Emotional response to images of wind turbines: a psychophysiological study of their visual impact on the landscape

YesSocial acceptance for wind turbines is variable, providing a challenge to the implementation of this energy source. Psychological research could contribute to the science of climate change. Here we focus on the emotional responses to the visual impact of wind turbines on the landscape, a factor which dominates attitudes towards this technology. Participants in the laboratory viewed images of turbines and other constructions (churches, pylons and power-plants) against rural scenes, and provided psychophysiological and self-report measures of their emotional reactions. We hypothesised that the emotional response to wind turbines would be more negative and intense than to control objects, and that this difference would be accentuated for turbine opponents. As predicted, the psychophysiological response to turbines was stronger than the response to churches, but did not differ from that of other industrial constructions. In contrast with predictions, turbines were rated as less aversive and more calming compared with other industrial constructions, and equivalent to churches. Supporters and non-supporters did not differ significantly from each other. We discuss how a methodology using photo manipulations and emotional self-assessments can help estimate the emotional reaction to the visual impact on the landscape at the planning stage for new wind turbine applications.This work was partly funded by an ESRC First Grant RES-061-25-0512 to D

Logarithmic extensions of minimal models: characters and modular transformations

We study logarithmic conformal field models that extend the (p,q) Virasoro minimal models. For coprime positive integers $p$ and $q$, the model is defined as the kernel of the two minimal-model screening operators. We identify the field content, construct the W-algebra W(p,q) that is the model symmetry (the maximal local algebra in the kernel), describe its irreducible modules, and find their characters. We then derive the SL(2,Z) representation on the space of torus amplitudes and study its properties. From the action of the screenings, we also identify the quantum group that is Kazhdan--Lusztig-dual to the logarithmic model.Comment: 43pp., AMSLaTeX++. V3: Some explanatory comments added, notational inaccuracies corrected, references adde

Unexpected Sources of Strontium to the Neuse and Cape Fear River Basins, North Carolina: Implications for the Global Strontium Isotope Budget in Seawater

Water, bedrock, and saprolite samples from the Neuse and Cape Fear River basins, North Carolina, were analyzed for 87Sr/86Sr and [Sr] to evaluate the control of exposed bedrock on fluvial Sr isotopic compositions and the influence of geology on Sr delivered to the ocean. The 87Sr/86Sr and [Sr] of the two rivers start low and rise downstream, eventually approximating recent ocean isotopic compositions before entering their estuaries. Groundwater samples from the headwaters have 87Sr/86Sr ratios that are lower than expected from the dominant exposed bedrock. The isotopic compositions of bedrock and saprolite samples vary predictably with rock type and age and show no correlation with degree of weathering. The data indicate that dominant surficial bedrock is not the primary source of Sr to the headwaters of the rivers. Rather, mafic dikes that focus groundwater flow and are more easily weathered than their silicic hosts impact the 87Sr/86Sr of the waters more than their limited exposure might suggest. Furthermore, the Sr isotopic composition of the water delivered to the marine environment is buffered by groundwater from coastal plain sedimentary rocks, leaving no evidence of upstream geology. The data suggest that rock type and structure exert significant control on the Sr isotope geochemistry of groundwater that enters into streams. Considering the global fluvial Sr budget, these results emphasize that, in some settings, (1) rock exposure area can be a poor indication of the geologic influence on Sr isotopic compositions of surface waters, and (2) downstream Sr isotopic compositions may not reflect upstream geology

Extended multiplet structure in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories

We use the process of quantum hamiltonian reduction of SU(2)_k, at rational level k, to study explicitly the correlators of the h_{1,s} fields in the c_{p,q} models. We find from direct calculation of the correlators that we have the possibility of extra, chiral and non-chiral, multiplet structure in the h_{1,s} operators beyond the `minimal' sector. At the level of the vacuum null vector h_{1,2p-1}=(p-1)(q-1) we find that there can be two extra non-chiral fermionic fields. The extra indicial structure present here permeates throughout the entire theory. In particular we find we have a chiral triplet of fields at h_{1,4p-1}=(2p-1)(2q-1). We conjecture that this triplet algebra may produce a rational extended c_{p,q} model. We also find a doublet of fields at h_{1,3p-1}=(\f{3p}{2}-1)(\f{3q}{2}-1). These are chiral fermionic operators if p and q are not both odd and otherwise parafermionic.Comment: 24 pages LATEX. Minor corrections and extra reference

Marine mammal distribution and abundance in an offshore sub-region of the northeastern Chukchi Sea during the open-water season

AbstractThis paper describes the distribution and abundance of marine mammals during the open-water season within and near three offshore oil and gas prospects in the northeastern Chukchi Sea, known as the Klondike, Burger, and Statoil study areas. We collected vessel-based marine mammal data during July–October 2008–2010 along line transects oriented in a north–south direction. Over this period, we surveyed ~18,600km of on-transect effort in the three study areas. Sightings of cetaceans were rare. The bowhead whale was the primary cetacean species sighted and was mostly observed in October (33 of 35 animals). Pinnipeds were the most abundant marine mammals in the study area, with 980 seals and 367 walruses recorded on transect. Most seals were observed as solitary animals, while walruses were often observed in aggregations. We calculated seal and walrus densities using species-specific detection functions corrected for probability of detection. There was high interannual variability in the abundance of seals and walruses that for some species may be related to interannual differences in ice conditions. Notwithstanding this variation, the distribution data suggest that benthic-feeding bearded seals and walruses generally were more common in the Burger and Statoil study areas, which can be characterized as more benthic-dominated ecosystems. The distribution of ringed/spotted seals did not show any statistically significant differences among the study areas, although a slight preference for the Klondike and Statoil study areas was suggested. Both of these study areas are affected by Bering Sea Water from the Central Channel and have a stronger pelagic component than the Burger study area. Continued sampling of these areas will help establish whether the observed trends in marine mammal distribution and abundance are persistent

Soil-landscape and climatic relationships in the middle Miocene of the Madrid Basin

The Miocene alluvial-lacustrine sequences of the Madrid Basin, Spain, formed in highly varied landscapes. The presence of various types of palaeosols allows assessment of the effects of local and external factors onsedimentation, pedogenesis and geomorphological development. In the northern, more arid, tectonicallyactive arca, soils were weakly developed in aggrading alluvial fans, dominated by mass flows. reflecting high sedimentation rates. In more distal parts of the fans and in playa lakes calcretes and dolocretes developed: the former were associated with Mg-poor fan sediments whitc: the latter formed on Mg-rich lake clays exposed during minar lake lowstands. The nonh-east part of the basin had a less arid climate. Alluvial fans in this area were dominated by stream Aood deposits, sourced by carbonate terrains. Floodplain and freshwater lakc deposits formed in distal areas. The high local supply of calcium carbonate may have contributed to the preferential developmenl on calcretes on the fans. Both the fan and floodplain palaeosols exhibit pedofacies relationships and more mature soils developed in settings more distant from the sediment sources. Palaeosols also developed on pond and lake margin carbonates, and led to the formation of palustrine limestones. The spatial distributions and stratigraphies of palaeosols in the Madrid Basin alluvial fans suggest that soil formation was controlled by local factors. These palaeosols differ from those seen in Quatemary fans. Which are characterized by climatically induced periods of stability and instability

On the Completeness of the Set of Classical W-Algebras Obtained from DS Reductions

We clarify the notion of the DS --- generalized Drinfeld-Sokolov --- reduction approach to classical ${\cal W}$-algebras. We first strengthen an earlier theorem which showed that an $sl(2)$ embedding ${\cal S}\subset {\cal G}$ can be associated to every DS reduction. We then use the fact that a \W-algebra must have a quasi-primary basis to derive severe restrictions on the possible reductions corresponding to a given $sl(2)$ embedding. In the known DS reductions found to date, for which the \W-algebras are denoted by ${\cal W}_{\cal S}^{\cal G}$-algebras and are called canonical, the quasi-primary basis corresponds to the highest weights of the $sl(2)$. Here we find some examples of noncanonical DS reductions leading to \W-algebras which are direct products of ${\cal W}_{\cal S}^{\cal G}$-algebras and `free field' algebras with conformal weights $\Delta \in \{0, {1\over 2}, 1\}$. We also show that if the conformal weights of the generators of a ${\cal W}$-algebra obtained from DS reduction are nonnegative $\Delta \geq 0$ (which isComment: 48 pages, plain TeX, BONN-HE-93-14, DIAS-STP-93-0

Uptake of gases in bundles of carbon nanotubes

Model calculations are presented which predict whether or not an arbitrary gas experiences significant absorption within carbon nanotubes and/or bundles of nanotubes. The potentials used in these calculations assume a conventional form, based on a sum of two-body interactions with individual carbon atoms; the latter employ energy and distance parameters which are derived from empirical combining rules. The results confirm intuitive expectation that small atoms and molecules are absorbed within both the interstitial channels and the tubes, while large atoms and molecules are absorbed almost exclusively within the tubes.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PRB Newer version (8MAR2K). There was an error in the old one (23JAN2K). Please download thi

Comparison of three wet-alkaline methods of digestion of biogenic silica in water

Methods for determination of low levels of biogenic silica (0.2–0.4 mg SiO 2 ) in aqueous samples after digestion with three wetalkaline extraction procedures compared favourably in both precision of replicates and recovery of silica utilized by diatoms in budgeted cultures. Leaching samples with 0.2 M NaOH for 10–15 min at 100°C was the least time consuming procedure. Also interference from silicate minerals was lower for this method than leaching with either 0.5 or 5% Na 2 CO 3 for 2 h at 85°C. The use of filters to concentrate samples enables detection of low levels of biogenic silica with colorimetric procedures. Polycarbonate filters are recommended in preference to cellulose acetate or polyvinyl chloride filters for sample collection. Time-course experiments are recommended for establishing digestion times and determining the presence of mineral silicate interference. Wet-alkaline digestion methods are recommended for routine analysis of biogenic silica in suspended matter in preference to infra-red analysis, alkaline fusion and hydrofluoric acid/nitric acid methods.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74725/1/j.1365-2427.1983.tb00658.x.pd