Break Off Research Articles

Novel Natural Compounds and Their Anatomical Distribution in the Stinging Fireworm Hermodice carunculata (Annelida).

Increasing evidence in the field of bioprospection fosters the necessity of studying poorly investigated poisonous marine invertebrates to expand knowledge on animal venom biology. Among marine annelids, amphinomid fireworms are notorious for their bearded trunk equipped with a powerful stinging capacity. Here, a methodological workflow based on analytical chemistry techniques (compound isolation followed by mass spectrometry and spectroscopy analyses) was applied to gain new insights, leading to the identification and structural elucidation of an array of natural products from Mediterranean specimens of Hermodice carunculata. Eight betaine-derived unprecedented compounds, named “carunculines”, were detected, bearing two terminal ammonium groups tri-and disubstituted at the Cα (A, B) and a series of different alkyl chains (I–VIII). The mixture of chemicals was found in all the body parts of H. carunculata, supporting a mechanism of action triggered by their vehiculation inside the dorsal chaetae, and subsequent injection when chaetae break off on contact. Preliminary investigations to understand adaptive features were also performed, showing a trend in carunculine abundance that fits into the evolutionary history of these worms. These findings shed light on the chemical ecology of amphinomids, giving reasons for the success of H. carunculata in benthic environments and providing promising novel metabolites for biotechnological implications.

Multiple severe storms revealed by coral boulders at Pasuquin, northwestern Luzon, Philippines

Over 30 meter-sized coral boulders are scattered 45–140 m away from the edge and above high tide on a Holocene reef flat at Pasuquin, northwestern Luzon, Philippines. The boulders are overturned or tilted as indicated by the framework fossil corals in them, but have the same lithology as those along the reef edge and thus were likely broken off from there. The dimensions of boulders larger than 3 m were calculated from 3D models constructed by photogrammetry. Their volumes range from 10 to 53 m3. Assuming 2.1 g/cm3 for wet density, weights of boulders would range from 21 to 110 metric tons. Boulders of such size and weight can't be moved by normal waves, and thus must have been dislodged by extreme wave events (EWEs). Small and well-preserved corals found on the surface of seven boulders were collected for 230Th dating to reconstruct the timing of displacement. The ages of corals are 1781.6 ± 1.9, 1903.4 ± 2.7, 1945.8 ± 1.2, 1956.9 ± 1.2, 1956.75 ± 0.99, 1978.1 ± 1.5 and 2002.78 ± 0.88 CE, respectively. These ages are considered to constrain the timing of boulder displacement from the reef edge. We propose that typhoon-induced EWEs were responsible for the displacement of these boulders at Pasuquin.

George Frederick Bristow by Katherine K. Preston

Reviewed by: George Frederick Bristow by Katherine K. Preston Elizabeth Sallinger George Frederick Bristow. By Katherine K. Preston. (American Composers.) Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2020. [viii, 204 p. ISBN 9780252043420 (hardcover), $110; ISBN 9780252085321 (paperback), 29.95; ISBN 9780252052309 (e-book), price varies.] Discography, bibliography, illustrations, index. Katherine Preston’s biography of George Frederick Bristow (1825–1898) covers in detail the life of a lesser-known figure from the mainstream of music history. Preston examines the composer’s life within the context of related subtopics, including concert careers, music publishing, music societies, and US life in general. She also presents several recurring topics for discussion—notably, how to contend with the overall identity of US American music—while focusing on Bristow’s advocacy for his own music and that of other musicians. The composer’s broad career as a performer, composer, promoter, and music educator help situate Bristow and his works in a larger network of scholarship. The primary presentation of Preston’s work is chronological, beginning with Bristow’s education and early career then continuing through his major works and later career, and breaking off throughout on tangents that help position the composer among his contemporaries. The work is broken down further into lettered “inter-ludes,” which divide Bristow’s life and career into even smaller, digestible sections. The layout of the text, therefore, allows for an easy dissection of the various stages of Bristow’s progress, offering the reader a chance to focus on one [End Page 74] aspect or work, or to take in a detailed overview. Given that Bristow crossed paths with other major musical figures, such as Louis Jullien, William Henry Fry, and others, the biography also brings additional data on these contemporaries into the discussion, deepening the pool of information for readers to plumb. In presenting Bristow’s participation in several orchestras and musical societies in the nineteenth century, Preston offers a streamlined series of further connections between various performers, conductors, and publishers. Thus, in addition to providing a better view of Bristow’s life, these asides provide the reader with a better-honed understanding of musical life and production on a larger scale during that period. Specifically, Preston provides a table that lists not only Bristow’s concertizing life in a selected span of years (1854–60) but also what was played, the names of other featured performers, and the time and location of the concerts. A tool like this would aid in a study of Bri-stow, certainly, but it also allows a point of entry for researchers following up on other figures or performances. Preston also explores Bristow’s advocacy for better pianos and more widely available pianos for public purchase through his membership in the United States Mutual Pianoforte Association. An early section of the text relates to an issue in concert programming that still exists today: early United States composers were often excluded from concerts when they had new works to premiere. Orchestras instead would rely on European standard repertoire or works written by European immigrants. Bristow’s early works appear to have been a casualty of this practice, as were those of some of his contemporaries—even works by composers who emulated traditional European compositional sensibilities or tried to establish a more modern, unquestionably national approach or sound to their compositions. Preston reinforces Bristow as a nationalistic composer throughout, firmly suggesting how important this issue was to him as a working composer, with Bristow participating in the Manuscript Society, a group that promoted United States composers. Preston also points out Bristow’s contributions to finding a way to include US folk tunes, such as “negro melodies,” into larger works that predated Antonín Dvořák’s inclusion of such themes in his Symphony no. 9 in E Minor (“New World”), op. 95, acknowledging several other composers who used the same approach (p. 137). While no easy resolution is reached through the remainder of the biography regarding the problem of establishing a national musical identity, addressing this issue much earlier in the country’s timeline provides an opportunity to move this kind of discussion to a larger scale. Preston also addresses Bristow’s time spent as an educator...

Среднеазиатские страницы биографии митрополита Арсения (Стадницкого): 1924–1936 гг.

The article reconstructs the last period of the life of the outstanding bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Arseny (Stadnitsky). As Metropolitan of Novgorod, he was sent into exile in Central Asia, where he eventually spent 12 years. The data found in the letters of Metropolitan Arseny to the lawyer A.F. Koni and in the writings of Bishop Andrei (Ukhtomsky), for the first time made it possible to determine the dates and places of residence of Metropolitan Arseny in Central Asia: he lived in Krasnovodsk from mid-1924 until the summer of 1925; in Poltoratsk (Ashgabat) – from August 28, 1925 until the spring of 1927, and then in Tashkent.There was a change in the course of church policy pursued by the Deputy Patriarchal Locum Tenens Metropolitan Sergius (Stargorodsky) in 1927. The attitude of Metropolitan Arseny to the new church policy was ambiguous. There are diametrically opposite opinions in the writings of church historians on this subject, therefore, it seemed important to determine the church-political views of Metropolitan Arseny on the basis of analysis of a large body of narrative sources (letters and memoirs). At first, this attitude was sharply negative. He did not break off communication with Metropolitan Sergius, did not criticize him publicly, but he fell into disgrace and was left in exile after its end. In 1933, Metropolitan Arseny, having accepted the appointment to the Turkestan department, returned to episcopal ministry and church administrative activities. He visited Moscow at least three times to participate in the sessions of the Provisional Patriarchal Synod. During this period, Metropolitan Arseny also had a negative attitude towards some actions of the highest church authorities, in particular, measures to exalt Metropolitan Sergius. Metropolitan Arseny did not hide this, but he did not publicly denounce anyone, fearing to strengthen the schism.The article makes a number of assumptions concerning the role played by the figure of Metropolitan Arseny in the question of the succession of the supreme church authority and in the plans of the OGPU, which sought the liquidation of the Russian Church. These hypotheses require further study on the basis of new documentary sources.

First report of Cladosporium tenuissimum causing leaf spot of Arachis hypogaea in China.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), one of the most important oilseed crops in tropical and subtropical regions of the world (Kumar and Kirti 2011), is widely cultivated for its high protein and oil content in seeds. In August 2019, about 30% of A. hypogaea plants were found infected by leaf spot in the peanut-growing regions of Shandong Province, China. Disease symptoms appeared as the irregular and brown necrotic lesions on leaves that were 0.5 to 5.0 mm in diam. Twenty symptomatic plants were randomly sampled from peanut planting areas in Weihai and Yantai City. Small pieces (3 mm2) were cut from lesions, dipped in a 0.5% NaClO for 10 min, rinsed three times with sterilized distilled water, dried, placed onto potato-dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated in the dark at 25°C for 10 days. Three typical Cladosporium-like strains were isolated from diseased leaves of peanut. The colonies were grey to olivaceous green, reverse olivaceous black and woolly. The conidiophores were solitary, macronematous, unbranched or branched, straight or flexuous, cylindrical, slightly swollen at the apex, smooth. Conidiogenous cells were integrated, terminal and intercalary, with numerous loci on nodulose swelling. Ramoconidia were cylindrical, oblong, fusiform, 8.0 to 19.5×2.0 to 4.5 µm, aseptate or 1 septum, pale brown. Conidia were catenate, in densely branched chains, ellipsoid, ovoid, limoniform, aseptate, 4.0 to 11.5×2.5 to 5.5 µm, smooth, with conspicuous hila. The conidia easily break off from the chains. The morphological characteristics of these isolates matched the descriptions of Cladosporium tenuissimum (Bensch et al. 2010). For the molecular identification, the partial actin (act) and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) genes were amplified and sequenced using the respective primers ACT-512F/ACT-783R and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999). The representative sequences, deposited in GenBank (act: OL332701, OL332702 and OL332703; tef1: OL322090, OL322091 and OL322092), exhibited 99.6% and 100% identical to C. tenuissimum ex-type isolate CBS 125995 (HM148687 and HM148442). Phylogenetic analysis was done by Neighbor-Joining (NJ) analysis based on act+tef1 sequences. These three isolates were identified as C. tenuissimum by morphological and molecular characteristics. Pathogenicity of each C. tenuissimum isolate was tested on peanut in the greenhouse at 28°C with 75% relative humidity. Twenty plants of A. hypogaea were inoculated with the conidial suspension (1.0 × 105 conidia/ml) on the leaf surface. Ten plants were mock inoculated with sterile water as controls. Within 2 weeks, inoculated plants exhibited dark necrotic lesions on leaves which were similar to the symptoms observed in the field, while the mock inoculated plants remained symptomless. The fungal pathogen which was reisolated from inoculated rather than mock inoculated leaf tissues was identical to the original pathogen on the basis of morphological and molecular analysis, confirming Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of leaf spot caused by C. tenuissimum on peanut in China. The C. tenuissimum infection poses a serious threat by reducing the yield and quality of peanut in Shandong Province. This research is especially valuable to enhance epidemiological studies and implement effective control strategies.

Effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients infected with variants of concerns

COVID-19 cases in Indonesia seemed to be increasing by each passing day at the time of writing this review, more positive cases discovered than the recovered ones. With the highest rank within all ASEAN countries, and also a home of many variants of COVID-19, Indonesia had become a break off destination to others. Along with the problem associated with the pandemic, which all people had to face, the purpose of this review is to elaborate the use of convalescent plasma therapy on treatment against COVID-19, especially its different variants. We overview the evidence that we obtained from several databases using specific keywords. A large amount of evidence points out that the convalescent plasma therapy has shown a promising outcome against COVID-19 infection, as it did for infectious diseases. Although in COVID-19 variants of concern, convalescent plasma therapy showed a reduction in neutralization ~ 3-fold against P.1, and 7-13 folds against B.1.351 variant, it still can be used as a treatment for COVID-19 and its variants.
 Abbreviations: PPE - personal protective equipment; VoC - Variants of concern; VoI - Variants of interest; CPT - convalescent plasma therapy; RBD - receptor-binding domain; ARDS - Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome; ICU - Intensive Care Unit; IQR - Interquartile Range; RCT - Randomized Clinical Trial; RT-PCR - Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction; NAbs - neutralizing antibodies
 Key words: Convalescent plasma therapy; COVID-19, Variants of Concern
 Citation: Kurniawati EM, Putri IS, Widiatmaja DM, Praba VM, Visuddho 2, Prameswari FU, Zahrani M, Putra FN, Nugraha D, Widiastara AA. Effectiveness of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 patients infected with variants of concerns. Anaesth. pain intensive care 2022;26(4):535-545; DOI: 10.35975/apic.v26i4.1962
 Received: July 31, 2021; Reviewed: May 17, 2022; Accepted: May 18, 2022

Eastward subduction of the Indian plate beneath the Indo-Myanmese arc revealed by teleseismic P-wave tomography

The deep structure of the eastward-subducting Indian plate can provide new information on the dynamics of the India-Eurasia collision. We collected and processed waveform data from temporary seismic arrays (networks) on the eastern Tibetan Plateau, seismic arrays in Northeast India and Myanmar, and permanent stations of the China Digital Seismic Network in Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Yunnan, and Sichuan. We combined these data with phase reports from observation stations of the International Seismological Center on the Indian plate and selected 124,808 high-quality P-wave relative travel-time residuals. Next, we used these data to invert the 3-D P-wave velocity structure of the upper mantle to a depth of 800 km beneath the eastern segment of the arcuate Himalayan orogen, at the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The results reveal a high-angle, easterly dipping subducting plate extending more than 200 km beneath the Indo-Myanmese arc. The plate breaks off at roughly 96°E; its fragments have passed through the 410-km discontinuity (D410) into the mantle transition zone (MTZ). The MTZ beneath the Tengchong volcanic area contains a high-velocity anomaly, which does not exceed the Red River fault to the east. No other large-scale continuous subducted plates were observed in the MTZ. However, a horizontally spreading high-velocity anomaly was identified on the D410 in some regions. The anomaly may represent the negatively buoyant 90°E Ridge plate or a thickened and delaminated lithospheric block experiencing collision and compression at the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. The Tengchong volcano may originate from the mantle upwelling through the slab window formed by the break-off of the subducting Indian continental plate and oceanic plate in the upper mantle. Low-velocity upper mantle materials on the west side of the Indo-Myanmese arc may have supplemented materials to the Tengchong volcano.

Petrogenesis of late Permian to Middle Triassic magmatic rocks on northern Hainan Island, South China: Implications for crust–mantle interaction and the tectonic evolution of the Paleo-Tethys

Geochronological, geochemical, and Sr–Nd–Hf isotope data are reported for the late Permian to Middle Triassic Juding gabbros, the Xinxing gabbroic–dioritic rocks, and granites and mafic enclaves from the northern part of Hainan Island, South China. Our data were used to constrain the petrogenesis of these rocks, the crust–mantle interactions involved, and the implications for the tectonic evolution of the area. Zircon U–Pb dating gave crystallization ages of ca. 235 Ma for the Juding gabbros, ca. 252 Ma for the Xinxing gabbroic–dioritic rocks, and 253–238 Ma for the granites and mafic enclaves. The Juding gabbros are characterized by weak negative Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies, low initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.704603–0.704630), and high εNd(t) values (+3.7 to +3.8). The Juding gabbros are inferred to have been derived by partial melting of depleted asthenospheric mantle, with these melts mixing with melts produced from enriched lithospheric mantle. The Xinxing gabbroic–dioritic rocks have relatively intermediate compositions, with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.706600–0.708664, εNd(t) values of −6.3 to −5.1, and εHf(t) values of −3.3 to −0.6. The Xinxing gabbroic-dioritic rocks probably derived by partial melting of enriched lithospheric mantle that was modified by subduction-related melts and/or fluids. The granites from the northern part of Hainan Island have extremely high SiO2, low MgO and Ni contents, with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.704794–0.711158, εNd(t) values of −8.5 to −6.6, and εHf(t) values of −15.0 to −1.2. They were probably derived by partial melting of a variety of ancient crustal sources with some addition of mantle material. The mafic enclaves in these granites have relatively low SiO2, high MgO and Ni contents, with initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.707882, εNd(t) value of −6.4, and εHf(t) values of −9.8 to −3.9. They seem to represent the remnants of a mafic component derived from enriched mantle. The gabbroic–dioritic rocks and gabbros formed in response to the subduction and break off of the Paleo-Tethyan oceanic slab. The late Permian to Middle Triassic magmatic rocks from the northern part of Hainan Island record complex multistage crust–mantle interactions and lithosphere–asthenosphere interaction, probably related to subduction during closure of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean and the consequential collision of the South China and Indochina blocks.

“Perchoo,” or the Music of Mourning

“Perchoo,” or the Music of Mourning

Event-Triggered Security Consensus for Multi-Agent Systems with Markov Switching Topologies under DoS Attacks

This paper studies secure consensus control for multi-agent systems subject to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. The DoS attacks cause changes in topologies, which will destroy the channels of communication and result in network paralysis. Unlike the existing publications with Markov switching, this paper mainly studies the topological structure changes of the subsystem models after DoS attacks. To ensure the consensus of systems, this paper designs an event triggered to reduce the use of the controller and decrease the influence of channel breaks off caused by DoS attacks. On this basis, different Lyapunov functions are established in each period of attack. Then, stochastic and Lyapunov stable theory is used to form the consensus criteria. Moreover, Zeno behavior is excluded by theoretical analysis. Finally, the simulation experiment proves the effectiveness of the proposed protocol.

Impact of Typhoon on Coastal Upwelling Off The Eastern Hainan Island: A Case Study of Typhoon Rammasun (2014)

The Hainan Island coastal upwelling (HIU hereafter) off the eastern Hainan Island (EHI) is an important phenomenon in the northern South China Sea. Though this phenomenon has been extensively studied, the fast responses of its inner oceanic processes to typhoon passage remain unclear. Based on satellite data and a validated three-dimensional numerical model, the HIU response to the passage of Typhoon Rammasun (2014) are explored in this study. Impacted by Rammasun, the climbing of deep water off the EHI was depressed and the bottom cold water moved seaward for at least 10 km. Though the HIU was weakened, a cooling event and Chl-a bloom in the HIU were formed after the passage of Rammasun. Diagnostic analyses revealed that both advection and diffusion terms contributed to controlling the local rate of temperate change during the typhoon passage and the advection terms showed significant internal wave signals along the shelf break off southeastern Hainan Island. At the same time, strong near-inertial waves (NIWs) with 0.705 cpd were triggered in the HIU. The NIWs lasted for about two weeks and caused strong vertical mixing in the HIU after Rammasun. Overall, typhoon wind and NIWs combined to dominate temperature variation in the HIU during the typhoon period.

The new Australian leaf-curling orb-weaving spider genus Leviana (Araneae, Araneidae)

The new Australian orb-weaving spider genus Levianagen. nov. is described to include five species, all known from both sexes: Leviana dimidiata (L. Koch, 1871) comb. nov. (type species) (= Epeira sylvicola Rainbow, 1897 syn. nov.), L. cincinnatasp. nov., L. foliumsp. nov., L. minimasp. nov. and L. mulieraria (Keyserling, 1887) comb. nov. Male pedipalp morphology, specifically the presence of a single patella spine and the median apophysis forming an arch over the radix, place Levianagen. nov. in the informal Australian ‘backobourkiine’ clade; however, the genus differs from all other genera of this group by the presence of a spine inside the basal median apophysis arch of the male pedipalp, an epigyne that is wider than long with a scape that is approximately as long as the epigyne (but often broken off) and a lack of humeral humps on the elongate ovoid abdomen. In addition, unlike any other backobourkiine, Levianagen. nov. incorporate a rolled leaf as retreat into the periphery of their web. Levianagen. nov. species exhibit only a moderate sexual size dimorphism with female to male ratios between 1.3 and 1.7. Levianagen. nov. occurs in eastern Australia from northern Queensland in the north to Victoria in the south, with a single tropical species, L. mulierariacomb. nov., spreading into northern Western Australia.

Laboratory Rat Thrombi Lose One-Third of Their Stiffness When Exposed to Large Oscillating Shear Stress Amplitudes: Contrasting Behavior to Human Clots

Rats impress by their high platelet count resulting in hypercoagulability, which protects the animals from severe bleeding. However, platelets also import numerous stiff junction points into the fibrous system of a clot, also enhancing the pre-stress of the fibrin fibers, which lowers their deformability. Clot deformation is clinically important since large strains are present in the arterial tree (caused by the propagation of pressure and pulse waves), and a clot is considered “safe” when it can deform over a long range of strain amplitudes. We tested clot formation and the behavior of fully formed blood clots of laboratory rats at large sinusoidal shear stress amplitudes by rheometry and compared outcomes to human reference data. We found that fiber density (by scanning electron microscopy) and clot stiffness (by rheometry) was pronounced compared to humans and differed with sexual dimorphism and with rat strain. Using our large amplitude oscillation (LAOS) protocol, we detected that rat clots yielded with a frustrated attempt to stiffen instead of showing the macroscopic stiffening response that is typical for human clots. We attribute this behavior to the appearance of multiple microfractures until, finally, a few leading fibers uptake the load. Rat clots also failed to align fibers in shear direction to initiate affine deformation. The rat clot phenotype differs substantially from the human one, which must be considered in research and toxicological testing. If microfractures in the fiber meshwork are concentrated in vivo, parts of a clot may break off and be washed away. However, homogenously distributed microfractures may open pores and allow the penetration of plasminogen activators. What occurs in the rat vasculature depends on the on-site clot composition.

On The Existence, Formation and Stabilisation Of Lyne Vortices In Helically Coiled Reactors At Moderate Reynolds Numbers

The occurrence of Dean and Lyne vortices in curved and coiled tubes is widely known. This paper is on the tracks of vortex structures in more resent helically coiled reactors, namely the Coiled-Flow-Reverser (CFR) and the Coiled-Flow-Inverter (CFI) (see top of figure 1). Time-resolved laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) are used to characterize the existence of Lyne vortices in a range of Reynolds numbers from 500 to 2400 for single phase liquid-liquid mixing flows (see centre of figure 1). In this study parameters like the Reynolds number, the inlet angle and the geometry of the helically coiled reactor are varied and their influence on the vortex occurrence and the mixing coefficient is shown. The results are then compared to two-phase flow structures in helical pipes from Müller et al. (2021), in which secondary and tertiary vortices inside the liquid plugs exist as well. Two transition points for the formation of Lyne vortices in the CFI could be characterised. While Lyne instabilities occur in straight horizontal helix geometries at Reynolds numbers above 1000, in the CFI the first Lyne vortices formed at a Reynolds number of 560. From a Reynolds number of 1600 onwards, these begin to break off, whereby the Lyne vortices continue to occur continuously but no longer steadily. Pseudo-3D reconstructions of the flow in the CF and the CFI are used to show the flow behaviour and the occurrence of Lyne instabilities for different conditions.

Shear-wave velocity structure of upper mantle along the Zagros collision zone

The lithosphere beneath the Zagros and central Iran has sustained long-lasting Neo-Tethyan subduction and subsequent collisional orogenesis, leading to the complicated crustal and lithospheric structure beneath the Iranian plateau. To better understand the geotectonic and geodynamic evolution of the Iranian plateau, we estimate the shear-wave velocity structure along profiles perpendicular to the Zagros using a self-parameterized Bayesian inversion of the Rayleigh wave group velocity dispersion curves in the period range of 5 to 120 s. Our velocity models, in line with a segmented slab model, show that different geodynamic processes have dominated along the Zagros. In the northern Zagros, the thick and high-velocity lithosphere beneath the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ) and Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (UDMA) is abruptly separated from the low-velocity lithosphere beneath central Iran, while the high-velocity anomaly underlies the UDMA and central Iran in the central and southern Zagros. We propose that the Arabian lithosphere near the suture has probably experienced a distributed thickening in the northern Zagros, and it underthrusts beneath central Iran in the central and southern Zagros. In the central and southern Zagros, a high-velocity anomaly elongates at a depth of 80–120 km between the low-velocity lithospheres of the UDMA and Lut block. This suggests that flat-slab subduction has not extended to the east of the Iranian plateau, therefore, the Eocene-Oligocene flare-up magmatism in the Lut block may be directly independent of the Neo-Tethys subduction. This study suggests that lateral tearing might be responsible for the slab detachment beneath the central and southern Zagros. The slab lithosphere may have started to tear from beneath the central UDMA and have propagated to the edges since ~10 Ma. Furthermore, the southeasternmost Zagros in the vicinity of the Makran zone, as a corner continental collision, has probably experienced slab tearing and break off during the Middle-Late Miocene.

A novel bidirectional nonuniform hybrid circuit breaker considering different direction protection requirements

Hybrid switching technologies such as zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS) are widely accepted to protect DC power systems from different kinds of faults. However, in some cases such as the protection of DC generators in the electrical distribution system of modern ships, different protection strategies are needed for faults in different directions and both ZVS and ZCS technologies may be needed in one circuit breaker. This special protection requirement will lead to being more complicated in the bidirectional protection of the system and limits the application of the hybrid circuit breakers. Therefore, a novel bidirectional nonuniform hybrid circuit breaker based on a special combination of ZVS and ZCS technologies is proposed to simplify the overall topology of the circuit breaker. The proposed scheme can interrupt high rate-of-rise fault current in one direction by ZCS technology while interrupting short-circuit current in another direction with short-circuit short-delay strategy by ZVS technology. First, the topology and working principle of the proposed bidirectional nonuniform hybrid circuit breaker are introduced. Moreover, three current commutation processes involved in both directions of fault current interrupting are analysed to achieve the optimal connection structure. Furthermore, a high-speed driving mechanism of the vacuum interrupter (VI) based on the flexible conjunction of an electromagnetic repulsion (EMR) driver and a permanent magnetic (PM) system is introduced and the structure of the optimal connection is designed. Finally, the proposed topology of the hybrid circuit breaker is validated using a realistic 800 V/1600 A prototype. The short-circuit breaking off tests of both directions are conducted. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is verified with these tests.

Virtopsy in a case of intrathoracic dislocation of the head of the humerus: Does this imply an active defense to fall from great height?

• Rare injury detail of intrathoracic humeral head in a case of fall from great height • Context of wilful arm extension in light of surgical / clinical case reports makes this a forensically relevant aspect to consider with regard to the victim of the fall being conscious at time of fall • Post-mortem CT images showing findings in original anatomic context To cause a humeral head to be forced into the thoracic cavity, break off, and remain there, a number of requirements may have to be met – including (possibly active) extension of the arm, dislocation of the shoulder, and subsequent impaling of the humerus into the thoracic cavity. The authors describe a case involving an apparent accidental or suicidal fall from a great height. The humeral head resided in the right thoracic cavity, and the many other fall-related injuries included rib fractures, pulmonary contusions, and pneumatoceles, as well as external injuries with abrasions and bruising of the right palm and elbow. A brief review of the literature revealed that active arm extension may be considered as a plausible prerequisite for the humeral head to break off within the rib cage. Therefore, an intrathoracic humeral head may have to be considered as a result of active arm extension during falls from a great height.

Novel Approaches to Assess the Mechanical Reliability of Toughened Glass Insulators Used in Transmission Lines

Toughened glass insulators installed in overhead lines play a key role in maintaining the reliability and safety of power systems. The singular properties of toughened glass make this material particularly suitable for this application on account of its excellent dielectric properties, high mechanical strength and easiness of inspection. If the glass was damaged, it would shatter completely leaving the remaining part of the insulator, called stub, still providing mechanical connection and being easily detectable from the ground by a visual inspection. In this paper, the mechanical reliability of toughened glass insulators is investigated through the analyses of experimental data obtained from laboratory tests. First, the mechanical strength of the toughened glass in insulators and the relationship between its failing load and the geometry of the insulator are investigated by means of a novel analytical approach. Afterwards, the risk of mechanical failure of glass insulators and stubs, with the shell broken off, is analysed. The results show the mechanical reliability of glass insulators for different string configurations and for large and complex systems deployed in 220 kV and 400 kV transmission lines. Finally, the effect of the shattering rate on the reliability is studied under the most adverse conditions.

Creating complex mazes quickly: Solution path first

A maze is a structure of passageways interconnected in a complex way, so that it presents at least one path to reach the designated end starting from a predefined location. A new approach is proposed in this algorithm. First of all a solution path is carved on the opposite edges of the board in order to meet maze definition. Later, walls are built up on the even lines (or odd lines) and some parts of these lines randomly break off. Finally passages are constructed randomly between broken even lines. This technique opens new era to produce different versions of it for maze construction. The algorithm is applied to a 100 × 100 board and evaluation compared with the well-known maze algorithms. Its prominent features are being more speedy (3.5 second) to construct and more complicated (10.32% dead ends) to solve.

Questioning Cézanne across Sightlines: Balzac, Zola, and Merleau-Ponty

Although Merleau-Ponty’s privileging of Cézanne in the context of his philosophy of painting does not explicitly address the painter’s relation to literature, this relation is important and somewhat problematic. Cézanne was an avid reader of both classical Latin and contemporary French literature, but he sought, in his maturity, to dissociate painting from the inspiration of literature. The danger of a mode of figurative painting informed by literature is explored in Balzac’s novella The Unknown Masterpiece, of which there are echoes in Merleau-Ponty’s discussions of painting, and which is alluded to in Emile Zola’s novel The Masterpiece, which led Cézanne to break off his lifelong friendship with the author. Zola’s novel contradicts Merleau-Ponty’s emphasis on the artist’s creative freedom by portraying his protagonist, modeled on Cézanne, as destroyed by a fatality of destiny. Cézanne, in his maturity, sought to conjoin in painting a “logic of the eyes” with a “logic of the brain” resulting in an art genuinely “parallel with nature”, which it sought to express rather than to represent. The article explores this dissociation of painting from literature and autonomy with respect to what Merleau-Ponty calls “the dimension of color” and to Cézanne’s lifelong theme of bathers in a landscape.