Location and characteristics of the reconnection X line deduced from low-altitude satellite and ground-based observations: 1. Theory

A method for estimating both the Alfvén speed and the field-aligned flow of the magnetosheath at the magnetopause reconnection site is presented. The method employs low-altitude cusp ion observations and requires the identification of a feature in the cusp ion spectra near the low-energy cutoff which will often be present for a low-latitude dayside reconnection site. The appearance of these features in data of limited temporal, energy, and pitch angle resolution is illustrated by using model calculations of cusp ion distribution functions. These are based on the theory of ion acceleration at the dayside magnetopause and allow for the effects on the spectrum of flight times of ions precipitating down newly opened field lines. In addition, the variation of the reconnection rate can be evaluated, and comparison with ground-based observations of the corresponding sequence of transient events allows the field-aligned distance from the ionosphere to the reconnection site to be estimated.

Do location specific forecasts pose a new challenge for communicating uncertainty?

In the last decade, the growth of local, site-specific weather forecasts delivered by mobile phone or website represents arguably the fastest change in forecast consumption since the beginning of Television weather forecasts 60 years ago. In this study, a street-interception survey of 274 members of the public a clear first preference for narrow weather forecasts above traditional broad weather forecasts is shown for the first time, with a clear bias towards this preference for users under 40. The impact of this change on the understanding of forecast probability and intensity information is explored. While the correct interpretation of the statement ‘There is a 30% chance of rain tomorrow’ is still low in the cohort, in common with previous studies, a clear impact of age and educational attainment on understanding is shown, with those under 40 and educated to degree level or above more likely to correctly interpret it. The interpretation of rainfall intensity descriptors (‘Light’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Heavy’) by the cohort is shown to be significantly different to official and expert assessment of the same descriptors and to have large variance amongst the cohort. However, despite these key uncertainties, members of the cohort generally seem to make appropriate decisions about rainfall forecasts. There is some evidence that the decisions made are different depending on the communication format used, and the cohort expressed a clear preference for tabular over graphical weather forecast presentation.

Observations on the flight paths of the day-flying moth Virbia lamae during periods of mate location: do males have a strategy for contacting the pheromone plume?

1. To maximize the probability of rapid contact with a female’s pheromone plume, the trajectories of male foraging flights might be expected to be directed with respect to wind flow and also to be energetically efficient. 2. Flights directed either upwind, downwind, or crosswind have been proposed as optimal strategies for rapid and/or energetically efficient plume contact. Other possible strategies are random and Lévy walks, which have trajectories and turn frequencies that are not dictated by the direction of wind flow. 3. The planar flight paths of males of the day-active moth Virbia lamae were recorded during the customary time of its sexual activity. 4. We found no directional preference in these foraging flights with respect to the direction of contemporaneous wind flow, but, because crosswind encompasses twice the possible orientations of either upwind or downwind, a random orientation is in effect a de facto crosswind strategy. 5. A crosswind preference should be favoured when the plume extends farther downwind than crosswind, and this strategy is realized by V. lamae males by a random orientation of their trajectories with respect to current wind direction

Geoadditive models for regional count data: an application to industrial location

We propose a geoadditive negative binomial model (Geo-NB-GAM) for regional count data that allows us to address simultaneously some important methodological issues, such as spatial clustering, nonlinearities, and overdispersion. This model is applied to the study of location determinants of inward greenfield investments that occurred during 2003–2007 in 249 European regions. After presenting the data set and showing the presence of overdispersion and spatial clustering, we review the theoretical framework that motivates the choice of the location determinants included in the empirical model, and we highlight some reasons why the relationship between some of the covariates and the dependent variable might be nonlinear. The subsequent section first describes the solutions proposed by previous literature to tackle spatial clustering, nonlinearities, and overdispersion, and then presents the Geo-NB-GAM. The empirical analysis shows the good performance of Geo-NB-GAM. Notably, the inclusion of a geoadditive component (a smooth spatial trend surface) permits us to control for spatial unobserved heterogeneity that induces spatial clustering. Allowing for nonlinearities reveals, in keeping with theoretical predictions, that the positive effect of agglomeration economies fades as the density of economic activities reaches some threshold value. However, no matter how dense the economic activity becomes, our results suggest that congestion costs never overcome positive agglomeration externalities.

National boundaries and the location of multinational firms in Europe

Using data on 5,102 subsidiaries established in the period 1991–1999, we examine the location choice of multinational firms of different nationalities in 47 regions of five EU countries. In particular we estimate a nested logit model and find that European multinationals consider regions across different countries as relatively closer substitutes than regions within national borders. This is consistent with the hypothesis that European regions compete to attract foreign direct investments relatively more across than within countries. However, in line with previous studies, we also find that national boundaries still play some role in choices made by non-European multinationals.

Location choices of multinational firms in Europe: the role of EU cohesion policy

Using data on 5509 foreign subsidiaries established in 50 regions of 8 EU countries over the period 1991–1999, we estimate a mixed logit model of the location choice of multinational firms in Europe. In particular, we focus on the role of EU Cohesion Policy in attracting foreign investors from both within and outside Europe. We find that, after controlling for the role of agglomeration economies as well as a number of other regional and country characteristics and allowing for a very flexible correlation pattern among choices, Structural and Cohesion funds allocated by the EU to laggard regions have indeed contributed to attracting multinationals. These policies as well as other determinants play a different role in the case of European investors as opposed to non-European ones.

Non-cinema: the location of politics in film

Philosophy has repeatedly denied cinema in order to grant it artistic status. Adorno, for example, defined an ‘uncinematic’ element in the negation of movement in modern cinema, ‘which constitutes its artistic character’. Similarly, Lyotard defended an ‘acinema’, which rather than selecting and excluding movements through editing, accepts what is ‘fortuitous, dirty, confused, unclear, poorly framed, overexposed’. In his Handbook of Inaesthetics, Badiou embraces a similar idea, by describing cinema as an ‘impure circulation’ that incorporates the other arts. Resonating with Bazin and his defence of ‘impure cinema’, that is, of cinema’s interbreeding with other arts, Badiou seems to agree with him also in identifying the uncinematic as the location of the Real. This article will investigate the particular impurities of cinema that drive it beyond the specificities of the medium and into the realm of the other arts and the reality of life itself. Privileged examples will be drawn from various moments in film history and geography, starting with the analysis of two films by Jafar Panahi: This Is Not a Film (In film nist, 2011), whose anti-cinema stance in announced in its own title; and The Mirror (Aineh, 1997), another relentless exercise in self-negation. It goes on to examine Kenji Mizoguchi’s deconstruction of cinematic acting in his exploration of the geidomono genre (films about theatre actors) in The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangigku monogatari, 1939), and culminates in the conjuring of the physical experience of death through the systematic demolition of film genres in The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer et al., 2012).

Location, location, location? Analysing property rents in medieval Gloucester

Although medieval rentals have been extensively studied, few scholars have used them to analyse variations in the rents paid on individual properties within a town. It has been claimed that medieval rents did not reflect economic values or market forces, but were set according to social and political rather than economic criteria, and remained ossified at customary levels. This paper uses hedonic regression methods to test whether property rents in medieval Gloucester were influenced by classic economic factors such as the location and use of a property. It investigates both rents and local rates (landgavel), and explores the relationship between the two. It also examines spatial autocorrelation. It finds significant relationships between urban rents and property characteristics that are similar to those found in modern studies. The findings are consistent with the view that, in Gloucester at least, medieval rents were strongly influenced by classical economic factors working through a competitive urban property market.

The impact of location and type on the performance of Low-Voltage network connected Battery Energy Storage Systems

This paper assesses the impact of the location and configuration of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) on Low-Voltage (LV) feeders. BESS are now being deployed on LV networks by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) as an alternative to conventional reinforcement (e.g. upgrading cables and transformers) in response to increased electricity demand from new technologies such as electric vehicles. By storing energy during periods of low demand and then releasing that energy at times of high demand, the peak demand of a given LV substation on the grid can be reduced therefore mitigating or at least delaying the need for replacement and upgrade. However, existing research into this application of BESS tends to evaluate the aggregated impact of such systems at the substation level and does not systematically consider the impact of the location and configuration of BESS on the voltage profiles, losses and utilisation within a given feeder. In this paper, four configurations of BESS are considered: single-phase, unlinked three-phase, linked three-phase without storage for phase-balancing only, and linked three-phase with storage. These four configurations are then assessed based on models of two real LV networks. In each case, the impact of the BESS is systematically evaluated at every node in the LV network using Matlab linked with OpenDSS. The location and configuration of a BESS is shown to be critical when seeking the best overall network impact or when considering specific impacts on voltage, losses, or utilisation separately. Furthermore, the paper also demonstrates that phase-balancing without energy storage can provide much of the gains on unbalanced networks compared to systems with energy storage.

Improved information about the vertical location and extent of monolayer clouds from POLDER3 measurements in the oxygen A-band

This paper describes new advances in the exploitation of oxygen A-band measurements from POLDER3 sensor onboard PARASOL, satellite platform within the A-Train. These developments result from not only an account of the dependence of POLDER oxygen parameters to cloud optical thickness τ and to the scene's geometrical conditions but also, and more importantly, from the finer understanding of the sensitivity of these parameters to cloud vertical extent. This sensitivity is made possible thanks to the multidirectional character of POLDER measurements. In the case of monolayer clouds that represent most of cloudy conditions, new oxygen parameters are obtained and calibrated from POLDER3 data colocalized with the measurements of the two active sensors of the A-Train: CALIOP/CALIPSO and CPR/CloudSat. From a parameterization that is (μs, τ) dependent, with μs the cosine of the solar zenith angle, a cloud top oxygen pressure (CTOP) and a cloud middle oxygen pressure (CMOP) are obtained, which are estimates of actual cloud top and middle pressures (CTP and CMP). Performances of CTOP and CMOP are presented by class of clouds following the ISCCP classification. In 2008, the coefficient of the correlation between CMOP and CMP is 0.81 for cirrostratus, 0.79 for stratocumulus, 0.75 for deep convective clouds. The coefficient of the correlation between CTOP and CTP is 0.75, 0.73, and 0.79 for the same cloud types. The score obtained by CTOP, defined as the confidence in the retrieval for a particular range of inferred value and for a given error, is higher than the one of MODIS CTP estimate. Scores of CTOP are the highest for bin value of CTP superior in numbers. For liquid (ice) clouds and an error of 30 hPa (50 hPa), the score of CTOP reaches 50% (70%). From the difference between CTOP and CMOP, a first estimate of the cloud vertical extent h is possible. A second estimate of h comes from the correlation between the angular standard deviation of POLDER oxygen pressure σPO2 and the cloud vertical extent. This correlation is studied in detail in the case of liquid clouds. It is shown to be spatially and temporally robust, except for clouds above land during winter months. The analysis of the correlation's dependence on the scene's characteristics leads to a parameterization providing h from σPO2. For liquid water clouds above ocean in 2008, the mean difference between the actual cloud vertical extent and the one retrieved from σPO2 (from the pressure difference) is 5 m (−12 m). The standard deviation of the mean difference is close to 1000 m for the two methods. POLDER estimates of the cloud geometrical thickness obtain a global score of 50% confidence for a relative error of 20% (40%) of the estimate for ice (liquid) clouds over ocean. These results need to be validated outside of the CALIPSO/CloudSat track.

Comparing detection and location performance of perpendicular and parallel broadside GPR antenna orientations

GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) results are shown for perpendicular broadside and parallel broadside antenna orientations. Performance in detection and localization of concrete tubes and steel tanks is compared as a function of acquisition configuration. The comparison is done using 100 MHz and 200 MHz center frequency antennas. All tubes and tanks are buried at the geophysical test site of IAG/USP in Sao Paulo city, Brazil. The results show that the long steel pipe with a 38-mm diameter was well detected with the perpendicular broadside configuration. The concrete tubes were better detected with the parallel broadside configuration, clearly showing hyperbolic diffraction events from all targets up to 2-m depth. Steel tanks were detected with the two configurations. However, the parallel broadside configuration was generated to a much lesser extent an apparent hyperbolic reflection corresponding to constructive interference of diffraction hyperbolas of adjacent targets placed at the same depth. Vertical concrete tubes and steel tanks were better contained with parallel broadside antennas, where the apexes of the diffraction hyperbolas better corresponded to the horizontal location of the buried target disposition. The two configurations provide details about buried targets emphasizing how GPR multi-component configurations have the potential to improve the subsurface image quality as well as to discriminate different buried targets. It is judged that they hold some applicability in geotechnical and geoscientific studies. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Usefulness of Caries Frequency, Depth, and Location in Determining Cariogenicity and Past Subsistence: A Test on Early and Later Agriculturalists From the Peruvian Coast

Dental markers have been used to unravel particularities of paleodiet, subsistence, social structure, and health. This article aims to compare oral pathology among four pre-Columbian groups with different degrees of agricultural and socio-cultural development but comparable ecological conditions who lived on the coastal desert of Peru. Three of these groups are assigned to distinct phases of the Formative Period (2500-1 BC), a time critical for our understanding of the development of agriculture and social complexity. The fourth group corresponds to the Late Intermediate Period (1000-1470 AD), when agriculture had its apogee and society was highly stratified. In this study we test whether there is an increase (1) in the frequency of carious lesions and (2) in caries depth, and (3) if there is a shift from occlusal to extra-occlusal caries locations with the development of agriculture. Therefore, we analyze the frequencies of carious lesions and antemortem tooth loss (AMTL), the caries distributions by age, sex, and type of tooth, as well as the tissues affected by, and the location of the carious lesions. Since there are no significant differences in the frequencies of carious lesions and AMTL between the groups, we reject hypothesis 1. In contrast, caries depth does increase, and caries location changes from occlusal to extra-occlusal sites with agricultural development. However, we can only corroborate hypothesis 2 and 3 when taking into consideration dental wear. Thus, we recommend that caries depth and locations should be used with evaluations of dental wear to reconstruct subsistence in ancient populations. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:75-91, 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Chromosome polymorphism in Astyanax fasciatus (Teleostei, Characidae). 2-Chromosomal location of a satellite DNA

Studies about composition of repetitive sequences and their chromosomal location have been helpful to evolutionary studies in many distinct organisms. In order to keep on assessing the possible relationships among different cytotypes of Astyanax fasciatus (Teleostei, Characiformes) in the Mogi-Guacu River (Sao Paulo State, Brazil), C-banding, chromomycin A 3 staining, and fluorescent in situ hybridization with a repetitive DNA sequence (As51) isolated from Astyanax scabripinnis were performed in the present work. The constitutive heterochromatin was distributed in terminal regions on long arms of submetacentric, subtelocentric, and acrocentric chromosomes and in the terminal region on short arms of a pair of submetacentric chromosomes in both standard cytotypes. This latter heterochromatic site was also GC-rich, as revealed by chromomycin A(3) staining, corresponding to the nucleolar organizer region (NOR), as shown by previous studies. The sites of the satellite As51 DNA were located in terminal regions on long arms of several chromosomes. Some variant karyotypic forms, which diverge from the two standard cytotypes, also presented distinctive chromosomes carrying As51 satellite DNA. It is possible that the standard 2n = 46 cytotype represents an invader population in the Mogi-Guacu River able to interbreed with the resident standard 2n = 48 cytotype. Therefore, the variant karyotypes would be related to a possible viable offspring, where complementary chromosomal rearrangements could favor new locations of the satellite DNA analyzed. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel