Lateral Spreading and Stability of Embankments Supported on Fractured Unreinforced High-Modulus Columns

Construction of column-supported embankments (CSEs) with unreinforced high-modulus elements is now common practice to accelerate fill placement. These brittle columns are susceptible to column fracturing and CSE designs often limit the degree of lateral spreading such that tensile rupture will not occur, which stems from salient concerns that fracturing may trigger uncontrolled lateral spreading and/or the cessation of intended vertical load transfer. However, tensile rupture is unlikely to coincide with full mobilization of available passive resistance at the toe. Thus, it is disputed in industry whether some degree of column fracturing is tolerable. The objective of this study is to elucidate the influence of column fracturing on lateral spreading and stability of CSEs

Mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 neutralization by shark variable new antigen receptors elucidated through X-ray crystallography

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Chief Scientist Office, Scottish Government, Grant COV/ABN/20/01 (Elasmogen, Ltd.), a 2018 Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award (AML), a 2013 Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award (AML), NCI R01s CA237272, CA233562, and CA245922 (AML). WEM was supported by the NIH T32 HL007741 and JMT by the NIH T32 AI055433. JSM was funded by NIGMS R01 GM088790. HA was funded by NIGMS R35 GM118047 and NCI P01 CA234228. X-ray diffraction data were collected at the Northeastern Collaborative Access Team beamlines, which are funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIGMS P30 GM124165). The Pilatus 6M detector on 24-ID-C beamline is funded by a NIH-ORIP HEI grant (S10 RR029205). We thank the Marco Pravetoni lab for providing training and access to the OctetRED96e for BLI experiments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Geotechnical Reconnaissance: The 28 September 2018 M7.5 Palu-Donggala, Indonesia Earthquake

The Mw7.5 Palu-Donggala earthquake occurred on 28 September 2018 at 6:02 PM local time, and was caused by strike-slip faulting along the north-south trending Palu-Koro fault that extends through Palu City and the Central Sulawesi region of Indonesia. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports the epicenter was approximately 72 km north of Palu City at a depth of 10 km, and geodetic evidence indicates rupture of the fault over a length of 150 km. The earthquake triggered a series of massive landslides, resulted in the collapse of both unreinforced and reinforced structures, and generated tsunami waves that impacted coastal areas in Palu Bay, devastating Central Sulawesi. This report contains information about the geotechnical reconnaissance performed by the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) during November 2018 following the damaging earthquake and tsunami. Particular attention is devoted to a series of large liquefaction-induced flowslides that occurred after earthquake shaking ceased

Advancing Research for the Management of Long-Lived Species: A Case Study on the Greenland Shark

Long-lived species share life history traits such as slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity, which lead to slow recovery rates and increase a population’s vulnerability to disturbance. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) has recently been recognized as the world’s longest-lived vertebrate, but many questions regarding its biology, physiology, and ecology remain unanswered. Here we review how current and future research will fill knowledge gaps about the Greenland shark and provide an overall framework to guide research and management priorities for this species. Key advances include the potential for specialized aging techniques and demographic studies to shed light on the distribution and age-class structure of Greenland shark populations. Advances in population genetics and genomics will reveal key factors contributing to the Greenland shark’s extreme longevity, range and population size, and susceptibility to environmental change. New tagging technologies and improvements in experimental and analytical design will allow detailed monitoring of movement behaviors and interactions among Greenland sharks and other marine species, while shedding light on habitat use and susceptibility to fisheries interactions. Interdisciplinary approaches, such as the combined use of stable isotope analysis and high-tech data-logging devices (i.e., accelerometers and acoustic hydrophones) have the potential to improve knowledge of feeding strategies, predatory capabilities, and the trophic role of Greenland sharks. Measures of physiology, including estimation of metabolic rate, as well as heart rate and function, will advance our understanding of the causes and consequences of long lifespans. Determining the extent and effects of current threats (as well as potential mitigation measures) will assist the development of policies, recommendations, and actions relevant for the management of this potentially vulnerable species. Through an interdisciplinary lens, we propose innovative approaches to direct the future study of Greenland sharks and promote the consideration of longevity as an important factor in research on aquatic and terrestrial predators

Correction to: Cluster identification, selection, and description in Cluster randomized crossover trials: the PREP-IT trials

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article

Precision β − ν correlation measurements with the Beta-decay Paul Trap

The Beta-decay Paul Trap (BPT) at Argonne National Laboratory has proven to be an extremely effective tool for high-precision tests of the Standard Model via measurements of the β − ν correlation in mass-8 isotopes. Using four double-sided silicon strip detectors (DSSDs) backed by plastic scintillators and surrounding the ions confined by the BPT, the kinematics of the decays of the mirror nuclei lithium-8 and boron-8 are overdetermined when all charged decay products are measured. The most stringent low-energy limit on an intrinsic tensor current in the weak interaction was set using the BPT in 2015 (Sternberg, M.G., et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 182501 2015) utilizing trapped lithium-8. Since then, similar data for boron-8 and higher statistics data for lithium-8 have been collected and are currently being analyzed. With the elimination of radio-frequency (RF) pickup from the DSSDs and a detailed investigation of experimental systematic errors, the uncertainty is now dominated by the contribution from recoil-order terms in the decay rate. Our eventual goal is to limit tensor currents in the weak interaction with relative precision at or below 0.1%