ENHANCING SHARED VIDEO PRESENTATIONS WITH INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS

It is common for presentations shared over a video stream to include rich information such as web links, email addresses, social media handles, and phone numbers. However, because the presentation is a video rather than a slide deck, a viewer is often limited to typing content, if they want to utilize it, in another application, for instance, a browser or email client, which can be error-prone or even impossible if the presentation progresses. Techniques herein provide the viewer with the ability to select a piece of information from a video presentation and trigger an associated action like opening a web link or sending an email seamlessly without typing or performing copy-paste operations

Does science need computer science?

IBM Hursley Talks Series 3An afternoon of talks, to be held on Wednesday March 10 from 2:30pm in Bldg 35 Lecture Room A, arranged by the School of Chemistry in conjunction with IBM Hursley and the Combechem e-Science Project.The talks are aimed at science students (undergraduate and post-graduate) from across the faculty. This is the third series of talks we have organized, but the first time we have put them together in an afternoon. The talks are general in nature and knowledge of computer science is certainly not necessary. After the talks there will be an opportunity for a discussion with the lecturers from IBM.Does Science Need Computer Science?Chair and Moderator - Jeremy Frey, School of Chemistry.- 14:00 "Computer games for fun and profit" (*) - Andrew Reynolds - 14:45 "Anyone for tennis? The science behind WIBMledon" (*) - Matt Roberts - 15:30 Tea (Chemistry Foyer, Bldg 29 opposite bldg 35) - 15:45 "Disk Drive physics from grandmothers to gigabytes" (*) - Steve Legg - 16:35 "What could happen to your data?" (*) - Nick Jones - 17:20 Panel Session, comprising the four IBM speakers and May Glover-Gunn (IBM) - 18:00 Receptio

Multiple supermassive black hole systems: SKA's future leading role

Galaxies and supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are believed to evolve through a process of hierarchical merging and accretion. Through this paradigm, multiple SMBH systems are expected to be relatively common in the Universe. However, to date there are poor observational constraints on multiple SMBHs systems with separations comparable to a SMBH gravitational sphere of influence (<< 1 kpc). In this chapter, we discuss how deep continuum observations with the SKA will make leading contributions towards understanding how multiple black hole systems impact galaxy evolution. In addition, these observations will provide constraints on and an understanding of stochastic gravitational wave background detections in the pulsar timing array sensitivity band (nanoHz -microHz). We also discuss how targets for pointed gravitational wave experiments (that cannot be resolved by VLBI) could potentially be found using the large-scale radio-jet morphology, which can be modulated by the presence of a close-pair binary SMBH system. The combination of direct imaging at high angular resolution; low-surface brightness radio-jet tracers; and pulsar timing arrays will allow the SKA to trace black hole binary evolution from separations of a galaxy virial radius down to the sub-parsec level. This large dynamic range in binary SMBH separation will ensure that the SKA plays a leading role in this observational frontier.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. To be published in the proceedings of "Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array", PoS(AASKA14)151, in pres

Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) : science plan

The Arctic is undergoing rapid transformations that have brought the Arctic Ocean to the top of international political agendas. Predicting future conditions of the Arctic Ocean system requires scientific knowledge of its present status as well as a process-based understanding of the mechanisms of change. The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) initiative is an integrative, international, interdisciplinary pan-Arctic program to study changes and feedbacks among the physical and biogeochemical components of the Arctic Ocean and their ultimate impacts on biological productivity. The goal of ART is to develop priorities for Arctic marine science over the next decade. Three overarching questions form the basis of the ART science plan: (1) How were past transitions in sea ice connected to energy flows, elemental cycling, biological diversity and productivity, and how do these compare to present and projected shifts? (2) How will biogeochemical cycling respond to transitions in terrestrial, gateway and shelf-to-basin fluxes? (3) How do Arctic Ocean organisms and ecosystems respond to environmental transitions including temperature, stratification, ice conditions, and pH? The integrated approach developed to answer the ART key scientific questions comprises: (a) process studies and observations to reveal mechanisms, (b) the establishment of links to existing monitoring programs, (c) the evaluation of geological records to extend time-series, and (d) the improvement of our modeling capabilities of climate-induced transitions. In order to develop an implementation plan for the ART initiative, an international and interdisciplinary workshop is currently planned to take place in Winnipeg, Canada in October 2010

Small-scale properties of the KPZ equation and dynamical symmetry breaking

A functional integral technique is used to study the ultraviolet or short distance properties of the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation with white Gaussian noise. We apply this technique to calculate the one-loop effective potential for the KPZ equation. The effective potential is (at least) one-loop ultraviolet renormalizable in 1, 2, and 3 space dimensions, but non-renormalizable in 4 or higher space dimensions. This potential is intimately related to the probability distribution function (PDF) for the spacetime averaged field. For the restricted class of field configurations considered here, the KPZ equation exhibits dynamical symmetry breaking (DSB) via an analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism in 1 and 2 space dimensions, but not in 3 space dimensions.Comment: V2 --- 6 pages, LaTeX 209, ReV_TeX 3.2. Title changed, presentation clarified, additional discussion added, references updated. No significant changes in physics conclusions. This version to appear in Physics Letters

Effective potential for the massless KPZ equation

In previous work we have developed a general method for casting a classical field theory subject to Gaussian noise (that is, a stochastic partial differential equation--SPDE) into a functional integral formalism that exhibits many of the properties more commonly associated with quantum field theories (QFTs). In particular, we demonstrated how to derive the one-loop effective potential. In this paper we apply the formalism to a specific field theory of considerable interest, the massless KPZ equation (massless noisy vorticity-free Burgers equation), and analyze its behaviour in the ultraviolet (short-distance) regime. When this field theory is subject to white noise we can calculate the one-loop effective potential and show that it is one-loop ultraviolet renormalizable in 1, 2, and 3 space dimensions, and fails to be ultraviolet renormalizable in higher dimensions. We show that the one-loop effective potential for the massless KPZ equation is closely related to that for lambda phi^4 QFT. In particular we prove that the massless KPZ equation exhibits one-loop dynamical symmetry breaking (via an analog of the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism) in 1 and 2 space dimensions, and that this behaviour does not persist in 3 space dimensions.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX 209, ReV_TeX 3.2, three *.eps figures, epsf.st

Does the Aboveground Herbivore Assemblage Influence Soil Bacterial Community Composition and Richness in Subalpine Grasslands?

Grassland ecosystems support large communities of aboveground herbivores that are known to directly and indirectly affect belowground properties such as the microbial community composition, richness, or biomass. Even though multiple species of functionally different herbivores coexist in grassland ecosystems, most studies have only considered the impact of a single group, i.e., large ungulates (mostly domestic livestock) on microbial communities. Thus, we investigated how the exclusion of four groups of functionally different herbivores affects bacterial community composition, richness, and biomass in two vegetation types with different grazing histories. We progressively excluded large, medium, and small mammals as well as invertebrate herbivores using exclosures at 18 subalpine grassland sites (9 per vegetation type). We assessed the bacterial community composition using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) at each site and exclosure type during three consecutive growing seasons (2009-2011) for rhizosphere and mineral soil separately. In addition, we determined microbial biomass carbon (MBC), root biomass, plant carbon:nitrogen ratio, soil temperature, and soil moisture. Even though several of these variables were affected by herbivore exclusion and vegetation type, against our expectations, bacterial community composition, richness, or MBC were not. Yet, bacterial communities strongly differed between the three growing seasons as well as to some extent between our study sites. Thus, our study indicates that the spatiotemporal variability in soil microclimate has much stronger effects on the soil bacterial communities than the grazing regime or the composition of the vegetation in this high-elevation ecosystem

The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) Initiative: integrating priorities for Arctic marine science over the next decade

The Arctic is currently undergoing rapid environmental and economic transformations. Recent and ongoing climate warming which is simplifying access to oil and gas resources, enabling trans-Arctic shipping and shifting the distribution of harvestable resources, has brought the Arctic Ocean to the top of national and international political agendas. Scientific knowledge of the present status of the Arctic Ocean and the process-based understanding needed to make predictions throughout the arctic region are thus urgently required. A step towards improving our capacity to predict future arctic change was undertaken with the Second International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP II) meetings in 2005 and 2006 which brought together scientists, policymakers, research managers, arctic residents and other stakeholders interested in the future of arctic climate change research. The Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) Initiative developed out of an effort to synthesize the several resulting ICARP II science plans specific to the marine environment and has been a process driven by the early career scientists of the ICARP II Marine Roundtable. To this end, the ART Initiative is an integrative, international, multi-disciplinary, long-term pan-Arctic program to study changes and feedbacks among the physical characteristics and biogeochemical cycles of the Arctic Ocean and its' resulting capacity for biological productivity. The first ART workshop was held in Fairbanks, Alaska in November 2009 with 58 participants, the results of which will help to develop a science and implementation plan that integrates, updates and develops priorities for arctic marine science over the next decade. Our focus within the ART Initiative will be to bridge gaps in knowledge not only across disciplinary boundaries (e.g., geology, biology, physical oceanography, geochemistry and meteorology), but also across geographic boundaries (e.g., shelves, margins and the central Arctic Ocean) and temporal boundaries (e.g., paleo/geologic records, current process observations and future modeling studies). This interdisciplinary, international and integrated temporal approach of the ART Initiative will provide a means to better understand and predict change and ultimate responses in the Arctic Ocean system. More information about the ART Initiative can be found at www.aosb.org/art.html

Histology‐Based Morphology of the Neurocentral Synchondrosis in Alligator Mississippiensis (Archosauria, Crocodylia)

Morphology of the neurocentral synchondroses—thin cartilaginous layers between centra and neural arches—are documented in the extant crocodilian, Alligator mississippiensis (Archosauria, Crocodylia). Examination of dry skeletons demonstrates that neurocentral suture closure occurs in very late postnatal ontogeny (after reaching sexual maturity and/or body size ca. 40% from the upper range). Before sexual maturity (body length (BL) ≥ ca. 1.80 m), completely fused centra and neural arches are restricted to the caudal vertebral series. In contrast, the presacral vertebrae often remain unfused throughout postnatal ontogeny, retaining open sutures in very mature individuals (BL ≥ 2.80 m). These unfused centra and neural arches are structurally supported by the relatively large surface area of the neurocentral junctions, which results from primarily horizontal (mediolateral) increases with strong positive allometry. Cleared and stained specimens show that the cartilaginous neurocentral synchondrosis starts to form after approximately 40 embryonic days. Histological examination of the neurocentral junction in dorsal and anterior caudal vertebrae of six individuals (BL = 0.28–3.12 m) shows : (1) neurocentral fusion is the result of endochondral ossification of the neurocentral synchondrosis, (2) the neurocentral synchondrosis exhibits bipolar organization of three types of cartilaginous cells, and (3) complex neurocentral sutures (i.e., curved, zigzagged, and/or interdigitated boundaries) come from clumping of bone cells of the neural arches and centra into the neurocentral synchondrosis. The last two morphological features can be advantageous for delaying neurocentral fusion, which seems to be unique in crocodilians and possibly their close relatives, including nonavian dinosaurs and other Mesozoic archosaurs. Anat Rec, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89542/1/21495_ftp.pd

Worker remittances and the global preconditions of ‘smart development’

With the growing environmental crisis affecting our globe, ideas to weigh economic or social progress by the ‘energy input’ necessary to achieve it are increasingly gaining acceptance. This question is intriguing and is being dealt with by a growing number of studies, focusing on the environmental price of human progress. Even more intriguing, however, is the question of which factors of social organization contribute to a responsible use of the resources of our planet to achieve a given social result (‘smart development’). In this essay, we present the first systematic study on how migration – or rather, more concretely, received worker remittances per GDP – helps the nations of our globe to enjoy social and economic progress at a relatively small environmental price. We look at the effects of migration on the balance sheets of societal accounting, based on the ‘ecological price’ of the combined performance of democracy, economic growth, gender equality, human development, research and development, and social cohesion. Feminism in power, economic freedom, population density, the UNDP education index as well as the receipt of worker remittances all significantly contribute towards a ‘smart overall development’, while high military expenditures and a high world economic openness are a bottleneck for ‘smart overall development’