Guidelines for managing visitation to seabird breeding islands 1997

The preparation of these Guidelines arose from a National Seabird Workshop in November 1993 which was organised by the Biodiversity Group of Environment Australia. At the workshop a paper by staff of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the (then) Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage and Griffith University was delivered on issues associated with the management of human visitation to seabird islands on the Great Barrier Reef. The paper has now been published in the proceedings of that Workshop

Optical full Hadamard matrix multiplexing and noise effects: errata

The model for Poisson random noise under Hadamard multiplexing is revised. The new model accounts for the variation of the Hadamard multiplexed measurements, as well as the previously considered variation due to Poisson fluctuations. A numerical simulation matches the model prediction within uncertainty

Colour image processing and texture analysis on images of porterhouse steak meat

This paper outlines two colour image processing and texture analysis techniques applied to meat images and assessment of error due to the use of JPEG compression at image capture. JPEG error analysis was performed by capturing TIFF and JPEG images, then calculating the RMS difference and applying a calibration between block boundary features and subjective visual JPEG scores. Both scores indicated high JPEG quality. Correction of JPEG blocking error was trialled and found to produce minimal improvement in the RMS difference. The texture analysis methods used were singular value decomposition over pixel blocks and complex cell analysis. The block singular values were classified as meat or non- meat by Fisher linear discriminant analysis with the colour image processing result used as ‘truth.’ Using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis, an area under the ROC curve of 0.996 was obtained, demonstrating good correspondence between the colour image processing and the singular values. The complex cell analysis indicated a ‘texture angle’ expected from human inspection

Optical full Hadamard matrix multiplexing and noise effects

Hadamard multiplexing provides a considerable SNR boost over additive random noise but Poisson noise such as photon noise reduces the boost. We develop the theory for full H-matrix Hadamard transform imaging under additive and Poisson noise effects. We show that H-matrix encoding results in no effect on average on the noise level due to Poisson noise sources while preferentially reducing additive noise. We use this result to explain the wavelength-dependent varying SNR boost in a Hadamard hyperspectral imager and argue that such a preferential boost is useful when the main noise source is indeterminant or varying

The effect of Mg location on Co-Mg-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer–Tropsch catalysts

© 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.The effectiveness of Mg as a promoter of Co-Ru/γ-Al2O3 Fischer-Tropsch catalysts depends on how and when the Mg is added. When the Mg is impregnated into the support before the Co and Ru addition, some Mg is incorporated into the support in the form of MgxAl2O3+x if the material is calcined at 550°C or 800°C after the impregnation, while the remainder is present as amorphous MgO/MgCO3 phases. After subsequent Co-Ru impregnation MgxCo3-xO4 is formed which decomposes on reduction, leading to Co(0) particles intimately mixed with Mg, as shown by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The process of impregnating Co into an Mg-modified support results in dissolution of the amorphous Mg, and it is this Mg which is then incorporated into MgxCo3-xO4. Acid washing or higher temperature calcination after Mg impregnation can remove most of this amorphous Mg, resulting in lower values of x in MgxCo3-xO4. Catalytic testing of these materials reveals that Mg incorporation into the Co oxide phase is severely detrimental to the site-Time yield, while Mg incorporation into the support may provide some enhancement of activity at high temperature

Investigating the potential of Zernike polynomials to characterise spatial distribution of macular pigment

It has been postulated that particular patterns of macular pigment (MP) distribution may be associated with the risk for eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This work investigates the potential of Zernike polynomials (ZP) to characterise the level and distribution of MP, and their suitability as a representation for analysis of the effects of age and AMD on MP patterns. As the case study, MP distribution maps computed using an experimental method based on fundus reflectance (MRIA) were obtained for ninety volunteers representing three groups: under-fifty without AMD, fifty and over without AMD, and fifty and over with AMD. ZP with 105 coefficients were fitted to the maps using least-squares optimisation and found to represent MP maps accurately (RMSE<10-1). One-way MANOVA analysis carried out on ZP representations showed that the three subject groups have significantly different means (Wilk's Lambda 0.125, p<0.0001). Linear discriminant analysis with leave-one-out scheme resulted in accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of classification according to, respectively, disease status regardless of age (81% all); disease status in the age-matched groups (87%, 88%, 86%); age irrespective of disease status (81%, 83%, 73%); and age for subjects without AMD (83%, 88%, 80%). Mean MP distributions computed from ZP coefficients for the three groups showed more elevated and more peaked MP for the healthy under-fifty group; more irregular and more elevated peripheral levels in over-fifty AMD group than in over-fifty non-AMD group; and moderate radial asymmetry in non-AMD over-50 group. The results suggest that ZP coefficients are capable of accurately representing MP in a way that captures certain spatial patterns of its distribution. Using the ZP representation MP maps could be classified according to both age and disease status with accuracy significantly greater than chance, with peak elevation, pattern irregularity and radial asymmetry identified as important features

Schizotypy : do not worry, it is not all worrisome

A long-standing tradition in personality research in psychology, and nowadays increasingly in psychiatry, is that psychotic and psychotic-like thoughts are considered common experiences in the general population. Given their widespread occurrence, such experiences cannot merely reflect pathological functioning. Moreover, reflecting the multi-dimensionality of schizotypy, some dimensions might be informative for healthy functioning while others less so. Here, we explored these possibilities by reviewing research that links schizotypy to favourable functioning such as subjective wellbeing, cognitive functioning (major focus on creativity) and personality correlates. This research highlights the existence of healthy people with psychotic-like traits who mainly experience positive schizotypy (but also affective features mapping onto bipolar disorder). These individuals seem to benefit from a healthy way to organise their thoughts and experiences, i.e. they employ an adaptive cognitive framework to explain and integrate their unusual experiences. We conclude that, instead of focussing only on the pathological, future studies should explore the behavioural, genetic, imaging and psychopharmacological correlates that define the healthy expression of psychotic-like traits. Such studies would inform on protective or compensatory mechanisms of psychosis-risk and could usefully inform us on the evolutionary advantages of the psychosis dimension

Retrospective Testing of an Automated Building Commissioning Analysis Tool (ABCAT)

More than $18 billion of energy is wasted annually in the U.S. commercial building sector. Commissioning services have proven successful in reducing building energy consumption, but the optimal energy performance obtained by commissioning may subsequently degrade. Therefore, it is very helpful to have tools that can help maintain the optimal building energy performance. An Automated Building Commissioning Analysis Tool (ABCAT) that combines a calibrated simulation operated in conjunction with diagnostic techniques is such a simple and cost efficient tool, which can continuously monitor whole building energy consumption after commissioning, warn operation personnel when an HVAC system problem has increased energy consumption, and assist them in identifying the possible cause(s) of the problem. This report presents the results of a retrospective implementation of ABCAT on five buildings, each of which consists of offices, classrooms and laboratories and has at least three years of post commissioning daily energy consumption data, on the Texas A&M University campus. For each building, the energy simulation model used was calibrated to the building energy consumption data in a post commissioning baseline period. Then, the model was used to predict the optimal cooling and heating consumption in the following days. A cumulative energy difference plot is the primary fault detection metric used in ABCAT; this plot continuously computes and plots the algebraic sum of the daily differences between the measured and simulated consumption. A fault detection standard is developed and defined in the report, and ABCAT detected 18 faults in fifteen building-years of consumption data based on this standard. The minimum, maximum and median magnitudes of the faults detected as a percentage of the average daily baseline energy consumption are 15.5%/89.5%/49.1% for the eight CHW faults, and 14.1%/59.8%/24.7% for the ten HW faults. The possible reasons for the detected faults are discussed in the report. The causes of some of the detected faults are verified with historical documentation, and the remaining diagnoses remain unconfirmed due to data quality issues and incomplete information on maintenance performed in the buildings

Focalisation et structure du texte scénarique

Cet article aborde les processus de focalisation mis en scène dans le texte scénarique. Il s'agit en premier lieu de faire état des différentes modalités de la focalisation dans le texte en établissant la spécificité du cadre scénarique qui relativise le statut des verbes de perception. En second lieu, il s'agit de mettre en évidence la focalisation qu'induisent les relations d'attribution dans le texte scénarique, un personnage étant alors tenu pour responsable d'un flash-arrière. L'article conclut à la nécessité de distinguer les différentes modalités de la focalisation dans le cadre spécifique du texte scénarique.This article studies the différent focalization processes involved in a script. First, the author depicts the modalities of focalization considering the value of the verbs of perception («we see") involved in script's descriptions. In a second time, he examines the focalization introduced by the "relationship of attribution" in a script (the impression of following a character's narration) which introduces a subjective effect in the objective treatment of film narration. In conclusion, he points out the necessity to distinguish différent modalities for the expression of focalization in the script