1,502 research outputs found
Geoscape: Lessons Learned from 15 Years of Geoscience Outreach
Geoscape is the name for a long term geoscience outreach initiative led by staff of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) Vancouver office and designed to better connect people to the land they live on. Although largely focused on outreach in British Columbia, the initiative has been active across Canada and supported by a number of different GSC programs. Geoscape products, some 35 in total, include Geoscape, GeoMap, Waterscape, and climate change series posters, as well as geological highway maps and GeoTour booklets. A popular geoscience book and a national climate change poster series were inspired by Geoscape work. Begun in 1994, Geoscape has drawn dozens of Canadian geoscientists and educators into outreach efforts. This paper summarizes the accomplishments of Geoscape and some of the lessons we learned along the way.SOMMAIREGĂ©opanorama est le nom d'une activitĂ© gĂ©oscientifique de sensibilisation Ă long terme menĂ©e par le personnel du bureau de Vancouver de la Commission gĂ©ologique du Canada (CGC) visant Ă crĂ©er des liens entre les gens et la terre sur laquelle ils vivent. Bien que visant largement la sensibilisation en Colombie-Britannique, lâactivitĂ© a Ă©tĂ© menĂ©e Ă travers le Canada et soutenue grĂące Ă un certain nombre de programmes diffĂ©rents de la CGC. Quelques 35 productions de GĂ©opanorama ont dĂ©jĂ Ă©tĂ© rĂ©alisĂ©es, dont GĂ©opanorama, GeoMap, Waterscape, une sĂ©rie dâaffiches sur le changement climatique, ainsi que des cartes routiĂšres gĂ©ologiques et des livrets touristiques GeoTour. Un livre gĂ©oscientifiques grand public et une sĂ©rie nationale dâaffiches sur le changement climatique dĂ©coulent directement de GĂ©opanorama. CommencĂ©e en 1994, GĂ©opanorama a inspirĂ© les efforts de sensibilisation de dizaines de gĂ©oscientifiques et dâĂ©ducateurs canadiens. Le prĂ©sent article prĂ©sente un sommaire des rĂ©alisations de GĂ©opanorama ainsi que certaines des leçons que nous avons apprises en cours de route
Learning in doing: the social anthropology of innovation in a large UK organisation
In the face of increasingly dynamic market environments, firms are being urged to develop learning and innovation capabilities if they wish to secure competitive advantage and long-term growth. A bank of work written from numerous theoretical perspectives has converged on the view that knowledge underpins the formation of such capabilities. While much of this literature emphasises the importance of cognitive knowledge, a new approach grounded in techniques from social anthropology suggests that learning is a non-cognitive practice, drawing on embodied exploration, everyday sociality, and a communitarian infrastructure of human and non-human actants. This thesis aims to consolidate the current literature on 'possessed' knowledge by clarifying the relationship between cognition and learning, and to advance understanding of innovation practices within firms by examining the role of non-cognitive mechanisms in the development of organisational capabilities. Drawing on a nine-month period of ethnographic research, this thesis describes the on-the-ground processes of learning and innovation within the marketing department of a large UK organisation. This evidence is used to investigate critically the theoretical claims regarding the role of both cognitive and non-cognitive forms of knowledge. Based on the empirical findings, three interrelated arguments are proposed: the design and governance of strategic learning devices involve non-cognitive practices; informal mechanisms of learning underpin the formation of new capabilities; and communitarian theories of learning overemphasise the social construction of knowledge, while neglecting the agency of the materiality of context
Aeroacoustic source mechanisms of a wavy leading edge undergoing vortical disturbances
High-accuracy numerical simulations are performed to study aeroacoustic source mechanisms of wavy leading edges (WLEs) on a thin aerofoil undergoing vortical disturbances. This canonical study is based on a prescribed spanwise vortex travelling downstream and creating secondary vortices as it passes through the aerofoilâs leading edge. The primary aim of the study is to precisely understand the relationships between the vortex-induced velocity perturbation and the wall pressure fluctuation on the WLE geometry. It is observed that by increasing the size (amplitude) of the WLE the source strength at the peak region is reduced rapidly to a certain point, followed by a saturation stage, while at the root (trough) it remains fairly consistent regardless of the WLE size. This observation is demonstrated to be the consequence of three-dimensional vortex dynamics taking place along the WLE. One of the most profound features is that a system of horseshoe-like secondary vortices are created from the WLE peak region upon the impingement of the prescribed vortex. It is found that the horseshoe vortices produce a significantly non-uniform velocity perturbation in front of the WLE leading to the disparity in the source characteristics between the peak and root. The alterations to the impinging velocity perturbation are carefully analysed and related to the wall pressure fluctuation in this study. In addition, a semi-analytic model based on BiotâSavartâs law is developed to better understand and explain the role of the horseshoe vortex systems and the source mechanisms
The PL calibration for Milky Way Cepheids and its implications for the distance scale
The rationale behind recent calibrations of the Cepheid PL relation using the
Wesenheit formulation is reviewed and reanalyzed, and it is shown that recent
conclusions regarding a possible change in slope of the PL relation for
short-period and long-period Cepheids are tied to a pathological distribution
of HST calibrators within the instability strip. A recalibration of the
period-luminosity relation is obtained using Galactic Cepheids in open clusters
and groups, the resulting relationship, described by log L/L_sun =
2.415(+-0.035) + 1.148(+-0.044)log P, exhibiting only the moderate scatter
expected from color spread within the instability strip. The relationship is
confirmed by Cepheids with HST parallaxes, although without the need for
Lutz-Kelker corrections, and in general by Cepheids with revised Hipparcos
parallaxes, albeit with concerns about the cited precisions of the latter. A
Wesenheit formulation of Wv = -2.259(+-0.083) - 4.185(+-0.103)log P for
Galactic Cepheids is tested successfully using Cepheids in the inner regions of
the galaxy NGC 4258, confirming the independent geometrical distance
established for the galaxy from OH masers. Differences between the extinction
properties of interstellar and extragalactic dust may yet play an important
role in the further calibration of the Cepheid PL relation and its application
to the extragalactic distance scale.Comment: Accepted for Publication (Astrophysics & Space Science
The Role of Animal Models for Research on Severe Malaria
The Role of Animal Models for Research on Severe Malari
Optimization and assessment of phytoplankton size class algorithms for ocean color data on the Northeast U.S. continental shelf
The size structure of phytoplankton communities influences important ecological and biogeochemical processes, including the transfer of energy through marine food webs. A variety of algorithms have been developed to estimate phytoplankton size classes (PSCs) from satellite ocean color data. However, many of these algorithms were developed for application to the global ocean, and their performance in more productive, optically complex coastal and continental shelf regions warrants evaluation. In this study, several existing PSC models were applied in the Northeast U.S. continental shelf (NES) region and compared with in situ PSC estimates derived from a local HPLC pigment data set. The effect of regional re-parameterization and incorporation of sea surface temperature (SST) into existing abundance-based model frameworks was investigated and model performance was assessed using an independent data set. Abundance-based model re-parameterization alone did not result in significant improvement in model performance compared with other models. However, the inclusion of SST led to a consistent reduction in model error for all size classes. Of two absorption-based algorithms tested, the best performing approach displayed similar performance metrics to the regional SST-dependent abundance-based model. The SST-dependent model and the absorption-based method were applied to monthly composites of the NES region for April and September 2019 and qualitatively compared. The results highlight the benefit of considering SST in abundance-based models and the applicability of absorption-based PSC methods in optically complex regions
Invasion genetics of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in the British Isles inferred from microsatellite and mitochondrial markers
The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, native to northeast Asia, is one of the most important cultured shellfish species. In Europe, Pacific oysters first settled along the Atlantic coasts of France at the end of the 1960s but rapidly spread and are now widely established. Twenty-two sites in the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Denmark, France and Spain were sampled to assess genetic diversity and differentiation. Hatchery-propagated stocks from two hatcheries located in the UK also were included. Two main genetic clusters were identified from pairwise genetic differentiation indexes, Bayesian clustering methods or neighbour-joining analysis, based on 7 microsatellite loci: (1) a Northeast cluster (including feral samples from East England, Ireland and Denmark as well as UK hatchery stocks) and (2) a Southwest cluster (including samples from South Wales, South West England, France and Spain). The Southwest cluster had significantly higher allelic richness (A) and expected heterozygosity (He) (A: 45.68, He: 0.928) than in the Northeast (A: 26.58, He: 0.883); the two diverging by a small but significant FST value (FST=0.017, 95% CI: 0.014-0.021). A 739-bp fragment of the major noncoding region of the mitochondrial genome was sequenced in 248 oysters from 12 of the studied samples in Europe and in 25 oysters from Miyagi prefecture (Japan). A total of 81 haplotypes were found. Haplotype frequency analyses identified the same two clusters observed using microsatellites. This study highlights how the number and size of introduction events, aquaculture practices, genetic bottlenecks followed by genetic drift and natural dispersal can act concurrently to shape the genetic diversity and structure of introduced populations
Predicted 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease is influenced by the risk equation adopted: a cross-sectional analysis
Background Validated risk equations are currently recommended to assess individuals to determine those at âhigh riskâ of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is no longer a risk âequation of choiceâ.
Aim This study examined the differences between four commonly-used CVD risk equations.
Design and setting Cross-sectional analysis of individuals who participated in a workplace-based risk assessment in Carmarthenshire, south Wales.
Method Analysis of 790 individuals (474 females, 316 males) with no prior diagnosis of CVD or diabetes. Ten-year CVD risk was predicted by entering the relevant variables into the QRISK2, Framingham Lipids, Framingham BMI, and JBS2 risk equations.
Results The Framingham BMI and JBS2 risk equations predicted a higher absolute risk than the QRISK2 and Framingham Lipids equations, and CVD risk increased concomitantly with age irrespective of which risk equation was adopted. Only a small proportion of females (0â2.1%) were predicted to be at high risk of developing CVD using any of the risk algorithms. The proportion of males predicted at high risk ranged from 5.4% (QRISK2) to 20.3% (JBS2). After age stratification, few differences between isolated risk factors were observed in males, although a greater proportion of males aged â„50 years were predicted to be at âhigh riskâ independent of risk equation used.
Conclusions Different risk equations can influence the predicted 10-year CVD risk of individuals. More males were predicted at âhigh riskâ using the JBS2 or Framingham BMI equations. Consideration should also be given to the number of isolated risk factors, especially in younger adults when evaluating CVD risk
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Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant environmental report for 1989
This calendar year 1989 annual report on environmental surveillance of the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) and its environs consists of two parts: the Summary, Discussion, and Conclusions (Part 1) and the Data Presentation (Part 2). The objectives of this report are the following: report 1989 monitoring data for the installation and its environs that may have been affected by operations on the plant site, provide reasonably detailed information about the plant site and plant operations, provide detailed information on input and assumptions used in all calculations, provide trend analyses (where appropriate) to indicate increases and decreases in environmental impact, and provide general information on plant quality assurance. Routine monitoring and sampling for radiation, radioactive materials, and chemical substances on and off the DOE site are used to document compliance with appropriate standards, to identify trends, to provide information for the public, and to contribute to general environmental knowledge. The surveillance program assists in fulfilling the DOE policy of protecting the public, employees, and environment from harm that could be caused by its activities and reducing negative environmental impacts to the greatest degree practicable. Environmental-monitoring information complements data on specific releases, trends, and summaries. 26 refs
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