Dynamic friction and the origin of the complexity of earthquake sources.

We study a simple antiplane fault of finite length embedded in a homogeneous isotropic elastic solid to understand the origin of seismic source heterogeneity in the presence of nonlinear rate- and state-dependent friction. All the mechanical properties of the medium and friction are assumed homogeneous. Friction includes a characteristic length that is longer than the grid size so that our models have a well-defined continuum limit. Starting from a heterogeneous initial stress distribution, we apply a slowly increasing uniform stress load far from the fault and we simulate the seismicity for a few 1000 events. The style of seismicity produced by this model is determined by a control parameter associated with the degree of rate dependence of friction. For classical friction models with rate-independent friction, no complexity appears and seismicity is perfectly periodic. For weakly rate-dependent friction, large ruptures are still periodic, but small seismicity becomes increasingly nonstationary. When friction is highly rate-dependent, seismicity becomes nonperiodic and ruptures of all sizes occur inside the fault. Highly rate-dependent friction destabilizes the healing process producing premature healing of slip and partial stress drop. Partial stress drop produces large variations in the state of stress that in turn produce earthquakes of different sizes. Similar results have been found by other authors using the Burridge and Knopoff model. We conjecture that all models in which static stress drop is only a fraction of the dynamic stress drop produce stress heterogeneity.

Geothermal Electricity Generation in Colorado: Actual and Perceived Obstacles to Greater Implementation

The objective of this paper is to provide an analysis of the potential and obstacles to the development of geothermal energy resources in Colorado. Geothermal energy is the only renewable resource that can provide base-load electricity. While Colorado has significant geothermal energy potential, there are no such power plants. Layers of federal and state laws and regulations represent one barrier to further geothermal development. Transmission constraints represent another major barrier. High exploration and construction costs along with high-risk profiles for geothermal projects form another major barrier. Perceived barriers such as misunderstanding the impacts, risks, and benefits of geothermal energy hinder further development. Recommendations are provided to help overcome these obstacles.

The Rueter-Hess Dam and Reservoir Project: A Question of Sustainable Water

Water in sufficient quantities throughout the Colorado Front Range is becoming increasingly limited. This paper examines the consequences for continued unsustainable use of water for communities of the Denver metropolitan area. This paper also looks at the effect that water law in the West has for otherwise optimum distributions of water. In addition, four regional and state water studies are reviewed for their contribution to sustainable water. Finally, the Final Environmental Impact Statement of the Rueter-Hess dam and reservoir project in Parker, Colorado is explored. Key findings conclude that the Rueter-Hess project may not, by itself, provide sustainable water for Parker; but the project will create incentive and opportunity for communities throughout the region to address the question of sustainable water.

Sighted volunteers’ motivations to assist people with visual impairments in freetime sport activities

Since the changing of the political and economic system in 1989-1990 in Hungary, volunteer movements have appeared all over the country. Volunteers of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds are engaged in a wide range of activities, wishing to add values to the lives of others in need, hoping to improve their micro or/and macro environment. Volunteering has also appeared in the field of sport, and the work of a large number of nongovernmental sport organisations is strongly dependent on volunteers’ participation. In the socialist era disability sports were neglected by the state. The new democratic state has been paying increasing attention to disability sports and volunteers have been a great asset in improving the accessibility of spare time sport activities. The present empirical research investigates which factors motivate sighted volunteers to join Hungarian Sports and Leisure Association for the Visually Impaired (Látássérültek Szabadidős Sportegyesülete, LÁSS). Results confirm that joining LÁSS was in few cases (N=3) attributed to having parental or other family relations with blind or partially sighted people. Respondents unanimously admit to have a wish to share the joy of physical activity with their visually impaired peers.

Efectos de los aminoácidos ramificados en deportes de larga duración: revisión bibliográfica

Introducción: El informe emitido por la Agencia Europea de Seguridad Alimentaria (EFSA) en 2010 sobre las declaraciones nutricionales y propiedades saludables, muestra que no existen evidencias científicas que apoyen la suplementación con aminoácidos ramificados (BCAAs). El objetivo de este estudio es analizar los efectos del consumo de suplementos de BCAAs en deportes de larga duración (DLD). Métodos: Estudio descriptivo de revisión bibliográfica sobre el estado actual del efecto del consumo de suplementos de BCAAs. Se realizó una búsqueda en la base de datos PubMed y estrategia de bola de nieve. Criterios de inclusión: Estudios realizados en humanos, ensayos clínicos controlados aleatorizados (ECCA) en castellano/inglés relacionados con el consumo de BCAAs, leucina, valina e isoleucina en DLD y sus efectos sobre el daño muscular, rendimiento deportivo, fatiga central, respuesta anabólica y sistema inmunológico publicados en cualquier país hasta mayo 2014. Resultados: De los 330 estudios identificados, 14 cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. La media de sujetos participantes en los estudio es igual a (11,36 ± 7,43). Sólo dos estudios incluyen un grupo de mujeres. Las disciplinas deportivas que se encontraron en los estudios fueron carrera a pie, ciclismo, combinación ciclismo y carrera a pie, triatlón distancia olímpica y un estudio que incluía 2 grupos de deportistas (triatlón distancia olímpica y carrera a pie). Se estudian los efectos de los BCAAs y daño muscular, rendimiento deportivo, fatiga central, respuesta anabólica en periodo de recuperación y respuesta inmunológica en periodos diferentes del entrenamiento: antes, durante y después o una combinación de éstos. Discusión: Se observa que existe un menor grado de dolor y daño muscular, menor percepción del esfuerzo y fatiga mental, mayor respuesta anabólica en periodo de recuperación y mejora de la respuesta inmunológica cuando se suplementa con BCAAs, no obstante su toma antes o durante la actividad física no mejora el rendimiento deportivo. No se ha encontrado consenso en la dosis y cronología de la toma más eficaz, aunque es más efectivo si hay una relación 2-3/1/1g, entre los aminoácidos Leucina/ Isoleucina y Valina.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, 1837 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Map of Massachusetts, Rhode-Island & Connecticut : compiled from the latest authorities, engraved by J. Wells. It was published by A.F. Wilcox & Co. in 1837. Scale [ca. 1:442,000].The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area Conic projection (Meters). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as cities and towns, roads, railroads, drainage, churches, academies, banks, court houses, industry locations (e.g. mills, factories, mines, etc.), town, county, and state boundaries, and more. It also includes many inset maps of the major cities of New England.This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of New England from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and map purposes.

New York, N.Y. and vicinity, 1836 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Map of the country thirty miles round the city of New York, designed & drawn by I.H. Eddy. It was published by J. Disturnell in 1836. Scale [1:190,080]. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 18N NAD83 projection. All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads, turnpikes and toll locations, railroads, drainage, canals, selected public buildings (industry locations, taverns, etc.), selected private residences with names of landowners, cities and towns, county and state boundaries, and more. Relief is shown by hachures. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and vicinity, Roads, 1897 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: Map of the country around Philadelphia : with the good roads specially marked. It was published by J. L. Smith in 1897. Scale [1:63,360]. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Pennsylvania South State Plane Coordinate System NAD83 (in Feet) (Fipszone 3702). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows features such as roads ("Good roads" are shown in red), railroads, drainage, canals, selected buildings, towns, county and state boundies, and more. Includes explanation of signs. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Louisville and Vicinity, Kentucky, 1955 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic, topographic paper map entitled: Louisville and vicinity : prepared in cooperation with city, county, and state agencies, mapped by the Geological Survey and the Army Map Service. It was edited and published by the Geological Survey in 1957. Ed. of 1955. Scale 1:24,000. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Kentucky North State Plane NAD 1927 coordinate system (in Feet) (Fipszone 1601). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, index maps, legends, or other information associated with the principal map. This is a typical topographic map portraying both natural and manmade features. It shows and names works of nature, such as mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, vegetation, etc. It also identify the principal works of humans, such as roads, railroads, boundaries, transmission lines, major buildings, etc. Relief is shown with standard contour intervals of 10 feet (with 5 foot supplementary intervals). This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection as part of the Imaging the Urban Environment project. Maps selected for this project represent major urban areas and cities of the world, at various time periods. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features at a large scale. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates, scales, and purposes.

Developmental Activities That Lead to Dropout and Investment in Sport

Background: Studies suggest that expert performance in sport is the result of long-term engagement in a highly specialized form of training termed deliberate practice. The relationship between accumulated deliberate practice and performance predicts that those who begin deliberate practice at a young age accumulate more practice hours over time and would, therefore, have a significant performance advantage. However, qualitative studies have shown that a large amount of sport-specific practice at a young age may lead to negative consequences, such as dropout, and is not necessarily the only path to expert performance in sport. Studies have yet to investigate the activity context, such as the amount of early sport participation, deliberate play and deliberate practice within which dropout occurs. Purpose: To determine whether the nature and amount of childhood-organized sport, deliberate play and deliberate practice participation influence athletes' subsequent decisions to drop out or invest in organized sport. It was hypothesized that young athletes who drop out will have sampled fewer sports, spent less time in deliberate play activities and spent more time in deliberate practice activities during childhood sport involvement. Participants: The parents of eight current, high-level, male, minor ice hockey players formed an active group. The parents of four high-level, male, minor ice hockey players who had recently withdrawn from competitive hockey formed a dropout group. Data collection: Parents completed a structured retrospective survey designed to assess their sons' involvement in organized sport, deliberate play and deliberate practice activities from ages 6 to 13. Data analysis: A complete data-set was available for ages 6 through 13, resulting in a longitudinal data-set spanning eight years. This eight-year range was divided into three levels of development corresponding to the players' progress through the youth ice hockey system. Level one encompassed ages 6–9, level two included ages 10–11 and level three covered ages 12–13. Descriptive statistics were used to report the ages at which the active and dropout players first engaged in select hockey activities. ANOVA with repeated measures across the three levels of development was used to compare the number of sports the active and dropout players were involved in outside of hockey, the number of hours spent in these sports, and involvement in various hockey-related activities. Findings: Results indicated that both the active and dropout players enjoyed a diverse and playful introduction to sport. Furthermore, the active and dropout players invested similar amounts of time in organized hockey games, organized hockey practices, specialized hockey training activities (e.g. hockey camps) and hockey play. However, analysis revealed that the dropout players began off-ice training at a younger age and invested significantly more hours/year in off-ice training at ages 12–13, indicating that engaging in off-ice training activities at a younger age may have negative implications for long-term ice hockey participation. Conclusion: These results are consistent with previous research that has found that early diversification does not hinder sport-specific skill development and it may, in fact, be preferable to early specialization. The active and dropout players differed in one important aspect of deliberate practice: off-ice training activities. The dropout players began off-ice training at a younger age, and participated in more off-ice training at ages 12 and 13 than their active counterparts. This indicates a form of early specialization and supports the postulate that early involvement in practice activities that are not enjoyable may ultimately undermine the intrinsic motivation to continue in sport. Youth sport programs should not focus on developing athletic fitness through intense and routine training, but rather on sport-specific practice, games and play activities that foster fun and enjoyment.

ISSP Position Stand: To Sample or to Specialize? Seven Postulates About Youth Sport Activities that Lead to Continued Participation and Elite Performance

A comprehensive approach to sport expertise should consider the entire situation that is comprised of the person, the task, the environment, and the complex interplay of these components (Hackfort, 1986). Accordingly, the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007; Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007) provides a comprehensive framework for sport expertise that outlines different pathways of involvement in sport. In pathways one and two, early sampling serves as the foundation for both elite and recreational sport participation. Early sampling is based on two main elements of childhood sport participation: 1) involvement in various sports and 2) participation in deliberate play. In contrast, pathway three shows the course to elite performance through early specialization in one sport. Early specialization implies a focused involvement on one sport and a large number of deliberate practice activities with the goal of improving sport skills and performance during childhood. This paper proposes seven postulates regarding the role that sampling and deliberate play, as opposed to specialization and deliberate practice, can have during childhood in promoting continued participation and elite performance in sport.

The future of human rights protection in the new Libya: prospects and challenges. Jean Monnet Occasional Paper No. 6/2014

There is no doubt that demand for the respect of human rights was one of the factors behind the Arab Spring and Libya is no exception. Four decades of absolute dictatorship headed by Muammar Gaddafi had been further tainted with gross violations of human rights of Libyan citizens and restrictions on their basic freedoms. Before the revolution, Libya was a country where no political parties were allowed. Freedom of expression and the press were extremely restricted. Reports about the country’s human rights violations published by a number of international organizations documented large scale human rights abuses at the hands of the Gaddafi regime. The 17 February 2011 revolution in Libya led to a turning point in the country’s history. The regime of Muammar Gaddafi which had dominated the country since 1969 eventually collapsed, leading to the beginning of the painful task of reconciliation and state building. Nonetheless it is estimated that more than 7000 prisoners are held captive by various militias and armed groups without due process. This in addition to thousands of internally displaced persons. State building involves the consolidation of a democratic state based on a democratic constitution. In 2011, a constitutional declaration was adopted to replace the one that had been in effect since 1969. This was intended as a stop-gap solution to allow the new political forces unleashed in the country time to write a new democratic constitution. To help consolidate the democratic state, three elements are required: that human rights be placed at its core; that these rights are truly implemented and applied; and lastly that the independence of the judiciary is safeguarded. For all this to happen it is also essential to strengthen education on human rights by encouraging non-governmental organizations to take a stronger role in promoting human rights. Libyan citizens can only avail themselves of these rights and strengthen their implementation if they know what they are and how they can benefit from their implementation

The Re-emergence of Russia and its Collision Course with Europe. Jean Monnet/Robert Schuman Paper Series Vol. 14 No. 4, March 2014

From the Introduction. In order to understand the historical roots of the current geopolitical confrontation between the EU and Russia, we have to go back to the end of the Cold War and to the catastrophic decade that it was followed by in Russian history. The dissolution of the USSR imposed serious economic hardship for Russia and for all the ex-communist East-European states. Russia was the hardest hit amongst them, as the center of the USSR's economic system it suffered most from the dissolution of regional economic ties. This crisis was just deepened by the IMF's privatization and reform campaign, which imposed austerity measures and state-asset privatization as a “shock-therapy” answer to the country's economic problems. This policy package did nothing to save Russia from economic collapse (which eventually happened in 1998), the only thing it achieved was an even stronger social and economic crisis and the enrichment of the rent-seeking ex-communist top bureaucrats by state-assets, which were sold out under-priced through diverse channels of corruption

Epigenetic engineering shows H3K4me2 is required for HJURP targeting and CENP-A assembly on a synthetic human kinetochore

Kinetochores assemble on distinct 'centrochromatin' containing the histone H3 variant CENP-A and interspersed nucleosomes dimethylated on H3K4 (H3K4me2). Little is known about how the chromatin environment at active centromeres governs centromeric structure and function. Here, we report that centrochromatin resembles K4-K36 domains found in the body of some actively transcribed housekeeping genes. By tethering the lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1), we specifically depleted H3K4me2, a modification thought to have a role in transcriptional memory, from the kinetochore of a synthetic human artificial chromosome (HAC). H3K4me2 depletion caused kinetochores to suffer a rapid loss of transcription of the underlying α-satellite DNA and to no longer efficiently recruit HJURP, the CENP-A chaperone. Kinetochores depleted of H3K4me2 remained functional in the short term, but were defective in incorporation of CENP-A, and were gradually inactivated. Our data provide a functional link between the centromeric chromatin, α-satellite transcription, maintenance of CENP-A levels and kinetochore stability.

Who Is Influential and Why? The Determinants of Reputational Power

Power is one of the most fundamental concepts in political science, and it is a crucial aspect of decision-making structures. The distribution of power between political actors and coalitions of actors informs us about who is actually able to influence decision-making processes. It is thus no surprise that power is a centerpiece of our assessment of political decision-making in Switzerland. In line with the main argument of this book, Chapter 3 has uncovered important changes in decision-making structures, which resulted in a rebalancing of power between governing parties, interest groups and state executive actors. Conjecturing about the reasons that may account for these changes, we pointed to factors of an organizational and institutional nature. For example, we put forward the decline of pre-parliamentary procedures oriented towards corporatist intermediation as a possible explanation for the weakening of interest groups. More generally, in several chapters it has been suggested that there is a relationship between the institutional design of a decision-making process, the related importance of decision-making phases and an actor's participation in these phases on the one hand, and the power of actors (and coalitions of actors) on the other. In addition, the analyses carried out in Chapters 2 to 5 draw our attention to the differences in power structure across decision-making processes or types of processes.