What do students do? Training, research and learning: developing skills for the next generation of near-surface geophysicists

In the past decade, degree programmes throughout Europe have changed dramatically and near-surface geophysics is now commonly taught as a minor component of other undergraduate geoscience and related degree programmes. As a consequence, there has been a distinct change in the nature, scope and content of geophysical degrees and the skills set that graduates obtain throughout their studies. As an introduction to the Special Issue on Student-based Research, this commentary article discusses the expectations of employers, the competencies and skills of our undergraduate and postgraduate students and how these have changed over time. We highlight skill gaps and suggest ways in which the near-surface geophysical community can address these needs in a pragmatic and cost efficient manner. We hope to illustrate that a greater collaboration between industry and academia is the way forward and that innovative, cross-sector approaches to student learning and research are the solution to at least some of our problems

A comparison of sequential total and activated white cell count in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, using cardiopulmonary bypass, with and without a white cell filter

Introduction Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) has been shown to induce a systemic inflammatory response similar to the local reaction seen after tissue damage [1]. This leads to the release of toxic substances, such as elastase, which cause endothelial damage and may adversely affect outcome [2]. Use of a leucocyte depleting arterial line filter is one of many anti-inflammatory strategies that are undergoing evaluation. Leucocyte depleting filters may be capable of selectively removing activated white cells [3], but this has not been proved in vivo. The aim of the present study was to compare sequential total and activated white cells during CPB, using either a leucocyte depleting or standard arterial line filter. Materials and methods After local ethical committee approval, 20 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting using CPB were prospectively randomly allocated to have either a Leukogard LG–6 (Pall Biomedical, Portsmouth, UK) or a nonleucocyte depleting filter inserted into the arterial line of the CPB circuit. Arterial limb blood samples were taken immediately after institution of CPB (0min) and at 10–min intervals throughout the bypass period. Activated white cells were identified using nitroblue tetrazolium, then both total and activated white cell numbers counted after staining with Leucoplate.Results Table 1 shows the number of white cells counted/1.25 ? l (volume of a single channel of Nageotte counting chamber) using light microscopy (× 25).Conclusion The LG6 leucocyte filter reduces the total white cell count and is capable of selectively removing activated white cells during CPB. The exact relationship between leucocyte depletion and improved patient outcome still remains unclear

A comparative study of using spindle motor power and eddy current for the detection of tool conditions in milling processes

This paper investigates the use of the power of the driving motor of a CNC spindle in comparison to two perpendicular eddy current sensors for the detection of tool wear in milling processes. Monitoring the power through the current profile is a low cost system which has been utilised in this study as an attempt to detect the fluctuation in the motor load as a result of the conditions of the cutting tool. Eddy current sensors are dedicated sensors that are installed on the spindle to measure the vibration of the rotating spindle in two axes. Experimental work has been conducted using fresh and worn tools to investigate the effect of tool conditions on the two sensory systems. Time domain features are utilised to compare between the two sensors in relation to this application. The results indicate that Eddy current sensors are found to be more successful and sensitive, in general, than the power of the motor in detecting the changes of the cutting tools during the machining operation. However, the kurtosis value of the power of the spindle has been found to be successful in predicting the tool conditions with high sensitivity

Novel gating mechanism of polyamine block in the strong inward rectifier K channel Kir2.1.

Inward rectifying K channels are essential for maintaining resting membrane potential and regulating excitability in many cell types. Previous studies have attributed the rectification properties of strong inward rectifiers such as Kir2.1 to voltage-dependent binding of intracellular polyamines or Mg to the pore (direct open channel block), thereby preventing outward passage of K ions. We have studied interactions between polyamines and the polyamine toxins philanthotoxin and argiotoxin on inward rectification in Kir2.1. We present evidence that high affinity polyamine block is not consistent with direct open channel block, but instead involves polyamines binding to another region of the channel (intrinsic gate) to form a blocking complex that occludes the pore. This interaction defines a novel mechanism of ion channel closure

The Immanent Contingency of Physical Laws in Leibniz’s Dynamics

This paper focuses on Leibniz’s conception of modality and its application to the issue of natural laws. The core of Leibniz’s investigation of the modality of natural laws lays in the distinction between necessary, geometrical laws on the one hand, and contingent, physical laws of nature on the other. For Leibniz, the contingency of physical laws entailed the assumption of the existence of an additional form of causality beyond mechanical or efficient ones. While geometrical truths, being necessary, do not require the use of the principle of sufficient reason, physical laws are not strictly determined by geometry and therefore are logically distinct from geometrical laws. As a consequence, the set of laws that regulate the physical laws could have been created otherwise by God. However, in addition to this, the contingency of natural laws does not consist only in the fact that God has chosen them over other possible ones. On the contrary, Leibniz understood the status of natural laws as arising from the action internal to physical substances. Hence the actuality of physical laws results from a causal power that is inherent to substances rather than being the mere consequence of the way God arranged the relations between physical objects. Focusing on three instances of Leibniz’s treatment of contingency in physics, this paper argues that, in order to account for the contingency of physical laws, Leibniz maintained that final causes, in addition to efficient and mechanical ones, must operate in physical processes and operations

The Carboniferous Southern Pennine Basin, UK

Many of the Carboniferous outcrops located in the Derbyshire region of the Peak District National Park, UK, have provided sites for both significant and pioneering research relating to the clastic sedimentology of marine palaeoenvironments, particularly so during the 1960s and 1970s when early models describing the sedimentary architecture of fluvio-deltaic, submarine slope and deep-marine submarine-fan sedimentation were first developed. The area was subject to hydrocarbon exploration from the 1920s to 1950s, which although unsuccessful in economic terms left a legacy of sub-surface data. Despite a long-history of sedimentological research, the deposits exposed at several classic localities in the Pennine Basin continue to broaden and challenge our current understanding of sedimentary processes to this day

Virtual geological outcrops - fieldwork and analysis made less exhaustive?

For geologists studying outcrops in the field, there is an ever‐increasing need for the acquisition of accurate and comprehensive data, whatever their purpose. Fortunately, this need is mirrored by an expanding range of digital data capturing technologies that provide the possibility of examining geological outcrops in minute detail from the desktop. Although difficult technologically, there is also a need to combine differing datasets into a single, accurate, digital model that will allow field geologists to place their data in a wider context. This paper examines the techniques available, and highlights new Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology which should prove to be a unifying technique, being able to combine images and local coordinates on‐site