Collaboration between science and art through a special international symposium for ecosystem health and sustainability

The collaborations between ecosystem restoration and art practices was epitomized by the eco-artist Jackie Brookner who said: “it is not a matter of the scientists providing the hard-core research and artists the soft outreach; rather, the dynamics engendered in the space between disciplines is full of information necessary to solve complex problems at the systemic level”. This paper reviews and summaries the goals, activities, and lessons learned from a special symposium, which was held at the 12th INTECOL (International Congress of Ecology) conference in Beijing, China, August 21 through 25, 2017, where about 3000 people attended from 70 countries. It showcased collaborations between art and science on ecological literacy and ecosystem sustainability, ecosystem restoration, and ecological science communication through the works of US-based, eco-artists and ecologists/ecological engineers. Examples demonstrated how the incorporation of art and collaborating with artists in ecosystem restoration enabled the integration of cultural, social, historical, and geographic contexts and facilitated the much-needed engagement and participation of local communities that are often left out

Gender Differences in Travel Constraints and Changed Travel Pattern after a Senior Travel Program Introduces: A Case Study of the Florence County Senior Travel Program

The purposes of this study were to explore pleasure travel constraints among adults aged 50 and over and investigate the gender differences of pleasure travel constraints. Moreover, this study investigated whether there were changed pleasure travel patterns among a specific group of older adults since an organized tour opportunity is available in their resident county, Florence County, South Carolina. The findings of this study indicated that female travelers perceived more travel constraints, however, they had a higher level of travel interest than males. Comparing the proportion of changed pleasure travel patterns with the FCPRD travel program, most of female travelers chose to participate in the FCPRD travel programs. As the FCPRD organized travel program was introduced, female travelers appeared to take more opportunities to travel than males

Meteorological and chemical factors controlling ozone formation in Seoul during MAPS-Seoul 2015

To understand the chemical mechanisms of controlling factors in ozone (O3) formation in early summer in Seoul, a comprehensive study encompassing measurement and modeling was conducted under the Megacity Air Pollution Study-Seoul (MAPS-Seoul) campaign. From May 18 to June 12, 2015, O3 and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) were measured, along with their precursors, including NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology, located in northeast Seoul. VOCs were sampled in a canister twice a day (at 09:30 and 15:00) and analyzed via gas chromatography. The meteorological conditions and chemical regimes of the air masses were clearly distinguished during the study period. In May, NOx concentrations were higher with more pronounced diurnal cycles of precursors and O3 under constant westerly winds. By contrast, stagnant conditions developed in June, which reduced the inflow of primary emissions from the downtown area but increased the influence from the neighboring forest under high temperatures. As a result, the ratio of O3 to odd oxygen was higher in June, indicating a less efficient removal of O3 by NOx. In the same context, the air mass was chemically more aged with a higher NO2/NOx ratio and enhanced OH reactivity of oxygenated and biogenic VOCs in June. The overall measurement results suggest that O3 formation is slightly more sensitive to VOCs than to NOx in Seoul during this season, when O3 concentrations are the highest of the year

Theological reflections in the age of climate change: a reflection on the jellyfish metaphor

This article weaves together philosophy and theology to explore the imperative of conservation in our increasingly interconnected world. Amidst the shadows of globalization, climate change, and global warming, this intellectual journey continues. The use of the thought-provoking metaphor of the jellyfish underscores humanity's central role in the story of ecological challenges. This pursuit underscores our deep moral duty to navigate complicated paths to viable solutions. While eschewing empirical or case-specific inquiry, this essay presents a concise analytical perspective that enhances our cognitive understanding of the intricate interplay between human societies and the pristine realms of the natural order. This treatise also adopts a theological perspective by weaving spiritual concepts into its fabric. By illustrating poignant instances of environmental degradation, intellectual inquiry brings into sharper focus the profound moral imperatives that underpin the call to address problems such as climate change. Drawing on philosophical and theological foundations, the essay expands our understanding of the intricate threads that connect humanity to the environment. It offers insights into the delicate web of intricate relationships that must be carefully nurtured and preserved. As theological perspectives enrich the discourse, important connections between faith, moral obligations, and our responsibilities to the planet become clear. This treatise offers a holistic perspective on the challenges of our time, combining philosophical and religious concepts to provide a comprehensive view of our current problems

Integration of airborne and ground observations of nitryl chloride in the Seoul metropolitan area and the implications on regional oxidation capacity during KORUS-AQ 2016

Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is a radical reservoir species that releases chlorine radicals upon photolysis. An integrated analysis of the impact of ClNO2 on regional photochemistry in the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) during the Korea-United States Air Quality Study (KORUS-AQ) 2016 field campaign is presented. Comprehensive multiplatform observations were conducted aboard the NASA DC-8 and at two ground sites (Olympic Park, OP; Taehwa Research Forest, TRF), representing an urbanized area and a forested suburban region, respectively. Positive correlations between daytime Cl2 and ClNO2 were observed at both sites, the slope of which was dependent on O3 levels. The possible mechanisms are explored through box model simulations constrained with observations. The overall diurnal variations in ClNO2 at both sites appeared similar but the nighttime variations were systematically different. For about half of the observation days at the OP site the level of ClNO2 increased at sunset but rapidly decreased at around midnight. On the other hand, high levels were observed throughout the night at the TRF site. Significant levels of ClNO2 were observed at both sites for 4-5 h after sunrise. Airborne observations, box model calculations, and back-trajectory analysis consistently show that these high levels of ClNO2 in the morning are likely from vertical or horizontal transport of air masses from the west. Box model results show that chlorine-radical-initiated chemistry can impact the regional photochemistry by elevating net chemical production rates of ozone by 25% in the morning

30 inch Roll-Based Production of High-Quality Graphene Films for Flexible Transparent Electrodes

We report that 30-inch scale multiple roll-to-roll transfer and wet chemical doping considerably enhance the electrical properties of the graphene films grown on roll-type Cu substrates by chemical vapor deposition. The resulting graphene films shows a sheet resistance as low as ~30 Ohm/sq at ~90 % transparency which is superior to commercial transparent electrodes such as indium tin oxides (ITO). The monolayer of graphene shows sheet resistances as low as ~125 Ohm/sq with 97.4% optical transmittance and half-integer quantum Hall effect, indicating the high-quality of these graphene films. As a practical application, we also fabricated a touch screen panel device based on the graphene transparent electrodes, showing extraordinary mechanical and electrical performances

On the Gold Standard for Security of Universal Steganography

While symmetric-key steganography is quite well understood both in the information-theoretic and in the computational setting, many fundamental questions about its public-key counterpart resist persistent attempts to solve them. The computational model for public-key steganography was proposed by von Ahn and Hopper in EUROCRYPT 2004. At TCC 2005, Backes and Cachin gave the first universal public-key stegosystem - i.e. one that works on all channels - achieving security against replayable chosen-covertext attacks (SS-RCCA) and asked whether security against non-replayable chosen-covertext attacks (SS-CCA) is achievable. Later, Hopper (ICALP 2005) provided such a stegosystem for every efficiently sampleable channel, but did not achieve universality. He posed the question whether universality and SS-CCA-security can be achieved simultaneously. No progress on this question has been achieved since more than a decade. In our work we solve Hopper's problem in a somehow complete manner: As our main positive result we design an SS-CCA-secure stegosystem that works for every memoryless channel. On the other hand, we prove that this result is the best possible in the context of universal steganography. We provide a family of 0-memoryless channels - where the already sent documents have only marginal influence on the current distribution - and prove that no SS-CCA-secure steganography for this family exists in the standard non-look-ahead model.Comment: EUROCRYPT 2018, llncs styl

Increasing the sensitivity of terahertz split ring resonator metamaterials for dielectric sensing by localized substrate etching

We demonstrate a significant enhancement in the sensitivity of split ring resonator terahertz metamaterial dielectric sensors by the introduction of etched trenches into their inductive-capacitive gap area, both through finite element simulations and in experiments performed using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy. The enhanced sensitivity is demonstrated by observation of an increased frequency shift in response to overlaid dielectric material of thicknesses up to 18 μm deposited on to the sensor surface. We show that sensitivity to the dielectric is enhanced by a factor of up to ~2.7 times by the incorporation of locally etched trenches with a depth of ~3.4 μm, for example, and discuss the effect of the etching on the electrical properties of the sensors. Our experimental findings are in good agreement with simulations of the sensors obtained using finite element methods

Klebanov-Witten flows in M-theory

We study renormalization group flows among three dimensional superconformal gauge theories which closely resemble the renowned Klebanov-Witten flow in four dimensions. In the large N limit, each theory appearing in the flow is holographically dual to M-theory on AdS4 times a toric Sasaki-Einstein seven-manifold. The theories are obtained through the so-called flavoring method, which adds some fundamental matter fields to the dimensionally reduced Klebanov-Witten theories. We reconfirm the matching between the gauge theories and the dual geometries by comparing the chiral ring structure. As a more refined test of the flows, we compute the three-sphere partition function of the gauge theories. The square of the free energy, inversely proportional to the volume of the seven-manifold, decreases by a universal ratio 16/27 for all flows considered in this paper.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures; v2. references added, minor improvement