Chapter 2 ‘A CLOSE AND FRIENDLY ALLIANCE’: BIOLOGY, GEOLOGY AND THE GREAT BARRIER REEF EXPEDITION OF 1928–1929

oceanography, climate change, reefs, marine science, marine conservation, marine researc

Climate change 2014 : impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability

Current and future climate-related drivers of risk for small islands during the 21st century include sea level rise (SLR), tropical and extratropical cyclones, increasing air and sea surface temperatures, and changing rainfall patterns (high confidence; robust evidence, high agreement). Current impacts associated with these changes confirm findings reported on small islands from the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and previous IPCC assessments. The future risks associated with these drivers include loss of adaptive capacity and ecosystem services critical to lives and livelihoods in small islands.peer-reviewe

A T8.5 Brown Dwarf Member of the Xi Ursae Majoris System

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer has revealed a T8.5 brown dwarf (WISE J111838.70+312537.9) that exhibits common proper motion with a solar-neighborhood (8 pc) quadruple star system - Xi Ursae Majoris. The angular separation is 8.5 arc-min, and the projected physical separation is about 4000 AU. The sub-solar metallicity and low chromospheric activity of Xi UMa A argue that the system has an age of at least 2 Gyr. The infrared luminosity and color of the brown dwarf suggests the mass of this companion ranges between 14 and 38 Jupiter masses for system ages of 2 and 8 Gyr respectively.Comment: AJ in press, 12 pages LaTeX with 6 figures. More astrometric data and a laser guide star adaptive optics image adde

A Study of the Diverse T Dwarf Population Revealed by WISE

We report the discovery of 87 new T dwarfs uncovered with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and three brown dwarfs with extremely red near-infrared colors that exhibit characteristics of both L and T dwarfs. Two of the new T dwarfs are likely binaries with L7+/-1 primaries and mid-type T secondaries. In addition, our follow-up program has confirmed 10 previously identified T dwarfs and four photometrically-selected L and T dwarf candidates in the literature. This sample, along with the previous WISE discoveries, triples the number of known brown dwarfs with spectral types later than T5. Using the WISE All-Sky Source Catalog we present updated color-color and color-type diagrams for all the WISE-discovered T and Y dwarfs. Near-infrared spectra of the new discoveries are presented, along with spectral classifications. To accommodate later T dwarfs we have modified the integrated flux method of determining spectral indices to instead use the median flux. Furthermore, a newly defined J-narrow index differentiates the early-type Y dwarfs from late-type T dwarfs based on the J-band continuum slope. The K/J indices for this expanded sample show that 32% of late-type T dwarfs have suppressed K-band flux and are blue relative to the spectral standards, while only 11% are redder than the standards. Comparison of the Y/J and K/J index to models suggests diverse atmospheric conditions and supports the possible re-emergence of clouds after the L/T transition. We also discuss peculiar brown dwarfs and candidates that were found not to be substellar, including two Young Stellar Objects and two Active Galactic Nuclei. The coolest WISE-discovered brown dwarfs are the closest of their type and will remain the only sample of their kind for many years to come.Comment: Accepted to ApJS on 15 January 2013; 99 pages in preprint format, 30 figures, 12 table

The On-Orbit Performance of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer

We report the first year on-orbit performance results for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), a NASA Small Explorer that is performing a survey of the sky in two ultraviolet bands. The instrument comprises a 50 cm diameter modified Ritchey-Chretien telescope with a 1.25 degree field of view, selectable imaging and objective grism spectroscopic modes, and an innovative optical system with a thin-film multilayer dichroic beam splitter that enables simultaneous imaging by a pair of photon counting, microchannel plate, delay line readout detectors. Initial measurements demonstrate that GALEX is performing well, meeting its requirements for resolution, efficiency, astrometry, bandpass definition and survey sensitivity.Comment: This paper will be published as part of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Astrophysical Journal Letters Special Issu

Side Effects From Oral Opioids in Older Adults During the First Week of Treatment for Acute Musculoskeletal Pain

The authors sought to describe the frequency of short-term side effects experienced by older adults initiating treatment with opioid-containing analgesics for acute musculoskeletal pain

Science and Ideology in Economic, Political, and Social Thought

This paper has two sources: One is my own research in three broad areas: business cycles, economic measurement and social choice. In all of these fields I attempted to apply the basic precepts of the scientific method as it is understood in the natural sciences. I found that my effort at using natural science methods in economics was met with little understanding and often considerable hostility. I found economics to be driven less by common sense and empirical evidence, then by various ideologies that exhibited either a political or a methodological bias, or both. This brings me to the second source: Several books have appeared recently that describe in historical terms the ideological forces that have shaped either the direct areas in which I worked, or a broader background. These books taught me that the ideological forces in the social sciences are even stronger than I imagined on the basis of my own experiences. The scientific method is the antipode to ideology. I feel that the scientific work that I have done on specific, long standing and fundamental problems in economics and political science have given me additional insights into the destructive role of ideology beyond the history of thought orientation of the works I will be discussing

Pain Treatment for Older Adults During Prehospital Emergency Care: Variations by Patient Gender and Pain Severity

Older adults are less likely than younger adults to receive analgesic treatment during emergency department visits. Whether older adults are less likely to receive analgesics during protocolized prehospital care is unknown. We analyzed all ambulance transports in 2011 in the state of North Carolina and compared the administration of any analgesic or an opioid among older adults (aged 65 and older) versus adults aged 18 to 64. Complete data were available for 407,763 transports. Older men were less likely than younger men to receive an analgesic or an opioid regardless of pain severity. Among women with mild or moderate pain, older women were less likely than younger women to receive either form of pain treatment, but among women with more severe pain (pain score 8 or more), older women were more likely than younger women to receive pain treatment. Further, among women with mild or moderate pain, the oldest patients (aged 85 and older) were the least likely to receive any analgesic or an opioid, but among women with severe pain the oldest patients were the most likely to receive treatment. Further research is needed to assess the generalizability of this interaction between age, gender, and pain severity on pain treatment