Characteristics of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis Linnaeus in New Zealand waters : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Ecology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Current taxonomy of the white-chinned petrel suggests that all populations are similar enough to be a single global taxon, Procellaria aequinoctialis Linnaeus. This thesis challenges that view with an analysis of morphological characteristics of white-chinned petrels from fisheries bycatch in the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The two main aims were: first, to determine if white-chinned petrels in New Zealand waters comprise one taxon; and second, to determine if white-chinned petrels in New Zealand waters fit the proposition of a global taxon. Morphological characteristics included: standard external measurements (head, bill, tarsus, wing and tail measurements), descriptions (area of white on the chin and bodily descriptions), and measurements of internal organs of a sample of 723 bycatch white-chinned petrels. Twenty-five white-chinned petrel study skins from breeding islands in the South Pacific. Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and 29 study skins from birds caught off Chile were also measured for comparison with the bycatch birds. I compared a range of external measurements from the bycatch sample taken by myself and 'the Laboratory' (measurements and descriptions of white-chinned petrels taken by C.J.R. Robertson and E. Bell) to estimate the measurement error between multiple observers measuring the same sample of birds. Results clearly showed very little measurement error between the two observers, and the small amount of error was biologically insignificant. I found two cluster groups of bycatch white-chinned petrels, the 'Antipodes Island group' (n = 105) which was significantly larger in most external measurements than the 'Auckland Island group' (n = 45). Using discriminant analysis I could differentiate 93% males of the 'Antipodes Island group' versus the 'Auckland Island group' based on culmen and tail length. I could also differentiate 92% of females from the 'Antipodes Island group' versus the 'Auckland Island group' based on head and bill length, culmen depth at the base and wing length. Discriminant analysis indicates that the Antipodes Island population male and female white-chinned petrel study skins related closest to the 'Antipodes Island group' and the Auckland Island, South Indian Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, and Chile male and female white-chinned petrel study skins related closest to the 'Auckland Island group'. The results suggest that within the New Zealand EEZ there are two taxa of white-chinned petrels based on external morphology: 'aequinoctialis' Linnaeus, the smaller sized white-chinned petrels from the Auckland Islands; and 'steadi' Mathews, the larger sized white-chinned petrels from Antipodes Island and most likely Campbell Island. The results also suggest that, globally, the external morphology of white-chinned petrels can be used to identify two taxa: 'aequinoctialis' Linnaeus, the smaller sized white-chinned petrels which comprise the Auckland Islands, the South Indian Ocean, and the South Atlantic Ocean populations; and 'steadi' Mathews, the larger sized white-chinned petrels which comprise the Antipodes Islands population. Further, most white-chinned petrels caught off Chile are likely to be from the Auckland Island breeding population or South Atlantic Ocean breeding populations

User Education in Academic Libraries: A Century in Retrospect

published or submitted for publicatio

Quantum Superpositions Cannot be Epistemic

Quantum superposition states are behind many of the curious phenomena exhibited by quantum systems, including Bell non-locality, quantum interference, quantum computational speed-up, and the measurement problem. At the same time, many qualitative properties of quantum superpositions can also be observed in classical probability distributions leading to a suspicion that superpositions may be explicable as probability distributions over less problematic states, that is, a suspicion that superpositions are \emph{epistemic}. Here, it is proved that, for any quantum system of dimension $d>3$, this cannot be the case for almost all superpositions. Equivalently, any underlying ontology must contain ontic superposition states. A related question concerns the more general possibility that some pairs of non-orthogonal quantum states $|\psi\rangle,|\phi\rangle$ could be ontologically indistinct (there are ontological states which fail to distinguish between these quantum states). A similar method proves that if $|\langle\phi|\psi\rangle|^{2}\in(0,\frac{1}{4})$ then $|\psi\rangle,|\phi\rangle$ must approach ontological distinctness as $d\rightarrow\infty$. The robustness of these results to small experimental error is also discussed.Comment: Updated to published version with slgihtly extended discussion and corrected mistakes. 6 + 7 pages, Quantum Studies: Mathematics and Foundations. Online First. (2015

Treating Time Travel Quantum Mechanically

The fact that closed timelike curves (CTCs) are permitted by general relativity raises the question as to how quantum systems behave when time travel to the past occurs. Research into answering this question by utilising the quantum circuit formalism has given rise to two theories: Deutschian-CTCs (D-CTCs) and "postselected" CTCs (P-CTCs). In this paper the quantum circuit approach is thoroughly reviewed, and the strengths and shortcomings of D-CTCs and P-CTCs are presented in view of their non-linearity and time travel paradoxes. In particular, the "equivalent circuit model"---which aims to make equivalent predictions to D-CTCs, while avoiding some of the difficulties of the original theory---is shown to contain errors. The discussion of D-CTCs and P-CTCs is used to motivate an analysis of the features one might require of a theory of quantum time travel, following which two overlapping classes of new theories are identified. One such theory, the theory of "transition probability" CTCs (T-CTCs), is fully developed. The theory of T-CTCs is shown not to have certain undesirable features---such as time travel paradoxes, the ability to distinguish non-orthogonal states with certainty, and the ability to clone or delete arbitrary pure states---that are present with D-CTCs and P-CTCs. The problems with non-linear extensions to quantum mechanics are discussed in relation to the interpretation of these theories, and the physical motivations of all three theories are discussed and compared.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures. Edited in response to peer revie

Continual Reassessment and Related Dose-Finding Designs

During the last twenty years there have been considerable methodological developments in the design and analysis of Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 1/2 dose-finding studies. Many of these developments are related to the continual reassessment method (CRM), first introduced by O'Quigley, Pepe and Fisher (\citeyearQPF1990). CRM models have proven themselves to be of practical use and, in this discussion, we investigate the basic approach, some connections to other methods, some generalizations, as well as further applications of the model. We obtain some new results which can provide guidance in practice.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-STS332 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Multidimensional Pareto optimization of touchscreen keyboards for speed, familiarity and improved spell checking

The paper presents a new optimization technique for keyboard layouts based on Pareto front optimization. We used this multifactorial technique to create two new touchscreen phone keyboard layouts based on three design metrics: minimizing finger travel distance in order to maximize text entry speed, a new metric to maximize the quality of spell correction quality by minimizing neighbouring key ambiguity, and maximizing familiarity through a similarity function with the standard Qwerty layout. The paper describes the optimization process and resulting layouts for a standard trapezoid shaped keyboard and a more rectangular layout. Fitts' law modelling shows a predicted 11% improvement in entry speed without taking into account the significantly improved error correction potential and the subsequent effect on speed. In initial user tests typing speed dropped from approx. 21wpm with Qwerty to 13wpm (64%) on first use of our layout but recovered to 18wpm (85%) within four short trial sessions, and was still improving. NASA TLX forms showed no significant difference on load between Qwerty and our new layout use in the fourth session. Together we believe this shows the new layouts are faster and can be quickly adopted by users