Structure and dynamics of deep-seated slope failures in the Magura Flysch Nappe, outer Western Carpathians (Czech Republic)

International audienceDeep-seated mass movements currently comprise one of the main morphogenetic processes in the Flysch Belt of the Western Carpathians of Central Europe. These mass movements result in a large spectrum of slope failures, depending on the type of movement and the nature of the bedrock. This paper presents the results of a detailed survey and reconstruction of three distinct deep-seated slope failures in the Raca Unit of the Magura Nappe, Flysch Belt of the Western Carpathians in the Czech Republic. An interdisciplinary approach has enabled a global view of the dynamics and development of these deep-seated slope failures. The three cases considered here have revealed a complex, poly-phase development of slope failure. They are deep-seated ones with depths to the failure surface ranging from 50 to 110m. They differ in mechanism of movement, failure structure, current activity, and total displacement. The main factors influencing their development have been flysch-bedrock structure, lithology, faulting by bedrock separation (which enabled further weakening through deep weathering), geomorphic setting, swelling of smectite-rich clays, and finally heavy rainfall. All of the slope failures considered here seem to have originated during humid phases of the Holocene or during the Late Glacial

BOLLOCKS!! Designing pervasive games that play with the social rules of built environments

We propose that pervasive games designed with mechanics that are specifically in opposition with, or disruptive of, social rules of the environment in which they are played, have unique potential to provide interesting, provocative experiences for players. We explore this concept through the design and evaluation of an experimental game prototype, Shhh!, inspired by the juvenile game Bollocks, and implemented on Android mobile devices, which challenges players to make loud noises in libraries. Six participants played the game before engaging in semi-structured interviews, explored through inductive thematic analysis. Results suggest that the game provoked in players a heightened awareness of social rules, as well as a complex social dilemma of whether or not to act. We conclude by presenting a model for designing games that play with the social, as well as physical, rules of the environments in which they are set

Brain and behavioral correlates of action semantic deficits in autism.

Action-perception circuits containing neurons in the motor system have been proposed as the building blocks of higher cognition; accordingly, motor dysfunction should entail cognitive deficits. Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are marked by motor impairments but the implications of such motor dysfunction for higher cognition remain unclear. We here used word reading and semantic judgment tasks to investigate action-related motor cognition and its corresponding fMRI brain activation in high-functioning adults with ASC. These participants exhibited hypoactivity of motor cortex in language processing relative to typically developing controls. Crucially, we also found a deficit in semantic processing of action-related words, which, intriguingly, significantly correlated with this underactivation of motor cortex to these items. Furthermore, the word-induced hypoactivity in the motor system also predicted the severity of ASC as expressed by the number of autistic symptoms measured by the Autism-Spectrum Quotient (Baron-Cohen etal., 2001). These significant correlations between word-induced activation of the motor system and a newly discovered semantic deficit in a condition known to be characterized by motor impairments, along with the correlation of such activation with general autistic traits, confirm critical predictions of causal theories linking cognitive and semantic deficits in ASC, in part, to dysfunctional action-perception circuits and resultant reduction of motor system activation

Thermodynamic aspects of materials' hardness: prediction of novel superhard high-pressure phases

In the present work we have proposed the method that allows one to easily estimate hardness and bulk modulus of known or hypothetical solid phases from the data on Gibbs energy of atomization of the elements and corresponding covalent radii. It has been shown that hardness and bulk moduli of compounds strongly correlate with their thermodynamic and structural properties. The proposed method may be used for a large number of compounds with various types of chemical bonding and structures; moreover, the temperature dependence of hardness may be calculated, that has been performed for diamond and cubic boron nitride. The correctness of this approach has been shown for the recently synthesized superhard diamond-like BC5. It has been predicted that the hypothetical forms of B2O3, diamond-like boron, BCx and COx, which could be synthesized at high pressures and temperatures, should have extreme hardness

Generalized thermodynamics of q-deformed bosons and fermions

We study the thermostatistics of q-deformed bosons and fermions obeying the symmetric algebra and show that it can be built on the formalism of q-calculus. The entire structure of thermodynamics is preserved if ordinary derivatives are replaced by an appropriate Jackson derivative. In this framework, we derive the most important thermodynamic functions describing the q-boson and q-fermion ideal gases in the thermodynamic limit. We also investigate the semi-classical limit and the low temperature regime and demonstrate that the nature of the q-deformation gives rise to pure quantum statistical effects stronger than undeformed boson and fermion particles.Comment: 8 pages, Physical Review E in pres

Detecting the Companions and Ellipsoidal Variations of RS CVn Primaries: II. omicron Draconis, a Candidate for Recent Low-Mass Companion Ingestion

To measure the stellar and orbital properties of the metal-poor RS CVn binary o Draconis (o Dra), we directly detect the companion using interferometric observations obtained with the Michigan InfraRed Combiner at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array. The H-band flux ratio between the primary and secondary stars is the highest confirmed flux ratio (370 +/- 40) observed with long-baseline optical interferometry. These detections are combined with radial velocity data of both the primary and secondary stars, including new data obtained with the Tillinghast Reflector Echelle Spectrograph on the Tillinghast Reflector at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and the 2-m Tennessee State University Automated Spectroscopic Telescope at Fairborn Observatory. We determine an orbit from which we find model-independent masses and ages of the components (M_A = 1.35 +\- 0.05 M_Sun, M_B = 0.99 +\- 0.02 M_Sun, system age = 3.0 -\+ 0.5 Gyr). An average of a 23-year light curve of o Dra from the Tennessee State University Automated Photometric Telescope folded over the orbital period newly reveals eclipses and the quasi-sinusoidal signature of ellipsoidal variations. The modeled light curve for our system's stellar and orbital parameters confirm these ellipsoidal variations due to the primary star partially filling its Roche lobe potential, suggesting most of the photometric variations are not due to stellar activity (starspots). Measuring gravity darkening from the average light curve gives a best-fit of beta = 0.07 +\- 0.03, a value consistent with conventional theory for convective envelope stars. The primary star also exhibits an anomalously short rotation period, which, when taken with other system parameters, suggests the star likely engulfed a low-mass companion that had recently spun-up the star.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, Accepted to Ap

DNA barcoding reveals the coral “laboratory-rat”, Stylophora pistillata encompasses multiple identities

Stylophora pistillata is a widely used coral “lab-rat” species with highly variable morphology and a broad biogeographic range (Red Sea to western central Pacific). Here we show, by analysing Cytochorme Oxidase I sequences, from 241 samples across this range, that this taxon in fact comprises four deeply divergent clades corresponding to the Pacific-Western Australia, Chagos-Madagascar-South Africa, Gulf of Aden-Zanzibar-Madagascar, and Red Sea-Persian/Arabian Gulf-Kenya. On the basis of the fossil record of Stylophora, these four clades diverged from one another 51.5-29.6 Mya, i.e., long before the closure of the Tethyan connection between the tropical Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic in the early Miocene (16–24 Mya) and should be recognised as four distinct species. These findings have implications for comparative ecological and/or physiological studies carried out using Stylophora pistillata as a model species, and highlight the fact that phenotypic plasticity, thought to be common in scleractinian corals, can mask significant genetic variation