Neutral hydrogen cloud distances and the strength of the interstellar magnetc field

If HI clouds exist in pressure equilibrium in an environment where gas pressure is a function of z-distance and if HI cloud density is a function of z-distance, it can be shown that a quantity called the Virial Measure is a function of z-distance. The Virial Measure is that distance at which a cloud would be in gravitational equilibrium if its internal kinetic temperature is indicated by profile linewidth. The Virial Measure is derived from observed cloud parameters and has been calibrated for clouds of known distance so that it can be used to determine the distance to other HI clouds. The magnitude of various terms in the virial equation can thus be derived for several hundred HI clouds. It is demonstrated that the strength of the interstellar magnetic field is a function of z-distance

Input output accounting systems in the European community - an appraisal of their usefulness in raising awareness of environmental problems

Input Output Accountingsystems (IOAs) can be used to identify farming practices which are not ‘environmentally neutral’ and thus unlikely to be sustainable in the long term. In an EU sponsored project, European countries were surveyed and over 50 farm level IOAs identified. The subjects covered by the IOAs included nutrients, pesticides, energy, soil/habitat, conservation, wastes (e.g.packagingandtyres)and other items such as veterinary products. Nearly half the IOAs covered more than one subject and nutrient budgets were the most commonly included(91% of the IOAs studied). Looking at the 30 single subject systems, most (26)were nutrients with only three pesticide and one energy based system. In total 50 systems covered nutrients. Overall, where specified, nutrient budgets covered nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)in 13 cases, N and P in 12 cases, N only in nine and P only in four cases. The most common indicators for nutrient budgets were calculation of a balance followed by nitrate leached. The method by which indicators were evaluated and presented to farmers varied. Farming sectors were not equally represented with systems for the arable, dairy and pig sectors the most common. Farmers received a detailed interpretation of their results in two thirds of the systems, most commonly related to official limits or targets. Most of the systems were developed to reduce adverse environmental impacts and 65%of the systems were considered by the respondents to have had a positive environmental impact by reducing surpluses or improving waste disposal. Use of five of the systems could lead to a marketing advantage via certified produce with a recognised quality label. Where factual evidence as to effectiveness was available, the benefits varied between subject types(nutrients, energyandpesticides) and between sectors. Farmers’ responses to the systems were generally positive and they appear to be a useful way of raising awareness of environmental problems. However, economic issues need to be considered, if the costs to the farmer outweigh the benefits, uptake will not be sustained. The type and nature of the interpretation is also important as the most successful IOAs interms of continued use and interest appeared to be those where there was regular technical input from an adviser. Overall IOAs could offer a useful tool for voluntary improvement in agri-environmental performance on topics that are not already strongly regulated. But more studies are needed to ensure that farmers in reality change their behaviour and to develop the use of reference values

Study on Input/Output Accounting Systems on EU agricultural holdings

Of 241 questionnaires sent out to 20 countries 55 completed forms were returned. No information could be obtained about systems in Portugal or the USA. The subject of nutrients was covered by 91% of systems, pesticides 38%, energy 29% and other subjects including wastes 44%. Nearly half of the systems covered more than one subject, the most common single subject system was nutrients. The arable sector was covered most often by the systems (76%), with dairy (62%) and pig (56%) the most prominent of the livestock sectors. The respondents judged that 65% of systems were at least moderately effective in improving the ratio of inputs to outputs. The highest levels of ratio reduction tended to occur with systems which included the livestock sectors or protected horticultural crops. Over half (56%) of farmers had a good opinion of the system, indifferent or bad opinions were more likely to be due to effect on income than the type of system or who managed it. High uptake was more likely in compensated systems. Farm incomes in the arable and dairy sectors were most likely to be improved by systems, negative effects were most likely in the horticultural sector. Government was the main driving force in 38% of the systems, but government was not necessarily the driving force behind the 15% compulsory systems and only one of these was compensated. Increasing concern about environmental issues was the driving force behind development of each of the systems studied. In most cases a major part of the funding to develop the system or run pilot projects came from government. Benefits in terms of increased awareness of problem areas were identified by several systems originators. Anecdotal evidence suggests that farmers are encouraged to make actual changes to their management on the basis of the systems, if they receive detailed help from an adviser associated with the system, or if the system results in a marketing advantage. It seems likely that input output accounting systems could be used to increase awareness and provide evidence of the impact of management changes, they may need to be linked to supporting systems of technical advice. More than 40 IOA systems representing very different approaches have been developed and applied on farms in European countries with the aim of improving environmental performance. Major differences regard especially two characteristics: The no topics covered (single or multiple) and the way indicators are presented. In many systems the indicators used are presented as calculations of input related to output and are derived from accounts based data. Other systems present indicators that are transformed to a standard scale and often these indicators are based on a combination of practise and account data compared with norms for Good Agricultural Practices. Moreover, the systems differ in their origin and driving force: Only a few systems have been developed for mandatory use or for labelling and formal auditioning. Most systems have been developed for the use by advisory services on a voluntary basis. A number of very different systems seem to have been successful. Effectiveness is defined here as the combination of a system with high (potential) impact on the participating farmers in combination with high uptake in terms of the no of farmers willing to use the system. Generally documentation of effects and uptake is poor and more investigations into this are needed. It seems that many systems have not passed the pilot phase, even though some of them did get a positive evaluation by the farmers. In several examples the effort of researchers to develop a scientifically valid concept was not matched by efforts to secure the uptake by advisors or other institutions afterwards. The right institutional setting and political context seems to be more important than the character of the indicators used for the question of farmer uptake. But that does not mean that the choice of indicators is not important from another point of view. In none of the reviewed systems were the use of confidence intervals or variation coefficients an established part of the procedure. Only few reports exist that analyse the variation between farms or between years on specific farms in order to decide to which degree differences are due to systematically different management practices

The Distance to High-Velocity Cloud Complex M

21-cm HI4PI survey data are used to study the anomalous-velocity hydrogen gas associated with high-velocity cloud Complex M. These high-sensitivity, high-resolution, high-dynamic-range data show that many of the individual features, including MI, MIIa, and MIIb, are components of a long, arched filament that extends from about (l, b) = (105{\deg}, 53{\deg}) to (l, b) = (196{\deg}, 55{\deg}). Maps at different velocities, results from Gaussian analysis, and observations of associated high-energy emission make a compelling case that the MI cloud and the arched filament are physically interacting. If this is the case, we can use the distance to MI, 150 pc as reported by Schmelz & Verschuur (2022), to set the distance to Complex M. The estimated mass of Complex M is then about 120 solar masses and the energy implied using the observed line-of-sight velocity, -85 km/s, is 8.4 x 10^48 ergs. Integrating over 4{\pi} steradians, the total energy for a spherically symmetrical explosion is estimated to be 1.9 x 10^50 ergs, well within the energy budget of a typical supernova

Item Generation for a Music-related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Adult Cochlear Implant Users

Introduction: Existing music questionnaires designed for adult cochlear implant (CI) users are limited in their ability to measure real-world benefits of auditory music training and new technologies. Aims: To investigate aspects of CI users’ relationship with music that are relevant to quality of life (QoL) domains, with a view to generating items for a new questionnaire. Methods: Thirty adult CI users participated in 1 of 6 focus groups about music in everyday life. The group discussion data were analyzed based on the theory of template analysis. The QoL domains of the Nijmegen Cochlear Implant Questionnaire were used as broad a priori categories to help with organizing associated themes. Participants also evaluated items of existing questionnaires. Results: The themes identified in the discussion were organized into three main domains (music listening ability, attitude towards music, musical activity), which constitute the music-related quality of life (MuRQoL) of CI users. Fifty-three items were developed for a prototype questionnaire using a combination of these themes and items from existing questionnaires highly rated by participants. Conclusion: The study highlights musical abilities, attitudes and activities of adult CI users poorly addressed or not addressed at all by previous questionnaires. By covering novel aspects of music experience, the MuRQoL questionnaire has the potential to be a more suitable measure of music-specific CI outcomes than previous questionnaires, which may open up new avenues for the assessment and provision of music rehabilitation in clinical settings. The MuRQoL questionnaire was optimized and validated in another study before becoming available for use

The Role of Cooperative in The Milk Value Chain in West Bandung Regency, West Java Province

The objective of the study was to evaluate the capacity of Northern Bandung Dairy Farmer Cooperative (KPSBU) to support farmers in producing good quality milk within the milk value chain in West Bandung Regency, West Java. The study used qualitative research strategies including desk study, case study, and focus group discussions. The study compared the involvement of three milk collecting actors that were classified into large cooperative (KPSBU), small cooperative (KUD Puspa Mekar), and private company (Bina Kitri Bersama). A total of 18 dairy farmers, 3 milk collecting actors, 2 milk processors, and one livestock officer were interviewed. Three focus group discussions were conducted. The large cooperative performed better in services, milk collection, and milk quality assessment compared to other milk collecting actors. Members’ commitment, inconsistent milk quality, and shortage of good quality fodder were the hindering factors that influenced the collection of good quality milk in the large cooperative. In conclusion, the large cooperative had better performance in service provision, it also had better infrastructures in milk collection and milk quality assessment compared to other milk collecting actors. Increasing the milk quality standard by milk processing companies affected the milk price since 2000.

A Cold Nearby Cloud Inside the Local Bubble

The high-latitude Galactic H I cloud toward the extragalactic radio source 3C 225 is characterized by very narrow 21 cm emission and absorption indicative of a very low H I spin temperature of about 20 K. Through high-resolution optical spectroscopy, we report the detection of strong, very narrow Na I absorption corresponding to this cloud toward a number of nearby stars. Assuming that the turbulent H I and Na I motions are similar, we derive a cloud temperature of 20 (+6, -8) K (in complete agreement with the 21 cm results) and a line-of-sight turbulent velocity of 0.37+/-0.08 km/s from a comparison of the H I and Na I absorption linewidths. We also place a firm upper limit of 45 pc on the distance of the cloud, which situates it well inside the Local Bubble in this direction and makes it the nearest-known cold diffuse cloud discovered to date.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Primary Beam Shape Calibration from Mosaicked, Interferometric Observations

Image quality in mosaicked observations from interferometric radio telescopes is strongly dependent on the accuracy with which the antenna primary beam is calibrated. The next generation of radio telescope arrays such as the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) have key science goals that involve making large mosaicked observations filled with bright point sources. We present a new method for calibrating the shape of the telescope's mean primary beam that uses the multiple redundant observations of these bright sources in the mosaic. The method has an analytical solution for simple Gaussian beam shapes but can also be applied to more complex beam shapes through $\chi^2$ minimization. One major benefit of this simple, conceptually clean method is that it makes use of the science data for calibration purposes, thus saving telescope time and improving accuracy through simultaneous calibration and observation. We apply the method both to 1.43 GHz data taken during the ATA Twenty Centimeter Survey (ATATS) and to 3.14 GHz data taken during the ATA's Pi Gigahertz Sky Survey (PiGSS). We find that the beam's calculated full width at half maximum (FWHM) values are consistent with the theoretical values, the values measured by several independent methods, and the values from the simulation we use to demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on data from future telescopes such as the expanded ATA and the SKA. These results are preliminary, and can be expanded upon by fitting more complex beam shapes. We also investigate, by way of a simulation, the dependence of the accuracy of the telescope's FWHM on antenna number. We find that the uncertainty returned by our fitting method is inversely proportional to the number of antennas in the array.Comment: Accepted by PASP. 8 pages, 8 figure

Supernovae Origin for the Low-Latitude-Intermediate-Velocity Arch and the North-Celestial-Pole Loop

Supernova explosions attributed to the unseen companion in several binary systems identified by the Third Gaia Data Release (Gaia DR3) may be responsible for a number of well-known and well-studied features in the radio sky, including the Low-Latitude-Intermediate-Velocity Arch and the North-Celestial-Pole Loop. Slices from the Longitude-Latitude-Velocity data cube of the $\lambda$-21-cm galactic neutral hydrogen HI4PI survey (HI4PI Collaboration et al. 2016) show multiple signatures of an expanding shell. The source of this expansion, which includes the Low-Latitude-Intermediate-Velocity Arch on the approaching side, may be the neutron star candidate in the Gaia DR3 1093757200530267520 binary. If we make the simplifying assumptions that the expansion of the cavity is uniform and spherically symmetric, then the explosion took place about 700,000 years ago. The momentum is in reasonable agreement with recent model estimates for a supernova this old. The HI on the receding side of this cavity is interacting with the gas approaching us on the near side of a second cavity. The North-Celestial-Pole Loop appears to be located at the intersection of these two expanding features. The neutron star candidate in the Gaia DR3 1144019690966028928 binary may be (in part) responsible for this cavity. Explosions from other candidates may account for the observed elongation along the line of sight of this second cavity. We can use the primary star in these binaries to anchor the distances to the Low-Latitude-Intermediate-Velocity Arch and North-Celestial-Pole Loop, which are about 167 and about 220 pc, respectively.Comment: Published in The Astrophysical Journa

On the Exchange of Kinetic and Magnetic Energy Between Clouds and the Interstellar Medium

We investigate, through 2D MHD numerical simulations, the interaction of a uniform magnetic field oblique to a moving interstellar cloud. In particular we explore the transformation of cloud kinetic energy into magnetic energy as a result of field line stretching. Some previous simulations have emphasized the possible dynamical importance of a ``magnetic shield'' formed around clouds when the magnetic field is perpendicular to the cloud motion (Jones et al. 1996, Miniati et al. 1998). It was not clear, however, how dependent those findings were to the assumed field configuration and cloud properties. To expand our understanding of this effect, we examine several new cases by varing the magnetic field orientation angle with respect to the cloud motion (\theta), the cloud-background density contrast, and the cloud Mach number. We show that in 2D and with \theta large enough, the magnetic field tension can become dominant in the dynamics of the motion of high density contrast, low Mach number clouds. In such cases a significant fraction of cloud kinetic energy can be transformed into magnetic energy with the magnetic pressure at the cloud nose exceeding the ram pressure of the impinging flow. We derive a characteristic timescale for this process of energy ``conversion''. We find also that unless the cloud motion is highly aligned to the magnetic field, reconnection through tearing mode instabilities in the cloud wake limit the formation of a strong flux rope feature following the cloud. Finally we attempt to interpret some observational properties of the magnetic field in view of our results.Comment: 24 pages in aaspp4 Latex and 7 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa