Surface Flow Structure of the Gulf Stream From Composite Imagery and Satellite-Tracked Drifters

A unique set of coutemporaneous satellite-tracked drifters and five-day composite Advanced Very High Resolution Radionmeter (AVHRR) satellite imagery of the North Atlantic has been analyzed to examine the surface flow structure of the Gulf Stream. The study region was divided into two sections, greater than 37 degrees N and less than 37 degrees N, in order to answer the question of geographic variability. Fractal and spectral analyses methods were applied to the data. Fractal analysis of the Lagrangian trajectories showed a fractal dimension of 1.21 +/- 0.02 with a scaling range of 83 - 343 km. The fractal dimension of the temperature fronts of the composite imagery is similar for the two regions with D = 1.11 +/- 0.01 over a scaling range of 4 - 44 km. Spectral analysis also reports a fairly consistent value for the spectral slope and its scaling range. Therefore, we conclude there is no geographic variability in the data set. A suitable scaling range for this contemporaneous data set is 80 - 200 km which is consistent with the expected physical conditions in the region. Finally, we address the idea of using five-day composite imagery to infer the surface flow of the Gulf Stream. Close analyses of the composite thermal fronts and the Lagrangian drifter trajectories show that the former is not a good indicator of the latter

Within- and across-breed imputation of high-density genotypes in dairy and beef cattle from medium- and low-density genotypes

peer-reviewedFinancial support of the Irish Department of Agriculture Research Stimulus Fund (RSF-06-0353; RSF-06-0428; 11/SF/311), Science Foundation Ireland (09/IN.1/B2642) and the Irish dairy and beef industry are gratefully acknowledged.The objective of this study was to evaluate, using three different genotype density panels, the accuracy of imputation from lower- to higher-density genotypes in dairy and beef cattle. High-density genotypes consisting of 777 962 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were available on 3122 animals comprised of 269, 196, 710, 234, 719, 730 and 264 Angus, Belgian Blue, Charolais, Hereford, Holstein-Friesian, Limousin and Simmental bulls, respectively. Three different genotype densities were generated: low density (LD; 6501 autosomal SNPs), medium density (50K; 47 770 autosomal SNPs) and high density (HD; 735 151 autosomal SNPs). Imputation from lower- to higher-density genotype platforms was undertaken within and across breeds exploiting population-wide linkage disequilibrium. The mean allele concordance rate per breed from LD to HD when undertaken using a single breed or multiple breed reference population varied from 0.956 to 0.974 and from 0.947 to 0.967, respectively. The mean allele concordance rate per breed from 50K to HD when undertaken using a single breed or multiple breed reference population varied from 0.987 to 0.994 and from 0.987 to 0.993, respectively. The accuracy of imputation was generally greater when the reference population was solely comprised of the breed to be imputed compared to when the reference population comprised of multiple breeds, although the impactDepartment of Agriculture, Food and the MarineScience Foundation Irelan

Saturn 5/Skylab multiple-protuberance heat transfer test data analysis

Analysis of heat transfer data obtained during Saturn 5/Skylab multiple protuberance heat transfer tes

Hazard-Independent Stability Sensitivity Study of Steel and RC Frame Structures

Structural stability relates directly to the robustness of the system even against the abnormally large load or an unexpected event which might cause perturbation- changes from the normal state of the structural system- from significant damage. This study aims to examine the sensitivity of frame systems (primarily steel moment resisting frame systems) to the initial damage and second-order geometric effects, that may arise as a result of the design load and abnormally large load coming from the unexpected event. Incremental analysis is used to track the development of second-order effects. Planar Frame models are first examined to establish the patterns of the stiffness losses occurred with various cases of hazard-independent damages. The comparison of the anticipated behavior on Reinforced Concrete (RC) frame systems is investigated through buckling analysis of steel and RC frame systems. Observing the patterns, the study is extended to a 3D model, four-story moment frame structure, located in a coastal area and exposed to a design hurricane event, thereby addressing multi-hazard issues. The impact from the amount and location of the hazard-independent damage as well as the complexity of the frame system is studied for steel frame system which generates the overall idea of individual member perturbations and stability failure of the system, as a whole