Developing alternatives for optimal representation of seafloor habitats and associated communities in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary

The implementation of various types of marine protected areas is one of several management tools available for conserving representative examples of the biological diversity within marine ecosystems in general and National Marine Sanctuaries in particular. However, deciding where and how many sites to establish within a given area is frequently hampered by incomplete knowledge of the distribution of organisms and an understanding of the potential tradeoffs that would allow planners to address frequently competing interests in an objective manner. Fortunately, this is beginning to change. Recent studies on the continental shelf of the northeastern United States suggest that substrate and water mass characteristics are highly correlated with the composition of benthic communities and may therefore, serve as proxies for the distribution of biological biodiversity. A detailed geo-referenced interpretative map of major sediment types within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) has recently been developed, and computer-aided decision support tools have reached new levels of sophistication. We demonstrate the use of simulated annealing, a type of mathematical optimization, to identify suites of potential conservation sites within SBNMS that equally represent 1) all major sediment types and 2) derived habitat types based on both sediment and depth in the smallest amount of space. The Sanctuary was divided into 3610 0.5 min2 sampling units. Simulations incorporated constraints on the physical dispersion of sampling units to varying degrees such that solutions included between one and four site clusters. Target representation goals were set at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 percent of each sediment type, and 10 and 20 percent of each habitat type. Simulations consisted of 100 runs, from which we identified the best solution (i.e., smallest total area) and four nearoptimal alternates. We also plotted total instances in which each sampling unit occurred in solution sets of the 100 runs as a means of gauging the variety of spatial configurations available under each scenario. Results suggested that the total combined area needed to represent each of the sediment types in equal proportions was equal to the percent representation level sought. Slightly larger areas were required to represent all habitat types at the same representation levels. Total boundary length increased in direct proportion to the number of sites at all levels of representation for simulations involving sediment and habitat classes, but increased more rapidly with number of sites at higher representation levels. There were a large number of alternate spatial configurations at all representation levels, although generally fewer among one and two versus three- and four-site solutions. These differences were less pronounced among simulations targeting habitat representation, suggesting that a similar degree of flexibility is inherent in the spatial arrangement of potential protected area systems containing one versus several sites for similar levels of habitat representation. We attribute these results to the distribution of sediment and depth zones within the Sanctuary, and to the fact that even levels of representation were sought in each scenario. (PDF contains 33 pages.

Testing a Simplified Version of Einstein's Equations for Numerical Relativity

Solving dynamical problems in general relativity requires the full machinery of numerical relativity. Wilson has proposed a simpler but approximate scheme for systems near equilibrium, like binary neutron stars. We test the scheme on isolated, rapidly rotating, relativistic stars. Since these objects are in equilibrium, it is crucial that the approximation work well if we are to believe its predictions for more complicated systems like binaries. Our results are very encouraging.Comment: 9 pages (RevTeX 3.0 with 6 uuencoded figures), CRSR-107

A bioregional classification of the continental shelf of northeastern North America for conservation analysis and planning based on representation

Understanding how well National Marine Sanctuaries and other marine protected areas represent the diversity of species present within and among the biogeographic regions where they occur is essential for assessing their conservation value and identifying gaps in the protection of biological diversity. One of the first steps in any such assessment should be the development of clearly defined and scientifically justified planning boundaries representing distinct oceanographic conditions and faunal assemblages. Here, we propose a set of boundaries for the continental shelf of northeastern North America defined by subdivisions of the Eastern Temperate Province, based on a review and synthesis (i.e. meta-analysis) of the scientific literature. According to this review, the Eastern Temperate Province is generally divided into the Acadian and Virginian Subprovinces. Broad agreement places the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, and Bay of Fundy within the Acadian Subprovince. The proper association of Georges Bank is less clear; some investigators consider it part of the Acadian and others part of the Virginian. Disparate perspectives emerge from the analysis of different groups of organisms. Further, while some studies suggest a distinction between the Southern New England shelf and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, others describe the region as a broad transition zone with no unique characteristics of its own. We suggest there exists sufficient evidence to consider the Scotian Shelf, Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Southern New England, and Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight as distinct biogeographic regions from a conservation planning perspective, and present a set of proposed mapped boundaries. (PDF contains 23 pages.

Adaptive Parallel Iterative Deepening Search

Many of the artificial intelligence techniques developed to date rely on heuristic search through large spaces. Unfortunately, the size of these spaces and the corresponding computational effort reduce the applicability of otherwise novel and effective algorithms. A number of parallel and distributed approaches to search have considerably improved the performance of the search process. Our goal is to develop an architecture that automatically selects parallel search strategies for optimal performance on a variety of search problems. In this paper we describe one such architecture realized in the Eureka system, which combines the benefits of many different approaches to parallel heuristic search. Through empirical and theoretical analyses we observe that features of the problem space directly affect the choice of optimal parallel search strategy. We then employ machine learning techniques to select the optimal parallel search strategy for a given problem space. When a new search task is input to the system, Eureka uses features describing the search space and the chosen architecture to automatically select the appropriate search strategy. Eureka has been tested on a MIMD parallel processor, a distributed network of workstations, and a single workstation using multithreading. Results generated from fifteen puzzle problems, robot arm motion problems, artificial search spaces, and planning problems indicate that Eureka outperforms any of the tested strategies used exclusively for all problem instances and is able to greatly reduce the search time for these applications

Exotic Meson Decay Widths using Lattice QCD

A decay width calculation for a hybrid exotic meson h, with JPC=1-+, is presented for the channel h->pi+a1. This quenched lattice QCD simulation employs Luescher's finite box method. Operators coupling to the h and pi+a1 states are used at various levels of smearing and fuzzing, and at four quark masses. Eigenvalues of the corresponding correlation matrices yield energy spectra that determine scattering phase shifts for a discrete set of relative pi+a1 momenta. Although the phase shift data is sparse, fits to a Breit-Wigner model are attempted, resulting in a decay width of about 60 MeV when averaged over two lattice sizes.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, RevTex4, minor change to Fig.

Perturbative evolution of conformally flat initial data for a single boosted black hole

The conformally flat families of initial data typically used in numerical relativity to represent boosted black holes are not those of a boosted slice of the Schwarzschild spacetime. If such data are used for each black hole in a collision, the emitted radiation will be partially due to the ``relaxation'' of the individual holes to ``boosted Schwarzschild'' form. We attempt to compute this radiation by treating the geometry for a single boosted conformally flat hole as a perturbation of a Schwarzschild black hole, which requires the use of second order perturbation theory. In this we attempt to mimic a previous calculation we did for the conformally flat initial data for spinning holes. We find that the boosted black hole case presents additional subtleties, and although one can evolve perturbatively and compute radiated energies, it is much less clear than in the spinning case how useful for the study of collisions are the radiation estimates for the ``spurious energy'' in each hole. In addition to this we draw some lessons on which frame of reference appears as more favorable for computing black hole collisions in the close limit approximation.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, 4 figures included with psfig, to appear in PR

International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite mission analysis

The results are presented of the mission analysis performed by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in support of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite. The launch window is open for three separate periods (for a total time of 7 months) during the year extending from July 20, 1977, to July 20, 1978. The synchronous orbit shadow constraint limits the launch window to approximately 88 minutes per day. Apogee boost motor fuel was computed to be 455 pounds (206 kilograms) and on-station weight was 931 pounds (422 kilograms). The target orbit is elliptical synchronous, with eccentricity 0.272 and 24 hour period

Energy efficient engine. Volume 2. Appendix A: Component development and integration program

The large size and the requirement for precise lightening cavities in a considerable portion of the titanium fan blades necessitated the development of a new manufacturing method. The approach which was selected for development incorporated several technologies including HIP diffusion bonding of titanium sheet laminates containing removable cores and isothermal forging of the blade form. The technology bases established in HIP/DB for composite blades and in isothermal forging for fan blades were applicable for development of the manufacturing process. The process techniques and parameters for producing and inspecting the cored diffusion bonded titanium laminate blade preform were established. The method was demonstrated with the production of twelve hollow simulated blade shapes for evaluation. Evaluations of the critical experiments conducted to establish procedures to produce hollow structures by a laminate/core/diffusion bonding approach are included. In addition the transfer of this technology to produce a hollow fan blade is discussed

Estimating sufficient reductions of the predictors in abundant high-dimensional regressions

We study the asymptotic behavior of a class of methods for sufficient dimension reduction in high-dimension regressions, as the sample size and number of predictors grow in various alignments. It is demonstrated that these methods are consistent in a variety of settings, particularly in abundant regressions where most predictors contribute some information on the response, and oracle rates are possible. Simulation results are presented to support the theoretical conclusion.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOS962 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Device measures conductivity and velocity of ionized gas streams

Coaxial arrangement of primary coil and two sensing secondary coils contained inside slender quartz tube inserted into ionized stream permits simultaneous determination of conductivity and linear velocity. System results agree favorably with theory