A new perspective on the longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide

The longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide in the Antarctic upper mesosphere is investigated by comparison of observations from two radars at approximately opposite sides of Antarctica. Under the assumption that the tide is composed of an S = 2 (migrating) and S = 1 (westward-propagating, non-migrating) component only, the relative phases of the components are shown to vary with season such that the waves are typically in constructive interference during the winter (summer) months at longitudes around 0 degrees E (180 degrees E). We show that this has profound effects on the seasonal behaviour of the semidiurnal tide around 78 degrees S dependent on the longitude, and that no single-station observations at this latitude can be considered representative of a "zonal mean". The superposition of these two waves is used to interpret differences in previously-published ground-based climatologies of the tide. Citation: Hibbins, R. E., O. J. Marsh, A. J. McDonald, and M. J. Jarvis (2010), A new perspective on the longitudinal variability of the semidiurnal tide, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L14804, doi:10.1029/2010GL044015

The mineralogy and mineral associations of platinum-group elements and precious metals in the Aurora Cu-Ni-Au-PGE deposit, Northern Limb, Bushveld Complex

Aurora is a platinum-group element (PGE) prospect hosted in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex, South Africa. It is one of only three deposits discovered in the Northern Limb so far to be hosted in the melanocratic-leucocratic gabbroic cumulates of the Main Zone of the Rustenberg Layered Suite (Aurora, Moorddrift and Waterberg T Zone deposits), rather than in predominantly ultramafic rocks (e.g. Platreef). The host cumulates at Aurora have been divided into three principal units and they intrude the dolomites of the lower Transvaal Supergroup. Base metal sulphide (BMS) mineralisation with PGE is present in the leucogabbronorites and gabbronorites of Unit 2, and in coarse grained gabbronorite veins which intrude the peridotites of Unit 1. These veins contain up to 50% interstitial pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite ± pyrite. Unit 2 contains 1–3% pentlandite-pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite assemblages, and 1–5% chalcopyrite ± pyrite/pyrrhotite associated with hydrothermal alteration. The PGE content of Aurora however is predominantly controlled by the presence of platinum-group minerals (PGM), not BMS. LA-ICP-MS analysis of sulphides shows the BMS in Aurora have lower PGE concentrations than other Bushveld magmatic sulphides, with pentlandite carrying much lower concentrations of Pd (average 23 ppm) than the Platreef or the Merensky Reef. SEM-EDS analysis of 26 sections characterised 995 platinum-group minerals (PGM) and precious metal-bearing minerals (PMM), with a total area of 27850 μm2 and an average size of 28.2 μm2. Of the PGM and PMM identified in Aurora 85% (by area) are Pd-Te-Bi minerals, with 6% Pd-Te minerals, 4% electrum and 3% Ag-Te minerals, along with minor Pd-Bi, Pd-As, Pt-Te-Bi, Pt-As and Pt-S minerals that collectively comprise 2% of total area. Only 25% of the PGM and PMM in Aurora are BMS hosted, with the rest hosted in silicates. Of the total PGM and PMM area 22% are hosted in alteration-silicates (quartz, chlorite or actinolite) in an alteration halo around sulphides. Unusually, 52% of the PGM and PMM are spatially removed from BMS, instead hosted in alteration silicates and within cracks in primary silicates away from any BMS. This indicates a multi-stage ore genesis model, with hydrothermal remobilisation of PGE important for ore formation. The style and host rocks for mineralisation in the Aurora deposit are fundamentally different from other deposits in the Northern Limb of the Bushveld hosted in ultramafic rocks, such as the Platreef, GNPA member deposits and the F zone of the Waterberg deposit, all of which contain a greater diversity of PGM and BMS with higher precious metal contents. The mineralisation most similar to Aurora is the T Zone of the Waterberg deposit, located to the north of Aurora, which been suggested to be an along-strike equivalent of the Aurora Main Zone mineralisation. However, despite strong similarities in PGM mineralogy and S isotope signatures there are significant differences in BMS mineralisation and host lithology meaning it is unlikely they are directly linked stratigraphically. At present it seems more likely that Aurora and the Waterberg T Zone reflect similar fluid-influenced processes operating in different parts of the Main Zone, perhaps at different times and in different structural basins, rather than a continuous mineralised zone along strike

Long-term experimental evolution decouples size and production costs in Escherichia coli

Body size covaries with population dynamics across life’s domains. Metabolism may impose fundamental constraints on the coevolution of size and demography, but experimental tests of the causal links remain elusive. We leverage a 60,000-generation experiment in which Escherichia coli populations evolved larger cells to examine intraspecific metabolic scaling and correlations with demographic parameters. Over the course of their evolution, the cells have roughly doubled in size relative to their ancestors. These larger cells have metabolic rates that are absolutely higher, but relative to their size, they are lower. Metabolic theory successfully predicted the relations between size, metabolism, and maximum population density, including support for Damuth’s law of energy equivalence, such that populations of larger cells achieved lower maximum densities but higher maximum biomasses than populations of smaller cells. The scaling of metabolism with cell size thus predicted the scaling of size with maximum population density. In stark contrast to standard theory, however, populations of larger cells grew faster than those of smaller cells, contradicting the fundamental and intuitive assumption that the costs of building new individuals should scale directly with their size. The finding that the costs of production can be decoupled from size necessitates a reevaluation of the evolutionary drivers and ecological consequences of biological size more generally.Dustin J. Marshall, Martino Malerba, Thomas Lines, Aysha L. Sezmis, Chowdhury M. Hasan, Richard E. Lenski, and Michael J. McDonal

Source regions for Antarctic MLT non-migrating semidiurnal tides

Source regions for the westward propagating zonal wavenumber one and three components of the semidiurnal tide observed in the summer mesosphere and lower thermosphere over Antarctica are identified by correlating local tidal variations with global planetary wave one activity in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere. The advantages of using zonal wavenumber resolved tidal amplitudes for such a study are described. The results support the prediction of a source region in the northern hemisphere

Extragalactic neutrino background from very young pulsars surrounded by supernova envelopes

We estimate the extragalactic muon neutrino background which is produced by hadrons injected by very young pulsars at an early phase after supernova explosion. It is assumed that hadrons are accelerated in the pulsar wind zone which is filled with thermal photons captured below the expanding supernova envelope. In collisions with those thermal photons hadrons produce pions which decay into muon neutrinos. At a later time, muon neutrinos are also produced by the hadrons in collisions with matter of the expanding envelope. We show that extragalactic neutrino background predicted by such a model should be detectable by the planned 1 km$^2$ neutrino detector if a significant part of pulsars is born with periods shorter than $\sim 10$ ms. Since such population of pulsars is postulated by the recent models of production of extremely high energy cosmic rays, detection of neutrinos with predicted fluxes can be used as their observational test.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, A&A style, accepted to A&A Let

Absorptive capacity and market orientation in public service provision

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Journal of Strategic Marketing on 05.04.2012, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/0965254X.2011.643915The application of market orientation to public organisations does not adequately account for the unique features of this context. Drawing on absorptive capacity literature, this is the first study to examine the role of the organisation's learning environment on the market orientation-performance interface for two opposing public management contexts. The research involved a national survey questionnaire to 1060 internal and external public leisure service providers in England. Empirical testing through structural equation modelling revealed that not all dimensions of market orientation are universally positive and marketing scholars should seek to examine and understand market orientation in the context of the organisation and its learning mechanisms, as absorptive capacity has clear and different moderation effects under different management contexts. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Learning from multimedia and hypermedia

Computer-based multimedia and hypermedia resources (e.g., the world wide web) have become one of the primary sources of academic information for a majority of pupils and students. In line with this expansion in the field of education, the scientific study of learning from multimedia and hypermedia has become a very active field of research. In this chapter we provide a short overview with regard to research on learning with multimedia and hypermedia. In two review sections, we describe the educational benefits of multiple representations and of learner control, as these are the two defining characteristics of hypermedia. In a third review section we describe recent scientific trends in the field of multimedia/hypermedia learning. In all three review sections we will point to relevant European work on multimedia/hypermedia carried out within the last 5 years, and often carried out within the Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence. According to the interdisciplinary nature of the field this work might come not only from psychology, but also from technology or pedagogy. Comparing the different research activities on multimedia and hypermedia that have dominated the international scientific discourse in the last decade reveals some important differences. Most important, a gap seems to exist between researchers mainly interested in a “serious” educational use of multimedia/ hypermedia and researchers mainly interested in “serious” experimental research on learning with multimedia/hypermedia. Recent discussions about the pros and cons of “design-based research” or “use-inspired basic research” can be seen as a direct consequence of an increasing awareness of the tensions within these two different cultures of research on education