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Newcastle upon Tyne NEI 7RU, U.K. SUMMARYA new finite-element based method of calculating non-linear wave loads on offshore structures in extreme seas is presented in this paper. The diffraction wave field is modelled using Stokes wave theory developed to second order. Wave loads and free surface elevations are obtained for fixed surface-piercing structures by solving a boundary value problem for the second-order velocity potential. Special attention has been given to the radiation condition for the second-order diffraction field. Results are presented for three test examples, the vertical cylinders of Kim and Yue and of Chakrabarti, and an elliptic cylinder. These results demonstrate that early problems with the application of second-order theory arising from inadequate radiation conditions have been overcome.

Ageing is currently believed to reflect the accumulation of molecular damage due to energetic costs of maintenance, as proposed in disposable soma theory (DST). Here we have used agent-based modelling to describe an alternative theory by which ageing could undergo positive selection independent of energetic costs. We suggest that the selective advantage of fast-growing mutants might necessitate a mechanism of counterselection we name selective destruction, which removes the faster growing cells from the tissue, preventing the threat of morbidity and mortality they pose. As a result, the survival advantage would shift to the slower cells, allowing them to spread, inducing ageing in the form of a metabolic slowdown. Selective destruction could therefore provide a proximal cause of ageing that is both consistent with the gene expression hallmarks of ageing, and independent of accumulating damage. If true, negligible senescence would acquire a new meaning of increased basal mortality.

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