Analogue Modelling of Inverted Oblique Rift Systems

The geometric evolution of brittle fault systems in inverted oblique and offset rift systems has been simulated using scaled sandbox analogue models. Dry fine-grained quartz sand was used to represent the brittle upper crust. Extensional faults geometries in the models were governed by the geometry and orientation of a stretching zone at the base of the models. Oblique rift models were characterized by segmented en-echelon border fault systems trending parallel to the rift axis and the underlying zone of basement stretching. Offset rift models promoted highly-segmented border faults as well as offset sub-basins within the rift. In both types of models, intra-rift fault arrays were oriented sub-perpendicular to the extension direction. Inversion of the oblique and offset extensional models was achieved by horizontal shortening. This resulted in partial inversion of the border and intra-rift faults as well as the formation of new reverse faults. The geometries, distribution, orientations and number of these new reverse faults were strongly controlled by the earlier-formed fault extensional architectures. At the margins of the rift zone, shortening was mainly accommodated by partial inversion of the border faults together with the formation of hanging-wall bypass faults and footwall shortcut thrusts. Inversion of the offset rift models produced reactivation of the extensional accommodation zones as soft-linked transfer zones between new thrust faults. The analogue model results have been compared with natural inversion structures in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco and the Ukrainian Donbas fold belt. The analogue modelling results suggest that the High Atlas formed as the result of oblique inversion of an oblique rift system, and the contractional structures in the Ukranian Donbas belt were generated by partial inversion of the earlier-formed Donbas extensional graben via two major newly developed short-cuts that uplifted and exhumed the basin

Effects of margin-parallel shortening and density contrasts on back-arc extension during subduction: Experimental insights and possible application to Anatolia

International audienceSo as to investigate the parameters influencing subduction and back-arc extension, we have done three series of laboratory experiments (32 in all) on physical models. Each model consisted of adjacent oceanic and continental plates, floating on an asthenosphere. In experiments of Series A, a wide rigid piston, moving horizontally, controlled the rate of convergence of the oceanic and continental plates, whereas, in Series B or C, a wide or narrow piston produced lateral compression, parallel to the continent-ocean boundary (COB) and perpendicular to the subduction direction. The parameters that we tested were (1) the velocity of plate convergence (Series A), (2) the width of the compressing piston (Series B and C), and (3) the density ratio between oceanic and continental plates (Series B and C). This density ratio was a key factor. For a ratio of 1.4, the amount of extension in the continental plate increased regularly throughout time; for a ratio of 1.3, the extension remained small, until the piston stopped moving laterally; and for a ratio of 1.1, there was little or no extension. The width of the compressing piston had a smaller effect, although a narrow piston provided more space, into which the continental plate could extend. One possible application of our models is to Anatolia. Despite similar geological settings, the areas north of the Hellenic and Cyprus subduction zones differ, in that extension is large in the former and much smaller in the latter. We suggest that one of the main driving forces for Aegean extension may have been a high density ratio between subducting oceanic lithosphere and a Hellenic-Balkanic upper plate

Reducing the Gap Between Business and Information Systems Through Complex Event Processing

According to the Object Management Group, a rule is a proposition that is a claim of obligation or of necessity. The concept of rule is usually employed in the context of business process to manage companies operations. While a workflow is an explicit specification of tasks' execution flow, business rules only impose restrictions on the tasks' execution. This provides a great deal of flexibility for the process execution, since the stakeholders are free to choose an execution flow which does not violate the rules. The execution of a task in a process can be seen as the occurrence of an event, which may enable/disable the execution of some other tasks in the process. Event-driven programming is a paradigm in which the program control-flow is determined by the occurrence of events. The capacity to handle processes that are unpredictably non-linear and dynamic makes the event-driven paradigm an effective solution for the implementation of business rules. However, the connection between the business rules and their implementation through event-driven programming has been made in an ad-hoc and unstructured manner. This paper proposes a methodology to tackle such a problem by systematically moving from business rules described in natural language toward a concrete implementation of a business process. We use complex event processing (CEP) to implement the process. CEP relies on the event driven paradigm for monitoring and processing events. The methodology allows for the active participation of business people at all stages of the refinement process. Throughout the paper, we show how our methodology was employed to implement the operations of the World Bank

The characteristics of insoluble softwood substrates affect fungal morphology, secretome composition, and hydrolytic efficiency of enzymes produced by Trichoderma reesei

Background: On-site enzyme production using Trichoderma reesei can improve yields and lower the overall cost of lignocellulose saccharification by exploiting the fungal gene regulatory mechanism that enables it to continuously adapt enzyme secretion to the substrate used for cultivation. To harness this, the interrelation between substrate characteristics and fungal response must be understood. However, fungal morphology or gene expression studies often lack structural and chemical substrate characterization. Here, T. reesei QM6a was cultivated on three softwood substrates: northern bleached softwood Kraft pulp (NBSK) and lodgepole pine pretreated either by dilute-acid-catalyzed steam pretreatment (LP-STEX) or mild alkaline oxidation (LP-ALKOX). With different pretreatments of similar starting materials, we presented the fungus with systematically modified substrates. This allowed the elucidation of substrate-induced changes in the fungal response and the testing of the secreted enzymes’ hydrolytic strength towards the same substrates. Results: Enzyme activity time courses correlated with hemicellulose content and cellulose accessibility. Specifically, increased amounts of side-chain-cleaving hemicellulolytic enzymes in the protein produced on the complex substrates (LP-STEX; LP-ALKOX) was observed by secretome analysis. Confocal laser scanning micrographs showed that fungal micromorphology responded to changes in cellulose accessibility and initial culture viscosity. The latter was caused by surface charge and fiber dimensions, and likely restricted mass transfer, resulting in morphologies of fungi in stress. Supplementing a basic cellulolytic enzyme mixture with concentrated T. reesei supernatant improved saccharification efficiencies of the three substrates, where cellulose, xylan, and mannan conversion was increased by up to 27, 45, and 2800%, respectively. The improvement was most pronounced for proteins produced on LP-STEX and LP-ALKOX on those same substrates, and in the best case, efficiencies reached those of a state-of-the-art commercial enzyme preparation. Conclusion: Cultivation of T. reesei on LP-STEX and LP-ALKOX produced a protein mixture that increased the hydrolytic strength of a basic cellulase mixture to state-of-the-art performance on softwood substrates. This suggests that the fungal adaptation mechanism can be exploited to achieve enhanced performance in enzymatic hydrolysis without a priori knowledge of specific substrate requirements

How prior knowledge of LGB identities alters the effects of workplace disclosure

© 2017 Elsevier Inc. Decisions to reveal one\u27s sexual orientation are assumed to be a volitional choice. Prior research has shown, however, that people often learn about the lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) identities of others through indirect means, such as gossip and stereotypical cues (Ambady, Hallahan, & Conner, 1999; Colgan, Creegan, McKearney, & Wright, 2007). We conduct two studies to determine the effects of these forms of prior identity-related knowledge on disclosure outcomes. First, a pre-test of study assumptions demonstrates that recipients of minority sexual orientation disclosures often have prior knowledge of those identities. Second, a survey study examining the target\u27s perspective finds that LGB people often suspect when others have prior knowledge of their identities, and this expected prior knowledge moderates the relationship between identity-management and subsequent experiences of discrimination. Lastly, a lab experiment manipulating the level of prior identity-related knowledge establishes that this information directly influences interpersonal workplace outcomes of disclosures through perceptions of awkwardness but not through liking. Together, these studies demonstrate support for our model of prior identity-related knowledge and highlight the importance of examining both prior identity-related knowledge as well as identity management strategies in predicting LGB workplace experiences

Overview of molecular typing methods for outbreak detection and epidemiological surveillance

Typing methods for discriminating different bacterial isolates of the same species are essential epidemiological tools in infection prevention and control. Traditional typing systems based on phenotypes, such as serotype, biotype, phage-type, or antibiogram, have been used for many years. However, more recent methods that examine the relatedness of isolates at a molecular level have revolutionised our ability to differentiate among bacterial types and subtypes. Importantly, the development of molecular methods has provided new tools for enhanced surveillance and outbreak detection. This has resulted in better implementation of rational infection control programmes and efficient allocation of resources across Europe. The emergence of benchtop sequencers using next generation sequencing technology makes bacterial whole genome sequencing (WGS) feasible even in small research and clinical laboratories. WGS has already been used for the characterisation of bacterial isolates in several large outbreaks in Europe and, in the near future, is likely to replace currently used typing methodologies due to its ultimate resolution. However, WGS is still too laborious and time-consuming to obtain useful data in routine surveillance. Also, a largely unresolved question is how genome sequences must be examined for epidemiological characterisation. In the coming years, the lessons learnt from currently used molecular methods will allow us to condense the WGS data into epidemiologically useful information. On this basis, we have reviewed current and new molecular typing methods for outbreak detection and epidemiological surveillance of bacterial pathogens in clinical practice, aiming to give an overview of their specific advantages and disadvantages

a descriptive study on familiarity with, adherence to and trust in the WHO preventive measures

Background Risk communication is a key component of public health interventions during an outbreak. As the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in late 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was at the forefront in the development of risk communication strategies. The WHO introduced a range of activities with the purpose of enabling the public to avail verified and timely information on COVID-19 prevention behaviors. Given the various WHO activities to protect the public health during COVID-19, it is important to investigate the extent of familiarity and uptake of the WHO recommendations among the public during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods To do this, we conducted a large-scale Pan-European survey covering around 7500 individuals that are representative of populations from seven European countries, collected online during April 2-April 15, 2020. We use descriptive statistics including proportions and correlations and graphical representations such as bar charts to analyze and display the data. Results Our findings suggest that information from the WHO in the context of COVID-19 is well trusted and acted upon by the public. Overall familiarity and adherence were quite high in most countries. Adherence was higher for social distancing recommendations compared to hygiene measures. Familiarity and adherence were higher among older, female, and highly educated respondents. However, country level heterogeneities were observed in the level of trust in information from the WHO, with countries severely affected by the pandemic reporting lower levels of trust. Conclusion Our findings call for efforts from health authorities to get regular feedback from the public on their familiarity and compliance with recommendations for preventive measures at all stages of the pandemic, to further develop and adapt risk communication as the pandemic evolves.publishersversionpublishe