Salish Sea surface currents: real-time velocities from HF radar

Ocean Networks Canada has operated Salish Sea CODAR high-frequency (HF) surface radar systems for monitoring surface currents since 2012. The network of antennae continues to grow, with four arrays now deployed in the southern Strait of Georgia, two more planned for the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and several more installed and planned along BC’s northern coast. These arrays provide hourly maps of surface currents. In the Strait of Georgia, where the Fraser River and ocean tides meet, there are complex surface current patterns that vary under seasonal river and wind conditions. Data are used to understand the circulation, validate model simulations, and could be used to assist in oil spill tracking and search and rescue efforts. An overview of the systems, the currents, data quality procedures, and future plans will be presented

Dishing the dirt: sediments reveal a famous early human cave site was also home to hyenas and wolves

Denisova Cave in Siberia\u27s Altai Mountains is one of the world\u27s most important archaeological sites. It is famous for preserving evidence of three early human groups: Neanderthals, early Homo sapiens, and a third group known as the Denisovans. Fossil bones, stone tools and ancient DNA gathered from the cave have told a story that is extremely significant for understanding the early chapters of human evolution in Asia, going back 300,000 years. But our new analysis of the cave\u27s dirt floor reveals that it was also frequented by hyenas, wolves, and even bears for much of its history

Towards an holistic view of the energy and environmental impacts of domestic media and IT

To date, research in sustainable HCI has dealt with eco-feedback, usage and recycling of appliances within the home, and longevity of portable electronics such as mobile phones. However, there seems to be less awareness of the energy and greenhouse emissions impacts of domestic consumer electronics and information technology. Such awareness is needed to inform HCI sustainability researchers on how best to prioritise efforts around digital media and IT. Grounded in inventories, interview and plug energy data from 33 undergraduate student participants, our findings provide the context for assessing approaches to reducing the energy and carbon emissions of media and IT in the home. In the paper, we use the findings to discuss and inform more fruitful directions that sustainable HCI research might take, and we quantify how various strategies might have modified the energy and emissions impacts for our participants

When worlds collide: combining Ordnance Survey and Open Street Map data

The context of this paper is the progress of national and international spatial data infrastructures such as the UK Location Programme and INSPIRE, contrasted against crowd-sourced geospatial databases such as Open Street Map. While initiatives such as INSPIRE tend towards a top-down process of harmonised data models and services using ISO & OGC standards, the OSM approach is one of tagged data with attribute tags agreed through consensus, but a tag set that can change with time (with inherent related issues of data quality). There is a danger that should the more formal approaches simply ignore the crowd sourced initiatives then they will miss an opportunity to evolve to better meet growing demands for geographic information. In any case both formal and informal data will increasingly coexist begging the question of how an end user gains maximum benefit from both. Ordnance Survey as the national mapping agency of Great Britain provides authoritative datasets with published data specifications driven by a combination of user need and the history of national mapping with a remit to ensure real-world feature changes are reflected in the OS large-scale data within 6 months. OSM in contrast relies on the availability of local mapping enthusiasts to capture changes but through its more informal structure can capture a broader range of features of interest to different sub-communities such as cyclists or horse riders. This research has been carried out to understand the issues of data integration between crowd sourced information and authoritative data. The aim of the research was to look into the mid-term and long-term effects of crowd sourcing technologies for understanding their effects on the change intelligence operations of national mapping agencies (NMAs) in the future. Mobile phones, with more computing power than the desktop machine of 5 years ago and incorporating built-in GPS receivers and cameras have become widespread and give people a multi-sensor capability. This combined with CCTV, sensor webs, RFID etc. offers the potential to make data capture pervasive and ubiquitous. All key sectors of modern economies will be affected by the developments in crowd sourcing of information. The synergies created by new technologies will create the conditions for exciting new developments in geospatial data integration. This has an impact in the spatial data collection domain especially in collecting vernacular and crowd-sourced information. Individual users will be able to use these technologies to collect location data and make it available for multiple applications without needing prior geospatial skills. The basic question behind our research is how do we combine data from authoritative OS data sets with feature-rich, informal OSM data, recognising the variable coverage of OSM while capturing the best of both worlds? There have been previous studies (Al-Bakri and Fairbairn, 2010) focussing on geometric accuracy assessment of crowd-sourced data(OSM) with OS data. Another important context is the rapid developments in Open Source GIS. The availability of free and open source GIS has made possible for large number of government organizations and SMEs to make use of GIS tools in their work. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is an excellent example of community initiative to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies. OSGeo’s key mission is to promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry and to encourage the implementation of open standards and standards based interoperability in its projects

When worlds collide: combining Ordnance Survey and Open Street Map data

The context of this paper is the progress of national and international spatial data infrastructures such as the UK Location Programme and INSPIRE, contrasted against crowd-sourced geospatial databases such as Open Street Map. While initiatives such as INSPIRE tend towards a top-down process of harmonised data models and services using ISO & OGC standards, the OSM approach is one of tagged data with attribute tags agreed through consensus, but a tag set that can change with time (with inherent related issues of data quality). There is a danger that should the more formal approaches simply ignore the crowd sourced initiatives then they will miss an opportunity to evolve to better meet growing demands for geographic information. In any case both formal and informal data will increasingly coexist begging the question of how an end user gains maximum benefit from both. Ordnance Survey as the national mapping agency of Great Britain provides authoritative datasets with published data specifications driven by a combination of user need and the history of national mapping with a remit to ensure real-world feature changes are reflected in the OS large-scale data within 6 months. OSM in contrast relies on the availability of local mapping enthusiasts to capture changes but through its more informal structure can capture a broader range of features of interest to different sub-communities such as cyclists or horse riders. This research has been carried out to understand the issues of data integration between crowd sourced information and authoritative data. The aim of the research was to look into the mid-term and long-term effects of crowd sourcing technologies for understanding their effects on the change intelligence operations of national mapping agencies (NMAs) in the future. Mobile phones, with more computing power than the desktop machine of 5 years ago and incorporating built-in GPS receivers and cameras have become widespread and give people a multi-sensor capability. This combined with CCTV, sensor webs, RFID etc. offers the potential to make data capture pervasive and ubiquitous. All key sectors of modern economies will be affected by the developments in crowd sourcing of information. The synergies created by new technologies will create the conditions for exciting new developments in geospatial data integration. This has an impact in the spatial data collection domain especially in collecting vernacular and crowd-sourced information. Individual users will be able to use these technologies to collect location data and make it available for multiple applications without needing prior geospatial skills. The basic question behind our research is how do we combine data from authoritative OS data sets with feature-rich, informal OSM data, recognising the variable coverage of OSM while capturing the best of both worlds? There have been previous studies (Al-Bakri and Fairbairn, 2010) focussing on geometric accuracy assessment of crowd-sourced data(OSM) with OS data. Another important context is the rapid developments in Open Source GIS. The availability of free and open source GIS has made possible for large number of government organizations and SMEs to make use of GIS tools in their work. The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is an excellent example of community initiative to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies. OSGeo’s key mission is to promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry and to encourage the implementation of open standards and standards based interoperability in its projects

Demand in my pocket:mobile devices and the data connectivity marshalled in support of everyday practice

This paper empirically explores the role that mobile devices have come to play in everyday practice, and how this links to demand for network connectivity and online services. After a preliminary device-logging period, thirteen participants were interviewed about how they use their iPhones or iPads. Our findings build a picture of how, through use of such devices, a variety of daily practices have come to depend upon a working data connection, which sometimes surges, but is at least always a trickle. This aims to inform the sustainable design of applications, services and infrastructures for smartphones and tablets. By focusing our analysis in this way, we highlight a little-explored challenge for sustainable HCI and discuss ideas for (re)designing around the principle of 'light-weight' data 'needs'

The Pleistocene geoarchaeology and geochronology of Con Moong Cave, North Vietnam: Site formation processes and hominin activity in the humid tropics

This paper presents the results of geoarchaeological and geochronological investigations at Con Moong Cave, North Vietnam. Beneath the published, terminal Pleistocene sequence, recent excavations have uncovered a ~5 m stratigraphic sequence containing flaked stone artifacts and sedimentary features that indicate extensive post-depositional change. As the effects of tropical conditions on Pleistocene cave sediments are poorly resolved, a range of complementary techniques was selected to reconstruct the nature of on-site sedimentation and occupation, while assessing the taphonomy of archaeological and palaeoecological materials. Our approach incorporates microstratigraphic, geochemical and sedimentological analyses, using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to estimate the time of sediment deposition in the cave. This case study has broad application to tropical zones worldwide. Sedimentation began in early Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, while micromorphologically observed human occupation commenced before 42 thousand years ago (ka). By placing our results within the context of published, high-resolution regional records of climate, we demonstrate that on-site rhythms of Pleistocene occupation correlated with environmental changes in the region. During MIS 3, episodic abandonment of the site coincided with periods of drier conditions, while rapid climate fluctuations in MIS 2 corresponded with short-lived occupation events and a switch to predominantly geogenic deposition in the cave

Valproate MHRA guidance: limitations and opportunities

Recent publication of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom has strengthened the regulatory measures for valproate medicines. It highlights the importance of making women of childbearing age with epilepsy aware of the teratogenic risks of valproate and encourages the withdrawal of it from those currently prescribed. While a significant directive, it raises concerns of not having considered the impact on special populations such as women with Intellectual Disability (ID). While it is important that women with ID are not excluded from such safety initiatives, due caution needs to be taken on a case by case basis preferably, to ensure their best interests are central to the decision making. Many women with moderate to profound ID cannot have informed consented sexual relationships not to mention cognitive incapability to make informed choices on medication suitability. These women are at potential risk of having their epilepsy control undermined due to the MHRA directives. Around 30% of people with moderate to profound ID have seizures of which 60% are considered treatment resistant. In this vulnerable population changes to medication without clear clinical and social insights could lead to increased harm levels. This paper enumerates the challenges of application of the new directive to these special populations and proposes a pathway based on individual cognitive ability to provide informed consent to facilitate the continuation or removal of valproate. It is important not to lose sight of individual circumstances and the importance of working collaboratively toward providing person center care

Age, depositional history and tectonics of the Indo-Myanmar Ranges, Myanmar

The Indo-Myanmar Ranges make up an enigmatic mountain belt occupying a complex tectonic zone in western Myanmar, extending from the northern continuation of the active Sunda–Andaman arc into the eastern Himalayan Syntaxis. The Indo-Myanmar Ranges are part of an accretionary forearc basin–arc complex that includes the Central Myanmar Basin and the Wuntho–Popa Arc to the east. New biostratigraphic, petrological and detrital zircon U–Pb age data are presented and used to test and refine the divergent tectonic models that have been proposed for western Myanmar. These data suggest that: (1) the Upper Triassic Pane Chaung Formation was originally deposited adjacent to the NE Indian continental margin within northern Gondwana during the Late Triassic; and (2) the Upper Cretaceous–Paleogene rocks of the Indo-Myanmar Ranges were mainly derived from the Wuntho–Popa Arc and Inner Belt, with a subordinate input from a crustal source, potentially from the Naga metamorphic-type Paleozoic basement. The Kalemyo Ophiolite has an Early Cretaceous age similar to the ages of ophiolites in the Indus–Yarlung Tsangpo Suture Zone, south Tibet and Nagaland, reinforcing the hypothesis that they were once part of the same Neotethyan ocean floor. Supplementary material: Sample locality details, detailed methodologies and geochemical data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.648710