Enroute flight planning: Evaluating design concepts for the development of cooperative problem-solving concepts

The goals of this research were to develop design concepts to support the task of enroute flight planning. And within this context, to explore and evaluate general design concepts and principles to guide the development of cooperative problem solving systems. A detailed model is to be developed of the cognitive processes involved in flight planning. Included in this model will be the identification of individual differences of subjects. Of particular interest will be differences between pilots and dispatchers. The effect will be studied of the effect on performance of tools that support planning at different levels of abstraction. In order to conduct this research, the Flight Planning Testbed (FPT) was developed, a fully functional testbed environment for studying advanced design concepts for tools to aid in flight planning

Short Note: Report of mummified leopard seal carcass in the southern Dry Valleys, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

The wide spread occurrence of mummified seal and penguin carcasses tens of kilometres from the open ocean is an interesting phenomenon occurring in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Mummified seal carcasses were first reported by Scott’s expedition in 1903 (Scott 1969), and live seals and seal carcasses have since been reported many kilometres from the nearest ice-free ocean. Seal carcasses found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys are predominantly crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga (Hombron & Jacquinot)) with a smaller number of Weddell seals, (Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson)), also reported. Here we present only the second published report of a leopard seal carcass from the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Teaching Inclusivity: Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of their Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes toward Working with English Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms

This study investigated the effect of one semester of ESOL education on preservice teachers by examining their perceived knowledge and skill in working with English Language Learner (ELL) students, and their attitude toward having ELL students in their mainstream classrooms. The survey identified two factors: a) Perception of ESOL Knowledge and Skills (PEKS) and b) Attitude Toward Inclusion (ATI). Results showed that preservice teachers’ perceptions of both knowledge & skill (PEKS) changed from introductory to the final ESOL course, and that PEKS changed significantly from pre- to post-test within the same course. No significant changes were found in students’ attitude toward inclusion (ATI) either from course 1 to course 2 or from pre- to post-test within the same course

Ongoing astrometric microlensing events from VVV and Gaia

6 pages, 2 figures, accepted MNRAS LettersWe extend predictive microlensing event searches using the Vista Variables in the Via Lactea survey and the second Gaia data release. We identify two events with maxima in 2019 that require urgent follow-up. First, we predict that the nearby M2 dwarf L 338-152 will align with a background source with a closest approach of $35^{+35}_{-23}$ mas on 2019 November $16^{+28}_{-27}$ d. This will cause a peak astrometric shift and photometric amplification of the background source of $2.7^{+3.5}_{-1.5}$ mas and $5.6^{+143.2}_{-5.2}$ mmag respectively. This event should be astrometrically detectable by both the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research instrument on the Very Large Telescope. Secondly, we predict the likely K dwarf NLTT 45128 will lens a background source with a closest approach of $105.3^{+12.2}_{-11.7}$ mas on 2019 September $26^{+15}_{-15}$ d. This will produce a peak astrometric shift of $0.329^{+0.065}_{-0.059}$ mas. NLTT 45128 is only 3.6 magnitudes brighter than the background source which makes it an excellent candidate for follow-up with HST. Characterisation of these signals will allow direct gravitational masses to be inferred for both L 338-152 and NLTT 45128 with an estimated precision of $\sim9$ and $\sim13$ per cent respectively.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Evolution of fungal phenotypic disparity

Organismal grade multicellularity has been achieved only in animals, plants, and fungi. All three kingdoms manifest phenotypically disparate body plans, but their evolution has only been considered in detail for animals. Here we seek to test the general relevance of hypotheses on the evolution of animal body plans by characterising the evolution of fungal phenotypic variety (disparity). The distribution of living fungal form is defined by four distinct morphotypes: flagellated, zygomycetous, sac-bearing, and club-bearing. The discontinuity between morphotypes is a consequence of the extinction of phylogenetic intermediates, indicating that a complete record of fungal disparity would present a much more homogeneous distribution of form. Fungal phenotypic variety gradually expands through time for the most part but sharply increases with the emergence of multicellular body plans. Simulations show these temporal trends to be decidedly non-random, and at least partially shaped by hierarchical contingency. Fungal phenotypic distance is decoupled from changes in gene number, genome size, and taxonomic diversity. Only differences in organismal complexity, the number of traits that constitute an organism, at the cellular and multicellular levels present a meaningful relationship with fungal disparity. Both animals and fungi exhibit a gradual increase in disparity through time, resulting in distributions of form made discontinuous by the extinction of phylogenetic intermediates. These congruences hint at a common mode of multicellular body plan evolution.Follow ReadMe files for explanation. Funding provided by: Natural Environment Research Council GW4+ Doctoral Training Programme*Crossref Funder Registry ID: Award Number: Funding provided by: Natural Environment Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270Award Number: NE/P013678/1Funding provided by: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268Award Number: BB/T012773/1Funding provided by: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research CouncilCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268Award Number: BB/N000919/1See linked manuscript

The Milky Way bar/bulge in proper motions: a 3D view from VIRAC & Gaia

© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We have derived absolute proper motions of the entire Galactic bulge region from VIRAC and Gaia. We present these as both integrated on-sky maps and, after isolating standard candle red clump (RC) stars, as a function of distance using RC magnitude as a proxy. These data provide a new global, 3-dimensional view of the Milky Way barred bulge kinematics. We find a gradient in the mean longitudinal proper motion, $\mu_l$, between the different sides of the bar, which is sensitive to the bar pattern speed. The split RC has distinct proper motions and is colder than other stars at similar distance. The proper motion correlation map has a quadrupole pattern in all magnitude slices showing no evidence for a separate, more axisymmetric inner bulge component. The line-of-sight integrated kinematic maps show a high central velocity dispersion surrounded by a more asymmetric dispersion profile. $\sigma_{\mu_l} / \sigma_{\mu_b}$ is smallest, $\sim1.1$, near the minor axis and reaches $\sim1.4$ near the disc plane. The integrated $$ pattern signals a superposition of bar rotation and internal streaming motion, with the near part shrinking in latitude and the far part expanding. To understand and interpret these remarkable data, we compare to a made-to-measure barred dynamical model, folding in the VIRAC selection function to construct mock maps. We find that our model of the barred bulge, with a pattern speed of 37.5 $\mathrm{km \, s^{-1} \, kpc^{-1}}$, is able to reproduce all observed features impressively well. Dynamical models like this will be key to unlocking the full potential of these data.Peer reviewe

Quantum Catalysis of Magnetic Phase Transitions in a Quantum Simulator

We control quantum fluctuations to create the ground state magnetic phases of a classical Ising model with a tunable longitudinal magnetic field using a system of 6 to 10 atomic ion spins. Due to the long-range Ising interactions, the various ground state spin configurations are separated by multiple first-order phase transitions, which in our zero temperature system cannot be driven by thermal fluctuations. We instead use a transverse magnetic field as a quantum catalyst to observe the first steps of the complete fractal devil's staircase, which emerges in the thermodynamic limit and can be mapped to a large number of many-body and energy-optimization problems.Comment: New data in Fig. 3, and much of the paper rewritte

Impact of a Proposed Reservoir on Local Land Values

This project was designed to study the impact of private preconstruction land acquisition in a Central Kentucky area in which a flood-control dam and reservoir impoundment is planned. The research design was built around use of anthropological concepts and research techniques. By these means it was possible to analyze the perceived values of land to traditionalist residents, among which social and economic security concepts are paramount. Recent land purchases, locally believed to have been made chiefly by outsiders, (urbanites from nearby Louisville), at prices out of line in terms of local agricultural worth, has been extremely unsettling contributing to the anxiety pattern typical of persons facing dislocation and their sympathizers. The newly developing pattern of land purchase, with values related to residential convenience, and access to the urban center, rather than to traditional agricultural values, has been accepted by a certain segment of the local population who appear to be trying to take advantage of the urban economic opportunities while retaining at least part of the rural value system and continuing to participate in rural society and rurally esteemed activities

Removal of chemical and microbial contaminants from greywater using a novel constructed wetland: GROW

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.The availability of freshwater resources is becoming universally depleted, leading to the requirement for a focused management strategy for treating and reusing wastewater. In particular for urban and developing areas, small scale decentralized treatment systems are becoming popular. The GROW (Green Roof-top Water Recycling System) constructed wetland is one such option that provides a solution without a permanent land requirement and offering medium to high treatment efficiency. The performance of the GROW system was monitored from November 2013 to April 2015 in treating greywater from the Krishna Student Hostel in IIT Madras. The performance of the GROW wetland cells were examined over four monitoring periods in Phase 1 namely: 1) start-up stage, 2) seasonal variation 3) change of flow rate and 4) change in organic fraction (26.8, 25.9 and 25.5 g COD/cubic meter/day respectively). In Phase 2, the plants and the filling materials were changed and the performance of GROW wetland cells were evaluated. The system was fed with greywater at a flow rate of 62, 70, 82, 100 and 120 L/day respectively with hydraulic retention time of 0.7–1.3 days. The samples taken from the inlet and the outlets of the GROW system were taken weekly and analyzed for the following parameters; pH, COD, BOD, TSS, TN, NO 3 –N, TP, FC, SDS, PG and TMA. In the study, the overall removal efficiency was greater than 82% for all the parameters. The GROW wetlands reduced all the above mentioned parameters to within or closely to the USEPA standard limits for reuse. The reusable effluent water is named ‘Green Water’.The authors wish to acknowledge Department of Science of Technology (DST), India and the European Union for providing the financial support for the project SARASWATI