Optimal Extraction of Fibre Optic Spectroscopy

We report an optimal extraction methodology, for the reduction of multi-object fibre spectroscopy data, operating in the regime of tightly packed (and hence significantly overlapping) fibre profiles. The routine minimises crosstalk between adjacent fibres and statistically weights the extraction to reduce noise. As an example of the process we use simulations of the numerous modes of operation of the AAOmega fibre spectrograph and observational data from the SPIRAL Integral Field Unit at the Anglo-Australian Telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in PAS

Building a Successful Service: Developing Open Access Funding and Advocacy at University College London

The UK Research Councils (RCUK) introduced an open access pol- icy, and accompanying funding for Article Processing Charges (APCs), in April 2013. This article describes University College London (UCL)’s experience of managing its institutional, RCUK, and Wellcome Trust open access funds, and highlights its success in exceeding the RCUK target in the first year of the policy. A large institution, processing around 1,770 APCs in 2013–2014, UCL has established a dedicated Open Access Funding Team. As well as advising authors on funders’ and publishers’ requirements, man- aging payments, and liaising with publishers, the Team delivers a comprehensive open access advocacy programme throughout the institution. Researchers who have used the Team’s services show astonishing levels of enthusiasm for open access, and for UCL’s approach to supporting them

Spinoza and the possibilities for radical climate ethics

In this commentary, I respond to the core question of Ruddick’s paper: How does the theoretical dethroning of humanity force us to reinvent ethics? In so doing, I expand on Spinoza’s profound contribution to the radical rethinking of the subject at the level of ontology. Although Ruddick invokes Spinoza, first and foremost, as a potential resource for ethics in light of climate disruption, I conclude that those resources offer only a glimmer of how to live differently. The work of re-imagination at the level of metaphysics is flourishing, but we have yet to develop its implications for ethics and politics

Electron tomography of defects

Tomography of crystal defects in the electron microscope was rst attempted in 2005 by the author and colleagues. This thesis further develops the technique, using a variety of samples and methods. Use of a more optimised, commercial tomographic reconstruction program on the original GaN weakbeam dark- eld (WBDF) tilt series gave a ner reconstruction with lower background, line width 10-20 nm. Four WBDF tilt series were obtained of a microcrack surrounded by dislocations in a sample of indented silicon, tilt axes parallel to g = 220, 220, 400 and 040. Moir e fringes in the defect impaired alignment and reconstruction. The e ect on reconstruction of moir e fringe motion with tilt was simulated, resulting in an array of rods, not a at plane. Dislocations in a TiAl alloy were reconstructed from WBDF images with no thickness contours, giving an exceptionally clear reconstruction. The e ect of misalignment of the tilt axis with systematic row g(ng) was assessed by simulating tilt series with di raction condition variation across the tilt range of n = 0, 1 and 2. Misalignment changed the inclination of the reconstructed dislocation with the foil surfaces, and elongated the reconstruction in the foil normal direction; this may explain elongation additional to the missing wedge e ect in experiments. Tomography from annular dark- eld (ADF) STEM dislocation images was also attempted. A tilt series was obtained from the GaN sample; the reconstructed dislocations had a core of bright intensity of comparable width to WBDF reconstructions, with a surrounding region of low intensity to 60 nm width. An ADF STEM reconstruction was obtained from the Si sample at the same microcrack as for WBDF; here automatic specimen drift correction in tomography acquisition software succeeded, a signi cant improvement. The microcrack surfaces in Si reconstructed as faint planes and dislocations were recovered as less fragmented lines than from the WBDF reconstruction. ADF STEM tomography was also carried out on the TiAl sample, using an detector inner angle ( in) that included the rst order Bragg spots (in other series in had been 4-6 B). Extinctions occurred which were dependent on tilt; this produced only weak lines in the reconstruction. Bragg scattering in the ADF STEM image was estimated by summing simulated dark- eld dislocation images from all Bragg beams at a zone axis; a double line was produced. It was hypothised that choosing the inner detector angle to omit these rst Bragg peaks may preclude most dynamical image features. Additional thermal di use scattering (TDS) intensity due to dilatation around an edge dislocation was estimated and found to be insigni cant. The Huang scattering cross section was estimated and found to be 9 A, ten times thinner than experimental ADF STEM dislocation images. The remaining intensity may be from changes to TDS from Bloch wave transitions at the dislocation; assessing this as a function of tilt is for further work. On simple assessment, only three possible axial channeling orientations were found over the tilt range for GaN; if this is typical, dechanneling contrast probably does not apply to defect tomography.This work was supported by an EPSRC Doctoral Training Account

Not all Humans, Radical Criticism of the Anthropocene Narrative

Earth scientists have declared that we are living in “the Anthropocene,” but radical critics object to the implicit attribution of responsibility for climate disruption to all of humanity. They are right to object. Yet, in effort to implicate their preferred villains, their revised narratives often paint an overly narrow picture. Sharing the impulse of radical critics to tell a more precise and political story about how we arrived where we are today, this paper wagers that collective action is more effectively mobilized when we identify multiple agencies and diverse historical processes as sites in need of urgent intervention

Sustainable development : a model Indonesian SRI co-operative : this research paper is presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of International Development, Massey University, New Zealand

This research report explores how ‘sustainable livelihoods’ have been achieved at a model cooperative using the ‘System of Rice Intensification’ named SIMPATIK. To conduct the research a novel template was developed. The framework was required following a review of sustainable livelihood literature which found deficiencies with the ‘sustainable livelihoods framework’, particularly its treatment of equity, social capital, culture and agro-ecology which disqualified the framework as an appropriate approach for the research. Amekawa’s (2011) ‘Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Framework’ which synthesises agro-ecology and the sustainable livelihoods framework is then discussed. Further work is then presented on social capital which this paper argues has a critical role in facilitating access to livelihood capitals. A discussion of the significance of culture then follows to underline its importance as a form of livelihood capital. The research then introduces an operational model that is appropriate to the local cultural, institutional and geographical context to demonstrate how livelihood capitals are linked to livelihood outcomes, a model I have labelled the ‘Apt-Integrated Sustainable Livelihoods Framework’. This framework is then informed through field research at the SIMPATIK co-operative. Impact pathways through ‘synergetic forms of social capital’ and the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) are shown indeed to lead to sustainable livelihood outcomes for research participants. The ‘sequencing’ of livelihood capitals is seen to be critical and the research culminates in the development of a ‘SRI Co-operative Template for Sustainable Livelihoods’; a transferable model that shows how SRI can be promoted as a sustainable livelihood strategy

Too much free time: Coos County Youth who are least involved in out-of-school activities are most likely to use drugs and alcohol

Carsey Institute researchers are seeing links between the self-reported substance use and involvement in out-of-school activities. As part of a ten-year tracking survey of high school students in Coos County, New Hampshire, this brief finds that those most involved with constructive activities report the least amount of substance abuse

Out-of-school time matters: activity involvement and positive development among Coos County youth

This brief looks at the connections between how youth spend their free time and positive or negative attitudes about themselves and their future plans. Family studies assistant professor and Carsey faculty fellow Erin Hiley Sharp used data from the Carsey Institute\u27s Coos County Youth Survey to show differences by activity level and students\u27 expectations for positive outcomes in their future

The Nature of Cima Dome

In the Mojave Desert of southeasternmost California is a remarkably smooth, symmetrical rock-alluvial dome which takes its name from Cima on the Union Pacific Railroad. Lawson (1915, pp. 26, 33) cited Cima Dome as a prime example of a panfan, but Thompson (1929, p. 550) later showed that its upper part is bare rock. Davis (1933, pp. 240-243) considered it a fine example of a convex desert dome evolved from back-wearing of a fault block, but this concept is contradicted by the geological relations (Hewett, 1954), which throw more light on the nature and origin of Cima Dome than do geomorphological theories