Independent Viewpoint Research Articles

Unveiling the outer core composition with neutrino oscillation tomography

In the last 70 years, geophysics has established that the Earth’s outer core is an FeNi alloy containing a few percent of light elements, whose nature and amount remain controversial. Besides the classical combinations of silicon and oxygen, hydrogen has been advocated as the only light element that could account alone for both the core density and velocity profiles. Here we show how this question can be addressed from an independent viewpoint, by exploiting the tomographic information provided by atmospheric neutrinos, weakly-interacting particles produced in the atmosphere and constantly traversing the Earth. We evaluate the potential of the upcoming generation of atmospheric neutrino detectors for such a measurement, showing that they could efficiently detect the presence of 1 wt% hydrogen in the Earth’s core in 50 years of concomitant data taking. We then identify the main requirements for a next-generation detector to perform this measurement in a few years timescale, with the further capability to efficiently discriminate between FeNiH and FeNiSixOy core composition models in less than 15 years.

Go together: providing nonverbal awareness cues to enhance co-located sensation in remote communication

Nowadays, people are easy to have a remote conferencing in different scenarios. However, the potential of mobile video communication has yet to be fully exploited. In our research, we explore providing multiple nonverbal awareness cues to create deeper empathy or understanding between users in the telecommunication. We present our design for the use of remote communication between two geographically separated users. This system provides mutual nonverbal communication cues including independent viewpoint and gesture cue to support natural human-to-human interactions. Using our setups, two users are able to perform multiple joint activities including talking, looking and gesturing together. Finally, users can share co-located sensation and feel themselves “go together” side-by-side in the same place. We performed a evaluation to explore our system’s usability and how multiple awareness cues affect the remote communication. It consists of two experiments: an asymmetric work in which an indoor helper instructed a walking worker and a symmetric collaboration in a more realistic scenario. The positive results show that our design could significantly improve the human-to-human interactions and enhance co-located sensation.

Lessons Learned from the Three-view Determination of CME Mass

Abstract With only single-viewpoint, total-brightness images, it is not possible to calculate the true mass of a coronal mass ejection (CME) because total-brightness images do not contain any depth information. If two viewpoints are available, it has been suggested that total-brightness images might be used to simultaneously derive the CME deprojected mass and propagation direction. Exploiting all available data provided by SOHO, STEREO-A, and STEREO-B supplies three combinations of spacecraft pairs for double-viewpoint analysis. We show that, if only aleatory variation is reckoned, then the CME deprojected mass can vary by as much as 100% between different pairs of spacecraft. Going beyond multiple double-viewpoint analyses, we also utilize these spacecraft to simultaneously estimate the CME deprojected mass and propagation direction with triple-viewpoint analysis. However, once again, if only aleatory variation is reckoned, then, for many events, there is no common mass value estimated by the three viewpoints. This indicates that epistemic uncertainty is significant and must be reckoned also. We consider in detail the mass in the coronagraph field of view, from one, two, and three viewpoints, for the CME observed on 2007 December 31, focusing especially on the approximations used and uncertainties in this process. Altogether, we use triple-viewpoint analysis to estimate the mass of eight CMEs. When simultaneously estimating the CME deprojected mass and propagation direction using total-brightness images, the single degree of freedom provided by a third, independent viewpoint clarifies the calculation of, and reduces ambiguity in, the deprojected mass; however, the deprojected mass should not be confused with the true mass.

A new approach for DG planning at the viewpoint of the independent DG investor, a case study of Iran

Summary Over the last decade, distributed generation units have been proposed to provide a part of the required energy of end-use customers. In this paper, a comprehensive model is presented to perform the distributed generation expansion planning from the independent investor's viewpoint. The objective function is suggested based on the payback period and with considering the budget limit. The investment and operation costs are included in the problem. The investment cost consists of the costs of equipment, distribution line installation, upgrading of upstream substation, gas and water pipe installations, and land. The genetic algorithm is applied to determine the optimal technology, location, and size of the distributed generation units. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated via a realistic case study, and the effect of a bank loan is discussed in the numerical results. Finally, the impact of the investor's investment decisions on the power system is analyzed.

The Evolution of Palestinian Critical Geography in Palestine and Beyond

This article provides an overview of the writing of Palestinian academics and writers on their homeland and society from the late 19th century to the present, arguing that by the time Palestinian critical geographers came into their own in the 1980s, they had already been preceded in their thinking and approaches by a range of Palestinian critical thinkers who themselves wrote on spatial and geographic issues. Modern Palestinian geography, the authors contend, was informed and boosted by the work of Edward W. Said and many other thinkers who shared a common fundamental perspective: to counter the de-Arabization of Palestine and provide an independent geographic viewpoint of the homeland they belong to, in the aftermath of the dispossession and denationalization of the Palestinian people that peaked in the 1948 an-Nakba and continues in myriad contours of de-development into the present—in other words, an independent Palestinian discourse. The article outlines the continuum of anti-colonial and historicall...

ADABOOST-BASED FEATURE RELEVANCE ASSESSMENT IN FUSING LIDAR AND IMAGE DATA FOR CLASSIFICATION OF TREES AND VEHICLES IN URBAN SCENES

Abstract. In this paper, we present an integrated strategy to comprehensively evaluate the feature relevance of point cloud and image data for classification of trees and vehicles in urban scenes. First of all, point cloud and image data are co-registered by backprojection with available orientation parameters if necessary. After that, all data points are grid-fitted into the raster format in order to facilitate acquiring spatial context information per pixel/point. Then, various spatial-statistical and radiometric features can be extracted using a cylindrical volume neighborhood. Classification results as labeled pixels can be acquired from the classifier, and after appropriate refinements we obtain the objects of trees and vehicles. Compared to other methods which have assessed the classification and relevance simultaneously using a single classifier, we first introduce AdaBoost classifier combined with contribution ratio to provide both classification results and measures of feature relevance, and then utilize Random Forest classifier to evaluate and compare the feature relevance from a more independent viewpoint. In order to confirm the accuracy and reliability of classification and feature relevance results, we consider not only characteristics of the classifiers itself, but also errors of data co-registration and alterable parameters. We apply the procedure to two different datasets. In the dataset requiring co-registration a-priori, the AdaBoost classifier even achieves a great accuracy of 96.99% for trees and 83.45% for vehicles. The quantitative results of feature relevance assessment highlight the most important features for classification of tree covers and vehicles, such as NDVI, LiDAR intensity, planarity and entropy. By comparative analysis of the two independent approaches, the reliable and consistent feature selection for classification of trees and vehicles from LiDAR and image data could be validated and achieved, being unrelated to the classifiers.

John Capgrave's fifteenth century

Britain of the fifteenth century was rife with social change, religious dissent, and political upheaval. Amid this ferment lived John Capgrave-Austin friar, doctor of theology, leading figure in East Anglian society, and noted author. Nowhere are the tensions and anxieties of this critical period, spanning the close of the medieval and the dawn of early modern eras, more eloquently conveyed than in Capgrave's works. John Capgrave's Fifteenth Century is the first book to explore the major themes of Capgrave's writings and to relate those themes to fifteenth-century political and cultural debates. Focusing on Capgrave's later works, especially those in English and addressed to lay audiences, it teases out thematic threads that are closely interwoven in Capgrave's Middle English oeuvre: piety, intellectualism, gender, and social responsibility. It refutes the still-prevalent view of Capgrave as a religious and political reactionary and shows, rather, that he used traditional genres to promote his own independent viewpoint on some of the most pressing controversies of his day, including debates over vernacular theology, orthodoxy and dissent, lay (and particularly female) spirituality, and the state of the kingdom under Henry VI. The book situates Capgrave as a figure both in the vibrant literary culture of East Anglia and in European intellectual history. John Capgrave's Fifteenth Century offers a fresh view of orthodoxy and dissent in late medieval England and will interest students of hagiography, religious and cultural history, and Lancastrian politics and society.

Walras and pareto on the meaning of the solution concept in general equilibrium theory

The notion of solution plays a crucial role in the conceptual system of Leon Walras, the founder of the General Equilibrium Theory (GET). In this paper, after introducing the two solution concepts employed by Walras in the development of his version of GET, respectively called the “theoretical” and the “practical” solution, we discuss the problems such peculiar conception gives rise to, as well as the attempts Walras makes to dodge them. Then we explain why and to what extent Pareto, Walras’ immediate successor and co-founder of GET, departs from Walras’ original conception, progressively developing an independent viewpoint on the issue of equilibrium computability in GET. (JEL:B13, B21, B31, B41, C62, C68, D50)

Sustainable energy? A feasibility study for Eastside, Birmingham, UK

Eastside, a 130 ha brownfield site located to the eastern side of Birmingham's city centre, is undergoing social, economic and environmental changes, driven mainly through public and private investment estimated to be worth £6 billion. The regeneration programme is well under way and it aims to turn a once deprived inner-city area into the regions first ‘sustainability quarter’ Achieving a sustainable quarter, in terms of energy, will require reductions to be made in energy demands compared to typical practice, for example through more thermally efficient buildings and utilisation of low-energy technologies. In addition it will require these demands to be met through renewable technologies rather than fossil fuels. This paper presents estimates for the total energy demands from the various developments planned within Eastside assuming typical and good-practice scenarios. The paper then assesses the feasibility of introducing various renewable energy supply technologies and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies in order to meet these demands. Finally the paper presents a simplified costing scheme for assessing the potential of renewable technologies to secure energy supplies while limiting carbon emissions. The renewable technologies are compared directly, aiming at providing an independent viewpoint for decision makers when considering which technologies to adopt. While the study focuses on Eastside, the lessons learned from this study are vitally important for redevelopment programmes being undertaken elsewhere.

Appraising the quality of consumer health information leaflets.

Appraising the quality of consumer health information leaflets.

British manufacturing industry: an independent viewpoint

British manufacturing industry: an independent viewpoint

The United States and the Status of Jerusalem 1947–1984

The United States has been involved in the question of Jerusalem ever since the American government assumed a major role in promoting adoption of the Palestine Partition Resolution at the United Nations in 1947. The continuing centrality of the Jerusalem issue in the Arab-Israeli dispute is attested to by the references to Jerusalem in the 1982 Reagan Plan for Peace in the Middle East. Even more significant is the fact that although the Jerusalem issue did not figure in the text of the 1978 Camp David Agreements, it was the subject of three separate letters appended to the Agreements by Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and President Carter. In fact, it is no secret that the Camp David Talks nearly foundered at the last minute over the Jerusalem question. Moreover, it is noteworthy that the United States, which signed the Agreements simply as a witness and not as a party, found it necessary and proper to publicly define its position on the issue of Jerusalem. On no other issue did the American government feel compelled to put forth an official independent viewpoint in the final documents.

Letters to and from the Editor

LETTERS TO AND FROM THE EDITOR Dear Sir: I appreciate the invitation to comment on the interesting article, "The Care and Treatment ofAnimals" by Dr. Dwight Ingle [Perspect. Biol. Med., 6:256, 1963]. Dr. Ingle is a very intelligent man. He has seen the fallacies in the arguments presented by more emotional persons in opposition to S. 533, the bill to require humane treatment ofexperimental animals introduced by Senators Clark, Neuberger, and Young. He points out that "medical scientists object also to being singled out from among all groups of citizens handling animals as the target ofa Federal bill." They are not singled out. Federal legislation thatmakes humane treatmentofanimals compulsorycontrols(1)meatpackers, (2)importers ofanimals from foreign lands, (3) those who transport animals from state to state. Medical scientists have not been "singled out." They have been included among the many who use large quantities ofanimals. Dr. Ingle states that "scientists uniformly agree that each bill would be restrictive and impractical." This is not an accurate statement. It does apply to those scientists who "uniformly agree" to whatever the officers ofthe organizations they belong to decide. It also applies to those who fear to express an independent viewpoint, lest they harm their chances for academic advancement under the sharp eye of"organization men." However, there are brave and honest scientists and medical men who speak out and even submit testimony to Congress in support ofthe legislation based on the principles ofthe British Act which has regulated—with the strong approval of those who work under its provisions —animal experiments there for the past 87 years. On page 259, Dr. Ingle states that "Dr. Anton J. Carlson, founder of the National Society for Medical Research, showed the way to advance medical research by bold, frank policies based on truth. . . . Ifscience can show that it intends to solve these problems [optimal care and treatment ofexperimental animals] by self-discipline, it might be aided, rather than opposed, by sane groups oflay citizens interested in the humane treatment ofanimals." How true this statement, but how baseless the assumption on which it rests. Though I think it would be helpful to quote at length from the correspondence between my father, Dr. Robert Gesell, Chairman ofthe Department ofPhysiology at the University ofMichigan Medical School, and Dr. Carlson, who founded the NSMR, this correspondence was circulated by my father in 1951 to all members ofthe Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and it will suffice here to state that my father's efforts to obtain humane control by the NSMR met with total failure. Dr. Ingle feels that the NSMR is helpful in improving standards ofanimal care (p. 259). Though he does not refer to the testimony of the executive director of this Society at hearings (September 28 and 29, 1962) to the effect that "laboratory animals are more pampered than pets," he does not refute such absurdities but encourages his readers to believe that 129 the NSMR is sound and honest. He goes on to say, "It [the National Society for Medical Research] has supported the development ofthe Animal Care Panel, which was founded by Doctor N. R. Brewer ofthe University ofChicago. The Animal Care Panel is interested in raising the standards ofproduction, care, and study oflaboratory animals. There is no question ofthe scientific community's attitude." (Emphasis supplied.) In my opinion, there is a very great question ofthe scientific community's attitude. I, personally, believe that the majority of scientists are humane and that if they attended the meetings ofthe Animal Care Panel, as I have done for the past dozen years, they would not support the callousness and cruelty encouraged there. I do not think that most American scientists would approve the tying down ofan unanesthetized rabbit, his head fixed in a V-shaped board, his four legs tightly pulled back by leather thongs. This supine, immobilized position was what was recommended for dropping irritating substances in the unanesthetized animal's eyes or painting them on his stomach. I do not believe the whole "scientific community " would sit idly by when the operator of a commercial laboratory boasted that he had deprived chinchillas offood and water for 32 days to see how long...

Potentialities and Limitations of Comprehensive Supply Control: An Independent Viewpoint

Potentialities and Limitations of Comprehensive Supply Control: An Independent Viewpoint

Peace, Plenty and Petroleum

THIS review of the present position of the American petroleum industry may not prove particularly palatable to those nurtured on the pleasant theory that undiscovered reserves in the United States amount to "some comfortable astronomical figure", to quote the author's own words. Indeed, it will be a hard task for a nation which has for many years produced 65 per cent of the world's oil to adjust its independent viewpoint and face the fact that its domestic production is no longer adequate to its own needs. America has become an oil-importing country, and if present trends within the industry continue, she will become increasingly dependent on foreign supplies.