The CRUTEM4 land-surface air temperature data set:Construction, previous versions and dissemination via Google earth

The CRUTEM4 (Climatic Research Unit Temperature, version 4) land-surface air temperature data set is one of the most widely used records of the climate system. Here we provide an important additional dissemination route for this data set: online access to monthly, seasonal and annual data values and time series graphs via Google Earth. This is achieved via an interface written in Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and also provides access to the underlying weather station data used to construct the CRUTEM4 data set. A mathematical description of the construction of the CRUTEM4 data set (and its predecessor versions) is also provided, together with an archive of some previous versions and a recommendation for identifying the precise version of the data set used in a particular study

Evaluation of a New Technique for Recording the Direction of Flight of Mosquitoes(Diptera:Culicidae) in the Field

In a study in the Gambia on the relationship between wind direction and the direction of flight of mosquitoes electric grids were used as screens in conjunction with suction traps. Mosquitoes contacting or attempting to fly through the grids were electrocuted. The screening efficiency of the grids was estimated to be 75-80%, and the grids had no demonstrable effect on wind speed. The traps were set up in pairs with their mouths at ground level, one trap in each pair being screened on the upwind and the other on the downwind side. In this way, the mosquitoes could be segregated into those that were flying predominantly upwind and predominantly downwind, respectively. The results indicated that some 64% were flying upwind at this level, but this proportion varied considerably over a period of days, with nightly extremes of 87 and 43%; these was little difference between species. This variation was not correlated with wind speed, but there was some evidence that the presence of moonlight led wind speed, but there was evidence that presence of moonlight led to a greater degree of upwind flight

Dystrophin and utrophin: the missing links!

AbstractThere is considerable sequence homology between dystrophin and utrophin, both at the protein and DNA level, and consequently it was assumed that their domain structures and functions would be similar. As more of the detailed biochemical and cell biological properties of these two proteins become known, so it becomes clear that there are subtle if not significant differences between them. We review recent findings and present new hypotheses into the structural and functional properties of the actin-binding domain, central coiled-coil region and regulatory/membrane protein-binding regions of dystrophin and utrophin

Using benchtop experiments to teach dimensional analysis and analogue modeling to graduate geoscience students

The need for geoscience students to develop a quantitative skillset is ever increasing. However, this can be difficult to implement in university-style lecture courses in a way that is both manageable for the instructor and does not involve lengthy, potentially repetitive, question sheets for the students. Here, a method for teaching dimensional analysis, basic fluid dynamics, and the interpretation and scaling of experimental data is presented for a graduate student audience. The proposed method utilizes simple fluid dynamic benchtop experiments that require a small amount of teaching space and use readily available, low cost materials. Our analysis of student performance through pre- and post-tests demonstrates that students have a better knowledge of dimensional analysis, data interpretation and experimental design after the series of practical sessions compared to instruction through a single, passive lecture. We therefore show that simple benchtop experiments can be an effective way to improve and integrate quantitative learning into a graduate geoscience class

Proximal lava drainage controls on basaltic fissure eruption dynamics

Hawaiian basaltic eruptions commonly initiate as a fissure, producing fountains, spattering, and clastogenic lava flows. Most fissures rapidly localize to form a small number of eruptive vents, the location of which may influence the subsequent distribution of lava flows and associated hazards. We present results from a detailed field investigation of the proximal deposits of episode 1 of the 1969 fissure eruption of Mauna Ulu, Kīlauea, Hawai‘i. Exceptional preservation of the deposits allows us to reconstruct vent-proximal lava drainage patterns and to assess the role that drainage played in constraining vent localization. Through detailed field mapping, including measurements of the height and internal depth of lava tree moulds, we reconstruct high-resolution topographic maps of the pre-eruption ground surface, the lava high-stand surface and the post-eruption ground surface. We calculate the difference in elevation between pairs of maps to estimate the lava inundation depth and lava drainage depth over the field area and along different segments of fissure. Aerial photographs collected during episode 1 of the eruption allow us to locate those parts of the fissure that are no longer exposed at the surface. By comparing with the inundation and drainage maps, we find that fissure segments that were inundated with lava to greater depths (typically 1–6 m) during the eruption later became foci of lava drainage back into the fissure (internal drain-back). We infer that, in these areas, lava ponding over the fissure suppressed discharge of magma, thereby favouring drain-back and stagnation. By contrast, segments with relatively shallow inundation (typically less than ~ 1 m), such as where the fissure intersects pre-eruptive topographic highs, or where flow away from the vent (outflow) was efficient, are often associated with sub-circular vent geometries in the post-eruption ground surface. We infer that these parts of the fissure became localization points for ongoing magma ascent and discharge. We conclude that lava inundation and drainage processes in basaltic fissure eruptions can play an important role in controlling their localization and longevity

Factors affecting ethical judgement of South African chartered accountants

The start of the twenty-first century was marred by a spate of company collapses that involved fraudulent accounting activity. In many cases, company executives, many of whom belonged to the accounting profession, perpetrated the fraud. As a result, internationally, the accounting profession has suffered an enormous loss of goodwill, and its reputation as a profession with integrity has been severely harmed. Accounting professionals are no longer accorded the high regard they commanded in the past. The consequences for the profession have been far-reaching: accounting now faces a long, uphill battle to restore its reputation and to regain the trust of the international business community. This study replicates two famous international studies in the South African context. The focus of the study was to establish whether factors such as the Code of Professional Conduct of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), the corporate ethical environment and their age influence the ethical judgement of individual accountants. The first such study was conducted in the United States of America (USA), and it was followed by similar research in Turkey. The results of these two studies suggested very different factors that could influence accountants' ethical judgement. The study reported in this article investigated South African chartered accountants; and its results were similar to those obtained in the US study

Using a cognitive architecture to examine what develops

Different theories of development propose alternative mechanisms by which development occurs. Cognitive architectures can be used to examine the influence of each proposed mechanism of development while keeping all other mechanisms constant. An ACT-R computational model that matched adult behavior in solving a 21-block pyramid puzzle was created. The model was modified in three ways that corresponded to mechanisms of development proposed by developmental theories. The results showed that all the modifications (two of capacity and one of strategy choice) could approximate the behavior of 7-year-old children on the task. The strategy-choice modification provided the closest match on the two central measures of task behavior (time taken per layer, r = .99, and construction attempts per layer, r = .73). Modifying cognitive architectures is a fruitful way to compare and test potential developmental mechanisms, and can therefore help in specifying “what develops.

Constraining Gaussian processes for physics-informed acoustic emission mapping

The automated localisation of damage in structures is a challenging but critical ingredient in the path towards predictive or condition-based maintenance of high value structures. The use of acoustic emission time of arrival mapping is a promising approach to this challenge, but is severely hindered by the need to collect a dense set of artificial acoustic emission measurements across the structure, resulting in a lengthy and often impractical data acquisition process. In this paper, we consider the use of physics-informed Gaussian processes for learning these maps to alleviate this problem. In the approach, the Gaussian process is constrained to the physical domain such that information relating to the geometry and boundary conditions of the structure are embedded directly into the learning process, returning a model that guarantees that any predictions made satisfy physically-consistent behaviour at the boundary. A number of scenarios that arise when training measurement acquisition is limited, including where training data are sparse, and also of limited coverage over the structure of interest. Using a complex plate-like structure as an experimental case study, we show that our approach significantly reduces the burden of data collection, where it is seen that incorporation of boundary condition knowledge significantly improves predictive accuracy as training observations are reduced, particularly when training measurements are not available across all parts of the structure