A wide depth distribution of seismic tremors along the northern Cascadia margin

The Cascadia subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating major earthquakes with moment magnitude as large as M(w) = 9 at an interval of several hundred years. The seismogenic portion of the plate interface is mostly offshore and is currently locked, as inferred from geodetic data. However, episodic surface displacements-in the direction opposite to the long-term deformation motions caused by relative plate convergence across a locked interface-are observed about every 14 months with an unusual tremor-like seismic signature. Here we show that these tremors are distributed over a depth range exceeding 40 km within a limited horizontal band. Many occurred within or close to the strong seismic reflectors above the plate interface where local earthquakes are absent, suggesting that the seismogenic process for tremors is fluid-related. The observed depth range implies that tremors could be associated with the variation of stress field induced by a transient slip along the deeper portion of the Cascadia interface or, alternatively, that episodic slip is more diffuse than originally suggested.     

Toxicity of Temik (aldicarb) for a fresh water teleost,Barbus conchonius Hamilton

Summary The toxic effects of Temik (aldicarb) on a fresh water Himalyan lake teleost,Barbus conchonius were investigated in hard and soft water. The 48-, 72- and 96-h TL_m-values in mg/l were 8.99, 2.39 and 2.42 respectively in the hard-water test and 3.30, 0.62 and 0.46 in the soft-water test. The toxicity of Temik toB. conchonius increases many fold in soft water.One of us (S. C. P.) is grateful to U. G. C., for the award of a senior research fellowship.     

Size tuning and oxygen plasma induced pore formation on silica nanoparticles

Silica nanoparticles have been prepared from tetraethylorthosilicate dissolved in ethanol followed by base-catalyzed condensation.Earlier works reported that at least four parameters,namely concentrati...     

Histone acetylation dynamics regulating plant development and stress responses

Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences - Crop productivity is directly dependent on the growth and development of plants and their adaptation during different environmental stresses. Histone...     

Interaction of Co, Mn, Mg and Al with d(GCCCATGGC) and d(CCGGGCCCGG): a spectroscopic study

Spectroscopic study of the interactions of metal ions, Co, Mn, Mg and Al with d(GCCCATGGGC) and d(CCGGGCCCGG) revealed the following. Metal ions Mn, Al and Mg at the lowest concentrations enhanced the t _m of oligomers, whereas Mn and Mg at higher concentrations decreased the t _m . Co enhanced the t _m of oligomers at higher concentrations. The studies have also indicated that Mn at lower concentrations displaced EtBr fluorescence, Mg and Co at moderate concentrations and Al only at higher concentrations. Addition of Co, Mn, Mg and Al altered the bands of the circulars dichroism (CD) spectra of the oligomers in a concentration-dependent manner. The CD spectra of d(GCCCATGGGC) and d(CCGGGCCCGG) indicated B and Z forms of DNA, respectively, in contrast to the A form observed in the crystal structures. Mg and Co at different ionic strength induced Z–B transition in d(CCGGGCCCGG), while Al at higher concentrations induced a Z–A transition. Mn did not induce any transition. This is the first report to show that Al causes structural transitions in sequence-specific oligomers and has strong binding ability with GC-rich euchromatin oligomers. Received 22 December 1997; received after revision 16 March 1998; accepted 16 March 1998     

A genome-wide association study for celiac disease identifies risk variants in the region harboring IL2 and IL21

We tested 310,605 SNPs for association in 778 individuals with celiac disease and 1,422 controls. Outside the HLA region, the most significant finding (rs13119723; P = 2.0 x 10(-7)) was in the KIAA1109-TENR-IL2-IL21 linkage disequilibrium block. We independently confirmed association in two further collections (strongest association at rs6822844, 24 kb 5' of IL21; meta-analysis P = 1.3 x 10(-14), odds ratio = 0.63), suggesting that genetic variation in this region predisposes to celiac disease.     

Adelfa： a futuristic biodiesel fuel for DI diesel engines： a comparative experimental investigation

Biodiesel fuel is found to be a promising alter- native for the petroleum diesel based on the results published by the researchers for a decade. Biodiesel fuel is renewable and non degradable fuel. Many countries use biodiesel fuel for automotives to meet the crisis due to the depletion of the petroleum fuel and to meet the stringent emission norms. Various researches have been carried out with different bio- diesel fuels with vegetable oil as the source and appreciable results were reported. Few biodiesel fuels which have been already tested are Jatropha, Pongamia, Mahua, neem, cotton seed, etc. In this experimental work, Adelfa biodiesel blend is used as the test fuel. The emission and performance charac- teristics were compared with three other different biodiesel fuel blends. Appreciable results imply that Adelfa biodiesel （Nerium oil methyl ester） can be a futuristic biodiesel fuel, which has a good compatibility with the direct injection （DI） diesel engine without any major modification. Moreover, Adelfa can be cultivated in a non agricultural land with fewer sources of water. It is widely spread over all major countries of Asia. Experimental investigations have been carried out on a single cylinder DI diesel engine with standard engine speci- fications. In this experimental work, various Adelfa biodiesel blends is compared with reference fuel （diesel） to choose the best blend which gives a closer performance to diesel. The comparative analysis with other biodiesel fuels has also been done and results have been discussed.     

等离子喷涂铁基非晶/晶体复合涂层的工艺–结构–性能关系

本研究试图通过优化等离子喷涂参数来开发一种Fe基非晶/晶体涂层,该涂层主要成分来自一种贫乏的铁基合金（Fe_92.6C_3.5P_1.4Si₂Mn_0.5）。这种合金是钢铁厂高炉产出的生铁剩余废料。为了经济有效地重新利用这种残留物,这种合金在合成时对成分进行了最少的修改。同时,本研究还探讨了涂层的结构、机械、腐蚀和磨损性能对喷涂参数（等离子功率、主气体流速、送粉速度和间隔距离）的依赖性。X射线衍射表明,在最优的喷涂参数下沉积的涂层存在无定形/晶体相。在较低等离子功率和最高气体流速下沉积的涂层表现出更好的密度、硬度和耐磨性。所有涂层都表现出良好的耐腐蚀性（腐蚀环境:3.5wt% NaCl 溶液）。机械、磨损和摩擦学研究表明,单一的工艺参数优化无法提供良好的涂层性能;相反,所有工艺参数在优化涂层性能都具有独一无二的作用,它们主要通过控制飞行中的颗粒温度和速度分布,以及熔滴撞击基材之前的冷却模式来控制涂层性能。