A wireless sensor network system deployment for detecting stick slip motion in glaciers

The behaviour of glaciers is an area in which only limited research has been carried out due to the difficulties of monitoring sub-glacial movements. The authors believe that this can be addressed by the deployment of a wireless sensor network, consisting of heterogeneous sensors to instrument this activity. By deploying a sensor network measurements can be taken for a longer period than would otherwise be possible. The initial designs for this sensor network are presented along with details of some of the challenges posed by the project

Instability of blanket bog slopes on Cuilcagh Mountain, N.W. Ireland

There are many accounts of slope failures on blanket bogs, but their nature and controls are poorly understood. This study investigates the mechanisms of blanket bog failure on Cuilcagh Mountain, north-west Ireland, and identifies the critical factors affecting the stability of peatland hillslopes. This is achieved by means of extensive field investigations involving hydrological monitoring, soil sampling and comprehensive laboratory analyses to determine the physical, hydrological and geotechnical properties of the blanket peat. The results from these investigations form the basis of hillslope hydrology and slope stability modelling using finite-element modelling programmes (commercial SEEP/W and SLOPE/W software). A total of 47 failures scars were identified on Cuilcagh Mountain involving an estimated 300,000 m3 of peat. Detailed field investigations revealed two main types of peatland slope failure: shallow translational peat slides associated with the failure of clay underlying the blanket peat, and bog flows in which failure occurs as a slurrytype plastic flow with the failure zone located within the peat. Peat slides were more prevalent on the steeper slopes (7.0-17.00) of Cuilcagh, whereas bog flows were found exclusively on low gradient slopes (1.5-7.50) with deep accumulations of peat (typically up to 2.5 m). Previously it had been suggested that bog failures were confined to steep slopes or peripheral areas of blanket bogs. However, on Cuilcagh Mountain they appear to be an integral part of the natural evolution of the main peatland, with the presence of many failure scars at different stages ofre-vegetation and recovery. Conventional methods of slope stability analysis (Factor of Safety using limit equilibrium methods) were found to be adequate for use on peat slide failures, but were not as suitable for analysing the slopes prone to bog flows. Sensitivity analyses indicate that cohesion of the failure material (Le. the catotelm peat for bog flows and the underlying clay for peat slides) is the most critical factor contributing to slope failure. A reduction in cohesion is thought to be related to decomposition andlor progressive failure of the peat, or weathering and creep of the underlying clay. Increased overburden pressure from continuing peat accumulation is also an important factor in reducing the overall stability of a peatland slope. The initiation of bog flows and peat slides can occur from the progressive failure of the material in question, but there is more evidence to suggest that both types of failure are more frequently initiated as a result of a specific trigger event usually associated with high intensity rainfall

The malaria parasite cation ATPase PfATP4 and its role in the mechanism of action of a new arsenal of antimalarial drugs

AbstractThe intraerythrocytic malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, maintains a low cytosolic Na+ concentration and the plasma membrane P-type cation translocating ATPase ‘PfATP4’ has been implicated as playing a key role in this process. PfATP4 has been the subject of significant attention in recent years as mutations in this protein confer resistance to a growing number of new antimalarial compounds, including the spiroindolones, the pyrazoles, the dihydroisoquinolones, and a number of the antimalarial agents in the Medicines for Malaria Venture's ‘Malaria Box’. On exposure of parasites to these compounds there is a rapid disruption of cytosolic Na+. Whether, and if so how, such chemically distinct compounds interact with PfATP4, and how such interactions lead to parasite death, is not yet clear. The fact that multiple different chemical classes have converged upon PfATP4 highlights its significance as a potential target for new generation antimalarial agents. A spiroindolone (KAE609, now known as cipargamin) has progressed through Phase I and IIa clinical trials with favourable results. In this review we consider the physiological role of PfATP4, summarise the current repertoire of antimalarial compounds for which PfATP4 is implicated in their mechanism of action, and provide an outlook on translation from target identification in the laboratory to patient treatment in the field

08071 Abstracts Collection -- Scheduling

From 10.02. to 15.02., the Dagstuhl Seminar 08071 ``Scheduling\u27\u27 was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar as well as abstracts of seminar results and ideas are put together in this paper. The first section describes the seminar topics and goals in general. Links to extended abstracts or full papers are provided, if available

The Principals We Hire for Today’s Schools: Voices of Superintendents

The purpose of this study was to identify superintendents’ perceptions of the characteristics of and abilities needed by successful principals in today’s schools. In addition, identification of superintendents’ concerns relative to the principals they hire was solicited

Crafting a critical technical practice

In recent years, the category of practice-based research has become an essential component of discourse around public funding and evaluation of the arts in British higher education. When included under the umbrella of public policy concerned with the creative industries", technology researchers often find themselves collaborating with artists who consider their own participation to be a form of practice-based research. We are conducting a study under the Creator Digital Economies project asking whether technologists, themselves, should be considered as engaging in practice-based research, whether this occurs in collaborative situations, or even as a component of their own personal research [1]

Rich Intercultural Music Engagement Enhances Cultural Understanding: The Impact of Learning a Musical Instrument Outside of One’s Lived Experience

Rich intercultural music engagement (RIME) is an embodied form of engagement whereby individuals immerse themselves in foreign musical practice, for example, by learning a traditional instrument from that culture. The present investigation evaluated whether RIME with Chinese or Middle Eastern music can nurture intercultural understanding. White Australian participants were randomly assigned to one of two plucked-string groups: Chinese pipa (n = 29) or Middle Eastern oud (n = 29). Before and after the RIME intervention, participants completed measures of ethnocultural empathy, tolerance, social connectedness, explicit and implicit attitudes towards ethnocultural groups, and open-ended questions about their experience. Following RIME, White Australian participants reported a significant increase in ethnocultural empathy, tolerance, feelings of social connection, and improved explicit and implicit attitudes towards Chinese and Middle Eastern people. However, these benefits differed between groups. Participants who learned Chinese pipa reported reduced bias and increased social connectedness towards Chinese people, but not towards Middle Eastern people. Conversely, participants who learned Middle Eastern oud reported a significant increase in social connectedness towards Middle Eastern people, but not towards Chinese people. This is the first experimental evidence that participatory RIME is an effective tool for understanding a culture other than one’s own, with the added potential to reduce cultural bias.</p

The seasonal evolution of subglacial drainage pathways beneath a soft-bedded glacier

Subglacial hydrology is a key element in glacier response to climate change, but investigations of this environment are logistically difficult. Most models are based on summer data from glaciers resting on rigid bedrocks. However a significant number of glaciers rest on soft (unconsolidated sedimentary) beds. Here we present a unique multi-year instrumented record of the development of seasonal subglacial behavior associated with an Icelandic temperate glacier resting on a deformable sediment layer. We observe a distinct annual pattern in the subglacial hydrology based on self-organizing anastomosing braided channels. Water is stored within the subglacial system itself (till, braided system and ‘ponds’), allowing the rapid access of water to enable glacier speed-up events to occur throughout the year, particularly in winter.publishedVersio

Poster Abstract:Deploying a 6LoWPAN, CoAP, low power, wireless sensor network

In order to integrate equipment from different vendors, wireless sensor networks need to become more standardized. Using IP as the basis of low power radio networks, together with application layer standards designed for this purpose is one way forward. This research focuses on implementing and deploying a system using Contiki, 6LoWPAN over an 868 MHz radio network, together with CoAP as a standard application layer protocol. A system was deployed in the Cairngorm mountains in Scotland as an environmental sensor network, measuring streams, temperature profiles in peat and periglacial features. It was found that RPL provided an effective routing algorithm, and that the use of UDP packets with CoAP proved to be an energy efficient application layer. This combination of technologies can be very effective in large area sensor networks