Synthetic Observations of Simulated Radio Galaxies I: Radio and X-ray Analysis

We present an extensive synthetic observational analysis of numerically- simulated radio galaxies designed to explore the effectiveness of conventional observational analyses at recovering physical source properties. These are the first numerical simulations with sufficient physical detail to allow such a study. The present paper focuses on extraction of magnetic field properties from nonthermal intensity information. Synchrotron and inverse-Compton intensities provided meaningful information about distributions and strengths of magnetic fields, although considerable care was called for. Correlations between radio and X-ray surface brightness correctly revealed useful dynamical relationships between particles and fields. Magnetic field strength estimates derived from the ratio of X-ray to radio intensity were mostly within about a factor of two of the RMS field strength along a given line of sight. When emissions along a given line of sight were dominated by regions close to the minimum energy/equipartition condition, the field strengths derived from the standard power-law-spectrum minimum energy calculation were also reasonably close to actual field strengths, except when spectral aging was evident. Otherwise, biases in the minimum- energy magnetic field estimation mirrored actual differences from equipartition. The ratio of the inverse-Compton magnetic field to the minimum-energy magnetic field provided a rough measure of the actual total energy in particles and fields in most instances, within an order of magnitude. This may provide a practical limit to the accuracy with which one may be able to establish the internal energy density or pressure of optically thin synchrotron sources.Comment: 43 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ, v601 n2 February 1, 200

Re-evaluation of cosmic ray cutoff terminology

The study of cosmic ray access to locations inside the geomagnetic field has evolved in a manner that has led to some misunderstanding and misapplication of the terminology originally developed to describe particle access. This paper presents what is believed to be a useful set of definitions for cosmic ray cutoff terminology for use in theoretical and experimental cosmic ray studies

Principles And Practices Fostering Inclusive Excellence: Lessons From The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Capstone Institutions

Best-practices pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aims for inclusive excellence that fosters student persistence. This paper describes principles of inclusivity across 11 primarily undergraduate institutions designated as Capstone Awardees in Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) 2012 competition. The Capstones represent a range of institutional missions, student profiles, and geographical locations. Each successfully directed activities toward persistence of STEM students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, through a set of common elements: mentoring programs to build community; research experiences to strengthen scientific skill/identity; attention to quantitative skills; and outreach/bridge programs to broaden the student pool. This paper grounds these program elements in learning theory, emphasizing their essential principles with examples of how they were implemented within institutional contexts. We also describe common assessment approaches that in many cases informed programming and created traction for stakeholder buy-in. The lessons learned from our shared experiences in pursuit of inclusive excellence, including the resources housed on our companion website, can inform others’ efforts to increase access to and persistence in STEM in higher education

Can the Experience of Participatory Development Help Think Critically about ‘Patient and Public Involvement’ in UK Healthcare?

The expansion of spaces for ‘patient and public involvement’ (PPI) in health systems in the UK is a relatively recent phenomenon, and yet ‘participation’ as a principle for planned interventions in international development is well established as a field of practice and controversy. Development workers and scholars have passed through moments of enchantment and disenchantment with the idea that the true source of innovation, expertise and workable (and sustainable) solutions is to be found not in the professionals but in communities of experience. Making ‘local knowledge’ the basis of interventions has proved unexpectedly problematic. How could incommensurable forms of knowing, across steep gradients of power be bridged? This article describes a decade-long experiment in participatory development in a remote Adivasi (tribal) region of western India in order to suggest the relevance of this experience for the very different context of PPI in healthcare settings. In particular, it highlights some general points about knowledge practices at the interface, and the human tendency to adjust, mirror, mimic, loop and in other ways make the ‘patient-professional’ interface itself hard to navigate. The article suggests that self-reflective insight into these social processes is necessary for effective ‘engagement’ by professional and lay actors alike

Models of spatiotemporal variation in rabbit abundance reveal management hot spots for an invasive species

First published: 25 January 2020The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a notorious economic and environmental pest species in its invasive range. To better understand the population and range dynamics of this species, 41 years of abundance data have been collected from 116 unique sites across a broad range of climatic and environmental conditions in Australia. We analyzed this time series of abundance data to determine whether inter‐annual variation in climatic conditions can be used to map historic, contemporary, and potential future fluctuations in rabbit abundance from regional to continental scales. We constructed a hierarchical Bayesian regression model of relative abundance that corrected for observation error and seasonal biases. The corrected abundances were regressed against environmental and disease variables in order to project high spatiotemporal resolution, continent‐wide rabbit abundances. We show that rabbit abundance in Australia is highly variable in space and time, being driven primarily by inter‐annual variation in temperature and precipitation in concert with the prevalence of a non‐pathogenic virus. Moreover, we show that inter‐annual variation in local spatial abundances can be mapped effectively at a continental scale using highly resolved spatiotemporal predictors, allowing “hotspots” of persistently high rabbit abundance to be identified. Importantly, cross‐validated model performance was fair to excellent within and across distinct climate zones. Long‐term monitoring data for invasive species can be used to map fine‐scale spatiotemporal fluctuations in abundance patterns when accurately accounting for inherent sampling biases. Our analysis provides ecologists and pest managers with a clearer understanding of the determinants of rabbit abundance in Australia, offering an important new approach for predicting spatial abundance patterns of invasive species at the near‐term temporal scales that are directly relevant to resource management.Stuart C Brown, Konstans Wells, Emilie Roy-Dufresne, Susan Campbell, Brian Cooke, Tarnya Cox, Damien A. Fordha

The political identities of neighbourhood planning in England

The rise of neighbourhood planning has been characterised as another step in a remorseless de-politicisation of the public sphere. A policy initiated by the Coalition Government in England to create the conditions for local communities to support housing growth, neighbourhood planning appears to evidence a continuing retreat from political debate and contestation. Clear boundaries are established for the holistic integration of participatory democracy into the strategic plan-making of the local authority. These boundaries seek to take politics out of development decisions and exclude all issues of contention from discussion. They achieve this goal at the cost of arming participatory democracy with a collective identity around which new antagonisms may develop. Drawing on the post-political theories of Chantal Mouffe this paper identifies the return of antagonism and conflict to participation in spatial planning. Key to its argument is the concept of the boundary or frontier that in Mouffe’s theoretical framework institutionalises conflict between political entities. Drawing on primary research with neighbourhood development plans in England the paper explores how boundary conditions and boundary designations generate antagonism and necessitate political action. The paper charts the development of the collective identities that result from these boundary lines and argues for the potential for neighbourhood planning to restore political conflict to the politics of housing development

Entrepreneurial academics and regional innovation systems: the case of spin-offs from London's universities

In this paper we explore the spin-off process from London’s universities using a regional innovation systems (RIS) framework. We examine the pattern of spin-offs in the context of changes in institutional support systems, both within the universities and in the London region. The majority of the university-related spin-offs are small and medium-sized enterprises concentrated in biomedical sectors, as elsewhere. However, over a third have left London. We explore these patterns, the implications for understanding the role of universities in RIS, and consequent policy implications

Near-infrared observations of type Ia supernovae: The best known standard candle for cosmology

We present an analysis of the Hubble diagram for 12 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed in the near-infrared J and H bands. We select SNe exclusively from the redshift range 0.03 < z < 0.09 to reduce uncertainties coming from peculiar velocities while remaining in a cosmologically well-understood region. All of the SNe in our sample exhibit no spectral or B-band light-curve peculiarities and lie in the B-band stretch range of 0.8-1.15. Our results suggest that SNe Ia observed in the near-infrared (NIR) are the best known standard candles. We fit previously determined NIR light-curve templates to new high-precision data to derive peak magnitudes and to determine the scatter about the Hubble line. Photometry of the 12 SNe is presented in the natural system. Using a standard cosmology of (H_0, Omega_m, Lambda) = (70,0.27,0.73) we find a median J-band absolute magnitude of M_J = -18.39 with a scatter of 0.116 and a median H-band absolute magnitude of M_H = -18.36 with a scatter of 0.085. The scatter in the H band is the smallest yet measured. We search for correlations between residuals in the J- and H-band Hubble diagrams and SN properties, such as SN colour, B-band stretch and the projected distance from host-galaxy centre. The only significant correlation is between the J-band Hubble residual and the J-H pseudo-colour. We also examine how the scatter changes when fewer points in the near-infrared are used to constrain the light curve. With a single point in the H band taken anywhere from 10 days before to 15 days after B-band maximum light and a prior on the date of H-band maximum set from the date of B-band maximum, we find that we can measure distances to an accuracy of 6%. The precision of SNe Ia in the NIR provides new opportunities for precision measurements of both the expansion history of the universe and peculiar velocities of nearby galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA