87191 research outputs found
Sort by
Impact of Strain on Carbonaceous Matter Crystallinity: Insights from Raman Spectroscopy and microstructural analysis of strain gradients from exhumed accretionary complexes
No full textCarbonaceous matter is a common component of metasedimentary rocks, mainly deriving from the diagenetic and then metamorphic evolution of the organic matter originally present in the sedimentary protolith. During burial, the maturity of carbonaceous particles increases by rearrangements of the aromatic carbon sheets and expulsion of heteroatoms, mostly as a result of temperature increase. However, additional external factors could enhance the maturity such as the pressure, fluid-rock interactions and/or deformation. In this work we explored the effect of strain at low metamorphic temperatures (in the range ∼200-320°C) along natural strain gradients of variable scales, in three accretionary or collisional complexes (Shimanto and Kodiak accretionary complexes, Infrahelvetic Flysch Units), using Raman spectra of carbonaceous matter. In these examples, both ductile and brittle zones of localized deformation were observed, in the form of shear and breccia zones, respectively. Carbonaceous particles observed by TEM are ∼50-100nm in size and are distributed throughout the rocks, enabling automated Raman spectroscopy profiles and maps to be carried out. Irrespective of the deformation process, the intensity ratio between D and G band (R1 ratio) of Raman spectra is systematically increased by up to ∼60% in high strain zones compared to the least deformed, reference zones. From the comparison with a series of undeformed metamorphic rocks spanning the same temperature range, the R1 increase reflects the progressive organization of the carbonaceous matter towards higher maturity. In mm-scale shear bands, the increase in R1 can be unambiguously ascribed to localized strain, whereas in brecciated domains, localized temperature increase may also have contributed to R1 anomaly
Life as a cosmic phenomenon facing human culture
No full textWe present perspectives from six panellists on “Life as a cosmic phenomenon facing human culture”, contrasting our experience and knowledge of life as found on Earth with the vastness of the Universe and the fact that Earth-centric and/or anthropocentric views have repeatedly proven untenable. How does an outwards view of projecting Earth-based experience into the cosmos combine with the inwards view of the potential detection of life beyond Earth telling us who we are
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Organisational Factors Impacting Wellbeing in Policing
No full textolicing is a very demanding and stressful role in nature. Research findings consistently point to wellbeing as a major issue for many individuals across the policing workforce. The research evidence supports that police officers face high average levels of exposure to emotionally demanding situations when carrying out their work duties, such as dealing with violent criminals and responding to incidents of serious harm and trauma. While the work pressures and demands policing face are reported at high average levels, of note is that research highlights that the average levels of wellbeing have declined since the first National Police Wellbeing Survey was conducted in 2019. High levels of burnout and fatigue, anxiety symptoms, difficulty ‘switching off’ outside of working hours and disturbed sleep have been identified as contributing factors for declined wellbeing
Sense and insensibility: How technologies invite and invisibilise harms
No full textCriminology has practised an uneasy relation with sensorial analysis, technology, and harm. Each of these terms has been subject to significant disciplinary and methodological interest over the past decade, and yet, there are few unifying or consistent thematics in criminology’s theorisation on their relation, meaning, or importance to the discipline when engaged together. Criminology has produced a range of highly specialised and significant interventions; however, it has often come at the cost of a deeper engagement with the sensible and insensible nature of harms implicating technologies. In this chapter, we provide a contemporary, expansive, and sensorial consideration of the ways that technology both invites and invisibilises harm
Rapid Identification of Candidate SNPs and QTLs for Capsicum annuum Chili Fruit Size and Capsaicin Content Using ddRAD-Sequencing and Bulk Segregant Analysis
No full textFruit size and pungency are key yield and quality traits in chili. This study combines high-throughput genotyping with bulk segregant analysis (BSA) to identify candidate SNPs and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) by analyzing extreme phenotypes from a Ghotki × Chakwal-4 F2 population. The traits were fruit length, diameter, length-to-diameter ratio, and weight, along with capsaicin content. Significant correlations were observed among length, diameter, and length-to-diameter ratio. A total of 534 single nucleotide polymor-phisms (SNP) markers were used to develop genetic maps from 4315 to 6607 cM long. The SNP frequency data was pooled for the 25% of individuals showing extreme values for each measured trait, and bulk segregant analysis (BSA) was performed. BSA identified high-scoring SNPs associated with pungency (SNP 1_41308232; SNP 12_104377148), fruit length (SNP 1_92509300; SNP 6_218780813), and fruit weight (SNP 6_100989762 and SNP 6_138660974). Genetic mapping identified twelve pungency QTLs, three for fruit length, two for fruit diameter, two for the length-to-diameter ratio, and thirteen for fruit weight. Overlapping QTL regions on chromosome 6 influence fruit length, fruit width, and capsaicin content, indicating potential pleiotropy and offering promising targets for multi-trait selection in chili breeding. The study identifies key SNPs and QTLs that simultaneously influence chili fruit size and pungency, providing valuable targets for multi-trait breeding
The life of events: Exception and everyday life in Acapulco, Mexico
No full textThe paper focuses on the event of ‘Ingrid-and-Manuel’—a Hurricane and Tropical Storm that hit Acapulco, Mexico in 2013. It traces what this event was and how it remains for people in and beyond Acapulco. It does so in the context of a place where the lines between events and everyday life are often blurred, and yet the event was still named and felt as an exception to ordinary life. By focusing on how exceptionality was and is produced, the paper supplements how human geography understands and relates to events, arguing for an approach that focuses on the ‘life of events’: following how events begin, happen, change, end and live on. This approach sits between social constructivist and realist approaches to events, orientating inquiry to the ongoing mediation of impactive experience, via Lauren Berlant's work. Through this approach, the paper tracks the affective-material variations through which Ingrid-and-Manuel became and remains an exception: excess, (dis)connection, loss and damage, recovery
Multiscale modelling of porous convection with a viscoelastic Maxwell fluid
No full textA model is developed for thermal convection in a porous medium which has multiscale levels of porosity. The saturating fluid is one of Maxwell type. We concentrate on dual porosity where there are the normal macro pores, but also present are cracks or fissures which give rise to micro pores. Thermal convection in the dual porosity case is known as bidispersive convection. We also produce a model for three levels of porosity, namely macro pores, meso pores, and micro pores, and thermal convection in this case is known as tridispersive convection. We use a mixture theory for a solid and a fluid to describe the porous medium and in this way the Darcy terms arise naturally as friction due to flow of fluid past the solid. The Maxwell fluid is incorporated naturally by appealing to the classical constitutive theory of such a fluid and work of Anatoly P. Oskolkov. In this way the Maxwell fluid is introduced via the constitutive equation for the stress tensor and its time derivative as a function of the symmetric part of the velocity gradients in the macropores and in the micropores. The thermal convection problem where a layer of saturated porous material is heated from below is analysed in detail and numerical results are presented displaying the novelties due to the inclusion of a viscoelastic Maxwell fluid. In particular, we also consider the case of a light solid skeleton with nanoscale architecture, this being important due to the current interest in microfluidics
Measuring Emotional Experiences with Music: Content Validity Assessment for Episode Model Constructs
No full textThis study focuses on the first stage of instrument development, content validity, and provides guidance on what steps should be taken when designing and evaluating content through the development of an instrument to reflect a recent theory concerning emotional episodes. To establish this instrument, we (1) operationalized the theory, identifying 25 sub-constructs for topics such as listening attention, meaning generation, preferences, familiarity, reward, and functions attributed to the use of music to regulate affectual states; (2) proposed a set of items (N = 495) to represent the relevant constructs operationalized here from the Episode Model; (3) analyzed and reduced the item pool with natural language processing (NLP); (4) assessed whether items were indeed reflective of their assumed construct and would garner appropriate responses using feedback supplied by subject matter experts; (5) refined the item pool based on expert feedback; (6) reassessed the revised items which resulted in a reduced item sample (N = 168). Through this collaborative content validity process, experts supported the theoretical positioning of the Episode Model through their agreement with the operationalized constructs. Expert insight shaped the implementation of theory from loosely associated items into a more tightly interrelated set of items, comprising fewer and more distinct constructs. We conclude by discussing the purpose of these content validity processes and outline the next stages of instrument development to construct a robust instrument which contextualizes emotional episodes experienced with music
An ultra-high-resolution map of (dark) matter
No full textOrdinary matter—including particles such as protons and neutrons—accounts for only about one-sixth of all matter in the Universe. The rest is dark matter, which does not emit or absorb light but plays a fundamental role in galaxy and structure evolution. Because it interacts only through gravity, one of the most direct probes is weak gravitational lensing: the deflection of light from distant galaxies by intervening mass. Here we present an extremely detailed, wide-area weak-lensing mass map covering 0.77° × 0.70°, using high-resolution imaging from the James Webb Space Telescope as part of the COSMOS-Web survey. By measuring the shapes of 129 galaxies per square arcminute—many independently in the F115W and F150W bands—we achieve an angular resolution of 1.00+/-0.01 arcminutes. Our map has more than twice the resolution of earlier Hubble Space Telescope maps, revealing how dark and luminous matter co-evolve across filaments, clusters and underdensities. It traces mass features out to z ≈ 2, including the most distant structure at z ≈ 1.1. The sensitivity to high-redshift lensing constrains galaxy environments at the peak of cosmic star formation and sets a high-resolution benchmark for testing theories about the nature of dark matter and the formation of large-scale cosmic structure
The influence of consonance–dissonance contrasts on perceived pleasantness of concluding tonic chords in short chord sequences
No full textDoes dissonance enhance the pleasantness of the following consonance due to the ensuing contrast? The contrast between the affective characteristics of successive stimuli is considered an important factor for the perceived pleasantness of the final stimulus, known as the contrast effect. We tested the contrast effect of dissonance and consonance by employing short chord sequences ending with a manipulated penultimate chord, resolving to the final tonic as stimuli. The dissonance level of the penultimate chord was manipulated by varying both its acoustic roughness and cultural familiarity, and 49 participants rated the pleasantness of the final chord. We hypothesized that the final chord would be more pleasant when the penultimate chord was more dissonant. However, the results showed the opposite: greater dissonance in the penultimate chord led to lower pleasantness ratings for the following final chord. It could be that greater dissonance in the penultimate chord makes it less tonally related to the final chord and that its dissonance may have violated listeners’ tonal expectations. Rather than demonstrating the contrast effect, this result demonstrates dissonance’s strong association with unpleasantness and its influence on the pleasantness of the following consonance
Data sources:
Access Repository Dashboard
Do you manage Open Research Online? Become a CORE Member to access insider analytics, issue reports and manage access to outputs from your repository in the CORE Repository Dashboard! 👇