Synergy of multifrequency studies from observations of NGC6334I

We combine multifrequency observations from the millimeter to near infrared wavelengths that demonstrate the spatial distributions of H2, CO, and NH3 emission, which are all manifestations of various shocks driven by outflows of deeply embedded sources in NGC6334I. In addition to the well-known northeast-southwest outflow we detect at least one more outflow in the region by combining observations from APEX, ATCA, SMA, Spitzer and VLT/ISAAC. Potential driving sources will be discussed. NGC6334I exhibits several signs of active star formation and will be a major target for future observatories such as Herschel and ALMA.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, appeared in the proceedings of the workshop 'The Universe Under The Microscope - Astrophysics At High Angular Resolution', see http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/1742-6596/131/

Automatic blush detection in ‘concealed information’ test using visual stimuli

Blushing has been identified as an indicator of deception, shame, anxiety and embarrassment. Although normally associated with the skin coloration of the face, a blush response also affects skin surface temperature. In this paper, an approach to detect a blush response automatically is presented using the Argus P7225 thermal camera from e2v. The algorithm was tested on a sample population of 51 subjects, while using visual stimuli to elicit a response, and achieved recognition rates of ~77% TPR and ~60% TNR, indicating a thermal image sensor is the prospective device to pick up subtle temperature change synchronised with stimuli

CO(1-0) in z ≳ 4 Quasar Host Galaxies: No Evidence for Extended Molecular Gas Reservoirs

We present ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) observations of the high-redshift quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) BR 1202-0725 (z = 4.69), PSS J2322+1944 (z = 4.12), and APM 08279+5255 (z = 3.91) using the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the MPIfR Effelsberg 100 m telescope. We detect, for the first time, the CO ground-level transition in BR 1202-0725. For PSS J2322+1944 and APM 08279+5255, our observations result in line fluxes that are consistent with previous NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) observations, but they reveal the full line profiles. We report a typical lensing-corrected velocity-integrated intrinsic ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) line luminosity of L'_(CO) = 5 × 10^(10) K km s^(-1) pc^2 and a typical total H_2 mass of M(H_2) = 4 × 10^(10) M_☉ for the sources in our sample. The CO/FIR luminosity ratios of these high-z sources follow the same trend as seen for low-z galaxies, leading to a combined solution of log L_(FIR) = (1.39 ± 0.05) log L_(CO) - 1.76. It has previously been suggested that the molecular gas reservoirs in some quasar host galaxies may exhibit luminous, extended ^(12)CO(J = 1 → 0) components that are not observed in the higher J CO transitions. Using the line profiles and the total intensities of our observations and large velocity gradient (LVG) models based on previous results for higher J CO transitions, we derive that emission from all CO transitions is described well by a single gas component in which all molecular gas is concentrated in a compact nuclear region. Thus, our observations and models show no indication of a luminous extended, low surface brightness molecular gas component in any of the high-redshift QSOs in our sample. If such extended components exist, their contribution to the overall luminosity is limited to at most 30%

Mistaken-for-Game Hunting Accidents: A Human Factors Review

Hunting accidents can have devastating consequences. One of the most common causes of hunting fatalities in this country, and others, are target identification failures—mistaking people for game. A golden rule in firearm safety is to identify your target beyond all doubt. Despite this message being constantly repeated, accidents are still occurring. Hunter education and awareness about high visibility clothing have reduced accident rates, but these statistics have since plateaued. Contrary to what most people think, the hunters committing these accidents are often experienced and considered to be safe and competent. Crucially, they often believe they have, 100%, correctly identified their target. Psychology and human factors can provide insight into how these situations might occur. When interpreting information, we rely heavily upon mental rules of thumb called heuristics. Heuristics operate outside of our conscious awareness and are utilised even more in stressful or emotionally charged situations. However, they can also make us susceptible to cognitive biases which may lead us astray—we underestimate the impact heuristics will have on our decisions. Attempts to manage heuristics and cognitive biases are often futile because we normally cannot detect them when they occur. Hunters are constantly told that they need to treat every sound or movement as human in an attempt to change their mind-set. However, given the difficulty in detecting cognitive biases, it is unlikely a hunter’s conscious management of heuristics would be consistently possible in the long term. Cognitive biases undoubtedly occur in hunting as in most activities we do. Analyses of accidents and anecdotal reports point to their involvement, as does research showing their involvement in other critical environments, including firearms operations in the military and the police. Given the impracticality of preventing heuristics and cognitive biases from affecting a hunter’s target identification, an additional approach is required. One method to prevent mistaken-for-game hunting accidents may involve the use of objective warning systems, such as those used to prevent friendly fire in the military. This white paper discusses four key cognitive biases which we believe play a role in mistaken-for-game hunting accidents: the availability heuristic, expectancy, confirmation bias, and optimism bias. We also present the assertion that experience may not safeguard a hunter, and may in fact do the opposite. Other contributing factors—buck fever, poor choice of clothing, and snap shooting—are discussed in relation to cognitive biases. However, there is currently a notable lack of research on the role of cognitive biases in hunting accidents per se. As a result, more work needs to be conducted to verify the conclusions of this white paper, for which a human factors approach must be taken

The IDA3 adapter, required for intraflagellar transport of I1 dynein, is regulated by ciliary length

Axonemal dyneins, including inner dynein arm I1, assemble in the cytoplasm prior to transport into cilia by intraflagellar transport (IFT). How I1 dynein interacts with IFT is not understood. We take advantage of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii ida3 mutant, which assembles the inner arm I1 dynein complex in the cytoplasm but fails to transport I1 into the cilium, resulting in I1 dynein-deficient axonemes with abnormal motility. The IDA3 gene encodes an ∼115-kDa coiled-coil protein that primarily enters the cilium during ciliary growth but is not an axonemal protein. During growth, IDA3, along with I1 dynein, is transported by anterograde IFT to the tip of the cilium. At the tip, IDA3 uncouples from IFT and diffuses within the cilium. IFT transport of IDA3 decreases as cilia lengthen and subsides once full length is achieved. IDA3 is the first example of an essential and selective IFT adapter that is regulated by ciliary length. </jats:p

Adam Smith’s Green Thumb and Malthus’ Three Horsemen: Cautionary tales from classical political economy

This essay identifies a contradiction between the flourishing interest in the environmental economics of the classical period and a lack of critical parsing of the works of its leading representatives. Its focus is the work of Adam Smith and Thomas Malthus. It offers a critical analysis of their contribution to environmental thought and surveys the work of their contemporary devotees. It scrutinizes Smith's contribution to what Karl Polanyi termed the "economistic fallacy," as well as his defenses of class hierarchy, the "growth imperative" and consumerism. It subjects to critical appraisal Malthus's enthusiasm for private property and the market system, and his opposition to market regulation. While Malthus's principal attraction to ecological economists lies in his having allegedly broadened the scope of economics, and in his narrative of scarcity, this article shows that he, in fact, narrowed the scope of the discipline and conceptualized scarcity in a reified and pseudo-scientific way

Age distributions of star clusters in spiral and barred galaxies as a test for theories of spiral structure

We consider models of gas flow in spiral galaxies in which the spiral structure has been excited by various possible mechanisms: a global steady density wave, self-gravity of the stellar disc and an external tidal interaction, as well as the case of a galaxy with a central rotating bar. In each model we estimate in a simple manner the likely current positions of star clusters of a variety of ages, ranging from ~ 2 Myr to around 130 Myr, depending on the model. We find that the spatial distribution of cluster of different ages varies markedly depending on the model, and propose that observations of the locations of age-dated stellar clusters is a possible discriminant between excitation mechanisms for spiral structure in an individual galaxy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Gene content evolution in the arthropods

Arthropods comprise the largest and most diverse phylum on Earth and play vital roles in nearly every ecosystem. Their diversity stems in part from variations on a conserved body plan, resulting from and recorded in adaptive changes in the genome. Dissection of the genomic record of sequence change enables broad questions regarding genome evolution to be addressed, even across hyper-diverse taxa within arthropods. Using 76 whole genome sequences representing 21 orders spanning more than 500 million years of arthropod evolution, we document changes in gene and protein domain content and provide temporal and phylogenetic context for interpreting these innovations. We identify many novel gene families that arose early in the evolution of arthropods and during the diversification of insects into modern orders. We reveal unexpected variation in patterns of DNA methylation across arthropods and examples of gene family and protein domain evolution coincident with the appearance of notable phenotypic and physiological adaptations such as flight, metamorphosis, sociality, and chemoperception. These analyses demonstrate how large-scale comparative genomics can provide broad new insights into the genotype to phenotype map and generate testable hypotheses about the evolution of animal diversity