Previous research has shown that people tend to walk around the speed that minimizes energy consumption when traveling a given distance. It has further been shown that men and women have different speeds that minimize energy and that women will choose slower speeds when the activity itself is a high-rate activity (e.g. carrying a load). Here we investigate what men and women will do when given …

Tahun Terbit

2009

Electrodes installed on active landslides and vulnerable earthworks to monitor changes in resistivity associated with moisture dynamics can be subject to movement. This affects the geoelectrical data and leads to errors in the resulting electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) images. This paper demonstrates the selection of appropriate ERT measurements to provide sensitivity to electrode displa…

Epigenetic modifications control gene expression without altering the primary DNA sequence. However, little is known about DNA methylation in invertebrates and its evolution. Here, we characterize two types of genomic DNA methylation in ctenophores, 5-methyl cytosine (5-mC) and the unconventional form of methylation 6-methyl adenine (6-mA). Using both bisulfite sequencing and an ELISA-based col…

This paper describes computational studies of tangential ground motions generated by spherical explosions in a heavily jointed granite formation. Various factors affecting the shear wave generation are considered, including joint spacing, orientation and frictional properties. Simulations are performed both in 2-D for a single joint set to elucidate the basic response mechanisms, and in 3-D for…

Despite an explosion in the amount of sequence data, phylogenomics has failed to settle controversy regarding some critical nodes on the animal tree of life. Understanding relationships among Bilateria, Ctenophora, Cnidaria, Placozoa, and Porifera is essential for studying how complex traits such as neurons, muscles, and gastrulation have evolved. Recent studies have cast doubt on the historic…

The normal fault-system responsible of the 2009 Mw 6.1 L’Aquila earthquake (PaganicaSan Demetrio fault-system) comprises several narrow, fault-parallel valleys of controversial origin. We investigated a key section of the southeastern portion of this fault network along the small Verupola Valley. In order to characterize its nature and possible tectonic activity, we applied multiple-geoscienc…

Hypotheses of origins and evolution of neurons and synapses are controversial, mostly due to limited comparative data. Here, we investigated the genome-wide distribution of the bilaterian ‘‘synaptic’’ and ‘‘neuronal’’ proteincoding genes in non-bilaterian basal metazoans (Ctenophora, Porifera, Placozoa, and Cnidaria). First, there are no recognized genes uniquely expressed in ne…

The Mt Amram igneous complex (AIC) represents northern tip of the Neoproterozoic Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS). For the first time the AIC deep structure was studied using the gravity, aero and ground magnetic, magnetic susceptibility and density measurements and geological data. Analysing all available data at the Amram area we concluded what only monzonite body can be reason for gravity h…

The origins of neural systems and centralized brains are one of the major transitions in evolution. These events might occur more than once over 570–600 million years. The convergent evolution of neural circuits is evident from a diversity of unique adaptive strategies implemented by ctenophores, cnidarians, acoels, molluscs, and basal deuterostomes. But, further integration of biodiversity r…