5,327 research outputs found
A perceived gap between invasive species research and stakeholder priorities
Information from research has an important role to play in shaping policy and management responses to biological invasions but concern has been raised that research focuses more on furthering knowledge than on delivering practical solutions. We collated 449 priority areas for science and management from 160 stakeholders including practitioners, researchers and policy makers or advisors working with invasive species, and then compared them to the topics of 789 papers published in eight journals over the same time period (2009–2010). Whilst research papers addressed most of the priority areas identified by stakeholders, there was a difference in geographic and biological scales between the two, with individual studies addressing multiple priority areas but focusing on specific species and locations. We hypothesise that this difference in focal scales, combined with a lack of literature relating directly to management, contributes to the perception that invasive species research is not sufficiently geared towards delivering practical solutions. By emphasising the practical applications of applied research, and ensuring that pure research is translated or synthesised so that the implications are better understood, both the management of invasive species and the theoretical science of invasion biology can be enhanced
Total focussing method for volumetric imaging in immersion non destructive evaluation
This paper describes the use of a 550 (25x22) element 2MHz 2D piezoelectric composite array in immersion mode to image an aluminum test block containing a collection of artificial defects. The defects included a 1mm diameter side-drilled hole, a collection of 1mm slot defects with varying degrees of skew to the normal and a flat bottomed hole. The data collection was carried out using the full matrix capture; a scanning procedure was developed to allow the operation of the large element count array through a conventional 64-channel phased array controller. A 3D TFM algorithm capable of imaging in a dual media environment was implemented in MATLAB for the offline processing the raw scan data. This algorithm facilitates the creation of 3D images of defects while accounting for refraction effects at material boundaries. In each of the test samples interrogated the defects, and their spatial position, are readily identified using TFM. Defect directional information has been characterized using VTFM for defect exhibiting angles up to and including 45o of skew
Improving access to longitudinal patient health information within an emergency department
pre-printWe designed and implemented an electronic patient tracking system with improved user authentication and patient selection. We then measured access to clinical information from previous clinical encounters before and after implementation of the system. Clinicians accessed longitudinal information for 16% of patient encounters before, and 40% of patient encounters after the intervention, indicating such a system can improve clinician access to information. We also attempted to evaluate the impact of providing this access on inpatient admissions from the emergency department, by comparing the odds of inpatient admission from an emergency department before and after the improved access was made available. Patients were 24% less likely to be admitted after the implementation of improved access. However, there were many potential confounders, based on the inherent pre-post design of the evaluation. Our experience has strong implications for current health information exchange initiatives
Prototype 9.7 m Schwarzschild-Couder telescope for the Cherenkov Telescope Array: status of the optical system
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is an international project for a
next-generation ground-based gamma ray observatory, aiming to improve on the
sensitivity of current-generation experiments by an order of magnitude and
provide energy coverage from 30 GeV to more than 300 TeV. The 9.7m
Schwarzschild-Couder (SC) candidate medium-size telescope for CTA exploits a
novel aplanatic two-mirror optical design that provides a large field of view
of 8 degrees and substantially improves the off-axis performance giving better
angular resolution across all of the field of view with respect to
single-mirror telescopes. The realization of the SC optical design implies the
challenging production of large aspherical mirrors accompanied by a
submillimeter-precision custom alignment system. In this contribution we report
on the status of the implementation of the optical system on a prototype 9.7 m
SC telescope located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern
Arizona.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC
2017), Busan, Korea. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1709.0348
Crown and root rots of table grapes caused by Phytophthora spp. in Chile
Phytophthora crown and root rot of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) occurs frequently in Chile, where grapes are cultivated on their own roots. P. cinnamomi, P. cryptogea, and P. drechsleri were isolated from diseased root or crown tissue of the table grape cvs Flame Seedless, Italia, Red Globe, and Thompson Seedless with P. cryptogea being the most frequently isolated species. These pathogens were identified on the basis of standard morphological and cultural features and were compared by SDS-PAGE profiles of mycelial proteins. All isolates were pathogenic on 1-year-old cane segments and 1-year-old rooted grapevines of cvs Thompson Seedless and Red Globe. The latter cultivar was more susceptible than Thompson Seedless. P. cinnamomi and P. cryptogea have been associated with root rot of grapevines elsewhere, but this is the first report of P. drechsleri as a pathogen of grapevines and the first report of Phytophthora spp. affecting table grapes in Chile
Bures distance between two displaced thermal states
The Bures distance between two displaced thermal states and the corresponding
geometric quantities (statistical metric, volume element, scalar curvature) are
computed. Under nonunitary (dissipative) dynamics, the statistical distance
shows the same general features previously reported in the literature by
Braunstein and Milburn for two--state systems. The scalar curvature turns out
to have new interesting properties when compared to the curvature associated
with squeezed thermal states.Comment: 3 pages, RevTeX, no figure
The nucleon's strange electromagnetic and scalar matrix elements
Quenched lattice QCD simulations and quenched chiral perturbation theory are
used together for this study of strangeness in the nucleon. Dependences of the
matrix elements on strange quark mass, valence quark mass and momentum transfer
are discussed in both the lattice and chiral frameworks. The combined results
of this study are in good agreement with existing experimental data and
predictions are made for upcoming experiments. Possible future refinements of
the theoretical method are suggested.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure
Correlation length scalings in fusion edge plasma turbulence computations
The effect of changes in plasma parameters, that are characteristic near or
at an L-H transition in fusion edge plasmas, on fluctuation correlation lengths
are analysed by means of drift-Alfven turbulence computations. Scalings by
density gradient length, collisionality, plasma beta, and by an imposed shear
flow are considered. It is found that strongly sheared flows lead to the
appearence of long-range correlations in electrostatic potential fluctuations
parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field.Comment: Submitted to "Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
Casimir micro-sphere diclusters and three-body effects in fluids
Our previous article [Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 060401 (2010)] predicted that
Casimir forces induced by the material-dispersion properties of certain
dielectrics can give rise to stable configurations of objects. This phenomenon
was illustrated via a dicluster configuration of non-touching objects
consisting of two spheres immersed in a fluid and suspended against gravity
above a plate. Here, we examine these predictions from the perspective of a
practical experiment and consider the influence of non-additive, three-body,
and nonzero-temperature effects on the stability of the two spheres. We
conclude that the presence of Brownian motion reduces the set of experimentally
realizable silicon/teflon spherical diclusters to those consisting of layered
micro-spheres, such as the hollow- core (spherical shells) considered here.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Assessing the influence of lake and watershed attributes on snowmelt bypass at thermokarst lakes
Snow represents the largest potential source of water for thermokarst lakes, but the runoff generated by snowmelt (freshet) can flow beneath lake ice and via the outlet without mixing with and replacing pre-snowmelt lake water. Although this phenomenon, called “snowmelt bypass”, is common in ice-covered lakes, it is unknown which lake and watershed properties cause variation in snowmelt bypass among lakes. Understanding the variability of snowmelt bypass is important because the amount of freshet that is mixed into a lake affects the hydrological and biogeochemical properties of the lake. To explore lake and watershed attributes that influence snowmelt bypass, we sampled 17 open-drainage thermokarst lakes for isotope analysis before and after snowmelt. Isotope data were used to estimate the amount of lake water replaced by freshet and to observe how the water sources of lakes changed in response to the freshet. Among the lakes, a median of 25.2 % of lake water was replaced by freshet, with values ranging widely from 5.2 % to 52.8 %. For every metre that lake depth increased, the portion of lake water replaced by freshet decreased by an average of 13 %, regardless of the size of the lake's watershed. The thickness of the freshet layer was not proportional to maximum lake depth, so that a relatively larger portion of pre-snowmelt lake water remained isolated in deeper lakes. We expect that a similar relationship between increasing lake depth and greater snowmelt bypass could be present at all ice-covered open-drainage lakes that are partially mixed during the freshet. The water source of freshet that was mixed into lakes was not exclusively snowmelt but a combination of snowmelt mixed with rain-sourced water that was released as the soil thawed after snowmelt. As climate warming increases rainfall and shrubification causes earlier snowmelt timing relative to lake ice melt, snowmelt bypass may become more prevalent, with the water remaining in thermokarst lakes post-freshet becoming increasingly rainfall sourced. However, if climate change causes lake levels to fall below the outlet level (i.e., lakes become closed-drainage), more freshet may be retained by thermokarst lakes as snowmelt bypass will not be able to occur until lakes reach their outlet level.</p
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