28 research outputs found
Consensus and pool profiles to assist in the analysis and interpretation of complex low template DNA mixtures
Euroforgen-NoE collaborative exercise on LRmix to demonstrate standardization of the interpretation of complex DNA profiles
Global tomography using seismic hum
International audienceWe present a new upper-mantle tomographic model derived solely from hum seismic data. Phase correlograms between station pairs are computed to extract phase-coherent signals. Correlograms are then stacked using the time-frequency phase-weighted stack method to build-up empirical Green's functions. Group velocities and uncertainties are measured in the wide period band of 30-250 s, following a resampling approach. Less data are required to extract reliable group velocities at short periods than at long periods, and 2 yr of data are necessary to measure reliable group velocities for the entire period band. Group velocities are first regionalized and then inverted versus depth using a simulated annealing method in which the number and shape of splines that describes the S-wave velocity model are variable. The new S-wave velocity tomographic model is well correlated with models derived from earthquakes in most areas, although in India, the Dharwar craton is shallower than in other published models
Imaging the Western Iberia Seismic Structure from the Crust to the upper Mantle from Ambient Noise Tomography
Ambient Noise Tomography (ANT) is now widely used to image the subsurface seismic structure, with a resolution mainly dependent on the seismic network coverage. Most of these studies are limited to Rayleigh waves for periods shorter than 40/45 s and, as a consequence, they can image only the crust or, at most, the uppermost mantle. Recently, some studies successfully showed that this analysis could be extended to longer periods, thus allowing a deeper probing.
In this work we present the combination of two complementary datasets. The first was obtained from the analysis of ambient noise in the period range 5-50 sec, for Western Iberia, using a dense temporary seismic network that operated between 2010 and 2012. The second one was computed for a global study, in the period erange 30-250 sec, from analysis of 150 stations of the global networks GEOSCOPE and GSN.This work is supported by project AQUAREL (PTDC/CTEGIX/116819/2010) and is a contribution to project
QuakeLoc-PT (PTDC/GEO-FIQ/3522/2012)Peer Reviewe
Interpreting a major component from a mixed DNA profile with an unknown number of minor contributors
DNA commission of the International Society of Forensic Genetics: Recommendations on the evaluation of STR typing results that may include drop-out and/or drop-in using probabilistic methods
DNA profiling of biological material from scenes of crimes is often complicated because the amount of DNA is limited and the quality of the DNA may be compromised. Furthermore, the sensitivity of STR typing kits has been continuously improved to detect low level DNA traces. This may lead to (1) partial DNA profiles and (2) detection of additional alleles. There are two key phenomena to consider: allelic or locus 'drop-out', i.e. 'missing' alleles at one or more genetic loci, while 'drop-in' may explain alleles in the DNA profile that are additional to the assumed main contributor(s). The drop-in phenomenon is restricted to 1 or 2 alleles per profile. If multiple alleles are observed at more than two loci then these are considered as alleles from an extra contributor and analysis can proceed as a mixture of two or more contributors. Here, we give recommendations on how to estimate probabilities considering drop-out, Pr(D), and drop-in, Pr(C). For reasons of clarity, we have deliberately restricted the current recommendations considering drop-out and/or drop-in at only one locus. Furthermore, we offer recommendations on how to use Pr(D) and Pr(C) with the likelihood ratio principles that are generally recommended by the International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) as measure of the weight of the evidence in forensic genetics. Examples of calculations are included. An Excel spreadsheet is provided so that scientists and laboratories may explore the models and input their own data. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
The new Algerian Digital Seismic Network (ADSN): towards an earthquake early-warning system
Seismic monitoring in Algeria has seen great changes since the Boumerdes
earthquake of 21 May 2003. Indeed, the installation of a new digital
seismic network has resulted in a significant upgrade of the previous analog
telemetry network.
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During the last four years, the number of stations in operation has
increased substantially from 25 to 69, and 20 of these are broadband, 2 are
very broadband, 47 are short period. 21 are equipped with accelerometers.
They are all managed by Antelope software from Kinemetrics (US Cie), and
they are all connected in real time and use various modes of transmission
(e.g., satellite, internet, mobile phone). The spatial repartition of the
stations now cover most of northern Algeria. In addition, 70 GPS stations
have recently been added to this seismological network, most of them
collocated with the seismological stations.
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Since the installation of the network, the records of local or distant
events have improved significantly. The automatic processing of the data in a
few minutes allows alert messages to be distributed to Civil Defense and
other national authorities to react promptly to any emergency. The current
strategy is to improve the data quality, to increase the density of the
network by adding about 50 new stations, to reduce the processing time, and
to reduce the time needed to send out an alert message. The result should be
greatly improved network performance, which will lead to an effective
early-warning system
Strong Algerian earthquake strikes near capital city
International audienceOn 21 May 2003, a damaging earthquake of Mw 6.8 struck the region of Boumerdes 40 km east of Algiers in northern Algeria (Figure 1). The main shock, which lasted ∼36–40 s, had devastating effects and claimed about 2300 victims, caused more than 11,450 injuries, and left about 200,000 people homeless. It destroyed and seriously damaged around 180,000 housing units and 6000 public buildings with losses estimated at $5 billion. The main shock was widely felt within a radius of ∼400 km in Algeria. To the north, the earthquake was felt in southeastern Spain, including the Balearic Islands, and also in Sardinia and in southern France