We report the first measurements of mass gain and expansive strain in clay ceramics immediately following firing. The results show that both mass gain and expansive strain follow a well defined two-stage process, each stage of which is linear with (time)1/4, with a transition from the first to the second stage commencing at t ∼ 1.5 h. The first stage mass gain and strain rates are ∼3.5 times gr...

Abstract. Building on almost 10 years of expertise and operational application the Combined Drought Indicator (CDI), which is implemented within European Commission's Observatory (EDO) for purposes early warning monitoring agricultural droughts in Europe, this paper proposes a revised version index. The CDI conceptualizes drought as cascade process, where precipitation shortage (WATCH stage) de...

Cryptographic schemes are often designed as a combination of multiple component cryptographic modules. Such a combiner design is robust for a (security) specification if it meets the specification, provided that a sufficient subset of the components meet their specifications. A folklore combiner for encryption is cascade, i.e. c = E ′′ e′′(E ′ e′(m)). We show that cascade is a robust combiner f...

Photosystem I comprises 13 subunits in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, four of which-the major reaction center I subunits PsaA and PsaB, PsaC and PsaJ-are chloroplast genome-encoded. We demonstrate that PSI biogenesis involves an assembly-governed regulation of synthesis of the major chloroplast-encoded subunits where the presence of PsaB is required to observe significant rates of PsaA synthesis an...

A number of new approaches to measure the viscoelastic properties of the liver are now available to clinicians, many involving shear waves. However, we are at an early stage in understanding the physical processes that govern shear wave propagation in normal liver, with more unknowns added when pathologies such as steatosis are present. This technical note focuses on what is known about the cha...