Optimizing Decision Preparedness by Adapting Scenario Complexity and Automating Scenario Generation

Klein's recognition-primed decision (RPD) framework proposes that experts make decisions by recognizing similarities between current decision situations and previous decision experiences. Unfortunately, military personnel arQ often presented with situations that they have not experienced before. Scenario-based training (S8T) can help mitigate this gap. However, SBT remains a challenging and inefficient training approach. To address these limitations, the authors present an innovative formulation of scenario complexity that contributes to the larger research goal of developing an automated scenario generation system. This system will enable trainees to effectively advance through a variety of increasingly complex decision situations and experiences. By adapting scenario complexities and automating generation, trainees will be provided with a greater variety of appropriately calibrated training events, thus broadening their repositories of experience. Preliminary results from empirical testing (N=24) of the proof-of-concept formula are presented, and future avenues of scenario complexity research are also discussed

Carbon Disclosure, Performance and the Green Reputation of Higher Educational Institutions in the UK

Purpose This study aims to investigate the carbon emission disclosures (CED) and performance of UK higher educational institutions (HEIs) and the associated impact on their environmental reputation. The paper argues that HEIs possess distinct characteristics that make comparisons with profit-oriented companies problematic and misleading. Design/methodology/approach The green score published by the People and Planet organisation provided the population for this analysis. All universities with a 2012 score were entered into the initial sample. The association between green reputation, CED and carbon performance was examined using a robust least squared regression model. The green score published in 2019 was then compared with this to confirm whether the findings still held. Findings CED, carbon emissions and carbon audit were found to have highly significant determinant relationships with HEIs’ green reputation status at a 1% significance level. Research limitations/implications The impact of CED and carbon performance indicators needs to have a clear relationship with reputation to motivate HEIs to act and disclose. Originality/value The study is distinct in investigating the impact of CED and carbon performance by UK HEIs on their environmental reputation. The study shows whether, and how, the HEI CED and carbon performances contribute towards their environmental reputation. HEIs have distinct characteristics from profit-seeking organisations and thus tailored research is required. </jats:sec

The Canada-UK Deep Submillimetre Survey - VIII. Source identifications in the 3-hour field

We present optical, near-infrared (IR) and radio observations of the 3-hour field of the Canada-UK Deep Submillimetre Survey (CUDSS). Of the 27 submillimetre sources in the field, nine have secure identifications with either a radio source or a near-IR source. We show that the percentage of sources with secure identifications in the CUDSS is consistent with that found for the bright ‘8-mJy' submillimetre survey, once allowance is made for the different submillimetre and radio flux limits. Of the 14 secure identifications in the two CUDSS fields, eight are very red objects (VROs) or extremely red objects (EROs), five have colours typical of normal galaxies and one is a radio source that has not yet been detected at optical/near-IR wavelengths. 11 of the identifications have optical/near-IR structures which are either disturbed or have some peculiarity that suggests that the host galaxy is part of an interacting system. One difference between the CUDSS results and the results from the 8-mJy survey is the large number of low-redshift objects in the CUDSS. We give several arguments why these are genuine low-redshift submillimetre sources rather than being gravitational lenses that are gravitationally amplifying a high-z submillimetre source. We construct a K-z diagram for various classes of high-redshift galaxy and show that the SCUBA galaxies are on average less luminous than classical radio galaxies, but are very similar in both their optical/IR luminosities and their colours to the host galaxies of the radio sources detected in μJy radio survey

PPC: an algorithm for accurate estimation of SNP allele frequencies in small equimolar pools of DNA using data from high density microarrays

Robust estimation of allele frequencies in pools of DNA has the potential to reduce genotyping costs and/or increase the number of individuals contributing to a study where hundreds of thousands of genetic markers need to be genotyped in very large populations sample sets, such as genome wide association studies. In order to make accurate allele frequency estimations from pooled samples a correction for unequal allele representation must be applied. We have developed the polynomial based probe specific correction (PPC) which is a novel correction algorithm for accurate estimation of allele frequencies in data from high-density microarrays. This algorithm was validated through comparison of allele frequencies from a set of 10 individually genotyped DNA's and frequencies estimated from pools of these 10 DNAs using GeneChip 10K Mapping Xba 131 arrays. Our results demonstrate that when using the PPC to correct for allelic biases the accuracy of the allele frequency estimates increases dramatically

Marsbee - Swarm of Flapping Wing Flyers for Enhanced Mars Exploration

Mars exploration has received significant interest from academia, industry, government, and the general public. Despite continued interest, flying on Mars remains challenging, mainly due to the ultra-thin Martian atmospheric density. Although the gravitational acceleration on Mars is 38 percent of Earth's 9.8 meters per second squared, the Martian atmospheric density is only 1.3 percent of the air density on Earth. The aerodynamic forces are proportional to the ambient fluid density. Therefore, flying near the surface of Mars has been considered nearly impossible. The proposed mission architecture (Fig. 1) consists of a Mars rover (already existing) that serves as a mobile base for Marsbees - a deployable swarm of small bio-inspired flapping wing vehicles. In one ConOps scenario, each Marsbee would carry an integrated stereographic video camera and the swarm could construct a 3D topographic map of the local surface for rover path planning. These flying scouts would provide a "third-dimension" to the rover capabilities. In other scenarios, each part of the swarm of Marsbees could carry pressure and temperature sensors for atmospheric sampling, or small spectral analyzers for identification of mineral outcroppings. In each scenario, the rover acts as a recharging and deployment/return station and data and communication hub. Human exploration of Mars is one of the major objectives of NASA and commercial entities such as SpaceX and Boeing. The identified innovations unique to the bio-inspired flapping Marsbee provide viable multi-mode flying mobility for Martian atmospheric and terrain exploration. A swarm of Marsbees provides an enhanced reconfigurable Mars exploration system that is resilient to individual component failures. These Marsbees can carry sensors and wireless communication devices in combination with a Mars rover and helicopters. These enhanced sensing and information gathering abilities can contribute to the following NASA Mars mission objectives: i) "Determine the habitability of an environment", ii) "Obtain surface weather measurements to validate global atmospheric models", and iii) "Prepare for human exploration on Mars." Various commercial entities, e.g. SpaceX and Boeing, are investing in technologies to transport humans to Mars

Computational methods for predicting human behaviour in smart environments

This systematic literature review presents the computational methods of human behaviour prediction research from Pentland and Liu’s seminal 1999 paper on human behaviour prediction to the latest research to date. The PRISMA framework for systematic reviews was used as the review methodology to structure this information aggregation. This review provides a high-level summary of the field with key areas identified for new research. The results show that there are frequently used datasets for training predictive models: MavHome, MavLab, LIARA, CASAS, PlaceLab, and REDD. Accuracies in the range of 43.9% to 100% for predictions of varying complexity. Common data structures for modelling behavioural data: Vectors, tables, trees, Markov models, and graphs. Algorithms that fall into three distinct categories: Machine Learning (NN, RL, LSTM), Probabilistic Graphical Models (namely Bayesian and Markov variants), and Statistical and Trend Analysis (ARIMA, Prophet). Additionally, we document other notably useful algorithms that fall outside of these three main categories including Jaro-Winkler and Levenshtein distances. Opportunities identified for further research include the use of audio as the data source for behaviour prediction methods, and applying times-series prediction machine learning algorithms (RNN, LSTM) to the smart home problem space

A panel of genes methylated with high frequency in colorectal cancer

Background: The development of colorectal cancer (CRC) is accompanied by extensive epigenetic changes, including frequent regional hypermethylation particularly of gene promoter regions. Specific genes, including SEPT9, VIM1 and TMEFF2 become methylated in a high fraction of cancers and diagnostic assays for detection of cancer-derived methylated DNA sequences in blood and/or fecal samples are being developed. There is considerable potential for the development of new DNA methylation biomarkers or panels to improve the sensitivity and specificity of current cancer detection tests. Methods: Combined epigenomic methods - activation of gene expression in CRC cell lines following DNA demethylating treatment, and two novel methods of genome-wide methylation assessment - were used to identify candidate genes methylated in a high fraction of CRCs. Multiplexed amplicon sequencing of PCR products from bisulfite-treated DNA of matched CRC and non-neoplastic tissue as well as healthy donor peripheral blood was performed using Roche 454 sequencing. Levels of DNA methylation in colorectal tissues and blood were determined by quantitative methylation specific PCR (qMSP). Results: Combined analyses identified 42 candidate genes for evaluation as DNA methylation biomarkers. DNA methylation profiles of 24 of these genes were characterised by multiplexed bisulfite-sequencing in ten matched tumor/normal tissue samples; differential methylation in CRC was confirmed for 23 of these genes. qMSP assays were developed for 32 genes, including 15 of the sequenced genes, and used to quantify methylation in tumor, adenoma and non-neoplastic colorectal tissue and from healthy donor peripheral blood. 24 of the 32 genes were methylated in \u3e50% of neoplastic samples, including 11 genes that were methylated in 80% or more CRCs and a similar fraction of adenomas. Conclusions: This study has characterised a panel of 23 genes that show elevated DNA methylation in \u3e50% of CRC tissue relative to non-neoplastic tissue. Six of these genes (SOX21, SLC6A15, NPY, GRASP, ST8SIA1 and ZSCAN18) show very low methylation in non-neoplastic colorectal tissue and are candidate biomarkers for stool-based assays, while 11 genes (BCAT1, COL4A2, DLX5, FGF5, FOXF1, FOXI2, GRASP, IKZF1, IRF4, SDC2 and SOX21) have very low methylation in peripheral blood DNA and are suitable for further evaluation as blood-based diagnostic markers

H-ATLAS/GAMA: quantifying the morphological evolution of the galaxy population using cosmic calorimetry

Using results from the Herschel Astrophysical Terrahertz Large-Area Survey (H-ATLAS) and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project, we show that, for galaxy masses above ≃ 108 M⊙, 51 per cent of the stellar mass-density in the local Universe is in early-type galaxies (ETGs; Sérsic n > 2.5) while 89 per cent of the rate of production of stellar mass-density is occurring in late-type galaxies (LTGs; Sérsic n < 2.5). From this zero-redshift benchmark, we have used a calorimetric technique to quantify the importance of the morphological transformation of galaxies over the history of the Universe. The extragalactic background radiation contains all the energy generated by nuclear fusion in stars since the big bang. By resolving this background radiation into individual galaxies using the deepest far-infrared survey with the Herschel Space Observatory and a deep near-infrared/optical survey with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and using measurements of the Sérsic index of these galaxies derived from the HST images, we estimate that ≃83 per cent of the stellar mass-density formed over the history of the Universe occurred in LTGs. The difference between this value and the fraction of the stellar mass-density that is in LTGs today implies there must have been a major transformation of LTGs into ETGs after the formation of most of the stars

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: : extraplanar gas, galactic winds, and their association with star formation history

This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. ©: 2016 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society, the version of record is available on line at doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw017We investigate a sample of 40 local, main-sequence, edge-on disc galaxies using integral field spectroscopy with the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey to understand the link between properties of the extraplanar gas and their host galaxies. The kinematics properties of the extraplanar gas, including velocity asymmetries and increased dispersion, are used to differentiate galaxies hosting large-scale galactic winds from those dominated by the extended diffuse ionized gas. We find rather that a spectrum of diffuse gas-dominated to wind dominated galaxies exist. The wind-dominated galaxies span a wide range of star formation rates ($-1 \lesssim \log({\rm SFR/M_{\odot} yr^{-1}}) \lesssim 0.5$) across the whole stellar mass range of the sample ($8.5 \lesssim \log({\rm M_{*}/M_{\odot}}) \lesssim 11$). The wind galaxies also span a wide range in SFR surface densities ($10^{-3} \textrm{--} 10^{-1.5}\rm~M_{\odot} ~yr^{-1}~kpc^{-2}$) that is much lower than the canonical threshold of $\rm0.1~M_{\odot} ~yr^{-1}~kpc^{-2}$. The wind galaxies on average have higher SFR surface densities and higher $\rm H\delta_A$ values than those without strong wind signatures. The enhanced $\rm H\delta_A$ indicates that bursts of star formation in the recent past are necessary for driving large-scale galactic winds. We demonstrate with Sloan Digital Sky Survey data that galaxies with high SFR surface density have experienced bursts of star formation in the recent past. Our results imply that the galactic winds revealed in our study are indeed driven by bursts of star formation, and thus probing star formation in the time domain is crucial for finding and understanding galactic winds.Peer reviewe

The Herschel–ATLAS data release 2, Paper I. Submillimeter and far-infrared images of the South and North Galactic Poles: the largest Herschel survey of the extragalactic sky

We present the largest submillimeter images that have been made of the extragalactic sky. The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) is a survey of 660 deg2 with the PACS and SPIRE cameras in five photometric bands: 100, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm. In this paper we present the images from our two largest fields, which account for ~75% of the survey. The first field is 180.1 deg2 in size, centered on the north Galactic pole (NGP), and the second is 317.6 deg2 in size, centered on the south Galactic pole. The NGP field serendipitously contains the Coma cluster. Over most (~80%) of the images, the pixel noise, including both instrumental noise and confusion noise, is approximately 3.6, and 3.5 mJy pix−1 at 100 and 160 μm, and 11.0, 11.1 and 12.3 mJy beam−1 at 250, 350 and 500 μm, respectively, but reaches lower values in some parts of the images. If a matched filter is applied to optimize point-source detection, our total 1σ map sensitivity is 5.7, 6.0, and 7.3 mJy at 250, 350, and 500 μm, respectively. We describe the results of an investigation of the noise properties of the images. We make the most precise estimate of confusion in SPIRE maps to date, finding values of 3.12 ± 0.07, 4.13 ± 0.02, and 4.45 ± 0.04 mJy beam−1 at 250, 350, and 500 μm in our un-convolved maps. For PACS we find an estimate of the confusion noise in our fast-parallel observations of 4.23 and 4.62 mJy beam−1 at 100 and 160 μm. Finally, we give recipes for using these images to carry out photometry, both for unresolved and extended sources