400 years of precipitation variability in central and southern California reconstructed from tree-rings [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Precipitation variability at 31 stations hanging from San Diego to San Francisco and from the coast to the Sierras was characterized ...

Numerical modeling of deep soil mixing excavation support

The finite element method (FEM) is growing in popularity over the pressure diagram/hand calculation method for analysis of excavation systems in general and deep soil mixing excavations in particular. In this paper, a finite element analysis is used to study the behavior of a deep mixed excavation. Through the use of Plaxis (a FEM software program), the construction sequence is simulated by following the various construction phases allowing for deflections due to strut or anchor installation to be predicted. The numerical model used in this study simulates the soil cement columns as a continuous wall matching the bending stiffness of the actual wall. Input parameters based on laboratory tests and modeling assumptions are discussed. An example of the approach is illustrated using the Islais Creek Transport/Storage Project in San Francisco, California. Copyright ASCE 2006.

A produção de vinhos em regiões tropicais: anais.

Características dos solos agrícolas da região semi-árida do Vale do São Francisco. Bases de dados georreferenciadas para a seleção de áreas vitícolas do Vale do Submédio São Francisco . O clima vitícola do Submédio São Francisco e o zoneamento dos períodos de produção de uvas para elaboração de vinhos. Variabilidade espacial do clima no Vale do Submédio São Francisco com vistas ao zoneamento mesoclimático . Zonificación de terroir aplicado a zonas sin tradición vitícola: el caso del Valle Submedio del Río San Francisco (Pernambuco, Brasil). Comportamiento fisiológico de la vid en climas cálidos y en particular durante el período de maduración de la uva. Técnicas de produção vitícola com ciclos sucessivos em condições tropicais. Análise dos atuais sistemas de produção de uvas para vinho no Vale do São Francisco. Introdução e avaliação de novas cultivares para vinho no Vale do São Francisco. Manejo de água na cultura da videira. Problemas fitossanitários na viticultura do Vale do São Francisco . Problemas entomológicos na viticultura do Vale do São Francisco. Selección de cultivares y desarrollo de nuevos viños de calidad en climas cálidos: comportamiento agronómico y enológico en la región de jerez, España. Estabilidade da matéria corante dos vinhos de regiões de clima quente. Peculiaridades de la vinificación de uvas producidas en climas cálidos. Diferenciação da composição fenólica de vinhos portugueses induzida por colagens protéicas. Características das uvas do Vale do São Francisco sob o ponto de vista enológico. Características analíticas e sensoriais de vinhos produzidos no Vale do Submédio São Francisco, Brasil. Desafios e prioridades para o desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico da produção de vinhos de qualidade em zonas tropicais.

Impact of Early Postnatal Androgen Exposure on Voice Development

Background: the impact of early postnatal androgen exposure on female laryngeal tissue may depend on certain characteristics of this exposure. We assessed the impact of the dose, duration, and timing of early androgen exposure on the vocal development of female subjects who had been treated for adrenocortical tumor (ACT) in childhood.Methods: the long-term effects of androgen exposure on the fundamental vocal frequency (F0), vocal pitch, and final height and the presence of virilizing signs were examined in 9 adult (age, 18.4 to 33.5 years) and 10 adolescent (13.6 to 17.8 years) female ACT patients. We also compared the current values with values obtained 0.9 years to 7.4 years after these subjects had undergone ACT surgery, a period during which they had shown normal androgen levels.Results: of the 19 subjects, 17 (89%) had been diagnosed with ACT before 4 years of age, 1 (5%) at 8.16 years, and 1 (5%) at 10.75 years. Androgen exposure (2 to 30 months) was sufficiently strong to cause pubic hair growth in all subjects and clitoromegaly in 74% (14/19) of the subjects, but did not reduce their height from the target value. Although androgen exposure induced a remarkable reduction in F0 (132 Hz) and moderate pitch virilization in 1 subject and partial F0 virilization, resulting in F0 of 165 and 169 Hz, in 2 subjects, the majority had normal F0 ranging from 189 to 245 Hz.Conclusions: Female laryngeal tissue is less sensitive to androgen exposure between birth and adrenarche than during other periods. Differential larynx sensitivity to androgen exposure in childhood and F0 irreversibility in adulthood are age-, concentration-, duration-, and timing-dependent events that may also be affected by exposure to inhibitory or stimulatory hormones. Further studies are required to better characterize each of these factors.

Teaching by Example in Food Assembly by Robot

T. G. Williams, J.J. Rowland, Lee M.H. and M.J. Neal Teaching by Example in Food Assembly by Robot, Proc. 2000 IEEE Int. Conf. On Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, April 2000, pp3247-52.

Interpreting Analytical Spectra with Evolutionary Computation

Rowland, J.J. (2002) Interpreting Analytical Spectra with Evolutionary Computation. In: Fogel, G.B. and Corne, D.W. (eds), Evolutionary Computation in Bioinformatics. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, pp 341--365, ISBN 1-55860-797-8