John and Sebastian Cabot; the discovery of North America,

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Effects of beach remourishment on the benthic macrofauna and the fishes of the nearshore zone at Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area

Approximately 100,000 cubic yards of sand was transported to the ocean beach to renourish the eroded beach front during the period December 1985 through May 1986. The ocean beach at Sebastian Inlet SRA was previously studied in a project examining the benthic macrofauna and the fishes of the nearshore zone during 1981-1982 (Allenbaugh, 1984; Peters, 1984; Nelson, unpublished). In view of the existing data, the US Army Corps of Engineers provided funding to study the effects of the beach renourishment activities at Sebastian Inlet SRA on the benthic macrofauna and the fishes of the nearshore zone. This is the report on the results of this study.

Approximately Uniform Random Sampling in Sensor Networks

Recent work in sensor databases has focused extensively on distributed query problems, notably distributed computation of aggregates. Existing methods for computing aggregates broadcast queries to all sensors and use in-network aggregation of responses to minimize messaging costs. In this work, we focus on uniform random sampling across nodes, which can serve both as an alternative building block for aggregation and as an integral component of many other useful randomized algorithms. Prior to our work, the best existing proposals for uniform random sampling of sensors involve contacting all nodes in the network. We propose a practical method which is only approximately uniform, but contacts a number of sensors proportional to the diameter of the network instead of its size. The approximation achieved is tunably close to exact uniform sampling, and only relies on well-known existing primitives, namely geographic routing, distributed computation of Voronoi regions and von Neumann's rejection method. Ultimately, our sampling algorithm has the same worst-case asymptotic cost as routing a point-to-point message, and thus it is asymptotically optimal among request/reply-based sampling methods. We provide experimental results demonstrating the effectiveness of our algorithm on both synthetic and real sensor topologies.

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.

Long range resonance energy transfer from a dye molecule to graphene has (distance)-4 dependence

In our previous report on resonance energy transfer from a dye molecule to graphene [J. Chem. Phys.129, 054703 (2008)], we had derived an expression for the rate of energy transfer from a dye to graphene. An integral in the expression for the rate was evaluated approximately. We found a Yuwaka-type dependence of the rate on the distance. We now present an exact evaluation of the integral involved, leading to very interesting results. For short distances (z < 20 A), the present rate and the previous rate are in good agreement. For larger distances, the rate is found to have a z(-4) dependence on the distance, exactly. Thus we predict that for the case of pyrene on graphene, it is possible to observe fluorescence quenching up to a distance of 300 A. This is in sharp contrast to the traditional fluorescence resonance energy transfer where the quenching is observable only up to 100 A.

On approximately universal schemes for two-hop networks

Full-duplex and half-duplex two-hop networks are considered. Explicit coding schemes which are approximately universal over a class of fading distributions are identified, for the case when the network has either one or two relays.

Probing the mobility of lithium in LISICON: Li+/H+ exchange studies in Li2ZnGeO4 and Li2+2xZn1-xGeO4

We investigated Li+/H+ exchange in the lithium ion conductors (LISICONS) [ Li2+2xZn1-xGeO4; x = 0.5 ( I) and x = 0.75 (II)] and their parent, gamma-Li2ZnGeO4. Facile exchange of approximately 2x lithium ions per formula unit occurs with both the LISICONS in dilute acetic acid, while the parent material does not exhibit an obvious Li+/H+ exchange under the same conditions. The results can be understood in terms of lithium ion distribution in the crystal structures: the parent Li2ZnGeO4, where all the lithium ions form part of the tetrahedral framework structure, does not exhibit a ready Li+/H+ exchange; LISICONS, where lithium ions are distributed between framework ( tetrahedral) and nonframework sites, undergo a facile Li+/H+ exchange of the nonframework site lithium ions. Accordingly, Li+/H+ exchange in dilute aqueous acetic acid provides a convenient probe to distinguish between the mobile and the immobile lithium ions in lithium ion conductors.

Bayesian framework and message passing for joint support and signal recovery of approximately sparse signals

In this paper, we develop a low-complexity message passing algorithm for joint support and signal recovery of approximately sparse signals. The problem of recovery of strictly sparse signals from noisy measurements can be viewed as a problem of recovery of approximately sparse signals from noiseless measurements, making the approach applicable to strictly sparse signal recovery from noisy measurements. The support recovery embedded in the approach makes it suitable for recovery of signals with same sparsity profiles, as in the problem of multiple measurement vectors (MMV). Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm, termed as JSSR-MP (joint support and signal recovery via message passing) algorithm, achieves performance comparable to that of sparse Bayesian learning (M-SBL) algorithm in the literature, at one order less complexity compared to the M-SBL algorithm.

An approximately H-1-optimal Petrov-Galerkin meshfree method: application to computation of scattered light for optical tomography

Nearly pollution-free solutions of the Helmholtz equation for k-values corresponding to visible light are demonstrated and verified through experimentally measured forward scattered intensity from an optical fiber. Numerically accurate solutions are, in particular, obtained through a novel reformulation of the H-1 optimal Petrov-Galerkin weak form of the Helmholtz equation. Specifically, within a globally smooth polynomial reproducing framework, the compact and smooth test functions are so designed that their normal derivatives are zero everywhere on the local boundaries of their compact supports. This circumvents the need for a priori knowledge of the true solution on the support boundary and relieves the weak form of any jump boundary terms. For numerical demonstration of the above formulation, we used a multimode optical fiber in an index matching liquid as the object. The scattered intensity and its normal derivative are computed from the scattered field obtained by solving the Helmholtz equation, using the new formulation and the conventional finite element method. By comparing the results with the experimentally measured scattered intensity, the stability of the solution through the new formulation is demonstrated and its closeness to the experimental measurements verified.

Joint Approximately Sparse Channel Estimation and Data Detection in OFDM Systems Using Sparse Bayesian Learning

It is well known that the impulse response of a wide-band wireless channel is approximately sparse, in the sense that it has a small number of significant components relative to the channel delay spread. In this paper, we consider the estimation of the unknown channel coefficients and its support in OFDM systems using a sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) framework for exact inference. In a quasi-static, block-fading scenario, we employ the SBL algorithm for channel estimation and propose a joint SBL (J-SBL) and a low-complexity recursive J-SBL algorithm for joint channel estimation and data detection. In a time-varying scenario, we use a first-order autoregressive model for the wireless channel and propose a novel, recursive, low-complexity Kalman filtering-based SBL (KSBL) algorithm for channel estimation. We generalize the KSBL algorithm to obtain the recursive joint KSBL algorithm that performs joint channel estimation and data detection. Our algorithms can efficiently recover a group of approximately sparse vectors even when the measurement matrix is partially unknown due to the presence of unknown data symbols. Moreover, the algorithms can fully exploit the correlation structure in the multiple measurements. Monte Carlo simulations illustrate the efficacy of the proposed techniques in terms of the mean-square error and bit error rate performance.

Nanostructuring of p- and n-type skutterudites reaching figures of merit of approximately 1.3 and 1.6, respectively

Thermoelectric (TE) conversion of waste heat into useful electricity demands optimized thermal and electrical transport in the leg material over a wide temperature range. In order to gain a reasonably high figure of merit (ZT) as well as high thermal electric conversion efficiency, various conditions of the starting material were studied: industrially produced skutterudite powders of p-type DDy(Fe1-xCox)(4)Sb-12 (DD: didymium) and n-type (Mm, Sm)(y)Co4Sb12 (Mm: mischmetal) were used. After a rather fast reaction-melting technique, the bulk was crushed and sieved with various strainers in order to obtain particles below the respective mesh sizes, followed by ball-milling under three different conditions. The dependence of the TE properties (after hot pressing) on the micro/nanosized particles, grains and crystallites was investigated. Optimized conditions resulted in an increase of ZT for bulk material to current record-high values: from ZT similar to 1.1 to ZT similar to 1.3 at 775 K for p-type and from ZT similar to 1.0 to ZT similar to 1.6 at 800 K for n-type, resulting in respective efficiencies (300-850 K) of eta > 13% and eta similar to 16%. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Histoire de Portugal : contenant les enterprises, navigations, & gestes memorables des Portugallois, tant en la cõqueste des Indes Orientales par eux descouvertes, qu'és guerres d'Afrique & autres exploits, depuis l'an mil quatre cens nonãte six, jusques à l'an mil cinq cens septante huit, sous Emmanuel premier, Jean troisieme, & Sebastian premier du nom / Pour Antoine Chuppin, ed. ; comprinse en vingt livres, dont les douze premiers sont traduits du latin de Ierosme Osorius, Euesque de Sylues en Algarve, les huit suivans prins de Lopez de Castagnede & d'autres historiensNouvellement mise en françois, par S.G.S. avec un discours du fruit qu'on peut recueillir de la lecture de cette histoire, & ample indice des matieres principales y contenues

Contém os empreendimentos, as navegações e os gestos memoráveis dos portugueses, inclusive em suas colônias.

ERP: Una experiencia académica innovadora en la Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Empresariales de San Sebastian

Este artículo habla sobre las nuevas herramientas de gestión que están siendo introducidas en el mundo de la empresa y en relación a estas herramientas, en el proceso de formación de los alumnos, se ha planteado como objetivo de la Dirección de la Escuela hace ya más de dos años, la posibilidad de contar con un software que contemple los diferentes ámbitos de la vida empresarial de forma integrada. Este tipo de paquetes reciben la denominación genérica de Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP). Prueba del éxito de la experiencia llevada a cabo en la Escuela es que la mayoría de los alumnos que siguieron el curso querían que la formación recibida tuviera algún tipo de continuación, bien en cursos superiores de especialización, en postgrados, en prácticas o incluso a futuro trabajando en empresas que demandaran este tipo de conocimientos.

Can metaphors and analogies improve communication with seriously ill patients?

OBJECTIVE: It is not known how often physicians use metaphors and analogies, or whether they improve patients' perceptions of their physicians' ability to communicate effectively. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine whether the use of metaphors and analogies in difficult conversations is associated with better patient ratings of their physicians' communication skills. DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study of audio-recorded conversations between patients and physicians. SETTING: Three outpatient oncology practices. PATIENTS: Ninety-four patients with advanced cancer and 52 physicians. INTERVENTION: None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Conversations were reviewed and coded for the presence of metaphors and analogies. Patients also completed a 6-item rating of their physician's ability to communicate. RESULTS: In a sample of 101 conversations, coders identified 193 metaphors and 75 analogies. Metaphors appeared in approximately twice as many conversations as analogies did (65/101, 64% versus 31/101, 31%; sign test p < 0.001). Conversations also contained more metaphors than analogies (mean 1.6, range 0-11 versus mean 0.6, range 0-5; sign rank test p < 0.001). Physicians who used more metaphors elicited better patient ratings of communication (rho = 0.27; p = 0.006), as did physicians who used more analogies (Spearman rho = 0.34; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of metaphors and analogies may enhance physicians' ability to communicate.