High dynamic range imaging for archaeological recording

This paper notes the adoption of digital photography as a primary recording means within archaeology, and reviews some issues and problems that this presents. Particular attention is given to the problems of recording high-contrast scenes in archaeology and High Dynamic Range imaging using multiple exposures is suggested as a means of providing an archive of high-contrast scenes that can later be tone-mapped to provide a variety of visualisations. Exposure fusion is also considered, although it is noted that this has some disadvantages. Three case studies are then presented (1) a very high contrast photograph taken from within a rock-cut tomb at Cala Morell, Menorca (2) an archaeological test pitting exercise requiring rapid acquisition of photographic records in challenging circumstances and (3) legacy material consisting of three differently exposed colour positive (slide) photographs of the same scene. In each case, HDR methods are shown to significantly aid the generation of a high quality illustrative record photograph, and it is concluded that HDR imaging could serve an effective role in archaeological photographic recording, although there remain problems of archiving and distributing HDR radiance map data

Simultaneous optical polarimetry and X-ray observations of the magnetic CV CP Tuc (AX J2315--592)

CP Tuc (AX J2315--592) shows a dip in X-rays which lasts for approximately half the binary orbit and is deeper in soft X-rays compared with hard X-rays. It has been proposed that this dip is due to the accretion stream obscuring the accretion region from view. If CP Tuc was a polar, as has been suggested, then the length of such a dip would make it unique amongst polars since in those polars in which a dip is seen in hard X-rays the dip lasts for only 0.1 of the orbit. We present optical polarimetry and RXTE observations of CP Tuc which show circular polarisation levels of ~10 per cent and find evidence for only one photometric period. These data confirm CP Tuc as a polar. Our modelling of the polarisation data imply that the X-ray dip is due to the bulk of the primary accretion region being self-eclipsed by the white dwarf. The energy dependence of the dip is due to a combination of this self-eclipse and also the presence of an X-ray temperature gradient over the primary accretion region.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

\u27Recent Irish Poetry\u27 and Recent Irish Poetry

A key text in twentieth-century poetic debate in Ireland is Samuel Beckett\u27s \u27Recent Irish Poetry\u27, published in 1934. Beckett was then twenty-eight years old and in the midst of what his poem \u27Gnome\u27 calls the \u27years of wandering\u27 before his decision to settle in Paris in 1937. Entirely out of sympathy with Free State Ireland, he used the essay to offer a damning analysis of the complacency and simple-mindedness of the great majority of its poets. Depending on their reaction to \u27the new thing that has happened, namely the breakdown of the object\u27 in contemporary culture, Irish poets divide for Beckett into two groups, \u27antiquarians and others\u27. The former greatly outnumber the latter, and are subjected to acid derision. While T.S. Eliot called for the extinction of personality, Beckett demonstrates how Irish poetry was lacking even enough personality to extinguish

Strong XUV irradiation of the Earth-sized exoplanets orbiting the ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1

We present an XMM-Newton X-ray observation of TRAPPIST-1, which is an ultracool dwarf star recently discovered to host three transiting and temperate Earth-sized planets. We find the star is a relatively strong and variable coronal X-ray source with an X-ray luminosity similar to that of the quiet Sun, despite its much lower bolometric luminosity. We find L_x/L_bol=2-4x10^-4, with the total XUV emission in the range L_xuv/L_bol=6-9x10^-4, and XUV irradiation of the planets that is many times stronger than experienced by the present-day Earth. Using a simple energy-limited model we show that the relatively close-in Earth-sized planets, which span the classical habitable zone of the star, are subject to sufficient X-ray and EUV irradiation to significantly alter their primary and any secondary atmospheres. Understanding whether this high-energy irradiation makes the planets more or less habitable is a complex question, but our measured fluxes will be an important input to the necessary models of atmospheric evolution.Comment: 5 pages, published as a letter in MNRAS (accepted 16 September 2016

Recent investigations of the megalithic landscapes of Seville province, Andalusia: Dolmen de Palacio III

This paper describes the results of the fieldwork stage (2000-2002) of a project dealing with the megalithic phenomenon in Almadén de la Plata (Sevilla, Andalusia, Spain), carried out jointly by the universities of Seville and Southampton. On the one hand, this project aims to understand the spatial and landscape dimensions of the megalithic monuments of this region, where the density and diversity of such monuments is very high. This has involved systematic surface survey of a number of designated areas in order to provide the empirical basis from which to understand spatial distributions relationships between the monuments themselves, between the monuments and settlement areas and between monuments and landscape features). On the other hand, this project is looking at aspects of the internal organisation of megalithic burials in the area. Thus excavations carried out at the site of Dolmen de Palacio III have permitted the retrieval and recording of an almost completely intact Copper Age tholos tomb, as well as providing extremely useful information about patterns of re-use of the monument between the Neolithic and the Iron Age

The Use of a Multi-modal Interface to Integrate In-Vehicle Information Presentation

The car of the future will have many new information sources— including telematics systems, navigation systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)—that will compete for a driver’s limited cognitive attention. If they are implemented as completely separate systems then cognitive overload and driver distraction are inevitable outcomes. However, if they are implemented as an integrated intelligent system with a multi-modal interface, then the benefits of such functionality will be achieved with much less impact on driving safety. Such a system will support the task of safe driving by filtering and mediating information in response to real-world driving demands. This paper outlines the Human Factors research program being undertaken by Motorola Labs to evaluate key elements of such a multi-modal interface as well as the key human factors issues involved in a multi-modal interface

Gains in Knowledge and Perception of Engineering after Participation in an Engineering Design Web-Experience Are Gender-Dependent

Web-based activities have the potential to teach engineering in both formal and informal science education settings, maximizing outreach efforts. To date, many activities available on the internet teach about engineering, but few allow students to truly “do” engineering. This project utilized web animation and interaction in the design of a web-based experience focused on engineering design. In this activity, targeted toward middle school students, users played the role of engineer and engaged in the process of designing a cell phone for the older adult market. It was hoped that this web-based activity would increase participant understanding of what engineering is and the steps of the engineering design process, while also encouraging students to consider engineering-related careers. An additional aim of this study was to determine whether the web-based application and the object of design (a cell phone) would appeal to female students as much as it would to male students. To test this, 162 middle-school students participated in the web-experience. Summative measures were taken pre- and post- activity using an on-line web-based survey to test their knowledge of engineering design and the engineering design process. The post-survey also asked additional questions to determine students’ perceptions of engineering and also perceptions of the web activity. Data were analyzed for the central tendencies of each question, item and scale means, and cross tabulated to identify statistically significant differences between the responses of male and female students. Prior to the web-based experience female students had a higher base-line knowledge of what engineering is than male students (p = 0.026), however after participation in the activity there were no statistically significant gender-based differences. The activity did increase understanding of engineering in the group as a whole, with a mean increase from 5.12 out of 10 correct responses on the pre-test to 7.10 out of 10 (p = 0.000). Regarding the web-experience, female students tended to express better perceptions of the elements of the activity, but these differences were not statistically significant. Despite the activity, female students exhibited less positive perceptions of engineering and engineering as a career than male students. They were less likely to feel they could become an engineer if they wanted to (0.005), to see themselves in an engineering-related career (p \u3c 0.000), and to see themselves as an engineer (p These results suggest that female middle-school students have a better base knowledge of what engineering is than male students, and that a web-based engineering experience can improve understanding in both genders. Both female and male students perceived the website activity positively, which promotes future use of this educational means. Future work is needed to determine how similar activities can be altered to better address the disparity in perceptions of engineering as a career between genders

Investigating the suitability of carbon nanotube reinforced polymer in transcatheter valve applications

The current delivery size of transcatheter aortic valves, limited by the thickness of their pericardial leaflets, correlates with a high prevalence of major vascular complications. Polyurethane valves can be developed to a fraction of the thickness of pericardial valves through the addition of carbon nanotubes to reinforce their leaflets. This study investigates the suitability of a novel carbon nanotube reinforced leaflet to reduce the delivery profile of transcatheter aortic valves. Carbon nanotube polyurethane composites were developed with thicknesses of 50 μm and their mechanical properties were determined in relation to various environmental effects. The composites demonstrated improvements to the material stiffness, particularly at increasing strain rates compared to the neat polymer. However, increasing nanotube concentrations significantly decreased the fatigue life of the composites. Key findings highlighted a potential for carbon nanotube reinforcement in valve replacement which experience very high strain rates during the cardiac cycle. Further testing is needed to achieve a strong nanotube-matrix interface which will prolong the cyclic fatigue life and further strengthen tensile properties. Testing on the durability and haemocompatibility of these composite heart valves are ongoing

Cross-monotonic Cost-Sharing Methods for Network Design Games

In this thesis we consider some network design games that arise from common network design problems. A network design game involves multiple players who control nodes in a network, each of which has a personal interest in seeing their nodes connected in some manner. To this end, the players will submit bids to a mechanism whose task will be to select which of the players to connect, how to connect their nodes, and how much to charge each player for the connection. We rely on many fundamental results from mechanism design (from [8], [9] & [5]) in this thesis and focus our efforts on designing and analyzing cost-sharing methods. That is, for a given set of players and their connection requirements, our algorithms compute a solution that satisfies all the players’ requirements and calculates ’fair’ prices to charge each of them for the connection. Our cost-sharing methods use a primal-dual framework developed by Agrawal, Klein and Ravi in [1] and generalized by Goemans &Williamson in [3]. We modify the algorithms by using the concept of death-time introduced by K¨onemann, Leonardi & Sch¨afer in [6]. Our main result is a 2-budget balanced and cross-monotonic cost sharing method for the downwards monotone set cover game, which arises naturally from any downwards monotone 0, 1-function. We have also designed a 2-budget balanced and cross-monotonic cost sharing method for two versions of the edge cover game arising from the edge cover problem. These games are special cases of the downwards monotone set cover game. By a result by Immorlica, Mahdian & Mirrokni in [4] our result is best possible for the edge cover game. We also designed a cross-monotonic cost sharing method for a network design game we call the Even Parity Connection game arising from the T-Join problem that generalizes proper cut requirement functions. We can show our algorithm returns cost shares that recover at least half the cost of the solution. We conjecture that our cost sharing method for the even parity connection game is competitive and thus 2-budget balance