Distribution of discontinuous mudstone beds within wave-dominated shallow-marine deposits : Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation, Eastern Utah

Acknowledgements Funding for this study was provided from the Research Council of Norway through the Petromaks project 193059 and the FORCE Safari Project. The lidar data was collected by Julien Vallet and Samuel Pitiot of Helimap Systems SA. Riegl LMS GmbH is acknowledged for software support. The first author would like to thank Oliver Severin Tynes for assistance in the field. Tore Grane Klausen and Gijs Allard Henstra are thanked for invaluable discussions. The authors would also like to thank Janok Bhattacharya, Cornel Olariu and one anonymous revier for their insightful comments which improved this paper, and Frances Witehurst for his editorial comments.Peer reviewedPostprin

Sedimentology and reservoir properties of tabular and erosive offshore transition deposits in wave-dominated, shallow-marine strata : Book cliffs, USA

Acknowledgements and Funding Funding for this study was provided from the Research Council of Norway (Petromaks project 193059) and the FORCE Safari project. The helicopter-LiDAR data was collected by J. Valet and S. Pitiot of Helimap System SA. Riegl LMS GmbH is acknowledged for software support for the outcrop models, and ROXAR is acknowledged for use of their RMS reservoir modelling package. A. Rittersbacher is acknowledged for processing the heli-LiDAR model. The first author would like to thank O. S. Mulelid-Tynes and G. Henstra for assistance in the field and for valuable discussions. G. Hampson is thanked for insightful comments that significantly improved this manuscriptPeer reviewedPostprin

Experimental Quantum Cloning of Single Photons

Although perfect copying of unknown quantum systems is forbidden by the laws of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible. A natural way of realizing quantum cloning of photons is by stimulated emission. In this context the fundamental quantum limit to the quality of the clones is imposed by the unavoidable presence of spontaneous emission. In our experiment a single input photon stimulates the emission of additional photons from a source based on parametric down-conversion. This leads to the production of quantum clones with near optimal fidelity. We also demonstrate universality of the copying procedure by showing that the same fidelity is achieved for arbitrary input states.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Reflecting on South African psychology: published research, ‘relevance’ and social issues

As South Africa prepared to host the 30th International Congress of Psychology in 2012, a call was made to reflect on the strengths of and challenges facing contemporary South African Psychology. This paper presents our response to our brief to focus on social issues by presenting the results of a situational analysis of South African Psychology over the last five years and comparing this corpus of data to a similar analysis reported in Macleod (2004). Articles appearing in the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) and abstracts in PsycINFO with the keyword ‘South Africa’ over a 5½ year period were analysed. The content of 243 SAJP articles and 1986 PsycINFO abstracts were analysed using the codes developed by Macleod (2004). Results indicate: an increase in the number of articles, a reduction in the percentage of articles using quantitative methodologies and ‘hard’ science theoretical frameworks (particularly in the SAJP), and an increase in qualitative, theoretical, and methodological papers, and papers using systems-oriented theory (particularly in the SAJP). Traditional topics of assessment, stress and psychopathology continue to dominate, with social issues such as housing, land reform, development programmes, water resources and socio-economic inequities being largely ignored. Most research continues to be conducted in Gauteng, KwaZulu/Natal and the Western Cape, predominantly with adult, urban-based, middle-class participants, sourced mainly from universities, hospitals or clinics and schools. Collaborations or comparisons with other African, Asian, South American and Middle East countries have decreased. While the analysis presented in this paper is limited by its exclusion of books, theses, research reports and monographs, it shows that in published research there are some positive trends and some disappointments. The limited number of social issues featuring in published research, the under-representation of certain sectors of the population as participants, and the decrease in collaboration with, or comparison to, countries from the global ‘South’ represent challenges that require systematic attention

An investigation into determining head pose for gaze estimation on unmodified mobile devices

Traditionally, devices which are able to determine a users gaze are large, expensive and often restrictive. We investigate the prospect of using common webcams and mobile devices such as laptops, tablets and phones without modification as an alternative means for obtaining a users gaze. A person’s gaze can be fundamentally determined by the pose of the head as well as the orientation of the eyes. This initial work investigates the first of these factors - an estimate of the 3D head pose (and subsequently the positions of the eye centres) relative to a camera device. Specifically, we seek a low cost algorithm that requires only a one-time calibration for an individual user, that can run in real-time on the aforementioned mobile devices with noisy camera data. We use our head tracker to estimate the 4 eye corners of a user over a 10 second video. We present the results at several different frames per second (fps) to analyse the impact on the tracker with lower quality cameras. We show that our algorithm is efficient enough to run at 75fps on a common laptop, but struggles with tracking loss when the fps is lower than 10fps

Force of habit the mystical foundations of the narcotic

This thesis aims to investigate and deconstruct the relationship between the narcotic, its narrative, and western modernity. To reveal the relationship, this thesis argues that it is possible to understand the philosophical, political, cultural and ethical dimensions of western modernity through the ulterior lens of the narcotic. As such, this thesis investigates western modernity's relationship to (a) cocaine as a specific narcotic, and (b) the concept of the narcotic with all its attendant connotations of addictions, illegitimacy, transgression, illegality, and so on. Accordingly, the thesis is both interpretive of the historical narrative of the narcotic of cocaine, and generative in its deconstruction of the relationship between western modernity and the concept of the narcotic. The deconstruction of this relationship ultimately reveals both prior narratives not as oppositional, but as supplementary. This has radical consequences for the manner in which we engage with narcotic use and the user - if the narcotic is supplement to the logic of western modernity, at each attempt to expel the use and user of the narcotic, rather then create difference, we self implicate ourselves in that expulsion and distance. To seek a new and more just means of dealing with the concept of the narcotic, and its use, therefore requires a new epistemological framework which can at once contemplate both narratives at the same time. To this end, the thesis suggests the use of critical complexity theory as one such methodological tool, if supplemented by the thoughts and strategies of Derridian deconstruction and Foucauldian discourse analysis

Experimental Quantum Cloning of Single Photons

Although perfect copying of unknown quantum systems is forbidden by the laws of quantum mechanics, approximate cloning is possible. A natural way of realizing quantum cloning of photons is by stimulated emission. In this context, the fundamental quantum limit to the quality of the clones is imposed by the unavoidable presence of spontaneous emission. In our experiment, a single input photon stimulates the emission of additional photons from a source on the basis of parametric down-conversion. This leads to the production of quantum clones with near-optimal fidelity. We also demonstrate universality of the copying procedure by showing that the same fidelity is achieved for arbitrary input states

Translocation of protein kinase C in rat islets of Langerhans Effects of a phorbol ester, carbachol and glucose

AbstractIn unstimulated rat islets (2 mM glucose), most of the ion-exchange purified protein kinase C (PKC) activity was associated with the cytosolic fraction. Both carbachol and phorbol myristate acetate caused a significant translocation of PKC activity from cytosolic to membrane fractions, but under the same conditions, glucose (20 mM) did not cause such a redistribution of PKC activity. PMA-induced translocation of PKC to the membrane fraction was also observed in electrically permeabilised islets, in which recovery of the enzyme activity was enhanced by buffering the intracellular Ca2+ concentration to 50 nM and supplying the permeabilised islets with protease inhibitors

‘Licking the snake’: the i'khothane and contemporary township youth identities in South Africa

The i’khothane youth subculture is a relatively new phenomenon that has emerged in some of South Africa’s townships. Characterised by the rampant consumption of certain goods, such as expensive clothing, the subculture is unique in that it is also defined by the destruction of these goods in performances known as ‘battles’. Demonised by the media, we set out to explore what makes these practices meaningful to the participants themselves. On the basis of in-depth interviews conducted with the members of one group, we bring to the academic literature a scarcely analysed phenomenon that is nevertheless an acknowledged element of popular youth culture in contemporary South Africa. We attempt to place the practice of i’khothane within the context of the patterns of conspicuous consumption that have emerged in (a highly unequal) post-apartheid South Africa. While the practice of burning expensive consumer goods in public may seem alien, especially in contrast to the impoverished surroundings within which the i’khothane live, there are discernable and understandable reasons why the subculture has gained both popularity and notoriety. We show how the practice of i’khothane is a potent means of articulating youth identity in settings seemingly left behind by the ‘new’ South Africa