Seismic method

Geophysics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 1619-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. J. Allen

The fifty years from 1930 to 1980 almost completely cover the entire history of the reflection seismograph exploration industry. During its growth from infancy to maturity there have been many major technological breakthroughs and innumerable evolutionary advances. At the conclusion of any time period, there is a tendency to believe that the peak has been reached, only to see significant breakthroughs which start a whole new round of amazing developments. So it is today with a veritable explosion of channel capacity in the recording systems and three‐dimensional surveys finally just becoming a practical reality. The prospects for major improvements in the resolving power of the seismic exploration method have probably never been better.

Geophysics ◽  
1952 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-343
Author(s):  
B. F. Rummerfield

Recent developments in northeastern Colorado and southwestern Nebraska have resulted in a marked increase in seismic activity within the Denver‐Julesburg Basin. The low relief of many of the subsurface structures, coupled with the extraneous effects of weathered zone, elevation changes, surface deposits, and velocity variation taxes the resolving power of the seismic method and the interpretative ability of the geophysicist.


Paleobiology ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine G. Harcourt-Brown ◽  
Paul. N. Pearson ◽  
Mark Wilkinson

One of the most extensively studied aspects of phylogenetic tree shape is balance, which is the extent to which nodes divide a tree into clades of equal size. Several authors have stressed the importance of tree balance for understanding patterns of evolution. It has been remarked that paleontological studies commonly produce very unbalanced trees (also called pectinate cladograms or “Hennigian combs”). This claim is tested here by comparing the balance of 50 paleontological trees and 50 neontological trees, all taken from the recent literature. Each tree was reanalyzed from the published data matrix to ensure its accuracy. The results confirm that paleontological trees tend to be more imbalanced than neontological trees.That paleontological trees are more imbalanced has been represented as a shortcoming of fossil data sets, but here it is argued that this is the expected result. Even under a simple Markovian model in which all speciations and extinctions occur randomly and with equal probability in all parts of the tree, trees based on taxa from a single time period (e.g., the present day) are generally more balanced than trees based on all taxa that ever existed within the clade. Computer simulation is used to calculate the expected balance and standard deviation of trees for up to 40 terminal taxa over the entire history of a model clade. The balance is measured using Colless's index, Ic, and the expected balance conforms well with published paleontological trees. The study underlines the difficulty of applying neontological tree statistics in paleontology.


1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lazcano

AbstractDifferent current ideas on the origin of life are critically examined. Comparison of the now fashionable FeS/H2S pyrite-based autotrophic theory of the origin of life with the heterotrophic viewpoint suggest that the later is still the most fertile explanation for the emergence of life. However, the theory of chemical evolution and heterotrophic origins of life requires major updating, which should include the abandonment of the idea that the appearance of life was a slow process involving billions of years. Stability of organic compounds and the genetics of bacteria suggest that the origin and early diversification of life took place in a time period of the order of 10 million years. Current evidence suggest that the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds may be a widespread phenomenon in the Galaxy and may have a deterministic nature. However, the history of the biosphere does not exhibits any obvious trend towards greater complexity or «higher» forms of life. Therefore, the role of contingency in biological evolution should not be understimated in the discussions of the possibilities of life in the Universe.


Author(s):  
T. L. Hayes

Biomedical applications of the scanning electron microscope (SEM) have increased in number quite rapidly over the last several years. Studies have been made of cells, whole mount tissue, sectioned tissue, particles, human chromosomes, microorganisms, dental enamel and skeletal material. Many of the advantages of using this instrument for such investigations come from its ability to produce images that are high in information content. Information about the chemical make-up of the specimen, its electrical properties and its three dimensional architecture all may be represented in such images. Since the biological system is distinctive in its chemistry and often spatially scaled to the resolving power of the SEM, these images are particularly useful in biomedical research.In any form of microscopy there are two parameters that together determine the usefulness of the image. One parameter is the size of the volume being studied or resolving power of the instrument and the other is the amount of information about this volume that is displayed in the image. Both parameters are important in describing the performance of a microscope. The light microscope image, for example, is rich in information content (chemical, spatial, living specimen, etc.) but is very limited in resolving power.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-211
Author(s):  
Patricia E. Chu

The Paris avant-garde milieu from which both Cirque Calder/Calder's Circus and Painlevé’s early films emerged was a cultural intersection of art and the twentieth-century life sciences. In turning to the style of current scientific journals, the Paris surrealists can be understood as engaging the (life) sciences not simply as a provider of normative categories of materiality to be dismissed, but as a companion in apprehending the “reality” of a world beneath the surface just as real as the one visible to the naked eye. I will focus in this essay on two modernist practices in new media in the context of the history of the life sciences: Jean Painlevé’s (1902–1989) science films and Alexander Calder's (1898–1976) work in three-dimensional moving art and performance—the Circus. In analyzing Painlevé’s work, I discuss it as exemplary of a moment when life sciences and avant-garde technical methods and philosophies created each other rather than being classified as separate categories of epistemological work. In moving from Painlevé’s films to Alexander Calder's Circus, Painlevé’s cinematography remains at the forefront; I use his film of one of Calder's performances of the Circus, a collaboration the men had taken two decades to complete. Painlevé’s depiction allows us to see the elements of Calder's work that mark it as akin to Painlevé’s own interest in a modern experimental organicism as central to the so-called machine-age. Calder's work can be understood as similarly developing an avant-garde practice along the line between the bestiary of the natural historian and the bestiary of the modern life scientist.


Author(s):  
Petr Ilyin

Especially dangerous infections (EDIs) belong to the conditionally labelled group of infectious diseases that pose an exceptional epidemic threat. They are highly contagious, rapidly spreading and capable of affecting wide sections of the population in the shortest possible time, they are characterized by the severity of clinical symptoms and high mortality rates. At the present stage, the term "especially dangerous infections" is used only in the territory of the countries of the former USSR, all over the world this concept is defined as "infectious diseases that pose an extreme threat to public health on an international scale." Over the entire history of human development, more people have died as a result of epidemics and pandemics than in all wars combined. The list of especially dangerous infections and measures to prevent their spread were fixed in the International Health Regulations (IHR), adopted at the 22nd session of the WHO's World Health Assembly on July 26, 1969. In 1970, at the 23rd session of the WHO's Assembly, typhus and relapsing fever were excluded from the list of quarantine infections. As amended in 1981, the list included only three diseases represented by plague, cholera and anthrax. However, now annual additions of new infections endemic to different parts of the earth to this list take place. To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) has already included more than 100 diseases in the list of especially dangerous infections.


Author(s):  
Hongzhang Zhu ◽  
Shi-Ting Feng ◽  
Xingqi Zhang ◽  
Zunfu Ke ◽  
Ruixi Zeng ◽  
...  

Background: Cutis Verticis Gyrata (CVG) is a rare skin disease caused by overgrowth of the scalp, presenting as cerebriform folds and wrinkles. CVG can be classified into two forms: primary (essential and non-essential) and secondary. The primary non-essential form is often associated with neurological and ophthalmological abnormalities, while the primary essential form occurs without associated comorbidities. Discussion: We report on a rare case of primary essential CVG with a 4-year history of normal-colored scalp skin mass in the parietal-occipital region without symptom in a 34-year-old male patient, retrospectively summarizing his pathological and Computer Tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. The major clinical observations on the CT and MR sectional images include a thickened dermis and excessive growth of the scalp, forming the characteristic scalp folds. With the help of CT and MRI Three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction techniques, the characteristic skin changes could be displayed intuitively, providing more evidence for a diagnosis of CVG. At the 5-year followup, there were no obvious changes in the lesion. Conclusion: Based on our observations, we propose that not all patients with primary essential CVG need surgical intervention, and continuous clinical observation should be an appropriate therapy for those in stable condition.


Author(s):  
Roy Livermore

Tuzo Wilson introduces the concept of transform faults, which has the effect of transforming Earth Science forever. Resistance to the new ideas is finally overcome in the late 1960s, as the theory of moving plates is established. Two scientists play a major role in quantifying the embryonic theory that is eventually dubbed ‘plate tectonics’. Dan McKenzie applies Euler’s theorem, used previously by Teddy Bullard to reconstruct the continents around the Atlantic, to the problem of plate rotations on a sphere and uses it to unravel the entire history of the Indian Ocean. Jason Morgan also wraps plate tectonics around a sphere. Tuzo Wilson introduces the idea of a fixed hotspot beneath Hawaii, an idea taken up by Jason Morgan to create an absolute reference frame for plate motions.


Author(s):  
Dan Jerker B. Svantesson

This chapter provides a brief history of Internet jurisdiction taking account of key court decisions, legislation as well as developments in the academic thinking on the topic. In doing so, it divides the history of Internet jurisdiction into four relatively distinct phases. The discussion in the chapter highlights facts such as that: (1) law has largely been reactive, responding to technological developments; (2) the level of creativity applied in the search for workable solutions was seemingly higher in the earlier stages than in more recent times; and (3) unsurprisingly, the attitudes of courts, legislators, and the academic community have varied considerably over the time period examined.


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