Changing the CIS Academic Culture: Using Senior Design Projects to Unify the Curriculum

Recently we initiated an effort to create a synergistic relationship between the senior design sequence and the sophomore software engineering course that resulted in a cultural change to our CIS academic community. Because of the enthusiastic response from students and faculty, we are extending this initiative to generate early interest among freshman and sophomore majors for electives in artificial intelligence and decision support. With hardware acquisitions obtained through an Instrumentation Laboratory Improvement (ILI) grant from the National Science Foundation, teams in the Senior Projects capstone sequence are preparing projects that will be employed in early courses in the curriculum. The projects will be used to provide students with insight about each of the elective areas of the curriculum through demonstrations and activities. This paper describes the five project initiatives and how the projects will be employed to generate interest in the elective areas

An Evolutionary Sequence of Expanding Hydrogen Shells in Galaxy Discs

Large HI shells, with diameters of hundreds of pc and expansion velocities of 10-20kms-1 are well observed features of local gas rich galaxies. These shells could well be predicted as a result of the impact of OB associations on the ISM, but doubt has been cast on this scenario by the apparent absence of OB stars close to the centres of a large fraction of these shells in recent observations of the SMC. Using Fabry-Perot scanned Halpha emission line mapping of nearby galaxy discs we have detected, in all the HII regions where the observations yield sufficient angular resolution and S:N ratio, dominant Halpha shells with radii a few tens of pc, expanding at velocities of 50-100kms-1. We have applied a simple dynamically consistent framework in which we can extrapolate the properties of the observed Halpha shells to a few 10^7yr after the formation of the OB stars. The framework includes the dynamical inputs of both winds and SNe on the surrounding ISM. The results give quantitative statistical support to the hypothesis that the Halpha emitting shells are generic progenitors of the HI shells. During the time taken for an expanding shell to reach the size of a typical HI shell, the OB association may well lose its most luminous stars so the absence of such stars near the centres of many of the HI shells is well explained in this scenario.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

1-Methyl-1-azonia-3,5-diaza-7-phospha­tricyclo­[3.3.1.1]decane 7-oxide triiodide

The title compound, C7H15N3OP+·I3 −, is a derivative of the well known water-soluble amino­phosphine 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA). The crystal structure is composed of a cage-like 1-methyl-1-azonia-3,5-diaza-7-phospha­tricyclo­[3.3.1.1]decane 7-oxide cation and a triiodide anion. The N-methyl­ation of the PTA cage results in a slight elongation of the corresponding C—N bonds, while the oxidation of the P atom leads to a slight shortening of the C—P bonds in comparison with those of PTA. In general, most of the bonding parameters are comparable with those reported for related compounds bearing the PTA core. Two inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between methyl­ene groups and the P=O group are responsible for the linkage of neighbouring cations into linear one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded chains

1-Methyl-1-azonia-3,5-diaza-7-phosphatricyclo­[3.3.1.13,7]decane tetra­fluoro­borate

The title compound, C7H15N3P+·BF4 − or [PTA-Me][BF4], is the N-methyl­ated derivative of the well known water-soluble amino­phosphine 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA). The asymmetric unit consists of a cage-like cation [PTA-Me]+ and a disordered tetra­fluoro­borate anion; two F atoms are disordered equally over two sites. A network of weak inter­molecular C—H⋯F hydrogen bonds results in a three-dimensional supra­molecular assembly

Deep H{\alpha} Observations of NGC 253: a Very Extended and Possibly Declining Rotation Curve?

This study presents a deep H{\alpha} kinematical analysis of the Sculptor Group galaxy NGC253. The Fabry-Perot data were taken with the 36-cm Marseille Telescope in La Silla, Chile, using an EMCCD detector. Typical emission measures of ~0.1 cm^-6 pc are reached. The observations allow the detection of the Diffuse Ionized Gas component through [N II] emission at very large radii of 11.5', 12.8' and 19.0', on the receding side of the galaxy. No H{\alpha} emission is observed at radii larger than the neutral component (11.5'). The very extended rotation curve confirms previous results and shows signs of a significant decline, on the order of 30 per cent vmax . Using the rotation data, mass models are constructed with and without the outer [N II] data points, and similar results are found. The declining part of the rotation curve is very well modeled, and seems to be truly declining.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Operationalizing ecological connectivity in spatial conservation planning with Marxan Connect

1. Globally, protected areas are being established to protect biodiversity and to promote ecosystem resilience. The typical spatial conservation planning process leading to the creation of these protected areas focuses on representation and replication of ecological features, often using decision support tools such as Marxan. Yet, despite the important role ecological connectivity has in metapopulation persistence and resilience, Marxan currently requires manual input or specialized scripts to explicitly consider connectivity. 2. ‘Marxan Connect’ is a new open source, open access Graphical User Interface (GUI) tool designed to assist conservation planners with the appropriate use of data on ecological connectivity in protected area network planning. 3. Marxan Connect can facilitate the use of estimates of demographic connectivity (e.g. derived from animal tracking data, dispersal models, or genetic tools) or structural landscape connectivity (e.g. isolation by resistance). This is accomplished by calculating metapopulation‐relevant connectivity metrics (e.g. eigenvector centrality) and treating those as conservation features or by including the connectivity data as a spatial dependency amongst sites in the prioritization process. 4. Marxan Connect allows a wide group of users to incorporate directional ecological connectivity into conservation planning with Marxan. The solutions provided by Marxan Connect, combined with ecologically relevant post‐hoc testing, are more likely to support persistent and resilient metapopulations (e.g. fish stocks) and provide better protection for biodiversity

H-alpha Kinematics of the SINGS Nearby Galaxies Survey. II

This is the second part of an H-alpha kinematics follow-up survey of the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS) sample. The aim of this program is to shed new light on the role of baryons and their kinematics and on the dark/luminous matter relation in the star forming regions of galaxies, in relation with studies at other wavelengths. The data for 37 galaxies are presented. The observations were made using Fabry-Perot interferometry with the photon-counting camera FaNTOmM on 4 different telescopes, namely the Canada-France-Hawaii 3.6m, the ESO La Silla 3.6m, the William Herschel 4.2m, and the Observatoire du mont Megantic 1.6m telescopes. The velocity fields are computed using custom IDL routines designed for an optimal use of the data. The kinematical parameters and rotation curves are derived using the GIPSY software. It is shown that non-circular motions associated with galactic bars affect the kinematical parameters fitting and the velocity gradient of the rotation curves. This leads to incorrect determinations of the baryonic and dark matter distributions in the mass models derived from those rotation curves.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. All high-res. figures are available at http://www.astro.umontreal.ca/fantomm/singsII