Gauge Quintessence

We discuss a new model of quintessence in which the quintessence field is identified with the extra-component of a gauge field in a compactified five-dimensional theory. We show that the extremely tiny energy scale $\sim (3\times 10^{-3} eV)^4$ needed to account for the present acceleration of the Universe can be naturally explained in terms of high energy scales such as the scale of Grand Unification.Comment: 3 page

RRS Discovery Cruise DY039, 17 Oct - 01 Dec 2015, Southampton, UK to Nassau, Bahamas. RAPID moorings cruise report

This cruise report covers scientific operations conducted during RRS Discovery Cruise DY039. The purpose of the cruise was the refurbishment of an array of moorings spanning the latitude of 26.5°N from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands. Cruise DY039 departed from Southampton, UK on Saturday 17 October 2015, calling at Tenerife, Spain and Nassau, Bahamas before ending in Nassau, Bahamas on 21 November 2015. The moorings are part of a purposeful Atlantic wide mooring array for monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the associated heat transport. The array is a joint UK- US programme and is known as the RAPID-MOCHA array. During DY039 moorings were serviced at sites: EBH4, EBH4L, EBH3, EBH2, EBH1, EBH1L, EBHi, EB1, EB1L, MAR3, MAR3L, MAR2, MAR1, MAR1L, MAR0, WB6, WB4, WB4L, WBH2, WB2, WB2L, WB1, WBADCP and WBAL. Sites with suffix ‘L’ denote landers fitted with bottom pressure recorders. RAPID-AMOC continues the measurements at 26°N started with the RAPID and RAPID-WATCH programmes and through the ABC Fluxes project extends the measurements to include biological and chemical measurements in order to determine AMOC links to climate and the ocean carbon sink on interannual-to-decadal time scales. This is the first deployment of the ABC Fluxes biogeochemical samplers and sensors to the array (aside from initial oxygen sensors that were deployed in 2014). The ABC Fluxes sensors include pCO2 sensors, pH sensors, additional oxygen sensors and autonomous water samplers to collect samples for nutrient and carbonate chemistry analysis following mooring recovery. Additionally the RAPID telemetry MkIII system was deployed for the first time on the array at EBHi with 6 data pods set to release over the 18-month deployment period. 24 temperature sensors and 2 75kHz ADCPs were also added to mooring WB1 for the MerMEED project. Mooring EB1L was not able to be recovered but a replacement was deployed. A sediment trap mooring NOGST was also recovered and redeployed for the Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems Group at the NOCS. CTD stations were conducted throughout the cruise for purposes of providing pre- and post- deployment calibrations for mooring instrumentation (including oxygen and carbonate chemistry sampling) and for testing mooring releases prior to deployment. Shipboard underway measurements were systematically logged, processed and calibrated, including: surface meteorology, 5m depth sea temperatures and salinities, water depth, and navigation. Water velocity profiles from 15 m to approximately 800 m depth were obtained using the two vessel mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (one 75 kHz and one 150 kHz)

Antimicrobial resistance and biological governance: explanations for policy failure

The paper reviews the state of policy on antimicrobial use and the growth of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR was anticipated at the time of the first use of antibiotics by their originators. For decades, reports and scientific papers have expressed concern about AMR at global and national policy levels, yet the problem, first exposed a half-century ago, worsened. The paper considers the explanations for this policy failure and the state of arguments about ways forward. These include: a deficit of economic incentivisation; complex interventions in behavioural dynamics; joint and separate shifts in medical and animal health regimes; consumerism; belief in technology; and a narrative that in a ‘war on bugs’ nature can be beaten by human ingenuity. The paper suggests that these narratives underplay the biological realities of the human-animal-biosphere being in constant flux, an understanding which requires an ecological public health analysis of AMR policy development and failure. The paper suggests that effective policy change requires simultaneous actions across policy levels. No single solution is possible, since AMR is the result of long-term human intervention which has accelerated certain trends in the evolution of a microbial ecosystem shared by humans, animals and other biological organism inhabiting that ecosystem. Viewing the AMR crisis today through an ecological public health lens has the advantage of reuniting the social-ecological and bio-ecological perspectives which have been separated within public health

Time transfer between the Goddard Optical Research Facility and the U.S. Naval Observatory using 100 picosecond laser pulses

A horizontal two-way time comparison link in air between the University of Maryland laser ranging and time transfer equipment at the Goddard Optical Research Facility (GORF) 1.2 m telescope and the Time Services Division of the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) was established. Flat mirrors of 25 cm and 30 cm diameter respectively were placed on top of the Washington Cathedral and on a water tower at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Two optical corner reflectors at the USNO reflect the laser pulses back to the GORF. Light pulses of 100 ps duration and an energy of several hundred microjoules are sent at the rate of 10 pulses per second. The detection at the USNO is by means of an RCA C30902E avalanche photodiode and the timing is accomplished by an HP 5370A computing counter and an HP 1000 computer with respect to a 10 pps pulse train from the Master Clock

RRS Discovery Cruise DY039, 17 Oct - 01 Dec 2015, Southampton, UK to Nassau, Bahamas. RAPID moorings cruise report

This cruise report covers scientific operations conducted during RRS Discovery Cruise DY039. The purpose of the cruise was the refurbishment of an array of moorings spanning the latitude of 26.5°N from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands. Cruise DY039 departed from Southampton, UK on Saturday 17 October 2015, calling at Tenerife, Spain and Nassau, Bahamas before ending in Nassau, Bahamas on 21 November 2015.The moorings are part of a purposeful Atlantic wide mooring array for monitoring the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and the associated heat transport. The array is a joint UK- US programme and is known as the RAPID-MOCHA array.During DY039 moorings were serviced at sites: EBH4, EBH4L, EBH3, EBH2, EBH1, EBH1L, EBHi, EB1, EB1L, MAR3, MAR3L, MAR2, MAR1, MAR1L, MAR0, WB6, WB4, WB4L, WBH2, WB2, WB2L, WB1, WBADCP and WBAL. Sites with suffix ‘L’ denote landers fitted with bottom pressure recorders. RAPID-AMOC continues the measurements at 26°N started with the RAPID and RAPID-WATCH programmes and through the ABC Fluxes project extends the measurements to include biological and chemical measurements in order to determine AMOC links to climate and the ocean carbon sink on interannual-to-decadal time scales. This is the first deployment of the ABC Fluxes biogeochemical samplers and sensors to the array (aside from initial oxygen sensors that were deployed in 2014).The ABC Fluxes sensors include pCO2 sensors, pH sensors, additional oxygen sensors and autonomous water samplers to collect samples for nutrient and carbonate chemistry analysis following mooring recovery.Additionally the RAPID telemetry MkIII system was deployed for the first time on the array at EBHi with 6 data pods set to release over the 18-month deployment period. 24 temperature sensors and 2 75kHz ADCPs were also added to mooring WB1 for the MerMEED project.Mooring EB1L was not able to be recovered but a replacement was deployed. A sediment trap mooring NOGST was also recovered and redeployed for the Ocean Biogeochemistry and Ecosystems Group at the NOCS.CTD stations were conducted throughout the cruise for purposes of providing pre- and post- deployment calibrations for mooring instrumentation (including oxygen and carbonate chemistry sampling) and for testing mooring releases prior to deployment.Shipboard underway measurements were systematically logged, processed and calibrated, including: surface meteorology, 5m depth sea temperatures and salinities, water depth, and navigation. Water velocity profiles from 15 m to approximately 800 m depth were obtained using the two vessel mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (one 75 kHz and one 150 kHz)

Improved analyses of changes and uncertainties in sea surface temperature measured in situ sice the mid-nineteenth century: The HadSST2 dataset

A new flexible gridded dataset of sea surface temperature (SST) since 1850 is presented and its uncertainties are quantified. This analysis [the Second Hadley Centre Sea Surface Temperature dataset (HadSST2)] is based on data contained within the recently created International Comprehensive Ocean–Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) database and so is superior in geographical coverage to previous datasets and has smaller uncertainties. Issues arising when analyzing a database of observations measured from very different platforms and drawn from many different countries with different measurement practices are introduced. Improved bias corrections are applied to the data to account for changes in measurement conditions through time. A detailed analysis of uncertainties in these corrections is included by exploring assumptions made in their construction and producing multiple versions using a Monte Carlo method. An assessment of total uncertainty in each gridded average is obtained by combining these bias-correction-related uncertainties with those arising from measurement errors and undersampling of intragrid box variability. These are calculated by partitioning the variance in grid box averages between real and spurious variability. From month to month in individual grid boxes, sampling uncertainties tend to be most important (except in certain regions), but on large-scale averages bias-correction uncertainties are more dominant owing to their correlation between grid boxes. Changes in large-scale SST through time are assessed by two methods. The linear warming between 1850 and 2004 was 0.52° ± 0.19°C (95% confidence interval) for the globe, 0.59° ± 0.20°C for the Northern Hemisphere, and 0.46° ± 0.29°C for the Southern Hemisphere. Decadally filtered differences for these regions over this period were 0.67° ± 0.04°C, 0.71° ± 0.06°C, and 0.64° ± 0.07°C

Results from an online survey of adults with cystic fibrosis: Accessing and using life expectancy information

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the one of the most common inherited diseases. It affects around 10,000 people in the UK, and the median survival age is 47. Recent developments making use of longitudinal patient registry data are producing more detailed and relevant information about predicted life expectancy in CF based on current age and clinical measurements. The objective of this study was to conduct an online survey of adults with CF living in the UK using a web-based questionnaire to investigate: (i) if and how they access information on life expectancy; (ii) what they use it for; (iii) if they want more personalised information on life expectancy or the time until other milestones. The survey was advertised through the Cystic Fibrosis Trust using social media. There were 85 respondents, covering men (39%) and women (61%) aged 16–65. 75% had received information on life expectancy either from their CF care team (34%) or other sources (71%), the most common being the Cystic Fibrosis Trust website and research literature. Most people who received information found it to be beneficial and reported using it in a variety of ways, including to plan strategies for maintaining as best health as possible and to psychologically manage current health status. 82% of respondents were interested in more personalised information about their life expectancy, and participants also noted interest in other outcomes, including time to needing transplant or reaching a low level of lung function. Themes arising in text responses included the importance of good communication of information, the difficulty of relating general information to one’s own circumstances, and a desire for increased information on factors that impact on survival in CF. As an outcome from this work, research is underway to establish how information on life expectancy can be presented to people with CF in an accessible way

FeH Absorption in the Near-Infrared Spectra of Late M and L Dwarfs

We present medium-resolution z-, J-, and H-band spectra of four late-type dwarfs with spectral types ranging from M8 to L7.5. In an attempt to determine the origin of numerous weak absorption features throughout their near-infrared spectra, and motivated by the recent tentative identification of the E 4\Pi- A ^4\Pi system of FeH near 1.6 microns in umbral and cool star spectra, we have compared the dwarf spectra to a laboratory FeH emission spectrum. We have identified nearly 100 FeH absorption features in the z-, J-, and H-band spectra of the dwarfs. In particular, we have identified 34 features which dominate the appearance of the H-band spectra of the dwarfs and which appear in the laboratory FeH spectrum. Finally, all of the features are either weaker or absent in the spectrum of the L7.5 dwarf which is consistent with the weakening of the known FeH bandheads in the spectra of the latest L dwarfs.Comment: accepted by Ap

How strongly do word reading times and lexical decision times correlate? Combining data from eye movement corpora and megastudies

We assess the amount of shared variance between three measures of visual word recognition latencies: eye movement latencies, lexical decision times and naming times. After partialling out the effects of word frequency and word length, two well-documented predictors of word recognition latencies, we see that 7-44% of the variance is uniquely shared between lexical decision times and naming times, depending on the frequency range of the words used. A similar analysis of eye movement latencies shows that the percentage of variance they uniquely share either with lexical decision times or with naming times is much lower. It is 5 – 17% for gaze durations and lexical decision times in studies with target words presented in neutral sentences, but drops to .2% for corpus studies in which eye movements to all words are analysed. Correlations between gaze durations and naming latencies are lower still. These findings suggest that processing times in isolated word processing and continuous text reading are affected by specific task demands and presentation format, and that lexical decision times and naming times are not very informative in predicting eye movement latencies in text reading once the effect of word frequency and word length are taken into account. The difference between controlled experiments and natural reading suggests that reading strategies and stimulus materials may determine the degree to which the immediacy-of-processing assumption and the eye-mind assumption apply. Fixation times are more likely to exclusively reflect the lexical processing of the currently fixated word in controlled studies with unpredictable target words rather than in natural reading of sentences or texts