AN ASSESSMENT OF THE RECREATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SKIBOAT FISHERY IN THE TRANSKEI

A survey of the recreational and commercial skiboat linefishery in the Transkei was conducted from March 1997 to April 1999. Effort by commercial skiboats was substantially higher than by recreational skiboats, and catch rates on commercial boats were much higher than rates on recreational boats. Catch rates in the region were not greater than those in the adjoining provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, but the mean size of fish caught on commercial skiboats in the southern Transkei was larger than that in either KwaZulu-Natal or the Eastern Cape. Total annual commercial catches estimated for the Transkei were substantially greater than those based on returns submitted by skippers to the National Marine Linefish System. Catches in the northern Transkei were more diverse than in the south, and catches from both regions contained a large number of endemic species. Northern Transkei catches were characterized by subtropical species, whereas those from the southern Transkei contained more warm-temperate species. In the northern region, subtropical species replaced warmtemperate ones during winter. Knowledge of fishing regulations by fishers was reasonable, but compliance was poor, mainly as a result of the low level of enforcement of regulations in this region, which needs to be improved if catches are to be sustained. Among other recommendations, the establishment of an effective marine reserve in the area is a priority; it would assist with the conservation of several species of endemic linefish.Afr. J. mar. Sci. 25: 61–7

A Characterization of Visibility Graphs for Pseudo-Polygons

In this paper, we give a characterization of the visibility graphs of pseudo-polygons. We first identify some key combinatorial properties of pseudo-polygons, and we then give a set of five necessary conditions based off our identified properties. We then prove that these necessary conditions are also sufficient via a reduction to a characterization of vertex-edge visibility graphs given by O'Rourke and Streinu

Acceleration and Substructure Constraints in a Quasar Outflow

We present observations of probable line-of-sight acceleration of a broad absorption trough of C IV in the quasar SDSS J024221.87+004912.6. We also discuss how the velocity overlap of two other outflowing systems in the same object constrains the properties of the outflows. The Si IV doublet in each system has one unblended transition and one transition which overlaps with absorption from the other system. The residual flux in the overlapping trough is well fit by the product of the residual fluxes in the unblended troughs. For these optically thick systems to yield such a result, at least one of them must consist of individual subunits rather than being a single structure with velocity-dependent coverage of the source. If these subunits are identical, opaque, spherical clouds, we estimate the cloud radius to be r = 3.9 10^15 cm. If they are identical, opaque, linear filaments, we estimate their width to be w = 6.5 10^14 cm. These subunits are observed to cover the Mg II broad emission line region of the quasar, at which distance from the black hole the above filament width is equal to the predicted scale height of the outer atmosphere of a thin accretion disk. Insofar as that scale height is a natural size scale for structures originating in an accretion disk, these observations are evidence that the accretion disk can be a source of quasar absorption systems. Based on data from ESO program 075.B-0190(A).Comment: 14 emulateapj pages, 7 figures, ApJ in pres

Large Lepton Mixings from Continuous Symmetries

Within the broad context of quark-lepton unification, we investigate the implications of broken continuous family symmetries which result from requiring that in the limit of exact symmetry, the Dirac mass matrices yield hierarchical masses for the quarks and charged leptons, but lead to degenerate light neutrino masses as a consequence of the seesaw mechanism, without requiring hierarchical right-handed neutrino mass terms. Quark mixing is then naturally small and proportional to the size of the perturbation, but lepton mixing is large as a result of degenerate perturbation theory, shifted from maximal mixing by the size of the perturbation. Within this approach, we study an illustrative two-family prototype model with an SO(2) family symmetry, and discuss extensions to three-family models.Comment: 23 page

Observations of Binary Stars with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. VII. Measures from 2010 September to 2012 February at the WIYN Telescope

We report on speckle observations of binary stars carried out at the WIYN Telescope over the period from September 2010 through February 2012, providing relative astrometry for 2521 observations of 883 objects, 856 of which are double stars and 27 of which are triples. The separations measured span a range of 0.01 to 1.75 arc seconds. Wavelengths of 562 nm, 692 nm, and 880 nm were used, and differential photometry at one or more of these wavelengths is presented in most cases. Sixty-six components were resolved for the first time. We also estimate detection limits at 0.2 and 1.0 arc seconds for high-quality observations in cases where no companion was seen, a total of 176 additional objects. Detection limits vary based on observing conditions and signal-to-noise ratio, but are approximately 4 magnitudes at 0.2 arc seconds and 6 magnitudes at 1.0 arc seconds on average. Analyzing the measurement precision of the data set, we find that the individual separations obtained have linear measurement uncertainties of approximately 2 mas, and photometry is uncertain to approximately 0.1 magnitudes in general. This work provides fundamental, well-calibrated data for future orbit and mass determinations, and we present three first orbits and total mass estimates of nearby K-dwarf systems as examples of this potential

When Anomaly Mediation is UV Sensitive

Despite its successes---such as solving the supersymmetric flavor problem---anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking is untenable because of its prediction of tachyonic sleptons. An appealing solution to this problem was proposed by Pomarol and Rattazzi where a threshold controlled by a light field deflects the anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking trajectory, thus evading tachyonic sleptons. In this paper we examine an alternate class of deflection models where the non-supersymmetric threshold is accompanied by a heavy, instead of light, singlet. The low energy form of this model is the so-called extended anomaly mediation proposed by Nelson and Weiner, but with potential for a much higher deflection threshold. The existence of this high deflection threshold implies that the space of anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking deflecting models is larger than previously thought.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure (version to appear in JHEP

The Feigned Annoyance and Frustration Test to Activate the Sympathoadrenal Medullary System

When perceived as threatening, social interactions have been shown to trigger the sympathoadrenal medullary system as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis resulting in a physiologic stress response. The allostatic load placed on human health and physiology in the context of acute and chronic stress can have profound health consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop a protocol for a lab-based stress stimulus using social-evaluative threat. While several valid, stress-stimulating protocols exist, we sought to develop one that triggered a physiologic response, did not require significant lab resources, and could be completed in around 10 min. We included 53 participants (29 men and 24 women) and exposed them to a modified version of the Stroop Color-Word Interference Task during which the participants were made to feel they were performing the task poorly while the lead researcher feigned annoyance and frustration. After exposure to this Feigned Annoyance and Frustration (FAF) Test, both the men and women in this study demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful increase in subjective stress on the visual analog scale. Additionally, the men in this study demonstrated a statistically significant increase in heart rate and salivary α-amylase concentrations after exposure to the test. The women in this study did not demonstrate a statistically significant increase in the physiologic stress biomarkers. This protocol for the FAF Test shows promise to researchers with limited time and resources who are interested in experimentally activating the sympathoadrenal medullary system

Selection Rules in Minisuperspace Quantum Cosmology

The existence of a Noether symmetry for a given minisuperspace cosmological model is a sort of selection rule to recover classical behaviours in cosmic evolution since oscillatory regimes for the wave function of the universe come out. The so called Hartle criterion to select correlated regions in the configuration space of dynamical variables can be directly connected to the presence of a Noether symmetry and we show that such a statement works for generic extended theories of gravity in the framework of minisuperspace approximation. Examples and exact cosmological solutions are given for nonminimally coupled and higher--order theories.Comment: LaTex file, 22 pag., no figures, to appear in Gen. Rel. Gra

HAT-P-47b AND HAT-P-48b: Two Low Density Sub-Saturn-Mass Transiting Planets on the Edge of the Period--Mass Desert

We report the discovery of two new transiting extrasolar planets orbiting moderately bright (V = 10.7 and 12.2 mag) F stars (masses of 1.39 Msun and 1.10 Msun, respectively). The planets have periods of P = 4.7322 d and 4.4087 d, and masses of 0.21 MJ and 0.17 MJ which are almost half-way between those of Neptune and Saturn. With radii of 1.31 RJ and 1.13 RJ, these very low density planets are the two lowest mass planets with radii in excess that of Jupiter. Comparing with other recent planet discoveries, we find that sub-Saturns (0.18MJ < Mp < 0.3MJ) and super-Neptunes (0.05MJ < Mp < 0.18MJ) exhibit a wide range of radii, and their radii exhibit a weaker correlation with irradiation than higher mass planets. The two planets are both suitable for measuring the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and for atmospheric characterization. Measuring the former effect would allow an interesting test of the theory that star-planet tidal interactions are responsible for the tendency of close-in giant planets around convective envelope stars to be on low obliquity orbits. Both planets fall on the edge of the short period Neptunian desert in the semi-major axis-mass plane.Comment: Submitted to AAS Journal

Many-worlds interpretation of quantum theory and mesoscopic anthropic principle

We suggest to combine the Anthropic Principle with Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Theory. Realizing the multiplicity of worlds it provides an opportunity of explanation of some important events which are assumed to be extremely improbable. The Mesoscopic Anthropic Principle suggested here is aimed to explain appearance of such events which are necessary for emergence of Life and Mind. It is complementary to Cosmological Anthropic Principle explaining the fine tuning of fundamental constants. We briefly discuss various possible applications of Mesoscopic Anthropic Principle including the Solar Eclipses and assembling of complex molecules. Besides, we address the problem of Time's Arrow in the framework of Many-World Interpretation. We suggest the recipe for disentangling of quantities defined by fundamental physical laws and by an anthropic selection.Comment: 11 page