Seeding nets with neutral spores of the red alga Porphyra umbilicalis (L.) Kutzing for use in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA)

Nets in traditional Porphyra mariculture are seeded with conchospores derived from the conchocelis phase, and spend a nursery period in culture tanks or calm coastal waters until they reach several centimeters in length. Some species of Porphyra can regenerate the foliose phase directly through asexual reproduction, which suggests that the time, infrastructure, and costs associated with conchocelis culture might be avoided by seeding nets with asexual spores. Here, we present work from a short-term mariculture study using nets seeded with asexual spores (neutral spores) of a native Maine species of Porphyra. Porphyra umbilicalis (L.) Kutzing was selected for this proof of concept research because of its reproductive biology, abundance across seasons in Maine, and evidence of its promise as a mariculture crop. We studied the maturation, release, and germination of the neutral spores to develop an appropriate seeding protocol for nets, followed by development of a nursery raceway to provide an easily manipulated environment for the seeded nets. Neutral spores were produced throughout the year on the central Maine coast,however, there was a temporal variability in the number and survival of released neutral spores, depending upon thallus position in the intertidal zone. Small thalli were strictly vegetative, but most thalli reproduced by neutral spores- sexual reproduction was absent. Neutral spores germinated quickly at 10 and 15 'C, but germination was delayed at 5 degrees C. Unlike some algal zygotes and spores, neutral spores of R umbilicalis required light to germinate; however, irradiances of 25 and 100 mu mol photons M-2 S-1 were equally sufficient for germination. Rafts of seeded nets were deployed in Cobscook Bay, Maine, at two distances from salmon aquaculture pens and at a control site on a nearby, fallow aquaculture site (no salmon). There was no difference in nitrogen content of harvested thalli; however, both the density and the surface area of harvested thalli were different among the sites. The possible causes of these differences are discussed in the context of potential use of P umbilicalis in IMTA. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

角点检测及图像匹配算法研究

本文主要研究角点检测算法和图像的匹配算法。角点是目标轮廓上具有高曲率的点，它可以较好的描述目标的特征。角点检测技术在计算机视觉和图像理解等领域应用很广，例如运动跟踪、目标识别、立体视觉等。角点检测技术被广泛应用的原因在于：角点包含丰富的图像信息，能够对视觉处理提供足够的约束，极大地提高运算速度，在图像之间进行可靠的匹配。 本文首先介绍了一些经典的基于几何特征的角点检测算法。随后本文详细描述了SUSAN���法，并针对其不足提出了一种改进算法。算法的仿真实验结果验证：该改进算法在性能上较原算法有很大提高。计算机视觉和图像处理中另一个重要的研究内容是图像的匹配，它的应用领域也很广泛。为了利用前文的角点提取结果，本文选取了Chang的点模式识别方法来完成图像匹配，算法的匹配仿真实验结果验证了算法的有效性。 本文在最后的章节中尝试了整套算法的硬件实现，硬件仿真的平台是基于DSP和FPGA的。结果证明，所设计的系统具有较好的跟踪能力和抗干扰能力。

基于几何特征的快速高精度角点检测算法

角点检测应用十分广泛,是许多计算机视觉任务的基础。本文提出了一种快速、高精度的角点检测算法,算法简单新颖,角点条件和角点响应函数设计独特。和以往不同的是:算法在设计上考虑的是角点的局部几何特征,使得处理的数据量大为减少,同时能够很好地保证检测精度等其他性能指标。通过和广泛使用的SUSAN���法、Harris算法在正确率、漏检、精度、抗噪声、计算复杂度等方面进行综合比较,结果表明该算法无论对人工合成图像还是对自然图像均具有良好的性能。

快速图像特征提取算法研究与应用

快速图像特征提取算法是图像处理和计算机视觉领域的重要研究课题。在复杂背景下基于视频的自动目标识别与跟踪中，目标特征的快速准确提取是实现高概率自动目标识别的关键技术，目标特征的快速提取能简化待识别目标的表示，实现快速准确地识别出感兴趣的目标。在机器人视觉中，快速图像特征提取也有广泛的应用，如视觉里程计技术、机器人自主视觉导航技术等。本文根据视频监控和机器人视觉的实际需求，对此课题开展了研究，主要的研究成果包括如下内容： 1)为消除视频图像的噪声对特征点提取的影响，提出了一种新的基于图像统计信息消除椒盐噪声算法。该算法能在去除噪声同时保持图像的细节特征(边缘和角点等)，并且具有较低的计算复杂度。 2)提出了基于4叉树和色彩迁移理论的光照常恒算法。该算法可对同一场景不同光照下的两幅图像进行光照校正。将一幅图像的亮度特征传递给另一幅图像，使目标图像具有与参照图像相似的亮度统计信息。通过亮度处理之后，两幅图像具有相似的光照背景，有助于后续的特征点检测。 3)提出了基于LBP的角点快速提取算法。该方法与目前流行Harris和SUSAN���点提取算法相比，具有复杂度低、实时性好、灰度伸缩不变性和旋转不变性等优点。 4)从透镜成像模型原理出发，推导出精确的景深计算公式，并将其和传统的景深计算公式进行了深入的比较和分析，最后从计算机视觉角度阐述了本文的景深计算公式的优点。 5)在上述算法研究和试验基础上，研发了森林烟火自动识别软件系统。在该系统中，上述提出的算法得到成功的应用。该软件系统已投入实际使用，实现了24小时全天候森林烟火自动监控和预警，同时也验证了文中所提算法的有效性。论文的最后一章进行了总结，并对今后的研究工作进行了展望。

It's not interaction, it's make believe.

A principal, but largely unexplored, use of our cognition when using interacting technology involves pretending. To pretend is to believe that which is not the case, for example, when we use the desktop on our personal computer we are pretending, that is, we are pretending that the screen is a desktop upon which windows reside. But, of course, the screen really isn't a desktop. Similarly when we engage in scenario- or persona-based design we are pretending about the settings, narrative, contexts and agents involved. Although there are exceptions, the overwhelming majority of the contents of these different kinds of stories are not the case. We also often pretend when we engage in the evaluation of these technologies (e.g. in the Wizard of Oz technique we "ignore the man behind the curtain"). We are pretending when we ascribe human-like qualities to digital technology. In each we temporarily believe something to be the case which is not. If we add the experience of tele- and social-presence to this, and the diverse experiences which can arise from using digital technology which too are predicted on pretending, then we are prompted to propose that human computer interaction and cognitive ergonomics are largely built on pretending and make believe. If this premise is accepted (and if not, please pretend for a moment), there are a number of interesting consequences.

Rapid Losses of Surface Elevation following Tree Girdling and Cutting in Tropical Mangroves.

Discussion Conclusions Materials and Methods Acknowledgments Author Contributions References Reader Comments (0) Figures Abstract The importance of mangrove forests in carbon sequestration and coastal protection has been widely acknowledged. Large-scale damage of these forests, caused by hurricanes or clear felling, can enhance vulnerability to erosion, subsidence and rapid carbon losses. However, it is unclear how small-scale logging might impact on mangrove functions and services. We experimentally investigated the impact of small-scale tree removal on surface elevation and carbon dynamics in a mangrove forest at Gazi bay, Kenya. The trees in five plots of a Rhizophora mucronata (Lam.) forest were first girdled and then cut. Another set of five plots at the same site served as controls. Treatment induced significant, rapid subsidence (−32.1±8.4 mm yr−1 compared with surface elevation changes of +4.2±1.4 mm yr−1 in controls). Subsidence in treated plots was likely due to collapse and decomposition of dying roots and sediment compaction as evidenced from increased sediment bulk density. Sediment effluxes of CO2 and CH4 increased significantly, especially their heterotrophic component, suggesting enhanced organic matter decomposition. Estimates of total excess fluxes from treated compared with control plots were 25.3±7.4 tCO2 ha−1 yr−1 (using surface carbon efflux) and 35.6±76.9 tCO2 ha−1 yr−1 (using surface elevation losses and sediment properties). Whilst such losses might not be permanent (provided cut areas recover), observed rapid subsidence and enhanced decomposition of soil sediment organic matter caused by small-scale harvesting offers important lessons for mangrove management. In particular mangrove managers need to carefully consider the trade-offs between extracting mangrove wood and losing other mangrove services, particularly shoreline stabilization, coastal protection and carbon storage.

Moving Communities of Practice forward: the challenge for the National electronic Library for Health and its Virtual Branch Libraries

Yeoman, A., Urquhart, C. & Sharp, S. (2003). Moving Communities of Practice forward: the challenge for the National electronic Library for Health and its Virtual Branch Libraries. Health Informatics Journal, 9(4), 241-252. Previously appeared as a conference paper for the iSHIMR2003 conference (Proceedings of the Eighth International Symposium on Health Information Management Research, June 1-3, 2003, Boras, Sweden) Sponsorship: NHS Information Authority/National electronic Library for Health

Developing communities of practice in the NeLH (National electronic Library for Health)

Urquhart, C., Yeoman, A., Sharp, S. (2003). Developing communities of practice in the NeLH (National electronic Library for Health). In Proceedings of the UKAIS (UK Academy for Information Systems) annual conference, University of Warwick, April 2003. Sponsorship: NHS Information Authority/National electronic Library for Health

A Performance Cosmology (Testimony from the Future, Evidence of the Past)

Gough, Richard, et al., A Performance Cosmology (Testimony from the Future, Evidence of the Past) (New York: Routledge, 2006), pp.xi+324 RAE2008

The D-CIXS X-ray spectrometer on the SMART-1 mission to the Moon - First Results

Grande, Manuel; Kellett, B.; Howe, C.; Perry, C.H., 'The D-CIXS X-ray spectrometer on the SMART-1 mission to the Moon - First Results', Planetary And Space Science (2007) 55(4) pp.494-502 RAE2008

An association mapping approach to identify flowering time genes in natural populations of Lolium perenne (L.)

Sk?t, L., Humphreys, M. O., Armstead, I. P., Heywood, S., Sk?t, K. P., Sanderson, R., Thomas, I. D., Chorlton, K. H., & Sackville Hamilton, N. R. (2005). An association mapping approach to identify flowering time genes in natural populations of Lolium perenne (L.). Molecular Breeding, 15(3), 233-245. Sponsorship: BBSRC RAE2008

Jesus, the Resurrection: A Sermon

Memorial Sermon

Institutional Repositories, Policies, and Disruption

For many librarians, institutional repositories (IRs) promised significant change for academic libraries. We envisioned enlarging collection development scope to include locally produced scholarship and an expansion of library services to embrace scholarly publication and distribution. However, at the University of Rochester, as at many other institutions, this transformational technology was introduced in the conservative, controlled manner associated with stereotypical librarian culture, and so these expected changes never materialized. In this case study, we focus on the creation of our institutional repository (a potentially disruptive technology) and how its success was hampered by our organizational culture, manifested as a lengthy and complicated set of policies. In the following pages, we briefly describe our repository project, talk about our original policies, look at the ways those policies impeded our project, and discuss the disruption of those policies and the benefits in user uptake that resulted.

An Institutional Approach to Donor Control: From Dyadic Ties to a Field‐Level Analysis

Literature on the nonprofit sector focuses on charities and their interactions with clients or governmental agencies; donors are studied less often. Studies on philanthropy do examine donors but tend to focus on microlevel factors to explain their behavior. This study, in contrast, draws on institutional theory to show that macrolevel factors affect donor behavior. It also extends the institutional framework by examining the field‐level configurations in which donors and fundraisers are embedded. Employing the case of workplace charity, this new model highlights how the composition of the organizational field structures fundraisers and donors alike, shaping fundraisers’ strategies of solicitation and, therefore, the extent of donor control.