Discriminant Function Analysis of Miocene Volcaniclastic Rocks from North-Western Croatia Based on Geochemical Data

Preliminary results of discriminant function analysis of geochemical data of Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks revealed that it is possible to distinguish rocks of different ages, namely Egerian-Eggenburgian, Karpatian and Badenian. On the basis of calculated coefficients of classification functions, presented in the paper, it is possible to indicate the age of Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks if their trace element content is known. The analysis also showed that, especially in the case of volcaniclastic rocks, the mineral and petrological composition of the rocks should also be considered. Most of the investigated volcaniclastic rocks from the Mozdjenec and Kalnik areas, the age of which was unknown, are, according to discriminant function analysis, of Egerian-Eggenburgian age

Effect of stress-triaxiality on void growth in dynamic fracture of metals: a molecular dynamics study

The effect of stress-triaxiality on growth of a void in a three dimensional single-crystal face-centered-cubic (FCC) lattice has been studied. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using an embedded-atom (EAM) potential for copper have been performed at room temperature and using strain controlling with high strain rates ranging from 10^7/sec to 10^10/sec. Strain-rates of these magnitudes can be studied experimentally, e.g. using shock waves induced by laser ablation. Void growth has been simulated in three different conditions, namely uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial expansion. The response of the system in the three cases have been compared in terms of the void growth rate, the detailed void shape evolution, and the stress-strain behavior including the development of plastic strain. Also macroscopic observables as plastic work and porosity have been computed from the atomistic level. The stress thresholds for void growth are found to be comparable with spall strength values determined by dynamic fracture experiments. The conventional macroscopic assumption that the mean plastic strain results from the growth of the void is validated. The evolution of the system in the uniaxial case is found to exhibit four different regimes: elastic expansion; plastic yielding, when the mean stress is nearly constant, but the stress-triaxiality increases rapidly together with exponential growth of the void; saturation of the stress-triaxiality; and finally the failure.Comment: 35 figures, which are small (and blurry) due to the space limitations; submitted (with original figures) to Physical Review B. Final versio

Upper Cretaceous-Palaeogene Tholeiitic Basalts of the Southern Margin of the Pannonian Basin: Pozeska gora Mt. (Croatia)

According to the geological relationships in the region of Pozeska gora Mt. (the southern margin of the Pannonian Basin, northern Croatia), basic eruptive rocks are considered to be of Upper Cretaceous-Palaeogene age. Detailed petrographic examination, based on physiographic description, the chemical composition of major and trace elements, rare earth elements and stable isotopes, indicates that these primary tholeiitic basalts have variable structural-textural characteristics, and were postmagmatically affected by metamorphic processes. Tholeiitic basalts originated from the upper mantle, and were placed in the form of subaquatic effusions in the extensional zones within continental crust

Consistent Anisotropic Repulsions for Simple Molecules

We extract atom-atom potentials from the effective spherical potentials that suc cessfully model Hugoniot experiments on molecular fluids, e.g., $O_2$ and $N_2$. In the case of $O_2$ the resulting potentials compare very well with the atom-atom potentials used in studies of solid-state propertie s, while for $N_2$ they are considerably softer at short distances. Ground state (T=0K) and room temperatu re calculations performed with the new $N-N$ potential resolve the previous discrepancy between experimental and theoretical results.Comment: RevTeX, 5 figure

Theoretical and technological building blocks for an innovation accelerator

The scientific system that we use today was devised centuries ago and is inadequate for our current ICT-based society: the peer review system encourages conservatism, journal publications are monolithic and slow, data is often not available to other scientists, and the independent validation of results is limited. Building on the Innovation Accelerator paper by Helbing and Balietti (2011) this paper takes the initial global vision and reviews the theoretical and technological building blocks that can be used for implementing an innovation (in first place: science) accelerator platform driven by re-imagining the science system. The envisioned platform would rest on four pillars: (i) Redesign the incentive scheme to reduce behavior such as conservatism, herding and hyping; (ii) Advance scientific publications by breaking up the monolithic paper unit and introducing other building blocks such as data, tools, experiment workflows, resources; (iii) Use machine readable semantics for publications, debate structures, provenance etc. in order to include the computer as a partner in the scientific process, and (iv) Build an online platform for collaboration, including a network of trust and reputation among the different types of stakeholders in the scientific system: scientists, educators, funding agencies, policy makers, students and industrial innovators among others. Any such improvements to the scientific system must support the entire scientific process (unlike current tools that chop up the scientific process into disconnected pieces), must facilitate and encourage collaboration and interdisciplinarity (again unlike current tools), must facilitate the inclusion of intelligent computing in the scientific process, must facilitate not only the core scientific process, but also accommodate other stakeholders such science policy makers, industrial innovators, and the general public

Emerging Technologies for the Detection of Rabies Virus: Challenges and Hopes in the 21st Century

The diagnosis of rabies is routinely based on clinical and epidemiological information, especially when exposures are reported in rabies-endemic countries. Diagnostic tests using conventional assays that appear to be negative, even when undertaken late in the disease and despite the clinical diagnosis, have a tendency, at times, to be unreliable. These tests are rarely optimal and entirely dependent on the nature and quality of the sample supplied. In the course of the past three decades, the application of molecular biology has aided in the development of tests that result in a more rapid detection of rabies virus. These tests enable viral strain identification from clinical specimens. Currently, there are a number of molecular tests that can be used to complement conventional tests in rabies diagnosis. Indeed the challenges in the 21st century for the development of rabies diagnostics are not of a technical nature; these tests are available now. The challenges in the 21st century for diagnostic test developers are two-fold: firstly, to achieve internationally accepted validation of a test that will then lead to its acceptance by organisations globally. Secondly, the areas of the world where such tests are needed are mainly in developing regions where financial and logistical barriers prevent their implementation. Although developing countries with a poor healthcare infrastructure recognise that molecular-based diagnostic assays will be unaffordable for routine use, the cost/benefit ratio should still be measured. Adoption of rapid and affordable rabies diagnostic tests for use in developing countries highlights the importance of sharing and transferring technology through laboratory twinning between the developed and the developing countries. Importantly for developing countries, the benefit of molecular methods as tools is the capability for a differential diagnosis of human diseases that present with similar clinical symptoms. Antemortem testing for human rabies is now possible using molecular techniques. These barriers are not insurmountable and it is our expectation that if such tests are accepted and implemented where they are most needed, they will provide substantial improvements for rabies diagnosis and surveillance. The advent of molecular biology and new technological initiatives that combine advances in biology with other disciplines will support the development of techniques capable of high throughput testing with a low turnaround time for rabies diagnosis