Role of kilometer-scale weak circular heterogeneities on upper crustal deformation patterns: Evidence from scaled analogue modeling and the Sudbury Basin, Canada

The Sudbury Basin is a non-cylindrical fold basin occupying the central portion of the Sudbury Impact Structure. The impact structure lends itself excellently to explore the structural evolution of continental crust containing a circular region of long-term weakness. In a series of scaled analogue experiments various model crustal configurations were shortened horizontally at a constant rate. In mechanically weakened crust, model basins formed that mimic several first-order structural characteristics of the Sudbury Basin: (1) asymmetric, non-cylindrical folding of the Basin, (2) structures indicating concentric shortening around lateral basin termini and (3) the presence of a zone of strain concentration near the hinge zones of model basins. Geometrically and kinematically this zone corresponds to the South Range Shear Zone of the Sudbury Basin. According to our experiments, this shear zone is a direct mechanical consequence of basin formation, rather than the result of thrusting following folding. Overall, the models highlight the structurally anomalous character of the Sudbury Basin within the Paleoproterozoic Eastern Penokean Orogen. In particular, our models suggest that the Basin formed by pure shear thickening of crust, whereas transpressive deformation prevailed elsewhere in the orogen. The model basin is deformed by thickening and non-cylindrical synformal buckling, while conjugate transpressive shear zones propagated away from its lateral tips. This is consistent with pure shear deformation of a weak circular inclusion in a strong matrix. The models suggest that the Sudbury Basin formed as a consequence of long-term weakening of the upper crust by meteorite impact.

Dynamic optimization of migration topology in internet-based distributed genetic algorithms

Distributed Genetic Algorithms (DGAs) designed for the Internet have to take its high communication cost into consideration. For island model GAs, the migration topology has a major impact on DGA performance. This paper describes and evaluates an adaptive migration topology optimizer that keeps the communication load low while maintaining high solution quality. Experiments on benchmark problems show that the optimized topology outperforms static or random topologies of the same degree of connectivity. The applicability of the method on real-world problems is demonstrated on a hard optimization problem in VLSI design.

Upper-body morbidity after breast cancer : incidence and evidence for evaluation, prevention, and management within a prospective surveillance model of care

The purpose of this paper is to review the incidence of upper-body morbidity (arm and breast symptoms, impairments, and lymphedema), methods for diagnosis, and prevention and treatment strategies. It was also the purpose to highlight the evidence base for integration of prospective surveillance for upper-body morbidity within standard clinical care of women with breast cancer. Between 10% and 64% of women report upper-body symptoms between 6 months and 3 years after breast cancer, and approximately 20% develop lymphedema. Symptoms remain common into longer-term survivorship, and although lymphedema may be transient for some, those who present with mild lymphedema are at increased risk of developing moderate to severe lymphedema. The etiology of morbidity seems to be multifactorial, with the most consistent risk factors being those associated with extent of treatment. However, known risk factors cannot reliably distinguish between those who will and will not develop upper-body morbidity. Upper-body morbidity may be treatable with physical therapy. There is also evidence in support of integrating regular surveillance for upper-body morbidity into the routine care provided to women with breast cancer, with early diagnosis potentially contributing to more effective management and prevention of progression of these conditions.

A flexible solid-state pulsed power topology

Advances in solid-state switches and power electronics techniques have led to the development of compact, efficient and more reliable pulsed power systems. This paper proposes an efficient scheme that utilizes modular switch-capacitor units in obtaining high voltage levels with fast rise time (dv/dt) using low voltage solid-state switches. The proposed pulsed power supply has flexibility in terms of controlling energy and generating broad range of voltage levels. The energy flow can be controlled as the stored energy can be adjusted by a current source utilized at the first stage of the system. Desirable voltage level can be obtained by connecting adequate number of switch-capacitor units. Moreover, the proposed topology is load independent. Therefore it can easily supply wide range of applications especially the low impedance ones. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is verified by simulations

Activities for Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey Puffin Books 2007 Target group: Upper Primary

An upper primary multiliteracies project based on the children’s book “Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley” by Aaron Blabey. The main theme explored is same and different.

A class B switch-mode assisted linear amplifier

A switch-mode assisted linear amplifier (SMALA) combining a linear (Class B) and a switch-mode (Class D) amplifier is presented. The usual single hysteretic controlled half-bridge current dumping stage is replaced by two parallel buck converter stages, in a parallel voltage controlled topology. These operate independently: one buck converter sources current to assist the upper Class B output device, and a complementary converter sinks current to assist the lower device. This topology lends itself to a novel control approach of a dead-band at low power levels where neither class D amplifier assists, allowing the class B amplifier to supply the load without interference, ensuring high fidelity. A 20 W implementation demonstrates 85% efficiency, with distortion below 0.08% measured across the full audio bandwidth at 15 W. The class D amplifier begins assisting at 2 W, and below this value, the distortion was below 0.03%. Complete circuitry is given, showing the simplicity of the additional class D amplifier and its corresponding control circuitry.

Multi-converter topology evaluation for connection of low voltage DC sources

A design for a cascaded multilevel DC-DC converter is proposed. The applications of a multilevel converter and the design issues involved in changing from a single converter to multiple converters are discussed. Implementation of the multilevel system using multiple Cuk converters is suggested and explanations of design decisions are given. The merits of the proposed design are discussed.

A phase II study of mitomycin C and oral etoposide for advanced adenocarcinoma of the upper gastrointestinal tract

Background: Mitomycin C and etoposide have both demonstrated activity against gastric carcinoma. Etoposide is a topoisomerase II inhibitor with evidence for phase-specific and schedule-dependent activity. Patients and method. Twenty-eight consecutive patients with advanced upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma were treated with intravenous (i.v.) bolus mitomycin C 6 mg/m2 on day 1 every 21 days to a maximum of four courses. Oral etoposide capsules 50 mg b.i.d. (or 35 mg b.i.d. liquid) were administered days 1 to 10 extending to 14 days in subsequent courses if absolute neutrophil count >1.5 x 109/l on day 14 of first course, for up to six courses. Results: Twenty-six patients were assessed for response of whom 12 had measurable disease and 14 evaluable disease. Four patients had a documented response (one complete remission, three partial remissions) with an objective response rate of 15% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 4%-35%). Eight patients had stable disease and 14 progressive disease. The median survival was six months. The schedule was well tolerated with no treatment-related deaths. Nine patients experienced leucopenia (seven grade II and two grade III). Nausea and vomiting (eight grade II, one grade III), fatigue (eight grade II, two grade III) and anaemia (seven grade II, two grade III) were the predominant toxicities. Conclusion: This out-patient schedule is well tolerated and shows modest activity in the treatment of advanced upper gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma. Further studies using protracted schedules of etoposide both orally and as infusional treatment should be developed.

Chemotherapy for upper gastrointestinal tumours

The aim of this review is to identify current chemotherapy treatment for tumours of the oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, and liver. The role of both neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and palliative chemotherapy regimens will be discussed. This review will be of interest to oncologists in clarifying current issues regarding chemotherapy, and to physicians in other medical specialties, to increase their general understanding of benefits and drawbacks of chemotherapy in this patient group.

Upper Murrumbidgee : Talking fish - making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin

The Upper Murrumbidgee cuts its way through the Snowy Mountains in south‐eastern New South Wales, snaking its way south, then turning north before dropping into the lowland and heading west to join the Murray downstream of Swan Hill. The Upper ‘Bidgee floodplain is only a couple of hundred metres wide, a stark contrast to the kilometres‐wide floodplains in other parts of the Murray‐ Darling Basin. When the floods come, they come up quickly and roar through the narrow valleys. These are the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngarigo peoples. They fished the river and surrounding waterways and hunted the wetlands. The seasonal rise and fall of the water guided their travels and featured in their stories. The Ngunnawal and Ngarigo people have seen their land and the river change...

Upper Darling: Brewarrina to Bourke : Talking fish - making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin

To say ‘Back o’ Bourke’ means ‘miles from anywhere’ to most Australians, however the Barwon and Darling Rivers that pass by the townships of Brewarrina and Bourke, respectively, are at the heart of the Murray‐Darling Basin. These are the traditional lands of the Ngiyampaa, Murawari and Yuwalaraay peoples (refer Aboriginal language groups in the Bringing back the fish section at the back of this booklet). They fished the river and surrounding waterways and hunted the wetlands. The Ngiyampaa, Murawari and Yuwalaraay people have seen their land and the rivers change...

Part 1 MOO methods for multidisciplinary design using parallel evolutionary algorithms, game theory and hierarchical topology. (Part 1.) Theoretical aspects

Two lecture notes describe recent developments of evolutionary multi objective optimization (MO) techniques in detail and their advantages and drawbacks compared to traditional deterministic optimisers. The role of Game Strategies (GS), such as Pareto, Nash or Stackelberg games as companions or pre-conditioners of Multi objective Optimizers is presented and discussed on simple mathematical functions in Part I , as well as their implementations on simple aeronautical model optimisation problems on the computer using a friendly design framework in Part II. Real life (robust) design applications dealing with UAVs systems or Civil Aircraft and using the EAs and Game Strategies combined material of Part I & Part II are solved and discussed in Part III providing the designer new compromised solutions useful to digital aircraft design and manufacturing. Many details related to Lectures notes Part I, Part II and Part III can be found by the reader in [68].

A SiC-based matrix converter topology for inductive power transfer system

Typical inductive power transfer (IPT) systems employ two power conversion stages to generate a high-frequency primary current from low-frequency utility supply. This paper proposes a matrix-converter-based IPT system, which employs high-speed SiC devices to facilitate the generation of high-frequency current through a single power conversion stage. The proposed matrix converter topology transforms a three-phase low-frequency voltage system to a high-frequency single-phase voltage, which, in turn, powers a series compensated IPT system. A comprehensive mathematical model is developed and power losses are evaluated to investigate the efficiency of the proposed converter topology. Theoretical results are presented with simulations, which are performed in MATLAB/Simulink, in comparison to a conventional two-stage converter. Experimental evident of a prototype IPT system is also presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed concept.