Drawing Landscape Narrative: Interfacing between the cultural, ecological and habitat imperatives of Tallow Creek ICOLL Watershed

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.This research explores a participatory and integrative methodology, using the concept of ‘drawing together’, a highly iterative process that encourages shared accounts and deeper relationships among key stakeholders in order to gain a broader knowledge of site, its community and Indigenous heritage. This research reflects on and develops strategies that aim to uncover the essence of a landscape, and its ‘one truth’ (N.Graham, 2020, pers. comm., 11 March) through openness that is ‘dialogical, reflective, and attentive to processes’ (Rose 2007). It promotes a framework which nurtures collaboration amongst stakeholders in pursuit of uncovering the collective understanding between system diversities, complexities, concerns within environments, and acknowledging the hidden voices. In so doing, the research thematises approaches to landscape that address the complex environmental, social, political, economic and cultural factors effecting the complex ICOLL environment of Tallow Creek, Byron Bay. To this end, these non-traditional practices have the potential to aid landscape architects to employ alternate strategies that better document, engage, promote, and respect the complex relationships that exists between stakeholder groups, cultural landscapes, their belief systems and values with landscape

Assessing friction laws for simulating bowed-string motion

© 2017 S. Hirzel Verlag. In order to carry out meaningful "virtual" experiments on the playability of bowed-string instruments, a simulation model is required that can reproduce all details relevant to a musician. Measured transient behaviour of machine-bowed strings is compared in detail with predictions from a range of previously-published computer simulation models. The general trends of waveforms and parameter dependence observed experimentally are successfully predicted, but some important details are not well captured by any of the models tested. The discrepancies, mainly associated with uncertainty about the correct model for the frictional interaction between bow and string, are examined systematically to reveal patterns of sensitivity to specific features of the models and to provide guidance on aspects of those models that may require enhancement to achieve a closer match to experiment. Of the models tested, the friction model based on contact temperature performed significantly better than more traditional ones based on instantaneous sliding speed

Imaging the buried rim of Campi flegrei caldera (Italy) from array analysis

On September an extended active seismic survey(SERAPIS,Seismic Reflection Acquisition Project for Imaging Structure)was conducted in the Gulf of Naples and Pozzuoli with the aimof providing new insights on the Campi Flegrei caldera structure and of investigating its feeding system(fig.1).About3000air-gunsea-shots were shot(fig.3a,b,c).In the frame work of this project,anarray of 28 vertical-component and 4 three component sensors was deployed in the Solfatara crater(fig.2).The array had an aperture of about 200m,and receivers had a natural frequency of 1Hz.An example of the recorded wave forms is shown in figure 4

Genetic evaluation of gestation length in Italian Holstein breed

Gestation length (GL) can potentially affect health and performance of both the dam and the newborn calf, and it is controlled by two genetic components, direct and maternal. This means that both the calf (direct effect) and the cow (maternal effect) genotypes contribute to determine GL and its variability. The aims of the present study were to estimate direct and maternal variance components of GL, develop a routine genetic evaluation of GL in Italian Holstein and evaluate potential (un)favourable associations with traits for which selection is undertaken in this population. A multiple-trait repeatability linear animal model was employed for the estimation of variance components considering GL in first and later parities as different traits. The posterior mean (PM) of heritability of the direct effect was 0.43 for first parity and 0.35 for later parities. The PM of heritability of the maternal effect was lower, being 0.08 for primiparae and 0.06 for pluriparae. The posterior standard deviation (PSD) of the heritability estimates was small, ranging from 0.001 to 0.005. The relationship of direct and maternal effects with important traits such as milk yield and fertility indicated that selecting for extreme GL, longer or shorter, may have negative consequences on several traits, suggesting that GL has an intermediate optimum in dairy cattle. In conclusion, this study reveals that selecting an intermediate GL in the Italian Holstein population is advisable. Although scarcely variable compared to other conventional traits for which Italian Holstein is selected, GL is heritable and a deeper knowledge can be useful for decision-making at the farm level

An integrated system for autonomous robotics manipulation

We describe the software components of a robotics system designed to autonomously grasp objects and perform dexterous manipulation tasks with only high-level supervision. The system is centered on the tight integration of several core functionalities, including perception, planning and control, with the logical structuring of tasks driven by a Behavior Tree architecture. The advantage of the implementation is to reduce the execution time while integrating advanced algorithms for autonomous manipulation. We describe our approach to 3-D perception, real-time planning, force compliant motions, and audio processing. Performance results for object grasping and complex manipulation tasks of in-house tests and of an independent evaluation team are presented

Probing transference and field-induced polymer velocity in block copolymer electrolytes

Concentration polarization in an electrolyte comprising dissociated ions and a solvent is often modeled using concentrated solution theory developed by Newman. This theory is built upon two differential equations for electrolyte concentration and solvent velocity fields. We characterize the concentration and solvent velocity fields in a polystyrene-block-polyethylene oxide (SEO) block copolymer electrolyte using operando X-ray transmission measurements and X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy, respectively. Using calculations based on the assumption that the SEO chain behaves as a single species, we show that the experimental data are consistent with a cation transference number, t+0, ≈ 0.7. Previously published electrochemical experiments using small polarizations led to the conclusion that t+0 is less than 0.3. The discrepancy indicates that the block copolymer electrolyte cannot be approximated as a three-component system (cation, anion, and a single solvent), and frictional interactions involving the glassy polystyrene cannot be lumped with those involving rubbery poly(ethylene oxide) segments

Effects of l-Arginine Plus Vitamin C Supplementation on l-Arginine Metabolism in Adults with Long COVID: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Altered l-arginine metabolism has been described in patients with COVID-19 and has been associated with immune and vascular dysfunction. In the present investigation, we determined the serum concentrations of l-arginine, citrulline, ornithine, monomethyl-l-arginine (MMA), and symmetric and asymmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA, ADMA) in adults with long COVID at baseline and after 28-days of l-arginine plus vitamin C or placebo supplementation enrolled in a randomized clinical trial, compared with a group of adults without previous history of SARS-CoV-2-infection. l-arginine-derived markers of nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability (i.e., l-arginine/ADMA, l-arginine/citrulline+ornithine, and l-arginine/ornithine) were also assayed. Partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models were built to characterize systemic l-arginine metabolism and assess the effects of the supplementation. PLS-DA allowed discrimination of participants with long COVID from healthy controls with 80.2 ± 3.0% accuracy. Lower markers of NO bioavailability were found in participants with long COVID. After 28 days of l-arginine plus vitamin C supplementation, serum l-arginine concentrations and l-arginine/ADMA increased significantly compared with placebo. This supplement may therefore be proposed as a remedy to increase NO bioavailability in people with long COVID

A seismic array on Mt. Vesuvius

In November 1997 a seismic antenna (array) of short period seismometers was installed on the south-western flank of Mt. Vesuvius; aim of the experiment was to test the use of non-conventional devices for the seismic monitoring of this volcano. In 7 months local seismicity, regional earthquakes and samples of seismic noise were recorded by the array and organised in a data base. Local earthquakes and seismic noise have been analysed with array techniques to investigate the spectral, kinematic and polarization properties of the wavefield. Preliminary results show that the backazimuth of local earthquakes is oriented in the direction of the crater area. For some events, the source location has been constrained using a simplified back propagation in a 2-D velocity structure. The noise wavefield is characterized by the predominance of a sustained low frequency component (< 1Hz) whose source is located S-SE of the array. This low frequency signal has been interpreted as associated to the sea-loading in the gulf of Naples.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Osservatorio VesuvianoPublished1.4. TTC - Sorveglianza sismologica delle aree vulcaniche attiveope

A seismic array on Mt. Vesuvius

In November 1997 a seismic antenna (array) of short period seismometers was installed on the south-western flank of Mt. Vesuvius; aim of the experiment was to test the use of non-conventional devices for the seismic monitoring of this volcano. In 7 months local seismicity, regional earthquakes and samples of seismic noise were recorded by the array and organised in a data base. Local earthquakes and seismic noise have been analysed with array techniques to investigate the spectral, kinematic and polarization properties of the wavefield. Preliminary results show that the backazimuth of local earthquakes is oriented in the direction of the crater area. For some events, the source location has been constrained using a simplified back propagation in a 2-D velocity structure. The noise wavefield is characterized by the predominance of a sustained low frequency component (< 1Hz) whose source is located S-SE of the array. This low frequency signal has been interpreted as associated to the sea-loading in the gulf of Naples