Report of the SNOMS Project 2006 to 2012, SNOMS SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System. Part 1: Narrative description

The ocean plays a major role in controlling the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere are a threat to the stability of the earth’s climate. A better understanding of the controlling role of the ocean will improve predictions of likely future changes in climate and the impact of the uptake of CO2 itself on marine eco-systems caused by the associated acidification of the ocean waters. The SNOMS Project (SWIRE NOCS Ocean Monitoring System) is a ground breaking joint research project supported by the Swire Group Trust, the Swire Educational Trust, the China Navigation Company (CNCo) and the Natural Environment Research Council. It collects high quality data on concentrations of CO2 in the surface layer of the ocean. It contributes to the international effort to better quantify (and understand the driving processes controlling) the exchanges of CO2 between the ocean and the atmosphere. In 2006 and 2007 a system that could be used on a commercial ship to provide data over periods of several months with only limited maintenance by the ships crew was designed and assembled by NOCS. The system was fitted to the CNCo ship the MV Pacific Celebes in May 2007. The onboard system was supported by web pages that monitored the progress of the ship and the functioning of the data collection system. To support the flow of data from the ship to the archiving of the data at the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC in the USA) data processing procedures were developed for the quality control and systematic handling of the data. Data from samples of seawater collected by the ships crew and analysed in NOC (730 samples) have been used to confirm the consistency of the data from the automated measurement system on the ship. To examine the data collected between 2007 and 2012 the movements of the ship are divided into 16 voyages. Initially The Celebes traded on a route circum-navigating the globe via the Panama and Suez Canals. In 2009 the route shifted to one between Australia and New Zealand to USA and Canada. Analysis of the data is an on going process. It has demonstrated that the system produces reliable data. Data are capable of improving existing estimates of seasonal variability. The work has improved knowledge of gas exchange processes. Data from the crew-collected-samples are helping improve our ability to estimate alkalinity in different areas. This helps with the study of ocean acidification. Data from the 9 round trips in the Pacific are currently being examined along with data made available by the NOAA-PMEL laboratory forming time series from 2004 to 2012. The data from the Pacific route are of considerable interest. One reason is that the data monitors variations in the fluxes of CO2 associated with the current that flows westwards along the equator. This is one of the major natural sources of CO2 from the ocean into the atmosphere

A Strong Szego Theorem for Jacobi Matrices

We use a classical result of Gollinski and Ibragimov to prove an analog of the strong Szego theorem for Jacobi matrices on $l^2(\N)$. In particular, we consider the class of Jacobi matrices with conditionally summable parameter sequences and find necessary and sufficient conditions on the spectral measure such that $\sum_{k=n}^\infty b_k$ and $\sum_{k=n}^\infty (a_k^2 - 1)$ lie in $l^2_1$, the linearly-weighted $l^2$ space.Comment: 26 page

Studying the High-Energy Gamma-Ray Sky with Glast

Building on the success of the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will make a major step in the study of such subjects as blazars, gamma-ray bursts, the search for dark matter, supernova remnants, pulsars, diffuse radiation, and unidentified high-energy sources. The instrument will be built on new and mature detector technologies such as silicon strip detectors, low-power low-noise LSI, and a multilevel data acquisition system. GLAST is in the research and development phase, and one full tower (of 25 total) is now being built in collaborating institutes. The prototype tower will be tested thoroughly at SLAC in the fall of 1999.Comment: 6 pages with 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the COSPAR 98 Symposium E 1.1, postscript file also available at http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/COSPAR

5 years of plankton monitoring in Southampton Water and the Solent including FerryBox, Dock Monitor and discrete sample data

The Environment Agency (EA) has to make a eutrophication status assessment of the Solent and its harbours every four years. This requires a review of the frequency and magnitude of phytoplankton blooms. To assist with this process SOC has prepared this report to provide a "meta-data base" describing the relevant data sets collected by SOC between 1999 and 2003. It provides details of :- (1) methods used to collect the data (2) errors associated with the methods (3) calibration and quality control procedures used (4) changes in procedures (5) references to technical reports and theses containing detailed descriptions of the methods used. Changes in concentrations of chlorophyll in relation to concentrations of nutrients at SOC study sites in Southampton Water are plotted in graphs. The occurrence of bloom events and processes of bloom limitation are described. In particular observations of the variation of chlorophyll concentrations made using the FerryBox route between Town Quay Southampton and Cowes Isle of Wight are described and the development of the systems and associated problems are detailed. The information is presented as (i) graphs of the whole data set at all locations against time for each year (ii) 3D maps of the variation in concentrations with location and time (iii) time series for single locations along the FerryBox track

GLAST Large Area Telescope Multiwavelength Planning

Gamma-ray astrophysics depends in many ways on multiwavelength studies. The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) Large Area Telescope (LAT) Collaboration has started multiwavelength planning well before the scheduled 2007 launch of the observatory. Some of the high-priority multiwavelength needs include: (1) availability of contemporaneous radio and X-ray timing of pulsars; (2) expansion of blazar catalogs, including redshift measurements; (3) improved observations of molecular clouds, especially at high galactic latitudes; (4) simultaneous broad-spectrum blazar monitoring; (5) characterization of gamma-ray transients, including gamma ray bursts; (6) radio, optical, X-ray and TeV counterpart searches for reliable and effective sources identification and characterization. Several of these activities are needed to be in place before launch

Discovery and Measurement of Sleptons, Binos, and Winos with a Z'

Extensions of the MSSM could significantly alter its phenomenology at the LHC. We study the case in which the MSSM is extended by an additional U(1) gauge symmetry, which is spontaneously broken at a few TeV. The production cross-section of sleptons is enhanced over that of the MSSM by the process $pp\to Z' \to \tilde{\ell} \tilde{\ell}^*$, so the discovery potential for sleptons is greatly increased. The flavor and charge information in the resulting decay, $\tilde{\ell} \to \ell + {LSP}$, provides a useful handle on the identity of the LSP. With the help of the additional kinematical constraint of an on-shell Z', we implement a novel method to measure all of the superpartner masses involved in this channel. For certain final states with two invisible particles, one can construct kinematic observables bounded above by parent particle masses. We demonstrate how output from one such observable, m_T2, can become input to a second, increasing the number of measurements one can make with a single decay chain. The method presented here represents a new class of observables which could have a much wider range of applicability.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures; v2 references added and minor change

Overcoming the Metaphysics of Consciousness: Being/Artaud

Some recent theories of the mind have invoked the theatre as a metaphor to explain consciousness. This paper suggests that there is something irreducible to consciousness and that theatre can be an invaluable tool for exploring such subject matter. Rather than explain the mind through theory, performance practices can use immediate experience to investigate consciousness. Of course, Antonin Artaud’s ‘Theatre of Cruelty’ articulates the hope of apprehending consciousness through immediate experience, overcoming ‘literature’ and the alienating ossification of language. For Artaud, the ‘self’ has always been stolen at birth yet he suggests it can be returned through the theatre. The Theatre of Cruelty is an overcoming of the metaphysical obstructions of ‘being’. Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time also seeks to reveal the concept of 'Being' by destroying the historical misunderstanding of the term. Heidegger' claims that 'Dasein' (Being-there), the human subject, is maintained by a radical continuity with the world in which it exists. Because human subjects are 'absorbed' in the world of practical activity, projects and tasks, they tend to misrecognise themselves as a ‘thing’. But consciousness is not a ‘thing’ like other entities in the world. Such misrecognition is the fundamental error in what Heidegger calls metaphysics. My contention is that the Theatre of Cruelty is Artaud’s attempt at articulating a practical investigation of consciousness, resisting the metaphysical structures of language and logic and calling for the priority of ‘experience’. Cruelty is a return of the pre-theoretical, unspeakable words needed to explore the Being of consciousness. Such is an attempt to overcome the metaphysics of consciousness onstage.The conference was sponsored by A.D.S.A., the Department of Performance Studies, the School of Letters, Arts and Media, and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Sydney

Receptor activation using multi-biomarker pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling

receptor activation was evaluated using quinpirole as a paradigm compound. ), as well as plasma concentrations of 13 hormones and neuropeptides, were measured. Experiments were performed at day 1 and repeated after 7-day s.c. drug administration. PK/PD modelling was applied to identify the in vivo concentration-effect relations and neuroendocrine dynamics. receptor expression levels on the pituitary hormone-releasing cells predicted the concentration-effect relationship differences. Baseline levels (ACTH, prolactin, TSH), hormone release (ACTH) and potency (TSH) changed with treatment duration. agonists in clinical practice. Further development towards quantitative systems pharmacology models will eventually facilitate mechanistic drug development. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH KEY RESULTS CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATION