Estimation of atmospheric nutrient inputs to the Atlantic Ocean from 50°N to 50°S based on large-scale field sampling: Iron and other dust-associated elements

Atmospheric inputs of mineral dust supply iron and other trace metals to the remote ocean and can influence the marine carbon cycle due to iron's role as a potentially limiting micronutrient. Dust generation, transport, and deposition are highly heterogeneous, and there are very few remote marine locations where dust concentrations and chemistry (e.g., iron solubility) are routinely monitored. Here we use aerosol and rainwater samples collected during 10 large-scale research cruises to estimate the atmospheric input of iron, aluminum, and manganese to four broad regions of the Atlantic Ocean over two 3 month periods for the years 2001–2005. We estimate total inputs of these metals to our study regions to be 4.2, 17, and 0.27 Gmol in April–June and 4.9, 14, and 0.19 Gmol in September–November, respectively. Inputs were highest in regions of high rainfall (the intertropical convergence zone and South Atlantic storm track), and rainfall contributed higher proportions of total input to wetter regions. By combining input estimates for total and soluble metals for these time periods, we calculated overall percentage solubilities for each metal that account for the contributions from both wet and dry depositions and the relative contributions from different aerosol types. Calculated solubilities were in the range 2.4%–9.1% for iron, 6.1%–15% for aluminum, and 54%–73% for manganese. We discuss sources of uncertainty in our estimates and compare our results to some recent estimates of atmospheric iron input to the Atlantic.

A 'ruin of all space, shattered glass and toppling masonry': Joyce's Orientalism in the Context of 11 September 2001 and 1922

Chapters 3 and 15 of Joyce's Ulysses exhibit glimpses of three dreams, fantasies and eventual nightmares linked to the figure of 'Haroun al Raschid.' Historically speaking, the latter was a powerful Caliph of Baghdad, a medieval potentate about whom many of the most memorable of The Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights' Entertainments were once and then again spun as tales of pleasure. Joyce seizes upon the figure of 'Haroun al Raschid' as a fictive measure to articulate the 'orientalist' fantasies of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom. However, this evocative figure of Near Eastern history, of fabulous narrative and the progressively converging fantasies of two modern European literary characters is riddled with paradox. Such material provides Joyce a perceptive and proleptic sense of the paradoxes and brutal historical contradictions through which Western and Eastern dreams of theocratic nationalism, ethnic zealotry, colonial rebellion and Zionism are to be played out. W. B. Yeats' poem 'The Gift of Harun al-Raschid', written in 1923, the year after the book publication of Ulysses, provides both a fitting foil and a significant socio-historical point of reference for Joyce's own figurative use of the Caliph of Baghdad.

Software Products for Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science

Models and software products have been developed for modelling, simulation and prediction of different correlations in materials science, including 1. the correlation between processing parameters and properties in titanium alloys and ?-titanium aluminides; 2. time–temperature–transformation (TTT) diagrams for titanium alloys; 3. corrosion resistance of titanium alloys; 4. surface hardness and microhardness profile of nitrocarburised layers; 5. fatigue stress life (S–N) diagrams for Ti–6Al–4V alloys. The programs are based on trained artificial neural networks. For each particular case appropriate combination of inputs and outputs is chosen. Very good performances of the models are achieved. Graphical user interfaces (GUI) are created for easy use of the models. In addition interactive text versions are developed. The models designed are combined and integrated in software package that is built up on a modular fashion. The software products are available in versions for different platforms including Windows 95/98/2000/NT, UNIX and Apple Macintosh. Description of the software products is given, to demonstrate that they are convenient and powerful tools for practical applications in solving various problems in materials science. Examples for optimisation of the alloy compositions, processing parameters and working conditions are illustrated. An option for use of the software in materials selection procedure is described.