1,262 research outputs found
Investigation and hazard assessment of the 2003 and 2007 Staircase Falls rock falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
International audienceSince 1857 more than 600 rock falls, rock slides, debris slides, and debris flows have been documented in Yosemite National Park, with rock falls in Yosemite Valley representing the majority of the events. On 26 December 2003, a rock fall originating from west of Glacier Point sent approximately 200 m3 of rock debris down a series of joint-controlled ledges to the floor of Yosemite Valley. The debris impacted talus near the base of Staircase Falls, producing fragments of flying rock that struck occupied cabins in Curry Village. Several years later on 9 June 2007, and again on 26 July 2007, smaller rock falls originated from the same source area. The 26 December 2003 event coincided with a severe winter storm and was likely triggered by precipitation and/or frost wedging, but the 9 June and 26 July 2007 events lack recognizable triggering mechanisms. We investigated the geologic and hydrologic factors contributing to the Staircase Falls rock falls, including bedrock lithology, weathering, joint spacing and orientations, and hydrologic processes affecting slope stability. We improved upon previous geomorphic assessment of rock-fall hazards, based on a shadow angle approach, by using STONE, a three-dimensional rock-fall simulation computer program. STONE produced simulated rock-fall runout patterns similar to the mapped extent of the 2003 and 2007 events, allowing us to simulate potential future rock falls from the Staircase Falls detachment area. Observations of recent rock falls, mapping of rock debris, and simulations of rock fall runouts beneath the Staircase Falls detachment area suggest that rock-fall hazard zones extend farther downslope than the extent previously defined by mapped surface talus deposits
VHE Gamma Rays from PKS 2155-304
The close X-ray selected BL Lac PKS 2155-304 has been observed using the
University of Durham Mark 6 very high energy (VHE) gamma ray telescope during
1996 September/October/November and 1997 October/November. VHE gamma rays with
energy > 300 GeV were detected from this object with a time-averaged integral
flux of (4.2 +/- 0.7 (stat) +/- 2.0 (sys)) x 10^(-11) per cm2 per s. There is
evidence for VHE gamma ray emission during our observations in 1996 September
and 1997 October/November, with the strongest emission being detected in 1997
November, when the object was producing the largest flux ever recorded in
high-energy X-rays and was detected in > 100 MeV gamma-rays. The VHE and X-ray
fluxes show evidence of a correlation.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Ap.
Hallermann-Streiff Syndrome: No Evidence for a Link to Laminopathies
Hallermann-Streiff syndrome (HSS) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by malformations of the cranium and facial bones, congenital cataracts, microphthalmia, skin atrophy, hypotrichosis, proportionate short stature, teeth abnormalities, and a typical facial appearance with prominent forehead, small pointed nose, and micrognathia. The genetic cause of this developmental disorder is presently unknown. Here we describe 8 new patients with a phenotype of HSS. Individuals with HSS present with clinical features overlapping with some progeroid syndromes that belong to the laminopathies, such as Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and mandibuloacral dysplasia (MAD). HGPS is caused by de novo point mutations in the LMNA gene, coding for the nuclear lamina proteins lamin A and C. MAD with type A and B lipodystrophy are recessive disorders resulting from mutations in LMNA and ZMPSTE24 , respectively. ZMPSTE24 in addition to ICMT encode proteins involved in posttranslational processing of lamin A. We hypothesized that HSS is an allelic disorder to HGPS and MAD. As the nuclear shape is often irregular in patients with LMNA mutations, we first analyzed the nuclear morphology in skin fibroblasts of patients with HSS, but could not identify any abnormality. Sequencing of the genes LMNA, ZMPSTE24 and ICMT in the 8 patients with HSS revealed the heterozygous missense mutation c.1930C>T (p.R644C) in LMNA in 1 female. Extreme phenotypic diversity and low penetrance have been associated with the p.R644C mutation. In ZMPSTE24 and ICMT , no pathogenic sequence change was detected in patients with HSS. Together, we found no evidence that HSS is another laminopathy
Rescaling multipartite entanglement measures for mixed states
A relevant problem regarding entanglement measures is the following: Given an
arbitrary mixed state, how does a measure for multipartite entanglement change
if general local operations are applied to the state? This question is
nontrivial as the normalization of the states has to be taken into account.
Here we answer it for pure-state entanglement measures which are invariant
under determinant 1 local operations and homogeneous in the state coefficients,
and their convex-roof extension which quantifies mixed-state entanglement. Our
analysis allows to enlarge the set of mixed states for which these important
measures can be calculated exactly. In particular, our results hint at a
distinguished role of entanglement measures which have homogeneous degree 2 in
the state coefficients.Comment: Published version plus one important reference (Ref. [39]
Quantum circuits for spin and flavor degrees of freedom of quarks forming nucleons
We discuss the quantum-circuit realization of the state of a nucleon in the
scope of simple symmetry groups. Explicit algorithms are presented for the
preparation of the state of a neutron or a proton as resulting from the
composition of their quark constituents. We estimate the computational
resources required for such a simulation and design a photonic network for its
implementation. Moreover, we highlight that current work on three-body
interactions in lattices of interacting qubits, combined with the
measurement-based paradigm for quantum information processing, may also be
suitable for the implementation of these nucleonic spin states.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX4; Accepted for publication in Quantum
Information Processin
An automated optimization pipeline for clinical-grade computer-assisted planning of high tibial osteotomies under consideration of weight-bearing
3D preoperative planning for high tibial osteotomies (HTO) has increasingly replaced 2D planning but is complex, time-consuming and therefore expensive. Several interdependent clinical objectives and constraints have to be considered, which often requires multiple rounds of revisions between surgeons and biomedical engineers. We therefore developed an automated preoperative planning pipeline, which takes imaging data as an input to generate a ready-to-use, patient-specific planning solution. Deep-learning based segmentation and landmark localization was used to enable the fully automated 3D lower limb deformity assessment. A 2D-3D registration algorithm allowed the transformation of the 3D bone models into the weight-bearing state. Finally, an optimization framework was implemented to generate ready-to use preoperative plannings in a fully automated fashion, using a genetic algorithm to solve the multi-objective optimization (MOO) problem based on several clinical requirements and constraints. The entire pipeline was evaluated on a large clinical dataset of 53 patient cases who previously underwent a medial opening-wedge HTO. The pipeline was used to automatically generate preoperative solutions for these patients. Five experts blindly compared the automatically generated solutions to the previously generated manual plannings. The overall mean rating for the algorithm-generated solutions was better than for the manual solutions. In 90% of all comparisons, they were considered to be equally good or better than the manual solution. The combined use of deep learning approaches, registration methods and MOO can reliably produce ready-to-use preoperative solutions that significantly reduce human workload and related health costs
Lunar Seismology: An Update on Interior Structure Models
An international team of researchers gathered, with the support of the Interna-
tional Space Science Institute (ISSI), (1) to review seismological investigations of the lunar
interior from the Apollo-era and up until the present and (2) to re-assess our level of knowl-
edge and uncertainty on the interior structure of the Moon. A companion paper (Nunn et al.
in Space Sci. Rev., submitted) reviews and discusses the Apollo lunar seismic data with the
aim of creating a new reference seismic data set for future use by the community. In this
study, we first review information pertinent to the interior of the Moon that has become
available since the Apollo lunar landings, particularly in the past ten years, from orbiting
spacecraft, continuing measurements, modeling studies, and laboratory experiments. Fol-
lowing this, we discuss and compare a set of recent published models of the lunar interior,
including a detailed review of attenuation and scattering properties of the Moon. Common
features and discrepancies between models and moonquake locations provide a first esti-
mate of the error bars on the various seismic parameters. Eventually, to assess the influence
of model parameterisation and error propagation on inverted seismic velocity models, an
inversion test is presented where three different parameterisations are considered. For this
purpose, we employ the travel time data set gathered in our companion paper (Nunn et al. in
Space Sci. Rev., submitted). The error bars of the inverted seismic velocity models demon-
strate that the Apollo lunar seismic data mainly constrain the upper- and mid-mantle struc-
ture to a depth of ∼1200 km. While variable, there is some indication for an upper mantle
low-velocity zone (depth range 100–250 km), which is compatible with a temperature gradi-
◦ent around 1.7 C/km. This upper mantle thermal gradient could be related to the presence
of the thermally anomalous region known as the Procellarum Kreep Terrane, which contains
a large amount of heat producing elements
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