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Late brittle extension is a common feature in orogenic belts, and its role in mountain building processes is still the subject of debate. Its timing relationship with crustal thickening, the building of topography, basin infill, and rock exhumation are of key importance in determining whether it is a major factor in orogenic development or merely causes near-surface secondary effects. We examined this question in relation to the active arc-continent collision of Taiwan, studying its structural evolution by integrating new and critical geochronological results for tensile vein filling of hinterland metamorphic terrane with syn-collision deposition records. Acceleration of rock exhumation and molasse deposition was found to be coeval with the initiation of brittle tensile structures at ca. 1.6 Ma, which was long overdue as continental subduction started well before 6.5 Ma in central to northern Taiwan. The topographic mountain of Taiwan was thus constructed when the upper crust of the thickened orogenic prism turned extensional, as orographic elevation and relief are prerequisites for molasses production. Syn-collisional brittle extension is therefore proposed as a possible facilitator of both augmented extrusive exhumation and the formation of orography.

40Ar/39Ar step-heating analysis and data.

Located in northern Vietnam, the Fansipan mountain range is the highest topography in the Indochina area. Until recently, there has been limited research regarding the tectonic deformation of the Fansipan mountain range and whether there are notable surface ruptures or active faults in the area. This study provides the first insight into the deformation patterns and potential active movements of the Fansipan mountain range, and may improve our understanding of the overall tectonic activities in northern Vietnam. Our observations from ASTER 30-m DEM show a symmetrical mountain form in the north and an asymmetrical form in the south. The analysis of river profiles indicates similar patterns on both sides in the north and different patterns in the south with short and steep rivers on the SW side and long and gentle rivers on the NE side. The results of the normalized steepness index (ksn) also show higher values on the SW side of the south part than the values from the other sides. These results suggest a spatial variation in rock uplift patterns of the Fansipan mountain range. Notably, the mountain front of the SW side of the southern Fansipan mountain range is associated with the Phong Tho-Nam Pia normal fault, suggesting that the normal faulting activity likely played an important role in tectonic uplift of this high mountain range. Our investigation of the stress field using fault kinematics indicates that the Fansipan mountain range and its surrounding areas are undergoing an inhomogeneous mixture of strike-slip and normal faulting. It is proposed that the strike-slip and normal motions alternated because of a permutation of σ1/σ2 under the same extensional stress regime of approximately NE–SW σ3. This kinematic pattern may effectively control the recent tectonic movements in northern Vietnam.

Ophiolite-bearing belts mark convergent plate suture zones and are central in reconstructing plate configuration and structures of mountain belts. The active Taiwan mountain belt, product of ongoing convergence between the Eurasian and Philippine Sea plates, has dismembered ophiolitic rocks exposed on both sides of the Longitudinal Valley suture: blueschist blocks in schistose Yuli Belt to the west, and the Eastern Taiwan Ophiolite (ETO) in the unmetamorphosed Lichi Mélange to the east. How these ophiolitic materials correlate with the consumed South China Sea and Luzon forearc oceanic lithospheres between the colliding Chinese continental margin and the Luzon Arc remained speculative. We present zircon U-Pb age results from both ophiolitic rocks in the Yuli Belt and the ETO to pinpoint the formation ages of respective oceanic crusts, and 40Ar/39Ar dates to unravel the tectonothermal history. The zircon U-Pb ages of ~15 Ma for all analyzed samples indicate a common South China Sea origin for ophiolitic materials across the plate suture, since oceanic crust of the Philippine Sea Plate near Taiwan is either Eocene or older. The 40Ar/39Ar ages of Yuli meta-ophiolitic rocks might suggest blueschist metamorphic overprint at ~9 Ma. The 40Ar/39Ar results are generally identical to zircon U-Pb ages for the ETO rocks, concurrent to their olistostromal origin in the forearc basin after being tectonically transported from the trench interface to the eastern retrowedge within the Hengchun accretionary prism. A working tectonic model for the Taiwan arc-continent collision is put forward with emphasis on the fate of the South China Sea during the mountain building processes.

The Tibetan Plateau, resulting from the active Eurasian-India collision, presents a major scientific challenge in understanding its growth and propagation. One key region is the Longmen Shan mountain belt in western Sichuan, which forms the steepest margin of the plateau and has been active as demonstrated by the Mw 7.9 Wenchuan (2008) and Mw 6.6 Lushan (2013) earthquakes. Tectonic history of the Longmen Shan belt and the neighboring Songpan-Garze terrane, however, began in the Triassic Indosinian orogenesis, which complicates the geologic records. But the major thickening of Tibet was formed in Himalayan orogenesis. Therefore, quantitative constraints on the pre-Tertiary tectonic evolution of the region are crucial in delineating Himalayan geodynamics. In this study, the raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) geothermometer is applied to the metasediments of the Longmen Shan and Sonpan-Garze terrane to obtain their peak metamorphic states. Combining existing metamorphic, geochronologic and thermochronologic data, better rock thermal histories may be reconstructed, providing insights to the structure and development of the orogenic system. In this study, 50 samples were collected in eastern margin of Tibetan Plateau along several transects in NW-SE direction, perpendicular to the structural grain of the Longmen Shan and into the Songpan-Garze terrane. Together with existing data, distribution of the peak temperatures from RSCM analyses is not correlated to later igneous intrusions, ruling out significant contact metamorphism overprint. Along the WenChuan Fault, the Songpan-Garze terrane is of higher grade than the Longmen Shan, indicating it is a major reverse shear zone. The rather high RSCM temperatures (over 500 °C) acquired from Songpan-Garze metasediments are inconsistent with past models as remnants of a classical accretionary prism; the complex wedge kinematics involving significant basal accretion observed in the slate belt of Taiwan orogen may give clues in reconstructing the structure and evolution of eastern Tibetan Plateau.Keywords: Tibetan Plateau; Longmen Shan; RSCM geothermometer

The fold-thrust belt of southern Taiwan currently accommodates rapid westward shortening in the order of 4.5 mm/a and is estimated to have developed since the Late Pliocene. It is the locus of the 2016 Mw6.4 Meinong earthquake, which involved fault slip at multiple levels in the mid-to-upper crust. It nucleated at ~15 km depth and also triggered shallow structures that reach the surface or nearly. To characterize the structure of the piedmont and investigate the broader tectonic setting of the event, we build two east-west regional balanced cross-sections based on surface geology, subsurface data, coseismic and interseismic geodetic data, and published nanno- and magneto-stratigraphy. We also document the first-order evolution of the piedmont and how the piedmont structures relate to the inner part of the mountain belt based on the cross-section restoration and the analysis of the seismic velocity structure of the plate boundary.From the Coastal Plain towards the east, we propose a series of three active west-dipping backthrusts, rooted on a ~4.0-km-deep detachment, the Tainan detachment. The detachment lies within the base of the 3-km-thick Plio-Pleistocene Gutingkeng mudstone, which represents the initial foreland basin sediments. Syntectonic sediments and rapid shortening and uplift observed from geodetic measurements attest for the activity of these structures since the Late Pleistocene. Further east, the Tainan detachment ramps down to ~7 km depth, allowing the east-dipping Lungchuan and Pingchi thrusts to bring Upper Miocene continental-shelf formations to the surface. The cross-section restoration indicates less than 10 km shortening since ~450 ka or less on the Tainan detachment and the frontal backthrusts, while the east-dipping Lungchuan and Pingchi thrusts each consumed ~10 km shortening. Another ramp from ~7 to ~11 km depth is expected further east based on older sediments and slates exposed on the hanging wall of faults in the inner part of the mountain belt. This ~11-km-depth detachment seems to correspond with an inversion in seismic velocities at ~12 km depth beneath the slates belt, interpreted as slates over-riding lower-velocity passive margin sediments. Therefore, the detachment and thrusts system proposed from our cross-section appears to correspond to the main plate interface, where significant shortening was consumed in a thin-skinned deformation style, involving only foreland basin sediments near the deformation front.The Meinong earthquake coseismic surface deformation suggests that, in addition to the deepest (15-20 km) main fault plane, the ~4-7-km-depth ramp, the Tainan detachment and the backthrusts slipped aseismically during after the earthquake. In contrast, the earthquake nucleated below the main detachment and, based on tomographic models, there is no clear structural connection between deep and shallower structures. The Meinong event locates near the interface between Cenozoic basement rocks and post-rifting sediments, similarly to the 2010 Mw6.3 Jiashian event. We propose that this interface is the locus of moderate-magnitude events, which seismic waves triggered limited slip on shallower faults, rooted within the weak, fluid-rich Gutingkeng mudstone. This interface may have developed as a secondary detachment level with limited total shortening.

Many orogens on the planet result from plate convergence involving subduction of a continental margin. The lithosphere is strongly deformed during mountain building involving subduction of a plate composed generally of accreted continental margin units and some fragments of downgoing oceanic crust and mantle. A complex deformation involving strong partitioning of deformation modes and kinematics produces crustal shortening, accompanied by crustal thickening. Partitioning depends on three main factors: (1) rheologic layering of the lithosphere; (2) interaction between tectonics and surface processes; (3) subduction kinematics and 3D geometry of continental margins (oblique convergence, shape of indenters). Here we present an original view and discussion on the impact of deformation partitioning on the structure and evolution of orogens by examining the Taiwan mountain belt as a case study. Major unsolved questions are addressed through geological observations from the Taiwan orogen and insights from analogue models integrating surface processes. Some of these questions include: What is the role played by décollements or weak zones in crustal deformation and what is the impact of structural heterogeneities inherited from the early extensional history of a rifted passive continental margin? What is the relationship between deep underplating, induced uplift and flow of crustal material during erosion (finite strain evolution during wedge growth)? Are syn-convergent normal faults an effect of deformation partitioning and erosion? What is the role of strain partitioning on the location of major seismogenic faults in active mountain belts? What can be learned about the long-term and the present-day evolution of Taiwan?

manuscript accepted on 2019 August 5. Contains original data as Table 1 and Figs. 1-6

International audience

Mica porphyroblasts, a common metamorphic microstructure, are analyzed in the slate belt of northern Taiwan where large fish-like growths are found within a meta-pyroclastics. With constraints on the time-temperature history from deposition through peak metamorphic state to exhumation, in-situ 40Ar/39Ar laser microprobe dating was carried out on muscovite and corrensite fibers of mm-scale mica porphyroblasts grown on a pressure-solution seam. Because the peak metamorphic temperature and the porphyroblast formation condition (∼250 °C) remained far below the closure temperature of the K-Ar radioisotope system in muscovite, and the absence of muscovite in the mafic protolith, the dating results likely document the growth of the mica porphyroblast fabrics. The syn-kinematic nature of the analyzed porphyroblasts is confirmed by the ∼6 to ∼2.5 Ma growth ages, suggesting that the host rock was continuously deformed during the earlier two-thirds of the Taiwan Orogeny. The pattern of fiber growth, in contrast to outward-decreasing ages normally observed in peripheral recrystallization, appears random and resembles void fills in boudin openings. We postulate that syntaxial crack-seal following tensile micro-boudinage, along with slips on sub-grain boundaries, as a viable mechanism for the development of mica porphyroblasts and fish especially in lower-grade metamorphic rocks.

International audience; Deep tectonic processes are key integral components in the evolution of mountain belts, while observations of their temporal development are generally obscured by thermal resetting, retrograde alteration and structural overprinting. Here we recorded an integrated rock time-temperature history for the first time in the pro-wedge part of the active Taiwan arc-continent collision starting from sedimentation through cleavage-forming state to its final exhumation. The integrated thermal and age results from the Raman Spectroscopy of Carbonaceous Material (RSCM) method, zircon U-Pb laser ablation dating, and in-situ 40Ar/39Ar laser microprobe dating suggest that the basal accretion process was crucial to the development of the Taiwanese orogenic wedge. The basal accretion process commenced early in the mountain building history (∼6 Ma) and gradually migrated to greater depths, as constrained by persistent plate convergence and cleavage formation under nearly isothermal state at similar depths until ∼ 2.5 Ma recorded in the early-accreted units. Such development essentially contributed to mountain root growth by the increased depth of the wedge detachment and the downward wedge thickening during the incipient to full collision stages in the Taiwan mountain belt.

The Shanchiao Fault is an active normal fault with documented paleoearthquakes in the Taipei metropolis, Taiwan. While posing direct seismic threat on the multimillion population, its crustal-scale fault plane configuration has not been constrained. This study presents the first attempt to resolve the fault plane dip changes of the Shanchiao Fault within the upper crust by forward modeling late Quaternary deformation. Tectonic subsidence over the last ~23 ka is estimated from vertical displacements of a rapidly formed alluvial fan horizon deformed into a dramatic rollover monocline. A 2-D profile across the Shanchiao Fault is chosen for elastic half-space dislocation modeling, and the results suggest that the fault is listric in the shallow crust with an abrupt change from subvertical ramp (85°–75°) to near-horizontal flat (10°–15°) at 3–4 km depth, consistent with an origin from the inversion of an orogen-related thrust detachment. Given the presence of rift-related fabrics in the underthrust Chinese Continental Margin basement beneath the Taiwanese orogenic wedge, listric ramp-flat-ramp models with a second deeper bend to 60° dip are also tested. Reasonable fits with the geological observations are produced when the lower ramp is located at greater than 8 km depth, which correlates with the hypocentral location of a moderate earthquake in 2004. Joint reactivation of preexisting thrust and rift faults by the Shanchiao Fault is therefore plausible with implications for seismic hazard in the Taipei area.

Nephrite in the Fengtien area of the eastern part of the Central Mountain Range, Taiwan, is associated with antigorite-serpentinite within the Yuli belt, a late Cenozoic subduction–accretionary complex related to the eastward subduction of the South China Sea plate forming the Luzon arc. Diopsidite and clinozoisite rock are two other metasomatic components accompanying nephrite between serpentinites and the greenschist-facies country rock (carbonaceous material-)quartz-mica schist. Detrital zircons were separated from one clinozoisite rock sample, formed through metasomatic replacement after mica-quartz schist at temperatures of 320–420°C or slightly lower, which is lower than the metamorphic temperature conditions of the Yuli belt. Most of the detrital zircons have thin zircon rims less than 15–20 μm wide. These zircon rims, considered as newly formed during metasomatism leading to nephrite/diopsidite/clinozoisite rock formation, were dated by a high lateral resolution secondary ion mass spectrometer (CA...

International audience; Orogenic wedges locally present chaotic tectonostratigraphic units that contain exotic blocks of various size, origin, age and lithology, embedded in a sedimentary matrix. The occurrence of ophiolitic blocks, sometimes huge, in such “mélanges” raises questions on (i) the mechanisms responsible for the incorporation of oceanic basement rocks into an accretionary wedge and (ii) the mechanisms allowing exhumation and redeposition of these exotic elements in “mélanges” during wedge growth.To address these questions, we present the results of a series of analogue experiments performed to characterize the processes and parameters responsible for accretion, exhumation and tectonosedimentary reworking of oceanic basement lithospheric fragments in an accretionary wedge.The experimental setup is designed to simulate the interaction between tectonics, erosion and sedimentation. Different configurations are applied to study the impact of various parameters, such as irregular oceanic floor due to structural inheritance, or the presence of layers with contrasted rheology that can affect deformation partitioning in the wedge (frontal accretion vs basal accretion) influencing its growth. Image correlation technique allows extracting instantaneous velocity field, and tracking of passive particles. By retrieving the particle paths determined from models, the pressure-temperature path of mélange units or elementary blocks can be discussed. The experimental results are then compared with observations from ophiolite-bearing mélanges in Taiwan (Lichi and Kenting mélanges) and Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material (RSCM) Thermometry data on rocks from the northern Apennines (Casanova mélange). A geological scenario is proposed following basic observations. The tectonic evolution of the retroside of doubly vergent accretionary wedges is mainly controlled by backthrusting and backfolding. The retro wedge is characterized by steep slopes that are prone to gravitational instabilities. It triggers submarine landslides inducing huge mass transfers. This erosion combined with backthrusting could favour exhumation of the ophiolitic fragments formerly accreted at the base of the wedge along the rough seafloor-sediments interface. Such an exhumed material can be reworked and deposited as debris- flows in proximal basins located at the foot of the retrowedge slope forming a tectono-sedimentary mélange. These syntectonic basins are continuously deformed and involved in prograding backthrusting-induced deformation.

In this research, three necessary relations are cross-analyzed by eighteen customers’ needs (WHATs) and nineteen corporate i-technological measures (HOWs) through the use of the application of the House of Quality (HOQ) model of the Quality Function Development (QFD) and a comparison of the Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) for discussing the contemporary commerce environment. The evaluation that contributed the most is the comprehensive methodology and associated 7-steps measurement of the HOQ model of the QFD are applied in order to avoid research arbitrariness, for evaluation comparability and linguistic vagueness, which are the pellucid measured characteristics of the HOQ models of the QFD regarding the features of complicated theoretical concepts, data-collecting processes and computed procedures. Specifically, the application of the quantitative entropy methods, similar measure and the TOPSIS are utilized in this study to minimize the indistinctness of the linguistic exactitude and to decreasing the subjective concepts of the five selected customers. According to the measured consequences in this study, it is very apparent that enterprises have to develop a creative i-technological marketing strategy to create an effective and efficient i-technological interface in order to achieve the customers’ desires consisted of sale customization in product concentrated subjective and sale advertisement, sale promotion and sale employees in promotion considered session. Eventually, some suggestions for managers and researchers are inductively formed to further develop the best innovative (i-technological) marketing strategy for enterprises in a thriving cyber commerce environment.

Several levelling routes in the metropolitan Taipei Basin have been repeatedly conducted during the past decades, mainly in order to monitor the anthropogenic ground subsidence due to massive pumping of groundwater. We analysed the levelling data released from government and investigated the rate of ground level change from 1975 to 2003, which postdate the massive groundwater exploitation in Taipei area. Based on the contour maps created from the levelling data of 406 benchmarks, the overall subsidence rate in the Taipei Basin gradually decreased since 1975, and around 1989 the basin switched to slight uplift throughout a large part of the basin. Three mechanisms are proposed to be responsible for the observed land elevation changes, including shallow soil compaction, deformation within aquifer, and tectonic subsidence. The trend of the ground level change in 1975–2003 essentially demonstrated the effects of natural recharge to previously depleted aquifers, and is explained by the hydro-mechanical coupling of aquifer materials, i.e., elastic rebound, to the rising piezometric level. The rate of shallow soil compaction is estimated about 1–8 mm/yr throughout the basin according primarily to the shallow clay thickness. Asymmetric tectonic subsidence related to the Shanchiao Fault was estimated to be 1.75 mm/yr and 0.9 mm/yr in the western part and the central part of the basin, respectively. By subtracting the components of the soil compaction and tectonic subsidence from the surface land elevation change, the rebound of aquifer strata was estimated to be about 6.7 cm and 16 cm in western margin and Central Taipei, respectively. The amount of rebound is approximately 10% in magnitude comparing to the amount of previous anthropogenic subsidence due to massive groundwater pumping, totally about 2 m. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BackgroundChondral defects may lead to degradative changes in the surrounding cartilage, predisposing patients to developing osteoarthritis.PurposeTo quantify changes in the biomechanical and biochemical properties of the articular cartilage adjacent to chondral defects after experimental defect repair.Study DesignControlled laboratory study.MethodsSpecimens were harvested from tissue within (lesion), immediately adjacent to, and at a distance from (remote area) a full-thickness cartilage defect 8 months after cartilage repair with genetically modified chondrocytes expressing insulin-like growth factor-I or unmodified, control chondrocytes. Biomechanical properties, including instantaneous Young's and equilibrium aggregate moduli, were determined by confined compression testing. Biochemical properties, such as water and proteoglycan content, were also measured.ResultsThe instantaneous Young's modulus, equilibrium modulus, and proteoglycan content increased, whereas water content decreased with increasing distance from the repaired lesion. The instantaneous Young's and equilibrium moduli of the adjacent articular cartilage were 80% and 50% that of remote area samples, respectively, whereas water content increased 0.9% and proteoglycan content was decreased by 35%. No significant changes in biomechanical and biochemical properties were found either in the lesion tissue or in adjacent cartilage with genetic modification of the chondrocytes.ConclusionArticular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects showed significant remodeling 8 months after chondral defect repair, regardless of whether genetically modified or unmodified cells were implanted.Clinical RelevanceChanges in the biochemical and biomechanical properties of articular cartilage adjacent to repaired chondral defects may represent remodeling as part of an adaptive process or degeneration secondary to an altered distribution of joint forces. Quantification of these changes could provide important parameters for assessing progress after operative chondral defect repair.

We investigated the effect of light (0.1 MPa), moderate (1 MPa) or heavy (5 MPa) cyclical stresses applied continuously or intermittently for 0 to 72 h on cell death and collagen damage in adult bovine cartilage explants. No increase in cell death was observed in the cartilage loaded with a continuous cyclic stress at 0.1 MPa for up to 72 h. Cell death occurred in the uppermost superficial tangential zone (STZ) of explants after loading for 1 h at 1 MPa, and reached a maximum depth of 61+/-23 micro m by 6 h (at the rate of 9+/-6 micro m/h). At 5 MPa, cell death occurred in the STZ after as little as 1 min (30 cycles) of loading, and reached a maximum depth of 70+/-2 micro m by 60 min (47+/-8 micro m/h). When an intermittent (with 2 s on, 2 s off) stress of 5 MPa was applied, cell death appeared in the STZ after 2 min (30 cycles) and increased to a depth of 63+/-2 micro m at 60 min (45+/-11 micro m/h). No significant differences were observed between the continuous and intermittent loading conditions. Both collagenase-cleaved and denatured collagen fibers were found in the STZ of explants loaded at 1 and 5 MPa. We concluded that load-induced cell death depends on load duration and magnitude, and that the chondrocytes in the STZ are more vulnerable to load-induced injury than those in the middle and deep zones.

Objective To use noninvasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), biochemical analyses, and mechanical testing of engineered neocartilage grown in a hollow- fiber bioreactor (HFBR) to establish tissue properties, and to test the hypothesis that MRI can be used to monitor biochemical and biomechanical properties of neocartilage. Methods Chondrocytes from day 16 embryonic chick sterna were inoculated into an HFBR and maintained for up to 4 weeks with and without exposure to chondroitinase ABC. The fixed-charge density (FCD) of the cartilage was determined using the MRI gadolinium exclusion method. The sulfated glycosaminoglycan (S-GAG), hydroxyproline, and DNA contents were determined using biochemical procedures, while dynamic and equilibrium moduli were determined from mechanical indentation tests. Results S-GAG content, tissue cross-sectional area, and equilibrium modulus of the neocartilage increased with development time. There was a gradient of S-GAG content across the length of control neocartilage at the 4-week time point, with higher values being found toward the inflow region. Exposure to chondroitinase ABC resulted in a decrease in tissue area, negative FCD, proteoglycan content, and equilibrium and dynamic moduli. The treated bioreactors displayed a lengthwise variation in S-GAG content, with higher values toward the outflow end. Linear correlations were established among FCD, proteoglycan content, and biomechanical properties. Conclusion HFBR-derived neocartilage showed regional variation in S-GAG content under control conditions, and in the decrease of S-GAG in response to enzyme treatment. In addition, the results support the hypothesis that tissue parameters derived from MRI can be used to noninvasively monitor focal neocartilage formation and biochemical and biomechanical properties.

A decrease in chondrocyte numbers is one characteristic of osteoarthritic cartilage. This decrease may be the result of apoptosis or other forms of cell death induced by mechanical damage. Furthermore, cell death may contribute to the structural and metabolic changes found in osteoarthritic cartilage. Therefore, we investigated cell viability and the mode of cell death in cartilage subjected to an increasing severity of impact loads expected to cause compositional damage and osteoarthritic-like metabolic alterations. Canine cartilage explants were subjected to cyclic indentation impacts of 5 megapascals at 0.3 Hz for 0, 2, 20, and 120 min and then kept in culture for 2, 4, 48, and 144 h. Cell death was assessed by the TUNEL assay and by uptake of propidium iodide. Viable cells were detected by the ability to metabolize fluorescein diacetate. Nuclear morphology and ultrastructure of the cell were examined using Hoechst 33342 fluorescent staining and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As controls for necrosis and apoptosis, cartilage was, respectively, frozen and thawed or incubated with mitomycin-C, an apoptosis inducer. In cartilage that had been loaded for 2 h, 32% of the chondrocytes in the loaded core took up propidium iodide within 2 h after loading. Most of these were in the middle to superficial zones and reflected leaky cell membranes usually characteristic of necrosis. Less than 1% of these chondrocytes were positive in the TUNEL assay after 4 h. After additional culture for 2 days, however, the proportion of chondrocytes which were positive in the TUNEL assay reached 73%. A dose dependent response to duration of loading was detected with the TUNEL assay at this time. The TUNEL assay was not specific for apoptosis since 92% of chondrocytes in freeze/thawed cartilage were TUNEL positive. However, some cells with apoptotic bodies and chromatin condensation characteristic of apoptosis were found in the transition zone between necrotic and normal chondrocytes, but not in the superficial and upper zones, in impact damaged cartilage. We concluded that in this study, necrosis occurred first, followed by apoptosis.

Collagen fibrils in ligaments and tendons are highly organized into parallel arrays which influence interstitial fluid transport. Finite element (FE) models were developed analogous to the fibrillar arrays in ligaments and tendons to investigate interstitial fluid flow and tissue permeability as a function of interfibrillar spacing and fluid properties. Collagen fibrils were assumed to be a periodic square array of impermeable cylinders. A two-dimensional FE model was used to study transverse fluid flow and a three-dimensional model was used to study flow parallel to the collagen fibrils. Parametric FE analysis provided data to formulate empirical expressions for permeability (kappa) as a function of porosity (phi). Results show that longitudinal permeability (kappa = 1.1.10(-15)phi 2.5[1 - phi]-0.333) can be up to 50 times higher than transverse permeability (kappa = 1.2.10(-15)phi 0.5[phi - phi min]2.5) in a compact array. Maximum fluid shear stresses occur at the narrowest zones of adjacent fibrils (1.21 Pa or 12.1 dyn/cm2 at 10 microns/s of average transverse influx). If interstitial fluid is highly non-Newtonian, the permeability should be considered as flow (shear)-dependent. The computational results suggest that tissue permeability in ligaments and tendons is highly anisotropic, porosity-dependent, and can be estimated by analytic expressions.

To accelerate industrial adoption of behavioral synthesis, we have developed Matisse, an architectural design tool that increases productivity without sacrificing area, performance, or power. Matisse's main difference from traditional behavioral synthesis tools is that it lets the designer play a key role. It allows the designer to make major decisions about styles, protocols, parallelism, delays, and partial or even complete architectures before the behavioral synthesis phase starts. Then it enables the designer to incorporate these decisions into the architecture using behavioral synthesis. Matisse supports the diverse design practices required for commodity IC design by giving the designer fine-grain control of behavioral synthesis tasks.

Terra Nova, 23, 85–91, 2011 Abstract Vitrinite reflectance and Raman spectroscopy of carbonaceous material data are used to better resolve the thermal history of the Hsuehshan Range, which is accreted between the foreland fold–thrust belt and bulldozer hinterland units in the Taiwan mountain belt. The observed thermal data indicate that the strata in the northern Hsuehshan Range underwent dynamic metamorphism during the Neogene orogeny, while the strata in the southern Hsuehshan Range may have predominantly experienced burial metamorphism during Palaeogene sedimentation. Based on the thermal constraints, the Hsuehshan Range is interpreted to consist of nappe stacks, originating from the rifted Eurasian continental margin. This interpretation is consistent with well-documented cases in the European Alps and the Himalayas and is also shown in physical modelling and thermo-kinematic studies invoking underplating and erosion processes.

Growth strata analysis is an useful tool in understanding kinematics and the evolution of active faults as well as the close relationship between sedimentation and tectonics. Here we present the Shanchiao Fault as a case study which is an active normal fault responsible for the formation of the 700-m-thick late Quaternary deposits in Taipei Basin at the northern tip of the Taiwan mountain belt. We compiled a sedimentary record, particularly the depositional facies and their dated ages, at three boreholes (SCF-1, SCF-2 and WK-1, from west to east) along the Wuku Profile that traverses the Shanchiao Fault at its central segment. By incorporating the global sea level change curve, we find that thickness changes of sediments and changes of depositional environments in the Wuku area are in a good agreement with a rapid sea level rise since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) of about 23 ka. Combining depositional facies changes and their ages with their thickness, we are able to introduce a simple back-stripping method to reconstruct the evolution of growing strata across the Shanchiao Fault since the LGM. We then estimate the vertical tectonic slip rate since 23 ka, which exhibits 2.2 mm yr-1 between SCF-2 and WK-1 and 1.1 mm yr-1 between SCF-1 and SCF-2. We also obtain the Holocene tectonic subsidence rate of 2.3 mm yr-1 at WK-1 and 0.9 mm yr-1 at SCF-2 since 8.4 ka. We thus conclude that the fault zone consists of a high-angle main fault to the east between SCF-2 and WK-1 and a western lower-angle branch fault between SCF-1 and SCF-2, resembling a tulip structure developed under sinistral transtensional tectonism. We find that a short period of 600-yr time span in 9 - 8.4 ka shows important tectonic subsidence of 7.4 and 3.3 m for the main and branch fault, respectively, consistent with possible earthquake events proposed by previous studies during that time. A correlation between geomorphology and subsurface geology in the Shanchiao Fault zone shows that an array of subtle geomorphic scarps corresponds to the branch fault, however, that the surface trace of the main fault seems to be completely erased by the surface force of erosion and sedimentation. We recommend that analysis in the light of growth-faulting scheme should be conducted in a more systematic way for earthquake geology study in other portions of the Shanchiao Fault within the Taipei Basin, as well as other areas worldwide currently under extensional deformation.

The lion dance in Chinese culture is one of profound arts. This work aims to bridge traditional culture and modern multimedia technology and application of network cameras for the interactive tool to design a set of activities to promote the lion as the main body. There consists of the imaging systems and interactive multimedia applications.

Architectural power optimization offers significant power gains in addition to which can be obtained at higher and lower levels of abstraction. Although there has been some academic research for architectural power optimization, the commercial design automation technology is still in infancy and quite behind the current needs of the industry as many portable computing and communication products and greener non-portable products are being introduced into the market. In this paper we describe an environment for exploring low-power architectures using high-level synthesis, which is currently being used for production chip design until comprehensive commercialized alternatives are available. We also present the results and findings from experiments with a CCITT G.721 ADPCM Predictor design, which should benefit on-going research on automated solutions.