Automated real time detection of solar wind shocks and consequences for the identification of SSC and SI events

Algorithms have been developed to automatically detect Earth bound shocks in the solar wind as measured by the ACE satellite. These involve simple threshold techniques and wavelet analysis. One practical application of this shock detection is that it can provide power companies with advanced warning of the potential for geomagnetically induced currents. The automatically detected shocks have been tested against published lists of known shocks and accuracy statistics are presented. Another use for automated shock detection is an aid to the preparation of lists of rapid variations: SSC and SI events. To contribute to the IAGA published list of rapid variations, as prepared by Ebro Observatory, BGS staff routinely identify, scale and classify the events recorded at the three UK magnetic observatories. This is carried out using the criteria from the Atlas of Rapid Variations (1959) and subsequent IAGA instructions. The usefulness of automated detection of solar wind shocks for this task is examined by testing these against lists of identified SSC and SI events

The relationship between ethnic identity, disordered eating and body image among Chinese and Caucasian students

It is generally believed that Western culture’s emphasis on thinness is responsible for the presence of eating disorders and body image dissatisfaction. However, Asians living in Western societies who are more acculturated to Western values have shown fewer body image and eating problems than their less acculturated Asian peers, while those who are highly acculturated to their native culture may be at increased risk for eating disorder symptoms. In this study, Chinese and Caucasian students attending United States universities completed measures of body image, body esteem, disordered eating and ethnic identity in the language of their choice (English or Simplified Chinese). As expected, females demonstrated higher levels of disordered eating and body dissatisfaction than males, regardless of ethnicity. There were no between-ethnicity differences in disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction, though Caucasians demonstrated higher ratings of their own attractiveness than Chinese language responders. For the Chinese participants, experiencing an unstable sense of identity was associated with increased disordered eating and body dissatisfaction for men and women, respectively. Looking at the Chinese language participants specifically, ethnic identity search behaviors alone were associated with increased risk for the eating-related outcome variables. Results pertaining to the Chinese participants who responded in English yielded a surprising pattern. They were not different from Caucasians or their Chinese-responding counterparts for any of the body image and eating disorder measures, and there was no relationship between ethnic identity and either body dissatisfaction or disordered eating. These findings highlight the importance of allowing participants a language choice for methodological reasons, as well as to identify potential differences between language-based subsets of responders

Ising Model Coupled to Three-Dimensional Quantum Gravity

We have performed Monte Carlo simulations of the Ising model coupled to three-dimensional quantum gravity based on a summation over dynamical triangulations. These were done both in the microcanonical ensemble, with the number of points in the triangulation and the number of Ising spins fixed, and in the grand canoncal ensemble. We have investigated the two possible cases of the spins living on the vertices of the triangulation (``diect'' case) and the spins living in the middle of the tetrahedra (``dual'' case). We observed phase transitions which are probably second order, and found that the dual implementation more effectively couples the spins to the quantum gravity.Comment: 11 page

An Effective Model for Crumpling in Two Dimensions?

We investigate the crumpling transition for a dynamically triangulated random surface embedded in two dimensions using an effective model in which the disordering effect of the $X$ variables on the correlations of the normals is replaced by a long-range ``antiferromagnetic'' term. We compare the results from a Monte Carlo simulation with those obtained for the standard action which retains the $X$'s and discuss the nature of the phase transition.Comment: 5 page

Persistence and vulnerability of island endemic birds.

This thesis investigates the dynamic relationship between the processes of extinction on islands and the traits of oceanic island endemic birds associated with persistence and vulnerability. This is explored using the comparative method and a data set of all birds endemic to oceanic islands. Two case studies are then presented to examine the resilience of the island endemic birds of Principe and Boné de Joquei in the Gulf of Guinea. When comparing closely related oceanic island and mainland birds, clutch size is lower on islands and, within islands it continues to decline as the distribution area of a species decreases. Small birds (<27 cm in body length) tend to get larger, and there is a trend for sexual size dimorphism to increase on oceanic islands. Recent extinction rates are lower on islands that have been exposed to humans for a long period of time. The birds on such islands are also less threatened by the introduction of exotics. A long period of exposure to humans also reduces the probability that the remaining species are flightless, ground-nesting, or non-forest- restricted endemics. When comparing island and mainland species that have similar areas of distribution, there is no significant difference in extinction risk. However, island birds are more threatened by introduced species. On oceanic islands, flightless birds, ground-nesting birds, birds with larger body size, and habitat specialists are associated with a greater risk of extinction than other birds. Sexually selected traits such as sexual body size dimorphism and dichromatism are not associated with elevated extinction risk. The resilience of the island endemic birds on Principe appears to be associated with a unique land use history and evolutionary exposure to predators, competitors and disease. Finally, a state of super abundance may be essential for the long-term persistence of endemic birds on small remote oceanic islands.Open acces

Intra-assessor consistency in question answering

In this paper we investigate the consistency of answer assessment in a complex question answering task examining features of assessor consistency, types of answers and question type

Space weather effects on drilling accuracy in the North Sea

The oil industry uses geomagnetic field information to aid directional drilling operations when drilling for oil and gas offshore. These operations involve continuous monitoring of the azimuth and inclination of the well path to ensure the target is reached and, for safety reasons, to avoid collisions with existing wells. Although the most accurate method of achieving this is through a gyroscopic survey, this can be time consuming and expensive. An alternative method is a magnetic survey, where measurements while drilling (MWD) are made along the well by magnetometers housed in a tool within the drill string. These MWD magnetic surveys require estimates of the Earth’s magnetic field at the drilling location to correct the downhole magnetometer readings. The most accurate corrections are obtained if all sources of the Earth’s magnetic field are considered. Estimates of the main field generated in the core and the local crustal field can be obtained using mathematical models derived from suitable data sets. In order to quantify the external field, an analysis of UK observatory data from 1983 to 2004 has been carried out. By accounting for the external field, the directional error associated with estimated field values at a mid-latitude oil well (55 N) in the North Sea is shown to be reduced by the order of 20%. This improvement varies with latitude, local time, season and phase of the geomagnetic activity cycle. By accounting for all sources of the field, using a technique called Interpolation In-Field Referencing (IIFR), directional drillers have access to data from a “virtual” magnetic observatory at the drill site. This leads to an error reduction in positional accuracy that is close to matching that of the gyroscopic survey method and provides a valuable independent technique for quality control purposes

Contextual information and assessor characteristics in complex question answering

The ciqa track investigates the role of interaction in answering complex questions: questions that relate two or more entities by some specified relationship. In our submission to the first ciqa track we were interested in the interplay between groups of variables: variables describing the question creators, the questions asked and the presentation of answers to the questions. We used two interaction forms - html questionnaires completed before answer assessment - to gain contextual information from the answer assessors to better understand what factors influence assessors when judging retrieved answers to complex questions. Our results indicate the importance of understanding the assessor's personal relationship to the question - their existing topical knowledge for example - and also the presentation of the answers - contextual information about the answer to aid in the assessment of the answer

Cyclic AMP-specific phosphodiesterase, PDE8A1, is activated by protein kinase A-mediated phosphorylation

The cyclic AMP-specific phosphodiesterase PDE8 has been shown to play a pivotal role in important processes such as steroidogenesis, T cell adhesion, regulation of heart beat and chemotaxis. However, no information exists on how the activity of this enzyme is regulated. We show that under elevated cAMP conditions, PKA acts to phosphorylate PDE8A on serine 359 and this action serves to enhance the activity of the enzyme. This is the first indication that PDE8 activity can be modulated by a kinase, and we propose that this mechanism forms a feedback loop that results in the restoration of basal cAMP levels. (C) 2012 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserve