7,260 research outputs found
The Observed Building Damage Associated with Fault Movement in 1999 Chi-Chi (Taiwan) Earthquake
The Chi-Chi earthquake caused severe damage of many buildings primarily due to surface faulting and ground shaking. It has been reported that about 10,000 buildings collapsed and 8000 buildings suffered varying degrees of damage. The observed damage to buildings resulted from many factors that include ground movement, acceleration, design code, and construction quality. The damage to buildings near the fault was attributed primarily to the ground movement. One observed phenomenon is that the damage in the up-lifted side (east side) of the rupture fault was much more severe than the opposing side (west side) of the fault mainly due to upward movement, surface tension, and surface faulting. This paper will summarize the raw data of observed damage along both sides-of the ruptured fault based upon assessment work performed on site in the Wu-Fong Township area to compare the damage quantitatively on the up-lifted side and the opposing side of the fault. The results of this study will provide insight into the building failures along the fault line
SUPPLY RESPONSE UNDER THE 1996 FARM ACT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE U.S. FIELD CROPS SECTOR
The 1996 Farm Act gives farmers almost complete planting flexibility, allowing producers to respond to price changes to a greater extent than they had under previous legislation. This study measures supply responsiveness for major field crops to changes in their own prices and in prices for competing crops and indicates significant increases in responsiveness. Relative to 1986-90, the percentage increases in the responsiveness of U.S. plantings of major field crops to a 1-percent change in their own prices are wheat (1.2 percent), corn (41.6 percent), soybeans (13.5 percent), and cotton (7.9 percent). In percentage terms, the increases in the responsiveness generally become greater with respect to competing crops' price changes. The 1996 legislation has the least effect on U.S. wheat acreage, whereas the law may lead to an average increase of 2 million acres during 1996-2005 in soybean acreage, a decline of 1-2 million acres in corn acreage, and an increase of 0.7 million acres in cotton acreage. Overall, the effect of the farm legislation on regional production patterns of major field crops appears to be modest. Corn acreage expansion in the Central and Northern Plains, a long-term trend in this important wheat production region, will slow under the 1996 legislation, while soybean acreage expansion in this region will accelerate. The authors used the Policy Analysis System-Economic Research Service (POLYSYS-ERS) model that was jointly developed by USDA's Economic Research Service and the University of Tennessee's Agricultural Policy Analysis Center to estimate the effects of the 1996 legislation.Supply response, major field crops, acreage price elasticities, normal flex acreage (NFA), 1996 farm legislation., Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,
PPARĪ± contributes to protection against metabolic and inflammatory derangements associated with acute kidney injury in experimental sepsis
Abstract Sepsisāassociated acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant problem in critically ill children and adults resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. Fundamental mechanisms contributing to sepsisāassociated AKI are poorly understood. Previous research has demonstrated that peroxisome proliferatorāactivated receptor Ī± (PPARĪ±) expression is associated with reduced organ system failure in sepsis. Using an experimental model of polymicrobial sepsis, we demonstrate that mice deficient in PPARĪ± have worse kidney function, which is likely related to reduced fatty acid oxidation and increased inflammation. Ultrastructural evaluation with electron microscopy reveals that the proximal convoluted tubule is specifically injured in septic PPARĪ± deficient mice. In this experimental group, serum metabolomic analysis reveals unanticipated metabolic derangements in tryptophanākynurenineāNAD+ and pantothenate pathways. We also show that a subgroup of children with sepsis whose genomeāwide expression profiles are characterized by repression of the PPARĪ± signaling pathway has increased incidence of severe AKI. These findings point toward interesting associations between sepsisāassociated AKI and PPARĪ±ādriven fatty acid metabolism that merit further investigation
Charmed-Baryon Spectroscopy from Lattice QCD with N_f=2+1+1 Flavors
We present the results of a calculation of the positive-parity ground-state
charmed-baryon spectrum using 2+1+1 flavors of dynamical quarks. The
calculation uses a relativistic heavy-quark action for the valence charm quark,
clover-Wilson fermions for the valence light and strange quarks, and HISQ sea
quarks. The spectrum is calculated with a lightest pion mass around 220 MeV,
and three lattice spacings (a \approx 0.12 fm, 0.09 fm, and 0.06 fm) are used
to extrapolate to the continuum. The light-quark mass extrapolation is
performed using heavy-hadron chiral perturbation theory up to O(m_pi^3) and at
next-to-leading order in the heavy-quark mass. For the well-measured charmed
baryons, our results show consistency with the experimental values. For the
controversial J=1/2 Xi_{cc}, we obtain the isospin-averaged value
M_{Xi_{cc}}=3595(39)(20)(6) MeV (the three uncertainties are statistics,
fitting-window systematic, and systematics from other lattice artifacts, such
as lattice scale setting and pion-mass determination), which shows a 1.7 sigma
deviation from the experimental value. We predict the yet-to-be-discovered
doubly and triply charmed baryons Xi_{cc}^*, Omega_{cc}, Omega_{cc}^* and
Omega_{ccc} to have masses 3648(42)(18)(7) MeV, 3679(40)(17)(5) MeV,
3765(43)(17)(5) MeV and 4761(52)(21)(6) MeV, respectively.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure
Conserved microRNA targeting reveals preexisting gene dosage sensitivities that shaped amniote sex chromosome evolution
Mammalian X and Y Chromosomes evolved from an ordinary autosomal pair. Genetic decay of the Y led to X Chromosome inactivation (XCI) in females, but some Y-linked genes were retained during the course of sex chromosome evolution, and many X-linked genes did not become subject to XCI. We reconstructed gene-by-gene dosage sensitivities on the ancestral autosomes through phylogenetic analysis of microRNA (miRNA) target sites and compared these preexisting characteristics to the current status of Y-linked and X-linked genes in mammals. Preexisting heterogeneities in dosage sensitivity, manifesting as differences in the extent of miRNA-mediated repression, predicted either the retention of a Y homolog or the acquisition of XCI following Y gene decay. Analogous heterogeneities among avian Z-linked genes predicted either the retention of a W homolog or gene-specific dosage compensation following W gene decay. Genome-wide analyses of human copy number variation indicate that these heterogeneities consisted of sensitivity to both increases and decreases in dosage. We propose a model of XY/ZW evolution incorporating such preexisting dosage sensitivities in determining the evolutionary fates of individual genes. Our findings thus provide a more complete view of the role of dosage sensitivity in shaping the mammalian and avian sex chromosomes and reveal an important role for post-transcriptional regulatory sequences (miRNA target sites) in sex chromosome evolution
Effect of collecting duct histology on renal cell cancer outcome.
PURPOSE: Collecting duct renal cell carcinoma is a rare entity. Recent surgical series of the condition showed conflicting results. We used an American population based data set to compare the survival experience of patients with collecting duct vs clear cell renal cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cases of collecting duct and clear cell renal cell carcinoma were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results program (2001 to 2005). Demographic and pathological characteristics at diagnosis were compared. Differences in disease specific survival were compared with univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 160 collecting duct renal cell carcinoma cases were present in the database from 2001 to 2005. In that time 33,252 clear cell renal cell carcinoma cases were diagnosed. Collecting duct renal cell carcinoma was more common in black than in white patients (23% vs 9%, p <0.001). Collecting duct renal cell carcinoma was more commonly T3+ than T2/T1 (33% vs 18%, p <0.001) and metastatic than regional/local (28% vs 17%, p = 0.001). Nephrectomy rates were similar (84% and 78%, p = 0.06). The 3-year disease specific survival rate was 58% and 79% for collecting duct and clear cell renal cell carcinoma, respectively. On multivariate analysis there was an increased mortality risk in patients with collecting duct vs clear cell renal cell carcinoma (HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.72-3.39, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma those with collecting duct renal cell carcinoma have higher stage and are more often black. Even after adjusting for demographic, surgical and pathological factors disease specific survival is significantly worse in patients with collecting duct rather than clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Further research into the biology of this rare tumor is required to explain these results
Near/Far Matching: A Study Design Approach to Instrumental Variables
Classic instrumental variable techniques involve the use of structural equation modeling or other forms of parameterized modeling. In this paper we use a nonparametric, matching-based instrumental variable methodology that is based on a study design approach. Similar to propensity score matching, though unlike classic instrumental variable approaches, near/far matching is capable of estimating causal effects when the outcome is not continuous. Unlike propensity score matching, though similar to instrumental variable techniques, near/far matching is also capable of estimating causal effects even when unmeasured covariates produce selection bias. We illustrate near/far matching by using Medicare data to compare the effectiveness of carotid arterial stents with cerebral protection versus carotid endarterectomy for the treatment of carotid stenosis
AtomSim: web-deployed atomistic dynamics simulator
AtomSim, a collection of interfaces for computational crystallography simulations, has been developed. It uses forcefield-based dynamics through physics engines such as the General Utility Lattice Program, and can be integrated into larger computational frameworks such as the Virtual Neutron Facility for processing its dynamics into scattering functions, dynamical functions etc. It is also available as a Google App Engine-hosted web-deployed interface. Examples of a quartz molecular dynamics run and a hafnium dioxide phonon calculation are presented
Submillimetre observations of WISE-selected high-redshift, luminous, dusty galaxies
We present SCUBA-2 850um submillimetre (submm) observations of the fields of
10 dusty, luminous galaxies at z ~ 1.7 - 4.6, detected at 12um and/or 22um by
the WISE all-sky survey, but faint or undetected at 3.4um and 4.6um; dubbed
hot, dust-obscured galaxies (Hot DOGs). The six detected targets all have total
infrared luminosities greater than 10^13 L_sun, with one greater than 10^14
L_sun. Their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are very blue from
mid-infrared to submm wavelengths and not well fitted by standard AGN SED
templates, without adding extra dust extinction to fit the WISE 3.4um and 4.6um
data. The SCUBA-2 850um observations confirm that the Hot DOGs have less cold
and/or more warm dust emission than standard AGN templates, and limit an
underlying extended spiral or ULIRG-type galaxy to contribute less than about
2% or 55% of the typical total Hot DOG IR luminosity, respectively. The two
most distant and luminous targets have similar observed submm to mid-infrared
ratios to the rest, and thus appear to have even hotter SEDs. The number of
serendipitous submm galaxies (SMGs) detected in the 1.5-arcmin-radius SCUBA-2
850um maps indicates there is a significant over-density of serendipitous
sources around Hot DOGs. These submm observations confirm that the
WISE-selected ultra-luminous galaxies have very blue mid-infrared to submm
SEDs, suggesting that they contain very powerful AGN, and are apparently
located in unusual arcmin-scale overdensities of very luminous dusty galaxies.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
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