Origin of fluids in the shallow geothermal environment of Savo, Solomon Islands.

Savo is a recently emergent volcano. An active geothermal system has been present for at least 50 years, expressed at the surface by numerous hot springs, fumaroles and steaming ground. Samples of water and steam were collected from geothermal features and non-thermal springs and wells, and representative samples of altered rocks and precipitates were collected from geothermal areas. Analysis of the waters for anion, cation and stable isotope composition shows that the waters discharging at the surface fall into two groups Reoka type fluids have the high sulfate, low pH, and enriched δ18O and δD values typical of steam heated acid sulfate waters, where shallow groundwater is heated by rising steam and gas. Isotopically light H2S is oxidised in the near surface environment to produce the sulfate content. Rembokola type fluids have chemistry distinct from the Reoka type fluids, despite the two being found within close proximity (<10 m). Rembokola Type fluids produce a carbonate sinter, so are assumed to be saturated with bicarbonate. The aqueous sulfate has heavy δ34S, suggesting that it is not exclusively produced by the oxidation of H2S in the near surface environment. We suggest that condensation of volcanic gases (including CO2 and isotopically heavy SO2) into meteoric-derived groundwater in the upper levels of the volcanic edifice produces these carbonate–sulfate waters. The presence of SO2 suggests that there is a degassing magma at depth, and potentially a high sulfidation-type epithermal system beneath the steam heated zone

Strengthening of Parenthood; Developing a Life Skills Questionnaire for Dutch Parents (LSQ-P)

AbstractLife skills of parents have a positive effect on the wellbeing of parents and development of children. Currently, no reliable instrument is available to measure these skills. This study was set up to develop a questionnaire for assessing parents’ life skills. The questionnaire was developed for professionals who are working with parents and for building behavioral interventions enhancing the wellbeing of parents. A pilot research using a translation of the Life Skills Scale (Erawan, 2010) was conducted. Construct validity and reliability by means of confirmatory factor analysis of nine scales were examined in a sample of 133 Dutch parents and reliability of the scales in terms of Cronbach's alpha was examined. Evidence for construct validity of the scales was found. Reliability coefficients were satisfactory for the scales Critical thinking, Social responsibility, Interpersonal relationships, Decision making, Self-awareness, and Creative thinking. Reliability coefficients were good for Empathy and Self-esteem. The LSQ-P can be used in social work practice as an assessment tool to measure strengths and weaknesses regarding life skills of parents. More attention for developing life skills of parents is necessary in order to increase their wellbeing. Implications for health promotion among parents are discussed. Suggestions for further research and development of the scales are outlined

Electromagnetic Fields of Slowly Rotating Magnetized Gravastars

We study the dipolar magnetic field configuration and present solutions of Maxwell equations in the internal background spacetime of a a slowly rotating gravastar. The shell of gravastar where magnetic field penetrated is modeled as sphere consisting of perfect highly magnetized fluid with infinite conductivity. Dipolar magnetic field of the gravastar is produced by a circular current loop symmetrically placed at radius $a$ at the equatorial plane.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication to Mod. Phys. Lett.

The chemical composition and nutritive value of Australian pulses

Grain legumes are the harvested seed of leguminous crops, typically peas, beans and their close relatives within the Fabaceae. Another term for many of these crops is pulses. In Australia, generally grain legumes are referred to as pulses. The term pulse is derived from the Latin puls meaning that the seed or grain can be made into a thick soup or pottage. The term pulse is most commonly associated with the food legumes whereas grain legumes are mostly associated with the feed industry. The terms are interchangeable, but with few exceptions (notably chickpeas, lentils and mung beans), the majority of the crops are used for animal feed. Both soybeans and peanuts are leguminous plants; however they are traditionally regarded as oilseed crops, and will not be discussed here.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/books/1020/thumbnail.jp

An FTIR spectrometer for remote measurements of atmospheric composition

The JPL IV interferometer, and infrared Michelson interferometer, was built specifically for recording high resolution solar absorption spectra from remote ground-based sites, aircraft and from stratospheric balloons. The instrument is double-passed, with one fixed and one moving corner reflector, allowing up to 200-cm of optical path difference (corresponding to an unapodised spectral resolution of 0.003/cm). The carriage which holds the moving reflector is driven by a flexible nut riding on a lead screw. This arrangement, together with the double-passed optical scheme, makes the instrument resistant to the effects of mechanical distortion and shock. The spectral range of the instrument is covered by two liquid nitrogen-cooled detectors: an InSb photodiode is used for the shorter wavelengths (1.85 to 5.5 microns, 1,800 to 5,500/cm) and a HgCdTe photoconductor for the range (5.5 to 15 microns, 650 to 1,800/cm). For a single spectrum of 0.01/cm resolution, which requires a scan time of 105 seconds, the signal/noise ratio is typically 800:1 over the entire wavelength range

From continent to intra-oceanic arc: zircon xenocrysts record the crustal evolution of the Solomon island arc

The first U-Pb ages from a ca. 26–24 Ma pluton on Guadalcanal, in the intra-oceanic Solomon island arc (southwest Pacific Ocean), reveal Eocene- to Archean-aged zircon xenocrysts. Xenocryst populations at ca. 39–33 Ma and ca. 71–63 Ma correlate with previously obtained ages of supra-subduction magmatism within the arc. A ca. 96 Ma zircon population may be derived from Cretaceous ophiolite basement crust or region-wide continental rift-related magmatism. Xenocryst age populations alternate with periods of oceanic basin formation that fragmented the East Gondwana margin. Early Cretaceous to Archean zircon xenocryst ages imply continental origins and a cryptic source within the arc crust; they may have been introduced by Eocene interaction of a continental fragment with the arc, and concealed by ophiolite obduction. The data demonstrate that continentally derived zircons may be transported thousands of kilometers from their source and added to intra-oceanic arc magmas, a process likely facilitated by cyclical subduction zone advance and retreat. The findings highlight the continuum of arcs that occurs between continental and oceanic end members, and the caution with which zircons should be used to determine the provenance and setting of ancient arc terranes accreted to the continental crust

Viscosity in spherically symmetric accretion

The influence of viscosity on the flow behaviour in spherically symmetric accretion, has been studied here. The governing equation chosen has been the Navier-Stokes equation. It has been found that at least for the transonic solution, viscosity acts as a mechanism that detracts from the effectiveness of gravity. This has been conjectured to set up a limiting scale of length for gravity to bring about accretion, and the physical interpretation of such a length-scale has been compared with the conventional understanding of the so-called "accretion radius" for spherically symmetric accretion. For a perturbative presence of viscosity, it has also been pointed out that the critical points for inflows and outflows are not identical, which is a consequence of the fact that under the Navier-Stokes prescription, there is a breakdown of the invariance of the stationary inflow and outflow solutions -- an invariance that holds good under inviscid conditions. For inflows, the critical point gets shifted deeper within the gravitational potential well. Finally, a linear stability analysis of the stationary inflow solutions, under the influence of a perturbation that is in the nature of a standing wave, has indicated that the presence of viscosity induces greater stability in the system, than has been seen for the case of inviscid spherically symmetric inflows.Comment: 7 pages. Minor changes made in the version published in MNRA

Fast Face Detector Training Using Tailored Views

Face detection is an important task in computer vision and often serves as the first step for a variety of applications. State-of-the-art approaches use efficient learning algorithms and train on large amounts of manually labeled imagery. Acquiring appropriate training images, however, is very time-consuming and does not guarantee that the collected training data is representative in terms of data variability. Moreover, available data sets are often acquired under con-trolled settings, restricting, for example, scene illumination or 3D head pose to a narrow range. This paper takes a look into the automated generation of adaptive training samples from a 3D morphable face model. Using statistical insights, the tailored training data guarantees full data variability and is enriched by arbitrary facial attributes such as age or body weight. Moreover, it can automatically adapt to environmental constraints, such as illumination or viewing angle of recorded video footage from surveillance cameras. We use the tailored imagery to train a new many-core imple-mentation of Viola Jones ’ AdaBoost object detection frame-work. The new implementation is not only faster but also enables the use of multiple feature channels such as color features at training time. In our experiments we trained seven view-dependent face detectors and evaluate these on the Face Detection Data Set and Benchmark (FDDB). Our experiments show that the use of tailored training imagery outperforms state-of-the-art approaches on this challenging dataset. 1

Faecal pathogen flows and their public health risks in urban environments: A proposed approach to inform sanitation planning

© 2018 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Public health benefits are often a key political driver of urban sanitation investment in developing countries, however, pathogen flows are rarely taken systematically into account in sanitation investment choices. While several tools and approaches on sanitation and health risks have recently been developed, this research identified gaps in their ability to predict faecal pathogen flows, to relate exposure risks to the existing sanitation services, and to compare expected impacts of improvements. This paper outlines a conceptual approach that links faecal waste discharge patterns with potential pathogen exposure pathways to quantitatively compare urban sanitation improvement options. An illustrative application of the approach is presented, using a spreadsheet-based model to compare the relative effect on disability-adjusted life years of six sanitation improvement options for a hypothetical urban situation. The approach includes consideration of the persistence or removal of different pathogen classes in different environments; recognition of multiple interconnected sludge and effluent pathways, and of multiple potential sites for exposure; and use of quantitative microbial risk assessment to support prediction of relative health risks for each option. This research provides a step forward in applying current knowledge to better consider public health, alongside environmental and other objectives, in urban sanitation decision making. Further empirical research in specific locations is now required to refine the approach and address data gaps

Poison sedge can kill stock

POISON SEDGE was first suspected of being toxic to livestock in Western Australia nearly 80 years ago. Sudden deaths of sheep grazing areas on which poison sedge grew have been reported from many regions from Geraldton to Scott River. This article reports a case of poisoning in the field, and the experimental reproduction of poison sedge toxicity in pen-fed sheep