3,238 research outputs found
Spin(7) compactifications and 1/4-BPS vacua in heterotic supergravity
No full textWe continue the investigation into non-maximally symmetric compactifications of the heterotic string. In particular, we consider compactifications where the internal space is allowed to depend on two or more external directions. For preservation of supersym- metry, this implies that the internal space must in general be that of a Spin(7) manifold, which leads to a 1/4-BPS four-dimensional supersymmetric perturbative vacuum breaking all but one supercharge. We find that these solutions allow for internal geometries previously excluded by the domain-wall-type solutions, and hence the resulting four-dimensional superpotential is more generic. In particular, we find an interesting resemblance to the superpotentials that appear in non-geometric flux compactifications of type II string theory. If the vacua are to be used for phenomenological applications, they must be lifted to maximal symmetry by some non-perturbative or higher-order effect. (c) The Authors.011Nsciescopu
Targeting the politics in play
No full textSovereign Borders commander Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell took "extreme offence" when opposition defence spokesman Senator Stephen Conroy accused him of participating in a "political cover-up" at a Senate estimates hearing this week.
Should military personnel be surprised or offended by such allegations, or are political matters fair game when a policy has placed a military commander in charge of a multi-agency operation and the exchange is occurring in a parliamentary context?
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Ecological research, Curecanti Reservoirs, 1961: wildlife survey reports [02]
No full textTypescript and manuscript reports of surveys conducted as part of the University\u27s Ecological Research Expedition studying the flora and fauna of the Gunnison River Valley in the vicinity of the proposed Curecanti reservoirs. Reports include "Amphibians and reptiles of the Curecanti area of Colorado," by A. Dean Stock; "Birds of the Curecanti area in Colorado," by A. Dean Stock; "Mammals of subaquatic habitats in Blue Mesa Reservoir basin, Colorado," by Ronald W. Olson; "Mammals of the Gunnison River basin," by Stephen D. Durrant and Elroy B. Robinson. Field work from 1961; reports date from 1962
Cholera risk: a machine learning approach applied to essential climate variables
No full textOceanic and coastal ecosystems have undergone complex environmental changes in recent years, amid a context of climate change. These changes are also reflected in the dynamics of water-borne diseases as some of the causative agents of these illnesses are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and their survival rates are impacted by changes in climatic conditions. Previous studies have established strong relationships between essential climate variables and the coastal distribution and seasonal dynamics of the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, pathogenic types of which are responsible for human cholera disease. In this study we provide a novel exploration of the potential of a machine learning approach to forecast environmental cholera risk in coastal India, home to more than 200 million inhabitants, utilising atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic satellite-derived essential climate variables. A Random Forest classifier model is developed, trained and tested on a cholera outbreak dataset over the period 2010–2018 for districts along coastal India. The random forest classifier model has an Accuracy of 0.99, an F1 Score of 0.942 and a Sensitivity score of 0.895, meaning that 89.5% of outbreaks are correctly identified. Spatio-temporal patterns emerged in terms of the model’s performance based on seasons and coastal locations. Further analysis of the specific contribution of each Essential Climate Variable to the model outputs shows that chlorophyll-a concentration, sea surface salinity and land surface temperature are the strongest predictors of the cholera outbreaks in the dataset used. The study reveals promising potential of the use of random forest classifiers and remotely-sensed essential climate variables for the development of environmental cholera-risk applications. Further exploration of the present random forest model and associated essential climate variables is encouraged on cholera surveillance datasets in other coastal areas affected by the disease to determine the model’s transferability potential and applicative value for cholera forecasting systems
Autumn leaves : sound and the environment in artistic practice
No full textThis publication is a book that represents an innovative, international and multi-disciplinary approach to conceptualising the dynamic relationships between sound and the environment. The editorial process involved directly commissioning textual, graphic and photographic work. The vast majority of the book represents new work, produced specifically for this publication. For the purposes of tracing historical development, an article from 1974 and three older projects have been revived and recontextualised. In addition to the editorial responsibility, the researcher wrote the introduction and conducted three original interviews. The book draws work from visual, sound and performance art, acoustic science, anthropology, cultural studies, public policy, and architectural theory. Just as it is true to say that these disciplines have not previously been brought together in this way, equally, it is no exaggeration to identify the contributors as the leading international lights in the field: Chris Watson, Tim Ingold, Hildegard Westerkamp, Christina Kubisch, Alvin Lucier, David Toop. The book is published by Double Entendre, the French publisher of the premier sound arts journal, Vibro. The book is accompanied by an audio compilation published by the German record label, Gruenrekorder (Gruen 053). www.autumn-leaves.gruenrekorder.de. The researcher co-curated the compilation, selecting relevant work that illustrated the book’s themes. The book was the catalyst for a one-day symposium at the Tate Britain called The Performance of Sound (May 19th, 2006), which the researcher co-organised. The researcher was invited to speak on the book at the Audio Extranautes: Flux, Distance, Sociability symposium at the Villa Arson in Nice in December 2007. Autumn Leaves has been reviewed in the French journal Mouvement; in MCD where the reviewer reported that “this book deserves to be translated into French”; and Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology. Soundscape 7 (1), Autumn, 2007 reprinted an interview conducted by the author from the book. Autumn Leaves, edited by CRiSAP co-director Angus Carlyle, seeks to draw together a number of different perspectives on how the environment is made audible through sound. The perspectives contained in the book are made manifest through more traditional textual analyses, interviews, image-based works (both photography and graphic illustration) and ‘artist’s pages’ (which combine different registers of information).
Among the articles included in the book are a superb deconstruction of the concept of soundscape by anthropologist Tim Ingold; an intriguing analysis of sound from an acoustic point-of-view (or point-of-audition) by Bill Davies; Steve Goodman’s dynamic opening up of city sound to a bass materialism provoked by Greg Lynn’s ‘blob’ architecture; Salome Voegelin’s evocative mapping of sci-fi aesthetics onto the project of acoustic ecology; a wonderful meditation on the heard and the unheard by David Toop; Sylvain Marquis powerfully drawing out the ‘presence’ of Phill Niblock; Rahma Khazam finding new ways of listening through an inspired conceptual conversation between art, architecture and relational aesthetics; and a re-print of Hildegard Westerkamp’s pioneering discussion of soundwalking from 1974.
Interviews include a wide-ranging discussion with Alvin Lucier about his work and working practices; an exploration of Christina Kubisch’s long-standing commitment to teasing out the complexities of the sounds that surround us; Peter Cusack providing an exciting account of his Sound of Dangerous Places project; Chris Watson talking us through his inspirational field-recording; and Max Dixon offering fresh perspectives on how the development of strategies for noise in urban environments meshes policy with research into bio-acoustics, acoustics and creative practice.
Images include Dan Holdsworth’s haunting representations of anechoic chambers through Charles Fox’s photographs of microphone arrays in the wilderness, Axel Stockburger’s ASCII art evocations of video-game space and Nicholas Gansterer’s intricate diagrams of our heard world.
What remains of the book is devoted to the artists’ pages. In these a whole host of contemporary practitioners spanning the disciplines of graphic design, music, photography, performance and visual art offer their provocative takes on sound and the environment. Here we encounter John Wynne and Tim Wainwright presenting their collaborative work in Harefield Hospital; Aki Onda pursuing his Cinemage project; Claudia Wegener finding poetry in ear- and eye-witnessing; an unpacking of the theories and technologies behind the exciting Locus Sonus audio streams; NYSAE opening up its portfolio of acoustic ecology-inspired activities; Goran Vejvoda mobilising a modular manifesto from his three decades of sound art; the Gruenrekorder label reviewing the thinking behind its 40 releases; Jem Finer show-casing his Score For A Hole in the Ground; Cathy Lane mapping her memories of the Hebrides; Zoe Irvine making an art of places out of abandoned audio tape; and Mira Choi introducing her noise-responsive graphic software.
The editorial work and its presentation has been a collaborative venture with the designer Ian Noble.
Autumn Leaves is CRiSAP's first book and is edited by CRiSAP Co-Director Angus Carlyle[/b] and published by the exciting French sound art initiative Vibro / Double Entendre. It contains work by a variety of artists including several of CRiSAP's members - Salomé Voegelin, John Wynne, Peter Cusack, Cathy Lane and David Toop
Mr. Robert Stephen Munro
No full textSee also Dec. 1, 1993, V. 142, is. 16, p. 10B, name as Stephen Robert in later issue
Seabed foraging by Antarctic krill: Implications for stock assessment, bentho-pelagic coupling, and the vertical transfer of iron
No full textA compilation of more than 30 studies shows that adult Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) may frequent benthic habitats year-round, in shelf as well as oceanic waters and throughout their circumpolar range. Net and acoustic data from the Scotia Sea show that in summer 2-20% of the population reside at depths between 200 and 2000 m, and that large aggregations can form above the seabed. Local differences in the vertical distribution of krill indicate that reduced feeding success in surface waters, either due to predator encounter or food shortage, might initiate such deep migrations and results in benthic feeding. Fatty acid and microscopic analyses of stomach content confirm two different foraging habitats for Antarctic krill: the upper ocean, where fresh phytoplankton is the main food source, and deeper water or the seabed, where detritus and copepods are consumed. Krill caught in upper waters retain signals of benthic feeding, suggesting frequent and dynamic exchange between surface and seabed. Krill contained up to 260 nmol iron per stomach when returning from seabed feeding. About 5% of this iron is labile, i.e., potentially available to phytoplankton. Due to their large biomass, frequent benthic feeding, and acidic digestion of particulate iron, krill might facilitate an input of new iron to Southern Ocean surface waters. Deep migrations and foraging at the seabed are significant parts of krill ecology, and the vertical fluxes involved in this behavior are important for the coupling of benthic and pelagic food webs and their elemental repositories
Angus Maude
No full textUtilising the neglected and eclectic figure of Angus Maude, the chapter seeks to critically appraise contributions of ministers to the Thatcher governments and to 'Thatcherism' as a political project. It argues that, while strictly limited in terms of his brief, peripheral role as a minister in Thatcher's first government, Maude was central to the early intellectual development of core themes and ideas of 'Thatcherism' and to their political development and presentation in Opposition, while simultaneously retaining a strong independent streak distinguishable from 'New Right' mainstream politics
Development of genomic predictions for Angus cattle in Brazil incorporating genotypes from related american sires.
No full textGenomic prediction has become the new standard for genetic improvement programs, and currently, there is a desire to implement this technology for the evaluation of Angus cattle in Brazil. Thus, the main objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of evaluating young Brazilian Angus (BA) bulls and heifers for 12 routinely recorded traits using single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) with and without genotypes from American Angus (AA) sires. The second objective was to obtain estimates of effective population size (Ne) and linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the Brazilian Angus population. The dataset contained phenotypic information for up to 277,661 animals belonging to the Promebo breeding program, pedigree for 362,900, of which 1,386 were genotyped for 50k, 77k, and 150k single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels. After imputation and quality control, 61,666 SNPs were available for the analyses. In addition, genotypes from 332 American Angus (AA) sires widely used in Brazil were retrieved from the AA Association database to be used for genomic predictions. Bivariate animal models were used to estimate variance components, traditional EBV, and genomic EBV (GEBV). Validation was carried out with the linear regression method (LR) using young-genotyped animals born between 2013 and 2015 without phenotypes in the reduced dataset and with records in the complete dataset. Validation animals were further split into progeny of BA and AA sires to evaluate if their progenies would benefit by including genotypes from AA sires. The Ne was 254 based on pedigree and 197 based on LD, and the average LD (±SD) and distance between adjacent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across all chromosomes were 0.27 (±0.27) and 40743.68 bp, respectively. Prediction accuracies with ssGBLUP outperformed BLUP for all traits, improving accuracies by, on average, 16% for BA young bulls and heifers. The GEBV prediction accuracies ranged from 0.37 (total maternal for weaning weight and tick count) to 0.54 (yearling precocity) across all traits, and dispersion (LR coefficients) fluctuated between 0.92 and 1.06. Inclusion of genotyped sires from the AA improved GEBV accuracies by 2%, on average, compared to using only the BA reference population. Our study indicated that genomic information could help us to improve GEBV accuracies and hence genetic progress in the Brazilian Angus population. The inclusion of genotypes from American Angus sires heavily used in Brazil just marginally increased the GEBV accuracies for selection candidates.skac009
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