Fault rheology in an aseismic fold-thrust belt (Shahdad, eastern Iran)

Geodetic observations of aseismic deformation in a thrust belt near Shahdad in eastern Iran have been used to place constraints on the rheology of creeping faults in a thin-skinned thrust belt (<5 km thickness). Creep on shallow and high-angle thrust ramps at the range-front occurs at a steady rate, in response to the topographic gradient across the thrust belt. Parts of these thrust ramps, and the low-angle basal thrust they connect to at depth in a ramp-and-flat geometry, underwent accelerated creep following the nearby Mw 6.6 Fandoqa earthquake in 1998. Estimates of the rate of fault slip and the driving stresses in these two contrasting times reveal a non-linear relationship between the stresses and sliding velocity. The degree of non-linearity rules out bulk shear of a weak layer in the sedimentary section (e.g. evaporites) as the deformation mechanism. Instead, we suggest that the motions are accommodated by slip on faults governed by a friction law with a highly non-linear relationship between shear stress and slip rate (e.g. as predicted by ‘rate and state’ models). The high-angle thrust ramps are responsible for building aspects of the geological and geomorphological signs of active shortening visible at the surface, but the folding preserved in the geology must be accomplished by other methods, possibly during the rapid transient postseismic deformation following nearby earthquakes.We thank James Jackson for use of his field photographs, and for useful dis- cussions. The SAR data used in this study were obtained from the European Space Agency. Our interferograms can be obtained from the corresponding author upon request. The topography data used was the SRTM dataset, which is freely available on the internet. RJ thanks the Marie-Curie ITN ‘iTECC’ for financial support. We thank Gilles Peltzer and two anonymous reviewers for comments that helped improve the manuscript. This work forms part of the NERC- and ESRC-funded project ‘Earthquakes Without Frontiers’.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015JB01243

Cloud thermodynamic phase and particle size estimation using the 0.67 and 1.6 ?m channels from meteorological satellites

International audienceA robust method to estimate the cloud microphysical properties from visible (0.67 ?m) and near infrared (1.6 ?m) measurements of reflected sunlight is presented. The method does not determine cloud particle phase and size separately. Instead it assigns a cloud particle type to every pixel that is most representative for the radiation measurements. The corresponding radiative transfer model calculations will yield the most accurate values for optical thickness. Furthermore, an estimate of the particle size is obtained, which is used in estimates of liquid water path. Radiative transfer calculations have been performed for eleven cloud particle models assuming a single, plane-parallel and homogeneous layer. Standard gamma distributions with varying effective radii have been chosen for liquid water droplet whereas imperfect hexagonal ice crystal with different aspect ratio and size were selected for ice particles. It is shown that the ratio of the visible reflectivity to the near infrared reflectivity as a function of the visible reflectivity allows a consistent classification of cloud particles with respect to size and phase over a large area. The method is tested with measurements from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer instrument (ATSR-2) on board ERS-2 for a marine stratocumulus cloud and a cirrus cloud over the North Sea. For both cases, the variation of the measured ratio as a function of the measured visible reflectivity is well simulated by liquid water droplet distribution with an effective radius between 4 and 10 micrometers for the stratocumulus and by imperfect hexagonal ice crystal with a size of 60 ?m for cirrus. The method was used in the CLIWANET-project and will be the basis to the algorithm for AVHRR and SEVIRI radiances for EUMETSAT's Sattelite Application facility on climate monitoring

La participation des citoyens &#224; la fonction de juger en France et en Italie: une &#233;tude socio-anthropologique du jury populaire en cour d&apos;assises.

L\u2019obiettivo di questa ricerca \ue8 di mettere a confronto la giuria popolare francese con quella italiana sviluppando uno studio socio-antropologico basato sulla pratica giudiziaria osservabile nelle corte d\u2019assise. Si \ue8 cercato di mostrare le differenze nel modo di vivere l\u2019esperienza di giurato osservando accuratamente, per ciascuno dei due contesti, il rituale giudiziario, le interazioni e le relazioni tra componenti laici e togati presenti durante una sessione. Quali sono i principali risultati che emergono dal paragone delle giurie popolari francesi e italiane? Ne emergono soprattutto tre. Primo, sebbene ci siano delle somiglianze dell\u2019impianto teorico su cui si fondano i due sistemi della giuria popolare, l\u2019osservazione del \u201cdiritto in movimento\u201d rivela quanto il loro funzionamento pratico sia diverso. Si descrivono nei dettagli i meccanismi del funzionamento della giuria popolare mettendoli in rapporto con la cultura giuridica di ogni paese mostrandoci, allo specchio, le caratteristiche dei loro costumi democratici. Secondo, la giuria popolare appare come un\u2019\u201cistituzione di sociabilit\ue0\u201d per chi vi prende parte. La dimensione sociale influisce sull\u2019\u201cesperienza autentica\u201d vissuta dai giurati agendo direttamente sul modo di percepire la sofferenza altrui e del funzionamento dei processi democratici. Terzo, il confronto tra giuria francese e italiana ci permette di porre l\u2019accento sull\u2019attuale modernit\ue0 di questa istituzione e sulle sue implicazioni nel funzinamento della corte d'assise. La giuria popolare pu\uf2 essere considerata come un\u2019\u201distituzione buona\u201d in grado di contribuire all\u2019attendibilit\ue0 del procedimento giuridico, di conferire autorevolezza alla pratica quotidiana dei magistrati togati e di indurre la consapevolezza, in ogni giudice popolare, dell\u2019importanza della sua partecipazione attiva per il mantenimento del legame sociale.The purpose of the research is to compare French and Italian juries through a socio-anthropological study of judicial practice in criminal courts. It reports on the different experiences of jurors by carefully studying court procedure, as well as the interactions and relations between laymen and legal professionals within a session. What are the main findings that emerge from comparing French and Italian juries? They can broadly be divided into three parts. Firstly, observation of "the law in motion" reveals that, despite the theoretical similarities between the two systems, the practicalities of involving citizens in judging crimes are different in France and Italy. It is then possible to examine the mechanics in view of the legal culture in both countries and, in return, the characteristics of their juries give us an insight into France and Italy\u2019s democratic values. Secondly, juries appear to be a "socializing institution" for individuals who are required to attend court. This element of socialization has a decisive influence on the "authentic experience" of jurors, making it a "direct experience" of the suffering of others and the functioning of democracy. Thirdly, comparing French and Italian juries provides an opportunity to reflect on modern times and the current issues surrounding the presence of laymen within the judiciary. Juries may be seen as a "worthy" institution able to restore the credibility of the judicial system, stimulate legal professionals and raise individual awareness amongst jurors of the importance of their participation in maintaining social cohesion.L\u2019objectif de cette recherche est de comparer les jurys criminels fran\ue7ais et italien \ue0 travers une \ue9tude socio-anthropologique de la pratique judiciaire observable dans les cours d\u2019assises. Il s\u2019agit de rendre compte des diff\ue9rents aspects de l\u2019exp\ue9rience v\ue9cue par les jur\ue9s en \ue9tudiant minutieusement le rituel judiciaire ainsi que les interactions et relations qui se jouent entre les profanes et les professionnels de la justice le temps d\u2019une session. Quels sont les r\ue9sultats principaux qui \ue9mergent de la comparaison des jurys populaires fran\ue7ais et italien ? Ils sont essentiellement de trois ordres. Premi\ue8rement, l\u2019observation du \uab droit en mouvement \ubb r\ue9v\ue8le que, malgr\ue9 les similitudes des deux syst\ue8mes \ue9tudi\ue9s sur le plan th\ue9orique, la mise en \u153uvre pratique de la participation des citoyens au jugement des crimes est diff\ue9rente entre la France et l\u2019Italie. Il est alors possible d\u2019en d\ue9tailler les m\ue9canismes de fonctionnement au regard de la culture juridique de chacun des pays \ue9tudi\ue9s et en retour, les caract\ue9ristiques de chacun des jurys nous apportent des informations sur les m\u153urs d\ue9mocratiques fran\ue7aise et italienne. Deuxi\ue8mement, le jury populaire appara\ueet comme une \uab institution de sociabilit\ue9 \ubb pour les individus appel\ue9s \ue0 si\ue9ger temporairement \ue0 la cour d\u2019assises. Cette dimension socialisante influence de mani\ue8re d\ue9cisive l\u2019\uab exp\ue9rience authentique \ubb v\ue9cue par les jur\ue9s, et en fait une \uab exp\ue9rience directe \ubb de la souffrance d\u2019autrui et du fonctionnement de la d\ue9mocratie. Troisi\ue8mement, la comparaison des jurys criminels fran\ue7ais et italien permet de rappeler la modernit\ue9 et les enjeux actuels li\ue9s \ue0 la pr\ue9sence des profanes au sein de l\u2019institution judiciaire. Le jury populaire peut \ueatre consid\ue9r\ue9 comme une \uab institution bonne \ubb capable \ue0 la fois de redonner de la cr\ue9dibilit\ue9 \ue0 l\u2019institution judiciaire, de fournir aux acteurs professionnels la possibilit\ue9 de \uab r\ue9 enchanter \ubb leur quotidien, et enfin d\u2019orchestrer une prise de conscience individuelle pour les jur\ue9s sur l\u2019importance de leur participation pour le maintien du lien social

Evaluation of modelling approaches for predicting the spatial distribution of soil organic carbon stocks at the national scale

Soil organic carbon (SOC) plays a major role in the global carbon budget. It can act as a source or a sink of atmospheric carbon, thereby possibly influencing the course of climate change. Improving the tools that model the spatial distributions of SOC stocks at national scales is a priority, both for monitoring changes in SOC and as an input for global carbon cycles studies. In this paper, we compare and evaluate two recent and promising modelling approaches. First, we considered several increasingly complex boosted regression trees (BRT), a convenient and efficient multiple regression model from the statistical learning field. Further, we considered a robust geostatistical approach coupled to the BRT models. Testing the different approaches was performed on the dataset from the French Soil Monitoring Network, with a consistent cross-validation procedure. We showed that when a limited number of predictors were included in the BRT model, the standalone BRT predictions were significantly improved by robust geostatistical modelling of the residuals. However, when data for several SOC drivers were included, the standalone BRT model predictions were not significantly improved by geostatistical modelling. Therefore, in this latter situation, the BRT predictions might be considered adequate without the need for geostatistical modelling, provided that i) care is exercised in model fitting and validating, and ii) the dataset does not allow for modelling of local spatial autocorrelations, as is the case for many national systematic sampling schemes

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae evades phagocytic uptake by porcine alveolar macrophages in vitro

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, the agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia (EP), is able to persist in the lung tissue and evade destruction by the host for several weeks. To understand the mechanism of pathogen survival, phagocytic uptake of M. hyopneumoniae by primary porcine alveolar macrophages was investigated. Intracellular location and survival of the pathogen were explored using gentamicin survival assays, flow cytometry and confocal microscopy of M. hyopneumoniae 232 labelled with green fluorescent protein (GFP). Following 1 h and 16 h of co-incubation, few viable M. hyopneumoniae were recovered from inside macrophages. Flow cytometric analysis of macrophages incubated with M. hyopneumoniae expressing GFP indicated that the mycoplasmas became associated with macrophages, but were shown to be extracellular when actin-dependent phagocytosis was blocked with cytochalasin D. Confocal microscopy detected GFP-labelled M. hyopneumoniae inside macrophages and the numbers increased modestly with time of incubation. Neither the addition of porcine serum complement or convalescent serum from EP-recovered pigs was able to enhance engulfment of M. hyopneumoniae. This investigation suggests that M. hyopneumoniae evades significant uptake by porcine alveolar macrophages and this may be a mechanism of immune escape by M. hyopneumoniae in the porcine respiratory tract

Autonomous Extraction of Millimeter-scale Deformation in InSAR Time Series Using Deep Learning

Systematic characterization of slip behaviours on active faults is key to unraveling the physics of tectonic faulting and the interplay between slow and fast earthquakes. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), by enabling measurement of ground deformation at a global scale every few days, may hold the key to those interactions. However, atmospheric propagation delays often exceed ground deformation of interest despite state-of-the art processing, and thus InSAR analysis requires expert interpretation and a priori knowledge of fault systems, precluding global investigations of deformation dynamics. Here we show that a deep auto-encoder architecture tailored to untangle ground deformation from noise in InSAR time series autonomously extracts deformation signals, without prior knowledge of a fault's location or slip behaviour. Applied to InSAR data over the North Anatolian Fault, our method reaches 2 mm detection, revealing a slow earthquake twice as extensive as previously recognized. We further explore the generalization of our approach to inflation/deflation-induced deformation, applying the same methodology to the geothermal field of Coso, California

Considérations sur l’emploi des organo-phosphorés dans le traitement interne de la démodexose canine

Guilhon Jean, Jolivet Gilbert, Marchand A. Considérations sur l’emploi des organo-phosphorés dans le traitement interne de la démodexose canine. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 128 n°4-5, 1975. pp. 243-251

Utilisation d’un nouvel antigène pour le séro-diagnostic de la Toxoplasmose des animaux domestiques, par la méthode d’agglutination de FULTON

Guilhon Jean, Jolivet Gilbert, Marchand A. Utilisation d’un nouvel antigène par le séro-diagnostic de la Toxoplasmose des animaux domestiques par la méthode d’agglutination de Fulton. In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 126 n°4, 1973. pp. 161-165

Basis for a Waste Management Public Communication Policy: Actual Situation Analysis and Implementation of Corrective Actions

Argentina will require new sites for the location of radioactive waste final disposal systems. It is currently mandatory to have social and political consensus to obtain the corresponding agreements. The experience obtained with the cancellation of the project ''Feasibility Study and Engineering Project--Repository for High Level Radioactive Waste'', reinforces even more the necessity to count with the acceptance of the public to carry out projects of this kind. The first phase of the former was developed in the 80's: geological, geophysical and hydrogeological studies were performed in a compact granitic rock located in Sierra del Medio, Chubut province. This project had to be called off in the early 90's due to strong social rejection. This decision was closely related to the poor attention given to social communication issues. The governmental decision-makers in charge underwent a lot of pressure from social groups claiming for the cancellation of the project due to the lack of information and the fear it triggered. Thus, the lesson learnt: ''social communication activities must be carefully undertaken in order to achieve the appropriate management of the radioactive waste produced in our country.'' The same as in other countries, the specific National Law demands the formulation of a Strategic Plan which will not only include the research into radioactive waste, but the design of a Social Communication Programme as well. The latter will be in charge of informing the population clearly and objectively about the latest scientific and technological advances in the issue. A tentative perception-attitude pattern of the Argentine society about the overall nuclear issue is outlined in this paper. It is meant to contribute to the understanding of the public's adverse reaction to this kind of project. A communication programme is also presented. Its objective is to install the waste management topic in the public's opinion with a positive real outlook

Large magnetic anisotropy in Ferrihydrite nanoparticles synthesized from reverse micelles

Six-line ferrihydrite(FH) nanoparticles have been synthesized in the core of reverse micelles, used as nanoreactors to obtain average particle sizes $$ $\approx$ 2 to 4 nm. The blocking temperatures $T_B^m$ extracted from magnetization data increased from $\approx 10$ to 20 K for increasing particle size. Low-temperature \MOS measurements allowed to observe the onset of differentiated contributions from particle core and surface as the particle size increases. The magnetic properties measured in the liquid state of the original emulsion showed that the \FH phase is not present in the liquid precursor, but precipitates in the micelle cores after the free water is freeze-dried. Systematic susceptibility \chi_{ac}(\emph{f},T) measurements showed the dependence of the effective magnetic anisotropy energies $E_{a}$ with particle volume, and yielded an effective anisotropy value of $K_{eff} = 312\pm10$ kJ/m$^3$.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Nanotechnology, v17 (Nov. 2006) In pres