Evidence of neotectonic activity in southwest Louisiana

A methodology that combines high-resolution topographic mapping, field observations, subsurface evaluation, and geodetic data analysis has successfully located several fault-related geomorphic steps in an area of southwestern Louisiana once thought to be relatively devoid of such features. Comparison of height differences of benchmarks straddling these suspected fault-related steps shows that vertical displacement rates on faults in the study area ranged from about 2 mm/yr to as much as 6 mm/yr during the 1960’s and 1970’s. However, leveling data obtained as recently as January 2005 reveals that the majority of these faults are currently moving at rates of less than 1 mm/yr. This study identifies the presence of several previously mapped fault-related steps as well as some unidentified geomorphic features with the use of LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) digital elevation models and aerial photography. The majority of these topographic steps correlate well with upward projections of known subsurface faults, which suggests that they are of tectonic origin. Also, field observations have located offsets of roadways and damage to built structures due to the differential motion caused by active faulting. These lines of evidence, combined with the leveling data, suggest that the geomorphic features in the study area are the surface expressions of active faults that have moved during the past half-century. A possible cause for the accelerated fault slip rates computed for the 1960\u27s and 1970\u27s could be the substantial lowering of the piezometric surface that occurred due to increased subsurface fluid withdrawal. This suggests that in addition to the natural causes of faulting, anthropogenic activities may have also affected fault motion in this area of Louisiana

Gravity-induced birefringence within the framework of Poincare gauge theory

Gauge theories of gravity provide an elegant and promising extension of general relativity. In this paper we show that the Poincar\'e gauge theory exhibits gravity-induced birefringence under the assumption of a specific gauge invariant nonminimal coupling between torsion and Maxwell's field. Furthermore we give for the first time an explicit expression for the induced phaseshift between two orthogonal polarization modes within the Poincar\'e framework. Since such a phaseshift can lead to a depolarization of light emitted from an extended source this effect is, in principle, observable. We use white dwarf polarimetric data to constrain the essential coupling constant responsible for this effect.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication by Physical Review

Specialized pro‐resolving mediators: biosynthesis and biological role in bacterial infections

Acute inflammation caused by bacterial infections is an essential biological defence mechanism of the host in order to neutralize and clear the invaders and to return to homeostasis. Despite its protective function, inflammation may become persistent and uncontrolled, resulting in chronic diseases and tissue destruction as consequence of the unresolved inflammatory process. Therefore, spatiotemporal induction of endogenous inflammation resolution programs that govern bacterial clearance as well as tissue repair and regeneration, are of major importance in order to enable tissues to restore functions. Lipid mediators that are de‐novo biosynthesized from polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) mainly by lipoxygenases and cyclooxygenases, critically regulate the initiation, the maintenance but also the resolution of infectious inflammation and tissue regeneration. The discovery of specialized pro‐resolving mediators (SPMs) generated from omega‐3 PUFAs stimulated intensive research in inflammation resolution, especially in infectious inflammation elicited by bacteria. SPMs are immunoresolvents that actively terminate inflammation by limiting neutrophil influx, stimulating phagocytosis, bacterial killing and clearance as well as efferocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils and cellular debris by macrophages. Moreover, SPMs prevent collateral tissue damage, promote tissue repair and regeneration and lower antibiotic requirement. Here, we review the biosynthesis of SPMs in bacterial infections and cover specific mechanisms of SPMs that govern the resolution of bacteria‐initiated inflammation

The Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS): A prospective cohort study of the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use from adolescence to adulthood in Northern Ireland

Background: Substance misuse persists as a major public health issue worldwide with significant costs for society. The development of interventions requires methodologically sound studies to explore substance misuse causes and consequences. This Cohort description paper outlines the design of the Belfast Youth Development (BYDS), one of the largest cohort studies of its kind in the UK. The study was established to address the need for a long-term prospective cohort study to investigate the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use, alongside life course processes in adolescence and adulthood. The paper provides an overview of BYDS as a longitudinal data source for investigating substance misuse and outlines the study measures, sample retention and characteristics. We also outline how the BYDS data have been used to date and highlight areas ripe for future work by interested researchers. Methods: The study began in 2000/1 when participants (n = 3,834) were pupils in their first year of post-primary education (age 10/11 years, school year 8) from over 40 schools in Northern Ireland. Children were followed during the school years: Year 9 (in 2002; aged 12; n = 4,343), Year 10 (in 2003; aged 13; n = 4,522), Year 11 (in 2004; aged 14; n = 3,965) and Year 12 (in 2005; aged 15; n = 3,830) and on two more occasions: 2006/07 (aged 16/17; n = 2,335) and 2010/11 (aged 20/21; n = 2,087). Data were collected on substance use, family, schools, neighbourhoods, offending behaviour and mental health. The most novel aspect of the study was the collection of detailed social network data via friendship nominations allowing the investigation of the spread of substance use via friendship networks. In 2004 (school year 11; respondents aged 14), a sub-sample of participants’ parents (n = 1,097) and siblings (n = 211) also completed measures on substance use and family dynamics. Results: The most recent wave (in 2010/2011; respondents aged 20/21 years) indicated lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco and cannabis among the cohort was 94, 70 and 45 per cent, respectively. The paper charts the development of drug use behaviour and some of the key results to date are presented. We have also identified a number of key areas ripe for analysis by interested researchers including sexual health and education. Conclusions: We have established a cohort with detailed data from adolescence to young adulthood, supplemented with parent and sibling reports and peer network data. The dataset, allowing for investigation of trajectories of adolescent substance use, associated factors and subsequent long-term outcomes, constitutes an important resource for longitudinal substance misuse research. A planned further wave as the cohort enter their late twenties and potential to link to administrative data sources, will further enrich the datasets

An astronomical search for evidence of new physics: Limits on gravity-induced birefringence from the magnetic white dwarf RE J0317-853

The coupling of the electromagnetic field directly with gravitational gauge fields leads to new physical effects that can be tested using astronomical data. Here we consider a particular case for closer scrutiny, a specific nonminimal coupling of torsion to electromagnetism, which enters into a metric-affine geometry of space-time. We show that under the assumption of this nonminimal coupling, spacetime is birefringent in the presence of such a gravitational field. This leads to the depolarization of light emitted from extended astrophysical sources. We use polarimetric data of the magnetic white dwarf ${RE J0317-853}$ to set strong constraints on the essential coupling constant for this effect, giving k^2 \lsim (19 {m})^2 .Comment: Statements about Moffat's NGT modified. Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

Deterministic networks for probabilistic computing

Neural-network models of high-level brain functions such as memory recall and reasoning often rely on the presence of stochasticity. The majority of these models assumes that each neuron in the functional network is equipped with its own private source of randomness, often in the form of uncorrelated external noise. However, both in vivo and in silico, the number of noise sources is limited due to space and bandwidth constraints. Hence, neurons in large networks usually need to share noise sources. Here, we show that the resulting shared-noise correlations can significantly impair the performance of stochastic network models. We demonstrate that this problem can be overcome by using deterministic recurrent neural networks as sources of uncorrelated noise, exploiting the decorrelating effect of inhibitory feedback. Consequently, even a single recurrent network of a few hundred neurons can serve as a natural noise source for large ensembles of functional networks, each comprising thousands of units. We successfully apply the proposed framework to a diverse set of binary-unit networks with different dimensionalities and entropies, as well as to a network reproducing handwritten digits with distinct predefined frequencies. Finally, we show that the same design transfers to functional networks of spiking neurons.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure

НАВЧАННЯ З МУЛЬТИМОДАЛЬНИМИ ТЕКСТАМИ КРІЗЬ ПРИЗМУ КРИТИЧНОЇ ГРАМОТНОСТІ В КОНТЕКСТІ КЛАСУ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ ЯК ІНОЗЕМНОЇ

This article explores the role of critical framing in selecting and using multimodal texts in an English as a Foreign Language classroom to engage students in the larger world and shed light on human experiences and contemporary global issues. Specifically, we invite educators to explore language and literacy practices using multimodal texts that can provide opportunities to examine implicit and explicit biases and power relations in the portrayal of global and cultural issues. We ground this discussion of cultural responsiveness in addressing pertinent contemporary issues using multimodal texts in critical literacy and multimodal semiotics within an English as a Foreign Language classroom context.У цій статті досліджується роль критичного фреймінгу у виборі та використанні мультимодальних текстів у класі англійської мови як іноземної, щоб залучити студентів до більшої спільноти та пролити світло на людський досвід і сучасні глобальні проблеми. Зокрема, ми запрошуємо викладачів досліджувати практичне використання мови та грамотності за допомогою мультимодальних текстів, які можуть надати можливість дослідити приховані та явні упередження та відносини влади у зображенні глобальних і культурних проблем. Ми обґрунтовуємо це обговорення культурної залучення у вирішенні актуальних сучасних проблем, використовуючи мультимодальні тексти в критичній грамотності та мультимодальній семіотиці в контексті вивчення англійської мови як другої

Jet-edge interaction tones

Motivated by the problem of jet-flap interaction noise, we study the tonal dynamics that occur when a sharp edge is placed in the hydrodynamic nearfield of an isothermal turbulent jet. We perform hydrodynamic and acoustic pressure measurements in order to characterise the tones as a function of Mach number and streamwise edge position. The distribution of spectral peaks observed, as a function of Mach number, cannot be explained using the usual edge-tone scenario, in which resonance is underpinned by coupling between downstream-travelling Kelvin-Helmholtz wavepackets and upstream-travelling sound waves. We show, rather, that the strongest tones are due to coupling between the former and upstream-travelling jet modes recently studied by Towne et al. (2017) and Schmidt et al. (2017). We also study the band-limited nature of the resonance, showing a high-frequency cut-off to be due to the frequency dependence of the upstream-travelling waves. At high Mach number these become evanescent above a certain frequency, whereas at low Mach number they become progressively trapped with increasing frequency, a consequence of which is their not being reflected in the nozzle plane. Additionally, a weaker, low-frequency, forced-resonance regime is identified that involves the same upstream travelling jet modes but that couple, in this instance, with downstream-travelling sound waves. It is suggested that the existence of two resonance regimes may be due to the non-modal nature of wavepacket dynamics at low-frequency.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure

Antagonism of GABA-B but not GABA-A receptors in the VTA prevents stress- and intra-VTA CRF-induced reinstatement of extinguished cocaine seeking in rats

Stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine seeking requires corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) actions in the ventral tegmental area (VTA). However the mechanisms through which CRF regulates VTA function to promote cocaine use are not fully understood. Here we examined the role of GABAergic neurotransmission in the VTA mediated by GABA-A or GABA-B receptors in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine seeking by a stressor, uncontrollable intermittent footshock, or bilateral intra-VTA administration of CRF. Rats underwent repeated daily cocaine self-administration (1.0 mg/kg/ing; 14 × 6 h/day) and extinction and were tested for reinstatement in response to footshock (0.5 mA, 0.5” duration, average every 40 s; range 10–70 s) or intra-VTA CRF delivery (500 ng/side) following intra-VTA pretreatment with the GABA-A antagonist, bicuculline, the GABA-B antagonist, 2-hydroxysaclofen or vehicle. Intra-VTA bicuculline (1, 10 or 20 ng/side) failed to block footshock- or CRF-induced cocaine seeking at either dose tested. By contrast, 2-hydroxysaclofen (0.2 or 2 μg/side) prevented reinstatement by both footshock and intra-VTA CRF at a concentration that failed to attenuate food-reinforced lever pressing (45 mg sucrose-sweetened pellets; FR4 schedule) in a separate group of rats. These data suggest that GABA-B receptor-dependent CRF actions in the VTA mediate stress-induced cocaine seeking and that GABA-B receptor antagonists may have utility for the management of stress-induced relapse in cocaine addicts