Integrating Research Data Management into Geographical Information Systems

Ocean modelling requires the production of high-fidelity computational meshes upon which to solve the equations of motion. The production of such meshes by hand is often infeasible, considering the complexity of the bathymetry and coastlines. The use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is therefore a key component to discretising the region of interest and producing a mesh appropriate to resolve the dynamics. However, all data associated with the production of a mesh must be provided in order to contribute to the overall recomputability of the subsequent simulation. This work presents the integration of research data management in QMesh, a tool for generating meshes using GIS. The tool uses the PyRDM library to provide a quick and easy way for scientists to publish meshes, and all data required to regenerate them, to persistent online repositories. These repositories are assigned unique identifiers to enable proper citation of the meshes in journal articles.Comment: Accepted, camera-ready version. To appear in the Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Semantic Digital Archives (http://sda2015.dke-research.de/), held in Pozna\'n, Poland on 18 September 2015 as part of the 19th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries (http://tpdl2015.info/

Slug Damage and Control of Slugs in Horticultural Crops

Slugs can cause severe damage in horticultural crops. Slug activity; slug damage and control strategies differ considerably between countries or regions in Europe. The brochure summarizes recent research on novel methods of slug control

Embedding of psycho-perceptual-motor skills can improve athlete assessment and training programs

Practitioners in a variety of sports seek unique ways to train athletes to better prepare them for competition. In this position paper, we argue that inclusion of psycho-perceptual-motor skills, from the fields of sport psychology and sport expertise, is crucial, but underutilized in the assessment and training of athletes. First, a brief introduction is provided as to why psycho-perceptual-motor skill is vital for training athletes. Second, examples are discussed relating to key concepts. These include the following: assessment of expertise discriminators such as visual anticipation under pressure contexts, incorporation of sports analytics and performance analysis to aid reflection upon previous experiences of good anticipation and coping with pressure, use of qualitative and quantitative measures to understand processes underlying performance and learning, as well as design of representative tasks for assessment and training anticipation under pressure contexts. Third, some recommendations are made to practitioners of sports teams to assist them in taking advantage of psycho-perceptual-motor skill to better prepare athletes for competition. Collectively, we hope this paper stimulates collaboration between practitioners of sports teams and scientists to create a greater focus upon integrated sport psychology and sport expertise in the training of athletes

Application of the adjoint approach to optimise the initial conditions of a turbidity current with the AdjointTurbidity 1.0 model

Turbidity currents are one of the main drivers of sediment transport from the continental shelf to the deep ocean. The resulting sediment deposits can reach hundreds of kilometres into the ocean. Computer models that simulate turbidity currents and the resulting sediment deposit can help us to understand their general behaviour. However, in order to recreate real-world scenarios, the challenge is to find the turbidity current parameters that reproduce the observations of sediment deposits. This paper demonstrates a solution to the inverse sediment transportation problem: for a known sedimentary deposit, the developed model reconstructs details about the turbidity current that produced the deposit. The reconstruction is constrained here by a shallow water sediment-laden density current model, which is discretised by the finite-element method and an adaptive time-stepping scheme. The model is differentiated using the adjoint approach, and an efficient gradient-based optimisation method is applied to identify the turbidity parameters which minimise the misfit between the modelled and the observed field sediment deposits. The capabilities of this approach are demonstrated using measurements taken in the Miocene Marnoso-arenacea Formation (Italy). We find that whilst the model cannot match the deposit exactly due to limitations in the physical processes simulated, it provides valuable insights into the depositional processes and represents a significant advance in our toolset for interpreting turbidity current deposits

Bipolenins K-N: New sesquiterpenoids from the fungal plant pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana

Chemical investigation of the barley and wheat fungal pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana BRIP10943 yielded four new sativene-type sesquiterpenoid natural products, bipolenins K–N (1–4), together with seven related known analogues (5–11), and a sesterterpenoid (12). Their structures were determined by detailed analysis of spectroscopic data, supported by TDDFT calculations and comparison with previously reported analogues. These compounds were evaluated for their phytotoxic activity against wheat seedlings and wheat seed germination. The putative biosynthetic relationships between the isolated sesquiterpenoids were also explored.This study was funded, in part, by the Australian Research Council (FT130100142 and FT160100233) and the Cooperative Research Centres Projects scheme (CRCPFIVE000119). The research was undertaken with the assistance of resources and services from the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), which is supported by the Australian Government

Numerical modelling of hydrodynamics and tidal energy extraction in the Alderney Race: a review

(IF 4.23; Q1)International audienceThe tides are a predictable, renewable, source of energy that if harnessed, can provide significant levels of electricity generation. Alderney Race, with current speeds that exceed 5 m/s during spring tides, is one of the most concentrated regions of tidal energy in the world, with the upper bound resource estimated at 5.1 GW. Due to its significance, the Alderney Race is frequently used for model case studies of tidal energy conversion, and here we review these model applications and outcomes. We examine a range of temporal and spatial modelling scales, from regional models applied to resource assessment and characterisation, to more detailed models that include energy extraction and array optimization. We also examine a range of physical processes that influence the tidal energy resource, including the role of waves and turbulence in tidal energy resource assessment and loadings on turbines. The review discusses model validation, and covers a range of numerical modelling approaches, from 2D to 3D tidal models, two-way coupled wave-tide models, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) models, and the application of optimization techniques. The review contains guidance on model approaches and sources of data that can be used for future studies of the Alderney Race, or translated to other tidal energy regions