Telescience Testbed Pilot Program

The Telescience Testbed Pilot Program is developing initial recommendations for requirements and design approaches for the information systems of the Space Station era. During this quarter, drafting of the final reports of the various participants was initiated. Several drafts are included in this report as the University technical reports

Taking stock of mangrove and seagrass blue carbon ecosystems: A perspective for future carbon trading

Seagrass and mangroves support a number of ecosystem services, such as sustaining marine fisheries, water clarity, and the protection of shoreline from erosion. Producing a national and global consensus of their total worth is a challenge. More often than not the variety and distal evaluation approaches do not fit comfortably within current market-based economic models, which are arguably more capable of swaying government policy in assessing their preservation over economic development. The exception to this rule is the increasing recognition of the importance of these systems as a carbon sink for combating ‘greenhouse’ gas emissions. In response, these sinks have been labelled as ‘Blue Carbon, a rhetorical tool to distinguish them from terrestrial and ocean sinks, and the different approaches they would require for conservation. However, there are a number of knowledge gaps, untested underlying assumptions, and measurement practicalities in assessing an accurate value of carbon sequestration and storage. Unless these are addressed, then the push for seagrass and mangroves to be included within the carbon-financing network may not be successful. This short communication discusses the limitations of the current blue carbon conceptual model, and provides recommendations for a more limited but robust submission of its present and future worth, required for carbon financing

Sound Speed Manager: An open-source application to manage sound speed profiles

The execution of a modern survey using acoustic sensors cannot overlook an accurate environmental characterization of the water column. In particular, the selected sound speed profile is critical for ray tracing, while knowing the temperature and the salinity variability is crucial in the calculation of valid absorption coefficients. Built on decades of experience and feedback from hydrographic surveyors, Sound Speed Manager provides a streamlined workflow that guides the user to perform accurate processing and management of sound speed profiles. Developed following criteria of simplicity of use, robustness of results, and openness of the chosen solutions, Sound Speed Manager is a ready-for-use but customizable application, with a long-term support plan, made freely available to the hydrographic community under an open source license model.La ejecución de un levantamiento moderno utilizando sensores acústicos no puede pasar por alto una caracterización ambiental precisa de la columna de agua. En particular, el perfil de la velocidad del sonido seleccionado es crítico para el trazado de los haces, mientras que el conocimiento de la temperatura y de la variabilidad de la salinidad es crucial en el cálculo de los coeficientes de absorción válidos. Creado basándose en décadas de experiencia y de contribuciones de hidrógrafos, el Administrador de la Velocidad del Sonido proporciona un flujo de trabajo dirigido que orienta al usuario para que pueda ejecutar un proceso preciso y administrar los perfiles de la velocidad del sonido. Elaborado siguiendo criterios de simplicidad en su uso, solidez de los resultados, y una apertura de las soluciones elegidas, el Administrador de la Velocidad del Sonido es una aplicación lista para su uso pero personalizable, con un plan de asistencia a largo plazo, disponible gratuitamente para la comunidad hidrográfica bajo un modelo de licencia de fuente abierta.L'exécution de levés modernes à l'aide de capteurs acoustiques ne peut pas se dispenser d'une caractérisation environnementale exacte de la colonne d'eau. En particulier, le profil de vitesse de son sélectionné est un élément critique du tracé des rayons, de la même manière que la connaissance de la variabilité de la température et de la salinité est indispensable pour le calcul de coefficients d'absorption corrects. Sur la base de dizaines d'années d'expérience et des retours des hydrographes, Sound Speed Manager fournit un processus optimisé qui guide l'utilisateur afin qu'il soit en mesure de traiter et de gérer de manière précise les profils de vitesse du son. Elaboré selon des critères de simplicité d'utilisation, de robustesse des résultats, et d'ouverture aux solutions choisies, Sound Speed Manager est une application prête à l'emploi mais personnalisable, associée à un plan de soutien à long terme, mise gracieusement à la disposition de la communauté hydrographique sous un modèle de licence open source

Dough properties and baking characteristics of white bread, as affected by addition of raw, germinated and toasted pea flour

Thermal and non-thermal processing may alter the structure and improve the techno-functional properties of pulses and pulse flours, increasing their range of applications in protein-enhanced foods. The effects of germination and toasting of yellow peas (Pisum sativum) on flour and dough characteristics were investigated. Wheat flour was substituted with raw, germinated and toasted pea flour (30%). The resulting bread-baking properties were assessed. Toasting increased dough water absorption and improved dough stability compared with germinated and raw pea flour (p \u3c 0.05). This resulted in bread loaves with comparable specific volume and loaf density to that of a wheat flour control. Significant correlations between dough rheological properties and loaf characteristics were observed. Addition of pea flours increased the protein content of the breads from 8.4% in the control white bread, to 10.1–10.8% (p \u3c 0.001). Toasting demonstrated the potential to improve the techno-functional properties of pea flour. Results highlight the potential application of pea flour in bread-making to increase the protein content

The Open Navigation Surface Project

Many hydrographic and oceanographic agencies have moved or are moving towards gridded bathymetric products. However, there is no accepted format to allow these grids to be exchanged while maintaining data and metadata integrity. This paper describes the Open Navigation Surface (ONS) Project, which aims to fill this gap. The ONS Project is an open-source software project designed to provide a freely available, portable source-code library to encapsulate gridded bathymetric surfaces with associated uncertainty values. The data file format is called a Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG). The BAG is developed and maintained by the ONS Working Group (ONSWG), and the source code is available via the ONS websit

Proximate composition and anti-nutritional factors of fava-bean (Vicia faba), green-pea and yellow-pea (Pisum sativum) flour

Pulse grains were identified as a key resource for food innovation during the International Year of the Pulse (IYP), 2016. Pulse flour offers a sustainable source of plant protein for innovation in protein enriched cereal based foods. Fava-bean (Vicia faba), green- and yellow-pea (Pisum sativum) flour were analysed for proximate composition, minerals, amino acids, phenolic content, phytic acid and trypsin inhibitory activity. Fava-bean flour had the highest protein content (28 g/100 g), while green-pea flour had the highest total dietary fibre content (15 g/100 g). All three flours contained essential amino acids in adequate quantity, highlighting them as a source of good quality protein for in the formulation of protein-enriched foods. Fava-bean flour had significantly higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity than pea flours (387 mg GAE/100 g and 250 mg AAE/100 g respectively). Pulse flour contained high levels of potassium and zinc, while fava-bean flour was also high in iron. Phytic acid ranged from 543 to 889 mg/100 g; the lowest of which was observed in green-pea flour. Green-pea flour also exhibited the lowest trypsin inhibition (3.7 TIU/mg). Results demonstrate the significant potential of pulse flour to enhance the nutritional value of cereal based foods which is not possible with wheat flour alone

The GENIE Neutrino Monte Carlo Generator: Physics and User Manual

GENIE is a suite of products for the experimental neutrino physics community. This suite includes i) a modern software framework for implementing neutrino event generators, a state-of-the-art comprehensive physics model and tools to support neutrino interaction simulation for realistic experimental setups (the Generator product), ii) extensive archives of neutrino, charged-lepton and hadron scattering data and software to produce a comprehensive set of data/MC comparisons (the Comparisons product), and iii) a generator tuning framework and fitting applications (the Tuning product). This book provides the definite guide for the GENIE Generator: It presents the software architecture and a detailed description of its physics model and official tunes. In addition, it provides a rich set of data/MC comparisons that characterise the physics performance of GENIE. Detailed step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure the Generator, run its applications and analyze its outputs are also included

Generic medicines and generic substitution: contrasting perspectives of stakeholders in Ireland.

BACKGROUND: The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 passed into law in July 2013 and legislated for generic substitution in Ireland. The aim of the study was to ascertain the knowledge and perceptions of stakeholders i.e. patients, pharmacists and prescribers, of generic medicines and to generic substitution with the passing of legislation. METHODS: Three stakeholder specific questionnaires were developed to assess knowledge of and perceptions to generic medicines and generic substitution. Purposive samples of patients, prescribers and pharmacists were analysed. Descriptive quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 762 healthcare professionals and 353 patients were recruited. The study highlighted that over 84 % of patients were familiar with generic medicines and are supportive of the concept of generic substitution. Approximately 74 % of prescribers and 84 % of pharmacists were supportive of generic substitution in most cases. The main areas of concern highlighted by the healthcare professionals that might impact on the successful implementation of the policy, were the issue of bioequivalence with generic medicines, the computer software systems used at present in general practitioner (GP) surgeries and the availability of branded generics. The findings from this study identify a high baseline rate of acceptance to generic medicines and generic substitution among patients, prescribers and pharmacists in the Irish setting. The concerns of the main stakeholders provide a valuable insight into the potential difficulties that may arise in its implementation, and the need for on-going reassurance and proactive dissemination of the impact of the generic substitution policy. CONCLUSION: The existing positive attitude to generic medicines and generic substitution among key stakeholders in Ireland to generic substitution, combined with appropriate support and collaboration should result in the desired increase in rates of prescribing, dispensing and use of generic medicines