Infrared Dark Cloud Cores in the SCUBA Legacy Catalogue

We present an investigation of candidate Infrared Dark Cloud cores as identified by Simon et al. (2006) located within the SCUBA Legacy Catalogue. After applying a uniform noise cut to the Catalogue data we identify 154 Infrared Dark Cloud cores that were detected at 850um and 51 cores that were not. We derive column densities for each core from their 8um extinction and find that the IRDCs detected at 850um have higher column densities (a mean of 1.7x10^22 cm-2) compared to those cores not detected at 850um (a mean of 1.0x10^22 cm-2). Combined with sensitivity estimates, we suggest that the cores not detected at 850um are low mass, low column density and low temperature cores that are below the sensitivity limit of SCUBA at 850um. For a subsample of the cores detected at 850um those contained within the MIPSGAL area) we find that two thirds are associated with 24um sources. Cores not associated with 24um emission are either ``starless'' IRDC cores that perhaps have yet to form stars, or contain low mass YSOs below the MIPSGAL detection limit. We see that those ``starless'' IRDC cores and the IRDC cores associated with 24um emission are drawn from the same column density population and are of similar mass. If we then assume the cores without 24um embedded sources are at an earlier evolutionary stage to cores with embedded objects we derive a statistical lifetime for the quiescent phase of a few 10^3-10^4 years. Finally, we make conservative predictions for the number of observed IRDCs that will be observed by the Apex Telescope Galactic Plane Survey (ATLASGAL), the Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey (Hi-GAL), the JCMT Galactic Plane Survey (JPS) and the SCUBA-2 ``All Sky'' Survey (SASSy).Comment: 18 pages, 3 tables, 10 figure

Reversal Modes of Simulated Iron Nanopillars in an Obliquely Oriented Field

Stochastic micromagnetic simulations are employed to study switching in three-dimensional magnetic nanopillars exposed to highly misaligned fields. The switching appears to proceed through two different decay modes, characterized by very different average lifetimes and different average values of the transverse magnetization components.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Application of satellite data to tropic/subtropic moisture coupling

The objective is to utilize various satellite products from a number of satellites together with data observed from platforms available during the FGGE Special Observing Periods to diagnose synoptic scale events in date void regions. The focus is on episodes of northeastward traveling cloud bands which move out of the ITCZ over the eastern North Pacific Ocean. These events are called moisture bursts

A Personalized System for Conversational Recommendations

Searching for and making decisions about information is becoming increasingly difficult as the amount of information and number of choices increases. Recommendation systems help users find items of interest of a particular type, such as movies or restaurants, but are still somewhat awkward to use. Our solution is to take advantage of the complementary strengths of personalized recommendation systems and dialogue systems, creating personalized aides. We present a system -- the Adaptive Place Advisor -- that treats item selection as an interactive, conversational process, with the program inquiring about item attributes and the user responding. Individual, long-term user preferences are unobtrusively obtained in the course of normal recommendation dialogues and used to direct future conversations with the same user. We present a novel user model that influences both item search and the questions asked during a conversation. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system in significantly reducing the time and number of interactions required to find a satisfactory item, as compared to a control group of users interacting with a non-adaptive version of the system

On air temperature fluctuations immediately above a glacier surface

Developing remote sensing techniques for measuring meteorological parameters in surface layers of snow field

Projective-symmetric spaces

Cartanian symmetrical property of Riemannian projective-symmetric spaces - tensor geometr

Kerr-Schild metrics revisited II. The complete vacuum solution

The complete solution of Einstein's gravitational equations with a vacuum-vacuum Kerr-Schild pencil of metrics $g_{ab}+V l_al_b$ is obtained. Our result generalizes the solution of the Kerr-Schild problem with a flat metric $g_{ab}$ (represented by the Kerr theorem) to the case when $g_{ab}$ is the metric of a curved space-time.Comment: 21 page

Introduction of Parasites of the Larch Sawfly in Minnesota

Olesicampe benefactor Hinz and the Bavarian strain of Mesoleius tenthredinis Morley, European ichneunionid parasites of the larch sawfly, Pristiphora erichsonii (Hartig), were introduced into northern Minnesota from Manitoba in 1971 and 1972. Both species are now established. There was also natural spread of 0. benefactor into Minnesota from Manitoba releases in 1961 at a point ca. 200 miles northwest of the Minnesota plots