Spatiotemporal slope stability analytics for failure estimation (SSSAFE): linking radar data to the fundamental dynamics of granular failure

Impending catastrophic failure of granular earth slopes manifests distinct kinematic patterns in space and time. While risk assessments of slope failure hazards have routinely relied on the monitoring of ground motion, such precursory failure patterns remain poorly understood. A key challenge is the multiplicity of spatiotemporal scales and dynamical regimes. In particular, there exist a precursory failure regime where two mesoscale mechanisms coevolve, namely, the preferred transmission paths for force and damage. Despite extensive studies, a formulation which can address their coevolution not just in laboratory tests but also in large, uncontrolled field environments has proved elusive. Here we address this problem by developing a slope stability analytics framework which uses network flow theory and mesoscience to model this coevolution and predict emergent kinematic clusters solely from surface ground motion data. We test this framework on four data sets: one at the laboratory scale using individual grain displacement data; three at the field scale using line-of-sight displacement of a slope surface, from ground-based radar in two mines and from space-borne radar for the 2017 Xinmo landslide. The dynamics of the kinematic clusters deliver an early prediction of the geometry, location and time of failure

Population dynamics of an RNA virus and its defective interfering particles in passage cultures

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Viruses can fall prey to their defective interfering (DI) particles. When viruses are cultured by serial passage on susceptible host cells, the presence of virus-like DI particles can cause virus populations to rise and fall, reflecting predator-prey interactions between DI and virus particles. The levels of virus and DI particles in each population passage can be determined experimentally by plaque and yield-reduction assays, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To better understand DI and virus particle interactions we measured vesicular stomatitis virus and DI particle production during serial-passage culture on BHK cells. When the multiplicity of infection (MOI, or ratio of infectious virus particles to cells) was fixed, virus yields followed a pattern of progressive decline, with higher MOI driving earlier and faster drops in virus level. These patterns of virus decline were consistent with predictions from a mathematical model based on single-passage behavior of cells co-infected with virus and DI particles. By contrast, the production of virus during fixed-volume passages exhibited irregular fluctuations that could not be described by either the steady-state or regular oscillatory dynamics of the model. However, these irregularities were, to a significant degree, reproduced when measured host-cell levels were incorporated into the model, revealing a high sensitivity of virus and DI particle populations to fluctuations in available cell resources.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study shows how the development of mathematical models, when guided by quantitative experiments, can provide new insight into the dynamic behavior of virus populations.</p

Centrioles: active players or passengers during mitosis?

Centrioles are cylinders made of nine microtubule (MT) triplets present in many eukaryotes. Early studies, where centrosomes were seen at the poles of the mitotic spindle led to their coining as “the organ for cell division”. However, a variety of subsequent observational and functional studies showed that centrosomes might not always be essential for mitosis. Here we review the arguments in this debate. We describe the centriole structure and its distribution in the eukaryotic tree of life and clarify its role in the organization of the centrosome and cilia, with an historical perspective. An important aspect of the debate addressed in this review is how centrioles are inherited and the role of the spindle in this process. In particular, germline inheritance of centrosomes, such as their de novo formation in parthenogenetic species, poses many interesting questions. We finish by discussing the most likely functions of centrioles and laying out new research avenues

Replication of DNA in adenovirus-infected cells

Cells abortively infected with oncogenic adenovirus (Ad) show evidence of abnormal cellular DNA replication (Strohl 1973), and Ad mutants that are temperature-sensitive for viral DNA replication have altered abilities to transform the host cell (Williams et al. 1975). These effects are most probably a result of the expression of early viral proteins, which are necessary for viral DNA replication and which, in transformed cells, cause cellular DNA replication under conditions that restrict normal cells. Thus, in order to understand the process of Ad-induced cell transformation, it is necessary to understand the mechanism of initiation of viral DNA replication and the proteins involved in that process, and also the effect of viral infection on cellular DNA replication. Consequently, we have studied the replication of Ad DNA during productive infection and viral and cellular DNA synthesis during nonproductive infection. Ad DNA, isolated from the virion, exists as a linear double-stranded chromosome with..