Search results for "Processe"
showing 10 items of 3955 documents
Stochastic differential calculus for wind-exposed structures with autoregressive continuous (ARC) filters
2008
In this paper, an alternative method to represent Gaussian stationary processes describing wind velocity fluctuations is introduced. The technique may be considered the extension to a time continuous description of the well-known discrete-time autoregressive model to generate Gaussian processes. Digital simulation of Gaussian random processes with assigned auto-correlation function is provided by means of a stochastic differential equation with time delayed terms forced by Gaussian white noise. Solution of the differential equation is a specific sample of the target Gaussian wind process, and in this paper it describes a digitally obtained record of the wind turbolence. The representation o…
Proteomic analysis of Kveim reagent identifies targets of cellular immunity in sarcoidosis
2017
Background Kveim-reagent (Kv) skin testing was a historical method of diagnosing sarcoidosis. Intradermal injection of treated sarcoidosis spleen tissue resulted in a granuloma response at injection site by 4–6 weeks. Previous work indicates proteins as the possible trigger of this reaction. We aimed to identify Kv-specific proteins and characterise the ex vivo response of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) from sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and healthy control patients when stimulated with both Kv and selected Kv-specific proteins. Methods Kv extracts were separated by 1D-SDS-PAGE and 2D-DIGE and then underwent mass spectrometric analysis for protein identification. Sarcoidosis and con…
Performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus for detection of latent tuberculosis infection in pregnant women living in a tuberculosis- and HIV-endemic se…
2017
We evaluated the performance of QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus (QFT-Plus), which includes two Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen formulations (TB1 and TB2), for detection of latent tuberculosis infection during pregnancy. Eight-hundred-twenty-nine Ethiopian pregnant women (5.9% HIV-positive) were tested with QFT-Plus, with bacteriological sputum analysis performed for women with clinically suspected tuberculosis and HIV-positive women irrespective of clinical presentation. QFT-Plus read-out was categorized according to the conventional cut-off (0.35 IU/ml) for both antigen formulations. In addition, we analysed the distribution of QFT-Plus results within a borderline zone (0.20–0.70 IU/ml), and i…
Sex in an uncertain world: environmental stochasticity helps restore competitive balance between sexually and asexually reproducing populations
2014
Like many organisms, individuals of the freshwater ostracod species Eucypris virens exhibit either obligate sexual or asexual reproductive modes. Both types of individual routinely co-occur, including in the same temporary freshwater pond (their natural habitat in which they undergo seasonal diapause). Given the well-known two-fold cost of sex, this begs the question of how sexually reproducing individuals are able to coexist with their asexual counterparts in spite of such overwhelming costs. Environmental stochasticity in the form of 'false dawn' inundations (where the first hydration is ephemeral and causes loss of early hatching individuals) may provide an advantage to the sexual subpop…
Hybrid kernel estimates of space-time earthquake occurrence rates using the Etas model
2010
The following steps are suggested for smoothing the occurrence patterns in a clustered space–time process, in particular the data from an earthquake catalogue. First, the original data is fitted by a temporal version of the ETAS model, and the occurrence times are transformed by using the cumulative form of the fitted ETAS model. Then the transformed data (transformed times and original locations) is smoothed by a space–time kernel with bandwidth obtained by optimizing a naive likelihood cross-validation. Finally, the estimated intensity for the original data is obtained by back-transforming the estimated intensity for the transformed data. This technique is used to estimate the intensity f…
Predicting soil loss in central and south Italy with a single USLE-MM model
2018
Purpose: The USLE-MM estimates event normalized plot soil loss, Ae,N, by an erosivity term given by the runoff coefficient, QR, times the single-storm erosion index, EI30, raised to an exponent b1> 1. This modeling scheme is based on an expected power relationship, with an exponent greater than one, between event sediment concentration, Ce, and the EI30/Pe(Pe= rainfall depth) term. In this investigation, carried out at the three experimental sites of Bagnara, Masse, and Sparacia, in Italy; the soundness of the USLE-MM scheme was tested. Materials and methods: A total of 1192 (Ae,N, QREI30) data pairs were used to parameterize the model both locally and considering all sites simultaneously. …
Ediacaran, Early Ordovician and early Silurian arcs in the South Tianshan orogen of Kyrgyzstan
2020
Abstract The oldest magmatic rocks from the South Tianshan orogen of Kyrgyzstan (STS) are important for better understanding of the Neoproterozoic and early Palaeozoic evolution of the southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Bulk rock major and trace element and Sm-Nd isotopic composition and zircon U-Pb ages of granitoids from melange blocks reveal two previously unknown episodes of arc magmatism in the STS orogen of Kyrgyzstan, namely, the Ediacaran (ca. 624 Ma) and Early Ordovician (ca. 472 Ma) episodes. Moderately positive ɛNd(t) value of + 5.8 of the Ediacaran granodiorite indicates a mainly juvenile source for this rock. Negative ɛNd(t) value of −9.1 for the Early Ordovician granodi…
Evidence of deep magma degassing and ascent by geochemistry of peripheral gas emissions at Mount Etna (Italy): Assessment of the magmatic reservoir p…
2003
[1] Five gas discharges in the area of Mount Etna volcano (Italy) and in the near Hyblean plateau have been monitored since 1996. All the emissions displayed low contributions from crustal fluids, whereas magmatic gases were the main component. Selective dissolution of these gases into hydrothermal aquifers has been recognized and modeled, allowing us to calculate the original composition of the magma-released gases. The inferred composition of the magmatic gases exhibits synchronous variations of He/Ne and He/CO2 ratios, which are coherent with the magma degassing process. On the basis of numerical simulations of volatile degassing from Etnean basalts we have computed the initial and final…
Hydrothermal macroscopic Fe-sepiolite from Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, Eastern Morocco)
2008
The Triassic-Jurassic series in the Oujda Mounts (Middle Atlas, NE Morocco) includes two basaltic units. The whole sequence is crosscut by veins filled with Fe-sepiolite + chalcedony + calcite + smectite and mixed layer talc-saponite. Fe-sepiolite occurs as macroscopic fibres and is one of the latest mineral phases in the filling sequence of the veins. The compositional relationships and crystallographic parameters obtained on carefully selected samples of sepiolite are compared with previous data, and support the actual development of Mg-Fe substitution in this clay mineral, given the adequate hydrothermal conditions. Genesis of this uncommon variety of sepiolite in veins is interpreted as…
Geochemistry, petrogenesis and tectonic setting of the Samothraki mafic suite, NE Greece: Trace-element, isotopic and zircon age constraints
2009
Abstract The Samothraki mafic suite in the north-eastern Aegean Sea, Greece, is an ‘in situ’ magmatic complex comprising gabbros, sparse dykes and basalt flows and pillows cut by late dolerite dykes. We have determined the age of the complex by SHRIMP zircon geochronology of a gabbro as 159.9 ± 4.5 Ma (i.e. Oxfordian; early Late Jurassic), which precludes any correlation with the so-called Lesvos ophiolite further south (253.1 ± 5.6 Ma; Latest Permian). Six distinct, hitherto unrecognised, geochemical groups have been identified among the basalts and dolerites of the Samothraki mafic suite on the basis of trace-element and Nd–Sr isotopic characteristics. All groups show the presence of an e…