Similarities between mode III crack growth patterns and strike-slip faults.

Why are strike slip faults not perfectly linear but made of successive segments? Are they reminiscences of the fracture of an initially sound crust by the bottom-up propagation of a crack subjected to mode III loading? The plausibility of this newly proposed scenario will be investigated here through model experiments and some theoretical explanations in the framework of brittle fracture.This article is part of the theme issue 'Statistical physics of fracture and earthquakes'.

Muscovy ducklings, a particularly sensitive avian bioassay for T-2 toxin and diacetoxyscirpenol.

Day-old domesticated Muscovy ducklings (Cairina moshata) were given the trichothecene mycotoxins T-2 toxin or diacetoxyscirpenol at 0.25, 0.5, or 1 micrograms/g of feed for 7 days. All concentrations of both toxins caused characteristic dose-related lesions on the roof of the oral cavity of the birds. Muscovy ducklings showed these signs in a shorter time (less than 16 hours in some cases) and at a lower feed concentration of these trichothecenes than did other avian species in similar studies.