Inversion kinematics at deep-seated gravity slope deformations revealed by trenching techniques

Abstract. We compare data from three deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSDs) where palaeoseismological techniques were applied in artificial trenches. At all trenches, located in metamorphic rocks of the Italian Alps, there is evidence of extensional deformation given by normal movements along slip planes dipping downhill or uphill, and/or fissures, as expected in gravitational failure. However, we document and illustrate – with the aid of trenching – evidence of reverse movements. The reverse slips occurred mostly along the same planes along which normal slip occurred, and they produced drag folds in unconsolidated Holocene sediments as well as the superimposition of substrate rocks on Holocene sediments. The studied trenches indicate that reverse slip might occur not only at the toe portions of DSGSDs but also in their central-upper portions. When the age relationships between the two deformation kinematics can be determined, they clearly indicate that reverse slips postdate normal ones. Our data suggest that, during the development of long-lived DSGSDs, inversion kinematics may occur in different sectors of the unstable rock mass. The inversion is interpreted as due either to locking of the frontal blocks of a DSGSD or to the relative decrease in the rate of downward movement in the frontal blocks with respect to the rear blocks

Quantum Dot-Based Thin-Film III–V Solar Cells

In this work, we report our recent results in the development of thin-film III–V solar cells fabricated by epitaxial lift-off (ELO) combining quantum dots (QD) and light management structures. Possible paths to overcome two of the most relevant issues posed by quantum dot solar cells (QDSC), namely, the degradation of open circuit voltage and the weak photon harvesting by QDs, are evaluated both theoretically and experimentally. High open circuit voltage QDSCs grown by molecular beam epitaxy are demonstrated, both in wafer-based and ELO thin-film configuration. This paves the way to the implementation in the genuine thin-film structure of advanced photon management approaches to enhance the QD photocurrent and to further optimize the photovoltage. We show that the use of light trapping is essential to attain high-efficiency QDSCs. Based on transport and rigorous electromagnetic simulations, we derive design guidelines towards light-trapping enhanced thin-film QDSCs with efficiency higher than 28% under unconcentrated light, ambient temperature. If photon recycling can be fully exploited, 30% efficiency is deemed to be feasible. Towards this goal, results on the development and integration of optimized planar and micro-patterned mirrors, diffractive gratings and broadband antireflection coatings are presented

growth and nitrogen metabolism of sea bass fed graded levels of nucleic acid nitrogen from yeast or rna extract as partial substitute for protein nitrogen from fish meal

Some studies carried out in mammalian models have shown de novo synthesis and salvage of nucleotides to be a costly metabolic process and a dietary supplementation with nucleic acids (NA) or nucleotides has been suggested to result in a protein sparing action (Sanderson and He, 1994). On the other hand, high levels of dietary NA could have toxic effects and lead to disturbance in protein, lipid and carbohydrate metabolism in monogastric animals lacking uricase activity, an enzyme involved in NA degradation (Clifford and Story, 1976). So far, there is no clear indication of such effects in fish fed nucleic acid-enriched diets (Tacon and Cooke, 1980; Rumsey et al., 1992; Fournier et al., 2002). The aim of this experiment was to investigate growth response and N metabolism in juvenile sea bass (D. labrax) fed diets supplying graded levels of nucleic acid N from dry brewer's yeast or RNA extract as partial substitutes for protein nitrogen provided by fish meal

Growth performance of sea bass fed increasing levels of pea-wheat protein in diets varying in fish meal quality

A 11-week trial was carried out to compare the growth performance of sea bass (D. labrax) fed six isonitrogenous isocaloric diets where protein from two fish meals of different nutritive value was replaced with graded levels (0, 50 or 75%) of a mixture made up by a pea protein concentrate and wheat gluten. Fish meal quality did not affect (P>0.05) weight gain or feed efficiency in fish fed graded levels of plant protein in the diet. Feed intake decreased (P<0.05) as the level of plant protein was increased in the diet but this did not led to impaired growth or feed conversion rate. Protein efficiency and retention were equally improved (P<0.05) only with diets where a poor quality fish meal was substituted by protein rich-plant ingredients. Calculations based on the mass balance of nutrients of sea bass proven the inclusion of a mixture of highly purified plant-protein derivatives in complete diets for the sea bass, to be beneficial in reducing pollution load

Effects of long term feeding diets differing in protein source and pre-slaughter starvation on biometry, qualitative traits and liver IGF-I expression in large rainbow trout

The effects of feeding two complete extruded diets differing in protein source (fish meal-FM vs. vegetable proteins-VP) over 30 weeks and subsequent 30 days of starvation on biometry, fillet composition and liver IGF-I mRNA were studied in large rainbow trout. At the end of the feeding period, the dietary protein source little affected major biometry traits, dressing out yields and overall adiposity (P>0.05) but fish given the VP diet resulted in higher content of PUFA n-6 fatty acids in mus- cle (0.46 vs. 0.22 g/100g fillet, P0.05) and of all fatty acids in fillet (P<0.05), except DHA. Liver IGF-I mRNA content was little affected by the test diet and starvation

Does the Danube exist? Versions of reality given by various regional climate models and climatological datasets

We present an intercomparison and verification analysis of several regional climate models (RCMs) nested into the same run of the same Atmospheric Global Circulation Model (AGCM) regarding their representation of the statistical properties of the hydrological balance of the Danube river basin for 1961-1990. We also consider the datasets produced by the driving AGCM, from the ECMWF and NCEP-NCAR reanalyses. The hydrological balance is computed by integrating the precipitation and evaporation fields over the area of interest. Large discrepancies exist among RCMs for the monthly climatology as well as for the mean and variability of the annual balances, and only few datasets are consistent with the observed discharge values of the Danube at its Delta, even if the driving AGCM provides itself an excellent estimate. Since the considered approach relies on the mass conservation principle and bypasses the details of the air-land interface modeling, we propose that the atmospheric components of RCMs still face difficulties in representing the water balance even on a relatively large scale. Their reliability on smaller river basins may be even more problematic. Moreover, since for some models the hydrological balance estimates obtained with the runoff fields do not agree with those obtained via precipitation and evaporation, some deficiencies of the land models are also apparent. NCEP-NCAR and ERA-40 reanalyses result to be largely inadequate for representing the hydrology of the Danube river basin, both for the reconstruction of the long-term averages and of the seasonal cycle, and cannot in any sense be used as verification. We suggest that these results should be carefully considered in the perspective of auditing climate models and assessing their ability to simulate future climate changes.Comment: 25 pages 8 figures, 5 table

Functional fish: improving nutrition for the elderly

Elder people need highly digestible foods that can also provide health benefits even to those suffering from chronic diseases. Furthermore, such foods should be palatable as well as familiar for elder consumers. Fish is a high-protein, low-fat food that potentially provides a range of health promoting effects which may be further improved with suitable approaches in the production systems. The present mini-review intends to report possible aquaculture interventions to enhance the positive impact of fish on elder health and to promote its function in terms of prevention and recovery of specific diseases. Some fish species during their lifespan experience periods of food restrictions that can be mimicked in aquaculture without affecting fish welfare. Under these circumstances fish can modify the fatty acid profile and increase the use of muscle proteins to fulfill their energy requirements, by activation of muscle endogenous proteases. Degradation of muscle proteins can enhance their digestibility and possibly the release of encrypted bioactive peptides, showing a plethora of biological actions, including the antihypertensive activity. The degree of myofibrillar protein degradation and the fatty acid profile of fish fillet can then be managed by suitable and sustainable feeding protocols in the context of farming conditions

Linear Categorical Marginal Modeling of solicited symptoms in vaccine clinical trials

Analysis of the occurrence of adverse events, and in particular of solicited symptoms, following vaccination is often needed for the safety and benefit-risk evaluation of any candidate vaccine, and typically involves taking repeated measurements. In this article, it is shown that Linear Categorical Marginal Models (LCMMs) are well suited to take into account the dependencies in the data arising from the repeated measurements and provide detailed and useful information for comparing safety profiles of different products while remaining relatively easy to interpret. LCMMs are presented and applied to a Phase III clinical trial of a candidate meningococcal pediatric vaccine

Reduced dimensionality multiphysics model for efficient VCSEL optimization

The ICT scene is dominated by short-range intra-datacenter interconnects and networking, requiring high speed and stable operations at high temperatures. GaAs/AlGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 850–980 nm have arisen as the main actors in this framework. Starting from our in-house 3D fully comprehensive VCSEL solver VENUS, in this work we present the possibility of downscaling the dimensionality of the simulation, ending up with a multiphysics 1D solver (D1ANA), which is shown to be capable of reproducing the experimental data very well. D1ANA is then extensively applied to optimize high-temperature operation, by modifying cavity detuning and distributed Bragg’s reflector lengths