The Gould's Belt distance survey

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can provide the position of compact radio sources with an accuracy of order 50 micro-arcseconds. This is sufficient to measure the trigonometric parallax and proper motions of any object within 500 pc of the Sun to better than a few percent. Because they are magnetically active, young stars are often associated with compact radio emission detectable using VLBI techniques. Here we will show how VLBI observations have already constrained the distance to the most often studied nearby regions of star-formation (Taurus, Ophiuchus, Orion, etc.) and have started to provide information on their internal structure and kinematics. We will then briefly describe a large project (called The Gould's Belt Distance Survey) designed to provide a detailed view of star-formation in the Solar neighborhood using VLBI observations.Comment: To be published in the Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica (Serie de Conferencias

A pinch of salt: response of coastal grassland plants to simulated seawater inundation treatments

Background and Aims The combination of rising sea levels and increased storm frequency and intensity is predicted to increase the severity of oceanic storm surge events and the impact of flooding on coastal ecosystems globally. Understanding how plant communities respond to this threat necessitates experiments involving plant immersion in saline water, but logistical issues and natural variation in seawater composition mean that pure NaCl solutions or marine aquarium salts (MS) are widely used. Nonetheless, their comparative impact on plant ecophysiology, and thus relevance to understanding real-world flooding scenarios, is unknown. Methods In the first of two experiments, we examined how six ecophysiological responses in white clover (Trifolium repens) varied when plants were subjected to five different inundation treatments: deionized water, natural seawater, an MS solution and two NaCl solutions. In a second experiment, we examined how immersion in deionized water, MS solution and natural seawater affected six European perennial herb species, three native to Spanish sand dunes, and three from British coastal grasslands. Results The two NaCl solutions induced exceptional Trifolium mortality, but responses varied little between MS and seawater treatments. In the second experiment, although leaf tissue necrosis and proline concentrations increased, and growth decreased compared with untreated controls, only one response in one species varied between MS and seawater treatments. Chemical speciation modelling revealed major variation in free Na+ and Cl− between NaCl solutions and seawater, but minor differences between MS and seawater. Conclusions We show that NaCl solutions are unsuitable surrogates to investigate plant response to elevated environmental salinity. Although responses to natural seawater and MS were consistent within species, there was notable between-species variation. Consequently, the first steps to elucidating how these species-specific responses influence coastal plant community recovery following storm surge can likely be achieved using commercial marine aquarium salts as substitutes for natural seawater

Stellar Astrophysics with a Dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph. II. Orbits of Double-lined Spectroscopic Binaries

We present orbital parameters for six double-lined spectroscopic binaries (iota Pegasi, omega Draconis, 12 Bootis, V1143 Cygni, beta Aurigae, and Mizar A) and two double-lined triple star systems (kappa Pegasi and eta Virginis). The orbital fits are based upon high-precision radial velocity observations made with a dispersed Fourier Transform Spectrograph, or dFTS, a new instrument which combines interferometric and dispersive elements. For some of the double-lined binaries with known inclination angles, the quality of our RV data permits us to determine the masses M_1 and M_2 of the stellar components with relative errors as small as 0.2%.Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures, accepted by A

The value of diversity in cognitive science

A recent article (Núñez et al., 2019) claims that cognitive science, while starting off as a multidisciplinary enterprise, has “failed to transition to a mature inter‐disciplinary coherent field.” Two indicators reported in support of this claim target one of the two journals of the Cognitive Science Society, Cognitive Science , depicting cognitive science as an increasingly monodisciplinary subfield which is dominated by psychology. With a focus on the society's other journal, Topics in Cognitive Science , the present commentary reveals a greater degree of interdisciplinarity and discusses the relative values of diversity and integration for the field.publishedVersio

An evaluation of Thiomicrospira, Hydrogenovibrio and Thioalkalimicrobium: reclassification of 4 species of Thiomicrospira to each Thiomicrorhabdus gen. nov. and Hydrogenovibrio, and reclassification of all 4 species of Thioalkalimicrobium to Thiomicrospira.

Thiomicrospira spp. are small sulfur-oxidising chemolithoautotrophic members of the Gammaproteobacteria. Whilst the type species Tms. pelophila and closely related Tms. thyasirae exhibit canonical spiral morphology under sub-optimal growth conditions, most species are vibrios or rods. The 16S rRNA gene diversity is vast, with identities as low as 91.6 % to Tms. pelophila versus Tms. frisia, for example. Thiomicrospira was examined with closely related genera Hydrogenovibrio and Thioalkalimicrobium and, to rationalise organisms on the basis of the 16S rRNA gene phylogeny, physiology and morphology, we reclassify Tms. kuenenii, Tms. crunogena, Tms. thermophila and Tms. halophila to Hydrogenovibrio kuenenii comb. nov., H. crunogenus corrig. comb. nov., H. thermophilus corrig. comb. nov., and H. halophilus corrig. comb. nov. We reclassify Tms. frisia, Tms. arctica, Tms. psychrophila and Tms. chilensis to Thiomicrorhabdus gen. nov., as Tmr. frisia comb. nov., Tmr. arctica comb. nov., Tmr. psychrophila comb. nov. and Tmr. chilensis comb. nov. – the type species of Thiomicrorhabdus is Tmr. frisia. We demonstrate Thioalkalimicrobium spp. fall in the genus Thiomicrospira sensu stricto, thus reclassifying them to Tms. aerophila corrig. comb. nov., Tms. microaerophila corrig. comb. nov., Tms. cyclica corrig. comb. nov.and Tms. sibirica corrig. comb. nov. We provide emended descriptions of the genera Thiomicrospira and Hydrogenovibrio and of Tms. thyasirae

The architectures of media power: editing, the newsroom, and urban public space

This paper considers the relation of the newsroom and the city as a lens into the more general relation of production spaces and mediated publics. Leading theoretically from Lee and LiPuma’s (2002) notion of ‘cultures of circulation’, and drawing on an ethnography of the Toronto Star, the paper focuses on how media forms circulate and are enacted through particular practices and material settings. With its attention to the urban milieus and orientations of media organizations, this paper exhibits both affinities with but also differences to current interests in the urban architectures of media, which describe and theorize how media get ‘built into’ the urban experience more generally. In looking at editing practices situated in the newsroom, an emphasis is placed on the phenomenological appearance of media forms both as objects for material assembly as well as more abstracted subjects of reflexivity, anticipation and purposiveness. Although this is explored with detailed attention to the settings of the newsroom and the city, the paper seeks to also provide insight into the more general question of how publicness is material shaped and sited

Creativity and Autonomy in Swarm Intelligence Systems

This work introduces two swarm intelligence algorithms -- one mimicking the behaviour of one species of ants (\emph{Leptothorax acervorum}) foraging (a `Stochastic Diffusion Search', SDS) and the other algorithm mimicking the behaviour of birds flocking (a `Particle Swarm Optimiser', PSO) -- and outlines a novel integration strategy exploiting the local search properties of the PSO with global SDS behaviour. The resulting hybrid algorithm is used to sketch novel drawings of an input image, exploliting an artistic tension between the local behaviour of the `birds flocking' - as they seek to follow the input sketch - and the global behaviour of the `ants foraging' - as they seek to encourage the flock to explore novel regions of the canvas. The paper concludes by exploring the putative `creativity' of this hybrid swarm system in the philosophical light of the `rhizome' and Deleuze's well known `Orchid and Wasp' metaphor

A cross-sectional study of factors associated with dog ownership in Tanzania

Background: Mass vaccination of owned domestic dogs is crucial for the control of rabies in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge of the proportion of households which own dogs, and of the factors associated with dog ownership, is important for the planning and implementation of rabies awareness and dog vaccination programmes, and for the promotion of responsible dog ownership. This paper reports the results of a cross-sectional study of dog ownership by households in urban and rural communities in the United Republic of Tanzania. Results: Fourteen percent (202) of 1,471 households surveyed were identified as dog-owning, with an average of 2.4 dogs per dog-owning household. The percentage of dog-owning households was highest in inland rural areas (24%) and lowest in coastal urban communities (7%). The overall human: dog ratio was 14: 1. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that households which owned cattle, sheep or goats were much more likely to own dogs than households with no livestock. Muslim households were less likely to own dogs than Christian households, although this effect of religion was not seen among livestock-owning households. Households were more likely to own a dog if the head of the household was male; if they owned a cat; or if they owned poultry. Dog ownership was also broadly associated with larger, wealthier households. Conclusion: The human: dog ratios in Tanzania are similar to those reported elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, although cultural and geographic variation is evident. Estimation of the number of owned dogs, and identification of household predictors of dog ownership, will enable targeted planning of rabies control effort