Status Buying Responses in a Survey of Students and Variations in Informational Levels.

This article reports on a survey of a large number of undergraduate students in the U.S. They were queried about whether they preferred living in a society where they had high relative income (status) but low purchasing power or a society where they have low status, but high purchasing power.While the overwhelming majority indicate a desire to buy status, the information given about intergenerational mobilty and amenities like health available in the different socities makes a big difference in the responses. The data indicate that that the majority desiring to buy status disappears with better information.

Efficient analysis and design of low-loss whispering-gallery-mode coupled resonator optical waveguide bends

Waveguides composed of electromagnetically-coupled optical microcavities (coupled resonator optical waveguides or CROWs) can be used for light guiding, slowing and storage. In this paper, we present a two-dimensional analysis of finite-size straight and curved CROW sections based on a rigorous Muller boundary integral equations method. We study mechanisms of the coupling of whispering gallery (WG) modes and guiding light around bends in CROWs composed of both identical and size-mismatched microdisk resonators. Our accurate analysis reveals differences in WG modes coupling in the vicinity of bends in CROWs composed of optically-large and wavelength-scale microcavities. We propose and discuss possible ways to design low-loss CROW bends and to reduce bend losses. These include selecting specific bend angles depending on the azimuthal order of the WG mode and tuning the radius of the microdisk positioned at the CROW bend.Comment: 8 pages with 10 figures (to appear in IEEE/OSA J. Lightwave Technology, 2007

Development of subminiature multi-sensor hot-wire probes

Limitations on the spatial resolution of multisensor hot wire probes have precluded accurate measurements of Reynolds stresses very near solid surfaces in wind tunnels and in many practical aerodynamic flows. The fabrication, calibration and qualification testing of very small single horizontal and X-array hot-wire probes which are intended to be used near solid boundaries in turbulent flows where length scales are particularly small, is described. Details of the sensor fabrication procedure are reported, along with information needed to successfully operate the probes. As compared with conventional probes, manufacture of the subminiature probes is more complex, requiring special equipment and careful handling. The subminiature probes tested were more fragile and shorter lived than conventional probes; they obeyed the same calibration laws but with slightly larger experimental uncertainty. In spite of these disadvantages, measurements of mean statistical quantities and spectra demonstrate the ability of the subminiature sensors to provide the measurements in the near wall region of turbulent boundary layers that are more accurate than conventional sized probes

Soviet Illegal Whaling: The Devil and the Details

In 1948, the U.S.S.R. began a global campaign of illegal whaling that lasted for three decades and, together with the poorly managed “legal” whaling of other nations, seriously depleted whale populations. Although the general story of this whaling has been told and the catch record largely corrected for the Southern Hemisphere, major gaps remain in the North Pacific. Furthermore, little attention has been paid to the details of this system or its economic context. Using interviews with former Soviet whalers and biologists as well as previously unavailable reports and other material in Russian, our objective is to describe how the Soviet whaling industry was structured and how it worked, from the largest scale of state industrial planning down to the daily details of the ways in which whales were caught and processed, and how data sent to the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics were falsified. Soviet whaling began with the factory ship Aleut in 1933, but by 1963 the industry had a truly global reach, with seven factory fleets (some very large). Catches were driven by a state planning system that set annual production targets. The system gave bonuses and honors only when these were met or exceeded, and it frequently increased the following year’s targets to match the previous year’s production; scientific estimates of the sustainability of the resource were largely ignored. Inevitably, this system led to whale populations being rapidly reduced. Furthermore, productivity was measured in gross output (weights of whales caught), regardless of whether carcasses were sound or rotten, or whether much of the animal was unutilized. Whaling fleets employed numerous people, including women (in one case as the captain of a catcher boat). Because of relatively high salaries and the potential for bonuses, positions in the whaling industry were much sought-after. Catching and processing of whales was highly mechanized and became increasingly efficient as the industry gained more experience. In a single day, the largest factory ships could process up to 200 small sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus; 100 humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae; or 30–35 pygmy blue whales, Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda. However, processing of many animals involved nothing more than stripping the carcass of blubber and then discarding the rest. Until 1952, the main product was whale oil; only later was baleen whale meat regularly utilized. Falsified data on catches were routinely submitted to the Bureau of International Whaling Statistics, but the true catch and biological data were preserved for research and administrative purposes. National inspectors were present at most times, but, with occasional exceptions, they worked primarily to assist fulfillment of plan targets and routinely ignored the illegal nature of many catches. In all, during 40 years of whaling in the Antarctic, the U.S.S.R. reported 185,778 whales taken but at least 338,336 were actually killed. Data for the North Pacific are currently incomplete, but from provisional data we estimate that at least 30,000 whales were killed illegally in this ocean. Overall, we judge that, worldwide, the U.S.S.R. killed approximately 180,000 whales illegally and caused a number of population crashes. Finally, we note that Soviet illegal catches continued after 1972 despite the presence of international observers on factory fleets

Alun Rhun Hughes: a tribute after forty four years of companionship in Anatomy and Anthropology

A tribute to Alun R Hughe

"Australopithecus afarensis" and A. Africanus: Critique and an alternative hypothesis

Main articleDuring the seventies, a succession of East African discoveries has been claimed to represent the "true" ancestral line of modern man, thus relegating A. africanus, and especially its Transvaal subspecies, to a subordinate role in hominid phylogeny. The latest such attempt has been the claim of Johanson and his co-workers that the 3, 7-2,6 My-old hominids of Laetoli in Tanzania and of Hadar in Ethiopia represent a new species, "A. afarensis", which led to H. habilis, whilst A. africanus represents early stages in a specialized side-branch leading to A. robustus and A. boisei. A critique of the diagnostic criteria of "A. afarensis" reveals that on the available evidence, the Laetoli and Hadar fossils cannot be distinguished at specific level from A. africanus transvaalensis. Furthermore, it is by no means clear that the pooling for statistical and comparative purposes of the Hadar and Laetoli fossils is justified. Hominids from the two sites are separated by about 800 000 years and about 1 600 km as well as by morphometric differences. As an alternative hypothesis, it is proposed that the Laetoli and Hadar hominids belong to the same lineage as that represented by the hominids of Makapansgat Members 3 and 4 and of Sterkfontein Member 4. Moreover, it is hypothesized that the Laetoli and Hadar hominids cannot be separated morphologically from A. africanus and that they represent two new subspecies of that species. Since "A. afarensis" is tied to a Laetoli specimen as holotype, only the Laetoli specimens should be designated A. africanus afarensis (though A. africanus tanzaniensis suggested by the author in 1978 would have been a more appropriate nomen) and the Hadar fossils A. africanus aethiopicus. These newest East African discoveries afford strong confirmation of the hypothesis that A. africanus is the common ancestor of the two later hominid lineages, A. robustuslboisei and Homo, leading from H. habilis through H. erectus to H. sapiens.The Council for Scientific and Industrial research, the University of the Witwatersrand Council Research Committee, and the Bernard Price Institution for Palaeontological researc

Some little known chapters in the early history of the Makapansgat fossil hominid site

Main articleThe opening up of the Makapansgat Limeworks deposit as an early hominid site was closely linked with the early years of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research. Much of the history of the events leading up to James Kitching's recovery of the fIrst australopithecine partial calvaria in 1947 is either scattered or remains unrecorded. An attempt is made here to recount the roles ofW.I. Eitzman, R.A. Dart, R. Broom, C. van Riet Lowe, B.D. Malan, J. Kitching and his brothers Ben and Scheepers, R.J. Mason and Dr. Bernard Price in the revelation of the scientifIc signifIcance of those Limeworks and of other important sites in the area, the Cave of Hearths, Rainbow Cave, Historic Cave and Mwulu's Cave. The historical part played by six student expeditions to the area in 1945-1947 is described. Save for palaeontological papers by J.S. Jensen, O.D.v.d.S. Mollett and M.M. Dale, and archaeological ones by P. V. Tobias, the major impact of these ventures has not hitherto been analysed. It is shown that the fIrst expedition was responsible for drawing R.A. Dart back into the fIeld after 20 years of virtual abstinence, for setting afoot a series of further ventures in that area, and for leading to the uncovering ofthe fIrst hominid specimens from the Limeworks from 1947 onwards. New evidence is presented bearing on the relationships between R.A. Dart and R. Broom, which suffered strain after both the Sterkfontein discoveries of cercopithecids in 1936 and those at the Makapansgat Limeworks in 1945. A note is added about the original extensive report on the fIrst student expedition, which independent referees had recommended to the Wits University Principal, H.R. Raikes, should be published. As a result of the unexplained loss of this report, at or en route to the publisher, it remains unpublished to this day.Non

The ownership of the Taung skull and of other fossil hominids and the question of repatriation

Historical ReviewThe ownership of fossils, and for purposes of this paper I refer to that of hominid fossils, was long assumed to be vested in the individuals who made the discoveries. The author reviews here a series of case histories with which he has had direct or indirect personal contact, that illustrate claims for ownership. Some have been explicit, some implicit. They are drawn from South Africa, East Africa, North Africa, England, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, Indonesia and China. This historical essay reviews the replacement of this practice by a policy that fossils are not seen as personal property, ut as part of the heritage of the country of origin. During the colonial era, many specimens were removed from former colonies to the ‘home countries’, where they remained for decades, at least until the subject territories attained their independence from the former imperial powers. The new policy about ownership, in such cases, entails the return (repatriation) of the expatriate fossils to the source country. Examples of success stories and of tardy responses are given. A policy for the future is set forth.Palaeontological Scientific Trus

Spectral shift and Q-change of circular and square-shaped optical microcavity modes due to periodic sidewall surface roughness

Radiation loss and resonant frequency shift due to sidewall surface roughness of circular and square high-contrast microcavities are estimated and compared by using a boundary integral equations method. An effect of various harmonic components of the contour perturbation on the Whispering-Gallery (WG) modes in the circular microdisk and WG-like modes in the square microcavity is demonstrated. In both cases, contour deformations that are matched to the mode field pattern cause the most significant frequency detuning and Q-factor change. Favorably mode-matched deformations have been found, enabling one to manipulate the Q-factors of the microcavity modes.Comment: 5 pages with 6 figure

Q-factor and emission pattern control of the WG modes in notched microdisk resonators

Two-dimensional (2-D) boundary integral equation analysis of a notched circular microdisk resonator is presented. Results obtained provide accurate description of optical modes, free from the staircasing and discretization errors of other numerical techniques. Splitting of the double degenerate Whispering-Gallery (WG) modes and directional light output is demonstrated. The effect of the notch depth and width on the resonance wavelengths, Q-factors, and emission patterns is studied. Further improvement of the directionality is demonstrated in an elliptical notched microdisk. Applications of the notched resonators to the design of microdisk lasers, oscillators, and biosensors are discussed.Comment: 7 pages with 11 figures; to appear in IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum. Electron., Jan/Feb 200