Slip inversion along inner fore-arc faults, eastern Tohoku, Japan

The kinematics of deformation in the overriding plate of convergent margins may vary across timescales ranging from a single seismic cycle to many millions of years. In Northeast Japan, a network of active faults has accommodated contraction across the arc since the Pliocene, but several faults located along the inner fore arc experienced extensional aftershocks following the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake, opposite that predicted from the geologic record. This observation suggests that fore-arc faults may be favorable for stress triggering and slip inversion, but the geometry and deformation history of these fault systems are poorly constrained. Here we document the Neogene kinematics and subsurface geometry of three prominent fore-arc faults in Tohoku, Japan. Geologic mapping and dating of growth strata provide evidence for a 5.6–2.2 Ma initiation of Plio-Quaternary contraction along the Oritsume, Noheji, and Futaba Faults and an earlier phase of Miocene extension from 25 to 15 Ma along the Oritsume and Futaba Faults associated with the opening of the Sea of Japan. Kinematic modeling indicates that these faults have listric geometries, with ramps that dip ~40–65°W and sole into subhorizontal detachments at 6–10 km depth. These fault systems can experience both normal and thrust sense slip if they are mechanically weak relative to the surrounding crust. We suggest that the inversion history of Northeast Japan primed the fore arc with a network of weak faults mechanically and geometrically favorable for slip inversion over geologic timescales and in response to secular variations in stress state associated with the megathrust seismic cycle.Funding was provided by a grant from the National Science Foundation Tectonics Program grant EAR-0809939 to D.M.F. and E.K., Geologic Society of America Graduate Research Grants, and the P.D. Krynine Memorial Fund. The authors thank Gaku Kimura, Kyoko Tonegawa, Hiroko Watanabe, Jun Kameda, and Asuka Yamaguchi for scientific and logistical support, and Kristin Morell for comments on early versions of the manuscript. We also thank Yuzuru Yamamoto and Kohtaro Ujiie for their detailed reviews and suggestions for improvement to the manuscript. The authors acknowledge the use of the Move Software Suite granted by Midland Valley's Academic Software Initiative. Geologic, structural, stratigraphic, and chronologic data used herein are accessible in manuscript figures, and in the citations therein. Input geologic data for trishear kinematic modeling can be accessed in Table 1 and in the supporting information. (EAR-0809939 - National Science Foundation Tectonics Program grant; Geologic Society of America Graduate Research Grants; P.D. Krynine Memorial Fund

Medial prefrontal cortex lesions in mice do not impair effort-based decision making.

The function of the medial prefrontal cortex has previously been determined in the rat to play an important role in effort-based decision making and this, along with functions of other areas, has been assumed largely, to hold true in all rodents. In this study, we attempted to replicate this result in mice and to develop a model for effort-based decision making that could be useful for the study of neurological conditions. Mice were trained on a cost-benefit T-maze paradigm, whereby they chose between a low reward with little effort needed to obtain it or a higher reward, which required increased effort. Following training, the medial prefrontal cortex was lesioned. After surgery, contrary to earlier published rat studies, the performance of the mice did not change. In previous studies, prefrontal cortex lesioned rats chose the low effort/low reward option, but lesioned mice continued to select the high reward/high effort option. However, the other results are in line with previous mouse studies in both the extent of pathology and anxiety-like behaviour. These results illustrate a difference in the functioning of the prefrontal cortex between rats and mice and offer a word of caution on the interpretation of data from studies that employ different species

Estimating HIV Medication Adherence and Persistence: Two Instruments for Clinical and Research Use

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) requires lifelong daily oral therapy. While patient characteristics associated with suboptimal ART adherence and persistence have been described in cohorts of HIV-infected persons, these factors are poor predictors of individual medication taking behaviors. We aimed to create and test instruments for the estimation of future ART adherence and persistence for clinical and research applications. Following formative work, a battery of 148 items broadly related to HIV infection and treatment was developed and administered to 181 HIV-infected patients. ART adherence and persistence were assessed using electronic monitoring for 3 months. Perceived confidence in medication taking and self-reported barriers to adherence were strongest in predicting non-adherence over time. Barriers to adherence (e.g., affordability, scheduling) were the strongest predictors of non-adherence, as well as 3- and 7-day non-persistence. A ten-item battery for prediction of these outcomes (www.med.unc.edu/ncaidstraining/adherence/for-providers) and a 30-item battery reflective of underlying psychological constructs can help identify and study individuals at risk for suboptimal ART adherence and persistence

Teaching Sustainability: Does Style Matter?

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate sustainability with innovation in engineering design. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of paradigm shift was introduced in the classroom by using a tangram activity to help students understand that sustainable design requires out-of-the-box thinking. Instructors from three institutions teaching various levels of sustainability courses to engineering majors used the activity to introduce sustainable design, then measured the understanding and appreciation of the concepts introduced through the tangram activity with pre- and post-activity surveys. Findings – Findings from the study indicate that students’ perceptions of sustainability significantly improved due to the activity, without regard to the institution. The activity also significantly improved students understanding of the connection between sustainability and innovation, across all three institutions, across all majors and across all years of study except second-year students. Improving engineering students’ views on sustainability may lead, over time, to changes in the industry, in which environmental performance is incorporated into the engineering design process. Originality/value – Active learning approaches are needed for affective-domain learning objectives in the sustainability field for students to learn the necessary attitudes, values and motivations to implemen

Transient and steady state creep response of ice I and magnesium sulfate hydrate eutectic aggregates

Using uniaxial compression creep experiments, we characterized the transient and steady state deformation behaviors of eutectic aggregates of system ice I and MgSO4 • 11H2O (MS11; meridianiite), which has significance because of its likely presence on moons of the outer solar system. Synthetic samples of eutectic liquid bulk composition, which produce eutectic colonies containing 0.35–0.50 volume fraction MS11, were tested as functions of colony size and lamellar spacing, temperature (230–250 K), and confining pressure (0.1 and 50 MPa) to strains ≤ 0.2. Up to a differential stress of 6 MPa, the ice I‐MS11 aggregates display an order of magnitude higher effective viscosity and higher stress sensitivity than do aggregates of pure polycrystalline ice at the same conditions. The creep data and associated microstructural observations demonstrate, however, that the aggregates are additionally more brittle than pure ice, approaching rate‐independent plasticity that includes rupture of the hydrate phase at 6–8 MPa, depending on the scale of the microstructure. Microstructures of deformed samples reveal forms of semibrittle flow in which the hydrate phase fractures while the ice phase deforms plastically. Semibrittle flow in the icy shell of a planetary body would truncate the lithospheric strength envelope and thereby decrease the depth to the brittle‐ductile transition by 55% and reduce the failure limit for compressional surface features from 10 to ∼6 MPa. A constitutive equation that includes eutectic colony boundary sliding and intracolony flow is used to describe the steady state rheology of the eutectic aggregates

Jefferson Village Downtown District Plan

Jefferson Village is an incorporated municipality in Northeastern Ohio, with a population in 2000 of about 4000 residents. Originally founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1836, the Village has been the county seat for Ashtabula County since 1807. The Village is centrally located in Ashtabula County, 10 miles south of Lake Erie, and 10 miles west of the Pennsylvania border. Interstate highway 90 runs parallel to the lake shore, about 6 miles north of the village; and State Route 11 is a major north-south connector located about 2 miles east of the village. The primary employment locations in the Village are the downtown County administration and the independent professional offices that serve county-related needs, and a light industrial park to the southeast of downtown. The County fairground is also located within the village limits. While residential, commercial and retail growth have occurred over the years, the village still retains much of its original Western Reserve town character. Over 25% of the buildings in the downtown district have historic merit, and both Chestnut and Jefferson Streets are lined with older brick commercial buildings, as well as large, well-kept residences of Western Reserve, Georgian and Victorian architectural styles. Village administration is still based in the original Town Hall, and residents take much pride in the small town charm of the community. In 2006, new commercial development was proposed for Chestnut Street that would have required removal of a residence of historic character, replacing it with a new, generic commercial structure and a typical street-frontage parking lot. Residents were concerned, and public discourse in the local newspaper and at Town Hall led to withdrawal of the proposal. Village leadership felt that it was time to explore the historic character and economic future of the downtown district, and establish policy that could guide future decision making for the downtown

Jefferson Village Downtown District Plan

Jefferson Village is an incorporated municipality in Northeastern Ohio, with a population in 2000 of about 4000 residents. Originally founded in 1803 and incorporated in 1836, the Village has been the county seat for Ashtabula County since 1807. The Village is centrally located in Ashtabula County, 10 miles south of Lake Erie, and 10 miles west of the Pennsylvania border. Interstate highway 90 runs parallel to the lake shore, about 6 miles north of the village; and State Route 11 is a major north-south connector located about 2 miles east of the village. The primary employment locations in the Village are the downtown County administration and the independent professional offices that serve county-related needs, and a light industrial park to the southeast of downtown. The County fairground is also located within the village limits. While residential, commercial and retail growth have occurred over the years, the village still retains much of its original Western Reserve town character. Over 25% of the buildings in the downtown district have historic merit, and both Chestnut and Jefferson Streets are lined with older brick commercial buildings, as well as large, well-kept residences of Western Reserve, Georgian and Victorian architectural styles. Village administration is still based in the original Town Hall, and residents take much pride in the small town charm of the community. In 2006, new commercial development was proposed for Chestnut Street that would have required removal of a residence of historic character, replacing it with a new, generic commercial structure and a typical street-frontage parking lot. Residents were concerned, and public discourse in the local newspaper and at Town Hall led to withdrawal of the proposal. Village leadership felt that it was time to explore the historic character and economic future of the downtown district, and establish policy that could guide future decision making for the downtown

Sediment supply and barrier dynamics as driving mechanisms of Holocene coastal change for the southern North Sea basin

The combined effects of climate change and human impact lead to regional and local coastal responses that pose major challenges for the future resilience of coastal landscapes, increasing the vulnerability of communities, infrastructure and nature conservation interests. Using the Suffolk coast, southeast England, as a case study, we investigate the importance of sediment supply and barrier dynamics as driving mechanisms of coastal change throughout the Holocene. Litho-, bio- and chronostratigraphic methods are used to decipher the mechanisms of coastal change from the record preserved within coastal stratigraphy. Results suggest that local coastal configuration and sediment supply were the most influential in determining coastal change during the mid- and late Holocene, against a background control of sea-level rise. The importance of sedimentological and morphological factors in shaping Holocene coastal changes in the southern North Sea basin must therefore be considered when using the database of evidence from this region as an analogue for future change under accelerated sea-level rise

Subcritical-Water Extraction of Organics from Solid Matrices

An apparatus for extracting organic compounds from soils, sands, and other solid matrix materials utilizes water at subcritical temperature and pressure as a solvent. The apparatus, called subcritical water extractor (SCWE), is a prototype of subsystems of future instrumentation systems to be used in searching for organic compounds as signs of past or present life on Mars. An aqueous solution generated by an apparatus like this one can be analyzed by any of a variety of established chromatographic or spectroscopic means to detect the dissolved organic compound( s). The apparatus can be used on Earth: indeed, in proof-of-concept experiments, SCWE was used to extract amino acids from soils of the Atacama Desert (Chile), which was chosen because the dryness and other relevant soil conditions there approximate those on Mars. The design of the apparatus is based partly on the fact that the relative permittivity (also known as the dielectric constant) of liquid water varies with temperature and pressure. At a temperature of 30 C and a pressure of 0.1 MPa, the relative permittivity of water is 79.6, due to the strong dipole-dipole electrostatic interactions between individual molecular dipoles. As the temperature increases, increasing thermal energy causes increasing disorientation of molecular dipoles, with a consequent decrease in relative permittivity. For example, water at a temperature of 325 C and pressure of 20 MPa has a relative permittivity of 17.5, which is similar to the relative permittivities of such nonpolar organic solvents as 1-butanol (17.8). In the operation of this apparatus, the temperature and pressure of water are adjusted so that the water can be used in place of commonly used organic solvents to extract compounds that have dissimilar physical and chemical properties