Materiality and making in experiential ecologies

PhD Thesi

Superconductor Test Station

A basic test station, using a modified four point probe was designed and built for measuring resistivity over a temperature range. This test station can now be used to characterize the effects of any subsequent semiconductor processing on transition temperatures and performance of superconductive films

Fishing, not oil, is at the heart of the South China Sea dispute

Contrary to the view that the South China Sea disputes are driven by a regional hunger for seabed energy resources, the real and immediate prizes at stake are the region\u27s fisheries and marine environments that support them. It is also through the fisheries dimensions to the conflict that the repercussions of the recent ruling of the arbitration tribunal in the Philippines-China case are likely to be most acutely felt. It seems that oil is sexier than fish, or at least the lure of seabed energy resources has a more powerful motivating effect on policymakers, commentators and the media alike. However, the resources really at stake are the fisheries of the South China Sea and the marine environment that sustains them

A synthetic sample of short-cadence solar-like oscillators for TESS

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has begun a two-year survey of most of the sky, which will include lightcurves for thousands of solar-like oscillators sampled at a cadence of two minutes. To prepare for this steady stream of data, we present a mock catalogue of lightcurves, designed to realistically mimic the properties of the TESS sample. In the process, we also present the first public release of the asteroFLAG Artificial Dataset Generator, which simulates lightcurves of solar-like oscillators based on input mode properties. The targets are drawn from a simulation of the Milky Way's populations and are selected in the same way as TESS's true Asteroseismic Target List. The lightcurves are produced by combining stellar models, pulsation calculations and semi-empirical models of solar-like oscillators. We describe the details of the catalogue and provide several examples. We provide pristine lightcurves to which noise can be added easily. This mock catalogue will be valuable in testing asteroseismology pipelines for TESS and our methods can be applied in preparation and planning for other observatories and observing campaigns.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS. Archives containing the mock catalogue are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1470155 and the pipeline to produce it at https://github.com/warrickball/s4tess . The first public release of the asteroFLAG Artificial Dataset Generator v3 (AADG3) is described at https://warrickball.github.io/AADG3

Failure of interpolation in the intuitionistic logic of constant domains

This paper shows that the interpolation theorem fails in the intuitionistic logic of constant domains. This result refutes two previously published claims that the interpolation property holds.Comment: 13 pages, 0 figures. Overlaps with arXiv 1202.1195 removed, the text thouroughly reworked in terms of notation and style, historical notes as well as some other minor details adde

Systematic analysis of experimental phenotype data reveals gene functions

High-throughput phenotyping projects in model organisms have the potential to improve our understanding of gene functions and their role in living organisms. We have developed a computational, knowledge-based approach to automatically infer gene functions from phenotypic manifestations and applied this approach to yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), nematode worm (Caenorhabditis elegans), zebrafish (Danio rerio), fruitfly (Drosophila melanogaster) and mouse (Mus musculus) phenotypes. Our approach is based on the assumption that, if a mutation in a gene [Image: see text] leads to a phenotypic abnormality in a process [Image: see text], then [Image: see text] must have been involved in [Image: see text], either directly or indirectly. We systematically analyze recorded phenotypes in animal models using the formal definitions created for phenotype ontologies. We evaluate the validity of the inferred functions manually and by demonstrating a significant improvement in predicting genetic interactions and protein-protein interactions based on functional similarity. Our knowledge-based approach is generally applicable to phenotypes recorded in model organism databases, including phenotypes from large-scale, high throughput community projects whose primary mode of dissemination is direct publication on-line rather than in the literature

Krill availability in adjacent Adélie and gentoo penguin foraging regions near Palmer Station, Antarctica

The Palmer Deep canyon along the West Antarctic Peninsula is a biological hotspot with abundant phytoplankton and krill supporting Adélie and gentoo penguin rookeries at the canyon head. Nearshore studies have focused on physical mechanisms driving primary production and penguin foraging, but less is known about finer-scale krill distribution and density. We designed two acoustic survey grids paired with conductivity–temperature–depth profiles within adjacent Adélie and gentoo penguin foraging regions near Palmer Station, Ant-arctica. The grids were sampled from January to March 2019 to assess variability in krill availability and associations with oceanographic properties. Krill density was similar in the two regions, but krill swarms were longer and larger in the gentoo foraging region, which was also less stratified and had lower chlorophyll concentrations. In the inshore zone near penguin colonies, depth-integrated krill density increased from summer to autumn (January–March) independent of chlorophyll concentration, suggesting a life history-driven adult krill migration rather than a resource-driven biomass increase. The daytime depth of krill biomass deepened through the summer and became decoupled from the chlorophyll maximum in March as diel vertical migration magnitude likely increased. Penguins near Palmer Station did not appear to be limited by krill availability during our study, and regional differences in krill depth match the foraging behaviors of the two penguin species. Understanding fine-scale physical forcing and ecological interactions in coastal Antarctic hotspots is critical for predicting how environmental change will impact these ecosystems

Survival, Growth and Reproduction of Non-Native Nile Tilapia II: Fundamental Niche Projections and Invasion Potential in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Understanding the fundamental niche of invasive species facilitates our ability to predict both dispersal patterns and invasion success and therefore provides the basis for better-informed conservation and management policies. Here we focus on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus Linnaeus, 1758), one of the most widely cultured fish worldwide and a species that has escaped local aquaculture facilities to become established in a coastal-draining river in Mississippi (northern Gulf of Mexico). Using empirical physiological data, logistic regression models were developed to predict the probabilities of Nile tilapia survival, growth, and reproduction at different combinations of temperature (14 and 30°C) and salinity (0–60, by increments of 10). These predictive models were combined with kriged seasonal salinity data derived from multiple long-term data sets to project the species\u27 fundamental niche in Mississippi coastal waters during normal salinity years (averaged across all years) and salinity patterns in extremely wet and dry years (which might emerge more frequently under scenarios of climate change). The derived fundamental niche projections showed that during the summer, Nile tilapia is capable of surviving throughout Mississippi\u27s coastal waters but growth and reproduction were limited to river mouths (or upriver). Overwinter survival was also limited to river mouths. The areas where Nile tilapia could survive, grow, and reproduce increased during extremely wet years (2–368%) and decreased during extremely dry years (86–92%) in the summer with a similar pattern holding for overwinter survival. These results indicate that Nile tilapia is capable of 1) using saline waters to gain access to other watersheds throughout the region and 2) establishing populations in nearshore, low-salinity waters, particularly in the western portion of coastal Mississippi