Reassessment of intensity estimates from vulnerability and damage distributions: the 2011 Lorca earthquake

This paper presents a reassessment of the seismic intensity estimated for the 2011 Lorca (southeastern Spain) earthquake based on detailed vulnerability data and its comparison with the observed damage. Building and urban data are gathered in selected areas during a field campaign and are completed with office work. The significance of vulnerability modifiers in the final vulnerability distribution is analyzed, and their relation with observed damage trends is explored. A direct application of the vulnerability modifiers is not capable of reproducing the observed damage patterns. A significant increase of vulnerability related to the performance of buildings presenting soft story is required to reach a damage distribution consistent with intensity estimates in the study areas. Accordingly, an intensity increase in certain study zones (as compared to other areas of the city of Lorca) is suggested. Although the approach followed in this study is applied in a city of Spain, it can be extrapolated to other areas where detailed vulnerability assessment is feasible and damage data are available

Sistema de autoconstrucción sismorresistente: características resistentes y proceso constructivo

The dwelling construction with soil, adobe or brick without call for technical advice is very typical in countries in process of development that are in areas of high seismic risk. To give an answer to the problem of earthquake building using these materials, providing simplicity of construction, we have worked for years in the use of the Integral Masonry System (IMS). The IMS is a system that, used combined with native materials, has earthquake resistant properties and its ease of implementation makes it suitable for self-build earthquake-resistant dwellings. This article describes the IMS, develops the constructive process applied to a type of two storey houses, and shows the seismic behaviour by means of the results obtained in the three test campaigns. The originality of the system lies in the use of a single type of prefabricated trusses, intertwined in the three spatial directions allowing create a dimensional mesh.La autoconstrucción con tierra, adobe o ladrillo es muy habitual en los países en vías de desarrollo que están en zonas de alto riesgo sísmico. Ante la necesidad de dar respuesta al problema, aportando sencillez constructiva, hemos trabajado desde hace años en el empleo del Sistema de Albañilería Integral (SAI). El SAI es un sistema que, combinado con materiales autóctonos, aporta resistencia sísmica y su facilidad de ejecución lo hace adecuado para la autoconstrucción de viviendas antisísmicas. Este artículo describe el SAI, desarrolla el proceso constructivo aplicado a una vivienda tipo de dos alturas y muestra su comportamiento sismo-resistente mediante los resultados obtenidos en tres campañas de ensayos. La originalidad del sistema radica en el empleo de un solo tipo de armaduras prefabricadas en forma de cercha que se entrelazan entre si en las tres direcciones del espacio permitiendo crear una malla tridimensional

Sistema de autoconstrucción sismorresistente: características resistentes y proceso constructivo

The dwelling construction with soil, adobe or brick without call for technical advice is very typical in countries in process of development that are in areas of high seismic risk. To give an answer to the problem of earthquake building using these materials, providing simplicity of construction, we have worked for years in the use of the Integral Masonry System (IMS). The IMS is a system that, used combined with native materials, has earthquake resistant properties and its ease of implementation makes it suitable for self-build earthquake-resistant dwellings. This article describes the IMS, develops the constructive process applied to a type of two storey houses, and shows the seismic behaviour by means of the results obtained in the three test campaigns. The originality of the system lies in the use of a single type of prefabricated trusses, intertwined in the three spatial directions allowing create a dimensional mesh.<br><br>La autoconstrucción con tierra, adobe o ladrillo es muy habitual en los países en vías de desarrollo que están en zonas de alto riesgo sísmico. Ante la necesidad de dar respuesta al problema, aportando sencillez constructiva, hemos trabajado desde hace años en el empleo del Sistema de Albañilería Integral (SAI). El SAI es un sistema que, combinado con materiales autóctonos, aporta resistencia sísmica y su facilidad de ejecución lo hace adecuado para la autoconstrucción de viviendas antisísmicas. Este artículo describe el SAI, desarrolla el proceso constructivo aplicado a una vivienda tipo de dos alturas y muestra su comportamiento sismo-resistente mediante los resultados obtenidos en tres campañas de ensayos. La originalidad del sistema radica en el empleo de un solo tipo de armaduras prefabricadas en forma de cercha que se entrelazan entre si en las tres direcciones del espacio permitiendo crear una malla tridimensional

Whole sequence of the mitochondrial DNA genome of Kearns Sayre Syndrome patients: Identification of deletions and variants

Mitochondria both produce the energy of the cell as ATP via respiration and regulate cellular metabolism. Accordingly, any deletion or mutation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) may result in a disease. One of these diseases is Kearns Sayre syndrome (KSS), described for the first time in 1958, where different large-scale deletions of different sizes and at different positions have been reported in the mitochondrial genome of patients with similar clinical symptoms. In this study, sequences of the mitochondrial genome of three patients with clinic features of KSS were analyzed. Our results revealed the position, heteroplasmy percentage, size of deletions, and their haplogroups. Two patients contained deletions reported previously and one patient showed a new deletion not reported previously. These results display for the first time a systematic analysis of mtDNA variants in the whole mtDNA genome of patients with KSS to help to understand their association with the disease

Taxonomic variations in the gut microbiome of gout patients with and without tophi might have a functional impact on urate metabolism

[Objective] To evaluate the taxonomic composition of the gut microbiome in gout patients with and without tophi formation, and predict bacterial functions that might have an impact on urate metabolism.[Methods] Hypervariable V3–V4 regions of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene from fecal samples of gout patients with and without tophi (n = 33 and n = 25, respectively) were sequenced and compared to fecal samples from 53 healthy controls. We explored predictive functional profiles using bioinformatics in order to identify differences in taxonomy and metabolic pathways. [Results] We identified a microbiome characterized by the lowest richness and a higher abundance of Phascolarctobacterium, Bacteroides, Akkermansia, and Ruminococcus_gnavus_group genera in patients with gout without tophi when compared to controls. The Proteobacteria phylum and the Escherichia-Shigella genus were more abundant in patients with tophaceous gout than in controls. Fold change analysis detected nine genera enriched in healthy controls compared to gout groups (Bifidobacterium, Butyricicoccus, Oscillobacter, Ruminococcaceae_UCG_010, Lachnospiraceae_ND2007_group, Haemophilus, Ruminococcus_1, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1, and Ruminococcaceae_UGC_013). We found that the core microbiota of both gout groups shared Bacteroides caccae, Bacteroides stercoris ATCC 43183, and Bacteroides coprocola DSM 17136. These bacteria might perform functions linked to one-carbon metabolism, nucleotide binding, amino acid biosynthesis, and purine biosynthesis. Finally, we observed differences in key bacterial enzymes involved in urate synthesis, degradation, and elimination. [Conclusion] Our findings revealed that taxonomic variations in the gut microbiome of gout patients with and without tophi might have a functional impact on urate metabolism.This study was supported by the Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación Luis Guillermo Ibarra Ibarra” and the Grant INF-2016-01-269675 from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)

Thermodynamic, Kinetic, and Equilibrium Parameters for the Removal of Lead and Cadmium from Aqueous Solutions with Calcium Alginate Beads

The sorption of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) by calcium alginate beads (CAB) from aqueous solutions in batch systems was investigated. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, as well as the sorption capacities of CAB in each system at different temperatures, were evaluated. The rate of sorption for both metals was rapid in the first 10 minutes and reached a maximum in 50 minutes. Sorption kinetic data were fitted to Lagergren, pseudo-second-order and Elovich models and it was found that the second-order kinetic model describes these data for the two metals; comparing kinetic parameters for Cd and Pb sorption a higher kinetic rate ( 2 ) for Pb was observed, indicating that the interaction between lead cations and alginate beads was faster than for cadmium. Similarly, isotherm data were fitted to different models reported in literature and it was found that the LangmuirFreundlich (L-F) and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models describe the isotherms in all cases. CAB sorption capacity for cadmium was 27.4 mg/g and 150.4 mg/g for lead, at 25 ∘ C. Sorption capacities of Cd and Pb increase as temperature rises. According to the thermodynamic parameters, the cadmium and lead adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. It was also found that pH has an important effect on the adsorption of these metals by CAB, as more were removed at pH values between 6 and 7

Ancient DNA evidence for the ecological globalization of cod fishing in medieval and post-medieval Europe

Understanding the historical emergence and growth of long-range fisheries can provide fundamental insights into the timing of ecological impacts and the development of coastal communities during the last millennium. Whole-genome sequencing approaches can improve such understanding by determining the origin of archaeological fish specimens that may have been obtained from historic trade or distant water. Here, we used genome-wide data to individually infer the biological source of 37 ancient Atlantic cod specimens (ca 1050-1950 CE) from England and Spain. Our findings provide novel genetic evidence that eleventh- to twelfth-century specimens from London were predominantly obtained from nearby populations, while thirteenth- to fourteenth-century specimens were derived from distant sources. Our results further suggest that Icelandic cod was indeed exported to London earlier than previously reported. Our observations confirm the chronology and geography of the trans-Atlantic cod trade from Newfoundland to Spain starting by the early sixteenth century. Our findings demonstrate the utility of whole-genome sequencing and ancient DNA approaches to describe the globalization of marine fisheries and increase our understanding regarding the extent of the North Atlantic fish trade and long-range fisheries in medieval and early modern time

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let