G-BASE field procedures manual : version 1.1

The G-BASE project is a long-term systematic geochemical survey that has required a high degree of consistency in its sampling methodologies. This report gives in detail all the project procedures associated with the collection of geochemical samples from the planning phase in the office through to sample reception and reporting of the completed field campaign. The procedures described here should be diligently followed in order to maintain the high levels of quality control the project aspires to. Any changes to procedures are indicated in the latest version of this manual and documented in an updates list in Annex I. In addition to describing all the fieldwork procedures, the recruitment and training of "voluntary" student workers is described along with discussions relating to health and safety issues likely to be encountered during sampling. When describing the methods used by G-BASE in reports or publications, reference should be made to this manual

GSUE: urban geochemical mapping in Great Britain

The British Geological Survey is responsible for the national strategic geochemical survey of Great Britain. As part of this programme, the Geochemical Surveys of Urban Environments (GSUE) project was initiated in 1992 and to date, 21 cities have been mapped. Urban sampling is based upon the collection of top (0.05 to 0.20 m) and deeper (0.35 to 0.50 m) soil samples on a 500 m grid across the built environment (1 sample per 0.25 km2). Samples are analysed for c. 46 total element concentrations by X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRFS), pH and loss on ignition (LOI) as an indicator of organic matter content. The data provide an overview of the urban geochemical signature and because they are collected as part of a national baseline programme, can be readily compared with soils in the rural hinterland to assess the extent of urban contamination. The data are of direct relevance to current UK land use planning, urban regeneration and contaminated land legislative regimes. An overview of the project and applications of the data to human health risk assessment, water quality protection and contaminant source identification are presented

Shell model Monte Carlo calculations for Dy-170

We present the first auxiliary field Monte Carlo calculations for a rare earth nucleus, Dy-170. A pairing plus quadrupole Hamiltonian is used to demonstrate the physical properties that can be studied in this region. We calculate various static observables for both uncranked and cranked systems and show how the shape distribution evolves with temperature. We also introduce a discretization of the path integral that allows a more efficient Monte Carlo sampling.Comment: 11 pages, figures available upon request, Caltech Preprint No. MAP-16

The prevalence and factors affecting psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students in University of Uyo, Nigeria

Background: Psychoactive substance use is a proliferating public health and social problem leading to negative multi-dimensional impact especially among young people. This study was done to determine the prevalence and factors predisposing to psychoactive substance use among undergraduates in University of Uyo, Nigeria.Methodology: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out among 350 undergraduates in the University of Uyo, Nigeria between March and July 2016. Data collection was done using a self-administered structured questionnaire and was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 23.Results: The mean age of the respondents was 21.57±1.96 years. The prevalence of psychoactive substance use was 27.5% and was more in females (37.7%) than males (18.2%). Peer group influence (94.3%), Stress (70.5%), Curiosity (58.7%), were the most common factors perceived to predispose to psychoactive substance use among undergraduate students. Among the 89 substance users in the study, alcohol 89 (100.0%), codeine 71 (79.8%), tramadol 66(74.2%) and cigarette 37(41.6%) were the most commonly used substances. The commonest source of substances was from friends 76 (85.4%), while the commonest reasons for substance use were to boost confidence, 82 (92.1%) and to read for exams, 76 (85.4%). A statistically significant association existed between substance use and age, sex, intra family relationship, family member substance use, peer group use of psychoactive substance and academic performance (p<0.05).Conclusion: Psychoactive substance use was high among the study group. A multi-dimensional approach is needed in curbing substance use among undergraduate students both at the educational institution and family levels.Keywords: Psychoactive substance, Undergraduate students, Peer group, Uyo, Nigeria

Precipitation and latent heating distributions from satellite passive microwave radiometry. Part I: improved method and uncertainties

A revised Bayesian algorithm for estimating surface rain rate, convective rain proportion, and latent heating profiles from satellite-borne passive microwave radiometer observations over ocean backgrounds is described. The algorithm searches a large database of cloud-radiative model simulations to find cloud profiles that are radiatively consistent with a given set of microwave radiance measurements. The properties of these radiatively consistent profiles are then composited to obtain best estimates of the observed properties. The revised algorithm is supported by an expanded and more physically consistent database of cloud-radiative model simulations. The algorithm also features a better quantification of the convective and nonconvective contributions to total rainfall, a new geographic database, and an improved representation of background radiances in rain-free regions. Bias and random error estimates are derived from applications of the algorithm to synthetic radiance data, based upon a subset of cloud-resolving model simulations, and from the Bayesian formulation itself. Synthetic rain-rate and latent heating estimates exhibit a trend of high (low) bias for low (high) retrieved values. The Bayesian estimates of random error are propagated to represent errors at coarser time and space resolutions, based upon applications of the algorithm to TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) data. Errors in TMI instantaneous rain-rate estimates at 0.5°-resolution range from approximately 50% at 1 mm h−1 to 20% at 14 mm h−1. Errors in collocated spaceborne radar rain-rate estimates are roughly 50%–80% of the TMI errors at this resolution. The estimated algorithm random error in TMI rain rates at monthly, 2.5° resolution is relatively small (less than 6% at 5 mm day−1) in comparison with the random error resulting from infrequent satellite temporal sampling (8%–35% at the same rain rate). Percentage errors resulting from sampling decrease with increasing rain rate, and sampling errors in latent heating rates follow the same trend. Averaging over 3 months reduces sampling errors in rain rates to 6%–15% at 5 mm day−1, with proportionate reductions in latent heating sampling errors

The Australian mango breeding project

The Australian mango industry is currently dominated by Kensington Pride which comprises some 80 per cent of all plantings. This is in contrast to other countries with modern export industries such as South Africa, Israel and Mexico, which are based on three to five cultivars. A joint venture between Agriculture Western Australia, the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (DPI), the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPIF) and the CSIRO commenced six years ago to generate a wide range of promising new mango hybrids that can meet both domestic and export market requirements. There has been considerable success to date

Pairing correlations in N~Z pf-shell nuclei

We perform Shell Model Monte Carlo calculations to study pair correlations in the ground states of $N=Z$ nuclei with masses A=48-60. We find that $T=1$, $J^{\pi}=0^+$ proton-neutron correlations play an important, and even dominant role, in the ground states of odd-odd $N=Z$ nuclei, in agreement with experiment. By studying pairing in the ground states of $^{52-58}$Fe, we observe that the isovector proton-neutron correlations decrease rapidly with increasing neutron excess. In contrast, both the proton, and trivially the neutron correlations increase as neutrons are added. We also study the thermal properties and the temperature dependence of pair correlations for $^{50}$Mn and $^{52}$Fe as exemplars of odd-odd and even-even $N=Z$ nuclei. While for $^{52}$Fe results are similar to those obtained for other even-even nuclei in this mass range, the properties of $^{50}$Mn at low temperatures are strongly influenced by isovector neutron-proton pairing. In coexistence with these isovector pair correlations, our calculations also indicate an excess of isoscalar proton-neutron pairing over the mean-field values. The isovector neutron-proton correlations rapidly decrease with temperatures and vanish for temperatures above $T=700$ keV, while the isovector correlations among like nucleons persist to higher temperatures. Related to the quenching of the isovector proton-neutron correlations, the average isospin decreases from 1, appropriate for the ground state, to 0 as the temperature increases

Density functional theory of phase coexistence in weakly polydisperse fluids

The recently proposed universal relations between the moments of the polydispersity distributions of a phase-separated weakly polydisperse system are analyzed in detail using the numerical results obtained by solving a simple density functional theory of a polydisperse fluid. It is shown that universal properties are the exception rather than the rule.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PR

Technological Devices in the Archives: A Policy Analysis

Doing research in the archive is the cornerstone of humanities scholarship. Various archives institute policies regarding the use of technological devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, and cameras in their reading rooms. Such policies directly affect the scholars as the devices mediate the nature of their interaction with the source materials in terms of capturing, organizing, note taking, and record keeping for future use of found materials. In this paper, we present our analysis of the policies of thirty archives regarding the use of technology in their reading rooms. This policy analysis, along with data from interviews of scholars and archivists, is intended to serve as a basis for developing mobile applications for assisting scholars in their research activities. In this paper we introduce an early prototype of such a mobile application— AMTracker.Informatio