Planning-Level Guidelines for Modern Roundabouts, 2008

This technical memorandum provides preliminary planning-level guidance to engineers, technicians, planners, and policymakers who may be considering a modern roundabout at an existing or proposed intersection in Iowa.

Auguste Ott on Commercial Crises and Distributive Justice: An Early Input-Output Scheme

In 1851 the French Social economist Auguste Ott discussed the problem of gluts and commercial crises, together with the issue of distributive justice between workers in co-operative societies. He did so by means of a 'simple reproduction scheme' sharing some features with modern intersectoral transactions tables, in particular in terms of their graphical representation. This paper presents Ott's theory of crises (which was based on the disappointment of expectations) and the context of his model, and discusses its peculiarities, supplying a new piece for the reconstruction of the prehistory of input-output analysis.

Electrical signature of modern and ancient tectonic processes in the crust of the Atlas mountains of Morocco.

The Atlas Mountains in Morocco are considered as type examples of intracontinental chains, with high topography that contrasts with moderate crustal shortening and thickening. Whereas recent geological studies and geodynamic modeling have suggested the existence of dynamic topography to explain this apparent contradiction, there is a lack of modern geophysical data at the crustal scale to corroborate this hypothesis. Newly-acquired magnetotelluric data image the electrical resistivity distribution of the crust from the Middle Atlas to the Anti-Atlas, crossing the tabular Moulouya Plain and the High Atlas. All the units show different and unique electrical signatures throughout the crust reflecting the tectonic history of development of each one. In the upper crust electrical resistivity values may be associated to sediment sequences in the Moulouya and Anti-Atlas and to crustal scale fault systems in the High Atlas developed during the Cenozoic times. In the lower crust the low resistivity anomaly found below the Mouluya plain, together with other geophysical (low velocity anomaly, lack of earthquakes and minimum Bouguer anomaly) and geochemical (Neogene-Quaternary intraplate alkaline volcanic fields) evidence, infer the existence of a small degree of partial melt at the base of the lower crust. The low resistivity anomaly found below the Anti-Atlas may be associated with a relict subduction of Precambrian oceanic sediments, or to precipitated minerals during the release of fluids from the mantle during the accretion of the Anti-Atlas to the West African Supercontinent during the Panafrican orogeny ca. 685 Ma).

Efficacy of modern antipsychotics in placebo-controlled trials in bipolar depression: a meta-analysis.

Randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated efficacy for second-generation antipsychotics in the treatment of acute mania in bipolar disorder. Despite depression being considered the hallmark of bipolar disorder, there are no published systematic reviews or meta-analyses to evaluate the efficacy of modern atypical antipsychotics in bipolar depression. We systematically reviewed published or registered randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) of modern antipsychotics in adult bipolar I and/or II depressive patients (DSM-IV criteria). Efficacy outcomes were assessed based on changes in the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) during an 8-wk period. Data were combined through meta-analysis using risk ratio as an effect size with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and with a level of statistical significance of 5% (p<0.05). We identified five RCTs; four involved antipsychotic monotherapy and one addressed both monotherapy and combination with an antidepressant. The two quetiapine trials analysed the safety and efficacy of two doses: 300 and 600 mg/d. The only olanzapine trial assessed olanzapine monotherapy within a range of 5-20 mg/d and olanzapine-fluoxetine combination within a range of 5-20 mg/d and 6-12 mg/d, respectively. The two aripiprazole placebo-controlled trials assessed doses of 5-30 mg/d. Quetiapine and olanzapine trials (3/5, 60%) demonstrated superiority over placebo (p<0.001). Only 2/5 (40%) (both aripiprazole trials) failed in the primary efficacy measure after the first 6 wk. Some modern antipsychotics (quetiapine and olanzapine) have demonstrated efficacy in bipolar depressive patients from week 1 onwards. Rapid onset of action seems to be a common feature of atypical antipsychotics in bipolar depression. Comment in The following popper user interface control may not be accessible. Tab to the next button to revert the control to an accessible version.Destroy user interface controlEfficacy of modern antipsychotics in placebo-controlled trials in bipolar depression: a meta-analysis--results to be interpreted with caution.

Developing of Service Platform Thinking in Modern Electricity Distribution Business

Palvelukehitystoiminta sitoo huomattavan määrän resursseja ja on pitkäkestoista toimintaa. Innovatiivisuuteen tähtäämällä ja systemaattisella tuotekehitystyöllä yritys parantaa jatkuvuutta omassa liiketoiminnassaan. Alusta-ajattelu tuo uuden ulottuvuuden tuotteiden ja palveluiden kehitykseen. Alustan kehittäminen tukemaan tuote- ja palvelukehitystoimintaa ja yksinkertaistamaan tuote/palvelurakenteita antaa yrityksissä lisäpotentiaalia esimerkiksi lyhentyneiden kehitysaikojen, paremman kompleksisuuden hallinnan ja kustannustehokkuuden nousun myötä. Toimintojen tehostuminen yritystasolla saa aikaan mahdollisuuksien lisääntymisen nykyisillä liiketoimintasektoreilla. Palvelualustan kehityksellä päästään palvelurakenteen mallintamisen kautta parempaan liiketoiminnan hallitsemiseen ja systemaattisempaan tuotekehityksen läpivientiin. Palvelualustan yhtenä tärkeimpänä hyötynä on, että palvelun rakenteellisuus saadaan kuvattua alustaan. Lisäksi on tärkeää määritellä vastuutukset alustan kehityksessä, sekä pystyä mallintamaan informaation kulku (rajapinnat) prosesseissa.

Division of labor in insect societies : genetic components and physiological regulation

The shift from solitary to social organisms constitutes one of the major transitions in evolution. The highest level of sociality is found in social insects (ants, termites and some species of bees and wasps). Division of labor is central to the organization of insect societies and is thought to be at the root of their ecological success. There are two main levels of division of labor in social insect colonies. The first relates to reproduction and involves the coexistence of queen and worker castes: while reproduction is usually monopolized by one or several queens, functionally sterile workers perform all the tasks to maintain the colony, such as nest building, foraging or brood care. The second level of division of labor, relating to such non-reproductive duties, is characterized by the performance of different tasks or roles by different groups of workers. This PhD aims to better understand the mechanisms underlying division of labor in insect societies, by investigating how genes and physiology influence caste determination and worker behavior in ants. In the first axis of this PhD, we studied the nature of genetic effects on division of labor. We used the Argentine ant Linepithema humile to conduct controlled crosses in the laboratory, which revealed the existence of non-additive genetic effects, such as parent-of-origin and genetic compatibility effects, on caste determination and worker behavior. In the second axis, we focused on the physiological regulation of division of labor. Using Pogonomyrmex seed- harvester ants, we performed experimental manipulation of hibernation, hormonal treatments, gene expression analyses and protein quantification to identify the physiological pathways regulating maternal effects on caste determination. Finally, comparing gene expression between nurses and foragers allowed us to reveal the association between vitellogenin and worker behavior in Pogonomyrmex ants. This PhD provides important insights into the role of genes and physiology in the regulation of division of labor in social insect colonies, helping to better understand the organization, evolution and ecological success of insect societies. - L'une des principales transitions évolutives est le passage de la vie solitaire à la vie sociale. La socialité atteint son paroxysme chez les insectes sociaux que sont les fourmis, les termites et certaines espèces d'abeilles et de guêpes. La division du travail est la clé de voûte de l'organisation de ces sociétés d'insectes et la raison principale de leur succès écologique. La division du travail s'effectue à deux niveaux dans les colonies d'insectes sociaux. Le premier niveau concerne la reproduction et implique la coexistence de deux castes : les reines et les ouvrières. Tandis que la reproduction est le plus souvent monopolisée par une ou plusieurs reines, les ouvrières stériles effectuent les tâches nécessaires au bon fonctionnement de la colonie, telles que la construction du nid, la recherche de nourriture ou le soin au couvain. Le second niveau de division du travail, qui concerne les tâches autres que la reproduction, implique la réalisation de différents travaux par différents groupes d'ouvrières. Le but de ce doctorat est de mieux comprendre les mécanismes sous-jacents de la division du travail dans les sociétés d'insectes en étudiant comment les gènes et la physiologie influencent la détermination de la caste et le comportement des ouvrières chez les fourmis. Dans le premier axe de ce doctorat, nous avons étudié la nature des influences génétiques sur la division du travail. Nous avons utilisé la fourmi d'Argentine, Linepithema humile, pour effectuer des croisements contrôlés en laboratoire. Cette méthode nous a permis de révéler l'existence d'influences génétiques non additives, telles que des influences dépendantes de l'origine parentale ou des effets de compatibilité génétique, sur la détermination de la caste et le comportement des ouvrières. Dans le second axe, nous nous sommes intéressés à la régulation physiologique de la division du travail. Nous avons utilisé des fourmis moissonneuses du genre Pogonomyrmex pour effectuer des hibernations artificieHes, des traitements hormonaux, des analyses d'expression de gènes et des mesures de vitellogénine, ce qui nous a permis d'identifier les mécanismes physiologiques régulant les effets maternels sur la détermination de la caste. Enfin, la comparaison d'expression de gènes entre nourrices et fourrageuses suggère un rôle de la vitellogénine dans la régulation du comportement des ouvrières chez les fourmis moissonneuses. En détaillant les influences des gènes et de la physiologie dans la régulation de la division du travail dans les colonies d'insectes sociaux, ce doctorat fournit d'importantes informations permettant de mieux comprendre l'organisation, l'évolution et le succès écologique des sociétés d'insectes.

Conflict and co-operation in ant societies

Cette thèse se propose d?étudier les forces évolutives qui influencent la bal- ance entre coopération et conflit. Deux exemples sont analysés en détail, les sociétés d?insectes et l?association entre la fourmi Formica exsecta et son sym- bionte intracellulaire Wolbachia. Chacune de ces deux associations animales est caractérisée par la coexistence de coopération et de conflit. Les colonies d?insectes sociaux sont un exemple typique de coopération. Néanmoins, la détermination haplodiploïde du sexe crée des apparentements asymétriques entre les membres de la colonie qui se traduisent par des con- flits entre reines et ouvrières. Un des conflits les plus importants porte sur le sexe-ratio, l?investissement optimal en sexués males et femelles étant équilibré pour la reine, mais biaisé en faveur des femelles pour les ouvrières. Jusqu?ici, les modèles étudiant ce conflit se basaient uniquement sur les asymétries d?ap- parentement. La première partie de cette thèse (Chapitres 1 et 2) propose d?introduire dans des modèles de sexe-ratio les mécanismes proximaux utilisés par les deux parties pour influencer le sexe-ratio. Ces mécanismes, par leurs ef- fets négatifs sur la productivité de la colonie, peuvent entraîner des déviations importantes du sexe-ratio par rapport à la valeur prédite par des modèles clas- siques. De plus, la prise en compte de ces mécanismes nous permet d?étudier dans quelle mesure les parties opposées sont sélectionnées pour influencer le sexe-ratio. Enfin, les modèles génèrent des prédictions quant à l?issue du con- flit, c?est-à-dire un compromis où reines et ouvrières partagent le contrôle de l?investissement. La seconde partie du travail porte sur l?infection de la fourmi Formica ex- secta par le symbionte cytoplasmique Wolbachia. Ce symbionte, présent chez un grand nombre d?espèces d?Arthropodes, est transmis maternellement. Afin de se répandre dans la population d?hôtes, Wolbachia manipule la physiolo- gie reproductive de l?organisme qui l?abrite. Le Chapitre 3 décrit une étude consacrée aux variations du sexe-ratio produit dans des colonies de fourmis? en fonction de la présence ou de l?absence de Wolbachia. Le Chapitre 4 étudie l?association entre les lignées du symbionte et les haplotypes mitochondriaux des hôtes. L?étude de l?association entre les deux éléments maternellement transmis est d?un intérêt particulier chez Formica exsecta car le taux de migra- tion femelle très faible engendre une forte strucure génétique mitochondriale.

Migracions i microestats

Els països més petits d’Europa han transformat les seves bases econòmiques emparats en les possibilitats que els oferia el seu fet diferencial. La consecució d’una economia bàsicament terciària s’ha acompanyat d’un canvi en les funcions territorials i, especialment, d’un augment important de la població, de manera que han passat de ser societats emissores a ser societats receptores pel que fa als moviments migratoris. La composició de la població segons el seu origen mostra que aquestes societats tenen uns percentatges d’immigrants superiors al 60% en dos dels casos, i molt superior al 10% en la resta. Avui, els microestats europeus són l’expressió moderna de la ciutat estat d’altres èpoques, però, a més, s’han convertit en veritables societats multiculturals a les portes del segle XXI.

Variation of grain nitrogen content in relation with grain yield in old and modern Spanish wheats grown under a wide range of agronomic conditions in a Mediterranean region

Wheat yield and grain nitrogen concentration (GNC; mg N/g grain) are frequently negatively correlated. In most growing conditions, this is mainly due to a feedback process between GNC and the number of grains/m2. In Mediterranean conditions, breeders may have produced cultivars with conservative grain set. The present study aimed at clarifying the main physiological determinants of grain nitrogen accumulation (GNA) in Mediterranean wheat and to analyse how breeding has affected them. Five field experiments were carried out in north-eastern Spain in the 2005/06 and 2006/ 07 growing seasons with three cultivars released at different times and an advanced line. Depending on the experiment, source-sink ratios during grain filling were altered by reducing grain number/m2 either through pre-anthesis shading (unshaded control or 0.75 shading only between jointing and anthesis) or by directly trimming the spikes after anthesis and before the onset of the effective grain filling period (un-trimmed control or spikes halved 7–10 days after anthesis). Grain nitrogen content (GN content ; mg N/grain) decreased with the year of release of the genotypes. As the number of grains/m2 was also increased by breeding there was a clear dilution effect on the amount of nitrogen allocated to each grain. However, the increase in GN content in old genotypes did not compensate for the loss in grain nitrogen yield (GNY) due to the lower number of grains/m2. GN content of all genotypes increased (increases ranged from 0.13 to 0.40 mg N/grain, depending on experiment and genotype) in response to the post-anthesis spike trimming or pre-anthesis shading. The degree of source-limitation for GNA increased with the year of release of the genotypes (and thus with increases in grain number/m2) from 0.22 (mean of the four manipulative experiments) in the oldest cultivar to 0.51 (mean of the four manipulative experiments) in the most modern line. It was found that final GN content depended strongly on the source-sink ratio established at anthesis between the number of grains set and the amount of nitrogen absorbed at this stage. Thus, Mediterranean wheat breeding that improved yield through increases in grain number/m2 reduced the GN content by diluting a rather limited source of nitrogen into more grains. This dilution effect produced by breeding was further confirmed by the reversal effect produced by grain number/m2 reductions due to either pre-anthesis shading or post-anthesis spike trimming.

Deposits of the sandy braided South Saskatchewan River: Implications for the use of modern analogs in reconstructing channel dimensions in reservoir characterization

Estimation of the dimensions of fluvial geobodies from core data is a notoriously difficult problem in reservoir modeling. To try and improve such estimates and, hence, reduce uncertainty in geomodels, data on dunes, unit bars, cross-bar channels, and compound bars and their associated deposits are presented herein from the sand-bed braided South Saskatchewan River, Canada. These data are used to test models that relate the scale of the formative bed forms to the dimensions of the preserved deposits and, therefore, provide an insight as to how such deposits may be preserved over geologic time. The preservation of bed-form geometry is quantified by comparing the Alluvial architecture above and below the maximum erosion depth of the modem channel deposits. This comparison shows that there is no significant difference in the mean set thickness of dune cross-strata above and below the basal erosion surface of the contemporary channel, thus suggesting that dimensional relationships between dune deposits and the formative bed-form dimensions are likely to be valid from both recent and older deposits. The data show that estimates of mean bankfull flow depth derived from dune, unit bar, and cross-bar channel deposits are all very similar. Thus, the use of all these metrics together can provide a useful check that all components and scales of the alluvial architecture have been identified correctly when building reservoir models. The data also highlight several practical issues with identifying and applying data relating to cross-strata. For example, the deposits of unit bars were found to be severely truncated in length and width, with only approximately 10% of the mean bar-form length remaining, and thus making identification in section difficult. For similar reasons, the deposits of compound bars were found to be especially difficult to recognize, and hence, estimates of channel depth based on this method may be problematic. Where only core data are available (i.e., no outcrop data exist), formative flow depths are suggested to be best reconstructed using cross-strata formed by dunes. However, theoretical relationships between the distribution of set thicknesses and formative dune height are found to result in slight overestimates of the latter and, hence, mean bankfull flow depths derived from these measurements. This article illustrates that the preservation of fluvial cross-strata and, thus, the paleohydraulic inferences that can be drawn from them, are a function of the ratio of the size and migration rate of bed forms and the time scale of aggradation and channel migration. These factors must thus be considered when deciding on appropriate length:thickness ratios for the purposes of object-based modeling in reservoir characterization.