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taschetto, A.

2015-12-01

Iconic Australian dry and wet periods were driven by anomalous conditions in the tropical oceans, such as the worst short-term drought in the southeast in 1982 associated with the strong El Niño and the widespread "Big Wet" in 1974 linked with a La Niña event. The association with oceanic conditions makes droughts predictable to some extent. However, prediction can be difficult when there is no clear external forcing such as El Niños. Can dry spells be triggered and maintained with no ocean memory? In this study, we investigate the potential role of internal multi-century atmospheric variability in controlling the frequency, duration and intensity of long-term dry and wet spells over Australia. Two multi-century-scale simulations were performed with the NCAR CESM: (1) a fully-coupled simulation (CPLD) and (2) an atmospheric simulation forced by a seasonal SST climatology derived from the coupled experiment (ACGM). Results reveal that droughts and wet spells can indeed be generated by internal variability of the atmosphere. Those internally generated events are less severe than those forced by oceanic variability, however the duration of dry and wet spells longer than 3 years is comparable with and without the ocean memory. Large-scale ocean modes of variability seem to play an important role in producing continental-scale rainfall impacts over Australia. While the Pacific Decadal Oscillation plays an important role in generating droughts in the fully coupled model, perturbations of monsoonal winds seem to be the main trigger of dry spells in the AGCM case. Droughts in the mid-latitude regions such as Tasmania can be driven by perturbations in the Southern Annular Mode, not necessarily linked to oceanic conditions even in the fully-coupled model. The mechanisms behind internally-driven mega-droughts and mega-wets will be discussed.

Sensitivity analysis of a new dual-porosity hydroloigcal model coupled with the SOSlope model for the numerical simulations of rainfall triggered shallow landslides.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwarz, Massimiliano; Cohen, Denis

2017-04-01

Morphology and extent of hydrological pathways, in combination with the spatio-temporal variability of rainfall events and the heterogeneities of hydro-mechanical properties of soils, has a major impact on the hydrological conditions that locally determine the triggering of shallow landslides. The coupling of these processes at different spatial scales is an enormous challenge for slope stability modeling at the catchment scale. In this work we present a sensitivity analysis of a new dual-porosity hydrological model implemented in the hydro-mechanical model SOSlope for the modeling of shallow landslides on vegetated hillslopes. The proposed model links the calculation of the saturation dynamic of preferential flow-paths based on hydrological and topographical characteristics of the landscape to the hydro-mechanical behavior of the soil along a potential failure surface due to the changes of soil matrix saturation. Furthermore, the hydro-mechanical changes of soil conditions are linked to the local stress-strain properties of the (rooted-)soil that ultimately determine the force redistribution and related deformations at the hillslope scale. The model considers forces to be redistributed through three types of solicitations: tension, compression, and shearing. The present analysis shows how the conditions of deformation due to the passive earth pressure mobilized at the toe of the landslide are particularly important in defining the timing and extension of shallow landslides. The model also shows that, in densely rooted hillslopes, lateral force redistribution under tension through the root-network may substantially contribute to stabilizing slopes, avoiding crack formation and large deformations. The results of the sensitivity analysis are discussed in the context of protection forest management and bioengineering techniques.

Triggered earthquakes and the 1811-1812 New Madrid, central United States, earthquake sequence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hough, S.E.

2001-01-01

The 1811-1812 New Madrid, central United States, earthquake sequence included at least three events with magnitudes estimated at well above M 7.0. I discuss evidence that the sequence also produced at least three substantial triggered events well outside the New Madrid Seismic Zone, most likely in the vicinity of Cincinnati, Ohio. The largest of these events is estimated to have a magnitude in the low to mid M 5 range. Events of this size are large enough to cause damage, especially in regions with low levels of preparedness. Remotely triggered earthquakes have been observed in tectonically active regions in recent years, but not previously in stable continental regions. The results of this study suggest, however, that potentially damaging triggered earthquakes may be common following large mainshocks in stable continental regions. Thus, in areas of low seismic activity such as central/ eastern North America, the hazard associated with localized source zones might be more far reaching than previously recognized. The results also provide additional evidence that intraplate crust is critically stressed, such that small stress changes are especially effective at triggering earthquakes.

Combined Electrocardiography- and Respiratory-Triggered CT of the Lung to Reduce Respiratory Misregistration Artifacts between Imaging Slabs in Free-Breathing Children: Initial Experience

PubMed Central

Allmendinger, Thomas

2017-01-01

Objective Cardiac and respiratory motion artifacts degrade the image quality of lung CT in free-breathing children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of combined electrocardiography (ECG) and respiratory triggering on respiratory misregistration artifacts on lung CT in free-breathing children. Materials and Methods In total, 15 children (median age 19 months, range 6 months–8 years; 7 boys), who underwent free-breathing ECG-triggered lung CT with and without respiratory-triggering were included. A pressure-sensing belt of a respiratory gating system was used to obtain the respiratory signal. The degree of respiratory misregistration artifacts between imaging slabs was graded on a 4-point scale (1, excellent image quality) on coronal and sagittal images and compared between ECG-triggered lung CT studies with and without respiratory triggering. A p value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results Lung CT with combined ECG and respiratory triggering showed significantly less respiratory misregistration artifacts than lung CT with ECG triggering only (1.1 ± 0.4 vs. 2.2 ± 1.0, p = 0.003). Conclusion Additional respiratory-triggering reduces respiratory misregistration artifacts on ECG-triggered lung CT in free-breathing children. PMID:28860904

Global Omori law decay of triggered earthquakes: large aftershocks outside the classical aftershock zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, Tom

2002-01-01

Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the 1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with Ms ≥ 7.0 from the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occurred near (defined as having shear stress change ∣Δτ∣ ≥ 0.01 MPa) the Ms ≥ 7.0 shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ∼39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, these triggered earthquakes obey an Omori law rate decay that lasts between ∼7–11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main shock centroid. Omori's law is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. If large triggered earthquakes habitually obey Omori's law, then their hazard can be more readily assessed. The characteristic rate change with time and spatial distribution can be used to rapidly assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following events of Ms ≥ 7.0. I show an example application to the M = 7.7 13 January 2001 El Salvador earthquake where use of global statistics appears to provide a better rapid hazard estimate than Coulomb stress change calculations.

Global Omori law decay of triggered earthquakes: Large aftershocks outside the classical aftershock zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, T.

2002-01-01

Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the 1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with Ms ≥ 7.0 from the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occured near (defined as having shear stress change |Δ| 0.01 MPa) the Ms ≥ 7.0 shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ~39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, these triggered earthquakes obey an Omori law rate decay that lasts between ~7-11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main shock centroid. Omori's law is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. If large triggered earthquakes habitually obey Omori's law, then their hazard can be more readily assessed. The characteristics rate change with time and spatial distribution can be used to rapidly assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following events of Ms ≥7.0. I show an example application to the M = 7.7 13 January 2001 El Salvador earthquake where use of global statistics appears to provide a better rapid hazard estimate than Coulomb stress change calculations.

Global Omori law decay of triggered earthquakes: Large aftershocks outside the classical aftershock zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, Tom

2002-09-01

Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 earthquakes in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with Ms ≥ 7.0 from the Harvard centroid moment tensor (CMT) catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occurred near (defined as having shear stress change ∣Δτ∣ ≥ 0.01 MPa) the Ms ≥ 7.0 shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ˜39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, these triggered earthquakes obey an Omori law rate decay that lasts between ˜7-11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main shock centroid. Omori's law is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. If large triggered earthquakes habitually obey Omori's law, then their hazard can be more readily assessed. The characteristic rate change with time and spatial distribution can be used to rapidly assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following events of Ms ≥ 7.0. I show an example application to the M = 7.7 13 January 2001 El Salvador earthquake where use of global statistics appears to provide a better rapid hazard estimate than Coulomb stress change calculations.

Reply: Comparison of slope instability screening tools following a large storm event and application to forest management and policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whittaker, Kara A.; McShane, Dan

2013-02-01

A large storm event in southwest Washington State triggered over 2500 landslides and provided an opportunity to assess two slope stability screening tools. The statistical analysis conducted demonstrated that both screening tools are effective at predicting where landslides were likely to take place (Whittaker and McShane, 2012). Here we reply to two discussions of this article related to the development of the slope stability screening tools and the accuracy and scale of the spatial data used. Neither of the discussions address our statistical analysis or results. We provide greater detail on our sampling criteria and also elaborate on the policy and management implications of our findings and how they complement those of a separate investigation of landslides resulting from the same storm. The conclusions made in Whittaker and McShane (2012) stand as originally published unless future analysis indicates otherwise.

Switching algorithm for maglev train double-modular redundant positioning sensors.

PubMed

He, Ning; Long, Zhiqiang; Xue, Song

2012-01-01

High-resolution positioning for maglev trains is implemented by detecting the tooth-slot structure of the long stator installed along the rail, but there are large joint gaps between long stator sections. When a positioning sensor is below a large joint gap, its positioning signal is invalidated, thus double-modular redundant positioning sensors are introduced into the system. This paper studies switching algorithms for these redundant positioning sensors. At first, adaptive prediction is applied to the sensor signals. The prediction errors are used to trigger sensor switching. In order to enhance the reliability of the switching algorithm, wavelet analysis is introduced to suppress measuring disturbances without weakening the signal characteristics reflecting the stator joint gap based on the correlation between the wavelet coefficients of adjacent scales. The time delay characteristics of the method are analyzed to guide the algorithm simplification. Finally, the effectiveness of the simplified switching algorithm is verified through experiments.

Switching Algorithm for Maglev Train Double-Modular Redundant Positioning Sensors

PubMed Central

He, Ning; Long, Zhiqiang; Xue, Song

2012-01-01

High-resolution positioning for maglev trains is implemented by detecting the tooth-slot structure of the long stator installed along the rail, but there are large joint gaps between long stator sections. When a positioning sensor is below a large joint gap, its positioning signal is invalidated, thus double-modular redundant positioning sensors are introduced into the system. This paper studies switching algorithms for these redundant positioning sensors. At first, adaptive prediction is applied to the sensor signals. The prediction errors are used to trigger sensor switching. In order to enhance the reliability of the switching algorithm, wavelet analysis is introduced to suppress measuring disturbances without weakening the signal characteristics reflecting the stator joint gap based on the correlation between the wavelet coefficients of adjacent scales. The time delay characteristics of the method are analyzed to guide the algorithm simplification. Finally, the effectiveness of the simplified switching algorithm is verified through experiments. PMID:23112657

Killer whales and whaling: the scavenging hypothesis.

PubMed

Whitehead, Hal; Reeves, Randall

2005-12-22

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) frequently scavenged from the carcasses produced by whalers. This practice became especially prominent with large-scale mechanical whaling in the twentieth century, which provided temporally and spatially clustered floating carcasses associated with loud acoustic signals. The carcasses were often of species of large whale preferred by killer whales but that normally sink beyond their diving range. In the middle years of the twentieth century floating whaled carcasses were much more abundant than those resulting from natural mortality of whales, and we propose that scavenging killer whales multiplied through diet shifts and reproduction. During the 1970s the numbers of available carcasses fell dramatically with the cessation of most whaling (in contrast to a reasonably stable abundance of living whales), and the scavenging killer whales needed an alternative source of nutrition. Diet shifts may have triggered declines in other prey species, potentially affecting ecosystems, as well as increasing direct predation on living whales.

Do faults trigger folding in the lithosphere?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gerbault, Muriel; Burov, Eugenii B.; Poliakov, Alexei N. B.; Daignières, Marc

A number of observations reveal large periodic undulations within the oceanic and continental lithospheres. The question if these observations are the result of large-scale compressive instabilities, i.e. buckling, remains open. In this study, we support the buckling hypothesis by direct numerical modeling. We compare our results with the data on three most proeminent cases of the oceanic and continental folding-like deformation (Indian Ocean, Western Gobi (Central Asia) and Central Australia). We demonstrate that under reasonable tectonic stresses, folds can develop from brittle faults cutting through the brittle parts of a lithosphere. The predicted wavelengths and finite growth rates are in agreement with observations. We also show that within a continental lithosphere with thermal age greater than 400 My, either a bi-harmonic mode (two superimposed wavelengths, crustal and mantle one) or a coupled mode (mono-layer deformation) of inelastic folding can develop, depending on the strength and thickness of the lower crust.

The CMS Level-1 trigger for LHC Run II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tapper, A.

2018-02-01

During LHC Run II the centre-of-mass energy of pp collisions has increased from 8 TeV up to 13 TeV and the instantaneous luminosity has progressed towards 2 × 1034 cm-2s-1. In order to guarantee a successful and ambitious physics programme under these conditions, the CMS trigger system has been upgraded. The upgraded CMS Level-1 trigger is designed to improve performance at high luminosity and large number of simultaneous inelastic collisions per crossing. The trigger design, implementation and commissioning are summarised, and performance results are described.

Dynamic Triggering of Seismic Events and Their Relation to Slow Slip in Interior Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sims, N. E.; Holtkamp, S. G.

2017-12-01

We conduct a search for dynamically triggered events in the Minto Flats Fault Zone (MFFZ), a left-lateral strike-slip zone expressed as multiple, partially overlapping faults, in central Alaska. We focus on the MFFZ because we have observed slow slip processes (earthquake swarms and Very Low Frequency Earthquakes) and interaction between earthquake swarms and larger main-shock (MS) events in this area before. We utilize the Alaska Earthquake Center catalog to identify potential earthquake swarms and dynamically triggered foreshock and mainshock events along the fault zone. We find 30 swarms occurring in the last two decades, five of which we classify as foreshock (FS) swarms due to their close proximity in both time and space to MS events. Many of the earthquake swarms cluster around 15-20 km depth, which is near the seismic-aseismic transition along this fault zone. Additionally, we observe instances of large teleseismic events such as the M8.6 2012 Sumatra earthquake and M7.4 2012 Guatemala earthquake triggering seismic events within the MFFZ, with the Sumatra earthquake triggering a mainshock event that was preceded by an ongoing earthquake swarm and the Guatemala event triggering earthquake swarms that subsequently transition into a larger mainshock event. In both cases an earthquake swarm transitioned into a mainshock-aftershock event and activity continued for several days after the teleseismic waves had passed, lending some evidence to delayed dynamic triggering of seismic events. We hypothesize that large dynamic transient strain associated with the passage of teleseismic surface waves is triggering slow slip processes near the base of the seismogenic zone. These triggered aseismic transient events result in earthquake swarms, which sometimes lead to the nucleation of larger earthquakes. We utilize network matched filtering to build more robust catalogs of swarm earthquake families in this region to search for additional swarm-like or triggered activity in response to teleseismic surface waves, and to test dynamic triggering hypotheses.

Dynamics and Size of Cross-Linking-Induced Lipid Nanodomains in Model Membranes

PubMed Central

Štefl, Martin; Šachl, Radek; Humpolíčková, Jana; Cebecauer, Marek; Macháň, Radek; Kolářová, Marie; Johansson, Lennart B.-Å.; Hof, Martin

2012-01-01

Changes of membrane organization upon cross-linking of its components trigger cell signaling response to various exogenous factors. Cross-linking of raft gangliosides GM1 with cholera toxin (CTxB) was shown to cause microscopic phase separation in model membranes, and the CTxB-GM1 complexes forming a minimal lipid raft unit are the subject of ongoing cell membrane research. Yet, those subdiffraction sized rafts have never been described in terms of size and dynamics. By means of two-color z-scan fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, we show that the nanosized domains are formed in model membranes at lower sphingomyelin (Sph) content than needed for the large-scale phase separation and that the CTxB-GM1 complexes are confined in the domains poorly stabilized with Sph. Förster resonance energy transfer together with Monte Carlo modeling of the donor decay response reveal the domain radius of ∼8 nm, which increases at higher Sph content. We observed two types of domains behaving differently, which suggests a dual role of the cross-linker: first, local transient condensation of the GM1 molecules compensating for a lack of Sph and second, coalescence of existing nanodomains ending in large-scale phase separation. PMID:22824274

A study on efficient detection of network-based IP spoofing DDoS and malware-infected Systems.

PubMed

Seo, Jung Woo; Lee, Sang Jin

2016-01-01

Large-scale network environments require effective detection and response methods against DDoS attacks. Depending on the advancement of IT infrastructure such as the server or network equipment, DDoS attack traffic arising from a few malware-infected systems capable of crippling the organization's internal network has become a significant threat. This study calculates the frequency of network-based packet attributes and analyzes the anomalies of the attributes in order to detect IP-spoofed DDoS attacks. Also, a method is proposed for the effective detection of malware infection systems triggering IP-spoofed DDoS attacks on an edge network. Detection accuracy and performance of the collected real-time traffic on a core network is analyzed thru the use of the proposed algorithm, and a prototype was developed to evaluate the performance of the algorithm. As a result, DDoS attacks on the internal network were detected in real-time and whether or not IP addresses were spoofed was confirmed. Detecting hosts infected by malware in real-time allowed the execution of intrusion responses before stoppage of the internal network caused by large-scale attack traffic.

Kinetic-MHD simulations of gyroresonance instability driven by CR pressure anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebiga, O.; Santos-Lima, R.; Yan, H.

2018-05-01

The transport of cosmic rays (CRs) is crucial for the understanding of almost all high-energy phenomena. Both pre-existing large-scale magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence and locally generated turbulence through plasma instabilities are important for the CR propagation in astrophysical media. The potential role of the resonant instability triggered by CR pressure anisotropy to regulate the parallel spatial diffusion of low-energy CRs (≲100 GeV) in the interstellar and intracluster medium of galaxies has been shown in previous theoretical works. This work aims to study the gyroresonance instability via direct numerical simulations, in order to access quantitatively the wave-particle scattering rates. For this, we employ a 1D PIC-MHD code to follow the growth and saturation of the gyroresonance instability. We extract from the simulations the pitch-angle diffusion coefficient Dμμ produced by the instability during the linear and saturation phases, and a very good agreement (within a factor of 3) is found with the values predicted by the quasi-linear theory (QLT). Our results support the applicability of the QLT for modelling the scattering of low-energy CRs by the gyroresonance instability in the complex interplay between this instability and the large-scale MHD turbulence.

Brief communication: Impacts of a developing polynya off Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctica, triggered by grounding of iceberg B09B

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogwill, Christopher J.; van Sebille, Erik; Cougnon, Eva A.; Turney, Chris S. M.; Rintoul, Steve R.; Galton-Fenzi, Benjamin K.; Clark, Graeme F.; Marzinelli, E. M.; Rainsley, Eleanor B.; Carter, Lionel

2016-11-01

The dramatic calving of the Mertz Glacier tongue in 2010, precipitated by the movement of iceberg B09B, reshaped the oceanographic regime across the Mertz Polynya and Commonwealth Bay, regions where high-salinity shelf water (HSSW) - the precursor to Antarctic bottom water (AABW) - is formed. Here we present post-calving observations that suggest that this reconfiguration and subsequent grounding of B09B have driven the development of a new polynya and associated HSSW production off Commonwealth Bay. Supported by satellite observations and modelling, our findings demonstrate how local icescape changes may impact the formation of HSSW, with potential implications for large-scale ocean circulation.

On the initial regime of pre-big bang cosmology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gasperini, M., E-mail: gasperini@ba.infn.it

The production of a background of super-horizon curvature perturbations with the appropriate (red) spectrum needed to trigger the cosmic anisotropies observed on large scales is associated, in the context of pre-big bang inflation, with a phase of growing string coupling. The extension towards the past of such a phase is not limited in time by the dynamical backreaction of the quantum perturbations of the cosmological geometry and of its sources. A viable, slightly red spectrum of scalar perturbations can thus be the output of an asymptotic, perturbative regime which is well compatible with an initial string-vacuum state satisfying the postulatemore » of 'Asymptotic Past Triviality'.« less

Galaxy formation from annihilation-generated supersonic turbulence in the baryon-symmetric big-bang cosmology and the gamma ray background spectrum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stecker, F. W.; Puget, J. L.

1972-01-01

Following the big-bang baryon symmetric cosmology of Omnes, the redshift was calculated to be on the order of 500-600. It is show that, at these redshifts, annihilation pressure at the boundaries between regions of matter and antimatter drives large scale supersonic turbulence which can trigger galaxy formation. This picture is consistent with the gamma-ray background observations discussed previously. Gravitational binding of galaxies then occurs at a redshift of about 70, at which time vortical turbulent velocities of about 3 x 10 to the 7th power cm/s lead to angular momenta for galaxies comparable with measured values.

Air-tolerant Fabrication and Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance of n-Type Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes Encapsulating 1,1'-Bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene.

PubMed

Nonoguchi, Yoshiyuki; Iihara, Yu; Ohashi, Kenji; Murayama, Tomoko; Kawai, Tsuyoshi

2016-09-06

The thermally-triggered n-type doping of single-walled carbon nanotubes is demonstrated using 1,1'-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene, a novel n-type dopant. Through a simple thermal vacuum process, the phosphine compounds are moderately encapsulated inside single-walled carbon nanotubes. The encapsulation into SWNTs is carefully characterized using Raman/X-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. This easy-to-handle doping with air-stable precursors for n-type SWNTs enables the large-scale fabrication of thermoelectric materials showing an excellent power factor exceeding approximately 240 μW mK(-2) . © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Evaluation of Applicability of a Flare Trigger Model Based on a Comparison of Geometric Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bamba, Yumi; Kusano, Kanya

2018-03-01

The triggering mechanism(s) and critical condition(s) of solar flares are still not completely clarified, although various studies have attempted to elucidate them. We have also proposed a theoretical flare-trigger model based on MHD simulations in which two types of small-scale bipole fields, the so-called opposite polarity (OP) and reversed shear (RS), can trigger flares. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of our flare-trigger model to the observation of 32 flares that were observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, by focusing on geometrical structures. We classified the events into six types, including the OP and RS types, based on photospheric magnetic field configuration, presence of precursor brightenings, and shape of the initial flare ribbons. As a result, we found that approximately 30% of the flares were consistent with our flare-trigger model, and the number of RS-type triggered flares is larger than that of the OP type. We found that none of the sampled events contradict our flare model; though, we cannot clearly determine the trigger mechanism of 70% of the flares in this study. We carefully investigated the applicability of our flare-trigger model and the possibility that other models can explain the other 70% of the events. Consequently, we concluded that our flare-trigger model has certainly proposed important conditions for flare-triggering.

Electromagnetic Waves and Bursty Electron Acceleration: Implications from Freja

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Andersson, Laila; Ivchenko, N.; Wahlund, J.-E.; Clemmons, J.; Gustavsson, B.; Eliasson, L.

2000-01-01

Dispersive Alfven wave activity is identified in four dayside auroral oval events measured by the Freja satellite. The events are characterized by ion injection, bursty electron precipitation below about I keV, transverse ion heating and broadband extremely low frequency (ELF) emissions below the lower hybrid cutoff frequency (a few kHz). The broadband emissions are observed to become more electrostatic towards higher frequencies. Large-scale density depletions/cavities, as determined by the Langmuir probe measurements, and strong electrostatic emissions are often observed simultaneously. A correlation study has been carried out between the E- and B-field fluctuations below 64 Hz (the dc instrument's upper threshold) and the characteristics of the precipitating electrons. This study revealed that the energization of electrons is indeed related to the broadband ELF emissions and that the electrostatic component plays a predominant role during very active magnetospheric conditions. Furthermore, the effect of the ELF electromagnetic emissions on the larger scale field-aligned current systems has been investigated, and it is found that such an effect cannot be detected. Instead, the Alfvenic activity creates a local region of field-aligned currents. It is suggested that dispersive Alfven waves set up these local field-aligned current regions and in turn trigger more electrostatic emissions during certain conditions. In these regions ions are transversely heated, and large-scale density depletions/cavities may be created during especially active periods.

Investigation of relationships between parameters of solar nano-flares and solar activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Safari, Hossein; Javaherian, Mohsen; Kaki, Bardia

2016-07-01

Solar flares are one of the important coronal events which are originated in solar magnetic activity. They release lots of energy during the interstellar medium, right after the trigger. Flare prediction can play main role in avoiding eventual damages on the Earth. Here, to interpret solar large-scale events (e.g., flares), we investigate relationships between small-scale events (nano-flares) and large-scale events (e.g., flares). In our method, by using simulations of nano-flares based on Monte Carlo method, the intensity time series of nano-flares are simulated. Then, the solar full disk images taken at 171 angstrom recorded by SDO/AIA are employed. Some parts of the solar disk (quiet Sun (QS), coronal holes (CHs), and active regions (ARs)) are cropped and the time series of these regions are extracted. To compare the simulated intensity time series of nano-flares with the intensity time series of real data extracted from different parts of the Sun, the artificial neural networks is employed. Therefore, we are able to extract physical parameters of nano-flares like both kick and decay rate lifetime, and the power of their power-law distributions. The procedure of variations in the power value of power-law distributions within QS, CH is similar to AR. Thus, by observing the small part of the Sun, we can follow the procedure of solar activity.

Seasonal prediction of US summertime ozone using statistical analysis of large scale climate patterns.

PubMed

Shen, Lu; Mickley, Loretta J

2017-03-07

We develop a statistical model to predict June-July-August (JJA) daily maximum 8-h average (MDA8) ozone concentrations in the eastern United States based on large-scale climate patterns during the previous spring. We find that anomalously high JJA ozone in the East is correlated with these springtime patterns: warm tropical Atlantic and cold northeast Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs), as well as positive sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over Hawaii and negative SLP anomalies over the Atlantic and North America. We then develop a linear regression model to predict JJA MDA8 ozone from 1980 to 2013, using the identified SST and SLP patterns from the previous spring. The model explains ∼45% of the variability in JJA MDA8 ozone concentrations and ∼30% variability in the number of JJA ozone episodes (>70 ppbv) when averaged over the eastern United States. This seasonal predictability results from large-scale ocean-atmosphere interactions. Warm tropical Atlantic SSTs can trigger diabatic heating in the atmosphere and influence the extratropical climate through stationary wave propagation, leading to greater subsidence, less precipitation, and higher temperatures in the East, which increases surface ozone concentrations there. Cooler SSTs in the northeast Pacific are also associated with more summertime heatwaves and high ozone in the East. On average, models participating in the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project fail to capture the influence of this ocean-atmosphere interaction on temperatures in the eastern United States, implying that such models would have difficulty simulating the interannual variability of surface ozone in this region.

Seasonal prediction of US summertime ozone using statistical analysis of large scale climate patterns

PubMed Central

Mickley, Loretta J.

2017-01-01

We develop a statistical model to predict June–July–August (JJA) daily maximum 8-h average (MDA8) ozone concentrations in the eastern United States based on large-scale climate patterns during the previous spring. We find that anomalously high JJA ozone in the East is correlated with these springtime patterns: warm tropical Atlantic and cold northeast Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs), as well as positive sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over Hawaii and negative SLP anomalies over the Atlantic and North America. We then develop a linear regression model to predict JJA MDA8 ozone from 1980 to 2013, using the identified SST and SLP patterns from the previous spring. The model explains ∼45% of the variability in JJA MDA8 ozone concentrations and ∼30% variability in the number of JJA ozone episodes (>70 ppbv) when averaged over the eastern United States. This seasonal predictability results from large-scale ocean–atmosphere interactions. Warm tropical Atlantic SSTs can trigger diabatic heating in the atmosphere and influence the extratropical climate through stationary wave propagation, leading to greater subsidence, less precipitation, and higher temperatures in the East, which increases surface ozone concentrations there. Cooler SSTs in the northeast Pacific are also associated with more summertime heatwaves and high ozone in the East. On average, models participating in the Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project fail to capture the influence of this ocean–atmosphere interaction on temperatures in the eastern United States, implying that such models would have difficulty simulating the interannual variability of surface ozone in this region. PMID:28223483

The role of catastrophic geomorphic events in central Appalachian landscape evolution

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jacobson, R.B.; Miller, A.J.; Smith, J.A.

1989-01-01

Catastrophic geomorphic events are taken as those that are large, sudden, and rare on human timescales. In the nonglaciated, low-seismicity central Appalachians, these are dominantly floods and landslides. Evaluation of the role of catastrophic events in landscape evolution includes assessment of their contributions to denudation and formation of prominent landscape features, and how they vary through space and time. Tropical storm paths and topographic barriers at the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Front create significant climatic variability across the Appalachians. For moderate floods, the influence of basin geology is apparent in modifying severity of flooding, but for the most extreme events, flood discharges relate mainly to rainfall characteristics such as intensity, duration, storm size, and location. Landslide susceptibility relates more directly to geologic controls that determine what intensity and duration of rainfall will trigger slope instability. Large floods and landslides are not necessarily effective in producing prominent geomorphic features. Large historic floods in the Piedmont have been minimally effective in producing prominent and persistent geomorphic features. In contrast, smaller floods in the Valley and Ridge produced erosional and depositional features that probably will require thousands of years to efface. Scars and deposits of debris slide-avalanches triggered on sandstone ridges recover slowly and persist much longer than scars and deposits of smaller landslides triggered on finer-grained regolith, even though the smaller landslides may have eroded greater aggregate volume. The surficial stratigraphic record can be used to extend the spatial and temporal limits of our knowledge of catastrophic events. Many prominent alluvial and colluvial landforms in the central Appalachians are composed of sediments that were deposited by processes similar to those observed in historic catastrophic events. Available stratigraphic evidence shows two scales of temporal variation: one related to Quaternary climate changes and a more-recent, higher-frequency variation due to rare events during the Holocene. In much of the central Appalachians, landforms related to Quaternary climate changes persist as the most prominent features, despite the modifying effects of late-Holocene catastrophic events. ?? 1989.

Soft-sediment deformation structures in Cambrian Series 2 tidal deposits (NW Estonia): implications for identifying endogenic triggering mechanisms in ancient sedimentary record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Põldsaar, Kairi

2015-04-01

Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) are documented in several horizons within silt- and sandstones of the Cambrian Series 2 (Dominopolian Stage) Tiskre Formation, and some in the below-deposited argillaceous deposits of the Lükati Formation (northern part of the Baltoscandian Palaeobasin, NW Estonia). The aim of this study was to map, describe, and analyze these deformation features, discuss their deformation mechanism and possible triggers. Load structures (simple load casts, pillows, flame structures, convoluted lamination) with varying shapes and sizes occur in the Tiskre Fm in sedimentary interfaces within medium-bedded peritidal rhythmites (siltstone-argillaceous material) as well as within up to 3 m thick slightly seaward inclined stacked sandstone sequences. Homogenized beds, dish-and-pillar structures, and severely deformed bedding are also found within these stacked units and within a large tidal runoff channel infill. Autoclastic breccias and water-escape channels are rare and occur only in small-scale -- always related to thin, horizontal tidal laminae. Profound sedimentary dykes, sand volcanoes, and thrust faults, which are often related to earthquake triggered soft sediment deformation, were not observed within the studied intervals. Deformation horizon or horizons with large flat-topped pillows often with elongated morphologies occur at or near the boundary between the Tiskre and Lükati formations. Deformation mechanisms identified in this study for the various deformation types are gravitationally unstable reversed density gradient (especially in case of load features that are related to profound sedimentary interfaces) and lateral shear stress due to sediment current drag (in case of deformation structures that not related to loading at any apparent sedimentary interface). Synsedimentary liquefaction was identified as the primary driving force in most of the observed deformation horizons. Clay thixotropy may have contributed in the formation of large sandstone pillows within the Tiskre-Lükati boundary interval at some localities. It is discussed here that the formation of the observed SSDS is genetically related to the restless dynamics of the storm-influenced open marine tidal depositional environment. The most obvious causes of deformation were rapid-deposition, shear and slumping caused by tidal surges, and storm-wave loading.

3D-black-blood 3T-MRI for the diagnosis of thoracic large vessel vasculitis: A feasibility study.

PubMed

Treitl, Karla Maria; Maurus, Stefan; Sommer, Nora Narvina; Kooijman-Kurfuerst, Hendrik; Coppenrath, Eva; Treitl, Marcus; Czihal, Michael; Hoffmann, Ulrich; Dechant, Claudia; Schulze-Koops, Hendrik; Saam, Tobias

2017-05-01

To evaluate the feasibility of T1w-3D black-blood turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence with variable flip angles for the diagnosis of thoracic large vessel vasculitis (LVV). Thirty-five patients with LVV, diagnosed according to the current standard of reference, and 35 controls were imaged at 3.0T using 1.2 × 1.3 × 2.0 mm 3 fat-suppressed, T1w-3D, modified Volumetric Isotropic TSE Acquisition (mVISTA) pre- and post-contrast. Applying a navigator and peripheral pulse unit triggering (PPU), the total scan time was 10-12 min. Thoracic aorta and subclavian and pulmonary arteries were evaluated for image quality (IQ), flow artefact intensity, diagnostic confidence, concentric wall thickening and contrast enhancement (CWT, CCE) using a 4-point scale. IQ was good in all examinations (3.25 ± 0.72) and good to excellent in 342 of 408 evaluated segments (83.8 %), while 84.1 % showed no or minor flow artefacts. The interobserver reproducibility for the identification of CCE and CWT was 0.969 and 0.971 (p < 0.001) with an average diagnostic confidence of 3.47 ± 0.64. CCE and CWT were strongly correlated (Cohen's k = 0.87; P < 0.001) and significantly more frequent in the LVV-group (52.8 % vs. 1.0 %; 59.8 % vs. 2.4 %; P < 0.001). Navigated fat-suppressed T1w-3D black-blood MRI with PPU-triggering allows diagnosis of thoracic LVV. • Cross-sectional imaging is frequently applied in the diagnosis of LVV. • Navigated, PPU-triggered, T1w-3D mVISTA pre- and post contrast takes 10-12 min. • In this prospective, single-centre study, T1w-3D mVISTA accurately depicted large thoracic vessels. • T1w-3D mVISTA visualized CWT/CCW as correlates of mural inflammation in LVV. • T1w-3D mVISTA might be an alternative diagnostic tool without ionizing radiation.

Magical ideation and hyperacusis.

PubMed

Dubal, Stéphanie; Viaud-Delmon, Isabelle

2008-01-01

The subjective experience conferred by auditory perception has rarely been addressed outside of the studies of auditory hallucinations. The aim of this study is to describe the phenomenology of auditory experiences in individuals who endorse magical beliefs, but do not report hallucinations. We examined the relationship between subjective auditory sensitivity and a 'psychotic-like' thinking style. Hyperacusis questionnaire scores were compared between 25 high scoring participants on Chapman's magical ideation (MI) scale, 25 high scoring participants on Chapman's physical anhedonia scale and 25 control participants, pre-selected from a large student pool (n=1289). The participants who obtained high scores on the MI scale rated their auditory sensitivity higher than the two other groups. Our results indicate that, in healthy subjects, subjective auditory sensitivity is associated with MI without the mediation by anxiety commonly observed in pathological cases. We propose that hyperacusis associated to high scores of MI may be a predispositional factor to deviant auditory experiences. The relative uncoupling of perception from auditory sensory input may result in a central hypersensitivity, which could play a role in triggering off the experience of auditory hallucinations.

Solar Tornadoes Triggered by Interaction between Filaments and EUV Jets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Huadong; Zhang, Jun; Ma, Suli

We investigate the formations and evolutions of two successive solar tornadoes in/near AR 12297 during 2015 March 19–20. Recurrent EUV jets close to two filaments were detected along a large-scale coronal loop prior to the appearances of the tornadoes. Under the disturbances from the activities, the filaments continually ascended and finally interacted with the loops tracked by the jets. Subsequently, the structures of the filaments and the loop were merged together, probably via magnetic reconnections, and formed tornado-like structures with a long spiral arm. Our observations suggest that solar tornadoes can be triggered by the interaction between filaments and nearbymore » coronal jets, which has rarely been reported before. At the earlier development phase of the first tornado, about 30 small-scale sub-jets appeared in the tornado’s arm, accompanied by local EUV brightenings. They have an ejection direction approximately vertical to the axis of the arm and a typical maximum speed of ∼280 km s{sup −1}. During the ruinations of the two tornadoes, fast plasma outflows from the strong EUV brightenings inside tornadoes are observed, in company with the untangling or unwinding of the highly twisted tornado structures. These observational features indicate that self reconnections probably occurred between the tangled magnetic fields of the tornadoes and resulted in the rapid disintegrations and disappearances of the tornadoes. According to the reconnection theory, we also derive the field strength of the tornado core to be ∼8 G.« less

Solar Tornadoes Triggered by Interaction between Filaments and EUV Jets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Huadong; Zhang, Jun; Ma, Suli; Yan, Xiaoli; Xue, Jianchao

2017-05-01

We investigate the formations and evolutions of two successive solar tornadoes in/near AR 12297 during 2015 March 19-20. Recurrent EUV jets close to two filaments were detected along a large-scale coronal loop prior to the appearances of the tornadoes. Under the disturbances from the activities, the filaments continually ascended and finally interacted with the loops tracked by the jets. Subsequently, the structures of the filaments and the loop were merged together, probably via magnetic reconnections, and formed tornado-like structures with a long spiral arm. Our observations suggest that solar tornadoes can be triggered by the interaction between filaments and nearby coronal jets, which has rarely been reported before. At the earlier development phase of the first tornado, about 30 small-scale sub-jets appeared in the tornado’s arm, accompanied by local EUV brightenings. They have an ejection direction approximately vertical to the axis of the arm and a typical maximum speed of ˜280 km s-1. During the ruinations of the two tornadoes, fast plasma outflows from the strong EUV brightenings inside tornadoes are observed, in company with the untangling or unwinding of the highly twisted tornado structures. These observational features indicate that self reconnections probably occurred between the tangled magnetic fields of the tornadoes and resulted in the rapid disintegrations and disappearances of the tornadoes. According to the reconnection theory, we also derive the field strength of the tornado core to be ˜8 G.

Superlinear scaling of offspring at criticality in branching processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saichev, A.; Sornette, D.

2014-01-01

For any branching process, we demonstrate that the typical total number rmp(ντ) of events triggered over all generations within any sufficiently large time window τ exhibits, at criticality, a superlinear dependence rmp(ντ)˜(ντ)γ (with γ >1) on the total number ντ of the immigrants arriving at the Poisson rate ν. In branching processes in which immigrants (or sources) are characterized by fertilities distributed according to an asymptotic power-law tail with tail exponent 1<γ ⩽2, the exponent of the superlinear law for rmp(ντ) is identical to the exponent γ of the distribution of fertilities. For γ >2 and for standard branching processes without power-law distribution of fertilities, rmp(ντ)˜(ντ)2. This scaling law replaces and tames the divergence ντ /(1-n) of the mean total number R¯t(τ) of events, as the branching ratio (defined as the average number of triggered events of first generation per source) tends to 1. The derivation uses the formalism of generating probability functions. The corresponding prediction is confirmed by numerical calculations, and an heuristic derivation enlightens its underlying mechanism. We also show that R¯t(τ) is always linear in ντ even at criticality (n =1). Our results thus illustrate the fundamental difference between the mean total number, which is controlled by a few extremely rare realizations, and the typical behavior represented by rmp(ντ).

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AT THE WATERSHED SCALE.

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater runoff from extensive impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas has led to human safety risks and stream ecosystem impairment, triggering an interest in watershed-scale retrofit stormwater management. Such stormwater management is of multidisciplinary relevance, ...

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO STORMWATER MANAGEMENT AT THE catchment SCALE

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater runoff from extensive impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas has led to human safety risks and stream ecosystem impairment, triggering an interest in catchment-scale retrofit stormwater management. Such stormwater management is of multidisciplinary relevance, ...

RETROFIT STORMWATER MANAGEMENT: NAVIGATING MULTIDISCIPLINARY HURDLES AT THE WATERSHED SCALE

EPA Science Inventory

Stormwater runoff from extensive impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas has led to human safety risks and stream ecosystem impairment, triggering an interest in watershed-scale retrofit stormwater management. Such stormwater management is of multidisciplinary relevance, ...

Sentinel-2 for rapid operational landslide inventory mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stumpf, André; Marc, Odin; Malet, Jean-Philippe; Michea, David

2017-04-01

Landslide inventory mapping after major triggering events such as heavy rainfalls or earthquakes is crucial for disaster response, the assessment of hazards, and the quantification of sediment budgets and empirical scaling laws. Numerous studies have already demonstrated the utility of very-high resolution satellite and aerial images for the elaboration of inventories based on semi-automatic methods or visual image interpretation. Nevertheless, such semi-automatic methods are rarely used in an operational context after major triggering events; this is partly due to access limitations on the required input datasets (i.e. VHR satellite images) and to the absence of dedicated services (i.e. processing chain) available for the landslide community. Several on-going initiatives allow to overcome these limitations. First, from a data perspective, the launch of the Sentinel-2 mission offers opportunities for the design of an operational service that can be deployed for landslide inventory mapping at any time and everywhere on the globe. Second, from an implementation perspective, the Geohazards Exploitation Platform (GEP) of the European Space Agency (ESA) allows the integration and diffusion of on-line processing algorithms in a high computing performance environment. Third, from a community perspective, the recently launched Landslide Pilot of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), has targeted the take-off of such service as a main objective for the landslide community. Within this context, this study targets the development of a largely automatic, supervised image processing chain for landslide inventory mapping from bi-temporal (before and after a given event) Sentinel-2 optical images. The processing chain combines change detection methods, image segmentation, higher-level image features (e.g. texture, shape) and topographic variables. Based on a few representative examples provided by a human operator, a machine learning model is trained and subsequently used to distinguish newly triggered landslides from other landscape elements. The final map product is provided along with an uncertainty map that allows identifying areas which might require further considerations. The processing chain is tested for two recent and contrasted triggering events in New Zealand and Taiwan. A Mw 7.8 earthquake in New Zealand in November 2016 triggered tens of thousands of landslides in a complex environment, with important textural variations with elevations, due to vegetation change and snow cover. In contrast a large but unexceptional typhoon in July 2016 in Taiwan triggered a moderate amount of relatively small landslides in a lushly vegetated, more homogenous terrain. Based on the obtained results we discuss the potential and limitations of Sentinel-2 bi-temporal images and time-series for operational landslide inventory mapping This work is part of the General Studies Program (GSP) ALCANTARA of ESA.

DALiuGE: A graph execution framework for harnessing the astronomical data deluge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, C.; Tobar, R.; Vinsen, K.; Wicenec, A.; Pallot, D.; Lao, B.; Wang, R.; An, T.; Boulton, M.; Cooper, I.; Dodson, R.; Dolensky, M.; Mei, Y.; Wang, F.

2017-07-01

The Data Activated Liu Graph Engine - DALiuGE- is an execution framework for processing large astronomical datasets at a scale required by the Square Kilometre Array Phase 1 (SKA1). It includes an interface for expressing complex data reduction pipelines consisting of both datasets and algorithmic components and an implementation run-time to execute such pipelines on distributed resources. By mapping the logical view of a pipeline to its physical realisation, DALiuGE separates the concerns of multiple stakeholders, allowing them to collectively optimise large-scale data processing solutions in a coherent manner. The execution in DALiuGE is data-activated, where each individual data item autonomously triggers the processing on itself. Such decentralisation also makes the execution framework very scalable and flexible, supporting pipeline sizes ranging from less than ten tasks running on a laptop to tens of millions of concurrent tasks on the second fastest supercomputer in the world. DALiuGE has been used in production for reducing interferometry datasets from the Karl E. Jansky Very Large Array and the Mingantu Ultrawide Spectral Radioheliograph; and is being developed as the execution framework prototype for the Science Data Processor (SDP) consortium of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope. This paper presents a technical overview of DALiuGE and discusses case studies from the CHILES and MUSER projects that use DALiuGE to execute production pipelines. In a companion paper, we provide in-depth analysis of DALiuGE's scalability to very large numbers of tasks on two supercomputing facilities.

Large-Scale High-Resolution Cylinder Wake Measurements in a Wind Tunnel using Tomographic PIV with sCMOS Cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaelis, Dirk; Schroeder, Andreas

2012-11-01

Tomographic PIV has triggered vivid activity, reflected in a large number of publications, covering both: development of the technique and a wide range of fluid dynamic experiments. Maturing of tomo PIV allows the application in medium to large scale wind tunnels. Limiting factor for wind tunnel application is the small size of the measurement volume, being typically about of 50 × 50 × 15 mm3. Aim of this study is the optimization towards large measurement volumes and high spatial resolution performing cylinder wake measurements in a 1 meter wind tunnel. Main limiting factors for the volume size are the laser power and the camera sensitivity. So, a high power laser with 800 mJ per pulse is used together with low noise sCMOS cameras, mounted in forward scattering direction to gain intensity due to the Mie scattering characteristics. A mirror is used to bounce the light back, to have all cameras in forward scattering. Achievable particle density is growing with number of cameras, so eight cameras are used for a high spatial resolution. Optimizations lead to volume size of 230 × 200 × 52 mm3 = 2392 cm3, more than 60 times larger than previously. 281 × 323 × 68 vectors are calculated with spacing of 0.76 mm. The achieved measurement volume size and spatial resolution is regarded as a major step forward in the application of tomo PIV in wind tunnels. Supported by EU-project: no. 265695.

The Yin and Yang of Calcium Effects on Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis

PubMed Central

Wu, Xin-Sheng

2014-01-01

A large number of studies suggest that calcium triggers and accelerates vesicle endocytosis at many synapses and non-neuronal secretory cells. However, many studies show that prolonging the duration of the stimulation train, which induces more calcium influx, slows down endocytosis; and several studies suggest that instead of triggering endocytosis, calcium actually inhibits endocytosis. Here we addressed this apparent conflict at a large nerve terminal, the calyx of Held in rat brainstem, in which recent studies suggest that transient calcium increase up to tens of micromolar concentration at the micro/nano domain triggers endocytosis. By dialyzing 0–1 μm calcium into the calyx via a whole-cell pipette, we found that slow endocytosis was inhibited by calcium dialysis in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus, prolonged, small, and global calcium increase inhibits endocytosis, whereas transient and large calcium increase at the micro/nano domain triggers endocytosis and facilitates endocytosis. This yin and yang effect of calcium may reconcile apparent conflicts regarding whether calcium accelerates or inhibits endocytosis. Whether endocytosis is fast or slow depends on the net outcome between the yin and yang effect of calcium. PMID:24523554

Seismicity remotely triggered by the magnitude 7.3 landers, california, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, D.P.; Reasenberg, P.A.; Michael, A.; Arabaz, W.J.; Beroza, G.; Brumbaugh, D.; Brune, J.N.; Castro, R.; Davis, S.; Depolo, D.; Ellsworth, W.L.; Gomberg, J.; Harmsen, S.; House, L.; Jackson, S.M.; Johnston, M.J.S.; Jones, L.; Keller, Rebecca Hylton; Malone, S.; Munguia, L.; Nava, S.; Pechmann, J.C.; Sanford, A.; Simpson, R.W.; Smith, R.B.; Stark, M.; Stickney, M.; Vidal, A.; Walter, S.; Wong, V.; Zollweg, J.

1993-01-01

The magnitude 7.3 Landers earthquake of 28 June 1992 triggered a remarkably sudden and widespread increase in earthquake activity across much of the western United States. The triggered earthquakes, which occurred at distances up to 1250 kilometers (17 source dimensions) from the Landers mainshock, were confined to areas of persistent seismicity and strike-slip to normal faulting. Many of the triggered areas also are sites of geothermal and recent volcanic activity. Static stress changes calculated for elastic models of the earthquake appear to be too small to have caused the triggering. The most promising explanations involve nonlinear interactions between large dynamic strains accompanying seismic waves from the mainshock and crustal fluids (perhaps including crustal magma).

The trigger system for the external target experiment in the HIRFL cooling storage ring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Min; Zhao, Lei; Liu, Jin-Xin; Lu, Yi-Ming; Liu, Shu-Bin; An, Qi

2016-08-01

A trigger system was designed for the external target experiment in the Cooling Storage Ring (CSR) of the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou (HIRFL). Considering that different detectors are scattered over a large area, the trigger system is designed based on a master-slave structure and fiber-based serial data transmission technique. The trigger logic is organized in hierarchies, and flexible reconfiguration of the trigger function is achieved based on command register access or overall field-programmable gate array (FPGA) logic on-line reconfiguration controlled by remote computers. We also conducted tests to confirm the function of the trigger electronics, and the results indicate that this trigger system works well. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11079003), the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX2-YW-N27), and the CAS Center for Excellence in Particle Physics (CCEPP).

Global Examination of Triggered Tectonic Tremor following the 2017 Mw8.1 Tehuantepec Earthquake in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chao, K.; Gonzalez-Huizar, H.; Tang, V.; Klaeser, R. D.; Mattia, M.; Van der Lee, S.

2017-12-01

Triggered tremor is one type of slow earthquake that activated by teleseismic surfaces waves of large magnitude earthquake. Observations of triggered tremor can help to evaluate the background ambient tremor rate and slow slip events in the surrounding region. The Mw 8.1 Tehuantepec earthquake in Mexico is an ideal tremor-triggering candidate for a global search for triggered tremor. Here, we examine triggered tremor globally following the M8.1 event and model the tremor-triggering potential. We examine 7,000 seismic traces and found a widely spread triggered tremor along the western coast of the North America occur during the surface waves of the Mw 8.1 event. Triggered tremor appeared in the San Jacinto Fault, San Andreas Fault around Parkfield, and Calaveras Fault in California, in Vancouver Island in Cascadia subduction zone, in Queen Charlotte Margin and Eastern Denali Fault in Canada, and in Alaska and Aleutian Arc. In addition, we observe a newly found triggered tremor source in Mt. Etna in Sicily Island, Italy. However, we do not find clear triggered tremor evidences in the tremor active regions in Japan, Taiwan, and in New Zealand. We model tremor-triggering potential at the triggering earthquake source and triggered tremor sources. Our modeling results suggest the source parameters of the M8.1 triggering events and the stress at the triggered fault zone are two critical factors to control tremor-triggering threshold.

Using earthquake-triggered landslides as a hillslope-scale shear strength test: Insights into rock strength properties at geomorphically relevant spatial scales in high-relief, tectonically active settings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallen, Sean; Clark, Marin; Godt, Jonathan; Lowe, Katherine

2016-04-01

The material strength of rock is known to be a fundamental property in setting landscape form and geomorphic process rates as it acts to modulate feedbacks between earth surface processes, tectonics, and climate. Despite the long recognition of its importance in landscape evolution, a quantitative understanding of the role of rock strength in affecting geomorphic processes lags our knowledge of the influence of tectonics and climate. This gap stems largely from the fact that it remains challenging to quantify rock strength at the hillslope scale. Rock strength is strongly scale dependent because the number, size, spacing, and aperture of fractures sets the upper limit on rock strength, making it difficult to extrapolate laboratory measurements to landscape-scale interpretations. Here we present a method to determine near-surface rock strength at the hillslope-scale, relying on earthquake-triggered landslides as a regional-scale "shear strength" test. We define near-surface strength as the average strength of rock sample by the landslides, which is typically < 10 m. Based on a Newmark sliding block model, which approximates slope stability during an earthquake assuming a material with frictional and cohesive strength, we developed a coseismic landslide model that is capable of reproducing statistical characteristics of the distribution of earthquake-triggered landslides. We present results from two well-documented case-studies of earthquakes that caused widespread mass-wasting; the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake, Sichuan Province, China and the 1994 Mw. 6.8 Northridge Earthquake, CA, USA. We show how this model can be used to determine near-surface rock strength and reproduce mapped landslide patterns provided the spatial distribution of local hillslope gradient, earthquake peak ground acceleration (PGA), and coseismic landsliding are well constrained. Results suggest that near-surface rock strength in these tectonically active settings is much lower than that obtained using typical laboratory shear strength measurements on intact rock samples. Furthermore, the near-surface material strength is similar between the study areas despite differences in tectonic, climatic, and lithologic conditions. Variations in near-surface strength within each setting appear to be more strongly associated with factors contributing to the weakening rock through chemical or physical weathering, such as mean annual precipitation and distance to active faults (a proxy for rock shattering intensity), rather than intrinsic lithologic properties. We hypothesize that the shattering of rock through long-term permanent strain accumulation and by repeated earthquakes is an important mechanism that can explain low rock strength values among the different study sites and the spatial pattern of rock strength within each location. These findings emphasize the potential role of factors other than lithology in controlling the spatial distribution of near-surface rock strength in high-relief, tectonically active settings, which has important implications for understanding the evolution of landscapes, interpreting tectonic and climatic signals from topography, critical zone processes, and natural hazard assessment.

Myofascial trigger points: spontaneous electrical activity and its consequences for pain induction and propagation

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Active myofascial trigger points are one of the major peripheral pain generators for regional and generalized musculoskeletal pain conditions. Myofascial trigger points are also the targets for acupuncture and/or dry needling therapies. Recent evidence in the understanding of the pathophysiology of myofascial trigger points supports The Integrated Hypothesis for the trigger point formation; however unanswered questions remain. Current evidence shows that spontaneous electrical activity at myofascial trigger point originates from the extrafusal motor endplate. The spontaneous electrical activity represents focal muscle fiber contraction and/or muscle cramp potentials depending on trigger point sensitivity. Local pain and tenderness at myofascial trigger points are largely due to nociceptor sensitization with a lesser contribution from non-nociceptor sensitization. Nociceptor and non-nociceptor sensitization at myofascial trigger points may be part of the process of muscle ischemia associated with sustained focal muscle contraction and/or muscle cramps. Referred pain is dependent on the sensitivity of myofascial trigger points. Active myofascial trigger points may play an important role in the transition from localized pain to generalized pain conditions via the enhanced central sensitization, decreased descending inhibition and dysfunctional motor control strategy. PMID:21439050

Water related triggering mechanisms of shallow landslides: Numerical modelling of hydraulic flows in slopes verified with field experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Broennimann, C.; Tacher, L.

2009-04-01

To assess hill slope stability and landslide triggering mechanisms, it is essential to understand the hydrogeological regime in slopes. In this work finite element models are elaborated and field experiments are carried out to study particularly shallow landslides with thickness of a few meters. The basis hypothesis of the presented research assumes that even for shallow landslides the hydrogeological role of the substratum, mostly bedrock, is determinant for the slopes behaviour, either it is draining or feeding the overlaying unstable mass. The investigated area of about 1 square kilometre is situated next to the villages Buchberg and Rüdlingen (canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland) at the border of the river Rhine. The lithology in this region is characterized mainly by horizontally layered sandstones intersected by marls from the upper seawater and the lower freshwater molasse, overlaid by soil and weathered bedrock of about 1 to 4 m thickness, both classified as silty sands. With a slope inclination of locally up to 40° the area is rather steep and characterized by continuous regressive erosion processes. During heavy rainfall events, such as the one from May 2002, shallow landslides occurred in the area affecting afforested soils as well as woodless areas. Geological field observations, infiltration and tracer tests show a fairly complicated hydrogeological character of the region. Along the slope, in the first few meters of depth, no groundwater table was found. However, seasonally controlled sources can be observed in-between outcropping bedrock. Within the sandstone, vertical faults in decametre scale oriented parallel to the Rhine that most likely opened during decompression due to the cutting of the river affect locally the hydrogeological regime by draining the slope. This implies a high grade of heterogeneity in the water flows in a local scale. Based on these conceptual hydrological and geological models, a numerical flow model was obtained using finite element software. Different scenarios of groundwater flow pattern and hydraulic head distribution in the saturated and unsaturated zones were modelled considering transient hydraulic conditions. The hydraulic pressure boundary conditions can then be introduced in a geomechanical model in order to evaluate mass movements and to estimate the soil stability. In a next step, a 10 x 30 m large test side situated inside the above mentioned study area was chosen to investigate the slopes behaviour during a triggering field experiment carried out in October 2008. With the aim to provoke a shallow landslide the test site with a mean inclination of 35° was intensely irrigated with sprinklers during 5 days (20 - 30 mm/hr). Transient soil parameters such as suction, pore water pressure and saturation at different depth, water infiltration rate, ground water table and soil movements in a mm-scale were measured. During this first field experiment, the slope remained stable. At this state the results of experiment and models suggest that: - At the experiment scale, heavy rainfall is not sufficient to trigger a mass movement if the hydrogeological conditions inside the substratum (bedrock) are not in a critical state as well. During the experiment, the bedrock was not saturated and played a draining role. - The behaviour of the local area, at the experiment scale, must be modelled within a regional scale (e.g. kilometric) to consider the role of hydraulic pressures inside the bedrock. The results obtained from the experiment will be used to refine the numeric models and to design future field experiments.

Permanently enhanced dynamic triggering probabilities as evidenced by two M ≥ 7.5 earthquakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gomberg, Joan S.

2013-01-01

The 2012 M7.7 Haida Gwaii earthquake radiated waves that likely dynamically triggered the 2013M7.5 Craig earthquake, setting two precedents. First, the triggered earthquake is the largest dynamically triggered shear failure event documented to date. Second, the events highlight a connection between geologic structure, sedimentary troughs that act as waveguides, and triggering probability. The Haida Gwaii earthquake excited extraordinarily large waves within and beyond the Queen Charlotte Trough, which propagated well into mainland Alaska and likely triggering the Craig earthquake along the way. Previously, focusing and associated dynamic triggering have been attributed to unpredictable source effects. This case suggests that elevated dynamic triggering probabilities may exist along the many structures where sedimentary troughs overlie major faults, such as subduction zones’ accretionary prisms and transform faults’ axial valleys. Although data are sparse, I find no evidence of accelerating seismic activity in the vicinity of the Craig rupture between it and the Haida Gwaii earthquake.

Earthquake nucleation by transient deformations caused by the M = 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gomberg, J.; Bodin, P.; Larson, K.; Dragert, H.

2004-01-01

The permanent and dynamic (transient) stress changes inferred to trigger earthquakes are usually orders of magnitude smaller than the stresses relaxed by the earthquakes themselves, implying that triggering occurs on critically stressed faults. Triggered seismicity rate increases may therefore be most likely to occur in areas where loading rates are highest and elevated pore pressures, perhaps facilitated by high-temperature fluids, reduce frictional stresses and promote failure. Here we show that the 2002 magnitude M = 7.9 Denali, Alaska, earthquake triggered wide-spread seismicity rate increases throughout British Columbia and into the western United States. Dynamic triggering by seismic waves should be enhanced in directions where rupture directivity focuses radiated energy, and we verify this using seismic and new high-sample GPS recordings of the Denali mainshock. These observations are comparable in scale only to the triggering caused by the 1992 M = 7.4 Landers, California, earthquake, and demonstrate that Landers triggering did not reflect some peculiarity of the region or the earthquake. However, the rate increases triggered by the Denali earthquake occurred in areas not obviously tectonically active, implying that even in areas of low ambient stressing rates, faults may still be critically stressed and that dynamic triggering may be ubiquitous and unpredictable.

Large Scale Software Building with CMake in ATLAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elmsheuser, J.; Krasznahorkay, A.; Obreshkov, E.; Undrus, A.; ATLAS Collaboration

2017-10-01

The offline software of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) serves as the platform for detector data reconstruction, simulation and analysis. It is also used in the detector’s trigger system to select LHC collision events during data taking. The ATLAS offline software consists of several million lines of C++ and Python code organized in a modular design of more than 2000 specialized packages. Because of different workflows, many stable numbered releases are in parallel production use. To accommodate specific workflow requests, software patches with modified libraries are distributed on top of existing software releases on a daily basis. The different ATLAS software applications also require a flexible build system that strongly supports unit and integration tests. Within the last year this build system was migrated to CMake. A CMake configuration has been developed that allows one to easily set up and build the above mentioned software packages. This also makes it possible to develop and test new and modified packages on top of existing releases. The system also allows one to detect and execute partial rebuilds of the release based on single package changes. The build system makes use of CPack for building RPM packages out of the software releases, and CTest for running unit and integration tests. We report on the migration and integration of the ATLAS software to CMake and show working examples of this large scale project in production.

Denudational slope processes and slope response to global climate changes and other disturbances: insights from the Nepal Himalayas.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fort, Monique

2016-04-01

Hillslope geomorphology results from a large range of denudational processes mainly controlled by relief, structure, lithology, climate, land-cover and land use. In most areas of the world, the "critical zone" concept is a good integrator of denudation that operates on a long-term scale. However, in large and high mountain areas, short-time scale factors often play a significant role in the denudational pattern, accelerating and/or delaying the transfer of denudation products and fluxes, and creating specific, spatially limited disturbances. We focus on the Nepal Himalayas, where the wide altitudinal range of bio-climatic zones and the intense geodynamic activity create a complex mosaic of landforms, as expressed by the present geomorphology of mountain slopes. On the basis of examples selected in the different Himalayan mountain belts (Siwaliks hills, middle mountains, High Himalaya), we illustrate different types of slopes and disturbances induced by active tectonics, climate extremes, and climate warming trends. Special attention is paid to recent events, such as landslide damming, triggered by either intense rainfalls (Kali Gandaki and Sun Kosi valleys) or the last April-May 2015 Gorkha seismic sequence (southern Khumbu). Lastly, references to older, larger events show that despite the highly dynamic environment, landforms caused by large magnitude disturbances may persist in the landscape in the long term.

EMIC triggered chorus emissions in Cluster data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grison, B.; SantolíK, O.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.; Masson, A.; Engebretson, M. J.; Pickett, J. S.; Omura, Y.; Robert, P.; Nomura, R.

2013-03-01

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) triggered chorus emissions have recently been a subject of several experimental, theoretical and simulation case studies, noting their similarities with whistler-mode chorus. We perform a survey of 8 years of Cluster data in order to increase the database of EMIC triggered emissions. The results of this is that EMIC triggered emissions have been unambiguously observed for only three different days. These three events are studied in detail. All cases have been observed at the plasmapause between 22 and 24 magnetic local time (MLT) and between - 15° and 15° magnetic latitude (λm). Triggered emissions are also observed for the first time below the local He+ gyrofrequency (fHe+). The number of events is too low to produce statistical results, nevertheless we point out a variety of common properties of those waves. The rising tones have a high level of coherence and the waves propagate away from the equatorial region. The propagation angle and degree of polarization are related to the distance from the equator, whereas the slope and the frequency extent vary from one event to the other. From the various spacecraft separations, we determine that the triggering process is a localized phenomenon in space and time. However, we are unable to determine the occurrence rates of these waves. Small frequency extent rising tones are more common than large ones. The newly reported EMIC triggered events are generally observed during periods of large AE index values and in time periods close to solar maximum.

Global observation of Omori-law decay in the rate of triggered earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, T.

2001-12-01

Triggered earthquakes can be large, damaging, and lethal as evidenced by the 1999 shocks in Turkey and the 2001 events in El Salvador. In this study, earthquakes with M greater than 7.0 from the Harvard CMT catalog are modeled as dislocations to calculate shear stress changes on subsequent earthquake rupture planes near enough to be affected. About 61% of earthquakes that occurred near the main shocks are associated with calculated shear stress increases, while ~39% are associated with shear stress decreases. If earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases are interpreted as triggered, then such events make up at least 8% of the CMT catalog. Globally, triggered earthquakes obey an Omori-law rate decay that lasts between ~7-11 years after the main shock. Earthquakes associated with calculated shear stress increases occur at higher rates than background up to 240 km away from the main-shock centroid. Earthquakes triggered by smaller quakes (foreshocks) also obey Omori's law, which is one of the few time-predictable patterns evident in the global occurrence of earthquakes. These observations indicate that earthquake probability calculations which include interactions from previous shocks should incorporate a transient Omori-law decay with time. In addition, a very simple model using the observed global rate change with time and spatial distribution of triggered earthquakes can be applied to immediately assess the likelihood of triggered earthquakes following large events, and can be in place until more sophisticated analyses are conducted.

Effects of soil spatial variability at the hillslope and catchment scales on characteristics of rainfall-induced landslides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Linfeng; Lehmann, Peter; Or, Dani

2016-03-01

Spatial variations in soil properties affect key hydrological processes, yet their role in soil mechanical response to hydro-mechanical loading is rarely considered. This study aims to fill this gap by systematically quantifying effects of spatial variations in soil type and initial water content on rapid rainfall-induced shallow landslide predictions at the hillslope- and catchment-scales. We employed a physically-based landslide triggering model that considers mechanical interactions among soil columns governed by strength thresholds. At the hillslope scale, we found that the emergence of weak regions induced by spatial variations of soil type and initial water content resulted in early triggering of landslides with smaller volumes of released mass relative to a homogeneous slope. At the catchment scale, initial water content was linked to a topographic wetness index, whereas soil type varied deterministically with soil depth considering spatially correlated stochastic components. Results indicate that a strong spatial organization of initial water content delays landslide triggering, whereas spatially linked soil type with soil depth promoted landslide initiation. Increasing the standard deviation and correlation length of the stochastic component of soil type increases landslide volume and hastens onset of landslides. The study illustrates that for similar external boundary conditions and mean soil properties, landslide characteristics vary significantly with soil variability, hence it must be considered for improved landslide model predictions.

A see-saw of pre-Columbian boom regions in southern Peru, determined by large-scale circulation changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mächtle, B.; Schittek, K.; Forbriger, M.; Schäbitz, F.; Eitel, B.

2012-04-01

Environmental changes and cultural transitions during several periods of Peruvian history show a strong coincidence between humid and dry climatic oscillations and the rise and decline of cultures. It is noteworthy, that alternating periods of geo-ecological fragility and stability occurred in time and space between the coastal Nasca region (14.5° S) and the high Andean northern Titicaca basin, just a few hundred kilometers to the east. Based on a multi-proxy palynological and sedimentological approach to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes, we found that the Nasca region received a maximum of precipitation during the archaeological boom times of the Early Horizon and the Early Intermediate Period (800 BC - 650 AD, Paracas and Nasca cultures) as well as during the late intermediate period (1150-1450 AD), whereas, in contrast, the Titicaca region further to the south-east experienced drought and cultural depression during that times. During the Middle Horizon (650 - 1150 AD), the Tiwanaku agronomy and culture boomed in the Titicaca region and expanded to the west, contemporaneous with a raised lake level and more humid conditions. In the Nasca region, runoff for irrigation purposes was reduced and less reliable due to drought. Considering a coincidence between environmental and cultural changes, we state that success and decline of civilizations were controlled by hydrological oscillations, triggering fertility as well as a critical loss of natural resources. In response to spatial changing resources, cultural foci were shifted. Therefore, the success of pre-Columbian civilizations was closely coupled to areas of geo-ecological favorability, which were directly controlled by distinct regional impacts of large-scale circulation mechanisms, including El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Changes in the position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and the Bolivian anticyclone determined meridional shifts in moisture transport across the Andes, which directly triggered human migration to the respective granaries.

Coulomb Mechanics And Landscape Geometry Explain Landslide Size Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeandet, L.; Steer, P.; Lague, D.; Davy, P.

2017-12-01

It is generally observed that the dimensions of large bedrock landslides follow power-law scaling relationships. In particular, the non-cumulative frequency distribution (PDF) of bedrock landslide area is well characterized by a negative power-law above a critical size, with an exponent 2.4. However, the respective role of bedrock mechanical properties, landscape shape and triggering mechanisms on the scaling properties of landslide dimensions are still poorly understood. Yet, unravelling the factors that control this distribution is required to better estimate the total volume of landslides triggered by large earthquakes or storms. To tackle this issue, we develop a simple probabilistic 1D approach to compute the PDF of rupture depths in a given landscape. The model is applied to randomly sampled points along hillslopes of studied digital elevation models. At each point location, the model determines the range of depth and angle leading to unstable rupture planes, by applying a simple Mohr-Coulomb rupture criterion only to the rupture planes that intersect downhill surface topography. This model therefore accounts for both rock mechanical properties, friction and cohesion, and landscape shape. We show that this model leads to realistic landslide depth distribution, with a power-law arising when the number of samples is high enough. The modeled PDF of landslide size obtained for several landscapes match the ones from earthquakes-driven landslides catalogues for the same landscape. In turn, this allows us to invert landslide effective mechanical parameters, friction and cohesion, associated to those specific events, including Chi-Chi, Wenchuan, Niigata and Gorkha earthquakes. The cohesion and friction ranges (25-35 degrees and 5-20 kPa) are in good agreement with previously inverted values. Our results demonstrate that reduced complexity mechanics is efficient to model the distribution of unstable depths, and show the role of landscape variability in landslide size distribution.

Drivers of deep-water renewal events observed over 13 years in the South Basin of Lake Baikal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsimitri, Chrysanthi; Rockel, Burkhardt; Wüest, Alfred; Budnev, Nikolay M.; Sturm, Michael; Schmid, Martin

2015-03-01

Lake Baikal, with a depth of 1637 m, is characterized by deep-water intrusions that bridge the near-surface layer to the hypolimnion. These episodic events transfer heat and oxygen over large vertical scales and maintain the permanent temperature stratified deep-water status of the lake. Here we evaluate a series of intrusion events that reached the bottom of the lake in terms of the stratification and the wind conditions under which they occurred and provide a new insight into the triggering mechanisms. We make use of long-term temperature and current meter data (2000-2013) recorded in the South Basin of the lake combined with wind data produced with a regional downscaling of the global NCEP-RA1 reanalysis product. A total of 13 events were observed during which near-surface cold water reached the bottom of the South Basin at 1350 m depth. We found that the triggering mechanism of the events is related to the time of the year that they take place. We categorized the events in three groups: (1) winter events, observed shortly before the complete ice cover of the lake that are triggered by Ekman coastal downwelling, (2) under-ice events, and (3) spring events, that show no correlation to the wind conditions and are possibly connected to the increased spring outflow of the Selenga River. This article was corrected on 18 MAR 2015. See the end of the full text for details.

Gas injection may have triggered earthquakes in the Cogdell oil field, Texas

PubMed Central

Gan, Wei; Frohlich, Cliff

2013-01-01

Between 1957 and 1982, water flooding was conducted to improve petroleum production in the Cogdell oil field north of Snyder, TX, and a contemporary analysis concluded this induced earthquakes that occurred between 1975 and 1982. The National Earthquake Information Center detected no further activity between 1983 and 2005, but between 2006 and 2011 reported 18 earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and greater. To investigate these earthquakes, we analyzed data recorded by six temporary seismograph stations deployed by the USArray program, and identified 93 well-recorded earthquakes occurring between March 2009 and December 2010. Relocation with a double-difference method shows that most earthquakes occurred within several northeast–southwest-trending linear clusters, with trends corresponding to nodal planes of regional focal mechanisms, possibly indicating the presence of previously unidentified faults. We have evaluated data concerning injection and extraction of oil, water, and gas in the Cogdell field. Water injection cannot explain the 2006–2011 earthquakes, especially as net volumes (injection minus extraction) are significantly less than in the 1957–1982 period. However, since 2004 significant volumes of gases including supercritical CO2 have been injected into the Cogdell field. The timing of gas injection suggests it may have contributed to triggering the recent seismic activity. If so, this represents an instance where gas injection has triggered earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and larger. Further modeling studies may help evaluate recent assertions suggesting significant risks accompany large-scale carbon capture and storage as a strategy for managing climate change. PMID:24191019

Gas injection may have triggered earthquakes in the Cogdell oil field, Texas.

PubMed

Gan, Wei; Frohlich, Cliff

2013-11-19

Between 1957 and 1982, water flooding was conducted to improve petroleum production in the Cogdell oil field north of Snyder, TX, and a contemporary analysis concluded this induced earthquakes that occurred between 1975 and 1982. The National Earthquake Information Center detected no further activity between 1983 and 2005, but between 2006 and 2011 reported 18 earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and greater. To investigate these earthquakes, we analyzed data recorded by six temporary seismograph stations deployed by the USArray program, and identified 93 well-recorded earthquakes occurring between March 2009 and December 2010. Relocation with a double-difference method shows that most earthquakes occurred within several northeast-southwest-trending linear clusters, with trends corresponding to nodal planes of regional focal mechanisms, possibly indicating the presence of previously unidentified faults. We have evaluated data concerning injection and extraction of oil, water, and gas in the Cogdell field. Water injection cannot explain the 2006-2011 earthquakes, especially as net volumes (injection minus extraction) are significantly less than in the 1957-1982 period. However, since 2004 significant volumes of gases including supercritical CO2 have been injected into the Cogdell field. The timing of gas injection suggests it may have contributed to triggering the recent seismic activity. If so, this represents an instance where gas injection has triggered earthquakes having magnitudes 3 and larger. Further modeling studies may help evaluate recent assertions suggesting significant risks accompany large-scale carbon capture and storage as a strategy for managing climate change.

Neuro Emotional Technique for the treatment of trigger point sensitivity in chronic neck pain sufferers: A controlled clinical trial

PubMed Central

Bablis, Peter; Pollard, Henry; Bonello, Rod

2008-01-01

Background Trigger points have been shown to be active in many myofascial pain syndromes. Treatment of trigger point pain and dysfunction may be explained through the mechanisms of central and peripheral paradigms. This study aimed to investigate whether the mind/body treatment of Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) could significantly relieve pain sensitivity of trigger points presenting in a cohort of chronic neck pain sufferers. Methods Sixty participants presenting to a private chiropractic clinic with chronic cervical pain as their primary complaint were sequentially allocated into treatment and control groups. Participants in the treatment group received a short course of Neuro Emotional Technique that consists of muscle testing, general semantics and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The control group received a sham NET protocol. Outcome measurements included pain assessment utilizing a visual analog scale and a pressure gauge algometer. Pain sensitivity was measured at four trigger point locations: suboccipital region (S); levator scapulae region (LS); sternocleidomastoid region (SCM) and temporomandibular region (TMJ). For each outcome measurement and each trigger point, we calculated the change in measurement between pre- and post- treatment. We then examined the relationships between these measurement changes and six independent variables (i.e. treatment group and the above five additional participant variables) using forward stepwise General Linear Model. Results The visual analog scale (0 to 10) had an improvement of 7.6 at S, 7.2 at LS, 7.5 at SCM and 7.1 at the TMJ in the treatment group compared with no improvement of at S, and an improvement of 0.04 at LS, 0.1 at SCM and 0.1 at the TMJ point in the control group, (P < 0.001). Conclusion After a short course of NET treatment, measurements of visual analog scale and pressure algometer recordings of four trigger point locations in a cohort of chronic neck pain sufferers were significantly improved when compared to a control group which received a sham protocol of NET. Chronic neck pain sufferers may benefit from NET treatment in the relief of trigger point sensitivity. Further research including long-term randomised controlled trials for the effect of NET on chronic neck pain, and other chronic pain syndromes are recommended. Trial Registration This trial has been registered and allocated the Australian Clinical Trials Registry (ACTR) number ACTRN012607000358448. The ACTR has met the requirements of the ICMJE's trials registration policy and is an ICMJE acceptable registry. PMID:18495042

Fast numerical methods for simulating large-scale integrate-and-fire neuronal networks.

PubMed

Rangan, Aaditya V; Cai, David

2007-02-01

We discuss numerical methods for simulating large-scale, integrate-and-fire (I&F) neuronal networks. Important elements in our numerical methods are (i) a neurophysiologically inspired integrating factor which casts the solution as a numerically tractable integral equation, and allows us to obtain stable and accurate individual neuronal trajectories (i.e., voltage and conductance time-courses) even when the I&F neuronal equations are stiff, such as in strongly fluctuating, high-conductance states; (ii) an iterated process of spike-spike corrections within groups of strongly coupled neurons to account for spike-spike interactions within a single large numerical time-step; and (iii) a clustering procedure of firing events in the network to take advantage of localized architectures, such as spatial scales of strong local interactions, which are often present in large-scale computational models-for example, those of the primary visual cortex. (We note that the spike-spike corrections in our methods are more involved than the correction of single neuron spike-time via a polynomial interpolation as in the modified Runge-Kutta methods commonly used in simulations of I&F neuronal networks.) Our methods can evolve networks with relatively strong local interactions in an asymptotically optimal way such that each neuron fires approximately once in [Formula: see text] operations, where N is the number of neurons in the system. We note that quantifications used in computational modeling are often statistical, since measurements in a real experiment to characterize physiological systems are typically statistical, such as firing rate, interspike interval distributions, and spike-triggered voltage distributions. We emphasize that it takes much less computational effort to resolve statistical properties of certain I&F neuronal networks than to fully resolve trajectories of each and every neuron within the system. For networks operating in realistic dynamical regimes, such as strongly fluctuating, high-conductance states, our methods are designed to achieve statistical accuracy when very large time-steps are used. Moreover, our methods can also achieve trajectory-wise accuracy when small time-steps are used.

Search strategy using LHC pileup interactions as a zero bias sample

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nachman, Benjamin; Rubbo, Francesco

2018-05-01

Due to a limited bandwidth and a large proton-proton interaction cross section relative to the rate of interesting physics processes, most events produced at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are discarded in real time. A sophisticated trigger system must quickly decide which events should be kept and is very efficient for a broad range of processes. However, there are many processes that cannot be accommodated by this trigger system. Furthermore, there may be models of physics beyond the standard model (BSM) constructed after data taking that could have been triggered, but no trigger was implemented at run time. Both of these cases can be covered by exploiting pileup interactions as an effective zero bias sample. At the end of high-luminosity LHC operations, this zero bias dataset will have accumulated about 1 fb-1 of data from which a bottom line cross section limit of O (1 ) fb can be set for BSM models already in the literature and those yet to come.

In Situ Observations of a Magnetosheath High-Speed Jet Triggering Magnetopause Reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hietala, H.; Phan, T.; Angelopoulos, V.; Oieroset, M.; Archer, M. O.; Karlsson, T.; Plaschke, F.

2017-12-01

The dayside solar wind-magnetosphere interaction is mediated by the magnetosheath. Magnetosheath high-speed jets (HSJs) - dynamic pressure enhancements typically of 1 Earth radius (RE) in size - impact the magnetopause several times per hour, i.e., much more frequently than any other known dayside transient. When HSJs hit the magnetopause, they may cause large amplitude yet localized boundary indentations, inciting magnetospheric waves. Possible consequences of these impacts include dropouts and other variations in radiation belt electron populations, and diffuse `throat' aurora. There have also been various indirect observations suggesting that magnetopause reconnection may occur in association with HSJ impacts. Here we present the first in situ evidence suggesting that a magnetosheath high-speed jet triggered magnetopause reconnection. We consider a HSJ impact that was part of a series of jets observed by THEMIS in the string-of-pearls configuration on August 7, 2007. The inter-probe separations ranged from 2RE to 0.07RE, allowing us to investigate this multi-scale process. According to OMNI data, the IMF was northward during this impact, i.e., unfavorable for low latitude magnetopause reconnection. First the magnetopause moved inwards past THB (the outermost probe) to a location between THE and THA (the innermost probe). In the magnetosheath THB observed a HSJ with a large velocity directed towards the magnetopause (VN 300km/s). After the HSJ the magnetopause moved back out. Before the HSJ (outbound crossing), there is no evidence for reconnection at the four probes. After the HSJ (inbound crossing), there were clear reconnection outflows (VL -250km/s), implying that reconnection was triggered by the HSJ impact. We infer that this was likely due to the HSJ's high dynamic pressure ( 4 nPa, 8 times the ambient magnetosheath dynamic pressure) compressing the thick (60-70 di), high shear (140-160°) magnetopause until it was thin enough to reconnect.

Radio-triggered anesthetic-dart collar for recapturing large mammals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mech, L.D.; Chapman, R.C.; Cochran, W.W.; Simmons, L.; Seal, U.S.

1984-01-01

A re-usable, radio-triggered, anesthetic-dart collar costing about $1,200 has been developed for recapturing large, free-ranging mammals. The collar was tested successfully on captive gray wolves, white-tailed deer, a mountain lion, a black bear, and a tiger, and on wild wolves, a bear, and deer after periods of up to 32 days. The main advantage of the capture collar is that it allows frequent recapture of individuals at will and thus enhances opportunities for new physiological monitoring of wild animals.

Scientific overview and historical context of the 1811-1812 new Madrid earthquake sequence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hough, S.E.

2004-01-01

aftershock». These values are consistent with other lines of evidence, including scaling relationships. Finally, I show that accounts from the New Madrid sequence reveal evidence for remotely triggered earthquakes well outside the NMSZ. Remotely triggered earthquakes represent a potentially important new wrinkle in historic earthquake research, as their ground motions can sometimes be confused with mainshock ground motions.

Mechanical and Statistical Evidence of Human-Caused Earthquakes - A Global Data Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, C. D.

2012-12-01

The causality of large-scale geoengineering activities and the occurrence of earthquakes with magnitudes of up to M=8 is discussed and mechanical and statistical evidence is provided. The earthquakes were caused by artificial water reservoir impoundments, underground and open-pit mining, coastal management, hydrocarbon production and fluid injections/extractions. The presented global earthquake catalog has been recently published in the Journal of Seismology and is available for the public at www.cdklose.com. The data show evidence that geomechanical relationships exist with statistical significance between a) seismic moment magnitudes of observed earthquakes, b) anthropogenic mass shifts on the Earth's crust, and c) lateral distances of the earthquake hypocenters to the locations of the mass shifts. Research findings depend on uncertainties, in particular, of source parameter estimations of seismic events before instrumental recoding. First analyses, however, indicate that that small- to medium size earthquakes (M6) tend to be triggered. The rupture propagation of triggered events might be dominated by pre-existing tectonic stress conditions. Besides event specific evidence, large earthquakes such as China's 2008 M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake fall into a global pattern and can not be considered as outliers or simply seen as an act of god. Observations also indicate that every second seismic event tends to occur after a decade, while pore pressure diffusion seems to only play a role when injecting fluids deep underground. The chance of an earthquake to nucleate after two or 20 years near an area with a significant mass shift is 25% or 75% respectively. Moreover, causative effects of seismic activities highly depend on the tectonic stress regime in the Earth's crust in which geoengineering takes place.

Linking ecosystem scale vegetation change to shifts in carbon and water cycling: the consequences of widespread piñon mortality in the Southwest

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Litvak, Marcy Ellen

2012-10-01

The southwestern United States experienced an extended drought from 1999-2002 which led to widespread coniferous tree mortality. Piñon-juniper (PJ) woodlands, which occupy 24 million ha throughout the Southwest, were extremely vulnerable to this drought. An abrupt die-off of 40 to 95% of piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and 2-25% of juniper (Juniperus monosperma) across 1.5 million ha triggered rapid and extensive changes in the structure of PJ woodlands with potentially large, yet unknown, consequences for ecosystem services and feedbacks between the carbon cycle and climate system. Given the spatial extent of PJ woodlands (3rd largest biome in the US) and climaticmore » predictions of increased frequency and intensity of drought in the region, it is crucial to understand the consequences of these disturbances on regional carbon and energy dynamics, biogeochemical processes and atmospheric CO2. The overall objective of our research was to quantify what impact widespread mortality of piñon trees has for carbon and water cycling in PJ woodlands. Our specific objectives for this proposal were: 1) Quantify the carbon, water and energy exchange trajectory after mortality in PJ woodlands; 2) Determine the mechanisms controlling the response and recovery of ecosystem production and respiration processes following large-scale piñon mortality; 3) Use the relationships we measure between ecosystem structure and function PJ woodlands recover from mortality to scale the results of our study up to the regional scale.« less

Large-scale filaments associated with Milky Way spiral arms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ke; Testi, Leonardo; Ginsburg, Adam; Walmsley, C. Malcolm; Molinari, Sergio; Schisano, Eugenio

2015-07-01

The ubiquity of filamentary structure at various scales throughout the Galaxy has triggered a renewed interest in their formation, evolution, and role in star formation. The largest filaments can reach up to Galactic scale as part of the spiral arm structure. However, such large-scale filaments are hard to identify systematically due to limitations in identifying methodology (i.e. as extinction features). We present a new approach to directly search for the largest, coldest, and densest filaments in the Galaxy, making use of sensitive Herschel Hi-GAL (Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey) data complemented by spectral line cubes. We present a sample of the nine most prominent Herschel filaments, including six identified from a pilot search field plus three from outside the field. These filaments measure 37-99 pc long and 0.6-3.0 pc wide with masses (0.5-8.3) × 104 M⊙, and beam-averaged (28 arcsec, or 0.4-0.7 pc) peak H2 column densities of (1.7-9.3)× 1022 cm- 2. The bulk of the filaments are relatively cold (17-21 K), while some local clumps have a dust temperature up to 25-47 K. All the filaments are located within ≲60 pc from the Galactic mid-plane. Comparing the filaments to a recent spiral arm model incorporating the latest parallax measurements, we find that 7/9 of them reside within arms, but most are close to arm edges. These filaments are comparable in length to the Galactic scaleheight and therefore are not simply part of a grander turbulent cascade.

A preliminary regional assessment of earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility for Vrancea Seismic Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Micu, Mihai; Balteanu, Dan; Ionescu, Constantin; Havenith, Hans; Radulian, Mircea; van Westen, Cees; Damen, Michiel; Jurchescu, Marta

2015-04-01

In seismically-active regions, earthquakes may trigger landslides enhancing the short-to-long term slope denudation and sediment delivery and conditioning the general landscape evolution. Co-seismic slope failures present in general a low frequency - high magnitude pattern which should be addressed accordingly by landslide hazard assessment, with respect to the generally more frequent precipitation-triggered landslides. The Vrancea Seismic Region, corresponding to the curvature sector of the Eastern Romanian Carpathians, represents the most active sub-crustal (focal depth > 50 km) earthquake province of Europe. It represents the main seismic energy source throughout Romania with significant transboundary effects recorded as far as Ukraine and Bulgaria. During the last 300 years, the region featured 14 earthquakes with M>7, among which seven events with magnitude above 7.5 and three between 7.7 and 7.9. Apart from the direct damages, the Vrancea earthquakes are also responsible for causing numerous other geohazards, such as ground fracturing, groundwater level disturbances and possible deep-seated landslide occurrences (rock slumps, rock-block slides, rock falls, rock avalanches). The older deep-seated landslides (assumed to have been) triggered by earthquakes usually affect the entire slope profile. They often formed landslide dams strongly influencing the river morphology and representing potential threats (through flash-floods) in case of lake outburst. Despite the large potential of this research issue, the correlation between the region's seismotectonic context and landslide predisposing factors has not yet been entirely understood. Presently, there is a lack of information provided by the geohazards databases of Vrancea that does not allow us to outline the seismic influence on the triggering of slope failures in this region. We only know that the morphology of numerous large, deep-seated and dormant landslides (which can possibly be reactivated in future) with head scarps near mountain tops and close to faults is similar to the one of large mass movements for which a seismic origin is proved (such as in the Tien Shan, Pamir, Longmenshan, etc.). Thus, correlations between landslide occurrence and combined seismotectonic and climatic factors are needed to support a regional multi-hazard risk assessment. The purpose of this paper is to harmonize for the first time at a regional scale the landslide predisposing factors and seismotectonic triggers and to present a first qualitative insight into the earthquake-induced landslide susceptibility for the Vrancea Seismic Region in terms of a GIS-based analysis of Newmark displacement (ND). In this way, it aims at better defining spatial and temporal distribution patterns of earthquake-triggered landslides. Arias Intensity calculation involved in the assessment considers both regional seismic hazard aspects and singular earthquake scenarios (adjusted by topography amplification factors). The known distribution of landslides mapped through digital stereographic interpretation of high-resolution aerial photos is compared with digital active fault maps and the computed ND maps to statistically outline the seismotectonic influence on slope stability in the study area. The importance of this approach resides in two main outputs. The fist one, of a fundamental nature, by providing the first regional insight into the seismic landslides triggering framework, is allowing us to understand if deep-focus earthquakes may trigger massive slope failures in an area with a relatively smooth relief (compared to the high mountain regions in Central Asia, the Himalayas), considering possible geologic and topographic site effects. The second one, more applied, will allow a better accelerometer instrumentation and monitoring of slopes and also will provide a first correlation of different levels of seismic shaking with precipitation recurrences, an important relationship within a multi-hazard risk preparedness and prevention framework.

Common Readout Unit (CRU) - A new readout architecture for the ALICE experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitra, J.; Khan, S. A.; Mukherjee, S.; Paul, R.

2016-03-01

The ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is presently going for a major upgrade in order to fully exploit the scientific potential of the upcoming high luminosity run, scheduled to start in the year 2021. The high interaction rate and the large event size will result in an experimental data flow of about 1 TB/s from the detectors, which need to be processed before sending to the online computing system and data storage. This processing is done in a dedicated Common Readout Unit (CRU), proposed for data aggregation, trigger and timing distribution and control moderation. It act as common interface between sub-detector electronic systems, computing system and trigger processors. The interface links include GBT, TTC-PON and PCIe. GBT (Gigabit transceiver) is used for detector data payload transmission and fixed latency path for trigger distribution between CRU and detector readout electronics. TTC-PON (Timing, Trigger and Control via Passive Optical Network) is employed for time multiplex trigger distribution between CRU and Central Trigger Processor (CTP). PCIe (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express) is the high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for bulk data transport between CRU boards and processors. In this article, we give an overview of CRU architecture in ALICE, discuss the different interfaces, along with the firmware design and implementation of CRU on the LHCb PCIe40 board.

Insight into multiple-triggering effect in DTSCRs for ESD protection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lizhong; Wang, Yuan; Wang, Yize; He, Yandong

2017-07-01

The diode-triggered silicon-controlled rectifier (DTSCR) is widely used for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection in advanced CMOS process owing to its advantages, such as design simplification, adjustable trigger/holding voltage, low parasitic capacitance. However, the multiple-triggering effect in the typical DTSCR device may cause undesirable larger overall trigger voltage, which results in a reduced ESD safe margin. In previous research, the major cause is attributed to the higher current level required in the intrinsic SCR. The related discussions indicate that it seems to result from the current division rule between the intrinsic and parasitic SCR formed in the triggering process. In this letter, inserting a large space into the trigger diodes is proposed to get a deeper insight into this issue. The triggering current is observed to be regularly reduced along with the increased space, which confirms that the current division is determined by the parasitic resistance distributed between the intrinsic and parasitic SCR paths. The theoretical analysis is well confirmed by device simulation and transmission line pulse (TLP) test results. The reduced overall trigger voltage is achieved in the modified DTSCR structures due to the comprehensive result of the parasitic resistance vs triggering current, which indicates a minimized multiple-triggering effect. Project supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation, China (No. 4162030).

THE MAGNETIC SYSTEMS TRIGGERING THE M6.6 CLASS SOLAR FLARE IN NOAA ACTIVE REGION 11158

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Toriumi, Shin; Iida, Yusuke; Bamba, Yumi

2013-08-20

We report a detailed event analysis of the M6.6 class flare in the active region (AR) NOAA 11158 on 2011 February 13. AR 11158, which consisted of two major emerging bipoles, showed prominent activity including one X- and several M-class flares. In order to investigate the magnetic structures related to the M6.6 event, particularly the formation process of a flare-triggering magnetic region, we analyzed multiple spacecraft observations and numerical results of a flare simulation. We observed that, in the center of this quadrupolar AR, a highly sheared polarity inversion line (PIL) was formed through proper motions of the major magneticmore » elements, which built a sheared coronal arcade lying over the PIL. The observations lend support to the interpretation that the target flare was triggered by a localized magnetic region that had an intrusive structure, namely, a positive polarity penetrating into a negative counterpart. The geometrical relationship between the sheared coronal arcade and the triggering region is consistent with the theoretical flare model based on the previous numerical study. We found that the formation of the trigger region was due to the continuous accumulation of small-scale magnetic patches. A few hours before the flare occurred, the series of emerged/advected patches reconnected with a pre-existing field. Finally, the abrupt flare eruption of the M6.6 event started around 17:30 UT. Our analysis suggests that in the process of triggering flare activity, all magnetic systems on multiple scales are included, not only the entire AR evolution but also the fine magnetic elements.« less

Triggering mechanism and tsunamogenic potential of the Cape Fear Slide complex, U.S. Atlantic margin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hornbach, Matthew J.; Lavier, Luc L.; Ruppel, Carolyn D.

2007-01-01

Analysis of new multibeam bathymetry data and seismic Chirp data acquired over the Cape Fear Slide complex on the U.S. Atlantic margin suggests that at least 5 major submarine slides have likely occurred there within the past 30,000 years, indicating that repetitive, large-scale mass wasting and associated tsunamis may be more common in this area than previously believed. Gas hydrate deposits and associated free gas as well as salt tectonics have been implicated in previous studies as triggers for the major Cape Fear slide events. Analysis of the interaction of the gas hydrate phase boundary and the various generations of slides indicates that only the most landward slide likely intersected the phase boundary and inferred high gas pressures below it. For much of the region, we believe that displacement along a newly recognized normal fault led to upward migration of salt, oversteepening of slopes, and repeated slope failures. Using new constraints on slide morphology, we develop the first tsunami model for the Cape Fear Slide complex. Our results indicate that if the most seaward Cape Fear slide event occurred today, it could produce waves in excess of 2 m at the present-day 100 m bathymetric contour.

Ataxin-10 is part of a cachexokine cocktail triggering cardiac metabolic dysfunction in cancer cachexia

PubMed Central

Schäfer, Michaela; Oeing, Christian U.; Rohm, Maria; Baysal-Temel, Ezgi; Lehmann, Lorenz H.; Bauer, Ralf; Volz, H. Christian; Boutros, Michael; Sohn, Daniela; Sticht, Carsten; Gretz, Norbert; Eichelbaum, Katrin; Werner, Tessa; Hirt, Marc N.; Eschenhagen, Thomas; Müller-Decker, Karin; Strobel, Oliver; Hackert, Thilo; Krijgsveld, Jeroen; Katus, Hugo A.; Berriel Diaz, Mauricio; Backs, Johannes; Herzig, Stephan

2015-01-01

Objectives Cancer cachexia affects the majority of tumor patients and significantly contributes to high mortality rates in these subjects. Despite its clinical importance, the identity of tumor-borne signals and their impact on specific peripheral organ systems, particularly the heart, remain mostly unknown. Methods and results By combining differential colon cancer cell secretome profiling with large-scale cardiomyocyte phenotyping, we identified a signature panel of seven “cachexokines”, including Bridging integrator 1, Syntaxin 7, Multiple inositol-polyphosphate phosphatase 1, Glucosidase alpha acid, Chemokine ligand 2, Adamts like 4, and Ataxin-10, which were both sufficient and necessary to trigger cardiac atrophy and aberrant fatty acid metabolism in cardiomyocytes. As a prototypical example, engineered secretion of Ataxin-10 from non-cachexia-inducing cells was sufficient to induce cachexia phenotypes in cardiomyocytes, correlating with elevated Ataxin-10 serum levels in murine and human cancer cachexia models. Conclusions As Ataxin-10 serum levels were also found to be elevated in human cachectic cancer patients, the identification of Ataxin-10 as part of a cachexokine cocktail now provides a rational approach towards personalized predictive, diagnostic and therapeutic measures in cancer cachexia. PMID:26909315

The Role of Emotional Competence in Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy.

PubMed

Compare, Angelo; Brugnera, Agostino; Spada, Marcantonio M; Zarbo, Cristina; Tasca, Giorgio A; Sassaroli, Sandra; Caselli, Gabriele; Ruggiero, Giovanni Maria; Wittstein, Ilan

2018-05-01

The current study examined the role of emotional competences and depression in takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC). We compared 37 TTC patients who experienced emotion triggers (TTC-t: M (SD) age = 66.4 (12.8) years, 33 women) with 37 TTC patients who did not experience emotion triggers (TTC-nt: M (SD) age = 65.8 (11.1) years, 33 women) and 37 patients with acute myocardial infarction who experienced an emotion trigger (AMI-t: M (SD) age = 66.1 (10.1) years, 33 women). Three aspects of emotional competence (emotional intelligence, metacognitive beliefs, and emotional processing deficits) were assessed using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS), the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30, and the Emotional Processing Scale. Differences between-group means were evaluated using multivariate analysis of covariance, adjusting for depressive symptom (Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression). Compared with the TTC-nt and AMI-t comparison groups, TTC-t patients had low scores on emotional intelligence (TMMS Attention: F(2, 184) = 23.10, p < .001; TMMS Repair: F(2, 184) = 11.98, p < .001) and high scores in metacognitive beliefs and emotional processing deficits (e.g., Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire 30 Negative Beliefs about Thoughts: F(2, 184) = 56.93, p < .001), independent of the levels of depressive symptom. TTC-nt patients also had significantly lower scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scale compared with AMI-t (p = .021) and TTC-t (p = .004) patients. TTC-t patients showed a specific dysfunctional profile of emotional competence, even after adjusting for depressive symptom. These results provided a better understanding of the psychological factors that contribute to TTC.

Interactive flare sites within an active region complex

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Poletto, G.; Gary, G. A.; Machado, M. E.

1993-01-01

We examine here a set of images of an active region complex, acquired on June 24-25, 1980, by the Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer on SMM, with the purpose of establishing whether there was any interplay between the frequent activity observed at different sites in the activity center and, in such a case, how the interaction was established. By analyzing both quiet and active orbits we show that, as a rule, activity originating in one region triggers the other region's activity. However, we find little unambiguous evidence for the presence of large-scale interconnecting loops. A comparison of X-ray images with magnetic field observations suggested that we interpret the active region behavior in terms of the interaction between different loop systems, in a scenario quite analogous to the interacting bipole representation of individual flares. We conclude that active region interplay provides an easily observable case to study the time-dependent topology and the mechanisms for the spreading of activity in transient events over all energy scales.

Large-Scale Structure of the Carina Nebula.

PubMed

Smith; Egan; Carey; Price; Morse; Price

2000-04-01

Observations obtained with the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite reveal for the first time the complex mid-infrared morphology of the entire Carina Nebula (NGC 3372). On the largest size scale of approximately 100 pc, the thermal infrared emission from the giant H ii region delineates one coherent structure: a (somewhat distorted) bipolar nebula with the major axis perpendicular to the Galactic plane. The Carina Nebula is usually described as an evolved H ii region that is no longer actively forming stars, clearing away the last vestiges of its natal molecular cloud. However, the MSX observations presented here reveal numerous embedded infrared sources that are good candidates for sites of current star formation. Several compact infrared sources are located at the heads of dust pillars or in dark globules behind ionization fronts. Because their morphology suggests a strong interaction with the peculiar collection of massive stars in the nebula, we speculate that these new infrared sources may be sites of triggered star formation in NGC 3372.

Attention biases visual activity in visual short-term memory.

PubMed

Kuo, Bo-Cheng; Stokes, Mark G; Murray, Alexandra M; Nobre, Anna Christina

2014-07-01

In the current study, we tested whether representations in visual STM (VSTM) can be biased via top-down attentional modulation of visual activity in retinotopically specific locations. We manipulated attention using retrospective cues presented during the retention interval of a VSTM task. Retrospective cues triggered activity in a large-scale network implicated in attentional control and led to retinotopically specific modulation of activity in early visual areas V1-V4. Importantly, shifts of attention during VSTM maintenance were associated with changes in functional connectivity between pFC and retinotopic regions within V4. Our findings provide new insights into top-down control mechanisms that modulate VSTM representations for flexible and goal-directed maintenance of the most relevant memoranda.

Inflation expels runaways

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bachlechner, Thomas C.

We argue that moduli stabilization generically restricts the evolution following transitions between weakly coupled de Sitter vacua and can induce a strong selection bias towards inflationary cosmologies. The energy density of domain walls between vacua typically destabilizes Kähler moduli and triggers a runaway towards large volume. This decompactification phase can collapse the new de Sitter region unless a minimum amount of inflation occurs after the transition. A stable vacuum transition is guaranteed only if the inflationary expansion generates overlapping past light cones for all observable modes originating from the reheating surface, which leads to an approximately flat and isotropic universe.more » High scale inflation is vastly favored. Finally, our results point towards a framework for studying parameter fine-tuning and inflationary initial conditions in flux compactifications.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alvioli, M.; Frankfurt, L.; Guzey, V.

Here, we model effects of color fluctuations (CFs) in the light-cone photon wave function and for the first time make predictions for the distribution over the number of wounded nucleons ν in the inelastic photon–nucleus scattering. We show that CFs lead to a dramatic enhancement of this distribution at ν=1 and large ν>10. We also study the implications of different scales and CFs in the photon wave function on the total transverse energy ΣE T and other observables in inelastic γA scattering with different triggers. Our predictions can be tested in proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC andmore » will help to map CFs, whose first indications have already been observed at the LHC.« less

Behavioral Initiatives for Energy Efficiency: Large-Scale Energy Reductions through Sensors, Feedback & Information Technology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

Broad Funding Opportunity Announcement Project: A team of researchers from more than 10 departments at Stanford University is collaborating to transform the way Americans interact with our energy-use data. The team built a web-based platform that collects historical electricity data which it uses to perform a variety of experiments to learn what triggers people to respond. Experiments include new financial incentives, a calculator to understand the potential savings of efficient appliances, new Facebook interface designs, communication studies using Twitter, and educational programs with the Girl Scouts. Economic modeling is underway to better understand how results from the San Francisco Baymore » Area can be broadened to other parts of the country.« less

Inflation expels runaways

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachlechner, Thomas C.

2016-12-01

We argue that moduli stabilization generically restricts the evolution following transitions between weakly coupled de Sitter vacua and can induce a strong selection bias towards inflationary cosmologies. The energy density of domain walls between vacua typically destabilizes Kähler moduli and triggers a runaway towards large volume. This decompactification phase can collapse the new de Sitter region unless a minimum amount of inflation occurs after the transition. A stable vacuum transition is guaranteed only if the inflationary expansion generates overlapping past light cones for all observable modes originating from the reheating surface, which leads to an approximately flat and isotropic universe. High scale inflation is vastly favored. Our results point towards a framework for studying parameter fine-tuning and inflationary initial conditions in flux compactifications.

Inflation expels runaways

DOE PAGES

Bachlechner, Thomas C.

2016-12-30

We argue that moduli stabilization generically restricts the evolution following transitions between weakly coupled de Sitter vacua and can induce a strong selection bias towards inflationary cosmologies. The energy density of domain walls between vacua typically destabilizes Kähler moduli and triggers a runaway towards large volume. This decompactification phase can collapse the new de Sitter region unless a minimum amount of inflation occurs after the transition. A stable vacuum transition is guaranteed only if the inflationary expansion generates overlapping past light cones for all observable modes originating from the reheating surface, which leads to an approximately flat and isotropic universe.more » High scale inflation is vastly favored. Finally, our results point towards a framework for studying parameter fine-tuning and inflationary initial conditions in flux compactifications.« less

LLE review. Volume 61, Quarterly report, October--December 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-12-31

This volume of the LLE review, covering the period of October--December 1994, contains articles on a diagnostic method employing krypton spectroscopy for measurement of temperature and shell-fuel mixing in high-temperature implosions; the first direct assessment of the ion-acoustic decay instability in a large-scale length, hot plasma; measurements of polarization mode dispersion and group-velocity walkaway in birefringent media using a frequency domain interferometer; an evaluation of the magnetic flux dynamics occurring in an optically triggered, thin-film superconducting switch; the effect of slurry fluid chemistry on particle size distribution during aqueous polishing of optical glass; and the influence of thermal and mechanicalmore » processing history in the preparation of well-ordered liquid crystal elastomer systems.« less

The solar origins of two high-latitude interplanetary disturbances

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hudson, H. S.; Acton, L. W.; Alexander, D.; Harvey, K. L.; Kurokawa, H.; Kahler, S.; Lemen, J. R.

1995-01-01

Two extremely similar interplanetary forward/reverse shock events, with bidirectional electron streaming were detected by Ulysses in 1994. Ground-based and Yohkoh/SXT observations show two strikingly different solar events that could be associated with them: an LDE flare on 20 Feb. 1994, and a extremely large-scale eruptive event on 14 April 1994. Both events resulted in geomagnetic storms and presumably were associated with coronal mass ejections. The sharply contrasting nature of these solar events argues against an energetic causal relationship between them and the bidirectional streaming events observed by Ulysses during its S polar passage. We suggest instead that for each pair of events. a common solar trigger may have caused independent instabilities leading to the solar and interplanetary phenomena.

Molecular Risk Factors for Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Modai, Shira; Shomron, Noam

2016-03-01

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a complex and strongly heritable mental disorder, which is also associated with developmental-environmental triggers. As opposed to most diagnosable diseases (yet similar to other mental disorders), SZ diagnosis is commonly based on psychiatric evaluations. Recently, large-scale genetic and epigenetic approaches have been applied to SZ research with the goal of potentially improving diagnosis. Increased computational analyses and applied statistical algorithms may shed some light on the complex genetic and epigenetic pathways contributing to SZ pathogenesis. This review discusses the latest advances in molecular risk factors and diagnostics for SZ. Approaches such as these may lead to a more accurate definition of SZ and assist in creating extended and reliable clinical diagnoses with the potential for personalized treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Intermittent behavior of galactic dynamo activities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ko, C. M.; Parker, E. N.

1989-01-01

Recent observations by Beck and Golla of far-infrared and radio continuum emission from nearby spiral galaxies suggest that the galactic magnetic field strength is connected to the current star formation rate. The role of star formation on the generation of large-scale galactic magnetic field is studied in this paper. Using a simple galactic model, it is shown how the galactic dynamo depends strongly on the turbulent velocity of the interstellar medium. When the star formation efficiency is high, the ISM is churned which in turn amplifies the galactic magnetic field. Between active star formation epochs, the magnetic field is in dormant state and decays at a negligible rate. If density waves trigger star formation, then they also turn on the otherwise dormant dynamo.

Sensitivity analysis and calibration of a dynamic physically based slope stability model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zieher, Thomas; Rutzinger, Martin; Schneider-Muntau, Barbara; Perzl, Frank; Leidinger, David; Formayer, Herbert; Geitner, Clemens

2017-06-01

Physically based modelling of slope stability on a catchment scale is still a challenging task. When applying a physically based model on such a scale (1 : 10 000 to 1 : 50 000), parameters with a high impact on the model result should be calibrated to account for (i) the spatial variability of parameter values, (ii) shortcomings of the selected model, (iii) uncertainties of laboratory tests and field measurements or (iv) parameters that cannot be derived experimentally or measured in the field (e.g. calibration constants). While systematic parameter calibration is a common task in hydrological modelling, this is rarely done using physically based slope stability models. In the present study a dynamic, physically based, coupled hydrological-geomechanical slope stability model is calibrated based on a limited number of laboratory tests and a detailed multitemporal shallow landslide inventory covering two landslide-triggering rainfall events in the Laternser valley, Vorarlberg (Austria). Sensitive parameters are identified based on a local one-at-a-time sensitivity analysis. These parameters (hydraulic conductivity, specific storage, angle of internal friction for effective stress, cohesion for effective stress) are systematically sampled and calibrated for a landslide-triggering rainfall event in August 2005. The identified model ensemble, including 25 behavioural model runs with the highest portion of correctly predicted landslides and non-landslides, is then validated with another landslide-triggering rainfall event in May 1999. The identified model ensemble correctly predicts the location and the supposed triggering timing of 73.0 % of the observed landslides triggered in August 2005 and 91.5 % of the observed landslides triggered in May 1999. Results of the model ensemble driven with raised precipitation input reveal a slight increase in areas potentially affected by slope failure. At the same time, the peak run-off increases more markedly, suggesting that precipitation intensities during the investigated landslide-triggering rainfall events were already close to or above the soil's infiltration capacity.

Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning

PubMed Central

García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

2015-01-01

This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure. PMID:26656107

Micro-Level Adaptation, Macro-Level Selection, and the Dynamics of Market Partitioning.

PubMed

García-Díaz, César; van Witteloostuijn, Arjen; Péli, Gábor

2015-01-01

This paper provides a micro-foundation for dual market structure formation through partitioning processes in marketplaces by developing a computational model of interacting economic agents. We propose an agent-based modeling approach, where firms are adaptive and profit-seeking agents entering into and exiting from the market according to their (lack of) profitability. Our firms are characterized by large and small sunk costs, respectively. They locate their offerings along a unimodal demand distribution over a one-dimensional product variety, with the distribution peak constituting the center and the tails standing for the peripheries. We found that large firms may first advance toward the most abundant demand spot, the market center, and release peripheral positions as predicted by extant dual market explanations. However, we also observed that large firms may then move back toward the market fringes to reduce competitive niche overlap in the center, triggering nonlinear resource occupation behavior. Novel results indicate that resource release dynamics depend on firm-level adaptive capabilities, and that a minimum scale of production for low sunk cost firms is key to the formation of the dual structure.

River logjams cause frequent large-scale forest die-off events in southwestern Amazonia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lombardo, Umberto

2017-07-01

This paper investigates the dynamics of logjam-induced floods and alluvial deposition in the Bolivian Amazon and the effects these have on forest disturbance and recovery cycles. It expands on previous work by Gullison et al. (1996) who reported a case of catastrophic floods triggered by logjams in the Chimane Forest in the Bolivian Amazon. No further studies have followed up on this observation and no research has been published on the effects of large wood in tropical lowland rivers. The study is based on the analysis of a time series of Landsat imagery (1984-2016) and field evidence. Results show that logjam-induced floods are a major driver of forest disturbance along the Andean piedmont in the Bolivian Amazon. New logjams form on an almost yearly basis, always further upriver, until an avulsion takes place. Logjam-induced floods are characterized here by the sudden deposition of a thick sand layer and the death of forest in a V-shaped area. The Bolivian Amazon offers a unique opportunity for further research on how large wood affects river behavior in lowland tropical settings and how large and frequent forest disturbance events resulting from river logjams affect forest biodiversity and community successions.

Advantages of video trigger in problem-based learning.

PubMed

Chan, Lap Ki; Patil, Nivritti G; Chen, Julie Y; Lam, Jamie C M; Lau, Chak S; Ip, Mary S M

2010-01-01

Traditionally, paper cases are used as 'triggers' to stimulate learning in problem-based learning (PBL). However, video may be a better medium because it preserves the original language, encourages the active extraction of information, avoids depersonalization of patients and allows direct observation of clinical consultations. In short, it exposes the students to the complexity of actual clinical problems. The study aims to find out whether students and facilitators who are accustomed to paper cases would prefer video triggers or paper cases and the reasons for their preference. After students and facilitators had completed a video PBL tutorial, their responses were measured by a structured questionnaire using a modified Likert scale. A total of 257 students (92%) and 26 facilitators (100%) responded. The majority of students and facilitators considered that using video triggers could enhance the students' observational powers and clinical reasoning, help them to integrate different information and better understand the cases and motivate them to learn. They found PBL using video triggers more interesting and preferred it to PBL using paper cases. Video triggers are preferred by both students and facilitators over paper cases in PBL.

Experimental and analytic studies of the triggered lightning environment of the F106B

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rudolph, Terence; Easterbrook, Calvin C.; Ng, Poh H.; Haupt, Robert W.; Perala, Rodney A.

1987-01-01

The triggered lightning environment of the F106B aircraft is investigated. Scale modeling of the F106B with a metallized model was done to measure electric field enhancement factors on the aircraft and on canonically shaped conducting objects. These are then compared to numerically determined quantities. Detailed numerical modeling is done of the development of the triggered lightning channel. This is done using nonlinear air chemistry models to model a variety of physical phenomena which occur in a triggered lightning event. The effect of a triggered lightning strike on internal wires in the F106B is investigated using finite difference models and transmission line models to calculate the electromagnetic coupling of lightning currents through seams and joints of the aircraft to internal cables. Time domain waveforms are computed and compared to measured waveforms. The effect of thunderstorm particles on the initial triggering of a lightning strike is investigated. The electric field levels needed to cause air breakdown in the presence and absence of thunderstorm particles are calculated. This is done as a function of the size, shape, and density of the particles.

A multistate pH-triggered nonlinear optical switch.

PubMed

Castet, Frédéric; Champagne, Benoît; Pina, Fernando; Rodriguez, Vincent

2014-08-04

By using hyper-Rayleigh scattering experiments and quantum-chemical calculations, we demonstrate that nonlinear optics can be used to probe unequivocally, within a non-destructive process, the multiple electronic states that are activated upon pH- and light-triggered transformations of the 4'-hydroxyflavylium ion. These results open new perspectives in the design of molecular-scale high-density optical memory. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The Legacy of Episodic Climatic Events in Shaping Temperate, Broadleaf Forests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pederson, Neil; Dyer, James M.; McEwan, Ryan W.; Hessl, Amy E.; Mock, Cary J.; Orwig, David A.; Rieder, Harald E.; Cook, Benjamin I.

2015-01-01

In humid, broadleaf-dominated forests where gap dynamics and partial canopy mortality appears to dominate the disturbance regime at local scales, paleoecological evidence shows alteration at regional-scales associated with climatic change. Yet, little evidence of these broad-scale events exists in extant forests. To evaluate the potential for the occurrence of large-scale disturbance, we used 76 tree-ring collections spanning approx. 840 000 sq km and 5327 tree recruitment dates spanning approx. 1.4 million sq km across the humid eastern United States. Rotated principal component analysis indicated a common growth pattern of a simultaneous reduction in competition in 22 populations across 61 000 km2. Growth-release analysis of these populations reveals an intense and coherent canopy disturbance from 1775 to 1780, peaking in 1776. The resulting time series of canopy disturbance is so poorly described by a Gaussian distribution that it can be described as ''heavy tailed,'' with most of the years from 1775 to 1780 comprising the heavy-tail portion of the distribution. Historical documents provide no evidence that hurricanes or ice storms triggered the 1775-1780 event. Instead, we identify a significant relationship between prior drought and years with elevated rates of disturbance with an intense drought occurring from 1772 to 1775. We further find that years with high rates of canopy disturbance have a propensity to create larger canopy gaps indicating repeated opportunities for rapid change in species composition beyond the landscape scale. Evidence of elevated, regional-scale disturbance reveals how rare events can potentially alter system trajectory: a substantial portion of old-growth forests examined here originated or were substantially altered more than two centuries ago following events lasting just a few years. Our recruitment data, comprised of at least 21 species and several shade-intolerant species, document a pulse of tree recruitment at the subcontinental scale during the late-1600s suggesting that this event was severe enough to open large canopy gaps. These disturbances and their climatic drivers support the hypothesis that punctuated, episodic, climatic events impart a legacy in broadleaf-dominated forests centuries after their occurrence. Given projections of future drought, these results also reveal the potential for abrupt, meso- to large-scale forest change in broadleaf-dominated forests over future decades.

RoboPIV: how robotics enable PIV on a large industrial scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaux, F.; Mattern, P.; Kallweit, S.

2018-07-01

This work demonstrates how the interaction between particle image velocimetry (PIV) and robotics can massively increase measurement efficiency. The interdisciplinary approach is shown using the complex example of an automated, large scale, industrial environment: a typical automotive wind tunnel application. Both the high degree of flexibility in choosing the measurement region and the complete automation of stereo PIV measurements are presented. The setup consists of a combination of three robots, individually used as a 6D traversing unit for the laser illumination system as well as for each of the two cameras. Synchronised movements in the same reference frame are realised through a master-slave setup with a single interface to the user. By integrating the interface into the standard wind tunnel management system, a single measurement plane or a predefined sequence of several planes can be requested through a single trigger event, providing the resulting vector fields within minutes. In this paper, a brief overview on the demands of large scale industrial PIV and the existing solutions is given. Afterwards, the concept of RoboPIV is introduced as a new approach. In a first step, the usability of a selection of commercially available robot arms is analysed. The challenges of pose uncertainty and importance of absolute accuracy are demonstrated through comparative measurements, explaining the individual pros and cons of the analysed systems. Subsequently, the advantage of integrating RoboPIV directly into the existing wind tunnel management system is shown on basis of a typical measurement sequence. In a final step, a practical measurement procedure, including post-processing, is given by using real data and results. Ultimately, the benefits of high automation are demonstrated, leading to a drastic reduction in necessary measurement time compared to non-automated systems, thus massively increasing the efficiency of PIV measurements.

Glutamate 338 is an electrostatic facilitator of C–Co bond breakage in a dynamic/electrostatic model of catalysis by ornithine aminomutase

PubMed Central

Menon, Binuraj R K; Menon, Navya; Fisher, Karl; Rigby, Stephen E J; Leys, David; Scrutton, Nigel S

2015-01-01

How cobalamin-dependent enzymes promote C–Co homolysis to initiate radical catalysis has been debated extensively. For the pyridoxal 5′-phosphate and cobalamin-dependent enzymes lysine 5,6-aminomutase and ornithine 4,5-aminomutase (OAM), large-scale re-orientation of the cobalamin-binding domain linked to C–Co bond breakage has been proposed. In these models, substrate binding triggers dynamic sampling of the B12-binding Rossmann domain to achieve a catalytically competent ‘closed’ conformational state. In ‘closed’ conformations of OAM, Glu338 is thought to facilitate C–Co bond breakage by close association with the cobalamin adenosyl group. We investigated this using stopped-flow continuous-wave photolysis, viscosity dependence kinetic measurements, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of a series of Glu338 variants. We found that substrate-induced C–Co bond homolysis is compromised in Glu388 variant forms of OAM, although photolysis of the C–Co bond is not affected by the identity of residue 338. Electrostatic interactions of Glu338 with the 5′-deoxyadenosyl group of B12 potentiate C–Co bond homolysis in ‘closed’ conformations only; these conformations are unlocked by substrate binding. Our studies extend earlier models that identified a requirement for large-scale motion of the cobalamin domain. Our findings indicate that large-scale motion is required to pre-organize the active site by enabling transient formation of ‘closed’ conformations of OAM. In ‘closed’ conformations, Glu338 interacts with the 5′-deoxyadenosyl group of cobalamin. This interaction is required to potentiate C–Co homolysis, and is a crucial component of the approximately 1012 rate enhancement achieved by cobalamin-dependent enzymes for C–Co bond homolysis. PMID:25627283

The Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System (AGIS): A Nanosecond Time Scale Stereoscopic Array Trigger System.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krennrich, Frank; Buckley, J.; Byrum, K.; Dawson, J.; Drake, G.; Horan, D.; Krawzcynski, H.; Schroedter, M.

2008-04-01

Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope arrays (VERITAS, HESS) have shown unprecedented background suppression capabilities for reducing cosmic-ray induced air showers, muons and night sky background fluctuations. Next-generation arrays with on the order of 100 telescopes offer larger collection areas, provide the possibility to see the air shower from more view points on the ground, have the potential to improve the sensitivity and give additional background suppression. Here we discuss the design of a fast array trigger system that has the potential to perform a real time image analysis allowing substantially improved background rate suppression at the trigger level.

Compassion fatigue in nurses.

PubMed

Yoder, Elizabeth A

2010-11-01

Compassion fatigue, trigger situations, and coping strategies were investigated in hospital and home care nurses. The Professional Quality of Life Scale measured compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. Narrative questions elicited trigger situations and coping strategies. Compassion fatigue scores were significantly different between nurses who worked 8- or 12-hour shifts. Fifteen percent of the participants had scores indicating risk of the compassion fatigue. There were significant differences in compassion satisfaction, depending on the unit worked and time as a nurse. The most common category of trigger situations was caring for the patient. Work-related and personal coping strategies were identified. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electronic Detection of Delayed Test Result Follow-Up in Patients with Hypothyroidism.

PubMed

Meyer, Ashley N D; Murphy, Daniel R; Al-Mutairi, Aymer; Sittig, Dean F; Wei, Li; Russo, Elise; Singh, Hardeep

2017-07-01

Delays in following up abnormal test results are a common problem in outpatient settings. Surveillance systems that use trigger tools to identify delayed follow-up can help reduce missed opportunities in care. To develop and test an electronic health record (EHR)-based trigger algorithm to identify instances of delayed follow-up of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) results in patients being treated for hypothyroidism. We developed an algorithm using structured EHR data to identify patients with hypothyroidism who had delayed follow-up (>60 days) after an abnormal TSH. We then retrospectively applied the algorithm to a large EHR data warehouse within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), on patient records from two large VA networks for the period from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011. Identified records were reviewed to confirm the presence of delays in follow-up. During the study period, 645,555 patients were seen in the outpatient setting within the two networks. Of 293,554 patients with at least one TSH test result, the trigger identified 1250 patients on treatment for hypothyroidism with elevated TSH. Of these patients, 271 were flagged as potentially having delayed follow-up of their test result. Chart reviews confirmed delays in 163 of the 271 flagged patients (PPV = 60.1%). An automated trigger algorithm applied to records in a large EHR data warehouse identified patients with hypothyroidism with potential delays in thyroid function test results follow-up. Future prospective application of the TSH trigger algorithm can be used by clinical teams as a surveillance and quality improvement technique to monitor and improve follow-up.

Detecting TLEs using a massive all-sky camera network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garnung, M. B.; Celestin, S. J.

2017-12-01

Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) are large-scale optical events occurring in the upper-atmosphere from the top of thunderclouds up to the ionosphere. TLEs may have important effects in local, regional, and global scales, and many features of TLEs are not fully understood yet [e.g, Pasko, JGR, 115, A00E35, 2010]. Moreover, meteor events have been suggested to play a role in sprite initiation by producing ionospheric irregularities [e.g, Qin et al., Nat. Commun., 5, 3740, 2014]. The French Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON, https://www.fripon.org/?lang=en), is a national all-sky 30 fps camera network designed to continuously detect meteor events. We seek to make use of this network to observe TLEs over unprecedented space and time scales ( 1000×1000 km with continuous acquisition). To do so, we had to significantly modify FRIPON's triggering software Freeture (https://github.com/fripon/freeture) while leaving the meteor detection capability uncompromised. FRIPON has a great potential in the study of TLEs. Not only could it produce new results about spatial and time distributions of TLEs over a very large area, it could also be used to validate and complement observations from future space missions such as ASIM (ESA) and TARANIS (CNES). In this work, we present an original image processing algorithm that can detect sprites using all-sky cameras while strongly limiting the frequency of false positives and our ongoing work on sprite triangulation using the FRIPON network.

Large Scale Eocene Ocean Circulation Transition Could Help Antarctic Glaciation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baatsen, M.

2016-12-01

The global climate underwent major changes going from the Eocene into the Oligocene, including the formation of a continental-scale Antarctic ice sheet. In addition to a gradual drawdown of CO2 since the Early Eocene, the changing background geography of the earth may also have played a crucial role in setting the background oceanic circulation pattern favorable to ice growth. On the other hand, the ocean circulation may have changed only after the ice sheet started growing, with a similar climatic imprint. It is, therefore, still under debate what the primary forcing or trigger of this transition was. Using an ocean general circulation model (POP) and two different geography reconstruc-tions for the middle-late Eocene, we find two distinctly different patterns of the oceanic circulation to be possible under the same forcing. The first one features deep-water formation and warmer SSTs in the Southern Pacific while in the second, deep water forms in the North Pacific Ocean and Southern Ocean SSTs are colder. The presence of a double equilibrium shows that the ocean circulation was highly susceptible to large scale transitions during the middle-late Eocene. Additionally, changes in benthic oxygen and Neodymium isotopes depict significant changes during the same period. We suggest that a transition in the global meridional overturing circulation can explain the observed changes and preconditions the global climate for the two-step transition into an Icehouse state at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

Observations of Coherent Flow Structures Over Subaqueous High- and Low- Angle Dunes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kwoll, E.; Venditti, J. G.; Bradley, R. W.; Winter, C.

2017-11-01

Large-scale coherent flow structures (CFSs) above dunes are the dominant source of flow resistance and constitute the principal mechanism for sediment transport and mixing in sand bed river and estuarine systems. Based on laboratory observations, CFS formation has been previously linked to flow separation downstream of high-angle dunes with lee slopes of 30°. How CFSs form in natural, deep rivers and estuaries where dunes exhibit lower lee slopes and intermittent flow separation is not well understood. Here we present particle image velocimetry measurements from an experiment where dune lee slope was systematically varied (30°, 20°, and 10°), while other geometric and hydraulic parameters were held constant. We show that CFSs form downstream of all three dune geometries from shear layer vortices in the dune lee. The mode of CFS formation undergoes a low-frequency oscillation with periods of intense vortex shedding interspersed with periods of rare vortex shedding. Streamwise alignment of several vortices during periods of intense shedding results in wedge-shaped CFSs that are advected above the dune stoss side. Streamwise length scales of wedge-shaped CFS correspond to large-scale motions (LSMs). We hypothesize that the advection of LSM over the dune crest triggers the periods of intense shedding in the dune lee. LSMs are weaker and smaller above low-angle dunes; however, the low-frequency oscillation in CFS formation periods persists. The formation of smaller and weaker CFS results in a reduction of flow resistance over low-angle dunes.

Clustering and heterogeneous dynamics in a kinetic Monte Carlo model of self-propelled hard disks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levis, Demian; Berthier, Ludovic

2014-06-01

We introduce a kinetic Monte Carlo model for self-propelled hard disks to capture with minimal ingredients the interplay between thermal fluctuations, excluded volume, and self-propulsion in large assemblies of active particles. We analyze in detail the resulting (density, self-propulsion) nonequilibrium phase diagram over a broad range of parameters. We find that purely repulsive hard disks spontaneously aggregate into fractal clusters as self-propulsion is increased and rationalize the evolution of the average cluster size by developing a kinetic model of reversible aggregation. As density is increased, the nonequilibrium clusters percolate to form a ramified structure reminiscent of a physical gel. We show that the addition of a finite amount of noise is needed to trigger a nonequilibrium phase separation, showing that demixing in active Brownian particles results from a delicate balance between noise, interparticle interactions, and self-propulsion. We show that self-propulsion has a profound influence on the dynamics of the active fluid. We find that the diffusion constant has a nonmonotonic behavior as self-propulsion is increased at finite density and that activity produces strong deviations from Fickian diffusion that persist over large time scales and length scales, suggesting that systems of active particles generically behave as dynamically heterogeneous systems.

The Link Between Shocks, Turbulence, and Magnetic Reconnection in Collisionless Plasmas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karimabadi, H.; Roytershteyn, V.; Vu, H. X.; Omelchenko, Y. A.; Scudder, J.; Daughton, W.; Dimmock, A.; Nykyri, K.; Wan, M.; Sibeck, D.;

Circumpolar dynamics of a marine top-predator track ocean warming rates.

PubMed

Descamps, Sébastien; Anker-Nilssen, Tycho; Barrett, Robert T; Irons, David B; Merkel, Flemming; Robertson, Gregory J; Yoccoz, Nigel G; Mallory, Mark L; Montevecchi, William A; Boertmann, David; Artukhin, Yuri; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Signe; Erikstad, Kjell-Einar; Gilchrist, H Grant; Labansen, Aili L; Lorentsen, Svein-Håkon; Mosbech, Anders; Olsen, Bergur; Petersen, Aevar; Rail, Jean-Francois; Renner, Heather M; Strøm, Hallvard; Systad, Geir H; Wilhelm, Sabina I; Zelenskaya, Larisa

2017-09-01

Global warming is a nonlinear process, and temperature may increase in a stepwise manner. Periods of abrupt warming can trigger persistent changes in the state of ecosystems, also called regime shifts. The responses of organisms to abrupt warming and associated regime shifts can be unlike responses to periods of slow or moderate change. Understanding of nonlinearity in the biological responses to climate warming is needed to assess the consequences of ongoing climate change. Here, we demonstrate that the population dynamics of a long-lived, wide-ranging marine predator are associated with changes in the rate of ocean warming. Data from 556 colonies of black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla distributed throughout its breeding range revealed that an abrupt warming of sea-surface temperature in the 1990s coincided with steep kittiwake population decline. Periods of moderate warming in sea temperatures did not seem to affect kittiwake dynamics. The rapid warming observed in the 1990s may have driven large-scale, circumpolar marine ecosystem shifts that strongly affected kittiwakes through bottom-up effects. Our study sheds light on the nonlinear response of a circumpolar seabird to large-scale changes in oceanographic conditions and indicates that marine top predators may be more sensitive to the rate of ocean warming rather than to warming itself. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Large Scale Variability Survey of Orion II: mapping the young, low-mass stellar populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briceño, C.; Calvet, N.; Hartmann, L. W.; Vivas, A. K.

2000-12-01

We present further results of our ongoing large scale variability survey of the Orion OB1 Association, carried out with the 8k x 8k CCD Mosaic Camera on the 1m Schmidt telescope at the Venezuela National Observatory. In an area of over 60 square degrees we have unveiled new populations of low-mass young stars over a range of environments, from the dense molecular clouds of the Orion belt region, Ori OB 1b, to areas devoid of gas in Orion OB 1a. These new young stars span ages from 1-2 Myr in Ori OB 1b to roughly 10 Myr in Ori OB 1a, a likely scenario of sequential star formation triggered by the first generation of massive stars. Proxy indicators like Hα emission and near-IR excesses show that accretion from circumstellar disks in the 10 Myr stars of Ori OB 1a has mostly stopped. This population is a numerous analog of groups like TW Hya, making it an excellent laboratory to look for debris disks and study the epoch of planet formation in sparse, non-clustered environments. Research reported herein funded by NSF grant No. 9987367, and by CONICIT and Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, Venezuela.

Congenital blindness is associated with large-scale reorganization of anatomical networks.

PubMed

Hasson, Uri; Andric, Michael; Atilgan, Hicret; Collignon, Olivier

2016-03-01

Blindness is a unique model for understanding the role of experience in the development of the brain's functional and anatomical architecture. Documenting changes in the structure of anatomical networks for this population would substantiate the notion that the brain's core network-level organization may undergo neuroplasticity as a result of life-long experience. To examine this issue, we compared whole-brain networks of regional cortical-thickness covariance in early blind and matched sighted individuals. This covariance is thought to reflect signatures of integration between systems involved in similar perceptual/cognitive functions. Using graph-theoretic metrics, we identified a unique mode of anatomical reorganization in the blind that differed from that found for sighted. This was seen in that network partition structures derived from subgroups of blind were more similar to each other than they were to partitions derived from sighted. Notably, after deriving network partitions, we found that language and visual regions tended to reside within separate modules in sighted but showed a pattern of merging into shared modules in the blind. Our study demonstrates that early visual deprivation triggers a systematic large-scale reorganization of whole-brain cortical-thickness networks, suggesting changes in how occipital regions interface with other functional networks in the congenitally blind. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Large-scale sill emplacement in Brazil as a trigger for the end-Triassic crisis.

PubMed

Heimdal, Thea H; Svensen, Henrik H; Ramezani, Jahandar; Iyer, Karthik; Pereira, Egberto; Rodrigues, René; Jones, Morgan T; Callegaro, Sara

2018-01-09

The end-Triassic is characterized by one of the largest mass extinctions in the Phanerozoic, coinciding with major carbon cycle perturbations and global warming. It has been suggested that the environmental crisis is linked to widespread sill intrusions during magmatism associated with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). Sub-volcanic sills are abundant in two of the largest onshore sedimentary basins in Brazil, the Amazonas and Solimões basins, where they comprise up to 20% of the stratigraphy. These basins contain extensive deposits of carbonate and evaporite, in addition to organic-rich shales and major hydrocarbon reservoirs. Here we show that large scale volatile generation followed sill emplacement in these lithologies. Thermal modeling demonstrates that contact metamorphism in the two basins could have generated 88,000 Gt CO 2 . In order to constrain the timing of gas generation, zircon from two sills has been dated by the U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS method, resulting in 206 Pb/ 238 U dates of 201.477 ± 0.062 Ma and 201.470 ± 0.089 Ma. Our findings demonstrate synchronicity between the intrusive phase and the end-Triassic mass extinction, and provide a quantified degassing scenario for one of the most dramatic time periods in the history of Earth.

The Universe's Most Extreme Star-forming Galaxies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, Caitlin

2017-06-01

Dusty star-forming galaxies host the most intense stellar nurseries in the Universe. Their unusual characteristics (SFRs=200-2000Msun/yr, Mstar>1010 Msun) pose a unique challenge for cosmological simulations and galaxy formation theory, particularly at early times. Although rare today, they were factors of 1000 times more prevalent at z~2-5, contributing significantly to the buildup of the Universe's stellar mass and the formation of high-mass galaxies. At even earlier times (within 1Gyr post Big Bang) they could have played a pivotal role in enriching the IGM. However, an ongoing debate lingers as to their evolutionary origins at high-redshift, whether or not they are triggered by major mergers of gas-rich disk galaxies, or if they are solitary galaxies continually fed pristine gas from the intergalactic medium. Furthermore, their presence in early protoclusters, only revealed quite recently, pose intriguing questions regarding the collapse of large scale structure. I will discuss some of the latest observational programs dedicated to understanding dust-obscuration in and gas content of the early Universe, their context in the cosmic web, and future long-term observing campaigns that may reveal their relationship to `normal’ galaxies, thus teaching us valuable lessons on the physical mechanisms of galaxy growth and the collapse of large scale structure in an evolving Universe.

Skier triggering of backcountry avalanches with skilled route selection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinickas, Alexandra; Haegeli, Pascal; Jamieson, Bruce

2015-04-01

Jamieson (2009) provided numerical estimates for the baseline probabilities of triggering an avalanche by a backcountry skier making fresh tracks without skilled route selection as a function of the North American avalanche danger scale (i.e., hazard levels Low, Moderate, Considerable, High and Extreme). Using the results of an expert survey, he showed that triggering probabilities while skiing directly up, down or across a trigger zone without skilled route selection increase roughly by a factor of 10 with each step of the North American avalanche danger scale (i.e. hazard level). The objective of the present study is to examine the effect of skilled route selection on the relationship between triggering probability and hazard level. To assess the effect of skilled route selection on triggering probability by hazard level, we analysed avalanche hazard assessments as well as reports of skiing activity and triggering of avalanches from 11 Canadian helicopter and snowcat operations during two winters (2012-13 and 2013-14). These reports were submitted to the daily information exchange among Canadian avalanche safety operations, and reflect professional decision-making and route selection practices of guides leading groups of skiers. We selected all skier-controlled or accidentally triggered avalanches with a destructive size greater than size 1 according to the Canadian avalanche size classification, triggered by any member of a guided group (guide or guest). These operations forecast the avalanche hazard daily for each of three elevation bands: alpine, treeline and below treeline. In contrast to the 2009 study, an exposure was defined as a group skiing within any one of the three elevation bands, and consequently within a hazard rating, for the day (~4,300 ratings over two winters). For example, a group that skied below treeline (rated Moderate) and treeline (rated Considerable) in one day, would receive one count for exposure to Moderate hazard, and one count for exposure to Considerable hazard. While the absolute values for triggering probability cannot be compared to the 2009 study because of different definitions of exposure, our preliminary results suggest that with skilled route selection the triggering probability is similar all hazard levels, except for extreme for which there are few exposures. This means that the guiding teams of backcountry skiing operations effectively control the hazard from triggering avalanches with skilled route selection. Groups were exposed relatively evenly to Low hazard (1275 times or 29% of total exposure), Moderate hazard (1450 times or 33 %) and Considerable hazard (1215 times or 28 %). At higher levels, the exposure reduced to roughly 380 times (9 % of total exposure) to High hazard, and only 13 times (0.3 %) to Extreme hazard. We assess the sensitivity of the results to some of our key assumptions.

Was millennial scale climate change during the Last Glacial triggered by explosive volcanism?

PubMed Central

Baldini, James U.L.; Brown, Richard J.; McElwaine, Jim N.

2015-01-01

The mechanisms responsible for millennial scale climate change within glacial time intervals are equivocal. Here we show that all eight known radiometrically-dated Tambora-sized or larger NH eruptions over the interval 30 to 80 ka BP are associated with abrupt Greenland cooling (>95% confidence). Additionally, previous research reported a strong statistical correlation between the timing of Southern Hemisphere volcanism and Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events (>99% confidence), but did not identify a causative mechanism. Volcanic aerosol-induced asymmetrical hemispheric cooling over the last few hundred years restructured atmospheric circulation in a similar fashion as that associated with Last Glacial millennial-scale shifts (albeit on a smaller scale). We hypothesise that following both recent and Last Glacial NH eruptions, volcanogenic sulphate injections into the stratosphere cooled the NH preferentially, inducing a hemispheric temperature asymmetry that shifted atmospheric circulation cells southward. This resulted in Greenland cooling, Antarctic warming, and a southward shifted ITCZ. However, during the Last Glacial, the initial eruption-induced climate response was prolonged by NH glacier and sea ice expansion, increased NH albedo, AMOC weakening, more NH cooling, and a consequent positive feedback. Conversely, preferential SH cooling following large SH eruptions shifted atmospheric circulation to the north, resulting in the characteristic features of DO events. PMID:26616338

Was millennial scale climate change during the Last Glacial triggered by explosive volcanism?

PubMed

Baldini, James U L; Brown, Richard J; McElwaine, Jim N

2015-11-30

The mechanisms responsible for millennial scale climate change within glacial time intervals are equivocal. Here we show that all eight known radiometrically-dated Tambora-sized or larger NH eruptions over the interval 30 to 80 ka BP are associated with abrupt Greenland cooling (>95% confidence). Additionally, previous research reported a strong statistical correlation between the timing of Southern Hemisphere volcanism and Dansgaard-Oeschger (DO) events (>99% confidence), but did not identify a causative mechanism. Volcanic aerosol-induced asymmetrical hemispheric cooling over the last few hundred years restructured atmospheric circulation in a similar fashion as that associated with Last Glacial millennial-scale shifts (albeit on a smaller scale). We hypothesise that following both recent and Last Glacial NH eruptions, volcanogenic sulphate injections into the stratosphere cooled the NH preferentially, inducing a hemispheric temperature asymmetry that shifted atmospheric circulation cells southward. This resulted in Greenland cooling, Antarctic warming, and a southward shifted ITCZ. However, during the Last Glacial, the initial eruption-induced climate response was prolonged by NH glacier and sea ice expansion, increased NH albedo, AMOC weakening, more NH cooling, and a consequent positive feedback. Conversely, preferential SH cooling following large SH eruptions shifted atmospheric circulation to the north, resulting in the characteristic features of DO events.

Flexible trigger menu implementation on the Global Trigger for the CMS Level-1 trigger upgrade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MATSUSHITA, Takashi; CMS Collaboration

2017-10-01

The CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has continued to explore physics at the high-energy frontier in 2016. The integrated luminosity delivered by the LHC in 2016 was 41 fb-1 with a peak luminosity of 1.5 × 1034 cm-2s-1 and peak mean pile-up of about 50, all exceeding the initial estimations for 2016. The CMS experiment has upgraded its hardware-based Level-1 trigger system to maintain its performance for new physics searches and precision measurements at high luminosities. The Global Trigger is the final step of the CMS Level-1 trigger and implements a trigger menu, a set of selection requirements applied to the final list of objects from calorimeter and muon triggers, for reducing the 40 MHz collision rate to 100 kHz. The Global Trigger has been upgraded with state-of-the-art FPGA processors on Advanced Mezzanine Cards with optical links running at 10 GHz in a MicroTCA crate. The powerful processing resources of the upgraded system enable implementation of more algorithms at a time than previously possible, allowing CMS to be more flexible in how it handles the available trigger bandwidth. Algorithms for a trigger menu, including topological requirements on multi-objects, can be realised in the Global Trigger using the newly developed trigger menu specification grammar. Analysis-like trigger algorithms can be represented in an intuitive manner and the algorithms are translated to corresponding VHDL code blocks to build a firmware. The grammar can be extended in future as the needs arise. The experience of implementing trigger menus on the upgraded Global Trigger system will be presented.

Large‐scale analysis reveals populational contributions of cortical spike rate and synchrony to behavioural functions

PubMed Central

Saiki, Akiko; Fujiwara‐Tsukamoto, Yoko; Sakai, Yutaka; Isomura, Yoshikazu

2016-01-01

Key points There have been few systematic population‐wide analyses of relationships between spike synchrony within a period of several milliseconds and behavioural functions.In this study, we obtained a large amount of spike data from > 23,000 neuron pairs by multiple single‐unit recording from deep layer neurons in motor cortical areas in rats performing a forelimb movement task.The temporal changes of spike synchrony in the whole neuron pairs were statistically independent of behavioural changes during the task performance, although some neuron pairs exhibited correlated changes in spike synchrony.Mutual information analyses revealed that spike synchrony made a smaller contribution than spike rate to behavioural functions.The strength of spike synchrony between two neurons was statistically independent of the spike rate‐based preferences of the pair for behavioural functions. Abstract Spike synchrony within a period of several milliseconds in presynaptic neurons enables effective integration of functional information in the postsynaptic neuron. However, few studies have systematically analysed the population‐wide relationships between spike synchrony and behavioural functions. Here we obtained a sufficiently large amount of spike data among regular‐spiking (putatively excitatory) and fast‐spiking (putatively inhibitory) neuron subtypes (> 23,000 pairs) by multiple single‐unit recording from deep layers in motor cortical areas (caudal forelimb area, rostral forelimb area) in rats performing a forelimb movement task. After holding a lever, rats pulled the lever either in response to a cue tone (external‐trigger trials) or spontaneously without any cue (internal‐trigger trials). Many neurons exhibited functional spike activity in association with forelimb movements, and the preference of regular‐spiking neurons in the rostral forelimb area was more biased toward externally triggered movement than that in the caudal forelimb area. We found that a population of neuron pairs with spike synchrony does exist, and that some neuron pairs exhibit a dependence on movement phase during task performance. However, the population‐wide analysis revealed that spike synchrony was statistically independent of the movement phase and the spike rate‐based preferences of the pair for behavioural functions, whereas spike rates were clearly dependent on the movement phase. In fact, mutual information analyses revealed that the contribution of spike synchrony to the behavioural functions was small relative to the contribution of spike rate. Our large‐scale analysis revealed that cortical spike rate, rather than spike synchrony, contributes to population coding for movement. PMID:27488936

Performance of the ATLAS Hadronic Tile Calorimeter in Run-2 and its Upgrade for the High Luminosity LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Solovyanov, Oleg

2017-10-01

The Tile Calorimeter (TileCal) of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC is the central hadronic calorimeter designed for energy reconstruction of hadrons, jets, tauparticles and missing transverse energy. TileCal is a scintillator-steel sampling calorimeter and it covers the region of pseudo-rapidity up to 1.7, with almost 10000 channels measuring energies ranging from ˜30 MeV to ˜2 TeV. Each stage of the signal production, from scintillation light to the signal reconstruction, is monitored and calibrated. The performance of the Tile calorimeter has been studied in-situ employing cosmic ray muons and a large sample of proton-proton collisions, acquired during the operations of the LHC. Prompt isolated muons of high momentum from electroweak bosons decays are employed to study the energy response of the calorimeter at the electromagnetic scale. The calorimeter response to hadronic particles is evaluated with a sample of isolated hadrons. The modelling of the response by the Monte Carlo simulation is discussed. The calorimeter timing calibration and resolutions are studied with a sample of multijets events. Results on the calorimeter operation and performance are presented, including the calibration, stability, absolute energy scale, uniformity and time resolution. TileCal performance satisfies the design requirements and has provided an essential contribution to physics results in ATLAS. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has envisaged a series of upgrades towards a High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), delivering five times the LHC nominal instantaneous luminosity. The ATLAS Phase II upgrade, in 2024, will accommodate the detector and data acquisition system for the HL-LHC. In particular, the Tile Calorimeter will undergo a major replacement of its on- and off-detector electronics. All signals will be digitised and then transferred directly to the off-detector electronics, where the signals will be reconstructed, stored, and sent to the first level of trigger at a rate of 40 MHz. This will provide better precision for the calorimeter signals used by the trigger system and will allow the development of more complex trigger algorithms. Changes to the electronics will also contribute to the reliability and redundancy of the system. Three different front-end options are presently being investigated for the upgrade. Results of extensive laboratory tests and with beams of the three options will be presented, as well as the latest results on the development of the power distribution and the off-detector electronics.

Predicting Trigger Bonds in Explosive Materials through Wiberg Bond Index Analysis.

PubMed

Harper, Lenora K; Shoaf, Ashley L; Bayse, Craig A

2015-12-21

Understanding the explosive decomposition pathways of high-energy-density materials (HEDMs) is important for developing compounds with improved properties. Rapid reaction rates make the detonation mechanisms of HEDMs difficult to understand, so computational tools are used to predict trigger bonds-weak bonds that break, leading to detonation. Wiberg bond indices (WBIs) have been used to compare bond densities in HEDMs to reference molecules to provide a relative scale for the bond strength to predict the activated bonds most likely to break to trigger an explosion. This analysis confirms that X-NO2 (X=N,C,O) bonds are trigger linkages in common HEDMs such as TNT, RDX and PETN, consistent with previous experimental and theoretical studies. Calculations on a small test set of substituted tetrazoles show that the assignment of the trigger bond depends upon the functionality of the material and that the relative weakening of the bond correlates with experimental impact sensitivities. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hydroclimatic Extremes and Cholera Dynamics in the 21st Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akanda, A. S.; Jutla, A. S.; Islam, S.

2012-12-01

Cholera, an acute water-borne diarrheal illness, has reemerged as a significant health threat across much of the developing world. Despite major advances in the ecological and the microbiological understanding of the causative agent, V. cholerae, the role of the underlying climatic and environmental processes in propagating transmission is not adequately understood. Recent findings suggest a more prominent role of hydroclimatic extremes - droughts and floods - on the unique dual cholera peaks in the Bengal Delta region of South Asia, the native homeland of cholera. Increasing water scarcity and abundance, and coastal sea-level rise, influenced by changing climate patterns and large-scale climatic phenomena, is likely to adversely impact cholera transmission in South Asia. We focus on understanding how associated changes in macro-scale conditions in this region will impact micro-scale processes related to cholera in coming decades. We use the PRECIS Regional Climate Model over the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) basin region to simulate detailed high resolution projections of climate patterns for the 21st century. Precipitation outputs are analyzed for the 1980-2040 period to identify the trends and changes in hydroclimatic extremes and potential impacts on cholera dynamics over the next three decades (2010-2040), in relation to the cholera surveillance operations over the past three decades (1980-2010). We find that an increased number of extreme precipitation events with prolonged dry periods in the Ganges basin region will likely adversely affect dry season cholera outbreaks. Increased monsoon precipitation volumes in the Brahmaputra basin catchments are likely to cause record floods and subsequently trigger large epidemics in downstream areas. Our results provide new insight by identifying the changes in the two distinctly different, pre and post monsoon, cholera transmission mechanisms related to large-scale climatic controls that prevail in the region. A quantitative understanding of the changes in seasonal hydroclimatic controls and underlying dominant processes will form the basis for forecasting future epidemic cholera outbreaks in light of changing climate patterns.

ROADNET: A Real-time Data Aware System for Earth, Oceanographic, and Environmental Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vernon, F.; Hansen, T.; Lindquist, K.; Ludascher, B.; Orcutt, J.; Rajasekar, A.

2003-12-01

The Real-time Observatories, Application, and Data management Network (ROADNet) Program aims to develop an integrated, seamless, and transparent environmental information network that will deliver geophysical, oceanographic, hydrological, ecological, and physical data to a variety of users in real-time. ROADNet is a multidisciplinary, multinational partnership of researchers, policymakers, natural resource managers, educators, and students who aim to use the data to advance our understanding and management of coastal, ocean, riparian, and terrestrial Earth systems in Southern California, Mexico, and well off shore. To date, project activity and funding have focused on the design and deployment of network linkages and on the exploratory development of the real-time data management system. We are currently adapting powerful "Data Grid" technologies to the unique challenges associated with the management and manipulation of real-time data. Current "Grid" projects deal with static data files, and significant technical innovation is required to address fundamental problems of real-time data processing, integration, and distribution. The technologies developed through this research will create a system that dynamically adapt downstream processing, cataloging, and data access interfaces when sensors are added or removed from the system; provide for real-time processing and monitoring of data streams--detecting events, and triggering computations, sensor and logger modifications, and other actions; integrate heterogeneous data from multiple (signal) domains; and provide for large-scale archival and querying of "consolidated" data. The software tools which must be developed do not exist, although limited prototype systems are available. This research has implications for the success of large-scale NSF initiatives in the Earth sciences (EarthScope), ocean sciences (OOI- Ocean Observatories Initiative), biological sciences (NEON - National Ecological Observatory Network) and civil engineering (NEES - Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation). Each of these large scale initiatives aims to collect real-time data from thousands of sensors, and each will require new technologies to process, manage, and communicate real-time multidisciplinary environmental data on regional, national, and global scales.

Meniscus-assisted solution printing of large-grained perovskite films for high-efficiency solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Ming; Li, Bo; Cui, Xun; Jiang, Beibei; He, Yanjie; Chen, Yihuang; O'Neil, Daniel; Szymanski, Paul; Ei-Sayed, Mostafa A.; Huang, Jinsong; Lin, Zhiqun

2017-07-01

Control over morphology and crystallinity of metal halide perovskite films is of key importance to enable high-performance optoelectronics. However, this remains particularly challenging for solution-printed devices due to the complex crystallization kinetics of semiconductor materials within dynamic flow of inks. Here we report a simple yet effective meniscus-assisted solution printing (MASP) strategy to yield large-grained dense perovskite film with good crystallization and preferred orientation. Intriguingly, the outward convective flow triggered by fast solvent evaporation at the edge of the meniscus ink imparts the transport of perovskite solutes, thus facilitating the growth of micrometre-scale perovskite grains. The growth kinetics of perovskite crystals is scrutinized by in situ optical microscopy tracking to understand the crystallization mechanism. The perovskite films produced by MASP exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties with efficiencies approaching 20% in planar perovskite solar cells. This robust MASP strategy may in principle be easily extended to craft other solution-printed perovskite-based optoelectronics.

Data Sharing in DHT Based P2P Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roncancio, Claudia; Del Pilar Villamil, María; Labbé, Cyril; Serrano-Alvarado, Patricia

The evolution of peer-to-peer (P2P) systems triggered the building of large scale distributed applications. The main application domain is data sharing across a very large number of highly autonomous participants. Building such data sharing systems is particularly challenging because of the “extreme” characteristics of P2P infrastructures: massive distribution, high churn rate, no global control, potentially untrusted participants... This article focuses on declarative querying support, query optimization and data privacy on a major class of P2P systems, that based on Distributed Hash Table (P2P DHT). The usual approaches and the algorithms used by classic distributed systems and databases for providing data privacy and querying services are not well suited to P2P DHT systems. A considerable amount of work was required to adapt them for the new challenges such systems present. This paper describes the most important solutions found. It also identifies important future research trends in data management in P2P DHT systems.

New installation for inclined EAS investigations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zadeba, E. A.; Ampilogov, N. V.; Barbashina, N. S.; Bogdanov, A. G.; Borisov, A. A.; Chernov, D. V.; Dushkin, L. I.; Fakhrutdinov, R. M.; Kokoulin, R. P.; Kompaniets, K. G.; Kozhin, A. S.; Ovchinnikov, V. V.; Ovechkin, A. S.; Petrukhin, A. A.; Shutenko, V. V.; Volkov, N. S.; Vorobjev, V. S.; Yashin, I. I.

2017-06-01

The large-scale coordinate-tracking detector TREK for registration of inclined EAS is being developed in MEPhI. The detector is based on multiwire drift chambers from the neutrino experiment at the IHEP U-70 accelerator. Their key advantages are a large effective area (1.85 m2), a good coordinate and angular resolution with a small number of measuring channels. The detector will be operated as part of the experimental complex NEVOD, in particular, jointly with a Cherenkov water detector (CWD) with a volume of 2000 cubic meters and the coordinate detector DECOR. The first part of the detector named Coordinate-Tracking Unit based on the Drift Chambers (CTUDC), representing two coordinate planes of 8 drift chambers in each, has been developed and mounted on opposite sides of the CWD. It has the same principle of joint operation with the NEVOD-DECOR triggering system and the same drift chambers alignment, so the main features of the TREK detector will be examined. Results of the CTUDC development and a joint operation with NEVOD-DECOR complex are presented.

Meniscus-assisted solution printing of large-grained perovskite films for high-efficiency solar cells

PubMed Central

He, Ming; Li, Bo; Cui, Xun; Jiang, Beibei; He, Yanjie; Chen, Yihuang; O’Neil, Daniel; Szymanski, Paul; EI-Sayed, Mostafa A.; Huang, Jinsong; Lin, Zhiqun

2017-01-01

Control over morphology and crystallinity of metal halide perovskite films is of key importance to enable high-performance optoelectronics. However, this remains particularly challenging for solution-printed devices due to the complex crystallization kinetics of semiconductor materials within dynamic flow of inks. Here we report a simple yet effective meniscus-assisted solution printing (MASP) strategy to yield large-grained dense perovskite film with good crystallization and preferred orientation. Intriguingly, the outward convective flow triggered by fast solvent evaporation at the edge of the meniscus ink imparts the transport of perovskite solutes, thus facilitating the growth of micrometre-scale perovskite grains. The growth kinetics of perovskite crystals is scrutinized by in situ optical microscopy tracking to understand the crystallization mechanism. The perovskite films produced by MASP exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties with efficiencies approaching 20% in planar perovskite solar cells. This robust MASP strategy may in principle be easily extended to craft other solution-printed perovskite-based optoelectronics. PMID:28685751

Aftereffects of Subduction-Zone Earthquakes: Potential Tsunami Hazards along the Japan Sea Coast.

PubMed

Minoura, Koji; Sugawara, Daisuke; Yamanoi, Tohru; Yamada, Tsutomu

2015-10-01

The 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake is a typical subduction-zone earthquake and is the 4th largest earthquake after the beginning of instrumental observation of earthquakes in the 19th century. In fact, the 2011 Tohoku-Oki Earthquake displaced the northeast Japan island arc horizontally and vertically. The displacement largely changed the tectonic situation of the arc from compressive to tensile. The 9th century in Japan was a period of natural hazards caused by frequent large-scale earthquakes. The aseismic tsunamis that inflicted damage on the Japan Sea coast in the 11th century were related to the occurrence of massive earthquakes that represented the final stage of a period of high seismic activity. Anti-compressive tectonics triggered by the subduction-zone earthquakes induced gravitational instability, which resulted in the generation of tsunamis caused by slope failing at the arc-back-arc boundary. The crustal displacement after the 2011 earthquake infers an increased risk of unexpected local tsunami flooding in the Japan Sea coastal areas.

Generation of Martian chaos and channels by debris flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nummedal, D.; Prior, D. B.

1981-01-01

A debris flow mechanism is proposed to account for the formation of chaos and the large channels debouching into Crysae Planitia from the adjacent southern uplands of Mars. Based on considerations of the juxtaposition of individual channel environments, the morphological assemblages within each environment and flow dynamics, it is suggested that the debris flows were triggered by the large-scale failure of subsurface sediments, possibly initiated by a seismic event. During the initial, slow-moving phase of the flow, the debris would have formed gently sinuous channels with multiple side-wall slumps, grooves and ridges, and elongate erosional remnants. The flow would have gained mobility as the debris moved downslope, producing travel distances greatly in excess of those characteristic of terrestrial examples, and eroded, streamlined remnants at the distal reaches of the channel. Finally, due to internal and boundary friction, the flow would have been slowed down once it entered the Chryse plains, resulting in a thin debris blanket with no depositional relief.

Bridging Empirical and Physical Approaches for Landslide Monitoring and Early Warning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kirschbaum, Dalia; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Adler, Robert; Kumar, Sujay; Harrison, Ken

2011-01-01

Rainfall-triggered landslides typically occur and are evaluated at local scales, using slope-stability models to calculate coincident changes in driving and resisting forces at the hillslope level in order to anticipate slope failures. Over larger areas, detailed high resolution landslide modeling is often infeasible due to difficulties in quantifying the complex interaction between rainfall infiltration and surface materials as well as the dearth of available in situ soil and rainfall estimates and accurate landslide validation data. This presentation will discuss how satellite precipitation and surface information can be applied within a landslide hazard assessment framework to improve landslide monitoring and early warning by considering two disparate approaches to landslide hazard assessment: an empirical landslide forecasting algorithm and a physical slope-stability model. The goal of this research is to advance near real-time landslide hazard assessment and early warning at larger spatial scales. This is done by employing high resolution surface and precipitation information within a probabilistic framework to provide more physically-based grounding to empirical landslide triggering thresholds. The empirical landslide forecasting tool, running in near real-time at http://trmm.nasa.gov, considers potential landslide activity at the global scale and relies on Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) precipitation data and surface products to provide a near real-time picture of where landslides may be triggered. The physical approach considers how rainfall infiltration on a hillslope affects the in situ hydro-mechanical processes that may lead to slope failure. Evaluation of these empirical and physical approaches are performed within the Land Information System (LIS), a high performance land surface model processing and data assimilation system developed within the Hydrological Sciences Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. LIS provides the capabilities to quantify uncertainty from model inputs and calculate probabilistic estimates for slope failures. Results indicate that remote sensing data can provide many of the spatiotemporal requirements for accurate landslide monitoring and early warning; however, higher resolution precipitation inputs will help to better identify small-scale precipitation forcings that contribute to significant landslide triggering. Future missions, such as the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission will provide more frequent and extensive estimates of precipitation at the global scale, which will serve as key inputs to significantly advance the accuracy of landslide hazard assessment, particularly over larger spatial scales.

Ga(+) Basicity and Affinity Scales Based on High-Level Ab Initio Calculations.

PubMed

Brea, Oriana; Mó, Otilia; Yáñez, Manuel

2015-10-26

The structure, relative stability and bonding of complexes formed by the interaction between Ga(+) and a large set of compounds, including hydrocarbons, aromatic systems, and oxygen-, nitrogen-, fluorine and sulfur-containing Lewis bases have been investigated through the use of the high-level composite ab initio Gaussian-4 theory. This allowed us to establish rather accurate Ga(+) cation affinity (GaCA) and Ga(+) cation basicity (GaCB) scales. The bonding analysis of the complexes under scrutiny shows that, even though one of the main ingredients of the Ga(+) -base interaction is electrostatic, it exhibits a non-negligible covalent character triggered by the presence of the low-lying empty 4p orbital of Ga(+) , which favors a charge donation from occupied orbitals of the base to the metal ion. This partial covalent character, also observed in AlCA scales, is behind the dissimilarities observed when GaCA are compared with Li(+) cation affinities, where these covalent contributions are practically nonexistent. Quite unexpectedly, there are some dissimilarities between several Ga(+) -complexes and the corresponding Al(+) -analogues, mainly affecting the relative stability of π-complexes involving aromatic compounds. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Poromechanical response of naturally fractured sorbing media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Hemant

The injection of CO2 in coal seams has been utilized for enhanced gas recovery and potential CO2 sequestration in unmineable coal seams. It is advantageous because as it enhances the production and significant volumes of CO2 may be stored simultaneously. The key issues for enhanced gas recovery and geologic sequestration of CO2 include (1) Injectivity prediction: The chemical and physical processes initiated by the injection of CO2 in the coal seam leads to permeability/porosity changes (2) Up scaling: Development of full scale coupled reservoir model which may predict the enhanced production, associated permeability changes and quantity of sequestered CO2. (3) Reservoir Stimulation: The coalbeds are often fractured and proppants are placed into the fractures to prevent the permeability reduction but the permeability evolution in such cases is poorly understood. These issues are largely governed by dynamic coupling of adsorption, fluid exchange, transport, water content, stress regime, fracture geometry and physiomechanical changes in coals which are triggered by CO 2 injection. The understanding of complex interactions in coal has been investigated through laboratory experiments and full reservoir scale models are developed to answer key issues. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Reprogramming cells and tissue patterning via bioelectrical pathways: molecular mechanisms and biomedical opportunities

PubMed Central

Levin, Michael

2013-01-01

Transformative impact in regenerative medicine requires more than the reprogramming of individual cells: advances in repair strategies for birth defects or injuries, tumor normalization, and the construction of bioengineered organs and tissues all require the ability to control large-scale anatomical shape. Much recent work has focused on the transcriptional and biochemical regulation of cell behaviour and morphogenesis. However, exciting new data reveal that bioelectrical properties of cells and their microenvironment exert a profound influence on cell differentiation, proliferation, and migration. Ion channels and pumps expressed in all cells, not just excitable nerve and muscle, establish resting potentials that vary across tissues and change with significant developmental events. Most importantly, the spatio-temporal gradients of these endogenous transmembrane voltage potentials (Vmem) serve as instructive patterning cues for large-scale anatomy, providing organ identity, positional information, and prepattern template cues for morphogenesis. New genetic and pharmacological techniques for molecular modulation of bioelectric gradients in vivo have revealed the ability to initiate complex organogenesis, change tissue identity, and trigger regeneration of whole vertebrate appendages. A large segment of the spatial information processing that orchestrates individual cells’ programs towards the anatomical needs of the host organism is electrical; this blurs the line between memory and decision-making in neural networks and morphogenesis in non-neural tissues. Advances in cracking this bioelectric code will enable the rational reprogramming of shape in whole tissues and organs, revolutionizing regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and synthetic bioengineering. PMID:23897652

Nitrogen-Related Constraints of Carbon Uptake by Large-Scale Forest Expansion: Simulation Study for Climate Change and Management Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kracher, Daniela

2017-11-01

Increase of forest areas has the potential to increase the terrestrial carbon (C) sink. However, the efficiency for C sequestration depends on the availability of nutrients such as nitrogen (N), which is affected by climatic conditions and management practices. In this study, I analyze how N limitation affects C sequestration of afforestation and how it is influenced by individual climate variables, increased harvest, and fertilizer application. To this end, JSBACH, the land component of the Earth system model of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology is applied in idealized simulation experiments. In those simulations, large-scale afforestation increases the terrestrial C sink in the 21st century by around 100 Pg C compared to a business as usual land-use scenario. N limitation reduces C sequestration roughly by the same amount. The relevance of compensating effects of uptake and release of carbon dioxide by plant productivity and soil decomposition, respectively, gets obvious from the simulations. N limitation of both fluxes compensates particularly in the tropics. Increased mineralization under global warming triggers forest expansion, which otherwise is restricted by N availability. Due to compensating higher plant productivity and soil respiration, the global net effect of warming for C sequestration is however rather small. Fertilizer application and increased harvest enhance C sequestration as well as boreal expansion. The additional C sequestration achieved by fertilizer application is offset to a large part by additional emissions of nitrous oxide.

Reprogramming cells and tissue patterning via bioelectrical pathways: molecular mechanisms and biomedical opportunities.

PubMed

Levin, Michael

2013-01-01

Transformative impact in regenerative medicine requires more than the reprogramming of individual cells: advances in repair strategies for birth defects or injuries, tumor normalization, and the construction of bioengineered organs and tissues all require the ability to control large-scale anatomical shape. Much recent work has focused on the transcriptional and biochemical regulation of cell behavior and morphogenesis. However, exciting new data reveal that bioelectrical properties of cells and their microenvironment exert a profound influence on cell differentiation, proliferation, and migration. Ion channels and pumps expressed in all cells, not just excitable nerve and muscle, establish resting potentials that vary across tissues and change with significant developmental events. Most importantly, the spatiotemporal gradients of these endogenous transmembrane voltage potentials (Vmem ) serve as instructive patterning cues for large-scale anatomy, providing organ identity, positional information, and prepattern template cues for morphogenesis. New genetic and pharmacological techniques for molecular modulation of bioelectric gradients in vivo have revealed the ability to initiate complex organogenesis, change tissue identity, and trigger regeneration of whole vertebrate appendages. A large segment of the spatial information processing that orchestrates individual cells' programs toward the anatomical needs of the host organism is electrical; this blurs the line between memory and decision-making in neural networks and morphogenesis in nonneural tissues. Advances in cracking this bioelectric code will enable the rational reprogramming of shape in whole tissues and organs, revolutionizing regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and synthetic bioengineering. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dynamic Triggering around Fangshan Pluton near Beijing,China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W.; Gong, X.; Peng, Z.; Chen, Q.; Wu, C.

2011-12-01

Fangshan Pluton lies at SW of Beijing City and is formed at about 133-128Ma. The Pluton is surrounded by the NNE-trending Taihang mountain in the west as an "C" shape, and is in conjunction with the Northern China Plain along the Baobashan fault in the east. This region currently does not have abundant background seismicity, but previous studies (Peng et al., 2010, Wu et al. 2011) have shown that at least 4 major earthquakes in East Asia have triggered clear seismic events in this region. To further understand the dynamic triggering mechanism and improve the station coverage, we deployed the first batch temporal seismic array with 5 stations from 12/2008 to 7/2010 and the second batch with 11 stations around this area since 12/2010. Our temporary deployment was fortunate to capture the triggered seismicity following the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan, earthquake sequence. In this study, we use seismic data recorded by the permanent stations in the Capital Circle seismic network and our temporary deployment to investigate triggered seismicity following the 2010 Mw8.8 Chile earthquake and the Tohoku-Oki earthquake sequence. As was done before, we identify triggered earthquakes as impulsive seismic arrivals with clear P- and S-waves in 5 Hz high-pass-filtered three-component velocity seismograms and recorded by at least 3 stations. Most triggered earthquakes coincide with the large-amplitude Rayleigh waves. For the Tohoku-Oki case, we identify one weak event during the P-wave of the mainshock, and delayed triggering following the large-amplitude surface waves. In addition, triggered earthquakes can be seen in the Mw7.3 foreshock and mainshock of Tohoku earthquake, but not in aftershocks with 2 Mw>7.5 earthquakes in the following two months. These events mainly occurred at southwestern and western boundary region of the Pluton and are shallower (<5km) than normal earthquakes, which is similar to previous studies. Considering the abundant solution cavities and syncline/anticline structures developed during the magma intrusion, we suggest that the triggered earthquakes could occur at the weak boundary regions with abundant underground water that permeate into deep layer through the cracked syncline tips or faults. Our next step is to locate the triggered and background seismicity more precisely, and determine the focal mechanisms of the triggered events for better understanding of the source faults and necessary conditions for dynamic triggering in this region.

Development of High Level Trigger Software for Belle II at SuperKEKB

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, S.; Itoh, R.; Katayama, N.; Mineo, S.

2011-12-01

The Belle collaboration has been trying for 10 years to reveal the mystery of the current matter-dominated universe. However, much more statistics is required to search for New Physics through quantum loops in decays of B mesons. In order to increase the experimental sensitivity, the next generation B-factory, SuperKEKB, is planned. The design luminosity of SuperKEKB is 8 x 1035cm-2s-1 a factor 40 above KEKB's peak luminosity. At this high luminosity, the level 1 trigger of the Belle II experiment will stream events of 300 kB size at a 30 kHz rate. To reduce the data flow to a manageable level, a high-level trigger (HLT) is needed, which will be implemented using the full offline reconstruction on a large scale PC farm. There, physics level event selection is performed, reducing the event rate by ~ 10 to a few kHz. To execute the reconstruction the HLT uses the offline event processing framework basf2, which has parallel processing capabilities used for multi-core processing and PC clusters. The event data handling in the HLT is totally object oriented utilizing ROOT I/O with a new method of object passing over the UNIX socket connection. Also under consideration is the use of the HLT output as well to reduce the pixel detector event size by only saving hits associated with a track, resulting in an additional data reduction of ~ 100 for the pixel detector. In this contribution, the design and implementation of the Belle II HLT are presented together with a report of preliminary testing results.

An Alternative Flight Software Trigger Paradigm: Applying Multivariate Logistic Regression to Sense Trigger Conditions Using Inaccurate or Scarce Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Kelly M.; Gay, Robert S.; Stachowiak, Susan J.

2013-01-01

In late 2014, NASA will fly the Orion capsule on a Delta IV-Heavy rocket for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission. For EFT-1, the Orion capsule will be flying with a new GPS receiver and new navigation software. Given the experimental nature of the flight, the flight software must be robust to the loss of GPS measurements. Once the high-speed entry is complete, the drogue parachutes must be deployed within the proper conditions to stabilize the vehicle prior to deploying the main parachutes. When GPS is available in nominal operations, the vehicle will deploy the drogue parachutes based on an altitude trigger. However, when GPS is unavailable, the navigated altitude errors become excessively large, driving the need for a backup barometric altimeter to improve altitude knowledge. In order to increase overall robustness, the vehicle also has an alternate method of triggering the parachute deployment sequence based on planet-relative velocity if both the GPS and the barometric altimeter fail. However, this backup trigger results in large altitude errors relative to the targeted altitude. Motivated by this challenge, this paper demonstrates how logistic regression may be employed to semi-automatically generate robust triggers based on statistical analysis. Logistic regression is used as a ground processor pre-flight to develop a statistical classifier. The classifier would then be implemented in flight software and executed in real-time. This technique offers improved performance even in the face of highly inaccurate measurements. Although the logistic regression-based trigger approach will not be implemented within EFT-1 flight software, the methodology can be carried forward for future missions and vehicles.

Linking turbidity current triggers to flow power, frequency and runout distances

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hizzett, J. L.; Hughes Clarke, J. E.; Cartigny, M.; Talling, P.; Sumner, E.; Clare, M. A.

2017-12-01

Submarine turbidity currents and terrestrial river systems are the two main processes for moving sediment across our planet, and it is important to understand how they are linked. Turbidity currents form thick deposits, burying large amounts of organic carbon, and posing a hazard to seabed pipelines and cables. It is essential to understand which initial trigger mechanisms produce the most frequent, powerful and longest runout turbidity currents, as these flows pose the greatest hazard for seafloor infrastructure (Cooper et al., 2013). Here were re-analyse the most detailed time-lapse mapping of a turbidity current system, which comprises 93 near-daily surveys collected by Hughes Clarke at Squamish Delta, British Columbia. It enables us to link different trigger mechanisms to flow properties such as runout distance. Turbidity currents at Squamish Delta are either triggered by submarine landslides or by sediment settling out from the river plume. Previously it was inferred that turbidity currents were most commonly triggered at river mouths by underwater landslides, or plunging (hyperpycnal) river discharge. However, here we show that turbidity currents are most commonly triggered by what we infer to be sediment settling from surface plumes (Hughes Clarke et al., 2014). We go on to show that turbidity currents initiated by settling from surface plumes can be as erosive and travel as far as landslide-triggered flows. We also find no relationship between submarine landslide volume and turbidity current runout. This is surprising because larger volume subaerial landslides tend to runout longer distances. We therefore show that the most hazardous turbidity currents at Squamish, which have the biggest impact on the seafloor, are initiated by sediment settling out from surface plumes, and not by large landslides as was previously expected.

An Alternative Flight Software Trigger Paradigm: Applying Multivariate Logistic Regression to Sense Trigger Conditions using Inaccurate or Scarce Information

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Kelly M.; Gay, Robert S.; Stachowiak, Susan J.

2013-01-01

In late 2014, NASA will fly the Orion capsule on a Delta IV-Heavy rocket for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission. For EFT-1, the Orion capsule will be flying with a new GPS receiver and new navigation software. Given the experimental nature of the flight, the flight software must be robust to the loss of GPS measurements. Once the high-speed entry is complete, the drogue parachutes must be deployed within the proper conditions to stabilize the vehicle prior to deploying the main parachutes. When GPS is available in nominal operations, the vehicle will deploy the drogue parachutes based on an altitude trigger. However, when GPS is unavailable, the navigated altitude errors become excessively large, driving the need for a backup barometric altimeter. In order to increase overall robustness, the vehicle also has an alternate method of triggering the drogue parachute deployment based on planet-relative velocity if both the GPS and the barometric altimeter fail. However, this velocity-based trigger results in large altitude errors relative to the targeted altitude. Motivated by this challenge, this paper demonstrates how logistic regression may be employed to automatically generate robust triggers based on statistical analysis. Logistic regression is used as a ground processor pre-flight to develop a classifier. The classifier would then be implemented in flight software and executed in real-time. This technique offers excellent performance even in the face of highly inaccurate measurements. Although the logistic regression-based trigger approach will not be implemented within EFT-1 flight software, the methodology can be carried forward for future missions and vehicles.

Large scale filaments associated with Milky Way spiral arms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ke; Testi, Leonardo; Ginsburg, Adam; Walmsley, Malcolm; Molinari, Sergio; Schisano, Eugenio

2015-08-01

The ubiquity of filamentary structure at various scales through out the Galaxy has triggered a renewed interest in their formation, evolution, and role in star formation. The largest filaments can reach up to Galactic scale as part of the spiral arm structure. However, such large scale filaments are hard to identify systematically due to limitations in identifying methodology (i.e., as extinction features). We present a new approach to directly search for the largest, coldest, and densest filaments in the Galaxy, making use of sensitive Herschel Hi-GAL data complemented by spectral line cubes. We present a sample of the 9 most prominent Herschel filaments from a pilot search field. These filaments measure 37-99 pc long and 0.6-3.0 pc wide with masses (0.5-8.3)×104 Msun, and beam-averaged (28", or 0.4-0.7 pc) peak H2 column densities of (1.7-9.3)x1022 cm-2. The bulk of the filaments are relatively cold (17-21 K), while some local clumps have a dust temperature up to 25-47 K due to local star formation activities. All the filaments are located within <~60 pc from the Galactic mid-plane. Comparing the filaments to a recent spiral arm model incorporating the latest parallax measurements, we find that 7/9 of them reside within arms, but most are close to arm edges. These filaments are comparable in length to the Galactic scale height and therefore are not simply part of a grander turbulent cascade. These giant filaments, which often contain regularly spaced pc-scale clumps, are much larger than the filaments found in the Herschel Gould's Belt Survey, and they form the upper ends in the filamentary hierarchy. Full operational ALMA and NOEMA will be able to resolve and characterize similar filaments in nearby spiral galaxies, allowing us to compare the star formation in a uniform context of spiral arms.

Spark gaps synchronization using electrical trigger pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agarwal, Ritu; Saroj, P.C.; Sharma, Archana

In pulse power systems, it is required to have synchronized triggering of two or more high voltage spark gaps capable of switching large currents, using electrical trigger pulses. This paper intends to study the synchronization of spark gaps using electrical trigger. The trigger generator consists of dc supply, IGBT switch and driver circuit which generates 8kV, 400ns (FWHM) pulses. The experiment was carried out using two 0.15uF/50kV energy storage capacitors charged to 12kV and discharged through stainless steel spark gaps of diameter 9 mm across 10 ohm non inductive load. The initial experiment shows that synchronization has been achieved withmore » jitter of 50 to 100ns. Further studies carried out to reduce the jitter time by varying various electrical parameters will be presented. (author)« less

The global aftershock zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, Thomas E.; Margaret Segou,; Warner Marzocchi,

2014-01-01

The aftershock zone of each large (M ≥ 7) earthquake extends throughout the shallows of planet Earth. Most aftershocks cluster near the mainshock rupture, but earthquakes send out shivers in the form of seismic waves, and these temporary distortions are large enough to trigger other earthquakes at global range. The aftershocks that happen at great distance from their mainshock are often superposed onto already seismically active regions, making them difficult to detect and understand. From a hazard perspective we are concerned that this dynamic process might encourage other high magnitude earthquakes, and wonder if a global alarm state is warranted after every large mainshock. From an earthquake process perspective we are curious about the physics of earthquake triggering across the magnitude spectrum. In this review we build upon past studies that examined the combined global response to mainshocks. Such compilations demonstrate significant rate increases during, and immediately after (~ 45 min) M > 7.0 mainshocks in all tectonic settings and ranges. However, it is difficult to find strong evidence for M > 5 rate increases during the passage of surface waves in combined global catalogs. On the other hand, recently published studies of individual large mainshocks associate M > 5 triggering at global range that is delayed by hours to days after surface wave arrivals. The longer the delay between mainshock and global aftershock, the more difficult it is to establish causation. To address these questions, we review the response to 260 M ≥ 7.0 shallow (Z ≤ 50 km) mainshocks in 21 global regions with local seismograph networks. In this way we can examine the detailed temporal and spatial response, or lack thereof, during passing seismic waves, and over the 24 h period after their passing. We see an array of responses that can involve immediate and widespread seismicity outbreaks, delayed and localized earthquake clusters, to no response at all. About 50% of the catalogs that we studied showed possible (localized delayed) remote triggering, and ~ 20% showed probable (instantaneous broadly distributed) remote triggering. However, in any given region, at most only about 2–3% of global mainshocks caused significant local earthquake rate increases. These rate increases are mostly composed of small magnitude events, and we do not find significant evidence of dynamically triggered M > 5 earthquakes. If we assume that the few observed M > 5 events are triggered, we find that they are not directly associated with surface wave passage, with first incidences being 9–10 h later. We note that mainshock magnitude, relative proximity, amplitude spectra, peak ground motion, and mainshock focal mechanisms are not reliable determining factors as to whether a mainshock will cause remote triggering. By elimination, azimuth, and polarization of surface waves with respect to receiver faults may be more important factors.

The CMS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger for LHC Run II

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinthuprasith, Tutanon

2017-01-01

The phase-1 upgrades of the CMS Level-1 calorimeter trigger have been completed. The Level-1 trigger has been fully commissioned and it will be used by CMS to collect data starting from the 2016 data run. The new trigger has been designed to improve the performance at high luminosity and large number of simultaneous inelastic collisions per crossing (pile-up). For this purpose it uses a novel design, the Time Multiplexed Design, which enables the data from an event to be processed by a single trigger processor at full granularity over several bunch crossings. The TMT design is a modular design based on the uTCA standard. The architecture is flexible and the number of trigger processors can be expanded according to the physics needs of CMS. Intelligent, more complex, and innovative algorithms are now the core of the first decision layer of CMS: the upgraded trigger system implements pattern recognition and MVA (Boosted Decision Tree) regression techniques in the trigger processors for pT assignment, pile up subtraction, and isolation requirements for electrons, and taus. The performance of the TMT design and the latency measurements and the algorithm performance which has been measured using data is also presented here.

Hazard Assessment and Early Warning of Tsunamis: Lessons from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satake, K.

2012-12-01

The March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake (M 9.0) was the largest earthquake in Japanese history, and was the best recorded subduction-zone earthquakes in the world. In particular, various offshore geophysical observations revealed large horizontal and vertical seafloor movements, and the tsunami was recorded on high-quality, high-sampling gauges. Analysis of such tsunami waveforms shows a temporal and spatial slip distribution during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. The fault rupture started near the hypocenter and propagated into both deep and shallow parts of the plate interface. Very large, ~25 m, slip off Miyagi on the deep part of plate interface corresponds to an interplate earthquake of M 8.8, the location and size similar to 869 Jogan earthquake model, and was responsible for the large tsunami inundation in Sendai and Ishinomaki plains. Huge slip, more than 50 m, occurred on the shallow part near the trench axis ~3 min after the earthquake origin time. This delayed shallow rupture (M 8.8) was similar to the 1896 "tsunami earthquake," and was responsible for the large tsunami on the northern Sanriku coast, measured at ~100 km north of the largest slip. Thus the Tohoku earthquake can be decomposed into an interplate earthquake and the triggered "tsunami earthquake." The Japan Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warning 3 minutes after the earthquake, and saved many lives. However, their initial estimation of tsunami height was underestimated, because the earthquake magnitude was initially estimated as M 7.9, hence the computed tsunami heights were lower. The JMA attempts to improve the tsunami warning system, including technical developments to estimate the earthquake size in a few minutes by using various and redundant information, to deploy and utilize the offshore tsunami observations, and to issue a warning based on the worst case scenario if a possibility of giant earthquake exists. Predicting a trigger of another large earthquake would still be a challenge. Tsunami hazard assessments or long-term forecast of earthquakes have not considered such a triggering or simultaneous occurrence of different types of earthquakes. The large tsunami at the Fukushima nuclear power station was due to the combination of the deep and shallow slip. Disaster prevention for low-frequency but large-scale hazard must be considered. The Japanese government established a general policy to for two levels: L1 and L2. The L2 tsunamis are the largest possible tsunamis with low frequency of occurrence, but cause devastating disaster once they occur. For such events, saving people's lives is the first priority and soft measures such as tsunami hazard maps, evacuation facilities or disaster education will be prepared. The L1 tsunamis are expected to occur more frequently, typically once in a few decades, for which hard countermeasures such as breakwater must be prepared to protect lives and properties of residents as well as economic and industrial activities.

High-voltage crowbar circuit with cascade-triggered series ignitrons

DOEpatents

Baker, William R. [Orinda, CA

1980-11-04

A series string of ignitrons for switching a large current at high voltage to ground. Switching is initiated by means of a negative trigger pulse applied to the cathode of the lowest voltage level ignitron next to ground to draw ground current through diodes in the ignitor circuit. The trigger pulse is applied thereby to the next higher ignitron cathode and sequentially to the remainder of the ignitrons in the string through diodes in respective ignitor circuits. Full line voltage is held off of nonconducting diodes and ignitrons by means of varistors.

High-voltage crowbar circuit with cascade-triggered series ignitrons

DOEpatents

Baker, W.R.

A series string of ignitrons for switching a large current at high voltage to ground is discussed. Switching is initiated by means of a negative trigger pulse applied to the cathode of the lowest voltage level ignitron next to ground to draw ground current through diodes in the ignitor circuit. The trigger pulse is applied thereby to the next higher ignitron cathode and sequentially to the remainder of the ignitrons in the string through diodes in respective ignitor circuits. Full line voltage is held off of nonconducting diodes and ignitrons by means of varistors.

High-voltage crowbar circuit with cascade-triggered series ignitrons

DOEpatents

Baker, W.R.

1980-11-04

A series string of ignitrons for switching a large current at high voltage to ground. Switching is initiated by means of a negative trigger pulse applied to the cathode of the lowest voltage level ignitron next to ground to draw ground current through diodes in the ignitor circuit. The trigger pulse is applied thereby to the next higher ignitron cathode and sequentially to the remainder of the ignitrons in the string through diodes in respective ignitor circuits. Full line voltage is held off of nonconducting diodes and ignitrons by means of varistors. 1 fig.

Topographic Evolution and Climate Aridification during Continental Collision: Insights from Computer Simulations

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

How do the feedbacks between tectonics, sediment transport and climate work to shape the topographic evolution of the Earth? This question has been widely addressed via numerical models constrained with thermochronological and geomorphological data at scales ranging from local to orogenic. Here we present a novel numerical model that aims at reproducing the interaction between these processes at the continental scale. For this purpose, we combine in a single computer program: 1) a thin-sheet viscous model of continental deformation; 2) a stream-power surface-transport approach; 3) flexural isostasy allowing for the formation of large sedimentary foreland basins; and 4) an orographic precipitation model that reproduces basic climatic effects such as continentality and rain shadow. We quantify the feedbacks between these processes in a synthetic scenario inspired by the India-Asia collision and the growth of the Tibetan Plateau. We identify a feedback between erosion and crustal thickening leading locally to a <50% increase in deformation rates in places where orographic precipitation is concentrated. This climatically-enhanced deformation takes place preferentially at the upwind flank of the growing plateau, specially at the corners of the indenter (syntaxes). We hypothesize that this may provide clues for better understanding the mechanisms underlying the intriguing tectonic aneurisms documented in the Himalayas. At the continental scale, however, the overall distribution of topographic basins and ranges seems insensitive to climatic factors, despite these do have important, sometimes counterintuitive effects on the amount of sediments trapped within the continent. The dry climatic conditions that naturally develop in the interior of the continent, for example, trigger large intra-continental sediment trapping at basins similar to the Tarim Basin because they determine its endorheic/exorheic drainage. These complex climatic-drainage-tectonic interactions make the development of steady-state topography at the continental scale unlikely. PMID:26244662

Topographic Evolution and Climate Aridification during Continental Collision: Insights from Computer Simulations.

PubMed

Garcia-Castellanos, Daniel; Jiménez-Munt, Ivone

2015-01-01

How do the feedbacks between tectonics, sediment transport and climate work to shape the topographic evolution of the Earth? This question has been widely addressed via numerical models constrained with thermochronological and geomorphological data at scales ranging from local to orogenic. Here we present a novel numerical model that aims at reproducing the interaction between these processes at the continental scale. For this purpose, we combine in a single computer program: 1) a thin-sheet viscous model of continental deformation; 2) a stream-power surface-transport approach; 3) flexural isostasy allowing for the formation of large sedimentary foreland basins; and 4) an orographic precipitation model that reproduces basic climatic effects such as continentality and rain shadow. We quantify the feedbacks between these processes in a synthetic scenario inspired by the India-Asia collision and the growth of the Tibetan Plateau. We identify a feedback between erosion and crustal thickening leading locally to a <50% increase in deformation rates in places where orographic precipitation is concentrated. This climatically-enhanced deformation takes place preferentially at the upwind flank of the growing plateau, specially at the corners of the indenter (syntaxes). We hypothesize that this may provide clues for better understanding the mechanisms underlying the intriguing tectonic aneurisms documented in the Himalayas. At the continental scale, however, the overall distribution of topographic basins and ranges seems insensitive to climatic factors, despite these do have important, sometimes counterintuitive effects on the amount of sediments trapped within the continent. The dry climatic conditions that naturally develop in the interior of the continent, for example, trigger large intra-continental sediment trapping at basins similar to the Tarim Basin because they determine its endorheic/exorheic drainage. These complex climatic-drainage-tectonic interactions make the development of steady-state topography at the continental scale unlikely.

Passive seismic monitoring of natural and induced earthquakes: case studies, future directions and socio-economic relevance

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bohnhoff, Marco; Dresen, Georg; Ellsworth, William L.; Ito, Hisao; Cloetingh, Sierd; Negendank, Jörg

2010-01-01

An important discovery in crustal mechanics has been that the Earth’s crust is commonly stressed close to failure, even in tectonically quiet areas. As a result, small natural or man-made perturbations to the local stress field may trigger earthquakes. To understand these processes, Passive Seismic Monitoring (PSM) with seismometer arrays is a widely used technique that has been successfully applied to study seismicity at different magnitude levels ranging from acoustic emissions generated in the laboratory under controlled conditions, to seismicity induced by hydraulic stimulations in geological reservoirs, and up to great earthquakes occurring along plate boundaries. In all these environments the appropriate deployment of seismic sensors, i.e., directly on the rock sample, at the earth’s surface or in boreholes close to the seismic sources allows for the detection and location of brittle failure processes at sufficiently low magnitude-detection threshold and with adequate spatial resolution for further analysis. One principal aim is to develop an improved understanding of the physical processes occurring at the seismic source and their relationship to the host geologic environment. In this paper we review selected case studies and future directions of PSM efforts across a wide range of scales and environments. These include induced failure within small rock samples, hydrocarbon reservoirs, and natural seismicity at convergent and transform plate boundaries. Each example represents a milestone with regard to bridging the gap between laboratory-scale experiments under controlled boundary conditions and large-scale field studies. The common motivation for all studies is to refine the understanding of how earthquakes nucleate, how they proceed and how they interact in space and time. This is of special relevance at the larger end of the magnitude scale, i.e., for large devastating earthquakes due to their severe socio-economic impact.

Landslides triggered by Hurricane Mitch in Guatemala -- inventory and discussion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bucknam, Robert C.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Chavarria, Manuel Mota; Godt, Jonathan W.; Tarr, Arthur C.; Bradley, Lee-Ann; Rafferty, Sharon A.; Hancock, Dean; Dart, Richard L.; Johnson, Margo L.

2001-01-01

The torrential rains that accompanied Hurricane Mitch in October and November of 1998 triggered thousands of landslides in the moderate to steep terrain bordering the Motagua and Polochic Rivers in eastern Guatemala. Using aerial photographs taken between January and March 2000 we mapped all visible landslides larger than about 15 m in minimum dimension in a study area of 10,000 km2 encompassing twenty 1:50,000-scale topographic map quadrangles. Rainfall from Hurricane Mitch was exceptional because it was geographically widespread, prolonged over a period of about a week, moderate to heavy in intensity, and occurred at the end of the rainy season when the ground already had a high moisture content. As documented in this report, this type of rainfall, on saturated or nearly saturated ground, has the capability to trigger both shallow and deep-seated landslides over a large area. We mapped about 11,500 landslides in the study area. The mapped landslides were of two general types: relatively small, translational and rotational landslides that commonly mobilized into debris flows and covered less than several hectares in area (not including flow paths), and large, commonly translational, landslides that sometimes generated debris flows and covered between 15 ha and 25 ha (not including flow paths). The main concentrations of landslides are on moderate-to-steep hillslopes underlain by diverse geologic units. For the purpose of describing the mapped landslides, we divided the study area into five distinct regions based on differing geologic and geomorphic characteristics. These regions include the upper Polochic valley and surrounding highlands, the central Sierra de las Minas, the hills surrounding La Union and Zacapa, the eastern Sierra de las Minas, and the border region with Honduras. All of these areas received between 200 mm and 600 mm of rain over a 13-day period between October 25 and November 6. The highest rainfall amounts (400 mm to 600 mm) occurred in the Upper Polochic valley and surrounding highlands and in the central Sierra de las Minas. The lower rainfall amounts (200 mm to 400 mm) occurred in the hills surrounding La Union, the eastern Sierra de las Minas, and in the border region with Honduras. In general, the rainfall received in these areas is roughly equivalent to the average precipitation received in a 1-year period. We used 10-m digital elevation models (DEMs) generated from contours on two quadrangles in the central Sierra de las Minas to create a map showing areas that were susceptible to landslides during Hurricane Mitch. To create the Hurricane Mitch susceptibility map, we developed a susceptibility threshold equation based on elevation and gradient. The analysis indicates that, at least on two quadrangles, gradients less than 9? were not susceptible to landslides during Hurricane Mitch. The slope of the line defined by the threshold equation indicates that less rainfall was required to initiate landslides on steep gradients than on shallow gradients. Ninety percent of the mapped landslides that were triggered by Hurricane Mitch are within the susceptible zone shown on the map. Eightysix percent of landslides that were mapped as predating Hurricane Mitch, and all landslides mapped as postdating Hurricane Mitch, are within the susceptible zone. We used LAHARZ software to model the potential downstream area affected by debris if a large landslide dam on the Rio La Lima were to fail. The model shows that the area affected would be similar to the area that was affected by a debris flow that mobilized from a large landslide along the Rio La Lima during Hurricane Mitch. The characteristics of rainfall-triggered landslides described in this report can be used as a partial guide to future landslide activity triggered by rainstorms. On the basis of existing data, hazardous areas include: moderate to steep hillslopes and

Titan Meteorology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, Jonathan

2012-04-01

Titan’s methane clouds have received much attention since they were first discovered spectroscopically (Griffith et al. 1998). Titan's seasons evolve slowly, and there is growing evidence of a seasonal response in the regions of methane cloud formation (e.g. Rodriguez et al. 2009). A complete, three-dimensional view of Titan’s clouds is possible through the determination of cloud-top heights from Cassini images (e.g., Ádámkovics et al. 2010). Even though Titan’s surface is warmed by very little sunlight, we now know Titan’s methane clouds are convective, evolving through tens of kilometers of altitude on timescales of hours to days with dynamics similar to clouds that appear on Earth (Porco et al. 2005). Cassini ISS has also shown evidence of rain storms on Titan that produce surface accumulation of methane (Turtle et al. 2009). Most recently, Cassini has revealed a 1000-km-scale, arrow-shaped cloud at the equator followed by changes that appear to be evidence of surface precipitation (Turtle et al. 2011b). Individual convective towers simulated with high fidelity indicate that surface convergence of methane humidity and dynamic lifting are required to trigger deep, precipitating convection (e.g. Barth & Rafkin 2010). The global expanses of these cloud outbursts, the evidence for surface precipitation, and the requirement of dynamic convergence and lifting at the surface to trigger deep convection motivate an analysis of storm formation in the context of Titan’s global circulation. I will review our current understanding of Titan’s methane meteorology using Cassini and ground-based observations and, in particular, global circulation model simulations of Titan’s methane cycle. When compared with cloud observations, our simulations indicate an essential role for planetary-scale atmospheric waves in organizing convective storms on large scales (Mitchell et al. 2011). I will end with predictions of Titan’s weather during the upcoming northern hemisphere summer.

Distinguishing cause from correlation in tokamak experiments to trigger edge-localised plasma instabilities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Webster, Anthony J.; CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon OX14 3DB

2014-11-15

The generic question is considered: How can we determine the probability of an otherwise quasi-random event, having been triggered by an external influence? A specific problem is the quantification of the success of techniques to trigger, and hence control, edge-localised plasma instabilities (ELMs) in magnetically confined fusion (MCF) experiments. The development of such techniques is essential to ensure tolerable heat loads on components in large MCF fusion devices, and is necessary for their development into economically successful power plants. Bayesian probability theory is used to rigorously formulate the problem and to provide a formal solution. Accurate but pragmatic methods aremore » developed to estimate triggering probabilities, and are illustrated with experimental data. These allow results from experiments to be quantitatively assessed, and rigorously quantified conclusions to be formed. Example applications include assessing whether triggering of ELMs is a statistical or deterministic process, and the establishment of thresholds to ensure that ELMs are reliably triggered.« less

The Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System (AGIS): Real Time Stereoscopic Array Trigger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrum, K.; Anderson, J.; Buckley, J.; Cundiff, T.; Dawson, J.; Drake, G.; Duke, C.; Haberichter, B.; Krawzcynski, H.; Krennrich, F.; Madhavan, A.; Schroedter, M.; Smith, A.

2009-05-01

Future large arrays of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) such as AGIS and CTA are conceived to comprise of 50 - 100 individual telescopes each having a camera with 10**3 to 10**4 pixels. To maximize the capabilities of such IACT arrays with a low energy threshold, a wide field of view and a low background rate, a sophisticated array trigger is required. We describe the design of a stereoscopic array trigger that calculates image parameters and then correlates them across a subset of telescopes. Fast Field Programmable Gate Array technology allows to use lookup tables at the array trigger level to form a real-time pattern recognition trigger tht capitalizes on the multiple view points of the shower at different shower core distances. A proof of principle system is currently under construction. It is based on 400 MHz FPGAs and the goal is for camera trigger rates of up to 10 MHz and a tunable cosmic-ray background suppression at the array level.

Explosive events on the Sun.

PubMed

Harra, Louise K

2002-12-15

I describe two of the most dynamic and highly energetic phenomena in the Solar System--the explosive flares that can occur when plasma is confined by magnetic fields and the large-scale ejections of material known as 'coronal mass ejections'. These explosive events are poorly understood and yet occur in a variety of contexts in the Universe, ranging from planetary magnetospheres to active galactic nuclei. Understanding why flares and coronal mass ejections occur is a major goal across a wide range of space physics and astrophysics. Although explosive events from the Sun have dramatic effects on Earth, flares in other stars, for example, can be vastly more energetic and have an even more profound effect on their environment. We are now in the unprecedented position of having access to a number of space observatories dedicated to the Sun: the Yohkoh spacecraft, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer and the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. These cover a wide wavelength range from white light to gamma rays with both spectroscopy and imaging, and allow huge progress to be made in understanding the processes involved in such large explosions. The high-resolution data show dramatic and complex explosions of material on all spatial scales on the Sun. They have revealed that the Sun is constantly changing everywhere on its surface--something that was never imagined before. One of the mechanisms that has been proposed to account for the large energy release is magnetic reconnection. Recent observations from space increasingly support this view. This article will discuss those observations that support this model and also those that suggest different processes. The current space missions have given us an excellent insight into the actual explosive processes in the Sun. However, they have provided us with only a tantalizing glimpse of what causes the elusive trigger. Future missions such as Solar-B (the follow-on to Yohkoh), the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar Orbiter mission will allow us to probe the trigger in a way that was not dreamt of a decade ago, by providing stereo views, measurements from Sun-grazing orbit, and much higher spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. It is an exciting time for solar physics and everything that we learn about the Sun will improve our ability to understand other magnetic phenomena in the Universe.

Lifecycle of a large-scale polar coronal pseudostreamer/cavity system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guennou, Chloé; Auchere, Frederic; Seaton, Daniel; Rachmeler, Laurel

2016-07-01

Coronal cavities, tunnel-like areas of rarefied density, provide important information about the magnetic structures that support prominences. The magnetic energy is stored through the twisted or shared magnetic field, ultimately released through Coronal Mass Ejections (CME). To be able to forecast these energetic releases of material and prevent potential terrestrial consequences, the understanding of the cavity 3D morphology, magnetic and thermal properties are essential. The prominences embedded in the cavity only trace a small part of the magnetic field, whereas the much larger cavity provides more information about the magnetic field morphology. As a result, a clear understanding of the coronal volume of the cavity significantly advances our understanding of both the pre-eruption equilibrium and the triggers of such eruptions. Determining both morphological and thermodynamical coronal structures is difficult due to the optically thin nature of the plasma. Observations are subject to integration along the line-of-sight (LOS). This effect can strongly complicate both the derivation and the interpretation of important physical quantities. One way to deduce the 3D structure is with Solar Rotational Tomography (SRT). The 3D plasma emissivity is estimated from EUV/white light images taken from different viewpoints. Physical properties can be then derived using Differential Emission Measure analysis from multi-wavelength 3D reconstructions. We applied this technique to an exceptional large-scale coronal pseudostreamer/cavity system in the southern polar region of the solar corona that was visible for approximately a year starting in February 2014. It is unusual to see such a large closed-field structure embedded within the open polar coronal hole. We investigate this structure to document its formation, evolution and eventually its shrinking process using data from both the PROBA2/SWAP and SDO/AIA EUV imagers. We found that the cavity temperature is extremely stable with time and is essentially at a similar or slightly hotter temperature than the surrounding pseudostreamer. Two regimes in cavity thermal properties were observed: during the first 5 months of observation, we found lower density depletion and highly multi-thermal plasma, while after the pseudostreamer became stable and slowly shrank, the depletion was more pronounced and the plasma was less multithermal. As the thermodynamic properties are strongly correlated with the magnetic structure, these results provide constraints on both the trigger of CMEs and the processes that maintain cavities stability for such a long lifetime.

Analogue of Caldera Dynamics: the Controlled Salt Cavern Collapse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jousset, P. G.; Rohmer, J.

2012-12-01

Caldera collapse (or pit-crater) dynamics are inferred from geological observations and laboratory experiments. Here, we present an analogue of caldera collapse at field scale and possible analogy with large scale caldera dynamics. Through an original exploitation technique in sedimentary environment, a salt layer is emptied, leaving a brine-filled cavern, which eventually collapses after overburden falls into the cavern. Such a collapse was monitored in East France by many instruments (including GPS, extensometers, geophones, broadband seismological sensors, tiltmeter, gravity meter, … ), which allowed us to describe mechanisms of the collapse. Micro-seismicity is a good indicator of spatio-temporal evolution of physical properties of rocks prior to catastrophic events like volcanic eruptions or landslides and may be triggered by a number of causes including dynamic characteristics of processes in play or/and external forces. We show evidence of triggered micro-seismicity observed in the vicinity of this underground salt cavern prone to collapse by a remote M~7.2 earthquake, which occurred ~12000 kilometres away. High-dynamic broadband records reveal the strong time-correlation between a dramatic change in the rate of local high-frequency micro-seismicity and the passage of low-frequency seismic waves, including body, Love and Rayleigh surface waves. Pressure was lowered in the cavern by pumping operations of brine out of the cavern. We demonstrate the near critical state of the cavern before the collapse by means of 2D axisymmetric elastic finite-element simulations. Stress oscillations due to the seismic waves may have exceeded the strength required for the rupture of the complex media made of brine and rock triggering micro-earthquakes and leading to damage of the overburden and eventually collapse of the salt cavern. The increment of stress necessary for the failure of a Dolomite layer is of the same order or magnitude as the maximum dynamic stress magnitude observed during the passage of the earthquakes waves. On this basis, we discuss the possible contribution of the Love and Rayleigh low-frequency surfaces waves. This experiment may help us understand mechanisms of caldera formation.

Folds on Europa: implications for crustal cycling and accommodation of extension.

PubMed

Prockter, L M; Pappalardo, R T

2000-08-11

Regional-scale undulations with associated small-scale secondary structures are inferred to be folds on Jupiter's moon Europa. Formation is consistent with stresses from tidal deformation, potentially triggering compressional instability of a region of locally high thermal gradient. Folds may compensate for extension elsewhere on Europa and then relax away over time.

Erosion and deposition by supercritical density flows during channel avulsion and backfilling: Field examples from coarse-grained deepwater channel-levée complexes (Sandino Forearc Basin, southern Central America)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lang, Jörg; Brandes, Christian; Winsemann, Jutta

2017-03-01

Erosion and deposition by supercritical density flows can strongly impact the facies distribution and architecture of submarine fans. Field examples from coarse-grained channel-levée complexes from the Sandino Forearc Basin (southern Central America) show that cyclic-step and antidune deposits represent common sedimentary facies of these depositional systems and relate to the different stages of avulsion, bypass, levée construction and channel backfilling. During channel avulsion, large-scale scour-fill complexes (18 to 29 m deep, 18 to 25 m wide, 60 to > 120 m long) were incised by supercritical density flows. The multi-storey infill of the large-scale scour-fill complexes comprises amalgamated massive, normally coarse-tail graded or widely spaced subhorizontally stratified conglomerates and pebbly sandstones, interpreted as deposits of the hydraulic-jump zone of cyclic steps. The large-scale scour-fill complexes can be distinguished from small-scale channel fills based on the preservation of a steep upper margin and a coarse-grained infill comprising mainly amalgamated hydraulic-jump zone deposits. Channel fills include repeated successions deposited by cyclic steps with superimposed antidunes. The deposits of the hydraulic-jump zone of cyclic steps comprise regularly spaced scours (0.2 to 2.6 m deep, 0.8 to 23 m long) infilled by intraclast-rich conglomerates or pebbly sandstones, displaying normal coarse-tail grading or backsets. These deposits are laterally and vertically associated with subhorizontally stratified, low-angle cross-stratified or sinusoidally stratified sandstones and pebbly sandstones, which were deposited by antidunes on the stoss side of the cyclic steps during flow re-acceleration. The field examples indicate that so-called spaced stratified deposits may commonly represent antidune deposits with varying stratification styles controlled by the aggradation rate, grain-size distribution and amalgamation. The deposits of small-scale cyclic steps with superimposed antidunes form fining-upwards successions with decreasing antidune wavelengths, indicating waning flows. Such cyclic step-antidune successions form the characteristic basal infill of mid-fan channels, and are inferred to be related to successive supercritical high-density turbidity flows triggered by retrogressive slope failures.

A south equatorial African precipitation dipole and the associated atmospheric circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dezfuli, A. K.; Zaitchik, B.; Gnanadesikan, A.

2013-12-01

South Equatorial Africa (SEA) is a climatically diverse region that includes a dramatic topographic and vegetation contrast between the lowland, humid Congo basin to the west and the East African Plateau to the east. Due to lack of conventional weather data and a tendency for researchers to treat East and western Africa as separate regions, dynamics of the atmospheric water cycle across SEA have received relatively little attention, particularly at subseasonal timescales. Both western and eastern sectors of SEA are affected by large-scale drivers of the water cycle associated with Atlantic variability (western sector), Indian Ocean variability (eastern sector) and Pacific variability (both sectors). However, a specific characteristic of SEA is strong heterogeneity in interannual rainfall variability that cannot be explained by large-scale climatic phenomena. For this reason, this study examines regional climate dynamics on daily time-scale with a focus on the role that the abrupt topographic contrast between the lowland Congo and the East African highlands plays in driving rainfall behavior on short timescales. Analysis of daily precipitation data during November-March reveals a zonally-oriented dipole mode over SEA that explains the leading pattern of weather-scale precipitation variability in the region. The separating longitude of the two poles is coincident with the zonal variation of topography. An anomalous counter-clockwise atmospheric circulation associated with the dipole mode appears over the entire SEA. The circulation is triggered by its low-level westerly component, which is in turn generated by an interhemispheric pressure gradient. These enhanced westerlies hit the East African highlands and produce topographically-driven low-level convergence and convection that further intensifies the circulation. Recent studies have shown that under climate change the position and intensity of subtropical highs in both hemispheres and the intensity of precipitation over equatorial Africa are projected to change. Both of these trends have implications for the manner in which large-scale dynamics will interact with regional topography, affecting the intensity and frequency of the dipole mode characterized in this study and the occurrence of extreme wet and dry spells in the region.

Scaling of seismicity induced by nonlinear fluid-rock interaction after an injection stop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johann, L.; Dinske, C.; Shapiro, S. A.

2016-11-01

Fluid injections into unconventional reservoirs, performed for fluid-mobility enhancement, are accompanied by microseismic activity also after the injection. Previous studies revealed that the triggering of seismic events can be effectively described by nonlinear diffusion of pore fluid pressure perturbations where the hydraulic diffusivity becomes pressure dependent. The spatiotemporal distribution of postinjection-induced microseismicity has two important features: the triggering front, corresponding to early and distant events, and the back front, representing the time-dependent spatial envelope of the growing seismic quiescence zone. Here for the first time, we describe analytically the temporal behavior of these two fronts after the injection stop in the case of nonlinear pore fluid pressure diffusion. We propose a scaling law for the fronts and show that they are sensitive to the degree of nonlinearity and to the Euclidean dimension of the dominant growth of seismicity clouds. To validate the theoretical finding, we numerically model nonlinear pore fluid pressure diffusion and generate synthetic catalogs of seismicity. Additionally, we apply the new scaling relation to several case studies of injection-induced seismicity. The derived scaling laws describe well synthetic and real data.

Additional Effect of Static Ultrasound and Diadynamic Currents on Myofascial Trigger Points in a Manual Therapy Program for Patients With Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Dibai-Filho, Almir Vieira; de Oliveira, Alessandra Kelly; Girasol, Carlos Eduardo; Dias, Fabiana Rodrigues Cancio; Guirro, Rinaldo Roberto de Jesus

2017-04-01

To assess the additional effect of static ultrasound and diadynamic currents on myofascial trigger points in a manual therapy program to treat individuals with chronic neck pain. A single-blind randomized trial was conducted. Both men and women, between ages 18 and 45, with chronic neck pain and active myofascial trigger points in the upper trapezius were included in the study. Subjects were assigned to 3 different groups: group 1 (n = 20) was treated with manual therapy; group 2 (n = 20) was treated with manual therapy and static ultrasound; group 3 (n = 20) was treated with manual therapy and diadynamic currents. Individuals were assessed before the first treatment session, 48 hours after the first treatment session, 48 hours after the tenth treatment session, and 4 weeks after the last session. There was no group-versus-time interaction for Numeric Rating Scale, Neck Disability Index, Pain-Related Self-Statement Scale, pressure pain threshold, cervical range of motion, and skin temperature (F-value range, 0.089-1.961; P-value range, 0.106-0.977). Moreover, we found no differences between groups regarding electromyographic activity (P > 0.05). The use of static ultrasound or diadynamic currents on myofascial trigger points in upper trapezius associated with a manual therapy program did not generate greater benefits than manual therapy alone.

Long-term Effect of Biomineralized Insulin Nanoparticles on Type 2 Diabetes Treatment

PubMed Central

Xiao, Yun; Wang, Xiaoyu; Wang, Ben; Liu, Xueyao; Xu, Xurong; Tang, Ruikang

2017-01-01

Intracellular insulin may exhibit a long-term effect in regulating protein synthesis, DNA synthesis, and gene transcription. However, the intracellular delivery of insulin is a great challenge. Here, we describe how a simple biomineralization modification of insulin can transport it into intact cells on a large scale, leading to a long-term therapeutic effect on diabetes mellitus. Using insulin-resistant HepG2 cell and diabetic KKAy mice as models, in vitro and in vivo assessments have demonstrated that biomineralized insulin nanoparticles can trigger glucose metabolism, and this improvement extends after the treatment. The potential exists to improve the current treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus through biomineralized modifications of insulin. This study provides a new paradigm of biomimetic nanotechnology for biomedical applications. PMID:29158827

Association of Kawasaki disease with tropospheric wind patterns.

PubMed

Rodó, Xavier; Ballester, Joan; Cayan, Dan; Melish, Marian E; Nakamura, Yoshikazu; Uehara, Ritei; Burns, Jane C

2011-01-01

The causal agent of Kawasaki disease (KD) remains unknown after more than 40 years of intensive research. The number of cases continues to rise in many parts of the world and KD is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in childhood in developed countries. Analyses of the three major KD epidemics in Japan, major non-epidemic interannual fluctuations of KD cases in Japan and San Diego, and the seasonal variation of KD in Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego, reveals a consistent pattern wherein KD cases are often linked to large-scale wind currents originating in central Asia and traversing the north Pacific. Results suggest that the environmental trigger for KD could be wind-borne. Efforts to isolate the causative agent of KD should focus on the microbiology of aerosols.

The End: Astronomy Meets Eschatology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Impey, C.

2013-04-01

Personal endings carry the most emotional weight, but our growing awareness of the universe has acquainted us with a spectrum of endings on different cosmic scales. First, there is the occasional intrusion of large pieces of debris from the solar system, which can be triggered by the approach of a nearby star. Then, there is the disruption to life and the biosphere caused by stellar death and cataclysm. Finally, there are endings that play out on the largest backdrop of space and time, such as the gradual dimming of the Milky Way as the lowest mass stars expire and the removal of galaxies from view and the possible disruption of space-time caused by dark energy. The Copernican awareness of cosmic evolution helps to put our own modest endings in perspective.

Association of Kawasaki disease with tropospheric wind patterns

PubMed Central

Rodó, Xavier; Ballester, Joan; Cayan, Dan; Melish, Marian E.; Nakamura, Yoshikazu; Uehara, Ritei; Burns, Jane C.

2011-01-01

The causal agent of Kawasaki disease (KD) remains unknown after more than 40 years of intensive research. The number of cases continues to rise in many parts of the world and KD is the most common cause of acquired heart disease in childhood in developed countries. Analyses of the three major KD epidemics in Japan, major non-epidemic interannual fluctuations of KD cases in Japan and San Diego, and the seasonal variation of KD in Japan, Hawaii, and San Diego, reveals a consistent pattern wherein KD cases are often linked to large-scale wind currents originating in central Asia and traversing the north Pacific. Results suggest that the environmental trigger for KD could be wind-borne. Efforts to isolate the causative agent of KD should focus on the microbiology of aerosols. PMID:22355668

Collagen implants equipped with 'fish scale'-like nanoreservoirs of growth factors for bone regeneration.

PubMed

Eap, Sandy; Ferrand, Alice; Schiavi, Jessica; Keller, Laetitia; Kokten, Tunay; Fioretti, Florence; Mainard, Didier; Ladam, Guy; Benkirane-Jessel, Nadia

2014-01-01

Implants triggering rapid, robust and durable tissue regeneration are needed to shorten recovery times and decrease risks of postoperative complications for patients. Here, we describe active living collagen implants with highly promising bone regenerative properties. Bioactivity of the implants is obtained through the protective and stabilizing layer-by-layer immobilization of a protein growth factor in association with a polysaccharide (chitosan), within the form of nanocontainers decorating the collagen nanofibers. All components of the implants are US FDA approved. From both in vitro and in vivo evaluations, the sophisticated strategy described here should enhance, at a reduced cost, the safety and efficacy of the therapeutic implants in terms of large bone defects repair compared with current simplistic approaches based on the soaking of the implants with protein growth factor.

Triggers for Autism: Genetic and Environmental Factors

PubMed Central

Matsuzaki, Hideo; Iwata, Keiko; Manabe, Takayuki; Mori, Norio

2012-01-01

This report reviews the research on the factors that cause autism. In several studies, these factors have been verified by reproducing them in autistic animal models. Clinical research has demonstrated that genetic and environmental factors play a major role in the development of autism. However, most cases are idiopathic, and no single factor can explain the trends in the pathology and prevalence of autism. At the time of this writing, autism is viewed more as a multi-factorial disorder. However, the existence of an unknown factor that may be common in all autistic cases cannot be ruled out. It is hoped that future biological studies of autism will help construct a new theory that can interpret the pathology of autism in a coherent manner. To achieve this, large-scale epidemiological research is essential. PMID:23650465

Dehydration-driven stress transfer triggers intermediate-depth earthquakes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrand, Thomas P.; Hilairet, Nadège; Incel, Sarah; Deldicque, Damien; Labrousse, Loïc; Gasc, Julien; Renner, Joerg; Wang, Yanbin; Green, Harry W., II; Schubnel, Alexandre

2017-05-01

Intermediate-depth earthquakes (30-300 km) have been extensively documented within subducting oceanic slabs, but their mechanics remains enigmatic. Here we decipher the mechanism of these earthquakes by performing deformation experiments on dehydrating serpentinized peridotites (synthetic antigorite-olivine aggregates, minerals representative of subduction zones lithologies) at upper mantle conditions. At a pressure of 1.1 gigapascals, dehydration of deforming samples containing only 5 vol% of antigorite suffices to trigger acoustic emissions, a laboratory-scale analogue of earthquakes. At 3.5 gigapascals, acoustic emissions are recorded from samples with up to 50 vol% of antigorite. Experimentally produced faults, observed post-mortem, are sealed by fluid-bearing micro-pseudotachylytes. Microstructural observations demonstrate that antigorite dehydration triggered dynamic shear failure of the olivine load-bearing network. These laboratory analogues of intermediate-depth earthquakes demonstrate that little dehydration is required to trigger embrittlement. We propose an alternative model to dehydration-embrittlement in which dehydration-driven stress transfer, rather than fluid overpressure, causes embrittlement.

Characteristics and frequency of large submarine landslides at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beckers, Arnaud; Hubert-Ferrari, Aurelia; Beck, Christian; Papatheodorou, George; de Batist, Marc; Sakellariou, Dimitris; Tripsanas, Efthymios; Demoulin, Alain

2018-05-01

Coastal and submarine landslides are frequent at the western tip of the Gulf of Corinth, where small to medium failure events (106-107 m3) occur on average every 30-50 years. These landslides trigger tsunamis and consequently represent a significant hazard. We use here a dense grid of high-resolution seismic profiles to realize an inventory of the large mass transport deposits (MTDs) that result from these submarine landslides. Six large mass wasting events are identified, and their associated deposits locally represent 30 % of the sedimentation since 130 ka in the main western basin. In the case of a large MTD of ˜ 1 km3 volume, the simultaneous occurrence of different slope failures is inferred and suggests an earthquake triggering. However, the overall temporal distribution of MTDs would result from the time-dependent evolution of pre-conditioning factors rather than from the recurrence of external triggers. Two likely main pre-conditioning factors are (1) the reloading time of slopes, which varied with the sedimentation rate, and (2) dramatic changes in water depth and water circulation that occurred 10-12 ka ago during the last post-glacial transgression. Such sliding events likely generated large tsunami waves in the whole Gulf of Corinth, possibly larger than those reported in historical sources considering the observed volume of the MTDs.

On near-source earthquake triggering

USGS Publications Warehouse

Parsons, T.; Velasco, A.A.

2009-01-01

When one earthquake triggers others nearby, what connects them? Two processes are observed: static stress change from fault offset and dynamic stress changes from passing seismic waves. In the near-source region (r ??? 50 km for M ??? 5 sources) both processes may be operating, and since both mechanisms are expected to raise earthquake rates, it is difficult to isolate them. We thus compare explosions with earthquakes because only earthquakes cause significant static stress changes. We find that large explosions at the Nevada Test Site do not trigger earthquakes at rates comparable to similar magnitude earthquakes. Surface waves are associated with regional and long-range dynamic triggering, but we note that surface waves with low enough frequency to penetrate to depths where most aftershocks of the 1992 M = 5.7 Little Skull Mountain main shock occurred (???12 km) would not have developed significant amplitude within a 50-km radius. We therefore focus on the best candidate phases to cause local dynamic triggering, direct waves that pass through observed near-source aftershock clusters. We examine these phases, which arrived at the nearest (200-270 km) broadband station before the surface wave train and could thus be isolated for study. Direct comparison of spectral amplitudes of presurface wave arrivals shows that M ??? 5 explosions and earthquakes deliver the same peak dynamic stresses into the near-source crust. We conclude that a static stress change model can readily explain observed aftershock patterns, whereas it is difficult to attribute near-source triggering to a dynamic process because of the dearth of aftershocks near large explosions.

Effect of color coding and subtraction on the accuracy of contrast echocardiography

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pasquet, A.; Greenberg, N.; Brunken, R.; Thomas, J. D.; Marwick, T. H.

1999-01-01

BACKGROUND: Contrast echocardiography may be used to assess myocardial perfusion. However, gray scale assessment of myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) is difficult because of variations in regional backscatter intensity, difficulties in distinguishing varying shades of gray, and artifacts or attenuation. We sought to determine whether the assessment of rest myocardial perfusion by MCE could be improved with subtraction and color coding. METHODS AND RESULTS: MCE was performed in 31 patients with previous myocardial infarction with a 2nd generation agent (NC100100, Nycomed AS), using harmonic triggered or continuous imaging and gain settings were kept constant throughout the study. Digitized images were post processed by subtraction of baseline from contrast data and colorized to reflect the intensity of myocardial contrast. Gray scale MCE alone, MCE images combined with baseline and subtracted colorized images were scored independently using a 16 segment model. The presence and severity of myocardial contrast abnormalities were compared with perfusion defined by rest MIBI-SPECT. Segments that were not visualized by continuous (17%) or triggered imaging (14%) after color processing were excluded from further analysis. The specificity of gray scale MCE alone (56%) or MCE combined with baseline 2D (47%) was significantly enhanced by subtraction and color coding (76%, p<0.001) of triggered images. The accuracy of the gray scale approaches (respectively 52% and 47%) was increased to 70% (p<0.001). Similarly, for continuous images, the specificity of gray scale MCE with and without baseline comparison was 23% and 42% respectively, compared with 60% after post processing (p<0.001). The accuracy of colorized images (59%) was also significantly greater than gray scale MCE (43% and 29%, p<0.001). The sensitivity of MCE for both acquisitions was not altered by subtraction. CONCLUSION: Post-processing with subtraction and color coding significantly improves the accuracy and specificity of MCE for detection of perfusion defects.

Tau, amyloid, and cascading network failure across the Alzheimer's disease spectrum.

PubMed

Jones, David T; Graff-Radford, Jonathan; Lowe, Val J; Wiste, Heather J; Gunter, Jeffrey L; Senjem, Matthew L; Botha, Hugo; Kantarci, Kejal; Boeve, Bradley F; Knopman, David S; Petersen, Ronald C; Jack, Clifford R

2017-12-01

Functionally related brain regions are selectively vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology. However, molecular markers of this pathophysiology (i.e., beta-amyloid and tau aggregates) have discrepant spatial and temporal patterns of progression within these selectively vulnerable brain regions. Existing reductionist pathophysiologic models cannot account for these large-scale spatiotemporal inconsistencies. Within the framework of the recently proposed cascading network failure model of Alzheimer's disease, however, these large-scale patterns are to be expected. This model postulates the following: 1) a tau-associated, circumscribed network disruption occurs in brain regions specific to a given phenotype in clinically normal individuals; 2) this disruption can trigger phenotype independent, stereotypic, and amyloid-associated compensatory brain network changes indexed by changes in the default mode network; 3) amyloid deposition marks a saturation of functional compensation and portends an acceleration of the inciting phenotype specific, and tau-associated, network failure. With the advent of in vivo molecular imaging of tau pathology, combined with amyloid and functional network imaging, it is now possible to investigate the relationship between functional brain networks, tau, and amyloid across the disease spectrum within these selectively vulnerable brain regions. In a large cohort (n = 218) spanning the Alzheimer's disease spectrum from young, amyloid negative, cognitively normal subjects to Alzheimer's disease dementia, we found several distinct spatial patterns of tau deposition, including 'Braak-like' and 'non-Braak-like', across functionally related brain regions. Rather than arising focally and spreading sequentially, elevated tau signal seems to occur system-wide based on inferences made from multiple cross-sectional analyses we conducted looking at regional patterns of tau signal. Younger age-of-disease-onset was associated with 'non-Braak-like' patterns of tau, suggesting an association with atypical clinical phenotypes. As predicted by the cascading network failure model of Alzheimer's disease, we found that amyloid is a partial mediator of the relationship between functional network failure and tau deposition in functionally connected brain regions. This study implicates large-scale brain networks in the pathophysiology of tau deposition and offers support to models incorporating large-scale network physiology into disease models linking tau and amyloid, such as the cascading network failure model of Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Methodologies for the assessment of earthquake-triggered landslides hazard. A comparison of Logistic Regression and Artificial Neural Network models.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García-Rodríguez, M. J.; Malpica, J. A.; Benito, B.

2009-04-01

In recent years, interest in landslide hazard assessment studies has increased substantially. They are appropriate for evaluation and mitigation plan development in landslide-prone areas. There are several techniques available for landslide hazard research at a regional scale. Generally, they can be classified in two groups: qualitative and quantitative methods. Most of qualitative methods tend to be subjective, since they depend on expert opinions and represent hazard levels in descriptive terms. On the other hand, quantitative methods are objective and they are commonly used due to the correlation between the instability factors and the location of the landslides. Within this group, statistical approaches and new heuristic techniques based on artificial intelligence (artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy logic, etc.) provide rigorous analysis to assess landslide hazard over large regions. However, they depend on qualitative and quantitative data, scale, types of movements and characteristic factors used. We analysed and compared an approach for assessing earthquake-triggered landslides hazard using logistic regression (LR) and artificial neural networks (ANN) with a back-propagation learning algorithm. One application has been developed in El Salvador, a country of Central America where the earthquake-triggered landslides are usual phenomena. In a first phase, we analysed the susceptibility and hazard associated to the seismic scenario of the 2001 January 13th earthquake. We calibrated the models using data from the landslide inventory for this scenario. These analyses require input variables representing physical parameters to contribute to the initiation of slope instability, for example, slope gradient, elevation, aspect, mean annual precipitation, lithology, land use, and terrain roughness, while the occurrence or non-occurrence of landslides is considered as dependent variable. The results of the landslide susceptibility analysis are checked using landslide location data. These results show a high concordance between the landslide inventory and the high susceptibility estimated zone with an adjustment of 95.1 % for ANN model and 89.4% for LR model. In addition, we make a comparative analysis of both techniques using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, a graphical plot of the sensitivity vs. (1 - specificity) for a binary classifier system in function of its discrimination threshold, and calculating the Area Under the ROC (AUROC) value for each model. Finally, the previous models are used for the developing a new probabilistic landslide hazard map for future events. They are obtained combining the expected triggering factor (calculated earthquake ground motion) for a return period of 475 years with the susceptibility map.

On the Role of Multi-Scale Processes in CO2 Storage Security and Integrity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pruess, K.; Kneafsey, T. J.

2008-12-01

Consideration of multiple scales in subsurface processes is usually referred to the spatial domain, where we may attempt to relate process descriptions and parameters from pore and bench (Darcy) scale to much larger field and regional scales. However, multiple scales occur also in the time domain, and processes extending over a broad range of time scales may be very relevant to CO2 storage and containment. In some cases, such as in the convective instability induced by CO2 dissolution in saline waters, space and time scales are coupled in the sense that perturbations induced by CO2 injection will grow concurrently over many orders of magnitude in both space and time. In other cases, CO2 injection may induce processes that occur on short time scales, yet may affect large regions. Possible examples include seismicity that may be triggered by CO2 injection, or hypothetical release events such as "pneumatic eruptions" that may discharge substantial amounts of CO2 over a short time period. This paper will present recent advances in our experimental and modeling studies of multi-scale processes. Specific examples that will be discussed include (1) the process of CO2 dissolution-diffusion-convection (DDC), that can greatly accelerate the rate at which free-phase CO2 is stored as aqueous solute; (2) self- enhancing and self-limiting processes during CO2 leakage through faults, fractures, or improperly abandoned wells; and (3) porosity and permeability reduction from salt precipitation near CO2 injection wells, and mitigation of corresponding injectivity loss. This work was supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences and by the Zero Emission Research and Technology project (ZERT) under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 with the U.S. Department of Energy.

General bounds in Hybrid Natural Inflation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Germán, Gabriel; Herrera-Aguilar, Alfredo; Hidalgo, Juan Carlos; Sussman, Roberto A.; Tapia, José

2017-12-01

Recently we have studied in great detail a model of Hybrid Natural Inflation (HNI) by constructing two simple effective field theories. These two versions of the model allow inflationary energy scales as small as the electroweak scale in one of them or as large as the Grand Unification scale in the other, therefore covering the whole range of possible energy scales. In any case the inflationary sector of the model is of the form V(phi)=V0 (1+a cos(phi/f)) where 0<= a<1 and the end of inflation is triggered by an independent waterfall field. One interesting characteristic of this model is that the slow-roll parameter epsilon(phi) is a non-monotonic function of phi presenting a maximum close to the inflection point of the potential. Because the scalar spectrum Script Ps(k) of density fluctuations when written in terms of the potential is inversely proportional to epsilon(phi) we find that Script Ps(k) presents a minimum at phimin. The origin of the HNI potential can be traced to a symmetry breaking phenomenon occurring at some energy scale f which gives rise to a (massless) Goldstone boson. Non-perturbative physics at some temperature T

Dynamic stresses, coulomb failure, and remote triggering: corrected

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hill, David P.

2012-01-01

Dynamic stresses associated with crustal surface waves with 15–30 s periods and peak amplitudes <1  MPa are capable of triggering seismicity at sites remote from the generating mainshock under appropriate conditions. Coulomb failure models based on a frictional strength threshold offer one explanation for instances of rapid‐onset triggered seismicity that develop during the surface‐wave peak dynamic stressing. Evaluation of the triggering potential of surface‐wave dynamic stresses acting on critically stressed faults using a Mohr’s circle representation together with the Coulomb failure criteria indicates that Love waves should have a higher triggering potential than Rayleigh waves for most fault orientations and wave incidence angles. That (1) the onset of triggered seismicity often appears to begin during the Rayleigh wave rather than the earlier arriving Love wave, and (2) Love‐wave amplitudes typically exceed those for Rayleigh waves suggests that the explanation for rapid‐onset dynamic triggering may not reside solely with a simple static‐threshold friction mode. The results also indicate that normal faults should be more susceptible to dynamic triggering by 20‐s Rayleigh‐wave stresses than thrust faults in the shallow seismogenic crust (<10  km) while the advantage tips in favor of reverse faults greater depths. This transition depth scales with wavelength and coincides roughly with the transition from retrograde‐to‐prograde particle motion. Locally elevated pore pressures may have a role in the observed prevalence of dynamic triggering in extensional regimes and geothermal/volcanic systems. The result is consistent with the apparent elevated susceptibility of extensional or transtensional tectonic regimes to remote triggering by Rayleigh‐wave dynamic stresses than compressional or transpressional regimes.

Widespread afterslip and triggered slow slip events following the M7.8 Kaikoura earthquake, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, L. M.; Hreinsdottir, S.; Hamling, I. J.; D'Anastasio, E.; Bartlow, N. M.

2017-12-01

Just after midnight on 14 Nov 2016 (NZ Local time), the M7.8 Kaikoura earthquake ruptured a complex sequence of strike-slip and reverse faults over an approximately 150 km length in the northeastern South Island of New Zealand (Hamling et al., 2017, Science). In the months following the earthquake, time-dependent inversions of InSAR observations and continuous and semi-continuous GPS measurements reveal up to 0.5 m of afterslip on the subduction interface beneath the northern South Island underlying the region of large coseismic slip on crustal faults in the M7.8 earthquake. The geodetic data also require significant afterslip on a subset of the crustal faults that ruptured in the earthquake, including the Needles, Jordan Thrust, and Kekerengu faults. Our best-fitting models also suggest significant afterslip on an offshore reverse fault, in a similar position to one inferred by Clark et al. (2017, EPSL) from coseismic coastal uplift data. The M7.8 earthquake also triggered widespread slow slip occurring over much of the Hikurangi subduction zone beneath the North Island. Immediately following the earthquake, continuous GPS sites operated by GeoNet (www.geonet.org.nz) along the North Island's east coast (above the Hikurangi subduction zone) detected several to 30 mm of eastward motion over the two-week period immediately following the M7.8 event. These sites are located 350-650 km from the M7.8 earthquake. Such large eastward motion along the North Island's east coast following the earthquake is consistent with the initiation of a large slow slip event along the shallow, offshore portion of the Hikurangi subduction zone. In addition to shallow slow slip (<15 km depth) triggered offshore the east coast, we also observe deeper slow slip (>30 km depth) triggered in the Kapiti region at the southern Hikurangi margin. The Kapiti SSE was still ongoing as of August 2017, although we expect it to finish before the end of 2017. Given the large distance of the shallow east coast SSE from the M7.8 earthquake, we suggest that the shallow SSE was more likely to be triggered by dynamic stress changes, while the deeper SSEs closer to the Mw 7.8 were more likely triggered by static stress changes.

Impact of topography on the diurnal cycle of summertime moist convection in idealized simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hassanzadeh, Hanieh; Schmidli, Jürg; Langhans, Wolfgang

The impact of an isolated mesoscale mountain on the diurnal cycle of moist convection and its spatial variation is investigated. Convection-resolving simulations of flow over 3D Gaussian-shaped mountains are performed for a conditionally unstable atmosphere under diurnal radiative forcing. The results show considerable spatial variability in terms of timing and amount of convective precipitation. This variability relates to different physical mechanisms responsible for convection initiation in different parts of the domain. During the late morning, the mass convergence from the radiatively driven diurnal upslope flow confronting the large-scale incident background flow triggers strong convective precipitation over the mountain lee slope.more » As a consequence, instabilities in the boundary layer are swept out by the emerging cold pool in the vicinity of the mountain, and some parts over the mountain near-field receive less rainfall than the far-field. Over the latter, an unperturbed boundary-layer growth allows for sporadic convective initiation. Still, secondary convection triggered over the leading edge of the cold pool spreads some precipitation over the downstream near-field. Detailed analysis of our control simulation provides further explanation of this frequently observed precipitation pattern over mountains and adjacent plains. Sensitivity experiments indicate a significant influence of the mountain height on the precipitation pattern over the domain.« less

Impact of topography on the diurnal cycle of summertime moist convection in idealized simulations

DOE PAGES

Hassanzadeh, Hanieh; Schmidli, Jürg; Langhans, Wolfgang; ...

2015-08-31

The impact of an isolated mesoscale mountain on the diurnal cycle of moist convection and its spatial variation is investigated. Convection-resolving simulations of flow over 3D Gaussian-shaped mountains are performed for a conditionally unstable atmosphere under diurnal radiative forcing. The results show considerable spatial variability in terms of timing and amount of convective precipitation. This variability relates to different physical mechanisms responsible for convection initiation in different parts of the domain. During the late morning, the mass convergence from the radiatively driven diurnal upslope flow confronting the large-scale incident background flow triggers strong convective precipitation over the mountain lee slope.more » As a consequence, instabilities in the boundary layer are swept out by the emerging cold pool in the vicinity of the mountain, and some parts over the mountain near-field receive less rainfall than the far-field. Over the latter, an unperturbed boundary-layer growth allows for sporadic convective initiation. Still, secondary convection triggered over the leading edge of the cold pool spreads some precipitation over the downstream near-field. Detailed analysis of our control simulation provides further explanation of this frequently observed precipitation pattern over mountains and adjacent plains. Sensitivity experiments indicate a significant influence of the mountain height on the precipitation pattern over the domain.« less

Landslides Triggered by the 2015 Gorkha, Nepal Earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, C.

2018-04-01

The 25 April 2015 Gorkha Mw 7.8 earthquake in central Nepal caused a large number of casualties and serious property losses, and also induced numerous landslides. Based on visual interpretation of high-resolution optical satellite images pre- and post-earthquake and field reconnaissance, we delineated 47,200 coseismic landslides with a total distribution extent more than 35,000 km2, which occupy a total area about 110 km2. On the basis of a scale relationship between landslide area (A) and volume (V), V = 1.3147 × A1.2085, the total volume of the coseismic landslides is estimated to be about 9.64 × 108 m3. Calculation yields that the landslide number density, area density, and volume density are 1.32 km-2, 0.31 %, and 0.027 m, respectively. The spatial distribution of these landslides is consistent with that of the mainshock and aftershocks and the inferred causative fault, indicating the effect of the earthquake energy release on the pattern on coseismic landslides. This study provides a new, more detailed and objective inventory of the landslides triggered by the Gorkha earthquake, which would be significant for further study of genesis of coseismic landslides, hazard assessment and the long-term impact of the slope failure on the geological environment in the earthquake-scarred region.

On the dynamics of acute EBV infection and the pathogenesis of infectious mononucleosis

PubMed Central

Hadinoto, Vey; Shapiro, Michael; Greenough, Thomas C.; Sullivan, John L.; Luzuriaga, Katherine

2008-01-01

Memory B cells latently infected with Epstein-Barr virus (mBLats) in the blood disappear rapidly on presentation with acute symptomatic primary infection (acute infectious mononucleosis [AIM]). They undergo a simple exponential decay (average half-life: 7.5 ± 3.7 days) similar to that of normal memory B cells. The cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response to immediate early (IE) lytic antigens (CTLIEs) also decays over this time period, but no such correlation was observed for the CTL response to lytic or latent antigens or to the levels of virions shed into saliva. We have estimated the average half-life of CTLIEs to be 73 (± 23) days. We propose that cycles of infection and reactivation occur in the initial stages of infection that produce high levels of mBLats in the circulation. Eventually the immune response arises and minimizes these cycles leaving the high levels of mBLats in the blood to decay through simple memory B-cell homeostasis mechanisms. This triggers the cells to reactivate the virus whereupon most are killed by CTLIEs before they can release virus and infect new cells. The release of antigens caused by this large-scale destruction of infected cells may trigger the symptoms of AIM and be a cofactor in other AIM-associated diseases. PMID:17991806

Long-Lasting Crossmodal Cortical Reorganization Triggered by Brief Postnatal Visual Deprivation.

PubMed

Collignon, Olivier; Dormal, Giulia; de Heering, Adelaide; Lepore, Franco; Lewis, Terri L; Maurer, Daphne

2015-09-21

Animal and human studies have demonstrated that transient visual deprivation early in life, even for a very short period, permanently alters the response properties of neurons in the visual cortex and leads to corresponding behavioral visual deficits. While it is acknowledged that early-onset and longstanding blindness leads the occipital cortex to respond to non-visual stimulation, it remains unknown whether a short and transient period of postnatal visual deprivation is sufficient to trigger crossmodal reorganization that persists after years of visual experience. In the present study, we characterized brain responses to auditory stimuli in 11 adults who had been deprived of all patterned vision at birth by congenital cataracts in both eyes until they were treated at 9 to 238 days of age. When compared to controls with typical visual experience, the cataract-reversal group showed enhanced auditory-driven activity in focal visual regions. A combination of dynamic causal modeling with Bayesian model selection indicated that this auditory-driven activity in the occipital cortex was better explained by direct cortico-cortical connections with the primary auditory cortex than by subcortical connections. Thus, a short and transient period of visual deprivation early in life leads to enduring large-scale crossmodal reorganization of the brain circuitry typically dedicated to vision. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of sperm and phytoplankton on spawning in the echinoid Lytechinus variegatus.

PubMed

Reuter, Kim E; Levitan, Don R

2010-12-01

The cues triggering large-scale broadcast-spawning events in marine invertebrates are not fully understood. Using the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus, we tested the effectiveness of a variety of potential spawning cues in eliciting a spawning response. In the laboratory, during two consecutive spawning seasons, about 400 isolated sea urchins were exposed to phytoplankton, sperm, or eggs, singly or in combination. The likelihood of spawning, time to spawning, and spawning behavior were recorded for both sexes. Sperm was most successful at inducing spawning. No response to eggs was noted. Phytoplankton alone did not trigger spawning, but when a phytoplankton cue was followed by the addition of sperm, spawning behavior was induced, the time between addition of sperm and spawning was reduced, and the variance among individuals in the time of spawning initiation was reduced. Males spawned sooner in response to cues than females and rarely spawned spontaneously in phytoplankton or control treatments. A semilunar pattern in the sensitivity to spawning cues was noted. During time periods when sea urchins were less ripe, the ratio of spawning males to spawning females increased. Our results indicate that seasonal and lunar cycles, together with the presence of phytoplankton, increase the sensitivity of these sea urchins to spawning cues and the precision of their responses to conspecific sperm.

Large rock avalanches triggered by the M 7.9 Denali Fault, Alaska, earthquake of 3 November 2002

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jibson, R.W.; Harp, E.L.; Schulz, W.; Keefer, D.K.

2006-01-01

The moment magnitude (M) 7.9 Denali Fault, Alaska, earthquake of 3 November 2002 triggered thousands of landslides, primarily rock falls and rock slides, that ranged in volume from rock falls of a few cubic meters to rock avalanches having volumes as great as 20 ?? 106 m3. The pattern of landsliding was unusual: the number and concentration of triggered slides was much less than expected for an earthquake of this magnitude, and the landslides were concentrated in a narrow zone about 30-km wide that straddled the fault-rupture zone over its entire 300-km length. Despite the overall sparse landslide concentration, the earthquake triggered several large rock avalanches that clustered along the western third of the rupture zone where acceleration levels and ground-shaking frequencies are thought to have been the highest. Inferences about near-field strong-shaking characteristics drawn from interpretation of the landslide distribution are strikingly consistent with results of recent inversion modeling that indicate that high-frequency energy generation was greatest in the western part of the fault-rupture zone and decreased markedly to the east. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Theoretical and experimental study of bent fully aperiodic large-pitch fibers for enhancing the high-order modes delocalization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

du Jeu, Rémi; Dauliat, Romain; Darwich, Dia; Auguste, Jean-Louis; Benoît, Aurélien; Leconte, Baptiste; Malleville, Marie-Alicia; Jamier, Raphaël.; Schuster, Kay; Roy, Philippe

2018-02-01

The power scaling of fiber lasers and amplifiers has triggered an extensive development of large-mode area fibers among which the most promising are the distributed mode filtering fibers and the large-pitch fibers. These structures enable for an effective higher-order modes delocalization and subsequently a singlemode emission. An interesting alternative consists in using the fully-aperiodic large-pitch fibers, into which the standard air-silica photonic crystal cladding is replaced by an aperiodic pattern made of solid low-index inclusions cladding. However, in such a structure, the core and the background cladding material surrounding it must have rigorously the same refractive index. Current synthesis processes and measurement techniques offer respectively a maximum resolution of 5×10-4 and 1×10-4 while the indexmatching must be as precise as 1×10-5 . Lately a gain material with a refractive index 1.5×10-4 higher than that of the background cladding material was fabricated, thus re-confining the first higher-order modes in the core. A numerical study is carried out on the benefit of bending such fully-aperiodic fiber to counteract this phenomenon. Optimized bending axis and radius have been determined. Experiments are done in a laser cavity operating at 1030 nm using an 88cm-long 51μm core diameter ytterbium-doped fiber. Results demonstrate an improvement of the M2 from 1.7 when the fiber is kept straight to 1.2 when it is bent with a 100 to 60 cm bend radius. These primary results are promising for future power scaling.

Rainfall-triggered shallow landslides at catchment scale: Threshold mechanics-based modeling for abruptness and localization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Ruette, J.; Lehmann, P.; Or, D.

2013-10-01

Rainfall-induced shallow landslides may occur abruptly without distinct precursors and could span a wide range of soil mass released during a triggering event. We present a rainfall-induced landslide-triggering model for steep catchments with surfaces represented as an assembly of hydrologically and mechanically interconnected soil columns. The abruptness of failure was captured by defining local strength thresholds for mechanical bonds linking soil and bedrock and adjacent columns, whereby a failure of a single bond may initiate a chain reaction of subsequent failures, culminating in local mass release (a landslide). The catchment-scale hydromechanical landslide-triggering model (CHLT) was applied to results from two event-based landslide inventories triggered by two rainfall events in 2002 and 2005 in two nearby catchments located in the Prealps in Switzerland. Rainfall radar data, surface elevation and vegetation maps, and a soil production model for soil depth distribution were used for hydromechanical modeling of failure patterns for the two rainfall events at spatial and temporal resolutions of 2.5 m and 0.02 h, respectively. The CHLT model enabled systematic evaluation of the effects of soil type, mechanical reinforcement (soil cohesion and lateral root strength), and initial soil water content on landslide characteristics. We compared various landslide metrics and spatial distribution of simulated landslides in subcatchments with observed inventory data. Model parameters were optimized for the short but intense rainfall event in 2002, and the calibrated model was then applied for the 2005 rainfall, yielding reasonable predictions of landslide events and volumes and statistically reproducing localized landslide patterns similar to inventory data. The model provides a means for identifying local hot spots and offers insights into the dynamics of locally resolved landslide hazards in mountainous regions.

A reversible decrease in ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase carboxylation activity caused by the aggregation of the enzyme's large subunit is triggered in response to the exposure of moderate irradiance-grown plants to low irradiance.

PubMed

Grabsztunowicz, Magda; Górski, Zbigniew; Luciński, Robert; Jackowski, Grzegorz

2015-08-01

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is highly regulated in response to fluctuations in the environment, including changes in irradiance. However, no complex data are available on Rubisco regulatory mechanisms triggered in plants which are submitted to moderate-low irradiance shift. Therefore, we investigated in a comprehensive way the changes at the level of amount of Rubisco protein, its structural organization and carboxylase activity of the holoenzyme as triggered by exposure of moderate irradiance-grown Arabidopsis thaliana plants to low irradiance conditions. An exposure of moderate irradiance-grown plants to low irradiance for a single photoperiod caused the exclusion of a certain pool of Rubisco under altered conditions owing to oxidative modifications resulting in the formation of protein aggregates involving Rubisco large subunit (LS). As a result, both initial and total Rubisco carboxylase activities were reduced, whereas Rubisco activation state remained largely unchanged. The results of the determination of reactive oxygen species indicated that a moderate/low irradiance transition had stimulated (1) O2 accumulation and we strongly suggest that Rubisco oxidative modifications leading to formation of aggregates encompassing Rubisco-LS were triggered by (1) O2 . When moderate irradiance regime was resumed, the majority of Rubisco-LS containing aggregates tended to be resolubilized, and this allowed Rubisco carboxylation activities to be largely recovered, without changes in the activation state of the enzyme. In the longer term, these results allow us to better understand a complexity of Rubisco regulatory mechanisms activated in response to abiotic stresses and during recovery from the stresses. © 2015 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

The impact of Pacific Decadal Oscillation on springtime dust activity in Syria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, B.; Ginoux, P. A.

2016-12-01

The increasing trend of aerosol optical depth in the Middle East and a recent severe dust storm in Syria have raised questions as whether dust storms will increase and promoted investigations on the dust activities driven by the natural climate variability underlying the ongoing human perturbations such as the Syrian civil war. This study examined the influences of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) on dust activities in Syria using an innovative dust optical depth (DOD) dataset derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep Blue aerosol products. A significantly negative correlation is found between the Syrian DOD and the PDO in spring from 2003-2015. High DOD in spring is associated with lower geopotential height over the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, accompanied by near surface anomalous westerly winds over the Mediterranean basin and southerly winds over the eastern Arabian Peninsula. These large-scale patterns promote the formation of the cyclones over the Middle East to trigger dust storms and also facilitate the transport of dust from North Africa, Iraq, and Saudi Arabian to Syria, where the transported dust dominates the seasonal mean DOD in spring. A negative PDO not only creates circulation anomalies favorable to high DOD in Syria but also suppresses precipitation in dust source regions over the eastern and southern Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa. On the daily scale, in addition to the favorable large-scale condition associated with a negative PDO, enhanced atmospheric instability in Syria associated with increased precipitation in Turkey and northern Syria is also critical for the development of strong springtime dust storms in Syria.

The impact of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on springtime dust activity in Syria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Bing; Ginoux, Paul

2016-10-01

The increasing trend of aerosol optical depth in the Middle East and a recent severe dust storm in Syria have raised questions as to whether dust storms will increase and promoted investigations on the dust activities driven by the natural climate variability underlying the ongoing human perturbations such as the Syrian civil war. This study examined the influences of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) on dust activities in Syria using an innovative dust optical depth (DOD) dataset derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep Blue aerosol products. A significantly negative correlation is found between the Syrian DOD and the PDO in spring from 2003 to 2015. High DOD in spring is associated with lower geopotential height over the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa, accompanied by near-surface anomalous westerly winds over the Mediterranean basin and southerly winds over the eastern Arabian Peninsula. These large-scale patterns promote the formation of the cyclones over the Middle East to trigger dust storms and also facilitate the transport of dust from North Africa, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia to Syria, where the transported dust dominates the seasonal mean DOD in spring. A negative PDO not only creates circulation anomalies favorable to high DOD in Syria but also suppresses precipitation in dust source regions over the eastern and southern Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa.On the daily scale, in addition to the favorable large-scale condition associated with a negative PDO, enhanced atmospheric instability in Syria (associated with increased precipitation in Turkey and northern Syria) is also critical for the development of strong springtime dust storms in Syria.

Influence of wintertime large-scale circulation on the explosively developing cyclones over the western North Pacific and their downstream effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshiike, Satoki; Kawamura, Ryuichi

2009-07-01

The relationships between large-scale wintertime circulation and extratropical cyclones that develop explosively (the so-called bomb cyclones) over the western North Pacific are investigated using Japanese long-term reanalysis project data. On a monthly basis, the East Asian winter monsoon variability strongly modulates the bomb cyclone activity in terms of its geographical distribution. When the monsoon is strong, the bomb cyclone activity tends to concentrate in the vicinity of the Kuroshio Current and the Kuroshio Extension near Japan, while when the monsoon is weak, it disperses over the broader areas. The enhancement of the monsoon increases the heat and moisture supply from warm currents, facilitating unstable conditions within the atmospheric boundary layer and intensifying baroclinicity in the lower troposphere. These factors are believed to play a role in inducing bomb cyclones, particularly along the warm currents. On submonthly timescales, the stationary Rossby wave propagation along the South Asian waveguide serves as a prominent trigger for the rapid reinforcement of synoptic-scale disturbances around Japan. When a pronounced bomb cyclone comes to its mature stage northeast of Japan, it is capable of exciting stationary Rossby waves downstream from the Asian jet exit region as vorticity forcing. The stationary wave packets developing southeastward across the North Pacific Ocean basin induce surface cyclogenesis in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands by leading to the equatorward advection of higher potential vorticity from the midlatitudes, bringing about the occurrence of kona storms, which cause weather hazards in Hawaii.

Reflex seizures in Rett syndrome.

PubMed

Roche Martínez, Ana; Alonso Colmenero, M Itziar; Gomes Pereira, Andreia; Sanmartí Vilaplana, Francesc X; Armstrong Morón, Judith; Pineda Marfa, Mercé

2011-12-01

Reflex seizures are a rare phenomenon among epileptic patients, in which an epileptic discharge is triggered by various kinds of stimuli (visual, auditory, tactile or gustatory). Epilepsy is common in Rett syndrome patients (up to 70%), but to the authors' knowledge, no pressure or eating-triggered seizures have yet been reported in Rett children. We describe three epileptic Rett patients with reflex seizures, triggered by food intake or proprioception. One patient with congenital Rett Sd. developed infantile epileptic spasms at around seven months and two patients with classic Rett Sd. presented with generalised tonic-clonic seizures at around five years. Reflex seizures appeared when the patients were teenagers. The congenital-Rett patient presented eating-triggered seizures at the beginning of almost every meal, demonstrated by EEG recording. Both classic Rett patients showed self-provoked pressure -triggered attacks, influenced by stress or excitement. Non-triggered seizures were controlled with carbamazepine or valproate, but reflex seizures did not respond to antiepileptic drugs. Risperidone partially improved self-provoked seizures. When reflex seizures are suspected, reproducing the trigger during EEG recording is fundamental; however, self-provoked seizures depend largely on the patient's will. Optimal therapy (though not always possible) consists of avoiding the trigger. Stress modifiers such as risperidone may help control self-provoked seizures.

Cloud-to-ground lightning in Portugal: patterns and dynamical forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, J. A.; Reis, M. A.; Sousa, J.; Leite, S. M.; Correia, S.; Janeira, M.; Fragoso, M.

2012-03-01

An analysis of the cloud-to-ground discharges (CGD) over Portugal is carried out using data collected by a network of sensors maintained by the Portuguese Meteorological Institute for 2003-2009 (7 yr). Only cloud-to-ground flashes are considered and negative polarity CGD are largely dominant. The total number of discharges reveals a considerable interannual variability and a large irregularity in their distribution throughout the year. However, it is shown that a large number of discharges occur in the May-September period (71%), with a bimodal distribution that peaks in May and September, with most of the lightning activity recorded in the afternoon (from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC). In spring and autumn the lightning activity tends to be scattered throughout the country, whereas in summer it tends to be more concentrated over northeastern Portugal. Winter generally presents low lightning activity. Furthermore, two significant couplings between the monthly number of days with discharges and the large-scale atmospheric circulation are isolated: a regional forcing, predominantly in summer, and a remote forcing. In fact, the identification of daily lightning regimes revealed three important atmospheric conditions for triggering lightning activity: regional cut-off lows, cold troughs induced by remote low pressure systems and summertime regional low pressures at low-tropospheric levels combined with a mid-tropospheric cold trough.

UCTM2: An updated User friendly Configurable Trigger, scaler and delay Module for nuclear and particle physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourrion, O.; Boyer, B.; Derome, L.; Pignol, G.

2016-06-01

We developed a highly integrated and versatile electronic module to equip small nuclear physics experiments and lab teaching classes: the User friendly Configurable Trigger, scaler and delay Module for nuclear and particle physics (UCTM). It is configurable through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and provides a large number of possible trigger conditions without any Hardware Description Language (HDL) required knowledge. This new version significantly enhances the previous capabilities by providing two additional features: signal digitization and time measurements. The design, performances and a typical application are presented.

Clustering, randomness, and regularity in cloud fields. 4. Stratocumulus cloud fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J.; Chou, J.; Weger, R. C.; Welch, R. M.

1994-07-01

To complete the analysis of the spatial distribution of boundary layer cloudiness, the present study focuses on nine stratocumulus Landsat scenes. The results indicate many similarities between stratocumulus and cumulus spatial distributions. Most notably, at full spatial resolution all scenes exhibit a decidedly clustered distribution. The strength of the clustering signal decreases with increasing cloud size; the clusters themselves consist of a few clouds (less than 10), occupy a small percentage of the cloud field area (less than 5%), contain between 20% and 60% of the cloud field population, and are randomly located within the scene. In contrast, stratocumulus in almost every respect are more strongly clustered than are cumulus cloud fields. For instance, stratocumulus clusters contain more clouds per cluster, occupy a larger percentage of the total area, and have a larger percentage of clouds participating in clusters than the corresponding cumulus examples. To investigate clustering at intermediate spatial scales, the local dimensionality statistic is introduced. Results obtained from this statistic provide the first direct evidence for regularity among large (>900 m in diameter) clouds in stratocumulus and cumulus cloud fields, in support of the inhibition hypothesis of Ramirez and Bras (1990). Also, the size compensated point-to-cloud cumulative distribution function statistic is found to be necessary to obtain a consistent description of stratocumulus cloud distributions. A hypothesis regarding the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for cloud clustering is presented. It is suggested that cloud clusters often arise from 4 to 10 triggering events localized within regions less than 2 km in diameter and randomly distributed within the cloud field. As the size of the cloud surpasses the scale of the triggering region, the clustering signal weakens and the larger cloud locations become more random.

Clustering, randomness, and regularity in cloud fields. 4: Stratocumulus cloud fields

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lee, J.; Chou, J.; Weger, R. C.; Welch, R. M.

1994-01-01

To complete the analysis of the spatial distribution of boundary layer cloudiness, the present study focuses on nine stratocumulus Landsat scenes. The results indicate many similarities between stratocumulus and cumulus spatial distributions. Most notably, at full spatial resolution all scenes exhibit a decidedly clustered distribution. The strength of the clustering signal decreases with increasing cloud size; the clusters themselves consist of a few clouds (less than 10), occupy a small percentage of the cloud field area (less than 5%), contain between 20% and 60% of the cloud field population, and are randomly located within the scene. In contrast, stratocumulus in almost every respect are more strongly clustered than are cumulus cloud fields. For instance, stratocumulus clusters contain more clouds per cluster, occupy a larger percentage of the total area, and have a larger percentage of clouds participating in clusters than the corresponding cumulus examples. To investigate clustering at intermediate spatial scales, the local dimensionality statistic is introduced. Results obtained from this statistic provide the first direct evidence for regularity among large (more than 900 m in diameter) clouds in stratocumulus and cumulus cloud fields, in support of the inhibition hypothesis of Ramirez and Bras (1990). Also, the size compensated point-to-cloud cumulative distribution function statistic is found to be necessary to obtain a consistent description of stratocumulus cloud distributions. A hypothesis regarding the underlying physical mechanisms responsible for cloud clustering is presented. It is suggested that cloud clusters often arise from 4 to 10 triggering events localized within regions less than 2 km in diameter and randomly distributed within the cloud field. As the size of the cloud surpasses the scale of the triggering region, the clustering signal weakens and the larger cloud locations become more random.

An optical fiber-based flexible readout system for micro-pattern gas detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, C.; Feng, C. Q.; Zhu, D. Y.; Liu, S. B.; An, Q.

2018-04-01

This paper presents an optical fiber-based readout system that is intended to provide a general purpose multi-channel readout solution for various Micro-Pattern Gas Detectors (MPGDs). The proposed readout system is composed of several front-end cards (FECs) and a data collection module (DCM). The FEC exploits the capability of an existing 64-channel generic TPC readout ASIC chip, named AGET, to implement 256 channels readout. AGET offers FEC a large flexibility in gain range (4 options from 120 fC to 10 pC), peaking time (16 options from 50 ns to 1 us) and sampling freqency (100 MHz max.). The DCM contains multiple 1 Gbps optical fiber serial link interfaces that allow the system scaling up to 1536 channels with 6 FECs and 1 DCM. Further scaling up is possible through cascading of multiple DCMs, by configuring one DCM as a master while other DCMs in slave mode. This design offers a rapid readout solution for different application senario. Tests indicate that the nonlinearity of each channel is less than 1%, and the equivalent input noise charge is typically around 0.7 fC in RMS (root mean square), with a noise slope of about 0.01 fC/pF. The system level trigger rate limit is about 700 Hz in all channel readout mode. When in hit channel readout mode, supposing that typically 10 percent of channels are fired, trigger rate can go up to about 7 kHz. This system has been tested with Micromegas detector and GEM detector, confirming its capability in MPGD readout. Details of hardware and FPGA firmware design, as well as system performances, are described in the paper.

Assessing the trophic position and ecological role of squids in marine ecosystems by means of food-web models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coll, Marta; Navarro, Joan; Olson, Robert J.; Christensen, Villy

2013-10-01

We synthesized available information from ecological models at local and regional scales to obtain a global picture of the trophic position and ecological role of squids in marine ecosystems. First, static food-web models were used to analyze basic ecological parameters and indicators of squids: biomass, production, consumption, trophic level, omnivory index, predation mortality diet, and the ecological role. In addition, we developed various dynamic temporal simulations using two food-web models that included squids in their parameterization, and we investigated potential impacts of fishing pressure and environmental conditions for squid populations and, consequently, for marine food webs. Our results showed that squids occupy a large range of trophic levels in marine food webs and show a large trophic width, reflecting the versatility in their feeding behaviors and dietary habits. Models illustrated that squids are abundant organisms in marine ecosystems, and have high growth and consumption rates, but these parameters are highly variable because squids are adapted to a large variety of environmental conditions. Results also show that squids can have a large trophic impact on other elements of the food web, and top-down control from squids to their prey can be high. In addition, some squid species are important prey of apical predators and may be keystone species in marine food webs. In fact, we found strong interrelationships between neritic squids and the populations of their prey and predators in coastal and shelf areas, while the role of squids in open ocean and upwelling ecosystems appeared more constrained to a bottom-up impact on their predators. Therefore, large removals of squids will likely have large-scale effects on marine ecosystems. In addition, simulations confirm that squids are able to benefit from a general increase in fishing pressure, mainly due to predation release, and quickly respond to changes triggered by the environment. Squids may thus be very sensitive to the effects of fishing and climate change.

Late Quaternary river channel migrations of the Kura River in Transcaucasia - tectonic versus climatic causes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Suchodoletz, Hans; Gärtner, Andreas; Hoth, Silvan; Umlauft, Josefine; Godoladze, Tea; Faust, Dominik

2015-04-01

Large-scale river channel migrations either in the form of avulsions or combing, i.e. progressive lateral migrations, are global phenomena during the Late Quaternary. Such channel migrations were triggered by tectonics, climate change, human activity or a combination of those factors. River channel migrations have the potential to cause significant human and economic losses. Thus, a more thorough knowledge about underlying causes and process rates is essential. Furthermore, such studies will elucidate the sensitivity or robustness of rivers to different external and internal forcing-agents, i.e. they help to identify the dominant drivers of regional landscape evolution. The Caucasus region is part of the active collision zone between the Africa-Arabian and the Eurasian plates, and is characterized by high current tectonic activity. Furthermore, significant environmental changes took place during the Late Quaternary, i.e. the shrinking or even disappearance of glaciers in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus or fundamental changes of the vegetation cover varying between woodland and grassland-dominated vegetation. The Kura River is the main gaining stream of the Transcaucasian Depression located between the Greater Caucasus Mountains in the north and the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south, and receives several tributaries from both mountain ranges. This study focusses on the middle course of the Kura River in eastern Georgia, SE of the city of Tbilisi. Integration of fluvial geomorphology, geochronology, heavy mineral analyses and seismo-tectonic analyses demonstrates that this part of the Kura River underwent large-scale channel migrations up to >10 km during Late Pleistocene and Holocene. It is interpreted that these movements followed both tectonic and climatic triggers: Whereas SW-ward migrations were caused by tectonic uplift in and SW-directed advance of the Kura fold and thrust belt as part of the Greater Caucasus, NE-ward migrations occurred during cold glacial periods with intensive sediment supply and strong vertical sedimentation of tributaries originating from a westerly direction. Thus, the middle course of the Kura River shows a dynamic equilibrium between competing tectonic and climatic processes.

Geological hazard monitoring system in Georgia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaprindashvili, George

2017-04-01

Georgia belongs to one of world's most complex mountainous regions according to the scale and frequency of Geological processes and damage caused to population, farmlands, and Infrastructure facilities. Geological hazards (landslide, debrisflow/mudflow, rockfall, erosion and etc.) are affecting many populated areas, agricultural fields, roads, oil and gas pipes, high-voltage electric power transmission towers, hydraulic structures, and tourist complexes. Landslides occur almost in all geomorphological zones, resulting in wide differentiation in the failure types and mechanisms and in the size-frequency distribution. In Georgia, geological hazards triggered by: 1. Activation of highly intense earthquakes; 2. Meteorological events provoking the disaster processes on the background of global climatic change; 3. Large-scale Human impact on the environment. The prediction and monitoring of Geological Hazards is a very wide theme, which involves different researchers from different spheres. Geological hazard monitoring is essential to prevent and mitigate these hazards. In past years in Georgia several monitoring system, such as Ground-based geodetic techniques, Debrisflow Early Warning System (EWS) were installed on high sensitive landslide and debrisflow areas. This work presents description of Geological hazard monitoring system in Georgia.

Unsteady Crystal Growth Due to Step-Bunch Cascading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vekilov, Peter G.; Lin, Hong; Rosenberger, Franz

1997-01-01

Based on our experimental findings of growth rate fluctuations during the crystallization of the protein lysozym, we have developed a numerical model that combines diffusion in the bulk of a solution with diffusive transport to microscopic growth steps that propagate on a finite crystal facet. Nonlinearities in layer growth kinetics arising from step interaction by bulk and surface diffusion, and from step generation by surface nucleation, are taken into account. On evaluation of the model with properties characteristic for the solute transport, and the generation and propagation of steps in the lysozyme system, growth rate fluctuations of the same magnitude and characteristic time, as in the experiments, are obtained. The fluctuation time scale is large compared to that of step generation. Variations of the governing parameters of the model reveal that both the nonlinearity in step kinetics and mixed transport-kinetics control of the crystallization process are necessary conditions for the fluctuations. On a microscopic scale, the fluctuations are associated with a morphological instability of the vicinal face, in which a step bunch triggers a cascade of new step bunches through the microscopic interfacial supersaturation distribution.

Observing RAM Pressure Stripping and Morphological Transformation in the Coma Cluster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregg, Michael; West, Michael

2017-07-01

The two largest spirals in the Coma cluster, NGC4911 and NGC4921, are being vigorously ram-pressure stripped by the hot intracluster medium. Our HST ACS and WFC3 images have revealed galactic scale shock fronts, giant "Pillars of Creation", rivulets of dust, and spatially coherent star formation in these grand design spirals. We have now obtained HST WFC3 imaging of five additional large Coma spirals to search for and investigate the effects of ram pressure stripping across the wider cluster environment. The results are equally spectacular as the first two examples. The geometry of the interactions in some cases allows an estimation of the various time scales involved, including gas flows out of the disk leading to creation of the ICM, and the attendant triggered star formation in the galaxy disks. The global star formation patterns yield insights into the spatial and temporal ISM-ICM interactions driving cluster galaxy evolution and ultimately transforming morphologies from spiral to S0. These processes were much more common in the early Universe when the intergalactic and intracluster components were initially created from stripping and destruction of member galaxies.

Resolution extension by image summing in serial femtosecond crystallography of two-dimensional membrane-protein crystals

DOE PAGES

Casadei, Cecilia M.; Tsai, Ching-Ju; Barty, Anton; ...

2018-01-01

Previous proof-of-concept measurements on single-layer two-dimensional membrane-protein crystals performed at X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) have demonstrated that the collection of meaningful diffraction patterns, which is not possible at synchrotrons because of radiation-damage issues, is feasible. Here, the results obtained from the analysis of a thousand single-shot, room-temperature X-ray FEL diffraction images from two-dimensional crystals of a bacteriorhodopsin mutant are reported in detail. The high redundancy in the measurements boosts the intensity signal-to-noise ratio, so that the values of the diffracted intensities can be reliably determined down to the detector-edge resolution of 4 Å. The results show that two-dimensional serial crystallography atmore » X-ray FELs is a suitable method to study membrane proteins to near-atomic length scales at ambient temperature. The method presented here can be extended to pump–probe studies of optically triggered structural changes on submillisecond timescales in two-dimensional crystals, which allow functionally relevant large-scale motions that may be quenched in three-dimensional crystals.« less

Identification of MAPK Substrates Using Quantitative Phosphoproteomics.

PubMed

Zhang, Tong; Schneider, Jacqueline D; Zhu, Ning; Chen, Sixue

2017-01-01

Activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) under diverse biotic and abiotic factors and identification of an array of downstream MAPK target proteins are hot topics in plant signal transduction. Through interactions with a plethora of substrate proteins, MAPK cascades regulate many physiological processes in the course of plant growth, development, and response to environmental factors. Identification and quantification of potential MAPK substrates are essential, but have been technically challenging. With the recent advancement in phosphoproteomics, here we describe a method that couples metal dioxide for phosphopeptide enrichment with tandem mass tags (TMT) mass spectrometry (MS) for large-scale MAPK substrate identification and quantification. We have applied this method to a transient expression system carrying a wild type (WT) and a constitutive active (CA) version of a MAPK. This combination of genetically engineered MAPKs and phosphoproteomics provides a high-throughput, unbiased analysis of MAPK-triggered phosphorylation changes on the proteome scale. Therefore, it is a robust method for identifying potential MAPK substrates and should be applicable in the study of other kinase cascades in plants as well as in other organisms.

Resolution extension by image summing in serial femtosecond crystallography of two-dimensional membrane-protein crystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Casadei, Cecilia M.; Tsai, Ching-Ju; Barty, Anton

Previous proof-of-concept measurements on single-layer two-dimensional membrane-protein crystals performed at X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs) have demonstrated that the collection of meaningful diffraction patterns, which is not possible at synchrotrons because of radiation-damage issues, is feasible. Here, the results obtained from the analysis of a thousand single-shot, room-temperature X-ray FEL diffraction images from two-dimensional crystals of a bacteriorhodopsin mutant are reported in detail. The high redundancy in the measurements boosts the intensity signal-to-noise ratio, so that the values of the diffracted intensities can be reliably determined down to the detector-edge resolution of 4 Å. The results show that two-dimensional serial crystallography atmore » X-ray FELs is a suitable method to study membrane proteins to near-atomic length scales at ambient temperature. The method presented here can be extended to pump–probe studies of optically triggered structural changes on submillisecond timescales in two-dimensional crystals, which allow functionally relevant large-scale motions that may be quenched in three-dimensional crystals.« less