Knowledge of Others and Self-Perceptions of European Identity

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Sensitivity of ferry services to the Western Isles of Scotland to changes in wave and wind climate

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is the final version of the article. Available from AMS via the DOI in this record.The roughness of the seas is rarely mentioned as a major factor in the economic or social welfare of a region. In this study, the relationship between the ocean wave climate and the economy of the Western Isles of Scotland is examined. This sparsely populated region has a high dependency on marine activities, and ferry services provide vital links between communities. The seas in the region are among the roughest in the world during autumn and winter, however, making maintenance of a reliable ferry service both difficult and expensive. A deterioration in wave and wind climate either in response to natural variability or as a regional response to anthropogenic climate change is possible. Satellite altimetry and gale-frequency data are used to analyze the contemporary response of wave and wind climate to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The sensitivity of wave climate to the NAO extends to ferry routes that are only partially sheltered and are exposed to ocean waves; thus, the reliability of ferry services is sensitive to NAO. Any deterioration of the wave climate will result in a disproportionately large increase in ferry-service disruption. The impacts associated with an unusually large storm event that affected the region in January 2005 are briefly explored to provide an insight into vulnerability to future storm events. © 2013 American Meteorological Society.This research was largely supported by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research project “Toward a vulnerability assessment for the UK coastline” (IT 1.15)

Arms Control After START II: Next Steps on the U.S.-Russian Agenda

The United States and Russia signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II) on January 3, 1993. This report presents the background on the Russian parliament approval of the START II ratification. The report also discusses the linkage between U.S. withdrawal from ABM treaty and Russia’s possible withdrawal from START II. It discusses the alternative approaches for the United States and the future for the U.S.-Russian arms control process

Simultaneous Exoplanet Characterization and deep wide-field imaging with a diffractive pupil telescope

High-precision astrometry can identify exoplanets and measure their orbits and masses, while coronagraphic imaging enables detailed characterization of their physical properties and atmospheric compositions through spectroscopy. In a previous paper, we showed that a diffractive pupil telescope (DPT) in space can enable sub-microarcsecond accuracy astrometric measurements from wide-field images by creating faint but sharp diffraction spikes around the bright target star. The DPT allows simultaneous astrometric measurement and coronagraphic imaging, and we discuss and quantify in this paper the scientific benefits of this combination for exoplanet science investigations: identification of exoplanets with increased sensitivity and robustness, and ability to measure planetary masses to high accuracy. We show how using both measurements to identify planets and measure their masses offers greater sensitivity and provides more reliable measurements than possible with separate missions, and therefore results in a large gain in mission efficiency. The combined measurements reliably identify potentially habitable planets in multiple systems with a few observations, while astrometry or imaging alone would require many measurements over a long time baseline. In addition, the combined measurement allows direct determination of stellar masses to percent-level accuracy, using planets as test particles. We also show that the DPT maintains the full sensitivity of the telescope for deep wide-field imaging, and is therefore compatible with simultaneous scientific observations unrelated to exoplanets. We conclude that astrometry, coronagraphy, and deep wide-field imaging can be performed simultaneously on a single telescope without significant negative impact on the performance of any of the three techniques.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. This second paper, following the paper describing the diffractive pupil telescope (DPT) astrometric technique, shows how simultaneous astrometry and coronagraphy observations, enabled by the DPT concept, constrain the orbital parameters and mass of exoplanet

Heparanase 2, mutated in urofacial syndrome, mediates peripheral neural development in Xenopus

Urofacial syndrome (UFS; previously Ochoa syndrome) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by incomplete bladder emptying during micturition. This is associated with a dyssynergia in which the urethral walls contract at the same time as the detrusor smooth muscle in the body of the bladder. UFS is also characterized by an abnormal facial expression upon smiling, and bilateral weakness in the distribution of the facial nerve has been reported. Biallelic mutations in HPSE2 occur in UFS. This gene encodes heparanase 2, a protein which inhibits the activity of heparanase. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, an in vivo developmental role for heparanase 2. We identified the Xenopus orthologue of heparanase 2 and showed that the protein is localized to the embryonic ventrolateral neural tube where motor neurons arise. Morpholino-induced loss of heparanase 2 caused embryonic skeletal muscle paralysis, and morphant motor neurons had aberrant morphology including less linear paths and less compactly-bundled axons than normal. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that loss of heparanase 2 led to upregulation of fibroblast growth factor 2/phosphorylated extracellular signal-related kinase signalling and to alterations in levels of transcripts encoding neural- and muscle-associated molecules. Thus, a key role of heparanase 2 is to buffer growth factor signalling in motor neuron development. These results shed light on the pathogenic mechanisms underpinning the clinical features of UFS and support the contention that congenital peripheral neuropathy is a key feature of this disorder

La Gazzetta di Venezia del 1868

Historians writing about the History of Venice have rarely dealt with or mentioned the year 1868: to trace this moment it is essential to make direct reference to the Gazzetta di Venezia of that same year. Another useful source is the diary of Elena Pesaro Maurogonato (1853-1876), daughter of Isacco Pesaro Maurogonato (1817-1892), a central figure in the Venetian Jewish community and an important political figure. Among the most important events are the celebrations in St. Mark's Square on the occasion of the Carnival, the representations at the Teatro La Fenice and events related to the translation of Daniele Manin's ashes. This essay also traces a portrait of the social situation in Venice, ranging from the identification of differences between social classes to the creation of the 'myth of Venice', a collective cultural identity resulting from the association of several popular traditions

(Re)discovering the Gaulcross Hoard

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Charles and Helen Gray for permitting access to the land and for support in the excavation of the hoard. Thanks also to Bruce Mann and the Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service for advice and supporting the radiocarbon dating. Fraser Hunter and Tanja Romankiewicz assisted during a very cold excavation. Fraser and Alice Blackwell kindly read and commented on drafts of this paper. The fieldwork was funded through a donation to the University of Aberdeen's Development Trust and undertaken as part of the Northern Picts project, in association with the Tarbat Discovery Centre.Peer reviewedPostprin