Data collection and analysis

A presentation on the collection and analysis of data taken from SOES 6018. This module aims to ensure that MSc Oceanography, MSc Marine Science, Policy & Law and MSc Marine Resource Management students are equipped with the skills they need to function as professional marine scientists, in addition to / in conjuction with the skills training in other MSc modules. The module covers training in fieldwork techniques, communication & research skills, IT & data analysis and professional development.

Implementation of ‘School Back’ by the ‘Core’ technique in a factory of geotextiles to prevent back pain

Introduction: This article aims to show an alternative intervention for the prevention and control of back pain to the people of a production plant of geotextiles for the construction exposed to handling and awkward postures through the implementation of the Back School using the CORE technique. This technique being understood as trainer of the stability musculature of the spine; whose benefit is proportionate the muscular complex of the back, stability and avoid osteomuscular lesions and improved posture. Objective: To present the results about the implementation of the back school by the CORE technique for prevention of back pain in a population of forty-eight male collaborators. Materials and methods: The back school began with talks of awareness by the occupational health physician explaining the objectives and benefits of it to all participants. Once this activity was done, was continued to evaluate all plant employees to establish health status through the PAR-Q questionnaire, who were surveyed for the perception of pain using visual analog scale (VAS) and stability was determined column through the CORE assessment, to determine the training plan. Then, were made every six months the revaluations and implementation of a survey of assistant public perception to identify the impact of the implementation of the school back on the two variables referred (pain perception and stability of column). Results: The pain perception according VAS increased in the number of workers asymptomatic in 12% and based in the satisfaction survey 94% of population reported that with the development of this technique decrease the muscle fatigue in lumbar level; and 96% of population reported an improvement in the performance of their work activities. Discussion: Posterior to the analysis of all results, it is interpreted that back schools practice through CORE technique, contributes to the prevention and / or control of symptoms at the lumbar level in population of productive sector exposed to risks derived from the physical load, provided that ensure its continuously development and supervised for a competent professional.

Geochemical mapping of carbonate sediments in the Makgadikgadi basin, Botswana using moderate resolution remote sensing data

This paper maps the carbonate geochemistry of the Makgadikgadi Pans region of northern Botswana from moderate resolution (500 m pixels) remotely sensed data, to assess the impact of various geomorphological processes on surficial carbonate distribution. Previous palaeo-environmental studies have demonstrated that the pans have experienced several highstands during the Quaternary, forming calcretes around shoreline embayments. The pans are also a significant regional source of dust, and some workers have suggested that surficial carbonate distributions may be controlled, in part, by wind regime. Field studies of carbonate deposits in the region have also highlighted the importance of fluvial and groundwater processes in calcrete formation. However, due to the large area involved and problems of accessibility, the carbonate distribution across the entire Makgadikgadi basin remains poorly understood. The MODIS instrument permits mapping of carbonate distribution over large areas; comparison with estimates from Landsat Thematic Mapper data show reasonable agreement, and there is good agreement with estimates from laboratory analysis of field samples. The results suggest that palaeo-lake highstands, reconstructed here using the SRTM 3 arc-second digital elevation model, have left behind surficial carbonate deposits, which can be mapped by the MODIS instrument. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Geochemical mapping of carbonate sediments in the Makgadikgadi basin, Botswana using moderate resolution remote sensing data

This paper maps the carbonate geochemistry of the Makgadikgadi Pans region of northern Botswana from moderate resolution (500 m pixels) remotely sensed data, to assess the impact of various geomorphological processes on surficial carbonate distribution. Previous palaeo-environmental studies have demonstrated that the pans have experienced several highstands during the Quaternary, forming calcretes around shoreline embayments. The pans are also a significant regional source of dust, and some workers have suggested that surficial carbonate distributions may be controlled, in part, by wind regime. Field studies of carbonate deposits in the region have also highlighted the importance of fluvial and groundwater processes in calcrete formation. However, due to the large area involved and problems of accessibility, the carbonate distribution across the entire Makgadikgadi basin remains poorly understood. The MODIS instrument permits mapping of carbonate distribution over large areas; comparison with estimates from Landsat Thematic Mapper data show reasonable agreement, and there is good agreement with estimates from laboratory analysis of field samples. The results suggest that palaeo-lake highstands, reconstructed here using the SRTM 3 arc-second digital elevation model, have left behind surficial carbonate deposits, which can be mapped by the MODIS instrument. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Using remotely sensed data to support flood modelling

Recent severe flooding in the UK has highlighted the need for better information on flood risk, increasing the pressure on engineers to enhance the capabilities of computer models for flood prediction. This paper evaluates the benefits to be gained from the use of remotely sensed data to support flood modelling. The remotely sensed data available can be used either to produce high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) (light detection and ranging (Lidar) data), or to generate accurate inundation mapping of past flood events (airborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data and aerial photography). The paper reports on the modelling of real flood events that occurred at two UK sites on the rivers Severn and Ouse. At these sites a combination of remotely sensed data and recorded hydrographs was available. It is concluded first that light detection and ranging Lidar generated DTMs support the generation of considerably better models and enhance the visualisation of model results and second that flood outlines obtained from airborne SAR or aerial images help develop an appreciation of the hydraulic behaviour of important model components, and facilitate model validation. The need for further research is highlighted by a number of limitations, namely: the difficulties in obtaining an adequate representation of hydraulically important features such as embankment crests and walls; uncertainties in the validation data; and difficulties in extracting flood outlines from airborne SAR images in urban areas.

Projected gradient approach to the numerical solution of the SCoTLASS

The SCoTLASS problem-principal component analysis modified so that the components satisfy the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) constraint-is reformulated as a dynamical system on the unit sphere. The LASSO inequality constraint is tackled by exterior penalty function. A globally convergent algorithm is developed based on the projected gradient approach. The algorithm is illustrated numerically and discussed on a well-known data set. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Use of a crop model ensemble to quantify CO2 stimulation of water-stressed and well-watered crops

Increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) will benefit the yield of most crops. Two free air CO2 enrichment (FACE) meta-analyses have shown increases in yield of between 0 and 73% for C3 crops. Despite this large range, few crop modelling studies quantify the uncertainty inherent in the parameterisation of crop growth and development. We present a novel perturbed-parameter method of crop model simulation, which uses some constraints from observations, that does this. The model used is the groundnut (i.e. peanut; Arachis hypogaea L.) version of the general large-area model for annual crops (GLAM). The conclusions are of relevance to C3 crops in general. The increases in yield simulated by GLAM for doubled CO2 were between 16 and 62%. The difference in mean percentage increase between well-watered and water-stressed simulations was 6.8. These results were compared to FACE and controlled environment studies, and to sensitivity tests on two other crop models of differing levels of complexity: CROPGRO, and the groundnut model of Hammer et al. [Hammer, G.L., Sinclair, T.R., Boote, K.J., Wright, G.C., Meinke, H., Bell, M.J., 1995. A peanut simulation model. I. Model development and testing. Agron. J. 87, 1085-1093]. The relationship between CO2 and water stress in the experiments and in the models was examined. From a physiological perspective, water-stressed crops are expected to show greater CO2 stimulation than well-watered crops. This expectation has been cited in literature. However, this result is not seen consistently in either the FACE studies or in the crop models. In contrast, leaf-level models of assimilation do consistently show this result. An analysis of the evidence from these models and from the data suggests that scale (canopy versus leaf), model calibration, and model complexity are factors in determining the sign and magnitude of the interaction between CO2 and water stress. We conclude from our study that the statement that 'water-stressed crops show greater CO2 stimulation than well-watered crops' cannot be held to be universally true. We also conclude, preliminarily, that the relationship between water stress and assimilation varies with scale. Accordingly, we provide some suggestions on how studies of a similar nature, using crop models of a range of complexity, could contribute further to understanding the roles of model calibration, model complexity and scale. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Benchmarking or business opportunity: Using milk recording data to expose your clients' weaknesses

Routine milk recording data, often covering many years, are available for approximately half the dairy herds of England and Wales. In addition to milk yield and quality, these data include production events that can be used to derive objective Key Performance Indicators (KPI) describing a herd's fertility and production. Recent developments in information systems give veterinarians and other technical advisers access to these KPIs on-line. In addition to reviewing individual herd performance, advisers can establish local benchmark groups to demonstrate the relative performance of similar herds in the vicinity. The use of existing milk recording data places no additional demands on farmer's time or resources. These developments could also readily be exploited by universities to introduce veterinary undergraduates to the realities of commercial dairy production.

Consumption of welfare-friendly food products in Great Britain, Italy and Sweden, and how it may be influenced by consumer attitudes to, and behaviour towards, animal welfare attributes

The interest in animal welfare and welfare-friendly food products has been increasing in Europe over the last 10 years. The media, highlighting traditional farming methods and food scares such as those related to salmonella, bovine spongiform encephalopathy/variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (BSE) and avian influenza, have brought the methods of animal farming to public attention. Concerns about farm animal welfare are reflected in the increase in the number of vegetarians and vegans and an increase in consumers wishing to purchase food which is more animal welfare-friendly. This paper considers consumers’ attitudes to animal welfare and to marketing practices, such as product labelling, welfare grading systems and food assurance marks using comparative data collected in a survey of around 1500 consumers in each of Great Britain, Italy and Sweden as part of the EU-funded Welfare Quality research project. The findings suggest a need for the provision of improved consumer information on the welfare provenance of food using appropriate product labelling and other methods.

Adventitious root formation in anacardium occidentale L. in response to phytohormones and removal of roots

Despite advances in tissue culture techniques, propagation by leafy, softwood cuttings is the preferred, practical system for vegetative reproduction of many tree and shrub species. Species are frequently defined as 'difficult'- or 'easy-to-root' when propagated by conventional cuttings. Speed of rooting is often linked with ease of propagation, and slow-to-root species may be 'difficult' precisely because tissues deteriorate prior to the formation of adventitious roots. Even when roots form, limited development of these may impair the establishment of a cutting. In this study we used softwood cuttings of cashew (Anacardium occidentale), a species considered as 'difficult-to-root'. We aimed to test the hypothesis that speed, and extent of early rooting, is critical in determining success with this species; and that the potential to form adventitious roots will decrease with time in the propagation environment. Using two genotypes, initial rooting rates were examined in the presence or absence of exogenous auxin. In cuttings that formed adventitious roots, either entire roots or root tips were removed, to determine if further root formation/development was feasible. To investigate if subsequent root responses were linked to phytohormone action, a number of cuttings were also treated with either exogenous auxin (indole-3-butyric acid-IBA) or cytokinin (zeatin). Despite the reputation of Anacardium as being 'difficult-to-root', we found high rooting rates in two genotypes (AC 10 and CCP 1001). Removing adventitious roots from cuttings and returning them to the propagation environment, resulted in subsequent re-rooting. Indeed, individual cuttings could develop new adventitious roots on four to five separate occasions over a 9 week period. Data showed that rooting potential increased, not decreased with time in the propagation environment and that cutting viability was unaffected. Root expression was faster (8-15 days) after the removal of previous roots compared to when the cuttings were first stuck (21 days). Exposing cuttings to IBA at the time of preparation, improved initial rooting in AC 10, but not in CCP 1001. Application of IBA once roots had formed had little effect on subsequent development, but zeatin reduced root length and promoted root number and dry matter accumulation. These results challenge our hypothesis, and indicate that rooting potential remains high in Anacardium. The precise mechanisms that regulate the number of adventitious roots expressed, remain to be determined. Nevertheless, results indicate that rooting potential can be high in 'difficult-to-root' species, and suggest that providing supportive environments is the key to expressing this potential. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The application of the Hilbert spectrum to the analysis of electromyographic signals

This paper investigates the application of the Hilbert spectrum (HS), which is a recent tool for the analysis of nonlinear and nonstationary time-series, to the study of electromyographic (EMG) signals. The HS allows for the visualization of the energy of signals through a joint time-frequency representation. In this work we illustrate the use of the HS in two distinct applications. The first is for feature extraction from EMG signals. Our results showed that the instantaneous mean frequency (IMNF) estimated from the HS is a relevant feature to clinical practice. We found that the median of the IMNF reduces when the force level of the muscle contraction increases. In the second application we investigated the use of the HS for detection of motor unit action potentials (MUAPs). The detection of MUAPs is a basic step in EMG decomposition tools, which provide relevant information about the neuromuscular system through the morphology and firing time of MUAPs. We compared, visually, how MUAP activity is perceived on the HS with visualizations provided by some traditional (e.g. scalogram, spectrogram, Wigner-Ville) time-frequency distributions. Furthermore, an alternative visualization to the HS, for detection of MUAPs, is proposed and compared to a similar approach based on the continuous wavelet transform (CWT). Our results showed that both the proposed technique and the CWT allowed for a clear visualization of MUAP activity on the time-frequency distributions, whereas results obtained with the HS were the most difficult to interpret as they were extremely affected by spurious energy activity. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Career journeys and turning points of senior female managers in small construction firms

There is under-representation of senior female managers within small construction firms in the United Kingdom. The position is denying the sector a valuable pool of labour to address acute knowledge and skill shortages. Grounded theory on the career progression of senior female managers in these firms is developed from biographical interviews. First, a turning point model which distinguishes the interplay between human agency and work/home structure is given. Second, four career development phases are identified. The career journeys are characterized by ad hoc decisions and opportunities which were not influenced by external policies aimed at improving the representation of women in construction. Third, the 'hidden', but potentially significant, contribution of women-owned small construction firms is noted. The key challenge for policy and practice is to balance these external approaches with recognition of the 'inside out' reality of the 'lived experiences' of female managers. To progress this agenda there is a need for: appropriate longitudinal statistical data to quantify the scale of senior female managers and owners of small construction firms over time; and, social construction and gendered organizational analysis research to develop a general discourse on gender difference with these firms.

On the use of geometric moments to examine the continuum of sudden stratospheric warmings

The polar winter stratospheric vortex is a coherent structure that undergoes different types of deformation that can be revealed by the geometric invariant moments. Three moments are used—the aspect ratio, the centroid latitude, and the area of the vortex based on stratospheric data from the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) project—to study sudden stratospheric warmings. Hierarchical clustering combined with data image visualization techniques is used as well. Using the gap statistic, three optimal clusters are obtained based on the three geometric moments considered here. The 850-K potential vorticity field, as well as the vertical profiles of polar temperature and zonal wind, provides evidence that the clusters represent, respectively, the undisturbed (U), displaced (D), and split (S) states of the polar vortex. This systematic method for identifying and characterizing the state of the polar vortex using objective methods is useful as a tool for analyzing observations and as a test for climate models to simulate the observations. The method correctly identifies all previously identified major warmings and also identifies significant minor warmings where the atmosphere is substantially disturbed but does not quite meet the criteria to qualify as a major stratospheric warming.

The application of Prony’s method to time-domain waveform data modeling in the presence of noise

In this paper,the Prony's method is applied to the time-domain waveform data modelling in the presence of noise.The following three problems encountered in this work are studied:(1)determination of the order of waveform;(2)de-termination of numbers of multiple roots;(3)determination of the residues.The methods of solving these problems are given and simulated on the computer.Finally,an output pulse of model PG-10N signal generator and the distorted waveform obtained by transmitting the pulse above mentioned through a piece of coaxial cable are modelled,and satisfactory results are obtained.So the effectiveness of Prony's method in waveform data modelling in the presence of noise is confirmed.

Application of a hybrid tracking algorithm to motion analysis

An algorithm for tracking multiple feature positions in a dynamic image sequence is presented. This is achieved using a combination of two trajectory-based methods, with the resulting hybrid algorithm exhibiting the advantages of both. An optimizing exchange algorithm is described which enables short feature paths to be tracked without prior knowledge of the motion being studied. The resulting partial trajectories are then used to initialize a fast predictor algorithm which is capable of rapidly tracking multiple feature paths. As this predictor algorithm becomes tuned to the feature positions being tracked, it is shown how the location of occluded or poorly detected features can be predicted. The results of applying this tracking algorithm to data obtained from real-world scenes are then presented.