Seasonal variations in prey selection by estuarine black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus)

The number of black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus) in the Clyde Estuary is large. In summer the average density has reached 1350 gulls km^?2 and in winter 180 gulls km^?2. This paper compares prey selection and feeding efficiency in gulls during summer and winter on tidal flats, and considers how seasonal differences may be adaptations to cope with seasonal changes in prey availability.Gross and net rates of energy intake were highest in summer because gulls captured more of the polychaete N. diversicolor than the amphipod C. volutator. In winter, gulls selected for C. volutator and therefore an energetically less profitable diet. Throughout the year gulls selected more C. volutator relative to N. diversicolor than expected on energetic grounds and so apparently did not maximize potential net rate of energy intake.Gulls used three techniques to capture prey and made most intensive use of the ‘crouch’ technique. Crouching gulls attained a much higher net rate of energy intake than ‘upright’ or ‘paddling’ gulls.A log-linear model showed that (a) season, water depth and gull density determined feeding technique and (b) feeding technique and season independently determined foraging success and prey selection. Thus gull density and water depth acted on prey selection through imposed variations in feeding technique.Reasons for gulls selecting energetically unprofitable C. volutator and for the use of several distinct feeding techniques are discussed.     

A neural network approach to ship track-keeping control

This paper presents an on-line trained neural net work controller for ship track-keeping problems. Following a brief review of the ship track-keeping control development since the 1980's, an analysis of various existing backpropagation-based neural controllers is provided. We then propose a single-input multioutput (SIMO) neural control strategy for situations where the exact mathematical dynamics of the ship are not available. The aim of this study is to build an autonomous neural controller which uses rudder to regulate both the tracking error and heading error. During the whole control process, the proposed SIMO neural controller adapts itself on-line from a direct evaluation of the control accuracy, and hence the need for a “teacher” or an off-line training process can be removed. With a relatively modest amount of quantitative knowledge of the ship behavior, the design philosophy enables real time control of a nonlinear ship model under random wind disturbances and measurement noise. Three different track-keeping tasks have been simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the training method and the robust performance of the proposed neural control strategy     

Longitudinal dispersion compensation for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer [1,13] will be operated in air which will introduce small optical path fluctuations due to internal turbulence [4,6] and dispersion effects. Both may contribute to fringe contrast decrease. Longitudinal dispersion effects can be corrected by inserting an appropriate glass of variable thickness in one arm of the interferometer [3,5,11,12]. This paper presents a new method applied to VLTI in order to select the optimum glass, according to both the observing wavelength and the spectral bandpath, and to calculate its thickness. Results are presented in terms of improvement on the fringe contrast.     

First results from the Gauribidanur Radio heliograph

Observations of the Sun at two frequencies (51 and 77 MHz) using the East-West arm of the Gauribidanur Radio heliograph are presented.     

The Dergaon (H5) chondrite: Fall,classification, petrological and chemical characteristics,cosmogenic effects,and noble gas records

Abstract— A multiple fall of a stony meteorite occurred near the town of Dergaon in Assam, India, on March 2, 2001. Several fragments weighing <2 kg and a single large fragment weighing ～10 kg were recovered from the strewn field, which extended over several tens of square kilometers. Chemical, petrographic, and oxygen isotopic studies indicate it to be, in most aspects, a typical H5 chondrite, except the unusually low K content of ～340 ppm. A cosmic ray exposure of 9.7 Ma is inferred from the cosmogenic noble gas records. Activities of eleven cosmogenic radionuclides were measured. ²⁶Al and ²²Na activities as well as the ²²Na/²⁶Al activity ratio are close to the values expected on the basis of solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays. The low ⁶⁰Co activity (<1 dpm/kg) is indicative of a small preatmospheric size of the meteorite. Cosmic ray heavy nuclei track densities in olivine grains range from ～106 cm^?2 in samples from the largest fragment to approximately (4–9) × 105 cm^?2 in one of the smaller fragments. The combined track, radionuclide, and noble gas data suggest a preatmospheric radius of ～20 cm for the Dergaon meteorite.     

A 2D numerical study of explosive events in the solar atmosphere

Two-dimensional (2D) compressible magnetohydrodynamic simulations are performed to explore the idea that the asymmetric reconnection between newly emerging intranetwork magnetic field flux and pre-existing network flux causes the explosive events in the solar atmosphere. The dependence of the reconnection rate as a function of time on the density and temperature of the emerging flux are investigated. For a Lundquist number of L _u= 5000 we find that the tearing mode instability can lead to the formation and growth of small magnetic islands. Depending on the temperature and density ratio of the emerging plasma, the magnetic island can be lifted upward and convected out of the top boundary, or is suppressed downward and convected out of the top boundary, or is suppressed downward nad submerged below the bottom boundary. The motions of the magnetic islands with different direction are accompanied respectively with upward or downward high velocity flow which might be associated with the red- and blue-shifted components detected in the explosive events.     

Simulating colour variations in pulsating sdB stars

After briefly recalling basic facts about the metallicity gradients inspiral galaxies, we summarize two recent N-body gas-dynamical modelsthat implement a non-instantaneous gas recycling and point our their potential for an improved treatment of the chemical evolution ingalactic disks.     

The tidal stripping of satellites

We present an improved analytic calculation for the tidal radius of satellites and test our results against N -body simulations.
The tidal radius in general depends upon four factors: the potential of the host galaxy, the potential of the satellite, the orbit of the satellite and the orbit of the star within the satellite . We demonstrate that this last point is critical and suggest using three tidal radii to cover the range of orbits of stars within the satellite. In this way we show explicitly that prograde star orbits will be more easily stripped than radial orbits; while radial orbits are more easily stripped than retrograde ones. This result has previously been established by several authors numerically, but can now be understood analytically. For point mass, power-law (which includes the isothermal sphere), and a restricted class of split power-law potentials our solution is fully analytic. For more general potentials, we provide an equation which may be rapidly solved numerically.
Over short times (≲1–2 Gyr ∼1 satellite orbit), we find excellent agreement between our analytic and numerical models. Over longer times, star orbits within the satellite are transformed by the tidal field of the host galaxy. In a Hubble time, this causes a convergence of the three limiting tidal radii towards the prograde stripping radius. Beyond the prograde stripping radius, the velocity dispersion will be tangentially anisotropic.