A Study of Optical Observing Techniques for Extra-Galactic Supernova Remnants: Case of NGC 300

We present the results of a study of observational and identification techniques used for surveys and spectroscopy of candidate supernova remnants (SNRs) in the Sculptor Group galaxy NGC 300. The goal of this study was to investigate the reliability of using [Sii]/Halpha > 0.4 in optical SNR surveys and spectra as an identifying feature of extra-galactic SNRs (egSNRs) and also to investigate the effectiveness of the observing techniques (which are hampered by seeing conditions and telescope pointing errors) using this criterion in egSNR surveys and spectrographs. This study is based on original observations of these objects and archival data obtained from the Hubble Space Telescope which contained images of some of the candidate SNRs in NGC 300. We found that the reliability of spectral techniques may be questionable and very high-resolution images may be needed to confirm a valid identification of some egSNRs.Comment: 27 Figures, 10 table

Study of volatile contaminants in reclaimed water

Different methods were evaluated for reducing the volatile contaminants found in water recovered from urine by distillation. The use of activated carbon, addition of potassium permanganate, and the use of oxidation catalyst are described along with laboratory tests. It is concluded that catalytic decomposition appears to be feasible, and further investigation is recommended

Supporting security-oriented, collaborative nanoCMOS electronics research

Grid technologies support collaborative e-Research typified by multiple institutions and resources seamlessly shared to tackle common research problems. The rules for collaboration and resource sharing are commonly achieved through establishment and management of virtual organizations (VOs) where policies on access and usage of resources by collaborators are defined and enforced by sites involved in the collaboration. The expression and enforcement of these rules is made through access control systems where roles/privileges are defined and associated with individuals as digitally signed attribute certificates which collaborating sites then use to authorize access to resources. Key to this approach is that the roles are assigned to the right individuals in the VO; the attribute certificates are only presented to the appropriate resources in the VO; it is transparent to the end user researchers, and finally that it is manageable for resource providers and administrators in the collaboration. In this paper, we present a security model and implementation improving the overall usability and security of resources used in Grid-based e-Research collaborations through exploitation of the Internet2 Shibboleth technology. This is explored in the context of a major new security focused project at the National e-Science Centre (NeSC) at the University of Glasgow in the nanoCMOS electronics domain

Morphology of the recently re-classified Tasman masked booby (Sula dactylatra tasmani) breeding on the Kermadec Islands

Once thought to be extinct, the Tasman Booby Sula tasmani has recently been re-classified as a subspecies of the Masked Booby S. dactylatra on the basis of genetic data. This re-classification raises the issue of whether this novel clade has a distinct morphology. Morphological differences in size, as well as coloration of integuments, bill and iris have been found in other subspecies of the Masked Booby but have not yet been reported for live Kermadec Islands breeding individuals. Museum specimens from this breeding location have been separated from other Pacific breeding subspecies by their longer wings. We sampled a total of 21 individuals from North Meyer Islet, Kermadec Group, New Zealand, and applied molecular sexing to obtain sex-specific morphometric measurements. We matched dimorphism in vocalization with genetic sexing results and photographic documentation of human-assessed bill, foot and eye coloration. While culmen measurements were consistent with reports from museum specimens, wing chords from living specimens of Tasman Masked Boobies were 3% and 4% larger in males and females, respectively. Females had larger culmens and wings than males, consistent with the low extent of sexual dimorphism reported from museum skins. Adult Tasman Masked Boobies had yellow to buff-yellow feet, while fledglings, as in most sulids, had grey to greyish-yellow feet. Our findings confirm the distinctively long wing and particular iris coloration previously reported for the taxon and provide the first description of integument coloration of live specimens. This study highlights the importance of including in situ assessment in taxon descriptions

Data management of nanometre­ scale CMOS device simulations

In this paper we discuss the problems arising in managing and curating the data generated by simulations of nanometre scale CMOS (Complementary Metal–Oxide Semiconductor) transistors, circuits and systems and describe the software and operational techniques we have adopted to address them. Such simulations pose a number of challenges including, inter alia, multi­TByte data volumes, complex datasets with complex inter-relations between datasets, multi­-institutional collaborations including multiple specialisms and a mixture of academic and industrial partners, and demanding security requirements driven by commercial imperatives. This work was undertaken as part of the NanoCMOS project. However, the problems, solutions and experience seem likely to be of wider relevance, both within the CMOS design community and more generally in other disciplines

The ethos of action learning within a virtual Reflective Practice Forum: an account of practice drawing connections between action learning, community of practice and supervision frameworks

As Action Learning has evolved, it has been adapted to promote learning in various contexts. In this account of practice, we share our perspectives as facilitators of the application of action learning principles within Reflective Practice Forums for Mentoring and Coaching Programme Managers. The ethos of action learning was adopted with the forums to enable the programme managers to engage in regular reflections of their current practices and ongoing professional development. In our assessment of the application of action learning principles and processes within the Reflective Practice Forums, we consider the connections between action learning, communities of practice and supervision frameworks to examine and present the ‘ethos’ of Action Learning within the forums

The envirome and the connectome: exploring the structural noise in the human brain associated with socioeconomic deprivation

Complex cognitive functions are widely recognized to be the result of a number of brain regions working together as large-scale networks. Recently, complex network analysis has been used to characterize various structural properties of the large scale network organization of the brain. For example, the human brain has been found to have a modular architecture i.e. regions within the network form communities (modules) with more connections between regions within the community compared to regions outside it. The aim of this study was to examine the modular and overlapping modular architecture of the brain networks using complex network analysis. We also examined the association between neighborhood level deprivation and brain network structure – modularity and grey nodes. We compared network structure derived from anatomical MRI scans of 42 middle-aged neurologically healthy men from the least (LD) and the most deprived (MD) neighborhoods of Glasgow with their corresponding random networks. Cortical morphological covariance networks were constructed from the cortical thickness derived from the MRI scans of the brain. For a given modularity threshold, networks derived from the MD group showed similar number of modules compared to their corresponding random networks, while networks derived from the LD group had more modules compared to their corresponding random networks. The MD group also had fewer grey nodes – a measure of overlapping modular structure. These results suggest that apparent structural difference in brain networks may be driven by differences in cortical thicknesses between groups. This demonstrates a structural organization that is consistent with a system that is less robust and less efficient in information processing. These findings provide some evidence of the relationship between socioeconomic deprivation and brain network topology

Towards a grid-enabled simulation framework for nano-CMOS electronics

The electronics design industry is facing major challenges as transistors continue to decrease in size. The next generation of devices will be so small that the position of individual atoms will affect their behaviour. This will cause the transistors on a chip to have highly variable characteristics, which in turn will impact circuit and system design tools. The EPSRC project "Meeting the Design Challenges of Nano-CMOS Electronics" (Nana-CMOS) has been funded to explore this area. In this paper, we describe the distributed data-management and computing framework under development within Nano-CMOS. A key aspect of this framework is the need for robust and reliable security mechanisms that support distributed electronics design groups who wish to collaborate by sharing designs, simulations, workflows, datasets and computation resources. This paper presents the system design, and an early prototype of the project which has been useful in helping us to understand the benefits of such a grid infrastructure. In particular, we also present two typical use cases: user authentication, and execution of large-scale device simulations

Meeting the design challenges of nano-CMOS electronics: an introduction to an upcoming EPSRC pilot project

The years of ‘happy scaling’ are over and the fundamental challenges that the semiconductor industry faces, at both technology and device level, will impinge deeply upon the design of future integrated circuits and systems. This paper provides an introduction to these challenges and gives an overview of the Grid infrastructure that will be developed as part of a recently funded EPSRC pilot project to address them, and we hope, which will revolutionise the electronics design industry