Development of software for analysing entry accelerometer data in preparation for the Beagle 2 mission to Mars: towards a publicly available toolkit

We have tested techniques for turning Beagle 2’s entry accelerometer data into a T(z) profile. We reproduced the PDS results for Pathfinder. The PDS trajectory for Pathfinder appears inconsistent with its entry state. Our code is available online

Effects of Farming Practices on the Transfer of Phosphorus in Rural Catchments

To better understand the role of agriculture in the eutrophication of surface waters, the spatial and temporal variation in P concentrations in streams and storm runoff was examined in relation to historic and current farming practices (upland pasture improvement, soil P accumulation, soil cultivations and fertiliser and manure inputs) and other sources of P (farmyards, road runoff and wastewater discharge) in a number of small rural catchments in England. In an upland pasture catchment and a lowland mixed farming catchment, soil P was the major source of P export rather than annual field operations which generally did not coincide with the main periods of hydrological connectivity. The majority of P transfer was in particulate form (>0. 45 pm), although field plot investigations suggested this form of P was relatively insensitive to differences in soil P fertility as compared to the dissolved P fraction, and may release P to the watercolumn even at low soil P concentrations. Three mitigation options (early sowing, reduced cultivations and tramline removal) for reducing soil particulate P transfer were compared at the field scale. All three options had positive effects. Early crop establishment was the most effective, but not consistently so, suggesting a combination of measures is required on farms. Analysis of 118 storm runoff samples showed that farmyard and road runoff, and runoff receiving wastewater (septic tank) discharges were more concentrated in P than surface and sub-surface runoff from agricultural fields. These sources also arrive more continuously through the year and therefore are potentially more ecologically damaging than runoff from farmed land. It is concluded that urbanisation maybe a greater threat to eutrophication than agricultural intensification even in small rural catchments and that effective, integrated catchment management requires collective social responsibility to tackle the multiple sources of P entering water and not just the targeting of the farming community

Price Elasticity of Demand for Term Life Insurance and Adverse Selection

This paper provides an empirical estimate of price' and risk' elasticities of demand for term life insurance for those who purchase some insurance. It finds that the elasticity with respect to changes in premiums is generally higher than the elasticity with respect to changes in risk. It also finds that the elasticity, in the range of -0.3 to -0.5, is sufficiently low that adverse selection in term life insurance is unlikely to lead to a death spiral and may not even lead to measured effects of adverse selection on total purchases.

Salicylic acid receptors activate jasmonic acid signalling through a non-canonical pathway to promote effector-triggered immunity.

It is an apparent conundrum how plants evolved effector-triggered immunity (ETI), involving programmed cell death (PCD), as a major defence mechanism against biotrophic pathogens, because ETI-associated PCD could leave them vulnerable to necrotrophic pathogens that thrive on dead host cells. Interestingly, during ETI, the normally antagonistic defence hormones, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) associated with defence against biotrophs and necrotrophs respectively, both accumulate to high levels. In this study, we made the surprising finding that JA is a positive regulator of RPS2-mediated ETI. Early induction of JA-responsive genes and de novo JA synthesis following SA accumulation is activated through the SA receptors NPR3 and NPR4, instead of the JA receptor COI1. We provide evidence that NPR3 and NPR4 may mediate this effect by promoting degradation of the JA transcriptional repressor JAZs. This unique interplay between SA and JA offers a possible explanation of how plants can mount defence against a biotrophic pathogen without becoming vulnerable to necrotrophic pathogens

Towards the on-line development of visual interactive simulation models

Reviews of previous work on visual interactive simulation, and on the interface between humans and computers were undertaken, the latter considering the physical and psychological aspects of the subject. Two simulation projects carried out in association with Rolls-Royce Aero Engines and the British Steel Corporation are described in detail. As a result of these projects and the review of previous studies, a major weakness in the technology of visual interactive simulation was identified: while the visual representation aids validation, verification, and experimentation, no facilities are provided to assist the analyst in the task of model construction. Simulation program generators are of proven use for non-interactive models, but a visual model requires a graphically oriented approach. The main section describes the design and implementation of a substantial extension to the simulation software developed at Warwick. This allows the design and development of displays to be carried out 'on-line', while preserving the one-to-one correspondence between simulation entities and their visual representation. It is suggested that this has the potential to significantly reduce the elapsed time taken to develop visual simulation models, while increasing the involvement of the user (or sponsor) in the modelling process, especially when 'pre-defined' entity types are used to minimise the amount of model- specific coding required. Finally, potential routes for the further development of visual interactive simulation are discussed, including the implementation of a 'simulation language' interpreter within the existing software. This would result in a system which was fully interactive, easing model development as well as experimentation

Porciones 69, 70, 71, 72

From John Closner and Family Collection, contains two typed documents: 1) Affidavit of Francisco Tagle, Sr. as to possession of Porciones No. 71 and 72 (12 March 1906); 2) affidavit describing property purchase options among John Closner, J. P. Withers, James B. Wells (2 May 1902). Porcion 69, 70, 71, 72, 1902-1906, Container: 39, Box: 1, Folder: 8. University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Special Collections and Archives, Edinburg Campus. https://archives.lib.utrgv.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/80722https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/hidalgohist/1011/thumbnail.jp

Evolution of a laser shock peened residual stress field locally with foreign object damage and subsequent fatigue crack growth

Foreign object damage (FOD) can seriously shorten the fatigue lives of components. On the other hand, laser shock peening improves fatigue life by introducing deep compressive residual stress into components. In this paper we examine how the non-uniform steep residual stress profile arising from FOD of laser peened aerofoil leading edges varies as a function of fatigue crack growth under high cycle fatigue and mixed high and low cycle fatigue conditions. The ballistic FOD impacts were introduced by impacting a cube edge head-on (at an angle of 0°) to the leading edge. The residual stress distributions have been mapped by synchrotron X-ray diffraction prior to cracking and subsequent to short (∼1 mm) and long (up to 6 mm) crack growth. The results suggest that the local residual stress field is highly stable even to the growth of relatively long cracks

Rise of the Andes

The surface uplift of mountain belts is generally assumed to reflect progressive shortening and crustal thickening, leading to their gradual rise. Recent studies of the Andes indicate that their elevation remained relatively stable for long periods (tens of millions of years), separated by rapid (1 to 4 million years) changes of 1.5 kilometers or more. Periodic punctuated surface uplift of mountain belts probably reflects the rapid removal of unstable, dense lower lithosphere after long-term thickening of the crust and lithospheric mantle

Map of total phosphorus content in native soils of Brazil

Knowledge of the distribution of total phosphorus (P) content in native soils provides information on the management of ecosystem, land capability for agriculture, environmental quality, and biodiversity conservation. We mapped the spatial distribution of total P concentrations in topsoils (0-30 cm) of uncultivated (native) areas in Brazil. We obtained data on native total P of the southern, south-eastern, and north-eastern regions from reports of exploratory projects developed between 1960s and 1970s by EMBRAPA and by the RADAM Brazil Project. We estimated data from the central-western and northern regions from the relationship between total P and soil properties (Fe, Al, C and clay content), based on the RADAM Brazil Project. Soil total P varied widely (< 25 to > 500 mg kg–1) in all regions in Brazil. Higher concentrations (> 500 mg kg–1) were observed in southern region compared to most of the rest of the country (< 200 mg kg–1), while the Cerrado (Central), Amazon (North) and Caatinga (Northeast) biomes are very poor in total P. This first national native soil total P map provides a valuable baseline for understanding the historical patterns of agriculture expansion in Brazil. It allows quantifying the effect of agriculture expansion and future cropping systems on soil available P content and legacy P, targeting regional soil-crop specific strategies for optimization of ecosystem services, and mitigating potential environmental risk due to P transference to water bodies