980 research outputs found
James Bond: international man of gastronomy
No full textThis article is concerned with the representation of food and drink in Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. In particular, it examines how the author uses Bond’s culinary knowledge and habits of consumption as an important constituent of his hero’s character. Similarly, the food choices of other characters, notably villains, are shown to be linked, by Fleming, to core aspects of their identity − principally their ethnicity. Bond’s impulse to observe and classify, very much in evidence in the novels’ food sequences, is examined in terms of the texts’ construction of Bond as a skilled identifier of signs
Morphotectonic Kinematic Indicators along the Vigan-Aggao Fault: The Western Deformation Front of the Philippine Fault Zone in Northern Luzon, the Philippines
No full textThe Vigan-Aggao Fault is a 140-km-long complex active fault system consisting of multiple traces in the westernmost part of the Philippine Fault Zone (PFZ) in northern Luzon, the Philippines. In this paper, its traces, segmentation, and oblique left-lateral strike-slip motion are determined from horizontal and vertical displacements measured from over a thousand piercing points pricked from displaced spurs and streams observed from Google Earth Pro satellite images. This work marks the first instance of the extensive use of Google Earth as a tool in mapping and determining the kinematics of active faults. Complete 3D image coverage of a major thoroughgoing active fault system is freely and easily accessible on the Google Earth Pro platform. It provides a great advantage to researchers collecting morphotectonic displacement data, especially where access to aerial photos covering the entire fault system is next to impossible. This tool has not been applied in the past due to apprehensions on the positional measurement accuracy (mainly of the vertical component). The new method outlined in this paper demonstrates the applicability of this tool in the detailed mapping of active fault traces through a neotectonic analysis of fault-zone features. From the sense of motion of the active faults in northern Luzon and of the major bounding faults in central Luzon, the nature of deformation in these regions can be inferred. An understanding of the kinematics is critical in appreciating the distribution and the preferred mode of accommodation of deformation by faulting in central and northern Luzon resulting from oblique convergence of the Sunda Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. The location, extent, segmentation patterns, and sense of motion of active faults are critical in coming up with reasonable estimates of the hazards involved and identifying areas prone to these hazards. The magnitude of earthquakes is also partly dependent on the type and nature of fault movement. With a proper evaluation of these parameters, earthquake hazards and their effects in different tectonic settings worldwide can be estimated more accurately
Late Quaternary Activity of the La Rinconada Fault Zone, San Juan, Argentina
No full textMost of the permanent deformation in the Pampean Flat slab segment of the central Andes is taken up at the Andean Orogenic Front in Argentina, a narrow zone between the Eastern Precordillera and Sierras Pampeanas that comprises one of the world's most seismically active thrust zones. Active faults and folds in the region have been extensively mapped but still largely lack information on style and rates of deformation, which is essential for understanding the distribution of regional strain and estimating the seismic potential of individual faults. Structural, geomorphic, and 36Cl cosmogenic radionuclide surface exposure age methods are used to focus on key sites along the 30-km-long La Rinconada Fault Zone in this region of west-central Argentina, which is ~15 km away from the highly populated (~500,000) city of San Juan, to define a late Quaternary average shortening rate of 0.41 ± 0.01 mm/year. This slip rate is the same order of magnitude, but slightly lower than nearby similar east dipping Eastern Precordillera faults including the La Laja and Las Tapias Faults. Relatively low slip rates are interpreted as being a consequence of distributed deformation between the latitude of the La Rinconada Fault Zone (31 and 32°S), as compared to between latitudes 32 to 33°S where deformation appears to be focused on fewer structures, including the Las Peñas and La Cal Thrust Faults. The La Rinconada Fault Zone is capable of generating earthquakes of Mw 6.6–7.2, but further investigations are required to determine timing and recurrence intervals of discrete events.Fil: Rimando, Jeremy. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Schoenbohm, Lindsay. University of Toronto; CanadáFil: Costa, Carlos Horacio. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; ArgentinaFil: Owen, Lewis. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Cesta, Jason M.. University of Cincinnati; Estados UnidosFil: Richard, Andrés David. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Gardini, Carlos Enrique. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Departamento de Geología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentin
Selective anticancer activity of a hexapeptide with sequence homology to a non-kinase domain of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 4
No full textBackground: cyclin-dependent kinases 2, 4 and 6 (Cdk2, Cdk4, Cdk6) are closely structurally homologous proteins which are classically understood to control the transition from the G1 to the S-phases of the cell cycle by combining with their appropriate cyclin D or cyclin E partners to form kinase-active holoenzymes. Deregulation of Cdk4 is widespread in human cancer, CDK4 gene knockout is highly protective against chemical and oncogene-mediated epithelial carcinogenesis, despite the continued presence of CDK2 and CDK6; and overexpresssion of Cdk4 promotes skin carcinogenesis. Surprisingly, however, Cdk4 kinase inhibitors have not yet fulfilled their expectation as 'blockbuster' anticancer agents. Resistance to inhibition of Cdk4 kinase in some cases could potentially be due to a non-kinase activity, as recently reported with epidermal growth factor receptor. Results: a search for a potential functional site of non-kinase activity present in Cdk4 but not Cdk2 or Cdk6 revealed a previously-unidentified loop on the outside of the C'-terminal non-kinase domain of Cdk4, containing a central amino-acid sequence, Pro-Arg-Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro (PRGPRP). An isolated hexapeptide with this sequence and its cyclic amphiphilic congeners are selectively lethal at high doses to a wide range of human cancer cell lines whilst sparing normal diploid keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Treated cancer cells do not exhibit the wide variability of dose response typically seen with other anticancer agents. Cancer cell killing by PRGPRP, in a cyclic amphiphilic cassette, requires cells to be in cycle but does not perturb cell cycle distribution and is accompanied by altered relative Cdk4/Cdk1 expression and selective decrease in ATP levels. Morphological features of apoptosis are absent and cancer cell death does not appear to involve autophagy. Conclusion: these findings suggest a potential new paradigm for the development of broad-spectrum cancer specific therapeutics with a companion diagnostic biomarker and a putative functional site for kinase-unrelated activities of Cdk4
Complex Shear Partitioning Involving the 6 February 2012 MW 6.7 Negros Earthquake Ground Rupture in Central Philippines
No full textA 75 km-long, generally NE-striking ground rupture associated with the 6 February 2012 MW 6.7 (Mb 6.9) Negros earthquake was mapped on the eastern side of Negros Island, Philippines. It closely follows a previously unmapped, pre-existing fault trace along the coast which is marked mostly by terrace-forming scarps. The dominance of vertical separation (west side up) is consistent with a west-dipping reverse fault, as indicated by focal mechanism solutions. The ground rupture map eliminates the ambiguity in the focal mechanism solution regarding the orientation, sense of motion, and location of the seismogenic fault plane, which are indispensable in the assessment of seismic hazards and the nature and distribution of deformation. This study uses the ground rupture map of the 2012 Negros earthquake in sorting out the mechanism of deformation in the Visayas Islands region. The ground rupture’s length is well within the aftershock area while its scarp heights are consistent with an earthquake of its magnitude and nature of movement. The 2012 Negros earthquake rupture’s pattern, scarp types, and offset of man-made structures are similar to those of recent reverse/thrust ground ruptures mapped globally and are distinct from those associated with erosion, landslide, and liquefaction. The onshore coseismic reverse fault of the Negros earthquake, which contradicts a model of coseismic slip on an offshore blind thrust fault by previous workers, represents the first thoroughly mapped ground rupture of its kind in the Philippines. The ground ruptures of the 2012 Negros and 2013 Bohol earthquakes, along with the Philippine Trench and the Philippine Fault Zone (PFZ), represent a complex shear partitioning mechanism in the Visayas Islands region. This departs from the current simple shear partitioning model for the region and is distinct from those for other regions along the PFZ and adjacent subduction zones. This study shows how an appreciation of morphotectonic features can lead to a better understanding of the distribution of deformation and the nature of earthquake hazards
Regional relative tectonic activity of structures in the Pampean flat slab segment of Argentina from 30 to 32°S
No full textExpanding the synthesis of distributed memory implementations
No full textThesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2015.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 63).In this thesis, I expanded the programming model implemented by the Sketch language to supplement its distributed memory parallelism with shared memory parallelism that uses the popular fork-join model. The primary contribution of this thesis is the means by which the code is assured to be free of race conditions. Sketch uses constraint satisfaction analysis to ensure it synthesizes code the functions properly for all inputs, and I demonstrate how assertions can be generated and inserted into the analysis to guarantee freedom from race conditions. This expanded programming model is then evaluated using test cases to ensure correct operation and benchmarks to examine overall performance.by Jeremy Edward Sharpe.M. Eng
An interpreter for a novice-oriented programming language with runtime macros
No full textThesis: M. Eng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2017.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 77-78).In this thesis, we present the design and implementation of a new novice-oriented programming language with automatically hygienic runtime macros, as well as an interpreter framework for creating such languages. The language is intended to be used as a pedagogical tool for introducing basic programming concepts to introductory programming students. We designed it to have a simple notional machine and to be similar to other modern languages in order to ease a student's transition into other programming languages.by Jeremy Daniel Kaplan.M. Eng
A low power display driver with simultaneous image transformation
No full textThesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-73).In this thesis, I designed, implemented, and evaluated the energy consumption of a system that uses a liquid crystal display to perform a one-dimensional transform. The RMS response of the liquid crystal elements themselves were exploited to perform a matrix multiplication (image transformation) over a single frame period. This image transformation was used as the last step of the decompression process in an image processing system. The system was implemented first in Matlab, then as a printed circuit board, and finally as an integrated circuit. While the initial Matlab and printed circuit board implementations looked promising, a number of practical considerations arose during the integrated circuit design that ultimately resulted in moderate performance: 14.3% energy savings.by Jeremy Zaks Walker.M.Eng
Interactive debugger with reversible state
No full textThis electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Thesis: M. Eng. in Computer Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2019Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 43).This thesis describes PSI (Python Semantic Investigator), a program designed to help students explore their code by allowing them to see the state of their program at any step along its execution. PSI enables them to move forwards or backwards freely along the timeline of their program. It also enables them to designate variable names or object IDs and jump back to the last time such a variable or object was modified. Doing so is intended to help novice students learn to debug more effectively.by Jeremy Theard Wright.M. Eng. in Computer Science and EngineeringM.Eng.inComputerScienceandEngineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienc
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