Ancient watercourses and biogeography of the Sahara explain the peopling of the desert

Evidence increasingly suggests that sub-Saharan Africa is at the center of human evolution and understanding routes of dispersal “out of Africa” is thus becoming increasingly important. The Sahara Desert is considered by many to be an obstacle to these dispersals and a Nile corridor route has been proposed to cross it. Here we provide evidence that the Sahara was not an effective barrier and indicate how both animals and humans populated it during past humid phases. Analysis of the zoogeography of the Sahara shows that more animals crossed via this route than used the Nile corridor. Furthermore, many of these species are aquatic. This dispersal was possible because during the Holocene humid period the region contained a series of linked lakes, rivers, and inland deltas comprising a large interlinked waterway, channeling water and animals into and across the Sahara, thus facilitating these dispersals. This system was last active in the early Holocene when many species appear to have occupied the entire Sahara. However, species that require deep water did not reach northern regions because of weak hydrological connections. Human dispersals were influenced by this distribution; Nilo-Saharan speakers hunting aquatic fauna with barbed bone points occupied the southern Sahara, while people hunting Savannah fauna with the bow and arrow spread southward. The dating of lacustrine sediments show that the “green Sahara” also existed during the last interglacial (∼125 ka) and provided green corridors that could have formed dispersal routes at a likely time for the migration of modern humans out of Africa.

Dawn-dusk asymmetry in particles of solar wind origin within the magnetosphere

Solar wind/magnetosheath plasma in the magnetosphere can be identified using a component that has a higher charge state, lower density and, at least soon after their entry into the magnetosphere, lower energy than plasma from a terrestrial source. We survey here observations taken over 3 years of He2+ ions made by the Magnetospheric Ion Composition Sensor (MICS) of the Charge and Mass Mgnetospheric Ion Composition Experiment (CAMMICE) instrument aboard POLAR. The occurrence probability of these solar wind ions is then plotted as a function of Magnetic Local Time (MLT) and invariant latitude (3) for various energy ranges. For all energies observed by MICS (1.8–21.4 keV) and all solar wind conditions, the occurrence probabilities peaked around the cusp region and along the dawn flank. The solar wind conditions were filtered to see if this dawnward asymmetry is controlled by the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect (and so depends on the BY component of the interplanetary magnetic field, IMF) or by Fermi acceleration of He2+ at the bow shock (and so depends on the IMF ratio BX/BY ). It is shown that the asymmetry remained persistently on the dawn flank, suggesting it was not due to effects associated with direct entry into the magnetosphere. This asymmetry, with enhanced fluxes on the dawn flank, persisted for lower energy ions (below a “cross-over” energy of about 23 keV) but reversed sense to give higher fluxes on the dusk flank at higher energies. This can be explained by the competing effects of gradient/curvature drifts and the convection electric field on ions that are convecting sunward on re-closed field lines. The lower-energy He2+ ions E × B drift dawnwards as they move earthward, whereas the higher energy ions curvature/gradient drift towards dusk. The convection electric field in the tail is weaker for northward IMF. Ions then need less energy to drift to the dusk flank, so that the cross-over energy, at which the asymmetry changes sense, is reduced.

Solar wind control of magnetospheric energy content: substorm quenching and multiple onsets

In this paper we report coordinated multispacecraft and ground-based observations of a double substorm onset close to Scandinavia on November 17, 1996. The Wind and the Geotail spacecraft, which were located in the solar wind and the subsolar magnetosheath, respectively, recorded two periods of southward directed interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). These periods were separated by a short northward IMF excursion associated with a solar wind pressure pulse, which compressed the magnetosphere to such a degree that Geotail for a short period was located outside the bow shock. The first period of southward IMF initiated a substorm growth. phase, which was clearly detected by an array of ground-based instrumentation and by Interball in the northern tail lobe. A first substorm onset occurred in close relation to the solar wind pressure pulse impinging on the magnetopause and almost simultaneously with the northward turning of the IMF. However, this substorm did not fully develop. In clear association with the expansion of the magnetosphere at the end of the pressure pulse, the auroral expansion was stopped, and the northern sky cleared. We will present evidence that the change in the solar wind dynamic pressure actively quenched the energy available for any further substorm expansion. Directly after this period, the magnetometer network detected signatures of a renewed substorm growth phase, which was initiated by the second southward turning of the IMF and which finally lead to a second, and this time complete, substorm intensification. We have used our multipoint observations in order to understand the solar wind control of the substorm onset and substorm quenching. The relative timings between the observations on the various satellites and on the ground were used to infer a possible causal relationship between the solar wind pressure variations and consequent substorm development. Furthermore, using a relatively simple algorithm to model the tail lobe field and the total tail flux, we show that there indeed exists a close relationship between the relaxation of a solar wind pressure pulse, the reduction of the tail lobe field, and the quenching of the initial substorm.

Observations at the magnetopause and in the auroral ionosphere of momentum transfer from the solar wind

Recent radar studies of field-perpendicular flows in the auroral ionosphere, in conjunction with observations of the interplanetary medium immediately upstream of the Earth's bow shock, have revealed direct control of dayside convection by the Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The ionospheric flows begin to respond to both northward and southward turnings of the IMF impinging upon the magnetopause after a delay of only a few minutes in the early afternoon sector, rising to about 15 minutes nearer dawn and dusk. In both the polar cap and the auroral oval, the subsequent rise and decay times are of order 5–10 minutes. We conclude there is very little convection “flywheel” effect in the dayside polar ionosphere and that only newly-opened flux tubes impart significant momentum to the ionosphere, in a relatively narrow region immediately poleward of the cusp. These findings concerning the effects of quasi-steady reconnection have important implications for any ionospheric signatures of transient reconnection which should be considerably shorter-lived than thought hitherto. In order to demonstrate the difficulty of uniquely identifying a Flux Transfer Event (FTE) in ground-based magnetometer data, we present observations of an impulsive signature, identical with that expected for an FTE if data from only one station is studied, following an observed magnetopause compression when the IMF was purely northward. We also report new radar observations of a viscous-like interaction, consistent with an origin on the flanks of the magnetotail and contributing an estimated 15–30kV to the total cross-cap potential during quiet periods.

The dependence of high-latitude dayside ionospheric flows on the North-South component of the IMF: A high time resolution correlation analysis using EISCAT “Polar” and AMPTE UKS and IRM data

In 1984 and 1985 a series of experiments was undertaken in which dayside ionospheric flows were measured by the EISCAT “Polar” experiment, while observations of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) were made by the AMPTE UKS and IRM spacecraft upstream from the Earth's bow shock. As a result, 40 h of simultaneous data were acquired, which are analysed in this paper to investigate the relationship between the ionospheric flow and the North-South (Bz) component of the IMF. The ionospheric flow data have 2.5 min resolution, and cover the dayside local time sector from ∼ 09:30 to ∼ 18:30 M.L.T. and the latitude range from 70.8° to 74.3°. Using cross-correlation analysis it is shown that clear relationships do exist between the ionospheric flow and IMF Bz, but that the form of the relations depends strongly on latitude and local time. These dependencies are readily interpreted in terms of a twinvortex flow pattern in which the magnitude and latitudinal extent of the flows become successively larger as Bz becomes successively more negative. Detailed maps of the flow are derived for a range of Bz values (between ± 4 nT) which clearly demonstrate the presence of these effects in the data. The data also suggest that the morning reversal in the East-West component of flow moves to earlier local times as Bz, declines in value and becomes negative. The correlation analysis also provides information on the ionospheric response time to changes in IMF Bz, it being found that the response is very rapid indeed. The most rapid response occurs in the noon to mid-afternoon sector, where the westward flows of the dusk cell respond with a delay of 3.9 ± 2.2 min to changes in the North-South field at the subsolar magnetopause. The flows appear to evolve in form over the subsequent ~ 5 min interval, however, as indicated by the longer response times found for the northward component of flow in this sector (6.7 ±2.2 min), and in data from earlier and later local times. No evidence is found for a latitudinal gradient in response time; changes in flow take place coherently in time across the entire radar field-of-view.

Eastward propagation of a plasma convection enhancement following a southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field

On October 27th 1984, high-latitude ionospheric convection was observed by the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) radar. For a nine-hour period, simultaneous observations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) were obtained sunward of the Earth's bow shock. During this period, the IMF abruptly turned southward, having previously been predominantly northward for approximately three hours, and a strong enhancement in convection was observed 11 ± 1 minutes later. Using the very high time resolution of the EISCAT data, it is shown that the convection enhancement propagated eastward, around the afternoon magnetic local time sector, at a speed of the order of 1 kms−1. These results are interpreted in terms of the effects of an onset of steady IMF-geomagnetic field merging and are the first to show how a new pattern of enhanced convection is established in the high latitude ionosphere.

ReadingAct RGB-D action dataset and human action recognition from local features

For general home monitoring, a system should automatically interpret people’s actions. The system should be non-intrusive, and able to deal with a cluttered background, and loose clothes. An approach based on spatio-temporal local features and a Bag-of-Words (BoW) model is proposed for single-person action recognition from combined intensity and depth images. To restore the temporal structure lost in the traditional BoW method, a dynamic time alignment technique with temporal binning is applied in this work, which has not been previously implemented in the literature for human action recognition on depth imagery. A novel human action dataset with depth data has been created using two Microsoft Kinect sensors. The ReadingAct dataset contains 20 subjects and 19 actions for a total of 2340 videos. To investigate the effect of using depth images and the proposed method, testing was conducted on three depth datasets, and the proposed method was compared to traditional Bag-of-Words methods. Results showed that the proposed method improves recognition accuracy when adding depth to the conventional intensity data, and has advantages when dealing with long actions.

Corporate identity through graphic design

The degree project has been implemented abroad in Brisbane, Australia. A literature study has beenperformed parallel to the practical work within the subject »Corporate identity through graphicaldesign«. In this study deeper research has been made concerning the establishment and manifestationof a corporate identity and its program. The knowledge given from this study has been put into practicethrough two larger projects.The first project was carried out at De Pasquale, advertising agency in Brisbane, where a corporateidentity program was designed for a new company. The company is a fitness centre, called KnockoutFitness, which specializes in different types of boxing training sessions such as Boxing, Thai Bow andBoxercise but also Aqua aerobics. They needed a full corporate identity program including a logotype,business card, letter paper-paper and address labels.The second project was carried out at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. A promotioncampaign was designed for the Department of Visual Arts, which included two information folders andone advertisement. The purpose of the campaign was to promote both the undergraduate and postgraduatecourses offered within the department.

Aspectos fisiológicos da produção de força em remadores

Atualmente a ciência do esporte requer abordagens que combinem o estudo de aspectos biomecânicos e fisiológicos para o correto entendimento dos fenômenos relacionados ao desempenho humano. Desta forma, o objetivo geral deste estudo foi analisar as relações e as diferenças entre os formatos de curva de força x tempo e as respostas fisiológicas e biomecânicas de remadores. Quinze remadores (24,47±5,21 anos, 83,51±7,19 kg, 185,50±6,53 cm e 13,68±1,65 % de gordura), foram submetidos a um teste cardiopulmonar de exercício em remoergômetro. Foram medidas as respostas de VO2, VCO2, VE, RER, MET, lactato, FC, força, potência e impulso, tanto no estágio de limiar de lactato quanto no estágio máximo alcançado pelos remadores. O Tratamento estatístico foi composto por Teste t-Student para amostras independentes, Correlação Linear de Pearson, Teste Qui-Quadrado de McNemar e ANOVA one-way. O nível de significância adotado foi de 5%. Os remadores foram classificados em dois grupos: stroke (pico de força na primeira metade da curva de força x tempo) e bow (pico de força na segunda metade da curva de força x tempo). No estágio de limiar de lactato foram identificados três remadores com perfil stroke e 12 com perfil bow, não havendo diferenças significativas nos parâmetros fisiológicos e biomecânicos entre os dois grupos, bem como não havendo correlações significativas entre o formato de curva de força e as respostas fisiológicas e biomecânicas. No estágio máximo alcançado pelos remadores foi possível classificar oito remadores como stroke e sete bow, sendo que estes últimos apresentaram menores valores de lactato, embora sem significância estatística (p=0,067), e maiores níveis de produções de potência (p=0,037) Foram encontradas correlações regulares negativas entre o lactato sangüíneo e: a) o tempo para o pico de força(r= -0,556 e p=0,031); b) o tempo de curva (r= -0,593 e p=0,020); c) a metade da curva de força (r= -0,562 e p=0,029). Dos 12 remadores bow no limiar de lactato, 41,7% transitaram para um padrão stroke, enquanto que 58,3% mantiveram o perfil original no estágio máximo, os quais apresentaram maiores valores de VE, potência e tempo para o pico de força máxima e maiores valores VCO2 no limiar de lactato. O panorama criado por este conjunto de resultados permite sugerir que treinadores e atletas, interessados em prolongar o tempo de exercício, devem buscar um perfil de pico de força bow.

Aspects of classical and quantum motion on a flux cone

Motion of a nonrelativistic particle on a cone with a magnetic flux running through the cone axis (a flux cone) is studied. It is expressed as the motion of a particle moving on the Euclidean plane under the action of a velocity-dependent force. The probability fluid (quantum flow) associated with a particular stationary state is studied close to the singularity, demonstrating nontrivial Aharonov-Bohm effects. For example, it is shown that, near the singularity, quantum flow departs from classical flow. In the context of the hydrodynamical approach to quantum mechanics, quantum potential due to the conical singularity is determined, and the way it affects quantum flow is analyzed. It is shown that the winding number of classical orbits plays a role in the description of the quantum Bow. The connectivity of the configuration space is also discussed.

Fisheries and fishing effort at the Indigenous Reserves Ashaninka/Kaxinawá, river Breu, Brazil/Peru

Este artigo tem o objetivo de descrever a pesca de subsistência das populações tradicionais de uma aldeia Ashaninka e duas Kaxinawá vivendo à beira do rio Breu. Inicialmente, foram treinados monitores para preencher fichas de coleta de dados das pescarias nas aldeias durante um ciclo anual (agosto/1995 agosto/1996). A partir desses dados realizaram-se os inventários das espécies de peixes capturadas e dos ambientes pesqueiros. A análise dos dados foi efetuada por meio de estatística descritiva e exploratória. Os resultados obtidos foram os seguintes: i) os ambientes mais procurados pelos índios foram os poços; ii) as espécies mais capturadas os mandis (35%, Pimelodidae), os bodes ou cascudos (Loricariidae), com destaque para o bode praiano (25%, Hypostomus sp.), o curimatã (9%, Prochilodus sp.) e os saburus (8%, Curimatidae), entre outros; iii) constatou-se que os arreios ou apetrechos de pesca que mais capturam peixes são o tingui (veneno), a tarrafa e o arco/flecha, respectivamente; iv) durante o verão a atividade de pesca é mais intensa; v) as medidas de esforço de pesca e os fatores associados que foram estatisticamente significativos nas predições das capturas na Reserva Indígena foram: f1 = o (número de pescadores), f2 = o (número de pescadores*tempo total das pescarias) e f3 = o [(número de pescadores*tempo total das pescarias)-(o tempo de deslocamento)] e os fatores aldeias e arreios; vi) apesar da maioria das pescarias serem realizadas a pé até os pesqueiros, as capturas são maiores quando a locomoção se dá através de canoa a remo; e vii) os pescadores mais ativos nas pescarias na Reserva Indígena foram os Kaxinawá.

Amperometric differential determination of ascorbic acid in beverages and vitamin C tablets using a flow cell containing an array of gold microelectrodes modified with palladium

A simple and attractive method for quantification of ascorbic acid (AA) in beers, soda, natural juices and commercial vitamin C tablets was achieved by combining Bow injection analysis and amperometric detection. An array of gold microelectrodes electrochemically modified by deposition of palladium was employed as working electrode which was almost unaffected by fouling effects. Ascorbic acid was quantified in beverages and vitamin tablets using amperometric differential measurements. This method is based on three steps involving the flow injection of: 1) the sample plus a standard addition of AA, 2) the pure sample, and 3) the enzymatically-treated sample. The enzymatic treatment was carried out with Cucumis sativus tissue, which is a rich source of ascorbate oxidase, at pH 7. The calibration plots for freshly prepared ascorbic acid standards were very linear in the concentration range of 0.18-1.8 mg L-1 with a relative standard deviation (RSD) < 1%, while for real samples the deviations were between 2.7% to 8.9%.

Dielectric and viscoelastic properties of cross-linked polyethylene aged under multi stressing conditions

Different measurements were performed in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) employed as insulating material in coaxial cables that were field-aged and laboratory-aged under multi-stressing conditions at room temperature. Samples were peeled from the XLPE cable insulation in three different positions: just below the external semiconductor layer (outer layer), in the middle (middle layer) and just above the internal semiconductor layer of the cable (inner layer). The imaginary part of the electric susceptibility showed three peaks that obey the Dissado-Hill model. For laboratory-aged XLPE samples peeled from the inner and from the middle positions the peak at very low frequency region increased while in samples from the outer position a quasi-DC conduction process was observed. In medium frequency range a broadening of the peak was observed for all samples. Viscoelastic properties determined through dynamic mechanical analysis suggested that the aging generates processes that promoted changes of the crystallinity and the cross-linking degrees of the polymer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements revealed an increase of oxidation products (esters), evidence of polar residues of the bow-tie tree and the presence of cross-linking by-products (acetophenone). Optical and scanning electronic microscope (SEM) measurements in aged samples revealed the existence of voids and bow-tie trees that were formed during aging in the middle region of the cable.

Influência da posição diametral das tábuas e da vaporização nos defeitos de secagem de Eucalyptus grandis

This study evaluated the Eucalyptus grandis drying defects acting on boards diametrical position and on log steaming. Half of the logs, with diameter from 20 to <25, 25 to <30 and 30 to <35cm, were steamed during 20 hours at 90°C of temperature. Subsequently, the logs (control and steamed) were sawn. The boards were dried in the dry-kiln pilot and the resulting defects from the drying process were measured. The results indicate that: (1) the boards coming from control logs presented different magnitude defects in function of the diametrical position. The split and spring to increase in direction to pith, the bow to increase in direction to bark and cupping were bigger in intermediary boards; (2) the boards coming from steamed logs presented a reduction from drying defects in function of logs diameter and its more homogeneous index in the pith-bark direction.