Geographies of commemoration: Angel Island, San Francisco and North Head, Sydney

Memorialising lives, deaths and events in landscapes can be authorised, official and highly regulated, or spontaneous, unsanctioned and anti-authoritarian. Interpreting and connecting two sites spanning the Pacific Ocean, this paper explores the inscribed and affective landscapes of Angel Island, San Francisco, and North Head, Sydney. Both sites encompass multivalent histories of defence, quarantine, immigration and leisure. Both also host a continuum of mark-making practices, from informal graffiti to monuments aspiring to direct national narratives. Elaborating the rich and complex layering of histories at each site, we trace the semiotic and emotive circuits marked by their endorsed and vernacular inscriptions. In particular, we question the work done when individual or even surreptitious texts are appropriated – or marketed – within formal narratives of inclusiveness, reverence and homogeneous nationalism. Drawing upon scholarship from archaeology, history, geography and heritage studies, this analysis argues that formalised commemoration never escapes the potential for counter-readings – that authority and authorship never entirely coincide

Improvement of Tractor Performance

Improvement of agricultural tractor performance was analyzed using the data from 926 diesel tractors tested at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory from 1959 through 2002. The performance analysis included the specific volumetric fuel consumption, power per unit weight, traction coefficient, maximum torque rise, and sound level. They were evaluated based on the PTO power level and chassis type of tractor. Some of the results are: (1) The average specific volumetric fuel consumptions for the maximum PTO and drawbar powers increased by 20.5% and 23.4% to 3.47 kW•h/L and 3.01 kW•h/L, respectively, from 1959 through 2002. (2) The average maximum PTO and drawbar powers per unit weight of ballasted tractors increased 72.1% and 66.2% to 1.48 and 1.28 kW/kN from 1959 through 2002. (3) The traction coefficient increased 24.4% for 4WD tractors and 27.4% for standard tractors from 1959 through 2002, resulting in 1.02 and 0.94 for 2001-2002 respectively. In the 2001-2002 period, the average torque rise of the tractors in a PTO power range of 37-75 kW was 27.7%, which was 18.4% increase from 1992 through 2002. The tractors with greater PTO power than 187 kW had an average torque rise of 50.8%, which was 30.9% increase over the same period. The maximum sound level within the cab in the early 1970’s ranged from 83.0 to 93.6 dBA and reduced to 73.5 to 88.5 dBA in the 2001-2002 period, which was about 9.3% to 21.5% reduction from 1972 through 2002

Improvement of Tractor Performance

Improvement of agricultural tractor performance was analyzed using the data from 926 diesel tractors tested at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory from 1959 through 2002. The performance analysis included the specific volumetric fuel consumption, power per unit weight, traction coefficient, maximum torque rise, and sound level. They were evaluated based on the PTO power level and chassis type of tractor. Some of the results are: (1) The average specific volumetric fuel consumptions for the maximum PTO and drawbar powers increased by 20.5% and 23.4% to 3.47 kW•h/L and 3.01 kW•h/L, respectively, from 1959 through 2002. (2) The average maximum PTO and drawbar powers per unit weight of ballasted tractors increased 72.1% and 66.2% to 1.48 and 1.28 kW/kN from 1959 through 2002. (3) The traction coefficient increased 24.4% for 4WD tractors and 27.4% for standard tractors from 1959 through 2002, resulting in 1.02 and 0.94 for 2001-2002 respectively. In the 2001-2002 period, the average torque rise of the tractors in a PTO power range of 37-75 kW was 27.7%, which was 18.4% increase from 1992 through 2002. The tractors with greater PTO power than 187 kW had an average torque rise of 50.8%, which was 30.9% increase over the same period. The maximum sound level within the cab in the early 1970’s ranged from 83.0 to 93.6 dBA and reduced to 73.5 to 88.5 dBA in the 2001-2002 period, which was about 9.3% to 21.5% reduction from 1972 through 2002

Metering Characteristics Accompanying Rate Changes Necessary for Precision Farming

Agricultural machines used in precision fanning must adjust application rates according to the needs of each cell within a field. Changing from an initial application rate to a new rate while the machine travels from one cell to another in the field is accompanied with some misapplication. The severity of this misapplication depends on the down-the-row delivery characteristics of the metering system and the magnitude of the rate change from cell to cell. On-the-go rate change tests evaluated the down-the-row performance of an operator controlled metering system when increasing and decreasing wheat seeding rates by 10 and 20 kg/ha steps. The transition time from one cell to another ranged from 3 to 9 s depending upon the magnitude of the application rate change. The difference between the initial and final seeding rate was based on a simple index. This separation index was based upon the initial and final down-the-row seeding rate distributions. When the separation index was greater than or equal to zero, the difference between the initial and final application rate was considered to be suitable for precision fanning. The separation criterion was always satisfied with 20 kg/ha rate changes. For 10 kg/ha rate changes, the separation index was negative in most cases. This indicated that rate changes of 10 kg/ha or less were unlikely to provide detectable rate differences as the metering rate variability exceeded the magnitude of the 10 kg/ha rate change

Influence of ultrasound machine settings on quantitative measures derived from spatial frequency analysis of muscle tissue

Background Ultrasound is a powerful tool for diagnostic purposes and provides insight into both normal and pathologic tissue structure. Spatial frequency analysis (SFA) methods characterize musculoskeletal tissue organization from ultrasound images. Both sonographers in clinical imaging and researchers may alter a minimized range of ultrasound settings to optimize image quality, and it is important to know how these small adjustments of these settings affect SFA parameters. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of making small adjustments in a typical default ultrasound machine setting on extracted spatial frequency parameters (peak spatial frequency radius (PSFR), Mmax, Mmax%, and Sum) in the biceps femoris muscle. Methods Longitudinal B-mode images were collected from the biceps femoris muscle in 36 participants. The window depth, foci locations, and gain were systematically adjusted consistent with clinical imaging procedures for a total of 27 images per participant. Images were analyzed by identifying a region of interest (ROI) in the middle portion of the muscle belly in a template image and using a normalized two-dimensional cross-correlation technique between the template image and subsequent images. The ROI was analyzed in the frequency domain using conventional SFA methods. Separate linear mixed effects models were run for each extracted parameter. Results PSFR was affected by modifications in focus location only (p \u3c 0.001) with differences noted between all locations. Mmax% was influenced by the interaction of gain and focus location (p \u3c 0.001) but was also independently affected by increasing window depth (p \u3c 0.001). Both Mmax and Sum parameters were sensitive to small changes in machine settings with the interaction of focus location and window depth (p \u3c 0.001 for both parameters) as well as window depth and gain (p \u3c 0.001 for both) influencing the extracted values. Conclusions Frequently adjusted imaging settings influence some SFA statistics. PSFR and Mmax% appear to be most robust to small changes in image settings, making them best suited for comparison across individuals and between studies, which is appealing for the clinical utility of the SFA method

Metering Characteristics Accompanying Rate Changes Necessary for Precision Farming

Agricultural machines used in precision fanning must adjust application rates according to the needs of each cell within a field. Changing from an initial application rate to a new rate while the machine travels from one cell to another in the field is accompanied with some misapplication. The severity of this misapplication depends on the down-the-row delivery characteristics of the metering system and the magnitude of the rate change from cell to cell. On-the-go rate change tests evaluated the down-the-row performance of an operator controlled metering system when increasing and decreasing wheat seeding rates by 10 and 20 kg/ha steps. The transition time from one cell to another ranged from 3 to 9 s depending upon the magnitude of the application rate change. The difference between the initial and final seeding rate was based on a simple index. This separation index was based upon the initial and final down-the-row seeding rate distributions. When the separation index was greater than or equal to zero, the difference between the initial and final application rate was considered to be suitable for precision fanning. The separation criterion was always satisfied with 20 kg/ha rate changes. For 10 kg/ha rate changes, the separation index was negative in most cases. This indicated that rate changes of 10 kg/ha or less were unlikely to provide detectable rate differences as the metering rate variability exceeded the magnitude of the 10 kg/ha rate change

Unpicking the Gordian knot: a systems approach to traumatic brain injury care in low-income and middle-income countries.

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study showed that in 2010 trauma accounted for 9% of the world's deaths - around 5 million people - while also resulting in millions of non-fatal injuries with resultant disability. Around 90% of injury-related deaths occurred in low and middle income countries (LMICs) which also saw the greatest rise in these injuries due to road traffic collisions.1 More recent Global Health Estimates from the World Health Organisation for 2015 show a similar picture.2 As a disease subtype, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the most devastating, with clinical, societal, and economic sequelae.3 It is also startlingly common with an estimated 50 million or more cases per year; enough for half of the world's population to suffer a TBI in their lifetime and again disproportionately affecting lower-income regions.

Variability in Volume Metering Devices

The inherent variability of seed and fertilizer application from volumetric metering devices is not readily recognized. The Canadian Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (P AMI) suggests a maximum coefficient of variation (CV) of 15% among outlets for seeding grain or applying fertilizer. P AMI does not report down-the-row variability of individual outlets. Parameters that influence variability of volumetric measuring external fluted wheels such as rotational speed of the metering wheel, product delivery rate, seed size, and cell collection lengths were examined. In the first study, external fluted wheel meters on four grain drills were tested for seed delivery variability for wheat and soybeans, both among the metering outlets and down-the-row for individual meters. Tests on two additional drills, one an air drill and the other with external fluted metering, used two sizes of soybean seeds and two travel speeds. For wheat, down-the-row CV ranged from 12.5 to 22.5% and the CV among metering units ranged from 12.5 to 21 %. For soybeans, the CV ranged from 15.5 to 41.5% with the air drill having the lower CV. A faster travel speed gave a lower CV for both drills metering soybeans. In a second study, when metering wheat, the seeding rate variability due to cell size and seeding rate were evaluated. Each meter was evaluated with cells 0.48 or 0.96 m in length and seeding rates of 60, 80,90, and 100 kg/ha. The down-the-row CV ranged from 10 to 28% with 0.48 m length cells, and from 4 to 22% with 0.96 m length cells. Some of these CVs may be too high for a metering mechanism such as the fluted wheel to be used in SSCM

Selective BRDFs for High Fidelity Rendering

High fidelity rendering systems rely on accurate material representations to produce a realistic visual appearance. However, these accurate models can be slow to evaluate. This work presents an approach for approximating these high accuracy reflectance models with faster, less complicated functions in regions of an image which possess low visual importance. A subjective rating experiment was conducted in which thirty participants were asked to assess the similarity of scenes rendered with low quality reflectance models, a high quality data-driven model and saliency based hybrids of those images. In two out of the three scenes that were evaluated significant differences were not found between the hybrid and reference images. This implies that in less visually salient regions of an image computational gains can be achieved by approximating computationally expensive materials with simpler analytic models