A comparison of methods for mapping golf greens

Several golf greens were mapped using a RTK GPS, Riegl 3D-Laser Mirror Scanner and Trimble S6 Robotic Total Station systems to determine the most appropriate method for this task. The RTK GPS was the easiest methods for data capture but was insufficiently accurate for mapping at a contour interval of 0.05 m or less in this situation. The laser scanner level data accuracy was slightly more accurate than the robotic total station but both produces results that were suitable for golf green mapping. However, the ease of use of the robotic total station determined this as the preferred methodology for golf green mapping with a 0.05m contour interval

A Radioelement Analysis Of The Northern Black Hills, South Dakota, U.S.A.

The uranium, thorium, and potassium contents from 736 samples, within a 15-km radius of the Homestake Gold Mine and Sanford Underground Research Facility in the Northern Black Hills indicate the geoneutrino background may be higher than average for the continental crust. The radioactive element contents of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks were determined by gamma ray spectrometry. Many rocks show hydrothermal and metamorphic alteration within the last ten Ma of the Tertiary period. Young alkali rich igneous rocks, such as rhyolite, phonolite and other volcanic rocks, have lower than average Th:U ratios. The radioelement content of 215 igneous rocks were determined. The radioelement contents of 143 metamorphic rocks were determined. This study also shows that metamorphic rocks were found to have low variable U:Th content when compared to content in igneous rocks. Sedimentary rocks, in general, have low U, Th, and K content. The radioelement content of 236 sedimentary rocks were determined. Rocks present within the Homestake Gold Mine, are highly altered by hydrothermal and metamorphic activity, enriching U, and in some areas, Th content. The Homestake Gold Mine lies almost entirely within metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks occur in the mine as veins and dikes. The dominant igneous rock present is rhyolite. Metamorphic rocks present inside the HGM, were divided by formation; Ellison Fm, Poorman Fm, Yates Unit [lower Poorman Fm], Homestake Fm, and Flagrock Fm. The finding of high radioelement content in the rocks suggests that the antineutrinos background at the HGM will need to be considered and calibrated for, in future experiments conducted at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. A geoneutrino luminosity of 1.26x105 (mg-1s-1) was calculated from the samples analyzed within the Homestake Gold Mine. A total geoneutrino luminosity of 4.44x105 (mg-1s=1) was calculated from the sum of all analyses conducted in the Northern Black Hills

STR-847: WESTMINSTER DRIVE UNDERPASS – ACCELERATED BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION USING GIGO (GET IN-GET OUT) BRIDGE CONCEPT

The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), in partnership with consultants and contractors, developed a method for accelerated bridge construction called Get in-Get out Bridge or GiGo Bridge. The GiGo Bridge concept is an Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) technique for replacing bridges over freeways, in 45 days or less, with a full closure of the crossing road. The concept requires that bridge components be prefabricated in advance of the on-site work. This has the advantage of shifting a substantial portion of the work into the winter months, freeing up staff resources and equipment for the summer months. Additional benefits of GiGo Bridge include shorter disruptions to traffic as well as enhanced safety, since workers have less contact with traffic during the project. In 2014, the Westminster Drive Underpass on Highway 401 in London, Ontario, was successfully replaced using the GiGo Bridge concept. The new, two-span integral abutment bridge consists of a number of prefabricated elements, including precast concrete abutments, wingwalls, and pier cap; and steel box girders. However, the accelerated bridge construction feature that is of primary interest in this project, and that is key to the GiGo Bridge concept, is the use of 6 prefabricated, 95-tonne supermodules, each of which consists of a steel box girder with a cast-in-place concrete deck. Based on the success and lessons learned from the Westminster Drive project, MTO will be using the GiGo Bridge concept on other projects, including the replacement of the Highway 401/Highway 19 Underpass in Ingersoll in 2017

Estimated Prevalence and Living Circumstances of Parents with Intellectual Disability In Australia from Selected National Surveys

Analysis of SDAC 2009 data identified an estimated 0.41% of Australian parents had intellectual disability. This equates to an estimated 17,000 parents with intellectual disability residing in private dwellings in Australia. Analysis of GSS 2010 data revealed that, compared with non-disabled parents and also compared with parents with other disabilities, parents with intellectual disability were significantly more likely to: -be in a jobless household -be in households in the lowest three deciles of equivalised weekly income -be on government pensions as the main source of personal income -have ever been without a permanent place to live -have ever stayed in a shelter, squatted in an abandoned building and/or slept rough -have less frequent contact with family and friends -have negative or mixed feelings about life -have poorer self-assessed healthCentre for Disability Research and Polic

A survey of patient preferences for a placebo orodispersible tablet

This abstract looks at a survey of patient preferences for a placebo orodispersible table

Development of an unmanned aerial vehicle and image processing techniques for agricultural applications

In this study, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was built for use in small breeding plots. The UAV was constructed from readily available off-the-shelf components, such as the Cube Orange flight controller and HERE3 GPS. The UAV was a hexarotor design powered with a 4s 9000mAh battery. The UAV underwent a series of tests across multiple dates to determine flight path accuracy. Two flight heights (30.48m and 60.96m) were taken on multiple dates. A custom pan tilt servo gimbal was constructed capable of carrying multiple cameras in different configurations. The gimbal was tested using a series of different weights and mounting locations. A case study was completed to demonstrate usefulness of the system and the open-source image processing pipeline which can be used with images captured from the custom built UAVs. In testing, the average lateral error of the UAV was 0.2m. The average vertical errors were 0.06m, and 0.33m according to the data with the extended Kalman filter (EKF) and the built-in barometer, respectively. The average errors of the gimbal at maximum load was 1.2 degrees in the pitch direction and 1.7 degrees in the roll direction. The case study demonstrated that free, open-source software can be successfully used to process images from the UAV system

Biochronology and evolution of Pulleniatina (planktonic foraminifera)

Pulleniatina is an extant genus of planktonic foraminifera that evolved in the late Miocene. The bottom and top occurrences of its six constituent morphospecies (P. primalis, P. praespectablis, P. spectabilis, P. praecursor, P. obliquiloculata, P. finalis) provide a series of more or less useful constraints for correlating tropical and subtropical deep-sea deposits, as do some prominent changes in its dominant coiling direction and a substantial gap in its record in the Atlantic Ocean. Biostratigraphic information about these events has accumulated over many decades since the development of systematic deep-sea drilling in the 1960s, during which time the geochronological framework has evolved substantially, as have taxonomic concepts. Here we present new data on the biochronology of Pulleniatina from International Ocean Discovery Program Site U1488, which has a record of its entire evolutionary history from the centre of its geographic range in the Western Pacific Warm Pool. We then present and compare revised calibrations of 183 published Pulleniatina bioevents worldwide, with stated sampling errors as far as they are known, using a consistent methodology and in the context of an updated evolutionary model for the genus. We comment on the reliability of the various bioevents; their likely level of diachrony; and the processes of evolution, dispersal, and extinction that produced them