'The ocean is our only highway and means of communication': Maritime Culture in Colonial Southern New Zealand

'The ocean is our only highway and means of communication': Maritime Culture in Colonial Southern New Zealan

Sex Differences in Elite Swimming with Advanced Age Are Less Than Marathon Running

The sex difference in marathon performance increases with finishing place and age of the runner but whether this occurs among swimmers is unknown. The purpose was to compare sex differences in swimming velocity across world record place (1st–10th), age group (25–89 years), and event distance. We also compared sex differences between freestyle swimming and marathon running. The world\u27s top 10 swimming times of both sexes for World Championship freestyle stroke, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly events and the world\u27s top 10 marathon times in 5-year age groups were obtained. Men were faster than women for freestyle (12.4 ± 4.2%), backstroke (12.8 ± 3.0%), and breaststroke (14.5 ± 3.2%), with the greatest sex differences for butterfly (16.7 ± 5.5%). The sex difference in swimming velocity increased across world record place for freestyle (P \u3c 0.001), breaststroke, and butterfly for all age groups and distances (P  \u3c 0.001) because of a greater relative drop-off between first and 10th place for women. The sex difference in marathon running increased with the world record place and the sex difference for marathon running was greater than for swimming (P \u3c 0.001). The sex difference in swimming increased with world record place and age, but was less than for marathon running. Collectively, these results suggest more depth in women\u27s swimming than marathon running

Modeling space-time correlations of velocity fluctuations in wind farms

An analytical model for the streamwise velocity space-time correlations in turbulent flows is derived and applied to the special case of velocity fluctuations in large wind farms. The model is based on the Kraichnan-Tennekes random sweeping hypothesis, capturing the decorrelation in time while including a mean wind velocity in the streamwise direction. In the resulting model, the streamwise velocity space-time correlation is expressed as a convolution of the pure space correlation with an analytical temporal decorrelation kernel. Hence, the spatio-temporal structure of velocity fluctuations in wind farms can be derived from the spatial correlations only. We then explore the applicability of the model to predict spatio-temporal correlations in turbulent flows in wind farms. Comparisons of the model with data from a large eddy simulation of flow in a large, spatially periodic wind farm are performed, where needed model parameters such as spatial and temporal integral scales and spatial correlations are determined from the large eddy simulation. Good agreement is obtained between the model and large eddy simulation data showing that spatial data may be used to model the full temporal structure of fluctuations in wind farms.Comment: Submitted to Wind Energ

Forest views: Northeast Oregon survey looks at community and environment

This brief reports on a survey conducted in fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways

Nature does not rely on long-lived electronic quantum coherence for photosynthetic energy transfer

During the first steps of photosynthesis, the energy of impinging solar photons is transformed into electronic excitation energy of the light-harvesting biomolecular complexes. The subsequent energy transfer to the reaction center is commonly rationalized in terms of excitons moving on a grid of biomolecular chromophores on typical timescales [Formula: see text]100 fs. Today's understanding of the energy transfer includes the fact that the excitons are delocalized over a few neighboring sites, but the role of quantum coherence is considered as irrelevant for the transfer dynamics because it typically decays within a few tens of femtoseconds. This orthodox picture of incoherent energy transfer between clusters of a few pigments sharing delocalized excitons has been challenged by ultrafast optical spectroscopy experiments with the Fenna-Matthews-Olson protein, in which interference oscillatory signals up to 1.5 ps were reported and interpreted as direct evidence of exceptionally long-lived electronic quantum coherence. Here, we show that the optical 2D photon echo spectra of this complex at ambient temperature in aqueous solution do not provide evidence of any long-lived electronic quantum coherence, but confirm the orthodox view of rapidly decaying electronic quantum coherence on a timescale of 60 fs. Our results can be considered as generic and give no hint that electronic quantum coherence plays any biofunctional role in real photoactive biomolecular complexes. Because in this structurally well-defined protein the distances between bacteriochlorophylls are comparable to those of other light-harvesting complexes, we anticipate that this finding is general and directly applies to even larger photoactive biomolecular complexes

'The ocean is our only highway and means of communication': Maritime Culture in Colonial Southern New Zealand

'The ocean is our only highway and means of communication': Maritime Culture in Colonial Southern New Zealan

An Intimate Knowledge of 'Maori and Mutton-Bird': Big Nana's Story

The institution of mutton-birding is as old as the hill, and from time immemorial it has been the right of the Murihiku natives to gather [titi/muttonbirds]... it is one of the new natural advantages yet entirely in their hands, and they strongly resent the intrusion of pakehas into it.Nga-Ti-Ngaro.Pakehas, married to Natives so privileged, also have a legal right to participate in these [titi harvesting] activities.L.E. Richdale, 1946

Spatio-temporal spectra in the logarithmic layer of wall turbulence: large-eddy simulations and simple models

Motivated by the need to characterize the spatio-temporal structure of turbulence in wall-bounded flows, we study wavenumber-frequency spectra of the streamwise velocity component based on large-eddy simulation (LES) data. The LES data are used to measure spectra as a function of the two wall-parallel wavenumbers and the frequency in the equilibrium (logarithmic) layer. We then reformulate one of the simplest models that is able to reproduce the observations: the random sweeping model with a Gaussian large-scale fluctuating velocity and with additional mean flow. Comparison with LES data shows that the model captures the observed temporal decorrelation, which is related to the Doppler broadening of frequencies. We furthermore introduce a parameterization for the entire wavenumber-frequency spectrum $E_{11}(k_1,k_2,\omega;z)$, where $k_1$, $k_2$ are the streamwise and spanwise wavenumbers, $\omega$ is the frequency and $z$ is the distance to the wall. The results are found to be in good agreement with LES data

Refractive Status and Vision Profile: evaluation of psychometric properties and comparison of Rasch and summated Likert-scaling. [Post-print]

The psychometric properties of the Refractive Status and Vision Profile (RSVP) questionnaire were evaluated using Rasch analysis. Ninety-one myopic patients from a refractive surgery clinic and general optometric practice completed the RSVP. Rasch analysis of the RSVP ordinal data was performed to examine for unidimensionality and item reduction. The traditional Likert-scoring system was compared with a Rasch-scored RSVP and a reduced item Rasch-scored RSVP. Rasch analysis of the original RSVP showed poor targeting of item difficulty to patient quality of life, items with a ceiling effect and underutilized response categories. Combining the underutilized response scales and removal of redundant and misfitting items improved the internal consistency and targeting of the RSVP, and the reduced 20-item Rasch scored RSVP showed greater relative precision over standard Likert scoring in discriminating between the two subject groups. A Rasch scaled quality of life questionnaire is recommended for use in refractive outcomes research

Wildfire, climate, and perceptions in northeast Oregon

Wildfire poses a rising threat in the western USA, fueled by synergies between historical fire suppression, changing land use, insects and disease, and shifts toward a drier, warmer climate. The rugged landscapes of northeast Oregon, with their historically forest- and resource-based economies, have been one of the areas affected. A 2011 survey found area residents highly concerned about fire and insect threats, but not about climate change. In 2014 we conducted a second survey that, to explore this apparent disconnect, included questions about past and future summertime (fire season) temperatures. Although regional temperatures have warmed in recent decades at twice the global rate, accompanied by increasing dryness and fire risks, the warming itself is recognized by only 40 % of our respondents. Awareness of recent warming proves unrelated to individual characteristics that might indicate experience on the land: old-timer versus newcomer status, year-round versus seasonal residence, and ownership of forested land. Perceptions of past warming and expectations of future warming are more common among younger respondents and less common among Tea Party supporters. The best-educated partisans stand farthest apart. Perceptions about local temperatures that are important for adaptation planning thus follow ideological patterns similar to beliefs about global climate change