1,538 research outputs found

    Mothers of invention: an afterword

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    This paper offers a personal perspective on exchanges at the 2014 NIME panel entitled Gender, Education, Creativity in Digital Music and Sound Art, and also draws on discussion at the 2013 Oxford MusDig Gender Roundtable. Neither anachronistic institutional positions in a fast evolving cultural environment, nor opportunistic promotion of market-driven education programmes doomed to swift obsolescence, is likely to foster the diversity needed to sustain new creative energies in digital music and sound art. Class and race barriers are often indissociable from those that characterise gender discrimination, but this is not just a question of intersectionality. It also concerns thinking specifically about the gendered constructions of the objects and concepts we employ, and about the objectification of gender itself. This overview of a decidedly heterogeneous array of projects and initiatives endeavours to reflect our panel's emphasis on the imperative to uphold diversity and otherness

    A bare ground evaporation revision in the ECMWF land-surface scheme: evaluation of its impact using ground soil moisture and satellite microwave data

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    In situ soil moisture data from 122 stations across the United States are used to evaluate the impact of a new bare ground evaporation formulation at ECMWF. In November 2010, the bare ground evaporation used in ECMWF's operational Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) was enhanced by adopting a lower stress threshold than for the vegetation, allowing a higher evaporation. It results in more realistic soil moisture values when compared to in situ data, particularly over dry areas. Use was made of the operational IFS and offline experiments for the evaluation. The latter are based on a fixed version of the IFS and make it possible to assess the impact of a single modification, while the operational analysis is based on a continuous effort to improve the analysis and modelling systems, resulting in frequent updates (a few times a year). Considering the field sites with a fraction of bare ground greater than 0.2, the root mean square difference (RMSD) of soil moisture is shown to decrease from 0.118 m<sup>3</sup> m<sup>−3</sup> to 0.087 m<sup>3</sup> m<sup>−3</sup> when using the new formulation in offline experiments, and from 0.110 m<sup>3</sup> m<sup>−3</sup> to 0.088 m<sup>3</sup> m<sup>−3</sup> in operations. It also improves correlations. Additionally, the impact of the new formulation on the terrestrial microwave emission at a global scale is investigated. Realistic and dynamically consistent fields of brightness temperature as a function of the land surface conditions are required for the assimilation of the SMOS data. Brightness temperature simulated from surface fields from two offline experiments with the Community Microwave Emission Modelling (CMEM) platform present monthly mean differences up to 7 K. Offline experiments with the new formulation present drier soil moisture, hence simulated brightness temperature with its surface fields are larger. They are also closer to SMOS remotely sensed brightness temperature

    Modular DSLs for flexible analysis: An e-Motions reimplementation of Palladio

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    We address some of the limitations for extending and validating MDE-based implementations of NFP analysis tools by presenting a modular, model-based partial reimplementation of one well-known analysis framework, namely the Palladio Architecture Simulator. We specify the key DSLs from Palladio in the e-Motions system, describing the basic simulation semantics as a set of graph transformation rules. Di erent properties to be analysed are then encoded as separate, parametrised DSLs, independent of the de nition of Palladio. These can then be composed with the base Palladio DSL to generate speci c simulation environments. Models created in the Palladio IDE can be fed directly into this simulation environment for analysis. We demonstrate two main benefits of our approach: 1) The semantics of the simulation and the nonfunctional properties to be analysed are made explicit in the respective DSL speci cations, and 2) because of the compositional de nition, we can add de nitions of new non-functional properties and their analyses.Universidad de MĂĄlaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional AndalucĂ­a Tech

    The nematode assemblage as a tool for the assessment of marine ecological quality status: a case-study in the Central Adriatic Sea

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    Free-living nematodes are efficiently used as bio-indicators of anthropogenic disturbance in marine ecosystems. Among various criteria, functional traits may represent useful tools for monitoring environmental impact in coastal areas. A study of nematode assemblages was carried out in three locations of the Central Adriatic Sea (Italy), one at the mouth of the Foglia River (Baia Flaminia) and two enclosed in the Monte San Bartolo Natural Park (Monte Brisighella and Fiorenzuola di Focara). Taxonomic composition and the functional traits of the nematode assemblage revealed a possible influence of the organic load of the Foglia River. Biotic data, as well as environmental parameters, suggested a particularly negative impact of the river on the assemblage at Baia Flaminia. Here, the increasing impact of the river led to a rise in the relative abundance of r-strategist genera like Chromadora, Sabatieria and Viscosia. Poor ecological conditions were also present at Brisighella, where the river might exert its influence due to the presence of long shore currents. In contrast, the results revealed that the best ecological quality was at Fiorenzuola di Focara, where the impact of anthropogenic activities was generally irrelevant. This study documents how nematodes can be used as an early warning indicator with which to monitor the health quality of vulnerable littoral areas

    Sensitivity of surface fluxes in the ECMWF land surface model to the remotely sensed leaf area index and root distribution: Evaluation with tower flux data

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    The surface-atmosphere turbulent exchanges couple the water, energy and carbon budgets in the Earth system. The biosphere plays an important role in the evaporation process, and vegetation related parameters such as the leaf area index (LAI), vertical root distribution and stomatal resistance are poorly constrained due to sparse observations at the spatio-temporal scales at which land surface models (LSMs) operate. In this study, we use the Carbon Hydrology Tiled European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Scheme for Surface Exchanges over Land (CHTESSEL) model and investigate the sensitivity of the simulated turbulent fluxes to these vegetation related parameters. Observed data from 17 FLUXNET towers were used to force and evaluate model simulations with different vegetation parameter configurations. The replacement of the current LAI climatology used by CHTESSEL, by a new high-resolution climatology, representative of the station’s location, has a small impact on the simulated fluxes. Instead, a revision of the root profile considering a uniform root distribution reduces the underestimation of evaporation during water stress conditions. Despite the limitations of using only one model and a limited number of stations, our results highlight the relevance of root distribution in controlling soil moisture stress, which is likely to be applicable to other LSMs

    Integrative taxonomy of a new Redudasys species (Gastrotricha: Macrodasyida) sheds light on the invasion of fresh water habitats by macrodasyids

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    The order Macrodasyida (Gastrotricha) includes over 350 marine species, and only 3 freshwater species (Marinellina flagellata, Redudasys fornerise, R. neotemperatus). Herein we describe a new freshwater species of Macrodasyida, Redudasys brasiliensis sp. nov., from Brazil through an integrative taxonomic approach. The external morphology and internal anatomy were investigated using differential interference contrast microscopy, confocal microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The systematization of the new taxon was inferred by nuclear (18S and 28S) and mitochondrial (COI) genes, and its intra-order relationships were assessed using data from most of available macrodasyids. Phylogenetic analyses yielded congruent trees, in which the new taxon is nested within the family Redudasyidae, but it was genetically distinct from the other species of the genus Redudasys. The new species shares the gross morphology and reproductive traits with other Redudasyidae and the presence of only 1 anterior adhesive tube per side with Redudasys neotemperatus, but it has a specific pattern of ventral ciliation and muscle organization. Results support the hypothesis that dispersion into fresh water habitats by Macrodasyida and Chaetonotida taxa occurred independently and that within Macrodasyida a single lineage invaded the freshwater environment only once. Furthermore, the Neotropical region seems to be peculiar for the evolution of the freshwater macrodasyid clade9CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE MINAS GERAIS - FAPEMIGFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP478825/2013ETC-00017-132014/23856-
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