Estimating the historical distribution, abundance and ecological contribution of Modiolus modiolus in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland

Strangford Lough is a large sheltered marine inlet in Northern Ireland. It is also a designated Special Area of Conservation based partially on the presence of an extensive area of Modiolus modiolus (Linnaeus, 1758) biogenic reef. However, this feature is believed to have declined substantially over the last 40 years. The objective of the study was to estimate the size of this decline both in terms of extent and abundance. This study combined (i) new survey data (a dedicated multibeam echo-sounder survey of the Lough), (ii) a habitat suitability model for M. modiolus with (iii) historical diver surveys to estimate the extent and abundance before 1985 (before the suspected period of greatest decline), 2003 (during the introduction of a ban on mobile fishing gear in the Lough) and 2007 (the most recent diver survey available). Estimations indicate that the extent reduced from approximately 12.6km2 in 1986 to just 5.7km2 by 2007 and the abundance declined by 87% in the same period. The decline has implications both for the remaining population of M. modiolus and ecosystem functionality within the Lough, which are both discussed in detail

Crowdfunding an Independent Film Project

Crowdfunding describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by individuals who network and pool their money via a preferred Internet platform to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. The “crowd” in crowdfunding is comprised of online donors from a web platform. Though crowdfunding crosses the lines of commercial, political and non-profit campaigns, it’s been most notable as a haven for philanthropic opportunity, namely the broad area we call “the arts.” This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on January 14, 2015. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above

Plasma Damage to NMOS Capacitors

High frequency C-V curves were taken of NMOS capacitors to determine the effect that a RF oxygen plasma has on the underlying thin gate oxide. This plasma was used to remove a positive photoresist. The C-V curves show a threshold voltage shift of 3.75 volts with respect to the undamaged capacitors. The C-V curves also show that the thinner were more affected than the thicker oxides

Creating a Differentiated Mathematics Classroom

Recognizing different mathematical learning styles and adapting differentiated teaching strategies can facilitate student learning

Straightening Identities in the Onsager Algebra

The purpose of this work is to formulate and prove some straightening identities in the Onsager algebra. Our identities allow one to rewrite specific products of basis elements as linear combinations of products which are in a different order. Such identities could be helpful in understanding the representation theory of the Onsager algebra

A randomized controlled trial of prospective memory rehabilitation in adults with traumatic brain injury

Objective: To examine the efficacy of compensatory prospective memory training, preceded by self-awareness training for adults with traumatic brain injury

Testing the Dark Matter Annihilation Model for the WMAP Haze

Analyses have found a "haze" of anomalous microwave emission surrounding the Galactic Center in the WMAP sky maps. A recent study using Fermi data detected a similar haze in the gamma-ray. Several studies have modeled these hazes as radiation from the leptonic byproducts of dark matter annihilations, and arguably no convincing astrophysical alternative has been suggested. We discuss the characteristics of astrophysical cosmic ray sources that could potentially explain this microwave and gamma-ray emission. The most promising astrophysical scenarios involve cosmic ray sources that are clustered such that many fall within ~1 kpc of the Galactic Center. For example, we show that several hundred Galactic Center supernovae in the last million years plus a diffusion-hardened electron spectrum may be consistent with present constraints on this emission. Alternatively, it could be due to a burst of activity probably associated with Sagittarius A* occurring ~1 Myr ago and producing >10^51 erg in cosmic ray electrons. Different models predict different trends for the spectral index of the microwave and gamma-ray spectrum as a function of angle from the Galactic Center that should be robust to cosmic ray propagation uncertainties. In particular, if the haze is from dark matter annihilations, it should have a very hard microwave and gamma-ray spectrum for which the spectral shape does not change significantly with angle, which we argue would be difficult to achieve with any astrophysical mechanism. Observations with the Planck and Fermi satellites can distinguish between viable haze models using these signatures.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted to MNRA

Human-Multirobot Collaborative Mobile Manipulation: the Omnid Mocobots

The Omnid human-collaborative mobile manipulators are an experimental platform for testing control architectures for autonomous and human-collaborative multirobot mobile manipulation. An Omnid consists of a mecanum-wheel omnidirectional mobile base and a series-elastic Delta-type parallel manipulator, and it is a specific implementation of a broader class of mobile collaborative robots ("mocobots") suitable for safe human co-manipulation of delicate, flexible, and articulated payloads. Key features of mocobots include passive compliance, for the safety of the human and the payload, and high-fidelity end-effector force control independent of the potentially imprecise motions of the mobile base. We describe general considerations for the design of teams of mocobots; the design of the Omnids in light of these considerations; manipulator and mobile base controllers to achieve useful multirobot collaborative behaviors; and initial experiments in human-multirobot collaborative mobile manipulation of large, unwieldy payloads. For these experiments, the only communication among the humans and Omnids is mechanical, through the payload.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Videos available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEuFfONryL0. Submitted to IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L

The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge: A Natural Laboratory for Federal Agencies and Partners

The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge encompasses a rich mosaic of habitats and is a fecund and convenient field site for Earth science research, comprised of tidal salt marsh, open ponds, shallow water, mudflat habitat and encompassing a variety of tide, salinity, elevation, slope, and other conditions. Proximity to the NASA Ames Research Center and overlap with the center's UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) test area presents the opportunity to create a unique natural laboratory that can incubate and support a variety of research and benefit the Refuge in monitoring wildlife changes and habitat evolution over time