Earthquake risk on the Sunda trench

On 28 March 2005 the Sunda megathrust in Indonesia ruptured again, producing another great earthquake three months after the previous one. The rupture was contiguous with that of the December 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, and is likely to have been sparked by local stress, although the triggering stresses at its hypocentre were very small — of the order of just 0.1 bar. Calculations show that stresses imposed by the second rupture have brought closer to failure the megathrust immediately to the south, under the Batu and Mentawai islands, and have expanded the area of increased stress on the Sumatra fault. Palaeoseismologic studies show that the Mentawai segment of the Sunda megathrust is well advanced in its seismic cycle and is therefore a good candidate for triggered failure

Indonesian earthquake: Earthquake risk from co-seismic stress.

Following the massive loss of life caused by the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in Indonesia and its tsunami, the possibility of a triggered earthquake on the contiguous Sunda trench subduction zone is a real concern. We have calculated the distributions of co-seismic stress on this zone, as well as on the neighbouring, vertical strike-slip Sumatra fault, and find an increase in stress on both structures that significantly boosts the already considerable earthquake hazard posed by them. In particular, the increased potential for a large subduction-zone event in this region, with the concomitant risk of another tsunami, makes the need for a tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean all the more urgent.John McCloskey, Suleyman S.Nalbant, Sandy Steac

Multi-modal prosthetic fingertip sensor with proximity, contact, and force localization capabilities

The lack of sensory feedback provided by prosthetic hands dramatically limits the utility of the device. Peripheral nerve interfaces are now able to produce stable somatosensory percepts for upper limb amputees. Sensors must be able to detect forces across the fingers of the prosthesis in a repeatable and reliable fashion. We solved this concern with a novel multi-modal tactile sensor which consists of an infrared proximity sensor and a barometric pressure sensor embedded in an elastomer layer with potential use in prosthetic devices. Signals from both sensors measure proximity (0&ndash;10 mm), contact (0 N), and force (0&ndash;50 N) and are combined to localize impact at five spatial locations and three angles of incidence. Here, we describe the sensor design, its characterization, and data analysis. We use Gaussian process regression to fuse the signals from both sensors to obtain calibrated force in Newton with an R2 value of 0.99. We use supervised learning to localize probe position and direction with classification accuracies of 96% and 89%, respectively. The complementary nature of both sensors leads to several sensing modalities that no one sensor can provide on its own and the repeatable, reliable, and compact form of the sensor enables use in multi-functional prosthetic hands. </div

Geo-environmental mapping using physiographic analysis: constraints on the evaluation of land instability and groundwater pollution hazards in the Metropolitan District of Campinas, Brazil

Geo-environmental terrain assessments and territorial zoning are useful tools for the formulation and implementation of environmental management instruments (including policy-making, planning, and enforcement of statutory regulations). They usually involve a set of procedures and techniques for delimitation, characterisation and classification of terrain units. However, terrain assessments and zoning exercises are often costly and time-consuming, particularly when encompassing large areas, which in many cases prevent local agencies in developing countries from properly benefiting from such assessments. In the present paper, a low-cost technique based on the analysis of texture of satellite imagery was used for delimitation of terrain units. The delimited units were further analysed in two test areas situated in Southeast Brazil to provide estimates of land instability and the vulnerability of groundwater to pollution hazards. The implementation incorporated procedures for inferring the influences and potential implications of tectonic fractures and other discontinuities on ground behaviour and local groundwater flow. Terrain attributes such as degree of fracturing, bedrock lithology and weathered materials were explored as indicators of ground properties. The paper also discusses constraints on- and limitations of- the approaches taken

Discovery and Validation of a New Class of Small Molecule Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Inhibitors

Many inflammatory diseases may be linked to pathologically elevated signaling via the receptor for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). There has thus been great interest in the discovery of TLR4 inhibitors as potential anti-inflammatory agents. Recently, the structure of TLR4 bound to the inhibitor E5564 was solved, raising the possibility that novel TLR4 inhibitors that target the E5564-binding domain could be designed. We utilized a similarity search algorithm in conjunction with a limited screening approach of small molecule libraries to identify compounds that bind to the E5564 site and inhibit TLR4. Our lead compound, C34, is a 2-acetamidopyranoside (MW 389) with the formula C17H27NO9, which inhibited TLR4 in enterocytes and macrophages in vitro, and reduced systemic inflammation in mouse models of endotoxemia and necrotizing enterocolitis. Molecular docking of C34 to the hydrophobic internal pocket of the TLR4 co-receptor MD-2 demonstrated a tight fit, embedding the pyran ring deep inside the pocket. Strikingly, C34 inhibited LPS signaling ex-vivo in human ileum that was resected from infants with necrotizing enterocolitis. These findings identify C34 and the β-anomeric cyclohexyl analog C35 as novel leads for small molecule TLR4 inhibitors that have potential therapeutic benefit for TLR4-mediated inflammatory diseases. © 2013 Neal et al

Geometric maximal operators and BMO on product bases

We consider the problem of the boundedness of maximal operators on BMO on shapes in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We prove that for bases of shapes with an engulfing property, the corresponding maximal function is bounded from BMO to BLO, generalising a known result of Bennett for the basis of cubes. When the basis of shapes does not possess an engulfing property but exhibits a product structure with respect to lower-dimensional shapes coming from bases that do possess an engulfing property, we show that the corresponding maximal function is bounded from BMO to a space we define and call rectangular BLO

Characteristics and management of HIV-1-infected pregnant women enrolled in a randomised trial: differences between Europe and the USA

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 (MTCT) have historically been lower in European than in American cohort studies, possibly due to differences in population characteristics. The Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol (PACTG) 316 trial evaluated the effectiveness of the addition of intrapartum/neonatal nevirapine in reducing MTCT in women already receiving antiretroviral prophylaxis. Participation of large numbers of pregnant HIV-infected women from the US and Western Europe enrolling in the same clinical trial provided the opportunity to identify and explore differences in their characteristics and in the use of non-study interventions to reduce MTCT.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this secondary analysis, 1350 women were categorized according to enrollment in centres in the USA (n = 978) or in Europe (n = 372). Factors associated with receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy and with elective caesarean delivery were identified with logistic regression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In Europe, women enrolled were more likely to be white and those of black race were mainly born in Sub-Saharan Africa. Women in the US were younger and more likely to have previous pregnancies and miscarriages and a history of sexually transmitted infections.</p> <p>More than 90% of women did not report symptoms of their HIV infection; however, more women from the US had symptoms (8%), compared to women from Europe (4%). Women in the US were less likely to have HIV RNA levels <400 copies/ml at delivery than women enrolling in Europe, and more likely to receive highly active antiretroviral therapy, and to start therapy earlier in pregnancy. The elective caesarean delivery rate in Europe was 61%, significantly higher than that in the US (22%). Overall, 1.48% of infants were infected and there was no significant difference in the rate of transmission between Europe and the US despite the different approaches to treatment and delivery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings confirm that there are important historical differences between the HIV-infected pregnant populations in Western Europe and the USA, both in terms of the characteristics of the women and their obstetric and therapeutic management. Although highly active antiretroviral therapy predominates in pregnancy in both settings now, population differences are likely to remain.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>NCT00000869</p

Search for CP violation in D+→ϕπ+ and D+s→K0Sπ+ decays

A search for CP violation in D + → ϕπ + decays is performed using data collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1 at a centre of mass energy of 7 TeV. The CP -violating asymmetry is measured to be (−0.04 ± 0.14 ± 0.14)% for candidates with K − K + mass within 20 MeV/c 2 of the ϕ meson mass. A search for a CP -violating asymmetry that varies across the ϕ mass region of the D + → K − K + π + Dalitz plot is also performed, and no evidence for CP violation is found. In addition, the CP asymmetry in the D+s→K0Sπ+ decay is measured to be (0.61 ± 0.83 ± 0.14)%