RAPID: Assessing Tsunami Impacts on the Benthic Community of Robinson Crusoe Island

This RAPID project will assess the subtidal ecological impacts of the tsunami that struck Robinson Crusoe Island on 27 February 2010 with support from the Biological Oceanography Program and the Office of International Science and Engineering/Americas. It will take advantage of baseline data collected as part of an ongoing Chilean research project. Robinson Crusoe Island belongs to the Juan Fernandez archipelago, some 600 km west of the coast of Chile in the southeast Pacific. The island group is unique for its high level of marine and terrestrial endemism, including a fishery for the prized Robinson Crusoe Island lobster, Jasus frontalis. Since 2008, a Chilean team of investigators has provided some of the first quantitative data linking nearshore oceanographic conditions to the benthic community of this temperate oceanic island. The Chilean project established study sites around the island at which temperature loggers, current meters, and lobster post-larval collectors have been placed, and which serve as focal points for benthic and planktonic sampling. However, the tsunami devastated the island\u27s waterfront village and swept away the Chilean research team\u27s field lab, equipment and housing. With as much as 1.5 years of ecological and oceanographic data collected prior to the tsunami, a rapid response collaboration between US and Chilean investigators will hasten the recovery of the Chilean project and provide an unusual opportunity for a rigorous before-after assessment of the tsunami\u27s effects on important components of the benthic community, including the island\u27s key fishery species. It is critical to initiate short-term assessments as soon as possible, and at the same time, reestablish the infrastructure and capacity to continue long-term sampling, which was part of the original Chilean project. This RAPID project will focus on objectives for which pre-tsunami data exist: (1) Census lobster dens where social groups of lobsters were previously tagged; (2) retrieve and redeploy artificial post-larval settlement collectors; (3) conduct benthic suction samples of the cobble-dwelling invertebrate assemblage; (4) conduct video-monitored predation experiments to assess changes in the predation pressure by fish and octopus; (5) resume tissue sampling of planktonic larvae and benthic adults for molecular genetic analysis.This project is relevant to an understanding of the resilience of marine ecosystems, biodiversity and fisheries to agents of natural disturbance of different scales and magnitudes. Current understanding of rare, short-lived, but potentially extreme natural disturbances are inherently poor. To date, documentation of the ecological impact of tsunamis on marine benthic environments is mostly restricted to the relatively recent Christmas tsunami of 2004 that largely affected tropical benthic communities with considerable reductions in coral reefs and associated biota in the coastal Indo-west Pacific. There are no published studies of the impact of a tsunami on the benthic assemblages of temperate oceanic islands. The small size and isolation of the Juan Fernandez archipelago dramatically increases the extinction risk for shallow marine populations and communities. Large numbers of demersal fishes and invertebrates were stranded during the tsunami. Some components of the benthic community are likely to be more vulnerable than others to this kind of disturbance.Broader Impacts: This research will leverage public interest in the dramatic terrestrial impacts of tsunamis, drawing them into the marine realm through geo-tagged, metadata-rich photos and video. Geo-tagging is the process of adding geographical identification to media, metadata that will be particularly helpful to learners who are not accustomed to thinking about submarine locations. This component of the project will add scientific information to the media, allowing users to get instantaneous information about the scenes they are observing by placing their cursors on the images or video. To ensure that the data and information are audience-appropriate, the investigators will work with the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) - Ocean Systems (OS) program at University of Maine. COSEE-OS has vast experience in working with scientists to frame their research through interactive media that is highly effective with educators. The media will be directly tied to the National Geographic Society\u27s Ocean Literacy campaign, specifically addressing the concept Coastal regions are susceptible to natural hazards . This will provide broad audiences an opportunity to understand the role of ecological disturbance as a force structuring populations and communities, both above and below sea level

The effect of elevated temperature on the wear of stainless steel in contact with tungsten carbide

The bearings in the air motors of modern jet aircraft engines must operate dry in hostile conditions at temperatures up to 500° C, where the thrust races in the actuators operate at temperatures up to 300° C. One of the few metallurgical combinations which can function efficiently under these conditions is martensitic stainless steel on tungsten carbide. The work described was initiated to isolate the wear mechanisms of two such steels in contact with tungsten carbide at temperatures up to 500° C. Experiments were carried out on angular contact bearings similar to these used in service, where both rolling and sliding is present and also for pure sliding conditions using a pin-on-disc apparatus. Wear measurements of the bearings were obtained with wear rates, friction and surface temperatures from the pin-on-disc machine for a series of loads and speeds. Extensive X-ray diffraction analysis was carried out on the wear debris, with also S.E.M. analysis and hardness tests on the worn surfaces along with profilometry measurements of the disc. The oxidational parameters of the steel were obtained from measurements of oxide growth rates by ellipsometry. Three distinct mechanisms of wear were established and the latter two were found to be present in both configurations. These involve an oxidational-abrasive mechanism at loads below 40 N with pin surface temperatures up to about 300 °C, with the mechanism changing to severe wear for higher loads. As the temperature increases a third wear mechanism appears due to transfer of relatively soft oxide films to the steel surface reducing the wear rate. Theoretical K factors were derived and compared with experimental values which were found to be in good agreement for the severe wear mechanism. The pin-on-disc experiments may be useful as a screening test for material selection, without the considerable cost of producing the angular contact bearings

Air stream velocity modelling in multichannel spiral cyclone separator

Numerical modelling problem is investigated in a gas aerodynamics multichannel spiral cyclone separator with a tangential inflow. Experimental and theoretical papers analysing cyclone separator with particularly complex turbulent flow were reviewed. The three-dimensional transport differential equations for incompressible laminar and turbulent flow inside the cyclone separator were presented. They were numerically solved by finite volume method using the Re-Normalisation Group (hereinafter RNG) k-ε turbulence model. The numerical air flow movement was modelled in cyclone separator with the following dimensions: 0.95 m height, 0.330 m diameter, 0.88 m height of spiral-cylindrical part, 0.39 m height of conical part, inflow dimensions (on the side of cylindrical part) according to the drawings were a × b = 28 × 95 mm. The mathematical model of air flow movement in cyclone separator was composed by Navier-Stokes (Reynolds) as the three-dimensional differential equation system. The modelling results were obtained by the tangential and axial velocity profiles in cyclone separator using RNG k-ε turbulence model, the inflow velocity from 4.1 m/s to 15.4 m/s coincided well with the experimental results. This is the first article testing for multichannel cyclone and determined distributions of aerodynamic parameters. The absolute error between experimental and modelling results changed from 0.01 to 0.24 units

POLITINIS REALIZMAS TARPTAUTINIUOSE SANTYKIUOSE: SAMPRATA IR NESUSIPRATIMAI PO ŠALTOJO KARO

Straipsnyje analizuojama politinio realizmo samprata tarptautinių santykių disciplinoje. Remiantis žymiausių klasikinės tradicijos mąstytojų darbais, išgryninami pastovieji realizmo principai. Jų atžvilgiu atliekamas kritinis realizmo teorijų kaitos po Šaltojo karo tyrimas. Parodoma, kad vyksta tendencinga ir kryptinga teorinė transformacija: naujos realistinėmis vadinamos teorijos vis labiau prieštarauja ilgaamžiam realistiniam požiūriui į tarptautinę politiką. Pasitelkus skirtingų „realistinių“ JAV užsienio politikos po Šaltojo karo aiškinimų pavyzdžius, atskleidžiamos kontroversiškos teorinės ir praktinės realizmo sampratos pokyčių implikacijos

Managing the outsourcing relationship : does management really know what they are getting into?

Includes bibliographical references.Outsourcing is the contracting out of some task to a vendor outside of the actual firm itself. It is now considered to be a world wide management tool for revitalizing and reestablishing a corporation. Outsourcing challenges the way top management thinks in terms of the traditional organization versus the more flexible organization consisting of exterior relationships focused on the long-term and an interior relationship which is focused around core competencies. The research for this paper used a case study approach along with personal interviews of top level information technology executives that had recently completed an outsourcing contract. The primary goal of the research was to find what kinds of challenges today's management faces when they first attempt to outsource a portion of work. A secondary point of interest was how the expectations of the contract met up with the outcome of the project. Other concerns were the advice the respondents would give to other companies, the criteria utilized to evaluate the vendor, and the factors that prompted the organizations to outsource in the first place. Findings suggest that several problems do exist within the outsourcing relationship. The relationship should focus on long-term goals and not short-term cost savings. The decisions that are made must not be dominated by the vendor. The relationship must remain a partnership at all times.B.S. (Bachelor of Science

Pareigūnų bendravimo ypatumai laidoje „Farai“

This article is more of a practical nature. It summarizes verbal and nonverbal communication errors of Lithuanian police officers shown in a popular TV show “Farai”. There are 9 verbal errors and 5 nonverbal errors examined. The episodes of TV show “Farai” became a useful teaching method during the seminars of psychology course in M. Romeris University. Students that are going to be future Lithuanian officers greatly enjoy examining the actions of “real” policemen, finding tactical mistakes and psychological tricks that policemen use. Article was written from the analysis of 13 episodes which aired between 2009.05.12 until 2009.08.13 on television broadcaster TV3. All in all, there were approximately 100 episodes viewed and 12 were identified as of great importance. Actions of police officers in this TV show are greatly important, because this TV show reaches audience of millions and forms an image of Lithuanian Police

Report and reflections about the actions of the Programa Arte na Escola - UFPR

Este artigo relata as ações extensionistas do pólo UFPR do Programa Arte na Escola. Uma breve reflexãosobre estas ações com vista à integração do tripé graduação - pesquisa - extensão, da nossa universidade.Perspectivas sobre as ações futuras e a sua importância para a comunidade externa.Este artículo describe las acciones extensionistas del polo UFPR del Programa Arte na Escola. Es un breverelato de las acciones para la integración de las actividades de trípode graduación, extensión y pesquisa denuesta universidad, con vistas a las perspectivas de acciones futuras y su importancia para la comunidadexterna.This paper reports the extensionists actions of the Program Arte na Escola/ UFPR. A short reflextion overthese actions regarding the integration of the activities of the tripod: graduation - extension and research, ofour university. Perpectivs about the future actions and its importancy for the external community

Angular and energy dependence of (e,e′)(e,e^{\prime}) cross sections for orbital 1+^+ excitations

The main features of the $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections of low-lying orbital excitations with $K^{\pi} = 1^+$ in heavy deformed nuclei are studied in RPA on the example of $^{156}$Gd. The dependence of the DWBA E2 and M1 cross sections on the scattering angle $0^{\circ} < \theta < 180 ^{\circ}$ and incident electron energy $E_i < 210$ MeV is analyzed in PWBA. The cross section is larger for M1 than for E2 transitions at any angle if $E_i < 30$ MeV. The longitudinal (Coulomb) C2 excitation dominates the E2 response for $5^{\circ} < \theta < 170 ^{\circ}$. Only transverse M1 and E2 excitations compete for $\theta > 175 ^{\circ}$ and the former one is dominant for $q < 1.2$ fm$^{-1}$. The M1 response is almost purely orbital up to $q = 1.4$ fm$^{-1}$ even in backward scattering. Qualitative PWBA estimates based on the $q$-dependence of the form factors alone are not able to predict some important features of the $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections stemming from the strong magnetic and orbital character of the studied 1$^+$ excitations. The expectation for M1 over E2 dominance in backward scattering should not be extended to higher momentum transfers and incident energies.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, 12 postscript figures included using uufile