Marine Neogene Samples from around Tasmania: an extension to the Miocene/Pliocene marine record in Tasmania

New Miocene and Quaternary foraminiferid faunas have been recovered from previously unrecorded localities onshore near Penguin and Strahan, and at nine offshore localities off northwestern, northeastern and southeastern Tasmania. Most Miocene benthic forms found in these samples are well known from other Tasmanian Tertiary sections but a few previously unreported taxa are recorded in Tasmania for the first time. Two samples from off northeastern Tasmania are Miocene. The sample from southeastern Tasmania is Early Miocene with Quaternary overlying it. Pebbles from Ocean Beach, north of Strahan, contain earliest Middle Miocene faunas. Other samples from off northeastern and northwestern Tasmania contain Quaternary faunas which probably reflect both periods of lower sea level and cool water and also periods of higher sea level and warmer water. These samples extend the range of Miocene calcareous sediments much farther south on both west and east coasts of Tasmania. They also reinforce the pattern of Tasmanian Neogene sedimentation cycles (earliest Early Miocene, latest Early-earliest Middle Miocene, midLate Pliocene) identified previously

Classifying multispectral data by neural networks

Several energy functions for synthesizing neural networks are tested on 2-D synthetic data and on Landsat-4 Thematic Mapper data. These new energy functions, designed specifically for minimizing misclassification error, in some cases yield significant improvements in classification accuracy over the standard least mean squares energy function. In addition to operating on networks with one output unit per class, a new energy function is tested for binary encoded outputs, which result in smaller network sizes. The Thematic Mapper data (four bands were used) is classified on a single pixel basis, to provide a starting benchmark against which further improvements will be measured. Improvements are underway to make use of both subpixel and superpixel (i.e. contextual or neighborhood) information in tile processing. For single pixel classification, the best neural network result is 78.7 percent, compared with 71.7 percent for a classical nearest neighbor classifier. The 78.7 percent result also improves on several earlier neural network results on this data

Remembering James Barber (1940-2020)

James Barber, known to colleagues and friends as Jim, passed away in January 2020 after a long battle against cancer. During his long and distinguished career in photosynthesis research, Jim made many outstanding contributions with the pinnacle achieving his dream of determining the first detailed structure of the Mn cluster involved in photosynthetic water oxidation. Here, colleagues and friends remember Jim and reflect upon his scientific career and the impact he had on their lives and the scientific community. [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11120-022-00919-6

Approaches to Learning: Relationships with Pilot Performance

Using a sample of 62 trainee pilots, this study aimed to examine the relationships between approaches to learning (Surface, Deep, Achieving) and performance in ground school topics of perceived differing degrees of difficulty and also performance in the aeroplane as measured by hours taken to fly solo. Significant negative relationships were found between Surface Approach scores and all ground school topics. For time taken to fly the aeroplane without an instructor, Deep scores showed a significant negative relationship. Achieving Approach scores played little role in the findings

A Comparative Analysis of Airline Pilots’ Approaches to Learning

This paper reports a study investigating approaches to learning (deep, surface, achieving) by airline pilots. Three hundred and forty-six respondents from five international airlines and an institute completed the Pilot Learning Process Questionnaire (PLPQ). The results showed a general tendency for surface scores to be substantially lower than deep and achieving scores, with greatest variability among the carriers on the achieving scale. The European carrier was implicated in all post hoc analyses conducted and one Pacific Rim carrier\u27s profile showed significant differences from other airlines. The results are discussed in terms of cultural, training/rewards, and tenure factors. Implications for pilot training and selection are noted

An Evaluation of Cockpit Resource Management Training in Qantas

This study reports an evaluation of a Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) training program at Qantas Airlines in Australia. Four sets of survey data were gathered: Two from crew involved in CRM and a specific Line Oriented Flight Training (LOFT) scenario conducted in a simulator; and two from instructors, one from the LOFT instructors, the other from the CRM instructors. The crew results showed that CRM was perceived to have improved teamwork and leadership and that LOFT was viewed favorably. The instructor results showed generally successful implementation of the decision-making strategies but indicated that certain groups were not sufficiently assertive in communicating their preferred options. The instructors were generally positive in their evaluation of the CRM program. Implications are discussed