Alien Registration- Downes, Daniel K. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/24111/thumbnail.jp

First redshift determination of an optically/UV faint submillimeter galaxy using CO emission lines

We report the redshift of a distant, highly obscured submm galaxy (SMG), based entirely on the detection of its CO line emission. We have used the newly commissioned Eight-MIxer Receiver (EMIR) at the IRAM 30m telescope, with its 8 GHz of instantaneous dual-polarization bandwidth, to search the 3-mm atmospheric window for CO emission from SMMJ14009+0252, a bright SMG detected in the SCUBA Lens Survey. A detection of the CO(3--2) line in the 3-mm window was confirmed via observations of CO(5--4) in the 2-mm window. Both lines constrain the redshift of SMMJ14009+0252 to z=2.9344, with high precision (dz=2 10^{-4}). Such observations will become routine in determining redshifts in the era of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by ApJ

2015 Green Electricity Guide Methodology and Results

The Green Electricity Guide helps to inform Australians about which electricity retailers are really as ‘green’ as they say they are. It is the only independent analysis and ranking of the environmental performance of all electricity retailers around Australia. It is an important source of information for consumers keen to support retailers who align with their values. In 2014 the first edition of the online Guide was produced by TEC and Greenpeace, using earlier ISF research as one of main the inputs to the ranking criteria. The Guide ranked 20 retailers against 7 criteria and has been visited by over 100,000 people. In 2015, ISF was contracted to update the Guide's methodology and rankings. The cost of the work was partly funded by an Advocacy grant from Energy Consumers Australia. In addition, ISF, TEC and Choice all contributed in-kind support to the project. ISF reviewed the 2014 Guide criteria and rankings, and then conducted background research to identify additional criteria and sub-criteria to expand the 2015 Guide to more comprehensively assess the 'green' credentials of Australia's electricity retailers. ISF developed a survey for retailers to capture the required information for the rankings. Information provided by retailers was then supplemented by and verified against desktop research of company websites, company reports and public reports conducted in September 2015. Each retailer's data was assessed and scored, to determine a final score and ranking for 2015. The rankings are available online at www.greenelectricityguide.com.a

Dense Molecular Gas and the Role of Star Formation in the Host Galaxies of Quasi-Stellar Objects

New millimeter-wave CO and HCN observations of the host galaxies of infrared-excess Palomar Green quasi-stellar objects (PG QSOs) previously detected in CO are presented. These observations are designed to assess the validity of using the infrared luminosity to estimate star formation rates of luminous AGN by determining the relative significance of dust-heating by young, massive stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in QSO hosts and IRAS galaxies with warm, AGN-like infrared colors. The HCN data show the PG QSO host IZw1 and most of the warm IRAS galaxies to have high L_IR / L'_HCN (>1600) relative to the cool IRAS galaxy population for which the median L_IR / L'_HCN ~ 890(+440,-470). If the assumption is made that the infrared emission from cool IRAS galaxies is reprocessed light from embedded star-forming regions, then high values of L_IR / L'_HCN are likely the result of dust heating by the AGN. Further, if the median ratio of L'_HCN / L'_CO ~ 0.06 observed for Seyfert galaxies and IZw1 is applied to the PG QSOs not detected in HCN, then the derived L_IR / L'_HCN correspond to a stellar contribution to the production of L_IR of ~ 7-39%, and star formation rates ~ 2-37 M_sun/yr are derived for the QSO hosts. Alternatively, if the far-infrared is adopted as the star formation component of the total infrared in cool galaxies, the stellar contributions in QSO hosts to their L_FIR are up to 35% higher than the percentages derived for L_IR. This raises the possibility that the L_FIR in several of the PG QSO hosts, including IZw1, could be due entirely to dust heated by young, massive stars. Finally, there is no evidence that the global HCN emission is enhanced relative to CO in galaxies hosting luminous AGN.Comment: LaTex, 31 pages, including 9 postscript figures, AJ, in press (December 2006

New CO detections of lensed submillimeter galaxies in A2218: Probing molecular gas in the LIRG regime at high redshift

Context: Submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) are distant, dusty galaxies undergoing star formation at prodigious rates. Recently there has been major progress in understanding the nature of the bright SMGs (i.e. S(850um)>5mJy). The samples for the fainter SMGs are small and are currently in a phase of being built up through identification studies. Aims: We study the molecular gas content in two SMGs, SMMJ163555 and SMMJ163541, at z=1.034 and z=3.187 with unlensed submm fluxes of 0.4mJy and 6.0mJy. Both SMGs are gravitationally lensed by the foreground cluster A2218. Methods: IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometry observations at 3mm were obtained for the lines CO(2-1) for SMMJ163555 and CO(3-2) for SMMJ163541. Additionally we obtained CO(4-3) for the candidate z=4.048 SMMJ163556 with an unlensed submm flux of 2.7mJy. Results: CO(2-1) was detected for SMMJ163555 at z=1.0313 with an integrated line intensity of 1.2+-0.2Jy km/s and a line width of 410+-120 km/s. From this a gas mass of 1.6x10^9 Msun is derived and a star formation efficiency of 440Lsun/Msun is estimated. CO(3-2) was detected for SMMJ163541 at z=3.1824, possibly with a second component at z=3.1883, with an integrated line intensity of 1.0+-0.1 Jy km/s and a line width of 280+-50 km/s. From this a gas mass of 2.2x10^10 Msun is derived and a star formation efficiency of 1000 Lsun/Msun is estimated. For SMMJ163556 the CO(4-3) is undetected within the redshift range 4.035-4.082 down to a sensitivity of 0.15 Jy km/s. Conclusions: Our CO line observations confirm the optical redshifts for SMMJ163555 and SMMJ163541. The CO line luminosity L'_CO for both galaxies is consistent with the L_FIR-L'_CO relation. SMMJ163555 has the lowest FIR luminosity of all SMGs with a known redshift and is one of the few high redshift LIRGs whose properties can be estimated prior to ALMA.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. A&A in pres

Is there a visitor effect on behaviour and enclosure use of mixed bird species in a zoo enclosure?

Potential visitor effects on captive animals are poorly understand, with most studies focused on non-human primates, it is an area of research which in recent years has become important as a way of understanding welfare in a captive environment. Research into how this effects birds in captivity is limited, therefore this study looks at whether visitor density effects behaviour and enclosure use in six different bird species including red-billed choughs, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax northern lapwings, Vanellus vanellus, red-crested turacos, Tauraco erythrolophus, Madagascar teal, Anas bernieri, grey gulls, Larus modestus and one Palawan peacock pheasant, Polyplectron napoleonis all housed together in a mixed species aviary at Paignton zoo Environmental Park®. Observations were carried out over a 15 day period, with each bird being observed individually and visitor density being categorised into no visitors, low, medium and high levels. Visitor noise was also measured, however no difference was found between the results of visitor noise and number. Use of space within the enclosure was analysed using the modified Spread of Participation Index (SPI) value. Values varied with all individuals, however all used the enclosure unevenly with choughs CH3, CH4, teal MT2, the Palawan peacock pheasant and the turaco pair using one or two zones predominantly more than any other area in the enclosure. Using the chi-squared test of association, a significant association between visitor number and location within the enclosure was only found in the choughs and the grey gulls and a significant association between increasing visitor density and behaviour was found in all the birds except the Madagascar teal and the Palawan peacock pheasant. There does seem to be some effect by visitors on several of the birds behaviour and their choice of locations within the enclosure, however a reliable conclusion could not be drawn due to limited data collection. More research is needed to investigate further, however this study adds to our understanding of bird welfare in captivity

Food waste opportunities within the food wholesale and retail sectors

The aim of this research project is to provide the NSW Environment Protection Authority (NSW EPA) with a better understanding of the opportunities and barriers to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill from the wholesale, logistics and retail sector. This report presents the research findings and provides a series of recommendations as to how NSW EPA can most effectively engage with these sectors within the food supply chain to maximise performance while minimising disruption and costs