The NEID Precision Radial Velocity Spectrometer: Port Adapter Overview, Requirements, and Test Plan

The NEID spectrometer is an optical (380-930 nm), fiber-fed, precision Doppler spectrometer currently in development for the WIYN 3.5 m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory as part of the NN-EXPLORE partnership. Designed to achieve a radial velocity precision of < 30 cm/s, NEID will be sensitive enough to detect terrestrial-mass exoplanets around low-mass stars. Light from the target stars is focused by the telescope to a bent Cassegrain port at the edge of the primary mirror mechanical support. The specialized NEID "Port Adapter" system is mounted at this bent Cassegrain port and is responsible for delivering the incident light from the telescope to the NEID fibers. In order to provide stable, high-quality images to the science instrument, the Port Adapter houses several sub-components designed to acquire the target stars, correct for atmospheric dispersion, stabilize the light onto the science fibers, and calibrate the spectrometer by injecting known wavelength sources such as a laser frequency comb. Here we provide an overview of the overall opto-mechanical design and system requirements of the Port Adapter. We also describe the development of system error budgets and testplans to meet those requirements

Vanishing wildlife corridors and options for restoration: a case study from Tanzania

Conserving wildlife corridors is increasingly important for maintaining ecological and genetic connectivity in times of unprecedented habitat fragmentation. Documenting connectivity loss, assessing root causes, and exploring restoration options are therefore priority conservation goals. A 2009 nationwide assessment in Tanzania documented 31 major remaining corridors, the majority of which were described as threatened. The corridor between the Udzungwa Mountains and the Selous Game Reserve in south-central Tanzania, a major link between western and southern wildlife communities, especially for the African elephant Loxodonta africana, provides an illuminating case study. A preliminary assessment in 2005 found that connectivity was barely persisting via two remaining routes. Here we present assessments of these two corridors conducted from 2007-2010, using a combination of dung surveys, habitat mapping and questionnaires. We found that both corridor routes have become closed over the last five years. Increased farming and livestock keeping, associated with both local immigration and population growth, were the main reasons for corridor blockage. However, continued attempts by elephants to cross by both routes suggest that connectivity can be restored. This entails a process of harmonizing differing land owners and uses towards a common goal. We provide recommendations for restoring lost connectivity and discuss the prospects for preventing further loss of corridors across the country

The NEID precision radial velocity spectrometer: Commissioning of the Port Adapter

In October 2019, the NEID instrument (PI Suvrath Mahadevan, PSU) was delivered to the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Commissioning began shortly after delivery, but was paused due to a COVID-19 imposed observatory shutdown in March 2020. The observatory has recently reopened and NEID commissioning has resumed. NEID is an optical (380-930 nm), fiber-fed, precision Doppler radial velocity system developed as part of the NN-EXPLORE partnership. While the spectrometer and calibration system are maintained in a highly controlled environment on the basement level of the WIYN, the NEID Port Adapter mounts directly to a bent-Cassegrain port on the telescope and is responsible for precisely and stably placing target light on the science fibers. Here we present a brief overview of the as-built Port Adapter and its sub-components. We then discuss preliminary on-sky performance compared to requirements as well as next steps as we complete commissioning

Wire Marking Results in a Small but Significant Reduction in Avian Mortality at Power Lines: A BACI Designed Study

10 paginas, 4 figuras y 4 tablesBackground: Collision with electric power lines is a conservation problem for many bird species. Although the implementation of flight diverters is rapidly increasing, few well-designed studies supporting the effectiveness of this costly conservation measure have been published. Methodology/Principal Findings: We provide information on the largest worldwide marking experiment to date, including carcass searches at 35 (15 experimental, 20 control) power lines totalling 72.5 km, at both transmission (220 kV) and distribution (15 kV-45 kV) lines. We found carcasses of 45 species, 19 of conservation concern. Numbers of carcasses found were corrected to account for carcass losses due to removal by scavengers or being overlooked by researchers, resulting in an estimated collision rate of 8.2 collisions per km per month. We observed a small (9.6%) but significant decrease in the number of casualties after line marking compared to before line marking in experimental lines. This was not observed in control lines. We found no influence of either marker size (large vs. small spirals, sample of distribution lines only) or power line type (transmission vs. distribution, sample of large spirals only) on the collision rate when we analyzed all species together. However, great bustard mortality was slightly lower when lines were marked with large spirals and in transmission lines after marking. Conclusions: Our results confirm the overall effectiveness of wire marking as a way to reduce, but not eliminate, bird collisions with power lines. If raw field data are not corrected by carcass losses due to scavengers and missed observations, findings may be biased. The high cost of this conservation measure suggests a need for more studies to improve its application, including wire marking with non-visual devices. Our findings suggest that different species may respond differently to marking, implying that species-specific patterns should be explored, at least for species of conservation concern.We thank A. Garcıa Fernandez and M. Carrasco for their assistance during the field work. We also thank J. Camaño and J. Velasco of HENARSA, and the electric companies Iberdrola, Union Fenosa and Red Electrica de España for their cooperation. S. Young reviewed the English. RB was contracted within the project CGL2008-02567 of the Direccion General de Investigacion, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and later supported by a postdoctoral grant from Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. C. Ponce, C. Palacın, CM and BM were supported by contracts CSICHENARSA. This study was carried out within the Preventive, corrective and compensatory measures to balance the impact of the M-50 and R-2 highways on the population of great bustards and other steppe-land birds in the Important Bird Area Talamanca-Camarma and the Site of Community Importance Cuenca de los rıos Jarama y Henares, supported by a contract HENARSA-CSIC. Additional financial support was provided by project GL2008-02567 of the Direccion General de Investigacion, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewe

Empirical Legal Studies Before 1940: A Bibliographic Essay

The modern empirical legal studies movement has well-known antecedents in the law and society and law and economics traditions of the latter half of the 20th century. Less well known is the body of empirical research on legal phenomena from the period prior to World War II. This paper is an extensive bibliographic essay that surveys the English language empirical legal research from approximately 1940 and earlier. The essay is arranged around the themes in the research: criminal justice, civil justice (general studies of civil litigation, auto accident litigation and compensation, divorce, small claims, jurisdiction and procedure, civil juries), debt and bankruptcy, banking, appellate courts, legal needs, legal profession (including legal education), and judicial staffing and selection. Accompanying the essay is an extensive bibliography of research articles, books, and reports

Emerging viral threats in Gabon: health capacities and response to the risk of emerging zoonotic diseases in Central Africa

Emerging infectious diseases (EID) are currently the major threat to public health worldwide and most EID events have involved zoonotic infectious agents. Central Africa in general and Gabon in particular are privileged areas for the emergence of zoonotic EIDs. Indeed, human incursions in Gabonese forests for exploitation purposes lead to intensified contacts between humans and wildlife thus generating an increased risk of emergence of zoonotic diseases. In Gabon, 51 endemic or potential endemic viral infectious diseases have been reported. Among them, 22 are of zoonotic origin and involve 12 families of viruses. The most notorious are dengue, yellow fever, ebola, marburg, Rift Valley fever and chikungunya viruses. Potential EID due to wildlife in Gabon are thereby plentiful and need to be inventoried. The Gabonese Public Health system covers geographically most of the country allowing a good access to sanitary information and efficient monitoring of emerging diseases. However, access to treatment and prevention is better in urban areas where medical structures are more developed and financial means are concentrated even though the population is equally distributed between urban and rural areas. In spite of this, Gabon could be a good field for investigating the emergence or re-emergence of zoonotic EID. Indeed Gabonese health research structures such as CIRMF, advantageously located, offer high quality researchers and facilities that study pathogens and wildlife ecology, aiming toward a better understanding of the contact and transmission mechanisms of new pathogens from wildlife to human, the emergence of zoonotic EID and the breaking of species barriers by pathogens

Algunos indicadores del desarrollo del esquema de derivada de una función

El objetivo de esta investigación es caracterizar algunos indicadores del desarrollo del esquema de derivada en estudiantes de pos-secundaria. Usamos los niveles intra, inter y trans del desarrollo de un esquema propuestos por Piaget y García para caracterizar el uso flexible que los estudiantes hacen de la equivalencia lógica entre diferentes elementos matemáticos cuando resuelven un problema, como un indicador del desarrollo del esquema de derivada. Este indicador ayuda a explicar la transición entre los niveles inter y trans de desarrollo del esquema derivada