bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mechanics of Tunable Hemispherical Electronic Eye Camera Systems That Combine Rigid Device Elements With Soft Elastomers
Authors: Lü Chaofeng , Li Ming , Xiao Jianliang , Jung Inhwa , Wu Jian , Huang Yonggang , Hwang Keh-Chih , Rogers John A.
Published: May 2013

A tunable hemispherical imaging system with zoom capability was recently developed by exploiting heterogeneous integration of rigid silicon photodetectors on soft, elastomeric supports, in designs that can facilitate tunable curvature for both the lens and detector. This paper reports analytical mechanics models for the soft materials aspects of the tunable lenses and detector surfaces used in such devices. The results provide analytical expressions for the strain distributions, apex heights and detector positions, and have been validated by the experiments and finite element analysis. More broadly, they represent important design tools for advanced cameras that combine hard and soft materials into nonplanar layouts with adjustable geometries.
Alignment Localization in Nonlinear Biological Media
Authors: Sander Leonard M.
Published: May 2013

Cells imbedded in biopolymer gels are important components of tissue engineering models and cancer tumor microenvironments. In both these cases, contraction of cells attached to the gel is an important phenomenon, and the nonlinear nature of most biopolymers (such as collagen) makes understanding the mechanics of the contraction a challenging problem. Here, we investigate a unique feature of such systems: a point source of contraction leads to substantial deformation of the environment, but large strains and large alignment of the fibers of the gel are confined to a small region surrounding the source. For fibroblasts in collagen-I, we estimate that the radius of this region is of order 90 μ. We investigate this idea using continuum estimates and a finite element code, and we point out experimental manifestations of the effect.
The Role of Cardiac Fibroblasts in Extracellular Matrix-Mediated Signaling During Normal and Pathological Cardiac Development
Authors: Sullivan Kelly Elizabeth , Deems Black Lauren
Published: May 2013

The extracellular matrix is no longer considered a static support structure for cells but a dynamic signaling network with the power to influence cell, tissue, and whole organ physiology. In the myocardium, cardiac fibroblasts are the primary cell type responsible for the synthesis, deposition, and degradation of matrix proteins, and they therefore play a critical role in the development and maintenance of functional heart tissue. This review will summarize the extensive research conducted in vivo and in vitro, demonstrating the influence of both physical and chemical stimuli on cardiac fibroblasts and how these interactions impact both the extracellular matrix and, by extension, cardiomyocytes. This work is of considerable significance, given that cardiovascular diseases are marked by extensive remodeling of the extracellular matrix, which ultimately impairs the functional capacity of the heart. We seek to summarize the unique role of cardiac fibroblasts in normal cardiac development and the most prevalent cardiac pathologies, including congenital heart defects, hypertension, hypertrophy, and the remodeled heart following myocardial infarction. We will conclude by identifying existing holes in the research that, if answered, have the potential to dramatically improve current therapeutic strategies for the repair and regeneration of damaged myocardium via mechanotransductive signaling.
Evaluation of the Effective Diffusivity of a Freeform Fabricated Scaffold Using Computational Simulation
Authors: Woo Jung Jin , Yi Hee-Gyeong , Kang Tae-Yun , Yong Woon-Jae , Jin Songwan , Yun Won-Soo , Cho Dong-Woo
Published: May 2013

In scaffold-based tissue engineering, sufficient oxygen and nutrient supply into cells within a scaffold is essential to increase cell viability and the proliferation rate. Generally, oxygen and nutrients reach the cells through the media by diffusion in vitro or in vivo, assuming there is no convection flow through a scaffold with small-sized pores. The scaffold diffusion rate depends mainly on the scaffold pore architecture. Thus, understanding the effect of scaffold pore architecture on the diffusion mechanism is necessary to design an efficient scaffold model. This study proposes a computational method to estimate diffusivity using the finite element analysis (FEA). This method can be applied to evaluate and analyze the effective diffusivity of a freeform fabricated 3D scaffold. The diffusion application module of commercial FEA software was used to calculate the spatial oxygen concentration gradient in a scaffold model medium. The effective diffusivities of each scaffold could be calculated from the oxygen concentration data, which revealed that the scaffold pore architecture influences its effective diffusivity. The proposed method has been verified experimentally and can be applied to design pore architectures with efficient diffusion by increasing our understanding of how the diffusion rate within a scaffold is affected by its pore architecture.
Performance improvement of metal-Al2O3-HfO2-oxide-silicon memory devices with band-engineered Hf-aluminate/SiO2 tunnel barriers
Authors: Oh Jinho , Na Heedo , Lee Kyumin , Sohn Hyunchul , Heo Min-Young
Published: May 2013

Physical properties of Hf-aluminate (HA) films with various compositions, deposited by atomic layer deposition, were investigated in terms of microstructure, band-gap, and band-offset with respect to Si. Charge trap flash (CTF) memory devices based on HA/SiO2 stacks as tunnel barriers were also fabricated and characterized. Modulation of HA film composition produced controlled changes of the film's band-gap and band-offset. Additionally, the tunneling efficiency of the HA/SiO2 tunnel barrier stacks was observed to be higher than that for a single SiO2 tunnel barrier, in particular at high voltage bias. The band-engineered CTF memory devices with HA/SiO2 tunnel barriers showed improved program/erase speed compared with those with single SiO2 tunnel barrier. The Al-rich HA/SiO2 tunnel barriers showed a longer charge retention time with superior endurance characteristics; in contrast, the Hf-rich HA/SiO2 tunnel barrier showed degraded charge retention because of current leakage through crystallized regions in the film.
A Tumor Suppressor Complex with GAP Activity for the Rag GTPases That Signal Amino Acid Sufficiency to mTORC1
Authors: Bar-Peled Liron , Chantranupong Lynne , Cherniack Andrew D. , Chen Walter W. , Ottina Kathleen A. , Grabiner Brian C. , Spear Eric D. , Carter Scott L. , Meyerson Matthew , Sabatini David M.
Published: May 2013

Limiting mTORC1

The mTORC1 protein kinase complex has important functions linking metabolism to cell growth and its functions are disrupted in common diseases, including cancer and diabetes.

Bar-Peled
et al.

(p.
1100
; see the Perspective by

Shaw

) discovered regulatory components that help turn down signaling by mTORC1 when cells are deprived of amino acids. Two complexes of proteins, GATOR1 and GATOR2, have opposite effects on activity and cellular localization of mTORC1. Components of the GATOR1 complex negatively regulate mTORC1 and appear to function as tumor supressors. Cancers with loss of GATOR1 function may be particularly amenable to therapeutic strategies that limit activity of mTORC1.
Molecular Basis of Age-Dependent Vernalization in
Cardamine flexuosa
Authors: Zhou Chuan-Miao , Zhang Tian-Qi , Wang Xi , Yu Sha , Lian Heng , Tang Hongbo , Feng Zheng-Yan , Zozomova-Lihová Judita , Wang Jia-Wei
Published: May 2013

Multiple Inputs to Flowering

Perennial plants need to cycle through an extended vegetative phase, in a process known as vernalization, before they initiate flowering.

Bergonzi
et al.

(p.
1094
) and

Zhou
et al.

(p.
1097
) studied how molecular signals translate environmental information—such as exposure to a winter season or changes in daylength and physiological information, such as age of the plant—into signals that promote flowering. In both
Arabis alpina
and
Cardamine flexuosa
, age and vernalization pathways are integrated through the regulation of microRNAs miR156 and miR172.
A (Science-Based) Poor Kids' Manifesto
Giving Kids a Fair Chance
(A Strategy That Works)

by James J. Heckman et al.

MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2013. 147 pp. $14.95. ISBN 9780262019132. A
Boston Review
Book.
Authors: Bowles Samuel
Published: May 2013

Heckman and 11 responders debate the ability of early interventions to improve the lot of individuals born into disadvantage.
Evolving Beyond Stone Age Fantasies
Paleofantasy
What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, and How We Live

by Marlene Zuk

Norton, New York, 2013. 336 pp. $$27.95, C$29.50. ISBN 9780393081374.
Authors: Woods Catherine
Published: May 2013

Zuk rebuts claims that our physiology and behaviors were largely set during the Paleolithic and are out of balance with our current lives.
GATORs Take a Bite Out of mTOR
Authors: Shaw Reuben J.
Published: May 2013

A negative regulator of amino acid sensing by the mTOR signaling pathway is identified and discovered to be inactivated in cancers.

[Also see Report by

Bar-Peled
et al.

]
After 5 Years at
Science
Authors: Alberts Bruce
Published: May 2013

This editorial, written as I complete my term as Editor-in-Chief of
Science
, provides an opportunity to reflect on the role of science in human societies. As the president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences from 1993 to 2005, I came to realize that science is much more important for the world than most scientists suspect.
*
The scientific values of honesty, respect for evidence, openness, and tolerance are critical for every nation. And scientific approaches to problem-solving are essential everywhere for meeting a huge range of societal challenges. Those challenges have formed the basis for many special issues of
Science
magazine, including those published in the past few years on Science Education, Working with Waste, Disease Prevention, H5N1, Human Conflict, Food Security, and Population.
†
Review of Cloning Paper Prompts Questions
Authors: Couzin-Frankel Jennifer , Vogel Gretchen
Published: May 2013

Duplicated images on breakthrough cloning paper raise troubling questions that have dogged scientific publishing for years.
Science for All
Authors: Bagla Pallava , Stone Richard
Published: May 2013

With 400 million people earning less than $1.25 per day, India is home to a staggering one-third of the world's poor. Can scientists do more to lift people out of poverty?
Minimum Core Genome Sequence Typing of Bacterial Pathogens: a Unified Approach for Clinical and Public Health Microbiology
Authors: Chen Chen , Zhang Wen , Zheng Han , Lan Ruiting , Wang Haiyin , Du Pengcheng , Bai Xuemei , Ji Shaobo , Meng Qiong , Jin Dong , Liu Kai , Jing Huaiqi , Ye Changyun , Gao George F. , Wang Lei , Gottschalk Marcelo , Xu Jianguo
Published: May 2013

Bacterial pathogens impose a heavy health burden worldwide. In the new era of high-throughput sequencing and online bioinformatics, real-time genome typing of infecting agents, and in particular those with potential severe clinical outcomes, holds promise for guiding clinical care to limit the detrimental effects of infections and to prevent potential local or global outbreaks. Here, we sequenced and compared 85 isolates of
Streptococcus suis
, a zoonotic human and swine pathogen, wherein we analyzed 32 recognized serotypes and 75 sequence types representing the diversity of the species and the human clinical isolates with high public health significance. We found that 1,077 of the 2,469 genes are shared by all isolates. Excluding 201 common but mobile genes, 876 genes were defined as the minimum core genome (MCG) of the species. Of 190,894 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified, 58,501 were located in the MCG genes and were referred to as MCG SNPs. A population structure analysis of these MCG SNPs classified the 85 isolates into seven MCG groups, of which MCG group 1 includes all isolates from human infections and outbreaks. Our MCG typing system for
S. suis
provided a clear separation of groups containing human-associated isolates from those containing animal-associated isolates. It also separated the group containing outbreak isolates, including those causing life-threatening streptococcal toxic shock-like syndrome, from sporadic or less severe meningitis or bacteremia-only isolates. The typing system facilitates the application of genome data to the fields of clinical medicine and epidemiology and to the surveillance of
S. suis
. The MCG groups may also be used as the taxonomical units of
S. suis
to define bacterial subpopulations with the potential to cause severe clinical infections and large-scale outbreaks.
Optimization of a Ligase Detection Reaction-Fluorescent Microsphere Assay for Characterization of Resistance-Mediating Polymorphisms in African Samples of Plasmodium falciparum
Authors: LeClair Norbert P. , Conrad Melissa D. , Baliraine Frederick N. , Nsanzabana Christian , Nsobya Samuel L. , Rosenthal Philip J.
Published: May 2013

Genetic polymorphisms in the malaria parasite
Plasmodium falciparum
mediate alterations in sensitivity to important antimalarial drugs. Surveillance for these polymorphisms is helpful in assessing the prevalence of drug resistance and designing strategies for malaria control. Multiple methods are available for the assessment of
P. falciparum
genetic polymorphisms, but they suffer from low throughput, technical limitations, and high cost. We have optimized and tested a multiplex ligase detection reaction-fluorescent microsphere (LDR-FM) assay for the identification of important
P. falciparum
genetic polymorphisms. For 84 clinical samples from Kampala, Uganda, a region where both transmission intensity and infection complexity are high, DNA was extracted from dried blood spots, genes of interest were amplified, amplicons were subjected to multiplex ligase detection reactions to add bead-specific oligonucleotides and biotin, fragments were hybridized to magnetic beads, and polymorphism prevalences were assessed fluorometrically in a multiplex format. A total of 19 alleles from the
pfcrt
,
pfmdr1
,
pfmrp1
,
pfdhfr
, and
pfdhps
genes were analyzed by LDR-FM and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses. Considering samples with results from the two assays, concordance between the assays was good, with 78 to 100% of results identical at individual alleles, most nonconcordant results differing only between a mixed and pure genotype call, and full disagreement at individual alleles in only 0 to 3% of results. We estimate that the LDR-FM assay offers much higher throughput and lower cost than RFLP. Our results suggest that the LDR-FM system offers an accurate high-throughput means of classifying genetic polymorphisms in field samples of
P. falciparum
.
Constitutive Interferon-Inducible Protein 16-Inflammasome Activation during Epstein-Barr Virus Latency I, II, and III in B and Epithelial Cells
Authors: Ansari Mairaj Ahmed , Singh Vivek Vikram , Dutta Sujoy , Veettil Mohanan Valiya , Dutta Dipanjan , Chikoti Leela , Lu Jie , Everly David , Chandran Bala
Published: May 2013

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), etiologically linked with human B-cell malignancies and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), establishes three types of latency that facilitate its episomal genome persistence and evasion of host immune responses. The innate inflammasome responses recognize the pathogen-associated molecular patterns which lead into the association of a cytoplasmic sensor such as NLRP3 and AIM2 proteins or nuclear interferon-inducible protein 16 (IFI16) with adaptor ASC protein (apoptosis-associated speck-like protein with a caspase recruitment domain) and effector procaspase-1, resulting in active caspase-1 formation which cleaves the proforms of inflammatory interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-18, and IL-33 cytokines. Whether inflammasome responses recognize and respond to EBV genome in the nuclei was not known. We observed evidence of inflammasome activation, such as the activation of caspase-1 and cleavage of pro-IL-1β, -IL-18, and -IL-33, in EBV latency I Raji cells, latency II NPC C666-1 cells, and latency III lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL). Interaction between ASC with IFI16 but not with AIM2 or NLRP3 was detected in all three latencies and during EBV infection of primary human B cells. IFI16 and cleaved caspase-1, IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-33 were detected in the exosomes from Raji cells and LCL. Though EBV nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1) and EBV-encoded small RNAs (EBERs) are common to all forms of EBV latency, caspase-1 cleavage was not detected in cells expressing EBNA1 alone, and blocking EBER transcription did not inhibit caspase-1 cleavage. In fluorescence
in situ
hybridization (FISH) analysis, IFI16 colocalized with the EBV genome in LCL and Raji cell nuclei. These studies demonstrated that constant sensing of latent EBV genome by IFI16 in all types of latency results in the constitutive induction of the inflammasome and IL-1β, IL-18, and IL-33 maturation.
Genome-Wide Characterization of Endogenous Retroviruses in the Bat Myotis lucifugus Reveals Recent and Diverse Infections
Authors: Zhuo Xiaoyu , Rho Mina , Feschotte Cédric
Published: May 2013

Bats are increasingly recognized as reservoir species for a variety of zoonotic viruses that pose severe threats to human health. While many RNA viruses have been identified in bats, little is known about bat retroviruses. Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) represent genomic fossils of past retroviral infections and, thus, can inform us on the diversity and history of retroviruses that have infected a species lineage. Here, we took advantage of the availability of a high-quality genome assembly for the little brown bat,
Myotis lucifugus
, to systematically identify and analyze ERVs in this species. We mined an initial set of 362 potentially complete proviruses from the three main classes of ERVs, which were further resolved into 13 major families and 86 subfamilies by phylogenetic analysis. Consensus or representative sequences for each of the 86 subfamilies were then merged to the Repbase collection of known ERV/long terminal repeat (LTR) elements to annotate the retroviral complement of the bat genome. The results show that nearly 5% of the genome assembly is occupied by ERV-derived sequences, a quantity comparable to findings for other eutherian mammals. About one-fourth of these sequences belong to subfamilies newly identified in this study. Using two independent methods, intraelement LTR divergence and analysis of orthologous loci in two other bat species, we found that the vast majority of the potentially complete proviruses identified in
M. lucifugus
were integrated in the last ∼25 million years. All three major ERV classes include recently integrated proviruses, suggesting that a wide diversity of retroviruses is still circulating in
Myotis
bats.
Geology, hydrology, and mechanics of a slow-moving, clay-rich landslide, Honolulu, Hawaii
Authors: Baum Rex L. , Reid Mark. E.
Published: May 2013

The Alani-Paty landslide has damaged streets, utilities, and homes built on a debris apron in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. Failure of weathered, crudely stratified, highly plastic, debris-apron deposits has created several similar landslides in southeastern Oahu. The Alani-Paty landslide affects about 60 residential lots. It is about 300 m long, 160 m wide, 7-10 m thick, and consists of two main kinematic elements that are separated by a right-lateral shear zone. One element has moved about 4 m, mainly by translation, down a slope of about 12°, and the adjacent element has moved about 3 m down a slope of 9°. Longitudinal stretching in the upslope third and shortening in the downslope two-thirds characterize deformation in each element; landslides in Ohio, Utah, and Colorado have deformed similarly. Smectite-rich clay layers within the deposits are medium to stiff, and measured angles of residual friction range from 6° to 11° with cohesion intercepts less than 12.5 kPa. Saturated hydraulic conductivity within the landslide decreases with depth; below the slip surface, the hydraulic conductivity increases. Rainfall infiltrates at the ground surface, percolates downward and perches on the zone of low hydraulic conductivity near the slip surface, keeping the slide mostly saturated year round. The main body of the landslide moves during rainy periods, when the ten-day average rainfall exceeds 25 mm/day and the pore-water pressures in the upslope quarter of the landslide increase 10-30 kPa. Pore pressure increases within the landslide occur 1-2 days following the onset of rainfall and result from infiltration of rainfall and runoff; after materials above the perennial water table become saturated, downward propagating pressure waves triggered by bursts of intense rainfall produce further, short-lived increases in pore pressure. This elevated pore pressure at the slip surface triggers movement. The ground-water response in the upslope quarter of the landslide is relatively rapid compared to responses in other landslides described in the literature.
Background and recent applications of military geology in the British armed forces
Authors: Rosenbaum Michael S.
Published: May 2013

Military geology involves the application of geological science to the decision-making processes required by military command; hence the individual geologist needs to be professionally experienced in applied geology and trained in military staff work and doctrine.

The importance of establishing an adequate and relevant database of information is now widely recognized and the trend for its compilation has been toward digital recording in support of the existing paper library information. The provision of geological information together with its interpretation and the means of giving advice are now established components of decision support within headquarters at Corps and Division. Generally the tasks have to be dealt with in emergency situations and so time is very short by comparison with comparable civilian projects. What is primarily required is a rapid assessment of the ground conditions within the context of the prevailing military situation. For the advice to be useful, it has to be presented in a manner compatible with the standard military format and avoiding use of technical jargon.

Construction work is required in support of the battle: preparing defenses, supporting an advance and consolidating the new positions. Interaction of these works with the ground and the supply of natural materials, particularly water, requires characterization and management sensitive to the contemporary military operations. Local supplies, even if undamaged, are unlikely to be able to sustain the quantities required by the influx of large numbers of troops. Health risks from poor water, not only due to natural bacteria but also deliberately contaminated from terrorist sabotage or NBC attack, require that suitable supplies be established early in the campaign.

Recent actions in the Falkland Islands, the Persian Gulf, and mainland Europe demonstrate how military geology has been used, directly or indirectly, by the British armed forces. The trend throughout the 20th century has been of increased mobility during armed conflict, although the scale of operations has varied enormously.
Recent activities in military geology at the U.S. Geological Survey
Authors: Leith William , Matzko John Rodney
Published: May 2013

Over the past 25 years, the focus of military geology at the U.S. Geological Survey has moved away from classical “terrain intelligence” traditionally used by ground forces (e.g., surface construction, trafficability), and toward the strategic assessment of very small areas of the Earth's surface—such as a single underground nuclear test site or foreign underground facility. Along with this change in focus has come a demand for great precision in the remote assessment of rock properties, as the users of geologic data assess the detailed effects of the rock environment on both weapons testing and targeting. The recent opening of the former Soviet Union has provided sources of “ground truth” for evaluating remote assessments of geology made over three decades. These sources have proved the efficacy of making reliable and detailed estimates of foreign geologic environments primarily through the use of published reports and satellite image data. Current U.S. Geological Survey efforts are in two broad fields: geologic support for monitoring treaties limiting nuclear testing and geologic assessments at the sites of underground structures. Nuclear test monitoring at low seismic magnitudes, where many seismic events may occur per day in countries in which nuclear proliferation is a concern, will require the construction of digital geologic data sets that can be used in an operational mode. Recent work in this area includes the assessment of mines and mine blasts as sources of seismicity and the feasibility of constructing large cavities for clandestine testing. Evaluation of underground facilities is also a subject of increasing interest. Without a “nuclear option,” a nation's targeting strategies must rely on a combination of “smart” penetrating weapons and a detailed knowledge of the penetrability and shock-wave propagation of the near-surface materials. Geologic data are also required for many other types of facility monitoring, both remote and on-site.
Potable water well design for Humanitarian Civic Action well drilling missions
Authors: Baehr John N.
Published: May 2013

Geologists from the U.S. Army Engineer District in Mobile, Alabama, have supported military water well drilling missions throughout the world. Many of these missions supported design requirements for Humanitarian Civic Action (HCA) wells but did not follow standard military water well construction practice. These design requirements have often been the result of local well construction regulations or the need for well yield that exceeded typical design.

Each branch of our military has water well drilling capability, and most drilling systems are similar in depth and hole size ratings. Standard well completion kits for mobilization have been developed for construction of wells up to 455 m (1,500 ft) deep. Normal training for military well drillers has been limited, and the emphasis is on completion of a tactical, low-yield well where many potable well construction practices are not required.

Humanitarian Civic Action well drilling missions have become an integral part of Nation Assistance exercises. Some HCA wells required special training, modifications to drilling equipment, and special well designs to meet the goals of the exercise. The probability of success had to be high for these missions to be approved. Consequently, civilian geologists were used to support the siting, well design, and procurement of materials. Some of these complex missions required on-site consultation. A specialized team of personnel including geologists, hydrogeologists, and geophysicists, designated the Water Detection Response Team, was assembled during the 1980s by the Corps of Engineers to site well drilling locations for military drilling operations and is used for many HCA missions.
British military geologists through war and peace in the 19th and 20th centuries
Authors: Rose Edward P. F. , Rosenbaum Michael S.
Published: May 2013

The first geologists employed in government service in Britain had military appointments: J. MacCulloch from 1809 to 1826 in England and Scotland, and J. W. Pringle followed by J. E. Portlock from 1826 to 1843 in Ireland. The founder of the British Geological Survey in 1835, and his successor as director-general in 1855, both had military origins. Several early influential members of the world's oldest geological society, founded in London in 1807, had military connections. From 1819 to about 1896 geology contributed to military education in Britain at the East India Company's military college, the Royal Military Academy, the Royal Military College, the Staff College, or the School of Military Engineering.

However, professional geologists were not strictly used as such in the British army until the 1914–1918 world war, and then they were primarily used in response to problems of static battlefield conditions on the western front in Europe. W. B. R. King guided development of potable ground-water supplies; T. W. E. David guided siting of mine tunnels and dugouts, and other geologists served with the Tunnelling Companies of the Engineer Corps.

Geologists were used more widely in the more mobile conflicts of the 1939–1945 world war: notably W. B. R. King in France and the United Kingdom, F. W. Shotton in North Africa and northwest Europe, and J. V. Stephens in Italy. These and others were all to some extent concerned with water supply, but increasingly geologists became involved in terrain assessment for military purposes (e.g., airfield sites, ground trafficability, quarrying of aggregates, and effects of aerial bombing).

In both wars there were but few British military geologists; most were granted Emergency Commissions in the Royal Engineers for their war service. Only since 1949 has the corps maintained continuity of geological expertise through a small team of reserve army officers. This team now provides support for regular forces in both peace and war.
British applications of military geology for ‘Operation Overlord’ and the battle in Normandy, France, 1944
Authors: Rose Edward P. F. , Pareyn Claude
Published: May 2013

British geologists participated for more than a year in the planning of “Operation Overlord,” the Allied invasion of northwest France. Following D-Day on June 6, 1944, they contributed to the subsequent 11-month operational phase in western Europe, including the initial 3-month battle for Normandy.

Beachhead maps were prepared prior to the invasion at 1:5,000 scale from published topographic and geologic maps, aerial photographs, and secret ground reconnaissance. They indicated the character of the beaches and cliffs, distribution of different surface sediments, and other factors likely to affect cross-beach mobility. Airfield suitability maps were made to indicate the distribution within enemy territory of candidate areas for the rapid construction of airfields. After the invasion, between June 7 and August 13, 1944, 20 airstrips, mostly 1,100–1,500 m in length, were completed in the British occupied area of Normandy. Geological information was used to guide the systematic development of road metal. Initially, weak Jurassic limestones were quarried, as at Creully; later, stronger Paleozoic quartzites were worked, as at Mouen, southwest of Caen. Stone produced by the Royal Engineers in Normandy quickly rose to a peak monthly total of more than 140,000 tonnes in August 1944. Water supply intelligence and the control of well siting and drilling were geologist's responsibilities. In 1st Corps area, about 50 water points were established, with 12 operational at any one time. Water in Normandy was obtained largely from rivers and existing wells, supplemented by 33 new boreholes.

Geologists were also used to assess the effects of aerial bombing; soil conditions affecting cross-country vehicular movement; ground conditions for river crossings; and the nature of the sea floor beneath the English Channel. Normandy thus provides a case history of British military geology “par excellence.”
Dearly bought ridges, steep access valleys, and staging grounds
Authors: Cameron C. P.
Published: May 2013

Steep and broken terrains of the T'aebaeksanmaek dominate east-central Korea and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). These terrains are controlled by geologic elements, prediction of which can be used advantageously by the military commander. Narrow valleys and ridge slopes are controlled variously by trends of fault zones, major joint sets, and metamorphic foliations. The trends of these elements follow predictable patterns and have influenced the evolution of harsh, rugged terrain that complicates mechanized infantry mobility and logistic resupply. Slope-stability problems arise from weathering on both natural slopes and oversteepened road cuts. Of equal significance in terrain analysis of this region are the distributions of intrusive granite bodies and their history of weathering and erosion during the Quaternary. The granite masses commonly weather deeper and are more easily eroded than the quartzose schist and gneiss they intrude. Resistant metamorphic rocks generally form ridgelines and hill crests, whereas granite plutons characteristically form wide, bowl-shaped valleys and depressions. By an unfortunate coincidence of geology and geopolitics, many of these granite-floored features are located just north of the 38th parallel; they provided important staging grounds for the North Korean (NK) invasion of South Korea in June 1950.

Severely contested high points of these terrains were won in a series of costly Allied ground operations during the summer and fall of 1951. The significance of these operations, conducted while negotiations at Panmunjon bogged down, escaped some authors of Korean War history who disagreed about whether the enormous human sacrifice needed to secure the ridges was worthwhile. Terrain analysis of this sector clearly shows that with these victories Allied forces secured the strategic high ground controlling north-south access routes and assured that the final line of demarcation would not follow the original border along the 38th parallel. The Allies seized the staging grounds from which the NK II Corps divisions had launched their invasion of the central and eastern sectors. In “elbowing” the line northward, the Allies also secured the mountainous salient that bounds the 1950 “invasion corridor” on its eastern flank. Arguably, their sacrifice bought long-term peace on the Korean Peninsula. Worthwhile indeed!
Wetlands and erosion studies in support of military training, Camp Shelby Training Site, Mississippi, USA
Authors: Patrick David M. , Boyd Suzanne A.
Published: May 2013

Interdisciplinary geologic studies at Camp Shelby Training Site, located in southern Mississippi, have supported military training requirements as well as natural resources conservation on this 134 000-acre National Guard facility by delineating Go and No Go areas for tank maneuver corridors, and by identifying causes of erosion. No Go areas include intermittent and perennial streams, wetlands, slopes in excess of ten percent, and critical habitats. Go and No Go areas were identified and delineated in the field, with the No Go areas clearly marked on the ground by painting the trees if the corridor was wooded or with fence posts if the corridor had been cleared. When it was necessary for a maneuver corridor to cross a stream or wetland, crossing sites were identified, and permits were obtained from the Corps of Engineers. A two-category hydrogeomorphic classification of wetlands was developed that consisted of bottomland and upland wetlands. Bottomland wetlands are further classified as riparian if adjacent to stream channels, or backswamp if they occur in stream valleys distal from the channel. Upland wetlands were classified as either side slope when they occur on valley walls or upland flat if they occurred on the upper portions of slopes. The wetlands classification scheme was found to conform to the lithostratigraphy of the training site; for example, bottomland wetlands are associated with the fine-grained sediments of the Hattiesburg Formation (Miocene) whereas the upland wetlands were associated with perched water tables in the coarse-grained Upland Complex (Pliocene-Pleistocene). These relationships, in turn, contributed to the development of an updated and enhanced geologic map of the training site. The outcrop patterns of the Hattiesburg and Upland Complex were found to correlate with the locations of critical habitats, including those of the gopher tortoise, red cockaded woodpecker, and the Louisiana quillwort. Evaluations of upland and channel erosion in the impact area did not reveal adverse conditions from range firing. Localized erosion was, however, commonly associated with unsurfaced roads. Most channels appeared relatively stable; however, certain ones exhibited knickpoints that were slowly migrating upstream and are the subject of ongoing study.
Freeze-thaw–induced geomorphic and soil changes in vehicle ruts and natural rills
Authors: Gatto Lawrence W. , Halvorson Jonathan J. , McCool Donald K.
Published: May 2013

Land managers of military training lands must conserve the soil to ensure that training can continue on those lands. However, military maneuvers damage vegetation, break up soil crusts, loosen the surface soil, change soil-surface geometry, compact the soil, and often form ruts in which runoff is concentrated. The constrained flow in ruts can detach and transport far more sediment than can unchanneled, overland flows. Rills often form in ruts as a result. However, natural processes in the soil alter the impacts of maneuvers over time, and our objectives were to measure how soil freeze-thaw (FT) cycling changes compacted soil and the geometry of military-vehicle ruts and how these changes compare to those in natural rills. We established research sites at Yakima Training Center (YTC) in south central Washington and Ethan Allen Firing Range (EAFR) in northwestern Vermont and made field observations and measurements at these sites over two winters. The cross sections of tank ruts at YTC became smoother as soil from rut crests slid into the rut during thaw. Tank ruts at EAFR were shallower than those at YTC and smoothed over the winter, but rills also formed in the ruts over one winter. Scattered soil slumps occurred along the sides of deeper rills at EAFR during spring thaw, but the slumped sediment was removed by subsequent flows. FT at both sites reduced the mean penetration resistance and bulk density of the top 5 cm of soil in ruts. Below 5 cm, resistance and density were statistically greater in than out of ruts at YTC, especially where the soil contained 15% water by volume during maneuvers. Saturated hydraulic conductivity in and out of ruts at YTC was not statistically different when ruts were formed in soil that contained 5% water, was lower in 75% of straight ruts made in soil containing 15% water, and was lower yet in curved ruts. Surface-water runoff at YTC began sooner in ruts than on adjacent, unrutted soil, and runoff rates were 67% to 77% higher due to the persistence of subsurface soil compaction in ruts. Incipient rills formed in tank ruts at EAFR after one winter on the 7% and 18% slopes. In-rut rills up to 11-cm deep formed on the 21% and 31 % slopes. The adjacent, untrafficked soil on any of the slopes showed no new rills. These results can be used to parameterize soil-erosion models used by land managers of military-training lands in cold regions.
Battlefield terrain and engineering geology in the eastern Chorwon Valley, central Korean Peninsula
Authors: Cameron C.P.
Published: May 2013

The terrain of the eastern Chorwon Valley is geologically complex, controlled by spatial relationships between Precambrian metamorphic rocks, Mesozoic granite, and locally intense structural deformations within and adjacent to major faults. Fundamental controls of terrain are overprinted by cycles of deep weathering and erosion during Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations, as well as by accelerated human impacts during the twentieth century. Geological characterization, terrain analysis, and Korean War history here provide significant lessons in the use of battlefield terrain.

Military access, mobility, and the orientation of attack corridors in this area are predominantly a function of major tectonic faults, and (to a lesser extent) lithology. Severely tectonized granite rock mass extends outward for 300 m to 2 km from major fault zones. Erosion of highly weathered granite in some of these zones forms elongate valleys. The easily-ripped saprolite by-products of granite weathering provide in situ construction materials (sand and gravel), soft foundations prone to boggy conditions in some areas, reasonable groundwater supplies near the fault zones, and an overall situation suitable for staging and military infrastructure. Resistant Precambrian metamorphic rocks form rugged terrain suitable for defensive positions. These hard lithologics support steep ridges and towering hills in and around the eastern Chorwon Valley in the Kumhwa vicinity. The (often) strongly magnetic character of some of the metamorphic rocks complicates the location of mines and unexploded ordnance in this sector of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Military engineering on the Rock of Gibraltar and its geoenvironmental legacy
Authors: Rose Edward P.F.
Published: May 2013

The 400-m-high Rock of Gibraltar is a partly overturned klippe of Early Jurassic dolomitic limestone, notched by raised shorelines and flanked by Quaternary scree breccias and windblown sands. It dominates a narrow 5-km-long peninsula jutting south from Spain at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. Fortified from at least 1160 to World War II successively by the Moors, Spanish, and British, and subjected to 15 major sieges between 1309 and the Cold War of 1947 to 1989, Gibraltar is arguably one of the most densely fortified and fought over places in Europe. Stone walls, bastions, and numerous artillery positions built to enhance the natural defenses of the coastal cliffs now provide a tourist attraction, but constrain development of the modern city. Occasional rockfalls and the need for slope-safety measures are continuing concerns, especially in areas of scree breccia quarried to provide fill for the extension of a Royal Navy harbor between 1893 and 1905 and a Royal Air Force airfield largely between 1941 and 1943. Water supply has posed a problem throughout the history of the fortress, leading to innovative development of rainwater catchment areas on natural slopes, dual potable/sanitary water supplies, and projects to enhance these by cloud condensation or groundwater abstraction, before near total commitment to desalination from 1993. Tunnels and underground chambers are major features of the Rock. Mostly excavated in five phases between 1782 and 1968 to provide access, reservoirs, accommodation, or storage, they now total over 50 km in length, generally unlined. Tunnel integrity is dependent on excavation technique and bedrock characteristics.

From the early eighteenth century to recent years, much of the major construction work on Gibraltar was directed and often carried out by Royal Engineers. In 1994, disbandment of 1st (Fortress) Specialist Team RE brought over two centuries of British military engineering on the Rock to an end—and provided a legacy of works and land now largely inherited by civilian bodies responsible to the Gibraltar government.
Application of remote-sensing data to nuclear power plant site investigations
Authors: McEldowney Roland C. , Pascucci Richard F.
Published: May 2013

Remote-sensing data for studies of nuclear power plant sites are acquired by aerial surveys and satellite programs and include satellite photography (Landsat and Skylab); conventional black-and-white, color, and color infrared photography; thermal infrared imagery; radar imagery (side-looking airborne radar); and airborne geophysical surveys, such as aeromagnetic and aeroradiometric surveys.

In general, existing data from such surveys are relatively inexpensive to obtain and offer a synoptic overview of the area, provide a large amount of information for the scale involved, and afford a technique of sampling that does not disturb the sample.

In current methods of analysis, the photography, images, and maps are brought to a common scale, and existing structural geologic data are compared with a new data set, usually in the form of lineaments. The field investigations that follow include reconnaissance and detailed geologic investigations of the lineaments to detect evidence of faulting; then ground geophysical surveys, boreholes and trench studies are made. These field investigations add "ground data" to the remote-sensing base and aid in evaluating the significance of any geologic structure so defined.

Two examples of recent fault studies for nuclear power plant sites, one conducted in the Virginia Piedmont tectonic province and the other in the Maryland Coastal Plain province, illustrate the potential value of remote sensing in the site selection process. When correlation of geologic maps with the several remote-sensing techniques is undertaken early in the planning stages of the siting study, it is possible to locate the nuclear power plant away from potentially hazardous geologic structures or to avoid such ambiguous geologic features as are impossible to adequately define in terms of site safety.
The geology beneath Washington, D.C.—The foundations of a nation’s capital
Authors: Reed John C. , Obermeier Stephen F.
Published: May 2013

Washington, D.C., is the first and largest planned city in the United States. The city lies along the Fall Line at the boundary between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Plateau and at the head of navigation on the estuary of the Potomac River. This site combines the engineering complexities of two vastly different geologic terranes with the other complications introduced by the terraces and channels of a major river-estuary system.

The western part of the city and most of the suburbs to the west and north are on the Piedmont Plateau, an upland underlain by complexly deformed metasedimen-tary and metaigneous rocks of late Precambrian or early Paleozoic age. These crystalline rocks are mantled by soil, saprolite, and weathered rock to depths of as much as 50 m, which adds both to their geologic inscrutability and to the problems of excavation and design of structures.

The Atlantic Coastal Plain is underlain by unmetamorphosed and little deformed fluvial and marine strata of Cretaceous through Miocene age. These deposits form a prism that thickens southeastward from a wedge edge at the Fall Line to as much as 450 m in the southeastern part of the metropolitan area. Unconformities, facies changes, and variations in physical properties with age and depth of burial add spice to the life of the engineering geologist dealing with these strata.

Terrace deposits ranging in age from Miocene(?) to Holocene bevel across the contact between the Coastal Plain deposits and the crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. The oldest deposits underlie a broad, deeply dissected upland that stands at an elevation of 80 to 90 m southeast of the Fall Line; isolated outliers cap hills and interfluves at elevations of as much as 150 m northwest of the Fall Line. Lower and younger terraces flank the major drainages and occur at various levels down to the modern flood plains. Much of the central city is built on low terraces of Sangamon or Wisconsin age. These younger terraces locally fill and conceal deep bedrock channels cut by the ancestral Potomac during low stands of sea level during the Pleistocene. The terrace deposits show conspicuous differences in degree of weathering and soil development, depending on their age and physiographic position. Estuarine and marsh deposits flank the tidal reaches of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, and considerable parts of the central city are built on artificial fill over these deposits.

Considerable experience in underground excavation has been gained in the last decade during construction of METRO, a regional rapid transit rail system. Tunneling techniques have been developed for both crystalline rocks and Coastal Plain deposits, but cut and cover methods are generally used in the young materials, which are generally weakest. Foundation and slope stability problems are widespread in some geologic units in the metropolitan area and are locally serious. They affect structures ranging from single family dwellings to the Washington Monument.