Left out? Observations on the RGS-IBG conference on social exclusion and the city

Summary On 29 October 1998, the RGS-IBG invited delegates to a conference entitled 'Social exclusion and the city', with Geoff Mulgan (founder of the think-tank Demos and a policy advisor to Prime Minister Blair) as the keynote speaker. The event was well attended, providing much useful insight into the government policies of the 'Social Exclusion Unit' and ongoing academic research into the processes and problems of 'social exclusion'. Here we provide some general observations on the conference and some suggestions regarding the possible directions of the debate on social exclusion and inclusion.     

Genetic structure of the tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis in NW Scottish sea lochs

The tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis has a patchy distribution around the UK, being found in sheltered waters below 20 m depth on the northwest coast of Scotland and Ireland. The limited distribution and sensitivity to bottom fishing activities make F. quadrangularis vulnerable to reduction in population numbers that may lead to genetic isolation and reduced diversity. Because of this vulnerability and low resilience to physical disturbance, the tall sea pen is recognised as a Species of Principle Importance under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, 2006, UK. ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/16/contents ) and is also on the Biodiversity Action Plan list of Priority Species for the UK. In the Mediterranean it is recognised as a sensitive and essential fish habitat because it forms habitat for several commercially important crustaceans. The aim of this study was to understand the current state of the genetic structure and gene flow of F. quadrangularis in areas of NW Scotland. We developed 10 microsatellite markers and used them to genotype 176 samples from four populations. Overall, our results suggest that there is high genetic diversity and high gene flow between colonies of F. quadrangularis in and among locations in Loch Linnhe and Loch Duich. As a result of the high rates of gene flow, genetic differentiation between sites was low. This may provide resilience to human impacts if distant populations have a high connectivity. However, care must be taken, as small but significant isolation by distance was found between the most geographically distant sites and only a small part of the species range was examined in this study. The genetic tools developed here will provide a foundation for wider studies of this vulnerable species.     

The analysis of indexed astronomical time series – VI. Covariances of amplitude ratios and phase differences estimated from multicolour photometry of a pulsating star

One of the tools used to identify the pulsation modes of stars is a comparison of the amplitudes and phases as observed photometrically at different wavelengths. Proper application of the method requires that the errors on the measured quantities, and the correlations between them, be known (or at least estimated). It is assumed that contemporaneous measurements of the light intensity of a pulsating star are obtained in several wavebands. It is also assumed that the measurements are regularly spaced in time, although there may be missing observations. The amplitude and phase of the pulsation are estimated separately for each of the wavebands, and amplitude ratios and phase differences are calculated. A general scheme for estimating the covariance matrix of the amplitude ratios and phase differences is described. The first step is to fit a time series to the residuals after pre-whitening the observations by the best-fitting sinusoid. The residuals are then cross-correlated to study the interdependence between the errors in the different wavebands. Once the multivariate time-series structure can be modelled, the covariance matrix can be found by bootstrapping. An illustrative application is described in detail.     

Copper,chromium, and lead in Manukau Harbour sediments

A limited survey was undertaken to determine the concentrations of copper, lead, and chromium in sediments of the upper Manukau Harbour, New Zealand. The concentrations of copper and chromium (33–70 and 70–107 μg g^‐1 respectively) were of the same order of magnitude as those reported for other New Zealand harbours. However, lead concentrations (98–247 μg g^‐1) were higher than those found for the other harbours. This may be a consequence of higher traffic densities in the surrounding area.     

Multiple regression of GRB luminosity on light-curve properties

Statistical relations between the luminosity L of gamma-ray burster (GRBs) and several of their other observable properties have been discovered. Four of these properties are considered here: the spectral lag; a measure of the light-curve variability; peak energy and the minimum light-curve rise time. Data are taken from a tabulation by Schaefer. Log–log regression of L on various combinations of the four light-curve properties, as well as redshift, is considered, using conventional multiple linear regression, and multiple errors-in-variables regression. Several cases are found in which the regression coefficients of more than one luminosity indicators are significant. In particular, the simultaneous regression of luminosity on peak energy, spectral lag, minimum rise time and redshift is meaningful.