Uberon: towards a comprehensive multi-species anatomy ontology

The lack of a single unified species-neutral ontology covering the anatomy of a variety of metazoans is a hindrance to translating model organism research to human health. We have developed an Uber-anatomy ontology to fill this need, filling the gap between the CARO upper-level ontology and species-specific anatomical ontologies

Robustness of the Thirty Meter Telescope Primary Mirror Control System

The primary mirror control system for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) maintains the alignment of the 492 segments in the presence of both quasi-static (gravity and thermal) and dynamic disturbances due to unsteady wind loads. The latter results in a desired control bandwidth of 1Hz at high spatial frequencies. The achievable bandwidth is limited by robustness to (i) uncertain telescope structural dynamics (control-structure interaction) and (ii) small perturbations in the ill-conditioned influence matrix that relates segment edge sensor response to actuator commands. Both of these effects are considered herein using models of TMT. The former is explored through multivariable sensitivity analysis on a reduced-order Zernike-basis representation of the structural dynamics. The interaction matrix ("A-matrix") uncertainty has been analyzed theoretically elsewhere, and is examined here for realistic amplitude perturbations due to segment and sensor installation errors, and gravity and thermal induced segment motion. The primary influence of A-matrix uncertainty is on the control of "focusmode"; this is the least observable mode, measurable only through the edge-sensor (gap-dependent) sensitivity to the dihedral angle between segments. Accurately estimating focus-mode will require updating the A-matrix as a function of the measured gap. A-matrix uncertainty also results in a higher gain-margin requirement for focus-mode, and hence the A-matrix and CSI robustness need to be understood simultaneously. Based on the robustness analysis, the desired 1 Hz bandwidth is achievable in the presence of uncertainty for all except the lowest spatial-frequency response patterns of the primary mirror

Evidence for suppressed mid-Holocene northeastern Australian monsoon variability from coral luminescence

Summer monsoon rainfall in northeastern (NE) Australia exhibits substantial interannual variability resulting in highly variable river flows. The occurrence and magnitude of these seasonal river flows are reliably recorded in modern inshore corals as luminescent lines. Here we present reconstructed annual river flows for two ~120 year mid-Holocene windows based on luminescence measurements from five cores obtained from three separate coral colonies. We were able to cross-date the luminescence signatures in four cores from two of the colonies, providing confidence in the derived reconstruction. Present-day NE Australian rainfall and river flow are sensitive to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, with La Niña (El Niño) events typically associated with wetter (drier) monsoon seasons. Thus, our replicated and annually resolved coral records provide valuable insights into the northern Australian summer monsoon and ENSO variability at a key period (6 ka) when greenhouse gas levels and ice sheet cover were comparable to the preindustrial period but orbital forcing was different. Average modern and mid-Holocene growth characteristics were very similar, suggesting that sea surface temperatures off NE Australia at 6 kyr were also close to present values. The reconstructed river flow record suggests, however, that the mid-Holocene Australian summer monsoon was weaker, less variable from year to year (possibly indicative of reduced ENSO variability), and characterized by more within-season flood pulses than present. In contrast to today, the delivery of moisture appears to have been dominated by eastward propagating convective coupled waves associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation

In-plane effects on segmented-mirror control

Extremely large optical telescopes are being designed with primary mirrors composed of hundreds of segments. The “out-of-plane” piston, tip, and tilt degrees of freedom of each segment are actively controlled using feedback from relative height measurements between neighboring segments. The “in-plane” segment translations and clocking (rotation) are not actively controlled; however, in-plane motions affect the active control problem in several important ways, and thus need to be considered. We extend earlier analyses by constructing the “full” interaction matrix that relates the height, gap, and shear motion at sensor locations to all six degrees of freedom of segment motion, and use this to consider three effects. First, in-plane segment clocking results in height discontinuities between neighboring segments that can lead to a global control system response. Second, knowledge of the in-plane motion is required both to compensate for this effect and to compensate for sensor installation errors, and thus, we next consider the estimation of in-plane motion and the associated noise propagation characteristics. In-plane motion can be accurately estimated using measurements of the gap between segments, but with one unobservable mode in which every segment clocks by an equal amount. Finally, we examine whether in-plane measurements (gap and/or shear) can be used to estimate out-of-plane segment motion; these measurements can improve the noise multiplier for the “focus-mode” of the segmented-mirror array, which involves pure dihedral angle changes between segments and is not observable with only height measurements

Fraud in overseas aid and the challenge of measurement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of measuring fraud in overseas aid. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on 21 semi-structured interviews with key persons working in the delivery of aid in both the public and voluntary sectors. It uses the UK Department for International Development as a case study to applying more accurate measures of fraud. Findings This paper shows there are significant challenges to using fraud loss measurement to gauge fraud in overseas aid. However, it argues that, along with other types of measures, it could be used in areas of expenditure in overseas governments and charities to measure aid. Given the high risk of such aid to fraud, it argues helping to develop capacity to reduce aid, of which measuring the size of the problem is an important part; this could be considered as aid in its own right. Research limitations/implications The researchers were not able to visit high-risk countries for fraud to examine in the local context views on the challenges of measuring fraud. Practical implications The paper offers insights on the challenges to accurately measuring fraud in an overseas context, which will be useful to policy-makers in this context. Social implications Given the importance of as much aid as possible reaching recipients, it offers an important contribution to helping to reduce losses in this important area. Originality/value There has been very little consideration of how to measure fraud in the overseas aid context, with most effort aimed at corruption, which poses some of the same challenges, as well as some very different challenges

Mueller Matrix Parameters for Radio Telescopes and their Observational Determination

Modern digital crosscorrelators permit the simultaneous measurement of all four Stokes parameters. However, the results must be calibrated to correct for the polarization transfer function of the receiving system. The transfer function for any device can be expressed by its Mueller matrix. We express the matrix elements in terms of fundamental system parameters that describe the voltage transfer functions (known as the Jones matrix) of the various system devices in physical terms and thus provide a means for comparing with engineering calculations and investigating the effects of design changes. We describe how to determine these parameters with astronomical observations. We illustrate the method by applying it to some of the receivers at the Arecibo Observatory.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures; accepted for PAS

Short-term studies underestimate 30-generation changes in a butterfly metapopulation

Most studies of rare and endangered species are based on work carried out within one generation, or over one to a few generations of the study organism. We report the results of a study that spans 30 generations (years) of the entire natural range of a butterfly race that is endemic to 35 km2 of north Wales, UK. Short-term studies (surveys in single years and dynamics over 4 years) of this system led to the prediction that the regional distribution would be quite stable, and that colonization and extinction dynamics would be relatively unimportant. However, a longer-term study revealed unexpectedly high levels of population turnover (local extinction and colonization), affecting 18 out of the 20 patches that were occupied at any time during the period. Modelling the system (using the 'incidence function model' (IFM) for metapopulations) also showed higher levels of colonization and extinction with increasing duration of the study. The longer-term dynamics observed in this system can be compared, at a metapopulation level, with the increased levels of variation observed with increasing time that have been observed in single populations. Long-term changes may arise from local changes in the environment that make individual patches more or less suitable for the butterfly, or from unusual colonization or extinction events that take metapopulations into alternative states. One implication is that metapopulation and population viability analyses based on studies that cover only a few animal or plant generations may underestimate extinction threats