818 research outputs found
Temporal trends in the colonisation of the Pacific : Palaeodemographic insights
Open Access via the Springer Compact Agreement. This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, Australian Research Council; Grant number: FT 120100299; and Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), Durham University and The COFUND âDurham International Fellowships for Research and Enterpriseâ scheme. We also thank Les OâNeill, Archaeology Programme, University of Otago, for creating Figure 1.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
THE 2008-2009 EXCAVATIONS AT THE SAC LOCALITY, REBER-RAKIVAL LAPITA SITE, WATOM ISLAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
The Reber-Rakival site on Watom Island is of particular significance, as it is the first place where what is now known as Lapita pottery was found, by a German missionary in 1909. It is also significant as a Lapita-era burial site, although there has been much debate about the exact relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation. In 2008 and 2009 an Otago University/Otago Museum/Papua New Guinea expedition carried out new excavations at the SAC site in Rakival Village, in order to increase the sample size of both burials and ceramics, and to address some of the ogoing debates. The expedition found more burials, Lapita ceramics and associated artefactual material, and while it confirmed the relationship between the burials and the Lapita occupation, it also found that previous excavations had not reached the base of the site, and evidence of human occuption was found up to 0.8m deeper than previously known. Based on this work, a refined stratigraphic sequence is presented, with 7 layers replacing the old 4 zone model that has been used to date. This paper presents the description and interpretation of the SAC locatily at Watom, and provides a basis for other more specialist papers that are in preparation
SetâBased Design and the Ship to Shore Connector
The Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), a replacement for the Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC), is the first governmentâled design of a ship in over 15 years. This paper will discuss the changes that a governmentâled design presents to the design approach, including schedule, organization structure, and design methodology. While presenting challenges, a governmentâled design also afforded the opportunity to implement a new technique for assessing various systems and ship alternatives, setâbased design (SBD). The necessity for implementing SBD was the desire to design SSC from a blank sheet of paper and the need for a replacement craft in a short time frame. That is, the LCACs need to be replaced and consequently the preliminary design phase of the SSC program will only be 12 months. This paper will describe SBD and how it was applied to the SSC, the challenges that the program faced, and an assessment of the new methodology, along with recommendations that future design programs should consider when adopting this approach.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90054/1/j.1559-3584.2011.00332.x.pd
The secondary star and distance of the polar V1309 Ori
The first phase-resolved JHK light curves of the eclipsing polar (AM Herculis
binary) V1309 Ori are presented and interpreted. We separate the contributions
from the secondary star and from other sources with the aim of determining a
photometric distance. Simple model calculations show that the accretion stream
and the cyclotron source on the accreting white dwarf are minor contributors to
the infrared light, allowing an accurate determination of spectral type and
absolute flux of the secondary star. The unilluminated backside of the
secondary star as seen in eclipse has spectral type dM0 to dM0+. Its dereddened
magnitude is K = 13.58 at orbital phase phi = 0 (eclipse). Using the calibrated
surface brightness of M-stars and the published mass of the secondary, M2 =
0.46 Msun, we obtain a distance d = 600 +/- 25 pc which scales as M2^(1/2). The
radius of the Roche-lobe filling secondary exceeds the main-sequence radius of
an M0 star by 21 +11/-6 %. The debated origin of the infrared light of V1309
Ori has been settled in favor of the secondary star as the main contributor and
an accurate distance has been derived that will place estimates of the
luminosity and synchronization time scale on a more secure basis.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Ionospheric Specifications for SAR Interferometry (ISSI)
The ISSI software package is designed to image the ionosphere from space by calibrating and processing polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data collected from low Earth orbit satellites. Signals transmitted and received by a PolSAR are subject to the Faraday rotation effect as they traverse the magnetized ionosphere. The ISSI algorithms combine the horizontally and vertically polarized (with respect to the radar system) SAR signals to estimate Faraday rotation and ionospheric total electron content (TEC) with spatial resolutions of sub-kilometers to kilometers, and to derive radar system calibration parameters. The ISSI software package has been designed and developed to integrate the algorithms, process PolSAR data, and image as well as visualize the ionospheric measurements. A number of tests have been conducted using ISSI with PolSAR data collected from various latitude regions using the phase array-type L-band synthetic aperture radar (PALSAR) onboard Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Advanced Land Observing Satellite mission, and also with Global Positioning System data. These tests have demonstrated and validated SAR-derived ionospheric images and data correction algorithms
XMM-Newton observations of the X-ray soft polar QS Telescopii
Context. On the basis of XMM-Newton observations, we investigate the energy
balance of selected magnetic cataclysmic variables, which have shown an extreme
soft-to-hard X-ray flux ratio in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey.
Aims. We intend to establish the X-ray properties of the system components,
their flux contributions, and the accretion geometry of the X-ray soft polar QS
Tel. In the context of high-resolution X-ray analyses of magnetic cataclysmic
variables, this study will contribute to better understanding the accretion
processes on magnetic white dwarfs.
Methods. During an intermediate high state of accretion of QS Tel, we have
obtained 20 ks of XMM-Newton data, corresponding to more than two orbital
periods, accompanied by simultaneous optical photometry and phase-resolved
spectroscopy. We analyze the multi-wavelength spectra and light curves and
compare them to former high- and low-state observations.
Results. Soft emission at energies below 2 keV dominates the X-ray light
curves. The complex double-peaked maxima are disrupted by a sharp dip in the
very soft energy range (0.1-0.5 keV), where the count rate abruptly drops to
zero. The EPIC spectra are described by a minimally absorbed black body at 20
eV and two partially absorbed MEKAL plasma models with temperatures around 0.2
and 3 keV. The black-body-like component arises from one mainly active, soft
X-ray bright accretion region nearly facing the mass donor. Parts of the plasma
emission might be attributed to the second, virtually inactive pole. High
soft-to-hard X-ray flux ratios and hardness ratios demonstrate that the
high-energy emission of QS Tel is substantially dominated by its X-ray soft
component.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 7 pages, 4
figures, 2 table
XMM-Newton observation of the long-period polar V1309 Ori: The case for pure blobby accretion
Using XMM-Newton we have obtained the first X-ray observation covering a
complete orbit of the longest period polar, V1309 Ori. The X-ray light curve is
dominated by a short, bright phase interval with EPIC pn count rates reaching
up to 15 cts/sec per 30 sec resolution bin. The bright phase emission is well
described by a single blackbody component with kT_bb = (45 +- 3) eV. The
absence of a bremsstrahlung component at photon energies above 1 keV yields a
flux ratio F_bb/F_br > 6700. This represents the most extreme case of a soft
X-ray excess yet observed in an AM Herculis star. The bright, soft X-ray
emission is subdivided into a series of individual flare events supporting the
hypothesis that the soft X-ray excess in V1309 is caused by accretion of dense
blobs. In addition to the bright phase emission, a faint, hard X-ray component
is visible throughout the binary orbit with an almost constant count rate of
0.01 cts/sec. Spectral modelling indicates that this emission originates from a
complex multi-temperature plasma. At least three components of an optically
thin plasma with temperatures kT= 0.065, 0.7, and 2.9 keV are required to fit
the observed flux distribution. The faint phase emission is occulted during the
optical eclipse. Eclipse ingress lasts about 15--20 min and is substantially
prolonged beyond nominal ingress of the white dwarf. This and the comparatively
low plasma temperature provide strong evidence that the faint-phase emission is
not thermal bremsstrahlung from a post-shock accretion column above the white
dwarf. A large fraction of the softer faint-phase emission could be explained
by scattering of photons from the blackbody component in the infalling material
above the accretion region. The remaining hard X-ray flux could be produced in
the coupling region, so far unseen in other polars.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, A&A publishe
Simultaneous confidence sets for several effective doses.
Construction of simultaneous confidence sets for several effective doses currently relies on inverting the Scheffé type simultaneous confidence band, which is known to be conservative. We develop novel methodology to make the simultaneous coverage closer to its nominal level, for both two-sided and one-sided simultaneous confidence sets. Our approach is shown to be considerably less conservative than the current method, and is illustrated with an example on modeling the effect of smoking status and serum triglyceride level on the probability of the recurrence of a myocardial infarction
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Life cycles of agriculturally relevant ENSO teleconnections in North and South America
The characteristic evolution of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on timescales of months to years means that risks to agriculture have structure between seasons and years. The potential for consecutive ENSO-induced yield anomalies is of particular interest in major food producing areas, where modest changes in yield have significant effects on global markets. In this study, we analyse how multi-year El Niño and La Niña life cycles relate to climate sensitive portions of major crop-growing seasons in North and South America.
We analyse the dynamics underlying these life cycles to illustrate which aspects of the system are most important for agriculture. In North America, the same-season teleconnections affecting soybean and maize have been well studied, but we demonstrate the importance of lagged soil moisture teleconnections for wheat in the southern Great Plains. In South America, peak ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) teleconnections are concurrent with, and therefore critical for, wheat and maize growing seasons while soil moisture memory in Argentina plays an important role during the soybean growing season.
Finally, we show that ENSO teleconnection life cycles are consistent with historical yield anomalies. Both El Niño and La Niña life cycles tend to force consecutive seasons of either above or below expected yields. While the magnitude of the yield anomalies forced by ENSO is often modest, they occur in major crop-producing regions
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