Data on discontinuities are always necessary for design, characterization and analysis of rock structures. The time honored method of manual measurements with Brunton compass is both time consuming and often inconvenient given issues such as restricted access to measurement areas, introduction of erroneous data due to sampling difficulties and human bias, considerable safety risks since measure...

organizations. Should this not be enough to demonstrate the value of TQM? Unfortunately not. TQM has come under increasing criticism from many business gurus for delivering lackluster economic returns. A recent issue of Business Week had this comment about TQM: “What’s as dead as a pet rock? Little surprise here: It’s total quality management. TQM, the approach of eliminating errors that increa...

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, simvastatin, has been shown to attenuate chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension (CHPH). Here, we assess whether simvastatin is capable of inducing regression of established CHPH and explore potential mechanisms of statin effect. Rats (n = 8 in each group) were exposed to chronic hypoxia (10% Fi(O(2))) for 2 or 4 wk. Simvastatin t...

Partial bladder outlet obstruction (pBOO)-induced remodeling of bladder detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) is associated with the modulation of cell signals regulating contraction. We analyzed the DSM from obstructed murine urinary bladders for the temporal regulation of RhoA GTPase and Rho-activated kinase (ROCK), which are linked to Ca(2+) sensitization. In addition, the effects of equibiaxial cell...

OBJECTIVES To study the rate, causes, and nature of rock climbing injuries presenting to an accident and emergency (A&E) department. METHODS Patients presenting with rock climbing injuries to an urban A&E department were studied prospectively for one year. RESULTS 19 rock climbers presented during the year, at a rate of one per 2774 A&E attendances. Fourteen climbers were injured on outdoor...

OBJECTIVE Genetic ablation of the growth suppressor p27(Kip1) (p27) in the mouse aggravates atherosclerosis coinciding with enhanced arterial cell proliferation. However, it is unknown whether molecular mechanisms that limit p27's protective function contribute to atherosclerosis development and whether p27 exerts proliferation-independent activities in the arterial wall. This study aims to pro...

During earthquakes, comminution and frictional heating both contribute to the dissipation of stored energy. With sufficient dissipative heating, melting processes can ensue, yielding the production of frictional melts or "pseudotachylytes." It is commonly assumed that the Newtonian viscosities of such melts control subsequent fault slip resistance. Rock melts, however, are viscoelastic bodies, ...

The safety of an underground waste disposal site depends to a large extent on the presence and migration of the water in the rock. Geoelectrics is the most suitable method particularly in underground mining conditions to explore and monitor the moist zones in many different rocks. Recent developments in hardware, inversion schemes and petrophysical interpretation of the resistivity enable relia...

Predicting the amount of water that may seep into waste emplacement tunnels (drifts) is important for assessing the performance of the proposed geologic repository for highlevel radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The repository will be located in thick, partially saturated fractured tuff that—for the first several hundred years after emplacement— will be heated to above-boiling temper...

Interaction of magma with sedimentary wall rock and magnetite ore genesis in the Panzhihua mafic intrusion, SW China Clément Ganino , Nicholas T. Arndt , Mei-Fu Zhou , Fabrice Gaillard and Catherine Chauvel Laboratoire de Géodynamique des Chaînes Alpines, Université Joseph Fourier de Grenoble, CNRS, 1381 rue de la piscine 38400 Saint Martin d’Hères, France Department of Earth Sciences HKU, Pokf...