A hysteretic multiscale formulation for nonlinear dynamic analysis of composite materials

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.A new multiscale finite element formulation is presented for nonlinear dynamic analysis of heterogeneous structures. The proposed multiscale approach utilizes the hysteretic finite element method to model the microstructure. Using the proposed computational scheme, the micro-basis functions, that are used to map the microdisplacement components to the coarse mesh, are only evaluated once and remain constant throughout the analysis procedure. This is accomplished by treating inelasticity at the micro-elemental level through properly defined hysteretic evolution equations. Two types of imposed boundary conditions are considered for the derivation of the multiscale basis functions, namely the linear and periodic boundary conditions. The validity of the proposed formulation as well as its computational efficiency are verified through illustrative numerical experiments

Physical activity levels as a quantifier in police officers and cadets

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the physical activity levels of active duty police officers and police academy cadets in different life domains and intensities. These parameters were treated as potential quantifiers that could be used when assessing individuals preparing for work as future police officers. Material and Methods: The study recruited 153 active police officers and 176 cadets attending a police academy and administered a diagnostic survey, the long-form version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, while in the statistical analysis the Student's t-test for independent groups was applied. Results: It was determined that police officers present high physical activity levels within the work domain, which are developed from initial training at a police academy and then throughout their police career. Conclusions: Such data are important in the light of the role police officers play in public safety as well as the prominence of physical activity within a particular profession and how it can be targeted and tailored to their needs

A ROC analysis-based classification method for landslide susceptibility maps

[EN] A landslide susceptibility map is a crucial tool for landuse spatial planning and management in mountainous areas. An essential issue in such maps is the determination of susceptibility thresholds. To this end, the map is zoned into a limited number of classes. Adopting one classification system or another will not only affect the map's readability and final appearance, but most importantly, it may affect the decision-making tasks required for effective land management. The present study compares and evaluates the reliability of some of the most commonly used classification methods, applied to a susceptibility map produced for the area of La Marina (Alicante, Spain). A new classification method based on ROC analysis is proposed, which extracts all the useful information from the initial dataset (terrain characteristics and landslide inventory) and includes, for the first time, the concept of misclassification costs. This process yields a more objective differentiation of susceptibility levels that relies less on the intrinsic structure of the terrain characteristics. The results reveal a considerable difference between the classification methods used to define the most susceptible zones (in over 20% of the surface) and highlight the need to establish a standard method for producing classified susceptibility maps. The method proposed in the study is particularly notable for its consistency, stability and homogeneity, and may mark the starting point for consensus on a generalisable classification method.Cantarino-Martí, I.; Carrión Carmona, MÁ.; Goerlich-Gisbert, F.; Martínez Ibáñez, V. (2018). A ROC analysis-based classification method for landslide susceptibility maps. Landslides. 1-18. doi:10.1007/s10346-018-1063-4S118Armstrong MP, Xiao N, Bennett DA (2003) Using genetic algorithms to create multicriteria class intervals for choropleth maps. 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Prev Vet Med 45:23–41Günther A, Reichenbach P, Malet JP, van den Eeckhaut M, Hervás J, Dashwood C, Guzzetti F (2013) Tier-based approaches for landslide susceptibility assessment in Europe. Landslides 10:529–546. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-012-0349-1Günther A, Van Den Eeckhaut M, Malet J-P, Reichenbach P, Hervás J (2014) Climate-physiographically differentiated Pan-European landslide susceptibility assessment using spatial multi-criteria evaluation and transnational landslide information. Geomorphology 224:69–85Gupta RP, Kanungo DP, Arora MK, Sarkar S (2008) Approaches for comparative evaluation of raster GIS-based landslide susceptibility zonation maps. Int J Appl Earth Obs Geoinf 10(3):330–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2008.01.003Guzzetti F, Reichenbach P, Ardizzone F, Cardinali M, Galli M (2006) Estimating the quality of landslide susceptibility models. Geomorphology 81(1–2):166–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.04.007Hervás J (2017) El inventario de movimientos de ladera de España ALISSA: Metodología y análisis preliminar. In: Alonso E, Corominas J, Hürlimann M (Eds.), Taludes 2017. Proc. IX Simposio Nacional sobre Taludes y Laderas Inestables, Santander, 27–30 June 2017. CIMNE, Barcelona, pp. 629–639Jaedicke C, Van Den Eeckhaut M, Nadim F et al (2014) Identification of landslide hazard and risk ‘hotspots’ in Europe. Bull Eng Geol Environ 73:325. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-013-0541-0Jenks GF (1967) The data model concept in statistical mapping. Int Yearbook Cartograph 7:186–190Jiang B (2013) Head/tail breaks: a new classification scheme for data with a heavy-tailed distribution. Prof Geogr 65(3):482–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2012.700499Kiang MY (2003) A comparative assessment of classification methods. Decis Support Syst 35(4):441–454. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-9236(02)00110-0Landis JR, Koch GG (1977) The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33(1):159–174Langping L, Hengxing L, Changbao G, Yongshuang Z, Quanwen L, Yuming W (2017) A modified frequency ratio method for landslide susceptibility assessment. Landslides 14:727–741. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-016-0771-xLee S (2007) Comparison of landslide susceptibility maps generated through multiple logistic regression for three test areas in Korea. Earth Surf Process Landforms 32:2133–2148. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1517Liu C, Frazier P, Kumar L (2007) Comparative assessment of the measures of thematic classification accuracy. Remote Sens Environ 107(4):606–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2006.10.010López-Ratón M, Rodríguez-Álvarez MX, Cadarso-Suárez C, Gude-Sampedro F (2014) Optimal cutpoints: an R package for selecting optimal cutpoints in diagnostic tests. J Stat Softw 61(8):4Malet JP, Puissant A, Mathieu A, Van Den Eeckhaut M, Fressard M (2013) Integrating spatial multi-criteria evaluation and expert knowledge for country-scale landslide susceptibility analysis: application to France. In: Margottini C, Canuti P, Sassa K (eds) Landslide science and practice. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31325-7_40McGee S (2002) Simplifying likelihood ratios. J Gen Intern Med 17:647–650Metz C (1978) Basic principles of ROC analysis. Semin Nucl Med VIII(4):183–198Nadim F, Kjekstad O, Peduzzi P, Herold C, Jaedicke C (2006) Global landslide and avalanche hotspots. Landslides 3:159–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-006-0036-1Ohlmacher G, Davis J (2003) Using multiple logistic regression and GIS technology to predict landslide hazard in northeast Kansas, USA. 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Blood-based omic profiling supports female susceptibility to tobacco smoke-induced cardiovascular diseases

We recently reported that differential gene expression and DNA methylation profiles in blood leukocytes of apparently healthy smokers predicts with remarkable efficiency diseases and conditions known to be causally associated with smoking, suggesting that blood-based omic profiling of human populations may be useful for linking environmental exposures to potential health effects. Here we report on the sex-specific effects of tobacco smoking on transcriptomic and epigenetic features derived from genome-wide profiling in white blood cells, identifying 26 expression probes and 92 CpG sites, almost all of which are affected only in female smokers. Strikingly, these features relate to numerous genes with a key role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, especially thrombin signaling, including the thrombin receptors on platelets F2R (coagulation factor II (thrombin) receptor; PAR1) and GP5 (glycoprotein 5), as well as HMOX1 (haem oxygenase 1) and BCL2L1 (BCL2-like 1) which are involved in protection against oxidative stress and apoptosis, respectively. These results are in concordance with epidemiological evidence of higher female susceptibility to tobacco-induced cardiovascular disease and underline the potential of blood-based omic profiling in hazard and risk assessment

High-level classification of the Fungi and a tool for evolutionary ecological analyses

High-throughput sequencing studies generate vast amounts of taxonomic data. Evolutionary ecological hypotheses of the recovered taxa and Species Hypotheses are difficult to test due to problems with alignments and the lack of a phylogenetic backbone. We propose an updated phylum-and class-level fungal classification accounting for monophyly and divergence time so that the main taxonomic ranks are more informative. Based on phylogenies and divergence time estimates, we adopt phylum rank to Aphelidiomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Glomeromycota, Entomophthoromycota, Entorrhizomycota, Kickxellomycota, Monoblepharomycota, Mortierellomycota and Olpidiomycota. We accept nine subkingdoms to accommodate these 18 phyla. We consider the kingdom Nucleariae (phyla Nuclearida and Fonticulida) as a sister group to the Fungi. We also introduce a perl script and a newick-formatted classification backbone for assigning Species Hypotheses into a hierarchical taxonomic framework, using this or any other classification system. We provide an example of testing evolutionary ecological hypotheses based on a global soil fungal data set.Peer reviewe

The Peopling of Korea Revealed by Analyses of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosomal Markers

The Koreans are generally considered a northeast Asian group because of their geographical location. However, recent findings from Y chromosome studies showed that the Korean population contains lineages from both southern and northern parts of East Asia. To understand the genetic history and relationships of Korea more fully, additional data and analyses are necessary.We analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation in the hypervariable segments I and II (HVS-I and HVS-II) and haplogroup-specific mutations in coding regions in 445 individuals from seven east Asian populations (Korean, Korean-Chinese, Mongolian, Manchurian, Han (Beijing), Vietnamese and Thais). In addition, published mtDNA haplogroup data (N = 3307), mtDNA HVS-I sequences (N = 2313), Y chromosome haplogroup data (N = 1697) and Y chromosome STR data (N = 2713) were analyzed to elucidate the genetic structure of East Asian populations. All the mtDNA profiles studied here were classified into subsets of haplogroups common in East Asia, with just two exceptions. In general, the Korean mtDNA profiles revealed similarities to other northeastern Asian populations through analysis of individual haplogroup distributions, genetic distances between populations or an analysis of molecular variance, although a minor southern contribution was also suggested. Reanalysis of Y-chromosomal data confirmed both the overall similarity to other northeastern populations, and also a larger paternal contribution from southeastern populations.The present work provides evidence that peopling of Korea can be seen as a complex process, interpreted as an early northern Asian settlement with at least one subsequent male-biased southern-to-northern migration, possibly associated with the spread of rice agriculture

Can cognitive enhancers reduce the risk of falls in older people with Mild Cognitive Impairment? A protocol for a randomised controlled double blind trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Older adults with cognitive problems have a higher risk of falls, at least twice that of cognitively normal older adults. The consequences of falls in this population are very serious: fallers with cognitive problems suffer more injuries due to falls and are approximately five times more likely to be admitted to institutional care. Although the mechanisms of increased fall risk in cognitively impaired people are not completely understood, it is known that impaired cognitive abilities can reduce attentional resource allocation while walking. Since cognitive enhancers, such as cholinesterase inhibitors, improve attention and executive function, we hypothesise that cognitive enhancers may reduce fall risk in elderly people in the early stages of cognitive decline by improving their gait and balance performance due to an enhancement in attention and executive function.</p> <p>Method/Design</p> <p>Double blinded randomized controlled trial with 6 months follow-up in 140 older individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Participants will be randomized to the intervention group, receiving donepezil, and to the control group, receiving placebo. A block randomization by four and stratification based on fall history will be performed. Primary outcomes are improvements in gait velocity and reduction in gait variability. Secondary outcomes are changes in the balance confidence, balance sway, attention, executive function, and number of falls.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>By characterizing and understanding the effects of cognitive enhancers on fall risk in older adults with cognitive impairments, we will be able to pave the way for a new approach to fall prevention in this population. This RCT study will provide, for the first time, information regarding the effect of a medication designed to augment cognitive functioning have on the risk of falls in older adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment. We expect a significant reduction in the risk of falls in this vulnerable population as a function of the reduced gait variability achieved by treatment with cognitive enhancers. This study may contribute to a new approach to prevent and treat fall risk in seniors in early stages of dementia.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The protocol for this study is registered with the Clinical Trials Registry, identifier number: NCT00934531 <url>http://www.clinicaltrials.gov</url></p

Factors affecting female space use in ten populations of prairie chickens

Conservation of wildlife depends on an understanding of the interactions between animal movements and key landscape factors. Habitat requirements of wide-ranging species often vary spatially, but quantitative assessment of variation among replicated studies at multiple sites is rare. We investigated patterns of space use for 10 populations of two closely related species of prairie grouse: Greater Prairie-Chickens (Tympanuchus cupido) and Lesser Prairie-Chickens (T. pallidicinctus). Prairie chickens require large, intact tracts of native grasslands, and are umbrella species for conservation of prairie ecosystems in North America. We used resource utilization functions to investigate space use by female prairie chickens during the 6-month breeding season from March through August in relation to lek sites, habitat conditions, and anthropogenic development. Our analysis included data from 382 radio-marked individuals across a major portion of the extant range. Our project is a unique opportunity to study comparative space use of prairie chickens, and we employed standardized methods that facilitated direct comparisons across an ecological gradient of study sites. Median home range size of females varied ~10-fold across 10 sites (3.6–36.7 km²), and home ranges tended to be larger at sites with higher annual precipitation. Proximity to lek sites was a strong and consistent predictor of space use for female prairie chickens at all 10 sites. The relative importance of other predictors of space use varied among sites, indicating that generalized habitat management guidelines may not be appropriate for these two species. Prairie chickens actively selected for prairie habitats, even at sites where ~90% of the land cover within the study area was prairie. A majority of the females monitored in our study (>95%) had activity centers within 5 km of leks, suggesting that conservation efforts can be effectively concentrated near active lek sites. Our data on female space use suggest that lek surveys of male prairie chickens can indirectly assess habitat suitability for females during the breeding season. Lek monitoring and surveys for new leks provide information on population trends, but can also guide management actions aimed at improving nesting and brood-rearing habitats

Völkisch und sozial? : Neonazistische Agitation gegen die neue EU-Freizügigkeit für Arbeitnehmerinnen

Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway is crucial for the formation of many tissues and organs during development. In recent years, this pathway has also been found to regulate the biology of stem cells in the intestine and probably in other organs in adult life. Abnormal activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling, which controls the expression of a high number of genes, is critical for the initiation and progression of most colorectal cancers. In line with this, the gene expression signature induced by activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway defines the intestinal stem cells present at the bottom of the crypts and also colon cancer stem cells. This supports the importance of inhibitors of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway as potential agents in colorectal cancer therapy. However, the complexity, wide activity in the organism modulating the biology of several cell types, and characteristics of this pathway have delayed the identification of suitable targets and so, the development of such inhibitors that are only now reaching the clinic.Peer reviewe