Spatial patterns in the distribution of benthic assemblages across a large depth gradient in the Coral Sea, Australia

The Queensland Plateau in the Coral Sea off north-eastern Australia supports numerous submerged and emergent reefs. Osprey Reef is an emergent reef at the northern tip of the plateau ~1500 m in elevation. Over such a large depth gradient, a wide range of abiotic factors (e.g. light, temperature, substratum etc.) are likely to influence benthic zonation. Despite the importance of understanding the biodiversity of Australia's Coral Sea, there is a lack of biological information on deep-water habitats below diving depths. Here we used a deep-water ROV transect to capture video, still photos and live samples over a depth range spanning 92 to 787 m at North Horn on Osprey Reef. Video analysis, combined with bathymetry data, was used to identify the zones of geomorphology and the benthic assemblages along the depth gradient. There were marked changes in the geomorphology and the substrate along this depth gradient which likely influence the associated benthos. Cluster analysis indicated five benthic assemblage groups, which showed clear zonation patterns and were generally predictable based on the depth and sedimentary environment. These results are the first quantitative observations to such depths and confirm that the waters of the Coral Sea support diverse benthic assemblages, ranging from shallow-water coral reefs to mesophotic coral ecosystems, to deep-water azooxanthellate corals and sponge gardens. The knowledge provided by our study can inform management plans for the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve that incorporate the deeper reef habitats and help to minimise future damage to these marine ecosystems

A supplementary note to Questionnaire Sorting and Fuzzy Sorting

Sorting, Cognitive structure, Knowledge elicitation, Semantic structure, Cover set, Cover set cluster analysis, Fuzzy sorting, Information architecture, Web-site structure,

The belief in a just world and distress at school

This article investigates the relationship between the belief in a just world (BJW) and distress at school. On the basis of just world theory, the authors argue that strong student BJW should be associated with low school distress. Two questionnaire studies with German secondary school students attending grades 7–13 are reported. Both studies found strong BJW to be associated with less distress at school, better grades, and the evaluation of grades and teachers as more just. Moreover, the relationship between strong BJW and low school distress persisted when controlled for grades, justice of grades, and teacher justice. This relationship held for all students, independently of their school track, grade level, or gender. Overall, the pattern of results reveals school distress to have a unique association with BJW and school-specific justice cognitions

BIOMICS Project : Biological and Mathematical Basis of Interaction Computing

The main idea that led us to propose this project is inspired by the observation that cell metabolic/regulatory systems are able to self-organise and/or construct order dynamically, through random interactions between their components and based on a wide range of possible inputs. We think it is possible for this behaviour to be reproduced in a controllable way through interacting finite-state automata. This will lead to a radically new model of “bottom-up computation” with equal applicability to computer science and systems biology that we call Interaction Computing (IC).Peer reviewe