Late Eocene impact events recorded in deep-sea sediments

Science.gov (United States)

Glass, B. P.

1988-01-01

Raup and Sepkoski proposed that mass extinctions have occurred every 26 Myr during the last 250 Myr. In order to explain this 26 Myr periodicity, it was proposed that the mass extinctions were caused by periodic increases in cometary impacts. One method to test this hypothesis is to determine if there were periodic increases in impact events (based on crater ages) that correlate with mass extinctions. A way to test the hypothesis that mass extinctions were caused by periodic increases in impact cratering is to look for evidence of impact events in deep-sea deposits. This method allows direct observation of the temporal relationship between impact events and extinctions as recorded in the sedimentary record. There is evidence in the deep-sea record for two (possibly three) impact events in the late Eocene. The younger event, represented by the North American microtektite layer, is not associated with an Ir anomaly. The older event, defined by the cpx spherule layer, is associated with an Ir anomaly. However, neither of the two impact events recorded in late Eocene deposits appears to be associated with an unusual number of extinctions. Thus there is little evidence in the deep-sea record for an impact-related mass extinction in the late Eocene.

A Situation Awareness Assistant for Human Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Boy, Guy A.; Platt, Donald

2013-01-01

This paper presents the development and testing of a Virtual Camera (VC) system to improve astronaut and mission operations situation awareness while exploring other planetary bodies. In this embodiment, the VC is implemented using a tablet-based computer system to navigate through inter active database application. It is claimed that the advanced interaction media capability of the VC can improve situation awareness as the distribution of hu man space exploration roles change in deep space exploration. The VC is being developed and tested for usability and capability to improve situation awareness. Work completed thus far as well as what is needed to complete the project will be described. Planned testing will also be described.

Development of Deep-tow Autonomous Cable Seismic (ACS) for Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMSs) Exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Asakawa, Eiichi; Murakami, Fumitoshi; Tsukahara, Hitoshi; Saito, Shutaro; Lee, Sangkyun; Tara, Kenji; Kato, Masafumi; Jamali Hondori, Ehsan; Sumi, Tomonori; Kadoshima, Kazuyuki; Kose, Masami

2017-04-01

Within the EEZ of Japan, numerous surveys exploring ocean floor resources have been conducted. The exploration targets are gas hydrates, mineral resources (manganese, cobalt or rare earth) and especially seafloor massive sulphide (SMS) deposits. These resources exist in shallow subsurface areas in deep waters (>1500m). For seismic explorations very high resolution images are required. These cannot be effectively obtained with conventional marine seismic techniques. Therefore we have been developing autonomous seismic survey systems which record the data close to the seafloor to preserve high frequency seismic energy. Very high sampling rate (10kHz) and high accurate synchronization between recording systems and shot time are necessary. We adopted Cs-base atomic clock considering its power consumption. At first, we developed a Vertical Cable Seismic (VCS) system that uses hydrophone arrays moored vertically from the ocean bottom to record close to the target area. This system has been successfully applied to SMS exploration. Specifically it fixed over known sites to assess the amount of reserves with the resultant 3D volume. Based on the success of VCS, we modified the VCS system to use as a more efficient deep-tow seismic survey system. Although there are other examples of deep-tow seismic systems, signal transmission cables present challenges in deep waters. We use our autonomous recording system to avoid these problems. Combining a high frequency piezoelectric source (Sub Bottom Profiler:SBP) that automatically shots with a constant interval, we achieve the high resolution deep-tow seismic without data transmission/power cable to the board. Although the data cannot be monitored in real-time, the towing system becomes very simple. We have carried out survey trial, which showed the systems utility as a high-resolution deep-tow seismic survey system. Furthermore, the frequency ranges of deep-towed source (SBP) and surface towed sparker are 700-2300Hz and 10-200Hz

Monitoring the impact of simulated deep-sea mining in Central Indian Basin

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sharma, R.; Nath, B.N.; Jaisankar, S.

Monitoring the Impact of Simulated Deep-sea Mining in Central Indian Basin R. SHARMA, B. NAGENDER NATH, AND S. JAI SANKAR National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, India Monitoring of deep-sea disturbances, natural or man-made, has gained... has shown a partial recovery of the benthic ecosystem, with indications of restoration and recolonization. Keywords deep-sea mining, environmental impact, Central Indian Basin Deep-sea mineral deposits such as the polymetallic nodules and crusts...

Integrated Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring Technology Demonstration for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Jay L.; Abney, Morgan B.; Knox, James C.; Parrish, Keith J.; Roman, Monserrate C.; Jan, Darrell L.

2012-01-01

Exploring the frontiers of deep space continues to be defined by the technological challenges presented by safely transporting a crew to and from destinations of scientific interest. Living and working on that frontier requires highly reliable and efficient life support systems that employ robust, proven process technologies. The International Space Station (ISS), including its environmental control and life support (ECLS) system, is the platform from which humanity's deep space exploration missions begin. The ISS ECLS system Atmosphere Revitalization (AR) subsystem and environmental monitoring (EM) technical architecture aboard the ISS is evaluated as the starting basis for a developmental effort being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) via the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) Project.. An evolutionary approach is employed by the ARREM project to address the strengths and weaknesses of the ISS AR subsystem and EM equipment, core technologies, and operational approaches to reduce developmental risk, improve functional reliability, and lower lifecycle costs of an ISS-derived subsystem architecture suitable for use for crewed deep space exploration missions. The most promising technical approaches to an ISS-derived subsystem design architecture that incorporates promising core process technology upgrades will be matured through a series of integrated tests and architectural trade studies encompassing expected exploration mission requirements and constraints.

Ship Track for Deep Sea Medicines 2003 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Ship track of the Ronald H. Brown during the "Deep Sea Medicines 2003: Exploring the Gulf of Mexico" expedition sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Ship Sensor Observations for Life on the Edge 2003: Exploring Deep Ocean Habitats - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hourly measurements made by selected ship sensors on the R/V Seward Johnson during the "Life on the Edge 2003: Exploring Deep Ocean Habitats" expedition sponsored by...

ACTIVIS: Visual Exploration of Industry-Scale Deep Neural Network Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahng, Minsuk; Andrews, Pierre Y; Kalro, Aditya; Polo Chau, Duen Horng

2017-08-30

While deep learning models have achieved state-of-the-art accuracies for many prediction tasks, understanding these models remains a challenge. Despite the recent interest in developing visual tools to help users interpret deep learning models, the complexity and wide variety of models deployed in industry, and the large-scale datasets that they used, pose unique design challenges that are inadequately addressed by existing work. Through participatory design sessions with over 15 researchers and engineers at Facebook, we have developed, deployed, and iteratively improved ACTIVIS, an interactive visualization system for interpreting large-scale deep learning models and results. By tightly integrating multiple coordinated views, such as a computation graph overview of the model architecture, and a neuron activation view for pattern discovery and comparison, users can explore complex deep neural network models at both the instance- and subset-level. ACTIVIS has been deployed on Facebook's machine learning platform. We present case studies with Facebook researchers and engineers, and usage scenarios of how ACTIVIS may work with different models.

Deep underground exploration in the Asse salt mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steinberg, S.; Schmidt, M.W.

1992-01-01

The activities reported here under the project task entitled ''Deep underground exploration up to the 925 m level'' opened up depths and salt formations in the Asse salt mine which are intended sites for R and D work for investigating and determining the conditions of radioactive waste disposal in a repository of the Gorleben type. The newly developed experimental levels will thus allow to directly apply research results obtained in the Asse mine to the Gorleben project. The activities reported included among other tasks work for increasing the depth of exploration in the Asse mine 2 down to 950 m, using a newly developed cutting method. The work was performed in cooperation with a mining corporation specializing in this sort of tasks. (orig.) With 18 maps [de

DEEP HANGING WALL TRAPS-THE REMAINING PROMISSING TARGETS FOR OIL EXPLORATION IN THE NIGER DELTA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oton, S.W

2004-01-01

It is well known that the most dominant types of Hydrocarbon types found in the petroliferous Niger Delta are the classical rollover anticlinical traps 'I of oil exploration in the delta, these easy-to-find rollover structures are getting exhausted. They are most numerous at shallow depths in the younger delta front sedimentary sequence. Generally, during this primary oil exploration stage, oil and gas exploration have been concentrated in the shallow depths where they are easy to reach, easy to explore and easy to produce. This means that the present and future exploration campaigns in the Niger Delta should be directed towards other types of hydrocarbon trapping mechanisms that have been mapped in the delta. Many exploration models have been used and oil has been found in at least nine types of traps in the Niger Delta. The contrary (or anitithetic) fault model was used at the close of the last century. This model is so called because the controlling antithetic fault has a regional dip contrary to the structure-building growth fault with which it is associated. These faults, which are widespread in the Niger Delta, are easy to map especially on the Petro geological model. In this period, several promising hydrocarbon accumulations trapped against antithetic faults were discovered and tested. These hydrocarbon targets also seem fully explored and exhausted now. Recently, from modern high resolution 2-D and 3-D seismic data a lot of good prospects have been mapped and drilled in the deep horizon. In the last few years, a lot of unexplored oil have been discovered and tested in the deep horizons. They are mostly in hanging wall traps, at depth below 4,000 meters. This shows that most of the remaining undiscovered hydrocarbons in the Niger Delta may well be in these deep hanging wall traps between 4,000 and close to 5,600 meters. A definite search for deep-seated hanging wall traps is therefore recommended in a bid to find more new reservoirs and thereby increase the

Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Cockell, Charles S.; Voytek, Mary A.; Gronstal, Aaron L.; Finster, Kai; Kirshtein, Julie D.; Howard, Kieren; Reitner, Joachim; Gohn, Gregory S.; Sanford, Ward E.; Horton, J. Wright; Kallmeyer, Jens; Kelly, Laura; Powars, David S.

2012-01-01

Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from the ~35 million-year-old Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA, with robust contamination control. Microbial enumerations displayed a logarithmic downward decline, but the different gradient, when compared to previously studied sites, and the scatter of the data are consistent with a microbiota influenced by the geological disturbances caused by the impact. Microbial abundance is low in buried crater-fill, ocean-resurge, and avalanche deposits despite the presence of redox couples for growth. Coupled with the low hydraulic conductivity, the data suggest the microbial community has not yet recovered from the impact ~35 million years ago. Microbial enumerations, molecular analysis of microbial enrichment cultures, and geochemical analysis showed recolonization of a deep region of impact-fractured rock that was heated to above the upper temperature limit for life at the time of impact. These results show how, by fracturing subsurface rocks, impacts can extend the depth of the biosphere. This phenomenon would have provided deep refugia for life on the more heavily bombarded early Earth, and it shows that the deeply fractured regions of impact craters are promising targets to study the past and present habitability of Mars.

Hydrodynamic Modeling of the Deep Impact Mission into Comet Tempel 1

Science.gov (United States)

Sorli, Kya; Remington, Tané; Bruck Syal, Megan

2018-01-01

Kinetic impact is one of the primary strategies to deflect hazardous objects off of an Earth-impacting trajectory. The only test of a small-body impact is the 2005 Deep Impact mission into comet Tempel 1, where a 366-kg mass impactor collided at ~10 km/s into the comet, liberating an enormous amount of vapor and ejecta. Code comparisons with observations of the event represent an important source of new information about the initial conditions of small bodies and an extraordinary opportunity to test our simulation capabilities on a rare, full-scale experiment. Using the Adaptive Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ASPH) code, Spheral, we explore how variations in target material properties such as strength, composition, porosity, and layering affect impact results, in order to best match the observed crater size and ejecta evolution. Benchmarking against this unique small-body experiment provides an enhanced understanding of our ability to simulate asteroid or comet response to future deflection missions. This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-739336-DRAFT.

Assessing Oil Spill Impacts to Cold-Water Corals of the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

DeLeo, D. M.; Lengyel, S. D.; Cordes, E. E.

2016-02-01

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster and subsequent cleanup efforts resulted in the release of an unprecedented amount of oil and chemical dispersants in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Over the years, numerous detrimental effects have been documented including impacts to cold-water coral ecosystems. Assessing and quantifying these effects is crucial to understanding the long-term consequences to affected coral populations as well as their resilience. We conducted live exposure experiments to investigate the toxicity of oil and dispersants on two deep-sea corals, Callogorgia delta and Paramuricea type B3. For both species, the treatments containing dispersants had a more pronounced effect than oil treatments alone. In addition, RNA from unexposed and DWH spill-impacted Paramuricea biscaya was extracted and sequenced using Illumina technology. A de novo reference transcriptome was produced and used to explore stress-induced variations in gene expression. Current findings show overexpression of genes coding for Cytochrome p450 (CYP1A1), Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factors (TRAFs), Peroxidasin and additional genes involved in innate immunity and apoptotic pathways. CYP1A1 is involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics and has been previously used as a diagnostic tool for aquatic pollution. TRAFs are responsible for regulating pathways involved in immune and inflammatory responses and were likewise overexpressed in thermally stressed shallow-water corals. Ribosomal proteins were also significantly underexpressed. These genes among others found in our expression data serve as useful biomarker candidates for assessing and monitoring future spill impacts as resource extraction continues in the deep waters of the GoM. Our results also provide insights into the responses of deep-sea corals to toxin exposure, implications of applying dispersants to oil spills and a novel reference assembly for a relatively under-studied group of cold-water corals.

Exploring frontiers of the deep biosphere through scientific ocean drilling

Science.gov (United States)

Inagaki, F.; D'Hondt, S.; Hinrichs, K. U.

2015-12-01

Since the first deep biosphere-dedicated Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 201 using the US drill ship JOIDES Resolution in 2002, scientific ocean drilling has offered unique opportunities to expand our knowledge of the nature and extent of the deep biosphere. The latest estimate of the global subseafloor microbial biomass is ~1029cells, accounting for 4 Gt of carbon and ~1% of the Earth's total living biomass. The subseafloor microbial communities are evolutionarily diverse and their metabolic rates are extraordinarily slow. Nevertheless, accumulating activity most likely plays a significant role in elemental cycles over geological time. In 2010, during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 329, the JOIDES Resolutionexplored the deep biosphere in the open-ocean South Pacific Gyre—the largest oligotrophic province on our planet. During Expedition 329, relatively high concentrations of dissolved oxygen and significantly low biomass of microbial populations were observed in the entire sediment column, indicating that (i) there is no limit to life in open-ocean sediment and (ii) a significant amount of oxygen reaches through the sediment to the upper oceanic crust. This "deep aerobic biosphere" inhabits the sediment throughout up to ~37 percent of the world's oceans. The remaining ~63 percent of the oceans is comprised of higher productivity areas that contain the "deep anaerobic biosphere". In 2012, during IODP Expedition 337, the Japanese drill ship Chikyu explored coal-bearing sediments down to 2,466 meters below the seafloor off the Shimokita Peninsula, Japan. Geochemical and microbiological analyses consistently showed the occurrence of methane-producing communities associated with the coal beds. Cell concentrations in deep sediments were notably lower than those expected from the global regression line, implying that the bottom of the deep biosphere is approached in these beds. Taxonomic composition of the deep coal-bearing communities profoundly

Environmental impacts of the deep-water oil and gas industry: a review to guide management strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erik E. Cordes

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The industrialization of the deep sea is expanding worldwide. Expanding oil and gas exploration activities in the absence of sufficient baseline data in these ecosystems has made environmental management challenging. Here, we review the types of activities that are associated with global offshore oil and gas development in water depths over 200 m, the typical impacts of these activities, some of the more extreme impacts of accidental oil and gas releases, and the current state of management in the major regions of offshore industrial activity including 18 exclusive economic zones. Direct impacts of infrastructure installation, including sediment resuspension and burial by seafloor anchors and pipelines, are typically restricted to a radius of approximately 100 m on from the installation on the seafloor. Discharges of water-based and low-toxicity oil-based drilling muds and produced water can extend over 2 km, while the ecological impacts at the population and community levels on the seafloor are most commonly on the order of 200-300 m from their source. These impacts may persist in the deep sea for many years and likely longer for its more fragile ecosystems, such as cold-water corals. This synthesis of information provides the basis for a series of recommendations for the management of offshore oil and gas development. An effective management strategy, aimed at minimizing risk of significant environmental harm, will typically encompass regulations of the activity itself (e.g. discharge practices, materials used, combined with spatial (e.g. avoidance rules and marine protected areas and temporal measures (e.g. restricted activities during peak reproductive periods. Spatial management measures that encompass representatives of all of the regional deep-sea community types is important in this context. Implementation of these management strategies should consider minimum buffer zones to displace industrial activity beyond the range of typical

Ship Sensor Observations for Deep Sea Medicines 2003 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hourly measurements made by selected ship sensors on the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown during the "Deep Sea Medicines 2003: Exploration of the Gulf of Mexico" expedition...

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew K. Sweetman

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The deep sea encompasses the largest ecosystems on Earth. Although poorly known, deep seafloor ecosystems provide services that are vitally important to the entire ocean and biosphere. Rising atmospheric greenhouse gases are bringing about significant changes in the environmental properties of the ocean realm in terms of water column oxygenation, temperature, pH and food supply, with concomitant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Projections suggest that abyssal (3000–6000 m ocean temperatures could increase by 1°C over the next 84 years, while abyssal seafloor habitats under areas of deep-water formation may experience reductions in water column oxygen concentrations by as much as 0.03 mL L–1 by 2100. Bathyal depths (200–3000 m worldwide will undergo the most significant reductions in pH in all oceans by the year 2100 (0.29 to 0.37 pH units. O2 concentrations will also decline in the bathyal NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, with losses up to 3.7% or more, especially at intermediate depths. Another important environmental parameter, the flux of particulate organic matter to the seafloor, is likely to decline significantly in most oceans, most notably in the abyssal and bathyal Indian Ocean where it is predicted to decrease by 40–55% by the end of the century. Unfortunately, how these major changes will affect deep-seafloor ecosystems is, in some cases, very poorly understood. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the impacts of these changing environmental parameters on deep-seafloor ecosystems that will most likely be seen by 2100 in continental margin, abyssal and polar settings. We also consider how these changes may combine with other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., fishing, mineral mining, oil and gas extraction to further impact deep-seafloor ecosystems and discuss the possible societal implications.

Status and prospects of exploration and exploitation key technologies of the deep petroleum resources in onshore China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genshun Yao

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In recent years, China's deep oil and gas exploration and exploitation have developed rapidly. Technological advancements have played an important role in the rapid exploration and highly efficient development. Aimed at the complex engineering geological environment of deep oil and gas in China, this paper has combined the four technological systems that have made significant progress, mainly including: (1 seismic imaging and reservoir prediction techniques for deep–burial complex structures, includign “2W1S” technique (wide-band, wide azimuth, and small bin, RTM (Reverse Time Migration, integrated modeling technology for complex structures and variable velocity mapping technique, improving structural interpretation accuracy, ensuring high precision ofimaging, and prediction for deep geological bodies; (2 deep speed raising and efficiency drilling technology series, which significantly improved the drilling speed, in turn reduced the drilling cost and drilling risk; (3 development of a deep high-temperature and high-pressure logging technology series, which provided a guarantee for the accurate identification of reservoir properties and fluid properties; (4 the efficient development technology for deep reservoirs, especially the development and maturity of the reconstruction volume technology, improve the production of single well and the benefit of deep oil and gas development. This paper further points out the improvement direction of the four major technology series of deep oil based on the analysis of the current development of the four major technological systems. Moreover, the development of applicability and economy for technical system is the key to realize high efficiency and low-cost exploration and development of deep oil and gas. Keywords: Deep oil & gas, Exploration and exploitation technologies, Seismic, Logging, Drilling, Petroleum reservoir stimulation

Man and the last great wilderness: human impact on the deep sea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Ramirez-Llodra

Full Text Available The deep sea, the largest ecosystem on Earth and one of the least studied, harbours high biodiversity and provides a wealth of resources. Although humans have used the oceans for millennia, technological developments now allow exploitation of fisheries resources, hydrocarbons and minerals below 2000 m depth. The remoteness of the deep seafloor has promoted the disposal of residues and litter. Ocean acidification and climate change now bring a new dimension of global effects. Thus the challenges facing the deep sea are large and accelerating, providing a new imperative for the science community, industry and national and international organizations to work together to develop successful exploitation management and conservation of the deep-sea ecosystem. This paper provides scientific expert judgement and a semi-quantitative analysis of past, present and future impacts of human-related activities on global deep-sea habitats within three categories: disposal, exploitation and climate change. The analysis is the result of a Census of Marine Life--SYNDEEP workshop (September 2008. A detailed review of known impacts and their effects is provided. The analysis shows how, in recent decades, the most significant anthropogenic activities that affect the deep sea have evolved from mainly disposal (past to exploitation (present. We predict that from now and into the future, increases in atmospheric CO(2 and facets and consequences of climate change will have the most impact on deep-sea habitats and their fauna. Synergies between different anthropogenic pressures and associated effects are discussed, indicating that most synergies are related to increased atmospheric CO(2 and climate change effects. We identify deep-sea ecosystems we believe are at higher risk from human impacts in the near future: benthic communities on sedimentary upper slopes, cold-water corals, canyon benthic communities and seamount pelagic and benthic communities. We finalise this

Man and the Last Great Wilderness: Human Impact on the Deep Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez-Llodra, Eva; Tyler, Paul A.; Baker, Maria C.; Bergstad, Odd Aksel; Clark, Malcolm R.; Escobar, Elva; Levin, Lisa A.; Menot, Lenaick; Rowden, Ashley A.; Smith, Craig R.; Van Dover, Cindy L.

2011-01-01

The deep sea, the largest ecosystem on Earth and one of the least studied, harbours high biodiversity and provides a wealth of resources. Although humans have used the oceans for millennia, technological developments now allow exploitation of fisheries resources, hydrocarbons and minerals below 2000 m depth. The remoteness of the deep seafloor has promoted the disposal of residues and litter. Ocean acidification and climate change now bring a new dimension of global effects. Thus the challenges facing the deep sea are large and accelerating, providing a new imperative for the science community, industry and national and international organizations to work together to develop successful exploitation management and conservation of the deep-sea ecosystem. This paper provides scientific expert judgement and a semi-quantitative analysis of past, present and future impacts of human-related activities on global deep-sea habitats within three categories: disposal, exploitation and climate change. The analysis is the result of a Census of Marine Life – SYNDEEP workshop (September 2008). A detailed review of known impacts and their effects is provided. The analysis shows how, in recent decades, the most significant anthropogenic activities that affect the deep sea have evolved from mainly disposal (past) to exploitation (present). We predict that from now and into the future, increases in atmospheric CO2 and facets and consequences of climate change will have the most impact on deep-sea habitats and their fauna. Synergies between different anthropogenic pressures and associated effects are discussed, indicating that most synergies are related to increased atmospheric CO2 and climate change effects. We identify deep-sea ecosystems we believe are at higher risk from human impacts in the near future: benthic communities on sedimentary upper slopes, cold-water corals, canyon benthic communities and seamount pelagic and benthic communities. We finalise this review with a short

Using Flipped Classroom Approach to Explore Deep Learning in Large Classrooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brenda Danker

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This project used two Flipped Classroom approaches to stimulate deep learning in large classrooms during the teaching of a film module as part of a Diploma in Performing Arts course at Sunway University, Malaysia. The flipped classes utilized either a blended learning approach where students first watched online lectures as homework, and then completed their assignments and practical work in class; or utilized a guided inquiry approach at the beginning of class using this same process. During the class the lecturers were present to help the students, and in addition, the students were advantaged by being able to help one another. The in-class learning activities also included inquiry-based learning, active learning, and peer-learning. This project used an action research approach to improve the in-class instructional design progressively to achieve its impact of deep learning among the students. The in-class learning activities that was included in the later flipped classes merged aspects of blended learning with an inquiry-based learning cycle which focused on the exploration of concepts. Data was gathered from questionnaires filled out by the students and from short interviews with the students, as well as from the teacher’s reflective journals. The findings verified that the flipped classrooms were able to remodel large lecture classes into active-learning classes. The results also support the possibility of individualised learning for the students as being high as a result of the teacher’s ability to provide one-on-one tutoring through technology-infused lessons. It is imperative that the in-class learning activities are purposefully designed as the inclusion of the exploratory learning through guided inquiry-based activities in the flipped classes was a successful way to engage students on a deeper level and increased the students’ curiosity and engaged them to develop higher-order thinking skills. This project also concluded that

Exploration and Discovery of Hydrocarbon Seeps, Coral Ecosystems, and Shipwrecks in the Deep Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Shank, T. M.; Hsing, P.; Carney, R. S.; Herrera, S.; Heyl, T.; Munro, C.; Bors, E.; Kiene, W.; Vecchione, M.; Evans, A.; Irion, J.; Warren, D.; Malik, M.; Lobecker, M.; Potter, J.

2012-12-01

Between March 20 and April 6, 2012, the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer served as a platform for ship-board and shore-side scientists to explore the deep Gulf of Mexico, targeting the northern West Florida Escarpment, DeSoto Canyon, the vicinity (within 11km) of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well, and deepwater shipwrecks. We systematically explored and discovered natural hydrocarbon seeps, diverse coral ecosystems, wooden and iron-hulled shipwrecks more than 100 years old colonized by coral communities, and sperm whale habitat between 600 and 1200m. A total of sixteen dives took advantage of new and recent maps to explore and groundtruth both hard and soft-bottom habitats, from cretaceous carbonates to mounds of coral rubble. The final ROV dive successfully groundtruthed expected methane-release areas imaged by the ship's mapping systems up to 1150m above the seafloor. The source of the mapping imagery was a stream of bubbles issuing from beneath thriving seep mussel communities. We visited five sites in the Mississippi Canyon (MC) area (lease blocks MC294, MC297, MC388, MC255, and MC036; the DWH incident took place in MC252). These sites were 11.3 km SW, 6.8 km SW, 7.6 km SW, 25.7 km E, and 27.4 km to the NE of the DWH, respectively. We used high-definition imaging systems on the Little Hercules ROV and Seirios camera platform to document more than 130 coral colonies and over 400 associated individual animals to continue to assessing the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. All of these efforts were conducted to provide fundamental knowledge of unknown and poorly known regions, ecosystems, and items of historical significance in the deep Gulf of Mexico.

Deep-sea impact experiments and their future requirements

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Sharma, R.

In recent years, several experiments to assess the potential impacts due to deep-sea mining in the Pacific as well as the Indian Oceans have indicated the immediate changes and restoration patterns of environmental conditions in the marine ecosystem...

Characteristics of Chinese petroleum geology. Geological features and exploration cases of stratigraphic, foreland and deep formation traps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, Chengzao [PetroChina Company Limited, Beijing (China)

2012-07-01

The first book of this subject in the recent 10 years. ''Characteristics of Chinese Petroleum Geology: Geological Features and Exploration Cases of Stratigraphic, Foreland and Deep Formation Traps'' systematically presents the progress made in petroleum geology in China and highlights the latest advances and achievements in oil/gas exploration and research, especially in stratigraphic, foreland and deep formation traps. The book is intended for researchers, practitioners and students working in petroleum geology, and is also an authoritative reference work for foreign petroleum exploration experts who want to learn more about this field in China.

The application of the csamt method in the tectonic transformation of the deep-level fore exploration in the shandongkeng area in Nanxiong basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Zhan

2010-01-01

With the national policy efforts on the strengthening of mining exploration, uranium exploration has also ushered in its second s pring . The topic of the new round exploration is P rospect the deeply minerals . Therefore, the changes of the deep structure of the mining area are the premise to carry out survey work. This article states briefly the working principle and characteristics of CSAMT method. The Application of the CSAMT Method in the Tectonic Transformation of The Deep-Level Exploration in the Shangdongkeng area in Nanxiong basin expresses that the method has a good application and effectiveness in research of deep geological objectives. It provides design basis for the mining exploration of deep-level area. (authors)

Deep drilling in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure - An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Gohn, G.S.; Koeberl, C.; Miller, K.G.; Reimold, W.U.

2009-01-01

The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact structure lies buried at moderate depths below Chesapeake Bay and surrounding landmasses in southeastern Virginia, USA. Numerous characteristics made this impact structure an inviting target for scientific drilling, including the location of the impact on the Eocene continental shelf, its threelayer target structure, its large size (??85 km diameter), its status as the source of the North American tektite strewn field, its temporal association with other late Eocene terrestrial impacts, its documented effects on the regional groundwater system, and its previously unstudied effects on the deep microbial biosphere. The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project was designed to drill a deep, continuously cored test hole into the central part of the structure. A project workshop, funding proposals, and the acceptance of those proposals occurred during 2003-2005. Initial drilling funds were provided by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Supplementary funds were provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate, ICDP, and USGS. Field operations were conducted at Eyreville Farm, Northampton County, Virginia, by Drilling, Observation, and Sampling of the Earth's Continental Crust (DOSECC) and the project staff during September-December 2005, resulting in two continuously cored, deep holes. The USGS and Rutgers University cored a shallow hole to 140 m in April-May 2006 to complete the recovered section from land surface to 1766 m depth. The recovered section consists of 1322 m of crater materials and 444 m of overlying postimpact Eocene to Pleistocene sediments. The crater section consists of, from base to top: basement-derived blocks of crystalline rocks (215 m); a section of suevite, impact melt rock, lithic impact breccia, and cataclasites (154 m); a thin interval of quartz sand and lithic blocks (26 m); a

Impact of Deepwater Horizon Spill on food supply to deep-sea benthos communities

Science.gov (United States)

Prouty, Nancy G.; Swarzenski, Pamela; Mienis, Furu; Duineveld, Gerald; Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Ross, Steve W.; Brooke, Sandra

2016-01-01

Deep-sea ecosystems encompass unique and often fragile communities that are sensitive to a variety of anthropogenic and natural impacts. After the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, sampling efforts documented the acute impact of the spill on some deep-sea coral colonies. To investigate the impact of the DWH spill on quality and quantity of biomass delivered to the deep-sea, a suite of geochemical tracers (e.g., stable and radio-isotopes, lipid biomarkers, and compound specific isotopes) was measured from monthly sediment trap samples deployed near a high-density deep-coral site in the Viosca Knoll area of the north-central Gulf of Mexico prior to (Oct-2008 to Sept-2009) and after the spill (Oct-10 to Sept-11). Marine (e.g., autochthonous) sources of organic matter dominated the sediment traps in both years, however after the spill, there was a pronounced reduction in marinesourced OM, including a reduction in marine-sourced sterols and n-alkanes and a concomitant decrease in sediment trap organic carbon and pigment flux. Results from this study indicate a reduction in primary production and carbon export to the deep-sea in 2010-2011, at least 6-18 months after the spill started. Whereas satellite observations indicate an initial increase in phytoplankton biomass, results from this sediment trap study define a reduction in primary production and carbon export to the deep-sea community. In addition, a dilution from a low-14C carbon source (e.g., petrocarbon) was detected in the sediment trap samples after the spill, in conjunction with a change in the petrogenic composition. The data presented here fills a critical gap in our knowledge of biogeochemical processes and sub-acute impacts to the deep-sea that ensued after the 2010 DWH spill.

Microbial stowaways: Addressing oil spill impacts and the artificial reef effect on deep-sea microbiomes

Science.gov (United States)

Hamdan, L. J.; Salerno, J. L.; Blackwell, C. A.; Little, B.; McGown, C.; Fitzgerald, L. A.; Damour, M.

2016-02-01

Shipwrecks enhance macro-biological diversity in the deep ocean, but, to date, studies have not explored the reef effect on deep-sea microbiological diversity. This is an important concept to address in a restoration framework, as microbial biogeochemical function impacts recruitment and adhesion of higher trophic levels on artificial reefs. In addition, microbial biofilms influence the preservation of shipwrecks through biologically mediated corrosion. Oil and gas-related activities have potential to disrupt the base of the reef trophic web; therefore, bacterial diversity and gene function at six shipwrecks (3 steel-hulled; 3 wood-hulled) in the northern Gulf of Mexico was investigated as part of the GOM-SCHEMA (Shipwreck Corrosion, Hydrocarbon Exposure, Microbiology, and Archaeology) project. Sites were selected based on proximity to the Deepwater Horizon spill's subsurface plume, depth, hull type, and existing archaeological data. Classification of taxa in sediments adjacent to and at distance from wrecks, in water, and on experimental steel coupons was used to evaluate how the presence of shipwrecks and spill contaminants in the deep biosphere influenced diversity. At all sites, and in all sample types, Proteobacteria were most abundant. Biodiversity was highest in surface sediments and in coupon biofilms adjacent to two steel-hulled wrecks in the study (Halo and Anona) and decreased with sediment depth and distance from the wrecks. Sequences associated with the iron oxidizing Mariprofundus genus were elevated at steel-hulled sites, indicating wreck-specific environmental selection. Despite evidence of the reef effect on microbiomes, bacterial composition was structured primarily by proximity to the spill and secondarily by hull material at all sites. This study provides the first evidence of an artificial reef effect on deep-sea microbial communities and suggests that biodiversity and function of primary colonizers of shipwrecks may be impacted by the spill.

The Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy for Exploration of Deep Space

Science.gov (United States)

Ohi, Seigo; Roach, Allana-Nicole; Fitzgerald, Wendy; Riley, Danny A.; Gonda, Steven R.

2003-01-01

It is hypothesized that the hematopoietic stem cell therapy (HSCT) might countermeasure various space-caused disorders so as to maintain astronauts' homeostasis. If this were achievable, the HSCT could promote human exploration of deep space. Using animal models of disorders (hindlimb suspension unloading system and beta-thalassemia), the HSCT was tested for muscle loss, immunodeficiency and space anemia. The results indicate feasibility of HSCT for these disorders. To facilitate the HSCT in space, growth of HSCs were optimized in the NASA Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) culture systems, including Hydrodynamic Focusing Bioreactor (HFB).

Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management. Support of the space exploration initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

The United States Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) calls for the charting of a new and evolving manned course to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. This paper discusses key challenges in providing effective deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management (TNIM) architectures and designs for Mars exploration support. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with means to monitor and control mission elements, acquire engineering, science, and navigation data, compute state vectors and navigate, and move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision-making. Although these objectives do not depart, fundamentally, from those evolved over the past 30 years in supporting deep space robotic exploration, there are several new issues. This paper focuses on summarizing new requirements, identifying related issues and challenges, responding with concepts and strategies which are enabling, and, finally, describing candidate architectures, and driving technologies. The design challenges include the attainment of: 1) manageable interfaces in a large distributed system, 2) highly unattended operations for in-situ Mars telecommunications and navigation functions, 3) robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, 4) information management for efficient and reliable interchange of data between mission nodes, and 5) an adequate Mars-Earth data rate.

Subsea innovative boosting technologies on deep water scenarios -- Impacts and demands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caetano, E.F.; Mendonca, J.E.; Pagot, P.R.; Cotrim, M.L.; Camargo, R.M.T.; Assayag, M.I.

1995-01-01

This paper presents the importance of deep water scenario for Brazil, the PETROBRAS Deep and Ultra-Deep Water R and D Program (PROCAP-2000) and the candidate fields for the deployment of subsea innovative boosting technologies (ESPS -- electrical submersible pump in subsea wells, SSS -- subsea separation systems and SBMS -- subsea multiphase flow pumping system) as well as the problems associated with the flow assurance in such conditions. The impact of those innovative systems, their technological stage and remaining demands to make them available for deployment in offshore subsea areas, mainly in giant deepwater fields, are discussed and predicted

Drop impact into a deep pool: Vortex shedding and jet formation

KAUST Repository

Agbaglah, Gilou; Thoraval, Marie-Jean; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Zhang, Li V.; Fezzaa, Kamel; Deegan, Robert D.

2015-01-01

One of the simplest splashing scenarios results from the impact of a single drop on a deep pool. The traditional understanding of this process is that the impact generates an axisymmetric sheet-like jet that later breaks up into secondary droplets. Recently it was shown that even this simplest of scenarios is more complicated than expected because multiple jets can be generated from a single impact event and there are transitions in the multiplicity of jets as the experimental parameters are varied. Here, we use experiments and numerical simulations of a single drop impacting on a deep pool to examine the transition from impacts that produce a single jet to those that produce two jets. Using high-speed X-ray imaging methods we show that vortex separation within the drop leads to the formation of a second jet long after the formation of the ejecta sheet. Using numerical simulations we develop a phase diagram for this transition and show that the capillary number is the most appropriate order parameter for the transition. © 2014 Cambridge University Press.

Drop impact into a deep pool: Vortex shedding and jet formation

KAUST Repository

Agbaglah, Gilou

2015-01-02

One of the simplest splashing scenarios results from the impact of a single drop on a deep pool. The traditional understanding of this process is that the impact generates an axisymmetric sheet-like jet that later breaks up into secondary droplets. Recently it was shown that even this simplest of scenarios is more complicated than expected because multiple jets can be generated from a single impact event and there are transitions in the multiplicity of jets as the experimental parameters are varied. Here, we use experiments and numerical simulations of a single drop impacting on a deep pool to examine the transition from impacts that produce a single jet to those that produce two jets. Using high-speed X-ray imaging methods we show that vortex separation within the drop leads to the formation of a second jet long after the formation of the ejecta sheet. Using numerical simulations we develop a phase diagram for this transition and show that the capillary number is the most appropriate order parameter for the transition. © 2014 Cambridge University Press.

Habitat Concepts for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Smitherman, David; Griffin, Brand N.

2014-01-01

Future missions under consideration requiring human habitation beyond the International Space Station (ISS) include deep space habitats in the lunar vicinity to support asteroid retrieval missions, human and robotic lunar missions, satellite servicing, and Mars vehicle servicing missions. Habitat designs are also under consideration for missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, including transfers to near-Earth asteroids and Mars orbital destinations. A variety of habitat layouts have been considered, including those derived from the existing ISS designs and those that could be fabricated from the Space Launch System (SLS) propellant tanks. This paper presents a comparison showing several options for asteroid, lunar, and Mars mission habitats using ISS derived and SLS derived modules and identifies some of the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each. Key findings indicate that the larger SLS diameter modules offer built-in compatibility with the launch vehicle, single launch capability without on-orbit assembly, improved radiation protection, lighter structures per unit volume, and sufficient volume to accommodate consumables for long duration missions without resupply. The information provided with the findings includes mass and volume comparison data that should be helpful to future exploration mission planning efforts.

Evaluating Space Weather Architecture Options to Support Human Deep Space Exploration of the Moon and Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, L.; Minow, J.; Pulkkinen, A.; Fry, D.; Semones, E.; Allen, J.; St Cyr, C.; Mertens, C.; Jun, I.; Onsager, T.; Hock, R.

2018-02-01

NASA's Engineering and Space Center (NESC) is conducting an independent technical assessment of space environment monitoring and forecasting architecture options to support human and robotic deep space exploration.

Drop impact into a deep pool: vortex shedding and jet formation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Agbaglah, G.; Thoraval, Marie-Jean; Thoroddsen, S.T.; Zhang, L.V.; Fezzaa, K.; Deegan, R.D.

2015-01-01

One of the simplest splashing scenarios results from the impact of a single drop on a deep pool. The traditional understanding of this process is that the impact generates an axisymmetric sheet-like jet that later breaks up into secondary droplets. Recently it was shown that even this simplest of

Exploring fungal diversity in deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Yong; Wang, Guang-Hua; Xu, Xin-Ya; Nong, Xu-Hua; Wang, Jie; Amin, Muhammad; Qi, Shu-Hua

2016-10-01

The present study investigated the fungal diversity in four different deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1). A total of 40,297 fungal ITS1 sequences clustered into 420 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with 97% sequence similarity and 170 taxa were recovered from these sediments. Most ITS1 sequences (78%) belonged to the phylum Ascomycota, followed by Basidiomycota (17.3%), Zygomycota (1.5%) and Chytridiomycota (0.8%), and a small proportion (2.4%) belonged to unassigned fungal phyla. Compared with previous studies on fungal diversity of sediments from deep-sea environments by culture-dependent approach and clone library analysis, the present result suggested that Illumina sequencing had been dramatically accelerating the discovery of fungal community of deep-sea sediments. Furthermore, our results revealed that Sordariomycetes was the most diverse and abundant fungal class in this study, challenging the traditional view that the diversity of Sordariomycetes phylotypes was low in the deep-sea environments. In addition, more than 12 taxa accounted for 21.5% sequences were found to be rarely reported as deep-sea fungi, suggesting the deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough harbored a plethora of different fungal communities compared with other deep-sea environments. To our knowledge, this study is the first exploration of the fungal diversity in deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing.

Traffic Flow Prediction with Rainfall Impact Using a Deep Learning Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhan Jia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate traffic flow prediction is increasingly essential for successful traffic modeling, operation, and management. Traditional data driven traffic flow prediction approaches have largely assumed restrictive (shallow model architectures and do not leverage the large amount of environmental data available. Inspired by deep learning methods with more complex model architectures and effective data mining capabilities, this paper introduces the deep belief network (DBN and long short-term memory (LSTM to predict urban traffic flow considering the impact of rainfall. The rainfall-integrated DBN and LSTM can learn the features of traffic flow under various rainfall scenarios. Experimental results indicate that, with the consideration of additional rainfall factor, the deep learning predictors have better accuracy than existing predictors and also yield improvements over the original deep learning models without rainfall input. Furthermore, the LSTM can outperform the DBN to capture the time series characteristics of traffic flow data.

From miracle to reconciliation: a hermeneutic phenomenological study exploring the experience of living with Parkinson's disease following deep brain stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Haahr, Anita; Kirkevold, Marit; Hall, Elisabeth O C; Ostergaard, Karen

2010-10-01

Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's disease is a promising treatment for patients who can no longer be treated satisfactorily with L-dopa. Deep Brain Stimulation is known to relieve motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease and improve quality of life. Focusing on how patients experience life when treated with Deep Brain Stimulation can provide essential information on the process patients go through when receiving a treatment that alters the body and changes the illness trajectory. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experience of living with Parkinson's disease when treated with Deep Brain Stimulation. The study was designed as a longitudinal study and data were gathered through qualitative in-depth interviews three times during the first year of treatment. Nine patients participated in the study. They were included when they had accepted treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's disease. Data collection and data analysis were inspired by the hermeneutic phenomenological methodology of Van Manen. The treatment had a major impact on the body. Participants experienced great bodily changes and went through a process of adjustment in three phases during the first year of treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation. These stages were; being liberated: a kind of miracle, changes as a challenge: decline or opportunity and reconciliation: re-defining life with Parkinson's disease. The course of the process was unique for each participant, but dominant was that difficulties during the adjustment of stimulation and medication did affect the re-defining process. Patients go through a dramatic process of change following Deep Brain Stimulation. A changing body affects their entire lifeworld. Some adjust smoothly to changes while others are affected by loss of control, uncertainty and loss of everyday life as they knew it. These experiences affect the process of adjusting to life with Deep Brain Stimulation and re-define life with Parkinson's disease

Deep water overflow in the Faroe Bank Channel; modelling, processes, and impact

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rullyanto, Arief

, creating new water masses with distinct temperature, salinity and density characteristics. The change of water mass characteristics not only affects the local environment, but also far distant regions. The Faroe Bank Channel, which is located in the southern part of Faroe Islands, is one of the most...... under different circumstances. The focus is on the Faroe Bank Channel, a relatively small region, which has a significant impact on the global ocean circulation and marine organisms that live in its environment....... or tides, but also deep beneath the surface, where deep-water currents circulate waters throughout the world’s oceans. In certain very-localized regions, the flow of the deep-water has to travel over a sill in a narrow submarine channel. This overflow process mixes the deep water with overlying waters...

Building Better Biosensors for Exploration into Deep-Space, Using Humanized Yeast

Science.gov (United States)

Liddell, Lauren; Santa Maria, Sergio; Tieze, Sofia; Bhattacharya, Sharmila

2017-01-01

1.BioSentinel is 1 of 13 secondary payloads hitching a ride beyond Low Earth Orbit on Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), set to launch from NASAs Space Launch System in 2019. EM-1 is our first opportunity to investigate the effects of the deep space environment on a eukaryotic biological system, the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. Though separated by a billion years of evolution we share hundreds of genes important for basic cell function, including responses to DNA damage. Thus, yeast is an ideal biosensor for detecting typesextent of damage induced by deep-space radiation.We will fly desiccated cells, then rehydrate to wake them up when the automated payload is ready to initiate the experiment. Rehydration solution contains SC (Synthetic Complete) media and alamarBlue, an indicator for changes in growth and metabolism. Telemetry of LED readings will then allow us to detect how cells respond throughout the mission. The desiccation-rehydration process can be extremely damaging to cells, and can severely diminish our ability to accurately measure and model cellular responses to deep-space radiation. The aim of this study is to develop a better biosensor: yeast strains that are more resistant to desiccation stress. We will over-express known cellular protectants, including hydrophilin Sip18, the protein disaggregase Hsp104, and thioredoxin Trx2, a responder to oxidative stress, then measure cell viability after desiccation to determine which factors improve stress tolerance. Over-expression of SIP18 in wine yeast starter cultures was previously reported to increase viability following desiccation stress by up to 70. Thus, we expect similar improvements in our space-yeast strains. By designing better yeast biosensors we can better prepare for and mitigate the potential dangers of deep-space radiation for future missions.This work is funded by NASAs AES program.

Impact of proton irradiation on deep level states in n-GaN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Z.; Arehart, A. R.; Cinkilic, E.; Ringel, S. A.; Chen, J.; Zhang, E. X.; Fleetwood, D. M.; Schrimpf, R. D.; McSkimming, B.; Speck, J. S.

2013-01-01

Deep levels in 1.8 MeV proton irradiated n-type GaN were systematically characterized using deep level transient spectroscopies and deep level optical spectroscopies. The impacts of proton irradiation on the introduction and evolution of those deep states were revealed as a function of proton fluences up to 1.1 × 10 13 cm −2 . The proton irradiation introduced two traps with activation energies of E C - 0.13 eV and 0.16 eV, and a monotonic increase in the concentration for most of the pre-existing traps, though the increase rates were different for each trap, suggesting different physical sources and/or configurations for these states. Through lighted capacitance voltage measurements, the deep levels at E C - 1.25 eV, 2.50 eV, and 3.25 eV were identified as being the source of systematic carrier removal in proton-damaged n-GaN as a function of proton fluence

Deep brain stimulation reveals emotional impact processing in ventromedial prefrontal cortex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gjedde, Albert; Geday, Jacob

2009-01-01

We tested the hypothesis that modulation of monoaminergic tone with deep-brain stimulation (DBS) of subthalamic nucleus would reveal a site of reactivity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that we previously identified by modulating serotonergic and noradrenergic mechanisms by blocking serotonin......-noradrenaline reuptake sites. We tested the hypothesis in patients with Parkinson's disease in whom we had measured the changes of blood flow everywhere in the brain associated with the deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. We determined the emotional reactivity of the patients as the average impact...

Temperature impacts on deep-sea biodiversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yasuhara, Moriaki; Danovaro, Roberto

2016-05-01

Temperature is considered to be a fundamental factor controlling biodiversity in marine ecosystems, but precisely what role temperature plays in modulating diversity is still not clear. The deep ocean, lacking light and in situ photosynthetic primary production, is an ideal model system to test the effects of temperature changes on biodiversity. Here we synthesize current knowledge on temperature-diversity relationships in the deep sea. Our results from both present and past deep-sea assemblages suggest that, when a wide range of deep-sea bottom-water temperatures is considered, a unimodal relationship exists between temperature and diversity (that may be right skewed). It is possible that temperature is important only when at relatively high and low levels but does not play a major role in the intermediate temperature range. Possible mechanisms explaining the temperature-biodiversity relationship include the physiological-tolerance hypothesis, the metabolic hypothesis, island biogeography theory, or some combination of these. The possible unimodal relationship discussed here may allow us to identify tipping points at which on-going global change and deep-water warming may increase or decrease deep-sea biodiversity. Predicted changes in deep-sea temperatures due to human-induced climate change may have more adverse consequences than expected considering the sensitivity of deep-sea ecosystems to temperature changes. © 2014 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Differential impact of thalamic versus subthalamic deep brain stimulation on lexical processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Krugel, Lea K; Ehlen, Felicitas; Tiedt, Hannes O; Kühn, Andrea A; Klostermann, Fabian

2014-10-01

Roles of subcortical structures in language processing are vague, but, interestingly, basal ganglia and thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation can go along with reduced lexical capacities. To deepen the understanding of this impact, we assessed word processing as a function of thalamic versus subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation. Ten essential tremor patients treated with thalamic and 14 Parkinson׳s disease patients with subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation performed an acoustic Lexical Decision Task ON and OFF stimulation. Combined analysis of task performance and event-related potentials allowed the determination of processing speed, priming effects, and N400 as neurophysiological correlate of lexical stimulus processing. 12 age-matched healthy participants acted as control subjects. Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation prolonged word decisions and reduced N400 potentials. No comparable ON-OFF effects were present in patients with subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation. In the latter group of patients with Parkinson' disease, N400 amplitudes were, however, abnormally low, whether under active or inactive Deep Brain Stimulation. In conclusion, performance speed and N400 appear to be influenced by state functions, modulated by thalamic, but not subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation, compatible with concepts of thalamo-cortical engagement in word processing. Clinically, these findings specify cognitive sequels of Deep Brain Stimulation in a target-specific way. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

FY 1998 report on the verification survey of geothermal exploration technology, etc. 2/2. Survey of deep geothermal resource; 1998 nendo chinetsu tansa gijutsu nado kensho chosa hokokusho. 2/2. Shinbu chinetsu shigen chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-12-01

For the purpose of commercializing deep geothermal resource, a deep exploration well of 4000m class was drilled in the existing geothermal development area to survey the situation of deep geothermal resource existence and the availability. Concretely, the deep geothermal exploration well was drilled for study in the Kakkonda area, Shizukuishi town, Iwate prefecture, to clarify the situation of deep geothermal resource existence and the whole image of geothermal system. Consideration was made of the deep geothermal exploration method, systematization of deep high temperature drilling technology, and availability of deep geothermal resource. The results of the survey were summed up as follows: 1) general remarks; 2) deep exploration well drilling work; 3) details of the study. This report contained 3). In 3), the items were as follows: heightening of accuracy of the deep geothermal resource exploration method, making of a geothermal model in the Kakkonda area, study of deep drilling technology, study of deep fluid utilization technology, and making of a guide for deep geothermal resource exploration/development in the Kakkonda area. As to the technology of high temperature deep geothermal well drilling, studies were made of the borehole cooling method, mud water cooling method, survey of deterioration of casing with age, etc. (NEDO)

FY 1998 report on the verification survey of geothermal exploration technology, etc. 1/2. Survey of deep geothermal resource; 1998 nendo chinetsu tansa gijutsu nado kensho chosa hokokusho. 1/2. Shinbu chinetsu shigen chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-12-01

For the purpose of commercializing deep geothermal resource, a deep exploration well of 4000m class was drilled in the existing geothermal development area to survey the situation of deep geothermal resource existence and the availability. Concretely, the deep geothermal exploration well was drilled for study in the Kakkonda area, Shizukuishi town, Iwate prefecture, to clarify the situation of deep geothermal resource existence and the whole image of geothermal system. Consideration was made of the deep geothermal exploration method, systematization of deep high temperature drilling technology, and availability of deep geothermal resource. The results of the survey were summed up as follows: 1) general remarks; 2) deep exploration well drilling work; 3) details of the study. 1) and 2) were included in this report, and 3) in the next report. In 1), the items were as follows: the study plan/gist of study execution, the details and results of the deep geothermal resource survey, the outline of the deep exploration well drilling work, and the outline of the results of the FY 1998 study. In 2), the drilling work plan/the actual results of the drilling work were summed up. As to the results of the study, summarized were the acquisition of survey data on deep exploration well, heightening of accuracy of the deep geothermal resource exploration method, etc. (NEDO)

Research of narrow pulse width, high repetition rate, high output power fiber lasers for deep space exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Yan-feng; Li, Hong-zuo; Wang, Yan; Hao, Zi-qiang; Xiao, Dong-Ya

2013-08-01

As human beings expand the research in unknown areas constantly, the deep space exploration has become a hot research topic all over the world. According to the long distance and large amount of information transmission characteristics of deep space exploration, the space laser communication is the preferred mode because it has the advantages of concentrated energy, good security, and large information capacity and interference immunity. In a variety of laser source, fibre-optical pulse laser has become an important communication source in deep space laser communication system because of its small size, light weight and large power. For fiber lasers, to solve the contradiction between the high repetition rate and the peak value power is an important scientific problem. General Q technology is difficult to obtain a shorter pulse widths, This paper presents a DFB semiconductor laser integrated with Electro-absorption modulator to realize the narrow pulse width, high repetition rate of the seed source, and then using a two-cascaded high gain fiber amplifier as amplification mean, to realize the fibre-optical pulse laser with pulse width 3ns, pulse frequency 200kHz and peak power 1kW. According to the space laser atmospheric transmission window, the wavelength selects for 1.06um. It is adopted that full fibre technology to make seed source and amplification, pumping source and amplification of free-space coupled into fiber-coupled way. It can overcome that fibre lasers are vulnerable to changes in external conditions such as vibration, temperature drift and other factors affect, improving long-term stability. The fiber lasers can be modulated by PPM mode, to realize high rate modulation, because of its peak power, high transmission rate, narrow pulse width, high frequency stability, all technical indexes meet the requirements of the exploration of deep space communication technology.

Calculations of Asteroid Impacts into Deep and Shallow Water

Science.gov (United States)

Gisler, Galen; Weaver, Robert; Gittings, Michael

2011-06-01

Contrary to received opinion, ocean impacts of small (dangerous features of ocean impacts, just as for land impacts, are the atmospheric effects. We present illustrative hydrodynamic calculations of impacts into both deep and shallow seas, and draw conclusions from a parameter study in which the size of the impactor and the depth of the sea are varied independently. For vertical impacts at 20 km/s, craters in the seafloor are produced when the water depth is less than about 5-7 times the asteroid diameter. Both the depth and the diameter of the transient crater scale with the asteroid diameter, so the volume of water excavated scales with the asteroid volume. About a third of the crater volume is vaporised, because the kinetic energy per unit mass of the asteroid is much larger than the latent heat of vaporisation of water. The vaporised water carries away a considerable fraction of the impact energy in an explosively expanding blast wave which is responsible for devastating local effects and may affect worldwide climate. Of the remaining energy, a substantial portion is used in the crown splash and the rebound jet that forms as the transient crater collapses. The collapse and rebound cycle leads to a propagating wave with a wavelength considerably shorter than classical tsunamis, being only about twice the diameter of the transient crater. Propagation of this wave is hindered somewhat because its amplitude is so large that it breaks in deep water and is strongly affected by the blast wave's perturbation of the atmosphere. Even if propagation were perfect, however, the volume of water delivered per metre of shoreline is less than was delivered by the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami for any impactor smaller than 500 m diameter in an ocean of 5 km depth or less. Near-field effects are dangerous for impactors of diameter 200 m or greater; hurricane-force winds can extend tens of kilometers from the impact point, and fallout from the initial splash can be extremely violent

Energy Transitions towards Sustainability I: A Staged Exploration of Complexity and Deep Uncertainty

OpenAIRE

Pruyt, E.; Kwakkel, J.; Yucel, G.; Hamarat, C.

2011-01-01

This paper illustrates the use of Exploratory System Dynamics Modeling and Analysis – a multi-method combining System Dynamics and Exploratory Modeling and Analysis to explore and analyze uncertain dynamic issues and test deep policy robustness. This paper gives an overview of the current state of this multi-method by means of an illustration. The multimethod is applied to the transition of the electricity generation system, more specifically the battle between old and new electricity generat...

Deep-sea benthic community and environmental impact assessment at the Atlantic Frontier

Science.gov (United States)

Gage, John D.

2001-05-01

The seabed community provides a sensitive litmus for environmental change. North Sea analysis of benthic populations provides an effective means for monitoring impacts from man's interventions, such as offshore oil exploitation and fishing, against baseline knowledge of the environment. Comparable knowledge of the benthic biology in the deep waters of the Atlantic Frontier beyond the N.E. Atlantic shelf edge is poorly developed. But uncertainties should not encourage assumptions and extrapolations from the better-known conditions on the continental shelf. While sampling at present still provides the best means to assess the health of the deepwater benthic habitat, protocols developed for deep-sea fauna should be applied. These are necessary because of (a) lower faunal densities, (b) higher species richness, (c) smaller body size, and (d) to ensure comparability with other deep-sea data. As in the North Sea, species richness and relative abundance can be analysed from quantitative samples in order to detect impacts. But analysis based on taxonomic sufficiency above species level is premature, even if arguably possible for coastal communities. Measures also need to ensure identifications are not forced to more familiar coastal species without proper study. Species-level analysis may be applied to seabed photographs of megafauna in relation to data on bottom environment, such as currents and the sediment, to monitor the health of the deep-water community. Although the composition of higher taxa in the benthic community is broadly similar to soft sediments on the shelf, concordance in sensitivities is speculative. Moreover, new organisms occur, such as giant protozoan xenophyophores, unknown on the continental shelf, whose sensitivities remain conjectural. Past knowledge of the benthic biology of the deep-water areas off Scotland is based on scattered stations and some more focussed, multidisciplinary studies, and should be significantly augmented by the results from

Hematopoietic Stem Cell Therapy as a Counter-Measure for Human Exploration of Deep Space

Science.gov (United States)

Ohi, S.; Roach, A.-N.; Ramsahai, S.; Kim, B. C.; Fitzgerald, W.; Riley, D. A.; Gonda, S. R.

2004-01-01

Human exploration of deep space depends, in part, on our ability to counter severe/invasive disorders that astronauts experience in space environments. The known symptoms include hematological/cardiac abnormalities,bone and muscle losses, immunodeficiency, neurological disorders, and cancer. Exploiting the extraordinary plasticity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which differentiate not only to all types of blood cells, but also to various tissues, we have advanced a hypothesis that ome of the space-caused disorders maybe amenable to hematopoietis stem cell therapy(HSCT) so as to maintain promote human exploration of deep space. Using mouse models of human anemia beta-thaiassemia) as well as spaceflight (hindlimb unloading system), we have obtained feasibility results of HSCT for space anemia, muscle loss, and immunodeficiency. For example, in the case of HSCT for muscle loss, the beta-galactosidese marked HSCs were detected in the hindlimbs of unloaded mouse following transplantation by -X-gal wholemaunt staining procedure. Histochemicaland physical analyses indicated structural contribution of HSCs to the muscle. HSCT for immunodeficiency was investigated ising beta-galactosidese gene-tagged Escherichia coli as the infectious agent. Results of the X-gal staining procedure indicated the rapeutic role of the HSCT. To facilitate the HSCT in space, growth of HSCs were optimized in the NASA Rotating Wall Vessel (RWV) culture systems, including Hydrodynamic Focusing Bioreactor (HFB).

Impact of deep levels on the electrical conductivity and luminescence of gallium nitride codoped with carbon and silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Armstrong, A.; Arehart, A.R.; Green, D.; Mishra, U.K.; Speck, J.S.; Ringel, S.A.

2005-01-01

The impact of C incorporation on the deep level spectrum of n-type and semi-insulating GaN:C:Si films grown by rf plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (MBE) was investigated by the combination of deep level transient spectroscopy, steady-state photocapacitance, and transient deep level optical spectroscopy. The deep level spectra of the GaN:C:Si samples exhibited several band-gap states. A monotonic relation between systematic doping with C and quantitative trap concentration revealed C-related deep levels. A deep acceptor at E c -2.05 eV and a deep donor at E c -0.11 eV are newly reported states, and the latter is the first directly observed deep level attributed to the C Ga defect. A configuration-coordinate model involving localized lattice distortion revealed strong evidence that C-related deep levels at E c -3.0 eV and E ν +0.9 eV are likely identical and associated with the yellow luminescence in C-doped GaN films. Of the deep levels whose trap concentration increase with C doping, the band-gap states at E c -3.0 and 3.28 eV had the largest concentration, implying that free-carrier compensation by these deep levels is responsible for the semi-insulating behavior of GaN:C:Si films grown by MBE. The differing manner by which C incorporation in GaN may impact electrical conductivity in films grown by MBE and metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition is discussed

Using Digital Globes to Explore the Deep Sea and Advance Public Literacy in Earth System Science

Science.gov (United States)

Beaulieu, S. E.; Brickley, A.; Emery, M.; Spargo, A.; Patterson, K.; Joyce, K.; Silva, T.; Madin, K.

2014-12-01

Digital globes are new technologies increasingly used in both informal and formal education to display global datasets. By creating a narrative using multiple datasets, linkages between Earth systems - lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere - can be conveyed. But how effective are digital globes in advancing public literacy in Earth system science? We addressed this question in developing new content for digital globes that interweaves imagery obtained by deep-diving vehicles with global datasets, including a new dataset locating the world's known hydrothermal vents. Our two narratives, "Life Without Sunlight" (LWS) and "Smoke and Fire Underwater" (SFU), each focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) principles related to geology, biology, and exploration. We are preparing a summative evaluation for our content delivered on NOAA's Science on a Sphere as interactive presentations and as movies. We tested knowledge gained with respect to the STEM principles and the level of excitement generated by the virtual deep-sea exploration. We conducted a Post-test Only Design with quantitative data based on self-reporting on a Likert scale. A total of 75 adults and 48 youths responded to our questionnaire, distributed into test groups that saw either one of the two narratives delivered either as a movie or as an interactive presentation. Here, we report preliminary results for the youths, the majority (81%) of which live in towns with lower income and lower levels of educational attainment as compared to other towns in Massachusetts. For both narratives, there was knowledge gained for all 6 STEM principles and "Quite a Bit" of excitement. The mode in responses for knowledge gained was "Quite a Bit" for both the movie and the interactive presentation for 4 of the STEM principles (LWS geology, LWS biology, SFU geology, and SFU exploration) and "Some" for SFU biology. Only for LWS exploration was there a difference in mode between the

Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project Completes Coring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

the Scientific Staff of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure Deep Drilling Project (CBIS Project completed its coring operations during September–December 2005 and April–May 2006. Cores were collected continuously to a total depth of 1766 m. The recovered section consists of 1322 m of impactites beneath 444 m of post-impact continental shelf sediments.The CBIS Project is a joint venture of the International Continental Scientifi c Drilling Program (ICDP and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS. Project activities began with a planning workshop in September 2003 attended by sixtythree scientists from ten countries. Field operations began with site preparation in July 2005, and coring began in September 2005. Drilling, Observation and Sampling of theEarth’s Continental Crust (DOSECC was the general contractor for the drilling operations throughout 2005.

Modelling deep convection and its impacts on the tropical tropopause layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. S. Hosking

2010-11-01

Full Text Available The UK Met Office's Unified Model is used at a climate resolution (N216, ~0.83°×~0.56°, ~60 km to assess the impact of deep tropical convection on the structure of the tropical tropopause layer (TTL. We focus on the potential for rapid transport of short-lived ozone depleting species to the stratosphere by rapid convective uplift. The modelled horizontal structure of organised convection is shown to match closely with signatures found in the OLR satellite data. In the model, deep convective elevators rapidly lift air from 4–5 km up to 12–14 km. The influx of tropospheric air entering the TTL (11–12 km is similar for all tropical regions with most convection stopping below ~14 km. The tropical tropopause is coldest and driest between November and February, coinciding with the greatest upwelling over the tropical warm pool. As this deep convection is co-located with bromine-rich biogenic coastal emissions, this period and location could potentially be the preferential gateway for stratospheric bromine.

Deep space telecommunications, navigation, and information management - Support of the Space Exploration Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

1990-10-01

The principal challenges in providing effective deep space navigation, telecommunications, and information management architectures and designs for Mars exploration support are presented. The fundamental objectives are to provide the mission with the means to monitor and control mission elements, obtain science, navigation, and engineering data, compute state vectors and navigate, and to move these data efficiently and automatically between mission nodes for timely analysis and decision making. New requirements are summarized, and related issues and challenges including the robust connectivity for manned and robotic links, are identified. Enabling strategies are discussed, and candidate architectures and driving technologies are described.

Impact disruption and recovery of the deep subsurface biosphere

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cockell, Charles S.; Voytek, Mary A.; Gronstal, Aaaron L

2012-01-01

the 35 million-year-old Chesapeake Bay impact structure, USA, with robust contamination control. Microbial enumerations displayed a logarithmic downward decline, but the different gradient, when compared to previously studied sites, and the scatter of the data are consistent with a microbiota influenced......Although a large fraction of the world's biomass resides in the subsurface, there has been no study of the effects of catastrophic disturbance on the deep biosphere and the rate of its subsequent recovery. We carried out an investigation of the microbiology of a 1.76 km drill core obtained from...

Jetting from impact of a spherical drop with a deep layer

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Li; Toole, Jameson; Fazzaa, Kamel; Deegan, Robert; Deegan Group Team; X-Ray Science Division, Advanced Photon Source Collaboration

2011-11-01

We performed an experimental study of jets during the impact of a spherical drop with a deep layer of same liquid. Using high speed optical and X-ray imaging, we observe two types of jets: the so-called ejecta sheet which emerges almost immediately after impact and the lamella which emerges later. For high Reynolds number the two jets are distinct, while for low Reynolds number the two jets combine into a single continuous jet. We also measured the emergence time, speed, and position of the ejecta sheet and found simple scaling relations for these quantities.

Deep Impact Delta II Launch Vehicle Cracked Thick Film Coating on Electronic Packages Technical Consultation Report

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Kenneth D.; Kichak, Robert A.; Piascik, Robert S.; Leidecker, Henning W.; Wilson, Timmy R.

2009-01-01

The Deep Impact spacecraft was launched on a Boeing Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) on January 12, 2005. Prior to the launch, the Director of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OS&MA) requested the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) lead a team to render an independent opinion on the rationale for flight and the risk code assignments for the hazard of cracked Thick Film Assemblies (TFAs) in the E-packages of the Delta II launch vehicle for the Deep Impact Mission. The results of the evaluation are contained in this report.

Succeeding in deep water by combining technology qualification and production forecasting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussain, A.; Oiungen, B.; Raposo, C. [Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

2008-07-01

All the easy oil and gas is gone, and, as a result the Oil and Gas industry is continuously targeting deeper and more remote fields. The exploration and development of deep water oil and gas fields is associated with enormous costs and multiple uncertainties with regard to equipment reliability and performance. Proper risk management can be used to evaluate the impact of these uncertainties thereby helping to ensure optimal business performance of the future assets, as well as helping the decision maker target investment towards areas where the financial impact will be the greatest. This paper reviews the principles of Technology Qualification and Production Forecasting methodology, both of which are risk management solutions with a proven track record for deep water field developments. (author)

Chandra Observations of the Deep Impact Encounter with Comet 9P/Tempel 1

Science.gov (United States)

Lisse, C. M.; Christian, D. J.; Dennerl, K.; Wolk, S. J.; Bodewits, D.; Combi, M. R.; Hoekstra, R.; Makinen, T.; Schultz, P. H.; Weaver, H. A.

2005-08-01

On July 4, 2005 NASA's discovery mission Deep Impact (hereafter DI) will send a 375 kg impactor into the nucleus of comet 9P/Tempel 1 at 10.2 km/s relative velocity. In the x-ray, the DI experiment allows for a controlled test of the charge exchange (CXE) emission mechanism that drives cometary x-ray emission (Lisse et al. 2001, Kharchenko and Dalgarno 2001, Krasnopolsky et al.2002). Previous ROSAT and Chandra observations studied cometary x-ray emission as the solar wind changed but the cometary emission remained constant. Here, at a precise time, a fresh amount of neutral material will be injected into a finite volume of the extended atmosphere, or coma, of the comet. This new material will directly increase the emission measure for the comet, passing from the collisionally thick to the collisionally thin regions of emission over the course of days. The DI experiment also allows for a direct search for prompt x-rays created by hyper-velocity impact processes, such as was seen by ROSAT during the impact of the K-fragment of comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter (Waite et al. 1995). We report here on the first results of of the Chandra observations of the Deep Impact encounter.

Characterizing Natural Gas Hydrates in the Deep Water Gulf of Mexico: Applications for Safe Exploration and Production Activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bent, Jimmy

2014-05-31

In 2000 Chevron began a project to learn how to characterize the natural gas hydrate deposits in the deep water portion of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Chevron is an active explorer and operator in the Gulf of Mexico and is aware that natural gas hydrates need to be understood to operate safely in deep water. In August 2000 Chevron worked closely with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and held a workshop in Houston, Texas to define issues concerning the characterization of natural gas hydrate deposits. Specifically, the workshop was meant to clearly show where research, the development of new technologies, and new information sources would be of benefit to the DOE and to the oil and gas industry in defining issues and solving gas hydrate problems in deep water.

Deep Impact as a World Observatory Event: Synergies in Space, Time, and Wavelength

CERN Document Server

Käufl, H.U; ESO/VUB Conference

2009-01-01

In the context of the NASA Deep Impact space mission, comet 9P/Tempel1 has been at the focus of an unprecedented worldwide long-term multi-wavelength observation campaign. The comet was also studied throughout its perihelion passage by various sources including the Deep Impact mission itself, the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer, Rosetta, XMM and all major ground-based observatories in a wavelength band from cm-wave radio astronomy to x-rays. This book includes the proceedings of a meeting that brought together an audience of theoreticians and observers - across the electromagnetic spectrum and from different sites and projects - to make full use of the massive ground-based observing data set. The coherent presentation of all data sets illustrates and examines the various observational constraints on modelling the cometary nucleus, cometary gas, cometary plasma, cometary dust, and the comet's surface and its activity.

The Ejecta Evolution of Deep Impact: Insight from Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Hermalyn, B.; Schultz, P. H.; Heineck, J. T.

2010-12-01

The Deep Impact (DI) probe impacted comet 9P/Tempel 1 at an angle of ~30° from local horizontal with a velocity of 10.2 km/s. Examination of the resulting ballistic (e.g., non-vapor driven) ejecta revealed phenomena that largely followed expectations from laboratory investigations of oblique impacts into low-density porous material, including a downrange bias, uprange zone of avoidance, and cardioid (curved) rays (Schultz, et al, 2005, 2007). Modeling of the impact based on canonical models and scaling laws (Richardson, et al, 2007) allowed a first-order reconstruction of the event, but did not fully represent the three-dimensional nature of the ejecta flow-field in an oblique impact essential for interpretation of the DI data. In this study, we present new experimental measurements of the early-time ejecta dynamics in oblique impacts that allow a more complete reconstruction of the ballistic ejecta from the impact, including visualization of the DI encounter and predictions for the upcoming re-encounter with Tempel 1. A suite of hypervelocity 30° impact experiments into granular materials was performed at the NASA Ames Vertical Gun Range (AVGR) for the purpose of interpreting the Deep Impact event. A technique based on Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) permitted non-intrusive measurement of the ejecta velocity within the ejecta curtain. The PTV system developed at the AVGR utilizes a laser light sheet projected parallel to the impact surface to illuminate horizontal “slices” of the ejecta curtain that are then recorded by multiple cameras. Particle displacement between successive frames and cameras allows determination of the three-component velocity of the ejecta curtain. Pioneering efforts with a similar technique (Anderson, et al, 2003, 2006) characterized the main-stage ejecta velocity distributions and demonstrated that asymmetries in velocity and ejection angle persist well into the far-field for oblique impacts. In this study, high-speed cameras

Digging Deep: Exploring College Students' Knowledge of Macroevolutionary Time

Science.gov (United States)

Catley, Kefyn M.; Novick, Laura R.

2009-01-01

Some ability to comprehend deep time is a prerequisite for understanding macroevolution. This study examines students' knowledge of deep time in the context of seven major historical and evolutionary events (e.g., the age of the Earth, the emergence of life, the appearance of a pre-modern human, "Homo habilis"). The subjects were 126…

Early Environmental Field Research Career Exploration: An Analysis of Impacts on Precollege Apprentices

Science.gov (United States)

Flowers, Susan K.; Beyer, Katherine M.; Pérez, Maria; Jeffe, Donna B.

2016-01-01

Research apprenticeships offer opportunities for deep understanding of scientific practice, transparency about research careers, and possible transformational effects on precollege youth. We examined two consecutive field-based environmental biology apprenticeship programs designed to deliver realistic career exploration and connections to…

Exploration Of Deep Learning Algorithms Using Openacc Parallel Programming Model

KAUST Repository

Hamam, Alwaleed A.

2017-03-13

Deep learning is based on a set of algorithms that attempt to model high level abstractions in data. Specifically, RBM is a deep learning algorithm that used in the project to increase it\\'s time performance using some efficient parallel implementation by OpenACC tool with best possible optimizations on RBM to harness the massively parallel power of NVIDIA GPUs. GPUs development in the last few years has contributed to growing the concept of deep learning. OpenACC is a directive based ap-proach for computing where directives provide compiler hints to accelerate code. The traditional Restricted Boltzmann Ma-chine is a stochastic neural network that essentially perform a binary version of factor analysis. RBM is a useful neural net-work basis for larger modern deep learning model, such as Deep Belief Network. RBM parameters are estimated using an efficient training method that called Contrastive Divergence. Parallel implementation of RBM is available using different models such as OpenMP, and CUDA. But this project has been the first attempt to apply OpenACC model on RBM.

Exploration Of Deep Learning Algorithms Using Openacc Parallel Programming Model

KAUST Repository

Hamam, Alwaleed A.; Khan, Ayaz H.

2017-01-01

Deep learning is based on a set of algorithms that attempt to model high level abstractions in data. Specifically, RBM is a deep learning algorithm that used in the project to increase it's time performance using some efficient parallel implementation by OpenACC tool with best possible optimizations on RBM to harness the massively parallel power of NVIDIA GPUs. GPUs development in the last few years has contributed to growing the concept of deep learning. OpenACC is a directive based ap-proach for computing where directives provide compiler hints to accelerate code. The traditional Restricted Boltzmann Ma-chine is a stochastic neural network that essentially perform a binary version of factor analysis. RBM is a useful neural net-work basis for larger modern deep learning model, such as Deep Belief Network. RBM parameters are estimated using an efficient training method that called Contrastive Divergence. Parallel implementation of RBM is available using different models such as OpenMP, and CUDA. But this project has been the first attempt to apply OpenACC model on RBM.

Petroleum geological features and exploration prospect of deep marine carbonate rocks in China onshore: A further discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Wenzhi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Deep marine carbonate rocks have become one of the key targets of onshore oil and gas exploration and development for reserves replacement in China. Further geological researches of such rocks may practically facilitate the sustainable, steady and smooth development of the petroleum industry in the country. Therefore, through a deep investigation into the fundamental geological conditions of deep marine carbonate reservoirs, we found higher-than-expected resource potential therein, which may uncover large oil or gas fields. The findings were reflected in four aspects. Firstly, there are two kinds of hydrocarbon kitchens which were respectively formed by conventional source rocks and liquid hydrocarbons cracking that were detained in source rocks, and both of them can provide large-scale hydrocarbons. Secondly, as controlled by the bedding and interstratal karstification, as well as the burial and hydrothermal dolomitization, effective carbonate reservoirs may be extensively developed in the deep and ultra-deep strata. Thirdly, under the coupling action of progressive burial and annealing heating, some marine source rocks could form hydrocarbon accumulations spanning important tectonic phases, and large quantity of liquid hydrocarbons could be kept in late stage, contributing to rich oil and gas in such deep marine strata. Fourthly, large-scale uplifts were formed by the stacking of multi-episodic tectonism and oil and gas could be accumulated in three modes (i.e., stratoid large-area reservoir-forming mode of karst reservoirs in the slope area of uplift, back-flow type large-area reservoir-forming mode of buried hill weathered crust karst reservoirs, and wide-range reservoir-forming mode of reef-shoal reservoirs; groups of stratigraphic and lithologic traps were widely developed in the areas of periclinal structures of paleohighs and continental margins. In conclusion, deep marine carbonate strata in China onshore contain the conditions for

The DESMEX Project - Deep Electromagnetic Sounding for Mineral EXploration

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, U.; Becken, M.; Stolz, R.; Nittinger, C.; Cherevatova, M.; Siemon, B.; Martin, T.; Petersen, H.; Steuer, A.

2017-12-01

The DESMEX project (Deep Electromagnetic Sounding for Mineral Exploration) aims to develop independent semi-airborne frequency domain systems for mineral exploration down to depths of 1 km and deeper. Two different helicopter-towed systems are being designed and tested using source installations on ground. One system uses among other equipment conventional three axis induction coils, a 3D-fluxgate and a high precision inertial motion unit. The use of the two different magnetometers allows to record data in a broad frequency range from 1 Hz to 10 kHz. The second system uses a newly developed SQUID-based sensing system of a similar frequency range and a self made inertial motion unit. Horizontal electric dipole transmitters provided by the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics in Hannover and the Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology of the University in Cologne are used as ground based sources. First system tests showed a good performance of both systems with general noise levels below 50 pT/root(Hz). Test flights above the common survey area proved that the desired depth of investigation can be achieved and that the data is consistent with the subsurface conductivity structures. In order to verify the data acquired from the newly developed system at shallow depths and to provide a better starting model for later inversion calculations helicopter borne frequency domain electromagnetics has been acquired and fully processed over the test site Schleiz - Greiz in Germany. To further relate the subsurface conductivity models to the subsurface geology and mineralogy, petrophysical investigations have been performed on rock samples from the site of investigation and analogue samples.

Deep Mapping and Spatial Anthropology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Les Roberts

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper provides an introduction to the Humanities Special Issue on “Deep Mapping”. It sets out the rationale for the collection and explores the broad-ranging nature of perspectives and practices that fall within the “undisciplined” interdisciplinary domain of spatial humanities. Sketching a cross-current of ideas that have begun to coalesce around the concept of “deep mapping”, the paper argues that rather than attempting to outline a set of defining characteristics and “deep” cartographic features, a more instructive approach is to pay closer attention to the multivalent ways deep mapping is performatively put to work. Casting a critical and reflexive gaze over the developing discourse of deep mapping, it is argued that what deep mapping “is” cannot be reduced to the otherwise a-spatial and a-temporal fixity of the “deep map”. In this respect, as an undisciplined survey of this increasing expansive field of study and practice, the paper explores the ways in which deep mapping can engage broader discussion around questions of spatial anthropology.

Comet Dust After Deep Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Wooden, Diane H.; Harker, David E.; Woodward, Charles E.

2006-01-01

When the Deep Impact Mission hit Jupiter Family comet 9P/Tempel 1, an ejecta crater was formed and an pocket of volatile gases and ices from 10-30 m below the surface was exposed (A Hearn et aI. 2005). This resulted in a gas geyser that persisted for a few hours (Sugita et al, 2005). The gas geyser pushed dust grains into the coma (Sugita et a1. 2005), as well as ice grains (Schulz et al. 2006). The smaller of the dust grains were submicron in radii (0-25.3 micron), and were primarily composed of highly refractory minerals including amorphous (non-graphitic) carbon, and silicate minerals including amorphous (disordered) olivine (Fe,Mg)2SiO4 and pyroxene (Fe,Mg)SiO3 and crystalline Mg-rich olivine. The smaller grains moved faster, as expected from the size-dependent velocity law produced by gas-drag on grains. The mineralogy evolved with time: progressively larger grains persisted in the near nuclear region, having been imparted with slower velocities, and the mineralogies of these larger grains appeared simpler and without crystals. The smaller 0.2-0.3 micron grains reached the coma in about 1.5 hours (1 arc sec = 740 km), were more diverse in mineralogy than the larger grains and contained crystals, and appeared to travel through the coma together. No smaller grains appeared at larger coma distances later (with slower velocities), implying that if grain fragmentation occurred, it happened within the gas acceleration zone. These results of the high spatial resolution spectroscopy (GEMINI+Michelle: Harker et 4. 2005, 2006; Subaru+COMICS: Sugita et al. 2005) revealed that the grains released from the interior were different from the nominally active areas of this comet by their: (a) crystalline content, (b) smaller size, (c) more diverse mineralogy. The temporal changes in the spectra, recorded by GEMIM+Michelle every 7 minutes, indicated that the dust mineralogy is inhomogeneous and, unexpectedly, the portion of the size distribution dominated by smaller grains has

Exploring Ocean Animal Trajectory Pattern via Deep Learning

KAUST Repository

Wang, Su

2016-01-01

We trained a combined deep convolutional neural network to predict seals’ age (3 categories) and gender (2 categories). The entire dataset contains 110 seals with around 489 thousand location records. Most records are continuous and measured in a certain step. We created five convolutional layers for feature representation and established two fully connected structure as age’s and gender’s classifier, respectively. Each classifier consists of three fully connected layers. Treating seals’ latitude and longitude as input, entire deep learning network, which includes 780,000 neurons and 2,097,000 parameters, can reach to 70.72% accuracy rate for predicting seals’ age and simultaneously achieve 79.95% for gender estimation.

Exploring Ocean Animal Trajectory Pattern via Deep Learning

KAUST Repository

Wang, Su

2016-05-23

We trained a combined deep convolutional neural network to predict seals’ age (3 categories) and gender (2 categories). The entire dataset contains 110 seals with around 489 thousand location records. Most records are continuous and measured in a certain step. We created five convolutional layers for feature representation and established two fully connected structure as age’s and gender’s classifier, respectively. Each classifier consists of three fully connected layers. Treating seals’ latitude and longitude as input, entire deep learning network, which includes 780,000 neurons and 2,097,000 parameters, can reach to 70.72% accuracy rate for predicting seals’ age and simultaneously achieve 79.95% for gender estimation.

Sedimentological impacts of INDEX experiment

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Valsangkar, A.B.; Ambre, N.V.; Rodrigues, M.

The polymetallic nodule exploration programme (PMN) has already identified one Indian mine site in the Central Indian Basin (CIB) where deep-sea mining activities are likely to start in future. In order to assess the probable impacts of nodule...

Deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystem research during the census of marine life decade and beyond: a proposed deep-ocean road map.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher R German

Full Text Available The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002-2010 helped foster internationally-coordinated studies worldwide focusing on exploration for, and characterization of new deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem sites. This work has advanced our understanding of the nature and factors controlling the biogeography and biodiversity of these ecosystems in four geographic locations: the Atlantic Equatorial Belt (AEB, the New Zealand region, the Arctic and Antarctic and the SE Pacific off Chile. In the AEB, major discoveries include hydrothermal seeps on the Costa Rica margin, deepest vents found on the Mid-Cayman Rise and the hottest vents found on the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It was also shown that the major fracture zones on the MAR do not create barriers for the dispersal but may act as trans-Atlantic conduits for larvae. In New Zealand, investigations of a newly found large cold-seep area suggest that this region may be a new biogeographic province. In the Arctic, the newly discovered sites on the Mohns Ridge (71 °N showed extensive mats of sulfur-oxidisng bacteria, but only one gastropod potentially bears chemosynthetic symbionts, while cold seeps on the Haakon Mossby Mud Volcano (72 °N are dominated by siboglinid worms. In the Antarctic region, the first hydrothermal vents south of the Polar Front were located and biological results indicate that they may represent a new biogeographic province. The recent exploration of the South Pacific region has provided evidence for a sediment hosted hydrothermal source near a methane-rich cold-seep area. Based on our 8 years of investigations of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems worldwide, we suggest highest priorities for future research: (i continued exploration of the deep-ocean ridge-crest; (ii increased focus on anthropogenic impacts; (iii concerted effort to coordinate a major investigation of the deep South Pacific Ocean - the largest contiguous habitat for life within Earth's biosphere, but

Deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystem research during the census of marine life decade and beyond: a proposed deep-ocean road map.

Science.gov (United States)

German, Christopher R; Ramirez-Llodra, Eva; Baker, Maria C; Tyler, Paul A

2011-01-01

The ChEss project of the Census of Marine Life (2002-2010) helped foster internationally-coordinated studies worldwide focusing on exploration for, and characterization of new deep-sea chemosynthetic ecosystem sites. This work has advanced our understanding of the nature and factors controlling the biogeography and biodiversity of these ecosystems in four geographic locations: the Atlantic Equatorial Belt (AEB), the New Zealand region, the Arctic and Antarctic and the SE Pacific off Chile. In the AEB, major discoveries include hydrothermal seeps on the Costa Rica margin, deepest vents found on the Mid-Cayman Rise and the hottest vents found on the Southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It was also shown that the major fracture zones on the MAR do not create barriers for the dispersal but may act as trans-Atlantic conduits for larvae. In New Zealand, investigations of a newly found large cold-seep area suggest that this region may be a new biogeographic province. In the Arctic, the newly discovered sites on the Mohns Ridge (71 °N) showed extensive mats of sulfur-oxidisng bacteria, but only one gastropod potentially bears chemosynthetic symbionts, while cold seeps on the Haakon Mossby Mud Volcano (72 °N) are dominated by siboglinid worms. In the Antarctic region, the first hydrothermal vents south of the Polar Front were located and biological results indicate that they may represent a new biogeographic province. The recent exploration of the South Pacific region has provided evidence for a sediment hosted hydrothermal source near a methane-rich cold-seep area. Based on our 8 years of investigations of deep-water chemosynthetic ecosystems worldwide, we suggest highest priorities for future research: (i) continued exploration of the deep-ocean ridge-crest; (ii) increased focus on anthropogenic impacts; (iii) concerted effort to coordinate a major investigation of the deep South Pacific Ocean - the largest contiguous habitat for life within Earth's biosphere, but also the

Low-Impact Exploration for Gold in the Scottish Caledonides.

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Samuel; Cuthbert, Simon; Hursthouse, Andrew; Broetto, Gabriele

2017-04-01

The Caledonian orogenic belt of the northern British Isles hosts some significant gold deposits. However, gold mineralization in the region is underexplored. Some of the most prospective areas identified by rich alluvial gold anomalies are environmentally and culturally sensitive. Traditional mineral exploration methods can have a range of negative environmental, social and economic impacts. The regional tourism economy is dependent on outdoor activities, landscape quality, wildlife and industrial heritage and has the potential to be disrupted by mineral resource developments. Low-cost, low-impact exploration strategies are therefore, key to sustainably developing the mineral resource potential. Research currently in progress in part of the Scottish Caledonides aims to develop protocols for more sustainable exploration. We are using a range of geoscience techniques to characterize the mineral system, improve exploration targeting and reduce negative impacts. To do this we targeted an area with a large preexisting dataset (e.g. stream sediment geochemistry, geomorphology, structural geology, petrology, geophysics, mine data) that can be synthesized and analyzed in a GIS. Part of the work aims to develop and test a model for gold dispersion in the surface environment that accounts for climatic and anthropogenic influences in order to locate bedrock sources. This multidisciplinary approach aims to reduce the target areas for subsequent exploration activities such as soil sampling, excavation and drilling.

The impact of price reduction on exploration-production strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrin, F.

1994-01-01

Six trends seem to be prevailing: a best ratio cost-efficiency in exploration-production; a certain geographical concentration; the impact of technological advance; the opening to exploration of areas closed in the past to the western companies; accent put on natural gas

A Deep-Sea Simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Montes, Georgia E.

1997-01-01

Describes an activity that simulates exploration techniques used in deep-sea explorations and teaches students how this technology can be used to take a closer look inside volcanoes, inspect hazardous waste sites such as nuclear reactors, and explore other environments dangerous to humans. (DDR)

Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on deep-sea coral-associated sediment communities

Science.gov (United States)

Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.; Bourque, Jill R.; Cordes, Erik E.; Stamler, Katherine

2016-01-01

Cold-water corals support distinct populations of infauna within surrounding sediments that provide vital ecosystem functions and services in the deep sea. Yet due to their sedentary existence, infauna are vulnerable to perturbation and contaminant exposure because they are unable to escape disturbance events. While multiple deep-sea coral habitats were injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, the extent of adverse effects on coral-associated sediment communities is unknown. In 2011, sediments were collected adjacent to several coral habitats located 6 to 183 km from the wellhead in order to quantify the extent of impact of the DWH spill on infaunal communities. Higher variance in macrofaunal abundance and diversity, and different community structure (higher multivariate dispersion) were associated with elevated hydrocarbon concentrations and contaminants at sites closest to the wellhead (MC294, MC297, and MC344), consistent with impacts from the spill. In contrast, variance in meiofaunal diversity was not significantly related to distance from the wellhead and no other community metric (e.g. density or multivariate dispersion) was correlated with contaminants or hydrocarbon concentrations. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) provided the best statistical explanation for observed macrofaunal community structure, while depth and presence of fine-grained mud best explained meiofaunal community patterns. Impacts associated with contaminants from the DWH spill resulted in a patchwork pattern of infaunal community composition, diversity, and abundance, highlighting the role of variability as an indicator of disturbance. These data represent a useful baseline for tracking post-spill recovery of these deep-sea communities.

Multi-disciplinary study for the exploration of deep low enthalpy geothermal reservoirs, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Science.gov (United States)

Mauri, G.; Abdelfettah, Y.; Negro, F.; Schill, E.; Vuataz, F.

2011-12-01

The authorities of the canton of Neuchâtel, in the Western part of Switzerland, are willing to develop geothermal energy for district heating in the two main cities of the canton: Neuchâtel, located along the Lake of Neuchâtel, and La Chaux-de-Fonds situated in a high valley of the Jura Massif. The geology of both areas is linked to the Jura Range and present complex structures, where the landscape is composed of anticlines associated with overthrust faults, which are overcut by strike-slip fault and secondary faulting events. The rock formations go from the Trias, which forms the detachment layer, up to the Quaternary rock. Bedrocks are mainly composed of limestones and marls, which can reach a thickness of several hundreds meters. The three main deep aquifers investigated in this area, from the shallowest (≤ 400 m below surface) to deepest (geological models and 3D gravimetry models to best characterize the underground structures and to find areas where the rock properties would be favourable to geothermal exploitation. This means targets where permeability and porosity are high in the potential aquifers, allowing a significant flow at the future production wells. The results indicate that gravity anomalies are associated with both shallow and deep geological structures in the two exploration sites and that high resolution of dense grid gravity measurements combined with realistic 3D models of the geological structures allow to characterize interesting features for deep geothermal exploration. Gravity corrections were carried out with a computing code using different DEM resolution ranging from a very high resolution (0.5 m pixel in the vicinity of each station) toward a lower resolution (25 m for the distal areas as far as 110 km away from each station). The bathymetry of the Lake of Neuchâtel (218 km2) has been used to correct gravity effects from the large volume of water along the Lake shore of Neuchâtel. The combination of 3D geological models with a

Explorations on High Dimensional Landscapes: Spin Glasses and Deep Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Sagun, Levent

explore such large dimensional, degenerate landscapes to locate a solution with decent generalization properties. Finally, a demonstration of how the new method can explain the empirical success of some of the recent methods that have been proposed for distributed deep learning. In the second part, two applied machine learning problems are studied that are complementary to the machine learning problems of part I. First, US asylum applications cases are studied using random forests on the data of past twenty years. Using only features up to when the case opens, the algorithm can predict the outcome of the case with 80% accuracy. Next, a particular question and answer system has been studied. The questions are collected from Jeopardy! show and they fed to Google, then the results are parsed into a recurrent neural network to come up with a system that would outcome the answer to the original question. Close to 50% accuracy is achieved where human level benchmark is just a little above 60%.

Deep Impact Mission: Looking Beneath the Surface of a Cometary Nucleus

CERN Document Server

Russell, Christopher T

2005-01-01

Deep Impact, or at least part of the flight system, is designed to crash into comet 9P/Tempel 1. This bold mission design enables cometary researchers to peer into the cometary nucleus, analyzing the material excavated with its imagers and spectrometers. The book describes the mission, its objectives, expected results, payload, and data products in articles written by those most closely involved. This mission has the potential of revolutionizing our understanding of the cometary nucleus.

Potential Applications of Modularity to Enable a Deep Space Habitation Capability for Future Human Exploration Beyond Low-Earth Orbit

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, Matthew A.; Toups, Larry; Smitherman, David

2012-01-01

Evaluating preliminary concepts of a Deep Space Habitat (DSH) enabling long duration crewed exploration of asteroids, the Moon, and Mars is a technically challenging problem. Sufficient habitat volumes and equipment, necessary to ensure crew health and functionality, increase propellant requirements and decrease launch flexibility to deliver multiple elements on a single launch vehicle; both of which increase overall mission cost. Applying modularity in the design of the habitat structures and subsystems can alleviate these difficulties by spreading the build-up of the overall habitation capability across several smaller parts. This allows for a more flexible habitation approach that accommodates various crew mission durations and levels of functionality. This paper provides a technical analysis of how various modular habitation approaches can impact the parametric design of a DSH with potential benefits in mass, packaging volume, and architectural flexibility. This includes a description of the desired long duration habitation capability, the definition of a baseline model for comparison, a small trade study to investigate alternatives, and commentary on potentially advantageous configurations to enable different levels of habitability. The approaches investigated include modular pressure vessel strategies, modular subsystems, and modular manufacturing approaches to habitat structure. The paper also comments upon the possibility of an integrated habitation strategy using modular components to create all short and long duration habitation elements required in the current exploration architectures.

Incorporating ecosystem services into environmental management of deep-seabed mining

Science.gov (United States)

Le, Jennifer T.; Levin, Lisa A.; Carson, Richard T.

2017-03-01

Accelerated exploration of minerals in the deep sea over the past decade has raised the likelihood that commercial mining of the deep seabed will commence in the near future. Environmental concerns create a growing urgency for development of environmental regulations under commercial exploitation. Here, we consider an ecosystem services approach to the environmental policy and management of deep-sea mineral resources. Ecosystem services link the environment and human well-being, and can help improve sustainability and stewardship of the deep sea by providing a quantitative basis for decision-making. This paper briefly reviews ecosystem services provided by habitats targeted for deep-seabed mining (hydrothermal vents, seamounts, nodule provinces, and phosphate-rich margins), and presents practical steps to incorporate ecosystem services into deep-seabed mining regulation. The linkages and translation between ecosystem structure, ecological function (including supporting services), and ecosystem services are highlighted as generating human benefits. We consider criteria for identifying which ecosystem services are vulnerable to potential mining impacts, the role of ecological functions in providing ecosystem services, development of ecosystem service indicators, valuation of ecosystem services, and implementation of ecosystem services concepts. The first three steps put ecosystem services into a deep-seabed mining context; the last two steps help to incorporate ecosystem services into a management and decision-making framework. Phases of environmental planning discussed in the context of ecosystem services include conducting strategic environmental assessments, collecting baseline data, monitoring, establishing marine protected areas, assessing cumulative impacts, identifying thresholds and triggers, and creating an environmental damage compensation regime. We also identify knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in order to operationalize ecosystem services

Summary of Results from Analyses of Deposits of the Deep-Ocean Impact of the Eltanin Asteroid

Science.gov (United States)

Kyte, Frank T.; Kuhn, Gerhard; Gersonde, Rainer

2005-01-01

Deposits of the late Pliocene (2.5 Ma) Eltanin impact are unique in the known geological record. The only known example of a km-sized asteroid to impact a deep-ocean (5 km) basin, is the most meterorite-rich locality known. This was discovered as an Ir anomaly in sediments from three cores collected in 1965 by the USNS Eltanin. These cores contained mm-sized shock-melted asteroid materials and unmelted meteorite fragments. Mineral chemistry of meteorite fragments, and siderophole concentrations in melt rocks, indicate that the parent asteroid was a low-metal (4\\%) mesosiderite. A geological exploration of the impact in 1995 by Polarstern expedition ANT-XIV4 was near the Freeden Seamounts (57.3S, 90.5 W), and successfully collected three cores with impact deposits. Analyses showed that sediments as old as Eocene were eroded by the impact disturbance and redeposited in three distinct units. The lowermost is a chaotic assemblage of sediment fragments up to 50 cm in size. Above this is a laminated sand-rich unit that deposited as a turbulent flow, and this is overlain by a more fine-grained deposit of silts and clays that settled from a cloud of sediment suspended in the water column. Meteoritic ejecta particles were concentrated near the base of the uppermost unit, where coarse ejecta caught up with the disturbed sediment. Here we will present results from a new suite of cores collected on Polarstern expedition ANT-XVIIU5a. In 2001, the Polarstern returned to the impact area and explored a region of 80,000 sq-km., collecting at least 16 sediment cores with meteoritic ejecta. The known strewn field extends over a region 660 by 200 km. The meteoritic ejecta is most concentrated in cores on the Freeden seamounts, and in the basins to the north, where the amount of meteoritic material deposited on the ocean floor was as much as 3 g/sq-cm. These concentrations drop off to the north and the east to levels as low as approximately 0.1 g/sq-cm. We were unable to sample the

submitter Accelerating high-energy physics exploration with deep learning

CERN Document Server

Ojika, Dave; Gordon-Ross, Ann; Carnes, Andrew; Gleyzer, Sergei

2017-01-01

In this work, we present our approach to using deep learning for identification of rarely produced physics particles (such as the Higgs Boson) out of a majority of uninteresting, background or noise-dominated data. A fast and efficient system to eliminate uninteresting data would result in much less data being stored, thus significantly reducing processing time and storage requirements. In this paper, we present a generalized preliminary version of our approach to motivate research interest in advancing the state-of-the-art in deep learning networks for other applications that can benefit from learning systems.

Report on fiscal 1999 survey for geothermal exploration technology verification. Survey of deep-seated geothermal resources; 1999 nendo chinetsu tansa gijutsu nado kensho chosa hokokusho. Shinbu chinetsu shigen chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-03-01

To promote the development of deep-seated geothermal resources in a rationalized way, studies were conducted about deep-seated geothermal resource assessment techniques, development guidelines, and the like. For the development of techniques for estimating deep-seated geothermal reservoir parameters, the Uenotai district, Akita Prefecture, and the Hatchobaru district, Oita Prefecture, were designated as model fields, and a geothermal system conceptual model was fabricated. Data of the two districts were registered in a database. Using these data, verification was performed of the validity of stochastic estimation techniques, large area flow simulation, rock/water equilibrium reaction simulation, and the like. As for the technique of deep-seated resource amount estimation, a simplified reservoir model was experimentally constructed based on parameters determined by the stochastic estimation of deep-seated reservoirs and on the conceptual model, and a method was studied for TOUGH2-based production prediction. Studies were also made about deep-seated geothermal resource development guidelines, such as exploration guidelines, exploration well boring guidelines, and geothermal fluid production guidelines. (NEDO)

Advances in geophysical technologies for the exploration and safe mining of deep gold ore bodies in the Witwatersrand basin, South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Durrheim, RJ

2013-08-01

Full Text Available -1 Proceedings of the Twelfth Biennial Meeting of the Society for Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits, Uppsala, Sweden, 12-15 August 2013 Advances in geophysical technologies for the exploration and safe mining of deep gold ore bodies in the Witwatersrand...

Human Exploration System Test-Bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Support of Future NASA Deep-Space Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Marmolejo, Jose; Ewert, Michael

2016-01-01

The Engineering Directorate at the NASA - Johnson Space Center is outfitting a 20-Foot diameter hypobaric chamber in Building 7 to support future deep-space Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS) research as part of the Human Exploration System Test-bed for Integration and Advancement (HESTIA) Project. This human-rated chamber is the only NASA facility that has the unique experience, chamber geometry, infrastructure, and support systems capable of conducting this research. The chamber was used to support Gemini, Apollo, and SkyLab Missions. More recently, it was used to conduct 30-, 60-, and 90-day human ECLSS closed-loop testing in the 1990s to support the International Space Station and life support technology development. NASA studies show that both planetary surface and deep-space transit crew habitats will be 3-4 story cylindrical structures driven by human occupancy volumetric needs and launch vehicle constraints. The HESTIA facility offers a 3-story, 20-foot diameter habitat consistent with the studies' recommendations. HESTIA operations follow stringent processes by a certified test team that including human testing. Project management, analysis, design, acquisition, fabrication, assembly and certification of facility build-ups are available to support this research. HESTIA offers close proximity to key stakeholders including astronauts, Human Research Program (who direct space human research for the agency), Mission Operations, Safety & Mission Assurance, and Engineering Directorate. The HESTIA chamber can operate at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen environments including those proposed for deep-space exploration. Data acquisition, power, fluids and other facility resources are available to support a wide range of research. Recently completed HESTIA research consisted of unmanned testing of ECLSS technologies. Eventually, the HESTIA research will include humans for extended durations at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen to demonstrate

DeepSurv: personalized treatment recommender system using a Cox proportional hazards deep neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Katzman, Jared L; Shaham, Uri; Cloninger, Alexander; Bates, Jonathan; Jiang, Tingting; Kluger, Yuval

2018-02-26

Medical practitioners use survival models to explore and understand the relationships between patients' covariates (e.g. clinical and genetic features) and the effectiveness of various treatment options. Standard survival models like the linear Cox proportional hazards model require extensive feature engineering or prior medical knowledge to model treatment interaction at an individual level. While nonlinear survival methods, such as neural networks and survival forests, can inherently model these high-level interaction terms, they have yet to be shown as effective treatment recommender systems. We introduce DeepSurv, a Cox proportional hazards deep neural network and state-of-the-art survival method for modeling interactions between a patient's covariates and treatment effectiveness in order to provide personalized treatment recommendations. We perform a number of experiments training DeepSurv on simulated and real survival data. We demonstrate that DeepSurv performs as well as or better than other state-of-the-art survival models and validate that DeepSurv successfully models increasingly complex relationships between a patient's covariates and their risk of failure. We then show how DeepSurv models the relationship between a patient's features and effectiveness of different treatment options to show how DeepSurv can be used to provide individual treatment recommendations. Finally, we train DeepSurv on real clinical studies to demonstrate how it's personalized treatment recommendations would increase the survival time of a set of patients. The predictive and modeling capabilities of DeepSurv will enable medical researchers to use deep neural networks as a tool in their exploration, understanding, and prediction of the effects of a patient's characteristics on their risk of failure.

Gulf of Mexico Deep-Sea Coral Ecosystem Studies, 2008-2011

Science.gov (United States)

Kellogg, Christina A.

2009-01-01

Most people are familiar with tropical coral reefs, located in warm, well-illuminated, shallow waters. However, corals also exist hundreds and even thousands of meters below the ocean surface, where it is cold and completely dark. These deep-sea corals, also known as cold-water corals, have become a topic of interest due to conservation concerns over the impacts of trawling, exploration for oil and gas, and climate change. Although the existence of these corals has been known since the 1800s, our understanding of their distribution, ecology, and biology is limited due to the technical difficulties of conducting deep-sea research. DISCOVRE (DIversity, Systematics, and COnnectivity of Vulnerable Reef Ecosystems) is a new U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) program focused on deep-water coral ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. This integrated, multidisciplinary, international effort investigates a variety of topics related to unique and fragile deep-sea coral ecosystems from the microscopic level to the ecosystem level, including components of microbiology, population genetics, paleoecology, food webs, taxonomy, community ecology, physical oceanography, and mapping.

Deep Reinforcement Learning: An Overview

OpenAIRE

Li, Yuxi

2017-01-01

We give an overview of recent exciting achievements of deep reinforcement learning (RL). We discuss six core elements, six important mechanisms, and twelve applications. We start with background of machine learning, deep learning and reinforcement learning. Next we discuss core RL elements, including value function, in particular, Deep Q-Network (DQN), policy, reward, model, planning, and exploration. After that, we discuss important mechanisms for RL, including attention and memory, unsuperv...

Environmental impact of atomic minerals exploration and exploitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dwivedy, K.K.

1998-01-01

Terrestrial radiation in the earth's environment is existing since its formation and is shared by all types of rocks, minerals, gases, and water, and to some extent aided by the interstellar radiation. Environmental radiation is ubiquitous and the man and other living beings have been living in such environment for thousands of years. Today they are much concerned about health and environmental risks so that a balance must be achieved between the activities that promote economic growth and the preservation of the natural environment. Atomic minerals are one of the main sources of natural environmental radiation and they are being explored by Atomic Minerals Division (AMD). Mining and milling activities sometimes may cause some radiological impacts but proper monitoring and remedial measures keep them under check. Some of the important aspects related to environmental impacts of uranium exploration and exploitation are presented

Dissipation of Impact Stress Waves within the Artificial Blasting Damage Zone in the Surrounding Rocks of Deep Roadway

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianguo Ning

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Artificial explosions are commonly used to prevent rockburst in deep roadways. However, the dissipation of the impact stress wave within the artificial blasting damage zone (ABDZ of the rocks surrounding a deep roadway has not yet been clarified. The surrounding rocks were divided into the elastic zone, blasting damage zone, plastic zone, and anchorage zone in this research. Meanwhile, the ABDZ was divided into the pulverizing area, fractured area, and cracked area from the inside out. Besides, the model of the normal incidence of the impact stress waves in the ABDZ was established; the attenuation coefficient of the amplitude of the impact stress waves was obtained after it passed through the intact rock mass, and ABDZ, to the anchorage zone. In addition, a numerical simulation was used to study the dynamic response of the vertical stress and impact-induced vibration energy in the surrounding rocks. By doing so, the dissipation of the impact stress waves within the ABDZ of the surrounding rocks was revealed. As demonstrated in the field application, the establishment of the ABDZ in the surrounding rocks reduced the effect of the impact-induced vibration energy on the anchorage support system of the roadway.

Scientific Encounters of the Mysterious Sea. Reading Activities That Explore the Mysterious Creatures of the Deep Blue Sea. Grades 4-7.

Science.gov (United States)

Embry, Lynn

This activity book presents reading activities for grades 4-7 exploring the mysterious creatures of the deep sea. The creatures include: angel sharks; argonauts; barberfish; comb jelly; croakers; electric rays; flying fish; giganturid; lantern fish; narwhals; northern basket starfish; ocean sunfish; Portuguese man-of-war; sea cucumbers; sea…

Exploring the Impact of Students' Learning Approach on Collaborative Group Modeling of Blood Circulation

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Shinyoung; Kang, Eunhee; Kim, Heui-Baik

2015-01-01

This study aimed to explore the effect on group dynamics of statements associated with deep learning approaches (DLA) and their contribution to cognitive collaboration and model development during group modeling of blood circulation. A group was selected for an in-depth analysis of collaborative group modeling. This group constructed a model in a…

Emerging conservation challenges and prospects in an era of offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kark, Salit; Brokovich, Eran; Mazor, Tessa; Levin, Noam

2015-12-01

Globally, extensive marine areas important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning are undergoing exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources. Such operations are expanding to previously inaccessible deep waters and other frontier regions, while conservation-related legislation and planning is often lacking. Conservation challenges arising from offshore hydrocarbon development are wide-ranging. These challenges include threats to ecosystems and marine species from oil spills, negative impacts on native biodiversity from invasive species colonizing drilling infrastructure, and increased political conflicts that can delay conservation actions. With mounting offshore operations, conservationists need to urgently consider some possible opportunities that could be leveraged for conservation. Leveraging options, as part of multi-billion dollar marine hydrocarbon operations, include the use of facilities and costly equipment of the deep and ultra-deep hydrocarbon industry for deep-sea conservation research and monitoring and establishing new conservation research, practice, and monitoring funds and environmental offsetting schemes. The conservation community, including conservation scientists, should become more involved in the earliest planning and exploration phases and remain involved throughout the operations so as to influence decision making and promote continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems. A prompt response by conservation professionals to offshore oil and gas developments can mitigate impacts of future decisions and actions of the industry and governments. New environmental decision support tools can be used to explicitly incorporate the impacts of hydrocarbon operations on biodiversity into marine spatial and conservation plans and thus allow for optimum trade-offs among multiple objectives, costs, and risks. © 2015 Society for Conservation Biology.

Impacts on Explorer 46 from an Earth orbiting population

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, D. J.

1985-01-01

Explorer 46 was launched into Earth orbit in August 1972 to evaluate the effectiveness of using double-wall structures to protect against meteoroids. The data from the Meteoroid Bumper Experiment on Explorer 46 is reexamined and it is concluded that most of the impacts originated from an Earth orbiting population. The probable source of this orbiting population is solid rocket motors fired in Earth orbit.

THE TEMPORAL CHANGES IN THE EMISSION SPECTRUM OF COMET 9P/TEMPEL 1 AFTER DEEP IMPACT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, William M.; Yang Xueliang; Shi Xiaoyu; Cochran, Anita L.

2009-01-01

The time dependence of the changes in the emission spectra of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 after Deep Impact is derived and discussed. This was a unique event because for the first time it gave astronomers the opportunity to follow the time history of the formation and decay of O( 1 S), OH, CN, C 2 , C 3 , NH, and NH 2 . Least-squares fits of a modified Haser model with constraints using known rate constants were fit to the observed data. In the case of OH, a simple two-step Haser model provides a reasonable fit to the observations. Fitting the emissions from O( 1 S), CN, C 2 , C 3 , NH, and NH 2 requires the addition of a delayed component to a regular two- or three-step Haser model. From this information, a picture of the Deep Impact encounter emerges where there is an initial formation of gas and dust, which is responsible for the prompt emission that occurs right after impact. A secondary source of gas starts later after impact when the initial dust has dissipated enough so that solar radiation can reach the surface of freshly exposed material. The implications of this and other results are discussed in terms of the structure and composition of the comet's nucleus.

Geothermal Exploration of Newberry Volcano, Oregon

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Waibel, Albert F. [Columbia Geoscience, Pasco, WA (United States); Frone, Zachary S. [Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX (United States); Blackwell, David D. [Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX (United States)

2014-12-01

Davenport Newberry (Davenport) has completed 8 years of exploration for geothermal energy on Newberry Volcano in central Oregon. Two deep exploration test wells were drilled by Davenport on the west flank of the volcano, one intersected a hydrothermal system; the other intersected isolated fractures with no hydrothermal interconnection. Both holes have bottom-hole temperatures near or above 315°C (600°F). Subsequent to deep test drilling an expanded exploration and evaluation program was initiated. These efforts have included reprocessing existing data, executing multiple geological, geophysical, geochemical programs, deep exploration test well drilling and shallow well drilling. The efforts over the last three years have been made possible through a DOE Innovative Exploration Technology (IET) Grant 109, designed to facilitate innovative geothermal exploration techniques. The combined results of the last 8 years have led to a better understanding of the history and complexity of Newberry Volcano and improved the design and interpretation of geophysical exploration techniques with regard to blind geothermal resources in volcanic terrain.

Exploring the Ecology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents in a Metacommunity Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lauren S. Mullineaux

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Species inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents are strongly influenced by the geological setting, as it provides the chemical-rich fluids supporting the food web, creates the patchwork of seafloor habitat, and generates catastrophic disturbances that can eradicate entire communities. The patches of vent habitat host a network of communities (a metacommunity connected by dispersal of planktonic larvae. The dynamics of the metacommunity are influenced not only by birth rates, death rates and interactions of populations at the local site, but also by regional influences on dispersal from different sites. The connections to other communities provide a mechanism for dynamics at a local site to affect features of the regional biota. In this paper, we explore the challenges and potential benefits of applying metacommunity theory to vent communities, with a particular focus on effects of disturbance. We synthesize field observations to inform models and identify data gaps that need to be addressed to answer key questions including: (1 what is the influence of the magnitude and rate of disturbance on ecological attributes, such as time to extinction or resilience in a metacommunity; (2 what interactions between local and regional processes control species diversity, and (3 which communities are “hot spots” of key ecological significance. We conclude by assessing our ability to evaluate resilience of vent metacommunities to human disturbance (e.g., deep-sea mining. Although the resilience of a few highly disturbed vent systems in the eastern Pacific has been quantified, these values cannot be generalized to remote locales in the western Pacific or mid Atlantic where disturbance rates are different and information on local controls is missing.

Deep ocean communities impacted by changing climate over 24 y in the abyssal northeast Pacific Ocean.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Kenneth L; Ruhl, Henry A; Kahru, Mati; Huffard, Christine L; Sherman, Alana D

2013-12-03

The deep ocean, covering a vast expanse of the globe, relies almost exclusively on a food supply originating from primary production in surface waters. With well-documented warming of oceanic surface waters and conflicting reports of increasing and decreasing primary production trends, questions persist about how such changes impact deep ocean communities. A 24-y time-series study of sinking particulate organic carbon (food) supply and its utilization by the benthic community was conducted in the abyssal northeast Pacific (~4,000-m depth). Here we show that previous findings of food deficits are now punctuated by large episodic surpluses of particulate organic carbon reaching the sea floor, which meet utilization. Changing surface ocean conditions are translated to the deep ocean, where decadal peaks in supply, remineralization, and sequestration of organic carbon have broad implications for global carbon budget projections.

Comparative genomic analysis of oil spill impacts on deep water shipwreck microbiomes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Hamdan, L. J.; Damour, M.; McGown, C.; Figan, C.; Kassahun, Z.; Blackwell, K.; Horrell, C.; Gillevet, P.

2014-12-01

Shipwrecks serve as artificial reefs in the deep ocean. Because of their inherent diversity compared to their surrounding environment and their random distribution, shipwrecks are ideal ecosystems to study pollution impacts and microbial distribution patterns in the deep biosphere. This study provides a comparative assessment of Deepwater Horizon spill impacts on shipwreck and local sedimentary microbiomes and the synergistic effects of contaminants on these communities and the physical structures that support them. For this study, microbiomes associated with wooden 19th century shipwrecks and World War II era steel shipwrecks in the northern Gulf of Mexico were investigated using next generation sequencing. Samples derived from in situ biofilm monitoring platforms deployed adjacent to 5 shipwrecks for 4 months, and sediment collected from distances ranging from 2-200m from each shipwreck were evaluated for shifts in microbiome structure and gene function relative to proximity to the spill, and oil spill related contaminants in the local environment. The goals of the investigation are to determine impacts to recruitment and community structure at sites located within and outside of areas impacted by the spill. Taxonomic classification of dominant and rare members of shipwreck microbiomes and metabolic information extracted from sequence data yield new understanding of microbial processes associated with site formation. The study provides information on the identity of microbial inhabitants of shipwrecks, their role in site preservation, and impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill on the primary colonizers of artificial reefs in the deep ocean. This approach could inform about the role of microorganisms in establishment and maintenance of the artificial reef environment, while providing information about ecosystem feedbacks resulting from spills.

ANTARES: An underwater neutrino observatory for the exploration of both the deep Ocean and the deep Universe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escoffier, Stephanie

2012-01-01

Neutrino astronomy is a new and unique method to explore the Universe. It is full of promises, such as improving our knowledge on cosmic accelerators or distinguishing unambiguously between hadronic and electronic acceleration mechanisms of very high energy cosmic rays. In this document the issues of neutrino astronomy are introduced and an overview of current and former neutrino telescopes is given, with a description of the performance results expected from the ANTARES underwater detector. My research path is marked by contributions to the detector calibration and by studies of the trigger system with the development of a new data selection algorithm. The potential for discovery of the ANTARES telescope is then illustrated with two analyses, one dedicated to the research of high-energy neutrinos from gamma ray bursters and the other dedicated to the search for magnetic monopoles. Within this dissertation, I also discuss the opportunity offered by a submarine detector to understand the deep-sea environment. Indeed, ANTARES is a multidisciplinary, permanent marine observatory bringing its brick to the edifice of the global understanding of physical phenomena and biological oceanography in the context of global changes. I illustrate these remarks with studies on marine bioluminescence observed by ANTARES and its connection to the dense water formation originating from the Gulf of Lion. (author)

Potential impacts of leakage from deep CO2 geosequestration on overlying freshwater aquifers.

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Mark G; Jackson, Robert B

2010-12-01

Carbon Capture and Storage may use deep saline aquifers for CO(2) sequestration, but small CO(2) leakage could pose a risk to overlying fresh groundwater. We performed laboratory incubations of CO(2) infiltration under oxidizing conditions for >300 days on samples from four freshwater aquifers to 1) understand how CO(2) leakage affects freshwater quality; 2) develop selection criteria for deep sequestration sites based on inorganic metal contamination caused by CO(2) leaks to shallow aquifers; and 3) identify geochemical signatures for early detection criteria. After exposure to CO(2), water pH declines of 1-2 units were apparent in all aquifer samples. CO(2) caused concentrations of the alkali and alkaline earths and manganese, cobalt, nickel, and iron to increase by more than 2 orders of magnitude. Potentially dangerous uranium and barium increased throughout the entire experiment in some samples. Solid-phase metal mobility, carbonate buffering capacity, and redox state in the shallow overlying aquifers influence the impact of CO(2) leakage and should be considered when selecting deep geosequestration sites. Manganese, iron, calcium, and pH could be used as geochemical markers of a CO(2) leak, as their concentrations increase within 2 weeks of exposure to CO(2).

The Contingency of Success: Operations for Deep Impact's Planet Hunt

Science.gov (United States)

Rieber, Richard R.; Sharrow, Robert F.

2009-01-01

The Deep Impact Flyby spacecraft completed its prime mission in August 2005. It was reactivated for a mission of opportunity add-on called EPOXI on September 25, 2007. The first portion of EPOXI, called EPOCh (Extra-solar Planetary Observation & CHaracterization), occurred from January 21, 2008 through August 31, 2008. Its purpose was to characterize transiting hot-Jupiters by measuring the effects the planet has on the luminosity of its parent star. These observations entailed using the spacecraft in ways it was never intended. A new green-light, success-oriented operational strategy was devised that entailed high amounts of automation and minimal intervention from the ground. The specifics, techniques, and key challenges to obtaining the 172,209 usable science images from EPOCh are discussed in detail.

Identifying Toxic Impacts of Metals Potentially Released during Deep-Sea Mining—A Synthesis of the Challenges to Quantifying Risk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Hauton

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In January 2017, the International Seabed Authority released a discussion paper on the development of Environmental Regulations for deep-sea mining (DSM within the Area Beyond National Jurisdiction (the “Area”. With the release of this paper, the prospect for commercial mining in the Area within the next decade has become very real. Moreover, within nations' Exclusive Economic Zones, the exploitation of deep-sea mineral ore resources could take place on very much shorter time scales and, indeed, may have already started. However, potentially toxic metal mixtures may be released at sea during different stages of the mining process and in different physical phases (dissolved or particulate. As toxicants, metals can disrupt organism physiology and performance, and therefore may impact whole populations, leading to ecosystem scale effects. A challenge to the prediction of toxicity is that deep-sea ore deposits include complex mixtures of minerals, including potentially toxic metals such as copper, cadmium, zinc, and lead, as well as rare earth elements. Whereas the individual toxicity of some of these dissolved metals has been established in laboratory studies, the complex and variable mineral composition of seabed resources makes the a priori prediction of the toxic risk of DSM extremely challenging. Furthermore, although extensive data quantify the toxicity of metals in solution in shallow-water organisms, these may not be representative of the toxicity in deep-sea organisms, which may differ biochemically and physiologically and which will experience those toxicants under conditions of low temperature, high hydrostatic pressure, and potentially altered pH. In this synthesis, we present a summation of recent advances in our understanding of the potential toxic impacts of metal exposure to deep-sea meio- to megafauna at low temperature and high pressure, and consider the limitation of deriving lethal limits based on the paradigm of exposure to

The deep-tow marine controlled-source electromagnetic transmitter system for gas hydrate exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Meng; Deng, Ming; Wu, Zhongliang; Luo, Xianhu; Jing, Jianen; Chen, Kai

2017-02-01

The Marine Controlled-Source Electromagnetic (MCSEM) method has been recognized as an important and effective tool to detect electrically resistive structures, such as oil, gas, and gas hydrate. The MCSEM performance is strongly influenced by the transmitter system design. We have developed a deep-tow MCSEM transmitter system. In this paper, some new technical details will be present. A 10,000 m optical-electrical composite cable is used to support high power transmission and fast data transfer; a new clock unit is designed to keep the synchronization between transmitter and receivers, and mark the time stamp into the transmission current full waveform; a data link is established to monitor the real-time altitude of the tail unit; an online insulation measuring instrument is adopted to monitor current leakage from high voltage transformer; a neutrally buoyant dipole antenna of copper cable and flexible electrodes are created to transmit the large power current into seawater; a new design method for the transmitter, which is called "real-time control technology of hardware parallelism", is described to achieve inverting and recording high-power current waveform, controlling functions, and collecting auxiliary information. We use a gas hydrate exploration test to verify the performance of the transmitter system, focusing on more technical details, rather than applications. The test shows that the transmitter can be used for gas hydrate exploration as an effective source.

Simulation of droplet impact onto a deep pool for large Froude numbers in different open-source codes

Science.gov (United States)

Korchagova, V. N.; Kraposhin, M. V.; Marchevsky, I. K.; Smirnova, E. V.

2017-11-01

A droplet impact on a deep pool can induce macro-scale or micro-scale effects like a crown splash, a high-speed jet, formation of secondary droplets or thin liquid films, etc. It depends on the diameter and velocity of the droplet, liquid properties, effects of external forces and other factors that a ratio of dimensionless criteria can account for. In the present research, we considered the droplet and the pool consist of the same viscous incompressible liquid. We took surface tension into account but neglected gravity forces. We used two open-source codes (OpenFOAM and Gerris) for our computations. We review the possibility of using these codes for simulation of processes in free-surface flows that may take place after a droplet impact on the pool. Both codes simulated several modes of droplet impact. We estimated the effect of liquid properties with respect to the Reynolds number and Weber number. Numerical simulation enabled us to find boundaries between different modes of droplet impact on a deep pool and to plot corresponding mode maps. The ratio of liquid density to that of the surrounding gas induces several changes in mode maps. Increasing this density ratio suppresses the crown splash.

Deep-Water Resedimented Carbonate Exploration Play Types: Controls and Models

Science.gov (United States)

Minzoni, M.; Janson, X.; Kerans, C.; Playton, T.; Winefield, P.; Burgess, P. M.

2016-12-01

Deepwater resedimented deposits have been described in both modern and ancient carbonate sequences, many with good reservoir potential, for example the giant Cretaceous Poza Rica field in Mexico ( 40 MMBoe), the Mississippian Tangiz field in Kazakhstan, and several fields in the U.S. Permian basin (several Tcf gas). Nevertheless, carbonate slope and basin systems remain poorly understood when compared to their siliciclastic counterparts. Legacy published and unpublished work, combined with a global database of surface and sub-surface examples of resedimented carbonates, has highlighted that downslope resedimentation of carbonate material is in large part controlled by the evolution of the parent platform margin, which in turn is best characterized in terms of various controlling processes such as the carbonate factory type, tectonic setting, eustatic variations, and prevailing wind direction and ocean current patterns. Two generic play types emerge: (i) attached carbonate slope play -developed immediately adjacent to the parent carbonate platform and dominated by rock fall and platform collapse deposits or in situ boundstone; and (ii) detached carbonate slope play - deposited further from the platform margin via channelized turbidity currents and other mass-flow processes. High-rising, steep, bypass platform margins with collapse scars and grain-dominated factories have the highest potential to generate channelized and detached deep-water reservoirs with high initial porosity and permeability. Best reservoirs are aragonitic grainstones transported from the platform into the adjacent basin, and undergoing dissolution in submarine undersaturated water with early formation of secondary porosity to further enhance reservoir properties. Any exploration model aiming at identifying potential resedimented carbonate plays should be based on carbonate platform configurations and factory types favorable for re-sedimentation of large sedimentary bodies and preservation or

Accurate identification of RNA editing sites from primitive sequence with deep neural networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ouyang, Zhangyi; Liu, Feng; Zhao, Chenghui; Ren, Chao; An, Gaole; Mei, Chuan; Bo, Xiaochen; Shu, Wenjie

2018-04-16

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional RNA sequence alteration. Current methods have identified editing sites and facilitated research but require sufficient genomic annotations and prior-knowledge-based filtering steps, resulting in a cumbersome, time-consuming identification process. Moreover, these methods have limited generalizability and applicability in species with insufficient genomic annotations or in conditions of limited prior knowledge. We developed DeepRed, a deep learning-based method that identifies RNA editing from primitive RNA sequences without prior-knowledge-based filtering steps or genomic annotations. DeepRed achieved 98.1% and 97.9% area under the curve (AUC) in training and test sets, respectively. We further validated DeepRed using experimentally verified U87 cell RNA-seq data, achieving 97.9% positive predictive value (PPV). We demonstrated that DeepRed offers better prediction accuracy and computational efficiency than current methods with large-scale, mass RNA-seq data. We used DeepRed to assess the impact of multiple factors on editing identification with RNA-seq data from the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities and Sequencing Quality Control projects. We explored developmental RNA editing pattern changes during human early embryogenesis and evolutionary patterns in Drosophila species and the primate lineage using DeepRed. Our work illustrates DeepRed's state-of-the-art performance; it may decipher the hidden principles behind RNA editing, making editing detection convenient and effective.

CECE: Expanding the Envelope of Deep Throttling Technology in Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Hydrogen Rocket Engines for NASA Exploration Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliano, Victor J.; Leonard, Timothy G.; Lyda, Randy T.; Kim, Tony S.

2010-01-01

As one of the first technology development programs awarded by NASA under the Vision for Space Exploration, the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) Deep Throttling, Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE) program was selected by NASA in November 2004 to begin technology development and demonstration toward a deep throttling, cryogenic engine supporting ongoing trade studies for NASA s Lunar Lander descent stage. The CECE program leverages the maturity and previous investment of a flight-proven hydrogen/oxygen expander cycle engine, the PWR RL10, to develop and demonstrate an unprecedented combination of reliability, safety, durability, throttlability, and restart capabilities in high-energy, cryogenic, in-space propulsion. The testbed selected for the deep throttling demonstration phases of this program was a minimally modified RL10 engine, allowing for maximum current production engine commonality and extensibility with minimum program cost. Four series of demonstrator engine tests have been successfully completed between April 2006 and April 2010, accumulating 7,436 seconds of hot fire time over 47 separate tests. While the first two test series explored low power combustion (chug) and system instabilities, the third test series investigated and was ultimately successful in demonstrating several mitigating technologies for these instabilities and achieved a stable throttling ratio of 13:1. The fourth test series significantly expanded the engine s operability envelope by successfully demonstrating a closed-loop control system and extensive transient modeling to enable lower power engine starting, faster throttle ramp rates, and mission-specific ignition testing. The final hot fire test demonstrated a chug-free, minimum power level of 5.9%, corresponding to an overall 17.6:1 throttling ratio achieved. In total, these tests have provided an early technology demonstration of an enabling cryogenic propulsion concept with invaluable system-level technology data

Exploring orange peel treatment with deep eutectic solvents and diluted organic acids

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Bruinhorst, A.; Kouris, P.; Timmer, J.M.K.; de Croon, M.H.J.M.; Kroon, M.C.

2016-01-01

The disintegration of orange peel waste in deep eutectic solvents and diluted organic acids is presented in this work. The albedo and flavedo layers of the peel were studied separately, showing faster disintegration of the latter. Addition of water to the deep eutectic solvents lowered the amount of

DeepBase: annotation and discovery of microRNAs and other noncoding RNAs from deep-sequencing data.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jian-Hua; Qu, Liang-Hu

2012-01-01

Recent advances in high-throughput deep-sequencing technology have produced large numbers of short and long RNA sequences and enabled the detection and profiling of known and novel microRNAs (miRNAs) and other noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) at unprecedented sensitivity and depth. In this chapter, we describe the use of deepBase, a database that we have developed to integrate all public deep-sequencing data and to facilitate the comprehensive annotation and discovery of miRNAs and other ncRNAs from these data. deepBase provides an integrative, interactive, and versatile web graphical interface to evaluate miRBase-annotated miRNA genes and other known ncRNAs, explores the expression patterns of miRNAs and other ncRNAs, and discovers novel miRNAs and other ncRNAs from deep-sequencing data. deepBase also provides a deepView genome browser to comparatively analyze these data at multiple levels. deepBase is available at http://deepbase.sysu.edu.cn/.

ShapeShop: Towards Understanding Deep Learning Representations via Interactive Experimentation.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohman, Fred; Hodas, Nathan; Chau, Duen Horng

2017-05-01

Deep learning is the driving force behind many recent technologies; however, deep neural networks are often viewed as "black-boxes" due to their internal complexity that is hard to understand. Little research focuses on helping people explore and understand the relationship between a user's data and the learned representations in deep learning models. We present our ongoing work, ShapeShop, an interactive system for visualizing and understanding what semantics a neural network model has learned. Built using standard web technologies, ShapeShop allows users to experiment with and compare deep learning models to help explore the robustness of image classifiers.

ShapeShop: Towards Understanding Deep Learning Representations via Interactive Experimentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hohman, Frederick M.; Hodas, Nathan O.; Chau, Duen Horng

2017-05-30

Deep learning is the driving force behind many recent technologies; however, deep neural networks are often viewed as “black-boxes” due to their internal complexity that is hard to understand. Little research focuses on helping people explore and understand the relationship between a user’s data and the learned representations in deep learning models. We present our ongoing work, ShapeShop, an interactive system for visualizing and understanding what semantics a neural network model has learned. Built using standard web technologies, ShapeShop allows users to experiment with and compare deep learning models to help explore the robustness of image classifiers.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration. Potential Environmental Impacts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnston, P.; Santillo, D. [Greenpeace Research Laboratories, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS (United Kingdom)

2003-02-01

Over the last few years, understanding of the profound implications of anthropogenically driven climate change has grown. In turn, this has fuelled research into options to mitigate likely impacts. Approaches involving the capture of carbon dioxide and its storage in geological formations, or in marine waters, have generated a raft of proposed solutions. The scale of some of these proposals is such that they will exert impacts of global significance in their own right. Proposals fall into two broad categories: (1) storage of liquid CO2 or products of reacted CO2 into intermediate/deep oceanic waters. and (2) storage of liquid CO2 into sub-seabed or terrestrial geological formations. For the most part, while the technical feasibility of these schemata has been widely explored, the same is not true of their ecological implications. In the case of deep/intermediate oceanic waters, poor baseline understanding of the associated ecosystems is a considerable impediment to any reliable predictive assessment of likely impacts of carbon dioxide storage in these systems. Disruption of marine microbiological processes and degradation of benthic ecosystems, including those with high levels of endemicity, have been identified as potentially serious impacts. Similarly, the physiology, ecology and likely responses of micro-organisms present in targeted geological formations require evaluation prior to any consideration of the use of such formations for storage of CO2. In addition, the impacts of any leakage to surface need also to be considered. Accordingly this paper explores current uncertainties and detailed informational needs related to ocean and geological storage of fossil fuel-derived CO2. Particular emphasis is placed upon the ecological impacts of these proposals in relation to existing and emergent understanding of deep water/soil ecosystems and the indeterminacies attached to this understanding.

SchNet - A deep learning architecture for molecules and materials

Science.gov (United States)

Schütt, K. T.; Sauceda, H. E.; Kindermans, P.-J.; Tkatchenko, A.; Müller, K.-R.

2018-06-01

Deep learning has led to a paradigm shift in artificial intelligence, including web, text, and image search, speech recognition, as well as bioinformatics, with growing impact in chemical physics. Machine learning, in general, and deep learning, in particular, are ideally suitable for representing quantum-mechanical interactions, enabling us to model nonlinear potential-energy surfaces or enhancing the exploration of chemical compound space. Here we present the deep learning architecture SchNet that is specifically designed to model atomistic systems by making use of continuous-filter convolutional layers. We demonstrate the capabilities of SchNet by accurately predicting a range of properties across chemical space for molecules and materials, where our model learns chemically plausible embeddings of atom types across the periodic table. Finally, we employ SchNet to predict potential-energy surfaces and energy-conserving force fields for molecular dynamics simulations of small molecules and perform an exemplary study on the quantum-mechanical properties of C20-fullerene that would have been infeasible with regular ab initio molecular dynamics.

Resting state functional MRI in Parkinson's disease: the impact of deep brain stimulation on 'effective' connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kahan, Joshua; Urner, Maren; Moran, Rosalyn; Flandin, Guillaume; Marreiros, Andre; Mancini, Laura; White, Mark; Thornton, John; Yousry, Tarek; Zrinzo, Ludvic; Hariz, Marwan; Limousin, Patricia; Friston, Karl; Foltynie, Tom

2014-04-01

Depleted of dopamine, the dynamics of the parkinsonian brain impact on both 'action' and 'resting' motor behaviour. Deep brain stimulation has become an established means of managing these symptoms, although its mechanisms of action remain unclear. Non-invasive characterizations of induced brain responses, and the effective connectivity underlying them, generally appeals to dynamic causal modelling of neuroimaging data. When the brain is at rest, however, this sort of characterization has been limited to correlations (functional connectivity). In this work, we model the 'effective' connectivity underlying low frequency blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations in the resting Parkinsonian motor network-disclosing the distributed effects of deep brain stimulation on cortico-subcortical connections. Specifically, we show that subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation modulates all the major components of the motor cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop, including the cortico-striatal, thalamo-cortical, direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways, and the hyperdirect subthalamic nucleus projections. The strength of effective subthalamic nucleus afferents and efferents were reduced by stimulation, whereas cortico-striatal, thalamo-cortical and direct pathways were strengthened. Remarkably, regression analysis revealed that the hyperdirect, direct, and basal ganglia afferents to the subthalamic nucleus predicted clinical status and therapeutic response to deep brain stimulation; however, suppression of the sensitivity of the subthalamic nucleus to its hyperdirect afferents by deep brain stimulation may subvert the clinical efficacy of deep brain stimulation. Our findings highlight the distributed effects of stimulation on the resting motor network and provide a framework for analysing effective connectivity in resting state functional MRI with strong a priori hypotheses.

Fiscal 1995 verification survey of geothermal exploration technology. Report on a deep geothermal resource survey; 1995 nendo chinetsu tansa gijutsu nado kensho chosa. Shinbu chinetsu shigen hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-06-01

For the purpose of reducing the risk of deep geothermal resource development, the paper investigated three factors for the formation of geothermal resource in the deep underground, that is, heat supply from heat source, supply of geothermal fluids, and the developmental status of fracture systems forming reservoir structures. The survey further clarified the status of existence of deep geothermal resource and the whole image of the geothermal system including shallow geothermal energy in order to research/study usability of deep geothermal resource. In the deep geothermal resource survey, drilling/examination were made of a deep geothermal exploration well (`WD-1,` target depth: approximately 3,000-4,000m) in the already developed area, with the aim of making rationalized promotion of the geothermal development. And the status of existence of deep geothermal resource and the whole image of the geothermal system were clarified to investigate/study usability of the geothermal system. In fiscal 1995, `WD-1` in the Kakkonda area reached a depth of 3,729m. By this, surveys were made to grasp the whole image of the shallow-deep geothermal system and to obtain basic data for researching usability of deep geothermal resource. 22 refs., 531 figs., 136 tabs.

Deep Space Habitat Project

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Deep Space Habitat was closed out at the end of Fiscal Year 2013 (September 30, 2013). Results and select content have been incorporated into the new Exploration...

Deep Water Survey Data

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The deep water biodiversity surveys explore and describe the biodiversity of the bathy- and bentho-pelagic nekton using Midwater and bottom trawls centered in the...

The Gateway Garden — A Prototype Food Production Facility for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Fritsche, R. F.; Romeyn, M. W.; Massa, G.

2018-02-01

CIS-lunar space provides a unique opportunity to perform deep space microgravity crop science research while also addressing and advancing food production technologies that will be deployed on the Deep Space Transport.

Trade Study of System Level Ranked Radiation Protection Concepts for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Cerro, Jeffrey A

2013-01-01

A strategic focus area for NASA is to pursue the development of technologies which support exploration in space beyond the current inhabited region of low earth orbit. An unresolved issue for crewed deep space exploration involves limiting crew radiation exposure to below acceptable levels, considering both solar particle events and galactic cosmic ray contributions to dosage. Galactic cosmic ray mitigation is not addressed in this paper, but by addressing credible, easily implemented, and mass efficient solutions for the possibility of solar particle events, additional margin is provided that can be used for cosmic ray dose accumulation. As a result, NASA s Advanced Engineering Systems project office initiated this Radiation Storm Shelter design activity. This paper reports on the first year results of an expected 3 year Storm Shelter study effort which will mature concepts and operational scenarios that protect exploration astronauts from solar particle radiation events. Large trade space definition, candidate concept ranking, and a planned demonstration comprised the majority of FY12 activities. A system key performance parameter is minimization of the required increase in mass needed to provide a safe environment. Total system mass along with operational assessments and other defined protection system metrics provide the guiding metrics to proceed with concept developments. After a downselect to four primary methods, the concepts were analyzed for dosage severity and the amount of shielding mass necessary to bring dosage to acceptable values. Besides analytical assessments, subscale models of several concepts and one full scale concept demonstrator were created. FY12 work terminated with a plan to demonstrate test articles of two selected approaches. The process of arriving at these selections and their current envisioned implementation are presented in this paper.

Impact on demersal fish of a large-scale and deep sand extraction site with ecosystem-based landscaped sandbars

Science.gov (United States)

de Jong, Maarten F.; Baptist, Martin J.; van Hal, Ralf; de Boois, Ingeborg J.; Lindeboom, Han J.; Hoekstra, Piet

2014-06-01

For the seaward harbour extension of the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, approximately 220 million m3 sand was extracted between 2009 and 2013. In order to decrease the surface area of direct impact, the authorities permitted deep sand extraction, down to 20 m below the seabed. Biological and physical impacts of large-scale and deep sand extraction are still being investigated and largely unknown. For this reason, we investigated the colonization of demersal fish in a deep sand extraction site. Two sandbars were artificially created by selective dredging, copying naturally occurring meso-scale bedforms to increase habitat heterogeneity and increasing post-dredging benthic and demersal fish species richness and biomass. Significant differences in demersal fish species assemblages in the sand extraction site were associated with variables such as water depth, median grain size, fraction of very fine sand, biomass of white furrow shell (Abra alba) and time after the cessation of sand extraction. Large quantities of undigested crushed white furrow shell fragments were found in all stomachs and intestines of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), indicating that it is an important prey item. One and two years after cessation, a significant 20-fold increase in demersal fish biomass was observed in deep parts of the extraction site. In the troughs of a landscaped sandbar however, a significant drop in biomass down to reference levels and a significant change in species assemblage was observed two years after cessation. The fish assemblage at the crests of the sandbars differed significantly from the troughs with tub gurnard (Chelidonichthys lucerna) being a Dufrêne-Legendre indicator species of the crests. This is a first indication of the applicability of landscaping techniques to induce heterogeneity of the seabed although it remains difficult to draw a strong conclusion due the lack of replication in the experiment. A new ecological equilibrium is not reached after 2

Impact of deep brain stimulation of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule on cognition in depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergfeld, Isidoor O.; Mantione, Mariska; Hoogendoorn, M L C; Ruhe, H. G.; Horst, Ferdinand; Notten, P; van Laarhoven, J; van den Munckhof, M. P.; Beute, G. N.; Schuurman, P R; Denys, D

Background. Preliminary studies report no negative and a possible positive impact of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on cognition of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, these studies neither controlled for practice effects nor compared active with sham stimulation. Method. To

Impact of deep brain stimulation of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule on cognition in depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergfeld, I O; Mantione, M; Hoogendoorn, M L C; Ruhé, H G; Horst, F; Notten, P; van Laarhoven, J; van den Munckhof, P; Beute, G; Schuurman, P R; Denys, D

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND: Preliminary studies report no negative and a possible positive impact of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on cognition of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, these studies neither controlled for practice effects nor compared active with sham stimulation. METHOD: To

Impact of deep brain stimulation of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule on cognition in depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergfeld, I. O.; Mantione, M.; Hoogendoorn, M. L. C.; Ruhé, H. G.; Horst, F.; Notten, P.; van Laarhoven, J.; van den Munckhof, P.; Beute, G.; Schuurman, P. R.; Denys, D.

2017-01-01

Background. Preliminary studies report no negative and a possible positive impact of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on cognition of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, these studies neither controlled for practice effects nor compared active with sham stimulation. Method. To

A numerical calculation method of environmental impacts for the deep sea mining industry - a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Wenbin; van Rhee, Cees; Schott, Dingena

2018-03-01

Since the gradual decrease of mineral resources on-land, deep sea mining (DSM) is becoming an urgent and important emerging activity in the world. However, until now there has been no commercial scale DSM project in progress. Together with the reasons of technological feasibility and economic profitability, the environmental impact is one of the major parameters hindering its industrialization. Most of the DSM environmental impact research focuses on only one particular aspect ignoring that all the DSM environmental impacts are related to each other. The objective of this work is to propose a framework for the numerical calculation methods of the integrated DSM environmental impacts through a literature review. This paper covers three parts: (i) definition and importance description of different DSM environmental impacts; (ii) description of the existing numerical calculation methods for different environmental impacts; (iii) selection of a numerical calculation method based on the selected criteria. The research conducted in this paper provides a clear numerical calculation framework for DSM environmental impact and could be helpful to speed up the industrialization process of the DSM industry.

Putting the Deep Biosphere on the Map for Oceanography Courses: Gas Hydrates As a Case Study for the Deep Biosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Sikorski, J. J.; Briggs, B. R.

2014-12-01

The ocean is essential for life on our planet. It covers 71% of the Earth's surface, is the source of the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. Yet, the exponential growth in human population is putting the ocean and thus life on our planet at risk. However, based on student evaluations from our introductory oceanography course it is clear that our students have deficiencies in ocean literacy that impact their ability to recognize that the ocean and humans are inextricably connected. Furthermore, life present in deep subsurface marine environments is also interconnected to the study of the ocean, yet the deep biosphere is not typically covered in undergraduate oceanography courses. In an effort to improve student ocean literacy we developed an instructional module on the deep biosphere focused on gas hydrate deposits. Specifically, our module utilizes Google Earth and cutting edge research about microbial life in the ocean to support three inquiry-based activities that each explore different facets of gas hydrates (i.e. environmental controls, biologic controls, and societal implications). The relevant nature of the proposed module also makes it possible for instructors of introductory geology courses to modify module components to discuss related topics, such as climate, energy, and geologic hazards. This work, which will be available online as a free download, is a solid contribution toward increasing the available teaching resources focused on the deep biosphere for geoscience educators.

Deep Carbon Observatory investigates Carbon from Crust to Core: An Academic Record of the History of Deep Carbon Science

Science.gov (United States)

Mitton, S. A.

2017-12-01

Carbon plays an unparalleled role in our lives: as the element of life, as the basis of most of society's energy, as the backbone of most new materials, and as the central focus in efforts to understand Earth's variable and uncertain climate. Yet in spite of carbon's importance, scientists remain largely ignorant of the physical, chemical, and biological behavior of many of Earth's carbon-bearing systems. The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) is a global research program to transform our understanding of carbon in Earth. At its heart, DCO is a community of scientists, from biologists to physicists, geoscientists to chemists, and many others whose work crosses these disciplinary lines, forging a new, integrative field of deep carbon science. As a historian of science, I specialise in the history of planetary science and astronomy since 1900. This is directed toward understanding of the history of the steps on the road to discovering the internal dynamics of our planet. Within a framework that describes the historical background to the new field of Earth System Science, I present the first history of deep carbon science. This project will identifies the key discoveries of deep carbon science. It will assess the impact of new knowledge on geochemistry, geodynamics, and geobiology. The project will lead to publication, in book form in 2019, of an illuminating narrative that will highlight the engaging human stories of many remarkable scientists and natural philosophers from whom we have learned about the complexity of Earth's internal world. On this journey of discovery we will encounter not just the pioneering researchers of deep carbon science, but also their institutions, their instrumental inventiveness, and their passion for exploration. The book is organised thematically around the four communities of the Deep Carbon Observatory: Deep Life, Extreme Physics and Chemistry, Reservoirs and Fluxes, and Deep Energy. The presentation has a gallery and list of Deep Carbon

Modeling the Deep Impact Near-nucleus Observations of H2O and CO2 in Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Using Asymmetric Spherical Coupled Escape Probability

Science.gov (United States)

Gersch, Alan M.; A’Hearn, Michael F.; Feaga, Lori M.

2018-04-01

We have applied our asymmetric spherical adaptation of Coupled Escape Probability to the modeling of optically thick cometary comae. Expanding on our previously published work, here we present models including asymmetric comae. Near-nucleus observations from the Deep Impact mission have been modeled, including observed coma morphology features. We present results for two primary volatile species of interest, H2O and CO2, for comet 9P/Tempel 1. Production rates calculated using our best-fit models are notably greater than those derived from the Deep Impact data based on the assumption of optically thin conditions, both for H2O and CO2 but more so for CO2, and fall between the Deep Impact values and the global pre-impact production rates measured at other observatories and published by Schleicher et al. (2006), Mumma et al. (2005), and Mäkinen et al. (2007).

A comparative experimental approach to ecotoxicology in shallow-water and deep-sea holothurians suggests similar behavioural responses.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Alastair; Wright, Roseanna; Mevenkamp, Lisa; Hauton, Chris

2017-10-01

Exploration of deep-sea mineral resources is burgeoning, raising concerns regarding ecotoxicological impacts on deep-sea fauna. Assessing toxicity in deep-sea species is technologically challenging, which promotes interest in establishing shallow-water ecotoxicological proxy species. However, the effects of temperature and hydrostatic pressure on toxicity, and how adaptation to deep-sea environmental conditions might moderate these effects, are unknown. To address these uncertainties we assessed behavioural and physiological (antioxidant enzyme activity) responses to exposure to copper-spiked artificial sediments in a laboratory experiment using a shallow-water holothurian (Holothuria forskali), and in an in situ experiment using a deep-sea holothurian (Amperima sp.). Both species demonstrated sustained avoidance behaviour, evading contact with contaminated artificial sediment. However, A. sp. demonstrated sustained avoidance of 5mgl -1 copper-contaminated artificial sediment whereas H. forskali demonstrated only temporary avoidance of 5mgl -1 copper-contaminated artificial sediment, suggesting that H. forskali may be more tolerant of metal exposure over 96h. Nonetheless, the acute behavioural response appears consistent between the shallow-water species and the deep-sea species, suggesting that H. forskali may be a suitable ecotoxicological proxy for A. sp. in acute (≤24h) exposures, which may be representative of deep-sea mining impacts. No antioxidant response was observed in either species, which was interpreted to be the consequence of avoiding copper exposure. Although these data suggest that shallow-water taxa may be suitable ecotoxicological proxies for deep-sea taxa, differences in methodological and analytical approaches, and in sex and reproductive stage of experimental subjects, require caution in assessing the suitability of H. forskali as an ecotoxicological proxy for A. sp. Nonetheless, avoidance behaviour may have bioenergetic consequences that

Socio–economic and environmental impact of crude oil exploration ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio–economic and environmental impact of crude oil exploration and production on agricultural production: a case study of Edjeba and Kokori communities in Delta State of ... The results also showed an increase in the occurrence of health hazard, air/noise pollution and heightened deforestation in these communities.

An overview of latest deep water technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

The 8th Deep Offshore Technology Conference (DOT VIII, Rio de Janeiro, October 30 - November 3, 1995) has brought together renowned specialists in deep water development projects, as well as managers from oil companies and engineering/service companies to discuss state-of-the-art technologies and ongoing projects in the deep offshore. This paper is a compilation of the session summaries about sub sea technologies, mooring and dynamic positioning, floaters (Tension Leg Platforms (TLP) and Floating Production Storage and Off loading (FPSO)), pipelines and risers, exploration and drilling, and other deep water techniques. (J.S.)

Avalanches of sediment form deep-marine depositions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pohl, Florian|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/34309424X

2017-01-01

The deep ocean is the largest sedimentary system basin on the planet. It serves as the primary storage point for all terrestrially weathered sediment that makes it beyond the near-shore environment. These deep-marine offshore deposits have become a focus of attention in exploration due to the

The development of and experiments on electromagnetic measurement while a drilling system is used for deep exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Chunhua; Jiang, Guosheng; Wang, Ziqi; Wang, Jiahao; Wang, Chenli

2016-10-01

An electromagnetic measurement while drilling system (EM-MWD) can transfer well track state parameters to the ground in real time, which makes it an indispensable technology for deep-hole drilling. This paper introduces the development of and experiments on an EM-MWD system used for deep exploration in the People’s Republic of China. The designed EM-MWD system is composed of a downhole instrument and a ground instrument, and we elaborate on the structural design of the downhole instrument, the design of the transmission and control circuits and the signal modulation. This work also covers the software and hardware design of the ground instrument and signal demodulation technologies. Finally, some indoor signal decoding experiments and some in-hole signal transmission experiments are performed. This study indicates that the designed EM-MWD system can measure information for downhole drilling parameters and send it to the ground effectively, while the ground receiver can decode the signal accurately and reliably, and the desired signal can be obtained. Furthermore, the strength of the received signal is not affected by the polar distance within a certain polar distance.

A crater and its ejecta: An interpretation of Deep Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Holsapple, Keith A.; Housen, Kevin R.

2007-03-01

We apply recently updated scaling laws for impact cratering and ejecta to interpret observations of the Deep Impact event. An important question is whether the cratering event was gravity or strength-dominated; the answer gives important clues about the properties of the surface material of Tempel 1. Gravity scaling was assumed in pre-event calculations and has been asserted in initial studies of the mission results. Because the gravity field of Tempel 1 is extremely weak, a gravity-dominated event necessarily implies a surface with essentially zero strength. The conclusion of gravity scaling was based mainly on the interpretation that the impact ejecta plume remained attached to the comet during its evolution. We address that feature here, and conclude that even strength-dominated craters would result in a plume that appeared to remain attached to the surface. We then calculate the plume characteristics from scaling laws for a variety of material types, and for gravity and strength-dominated cases. We find that no model of cratering alone can match the reported observation of plume mass and brightness history. Instead, comet-like acceleration mechanisms such as expanding vapor clouds are required to move the ejected mass to the far field in a few-hour time frame. With such mechanisms, and to within the large uncertainties, either gravity or strength craters can provide the levels of estimated observed mass. Thus, the observations are unlikely to answer the questions about the mechanical nature of the Tempel 1 surface.

The possible environmental impacts of petroleum exploration activities on the Georges Bank ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boudreau, P.R.; Gordon, D.C.; Harding, G.C.

1999-01-01

This document contains a description of the Georges Bank ecosystem, the potential environmental impacts from petroleum exploration activities and the scientific information gathered to support a series of recommendations offered by the review panel. Input has been provided by Canadian and US government scientists, external reviewers, representatives of commercial fishing and petroleum industries. The overall consensus is that petroleum exploration activity might affect fish catch rates and spawning behaviour, however, such impacts are likely to be temporary and localized. Exploration drilling would cause a temporary loss of access to some fishing grounds, while seismic activity is likely to lead to some temporary space conflicts with fishing activity, especially during the summer months. Seismic activity could also impact on eggs and larvae of aquatic organisms, the extent depending on time of year and location. Large release of petroleum products from well blowout was considered unlikely. If occurred, it might affect population and ecosystem levels. Environmental impacts from production activities were not included in this assessment, however, they are believed to be substantially different from exploratory activities. Such impacts will be dependent upon the product being produced, the market, and the available technology. 140 refs., tabs., figs

DEEP SPACE: High Resolution VR Platform for Multi-user Interactive Narratives

Science.gov (United States)

Kuka, Daniela; Elias, Oliver; Martins, Ronald; Lindinger, Christopher; Pramböck, Andreas; Jalsovec, Andreas; Maresch, Pascal; Hörtner, Horst; Brandl, Peter

DEEP SPACE is a large-scale platform for interactive, stereoscopic and high resolution content. The spatial and the system design of DEEP SPACE are facing constraints of CAVETM-like systems in respect to multi-user interactive storytelling. To be used as research platform and as public exhibition space for many people, DEEP SPACE is capable to process interactive, stereoscopic applications on two projection walls with a size of 16 by 9 meters and a resolution of four times 1080p (4K) each. The processed applications are ranging from Virtual Reality (VR)-environments to 3D-movies to computationally intensive 2D-productions. In this paper, we are describing DEEP SPACE as an experimental VR platform for multi-user interactive storytelling. We are focusing on the system design relevant for the platform, including the integration of the Apple iPod Touch technology as VR control, and a special case study that is demonstrating the research efforts in the field of multi-user interactive storytelling. The described case study, entitled "Papyrate's Island", provides a prototypical scenario of how physical drawings may impact on digital narratives. In this special case, DEEP SPACE helps us to explore the hypothesis that drawing, a primordial human creative skill, gives us access to entirely new creative possibilities in the domain of interactive storytelling.

The Impact of the Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing on Deep Convection and Air Quality in the Pearl River Delta Region

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; Yim, Steve H. L.; Wang, C.; Lau, N. C.

2018-05-01

Literature has reported the remarkable aerosol impact on low-level cloud by direct radiative forcing (DRF). Impacts on middle-upper troposphere cloud are not yet fully understood, even though this knowledge is important for regions with a large spatial heterogeneity of emissions and aerosol concentration. We assess the aerosol DRF and its cloud response in June (with strong convection) in Pearl River Delta region for 2008-2012 at cloud-resolving scale using an air quality-climate coupled model. Aerosols suppress deep convection by increasing atmospheric stability leading to less evaporation from the ground. The relative humidity is reduced in middle-upper troposphere due to induced reduction in both evaporation from the ground and upward motion. The cloud reduction offsets 20% of the aerosol DRF. The weaker vertical mixing further increases surface aerosol concentration by up to 2.90 μg/m3. These findings indicate the aerosol DRF impact on deep convection and in turn regional air quality.

Sustainable development of deep-water seaport: the case of Lithuania.

Science.gov (United States)

Burskyte, Vilma; Belous, Olga; Stasiskiene, Zaneta

2011-06-01

In 2003, the Japan International Cooperation Agency carried out a development feasibility study of Klaipeda Seaport (Lithuania). The focus in this study was the evaluation of environmental impacts of the port expansion because it is located in an ecologically sensitive area. While the Japanese researchers focused on the environmental impact analysis, they did not provide unambiguous conclusions. The problems remained unresolved and required further, more detailed consideration and deeper analysis. Environmental sustainability in seaports is an issue of timely importance in many countries given the rapid increase in port-to-port traffic and harbor capacity. This paper explores the situation in Klaipeda Seaport (Lithuania) which is the northernmost ice-free port on the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and its challenges in terms of environmental aspects and current pollution situation. This port plays an important role in the economic development of the region and in creating a sustainable society, i.e., a society that continues to develop economically without increasing its impact on our living environment and where the possible reduction of its current impact can be huge due to the fact that the seaport is a place where transport and logistics intersect and constitute large-scale industrial estates. Increasingly, they also turn towards sustainability. Society faces the need for radical change because of increasing technological progress and increasing environmental impact. Environmental and public issues must be addressed by a systemic approach to find harmony among all the subsystems. Therefore, the authors of the article performed an assessment of the deep-water port of Klaipeda sustainable development opportunities tackling the following tasks: (1) Assessing Klaipeda port and the projected deep-water port of the current environment state; (2) Assessing the impact of the water quality of Klaipeda port, depending on the intensity of activity; (3) Assessing the

Hess Deep Interactive Lab: Exploring the Structure and Formation of the Oceanic Crust through Hands-On Models and Online Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Kurtz, N.; Marks, N.; Cooper, S. K.

2014-12-01

Scientific ocean drilling through the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) has contributed extensively to our knowledge of Earth systems science. However, many of its methods and discoveries can seem abstract and complicated for students. Collaborations between scientists and educators/artists to create accurate yet engaging demonstrations and activities have been crucial to increasing understanding and stimulating interest in fascinating geological topics. One such collaboration, which came out of Expedition 345 to the Hess Deep Rift, resulted in an interactive lab to explore sampling rocks from the usually inacessible lower oceanic crust, offering an insight into the geological processes that form the structure of the Earth's crust. This Hess Deep Interactive Lab aims to explain several significant discoveries made by oceanic drilling utilizing images of actual thin sections and core samples recovered from IODP expeditions. . Participants can interact with a physical model to learn about the coring and drilling processes, and gain an understanding of seafloor structures. The collaboration of this lab developed as a need to explain fundamental notions of the ocean crust formed at fast-spreading ridges. A complementary interactive online lab can be accessed at www.joidesresolution.org for students to engage further with these concepts. This project explores the relationship between physical and on-line models to further understanding, including what we can learn from the pros and cons of each.

Spitzer Observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 During Deep Impact : Water and Dust Production and Spatial Distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Gicquel, Adeline; Bockelée-Morvan, D.; Kelley, M. S.; Woodward, C. E.

2009-09-01

The Deep Impact (DI) spacecraft encountered comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4th, 2005 (rh = 1.506 AU). Spectral maps covering 20'' x 67'' (1.85''/pixel) were acquired with the IRS instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope (ΔSpitzer = 0.72 AU) at different times around the Deep Impact event: twice before impact (TI-41.3hrs and TI-22.9hrs) and twelve times after impact (between TI+0.67hrs and TI+1027hrs). These IRS observations (Lisse et al 2006, Sciences 313, 635) were taken from the Spitzer data archive. We present the interpretation of 5.2-7.6 µm spectra obtained in the second order of the short-wavelength module (SL2). To reduce the contribution of artifacts in the spectra, 5x5 pixel extraction apertures (9.25''x9.25'') were used. On the first stage we studied the water ν2 vibrational band emission at 6.4µm, which is present in most spectra. The water production rate before impact is deduced ( 4.25e27 molecules/sec). In order to study both the amount and origin of the water molecules released after impact, we used extractions centered on the nucleus and along the length of the slit. We analyzed the spatial distribution of water and its time evolution with a time-dependent model which describes the evolution of the water cloud after impact. The underlying continuum in the spectra provides information on the evolution and color temperature of the dust ejecta. The dust mass and dust/gas ratio in the ejecta cloud are derived and compared with other values published in the literature.

Research on Life Science and Life Support Engineering Problems of Manned Deep Space Exploration Mission

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Bin; Guo, Linli; Zhang, Zhixian

2016-07-01

Space life science and life support engineering are prominent problems in manned deep space exploration mission. Some typical problems are discussed in this paper, including long-term life support problem, physiological effect and defense of varying extraterrestrial environment. The causes of these problems are developed for these problems. To solve these problems, research on space life science and space medical-engineering should be conducted. In the aspect of space life science, the study of space gravity biology should focus on character of physiological effect in long term zero gravity, co-regulation of physiological systems, impact on stem cells in space, etc. The study of space radiation biology should focus on target effect and non-target effect of radiation, carcinogenicity of radiation, spread of radiation damage in life system, etc. The study of basic biology of space life support system should focus on theoretical basis and simulating mode of constructing the life support system, filtration and combination of species, regulation and optimization method of life support system, etc. In the aspect of space medical-engineering, the study of bio-regenerative life support technology should focus on plants cultivation technology, animal-protein production technology, waste treatment technology, etc. The study of varying gravity defense technology should focus on biological and medical measures to defend varying gravity effect, generation and evaluation of artificial gravity, etc. The study of extraterrestrial environment defense technology should focus on risk evaluation of radiation, monitoring and defending of radiation, compound prevention and removal technology of dust, etc. At last, a case of manned lunar base is analyzed, in which the effective schemes of life support system, defense of varying gravity, defense of extraterrestrial environment are advanced respectively. The points in this paper can be used as references for intensive study on key

Exploring available options in characterising the health impact of industrially contaminated sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Pasetto, Roberto; Martin-Olmedo, Piedad; Martuzzi, Marco; Iavarone, Ivano

2016-01-01

Industrially contaminated sites (ICS) are of high concern from an environmental public health perspective, since industrial plants may produce a widespread contamination that can result in several health impacts on the populations living in their neighbourhood. The objective of this contribution is to briefly explore available options in studying the health impact of ICS, mainly referring to information provided by documents and activities developed by the WHO and the WHO Collaborating Center for Environmental Health in Contaminated Sites. In current practice the health impact of ICS is evaluated using studies and assessments falling in two broad types of strategies: one based on epidemiology and the other on risk assessment methods. In recent years, traditional approaches to assess relationships between environmental risks and health has been evolved considering the intricate nature between them and other factors. New developments should be explored in the context of ICS to find common strategies and tools to assess their impacts and to guide public health interventions.

Petroleum Legislation and Administration: Past, Present, Future and Impact on Exploration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ofurhie, M. A.

2002-01-01

The need to exploit the vast petroleum resources of the country in an optimally efficient manner demands a versatile, responsive, workable legislation and its administration.Therefore, Government enacted the Mineral Oils Act of 1914, which regulates the right to search and develop mineral oil efficiently. Specifically, Section 6 (1) (a) provided that Shell Darcy, a British company, had the sole right to operate the Nigerian province as its concession thereby disqualifying other non-British companies from exploration opportunities.The 1914 Act was modified in 1958 to accommodate non-British companies to compete for acreage. Thus, exploration activities increased thereby generating more reserves. Furthermore, exploration activities improved in the frontier areas because government granted the operators incentives, which expensed one exploratory and two appraisal wells as an offset against PPT.The Government promulgated the Petroleum Act of 1969 to ensure good management of the abundant petroleum resources found in the Niger Delta basin. The Act vests the ownership and control of all petroleum resources in the state. The marginal fields legislation strives to encourage more participation by indigenous companies, while at the same time boosting national producible reserves through a farm-in arrangement with concessionaires. Legislations on deep-water exploration have encouraged exploration activities in that terrain though it poses a great challenge to technology. Government's desire to eradicate environmental pollution and improve revenue has led it to enact legislations that would properly position Nigerian gas to compete favourably in the world market. Joint studies by government and operators in viable options for utilizing uncommitted gas through projects such as Gas-to Liquid, NGL and IPP are on-going.Although many of the Legislations have not changed by a large margin, their dynamic administration accommodates their reviews to match increasingly difficult safety

Geophysical Exploration Technologies for the Deep Lithosphere Research: An Education Materials for High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, H.; Xu, C.; Luo, S.; Chen, H.; Qin, R.

2012-12-01

The science of Geophysics applies the principles of physics to study of the earth. Geophysical exploration technologies include the earthquake seismology, the seismic reflection and refraction methods, the gravity method, the magnetic method and the magnetotelluric method, which are used to measure the interior material distribution, their structure and the tectonics in the lithosphere of the earth. Part of the research project in SinoProbe-02-06 is to develop suitable education materials for carton movies targeting the high school students and public. The carton movies include five parts. The first part includes the structures of the earth's interior and variation in their physical properties that include density, p-wave, s-wave and so on, which are the fundamentals of the geophysical exploration technologies. The second part includes the seismology that uses the propagation of elastic waves through the earth to study the structure and the material distribution of the earth interior. It can be divided into earthquake seismology and artifice seismics commonly using reflection and refraction. The third part includes the magnetic method. Earth's magnetic field (also known as the geomagnetic field)extends from the Earth's inner core to where it meets the solar wind, a stream of energetic particles emanating from the Sun. The aim of magnetic survey is to investigate subsurface geology on the basis of anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field resulting from the magnetic properties of the underlying rocks. The magnetic method in the lithosphere attempts to use magnetic disturbance to analyse the regional geological structure and the magnetic boundaries of the crust. The fourth part includes the gravity method. A gravity anomaly results from the inhomogeneous distribution of density of the Earth. Usually gravity anomalies contain superposed anomalies from several sources. The long wave length anomalies due to deep density contrasts are called regional anomalies. They are

NATURAL GAS RESOURCES IN DEEP SEDIMENTARY BASINS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thaddeus S. Dyman; Troy Cook; Robert A. Crovelli; Allison A. Henry; Timothy C. Hester; Ronald C. Johnson; Michael D. Lewan; Vito F. Nuccio; James W. Schmoker; Dennis B. Riggin; Christopher J. Schenk

2002-02-05

From a geological perspective, deep natural gas resources are generally defined as resources occurring in reservoirs at or below 15,000 feet, whereas ultra-deep gas occurs below 25,000 feet. From an operational point of view, ''deep'' is often thought of in a relative sense based on the geologic and engineering knowledge of gas (and oil) resources in a particular area. Deep gas can be found in either conventionally-trapped or unconventional basin-center accumulations that are essentially large single fields having spatial dimensions often exceeding those of conventional fields. Exploration for deep conventional and unconventional basin-center natural gas resources deserves special attention because these resources are widespread and occur in diverse geologic environments. In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that 939 TCF of technically recoverable natural gas remained to be discovered or was part of reserve appreciation from known fields in the onshore areas and State waters of the United. Of this USGS resource, nearly 114 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically-recoverable gas remains to be discovered from deep sedimentary basins. Worldwide estimates of deep gas are also high. The U.S. Geological Survey World Petroleum Assessment 2000 Project recently estimated a world mean undiscovered conventional gas resource outside the U.S. of 844 Tcf below 4.5 km (about 15,000 feet). Less is known about the origins of deep gas than about the origins of gas at shallower depths because fewer wells have been drilled into the deeper portions of many basins. Some of the many factors contributing to the origin of deep gas include the thermal stability of methane, the role of water and non-hydrocarbon gases in natural gas generation, porosity loss with increasing thermal maturity, the kinetics of deep gas generation, thermal cracking of oil to gas, and source rock potential based on thermal maturity and kerogen type. Recent experimental simulations

Deep Learning in Drug Discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Gawehn, Erik; Hiss, Jan A; Schneider, Gisbert

2016-01-01

Artificial neural networks had their first heyday in molecular informatics and drug discovery approximately two decades ago. Currently, we are witnessing renewed interest in adapting advanced neural network architectures for pharmaceutical research by borrowing from the field of "deep learning". Compared with some of the other life sciences, their application in drug discovery is still limited. Here, we provide an overview of this emerging field of molecular informatics, present the basic concepts of prominent deep learning methods and offer motivation to explore these techniques for their usefulness in computer-assisted drug discovery and design. We specifically emphasize deep neural networks, restricted Boltzmann machine networks and convolutional networks. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Advances in Planetary Protection at the Deep Space Gateway

Science.gov (United States)

Spry, J. A.; Siegel, B.; Race, M.; Rummel, J. D.; Pugel, D. E.; Groen, F. J.; Kminek, G.; Conley, C. A.; Carosso, N. J.

2018-02-01

Planetary protection knowledge gaps that can be addressed by science performed at the Deep Space Gateway in the areas of human health and performance, space biology, and planetary sciences that enable future exploration in deep space, at Mars, and other targets.

Microbiological characterization of deep geological compartments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barsotti, V.; Sergeant, C.; Vesvres, M.H.; Coulon, S.; Joulian, C.; Garrido, F.; Ollivier, B.

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. Microbial life in deep sediments and Earth's crust is now acknowledged by the scientific world. The deep subsurface biosphere contributes significantly to fundamental biogeochemical processes. However, despite great advances in geo-microbiological studies, deep terrestrial ecosystems are microbiologically poorly understood, mainly due to their inaccessibility. The drilling down to the base of the Triassic (1980 meters deep) in the geological formations of the eastern Paris Basin performed by ANDRA (EST433) in 2008 provides us a good opportunity to explore the deep biosphere. We conditioned the samples on the coring site, in as aseptic conditions as possible. In addition to storage at atmospheric pressure, a portion of the four Triassic samples was placed in a 190 bars pressurized chamber to investigate the influence of the conservation pressure factor on the found microflora. In parallel, in order to evaluate a potential bacterial contamination of the cores by the drilling fluids, samples of mud just before each sample drilling were taken and analyzed. The microbial exploration can be divided in two parts: - A cultural approach in different culture media for metabolic groups as methanogens, fermenters and sulphate reducing bacteria to stimulate their growth and to isolate microbial cells still viable. - A molecular approach by direct extraction of genomic DNA from the geological samples to explore a larger biodiversity. The limits are here the difficulties to extract DNA from these low biomass containing rocks. After comparison and optimization of several DNA extraction methods, the bacterial diversity present in rock cores was analyzed using DGGE (Denaturating Gel Gradient Electrophoresis) and cloning. The detailed results of all these investigations will be presented: - Despite all 400 cultural conditions experimented (with various media, salinities, temperatures, conservation pressure, agitation), no viable and

Exploration of Near-Earth Objects from the Deep Space Gateway

Science.gov (United States)

Dunham, D. W.; Stakkestad, K.; Vedder, P.; McAdams, J.; Horsewood, J.; Genova, A. L.

2018-02-01

The paper will show how clever use of orbital dynamics can lower delta-V costs to enable scientifically interesting missions. The high-energy Deep Space Gateway orbits can be used to reach NEOs, a trans node for crews, or to deploy small sats. Examples are given.

Hot, deep origin of petroleum: deep basin evidence and application

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Leigh C.

1978-01-01

Use of the model of a hot deep origin of oil places rigid constraints on the migration and entrapment of crude oil. Specifically, oil originating from depth migrates vertically up faults and is emplaced in traps at shallower depths. Review of petroleum-producing basins worldwide shows oil occurrence in these basins conforms to the restraints of and therefore supports the hypothesis. Most of the world's oil is found in the very deepest sedimentary basins, and production over or adjacent to the deep basin is cut by or directly updip from faults dipping into the basin deep. Generally the greater the fault throw the greater the reserves. Fault-block highs next to deep sedimentary troughs are the best target areas by the present concept. Traps along major basin-forming faults are quite prospective. The structural style of a basin governs the distribution, types, and amounts of hydrocarbons expected and hence the exploration strategy. Production in delta depocenters (Niger) is in structures cut by or updip from major growth faults, and structures not associated with such faults are barren. Production in block fault basins is on horsts next to deep sedimentary troughs (Sirte, North Sea). In basins whose sediment thickness, structure and geologic history are known to a moderate degree, the main oil occurrences can be specifically predicted by analysis of fault systems and possible hydrocarbon migration routes. Use of the concept permits the identification of significant targets which have either been downgraded or ignored in the past, such as production in or just updip from thrust belts, stratigraphic traps over the deep basin associated with major faulting, production over the basin deep, and regional stratigraphic trapping updip from established production along major fault zones.

TRSDL: Tag-Aware Recommender System Based on Deep Learning–Intelligent Computing Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nan Liang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In recommender systems (RS, many models are designed to predict ratings of items for the target user. To improve the performance for rating prediction, some studies have introduced tags into recommender systems. Tags benefit RS considerably, however, they are also redundant and ambiguous. In this paper, we propose a hybrid deep learning model TRSDL (tag-aware recommender system based on deep learning to improve the performance of tag-aware recommender systems (TRS. First, TRSDL uses pre-trained word embeddings to represent user-defined tags, and constructs item and user profiles based on the items’ tags set and users’ tagging behaviors. Then, it utilizes deep neural networks (DNNs and recurrent neural networks (RNNs to extract the latent features of items and users, respectively. Finally, it predicts ratings from these latent features. The model not only addresses tag limitations and takes advantage of semantic tag information but also learns more advanced implicit features via deep structures. We evaluated our proposed approach and several baselines on MovieLens-20 m, and the experimental results demonstrate that TRSDL significantly outperforms all the baselines (including the state-of-the-art models BiasedMF and I-AutoRec. In addition, we also explore the impacts of network depth and type on model performance.

Climate, carbon cycling, and deep-ocean ecosystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, K L; Ruhl, H A; Bett, B J; Billett, D S M; Lampitt, R S; Kaufmann, R S

2009-11-17

Climate variation affects surface ocean processes and the production of organic carbon, which ultimately comprises the primary food supply to the deep-sea ecosystems that occupy approximately 60% of the Earth's surface. Warming trends in atmospheric and upper ocean temperatures, attributed to anthropogenic influence, have occurred over the past four decades. Changes in upper ocean temperature influence stratification and can affect the availability of nutrients for phytoplankton production. Global warming has been predicted to intensify stratification and reduce vertical mixing. Research also suggests that such reduced mixing will enhance variability in primary production and carbon export flux to the deep sea. The dependence of deep-sea communities on surface water production has raised important questions about how climate change will affect carbon cycling and deep-ocean ecosystem function. Recently, unprecedented time-series studies conducted over the past two decades in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic at >4,000-m depth have revealed unexpectedly large changes in deep-ocean ecosystems significantly correlated to climate-driven changes in the surface ocean that can impact the global carbon cycle. Climate-driven variation affects oceanic communities from surface waters to the much-overlooked deep sea and will have impacts on the global carbon cycle. Data from these two widely separated areas of the deep ocean provide compelling evidence that changes in climate can readily influence deep-sea processes. However, the limited geographic coverage of these existing time-series studies stresses the importance of developing a more global effort to monitor deep-sea ecosystems under modern conditions of rapidly changing climate.

Crabby Interactions: Fifth Graders Explore Human Impact on the Blue Crab Population

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffery, Tonya D.; McCollough, Cherie A.; Moore, Kim

2016-01-01

This article describes a two-day lesson in which fifth-grade students took on the role of marine biology scientists, using their critical-thinking and problem-solving skills to explore human impact on the blue crab ecosystem. The purpose of "Crabby Interactions" was to help students understand the impact of human activities on the local…

Tsunami Generation from Asteroid Airburst and Ocean Impact and Van Dorn Effect

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Darrel

2016-01-01

Airburst - In the simulations explored energy from the airburst couples very weakly with the water making tsunami dangerous over a shorter distance than the blast for asteroid sizes up to the maximum expected size that will still airburst (approx.250MT). Future areas of investigation: - Low entry angle airbursts create more cylindrical blasts and might couple more efficiently - Bursts very close to the ground will increase coupling - Inclusion of thermosphere (>80km altitude) may show some plume collapse effects over a large area although with much less pressure center dot Ocean Impact - Asteroid creates large cavity in ocean. Cavity backfills creating central jet. Oscillation between the cavity and jet sends out tsunami wave packet. - For deep ocean impact waves are deep water waves (Phase speed = 2x Group speed) - If the tsunami propagation and inundation calculations are correct for the small (impact deep ocean basins, the resulting tsunami is not a significant hazard unless particularly close to vulnerable communities. Future work: - Shallow ocean impact. - Effect of continental shelf and beach profiles - Tsunami vs. blast damage radii for impacts close to populated areas - Larger asteroids below presumed threshold of global effects (Ø200 - 800m).

Impact of open-ocean convection on particle fluxes and sediment dynamics in the deep margin of the Gulf of Lions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Stabholz

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The deep outer margin of the Gulf of Lions and the adjacent basin, in the western Mediterranean Sea, are regularly impacted by open-ocean convection, a major hydrodynamic event responsible for the ventilation of the deep water in the western Mediterranean Basin. However, the impact of open-ocean convection on the flux and transport of particulate matter remains poorly understood. The variability of water mass properties (i.e., temperature and salinity, currents, and particle fluxes were monitored between September 2007 and April 2009 at five instrumented mooring lines deployed between 2050 and 2350-m depth in the deepest continental margin and adjacent basin. Four of the lines followed a NW–SE transect, while the fifth one was located on a sediment wave field to the west. The results of the main, central line SC2350 ("LION" located at 42°02.5′ N, 4°41′ E, at 2350-m depth, show that open-ocean convection reached mid-water depth (≈ 1000-m depth during winter 2007–2008, and reached the seabed (≈ 2350-m depth during winter 2008–2009. Horizontal currents were unusually strong with speeds up to 39 cm s⁻¹ during winter 2008–2009. The measurements at all 5 different locations indicate that mid-depth and near-bottom currents and particle fluxes gave relatively consistent values of similar magnitude across the study area except during winter 2008–2009, when near-bottom fluxes abruptly increased by one to two orders of magnitude. Particulate organic carbon contents, which generally vary between 3 and 5%, were abnormally low (≤ 1% during winter 2008–2009 and approached those observed in surface sediments (≈ 0.6%. Turbidity profiles made in the region demonstrated the existence of a bottom nepheloid layer, several hundred meters thick, and related to the resuspension of bottom sediments. These observations support the view that open-ocean deep convection events in the Gulf of Lions can cause significant remobilization

Moderate and deep nurse-administered propofol sedation is safe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Jeppe Thue; Møller, Ann; Hornslet, Pernille

2015-01-01

INTRODUCTION: Non-anaesthesiologist-administered propofol sedation (NAPS/NAAP) is increasingly used in many countries. Most regimens aim for light or moderate sedation. Little evidence on safety of deep NAPS sedation is available. The aim of this study was to explore the safety of intermittent deep...

State of knowledge on potential risks, impacts and disturbances related to deep geothermal energy - Study report 10/07/2017

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gombert, Philippe; Lahaie, Franz; Cherkaoui, Auxane; Farret, Regis; Franck, Christian; Bigarre, Pascal; Pokryszka, Zbigniew

2017-01-01

Deep geothermal is a renewable and non-intermittent source of energy that can contribute to the world transition for a less carbon-intensive and greenhouse gas-emitting energy mix. Only a small part of the worldwide geothermal potential has been exploited so far and many countries, including France, are aiming for a fast growing of this industry in the next decades. Like most industrial activities, deep geothermal energy shows potential local inconveniences and possible risks for the safety of persons and of the environment. Preventing and managing those risks is of utmost importance to ensure that deep geothermal development is fully compatible with the needs and expectations of citizens, especially those of neighboring inhabitants. Indeed, in the past years, concerns have been raised by local populations regarding the development of some deep geothermal projects, especially in the field of high temperature geothermal, based on the risks related to this industry. This report is intended as a scientific and objective contribution to this matter. It aims to present, in a factual and documented way, the state of knowledge on the risks, impacts and potential inconveniences associated with deep geothermal energy. In addition to the scientific literature, it is based on lessons from incidents or accidents in this field of activity. It also makes use of INERIS expertise in the field of risks related to other sectors of activity dealing with underground operations and geo-resources, especially oil wells drilling, to provide a distanced view of deep geothermal technologies. Main lessons learned from this work are provided in the synthesis chapter ending the document. It includes a global and comparative analysis of the risks, impacts or potential inconveniences identified in this sector. Considering the large amount of published works related to this field of this industry both in the research and engineering areas, the authors do not claim to be exhaustive. They tried to

Deep repository and encapsulation plant for spent nuclear fuel. Consultation and environmental impact assessment according to the Environmental Code and the Nuclear Activities Act

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-11-01

As a part of its programme for siting of a deep repository for spent nuclear fuel, SKB has recently commenced site investigations at Forsmark in Oesthammar Municipality and at Simpevarp in Oskarshamn Municipality. At the same time, SKB has initiated the consultation process prior to application for permits/licences under the Environmental Code and the Nuclear Activities Act. Early consultation has been carried out for both sites, and a consultation report has been submitted to the county administrative boards in Kalmar County and Uppsala County for decisions regarding significant environmental impact. After decisions by the county administrative boards, SKB will commence the work with environmental impact assessment and extended consultation. SKB's main alternative for the encapsulation plant is siting adjacent to CLAB. In the spring of 2003, SKB will convene early consultation on the encapsulation plant. This will be followed by extended consultation up to 2005. This process will be coordinated with the extended consultation for a deep repository in Oskarshamn. An alternative is to locate the encapsulation plant at a deep repository at Forsmark. This alternative is being dealt with completely within the extended consultation for the deep repository at Forsmark. Three different permits/licences are required for both the encapsulation plant and the deep repository: a permit under the Environmental Code, a licence under the Nuclear Activities Act, and a building permit under the Planning and Building Act. Licensing under the Environmental Code and the Nuclear Activities Act takes place in parallel. The applications under both laws must include an environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared according to the rules in Chapter 6 of the Environmental Code. The same EIS is thus used in both applications. Separate EISs are prepared for the encapsulation plant and the deep repository. According to the Environmental Code, the consultation shall relate to the location, scope

Deep-Sea Mining With No Net Loss of Biodiversity—An Impossible Aim

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Holly J. Niner

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Deep-sea mining is likely to result in biodiversity loss, and the significance of this to ecosystem function is not known. “Out of kind” biodiversity offsets substituting one ecosystem type (e.g., coral reefs for another (e.g., abyssal nodule fields have been proposed to compensate for such loss. Here we consider a goal of no net loss (NNL of biodiversity and explore the challenges of applying this aim to deep seabed mining, based on the associated mitigation hierarchy (avoid, minimize, remediate. We conclude that the industry cannot at present deliver an outcome of NNL. This results from the vulnerable nature of deep-sea environments to mining impacts, currently limited technological capacity to minimize harm, significant gaps in ecological knowledge, and uncertainties of recovery potential of deep-sea ecosystems. Avoidance and minimization of impacts are therefore the only presently viable means of reducing biodiversity losses from seabed mining. Because of these constraints, when and if deep-sea mining proceeds, it must be approached in a precautionary and step-wise manner to integrate new and developing knowledge. Each step should be subject to explicit environmental management goals, monitoring protocols, and binding standards to avoid serious environmental harm and minimize loss of biodiversity. “Out of kind” measures, an option for compensation currently proposed, cannot replicate biodiversity and ecosystem services lost through mining of the deep seabed and thus cannot be considered true offsets. The ecosystem functions provided by deep-sea biodiversity contribute to a wide range of provisioning services (e.g., the exploitation of fish, energy, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, play an essential role in regulatory services (e.g., carbon sequestration and are important culturally. The level of “acceptable” biodiversity loss in the deep sea requires public, transparent, and well-informed consideration, as well as wide agreement

Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, M. L.; Gwinnett, C.; Robinson, L. F.; Woodall, L. C.

2016-09-01

Plastic waste is a distinctive indicator of the world-wide impact of anthropogenic activities. Both macro- and micro-plastics are found in the ocean, but as yet little is known about their ultimate fate and their impact on marine ecosystems. In this study we present the first evidence that microplastics are already becoming integrated into deep-water organisms. By examining organisms that live on the deep-sea floor we show that plastic microfibres are ingested and internalised by members of at least three major phyla with different feeding mechanisms. These results demonstrate that, despite its remote location, the deep sea and its fragile habitats are already being exposed to human waste to the extent that diverse organisms are ingesting microplastics.

Pipeline corridors through wetlands - impacts on plant communities: Deep Creek and Brandy Branch crossings, Nassau County, Florida

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shem, L.M.; Van Dyke, G.D.; Zimmerman, R.E.

1994-12-01

The goal of the Gas Research Institute Wetland Corridors Program is to document impacts of existing pipelines on the wetlands they traverse. To accomplish this goal, 12 existing wetland crossings were surveyed. These sites varied in elapsed time since pipeline construction, wetland type, pipeline installation techniques, and right-of-way (ROW) management practices. This report presents the results of surveys conducted July 14-18, 1992, at the Deep Creek and the Brandy Branch crossings of a pipeline installed during May 1991 in Nassau County, Florida. Both floodplains supported bottomland hardwood forests. The pipeline at the Deep Creek crossing was installed by means of horizontal directional drilling after the ROW had been clear-cut, while the pipeline at the Brandy Branch crossing was installed by means of conventional open trenching. Neither site was seeded or fertilized. At the time of sampling, a dense vegetative community, made up primarily of native perennial herbaceous species, occupied the ROW within the Deep Creek floodplain. The Brandy Branch ROW was vegetated by a less dense stand of primarily native perennial herbaceous plants. Plant diversity was also lower at the Brandy Branch crossing than at the Deep Creek crossing. The results suggest that some of the differences in plant communities are related to the more hydric conditions at the Brandy Branch floodplain.

Invited Article: Deep Impact instrument calibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Klaasen, Kenneth P; A'Hearn, Michael F; Baca, Michael; Delamere, Alan; Desnoyer, Mark; Farnham, Tony; Groussin, Olivier; Hampton, Donald; Ipatov, Sergei; Li, Jianyang; Lisse, Carey; Mastrodemos, Nickolaos; McLaughlin, Stephanie; Sunshine, Jessica; Thomas, Peter; Wellnitz, Dennis

2008-09-01

Calibration of NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft instruments allows reliable scientific interpretation of the images and spectra returned from comet Tempel 1. Calibrations of the four onboard remote sensing imaging instruments have been performed in the areas of geometric calibration, spatial resolution, spectral resolution, and radiometric response. Error sources such as noise (random, coherent, encoding, data compression), detector readout artifacts, scattered light, and radiation interactions have been quantified. The point spread functions (PSFs) of the medium resolution instrument and its twin impactor targeting sensor are near the theoretical minimum [ approximately 1.7 pixels full width at half maximum (FWHM)]. However, the high resolution instrument camera was found to be out of focus with a PSF FWHM of approximately 9 pixels. The charge coupled device (CCD) read noise is approximately 1 DN. Electrical cross-talk between the CCD detector quadrants is correctable to <2 DN. The IR spectrometer response nonlinearity is correctable to approximately 1%. Spectrometer read noise is approximately 2 DN. The variation in zero-exposure signal level with time and spectrometer temperature is not fully characterized; currently corrections are good to approximately 10 DN at best. Wavelength mapping onto the detector is known within 1 pixel; spectral lines have a FWHM of approximately 2 pixels. About 1% of the IR detector pixels behave badly and remain uncalibrated. The spectrometer exhibits a faint ghost image from reflection off a beamsplitter. Instrument absolute radiometric calibration accuracies were determined generally to <10% using star imaging. Flat-field calibration reduces pixel-to-pixel response differences to approximately 0.5% for the cameras and <2% for the spectrometer. A standard calibration image processing pipeline is used to produce archival image files for analysis by researchers.

Invited Article: Deep Impact instrument calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klaasen, Kenneth P.; Mastrodemos, Nickolaos; A'Hearn, Michael F.; Farnham, Tony; Groussin, Olivier; Ipatov, Sergei; Li Jianyang; McLaughlin, Stephanie; Sunshine, Jessica; Wellnitz, Dennis; Baca, Michael; Delamere, Alan; Desnoyer, Mark; Thomas, Peter; Hampton, Donald; Lisse, Carey

2008-01-01

Calibration of NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft instruments allows reliable scientific interpretation of the images and spectra returned from comet Tempel 1. Calibrations of the four onboard remote sensing imaging instruments have been performed in the areas of geometric calibration, spatial resolution, spectral resolution, and radiometric response. Error sources such as noise (random, coherent, encoding, data compression), detector readout artifacts, scattered light, and radiation interactions have been quantified. The point spread functions (PSFs) of the medium resolution instrument and its twin impactor targeting sensor are near the theoretical minimum [∼1.7 pixels full width at half maximum (FWHM)]. However, the high resolution instrument camera was found to be out of focus with a PSF FWHM of ∼9 pixels. The charge coupled device (CCD) read noise is ∼1 DN. Electrical cross-talk between the CCD detector quadrants is correctable to <2 DN. The IR spectrometer response nonlinearity is correctable to ∼1%. Spectrometer read noise is ∼2 DN. The variation in zero-exposure signal level with time and spectrometer temperature is not fully characterized; currently corrections are good to ∼10 DN at best. Wavelength mapping onto the detector is known within 1 pixel; spectral lines have a FWHM of ∼2 pixels. About 1% of the IR detector pixels behave badly and remain uncalibrated. The spectrometer exhibits a faint ghost image from reflection off a beamsplitter. Instrument absolute radiometric calibration accuracies were determined generally to <10% using star imaging. Flat-field calibration reduces pixel-to-pixel response differences to ∼0.5% for the cameras and <2% for the spectrometer. A standard calibration image processing pipeline is used to produce archival image files for analysis by researchers.

Ship Track for Operation Deep Scope 2005 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Ship track of R/V Seward Johnson during the "Operation Deep Scope 2005" expedition sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of...

[The Research Advancement and Conception of the Deep-underground Medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, He-Ping; Liu, Ji-Feng; Gao, Ming-Zhong; Wan, Xue-Hong; Liu, Shi-Xi; Zou, Jian; Wu, Jiang; Ma, Teng-Fei; Liu, Yi-Lin; Bu, Hong; Li, Wei-Min

2018-03-01

The 21th century is the century of exploring and utilizing the underground space. In the future, more and more people will spend more and more time living or/and working in the underground space. However,we know little about the effect on the health of human caused by the underground environment. Herein,we systematically put forward the strategic conception of the deep-underground medicine,in order to reveal relative effects and mechanism of the potential factors in the deep underground space on human's physiological and psychological healthy,and to work out the corresponding countermeasures. The original deep-underground medicine includes the following items. ①To model different depth of underground environment according to various parameters (such as temperature,radiation,air pressure, rock,microorganism), and to explore their quantitative character and effects on human health and mechanism. ② To study the psychological change, maintenance of homeostasis and biothythm of organism in the deep underground space. ③ To learn the association between psychological healthy of human and the depth, structure, physical environment and working time of underground space. ④ To investigate the effect of different terrane and lithology on healthy of human and to deliberate their contribution on organism growth. ⑤ To research the character and their mechanism of growth,metabolism,exchange of energy,response of growth, aging and adaptation of cells living in deep underground space. ⑥ To explore the physiological feature,growth of microbiome and it's interaction with host in the deep underground space. ⑦ To develop deep-underground simulation space, the biologically medical technology and equipments. As a research basis,a deep-underground medical lab under a rock thickness of about 1 470 m has been built,which aims to operate the research of the effect on living organism caused by different depth of underground environment. Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal

Design study of nuclear power systems for deep space explorers. (2) Electricity supply capabilities of solid cores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamaji, Akifumi; Takizuka, Takakazu; Nabeshima, Kunihiko; Iwamura, Takamichi; Akimoto, Hajime

2009-01-01

This study has been carried out in series with the other study, 'Criticality of Low Enriched Uranium Fueled Core' to explore the possibilities of a solid reactor electricity generation system for supplying propulsion power of a deep space explorer. The design ranges of two different systems are determined with respect to the electric power, the radiator mass, and the operating temperatures of the heat-pipes and thermoelectric converters. The two systems are the core surface cooling with heat-pipe system (CSHP), and the core direct cooling with heat-pipe system (CDHP). The evaluated electric powers widely cover the 1 to 100 kW range, which had long been claimed to be the range that lacked the power sources in space. Therefore, the concepts shown by this study may lead to a breakthrough of the human activities in space. The working temperature ranges of the main components, namely the heat-pipes and thermoelectric converters, are wide and covers down to relatively low temperatures. This is desirable from the viewpoints of broadening the choices, reducing the development needs, and improving the reliabilities of the devices. Hence, it is advantageous for an early establishment of the concept. (author)

The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment Mission and its Potential Contributions to Human Exploration of Asteroids

Science.gov (United States)

Abell, Paul A.; Rivkin, Andy S.

2014-01-01

The joint ESA and NASA Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission will directly address aspects of NASA's Asteroid Initiative and will contribute to future human exploration. The NASA Asteroid Initiative is comprised of two major components: the Grand Challenge and the Asteroid Mission. The first component, the Grand Challenge, focuses on protecting Earth's population from asteroid impacts by detecting potentially hazardous objects with enough warning time to either prevent them from impacting the planet, or to implement civil defense procedures. The Asteroid Mission, involves sending astronauts to study and sample a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) prior to conducting exploration missions of the Martian system, which includes Phobos and Deimos. AIDA's primary objective is to demonstrate a kinetic impact deflection and characterize the binary NEA Didymos. The science and technical data obtained from AIDA will aid in the planning of future human exploration missions to NEAs and other small bodies. The dual robotic missions of AIDA, ESA's Asteroid Impact Monitor (AIM) and NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), will provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific examinations of the binary target Didymos both prior to and after the kinetic impact demonstration. The knowledge gained from this mission will help identify asteroidal physical properties in order to maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk for future small body missions. The AIDA data will help fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps concerning asteroid physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration considerations at similar small body destinations.

Repurchase intentions in a retail store - exploring the impact of colours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Varga

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to explore the elements that influence customer loyalty in different dominant colour environments in a retail store that sells groceries. The paper explores the relationship between customer satisfaction, exploring the store environment, communications with sales personnel and repurchase intentions in different colour environments. Furthermore, it explores the gender impact on creating customer loyalty in warm, cool and neutral colour environments. Empirical research is conducted using three different colour environments in a retail store that sells groceries. Based on research findings, exploring store environment is found to be the most influential element that boosts repurchase intentions. Gender stimulated differences are also found. For women, in warm, cool and neutral colour environment the dominant influence on repurchase intentions is exploring the store environment. For men, in both warm and cool colour environment communication with sales personnel influences their repurchase intentions. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the influence of colours on repurchase intentions in the context of South-East European culture. Managerial implications are offered and suggestions for further research provided.

Human impacts on soil carbon dynamics of deep-rooted Amazonian forests

Science.gov (United States)

Nepstad, Daniel C.; Stone, Thomas A.; Davidson, Eric A.

1994-01-01

Deforestation and logging degrade more forest in eastern and southern Amazonia than in any other region of the world. This forest alteration affects regional hydrology and the global carbon cycle, but our current understanding of these effects is limited by incomplete knowledge of tropical forest ecosystems. It is widely agreed that roots are concentrated near the soil surface in moist tropical forests, but this generalization incorrectly implies that deep roots are unimportant in water and C budgets. Our results indicate that half of the closed-canopy forests of Brazilian Amazonic occur where rainfall is highly seasonal, and these forests rely on deeply penetrating roots to extract soil water. Pasture vegetation extracts less water from deep soil than the forest it replaces, thus increasing rates of drainage and decreasing rates of evapotranspiration. Deep roots are also a source of modern carbon deep in the soil. The soils of the eastern Amazon contain more carbon below 1 m depth than is present in above-ground biomass. As much as 25 percent of this deep soil C could have annual to decadal turnover times and may be lost to the atmosphere following deforestation. We compared the importance of deep roots in a mature, evergreen forest with an adjacent man-made pasture, the most common type of vegetation on deforested land in Amazonia. The study site is near the town of Paragominas, in the Brazilian state of Para, with a seasonal rainfall pattern and deeply-weathered, kaolinitic soils that are typical for large portions of Amazonia. Root distribution, soil water extraction, and soil carbon dynamics were studied using deep auger holes and shafts in each ecosystem, and the phenology and water status of the leaf canopies were measured. We estimated the geographical distribution of deeply-rooting forests using satellite imagery, rainfall data, and field measurements.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation impacts language in early Parkinson's disease.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lara Phillips

Full Text Available Although deep brain stimulation (DBS of the basal ganglia improves motor outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD, its effects on cognition, including language, remain unclear. This study examined the impact of subthalamic nucleus (STN DBS on two fundamental capacities of language, grammatical and lexical functions. These functions were tested with the production of regular and irregular past-tenses, which contrast aspects of grammatical (regulars and lexical (irregulars processing while controlling for multiple potentially confounding factors. Aspects of the motor system were tested by contrasting the naming of manipulated (motor and non-manipulated (non-motor objects. Performance was compared between healthy controls and early-stage PD patients treated with either DBS/medications or medications alone. Patients were assessed on and off treatment, with controls following a parallel testing schedule. STN-DBS improved naming of manipulated (motor but not non-manipulated (non-motor objects, as compared to both controls and patients with just medications, who did not differ from each other across assessment sessions. In contrast, STN-DBS led to worse performance at regulars (grammar but not irregulars (lexicon, as compared to the other two subject groups, who again did not differ. The results suggest that STN-DBS negatively impacts language in early PD, but may be specific in depressing aspects of grammatical and not lexical processing. The finding that STN-DBS affects both motor and grammar (but not lexical functions strengthens the view that both depend on basal ganglia circuitry, although the mechanisms for its differential impact on the two (improved motor, impaired grammar remain to be elucidated.

'It makes you think' - exploring the impact of qualitative films on pain clinicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Toye, Francine; Jenkins, Sue

2015-02-01

Researchers need to consider the impact and utility of their findings. Film is an accessible medium for qualitative research findings and can facilitate learning through emotional engagement. We aimed to explore the usefulness of a short film presenting findings from a published qualitative synthesis of adults' experience of chronic musculoskeletal pain for pain education. In particular, we were interested in the impact of the film on clinician's understanding of patients' experience of chronic pain and how this knowledge might be used for improved healthcare for people with pain. Focus groups with healthcare professionals enrolled in a pain management foundation course explored healthcare professionals' experience of watching the film. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted by the researchers. This article presents one thematic exemplar from a wider study. Participants reflected upon the pitfalls of judging by appearances and the value of seeing the person beneath his or her performance. There is a danger that the impact of qualitative findings is under-valued in clinical education. We present one exemplar from a study exploring knowledge mobilisation, which demonstrates that qualitative research, specifically qualitative films, can make us think about the care that we provide to people with chronic pain.

Deep-sea coral research and technology program: Alaska deep-sea coral and sponge initiative final report

Science.gov (United States)

Rooper, Chris; Stone, Robert P.; Etnoyer, Peter; Conrath, Christina; Reynolds, Jennifer; Greene, H. Gary; Williams, Branwen; Salgado, Enrique; Morrison, Cheryl L.; Waller, Rhian G.; Demopoulos, Amanda W.J.

2017-01-01

Deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems are widespread throughout most of Alaska’s marine waters. In some places, such as the central and western Aleutian Islands, deep-sea coral and sponge resources can be extremely diverse and may rank among the most abundant deep-sea coral and sponge communities in the world. Many different species of fishes and invertebrates are associated with deep-sea coral and sponge communities in Alaska. Because of their biology, these benthic invertebrates are potentially impacted by climate change and ocean acidification. Deepsea coral and sponge ecosystems are also vulnerable to the effects of commercial fishing activities. Because of the size and scope of Alaska’s continental shelf and slope, the vast majority of the area has not been visually surveyed for deep-sea corals and sponges. NOAA’s Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP) sponsored a field research program in the Alaska region between 2012–2015, referred to hereafter as the Alaska Initiative. The priorities for Alaska were derived from ongoing data needs and objectives identified by the DSCRTP, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), and Essential Fish Habitat-Environmental Impact Statement (EFH-EIS) process.This report presents the results of 15 projects conducted using DSCRTP funds from 2012-2015. Three of the projects conducted as part of the Alaska deep-sea coral and sponge initiative included dedicated at-sea cruises and fieldwork spread across multiple years. These projects were the eastern Gulf of Alaska Primnoa pacifica study, the Aleutian Islands mapping study, and the Gulf of Alaska fish productivity study. In all, there were nine separate research cruises carried out with a total of 109 at-sea days conducting research. The remaining projects either used data and samples collected by the three major fieldwork projects or were piggy-backed onto existing research programs at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC).

Unsupervised deep learning reveals prognostically relevant subtypes of glioblastoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Jonathan D; Cai, Chunhui; Lu, Xinghua

2017-10-03

One approach to improving the personalized treatment of cancer is to understand the cellular signaling transduction pathways that cause cancer at the level of the individual patient. In this study, we used unsupervised deep learning to learn the hierarchical structure within cancer gene expression data. Deep learning is a group of machine learning algorithms that use multiple layers of hidden units to capture hierarchically related, alternative representations of the input data. We hypothesize that this hierarchical structure learned by deep learning will be related to the cellular signaling system. Robust deep learning model selection identified a network architecture that is biologically plausible. Our model selection results indicated that the 1st hidden layer of our deep learning model should contain about 1300 hidden units to most effectively capture the covariance structure of the input data. This agrees with the estimated number of human transcription factors, which is approximately 1400. This result lends support to our hypothesis that the 1st hidden layer of a deep learning model trained on gene expression data may represent signals related to transcription factor activation. Using the 3rd hidden layer representation of each tumor as learned by our unsupervised deep learning model, we performed consensus clustering on all tumor samples-leading to the discovery of clusters of glioblastoma multiforme with differential survival. One of these clusters contained all of the glioblastoma samples with G-CIMP, a known methylation phenotype driven by the IDH1 mutation and associated with favorable prognosis, suggesting that the hidden units in the 3rd hidden layer representations captured a methylation signal without explicitly using methylation data as input. We also found differentially expressed genes and well-known mutations (NF1, IDH1, EGFR) that were uniquely correlated with each of these clusters. Exploring these unique genes and mutations will allow us to

Impact of deep convection in the tropical tropopause layer in West Africa: in-situ observations and mesoscale modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Fierli

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We present the analysis of the impact of convection on the composition of the tropical tropopause layer region (TTL in West-Africa during the AMMA-SCOUT campaign. Geophysica M55 aircraft observations of water vapor, ozone, aerosol and CO₂ during August 2006 show perturbed values at altitudes ranging from 14 km to 17 km (above the main convective outflow and satellite data indicates that air detrainment is likely to have originated from convective cloud east of the flights. Simulations of the BOLAM mesoscale model, nudged with infrared radiance temperatures, are used to estimate the convective impact in the upper troposphere and to assess the fraction of air processed by convection. The analysis shows that BOLAM correctly reproduces the location and the vertical structure of convective outflow. Model-aided analysis indicates that convection can influence the composition of the upper troposphere above the level of main outflow for an event of deep convection close to the observation site. Model analysis also shows that deep convection occurring in the entire Sahelian transect (up to 2000 km E of the measurement area has a non negligible role in determining TTL composition.

Deep inspiration breath-hold radiotherapy for lung cancer: impact on image quality and registration uncertainty in cone beam CT image guidance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Josipovic, Mirjana; Persson, Gitte F; Bangsgaard, Jens Peter

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the impact of deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) and tumour baseline shifts on image quality and registration uncertainty in image-guided DIBH radiotherapy (RT) for locally advanced lung cancer. METHODS: Patients treated with daily cone beam CT (CBCT)-guided free...

Analysis of vector magnetic anomalies over the Bayonnaise Knoll caldera obtained from a deep-sea magnetic exploration by AUV

Science.gov (United States)

Sayanagi, K.; Isezaki, N.; Matsuo, J.; Harada, M.; Kasaya, T.

2011-12-01

Geophysical surveys near the seafloor are very effective methods in order to investigate fine structures of the oceanic crust. Such surveys have increased in researches and developments of the seafloor, and will be more and more necessary in the future. For example, seabed resources like hydrothermal deposits have recently focused attention behind the international situation for natural resources like a competition of resources development. In order to estimate accurate abundance of those resources, the above detailed investigations should be needed because of low resolution of geophysical surveys on the sea and low efficiency of exploratory drilling. From such a viewpoint, we have been developing a measurement system for magnetic explorations using an AUV and a deep-tow system. The magnetic exploration system consists of two 3-axis flux-gate magnetometers, one/two Overhauser magnetometer(s), an optical fiber gyro, a main unit (control, communication, recording), and an onboard unit. These devices except for the onboard unit are installed in pressure cases (depth limit: 6000m). Thus this system can measure three components and total intensity of the geomagnetic field in the deep sea. In 2009, the first test of the magnetic exploration system was carried out in the Kumano Basin using AUV Urashima and towing vehicle Yokosuka Deep-Tow during the R/V Yokosuka YK09-09 cruise. In this test, we sank a small magnetic target to the seafloor, and examined how the system worked. As a result, we successfully detected magnetic anomaly of the target to confirm the expected performance of that in the sea. In 2010, the magnetic exploration system was further tested in the Bayonnaise Knoll area both using a titanium towing frame during the R/V Bosei-maru cruise and using AUV Urashima during the R/V Yokosuka YK10-17 cruise. The purpose of these tests was to evaluate the performance of the system in an actual hydrothermal deposit area for practical applications of that. The

Deep Space Habitat Wireless Smart Plug

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, Joseph A.; Porter, Jay; Rojdev, Kristina; Carrejo, Daniel B.; Colozza, Anthony J.

2014-01-01

NASA has been interested in technology development for deep space exploration, and one avenue of developing these technologies is via the eXploration Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge. In 2013, NASA's Deep Space Habitat (DSH) project was in need of sensors that could monitor the power consumption of various devices in the habitat with added capability to control the power to these devices for load shedding in emergency situations. Texas A&M University's Electronic Systems Engineering Technology Program (ESET) in conjunction with their Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL) accepted this challenge, and over the course of 2013, several undergraduate students in a Capstone design course developed five wireless DC Smart Plugs for NASA. The wireless DC Smart Plugs developed by Texas A&M in conjunction with NASA's Deep Space Habitat team is a first step in developing wireless instrumentation for future flight hardware. This paper will further discuss the X-Hab challenge and requirements set out by NASA, the detailed design and testing performed by Texas A&M, challenges faced by the team and lessons learned, and potential future work on this design.

Species distribution models of two critically endangered deep-sea octocorals reveal fishing impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems in central Mediterranean Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Lauria, V; Garofalo, G; Fiorentino, F; Massi, D; Milisenda, G; Piraino, S; Russo, T; Gristina, M

2017-08-14

Deep-sea coral assemblages are key components of marine ecosystems that generate habitats for fish and invertebrate communities and act as marine biodiversity hot spots. Because of their life history traits, deep-sea corals are highly vulnerable to human impacts such as fishing. They are an indicator of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs), therefore their conservation is essential to preserve marine biodiversity. In the Mediterranean Sea deep-sea coral habitats are associated with commercially important crustaceans, consequently their abundance has dramatically declined due to the effects of trawling. Marine spatial planning is required to ensure that the conservation of these habitats is achieved. Species distribution models were used to investigate the distribution of two critically endangered octocorals (Funiculina quadrangularis and Isidella elongata) in the central Mediterranean as a function of environmental and fisheries variables. Results show that both species exhibit species-specific habitat preferences and spatial patterns in response to environmental variables, but the impact of trawling on their distribution differed. In particular F. quadrangularis can overlap with fishing activities, whereas I. elongata occurs exclusively where fishing is low or absent. This study represents the first attempt to identify key areas for the protection of soft and compact mud VMEs in the central Mediterranean Sea.

Deep space propulsion a roadmap to interstellar flight

CERN Document Server

Long, K F

2012-01-01

As humans take their first tentative steps off our home planet, and debate the costs/benefits of sending people back to the Moon and perhaps on to Mars, we must also start to make plans for the day when we will venture forth as pioneers farther out into the Solar System and beyond - perhaps far, far beyond - to explore and settle new worlds around other stars. It is vital that we develop the deep space propulsion technologies that will take us there, first to explore with robotic probes, then to follow ourselves. This is necessary so that if anything catastrophic happened to Earth, our species would survive. And the possibilities for catastrophe are great. An impacting asteroid ended the reign of the dinosaurs, and today we have many other threats such as global war, climate change, pollution, resource limitations and overpopulation. In this book, Kelvin F. Long takes us on all the possible journeys - the mission targets, the technologies we might use to power such journeys, and what scientific knowledge we a...

Exploring the impact of the constructs of the three-domain approach ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This article explores the constructs of private social and commercial hospitality in a panoramic examination of the impact and potential future development of the three-domain approach. Focused primarily (but not exclusively) on the books In Search of Hospitality: theoretical perspectives and debates, and Hospitality: A ...

SQCX X-ray Observations Of The Deep Impact Spacecraft Close Encounters With Comets 9P/Tempel 1 And 103P/Hartley 2

Science.gov (United States)

Lisse, Carey M.; Dennerl, K.; Wolk, S. J.; Christian, D. J.; Bodewits, D.; Zurbuchen, T. H.; Combi, M.

2010-03-01

We present results from the extensive Chandra, SWIFT, Spitzer, and groundbased observing campaigns studying Comet 9P/Tempel 1 in support of NASA's Deep Impact (DI) mission as an indication of the results expected for the next DI flyby of comet 103P/Hartley 2 at 0.1 AU geocentric distance in November 2010. 9P/Tempel 1 was observed for 300 ksec between 30th June and 24th July 2005, and continuously for 60 ksec on July 4th during the impact event. X-ray emission qualitatively similar to that observed for the collisionally thin, cold wind comet 2P/Encke system (Lisse et al. 2005) was found, with emission morphology centered on the nucleus and emission lines due to C, N, O, and Ne solar wind minor ions. The comet was relatively faint on July 4th, and the total increase in x-ray flux due to the Deep Impact excavation was small, 20% of the immediate pre-impact value, consistent with estimates that the total coma neutral gas release due to the impact was 5 x 106 kg ( 10 hrs of normal coma outflow). Over time, other temporally variable spectral features due to changing solar wind flux densities and charge states were clearly seen. Good agreement between the Chandra and SWIFT x-ray photometry was found. Two flares, much stronger than the man-made increase due to Deep Impact, were found in the observed x-rays on June 30th and July 8th, 2005, and are coincident with increases in the solar wind flux arriving at the comet. Modeling of the Chandra data using observed Spitzer gas production rates and ACE solar wind ion fluxes with a SWCX mechanism for the emission was found to be consistent with the temporal- and spectral behavior expected for a slow, hot wind typical of low latitude emission from the solar corona interacting with the comet's neutral coma.

Making Data Mobile: The Hubble Deep Field Academy iPad app

Science.gov (United States)

Eisenhamer, Bonnie; Cordes, K.; Davis, S.; Eisenhamer, J.

2013-01-01

Many school districts are purchasing iPads for educators and students to use as learning tools in the classroom. Educators often prefer these devices to desktop and laptop computers because they offer portability and an intuitive design, while having a larger screen size when compared to smart phones. As a result, we began investigating the potential of adapting online activities for use on Apple’s iPad to enhance the dissemination and usage of these activities in instructional settings while continuing to meet educators’ needs. As a pilot effort, we are developing an iPad app for the “Hubble Deep Field Academy” - an activity that is currently available online and commonly used by middle school educators. The Hubble Deep Field Academy app features the HDF-North image while centering on the theme of how scientists use light to explore and study the universe. It also includes features such as embedded links to vocabulary, images and videos, teacher background materials, and readings about Hubble’s other deep field surveys. It is our goal is to impact students’ engagement in STEM-related activities, while enhancing educators’ usage of NASA data via new and innovative mediums. We also hope to develop and share lessons learned with the E/PO community that can be used to support similar projects. We plan to test the Hubble Deep Field Academy app during the school year to determine if this new activity format is beneficial to the education community.

Microbial corrosion of metallic materials in a deep nuclear-waste repository

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stoulil J.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The study summarises current knowledge on microbial corrosion in a deep nuclear-waste repository. The first part evaluates the general impact of microbial activity on corrosion mechanisms. Especially, the impact of microbial metabolism on the environment and the impact of biofilms on the surface of structure materials were evaluated. The next part focuses on microbial corrosion in a deep nuclear-waste repository. The study aims to suggest the development of the repository environment and in that respect the viability of bacteria, depending on the probable conditions of the environment, such as humidity of bentonite, pressure in compact bentonite, the impact of ionizing radiation, etc. The last part is aimed at possible techniques for microbial corrosion mechanism monitoring in the conditions of a deep repository. Namely, electrochemical and microscopic techniques were discussed.

The Case for Deep Space Telecommunications Relay Stations

Science.gov (United States)

Chandler, Charles W.; Miranda, Felix A. (Technical Monitor)

2004-01-01

Each future mission to Jupiter and beyond must carry the traditional suite of telecommunications systems for command and control and for mission data transmission to earth. The telecommunications hardware includes the large antenna and the high-power transmitters that enable the communications link. Yet future spacecraft will be scaled down from the hallmark missions of Galileo and Cassini to Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. This implies that a higher percentage of the spacecraft weight and power must be dedicated to telecommunications system. The following analysis quantifies this impact to future missions and then explores the merits of an alternative approach using deep space relay stations for the link back to earth. It will be demonstrated that a telecommunications relay satellite would reduce S/C telecommunications weight and power sufficiently to add one to two more instruments.

Bermuda Deep Water Caves 2011: Dives of Discovery between 20110607 and 20110627

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — During the three week NOAA Ocean Exploration project, Bermuda Deep Water Caves 2011: Dives of Discovery, our four member deep team, aided by numerous assistants,...

Exploring risk factors for stuttering development in Parkinson disease after deep brain stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Picillo, Marina; Vincos, Gustavo B; Sammartino, Francesco; Lozano, Andres M; Fasano, Alfonso

2017-05-01

Stuttering is a speech disorder with disruption of verbal fluency, occasionally present in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD co-incident stuttering may either worsen or improve after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). Sixteen out of 453 PD patients (3.5%) exhibited stuttering after DBS (PD-S) and were compared with a group of patients without stuttering (PD-NS) using non-parametric statistics. After DBS, stuttering worsened in 3 out of 4 patients with co-incidental stuttering. Most PD-S underwent subthalamic (STN) DBS, but 4 were implanted in the globus pallidus (GPi). Nine out of 16 PD-S (56.3%) reported a positive familial history for stuttering compared to none of the PD-NS. PD-S were mainly male (81.3%) with slight worse motor features compared to PD-NS. Herein, we describe a group of PD patients developing stuttering after DBS and report the presence of a positive familial history for stuttering as the most relevant risk factor, suggesting a possible underlying genetic cause. The fact that stuttering occurred after either STN or GPi DBS is an argument against the impact of medication reduction on stuttering. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary Assessment of Artificial Gravity Impacts to Deep-Space Vehicle Design

Science.gov (United States)

Joosten, B. Kent

2007-01-01

Even after more than thirty years of scientific investigation, serious concerns regarding human physiological effects of long-duration microgravity exposure remain. These include loss of bone mineral density, skeletal muscle atrophy, and orthostatic hypertension, among others. In particular, "Safe Passage: Astronaut Care for Exploration Missions," states "loss of bone density, which apparently occurs at a rate of 1% per month in microgravity, is relatively manageable on the short-duration missions of the space shuttle, but it becomes problematic on the ISS [International Space Station]. ...If this loss is not mitigated, interplanetary missions will be impossible." While extensive investigations into potential countermeasures are planned on the ISS, the delay in attaining full crew complement and onboard facilities, and the potential for extending crews tours of duty threaten the timely (definitive design requirements, especially acceptable artificial gravity levels and rotation rates, the perception of high vehicle mass and performance penalties, the incompatibility of resulting vehicle configurations with space propulsion options (i.e., aerocapture), the perception of complications associated with de-spun components such as antennae and photovoltaic arrays, and the expectation of effective crew micro-gravity countermeasures. These perception and concerns may have been overstated, or may be acceptable alternatives to countermeasures of limited efficacy. This study was undertaken as an initial step to try to understand the implications of and potential solutions to incorporating artificial gravity in the design of human deep-space exploration vehicles. Of prime interest will be the mass penalties incurred by incorporating AG, along with any mission performance degradation.

Deep-brain electrical microstimulation is an effective tool to explore functional characteristics of somatosensory neurons in the rat brain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Han-Jia Jiang

Full Text Available In neurophysiology researches, peripheral stimulation is used along with recordings of neural activities to study the processing of somatosensory signals in the brain. However, limited precision of peripheral stimulation makes it difficult to activate the neuron with millisecond resolution and study its functional properties in this scale. Also, tissue/receptor damage that could occur in some experiments often limits the amount of responses that can be recorded and hence reduces data reproducibility. To overcome these limitations, electrical microstimulation (ES of the brain could be used to directly and more precisely evoke neural responses. For this purpose, a deep-brain ES protocol for rat somatosensory relay neurons was developed in this study. Three male Wistar rats were used in the experiment. The ES was applied to the thalamic region responsive to hindpaw tactile stimulation (TS via a theta glass microelectrode. The resulting ES-evoked cortical responses showed action potentials and thalamocortical relay latencies very similar to those evoked by TS. This result shows that the developed deep-brain ES protocol is an effective tool to bypass peripheral tissue for in vivo functional analysis of specific types of somatosensory neurons. This protocol could be readily applied in researches of nociception and other somatosensory systems to allow more extensive exploration of the neural functional networks.

Control of environmental impact of low-level aqueous fuel reprocessing wastes by deep-well disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trevorrow, L.E.; Steindler, M.J.

1978-01-01

The following conclusions are made: (1) the technology and much experience for this disposal method are available; (2) large areas of the U.S. offer geological formations suitable for deep well disposal, but substantial effort may be required in the choice of a specific site; (3) although costs are substantial, they are small compared to associated environmental and energy benefits; (4) impacts on water consumers would be minimized through regulatory checks of siting, construction, and monitoring, and also through natural dilution and radioactive decay; (5) disposal wells must satisfy regulations, of recently-increased stringency, on siting, design, construction, operation, monitoring, and decommissioning

A formal proof of the expressiveness of deep learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bentkamp, A.; Blanchette, J.C.; Klakow, Dietrich

2017-01-01

Deep learning has had a profound impact on computer science in recent years, with applications to image recognition, language processing, bioinformatics, and more. Recently, Cohen et al. provided theoretical evidence for the superiority of deep learning over shallow learning. We formalized their

Using Flipped Classroom Approach to Explore Deep Learning in Large Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Danker, Brenda

2015-01-01

This project used two Flipped Classroom approaches to stimulate deep learning in large classrooms during the teaching of a film module as part of a Diploma in Performing Arts course at Sunway University, Malaysia. The flipped classes utilized either a blended learning approach where students first watched online lectures as homework, and then…

Persistent impacts to the deep soft-bottom benthos one year after the Deepwater Horizon event.

Science.gov (United States)

Montagna, Paul A; Baguley, Jeffrey G; Cooksey, Cynthia; Hyland, Jeffrey L

2017-03-01

In fall 2010, several months after the Deepwater Horizon blowout was capped, zones of moderate and severe impacts to deep-sea, soft-bottom benthos were identified that together extended over an area of 172 km 2 . A subset of stations sampled in 2010 was resampled in May and June 2011, 10 to 11 months after the event, to determine whether the identified adverse effects were persisting. The design compared 20 stations from the combined moderate and severe impact zone to 12 stations in the reference zone that were sampled in both years. There were no statistically significant differences in contaminant concentrations between the impact and nonimpact zones from 2010 to 2011, which indicates contaminants persisted after 1 y. Whereas there were some signs of recovery in 2011 (particularly for the meiofauna abundance and diversity), there was evidence of persistent, statistically significant impacts to both macrofauna and meiofauna community structure. Macrofaunal taxa richness and diversity in 2011 were still 22.8% and 35.9% less, respectively, in the entire impact zone than in the surrounding nonimpact area, and meiofaunal richness was 28.5% less in the entire impact zone than in the surrounding area. The persistence of significant biodiversity losses and community structure change nearly 1 y after the wellhead was capped indicates that full recovery had yet to have occurred in 2011. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:342-351. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Ship Sensor Observations for Operation Deep Scope 2007 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hourly measurements made by selected ship sensors on the R/V Seward Johnson during the "Operation Deep Scope 2007" expedition sponsored by the National Oceanic and...

Technical Meeting on Developing Deep-Burn Concepts using HTGRs. Objectives and Expectations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tyobeka, Bismark

2013-01-01

The objectives of the meeting are: • To explore various Deep-Burn options and concepts being developed in Member States; • To appraise the progress made towards the maturity of Deep-Burn concepts based on HTGR designs; • To identify technology development challenges towards the realization of Deep-Burn concepts; • To propose collaborative ways to address technology development challenges

The Hudson River Plume: Exploring Human Impact on the Coastal Environment

Science.gov (United States)

McDonnell, Janice; Duncan, Ravit; Lichtenwalner, C. Sage; Dunbar, Laura

2010-01-01

The Hudson River Watershed contains a variety of geologic, topographic, climatic, and hydrologic features and a diversity of land-use patterns--making it an ideal model for studying human impact on the coastal environment. In this article, the authors present the Hudson River Plume (HRP), a problem-based online module that explores nonpoint-source…

Root-driven Weathering Impacts on Mineral-Organic Associations in Deep Soil

Science.gov (United States)

Keiluweit, M.; Garcia Arredondo, M.; Tfaily, M. M.; Kukkadapu, R. K.; Schulz, M. S.; Lawrence, C. R.

2017-12-01

Plant roots dramatically reshape the soil environments through the release of organic compounds. While root-derived organic compounds are recognized as an important source of soil C, their role in promoting weathering reactions has largely been overlooked. On the one hand, root-driven weathering may generate mineral-organic associations, which can protect soil C for centuries to millennia. On the other hand, root-driven weathering also transforms minerals, potentially disrupting protective mineral-organic associations in the process. Hence root-derived C may not only initiate C accumulation, but also diminish C stocks through disruption of mineral-organic associations. Here we determined the impact of rhizogenic weathering on mineral-organic associations, and associated changes in C storage, across the Santa Cruz Marine Terrace chronosequence (65ka-226ka). Using a combination of high-resolution mass spectrometry, Mössbauer, and X-ray (micro)spectroscopy, we examined mineral-organic associations of deep soil horizons characterized by intense rhizogenic weathering gradients. Initial rhizogenic weathering dramatically increased C stocks, which is directly linked to an increase of microbially-derived C bound to monomeric Fe and Al and nano-goethite. As weathering proceeded, the soil C stocks declined concurrent with an increasingly plant-derived C signature and decreasing crystallinity. X-ray spectromicroscopic analyses revealed strong spatial associations between C and Fe during initial weathering stages, indicative of protective mineral-organic associations. In contrast, later weathering stages showed weaker spatial relationships between C and Fe. We conclude that rhizogenic weathering enhance C storage by creating protective mineral-organic associations in the initial weathering stages. As root-driven weathering proceeds, minerals are transformed into more crystalline phases that retain lower amounts of C. Our results demonstrate that root-induced weathering

Fanning the flames? : How media coverage of a price war impacts retailers, consumers and investors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Heerde, H.J.; Gijsbrechts, E.; Pauwels, K.

2015-01-01

This paper explores how media coverage of a price war impacts customer, retailer and investor reactions over time. Based on data covering a Dutch supermarket price war (2003–2005), the authors find that price reductions, and especially deep ones, trigger media coverage of the price conflict. This

Semi-Autonomous Rodent Habitat for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Alwood, J. S.; Shirazi-Fard, Y.; Pletcher, D.; Globus, R.

2018-01-01

NASA has flown animals to space as part of trailblazing missions and to understand the biological responses to spaceflight. Mice traveled in the Lunar Module with the Apollo 17 astronauts and now mice are frequent research subjects in LEO on the ISS. The ISS rodent missions have focused on unravelling biological mechanisms, better understanding risks to astronaut health, and testing candidate countermeasures. A critical barrier for longer-duration animal missions is the need for humans-in-the-loop to perform animal husbandry and perform routine tasks during a mission. Using autonomous or telerobotic systems to alleviate some of these tasks would enable longer-duration missions to be performed at the Deep Space Gateway. Rodent missions performed using the Gateway as a platform could address a number of critical risks identified by the Human Research Program (HRP), as well as Space Biology Program questions identified by NRC Decadal Survey on Biological and Physical Sciences in Space, (2011). HRP risk areas of potentially greatest relevance that the Gateway rodent missions can address include those related to visual impairment (VIIP) and radiation risks to central nervous system, cardiovascular disease, as well as countermeasure testing. Space Biology focus areas addressed by the Gateway rodent missions include mechanisms and combinatorial effects of microgravity and radiation. The objectives of the work proposed here are to 1) develop capability for semi-autonomous rodent research in cis-lunar orbit, 2) conduct key experiments for testing countermeasures against low gravity and space radiation. The hardware and operations system developed will enable experiments at least one month in duration, which potentially could be extended to one year in duration. To gain novel insights into the health risks to crew of deep space travel (i.e., exposure to space radiation), results obtained from Gateway flight rodents can be compared to ground control groups and separate groups

Deep learning for computational chemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goh, Garrett B. [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354; Hodas, Nathan O. [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354; Vishnu, Abhinav [Advanced Computing, Mathematics, and Data Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd Richland Washington 99354

2017-03-08

The rise and fall of artificial neural networks is well documented in the scientific literature of both the fields of computer science and computational chemistry. Yet almost two decades later, we are now seeing a resurgence of interest in deep learning, a machine learning algorithm based on “deep” neural networks. Within the last few years, we have seen the transformative impact of deep learning the computer science domain, notably in speech recognition and computer vision, to the extent that the majority of practitioners in those field are now regularly eschewing prior established models in favor of deep learning models. In this review, we provide an introductory overview into the theory of deep neural networks and their unique properties as compared to traditional machine learning algorithms used in cheminformatics. By providing an overview of the variety of emerging applications of deep neural networks, we highlight its ubiquity and broad applicability to a wide range of challenges in the field, including QSAR, virtual screening, protein structure modeling, QM calculations, materials synthesis and property prediction. In reviewing the performance of deep neural networks, we observed a consistent outperformance against non neural networks state-of-the-art models across disparate research topics, and deep neural network based models often exceeded the “glass ceiling” expectations of their respective tasks. Coupled with the maturity of GPU-accelerated computing for training deep neural networks and the exponential growth of chemical data on which to train these networks on, we anticipate that deep learning algorithms will be a useful tool and may grow into a pivotal role for various challenges in the computational chemistry field.

Deep learning for computational chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Garrett B; Hodas, Nathan O; Vishnu, Abhinav

2017-06-15

The rise and fall of artificial neural networks is well documented in the scientific literature of both computer science and computational chemistry. Yet almost two decades later, we are now seeing a resurgence of interest in deep learning, a machine learning algorithm based on multilayer neural networks. Within the last few years, we have seen the transformative impact of deep learning in many domains, particularly in speech recognition and computer vision, to the extent that the majority of expert practitioners in those field are now regularly eschewing prior established models in favor of deep learning models. In this review, we provide an introductory overview into the theory of deep neural networks and their unique properties that distinguish them from traditional machine learning algorithms used in cheminformatics. By providing an overview of the variety of emerging applications of deep neural networks, we highlight its ubiquity and broad applicability to a wide range of challenges in the field, including quantitative structure activity relationship, virtual screening, protein structure prediction, quantum chemistry, materials design, and property prediction. In reviewing the performance of deep neural networks, we observed a consistent outperformance against non-neural networks state-of-the-art models across disparate research topics, and deep neural network-based models often exceeded the "glass ceiling" expectations of their respective tasks. Coupled with the maturity of GPU-accelerated computing for training deep neural networks and the exponential growth of chemical data on which to train these networks on, we anticipate that deep learning algorithms will be a valuable tool for computational chemistry. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Therapeutic impact of CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage in treatment of deep tissue abscesses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asai, Nobuhiro; Ohkuni, Yoshihiro; Kaneko, Norihiro; Aoshima, Masahiro; Yamazaki, Ikuo; Kawamura, Yasutaka

2013-01-01

Combination therapy of CT-guided percutaneous drainage and antibiotics is the first-line treatment for abscesses. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated. However, the therapeutic impact of this procedure for infection treatment has never been reported. We retrospectively analyzed all 47 patients who received CT-guided percutaneous drainage for infection treatment. Patients' characteristics, pathogens isolated, antibiotics administered, technical and clinical outcomes, complications related to this procedure and therapeutic impacts were investigated. Patients were 26 males and 21 females. The mean age was 63.5 years (±18.7). The diseases targeted were 19 retroperitoneal abscesses, 18 intraabdominal abscesses, three pelvic abscesses, and seven others. As for technical outcomes, all of the 54 procedures (100%) were successful. As for clinical outcomes, 44 (93.6%) were cured and three patients (6.4%) died. No complications related to this procedure were found in this study. A total of 42 patients (88%) had a change in the management of their infection as a result of CT-guided percutaneous drainage, such as selection and discontinuation of antibiotics. In conclusion, CT-guided percutaneous drainage is a safe and favorable procedure in the treatment of deep tissue abscesses. Therapeutic impact of these procedures helped physicians make a rational decision for antibiotics selection. (author)

Therapeutic impact of CT-guided percutaneous catheter drainage in treatment of deep tissue abscesses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asai, Nobuhiro; Ohkuni, Yoshihiro; Kaneko, Norihiro; Aoshima, Masahiro; Yamazaki, Ikuo; Kawamura, Yasutaka, E-mail: nobuhiro0204@hotmail.com [Kameda Medical Center, Chiba (Japan)

2013-03-15

Combination therapy of CT-guided percutaneous drainage and antibiotics is the first-line treatment for abscesses. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated. However, the therapeutic impact of this procedure for infection treatment has never been reported. We retrospectively analyzed all 47 patients who received CT-guided percutaneous drainage for infection treatment. Patients' characteristics, pathogens isolated, antibiotics administered, technical and clinical outcomes, complications related to this procedure and therapeutic impacts were investigated. Patients were 26 males and 21 females. The mean age was 63.5 years ({+-}18.7). The diseases targeted were 19 retroperitoneal abscesses, 18 intraabdominal abscesses, three pelvic abscesses, and seven others. As for technical outcomes, all of the 54 procedures (100%) were successful. As for clinical outcomes, 44 (93.6%) were cured and three patients (6.4%) died. No complications related to this procedure were found in this study. A total of 42 patients (88%) had a change in the management of their infection as a result of CT-guided percutaneous drainage, such as selection and discontinuation of antibiotics. In conclusion, CT-guided percutaneous drainage is a safe and favorable procedure in the treatment of deep tissue abscesses. Therapeutic impact of these procedures helped physicians make a rational decision for antibiotics selection. (author)

Global Lunar Topography from the Deep Space Gateway for Science and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Archinal, B.; Gaddis, L.; Kirk, R.; Edmundson, K.; Stone, T.; Portree, D.; Keszthelyi, L.

2018-02-01

The Deep Space Gateway, in low lunar orbit, could be used to achieve a long standing goal of lunar science, collecting stereo images in two months to make a complete, uniform, high resolution, known accuracy, global topographic model of the Moon.

Environmental challenges of deep water activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sande, Arvid

1998-01-01

In this presentation there are discussed the experiences of petroleum industry, and the projects that have been conducted in connection with the planning and drilling of the first deep water wells in Norway. There are also presented views on where to put more effort in the years to come, so as to increase the knowledge of deep water areas. Attention is laid on exploration drilling as this is the only activity with environmental potential that will take place during the next five years or so. The challenges for future field developments in these water depths are briefly discussed. 7 refs

Deep inelastic lepton scattering from nucleons and nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berger, E.L.

1986-02-01

A pedagogical review is presented of results obtained from inclusive deep inelastic scattering of leptons from nucleons and nuclei, with particular emphasis on open questions to be explored in future experiments

Should deep seabed mining be allowed?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kim, Rak

2017-01-01

Abstract Commercial interest in deep sea minerals in the area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction has rapidly increased in recent years. The International Seabed Authority has already given out 26 exploration contracts and it is currently in the process of developing the Mining Code for

Deep learning for SAR image formation

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, Eric; Yonel, Bariscan; Yazici, Birsen

2017-04-01

The recent success of deep learning has lead to growing interest in applying these methods to signal processing problems. This paper explores the applications of deep learning to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image formation. We review deep learning from a perspective relevant to SAR image formation. Our objective is to address SAR image formation in the presence of uncertainties in the SAR forward model. We present a recurrent auto-encoder network architecture based on the iterative shrinkage thresholding algorithm (ISTA) that incorporates SAR modeling. We then present an off-line training method using stochastic gradient descent and discuss the challenges and key steps of learning. Lastly, we show experimentally that our method can be used to form focused images in the presence of phase uncertainties. We demonstrate that the resulting algorithm has faster convergence and decreased reconstruction error than that of ISTA.

Deep-sea coral record of human impact on watershed quality in the Mississippi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Prouty, N.; Roark, B.; Koenig, A.; Batista, F. C.; Kocar, B. D.; Selby, D. S.; Mccarthy, M. D.; Mienis, F.; Ross, S. W.; Demopoulos, A. W.

2015-12-01

One of the greatest drivers of historical nutrient and sediment transport into the Gulf of Mexico is the unprecedented scale and intensity of land use change in the Mississippi River Basin. These landscape changes are linked to enhanced fluxes of carbon and nitrogen pollution from the Mississippi River, and persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Increased terrestrial runoff is one hypothesis for recent enrichment in bulk nitrogen isotope (δ15N) values, a tracer for nutrient source, observed in a Gulf of Mexico deep-sea coral record. However, unambiguously linking anthropogenic land use change to whole scale shifts in downstream Gulf of Mexico biogeochemical cycles is difficult. Here we present a novel approach, coupling a new tracer of agro-industrialization to a multiproxy record of nutrient loading in long-lived deep-sea corals collected in the Gulf of Mexico. We found that coral bulk δ15N values are enriched over the last 150-200 years relative to the last millennia, and compound-specific amino acid δ15N data indicate a strong increase in baseline δ15N of nitrate as the primary cause. Coral rhenium (Re) values are also strongly elevated during this period, suggesting that 34% of Re is of anthropogenic origin, consistent with Re enrichment in major world rivers. However, there are no pre-anthropogenic measurements of Re to confirm this observation. For the first time, an unprecedented record of natural and anthropogenic Re variability is documented through coral Re records. Taken together, these novel proxies link upstream changes in water quality to impacts on the deep-sea coral ecosystem.

Deep-sea coral record of human impact on watershed quality in the Mississippi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Prouty, Nancy G.; Roark, E. Brendan; Koenig, Alan E.; Demopoulos, Amanda W. J.; Batista, Fabian C.; Kocar, Benjamin D.; Selby, David; McCarthy, Matthew D.; Mienis, Furu

2014-01-01

One of the greatest drivers of historical nutrient and sediment transport into the Gulf of Mexico is the unprecedented scale and intensity of land use change in the Mississippi River Basin. These landscape changes are linked to enhanced fluxes of carbon and nitrogen pollution from the Mississippi River, and persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Increased terrestrial runoff is one hypothesis for recent enrichment in bulk nitrogen isotope (δ15N) values, a tracer for nutrient source, observed in a Gulf of Mexico deep-sea coral record. However, unambiguously linking anthropogenic land use change to whole scale shifts in downstream Gulf of Mexico biogeochemical cycles is difficult. Here we present a novel approach, coupling a new tracer of agro-industrialization to a multiproxy record of nutrient loading in long-lived deep-sea corals collected in the Gulf of Mexico. We found that coral bulk δ15N values are enriched over the last 150–200 years relative to the last millennia, and compound-specific amino acid δ15N data indicate a strong increase in baseline δ15N of nitrate as the primary cause. Coral rhenium (Re) values are also strongly elevated during this period, suggesting that 34% of Re is of anthropogenic origin, consistent with Re enrichment in major world rivers. However, there are no pre-anthropogenic measurements of Re to confirm this observation. For the first time, an unprecedented record of natural and anthropogenic Re variability is documented through coral Re records. Taken together, these novel proxies link upstream changes in water quality to impacts on the deep-sea coral ecosystem.

DeepPy: Pythonic deep learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Anders Boesen Lindbo

This technical report introduces DeepPy – a deep learning framework built on top of NumPy with GPU acceleration. DeepPy bridges the gap between highperformance neural networks and the ease of development from Python/NumPy. Users with a background in scientific computing in Python will quickly...... be able to understand and change the DeepPy codebase as it is mainly implemented using high-level NumPy primitives. Moreover, DeepPy supports complex network architectures by letting the user compose mathematical expressions as directed graphs. The latest version is available at http...

Robotic exploration of the solar system

CERN Document Server

Ulivi, Paolo

In Robotic Exploration of the Solar System, Paolo Ulivi and David Harland provide a comprehensive account of the design and managment of deep-space missions, the spacecraft involved - some flown, others not - their instruments, and their scientific results. This third volume in the series covers launches in the period 1997 to 2003 and features: - a chapter entirely devoted to the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn; - coverage of planetary missions of the period, including the Deep Space 1 mission and the Stardust and Hayabusa sample returns from comets and asteroids; - extensive coverage of Mars exploration, the failed 1999 missions, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The story will continue in Part 4.

Exploring the Impact of Gambling Advertising: An Interview Study of Problem Gamblers

Science.gov (United States)

Binde, Per

2009-01-01

This study qualitatively explored the impact of gambling advertising on problem gambling by interviewing twenty-five people with current or past gambling problems. Interviews were relatively long and involved the participants' viewing numerous examples of gambling advertising. A quarter of the participants reported that gambling advertising had no…

TRI-Worthy Projects for the Deep Space Gateway

Science.gov (United States)

Wotring, V. E.; Strangman, G. E.; Donoviel, D.

2018-02-01

Preparations for exploration will require exposure to the actual deep space environment. The new TRI for Space Health proposes innovative projects using real space radiation to make medically-relevant measurements affecting human physiology.

Conversion to organic wine production: exploring the economic performance impacts

OpenAIRE

Nisén, Pia

2014-01-01

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between organic wine production and economic performance. The aim of this study is to clarify, what are the economic impacts that result from the conversion of wine production from conventional to organic. This is an interesting topic to be explored in more detail because despite the increasing demand of organic wine and share of vineyard area used for organic winemaking, the economic consequences of the conversion are still somewhat unclea...

Evaluating deep learning architectures for Speech Emotion Recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Fayek, Haytham M; Lech, Margaret; Cavedon, Lawrence

2017-08-01

Speech Emotion Recognition (SER) can be regarded as a static or dynamic classification problem, which makes SER an excellent test bed for investigating and comparing various deep learning architectures. We describe a frame-based formulation to SER that relies on minimal speech processing and end-to-end deep learning to model intra-utterance dynamics. We use the proposed SER system to empirically explore feed-forward and recurrent neural network architectures and their variants. Experiments conducted illuminate the advantages and limitations of these architectures in paralinguistic speech recognition and emotion recognition in particular. As a result of our exploration, we report state-of-the-art results on the IEMOCAP database for speaker-independent SER and present quantitative and qualitative assessments of the models' performances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Structure, functioning, and cumulative stressors of Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Tecchio, Samuele; Coll, Marta; Sardà, Francisco

2015-06-01

Environmental stressors, such as climate fluctuations, and anthropogenic stressors, such as fishing, are of major concern for the management of deep-sea ecosystems. Deep-water habitats are limited by primary productivity and are mainly dependent on the vertical input of organic matter from the surface. Global change over the latest decades is imparting variations in primary productivity levels across oceans, and thus it has an impact on the amount of organic matter landing on the deep seafloor. In addition, anthropogenic impacts are now reaching the deep ocean. The Mediterranean Sea, the largest enclosed basin on the planet, is not an exception. However, ecosystem-level studies of response to varying food input and anthropogenic stressors on deep-sea ecosystems are still scant. We present here a comparative ecological network analysis of three food webs of the deep Mediterranean Sea, with contrasting trophic structure. After modelling the flows of these food webs with the Ecopath with Ecosim approach, we compared indicators of network structure and functioning. We then developed temporal dynamic simulations varying the organic matter input to evaluate its potential effect. Results show that, following the west-to-east gradient in the Mediterranean Sea of marine snow input, organic matter recycling increases, net production decreases to negative values and trophic organisation is overall reduced. The levels of food-web activity followed the gradient of organic matter availability at the seafloor, confirming that deep-water ecosystems directly depend on marine snow and are therefore influenced by variations of energy input, such as climate-driven changes. In addition, simulations of varying marine snow arrival at the seafloor, combined with the hypothesis of a possible fishery expansion on the lower continental slope in the western basin, evidence that the trawling fishery may pose an impact which could be an order of magnitude stronger than a climate

Advanced Solid State Lighting for AES Deep Space Hab

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The advanced Solid State Lighting (SSL) assemblies augmented 2nd generation modules under development for the Advanced Exploration Systems Deep Space Habitat in...

The impact of multichannel microelectrode recording (MER) in deep brain stimulation of the basal ganglia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kinfe, Thomas M; Vesper, Jan

2013-01-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the basal ganglia (Ncl. subthalamicus, Ncl. ventralis intermedius thalami, globus pallidus internus) has become an evidence-based and well-established treatment option in otherwise refractory movement disorders. The Ncl. subthalamicus (STN) is the target of choice in Parkinson's disease.However, a considerable discussion is currently ongoing with regard to the necessity for micro-electrode recording (MER) in DBS surgery.The present review provides an overview on deep brain stimulation and (MER) of the STN in patients with Parkinson's disease. Detailed description is given concerning the multichannel MER systems nowadays available for DBS of the basal ganglia, especially of the STN, as a useful tool for target refinement. Furthermore, an overview is given of the historical aspects, spatial mapping of the STN by MER, and its impact for accuracy and precision in current functional stereotactic neurosurgery.The pros concerning target refinement by MER means on the one hand, and cons including increased bleeding risk, increased operation time, local or general anesthesia, and single versus multichannel microelectrode recording are discussed in detail. Finally, the authors favor the use of MER with intraoperative testing combined with imaging to achieve a more precise electrode placement, aiming to ameliorate clinical outcome in therapy-resistant movement disorders.

Dive Activities for Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Information about dive activities were recorded by personnel during the "Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007" expedition, June 4 through July 6, 2007. Additional...

Dive Activities for Expedition to the Deep Slope 2006 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Information about dive activities were recorded by personnel during the "Expedition to the Deep Slope 2006" expedition, May 7 through June 2, 2006. Additional...

Strategic Technologies for Deep Space Transport

Science.gov (United States)

Litchford, Ronald J.

2016-01-01

Deep space transportation capability for science and exploration is fundamentally limited by available propulsion technologies. Traditional chemical systems are performance plateaued and require enormous Initial Mass in Low Earth Orbit (IMLEO) whereas solar electric propulsion systems are power limited and unable to execute rapid transits. Nuclear based propulsion and alternative energetic methods, on the other hand, represent potential avenues, perhaps the only viable avenues, to high specific power space transport evincing reduced trip time, reduced IMLEO, and expanded deep space reach. Here, key deep space transport mission capability objectives are reviewed in relation to STMD technology portfolio needs, and the advanced propulsion technology solution landscape is examined including open questions, technical challenges, and developmental prospects. Options for potential future investment across the full compliment of STMD programs are presented based on an informed awareness of complimentary activities in industry, academia, OGAs, and NASA mission directorates.

Earth Glint Observations Conducted During the Deep Impact Spacecraft Flyby

Science.gov (United States)

Barry, R. K.; Deming, L. D.; Robinson, T.; Hewagama, T.

2010-01-01

We describe observations of Earth conducted using the High Resolution Instrument (HRI) - a 0.3 m f/35 telescope - on the Deep Impact (DI) spacecraft during its recent flybys. Earth was observed on five occasions: 2008-Mar-18 18:18 UT, 2008-May-28 20:05 UT, 2008-Jun-4 16:57 UT, 2009-Mar-27 16:19 and 2009-Oct-4 09:37 UT. Each set of observations was conducted over a full 24-hour rotation of Earth and a total of thirteen NIR spectra were taken on two-hour intervals during each observing period. Photometry in the 450, SSO, 650 and 8S0 nm filters was taken every fifteen minutes and every hour for the 350, 750 and 950 nm filters. The spacecraft was located over the equator for the three sets of observations in 2008, while the 2009- Mar and 2009-Oct were taken over the north and south Polar Regions, respectively. Observations of calibrator stars Canopus and Achernar were conducted on multiple occasions through all filters. The observations detected a strong specular glint not necessarily associated with a body of water. We describe spectroscopic characterization of the glint and evidence for the possibility of detection of reflection from high cirrus clouds. We describe implications for observations of extrasolar planets.

Biogeochemical malfunctioning in sediments beneath a deep-water fish farm.

Science.gov (United States)

Valdemarsen, Thomas; Bannister, Raymond J; Hansen, Pia K; Holmer, Marianne; Ervik, Arne

2012-11-01

We investigated the environmental impact of a deep water fish farm (190 m). Despite deep water and low water currents, sediments underneath the farm were heavily enriched with organic matter, resulting in stimulated biogeochemical cycling. During the first 7 months of the production cycle benthic fluxes were stimulated >29 times for CO(2) and O(2) and >2000 times for NH(4)(+), when compared to the reference site. During the final 11 months, however, benthic fluxes decreased despite increasing sedimentation. Investigations of microbial mineralization revealed that the sediment metabolic capacity was exceeded, which resulted in inhibited microbial mineralization due to negative feed-backs from accumulation of various solutes in pore water. Conclusions are that (1) deep water sediments at 8 °C can metabolize fish farm waste corresponding to 407 and 29 mmol m(-2) d(-1) POC and TN, respectively, and (2) siting fish farms at deep water sites is not a universal solution for reducing benthic impacts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Viral infections as controlling factors for the deep biosphere? (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Engelen, B.; Engelhardt, T.; Sahlberg, M.; Cypionka, H.

2009-12-01

The marine deep biosphere represents the largest biotope on Earth. Throughout the last years, we have obtained interesting insights into its microbial community composition. However, one component that was completely overlooked so far is the viral inventory of deep-subsurface sediments. While viral infections were identified to have a major impact on the benthic microflora of deep-sea surface sediments (Danavaro et al. 2008), no studies were performed on deep-biosphere samples, so far. As grazers probably play only a minor role in anoxic and highly compressed deep sediments, viruses might be the main “predators” for indigenous microorganisms. Furthermore, the release of cell components, called “the viral shunt”, could have a major impact on the deep biosphere in providing labile organic compounds to non-infected microorganisms in these generally nutrient depleted sediments. However, direct counting of viruses in sediments is highly challenging due to the small size of viruses and the high background of small particles. Even molecular surveys using “universal” PCR primers that target phage-specific genes fail due to the vast phage diversity. One solution for this problem is the lysogenic viral life cycle as many bacteriophages integrate their DNA into the host genome. It is estimated that up to 70% of cultivated bacteria contain prophages within their genome. Therefore, culture collections (Batzke et al. 2007) represent an archive of the viral composition within the respective habitat. These prophages can be induced to become free phage particles in stimulation experiments in which the host cells are set under certain stress situations such as a treatment with UV exposure or DNA-damaging antibiotics. The study of the viral component within the deep biosphere offers to answer the following questions: To which extent are deep-biosphere populations controlled by viral infections? What is the inter- and intra-specific diversity and the host-specific viral

Submersible Data (Dive Trackpoints) for Operation Deep Scope 2005 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Data and information collected by the submersible Johnson Sea-Link I along its track during thirteen dives of the 2005 "Operation Deep Scope" expedition sponsored by...

Technologies in deep and ultra-deep well drilling: Present status, challenges and future trend in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016–2020

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haige Wang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011–2015, CNPC independently developed a series of new drilling equipment, tools and chemical materials for deep and ultra-deep wells, including six packages of key drilling equipment: rigs for wells up to 8000 m deep, quadruple-joint-stand rigs, automatic pipe handling devices for rigs for wells being 5000/7000 m deep, managed pressure drilling systems & equipment, gas/fuel alternative combustion engine units, and air/gas/underbalanced drilling systems; seven sets of key drilling tools: automatic vertical well drilling tools, downhole turbine tools, high-performance PDC bits, hybrid bits, bit jet pulsation devices, no-drilling-surprise monitoring system, & casing running devices for top drive; and five kinds of drilling fluids and cementing slurries: high temperature and high density water-based drilling fluids, oil-based drilling fluids, high temperature and large temperature difference cementing slurry, and ductile cement slurry system. These new development technologies have played an important role in supporting China's oil and gas exploration and development business. During the following 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016–2020, there are still many challenges to the drilling of deep and ultra-deep wells, such as high temperatures, high pressures, narrow pressure window, wellbore integrity and so on, as well as the enormous pressure on cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Therefore, the future development trend will be focused on the development of efficient and mobile rigs, high-performance drill bits and auxiliary tools, techniques for wellbore integrity and downhole broadband telemetry, etc. In conclusion, this study will help improve the ability and level of drilling ultra-deep wells and provide support for oil and gas exploration and development services in China. Keywords: Deep well, Ultra-deep well, Drilling techniques, Progress, Challenge, Strategy, CNPC

A deep learning framework for causal shape transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Lore, Kin Gwn; Stoecklein, Daniel; Davies, Michael; Ganapathysubramanian, Baskar; Sarkar, Soumik

2018-02-01

Recurrent neural network (RNN) and Long Short-term Memory (LSTM) networks are the common go-to architecture for exploiting sequential information where the output is dependent on a sequence of inputs. However, in most considered problems, the dependencies typically lie in the latent domain which may not be suitable for applications involving the prediction of a step-wise transformation sequence that is dependent on the previous states only in the visible domain with a known terminal state. We propose a hybrid architecture of convolution neural networks (CNN) and stacked autoencoders (SAE) to learn a sequence of causal actions that nonlinearly transform an input visual pattern or distribution into a target visual pattern or distribution with the same support and demonstrated its practicality in a real-world engineering problem involving the physics of fluids. We solved a high-dimensional one-to-many inverse mapping problem concerning microfluidic flow sculpting, where the use of deep learning methods as an inverse map is very seldom explored. This work serves as a fruitful use-case to applied scientists and engineers in how deep learning can be beneficial as a solution for high-dimensional physical problems, and potentially opening doors to impactful advance in fields such as material sciences and medical biology where multistep topological transformations is a key element. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Countermeasure Study on Deep-sea Oil Exploitation in the South China Sea——A Comparison between Deep-sea Oil Exploitation in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Hui; Qiu, Weiting; Qu, Weilu

2018-02-01

The unpromising situation of terrestrial oil resources makes the deep-sea oil industry become an important development strategy. The South China Sea has a vast sea area with a wide distribution of oil and gas resources, but there is a phenomenon that exploration and census rates and oil exploitation are low. In order to solve the above problems, this article analyzes the geology, oil and gas exploration and exploration equipment in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Comparing the political environment of China and the United States energy industry and the economic environment of oil companies, this article points out China’s deep-sea oil exploration and mining problems that may exist. Finally, the feasibility of oil exploration and exploitation in the South China Sea is put forward, which will provide reference to improve the conditions of oil exploration in the South China Sea and promoting the stable development of China’s oil industry.

The dynamics of biogeographic ranges in the deep sea.

Science.gov (United States)

McClain, Craig R; Hardy, Sarah Mincks

2010-12-07

Anthropogenic disturbances such as fishing, mining, oil drilling, bioprospecting, warming, and acidification in the deep sea are increasing, yet generalities about deep-sea biogeography remain elusive. Owing to the lack of perceived environmental variability and geographical barriers, ranges of deep-sea species were traditionally assumed to be exceedingly large. In contrast, seamount and chemosynthetic habitats with reported high endemicity challenge the broad applicability of a single biogeographic paradigm for the deep sea. New research benefiting from higher resolution sampling, molecular methods and public databases can now more rigorously examine dispersal distances and species ranges on the vast ocean floor. Here, we explore the major outstanding questions in deep-sea biogeography. Based on current evidence, many taxa appear broadly distributed across the deep sea, a pattern replicated in both the abyssal plains and specialized environments such as hydrothermal vents. Cold waters may slow larval metabolism and development augmenting the great intrinsic ability for dispersal among many deep-sea species. Currents, environmental shifts, and topography can prove to be dispersal barriers but are often semipermeable. Evidence of historical events such as points of faunal origin and climatic fluctuations are also evident in contemporary biogeographic ranges. Continued synthetic analysis, database construction, theoretical advancement and field sampling will be required to further refine hypotheses regarding deep-sea biogeography.

Deep Space Gateway Facilitates Exploration of Planetary Crusts: A Human/Robotic Exploration Design Reference Campaign to the Lunar Orientale Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Head, J. W.; Pieters, C. M.; Scott, D. R.

2018-02-01

We outline an Orientale Basin Human/Robotic Architecture that can be facilitated by a Deep Space Gateway International Science Operations Center (DSG-ISOC) (like McMurdo/Antarctica) to address fundamental scientific problems about the Moon and Mars.

Comparison of Damage from Hydrocode Simulations of an Asteroid Airburst or Impact on Land, in Deep, or in Shallow Water

Science.gov (United States)

Robertson, Darrel; Wheeler, Lorien; Mathias, Donovan

2017-01-01

If an asteroid is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth and there is insufficient time for a deflection effort to make it miss Earth completely, should it be redirected to a land or ocean impact? While distance from densely populated areas should obviously be maximized, the differing ability of air blast, seismic waves, and tsunami waves to cause damage at distance does not make the choice between land and ocean impacts an immediately obvious one. More broadly this work is a step towards improving damage models from asteroid impacts. This extended abstract follows the hypothetical scenario of the 2017 IAA Planetary Defense Conference where a 100-250m diameter asteroid is on a potential impact course with Earth. A hydrocode was used to simulate impacts into the most sparsely populated areas along the eastern end of the hypothetical impact corridor- specifically in the Gobi Desert, in the shallow waters of the Sea of Japan, and in the deep waters of the Japan Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

How Stressful Is "Deep Bubbling"?

Science.gov (United States)

Tyrmi, Jaana; Laukkanen, Anne-Maria

2017-03-01

Water resistance therapy by phonating through a tube into the water is used to treat dysphonia. Deep submersion (≥10 cm in water, "deep bubbling") is used for hypofunctional voice disorders. Using it with caution is recommended to avoid vocal overloading. This experimental study aimed to investigate how strenuous "deep bubbling" is. Fourteen subjects, half of them with voice training, repeated the syllable [pa:] in comfortable speaking pitch and loudness, loudly, and in strained voice. Thereafter, they phonated a vowel-like sound both in comfortable loudness and loudly into a glass resonance tube immersed 10 cm into the water. Oral pressure, contact quotient (CQ, calculated from electroglottographic signal), and sound pressure level were studied. The peak oral pressure P(oral) during [p] and shuttering of the outer end of the tube was measured to estimate the subglottic pressure P(sub) and the mean P(oral) during vowel portions to enable calculation of transglottic pressure P(trans). Sensations during phonation were reported with an open-ended interview. P(sub) and P(oral) were higher in "deep bubbling" and P(trans) lower than in loud syllable phonation, but the CQ did not differ significantly. Similar results were obtained for the comparison between loud "deep bubbling" and strained phonation, although P(sub) did not differ significantly. Most of the subjects reported "deep bubbling" to be stressful only for respiratory and lip muscles. No big differences were found between trained and untrained subjects. The CQ values suggest that "deep bubbling" may increase vocal fold loading. Further studies should address impact stress during water resistance exercises. Copyright © 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deep Processing Strategies and Critical Thinking: Developmental Trajectories Using Latent Growth Analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Phan, Huy P.

2011-01-01

The author explored the developmental courses of deep learning approach and critical thinking over a 2-year period. Latent growth curve modeling (LGM) procedures were used to test and trace the trajectories of both theoretical frameworks over time. Participants were 264 (119 women, 145 men) university undergraduates. The Deep Learning subscale of…

Structure, functioning, and cumulative stressors of Mediterranean deep-sea ecosystems

OpenAIRE

Tecchio, S.; Coll, Marta; Sarda, F.

2015-01-01

Environmental stressors, such as climate fluctuations, and anthropogenic stressors, such as fishing, are of major concern for the management of deep-sea ecosystems. Deep-water habitats are limited by primary productivity and are mainly dependent on the vertical input of organic matter from the surface. Global change over the latest decades is imparting variations in primary productivity levels across oceans, and thus it has an impact on the amount of organic matter landing on the deep seafloo...

Deep prosthetic joint infection: a qualitative study of the impact on patients and their experiences of revision surgery

Science.gov (United States)

Blom, Ashley W; Whitehouse, Michael R; Gooberman-Hill, Rachael

2015-01-01

Objectives Around 1% of patients who have a hip replacement have deep prosthetic joint infection (PJI) afterwards. PJI is often treated with antibiotics plus a single revision operation (1-stage revision), or antibiotics plus a 2-stage revision process involving more than 1 operation. This study aimed to characterise the impact and experience of PJI and treatment on patients, including comparison of 1-stage with 2-stage revision treatment. Design Qualitative semistructured interviews with patients who had undergone surgical revision treatment for PJI. Patients were interviewed between 2 weeks and 12 months postdischarge. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised and analysed using a thematic approach, with 20% of transcripts double-coded. Setting Patients from 5 National Health Service (NHS) orthopaedic departments treating PJI in England and Wales were interviewed in their homes (n=18) or at hospital (n=1). Participants 19 patients participated (12 men, 7 women, age range 56–88 years, mean age 73.2 years). Results Participants reported receiving between 1 and 15 revision operations after their primary joint replacement. Analysis indicated that participants made sense of their experience through reference to 3 key phases: the period of symptom onset, the treatment period and protracted recovery after treatment. By conceptualising their experience in this way, and through themes that emerged in these periods, they conveyed the ordeal that PJI represented. Finally, in light of the challenges of PJI, they described the need for support in all of these phases. 2-stage revision had greater impact on participants’ mobility, and further burdens associated with additional complications. Conclusions Deep PJI impacted on all aspects of patients’ lives. 2-stage revision had greater impact than 1-stage revision on participants’ well-being because the time in between revision procedures meant long periods of immobility and related psychological distress

Contrasting impacts of light reduction on sediment biogeochemistry in deep- and shallow-water tropical seagrass assemblages (Green Island, Great Barrier Reef).

Science.gov (United States)

Schrameyer, Verena; York, Paul H; Chartrand, Kathryn; Ralph, Peter J; Kühl, Michael; Brodersen, Kasper Elgetti; Rasheed, Michael A

2018-05-01

Seagrass meadows increasingly face reduced light availability as a consequence of coastal development, eutrophication, and climate-driven increases in rainfall leading to turbidity plumes. We examined the impact of reduced light on above-ground seagrass biomass and sediment biogeochemistry in tropical shallow- (∼2 m) and deep-water (∼17 m) seagrass meadows (Green Island, Australia). Artificial shading (transmitting ∼10-25% of incident solar irradiance) was applied to the shallow- and deep-water sites for up to two weeks. While above-ground biomass was unchanged, higher diffusive O 2 uptake (DOU) rates, lower O 2 penetration depths, and higher volume-specific O 2 consumption (R) rates were found in seagrass-vegetated sediments as compared to adjacent bare sand (control) areas at the shallow-water sites. In contrast, deep-water sediment characteristics did not differ between bare sand and vegetated sites. At the vegetated shallow-water site, shading resulted in significantly lower hydrogen sulphide (H 2 S) levels in the sediment. No shading effects were found on sediment biogeochemistry at the deep-water site. Overall, our results show that the sediment biogeochemistry of shallow-water (Halodule uninervis, Syringodium isoetifolium, Cymodocea rotundata and C. serrulata) and deep-water (Halophila decipiens) seagrass meadows with different species differ in response to reduced light. The light-driven dynamics of the sediment biogeochemistry at the shallow-water site could suggest the presence of a microbial consortium, which might be stimulated by photosynthetically produced exudates from the seagrass, which becomes limited due to lower seagrass photosynthesis under shaded conditions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors governing the deep ventilation of the Red Sea

KAUST Repository

Papadopoulos, Vassilis P.; Zhan, Peng; Sofianos, Sarantis S.; Raitsos, Dionysios E.; Qurban, Mohammed; Abualnaja, Yasser; Bower, Amy; Kontoyiannis, Harilaos; Pavlidou, Alexandra; Asharaf T.T., Mohamed; Zarokanellos, Nikolaos; Hoteit, Ibrahim

2015-01-01

A variety of data based on hydrographic measurements, satellite observations, reanalysis databases, and meteorological observations are used to explore the interannual variability and factors governing the deep water formation in the northern Red

The influence of deep cryogenic treatment on the properties of high-vanadium alloy steel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Haizhi [Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Tong, Weiping, E-mail: wptong@mail.neu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Cui, Junjun [State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Zhang, Hui [Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Processing of Materials (Ministry of Education), Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Chen, Liqing [State Key Laboratory of Rolling and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China); Zuo, Liang [Key Laboratory for Anisotropy and Texture of Materials (Ministry of Education), School of Materials and Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819 (China)

2016-04-26

Deep cryogenic treatment can improve the mechanical properties of many metallic materials, but there are few reports of the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on high-vanadium alloy steel. The main objective of this work is to investigate the effect of deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure, hardness, impact toughness and abrasive wear resistance of high-vanadium alloy steel. The results show that large amounts of small secondary carbide precipitation after deep cryogenic treatment and microcracks were detected and occurred preferentially at carbide/matrix interfaces; except for the hardness, the mechanical properties increased compared to those of the conventional treatment sample. By increasing the deep cryogenic processing time and cycle number, impact toughness and abrasive wear resistance can be further improved, the carbide contents continuously increase, and the hardness decreases.

‘It makes you think’ – exploring the impact of qualitative films on pain clinicians

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Sue

2015-01-01

Background: Researchers need to consider the impact and utility of their findings. Film is an accessible medium for qualitative research findings and can facilitate learning through emotional engagement. Aim: We aimed to explore the usefulness of a short film presenting findings from a published qualitative synthesis of adults’ experience of chronic musculoskeletal pain for pain education. In particular, we were interested in the impact of the film on clinician’s understanding of patients’ experience of chronic pain and how this knowledge might be used for improved healthcare for people with pain. Methods: Focus groups with healthcare professionals enrolled in a pain management foundation course explored healthcare professionals’ experience of watching the film. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted by the researchers. Findings: This article presents one thematic exemplar from a wider study. Participants reflected upon the pitfalls of judging by appearances and the value of seeing the person beneath his or her performance. Conclusion: There is a danger that the impact of qualitative findings is under-valued in clinical education. We present one exemplar from a study exploring knowledge mobilisation, which demonstrates that qualitative research, specifically qualitative films, can make us think about the care that we provide to people with chronic pain. PMID:26516558

Deep-Learning-Based Drug-Target Interaction Prediction.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ming; Zhang, Zhimin; Niu, Shaoyu; Sha, Haozhi; Yang, Ruihan; Yun, Yonghuan; Lu, Hongmei

2017-04-07

Identifying interactions between known drugs and targets is a major challenge in drug repositioning. In silico prediction of drug-target interaction (DTI) can speed up the expensive and time-consuming experimental work by providing the most potent DTIs. In silico prediction of DTI can also provide insights about the potential drug-drug interaction and promote the exploration of drug side effects. Traditionally, the performance of DTI prediction depends heavily on the descriptors used to represent the drugs and the target proteins. In this paper, to accurately predict new DTIs between approved drugs and targets without separating the targets into different classes, we developed a deep-learning-based algorithmic framework named DeepDTIs. It first abstracts representations from raw input descriptors using unsupervised pretraining and then applies known label pairs of interaction to build a classification model. Compared with other methods, it is found that DeepDTIs reaches or outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. The DeepDTIs can be further used to predict whether a new drug targets to some existing targets or whether a new target interacts with some existing drugs.

New Insights into Passive Margin Development from a Global Deep Seismic Reflection Dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Bellingham, Paul; Pindell, James; Graham, Rod; Horn, Brian

2014-05-01

The kinematic and dynamic evolution of the world's passive margins is still poorly understood. Yet the need to replace reserves, a high oil price and advances in drilling technology have pushed the international oil and gas industry to explore in the deep and ultra-deep waters of the continental margins. To support this exploration and help understand these margins, ION-GXT has acquired, processed and interpreted BasinSPAN surveys across many of the world's passive margins. Observations from these data lead us to consider the modes of subsidence and uplift at both volcanic and non-volcanic margins. At non-volcanic margins, it appears that frequently much of the subsidence post-dates major rifting and is not thermal in origin. Rather the subsidence is associated with extensional displacement on a major fault or shear zone running at least as deep as the continental Moho. We believe that the subsidence is structural and is probably associated with the pinching out (boudinage) of the Lower Crust so that the Upper crust effectively collapses onto the mantle. Eventually this will lead to the exhumation of the sub-continental mantle at the sea bed. Volcanic margins present more complex challenges both in terms of imaging and interpretation. The addition of volcanic and plutonic material into the system and dynamic effects all impact subsidence and uplift. However, we will show some fundamental observations regarding the kinematic development of volcanic margins and especially SDRs which demonstate that the process of collapse and the development of shear zones within and below the crust are also in existence at this type of margin. A model is presented of 'magma welds' whereby packages of SDRs collapse onto an emerging sub-crustal shear zone and it is this collapse which creates the commonly observed SDR geometry. Examples will be shown from East India, Newfoundland, Brazil, Argentina and the Gulf of Mexico.

Confirmation study of the effectiveness of prospect techniques for deep geothermal resources. Deep-seated geothermal resources survey report (Fiscal year 1993); 1993 nendo chinetsu tansa gijutsu nado kensho chosa. Shinbu chinetsu shigen chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-03-01

Drilling and survey of deep geothermal exploration wells were conducted in order to grasp the existing situation of deep geothermal resource and the whole image of geothermal systems in the area where geothermal resource was already developed. Following fiscal 1992, the well was drilled in fiscal 1993 down to depths of 605m-1505m, and a 13-3/8 inch casing was inserted down to a depth of 1500m. In the drilling, four cores including oriented cores were sampled, and microscopic observation, X-ray diffraction analysis, fluid inclusion survey, core property test, etc. were conducted. In the FMI logging, detected were 273 bedding planes, 483 fractures, etc. Further made were a velocity structure survey, a gravity survey in the area of 270 km{sup 2} including deep exploration wells, a quality survey of the Kakkonda river water, etc. As to geothermal structure models in the Kakkonda area, results of the drilling were added to prediction models before drilling deep exploration wells, but the revision was not very much. Besides, studies were made of a survey method using microearthquakes, a survey technique using resistivity, etc. 61 refs., 259 figs., 95 tabs.

Kamchatka subduction zone, May 2013: the Mw 8.3 deep earthquake, preceding shallow swarm and numerous deep aftershocks

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Špičák, Aleš; Vaněk, Jiří

2014-01-01

Roč. 58, č. 1 (2014), s. 76-83 ISSN 0039-3169 Institutional support: RVO:67985530 Keywords : Kamchatka * deep earthquake * earthquake swarm * Wadati-Benioff zone Subject RIV: DC - Siesmology, Volcanology, Earth Structure Impact factor: 0.806, year: 2014

Exploring local perceptions and attributions of 'extreme' wildfire impacts in Rural Montana

Science.gov (United States)

Carroll, M.; Paveglio, T.; Kallman, D.

2013-12-01

To date there have been few systematic efforts to uncover the criteria that local stakeholders use to perceive of and make judgments about the severity of wildfire impacts to the social-ecological systems they are a part of. The study presented here sought to uncover expanded understandings of perceived social and ecological impacts from a wildfire in rural Montana and the underlying causes for those perceived impacts. Such efforts could lead to more comprehensive social impact assessment concerning wildfires or other hazards and help better understand how local perceptions might influence residents' ongoing attitudes toward fire risk or mitigation efforts. The study presented here explored local perceptions of impact from the 2012 Dahl fire near Roundup, MT. The Dahl Fire burned 73 permanent structures, 150 outbuilding and 22,000 acres of predominantly private lands in the rural Bull Mountains. Members of the project team interviewed approximately 50 stakeholders impacted by or involved in the management for the Dahl Fire. Interviews took place in the summer of 2013 and included a variety of residents, emergency personnel, firefighters, local community officials and land management professionals. Results suggest that residents considered the Dahl fire especially impactful given the number of private residences and structures that were burned and the number of people displaced or disrupted by the event (either directly, through efforts to help those affected, or through indirect impacts to community function). The extremity of the firefighting conditions (e.g. wind, relative humidity, terrain), the rapidity of fire spread through populated areas and the damages sustained given previous fires in the area all surprised stakeholders and contributed to their perceptions of impact severity. Conflicts over access to properties during and immediately following the fire, and the variable perception that personal wildfire mitigations did little to reduce damages from the

Exploring DeepMedic for the purpose of segmenting white matter hyperintensity lesions

Science.gov (United States)

Lippert, Fiona; Cheng, Bastian; Golsari, Amir; Weiler, Florian; Gregori, Johannes; Thomalla, Götz; Klein, Jan

2018-02-01

DeepMedic, an open source software library based on a multi-channel multi-resolution 3D convolutional neural network, has recently been made publicly available for brain lesion segmentations. It has already been shown that segmentation tasks on MRI data of patients having traumatic brain injuries, brain tumors, and ischemic stroke lesions can be performed very well. In this paper we describe how it can efficiently be used for the purpose of detecting and segmenting white matter hyperintensity lesions. We examined if it can be applied to single-channel routine 2D FLAIR data. For evaluation, we annotated 197 datasets with different numbers and sizes of white matter hyperintensity lesions. Our experiments have shown that substantial results with respect to the segmentation quality can be achieved. Compared to the original parametrization of the DeepMedic neural network, the timings for training can be drastically reduced if adjusting corresponding training parameters, while at the same time the Dice coefficients remain nearly unchanged. This enables for performing a whole training process within a single day utilizing a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 graphics board which makes this library also very interesting for research purposes on low-end GPU hardware.

High Temperature Logging and Monitoring Instruments to Explore and Drill Deep into Hot Oceanic Crust.

Science.gov (United States)

Denchik, N.; Pezard, P. A.; Ragnar, A.; Jean-Luc, D.; Jan, H.

2014-12-01

Drilling an entire section of the oceanic crust and through the Moho has been a goal of the scientific community for more than half of a century. On the basis of ODP and IODP experience and data, this will require instruments and strategies working at temperature far above 200°C (reached, for example, at the bottom of DSDP/ODP Hole 504B), and possibly beyond 300°C. Concerning logging and monitoring instruments, progress were made over the past ten years in the context of the HiTI ("High Temperature Instruments") project funded by the european community for deep drilling in hot Icelandic geothermal holes where supercritical conditions and a highly corrosive environment are expected at depth (with temperatures above 374 °C and pressures exceeding 22 MPa). For example, a slickline tool (memory tool) tolerating up to 400°C and wireline tools up to 300°C were developed and tested in Icelandic high-temperature geothermal fields. The temperature limitation of logging tools was defined to comply with the present limitation in wireline cables (320°C). As part of this new set of downhole tools, temperature, pressure, fluid flow and casing collar location might be measured up to 400°C from a single multisensor tool. Natural gamma radiation spectrum, borehole wall ultrasonic images signal, and fiber optic cables (using distributed temperature sensing methods) were also developed for wireline deployment up to 300°C and tested in the field. A wireline, dual laterolog electrical resistivity tool was also developed but could not be field tested as part of HiTI. This new set of tools constitutes a basis for the deep exploration of the oceanic crust in the future. In addition, new strategies including the real-time integration of drilling parameters with modeling of the thermo-mechanical status of the borehole could be developed, using time-lapse logging of temperature (for heat flow determination) and borehole wall images (for hole stability and in-situ stress determination

Assessing Deep Sea Communities Through Seabed Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Matkin, A. G.; Cross, K.; Milititsky, M.

2016-02-01

The deep sea still remains virtually unexplored. Human activity, such as oil and gas exploration and deep sea mining, is expanding further into the deep sea, increasing the need to survey and map extensive areas of this habitat in order to assess ecosystem health and value. The technology needed to explore this remote environment has been advancing. Seabed imagery can cover extensive areas of the seafloor and investigate areas where sampling with traditional coring methodologies is just not possible (e.g. cold water coral reefs). Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) are an expensive option, so drop or towed camera systems can provide a more viable and affordable alternative, while still allowing for real-time control. Assessment of seabed imagery in terms of presence, abundance and density of particular species can be conducted by bringing together a variety of analytical tools for a holistic approach. Sixteen deep sea transects located offshore West Africa were investigated with a towed digital video telemetry system (DTS). Both digital stills and video footage were acquired. An extensive data set was obtained from over 13,000 usable photographs, allowing for characterisation of the different habitats present in terms of community composition and abundance. All observed fauna were identified to the lowest taxonomic level and enumerated when possible, with densities derived after the seabed area was calculated for each suitable photograph. This methodology allowed for consistent assessment of the different habitat types present, overcoming constraints, such as specific taxa that cannot be enumerated, such as sponges, corals or bryozoans, the presence of mobile and sessile species, or the level of taxonomic detail. Although this methodology will not enable a full characterisation of a deep sea community, in terms of species composition for instance, itt will allow a robust assessment of large areas of the deep sea in terms of sensitive habitats present and community

Impacts of Environmental Discourse on Environmental Art and its Traps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tanja Plešivčnik

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The paper examines the field of environmental art and assesses the impacts of the prevailing environmental discourse on environmental and ecological topics in the development of art. It shows how the popularization of environmental discourse and environmental themes encouraged the growth of art that is entirely focused on its ecological and environmental contexts. In the context of researching art in terms of promoting deep and positive changes in the appreciation of the environment and nature, this research also stresses the importance of the aesthetic experience of the environment in artistic creation. Exploring this approach reveals key differences between artists who focus on solving ecological problems and aesthetically engaged artists who adopt a deep and inclusive focus on the environment itself.

Deep ocean model penetrator experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freeman, T.J.; Burdett, J.R.F.

1986-01-01

Preliminary trials of experimental model penetrators in the deep ocean have been conducted as an international collaborative exercise by participating members (national bodies and the CEC) of the Engineering Studies Task Group of the Nuclear Energy Agency's Seabed Working Group. This report describes and gives the results of these experiments, which were conducted at two deep ocean study areas in the Atlantic: Great Meteor East and the Nares Abyssal Plain. Velocity profiles of penetrators of differing dimensions and weights have been determined as they free-fell through the water column and impacted the sediment. These velocity profiles are used to determine the final embedment depth of the penetrators and the resistance to penetration offered by the sediment. The results are compared with predictions of embedment depth derived from elementary models of a penetrator impacting with a sediment. It is tentatively concluded that once the resistance to penetration offered by a sediment at a particular site has been determined, this quantity can be used to sucessfully predict the embedment that penetrators of differing sizes and weights would achieve at the same site

Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seth Stake

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses.

Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista.

Science.gov (United States)

Stake, Seth; du Breuil, Anne L; Close, Jeremy

2016-01-01

Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses.

Robotic In-Situ Surface Exploration System (RISES)

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) is a pivotal and daring approach that will mature multiple technologies for future deep space exploration. ARM seeks to...

Kelvin Wave Influence on the Shallow-to-Deep Transition Over the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, A.; Serra, Y. L.

2017-12-01

The suite of observations from GOAmazon and CHUVA offers a unique opportunity to examine land-based convective processes in the tropics, including the poorly represented shallow-to-deep transition. This study uses these data to investigate impacts of Kelvin waves on the the shallow-to-deep transition over the Central Amazon. The Kelvin waves that propagate over the region often originate over the tropical central and east Pacific, with local generation over the Andes also observed. The observed 15 m s-1 phase speed and 4500 km wave length during the two-year campaign are in agreement with previously published studies of these waves across the tropics. Also in agreement with previous studies, we find the waves are most active during the wet season (November-May) for this region. Using four separate convective event classes (clear-sky, nonprecipitating cumulus congestus, afternoon deep convection, and mesoscale convective systems), we examine how the convection preferentially develops for different phases of the Kelvin waves seen during GOAmazon. We additionally examine surface meteorological variables, the vertical thermodynamic and dynamic structure of the troposphere, vertical moist static stability, integrated column water vapor and liquid water, and surface energy fluxes within the context of these convective classes to identify the important environmental factors contributing to observed periods of enhanced deep convection related to the waves. Results suggest that the waves significantly modify the local environment, such as creating a deep layer of moisture throughout the troposphere, favoring more organized convection in the active than in the suppressed phase of the wave. The significance of wave-related environmental modifications are assessed by comparing local rainfall accumulations during Kelvin wave activity to that when the waves are not present. Future work will further explore the shallow-to-deep transition and its modulation by Kelvin wave activity

Ethnomathematics: Exploration in Javanese culture

Science.gov (United States)

Risdiyanti, Irma; Charitas Indra Prahmana, Rully

2017-12-01

This research is the exploration study to indicate the correlation between mathematics and Javanese culture. These studies have a purpose of exploring Javanese culture in Yogyakarta that contains mathematics concept namely Batik. The activity of society in making Batik in all regency at Yogyakarta is the focus of this study. The research use ethnography method. The technic to collection data uses principles in ethnography such as observation, interview, documentation, and field note making with the original ethnography description. The result is exploration ethnomathematics in the several motifs of Yogyakarta batik that contains philosophy, deep cultural value, and mathematics concept, especially geometry transform subject.

Marshall Space Flight Center - Launching the Future of Science and Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Shivers, Alisa; Shivers, Herbert

2010-01-01

Topics include: NASA Centers around the country, launching a legacy (Explorer I), Marshall's continuing role in space exploration, MSFC history, lifting from Earth, our next mission STS 133, Space Shuttle propulsion systems, Space Shuttle facts, Space Shuttle and the International Space Station, technologies/materials originally developed for the space program, astronauts come from all over, potential future missions and example technologies, significant accomplishments, living and working in space, understanding our world, understanding worlds beyond, from exploration to innovation, inspiring the next generation, space economy, from exploration to opportunity, new program assignments, NASA's role in education, and images from deep space including a composite of a galaxy with a black hole, Sagittarius A, Pillars of Creation, and an ultra deep field

Exploring technology impacts of Healthcare 2.0 initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Randeree, Ebrahim

2009-04-01

As Internet access proliferates and technology becomes more accessible, the number of people online has been increasing. Web 2.0 and the social computing phenomena (such as Facebook, Friendster, Flickr, YouTube, Blogger, and MySpace) are creating a new reality on the Web: Users are changing from consumers of Web-available information and resources to generators of information and content. Moving beyond telehealth and Web sites, the push toward Personal Health Records has emerged as a new option for patients to take control of their medical data and to become active participants in the push toward widespread digitized healthcare. There is minimal research on the impact of Web 2.0 in healthcare. This paper reviews the changing patient-physician relationship in the Healthcare 2.0 environment, explores the technological challenges, and highlights areas for research.

Exploring the Impact of Role-Playing on Peer Feedback in an Online Case-Based Learning Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Ching, Yu-Hui

2014-01-01

This study explored the impact of role-playing on the quality of peer feedback and learners' perception of this strategy in a case-based learning activity with VoiceThread in an online course. The findings revealed potential positive impact of role-playing on learners' generation of constructive feedback as role-playing was associated with higher…

Space Biology Model Organism Research on the Deep Space Gateway to Pioneer Discovery and Advance Human Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, K. Y.; Tomko, D. L.; Levine, H. G.; Quincy, C. D.; Rayl, N. A.; Sowa, M. B.; Taylor, E. M.; Sun, S. C.; Kundrot, C. E.

2018-02-01

Model organisms are foundational for conducting physiological and systems biology research to define how life responds to the deep space environment. The organisms, areas of research, and Deep Space Gateway capabilities needed will be presented.

Applying ultrasonic in-line inspection technology in a deep water environment: exploring the challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thielager, N.; Nadler, M.; Pieske, M.; Beller, M. [NDT Systems and Services AG, Stutensee (Germany)

2009-12-19

The demand for higher inspection accuracies of in-line inspection tools (ILI tools) is permanently growing. As integrity assessment procedures are being refined, detection performances, sizing accuracies and confidence levels regarding detection and sizing play an ever increasing role. ILI tools utilizing conventional ultrasound technology are at the forefront of technology and fulfill the market requirements regarding sizing accuracies and the ability to provide quantitative measurements of wall thickness as well as crack inspection capabilities. Data from ultrasonic tools is ideally suited for advanced integrity assessment applications and run comparisons. Making this technology available for a deep-water environment of heavy wall, high pressures and temperatures comes with a wide range of challenges which have to be addressed. This paper will introduce developments recently made in order to adapt and modify ultrasonic in-line inspection tools for the application in a heavy wall, high pressure and high temperature environment as encountered in deep offshore pipelines. The paper will describe necessary design modifications and new conceptual approaches especially regarding tool electronics, cables, connectors and the sensor carrier. A tool capable of deep-water inspection with a pressure bearing capability of 275 bar will be introduced and data from inspection runs will be presented. As an outlook, the paper will also discuss future inspection requirements for offshore pipelines with maximum pressure values of up to 500 bar. (author)

Okeanos Explorer (EX1004, EM302): INDEX - Indonesia-USA Deep-Sea Exploration of the Sangihe Talaud Region

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Indonesia-U.S. Ocean Exploration Partnership (INDEX) Sangihe Talaud (SATAL) 2010 Ocean Exploration Expedition is a joint expedition between NOAA Ship Okeanos...

Exploring the Human Ecology of the Younger Dryas Extraterrestrial Impact Event

Science.gov (United States)

Kennett, D. J.; Erlandson, J. M.; Braje, T. J.; Culleton, B. J.

2007-05-01

Several lines of evidence now exist for a major extraterrestrial impact event in North America at 12.9 ka (the YDB). This impact partially destabilized the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets, triggered abrupt Younger Dryas cooling and extensive wildfires, and contributed to megafaunal extinction. This event also occurred soon after the well established colonization of the Americas by anatomically modern humans. Confirmation of this event would represent the first near-time extraterrestrial impact with significant effects on human populations. These likely included widespread, abrupt human mortality, population displacement, migration into less effected or newly established habitats, loss of cultural traditions, and resource diversification in the face of the massive megafaunal extinction and population reductions in surviving animal populations. Ultimately, these transformations established the context for the special character of plant and animal domestication and the emergence of agricultural economies in North America. We explore the Late Pleistocene archaeological record in North America within the context of documented major biotic changes associated with the YDB in North America and of the massive ecological affects hypothesized for this event.

A deep knowledge architecture for intelligent support of nuclear waste transportation decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batra, D.; Bowen, W.M.; Hill, T.R.; Weeks, K.D.

1988-01-01

The concept of intelligent decision support has been discussed and explored in several recent papers, one of which has suggested the use of a Deep Knowledge Architecture. This paper explores this concept through application to a specific decision environment. The complex problems involved in nuclear waste disposal decisions provide an excellent test case. The resulting architecture uses an integrated, multi-level model base to represent the deep knowledge of the problem. Combined with the surface level knowledge represented by the database, the proposed knowledge base complements that of the decision-maker, allowing analysis at a range of levels of decisions which may also occur at a range of levels

Factors Contributing to Changes in a Deep Approach to Learning in Different Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Postareff, Liisa; Parpala, Anna; Lindblom-Ylänne, Sari

2015-01-01

The study explored factors explaining changes in a deep approach to learning. The data consisted of interviews with 12 students from four Bachelor-level courses representing different disciplines. We analysed and compared descriptions of students whose deep approach either increased, decreased or remained relatively unchanged during their courses.…

SEDS: THE SPITZER EXTENDED DEEP SURVEY. SURVEY DESIGN, PHOTOMETRY, AND DEEP IRAC SOURCE COUNTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashby, M. L. N.; Willner, S. P.; Fazio, G. G.; Huang, J.-S.; Hernquist, L.; Hora, J. L.; Arendt, R.; Barmby, P.; Barro, G.; Faber, S.; Guhathakurta, P.; Bell, E. F.; Bouwens, R.; Cattaneo, A.; Croton, D.; Davé, R.; Dunlop, J. S.; Egami, E.; Finlator, K.; Grogin, N. A.

2013-01-01

The Spitzer Extended Deep Survey (SEDS) is a very deep infrared survey within five well-known extragalactic science fields: the UKIDSS Ultra-Deep Survey, the Extended Chandra Deep Field South, COSMOS, the Hubble Deep Field North, and the Extended Groth Strip. SEDS covers a total area of 1.46 deg 2 to a depth of 26 AB mag (3σ) in both of the warm Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) bands at 3.6 and 4.5 μm. Because of its uniform depth of coverage in so many widely-separated fields, SEDS is subject to roughly 25% smaller errors due to cosmic variance than a single-field survey of the same size. SEDS was designed to detect and characterize galaxies from intermediate to high redshifts (z = 2-7) with a built-in means of assessing the impact of cosmic variance on the individual fields. Because the full SEDS depth was accumulated in at least three separate visits to each field, typically with six-month intervals between visits, SEDS also furnishes an opportunity to assess the infrared variability of faint objects. This paper describes the SEDS survey design, processing, and publicly-available data products. Deep IRAC counts for the more than 300,000 galaxies detected by SEDS are consistent with models based on known galaxy populations. Discrete IRAC sources contribute 5.6 ± 1.0 and 4.4 ± 0.8 nW m –2 sr –1 at 3.6 and 4.5 μm to the diffuse cosmic infrared background (CIB). IRAC sources cannot contribute more than half of the total CIB flux estimated from DIRBE data. Barring an unexpected error in the DIRBE flux estimates, half the CIB flux must therefore come from a diffuse component.

Emotion regulation: Exploring the impact of stress and sex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valerie L. Kinner

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Emotion regulation is a major prerequisite for adaptive behavior. The capacity to regulate emotions is particularly important during and after the encounter of a stressor. However the impact of acute stress and its associated neuroendocrine alterations on emotion regulation have received little attention so far. This study aimed to explore how stress-induced cortisol increases affect three different emotion regulation strategies. 72 healthy men and women were either exposed to a stressor or a control condition. Subsequently participants viewed positive and negative images and were asked to up- or down-regulate their emotional responses or simultaneously required to solve an arithmetic task (distraction. The factors stress, sex and strategy were operationalized as between group factors (n = 6 per cell. Stress caused an increase in blood pressure and higher subjective stress ratings. An increase in cortisol was observed in male participants only. In contrast to controls, stressed participants were less effective in distracting themselves from the emotional pictures. The results further suggest that in women stress enhances the ability to decrease negative emotions. These findings characterize the impact of stress and sex on emotion regulation and provide initial evidence that these factors may interact.

The Importance of Conducting Life Sciences Experiments on the Deep Space Gateway Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, S.

2018-01-01

Over the last several decades important information has been gathered by conducting life science experiments on the Space Shuttle and on the International Space Station. It is now time to leverage that scientific knowledge, as well as aspects of the hardware that have been developed to support the biological model systems, to NASA's next frontier - the Deep Space Gateway. In order to facilitate long duration deep space exploration for humans, it is critical for NASA to understand the effects of long duration, low dose, deep space radiation on biological systems. While carefully controlled ground experiments on Earth-based radiation facilities have provided valuable preliminary information, we still have a significant knowledge gap on the biological responses of organisms to chronic low doses of the highly ionizing particles encountered beyond low Earth orbit. Furthermore, the combined effects of altered gravity and radiation have the potential to cause greater biological changes than either of these parameters alone. Therefore a thorough investigation of the biological effects of a cis-lunar environment will facilitate long term human exploration of deep space.

Geometrical and hydrogeological impact on the behaviour of deep-seated rock slides during reservoir impoundment

Science.gov (United States)

Lechner, Heidrun; Zangerl, Christian

2015-04-01

Given that there are still uncertainties regarding the deformation and failure mechanisms of deep-seated rock slides this study concentrates on key factors that influence the behaviour of rock slides in the surrounding of reservoirs. The focus is placed on the slope geometry, hydrogeology and kinematics. Based on numerous generic rock slide models the impacts of the (i) rock slide geometry, (ii) reservoir impoundment and level fluctuations, (iii) seepage and buoyancy forces and (iv) hydraulic conductivity of the rock slide mass and the basal shear zone are examined using limit equilibrium approaches. The geometry of many deep-seated rock slides in metamorphic rocks is often influenced by geological structures, e.g. fault zones, joints, foliation, bedding planes and others. With downslope displacement the rock slide undergoes a change in shape. Several observed rock slides in an advanced stage show a convex, bulge-like topography at the foot of the slope and a concave topography in the middle to upper part. Especially, the situation of the slope toe plays an important role for stability. A potentially critical situation can result from a partially submerged flat slope toe because the uplift due to water pressure destabilizes the rock slide. Furthermore, it is essential if the basal shear zone daylights at the foot of the slope or encounters alluvial or glacial deposits at the bottom of the valley, the latter having a buttressing effect. In this study generic rock slide models with a shear zone outcropping at the slope toe are established and systematically analysed using limit equilibrium calculations. Two different kinematic types are modelled: (i) a translational or planar and (ii) a rotational movement behaviour. Questions concerning the impact of buoyancy and pore pressure forces that develop during first time impoundment are of key interest. Given that an adverse effect on the rock slide stability is expected due to reservoir impoundment the extent of

Using Cooperative Structures to Promote Deep Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Millis, Barbara J.

2014-01-01

The author explores concrete ways to help students learn more and have fun doing it while they support each other's learning. The article specifically shows the relationships between cooperative learning and deep learning. Readers will become familiar with the tenets of cooperative learning and its power to enhance learning--even more so when…

Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game.

Science.gov (United States)

Kjell, Oscar N E; Thompson, Sam

2013-12-19

Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game. Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the same three tasks, and the impact of emotional condition on cooperation was explored using a repeated Prisoner's Dilemma Game. Results. Study 1 established that the manipulation task was successful in inducing the specified emotions. The analysis from Study 2 revealed no significant main effects for emotions, in contrast to previous research. However, there was a significant effect for participants' pre-existing tendency to cooperate (social value orientation; SVO). Conclusion. Methodological explanations for the result are explored, including the possible impact of trial-and-error strategies, different cooperation games and endogenous vs exogenous emotions.

Cannabis Withdrawal Among Detained Adolescents: Exploring the Impact of Nicotine and Race

OpenAIRE

Soenksen, Shayna; Stein, L.A.R.; Brown, Joanna D.; Stengel, JoAnn R.; Rossi, Joseph S.; Lebeau, Rebecca

2015-01-01

Rates of marijuana use among detained youths are exceptionally high. Research suggests a cannabis withdrawal syndrome is valid and clinically significant; however, these studies have mostly been conducted in highly controlled laboratory settings with treatment-seeking, White adults. The present study analyzed archival data to explore the magnitude of cannabis withdrawal symptoms within a diverse sample of detained adolescents while controlling for tobacco use and investigating the impact of r...

Optimizing interplanetary trajectories with deep space maneuvers

Science.gov (United States)

Navagh, John

1993-09-01

Analysis of interplanetary trajectories is a crucial area for both manned and unmanned missions of the Space Exploration Initiative. A deep space maneuver (DSM) can improve a trajectory in much the same way as a planetary swingby. However, instead of using a gravitational field to alter the trajectory, the on-board propulsion system of the spacecraft is used when the vehicle is not near a planet. The purpose is to develop an algorithm to determine where and when to use deep space maneuvers to reduce the cost of a trajectory. The approach taken to solve this problem uses primer vector theory in combination with a non-linear optimizing program to minimize Delta(V). A set of necessary conditions on the primer vector is shown to indicate whether a deep space maneuver will be beneficial. Deep space maneuvers are applied to a round trip mission to Mars to determine their effect on the launch opportunities. Other studies which were performed include cycler trajectories and Mars mission abort scenarios. It was found that the software developed was able to locate quickly DSM's which lower the total Delta(V) on these trajectories.

Impacts of Launch Vehicle Fairing Size on Human Exploration Architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Jefferies, Sharon; Collins, Tim; Dwyer Cianciolo, Alicia; Polsgrove, Tara

2017-01-01

Human missions to Mars, particularly to the Martian surface, are grand endeavors that place extensive demands on ground infrastructure, launch capabilities, and mission systems. The interplay of capabilities and limitations among these areas can have significant impacts on the costs and ability to conduct Mars missions and campaigns. From a mission and campaign perspective, decisions that affect element designs, including those based on launch vehicle and ground considerations, can create effects that ripple through all phases of the mission and have significant impact on the overall campaign. These effects result in impacts to element designs and performance, launch and surface manifesting, and mission operations. In current Evolvable Mars Campaign concepts, the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) is the primary launch vehicle for delivering crew and payloads to cis-lunar space. SLS is currently developing an 8.4m diameter cargo fairing, with a planned upgrade to a 10m diameter fairing in the future. Fairing diameter is a driving factor that impacts many aspects of system design, vehicle performance, and operational concepts. It creates a ripple effect that influences all aspects of a Mars mission, including: element designs, grounds operations, launch vehicle design, payload packaging on the lander, launch vehicle adapter design to meet structural launch requirements, control and thermal protection during entry and descent at Mars, landing stability, and surface operations. Analyses have been performed in each of these areas to assess and, where possible, quantify the impacts of fairing diameter selection on all aspects of a Mars mission. Several potential impacts of launch fairing diameter selection are identified in each of these areas, along with changes to system designs that result. Solutions for addressing these impacts generally result in increased systems mass and propellant needs, which can further exacerbate packaging and flight challenges. This paper

Teaching peace, transforming conflict? : exploring participants' perceptions of the impact of informal peace education training in Uganda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

May, A.

2008-01-01

Peace education has recemtly become very fashionable but little is known about he outcome and impact of both formal and informal peace-education programmes. This book is an attempt to fill the gap between well-meant intentions and reality by exploring the impact of an informal workshop-style

Human activities on the deep seafloor in the North East Atlantic: an assessment of spatial extent.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela R Benn

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Environmental impacts of human activities on the deep seafloor are of increasing concern. While activities within waters shallower than 200 m have been the focus of previous assessments of anthropogenic impacts, no study has quantified the extent of individual activities or determined the relative severity of each type of impact in the deep sea. METHODOLOGY: The OSPAR maritime area of the North East Atlantic was chosen for the study because it is considered to be one of the most heavily impacted by human activities. In addition, it was assumed data would be accessible and comprehensive. Using the available data we map and estimate the spatial extent of five major human activities in the North East Atlantic that impact the deep seafloor: submarine communication cables, marine scientific research, oil and gas industry, bottom trawling and the historical dumping of radioactive waste, munitions and chemical weapons. It was not possible to map military activities. The extent of each activity has been quantified for a single year, 2005. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Human activities on the deep seafloor of the OSPAR area of the North Atlantic are significant but their footprints vary. Some activities have an immediate impact after which seafloor communities could re-establish, while others can continue to make an impact for many years and the impact could extend far beyond the physical disturbance. The spatial extent of waste disposal, telecommunication cables, the hydrocarbon industry and marine research activities is relatively small. The extent of bottom trawling is very significant and, even on the lowest possible estimates, is an order of magnitude greater than the total extent of all the other activities. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: To meet future ecosystem-based management and governance objectives for the deep sea significant improvements are required in data collection and availability as well as a greater awareness of the relative impact of

Comprehensive geophysical survey technique in exploration for deep-buried hydrothermal type uranium deposits in Xiangshan volcanic basin, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ke, D.

2014-01-01

According to recent drilling results, uranium mineralization has been found underground more than 1000 m deep in the Xiangshan volcanic basin, in where uranium exploration has been carried out for over 50 years. This paper presents a comprehensive geophysical survey technique, including audio magnetotelluric method (AMT), high resolution ground magnetic and radon survey, which aim to prospect deep-buried and concealed uranium deposits in Xiangshan volcanic basin. Based on research and application, a comprehensive geophysical technique consisting of data acquisition, processing and interpretation has been established. Concealed rock and ore-controlling structure buried deeper than 1000 m can be detected by using this technique. Moreover, one kind of anti-interference technique of AMT survey is presented, which can eliminate the interference induced by the high-voltage power lines. Result of AMT in Xiangshan volcanic basin is demonstrated as high-low-high mode, which indicates there are three layers in geology. The upper layer with high resistivity is mainly the react of porphyroclastic lava. The middle layer with low resistivity is metamorphic schists or dellenite whereas the lower layer with high resistivity is inferred as granite. The interface between middle and lower layer is recognized as the potential zone for occurrence of uranium deposits. According to the corresponding relation of the resistivity and magnetic anomaly with uranium ore bodies, the tracing model of faults and interfaces between the different rocks, and the forecasting model of advantageous area for uranium deposits have been established. In terms of the forecasting model, some significant sections for uranium deposits were delineated in the west of the Xiangshan volcanic basin. As a result, some achievements on uranium prospecting have been acquired. High grade economic uranium ore bodies have been found in several boreholes, which are located in the forecasted zones. (author)

Metagenomic profiles of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between human impacted estuary and deep ocean sediments.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Baowei; Yang, Ying; Liang, Ximei; Yu, Ke; Zhang, Tong; Li, Xiangdong

2013-11-19

Knowledge of the origins and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential for understanding modern resistomes in the environment. The mechanisms of the dissemination of ARGs can be revealed through comparative studies on the metagenomic profiling of ARGs between relatively pristine and human-impacted environments. The deep ocean bed of the South China Sea (SCS) is considered to be largely devoid of anthropogenic impacts, while the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in south China has been highly impacted by intensive human activities. Commonly used antibiotics (sulfamethazine, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, and erythromycin) have been detected through chemical analysis in the PRE sediments, but not in the SCS sediments. In the relatively pristine SCS sediments, the most prevalent and abundant ARGs are those related to resistance to macrolides and polypeptides, with efflux pumps as the predominant mechanism. In the contaminated PRE sediments, the typical ARG profiles suggest a prevailing resistance to antibiotics commonly used in human health and animal farming (including sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides), and higher diversity in both genotype and resistance mechanism than those in the SCS. In particular, antibiotic inactivation significantly contributed to the resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, and macrolides observed in the PRE sediments. There was a significant correlation in the levels of abundance of ARGs and those of mobile genetic elements (including integrons and plasmids), which serve as carriers in the dissemination of ARGs in the aquatic environment. The metagenomic results from the current study support the view that ARGs naturally originate in pristine environments, while human activities accelerate the dissemination of ARGs so that microbes would be able to tolerate selective environmental stress in response to anthropogenic impacts.

Geothermal exploration using the magnetotelluric method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Leeuwen, W.A.

2016-01-01

One of the requirements to realize electricity production from geothermal energy in the Netherlands is the exploration of the deep subsurface. Currently, detailed geological information below 5 kilometer is sparse. The magnetotelluric (MT) method, a passive electromagnetic method, is a candidate to

Chronicles of the deep : ageing deep-sea corals in New Zealand waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tracey, D.; Neil, H.; Gordon, D.; O'Shea, S.

2003-01-01

How old is a coral? Finding the answer requires some rather complex steps. We need to understand: the source of carbonate; the effects of climatic events; how to interpret growth zones; the effect of 14 C and biological processes such as feeding and reproduction; and how to overcome the lack of deep-sea environmental data records. We also need to find out where on the coral we should be sampling to get the best estimates of age. At the moment we know little about how deep-sea corals deposit their calcite, but we will be exploring this further so that we can have greater confidence in our age estimates. To confirm and validate age and growth, it will be necessary to use a combination of some of the the possible methods for ageing coral. In addition to ageing the corals, this work should yield a high-resolution record of ocean temperature during the past 100 years by using stable-isotope signatures preserved in the corals' carbonate skeletons. (author). 4 figs

Subsurface Hybrid Power Options for Oil & Gas Production at Deep Ocean Sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farmer, J C; Haut, R; Jahn, G; Goldman, J; Colvin, J; Karpinski, A; Dobley, A; Halfinger, J; Nagley, S; Wolf, K; Shapiro, A; Doucette, P; Hansen, P; Oke, A; Compton, D; Cobb, M; Kopps, R; Chitwood, J; Spence, W; Remacle, P; Noel, C; Vicic, J; Dee, R

2010-02-19

An investment in deep-sea (deep-ocean) hybrid power systems may enable certain off-shore oil and gas exploration and production. Advanced deep-ocean drilling and production operations, locally powered, may provide commercial access to oil and gas reserves otherwise inaccessible. Further, subsea generation of electrical power has the potential of featuring a low carbon output resulting in improved environmental conditions. Such technology therefore, enhances the energy security of the United States in a green and environmentally friendly manner. The objective of this study is to evaluate alternatives and recommend equipment to develop into hybrid energy conversion and storage systems for deep ocean operations. Such power systems will be located on the ocean floor and will be used to power offshore oil and gas exploration and production operations. Such power systems will be located on the oceans floor, and will be used to supply oil and gas exploration activities, as well as drilling operations required to harvest petroleum reserves. The following conceptual hybrid systems have been identified as candidates for powering sub-surface oil and gas production operations: (1) PWR = Pressurized-Water Nuclear Reactor + Lead-Acid Battery; (2) FC1 = Line for Surface O{sub 2} + Well Head Gas + Reformer + PEMFC + Lead-Acid & Li-Ion Batteries; (3) FC2 = Stored O2 + Well Head Gas + Reformer + Fuel Cell + Lead-Acid & Li-Ion Batteries; (4) SV1 = Submersible Vehicle + Stored O{sub 2} + Fuel Cell + Lead-Acid & Li-Ion Batteries; (5) SV2 = Submersible Vehicle + Stored O{sub 2} + Engine or Turbine + Lead-Acid & Li-Ion Batteries; (6) SV3 = Submersible Vehicle + Charge at Docking Station + ZEBRA & Li-Ion Batteries; (7) PWR TEG = PWR + Thermoelectric Generator + Lead-Acid Battery; (8) WELL TEG = Thermoelectric Generator + Well Head Waste Heat + Lead-Acid Battery; (9) GRID = Ocean Floor Electrical Grid + Lead-Acid Battery; and (10) DOC = Deep Ocean Current + Lead-Acid Battery.

Analysis of Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) for Deep Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Oeftering, Richard; Soeder, James F.; Beach, Ray

2014-01-01

The Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) project is developing a modular approach to spacecraft power systems for exploration beyond Earth orbit. AMPS is intended to meet the need of reducing the cost of design development, test and integration and also reducing the operational logistics cost of supporting exploration missions. AMPS seeks to establish modular power building blocks with standardized electrical, mechanical, thermal and data interfaces that can be applied across multiple exploration vehicles. The presentation discusses the results of a cost analysis that compares the cost of the modular approach against a traditional non-modular approach.

Advances in deep-sea biology: biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and conservation. An introduction and overview

Science.gov (United States)

Cunha, Marina R.; Hilário, Ana; Santos, Ricardo S.

2017-03-01

Once considered as monotonous and devoid of life, the deep sea was revealed during the last century as an environment with a plethora of life forms and extremely high species richness (Rex and Etter, 2010). Underwater vehicle developments allowed direct observations of the deep, disclosing unique habitats and diverse seascapes, and other technological advances enabled manipulative experimentation and unprecedented prospects to pursue novel research topics (Levin and Sibuet, 2012; Danovaro et al., 2014). Alongside, the growing human population greatly increased the pressure on deep-sea ecosystems and the services they provide (Ramirez-Llodra et al., 2011; Thurber et al., 2014; Levin et al., 2016). Societal changes further intensified worldwide competition for natural resources, extending the present footprint of impacts over most of the global ocean (Halpern et al., 2008). In this socio-economic context, and in tandem with cutting edge technological advances and an unclear legal framework to regulate access to natural resources (Boyes and Elliott, 2014), the deep sea has emerged as a new opportunity for industrial exploitation and novel economic activities. The expanding use of the deep sea prompted a rapid reply from deep-sea scientists that recommended "a move from a frontier mentality of exploitation and single-sector management to a precautionary system that balances use of living marine resources, energy, and minerals from the deep ocean with maintenance of a productive and healthy marine environment, while improving knowledge and collaboration" and proposed "three directions to advance deep-ocean stewardship: i) protection and mitigation, ii) research, and iii) collaborative governance" (Mengerink et al., 2014). The European Marine Board position paper 22 (Rogers et al., 2015) further examined the key societal and environmental drivers confronting the deep sea and the role of deep-sea research to deliver future knowledge needs for science and society; a clear

Characterization of Methane-Seep Communities in a Deep-Sea Area Designated for Oil and Natural Gas Exploitation Off Trinidad and Tobago

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diva J. Amon

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Exploration of the deep ocean (>200 m is taking on added importance as human development encroaches. Despite increasing oil and natural gas exploration and exploitation, the deep ocean of Trinidad and Tobago is almost entirely unknown. The only scientific team to image the deep seafloor within the Trinidad and Tobago Exclusive Economic Zone was from IFREMER in the 1980s. That exploration led to the discovery of the El Pilar methane seeps and associated chemosynthetic communities on the accretionary prism to the east of Trinidad and Tobago. In 2014, the E/V Nautilus, in collaboration with local scientists, visited two previously sampled as well as two unexplored areas of the El Pilar site between 998 and 1,629 m depth using remotely operated vehicles. Eighty-three megafaunal morphospecies from extensive chemosynthetic communities surrounding active methane seepage were observed at four sites. These communities were dominated by megafaunal invertebrates including mussels (Bathymodiolus childressi, shrimp (Alvinocaris cf. muricola, Lamellibrachia sp. 2 tubeworms, and Pachycara caribbaeum. Adjacent to areas of active seepage was an ecotone of suspension feeders including Haplosclerida sponges, stylasterids and Neovermilia serpulids on authigenic carbonates. Beyond this were large Bathymodiolus shell middens. Finally there was either a zone of sparse octocorals and other non-chemosynthetic species likely benefiting from the carbonate substratum and enriched production within the seep habitat, or sedimented inactive areas. This paper highlights these ecologically significant areas and increases the knowledge of the biodiversity of the Trinidad and Tobago deep ocean. Because methane seepage and chemosynthetic communities are related to the presence of extractable oil and gas resources, development of best practices for the conservation of biodiversity in Trinidad and Tobago waters within the context of energy extraction is critical. Potential impacts

Deep Echo State Network (DeepESN): A Brief Survey

OpenAIRE

Gallicchio, Claudio; Micheli, Alessio

2017-01-01

The study of deep recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and, in particular, of deep Reservoir Computing (RC) is gaining an increasing research attention in the neural networks community. The recently introduced deep Echo State Network (deepESN) model opened the way to an extremely efficient approach for designing deep neural networks for temporal data. At the same time, the study of deepESNs allowed to shed light on the intrinsic properties of state dynamics developed by hierarchical compositions ...

Government participations impacts in the petroleum exploration and production in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfeil, Luis Fernando

1999-01-01

The central issue of debate was the need to align the energy sector's options and organization with changing global patterns of economic and social development, characterized by the increasing role played by the private sector, greater integration in the world economy, and new economic and social priorities such as efficiency, decentralization, deregulation, and a closer attention to environmental issues. The aim of the work was to analyze the impacts of the applicable government participations to the petroleum exploration and production in Brazil based in the economic theory after the Decree-Law 2705/98

Scenario analysis in environmental impact assessment: Improving explorations of the future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duinker, Peter N.; Greig, Lorne A.

2007-01-01

Scenarios and scenario analysis have become popular approaches in organizational planning and participatory exercises in pursuit of sustainable development. However, they are little used, at least in any formal way, in environmental impact assessment (EIA). This is puzzling because EIA is a process specifically dedicated to exploring options for more-sustainable (i.e., less environmentally damaging) futures. In this paper, we review the state of the art associated with scenarios and scenario analysis, and describe two areas where scenario analysis could be particularly helpful in EIA: (a) in defining future developments for cumulative effects assessment; and (b) in considering the influence of contextual change - e.g. climate change - on impact forecasts for specific projects. We conclude by encouraging EIA practitioners to learn about the promise of scenario-based analysis and implement scenario-based methods so that EIA can become more effective in fostering sustainable development

Exploring the Eastern United States Continental Shelf with the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology

Science.gov (United States)

Glickson, D.; Pomponi, S. A.

2016-02-01

The Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (CIOERT) serves NOAA priorities in three theme areas: exploring the eastern U.S. continental shelf, improving the understanding of coral and sponge ecosystems, and developing advanced underwater technologies. CIOERT focuses on the exploration and research of ecosystems and habitats along frontier regions of the eastern U.S. continental shelf that are of economic, scientific, or cultural importance or of natural hazards concern. One particular focus is supporting ocean exploration and research through the use of advanced underwater technologies and techniques in order to improve the understanding of vulnerable deep and shallow coral and sponge ecosystems. CIOERT expands the scope and efficiency of exploration and research by developing, testing, and applying new and/or innovative uses of existing technologies to ocean exploration and research activities. In addition, CIOERT is dedicated to expanding ocean literacy and building NOAA's technical and scientific workforce through hands-on, at-sea experiences. A recent CIOERT cruise characterized Gulf of Mexico mesophotic and deepwater reef ecosystems off the west Florida shelf, targeting northern Pulley Ridge. This project created and ground-truthed new sonar maps made with an autonomous underwater vehicle; conducted video and photographic transects of benthic habitat and fish using a remotely operated vehicle; and examined the connectivity of fauna from shallow to deep reef ecosystems. CIOERT was established in 2009 by FAU-Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, with University of North Carolina, Wilmington, SRI International, and the University of Miami. The primary NOAA partner is the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.

Trust, Isolation, and Presence: The Virtual Work Environment and Acceptance of Deep Organizational Change

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Laurence Michael

2013-01-01

The primary focus of this research was to explore through the use of a grounded theory methodology if the human perceptions of trust, isolation, and presence affected the virtual workers ability to accept deep organizational change. The study found that the virtual workers in the sample defined their acceptance of deep organizational change by…

Ejecta from Ocean Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Kyte, Frank T.

2003-01-01

Numerical simulations of deep-ocean impact provide some limits on the size of a projectile that will not mix with the ocean floor during a deep-ocean impact. For a vertical impact at asteroidal velocities (approx. 20 km/s), mixing is only likely when the projectile diameter is greater than 112 of the water depth. For oblique impacts, even larger projectiles will not mix with ocean floor silicates. Given the typical water depths of 4 to 5 km in deep-ocean basins, asteroidal projectiles with diameters as large as 2 or 3 km may commonly produce silicate ejecta that is composed only of meteoritic materials and seawater salts. However, the compressed water column beneath the projectile can still disrupt and shock metamorphose the ocean floor. Therefore, production of a separate, terrestrial ejecta component is not ruled out in the most extreme case. With increasing projectile size (or energy) relative to water depths, there must be a gradation between oceanic impacts and more conventional continental impacts. Given that 60% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceanic lithosphere and 500 m projectiles impact the Earth on 10(exp 5) y timescales, there must be hundreds of oceanic impact deposits in the sediment record awaiting discovery.

Exploring the plutonic crust at a fast-spreading ridge:new drilling at Hess Deep

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gillis, Kathryn M. [Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada). School of Earth and Ocean Sciences; Snow, Jonathan E. [Univ. of Houston, Houston, TX (United States). Earth & Atmospheric Sciences; Klaus, Adam [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). United States Implementing Organization.; Guerin, Gilles [Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Borehole Research Group; Abe, Natsue [Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka (Japan). Inst. for Research on Earth Evolution (IFREE); Akizawa, Norikatsu [Kanazawa Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Earth Sciences; Ceuleneer, Georges [Univ. Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (France). Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees (UMS 831), CNRS; Cheadle, Michael J. [Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics; Adriao, Alden de Brito [Federal Univ. of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre (Brazil). Geology Inst. (IGEO); Faak, Kathrin [Ruhr Univ., Bochum (Germany). Geological Inst.; Falloon, Trevor J. [Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS (Australia). Inst. for Marine and Antarctic Studies; Friedman, Sarah A. [Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL (United States). Dept. of Geology; Godard, Marguerite M. [Univ. Montpellier II (France). Geosciences Montpellier-UMR 5243; Harigane, Yumiko [National Inst. of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba (Japan). Marine Geology Dept.; Horst, Andrew J. [Syracuse Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Earth Science; Hoshide, Takashi [Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Graduate School of Science; Ildefonse, Benoit [Univ. Montpellier II (France). Lab. de Tectonophysique; Jean, Marlon M. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States). Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences; John, Barbara E. [Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics; Koepke, Juergen H. [Univ. of Hannover (Germany). Inst. of Mineralogy; Machi, Sumiaki [Kanazawa Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Earth Sciences; Maeda, Jinichiro [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan). Dept. of Natural History Sciences; Marks, Naomi E. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Chemistry and Material Sciences Dept.; McCaig, Andrew M. [Univ. of Leeds (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environment; Meyer, Romain [Univ. of Bergen (Norway). Dept. of Earth Science and Centre for Geobiology; Morris, Antony [Univ. of Plymouth (United Kingdom). School of Earth, Ocean & Environmental Sciences; Nozaka, Toshio [Okayama Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Earth Sciences; Python, Marie [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences; Saha, Abhishek [Indian Inst. of Science (IISC), Bangalore (India). Centre for Earth Sciences; Wintsch, Robert P. [Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences

2013-02-28

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hess Deep Expedition 345 was designed to sample lower crustal primitive gabbroic rocks that formed at the fast-spreading East Pacific Rise (EPR) in order to test models of magmatic accretion and the intensity of hydrothermal cooling at depth. The Hess Deep Rift was selected to exploit tectonic exposures of young EPR plutonic crust, building upon results from ODP Leg 147 as well as more recent submersible, remotely operated vehicle, and near-bottom surveys. The primary goal was to acquire the observations required to test end-member crustal accretion models that were in large part based on relationships from ophiolites, in combination with mid-ocean ridge geophysical studies. This goal was achieved with the recovery of primitive layered olivine gabbros and troctolites with many unexpected mineralogical and textural relationships, such as the abundance of orthopyroxene and the preservation of delicate skeletal olivine textures.

15 CFR 970.203 - Exploration plan.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... DATA SERVICE DEEP SEABED MINING REGULATIONS FOR EXPLORATION LICENSES Applications Contents § 970.203...; (iii) Designing and testing system components onshore and at sea; (iv) Designing and testing mining... in the area which will affect nodule recovery system design and operations (e.g., seafloor topography...

Deep Time Iterations: Familiarity, Horizons, and Pattern among Finland's Nuclear Waste Safety Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Ialenti, Vincent Francis

This ethnography reconsiders nuclear waste risk's deep time horizons' often-sensationalized aesthetics of horror, sublimity, and awe. It does so by tracking how Finland's nuclear energy and waste experts made visions of distant future Finlands appear more intelligible through mundane corporate, regulatory, financial, and technoscientific practices. Each chapter unpacks how informants iterated and reiterated traces of the very familiar to establish shared grounds of continuity for moving forward in time. Chapter 1 explores how Finland's energy sector's "mankala" cooperative corporate form was iterated and reiterated to give shape to political and financial time horizons. Chapter 2 explores how workplace role distinctions between recruit/retiree and junior/senior were iterated and reiterated to reckon nuclear personnel successions' intergenerational horizons. Chapter 3 explores how input/output and part/whole distinctions were iterated and reiterated to help model distant future worlds in a portfolio of "Safety Case" evidence made to demonstrate the Olkiluoto repository's safety to Finnish nuclear regulator STUK. Chapter 4 explores how Safety Case experts iterated and reiterated memories of a deceased predecessor figure in everyday engagements with deep time. What emerges are three insights about how futures attain discernible features--insights about the "continuity," "thinkability," and "extensibility" of expert thought--that, I argue, can help twenty-first century experts better navigate not only deep time, but also unknown futures of nuclear technologies, planetary environment, and expertise itself.

Chicxulub Impact Crater and Yucatan Carbonate Platform - PEMEX Oil Exploratory Wells Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez-Drago, G.; Gutierrez-Cirlos, A. G.; Pérez-Cruz, L.; Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J.

2008-12-01

Geophysical oil exploration surveys carried out by PEMEX in the 1940's revealed occurrence of an anomalous pattern of semi-circular concentric gravity anomalies. The Bouguer gravity anomalies covered an extensive area over the flat carbonate platform in the northwestern Yucatan Peninsula; strong density contrasts were suggestive of a buried igneous complex or basement uplift beneath the carbonates, which was referred as the Chicxulub structure. The exploration program carried out afterwards included a drilling program, starting with Chicxulub-1 well in 1952 and comprising eight deep boreholes through the 1970s. An aeromagnetic survey in late 1970's showed high amplitude anomalies in the gravity anomaly central sector. Thus, research showing Chicxulub as a large complex impact crater formed at the K/T boundary was built on the PEMEX decades-long exploration program. Despite frequent reference to PEMEX information and samples, original data and cores have not been openly available for detailed evaluation and integration with results from recent investigations. Core samples largely remain to be analyzed and interpreted in the context of recent marine, aerial and terrestrial geophysical surveys and the drilling/coring projects of UNAM and ICDP. In this presentation we report on the stratigraphy and paleontological data for PEMEX wells: Chicxulub- 1 (1582m), Sacapuc-1 (1530m), Yucatan-6 (1631m), Ticul-1 (3575m) Yucatan-4 (2398m), Yucatan-2 (3474m), Yucatan-5A (3003m) and Yucatan-1 (3221m). These wells remain the deepest drilled in Chicxulub, providing samples of impact lithologies, carbonate sequences and basement, which give information on post- and pre-impact stratigraphy and crystalline basement. We concentrate on stratigraphic columns, lateral correlations and integration with UNAM and ICDP borehole data. Current plans for deep drilling in Chicxulub crater target the peak ring and central sector, with offshore and onshore boreholes proposed to the IODP and ICDP

The Long-Term Impact of Service-Learning on Graduates' Civic Engagement and Career Exploration in Hong Kong

Science.gov (United States)

Hok-ka, Carol Ma; Wing-fung, Chad Chan; Cheung-ming, Alfred Chan

2016-01-01

Service-learning (SL) is a relatively new pedagogy in Hong Kong and so far, no study of SL's long-term impact in Hong Kong exists. To explore SL's impacts on Hong Kong students, researchers conducted a quantitative study to compare graduates with SL experience to graduates without SL experience in terms of three domains: (1) adaptability, brain…

Ecosystem function and services provided by the deep sea

Science.gov (United States)

Thurber, A. R.; Sweetman, A. K.; Narayanaswamy, B. E.; Jones, D. O. B.; Ingels, J.; Hansman, R. L.

2014-07-01

The deep sea is often viewed as a vast, dark, remote, and inhospitable environment, yet the deep ocean and seafloor are crucial to our lives through the services that they provide. Our understanding of how the deep sea functions remains limited, but when treated synoptically, a diversity of supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural services becomes apparent. The biological pump transports carbon from the atmosphere into deep-ocean water masses that are separated over prolonged periods, reducing the impact of anthropogenic carbon release. Microbial oxidation of methane keeps another potent greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere while trapping carbon in authigenic carbonates. Nutrient regeneration by all faunal size classes provides the elements necessary for fueling surface productivity and fisheries, and microbial processes detoxify a diversity of compounds. Each of these processes occur on a very small scale, yet considering the vast area over which they occur they become important for the global functioning of the ocean. The deep sea also provides a wealth of resources, including fish stocks, enormous bioprospecting potential, and elements and energy reserves that are currently being extracted and will be increasingly important in the near future. Society benefits from the intrigue and mystery, the strange life forms, and the great unknown that has acted as a muse for inspiration and imagination since near the beginning of civilization. While many functions occur on the scale of microns to meters and timescales up to years, the derived services that result are only useful after centuries of integrated activity. This vast dark habitat, which covers the majority of the globe, harbors processes that directly impact humans in a variety of ways; however, the same traits that differentiate it from terrestrial or shallow marine systems also result in a greater need for integrated spatial and temporal understanding as it experiences increased use by society. In

Significant breakthrough in proprietary deepwater natural gas exploration in the northern South China Sea and its inspiration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuhong Xie

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In 2014, Zhanjiang Branch of CNOOC Limited obtained high oil and gas flows (160 × 104 m3/d in Well LS 17-2-1 in northern South China Sea. The tested formation is the Neogene Upper Miocene Huangliu Fm. This is the first self-explored natural gas field in deep water area in China. Exploration in this area underwent three periods: (1 Reconnaissance exploration period (before 2002: Limited by techniques, the major exploration was in shallow water areas; (2 Foreign cooperative exploration period (2002–2012: As the discovered reserve scale was small, and there is no economic benefit, the partners successively gave up their exploration equities in the deep water area of western South China Sea; however, the high quality source rocks and reservoirs were confirmed in the deep water area of the South China Sea, revealing the mask of hydrocarbon exploration in this region; (3 Self-exploration period (since 2013: Relying on national science and technology major projects and its scientific research and production, Zhanjiang Company of CNOOC conducted several scientific researches on seismic data acquisition and processing, high-quality reservoir distribution, key factors for hydrocarbon accumulation in deep water areas, optimized and confirmed Lingshui 17-2 structure as the first drilling target, and obtained significant exploration breakthrough. Lingshui 17-2 structure is located in the Ledong-Lingshui section of the Central Canyon. Its major target layer is the Huangliu Fm. Its total thickness is over 150 m, with sandstone ratio of 75.4%, maximum single layer thickness of 52 m, porosity ranging 30.0%–33.7% (31.5% averagely, permeability ranging 293–2512 mD (633 mD averagely, belonging to reservoir with ultrahigh porosity and high-ultrahigh permeability. The exploration breakthrough in Lingshui 17-2 shows the giant potentiality of hydrocarbon exploration in this deep water area.

The Use of Deep Learning Strategies in Online Business Courses to Impact Student Retention

Science.gov (United States)

DeLotell, Pam Jones; Millam, Loretta A.; Reinhardt, Michelle M.

2010-01-01

Interest, application and understanding--these are key elements in successful online classroom experiences and all part of what is commonly referred to as deep learning. Deep learning occurs when students are able to connect with course topics, find value in them and see how to apply them to real-world situations. Asynchronous discussion forums in…

Deep learning for automated drivetrain fault detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach-Andersen, Martin; Rømer-Odgaard, Bo; Winther, Ole

2018-01-01

A novel data-driven deep-learning system for large-scale wind turbine drivetrain monitoring applications is presented. It uses convolutional neural network processing on complex vibration signal inputs. The system is demonstrated to learn successfully from the actions of human diagnostic experts...... the fleet-wide diagnostic model performance. The analysis also explores the time dependence of the diagnostic performance, providing a detailed view of the timeliness and accuracy of the diagnostic outputs across the different architectures. Deep architectures are shown to outperform the human analyst...... as well as shallow-learning architectures, and the results demonstrate that when applied in a large-scale monitoring system, machine intelligence is now able to handle some of the most challenging diagnostic tasks related to wind turbines....

Deep space test bed for radiation studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adams, James H.; Adcock, Leonard; Apple, Jeffery; Christl, Mark; Cleveand, William; Cox, Mark; Dietz, Kurt; Ferguson, Cynthia; Fountain, Walt; Ghita, Bogdan; Kuznetsov, Evgeny; Milton, Martha; Myers, Jeremy; O'Brien, Sue; Seaquist, Jim; Smith, Edward A.; Smith, Guy; Warden, Lance; Watts, John

2007-01-01

The Deep Space Test-Bed (DSTB) Facility is designed to investigate the effects of galactic cosmic rays on crews and systems during missions to the Moon or Mars. To gain access to the interplanetary ionizing radiation environment the DSTB uses high-altitude polar balloon flights. The DSTB provides a platform for measurements to validate the radiation transport codes that are used by NASA to calculate the radiation environment within crewed space systems. It is also designed to support other exploration related investigations such as measuring the shielding effectiveness of candidate spacecraft and habitat materials, testing new radiation monitoring instrumentation, flight avionics and investigating the biological effects of deep space radiation. We describe the work completed thus far in the development of the DSTB and its current status

Exploring the impact of positive and negative emotions on cooperative behaviour in a Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar N.E. Kjell

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Objective. To explore the influences of discrete positive and negative emotions on cooperation in the context of a social dilemma game.Design. Two controlled studies were undertaken. In Study 1, 69 participants were randomly assigned to an essay emotion manipulation task designed to induce either guilt, joy or no strong emotion. In Study 2, 95 participants were randomly assigned to one of the same three tasks, and the impact of emotional condition on cooperation was explored using a repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma Game.Results. Study 1 established that the manipulation task was successful in inducing the specified emotions. The analysis from Study 2 revealed no significant main effects for emotions, in contrast to previous research. However, there was a significant effect for participants’ pre-existing tendency to cooperate (social value orientation; SVO.Conclusion. Methodological explanations for the result are explored, including the possible impact of trial-and-error strategies, different cooperation games and endogenous vs exogenous emotions.

Journalism 2.0: Exploring the Impact of Mobile and Social Media on Journalism Education

Science.gov (United States)

Cochrane, Thomas; Sissons, Helen; Mulrennan, Danni; Pamatatau, Richard

2013-01-01

This paper explores the impact of social media upon journalism education from two perspectives: both from the pedagogical changes Web 2.0 and mobile devices enable, and within the context of the changes in journalism that social media use are driving. A participatory action research approach was adopted, beginning with the establishment of a…

Global economic and financial crisis: Exploring the transmission channels and impacts on sub-saharan african economies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sin-Yu Ho

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Over the past decade sub-Saharan African countries have made remarkable gains in promoting growth alongside economic stability. However, with the outbreak of the financial and economic crisis in advanced economies, will these hard-won economic gains in the region be threatened? In this paper, we seek to provide an overview of how sub-Saharan African countries are exposed to the crisis through both financial and real transmission channels, and to critically assess the impact of the crisis on different economies. To accomplish this task, we first provide an overview of the recent economic development of sub-Saharan African countries, and a brief discussion of the sources and the development of the crisis. We then proceed to explore the direct financial transmission channels of the crisis and their impacts on sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, we explore the indirect real transmission channels of the crisis and how the sub-Saharan African economies are impacted by them. Thereafter, we identify a couple of policy implications

An exploration of the impact of invalid MMPI-2 protocols on collateral self-report measure scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Forbey, Johnathan D; Lee, Tayla T C

2011-11-01

Although a number of studies have examined the impact of invalid MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) response styles on MMPI-2 scale scores, limited research has specifically explored the effects that such response styles might have on conjointly administered collateral self-report measures. This study explored the potential impact of 2 invalidating response styles detected by the Validity scales of the MMPI-2, overreporting and underreporting, on scores of collateral self-report measures administered conjointly with the MMPI-2. The final group of participants included in analyses was 1,112 college students from a Midwestern university who completed all measures as part of a larger study. Results of t-test analyses suggested that if either over- or underreporting was indicated by the MMPI-2 Validity scales, the scores of most conjointly administered collateral measures were also significantly impacted. Overall, it appeared that test-takers who were identified as either over- or underreporting relied on such a response style across measures. Limitations and suggestions for future study are discussed.

Autonomous orbit determination and its error analysis for deep space using X-ray pulsar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, Dongzhu; Yuan, Xiaoguang; Guo, Hehe; Wang, Xin

2014-01-01

Autonomous orbit determination (OD) is a complex process using filtering method to integrate observation and orbit dynamic model effectively and estimate the position and velocity of a spacecraft. As a novel technology for autonomous interplanetary OD, X-ray pulsar holds great promise for deep space exploration. The position and velocity of spacecraft should be estimated accurately during the OD process. However, under the same condition, the accuracy of OD can be greatly reduced by the error of the initial orbit value and the orbit mutation. To resolve this problem, we propose a novel OD method, which is based on the X-ray pulsar measurement and Adaptive Unscented Kalman Filter (AUKF). The accuracy of OD can be improved obviously because the AUKF estimates the orbit of spacecraft using measurement residual. During the simulation, the orbit of Phoenix Mars Lander, Deep Impact Probe, and Voyager 1 are selected. Compared with Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) and Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed OD method based on AUKF can accurately determinate the velocity and position and effectively decrease the orbit estimated errors which is caused by the orbit mutation and orbit initial errors. (authors)

Hot-carrier effects on irradiated deep submicron NMOSFET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Jiangwei; Zheng Qiwen; Yu Xuefeng; Cong Zhongchao; Zhou Hang; Guo Qi; Wen Lin; Wei Ying; Ren Diyuan

2014-01-01

We investigate how γ exposure impacts the hot-carrier degradation in deep submicron NMOSFET with different technologies and device geometries for the first time. The results show that hot-carrier degradations on irradiated devices are greater than those without irradiation, especially for narrow channel device. The reason is attributed to charge traps in STI, which then induce different electric field and impact ionization rates during hot-carrier stress. (semiconductor devices)

Why & When Deep Learning Works: Looking Inside Deep Learnings

OpenAIRE

Ronen, Ronny

2017-01-01

The Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence (ICRI-CI) has been heavily supporting Machine Learning and Deep Learning research from its foundation in 2012. We have asked six leading ICRI-CI Deep Learning researchers to address the challenge of "Why & When Deep Learning works", with the goal of looking inside Deep Learning, providing insights on how deep networks function, and uncovering key observations on their expressiveness, limitations, and potential. The outp...

Advanced stellar compass deep space navigation, ground testing results

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Betto, Maurizio; Jørgensen, John Leif; Jørgensen, Peter Siegbjørn

2006-01-01

Deep space exploration is in the agenda of the major space agencies worldwide and at least the European Space Agency (SMART & Aurora Programs) and the American NASA (New Millennium Program) have set up programs to allow the development and the demonstration of technologies that can reduce the risks...... and the costs of the deep space missions. Navigation is the Achilles' heel of deep space. Being performed on ground, it imposes considerable constraints on the system and the operations, it is very expensive to execute, especially when the mission lasts several years and, above all, it is not failure tolerant...... to determine the orbit of a spacecraft autonomously, on-board and without any a priori knowledge of any kind. The solution is robust, elegant and fast. This paper presents the preliminary performances obtained during the ground tests. The results are very positive and encouraging....

Uncovering the mechanism(s) of deep brain stimulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Gang; Yu Chao; Lin Ling; Lu, Stephen C-Y

2005-01-01

Deep brain stimulators, often called 'pacemakers for the brain', are implantable devices which continuously deliver impulse stimulation to specific targeted nuclei of deep brain structure, namely deep brain stimulation (DBS). To date, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the most effective clinical technique for the treatment of several medically refractory movement disorders (e.g., Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia). In addition, new clinical applications of DBS for other neurologic and psychiatric disorders (e.g., epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder) have been put forward. Although DBS has been effective in the treatment of movement disorders and is rapidly being explored for the treatment of other neurologic disorders, the scientific understanding of its mechanisms of action remains unclear and continues to be debated in the scientific community. Optimization of DBS technology for present and future therapeutic applications will depend on identification of the therapeutic mechanism(s) of action. The goal of this review is to address our present knowledge of the effects of high-frequency stimulation within the central nervous system and comment on the functional implications of this knowledge for uncovering the mechanism(s) of DBS

Exploration of deep S-wave velocity structure using microtremor array technique to estimate long-period ground motion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Hiroaki; Higashi, Sadanori; Sato, Kiyotaka

2007-01-01

In this study, microtremor array measurements were conducted at 9 sites in the Niigata plain to explore deep S-wave velocity structures for estimation of long-period earthquake ground motion. The 1D S-wave velocity profiles in the Niigata plain are characterized by 5 layers with S-wave velocities of 0.4, 0.8, 1.5, 2.1 and 3.0 km/s, respectively. The depth to the basement layer is deeper in the Niigata port area located at the Japan sea side of the Niigata plain. In this area, the basement depth is about 4.8 km around the Seirou town and about 4.1 km around the Niigata city, respectively. These features about the basement depth in the Niigata plain are consistent with the previous surveys. In order to verify the profiles derived from microtremor array exploration, we estimate the group velocities of Love wave for four propagation paths of long-period earthquake ground motion during Niigata-ken tyuetsu earthquake by multiple filter technique, which were compared with the theoretical ones calculated from the derived profiles. As a result, it was confirmed that the group velocities from the derived profiles were in good agreement with the ones from long-period earthquake ground motion records during Niigata-ken tyuetsu earthquake. Furthermore, we applied the estimation method of design basis earthquake input for seismically isolated nuclear power facilities by using normal mode solution to estimate long-period earthquake ground motion during Niigata-ken tyuetsu earthquake. As a result, it was demonstrated that the applicability of the above method for the estimation of long-period earthquake ground motion were improved by using the derived 1D S-wave velocity profile. (author)

Exploring for geothermal resources in Greece

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendrinos, Dimitrios; Choropanitis, Ioannis; Polyzou, Olympia; Karytsas, Constantine [Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES), 19th km Marathon Avenue, 19009 Pikermi (Greece)

2010-03-15

In Greece the geothermal areas are located in regions of Quaternary or Miocene volcanism and in continental basins of high heat flow. The existence of high-temperature (>200 C) resources has been proven by deep drilling on the islands of Milos and Nisyros and inferred on the island of Santorini by its active volcanism. Elsewhere, geological investigations, geochemical analyses of thermal springs and shallow drilling have identified many low-temperature (<100 C) reservoirs, utilized for spas and greenhouse/soil heating. Ternary K-Na-Mg geothermometer data suggest deep, medium-temperature resources (100-200 C) in Sousaki, the islands of Samothraki, Chios and Lesvos, in the basins of Nestos River Delta and Alexandroupolis and in the graben of Sperchios River. In the basins of northern Greece these resources are also inferred from deep oil exploration well data. (author)

Electronic structure properties of deep defects in hBN

Science.gov (United States)

Dev, Pratibha; Prdm Collaboration

In recent years, the search for room-temperature solid-state qubit (quantum bit) candidates has revived interest in the study of deep-defect centers in semiconductors. The charged NV-center in diamond is the best known amongst these defects. However, as a host material, diamond poses several challenges and so, increasingly, there is an interest in exploring deep defects in alternative semiconductors such as hBN. The layered structure of hBN makes it a scalable platform for quantum applications, as there is a greater potential for controlling the location of the deep defect in the 2D-matrix through careful experiments. Using density functional theory-based methods, we have studied the electronic and structural properties of several deep defects in hBN. Native defects within hBN layers are shown to have high spin ground states that should survive even at room temperature, making them interesting solid-state qubit candidates in a 2D matrix. Partnership for Reduced Dimensional Material (PRDM) is part of the NSF sponsored Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM).

The Deep-Level-Reasoning-Question Effect: The Role of Dialogue and Deep-Level-Reasoning Questions during Vicarious Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Scotty D.; Sullins, Jeremiah; Witherspoon, Amy; Gholson, Barry

2006-01-01

We investigated the impact of dialogue and deep-level-reasoning questions on vicarious learning in 2 studies with undergraduates. In Experiment 1, participants learned material by interacting with AutoTutor or by viewing 1 of 4 vicarious learning conditions: a noninteractive recorded version of the AutoTutor dialogues, a dialogue with a…

Application of AMT in detecting deep geological structures in Lejia district of Xiangshan uranium ore field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Shuxin; Liu Hu

2014-01-01

In recent years, exploration in Xiangshan uranium ore field shows that the intersection of faults and the interface of different rock formation and the basement is an important sign of deep ore- prospecting. In order to evaluate deep uranium resource in Lejia district, audio magnetotelluric method (AMT) was undertaken to carry out profile investigation. With that method, we discerned the interface of different rock formation and the basement successfully, and faults in the deep, which provides a good basis for the prediction of deep uranium resource. Drilling results show that AMT method has an obvious advantage in detecting deep geological structures in Xiangshan. (authors)

Report on the results of the Sunshine Project - Verification survey for geothermal exploration technology, etc. Summary. Survey of deep geothermal resource; Chinetsu tansa gijutsu tou kensho chosa. Shinbu chinetsu shigen chosa sokatsu seika hokokusho (Yoyaku)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-03-01

As to the development of deep geothermal resource which is expected to contribute to increasing the capacity of future power generation in Japan, investigational study was made from FY 1992 to FY 2000, and the results were summed up. The investigational study was conducted for the hydrothermal convection type deep geothermal resource with a thermal conducting heating mechanism, of which Kakkonda is typical, including the drilling of deep exploration well using the existing technology. As a result, new information/knowledge were acquired about the thermal structure, reservoir structure and hydrothermal supply structure of the depths, and a deep geothermal model was made. Based on the model, a detailed simulation was made possible, and a whole image of the hydrothermal convection type deep geothermal resource with the thermal conducting heating mechanism was made clear. In the surface survey, observation of microearthquakes, high-accuracy MT method, etc. were carried out, and a grasp of the shape of a new granite body from the surface was made possible. Concerning the drilling technology, the geologic stratum with a temperature over 500 degrees C was successfully drilled down to a depth of 3,729m by prolonging the life of bit at the time of drilling by introducing the top drive system, the closed mud cooling device, etc. (NEDO)

Opening Public Administration: Exploring Open Innovation Archetypes and Business Model Impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Feller, Joseph; Finnegan, Patrick; Nilsson, Olof

This work-in-progress paper presents an exploration of a network of Swedish municipal authorities. Within this network, we have observed a move from isolated innovation to leveraging inflows and outflows of knowledge in a manner characteristic of the open innovation paradigm. This paper presents a characterization of these knowledge exchanges using an existing framework of open innovation archetypes, as well as an initial description of the business model impacts of this innovation approach on the participant municipalities, and the enabling role of information technology. The paper concludes by drawing preliminary conclusions and outlining ongoing research.

An Exploration of the Impact of Accountability Testing on Teaching in Urban Elementary Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Bisland, Beverly Milner

2015-01-01

This study explores accountability testing in the elementary schools of New York City with particular emphasis on the impact of a statewide social studies test on the value given to social studies instruction in comparison to other subjects. The attitudes of a group of elementary teachers are examined. Some of the teachers taught all subjects in…

Distribution, abundance and habitat use of deep diving cetaceans in the North-East Atlantic

Science.gov (United States)

Rogan, Emer; Cañadas, Ana; Macleod, Kelly; Santos, M. Begoña; Mikkelsen, Bjarni; Uriarte, Ainhize; Van Canneyt, Olivier; Vázquez, José Antonio; Hammond, Philip S.

2017-07-01

In spite of their oceanic habitat, deep diving cetacean species have been found to be affected by anthropogenic activities, with potential population impacts of high intensity sounds generated by naval research and oil prospecting receiving the most attention. Improving the knowledge of the distribution and abundance of this poorly known group is an essential prerequisite to inform mitigation strategies seeking to minimize their spatial and temporal overlap with human activities. We provide for the first time abundance estimates for five deep diving cetacean species (sperm whale, long-finned pilot whale, northern bottlenose whale, Cuvier's beaked whale and Sowerby's beaked whale) using data from three dedicated cetacean sighting surveys that covered the oceanic and shelf waters of the North-East Atlantic. Density surface modelling was used to obtain model-based estimates of abundance and to explore the physical and biological characteristics of the habitat used by these species. Distribution of all species was found to be significantly related to depth, distance from the 2000m depth contour, the contour index (a measure of variability in the seabed) and sea surface temperature. Predicted distribution maps also suggest that there is little spatial overlap between these species. Our results represent the best abundance estimates for deep-diving whales in the North-East Atlantic, predict areas of high density during summer and constitute important baseline information to guide future risk assessments of human activities on these species, evaluate potential spatial and temporal trends and inform EU Directives and future conservation efforts.

Well-Being Impacts of Human-Elephant Conflict in Khumaga, Botswana: Exploring Visible and Hidden Dimensions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Allison L Mayberry

2017-01-01

Full Text Available High densities of wild African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana combined with widespread human land-use have increased human-elephant conflict in northern Botswana. Visible impacts (e.g. crop/property damage, injury/fatality of elephants on human well-being are well documented in scholarly literature while hidden impacts (e.g. emotional stress, restricted mobility are less so. This research uses qualitative methods to explore human experiences with elephants and perceived impacts of elephants on human well-being. Findings reveal participants are concerned about food insecurity and associated visible impacts of elephant crop raids. Findings also reveal participants are concerned about reduced safety and restricted mobility as hidden impacts threatening livelihoods and everyday life. Both visible and hidden impacts of elephants contribute to people's negative feelings towards elephants, as does the broader political context. This research emphasises the importance of investigating both visible and hidden impacts of elephants on human well-being to foster holistic understanding of human-elephant conflict scenarios and to inform future mitigation strategies.

Deep winter convection and phytoplankton dynamics in the NW Mediterranean Sea under present climate and future (horizon 2030) scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Macias, Diego; Garcia-Gorriz, Elisa; Stips, Adolf

2018-04-26

Deep water convection (DC) in winter is one of the major processes driving open-ocean primary productivity in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. DC is highly variable in time, depending on the specific conditions (stratification, circulation and ocean-atmosphere interactions) of each specific winter. This variability also drives the interannual oscillations of open-ocean primary productivity in this important region for many commercially-important fish species. We use a coupled model system to 1) understand to what extent DC impacts phytoplankton seasonality in the present-day and 2) to explore potential changes in future scenarios (~2030). Our model represents quite accurately the present-day characteristics of DC and its importance for open-ocean phytoplankton blooms. However, for the future scenarios the importance of deep nutrients in fertilizing the euphotic layer of the NW Mediterranean decreases. The model simulates changes in surface density and on the levels of kinetic energy that make mesoscale activity associated with horizontal currents to become a more important fertilization mechanism, inducing subsequently phenological changes in seasonal plankton cycles. Because of our focus on the open-sea, an exact quantification of the impact of those changes on the overall biological production of the NW Mediterranean cannot be made at the moment.

Ploughing the deep sea floor.

Science.gov (United States)

Puig, Pere; Canals, Miquel; Company, Joan B; Martín, Jacobo; Amblas, David; Lastras, Galderic; Palanques, Albert

2012-09-13

Bottom trawling is a non-selective commercial fishing technique whereby heavy nets and gear are pulled along the sea floor. The direct impact of this technique on fish populations and benthic communities has received much attention, but trawling can also modify the physical properties of seafloor sediments, water–sediment chemical exchanges and sediment fluxes. Most of the studies addressing the physical disturbances of trawl gear on the seabed have been undertaken in coastal and shelf environments, however, where the capacity of trawling to modify the seafloor morphology coexists with high-energy natural processes driving sediment erosion, transport and deposition. Here we show that on upper continental slopes, the reworking of the deep sea floor by trawling gradually modifies the shape of the submarine landscape over large spatial scales. We found that trawling-induced sediment displacement and removal from fishing grounds causes the morphology of the deep sea floor to become smoother over time, reducing its original complexity as shown by high-resolution seafloor relief maps. Our results suggest that in recent decades, following the industrialization of fishing fleets, bottom trawling has become an important driver of deep seascape evolution. Given the global dimension of this type of fishery, we anticipate that the morphology of the upper continental slope in many parts of the world’s oceans could be altered by intensive bottom trawling, producing comparable effects on the deep sea floor to those generated by agricultural ploughing on land.

Submersible Data (Dive Trackpoints) for Expedition to the Deep Slope 2007 - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Data and information collected by the ROV Jason along its track during sixteen dives of the 2007 "Expedition to the Deep Slope" expedition sponsored by the National...

Exploring the role of purpose in the lives of career changers: A qualitative inquiry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessie Jie Zhu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Although purpose in life is well-established as a key element of optimal human functioning, there is a lack of qualitative research exploring the role of purpose in individuals’ lives, particularly in the context of career change. The aim of the study is to gain a deep understanding of the role of purpose in the lives of career changers, including the process of developing purpose and its impact on individuals’ well-being.  A qualitative method was employed that involved semi-structured interviews with a sample of thirteen participants who went through a career change process. The qualitative grounded theory analysis reveals a purpose process model, which posits that individuals experience purpose as an ongoing and dynamic process consisting of questioning, exploring, unfolding, and evolving as critical developmental stages of individuals’ journeys to discover and develop purpose. The process of pursuing a purposeful way of living generally has a positive impact on individuals’ hedonic and eudaemonic well-being but can also have its “dark side” that may detract from life. Practical implications for career counseling, as well as future direction of research are discussed.

Deep greenhouse gas emission reductions in Europe: Exploring different options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deetman, Sebastiaan; Hof, Andries F.; Pfluger, Benjamin; Vuuren, Detlef P. van; Girod, Bastien; Ruijven, Bas J. van

2013-01-01

Most modelling studies that explore emission mitigation scenarios only look into least-cost emission pathways, induced by a carbon tax. This means that European policies targeting specific – sometimes relatively costly – technologies, such as electric cars and advanced insulation measures, are usually not evaluated as part of cost-optimal scenarios. This study explores an emission mitigation scenario for Europe up to 2050, taking as a starting point specific emission reduction options instead of a carbon tax. The purpose is to identify the potential of each of these policies and identify trade-offs between sectoral policies in achieving emission reduction targets. The reduction options evaluated in this paper together lead to a reduction of 65% of 1990 CO 2 -equivalent emissions by 2050. More bottom-up modelling exercises, like the one presented here, provide a promising starting point to evaluate policy options that are currently considered by policy makers. - Highlights: ► We model the effects of 15 climate change mitigation measures in Europe. ► We assess the greenhouse gas emission reduction potential in different sectors. ► The measures could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% below 1990 levels in 2050. ► The approach allows to explore arguably more relevant climate policy scenarios

An OSSE Study for Deep Argo Array using the GFDL Ensemble Coupled Data Assimilation System

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, You-Soon; Zhang, Shaoqing; Rosati, Anthony; Vecchi, Gabriel A.; Yang, Xiaosong

2018-03-01

An observing system simulation experiment (OSSE) using an ensemble coupled data assimilation system was designed to investigate the impact of deep ocean Argo profile assimilation in a biased numerical climate system. Based on the modern Argo observational array and an artificial extension to full depth, "observations" drawn from one coupled general circulation model (CM2.0) were assimilated into another model (CM2.1). Our results showed that coupled data assimilation with simultaneous atmospheric and oceanic constraints plays a significant role in preventing deep ocean drift. However, the extension of the Argo array to full depth did not significantly improve the quality of the oceanic climate estimation within the bias magnitude in the twin experiment. Even in the "identical" twin experiment for the deep Argo array from the same model (CM2.1) with the assimilation model, no significant changes were shown in the deep ocean, such as in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and the Antarctic bottom water cell. The small ensemble spread and corresponding weak constraints by the deep Argo profiles with medium spatial and temporal resolution may explain why the deep Argo profiles did not improve the deep ocean features in the assimilation system. Additional studies using different assimilation methods with improved spatial and temporal resolution of the deep Argo array are necessary in order to more thoroughly understand the impact of the deep Argo array on the assimilation system.

Abyssal fauna of the UK-1 polymetallic nodule exploration area, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Mollusca.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiklund, Helena; Taylor, John D; Dahlgren, Thomas G; Todt, Christiane; Ikebe, Chiho; Rabone, Muriel; Glover, Adrian G

2017-01-01

We present the first DNA taxonomy publication on abyssal Mollusca from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), central Pacific ocean, using material collected as part of the Abyssal Baseline (ABYSSLINE) environmental survey cruise 'AB01' to the UK Seabed Resources Ltd (UKSRL) polymetallic-nodule exploration area 'UK-1' in the eastern CCZ. This is the third paper in a series to provide regional taxonomic data for a region that is undergoing intense deep-sea mineral exploration for high-grade polymetallic nodules. Taxonomic data are presented for 21 species from 42 records identified by a combination of morphological and genetic data, including molecular phylogenetic analyses. These included 3 heterodont bivalves, 5 protobranch bivalves, 4 pteriomorph bivalves, 1 caudofoveate, 1 monoplacophoran, 1 polyplacophoran, 4 scaphopods and 2 solenogastres. Gastropoda were recovered but will be the subject of a future study. Seven taxa matched published morphological descriptions for species with deep Pacific type localities, and our sequences provide the first genetic data for these taxa. One taxon morphologically matched a known cosmopolitan species but with a type locality in a different ocean basin and was assigned the open nomenclature ' cf ' as a precautionary approach in taxon assignments to avoid over-estimating species ranges. One taxon is here described as a new species, Ledella knudseni sp. n. For the remaining 12 taxa, we have determined them to be potentially new species, for which we make the raw data, imagery and vouchers available for future taxonomic study. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is a region undergoing intense exploration for potential deep-sea mineral extraction. We present these data to facilitate future taxonomic and environmental impact study by making both data and voucher materials available through curated and accessible biological collections.

Abyssal fauna of the UK-1 polymetallic nodule exploration area, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Mollusca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Wiklund

2017-10-01

Full Text Available We present the first DNA taxonomy publication on abyssal Mollusca from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ, central Pacific ocean, using material collected as part of the Abyssal Baseline (ABYSSLINE environmental survey cruise ‘AB01’ to the UK Seabed Resources Ltd (UKSRL polymetallic-nodule exploration area ‘UK-1’ in the eastern CCZ. This is the third paper in a series to provide regional taxonomic data for a region that is undergoing intense deep-sea mineral exploration for high-grade polymetallic nodules. Taxonomic data are presented for 21 species from 42 records identified by a combination of morphological and genetic data, including molecular phylogenetic analyses. These included 3 heterodont bivalves, 5 protobranch bivalves, 4 pteriomorph bivalves, 1 caudofoveate, 1 monoplacophoran, 1 polyplacophoran, 4 scaphopods and 2 solenogastres. Gastropoda were recovered but will be the subject of a future study. Seven taxa matched published morphological descriptions for species with deep Pacific type localities, and our sequences provide the first genetic data for these taxa. One taxon morphologically matched a known cosmopolitan species but with a type locality in a different ocean basin and was assigned the open nomenclature ‘cf’ as a precautionary approach in taxon assignments to avoid over-estimating species ranges. One taxon is here described as a new species, Ledella knudseni sp. n. For the remaining 12 taxa, we have determined them to be potentially new species, for which we make the raw data, imagery and vouchers available for future taxonomic study. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is a region undergoing intense exploration for potential deep-sea mineral extraction. We present these data to facilitate future taxonomic and environmental impact study by making both data and voucher materials available through curated and accessible biological collections.

Potential impact of Andrassy bentonite microbial diversity in the long-term performance of a deep nuclear waste repository

Science.gov (United States)

Tadza, M. Y. Mohd; Tadza, M. A. Mohd; Bag, R.; Harith, N. S. H.

2018-01-01

Copper and steel canning and bentonite buffer are normally forseen as the primary containment component of a deep nuclear waste repository. Distribution of microbes in subsurface environments have been found to be extensive and directly or indirectly may exert influence on waste canister corrosion and the mobility of radionuclides. The understanding of clays and microbial interaction with radionuclides will be useful in predicting the microbial impacts on the performance of the waste repositories. The present work characterizes the culture-dependent microbial diversity of Andrassy bentonite recovered from Tawau clay deposits. The evaluation of microbial populations shows the presence of a number of cultivable microbes (e.g. Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Achromobacter, Bacillus, Paecilomyces, Trichoderma, and Fusarium). Additionally, a pigmented yeast strain Rhodotorula mucilaginosa was also recovered from the formation. Both Bacillus and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa have high tolerance towards U radiation and toxicity. The presence of Rhodotorula mucilaginosa in Andrassy bentonite might be able to change the speciation of radionuclides (e.g. uranium) in a future deep repository. However, concern over the presence of Fe (III) reduction microbes such as Bacillus also found in the formation could lead to corrosion of copper steel canister and affect the overall performance of the containment system.

Toward development of a Tophus Impact Questionnaire: a qualitative study exploring the experience of people with tophaceous gout.

Science.gov (United States)

Aati, Opetaia; Taylor, William J; Horne, Anne; Dalbeth, Nicola

2014-08-01

Although tophi are known to affect physical function, the impact of tophi on the lives of people with gout has not been explored in detail. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the experience of people living with tophaceous gout, as the first step to developing a patient-reported Tophus Impact Questionnaire. Twenty-five people with tophaceous gout (22 men; median age, 66 years; median gout disease duration, 26 years) participated in semistructured interviews that explored their experiences and perceptions of tophi. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcripts were analyzed and coded to identify themes using content analysis. Three major interrelated themes arose from the interviews. The first theme was functional impact affecting body structures and functions (causing pain, restricted joint range of motion and deformity, and complications), and causing activity limitation and participation restriction (affecting day-to-day activities, leisure activities, employment participation, and family participation). The second theme was psychological impact including low self-esteem, embarrassment, resignation, but also optimism. The third theme was the lack of impact in some participants. Gouty tophi can have an important impact on many aspects of the patient's life. In addition to the impact of tophi on physical function, tophi may also influence social and psychological functioning. Capturing these aspects of the patient experience will be important in the development of a patient-reported outcome measure of tophus burden.

Deep-learning: investigating deep neural networks hyper-parameters and comparison of performance to shallow methods for modeling bioactivity data.

Science.gov (United States)

Koutsoukas, Alexios; Monaghan, Keith J; Li, Xiaoli; Huan, Jun

2017-06-28

In recent years, research in artificial neural networks has resurged, now under the deep-learning umbrella, and grown extremely popular. Recently reported success of DL techniques in crowd-sourced QSAR and predictive toxicology competitions has showcased these methods as powerful tools in drug-discovery and toxicology research. The aim of this work was dual, first large number of hyper-parameter configurations were explored to investigate how they affect the performance of DNNs and could act as starting points when tuning DNNs and second their performance was compared to popular methods widely employed in the field of cheminformatics namely Naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbor, random forest and support vector machines. Moreover, robustness of machine learning methods to different levels of artificially introduced noise was assessed. The open-source Caffe deep-learning framework and modern NVidia GPU units were utilized to carry out this study, allowing large number of DNN configurations to be explored. We show that feed-forward deep neural networks are capable of achieving strong classification performance and outperform shallow methods across diverse activity classes when optimized. Hyper-parameters that were found to play critical role are the activation function, dropout regularization, number hidden layers and number of neurons. When compared to the rest methods, tuned DNNs were found to statistically outperform, with p value <0.01 based on Wilcoxon statistical test. DNN achieved on average MCC units of 0.149 higher than NB, 0.092 than kNN, 0.052 than SVM with linear kernel, 0.021 than RF and finally 0.009 higher than SVM with radial basis function kernel. When exploring robustness to noise, non-linear methods were found to perform well when dealing with low levels of noise, lower than or equal to 20%, however when dealing with higher levels of noise, higher than 30%, the Naïve Bayes method was found to perform well and even outperform at the highest level of

Exploring the impact of constraints in quantum optimal control through a kinematic formulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donovan, Ashley; Beltrani, Vincent; Rabitz, Herschel

2013-01-01

Highlights: • This work lays a foundation for studying constraints in quantum control simulations. • The underlying quantum control landscape in the presence of constraints is explored. • Constrained controls can encounter suboptimal traps in the landscape. • The controls are kinematic stand-ins for dynamic time-dependent controls. • A method is developed to transfer between constrained kinematic and dynamic controls. - Abstract: The control of quantum dynamics with tailored laser fields is finding growing experimental success. In practice, experiments will be subject to constraints on the controls that may prevent full optimization of the objective. A framework is presented for systematically investigating the impact of constraints in quantum optimal control simulations using a two-stage process starting with simple time-independent kinematic controls, which act as stand-ins for the traditional dynamic controls. The objective is a state-to-state transition probability, and constraints are introduced by restricting the kinematic control variables during optimization. As a second stage, the means to map from kinematic to dynamic controls is presented, thus enabling a simplified overall procedure for exploring how limited resources affect the ability to optimize the objective. A demonstration of the impact of imposing several types of kinematic constraints is investigated, thereby offering insight into constrained quantum controls

Analysis of large optical ground stations for deep-space optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Talavera, M. Reyes; Rivera, C.; Murga, G.; Montilla, I.; Alonso, A.

2017-11-01

Inter-satellite and ground to satellite optical communications have been successfully demonstrated over more than a decade with several experiments, the most recent being NASA's lunar mission Lunar Atmospheric Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). The technology is in a mature stage that allows to consider optical communications as a high-capacity solution for future deep-space communications [1][2], where there is an increasing demand on downlink data rate to improve science return. To serve these deep-space missions, suitable optical ground stations (OGS) have to be developed providing large collecting areas. The design of such OGSs must face both technical and cost constraints in order to achieve an optimum implementation. To that end, different approaches have already been proposed and analyzed, namely, a large telescope based on a segmented primary mirror, telescope arrays, and even the combination of RF and optical receivers in modified versions of existing Deep-Space Network (DSN) antennas [3][4][5]. Array architectures have been proposed to relax some requirements, acting as one of the key drivers of the present study. The advantages offered by the array approach are attained at the expense of adding subsystems. Critical issues identified for each implementation include their inherent efficiency and losses, as well as its performance under high-background conditions, and the acquisition, pointing, tracking, and synchronization capabilities. It is worth noticing that, due to the photon-counting nature of detection, the system performance is not solely given by the signal-to-noise ratio parameter. To start with the analysis, first the main implications of the deep space scenarios are summarized, since they are the driving requirements to establish the technical specifications for the large OGS. Next, both the main characteristics of the OGS and the potential configuration approaches are presented, getting deeper in key subsystems with strong impact in the

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Ecogenomics of the Deep-Sea Plume

Science.gov (United States)

Hazen, T. C.

2012-12-01

The explosion on April 20, 2010 at the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, resulted in oil and gas rising to the surface and the oil coming ashore in many parts of the Gulf, it also resulted in the dispersment of an immense oil plume 4,000 feet below the surface of the water. Despite spanning more than 600 feet in the water column and extending more than 10 miles from the wellhead, the dispersed oil plume was gone within weeks after the wellhead was capped - degraded and diluted to undetectable levels. Furthermore, this degradation took place without significant oxygen depletion. Ecogenomics enabled discovery of new and unclassified species of oil-eating bacteria that apparently lives in the deep Gulf where oil seeps are common. Using 16s microarrays, functional gene arrays, clone libraries, lipid analysis and a variety of hydrocarbon and micronutrient analyses we were able to characterize the oil degraders. Metagenomic sequence data was obtained for the deep-water samples using the Illumina platform. In addition, single cells were sorted and sequenced for the some of the most dominant bacteria that were represented in the oil plume; namely uncultivated representatives of Colwellia and Oceanospirillum. In addition, we performed laboratory microcosm experiments using uncontaminated water collected from The Gulf at the depth of the oil plume to which we added oil and COREXIT. These samples were characterized by 454 pyrotag. The results provide information about the key players and processes involved in degradation of oil, with and without COREXIT, in different impacted environments in The Gulf of Mexico. We are also extending these studies to explore dozens of deep sediment samples that were also collected after the oil spill around the wellhead. This data suggests that a great potential for intrinsic bioremediation of oil plumes exists in the deep-sea and other environs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Deep Learning in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging: Current Perspectives and Future Directions.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Hongyoon

2018-04-01

Recent advances in deep learning have impacted various scientific and industrial fields. Due to the rapid application of deep learning in biomedical data, molecular imaging has also started to adopt this technique. In this regard, it is expected that deep learning will potentially affect the roles of molecular imaging experts as well as clinical decision making. This review firstly offers a basic overview of deep learning particularly for image data analysis to give knowledge to nuclear medicine physicians and researchers. Because of the unique characteristics and distinctive aims of various types of molecular imaging, deep learning applications can be different from other fields. In this context, the review deals with current perspectives of deep learning in molecular imaging particularly in terms of development of biomarkers. Finally, future challenges of deep learning application for molecular imaging and future roles of experts in molecular imaging will be discussed.

Exploring Subseafloor Life with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Sobecky

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Deep drilling of marine sediments and igneous crust offers a unique opportunity to explore how life persists and evolves in the Earth’s deepest subsurface ecosystems. Resource availability deep beneath the seafloor may impose constraints on microbial growth and dispersal patterns that differ greatly from those in the surface world. Processes that mediate microbial evolution and diversity may also be very different in these habitats, which approach and probably passthe extreme limits of life. Communities in parts of the deep subsurface may resemble primordial microbial ecosystems, and may serve as analogues of life on other planetary bodies, such as Mars or Europa, that have or once had water.

Exploring the Impact of Fuel Data Acquisition Technology on the USMC Expeditionary Energy Command and Control System

Science.gov (United States)

2016-09-01

CA: Sage Publications, Inc. Tulusan, J., Soi, L., Paefgen, J., Brogle, M., & Staake, T. (2011). Eco -efficient feedback technologies : Which eco ...IMPACT OF FUEL DATA ACQUISITION TECHNOLOGY ON THE USMC EXPEDITIONARY ENERGY COMMAND AND CONTROL SYSTEM by Jeremy F. Thomas September 2016...DATE September 2016 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF FUEL DATA ACQUISITION TECHNOLOGY

Excess plutonium disposition: The deep borehole option

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferguson, K.L.

1994-01-01

This report reviews the current status of technologies required for the disposition of plutonium in Very Deep Holes (VDH). It is in response to a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report which addressed the management of excess weapons plutonium and recommended three approaches to the ultimate disposition of excess plutonium: (1) fabrication and use as a fuel in existing or modified reactors in a once-through cycle, (2) vitrification with high-level radioactive waste for repository disposition, (3) burial in deep boreholes. As indicated in the NAS report, substantial effort would be required to address the broad range of issues related to deep bore-hole emplacement. Subjects reviewed in this report include geology and hydrology, design and engineering, safety and licensing, policy decisions that can impact the viability of the concept, and applicable international programs. Key technical areas that would require attention should decisions be made to further develop the borehole emplacement option are identified

Feasibility of deep ocean disposal of heat generating waste. V.1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hemming, C.R.

1988-06-01

This report summarises the research performed in the UK during the period 1977 to 1987 as part of the international programme investigating the feasibility of ocean disposal of heat generating radioactive waste. This study has involved: (i) the definition of the disposal operations needed to meet the minimum requirements for safely emplacing waste on or under the floor of the deep ocean; (ii) the identification and characterisation of areas of the deep ocean that might be suitable for containing heat generating waste; (iii) a study of the processes by which radionuclides might migrate through the multiple barriers that isolate the waste from man's environment; and (iv) a calculation of the radiological impact of the conceptual deep ocean repository. It is concluded that, from a technical and scientific viewpoint, disposal of heat generating waste in the deep ocean could provide a safe, economic and feasible alternative to deep disposal on land. (author)

Service employee adaptiveness : exploring the impact of role-stress and managerial control approaches

OpenAIRE

Sahadev, S; Purani, K; Panda, T

2017-01-01

The research aims to explore the relationships between managerial control strategies, role stress and employee adaptiveness among call center employees.\\ud Based on a conceptual model, a questionnaire based survey methodology is adopted. Data was collected from call center employees in India and the data was analysed through PLS methodology.\\ud The study finds that Outcome control and activity control increase role stress while capability control does not have a significant impact. The intera...

NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research'sOkeanos Explorer Program 2014 Discoveries - U.S. Atlantic Continental Margin and Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Lobecker, E.; McKenna, L.; Sowers, D.; Elliott, K.; Kennedy, B.

2014-12-01

NOAA ShipOkeanos Explorer, the only U.S. federal vessel dedicated to global ocean exploration, made several important discoveries in U.S. waters of the North Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico during the 2014 field season. Based on input received from a broad group ofmarine scientists and resource managers, over 100,000 square kilometers of seafloor and associated water column were systematically explored using advanced mapping sonars. 39 ROV diveswere conducted, leading to new discoveries that will further ourunderstanding of biologic, geologic, and underwater-cultural heritage secrets hidden withinthe oceans. In the Atlantic, season highlights include completion of a multi-year submarine canyons mapping effort of the continental shelf break from North Carolina to the U.S.-Canada maritime border;new information on the ephemerality of recently discovered and geographically extensive cold water seeps; and continued exploration of the New England Seamount chain; and mapping of two potential historically significant World War II wreck sites. In the Gulf of Mexico, season highlights includecompletion of a multi-year mapping effort of the West Florida Escarpment providing new insight into submarine landslides and detachment zones;the discovery of at least two asphalt volcanoes, or 'tar lilies'; range extensions of deep-sea corals; discovery of two potential new species of crinoids; identification of at least 300 potential cold water seeps; and ROV exploration of three historically significant19th century shipwrecks. In both regions, high-resolution mapping led to new insight into the geological context in which deep sea corals develop,while ROV dives provided valuable observations of deep sea coral habitats and their associated organisms, and chemosynthetic habitats. All mapping and ROV data is freely available to the public in usable data formats and maintained in national geophysical and oceanographic data archives.

Enterprise, Shell scheduled to explore Romanian acreage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1992-01-01

This paper reports that the pace of exploration is packing up in Romania's offshore and onshore sectors. Enterprise Oil Exploration Ltd., London, signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with state owned Rompetrol SA for two Black Sea blocks, Nos. XIII and XV, covering 3,000 sq km and 4,000 sq km, respectively. Shell Romania Exploration BV agreed with Rompetrol on an exploration and production sharing agreement for onshore Block 10. This covers 6,150 sq km in northern Transylvania. Shell's target will be deep formations underlying producing gas zones. Enterprise has a 65% share as operator of Blocks XIII and XV, while partner CanadianOxy (Romania) Ltd. holds the remaining 35%. Exploration and development costs will be borne by the license partners, while Rompetrol will take a share of any production

Placing the Deep Impact Mission into context: Two decades of observations of 9P/Tempel 1 from McDonald Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Cochran, A. L.; Barker, E. S.; Caballero, M. D.; Györgey-Ries, J.

2009-01-01

We report on low-spectral resolution observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 from 1983, 1989, 1994 and 2005 using the 2.7 m Harlan J. Smith telescope of McDonald Observatory. This comet was the target of NASA's Deep Impact mission and our observations allowed us to characterize the comet prior to the impact. We found that the comet showed a decrease in gas production from 1983 to 2005, with the decrease being different factors for different species. OH decreased by a factor 2.7, NH by 1.7, CN by 1.6, C 3 by 1.8, CH by 1.4 and C 2 by 1.3. Despite the decrease in overall gas production and these slightly different decrease factors, we find that the gas production rates of OH, NH, C 3, CH and C 2 ratioed to that of CN were constant over all of the apparitions. We saw no change in the production rate ratios after the impact. We found that the peak gas production occurred about two months prior to perihelion. Comet Tempel 1 is a "normal" comet.

Effects of wind on the dynamics of the central jet during drop impact onto a deep-water surface

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xinan; Wang, An; Wang, Shuang; Dai, Dejun

2018-05-01

The cavity and central jet generated by the impact of a single water drop on a deep-water surface in a wind field are experimentally studied. Different experiments are performed by varying the impacting drop diameter and wind speed. The contour profile histories of the cavity (also called crater) and central jet (also called stalk) are measured in detail with a backlit cinematic shadowgraph technique. The results show that shortly after the drop hits the water surface an asymmetrical cavity appears along the wind direction, with a train of capillary waves on the cavity wall. This is followed by the formation of an inclined central jet at the location of the drop impact. It is found that the wind has little effect on the penetration depth of the cavity at the early stage of the cavity expansion, but markedly changes the capillary waves during the retraction of the cavity. The capillary waves in turn shift the position of the central jet formation leeward. The dynamics of the central jet are dominated by two mechanisms: (i) the oblique drop impact produced by the wind and (ii) the wind drag force directly acting on the jet. The maximum height of the central jet, called the stalk height, is drastically affected by the wind, and the nondimensional stalk height H /D decreases with increasing θ Re-1 , where D is the drop diameter, θ is the impingement angle of drop impact, and Re=ρaUwD /μa is the Reynolds number with air density ρa, wind speed Uw, and air viscosity μa.

VSAT: opening new horizons to oil and gas explorations

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Dhamen, Muhammad I.

2002-08-01

Whether exploring in the Empty Quarter, drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, or monitoring gas pipelines or oil wells in the deserts, communications is a key element to the success of oil and gas operations. Secure, efficient communications is required between remote, isolated locations and head offices to report on work status, dispatch supplies and repairs, report on-site emergencies, transfer geophysical surveys and real-time drilling data. Drilling and exploration firms have traditionally used land-based terrestrial networks that rely on radio transmissions for voice and data communications to offshore platforms and remote deep desert drilling rigs. But these systems are inefficient and have proven inflexible with today's drilling and exploration communications demands, which include high-speed data access, telephone and video conferencing. In response, numerous oil and gas exploration entities working in deep waters and remote deep deserts have all tapped into what is an ideal solution for these needs: Very Small Aperture Terminal Systems (VSAT) for broadband access services. This led to the use of Satellite Communication Systems for a wide range of applications that were difficult to achieve in the past, such as real-time applications transmission of drilling data and seismic information. This paper provides a thorough analysis of opportunities for satellite technology solutions in support of oil and gas operations. Technologies, architecture, service, networking and application developments are discussed based upon real field experience. More specifically, the report addresses: VSAT Opportunities for the Oil and Gas Operations, Corporate Satellite Business Model Findings, Satellite Market Forecasts

Deep imitation learning for 3D navigation tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hussein, Ahmed; Elyan, Eyad; Gaber, Mohamed Medhat; Jayne, Chrisina

2018-01-01

Deep learning techniques have shown success in learning from raw high-dimensional data in various applications. While deep reinforcement learning is recently gaining popularity as a method to train intelligent agents, utilizing deep learning in imitation learning has been scarcely explored. Imitation learning can be an efficient method to teach intelligent agents by providing a set of demonstrations to learn from. However, generalizing to situations that are not represented in the demonstrations can be challenging, especially in 3D environments. In this paper, we propose a deep imitation learning method to learn navigation tasks from demonstrations in a 3D environment. The supervised policy is refined using active learning in order to generalize to unseen situations. This approach is compared to two popular deep reinforcement learning techniques: deep-Q-networks and Asynchronous actor-critic (A3C). The proposed method as well as the reinforcement learning methods employ deep convolutional neural networks and learn directly from raw visual input. Methods for combining learning from demonstrations and experience are also investigated. This combination aims to join the generalization ability of learning by experience with the efficiency of learning by imitation. The proposed methods are evaluated on 4 navigation tasks in a 3D simulated environment. Navigation tasks are a typical problem that is relevant to many real applications. They pose the challenge of requiring demonstrations of long trajectories to reach the target and only providing delayed rewards (usually terminal) to the agent. The experiments show that the proposed method can successfully learn navigation tasks from raw visual input while learning from experience methods fail to learn an effective policy. Moreover, it is shown that active learning can significantly improve the performance of the initially learned policy using a small number of active samples.

Ethical issues in deep brain stimulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maartje eSchermer

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Deep brain stimulation (DBS is currently used to treat neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease (PD, essential tremor and dystonia, and is explored as an experimental treatment for psychiatric disorders like Major Depression (MD and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD. This mini review discusses ethical issues in DBS treatment and research, as they have been discussed in the medical and ethical literature.With regard to DBS treatment, the most important issues are balancing risks and benefits and ensuring respect for the autonomous wish of the patient. This implies special attention to patient selection, psycho-social impact of treatment, effects on personal identity, and treatment of children. Moreover, it implies a careful informed consent process in which unrealistic expectations of patients and their families are addressed and in which special attention is given to competence. In the context of research, the fundamental ethical challenge is to promote high-quality scientific research in the interest of future patients, while at the same time safeguarding the rights and interests of vulnerable research subjects. Several guidelines have been proposed to ensure this. One of the preconditions to further development of responsible and transparent research practices is the establishment of a comprehensive registry.

Analysis of Low-Biomass Microbial Communities in the Deep Biosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Morono, Y; Inagaki, F

2016-01-01

Over the past few decades, the subseafloor biosphere has been explored by scientific ocean drilling to depths of about 2.5km below the seafloor. Although organic-rich anaerobic sedimentary habitats in the ocean margins harbor large numbers of microbial cells, microbial populations in ultraoligotrophic aerobic sedimentary habitats in the open ocean gyres are several orders of magnitude less abundant. Despite advances in cultivation-independent molecular ecological techniques, exploring the low-biomass environment remains technologically challenging, especially in the deep subseafloor biosphere. Reviewing the historical background of deep-biosphere analytical methods, the importance of obtaining clean samples and tracing contamination, as well as methods for detecting microbial life, technological aspects of molecular microbiology, and detecting subseafloor metabolic activity will be discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

'Being in it together': living with a partner receiving deep brain stimulation for advanced Parkinson's disease--a hermeneutic phenomenological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Haahr, Anita; Kirkevold, Marit; Hall, Elisabeth O C; Østergaard, Karen

2013-02-01

This article is a report of an exploration of the lived experience of being a spouse to a person living with advanced Parkinson's disease, before and during the first year of deep brain stimulation. Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease. It has a profound impact on the everyday life for patients and spouses. Deep brain stimulation is offered with the aim of reducing symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The treatment is known to improve quality of life for patients, but little is known of how spouses experience life following their partners' treatment. A longitudinal interview study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Ten spouses were included in the study. Data were gathered in 2007-2008, through qualitative in-depth interviews with spouses once before and three times during the first year of their partners' treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation. Data collection and data analysis were influenced by the hermeneutic phenomenological methodology of van Manen. The uniting theme 'Solidarity - the base for joined responsibility and concern' was the foundation for the relationship between spouses and their partners. Before treatment, the theme 'Living in partnership' was dominant. After treatment two dichotomous courses were described 'A sense of freedom embracing life' and 'The challenge of changes and constraint'. Spouses are deeply involved in their partners' illness and their experience of life is highly affected by their partners' illness, both before and after deep brain stimulation. The relationship is founded on solidarity and responsibility, which emphasizes spouses' need to be informed and involved in the process following Deep Brain Stimulation. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Towards person-centredness in aged care - exploring the impact of leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Backman, Annica; Sjögren, Karin; Lindkvist, Marie; Lövheim, Hugo; Edvardsson, David

2016-09-01

To explore the association between leadership behaviours among managers in aged care, and person-centredness of care and the psychosocial climate. Theory suggests that leadership is important for improving person-centredness in aged care, however, empirical evidence is lacking. A cross-sectional design was used to collect data from Swedish aged care staff (n = 3661). Valid and reliable questionnaires assessing leadership behaviours, person-centeredness of care and the psychosocial climate were used. Data were analysed using multiple linear regression including interaction terms. Leadership behaviours were significantly related to the person-centredness of care and the psychosocial climate. The level of person-centredness of care moderated the impact of leadership on the psychosocial climate. The leadership behaviour of managers significantly impacts person-centred care practice and contributes to the psychosocial climate for both staff and residents in aged care. This study is the first empirically to confirm that middle managers have a central leadership role in developing and supporting person-centred care practice, thereby creating a positive psychosocial climate and high quality care. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

What safety indicators for a storage in deep geologic deposit?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crouail, P.; Schneider, T.; Mure, J.M.; Voinis, S.

1999-01-01

Indicators must allow to discriminate and compare different options of facility conception and help the decision-makers in their choices. In the case of a deep storage, these indicators can also allow a comparison in terms of impact with other existing industrial systems (thermal or nuclear power plants, uranium ores) or even the natural radioactivity. Through Swedish and Canadian examples, the presentation makes an inventory of indicators that could be kept in a safety analysis of a deep storage. (N.C.)

Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors for High-Data-Rate Deep-Space Optical Communication

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — High data rate deep space optical communication (DSOC) links for manned and unmanned space exploration have been identified by NASA as a critical future capability,...

The contribution of deep-sea macrohabitat heterogeneity to global nematode diversity

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Vanreusel, A.; Fonseca, G.; Danovaro, R.; DaSilva, M.C.; Esteves, A.M.; Ferrero, T.; Gad, G.; Galtsova, V.; Gambi, C.; Genevois, V.F.; Ingels, J.; Ingole, B.S.; Lampadariou, N.; Merckx, B.; Miljutina, M.; Muthumbi, A.; Netto, S.; Portnova, D.; Radziejewska, T.; Raes, M.; Tchesunov, A.; Vanaverbeke, J.; Van Gaever, S.; Venekey, V.; Bezerra, T.N.; Flint, H; Copley, J.; Pape, E; Zeppilli, D.; Martinez, P.A.; Galeron, J.

An edited version of this paper was published by Blackwell Verlag GmbH. Copyright [2010] Abstract : The great variety of geological and hydrological settings in the deep-sea generates many different habitats, some of them only recently explored whereas... were assumed to be the main driving factors for differences in benthic standing stock, biodiversity and community composition of the benthos (Grassle, 1989; Gage and Tyler, 1991). However, through increasing exploration by means of bathymetric...

Trends and Future Challenges in Sampling the Deep Terrestrial Biosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J Wilkins

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Research in the deep terrestrial biosphere is driven by interest in novel biodiversity and metabolisms, biogeochemical cycling, and the impact of human activities on this ecosystem. As this interest continues to grow, it is important to ensure that when subsurface investigations are proposed, materials recovered from the subsurface are sampled and preserved in an appropriate manner to limit contamination and ensure preservation of accurate microbial, geochemical, and mineralogical signatures. On February 20th, 2014, a workshop on Trends and Future Challenges in Sampling The Deep Subsurface was coordinated in Columbus, Ohio by The Ohio State University and West Virginia University faculty, and sponsored by The Ohio State University and the Sloan Foundation’s Deep Carbon Observatory. The workshop aims were to identify and develop best practices for the collection, preservation, and analysis of terrestrial deep rock samples. This document summarizes the information shared during this workshop.

Trends and future challenges in sampling the deep terrestrial biosphere.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Michael J; Daly, Rebecca A; Mouser, Paula J; Trexler, Ryan; Sharma, Shihka; Cole, David R; Wrighton, Kelly C; Biddle, Jennifer F; Denis, Elizabeth H; Fredrickson, Jim K; Kieft, Thomas L; Onstott, Tullis C; Peterson, Lee; Pfiffner, Susan M; Phelps, Tommy J; Schrenk, Matthew O

2014-01-01

Research in the deep terrestrial biosphere is driven by interest in novel biodiversity and metabolisms, biogeochemical cycling, and the impact of human activities on this ecosystem. As this interest continues to grow, it is important to ensure that when subsurface investigations are proposed, materials recovered from the subsurface are sampled and preserved in an appropriate manner to limit contamination and ensure preservation of accurate microbial, geochemical, and mineralogical signatures. On February 20th, 2014, a workshop on "Trends and Future Challenges in Sampling The Deep Subsurface" was coordinated in Columbus, Ohio by The Ohio State University and West Virginia University faculty, and sponsored by The Ohio State University and the Sloan Foundation's Deep Carbon Observatory. The workshop aims were to identify and develop best practices for the collection, preservation, and analysis of terrestrial deep rock samples. This document summarizes the information shared during this workshop.

Deep iCrawl: An Intelligent Vision-Based Deep Web Crawler

OpenAIRE

R.Anita; V.Ganga Bharani; N.Nityanandam; Pradeep Kumar Sahoo

2011-01-01

The explosive growth of World Wide Web has posed a challenging problem in extracting relevant data. Traditional web crawlers focus only on the surface web while the deep web keeps expanding behind the scene. Deep web pages are created dynamically as a result of queries posed to specific web databases. The structure of the deep web pages makes it impossible for traditional web crawlers to access deep web contents. This paper, Deep iCrawl, gives a novel and vision-based app...

Expecting a boomtown? Exploring potential housing – related impacts of large scale resource developments in Darwin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gretchen Ennis

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Darwin is a city in the Northern Territory of Australia expecting a ‘boomtown’ scenario due to significant natural resource developments in the Greater Darwin area. The experience of ‘booming’ has a range of impacts upon communities. Housing is a key area of impact, particularly for the most vulnerable members of a population, who may not reap the benefits of the ‘boom’. In Darwin, new resource developments will begin in the context of record high house prices, high rents and high homelessness rates. This literature review explores what is known about the housing-related impacts of boomtowns and considers the likely housing-related impacts of a boomtown scenario in Darwin. While the city’s diverse economy and population size may provide some insulation from severe boomtown impacts, housing availability and affordability is likely to be negatively impacted. The implications of this for the most vulnerable members of the greater Darwin population require careful consideration.

The ecological impact of city lighting scenarios: exploring gap crossing thresholds for urban bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hale, James D; Fairbrass, Alison J; Matthews, Thomas J; Davies, Gemma; Sadler, Jon P

2015-02-02

As the global population urbanizes, dramatic changes are expected in city lighting and the urban form, which may threaten the functioning of urban ecosystems and the services they deliver. However, little is known about the ecological impact of lighting in different urban contexts. Movement is an important ecological process that can be disrupted by artificial lighting. We explored the impact of lighting on gap crossing for Pipistrellus pipistrellus, a species of bat (Chiroptera) common within UK cities. We aimed to determine whether the probability of crossing gaps in tree cover varied with crossing distance and lighting level, through stratified field surveys. We then used the resulting data on barrier thresholds to model the landscape resistance due to lighting across an entire city and explored the potential impact of scenarios for future changes to street lighting. The level of illumination required to create a barrier effect reduced as crossing distance increased. For those gaps where crossing was recorded, bats selected the darker parts of gaps. Heavily built parts of the case study city were associated with large and brightly lit gaps, and spatial models indicate movement would be highly restricted in these areas. Under a scenario for brighter street lighting, the area of accessible land cover was further reduced in heavily built parts of the city. We believe that this is the first study to demonstrate how lighting may create resistance to species movement throughout an entire city. That connectivity in urban areas is being disrupted for a relatively common species raises questions about the impacts on less tolerant groups and the resilience of bat communities in urban centres. However, this mechanistic approach raises the possibility that some ecological function could be restored in these areas through the strategic dimming of lighting and narrowing of gaps. © 2015 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Vive la radiorésistance!: converging research in radiobiology and biogerontology to enhance human radioresistance for deep space exploration and colonization

Science.gov (United States)

Cortese, Franco; Klokov, Dmitry; Osipov, Andreyan; Stefaniak, Jakub; Moskalev, Alexey; Schastnaya, Jane; Cantor, Charles; Aliper, Alexander; Mamoshina, Polina; Ushakov, Igor; Sapetsky, Alex; Vanhaelen, Quentin; Alchinova, Irina; Karganov, Mikhail; Kovalchuk, Olga; Wilkins, Ruth; Shtemberg, Andrey; Moreels, Marjan; Baatout, Sarah; Izumchenko, Evgeny; de Magalhães, João Pedro; Artemov, Artem V.; Costes, Sylvain V.; Beheshti, Afshin; Mao, Xiao Wen; Pecaut, Michael J.; Kaminskiy, Dmitry; Ozerov, Ivan V.; Scheibye-Knudsen, Morten; Zhavoronkov, Alex

2018-01-01

While many efforts have been made to pave the way toward human space colonization, little consideration has been given to the methods of protecting spacefarers against harsh cosmic and local radioactive environments and the high costs associated with protection from the deleterious physiological effects of exposure to high-Linear energy transfer (high-LET) radiation. Herein, we lay the foundations of a roadmap toward enhancing human radioresistance for the purposes of deep space colonization and exploration. We outline future research directions toward the goal of enhancing human radioresistance, including upregulation of endogenous repair and radioprotective mechanisms, possible leeways into gene therapy in order to enhance radioresistance via the translation of exogenous and engineered DNA repair and radioprotective mechanisms, the substitution of organic molecules with fortified isoforms, and methods of slowing metabolic activity while preserving cognitive function. We conclude by presenting the known associations between radioresistance and longevity, and articulating the position that enhancing human radioresistance is likely to extend the healthspan of human spacefarers as well. PMID:29581875

Robustness for slope stability modelling under deep uncertainty

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, Susana; Holcombe, Liz; Pianosi, Francesca; Wagener, Thorsten

2015-04-01

Landslides can have large negative societal and economic impacts, such as loss of life and damage to infrastructure. However, the ability of slope stability assessment to guide management is limited by high levels of uncertainty in model predictions. Many of these uncertainties cannot be easily quantified, such as those linked to climate change and other future socio-economic conditions, restricting the usefulness of traditional decision analysis tools. Deep uncertainty can be managed more effectively by developing robust, but not necessarily optimal, policies that are expected to perform adequately under a wide range of future conditions. Robust strategies are particularly valuable when the consequences of taking a wrong decision are high as is often the case of when managing natural hazard risks such as landslides. In our work a physically based numerical model of hydrologically induced slope instability (the Combined Hydrology and Stability Model - CHASM) is applied together with robust decision making to evaluate the most important uncertainties (storm events, groundwater conditions, surface cover, slope geometry, material strata and geotechnical properties) affecting slope stability. Specifically, impacts of climate change on long-term slope stability are incorporated, accounting for the deep uncertainty in future climate projections. Our findings highlight the potential of robust decision making to aid decision support for landslide hazard reduction and risk management under conditions of deep uncertainty.

Manned Mission Space Exploration Utilizing a Flexible Universal Module

Science.gov (United States)

Humphries, P.; Barez, F.; Gowda, A.

2018-02-01

The proposed ASMS, Inc. "Flexible Universal Module" is in support of NASA's Deep Space Gateway project. The Flexible Universal Module provides a possible habitation or manufacturing environment in support of Manned Mission for Space Exploration.

An Exploration into the Impact of Blogs on Students' Learning: Case Studies in Postgraduate Business Education

Science.gov (United States)

Mansouri, S. Afshin; Piki, Andriani

2016-01-01

The research draws from four case studies to investigate the impact of using blogs within postgraduate education. The study explores how postgraduate business students engage with blogs, whether students' learning preferences correlate with their degree of contribution and how student participation relates with overall achievement. A mixed…

Deep Learning in Radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

McBee, Morgan P; Awan, Omer A; Colucci, Andrew T; Ghobadi, Comeron W; Kadom, Nadja; Kansagra, Akash P; Tridandapani, Srini; Auffermann, William F

2018-03-29

As radiology is inherently a data-driven specialty, it is especially conducive to utilizing data processing techniques. One such technique, deep learning (DL), has become a remarkably powerful tool for image processing in recent years. In this work, the Association of University Radiologists Radiology Research Alliance Task Force on Deep Learning provides an overview of DL for the radiologist. This article aims to present an overview of DL in a manner that is understandable to radiologists; to examine past, present, and future applications; as well as to evaluate how radiologists may benefit from this remarkable new tool. We describe several areas within radiology in which DL techniques are having the most significant impact: lesion or disease detection, classification, quantification, and segmentation. The legal and ethical hurdles to implementation are also discussed. By taking advantage of this powerful tool, radiologists can become increasingly more accurate in their interpretations with fewer errors and spend more time to focus on patient care. Copyright © 2018 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Exploring the effects of dimensionality reduction in deep networks for force estimation in robotic-assisted surgery

Science.gov (United States)

Aviles, Angelica I.; Alsaleh, Samar; Sobrevilla, Pilar; Casals, Alicia

2016-03-01

Robotic-Assisted Surgery approach overcomes the limitations of the traditional laparoscopic and open surgeries. However, one of its major limitations is the lack of force feedback. Since there is no direct interaction between the surgeon and the tissue, there is no way of knowing how much force the surgeon is applying which can result in irreversible injuries. The use of force sensors is not practical since they impose different constraints. Thus, we make use of a neuro-visual approach to estimate the applied forces, in which the 3D shape recovery together with the geometry of motion are used as input to a deep network based on LSTM-RNN architecture. When deep networks are used in real time, pre-processing of data is a key factor to reduce complexity and improve the network performance. A common pre-processing step is dimensionality reduction which attempts to eliminate redundant and insignificant information by selecting a subset of relevant features to use in model construction. In this work, we show the effects of dimensionality reduction in a real-time application: estimating the applied force in Robotic-Assisted Surgeries. According to the results, we demonstrated positive effects of doing dimensionality reduction on deep networks including: faster training, improved network performance, and overfitting prevention. We also show a significant accuracy improvement, ranging from about 33% to 86%, over existing approaches related to force estimation.

Deep Impact: Effects of Mountaintop Mining on Surface Topography, Bedrock Structure, and Downstream Waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Matthew R V; McGlynn, Brian L; Bernhardt, Emily S

2016-02-16

Land use impacts are commonly quantified and compared using 2D maps, limiting the scale of their reported impacts to surface area estimates. Yet, nearly all land use involves disturbances below the land surface. Incorporating this third dimension into our estimates of land use impact is especially important when examining the impacts of mining. Mountaintop mining is the most common form of coal mining in the Central Appalachian ecoregion. Previous estimates suggest that active, reclaimed, or abandoned mountaintop mines cover ∼7% of Central Appalachia. While this is double the areal extent of development in the ecoregion (estimated to occupy mines extend 10s to 100s of meters below the current land surface. Here, we provide the first estimates for the total volumetric and topographic disturbance associated with mining in an 11 500 km(2) region of southern West Virginia. We find that the cutting of ridges and filling of valleys has lowered the median slope of mined landscapes in the region by nearly 10 degrees while increasing their average elevation by 3 m as a result of expansive valley filling. We estimate that in southern West Virginia, more than 6.4km(3) of bedrock has been broken apart and deposited into 1544 headwater valley fills. We used NPDES monitoring datatsets available for 91 of these valley fills to explore whether fill characteristics could explain variation in the pH or selenium concentrations reported for streams draining these fills. We found that the volume of overburden in individual valley fills correlates with stream pH and selenium concentration, and suggest that a three-dimensional assessment of mountaintop mining impacts is necessary to predict both the severity and the longevity of the resulting environmental impacts.

Communications Relay and Human-Assisted Sample Return from the Deep Space Gateway

Science.gov (United States)

Cichan, T.; Hopkins, J. B.; Bierhaus, B.; Murrow, D. W.

2018-02-01

The Deep Space Gateway can enable or enhance exploration of the lunar surface through two capabilities: 1. communications relay, opening up access to the lunar farside, and 2. sample return, enhancing the ability to return large sample masses.

Restoration of deep-sea macrofauna after simulated benthic disturbance in the Central Indian Basin

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Ingole, B.S.; Pavithran, S.; Ansari, Z.A.

feeding by holoyhurians in the deep sea: some observations and comments. Progress in Oceanography 50, 407-421. Glasby, G.P., 1977. Marine manganese deposits. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp.523. Grassle, J.F. and Sanders, H.L., 1973. Life histories and role... gesamten Hydrobiologie 77, 331-339. Thiel, H., 2001. Use and protection of the deep sea - an introduction. Deep-Sea Research II 48, (17-18), 3427-3431. Trueblood, D., Ozturgut, E., Pilipchuk, M., Gloumov, I. 1997. The ecological impacts of the joint U...

DeepPIV: Particle image velocimetry measurements using deep-sea, remotely operated vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Katija, Kakani; Sherman, Alana; Graves, Dale; Klimov, Denis; Kecy, Chad; Robison, Bruce

2015-11-01

The midwater region of the ocean (below the euphotic zone and above the benthos) is one of the largest ecosystems on our planet, yet remains one of the least explored. Little-known marine organisms that inhabit midwater have developed life strategies that contribute to their evolutionary success, and may inspire engineering solutions for societally relevant challenges. Although significant advances in underwater vehicle technologies have improved access to midwater, small-scale, in situ fluid mechanics measurement methods that seek to quantify the interactions that midwater organisms have with their physical environment are lacking. Here we present DeepPIV, an instrumentation package affixed to remotely operated vehicles that quantifies fluid motions from the surface of the ocean down to 4000 m depths. Utilizing ambient suspended particulate, fluid-structure interactions are evaluated on a range of marine organisms in midwater. Initial science targets include larvaceans, biological equivalents of flapping flexible foils, that create mucus houses to filter food. Little is known about the structure of these mucus houses and the function they play in selectively filtering particles, and these dynamics can serve as particle-mucus models for human health. Using DeepPIV, we reveal the complex structures and flows generated within larvacean mucus houses, and elucidate how these structures function. Funding is gratefully acknowledged from the Packard Foundation.

Deep Space Gateway Science Opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

Quincy, C. D.; Charles, J. B.; Hamill, Doris; Sidney, S. C.

2018-01-01

The NASA Life Sciences Research Capabilities Team (LSRCT) has been discussing deep space research needs for the last two years. NASA's programs conducting life sciences studies - the Human Research Program, Space Biology, Astrobiology, and Planetary Protection - see the Deep Space Gateway (DSG) as affording enormous opportunities to investigate biological organisms in a unique environment that cannot be replicated in Earth-based laboratories or on Low Earth Orbit science platforms. These investigations may provide in many cases the definitive answers to risks associated with exploration and living outside Earth's protective magnetic field. Unlike Low Earth Orbit or terrestrial locations, the Gateway location will be subjected to the true deep space spectrum and influence of both galactic cosmic and solar particle radiation and thus presents an opportunity to investigate their long-term exposure effects. The question of how a community of biological organisms change over time within the harsh environment of space flight outside of the magnetic field protection can be investigated. The biological response to the absence of Earth's geomagnetic field can be studied for the first time. Will organisms change in new and unique ways under these new conditions? This may be specifically true on investigations of microbial communities. The Gateway provides a platform for microbiology experiments both inside, to improve understanding of interactions between microbes and human habitats, and outside, to improve understanding of microbe-hardware interactions exposed to the space environment.

Visual Pretraining for Deep Q-Learning

OpenAIRE

Sandven, Torstein

2016-01-01

Recent advances in reinforcement learning enable computers to learn human level polices for Atari 2600 games. This is done by training a convolutional neural network to play based on screenshots and in-game rewards. The network is referred to as a deep Q-network (DQN). The main disadvantage to this approach is a long training time. A computer will typically learn for approximately one week. In this time it processes 38 days of game play. This thesis explores the possibility of using visual pr...

High-Rate Laser Communications for Human Exploration and Science

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, B. S.; Shih, T.; Khatri, F. I.; King, T.; Seas, A.

2018-02-01

Laser communication links has been successfully demonstrated on recent near-Earth and lunar missions. We present a status of this development work and its relevance to a future Deep Space Gateway supporting human exploration and science activities.

The Impact of Traffic Prioritization on Deep Space Network Mission Traffic

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Esther; Segui, John; Gao, Jay; Clare, Loren; Abraham, Douglas

2011-01-01

A select number of missions supported by NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) are demanding very high data rates. For example, the Kepler Mission was launched March 7, 2009 and at that time required the highest data rate of any NASA mission, with maximum rates of 4.33 Mb/s being provided via Ka band downlinks. The James Webb Space Telescope will require a maximum 28 Mb/s science downlink data rate also using Ka band links; as of this writing the launch is scheduled for a June 2014 launch. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched June 18, 2009, has demonstrated data rates at 100 Mb/s at lunar-Earth distances using NASA's Near Earth Network (NEN) and K-band. As further advances are made in high data rate space telecommunications, particularly with emerging optical systems, it is expected that large surges in demand on the supporting ground systems will ensue. A performance analysis of the impact of high variance in demand has been conducted using our Multi-mission Advanced Communications Hybrid Environment for Test and Evaluation (MACHETE) simulation tool. A comparison is made regarding the incorporation of Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms and the resulting ground-to-ground Wide Area Network (WAN) bandwidth necessary to meet latency requirements across different user missions. It is shown that substantial reduction in WAN bandwidth may be realized through QoS techniques when low data rate users with low-latency needs are mixed with high data rate users having delay-tolerant traffic.

Value of αs from deep-inelastic-scattering data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alekhin, S.I.

2003-01-01

We report the value of α s obtained from QCD analysis of existing data on deep-inelastic scattering of charged leptons off proton and deuterium and estimate its theoretical uncertainties with particular attention paid to impact of the high-twist contribution to the deep-inelastic-scattering structure functions. Taking into account the major uncertainties the value αNNLO s (M Z )=0.1143±0.0014(exp.)±0.0013(theor.) is obtained. An extrapolation of the LO-NLO-NNLO results to the higher orders makes it possible to estimate αN 3 LO s (M Z )∼0.113. (author)

Boosted Jet Tagging with Jet-Images and Deep Neural Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kagan, Michael; Oliveira, Luke de; Mackey, Lester; Nachman, Benjamin; Schwartzman, Ariel

2016-01-01

Building on the jet-image based representation of high energy jets, we develop computer vision based techniques for jet tagging through the use of deep neural networks. Jet-images enabled the connection between jet substructure and tagging with the fields of computer vision and image processing. We show how applying such techniques using deep neural networks can improve the performance to identify highly boosted W bosons with respect to state-of-the-art substructure methods. In addition, we explore new ways to extract and visualize the discriminating features of different classes of jets, adding a new capability to understand the physics within jets and to design more powerful jet tagging methods

Impact of partitioning and transmutation on the high level waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez-Romero, Enrique-Miguel

2010-01-01

The contribution is structured as follows: (i) Background on partitioning and transmutation; (ii) FP6 projects: RED-IMPACT; (iii) Advanced fuel cycle scenarios; (iv) Partitioning and transmutation expected performance; (v) Impact on the HLW thermal load; (vi) Impact on the deep geological disposal; and (vii) Impact on the performance assessment of deep geological disposal. (P.A.)

High power deep UV-LEDs for analytical optical instrumentation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Li, Y.; Dvořák, Miloš; Nesterenko, P. N.; Nuchtavorn, N.; Macka, M.

2018-01-01

Roč. 255, č. 2 (2018), s. 1238-1243 ISSN 0925-4005 Institutional support: RVO:68081715 Keywords : deep UV Light emitting diodes (LEDs) * optical detection * portable analytical instrumentation Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation OBOR OECD: Analytical chemistry Impact factor: 5.401, year: 2016

Ship Sensor Observations for Islands in the Stream 2002 - Deep Reef Habitat - Office of Ocean Exploration

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Hourly measurements made by selected ship sensors on the R/V Seward Johnson during the 2002 "Islands in the Stream - Deep Reef Habitat" expedition sponsored by the...

Shear Strengthening of RC Deep Beam Using Externally Bonded GFRP Fabrics

Science.gov (United States)

Kumari, A.; Patel, S. S.; Nayak, A. N.

2018-06-01

This work presents the experimental investigation of RC deep beams wrapped with externally bonded Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) fabrics in order to study the Load versus deflection behavior, cracking pattern, failure modes and ultimate shear strength. A total number of five deep beams have been casted, which is designed with conventional steel reinforcement as per IS: 456 (Indian standard plain and reinforced concrete—code for practice, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi, 2000). The spans to depth ratio for all RC deep beams have been kept less than 2 as per the above specification. Out of five RC deep beams, one without retrofitting serves as a reference beam and the rest four have been wrapped with GFRP fabrics in multiple layers and tested with two point loading condition. The first cracking load, ultimate load and the shear contribution of GFRP to the deep beams have been observed. A critical discussion is made with respect to the enhancement of the strength, behaviour and performance of retrofitted deep beams in comparison to the deep beam without GFRP in order to explore the potential use of GFRP for strengthening the RC deep beams. Test results have demonstrated that the deep beams retrofitted with GFRP shows a slower development of the diagonal cracks and improves shear carrying capacity of the RC deep beam. A comparative study of the experimental results with the theoretical ones predicted by various researchers available in the literatures has also been presented. It is observed that the ultimate load of the beams retrofitted with GFRP fabrics increases with increase of number of GFRP layers up to a specific number of layers, i.e. 3 layers, beyond which it decreases.

Exploring the impact of foreign direct investment on tobacco consumption in the former Soviet Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilmore, A B; McKee, M

2005-02-01

Tobacco is the single largest cause of morbidity and mortality in the developed world; in the former socialist bloc tobacco kills twice as many men as in the west. Although evidence shows that liberalisation of the cigarette trade through the elimination of import barriers leads to significant increases in consumption, far less is known about the impact of foreign direct investment on cigarette consumption. This paper seeks to explore the impact that the substantial transnational tobacco company investments have had on patterns of tobacco trade and consumption in the former Soviet Union. Routine data were used to explore trends in cigarette trade and consumption in the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union from the 1960s to the present day. Comparisons were made between trends in countries that have received substantial investment from the tobacco transnationals and countries that have not. Between 1991 and 2000 cigarette production increased by 96% in countries receiving industry investment and by 11% in countries that did not. Over the same period cigarette consumption increased by 40%; the increase was concentrated in countries receiving investments. Despite these investments, cigarette imports still outweigh exports and no trade surplus has yet to result. The findings suggest that liberalisation of inward investment has a significant and positive impact on cigarette consumption and that without appropriate safeguards, market liberalisation may have long term negative impacts on health. Specific trade rules are needed to govern trade and investment in this uniquely harmful product. Implementation of effective tobacco control policies should precede tobacco industry privatisation. International financial organisations pressing for privatisation should ensure this occurs.

State of HIV in the US Deep South.

Science.gov (United States)

Reif, Susan; Safley, Donna; McAllaster, Carolyn; Wilson, Elena; Whetten, Kathryn

2017-10-01

The Southern United States has been disproportionately affected by HIV diagnoses and mortality. To inform efforts to effectively address HIV in the South, this manuscript synthesizes recent data on HIV epidemiology, care financing, and current research literature on factors that predispose this region to experience a greater impact of HIV. The manuscript focuses on a specific Southern region, the Deep South, which has been particularly affected by HIV. Epidemiologic data from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the Deep South had the highest HIV diagnosis rate and the highest number of individuals diagnosed with HIV (18,087) in 2014. The percentage of new HIV diagnoses that were female has decreased over time (2008-2014) while increasing among minority MSM. The Deep South also had the highest death rates with HIV as an underlying cause of any US region in 2014. Despite higher diagnosis and death rates, the Deep South received less federal government and private foundation funding per person living with HIV than the US overall. Factors that have been identified as contributors to the disproportionate effects of HIV in the Deep South include pervasive HIV-related stigma, poverty, higher levels of sexually transmitted infections, racial inequality and bias, and laws that further HIV-related stigma and fear. Interventions that address and abate the contributors to the spread of HIV disease and the poorer HIV-related outcomes in the Deep South are warranted. Funding inequalities by region must also be examined and addressed to reduce the regional disparities in HIV incidence and mortality.

Inverse Analysis to Formability Design in a Deep Drawing Process

Science.gov (United States)

Buranathiti, Thaweepat; Cao, Jian

Deep drawing process is an important process adding values to flat sheet metals in many industries. An important concern in the design of a deep drawing process generally is formability. This paper aims to present the connection between formability and inverse analysis (IA), which is a systematical means for determining an optimal blank configuration for a deep drawing process. In this paper, IA is presented and explored by using a commercial finite element software package. A number of numerical studies on the effect of blank configurations to the quality of a part produced by a deep drawing process were conducted and analyzed. The quality of the drawing processes is numerically analyzed by using an explicit incremental nonlinear finite element code. The minimum distance between elemental principal strains and the strain-based forming limit curve (FLC) is defined as tearing margin to be the key performance index (KPI) implying the quality of the part. The initial blank configuration has shown that it plays a highly important role in the quality of the product via the deep drawing process. In addition, it is observed that if a blank configuration is not greatly deviated from the one obtained from IA, the blank can still result a good product. The strain history around the bottom fillet of the part is also observed. The paper concludes that IA is an important part of the design methodology for deep drawing processes.

Translating Knowledge Into Practice Through an Academic-Practice Partnership for Exploring Barriers That Impact Management of Homebound Patients With Heart Failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Echevarria, Mercedes

A knowledge translation project involving an academic-practice partnership and guided by action-oriented research was used for exploring barriers that impact management of homebound heart failure patients. The intervention process followed an action research model of interaction, self-reflection, response, and change in direction. External facilitators (academia) and internal facilitators (practice) worked with clinicians to identify a topic for improvement, explore barriers, locate the evidence compare current practice against evidence-based practice recommendations, introduce strategies to "close the gap" between actual practice and the desired practice, develop audit criteria, and reevaluate the impact.

AllAboard: Visual Exploration of Cellphone Mobility Data to Optimise Public Transport.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Lorenzo, G; Sbodio, M; Calabrese, F; Berlingerio, M; Pinelli, F; Nair, R

2016-02-01

The deep penetration of mobile phones offers cities the ability to opportunistically monitor citizens' mobility and use data-driven insights to better plan and manage services. With large scale data on mobility patterns, operators can move away from the costly, mostly survey based, transportation planning processes, to a more data-centric view, that places the instrumented user at the center of development. In this framework, using mobile phone data to perform transit analysis and optimization represents a new frontier with significant societal impact, especially in developing countries. In this paper we present AllAboard, an intelligent tool that analyses cellphone data to help city authorities in visually exploring urban mobility and optimizing public transport. This is performed within a self contained tool, as opposed to the current solutions which rely on a combination of several distinct tools for analysis, reporting, optimisation and planning. An interactive user interface allows transit operators to visually explore the travel demand in both space and time, correlate it with the transit network, and evaluate the quality of service that a transit network provides to the citizens at very fine grain. Operators can visually test scenarios for transit network improvements, and compare the expected impact on the travellers' experience. The system has been tested using real telecommunication data for the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and evaluated from a data mining, optimisation and user prospective.

Overseas uranium exploration by PNC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagashima, Reiji; Iida, Yoshimasa; Shigeta, Naotaka; Takahashi, Osamu; Yamagishi, Akiko; Miyada, Hatsuho; Kobayashi, Takao

1998-01-01

Japan entirely depends on overseas countries for uranium resources for its nuclear electric power generation due to the lack of domestic resources. In order to secure a steady supply of natural uranium, Japanese government has implemented a long-term procurement policy through purchase contracts by private sectors, subsidizing private sectors' exploration and initial stage exploration outside the reach of private sectors' activity by PNC (Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation). The subsequent long slump in the price of uranium, however, led most of Japanese private sectors to discontinue their exploration activity. Upon this situation, PNC has pursued a little more advanced stage exploration in addition to basic research and initial stage exploration and has improved its exploration techniques to enable the discovery of deep-seated uranium ore deposits. As the result, PNC has acquired significant uranium exploration tenements and interests similar to those owned by major uranium companies such as Cameco and Cogema. PNC has also contributed to discovery of new uranium deposits. In this report, the history of PNC's activities and its role in the long-term uranium procurement policy are reviewed and it is also described about the outcome thorough its activities and future exploration trend and the tasks. (author)

Deep Subsurface Microbial Communities Shaped by the Chicxulub Impactor

Science.gov (United States)

Cockell, C. S.; Coolen, M.; Schaefer, B.; Grice, K.; Gulick, S. P. S.; Morgan, J. V.; Kring, D. A.; Osinski, G.

2017-12-01

Fresh core material was obtained by drilling of the Chicxulub impact crater during IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 to assess the present-day biosphere in the crater structure. Cell enumerations through the core show that beneath the post-impact sedimentary rock there is a region of enhanced cell abundance that corresponds to the upper impact suevite layer (Units 1G/2A). We also observed a peak in cell numbers in samples at the bottom of suevite Unit 2C and between the suevitic and grainitoid interface (Unit 3/4). These patterns may reflect preferential movement of fluid and/or availability of nutrients and energy at interfaces. 16S rDNA analysis allows us to rule out contamination of the suevite material since no taxa associated with the drilling mud were observed. Two hundred and fifty microbial enrichments were established using diverse culture media for heterotrophs, autotrophs and chemolithotrophs at temperatures consistent with measured core temperatures. Six yielded growth in the breccia, lower breccia and upper granitoid layer and they affiliated with Acidiphilium, Thermoanaerobacteracea and Desulfohalbiaceae. The latter exhibited visible microbial sulfate-reduction. By contrast, the granitoid material exhibited low cell abundances, most samples were below direct cell detection. DNA extraction revealed pervasive low level contamination by drilling mud taxa, consistent with the highly fractured, high porosity of the impact-shocked granitoids. Few taxa can be attributed to an indigenous biota and no enrichments (at 60 and 70°C) yielded growth. These data show that even with a porosity approximately an order of magnitude greater than most unshocked granites, the uplifted granites have not experienced sufficient fluid flow to establish a significant deep biosphere. Paleosterilisation of the material during impact may have re-set colonisation and the material may have originally been below the depth at which temperatures exceeded the upper temperature limit for life

Fiber Orientation Estimation Guided by a Deep Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Chuyang; Prince, Jerry L

2017-09-01

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is currently the only tool for noninvasively imaging the brain's white matter tracts. The fiber orientation (FO) is a key feature computed from dMRI for tract reconstruction. Because the number of FOs in a voxel is usually small, dictionary-based sparse reconstruction has been used to estimate FOs. However, accurate estimation of complex FO configurations in the presence of noise can still be challenging. In this work we explore the use of a deep network for FO estimation in a dictionary-based framework and propose an algorithm named Fiber Orientation Reconstruction guided by a Deep Network (FORDN). FORDN consists of two steps. First, we use a smaller dictionary encoding coarse basis FOs to represent diffusion signals. To estimate the mixture fractions of the dictionary atoms, a deep network is designed to solve the sparse reconstruction problem. Second, the coarse FOs inform the final FO estimation, where a larger dictionary encoding a dense basis of FOs is used and a weighted ℓ 1 -norm regularized least squares problem is solved to encourage FOs that are consistent with the network output. FORDN was evaluated and compared with state-of-the-art algorithms that estimate FOs using sparse reconstruction on simulated and typical clinical dMRI data. The results demonstrate the benefit of using a deep network for FO estimation.

Farside explorer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mimoun, David; Wieczorek, Mark A.; Alkalai, Leon

2012-01-01

the primary differentiation and evolution of the Moon, it can be continuously monitored from the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point, and there is a complete lack of reflected solar illumination from the Earth. Farside Explorer will exploit these properties and make the first radio-astronomy measurements from...... the most radio-quiet region of near-Earth space, determine the internal structure and thermal evolution of the Moon, from crust to core, and quantify impact hazards in near-Earth space by the measurement of flashes generated by impact events. The Farside Explorer flight system includes two identical solar......Farside Explorer is a proposed Cosmic Vision medium-size mission to the farside of the Moon consisting of two landers and an instrumented relay satellite. The farside of the Moon is a unique scientific platform in that it is shielded from terrestrial radio-frequency interference, it recorded...

Nurses' perceptions of the impact of Team-Based Learning participation on learning style, team behaviours and clinical performance: An exploration of written reflections.

Science.gov (United States)

Oldland, Elizabeth; Currey, Judy; Considine, Julie; Allen, Josh

2017-05-01

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a teaching strategy designed to promote problem solving, critical thinking and effective teamwork and communication skills; attributes essential for safe healthcare. The aim was to explore postgraduate student perceptions of the role of TBL in shaping learning style, team skills, and professional and clinical behaviours. An exploratory descriptive approach was selected. Critical care students were invited to provide consent for the use for research purposes of written reflections submitted for course work requirements. Reflections of whether and how TBL influenced their learning style, teamwork skills and professional behaviours during classroom learning and clinical practice were analysed for content and themes. Of 174 students, 159 participated. Analysis revealed three themes: Deep Learning, the adaptations students made to their learning that resulted in mastery of specialist knowledge; Confidence, in knowledge, problem solving and rationales for practice decisions; and Professional and Clinical Behaviours, including positive changes in their interactions with colleagues and patients described as patient advocacy, multidisciplinary communication skills and peer mentorship. TBL facilitated a virtuous cycle of feedback encouraging deep learning that increased confidence. Increased confidence improved deep learning that, in turn, led to the development of professional and clinical behaviours characteristic of high quality practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Near-field effects of asteroid impacts in deep water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gisler, Galen R [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Weaver, Robert P [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Gittings, Michael L [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-06-11

Our previous work has shown that ocean impacts of asteroids below 500 m in diameter do not produce devastating long-distance tsunamis. Nevertheless, a significant portion of the ocean lies close enough to land that near-field effects may prove to be the greatest danger from asteroid impacts in the ocean. Crown splashes and central jets that rise up many kilometres into the atmosphere can produce, upon their collapse, highly non-linear breaking waves that could devastate shorelines within a hundred kilometres of the impact site. We present illustrative calculations, in two and three dimensions, of such impacts for a range of asteroid sizes and impact angles. We find that, as for land impacts, the greatest dangers from oceanic impacts are the short-term near-field, and long-term atmospheric effects.

Deep-brain-stimulation does not impair deglutition in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Lengerer, Sabrina; Kipping, Judy; Rommel, Natalie; Weiss, Daniel; Breit, Sorin; Gasser, Thomas; Plewnia, Christian; Krüger, Rejko; Wächter, Tobias

2012-08-01

A large proportion of patients with Parkinson's disease develop dysphagia during the course of the disease. Dysphagia in Parkinson's disease affects different phases of deglutition, has a strong impact on quality of life and may cause severe complications, i.e., aspirational pneumonia. So far, little is known on how deep-brain-stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus influences deglutition in PD. Videofluoroscopic swallowing studies on 18 patients with Parkinson's disease, which had been performed preoperatively, and postoperatively with deep-brain-stimulation-on and deep-brain-stimulation-off, were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were examined in each condition with three consistencies (viscous, fluid and solid). The 'New Zealand index for multidisciplinary evaluation of swallowing (NZIMES) Subscale One' for qualitative and 'Logemann-MBS-Parameters' for quantitative evaluation were assessed. Preoperatively, none of the patients presented with clinically relevant signs of dysphagia. While postoperatively, the mean daily levodopa equivalent dosage was reduced by 50% and deep-brain-stimulation led to a 50% improvement in motor symptoms measured by the UPDRS III, no clinically relevant influence of deep-brain-stimulation-on swallowing was observed using qualitative parameters (NZIMES). However quantitative parameters (Logemann scale) found significant changes of pharyngeal parameters with deep-brain-stimulation-on as compared to preoperative condition and deep-brain-stimulation-off mostly with fluid consistency. In Parkinson patients without dysphagia deep-brain-stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus modulates the pharyngeal deglutition phase but has no clinically relevant influence on deglutition. Further studies are needed to test if deep-brain-stimulation is a therapeutic option for patients with swallowing disorders. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DeepRain: ConvLSTM Network for Precipitation Prediction using Multichannel Radar Data

OpenAIRE

Kim, Seongchan; Hong, Seungkyun; Joh, Minsu; Song, Sa-kwang

2017-01-01

Accurate rainfall forecasting is critical because it has a great impact on people's social and economic activities. Recent trends on various literatures show that Deep Learning (Neural Network) is a promising methodology to tackle many challenging tasks. In this study, we introduce a brand-new data-driven precipitation prediction model called DeepRain. This model predicts the amount of rainfall from weather radar data, which is three-dimensional and four-channel data, using convolutional LSTM...

The Influence of Parents and Teachers on the Deep Learning Approach of Pupils in Norwegian Upper-Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Elstad, Eyvind; Christophersen, Knut-Andreas; Turmo, Are

2012-01-01

Introduction: The purpose of this article was to explore the influence of parents and teachers on the deep learning approach of pupils by estimating the strength of the relationships between these factors and the motivation, volition and deep learning approach of Norwegian 16-year-olds. Method: Structural equation modeling for cross-sectional…

Short-term impact of deep sand extraction and ecosystem-based landscaping on macrozoobenthos and sediment characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jong, Maarten F; Baptist, Martin J; Lindeboom, Han J; Hoekstra, Piet

2015-08-15

We studied short-term changes in macrozoobenthos in a 20m deep borrow pit. A boxcorer was used to sample macrobenthic infauna and a bottom sledge was used to sample macrobenthic epifauna. Sediment characteristics were determined from the boxcore samples, bed shear stress and near-bed salinity were estimated with a hydrodynamic model. Two years after the cessation of sand extraction, macrozoobenthic biomass increased fivefold in the deepest areas. Species composition changed significantly and white furrow shell (Abra alba) became abundant. Several sediment characteristics also changed significantly in the deepest parts. Macrozoobenthic species composition and biomass significantly correlated with time after cessation of sand extraction, sediment and hydrographical characteristics. Ecosystem-based landscaped sand bars were found to be effective in influencing sediment characteristics and macrozoobenthic assemblage. Significant changes in epifauna occurred in deepest parts in 2012 which coincided with the highest sedimentation rate. We recommend continuing monitoring to investigate medium and long-term impacts. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Deep learning

CERN Document Server

Goodfellow, Ian; Courville, Aaron

2016-01-01

Deep learning is a form of machine learning that enables computers to learn from experience and understand the world in terms of a hierarchy of concepts. Because the computer gathers knowledge from experience, there is no need for a human computer operator to formally specify all the knowledge that the computer needs. The hierarchy of concepts allows the computer to learn complicated concepts by building them out of simpler ones; a graph of these hierarchies would be many layers deep. This book introduces a broad range of topics in deep learning. The text offers mathematical and conceptual background, covering relevant concepts in linear algebra, probability theory and information theory, numerical computation, and machine learning. It describes deep learning techniques used by practitioners in industry, including deep feedforward networks, regularization, optimization algorithms, convolutional networks, sequence modeling, and practical methodology; and it surveys such applications as natural language proces...

Temporal behavior of deep-seated gravitational slope deformations: A review

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pánek, T.; Klimeš, Jan

2016-01-01

Roč. 156, MAY (2016), s. 14-38 ISSN 0012-8252 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : deep-seated gravitational slope deformations * catastrophic slope failures * deformation rates * dating * monitoring Subject RIV: DE - Earth Magnetism, Geodesy, Geography Impact factor: 7.051, year: 2016

Deep learning versus traditional machine learning methods for aggregated energy demand prediction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Paterakis, N.G.; Mocanu, E.; Gibescu, M.; Stappers, B.; van Alst, W.

2018-01-01

In this paper the more advanced, in comparison with traditional machine learning approaches, deep learning methods are explored with the purpose of accurately predicting the aggregated energy consumption. Despite the fact that a wide range of machine learning methods have been applied to

Deep seismic sounding in northern Eurasia

Science.gov (United States)

Benz, H.M.; Unger, J.D.; Leith, W.S.; Mooney, W.D.; Solodilov, L.; Egorkin, A.V.; Ryaboy, V.Z.

1992-01-01

For nearly 40 years, the former Soviet Union has carried out an extensive program of seismic studies of the Earth's crust and upper mantle, known as “Deep Seismic Sounding” or DSS [Piwinskii, 1979; Zverev and Kosminskaya, 1980; Egorkin and Pavlenkova, 1981; Egorkin and Chernyshov, 1983; Scheimer and Borg, 1985]. Beginning in 1939–1940 with a series of small-scale seismic experiments near Moscow, DSS profiling has broadened into a national multiinstitutional exploration effort that has completed almost 150,000 km of profiles covering all major geological provinces of northern Eurasia [Ryaboy, 1989].

The Auto-Gopher: A Wireline Rotary-Percussive Deep Sampler

Science.gov (United States)

Bar-Cohen, Yoseph; Zacny, Kris; Badescu, Mircea; Lee, Hyeong Jae; Sherrit, Stewart; Bao, Xiaoqi; Paulsen, Gale L.; Beegle, Luther

2016-01-01

Accessing regions on planetary bodies that potentially preserved biosignatures or are presently habitable is vital to meeting NASA solar system "Search for Life" exploration objectives. To address these objectives, a wireline deep rotary-percussive corer called Auto-Gopher was developed. The percussive action provides effective material fracturing and the rotation provides effective cuttings removal. To increase the drill's penetration rate, the percussive and rotary motions are operated simultaneously. Initially, the corer was designed as a percussive mechanism for sampling ice and was demonstrated in 2005 in Antarctica reaching about 2 m deep. The lessons learned suggested the need to use a combination of rotation and hammering to maximize the penetration rate. This lesson was implemented into the Auto-Gopher-I deep drill which was demonstrated to reach 3-meter deep in gypsum. The average drilling power that was used has been in the range of 100-150 Watt, while the penetration rate was approximately 2.4 m/hr. Recently, a task has started with the goal to develop Auto-Gopher-II that is equipped to execute all the necessary functions in a single drilling unit. These functions also include core breaking, retention and ejection in addition drilling. In this manuscript, the Auto-Gopher-II, its predecessors and their capability are described and discussed.

ACCOUNTING STUDENT’S LEARNING APPROACHES AND IMPACT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhaiza Ismail

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of the study is threefold. Firstly, the study explores the learning approaches adopted by students in completing their Business Finance. Secondly, it examines the impact that learning approaches has on the student’s academic performance. Finally, the study considers gender differences in the learning approaches adopted by students and in the relationship between learning approaches and academic performance. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST was used to assess the approaches to learning adopted by students whilst the students final examination result was considered in examining the performance of the students. The results indicate that majority of the accounting students, both male andfemale groups prefer to use the deep approach in studying Business Finance. The findings also reveal that there were significant relationships between learning approaches and academic performance with positive direction appears for deep and strategic approaches whilst negative relationship reveals for surface approach.

Improving a Deep Learning based RGB-D Object Recognition Model by Ensemble Learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aakerberg, Andreas; Nasrollahi, Kamal; Heder, Thomas

2018-01-01

Augmenting RGB images with depth information is a well-known method to significantly improve the recognition accuracy of object recognition models. Another method to im- prove the performance of visual recognition models is ensemble learning. However, this method has not been widely explored...... in combination with deep convolutional neural network based RGB-D object recognition models. Hence, in this paper, we form different ensembles of complementary deep convolutional neural network models, and show that this can be used to increase the recognition performance beyond existing limits. Experiments...

Exploring the Mechanisms of Gastrointestinal Cancer Development Using Deep Sequencing Analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matsumoto, Tomonori; Shimizu, Takahiro; Takai, Atsushi; Marusawa, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized cancer genomics due to their high throughput sequencing capacity. Reports of the gene mutation profiles of various cancers by many researchers, including international cancer genome research consortia, have increased over recent years. In addition to detecting somatic mutations in tumor cells, NGS technologies enable us to approach the subject of carcinogenic mechanisms from new perspectives. Deep sequencing, a method of optimizing the high throughput capacity of NGS technologies, allows for the detection of genetic aberrations in small subsets of premalignant and/or tumor cells in noncancerous chronically inflamed tissues. Genome-wide NGS data also make it possible to clarify the mutational signatures of each cancer tissue by identifying the precise pattern of nucleotide alterations in the cancer genome, providing new information regarding the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. In this review, we highlight these new methods taking advantage of NGS technologies, and discuss our current understanding of carcinogenic mechanisms elucidated from such approaches

Exploring the Mechanisms of Gastrointestinal Cancer Development Using Deep Sequencing Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matsumoto, Tomonori; Shimizu, Takahiro; Takai, Atsushi; Marusawa, Hiroyuki, E-mail: maru@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Shogoin-Kawahara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 (Japan)

2015-06-15

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionized cancer genomics due to their high throughput sequencing capacity. Reports of the gene mutation profiles of various cancers by many researchers, including international cancer genome research consortia, have increased over recent years. In addition to detecting somatic mutations in tumor cells, NGS technologies enable us to approach the subject of carcinogenic mechanisms from new perspectives. Deep sequencing, a method of optimizing the high throughput capacity of NGS technologies, allows for the detection of genetic aberrations in small subsets of premalignant and/or tumor cells in noncancerous chronically inflamed tissues. Genome-wide NGS data also make it possible to clarify the mutational signatures of each cancer tissue by identifying the precise pattern of nucleotide alterations in the cancer genome, providing new information regarding the mechanisms of tumorigenesis. In this review, we highlight these new methods taking advantage of NGS technologies, and discuss our current understanding of carcinogenic mechanisms elucidated from such approaches.

Anticipating Deep Mapping: Tracing the Spatial Practice of Tim Robinson

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jos Smith

2015-07-01

Full Text Available There has been little academic research published on the work of Tim Robinson despite an illustrious career, first as an artist of the London avant-garde, then as a map-maker in the west of Ireland, and finally as an author of place. In part, this dearth is due to the difficulty of approaching these three diverse strands collectively. However, recent developments in the field of deep mapping encourage us to look back at the continuity of Robinson’s achievements in full and offer a suitable framework for doing so. Socially engaged with living communities and a depth of historical knowledge about place, but at the same time keen to contribute artistically to the ongoing contemporary culture of place, the parameters of deep mapping are broad enough to encompass the range of Robinson’s whole practice and suggest unique ways to illuminate his very unusual career. But Robinson’s achievements also encourage a reflection on the historical context of deep mapping itself, as well as on the nature of its spatial practice (especially where space comes to connote a medium to be worked rather than an area/volume. With this in mind the following article both explores Robinson’s work through deep mapping and deep mapping through the work of this unusual artist.

Deep-sea benthic footprint of the deepwater horizon blowout.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul A Montagna

Full Text Available The Deepwater Horizon (DWH accident in the northern Gulf of Mexico occurred on April 20, 2010 at a water depth of 1525 meters, and a deep-sea plume was detected within one month. Oil contacted and persisted in parts of the bottom of the deep-sea in the Gulf of Mexico. As part of the response to the accident, monitoring cruises were deployed in fall 2010 to measure potential impacts on the two main soft-bottom benthic invertebrate groups: macrofauna and meiofauna. Sediment was collected using a multicorer so that samples for chemical, physical and biological analyses could be taken simultaneously and analyzed using multivariate methods. The footprint of the oil spill was identified by creating a new variable with principal components analysis where the first factor was indicative of the oil spill impacts and this new variable mapped in a geographic information system to identify the area of the oil spill footprint. The most severe relative reduction of faunal abundance and diversity extended to 3 km from the wellhead in all directions covering an area about 24 km(2. Moderate impacts were observed up to 17 km towards the southwest and 8.5 km towards the northeast of the wellhead, covering an area 148 km(2. Benthic effects were correlated to total petroleum hydrocarbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and barium concentrations, and distance to the wellhead; but not distance to hydrocarbon seeps. Thus, benthic effects are more likely due to the oil spill, and not natural hydrocarbon seepage. Recovery rates in the deep sea are likely to be slow, on the order of decades or longer.

EKG-based detection of deep brain stimulation in fMRI studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiveland, Eric; Madhavan, Radhika; Prusik, Julia; Linton, Renee; Dimarzio, Marisa; Ashe, Jeffrey; Pilitsis, Julie; Hancu, Ileana

2018-04-01

To assess the impact of synchronization errors between the assumed functional MRI paradigm timing and the deep brain stimulation (DBS) on/off cycling using a custom electrocardiogram-based triggering system METHODS: A detector for measuring and predicting the on/off state of cycling deep brain stimulation was developed and tested in six patients in office visits. Three-electrode electrocardiogram measurements, amplified by a commercial bio-amplifier, were used as input for a custom electronics box (e-box). The e-box transformed the deep brain stimulation waveforms into transistor-transistor logic pulses, recorded their timing, and propagated it in time. The e-box was used to trigger task-based deep brain stimulation functional MRI scans in 5 additional subjects; the impact of timing accuracy on t-test values was investigated in a simulation study using the functional MRI data. Following locking to each patient's individual waveform, the e-box was shown to predict stimulation onset with an average absolute error of 112 ± 148 ms, 30 min after disconnecting from the patients. The subsecond accuracy of the e-box in predicting timing onset is more than adequate for our slow varying, 30-/30-s on/off stimulation paradigm. Conversely, the experimental deep brain stimulation onset prediction accuracy in the absence of the e-box, which could be off by as much as 4 to 6 s, could significantly decrease activation strength. Using this detector, stimulation can be accurately synchronized to functional MRI acquisitions, without adding any additional hardware in the MRI environment. Magn Reson Med 79:2432-2439, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Deep Learning in Distance Education: Are We Achieving the Goal?

Science.gov (United States)

Shearer, Rick L.; Gregg, Andrea; Joo, K. P.

2015-01-01

As educators, one of our goals is to help students arrive at deeper levels of learning. However, how is this accomplished, especially in online courses? This design-based research study explored the concept of deep learning through a series of design changes in a graduate education course. A key question that emerged was through what learning…

Autonomous development and learning in artificial intelligence and robotics: Scaling up deep learning to human-like learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Oudeyer, Pierre-Yves

2017-01-01

Autonomous lifelong development and learning are fundamental capabilities of humans, differentiating them from current deep learning systems. However, other branches of artificial intelligence have designed crucial ingredients towards autonomous learning: curiosity and intrinsic motivation, social learning and natural interaction with peers, and embodiment. These mechanisms guide exploration and autonomous choice of goals, and integrating them with deep learning opens stimulating perspectives.

The Current State of Global Activities Related to Deep-sea Mineral Exploration and Mining

OpenAIRE

Petersen, Sven; Krätschell, Anna; Hannington, Mark D.

2016-01-01

Deep-sea mining is seen as a potential way to provide future secure metal supply to global markets. The current rush to the seafloor in areas beyond national jurisdiction indicates that sound knowledge of the geological characteritics of the various commodities, a realistic resource assessment, and a social and political discussion about the cons and pros of their exploitation that is based on facts, not myths, is required. This contribution provides the most recent information on...

Deep Borehole Field Test Requirements and Controlled Assumptions.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hardin, Ernest [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-07-01

This document presents design requirements and controlled assumptions intended for use in the engineering development and testing of: 1) prototype packages for radioactive waste disposal in deep boreholes; 2) a waste package surface handling system; and 3) a subsurface system for emplacing and retrieving packages in deep boreholes. Engineering development and testing is being performed as part of the Deep Borehole Field Test (DBFT; SNL 2014a). This document presents parallel sets of requirements for a waste disposal system and for the DBFT, showing the close relationship. In addition to design, it will also inform planning for drilling, construction, and scientific characterization activities for the DBFT. The information presented here follows typical preparations for engineering design. It includes functional and operating requirements for handling and emplacement/retrieval equipment, waste package design and emplacement requirements, borehole construction requirements, sealing requirements, and performance criteria. Assumptions are included where they could impact engineering design. Design solutions are avoided in the requirements discussion. Deep Borehole Field Test Requirements and Controlled Assumptions July 21, 2015 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This set of requirements and assumptions has benefited greatly from reviews by Gordon Appel, Geoff Freeze, Kris Kuhlman, Bob MacKinnon, Steve Pye, David Sassani, Dave Sevougian, and Jiann Su.

Using Sentinel-2A multispectral imagery to explore for deep groundwater resources in the Ceres-Tankwa Karoo, Western Cape, South Africa: Significance for the 'water-energy(-food) nexus' in an arid region

Science.gov (United States)

Hartnady, Chris; Wise, Edward; Hartnady, Michael; Olianti, Camille; Hay, E. Rowena

2017-04-01

The Ceres-Tankwa region is an arid region in the south-western part of the main Karoo Basin, underlain by folded and faulted strata of the Cape and lower Karoo Supergroups in the syntaxis zone between the Western and Southern branches of the Cape Fold Belt. Explored for oil in the mid-1960s, with the drilling of the >3000 m deep KL1/65 borehole, the area recently attracted attention as a potential shale-gas prospect with the drilling in 2015 of the 671 m-deep KZF-1 research borehole on the farm Zandfontein (de Kock et al, 2016). KZF-1 encountered no positive indication of methane gas in the carbonaceous shale target but intersected a strong flow of deep groundwater from fractures in the basal Dwyka tillite. The accidental discovery of deep artesian groundwater, probably originating from the underlying Cape Supergroup aquifers and of significantly better quality than the shallow aquifer utilised by local farmers, has important implications for future development here. Using 13-channel multispectral data from the European Space Agency satellite Sentinel-2A, a false-colour composite image, centred about the KZF-1 location, was assembled by combination of selected spectral band-ratios. Stratigraphic layering and associated folding within the hitherto undivided, pelitic Tierberg Formation (Ecca Group), is revealed in striking new detail, together with narrow lines of stratal offset corresponding to previously unmapped faults. KZF-1 is evidently sited within an anomalous NE/SW-striking belt, unlike the general NNW/SSE strike of Cape-Karoo sequence strata in the north-western part of the image. Associated with a notable strike change of a lower Tierberg marker unit, subparallel to and aligned with a similar trend in the Swartruggens mountain foothills to the SW, a deep-seated, controlling, NE/SW-striking fault structure may continue downwards from the lower Karoo units into the underlying Cape strata, providing hydraulic connection. With the looming threat of global

Exploring the Habitability of Ice-covered Waterworlds: The Deep-Sea Hydrothermal System of the Aurora Mount at Gakkel Ridge, Arctic Ocean (82°54' N, 6°15W, 3900 m)

Science.gov (United States)

Boetius, A.; Bach, W.; Borowski, C.; Diehl, A.; German, C. R.; Kaul, N. E.; Koehler, J.; Marcon, Y.; Mertens, C.; Molari, M.; Schlindwein, V. S. N.; Tuerke, A.; Wegener, G.

2014-12-01

The geographic remoteness of the ultraslow Gakkel Ridge in the ice-covered Arctic Ocean raises many questions about the nature and biogeography of its habitats. In 2001, the two-ice-breaker mission AMORE (RV POLARSTERN and USCGC HEALY) detected hydrothermal plumes and evidence for seafloor venting associated with volcanic ridges rising from the rift valley floor of 4.2 km depth (Edmonds et al., 2003; Michael et al., 2003). The AURORA expedition in July 2014 (RV POLARSTERN Cruise PS86) targeted this "Aurora" field at the SW limit of Gakkel Ridge, to investigate its habitats, communities and their energy sources. No robots can yet be deployed through ice-cover to explore such deep habitats and ice-breaking research vessels cannot hold position in the thick multiyear ice. Instead, we estimated ice-drift to predict suitable start positions, then attached POLARSTERN to a matching ice floe, to achieve the bottom trajectories that we required for targeted exploration. The Aurora mount is volcanic in origin formed from mounded pillow basalts overlain by about a meter of sediment and cut through by steep cliffs revealing basalt pillows in outcrop and in talus piles. We identified persistent plume activity in the water column above the mount at 3100-3600 m (800-300 m off-bottom of its top) characterized by anomalies in turbidity, Eh, methane, temperature, density, and elevated microbial chemoautotrophic activity. Using a towed camera-, and multisensor- platform (OFOS) we located active venting as the source of this plume together with inactive chimneys and associated craters on the SW flank of Mt.Aurora. Its dominantly filter-feeding fauna is apparently sustained by venting of energy-rich fluids and microbial transfer of this geofuel into nutrition. This communication presents first results of our recent fieldwork and experimental investigations in Summer 2014 to explore deep-sea ecosystems in ice-covered oceans.

Genetic homogeneity in the deep-sea grenadier Macrourus berglax across the North Atlantic Ocean

Science.gov (United States)

Coscia, Ilaria; Castilho, Rita; Massa-Gallucci, Alexia; Sacchi, Carlotta; Cunha, Regina L.; Stefanni, Sergio; Helyar, Sarah J.; Knutsen, Halvor; Mariani, Stefano

2018-02-01

Paucity of data on population structure and connectivity in deep sea species remains a major obstacle to their sustainable management and conservation in the face of ever increasing fisheries pressure and other forms of impacts on deep sea ecosystems. The roughhead grenadier Macrourus berglax presents all the classical characteristics of a deep sea species, such as slow growth and low fecundity, which make them particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impact, due to their low resilience to change. In this study, the population structure of the roughhead grenadier is investigated throughout its geographic distribution using two sets of molecular markers: a partial sequence of the Control Region of mitochondrial DNA and species-specific microsatellites. No evidence of significant structure was found throughout the North Atlantic, with both sets of molecular markers yielding the same results of overall homogeneity. We posit two non-mutually exclusive scenarios that can explain such outcome: i) substantial high gene flow among locations, possibly maintained by larval stages, ii) very large effective size of post-glacially expanded populations. The results can inform management strategies in this by-caught species, and contribute to the broader issue of biological connectivity in the deep ocean.

Deep Incremental Boosting

OpenAIRE

Mosca, Alan; Magoulas, George D

2017-01-01

This paper introduces Deep Incremental Boosting, a new technique derived from AdaBoost, specifically adapted to work with Deep Learning methods, that reduces the required training time and improves generalisation. We draw inspiration from Transfer of Learning approaches to reduce the start-up time to training each incremental Ensemble member. We show a set of experiments that outlines some preliminary results on some common Deep Learning datasets and discuss the potential improvements Deep In...

Telecommunications and navigation systems design for manned Mars exploration missions

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Justin R.; Hastrup, Rolf C.

1989-06-01

This paper discusses typical manned Mars exploration needs for telecommunications, including preliminary navigation support functions. It is a brief progress report on an ongoing study program within the current NASA JPL Deep Space Network (DSN) activities. A typical Mars exploration case is defined, and support approaches comparing microwave and optical frequency performance for both local in situ and Mars-earth links are described. Optical telecommunication and navigation technology development opportunities in a Mars exploration program are also identified. A local Mars system telecommunication relay and navigation capability for service support of all Mars missions has been proposed as part of an overall solar system communications network. The effects of light-time delay and occultations on real-time mission decision-making are discussed; the availability of increased local mass data storage may be more important than increasing peak data rates to earth. The long-term frequency use plan will most likely include a mix of microwave, millimeter-wave and optical link capabilities to meet a variety of deep space mission needs.

EXTENDING THE DEEP PACKET INSPECTION MODEL TO THE GCC/MENA REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfred H. Miller

2013-12-01

Full Text Available This study seeks to explore extending the technology acceptance model (DPAM from a 2011 quantitative study—Modeling Intention to Use Deep Packet Inspection Technology in the United Arab Emirates, to the cyber security practitioner community of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC and greater Middle East North Africa (MENA Region. Analysis of regression between independent variable model factors of computer self efficacy, attitude toward ICT, perceived usefulness of ecommerce, intention to use ecommerce, societal trust and Internet filtration toward the dependent variable intention to use deep packet inspection, to determine parsimony, using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA, multinomial regression to assess correlation of independent and dependent variables, and assessment of the cross-suitability of DPAM across the MENA/GCC states through a MANOVA assessment. A qualitative component of the instrument enables collection of data about specific hardware and software deployed for deep packet inspection and cyber security systems.

Towards ecosystem based management and monitoring of the deep Mediterranean, North-East Atlantic and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Grehan, Anthony J.; Arnaud-Haond, Sophie; D'Onghia, Gianfranco; Savini, Alessandra; Yesson, Chris

2017-11-01

The deep sea covers 65% of the earth's surface and 95% of the biosphere but only a very small fraction (less than 0.0001%) of this has been explored (Rogers et al., 2015; Taylor and Roterman, 2017). However, current knowledge indicates that the deep ocean is characterized by a high level of biodiversity and by the presence of important biological and non-renewable resources. As well as vast flat and muddy plains, the topography of the deep ocean contains a variety of complex and heterogeneous seafloor features, such as canyons, seamounts, cold seeps, hydrothermal vents and biogenic (deep-water coral) reefs and sponge bioherms that harbour an unquantified and diverse array of organisms. The deep sea, despite its remoteness, provides a variety of supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural, ecosystem goods and services (Thurber et al., 2014). The recent push for 'Blue Growth', to unlock the potential of seas and oceans (European Commission, 2017) has increased the focus on the potential to exploit resources in the deep-sea and consequently the need for improved management (Thurber et al., 2014).

Deep Space Spaceflight: The Challenge of Crew Performance in Autonomous Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Thaxton, S. S.; Williams, T. J.; Norsk, P.; Zwart, S.; Crucian, B.; Antonsen, E. L.

2018-02-01

Distance from Earth and limited communications in future missions will increase the demands for crew autonomy and dependence on automation, and Deep Space Gateway presents an opportunity to study the impacts of these increased demands on human performance.

Abyssal fauna of the UK-1 polymetallic nodule exploration area, Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean: Cnidaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlgren, Thomas G; Wiklund, Helena; Rabone, Muriel; Amon, Diva J; Ikebe, Chiho; Watling, Les; Smith, Craig R; Glover, Adrian G

2016-01-01

We present data from a DNA taxonomy register of the abyssal Cnidaria collected as part of the Abyssal Baseline (ABYSSLINE) environmental survey cruise 'AB01' to the UK Seabed Resources Ltd (UKSRL) polymetallic-nodule exploration area 'UK-1' in the eastern Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), central Pacific Ocean abyssal plain. This is the second paper in a series to provide regional taxonomic data for a region that is undergoing intense deep-sea mineral exploration for high-grade polymetallic nodules. Data were collected from the UK-1 exploration area following the methods described in Glover et al. (2015b). Morphological and genetic data are presented for 10 species and 18 records identified by a combination of morphological and genetic data, including molecular phylogenetic analyses. These included 2 primnoid octocorals, 2 isidid octocorals, 1 anemone, 4 hydroids (including 2 pelagic siphonophores accidentally caught) and a scyphozoan jellyfish (in the benthic stage of the life cycle). Two taxa matched previously published genetic sequences (pelagic siphonophores), two taxa matched published morphological descriptions (abyssal primnoids described from the same locality in 2015) and the remaining 6 taxa are potentially new species, for which we make the raw data, imagery and vouchers available for future taxonomic study. We have used a precautionary approach in taxon assignments to avoid over-estimating species ranges. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is a region undergoing intense exploration for potential deep-sea mineral extraction. We present these data to facilitate future taxonomic and environmental impact study by making both data and voucher materials available through curated and accessible biological collections. For some of the specimens we also provide image data collected at the seabed by ROV, wich may facilitate more accurate taxon designation in coming ROV or AUV surveys.

Spinoza, Deep Ecology and Education Informed by a (Post)Human Sensibility

Science.gov (United States)

Le Grange, Lesley

2018-01-01

This article explores the influence of Spinozism on the deep ecology movement (DEM) and on new materialism. It questions the stance of supporters of the DEM because their ecosophies unwittingly anthropomorphise the more-than-human-world. It suggests that instead of humanising the 'natural' world, morality should be naturalised, that is, that the…

Deep Super Learner: A Deep Ensemble for Classification Problems

OpenAIRE

Young, Steven; Abdou, Tamer; Bener, Ayse

2018-01-01

Deep learning has become very popular for tasks such as predictive modeling and pattern recognition in handling big data. Deep learning is a powerful machine learning method that extracts lower level features and feeds them forward for the next layer to identify higher level features that improve performance. However, deep neural networks have drawbacks, which include many hyper-parameters and infinite architectures, opaqueness into results, and relatively slower convergence on smaller datase...

Chronic Stress Facilitates the Development of Deep Venous Thrombosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tao Dong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The increasing pressure of modern social life intensifies the impact of stress on the development of cardiovascular diseases, which include deep venous thrombosis (DVT. Renal sympathetic denervation has been applied as one of the clinical approaches for the treatment of drug-resistant hypertension. In addition, the close relationship between oxidative stress and cardiovascular diseases has been well documented. The present study is designed to explore the mechanism by which the renal sympathetic nerve system and the oxidative stress affect the blood coagulation system in the development of DVT. Chronic foot shock model in rats was applied to mimic a state of physiological stress similar to humans. Our results showed that chronic foot shock procedure could promote DVT which may be through the activation of platelets aggregation. The aggravation of DVT and activation of platelets were alleviated by renal sympathetic denervation or antioxidant (Tempol treatment. Concurrently, the denervation treatment could also reduce the levels of circulating oxidation factors in rats. These results demonstrate that both the renal sympathetic nerve system and the oxidative stress contribute to the development of DVT in response to chronic stress, which may provide novel strategy for treatment of clinic DVT patients.

DeepRT: deep learning for peptide retention time prediction in proteomics

OpenAIRE

Ma, Chunwei; Zhu, Zhiyong; Ye, Jun; Yang, Jiarui; Pei, Jianguo; Xu, Shaohang; Zhou, Ruo; Yu, Chang; Mo, Fan; Wen, Bo; Liu, Siqi

2017-01-01

Accurate predictions of peptide retention times (RT) in liquid chromatography have many applications in mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Herein, we present DeepRT, a deep learning based software for peptide retention time prediction. DeepRT automatically learns features directly from the peptide sequences using the deep convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) model, which eliminates the need to use hand-crafted features or rules. After the feature learning, pr...

The Role of Cis-Lunar Space in Future Global Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Bobskill, Marianne R.; Lupisella, Mark L.

2012-01-01

Cis-lunar space offers affordable near-term opportunities to help pave the way for future global human exploration of deep space, acting as a bridge between present missions and future deep space missions. While missions in cis-lunar space have value unto themselves, they can also play an important role in enabling and reducing risk for future human missions to the Moon, Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), Mars, and other deep space destinations. The Cis-Lunar Destination Team of NASA's Human Spaceflight Architecture Team (HAT) has been analyzing cis-lunar destination activities and developing notional missions (or "destination Design Reference Missions" [DRMs]) for cis-lunar locations to inform roadmap and architecture development, transportation and destination elements definition, operations, and strategic knowledge gaps. The cis-lunar domain is defined as that area of deep space under the gravitational influence of the earth-moon system. This includes a set of earth-centered orbital locations in low earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO), highly elliptical and high earth orbits (HEO), earth-moon libration or "Lagrange" points (E-ML1 through E-ML5, and in particular, E-ML1 and E-ML2), and low lunar orbit (LLO). To help explore this large possibility space, we developed a set of high level cis-lunar mission concepts in the form of a large mission tree, defined primarily by mission duration, pre-deployment, type of mission, and location. The mission tree has provided an overall analytical context and has helped in developing more detailed design reference missions that are then intended to inform capabilities, operations, and architectures. With the mission tree as context, we will describe two destination DRMs to LEO and GEO, based on present human space exploration architectural considerations, as well as our recent work on defining mission activities that could be conducted with an EML1 or EML2 facility, the latter of which will be an emphasis of this

DANoC: An Efficient Algorithm and Hardware Codesign of Deep Neural Networks on Chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Xichuan; Li, Shengli; Tang, Fang; Hu, Shengdong; Lin, Zhi; Zhang, Lei

2017-07-18

Deep neural networks (NNs) are the state-of-the-art models for understanding the content of images and videos. However, implementing deep NNs in embedded systems is a challenging task, e.g., a typical deep belief network could exhaust gigabytes of memory and result in bandwidth and computational bottlenecks. To address this challenge, this paper presents an algorithm and hardware codesign for efficient deep neural computation. A hardware-oriented deep learning algorithm, named the deep adaptive network, is proposed to explore the sparsity of neural connections. By adaptively removing the majority of neural connections and robustly representing the reserved connections using binary integers, the proposed algorithm could save up to 99.9% memory utility and computational resources without undermining classification accuracy. An efficient sparse-mapping-memory-based hardware architecture is proposed to fully take advantage of the algorithmic optimization. Different from traditional Von Neumann architecture, the deep-adaptive network on chip (DANoC) brings communication and computation in close proximity to avoid power-hungry parameter transfers between on-board memory and on-chip computational units. Experiments over different image classification benchmarks show that the DANoC system achieves competitively high accuracy and efficiency comparing with the state-of-the-art approaches.

Genomic variation in macrophage-cultured European porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus Olot/91 revealed using ultra-deep next generation sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Zen H; Brown, Alexander; Wilson, Alison D; Calvert, Jay G; Balasch, Monica; Fuentes-Utrilla, Pablo; Loecherbach, Julia; Turner, Frances; Talbot, Richard; Archibald, Alan L; Ait-Ali, Tahar

2014-03-04

Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) is a disease of major economic impact worldwide. The etiologic agent of this disease is the PRRS virus (PRRSV). Increasing evidence suggest that microevolution within a coexisting quasispecies population can give rise to high sequence heterogeneity in PRRSV. We developed a pipeline based on the ultra-deep next generation sequencing approach to first construct the complete genome of a European PRRSV, strain Olot/9, cultured on macrophages and then capture the rare variants representative of the mixed quasispecies population. Olot/91 differs from the reference Lelystad strain by about 5% and a total of 88 variants, with frequencies as low as 1%, were detected in the mixed population. These variants included 16 non-synonymous variants concentrated in the genes encoding structural and nonstructural proteins; including Glycoprotein 2a and 5. Using an ultra-deep sequencing methodology, the complete genome of Olot/91 was constructed without any prior knowledge of the sequence. Rare variants that constitute minor fractions of the heterogeneous PRRSV population could successfully be detected to allow further exploration of microevolutionary events.

Using Deep Learning to Analyze the Voices of Stars.

Science.gov (United States)

Boudreaux, Thomas Macaulay

2018-01-01

With several new large-scale surveys on the horizon, including LSST, TESS, ZTF, and Evryscope, faster and more accurate analysis methods will be required to adequately process the enormous amount of data produced. Deep learning, used in industry for years now, allows for advanced feature detection in minimally prepared datasets at very high speeds; however, despite the advantages of this method, its application to astrophysics has not yet been extensively explored. This dearth may be due to a lack of training data available to researchers. Here we generate synthetic data loosely mimicking the properties of acoustic mode pulsating stars and compare the performance of different deep learning algorithms, including Artifical Neural Netoworks, and Convolutional Neural Networks, in classifing these synthetic data sets as either pulsators, or not observed to vary stars.

Examination of earthquake Ground Motion in the deep underground environment of Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goto, J.; Tsuchi, H.; Mashimo, M.

2009-01-01

Among the possible impacts of earthquakes on the geological disposal system, ground motion is not included in the criteria for selecting a candidate repository site because, in general, ground motion deep underground is considered to be smaller than at the surface. Also, after backfilling/closure, the repository moves together with the surrounding rock. We have carried out a detailed examination of earthquake ground motion deep underground using extensive data from recent observation networks to support the above assumption. As a result, it has been reconfirmed that earthquake ground motion deep underground is relatively smaller than at the surface. Through detailed analysis of data, we have identified the following important parameters for evaluating earthquake ground motion deep underground: depth and velocity distribution of the rock formations of interest, the intensity of the short period component of earthquakes and incident angle of seismic waves to the rock formations. (authors)

Recanalization after acute deep vein thrombosis