Opportunities for Public Aquariums to Increase the Sustainability of the Aquatic Animal Trade

The global aquatic pet trade encompasses a wide diversity of freshwater and marine organisms. While relying on a continual supply of healthy, vibrant aquatic animals, few sustainability initiatives exist within this sector. Public aquariums overlap this industry by acquiring many of the same species through the same sources. End users are also similar, as many aquarium visitors are home aquarists. Here we posit that this overlap with the pet trade gives aquariums significant opportunity to increase the sustainability of the trade in aquarium fishes and invertebrates. Improving the sustainability ethos and practices of the aquatic pet trade can carry a conservation benefit in terms of less waste, and protection of intact functioning ecosystems, at the same time as maintaining its economic and educational benefits and impacts. The relationship would also move forward the goal of public aquariums to advance aquatic conservation in a broad sense. For example, many public aquariums in North America have been instrumental in working with the seafood industry to enact positive change toward increased sustainability. The actions include being good consumers themselves, providing technical knowledge, and providing educational and outreach opportunities. These same opportunities exist for public aquariums to partner with the ornamental fish trade, which will serve to improve business, create new, more ethical and more dependable sources of aquatic animals for public aquariums, and perhaps most important, possibly transform the home aquarium industry from a threat, into a positive force for aquatic conservation. Zoo Biol. 32:1-12, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Effect of component variations on the gate fidelity in linear optical networks

We investigate the effect of variations in beam-splitter transmissions and path-length differences in the nonlinear sign gate that is used for linear optical quantum computing. We identify two implementations of the gate and show that the sensitivity to variations in their components differs significantly between them. Therefore, circuits that require a precision implementation will generally benefit from additional circuit analysis of component variations to identify the most practical implementation. We suggest possible routes to efficient circuit analysis in terms of quantum parameter estimation

Integral habitat transport system

In the 1993 Fall quarter, the ME 4182 design class was sponsored to study various scenarios that needed to be studied for Martian travel. The class was sponsored by NASA and there were several different design projects. The design that group three chose was an integral transport system for a Martian habitat. An integral transport system means the design had to be one that was attached to the habitat. There were several criteria that the design had to meet. Group three performed an in depth study of the Martian environment and looked at several different design ideas. The concept group three developed involved the use of kinematic linkages and the use of Martian gravity to move the habitat. The various design concepts, the criteria matrices and all other aspects that helped group three develop their design can be found in their 1993 ME 4182 design report. Now it is Winter quarter 1994 and group three is faced with another problem. The problem is building a working prototype of their Fall design. The limitations this quarter were the parts. The group had to make the prototype work with existing manufactured parts or make the parts themselves in a machine shop. The prototype was scaled down roughly about twelve times smaller than the original design. The following report describes the actions taken by group three to build a working model

Processual antecedents of perceived channel conflict in franchising

In this study, we develop and examine the network of relationships explaining perceived conflict in franchise relationships from a franchisee perspective. Our research contributes to the current knowledge of asymmetric exchange relationships through demonstrating the importance of a franchisee's expectations confirmation, relational trust and relationship satisfaction in franchisee assessments of network conflict. The goal of this paper is to empirically examine (1) the relationship between franchisee perceptions of information quality (information dissemination and information search) and the confirmation of franchisee performance expectations, (2) franchisee characterizations of their relationships with their franchisors in terms of relational sentiments such as trust and relational satisfaction, communication and conflict management, (3) the relationship between franchisee satisfaction and perceived conflict, and (4) the moderating effect of franchisee experience on the relationship between franchisee satisfaction and franchisee perceptions of conflict. Empirical results, utilizing a sample of 345 franchisees in Australia, present strong evidence for the support of nine of the ten hypotheses drawn from the conceptual model. Specifically, data reveal that in an effort to cultivate a network of cooperative and satisfied franchisees, franchisors should adopt strategies that promote the timely dissemination of relevant and meaningful pre- and post-entry information, open communication exchange, transparent conflict management systems and personalized support in accommodating individual franchisee needs

The extragalactic sub-mm population: predictions for the SCUBA Half-Degree Extragalactic Survey (SHADES)

We present predictions for the angular correlation function and redshift distribution for SHADES, the SCUBA HAlf-Degree Extragalactic Survey, which will yield a sample of around 300 sub-mm sources in the 850 micron waveband in two separate fields. Complete and unbiased photometric redshift information on these sub-mm sources will be derived by combining the SCUBA data with i) deep radio imaging already obtained with the VLA, ii) guaranteed-time Spitzer data at mid-infrared wavelengths, and iii) far-infrared maps to be produced by BLAST, the Balloon-borne Large-Aperture Sub-millimeter Telescope. Predictions for the redshift distribution and clustering properties of the final anticipated SHADES sample have been computed for a wide variety of models, each constrained to fit the observed number counts. Since we are dealing with around 150 sources per field, we use the sky-averaged angular correlation function to produce a more robust fit of a power-law shape w(theta)=(theta/A)^{-delta} to the model data. Comparing the predicted distributions of redshift and of the clustering amplitude A and slope delta, we find that models can be constrained from the combined SHADES data with the expected photometric redshift information.Comment: updated and improved version, accepted for publication in the MNRA

The impact of cooling and pre-heating on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect

We use hydrodynamical simulations to assess the impact of radiative cooling and `pre-heating' on predictions for the Sunyaev--Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. Cooling significantly reduces both the mean SZ signal and its angular power spectrum, while pre-heating can give a higher mean distortion while leaving the angular power spectrum below that found in a simulation without heating or cooling. We study the relative contribution from high and low density gas, and find that in the cooling model about 60 per cent of the mean thermal distortion arises from low overdensity gas. We find that haloes dominate the thermal SZ power spectrum in all models, while in the cooling simulation the kinetic SZ power spectrum originates predominantly in lower overdensity gas.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX file with five figures incorporated. Various clarifications to the discussion. Further colour images and animations at http://astronomy.susx.ac.uk/users/antonio/sz.htm

Near-Infrared Survey and Photometric Redshifts in the Extended GOODS-North field

We present deep $J$ and $H$-band images in the extended Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey-North (GOODS-N) field covering an area of 0.22 $\rm{deg}^{2}$. The observations were taken using WIRCam on the 3.6-m Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). Together with the reprocessed $K_{\rm s}$-band image, the $5\sigma$ limiting AB magnitudes (in 2" diameter apertures) are 24.7, 24.2, and 24.4 AB mag in the $J$, $H$, and $K_{\rm s}$ bands, respectively. We also release a multi-band photometry and photometric redshift catalog containing 93598 sources. For non-X-ray sources, we obtained a photometric redshift accuracy $\sigma_{\mathrm{NMAD}}=0.036$ with an outlier fraction $\eta = 7.3\%$. For X-ray sources, which are mainly active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we cross-matched our catalog with the updated 2M-CDFN X-ray catalog from Xue et al. (2016) and found that 658 out of 683 X-ray sources have counterparts. $GALEX$ UV data are included in the photometric redshift computation for the X-ray sources to give $\sigma_{\mathrm{NMAD}} = 0.040$ with $\eta=10.5\%$. Our approach yields more accurate photometric redshift estimates compared to previous works in this field. In particular, by adopting AGN-galaxy hybrid templates, our approach delivers photometric redshifts for the X-ray counterparts with fewer outliers compared to the 3D-HST catalog, which fit these sources with galaxy-only templates

The Subaru-XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) VIII.: Multi-wavelength Identification, Optical/NIR Spectroscopic Properties, and Photometric Redshifts of X-ray Sources

We report the multi-wavelength identification of the X-ray sources found in the Subaru-XMM-Newton Deep Survey (SXDS) using deep imaging data covering the wavelength range between the far-UV to the mid-IR. We select a primary counterpart of each X-ray source by applying the likelihood ratio method to R-band, 3.6micron, near-UV, and 24micron source catalogs as well as matching catalogs of AGN candidates selected in 1.4GHz radio and i'-band variability surveys. Once candidates of Galactic stars, ultra-luminous X-ray sources in a nearby galaxy, and clusters of galaxies are removed there are 896 AGN candidates in the sample. We conduct spectroscopic observations of the primary counterparts with multi-object spectrographs in the optical and NIR; 65\% of the X-ray AGN candidates are spectroscopically-identified. For the remaining X-ray AGN candidates, we evaluate their photometric redshift with photometric data in 15 bands. Utilising the multi-wavelength photometric data of the large sample of X-ray selected AGNs, we evaluate the stellar masses, M*, of the host galaxies of the narrow-line AGNs. The distribution of the stellar mass is remarkably constant from z=0.1 to 4.0. The relation between M* and 2--10 keV luminosity can be explained with strong cosmological evolution of the relationship between the black hole mass and M*. We also evaluate the scatter of the UV-MIR spectral energy distribution (SED) of the X-ray AGNs as a function of X-ray luminosity and absorption to the nucleus. The scatter is compared with galaxies which have redshift and stellar mass distribution matched with the X-ray AGN. The UV-NIR SEDs of obscured X-ray AGNs are similar to those of the galaxies in the matched sample. In the NIR-MIR range, the median SEDs of X-ray AGNs are redder, but the scatter of the SEDs of the X-ray AGN broadly overlaps that of the galaxies in the matched sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in PASJ Subaru special issue. 42 pages, 22 figures. Entire contents of Tables 3, 8, 9, 10, and 11, and ASCII format tables are available from http://www.astr.tohoku.ac.jp/~akiyama/SXDS/index.htm

Forecasting the success of the WEAVE Wide-Field Cluster Survey on the extraction of the cosmic web filaments around galaxy clusters

Next-generation wide-field spectroscopic surveys will observe the infall regions around large numbers of galaxy clusters with high sampling rates for the first time. Here, we assess the feasibility of extracting the large-scale cosmic web around clusters using forthcoming observations, given realistic observational constraints. We use a sample of 324 hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of massive galaxy clusters from TheThreeHundred project to create a mock-observational catalogue spanning 5R200 around 160 analogue clusters. These analogues are matched in mass to the 16 clusters targetted by the forthcoming WEAVE Wide-Field Cluster Survey (WWFCS). We consider the effects of the fibre allocation algorithm on our sampling completeness and find that we successfully allocate targets to 81.7 ${\rm {per \,cent}}\, \pm$ 1.3 of the members in the cluster outskirts. We next test the robustness of the filament extraction algorithm by using a metric, Dskel, which quantifies the distance to the filament spine. We find that the median positional offset between reference and recovered filament networks is Dskel = 0.13 ± 0.02 Mpc, much smaller than the typical filament radius of ~ 1 Mpc. Cluster connectivity of the recovered network is not substantially affected. Our findings give confidence that the WWFCS will be able to reliably trace cosmic web filaments in the vicinity around massive clusters, forming the basis of environmental studies into the effects of pre-processing on galaxy evolution