Power spectrum for the small-scale Universe

The first objects to arise in a cold dark matter (CDM) universe present a daunting challenge for models of structure formation. In the ultra small-scale limit, CDM structures form nearly simultaneously across a wide range of scales. Hierarchical clustering no longer provides a guiding principle for theoretical analyses and the computation time required to carry out credible simulations becomes prohibitively high. To gain insight into this problem, we perform high-resolution  ( N = 720³–1584³)  simulations of an Einstein–de Sitter cosmology where the initial power spectrum is   P ( k ) ∝ k ⁿ ,  with  −2.5 ≤ n ≤− 1  . Self-similar scaling is established for   n =−1  and −2 more convincingly than in previous, lower resolution simulations and for the first time, self-similar scaling is established for an   n =−2.25  simulation. However, finite box-size effects induce departures from self-similar scaling in our   n =−2.5  simulation. We compare our results with the predictions for the power spectrum from (one-loop) perturbation theory and demonstrate that the renormalization group approach suggested by McDonald improves perturbation theory's ability to predict the power spectrum in the quasi-linear regime. In the non-linear regime, our power spectra differ significantly from the widely used fitting formulae of Peacock & Dodds and Smith et al. and a new fitting formula is presented. Implications of our results for the stable clustering hypothesis versus halo model debate are discussed. Our power spectra are inconsistent with predictions of the stable clustering hypothesis in the high- k limit and lend credence to the halo model. Nevertheless, the fitting formula advocated in this paper is purely empirical and not derived from a specific formulation of the halo model.     

Adaptive mapping functions to the azimuthal anisotropy of the neutral atmosphere

The anisotropy of propagation of radio waves used by global navigation satellite systems is investigated using high-resolution observational data assimilations produced by the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecast. The geometry and the refractivity of the neutral atmosphere are built introducing accurate geodetic heights and continuous formulations of the refractivity and its gradient. Hence the realistic ellipsoidal shape of the refractivity field above the topography is properly represented. Atmospheric delays are obtained by ray-tracing through the refractivity field, integrating the eikonal differential system. Ray-traced delays reveal the anisotropy of the atmosphere. With the aim to preserve the classical mapping function strategy, mapping functions can evolve to adapt to high-frequency atmospheric fluctuations and to account for the anisotropy of propagation by fitting at each site and time the zenith delays and the mapping functions coefficients. Adaptive mapping functions (AMF) are designed with coefficients of the continued fraction form which depend on azimuth. The basic idea is to expand the azimuthal dependency of the coefficients in Fourier series introducing a multi-scale azimuthal decomposition which slightly changes the elevation functions with the azimuth. AMF are used to approximate thousands of atmospheric ray-traced delays using a few tens of coefficients. Generic recursive definitions of the AMF and their partial derivatives lead to observe that the truncation of the continued fraction form at the third term and the truncation of the azimuthal Fourier series at the fourth term are sufficient in usual meteorological conditions. Delays’ and elevations’ mapping functions allow to store and to retrieve the ray-tracing results to solve the parallax problem at the observation level. AMF are suitable to fit the time-variable isotropic and anisotropic parts of the ray-traced delays at each site at each time step and to provide GPS range corrections at the measurement level with millimeter accuracy at low elevation. AMF to the azimuthal anisotropy of the neutral atmosphere are designed to adapt to complex weather conditions by adaptively changing their truncations.     

用于GNSS的SpT星载原子钟及时间系统介绍

研究了空间铷钟和被动型氢钟的地面批量和寿命试验测试结果,以及卫星在轨试验所达到的最新性能结果。基于这些星载钟的试验结果,对全球卫星导航系统的地面时间站的关键设备及其相关算法作了简要描述,并介绍了一种新颖的在轨技术,即从星载原子钟组（ONCLE）直接产生高度稳健的时间频率信号。     

A GIS‐based Approach in Support of an Assessment of Food Safety Risks

A Geographical Information System (GIS)‐based approach was developed for the identification of vulnerabilities and the measurement of risks associated with contamination of food systems with biological agents. In this research work, a tight integration of ArcGIS with the Arena simulation tool has been implemented. Arena was used to simulate and track contamination in a food distribution network and transmit the time dependent information to GIS. ArcGIS was employed to provide the primary user interface, process network data, and visualize the results. In addition, the GIS, through its powerful capabilities to process spatial data, could allow decision‐ makers to quickly determine the potential impact of a contamination event, at any stage, as a function of both time and geography. Two contamination scenarios along the farm‐to‐fork chain were examined to show the geographic zone and the proportion of the population affected by the contamination. A constraint Voronoi data structure was developed to define influence zones (these were color coded according to a dynamic risk index), to identify those areas that are at greatest immediate risk as time progresses, and to estimate the population affected by these contamination events. This approach thus appears to have general application to many GIS‐based risk assessment problems.     

Crowdsourcing a cyclist perspective on suggested recreational paths in real-world networks

ABSTRACT

Routing and navigation services for leisure activities are conditioned by special needs and trade-offs. The advent of online communities and large crowdsourced datasets offers opportunities to improve the adoption of a user’s perspective in these suggested paths. This paper focuses on achieving two goals. First, the presented methodology analyses a dataset of 190,610 historical GPS traces to gain insights into the appreciation or attractiveness of each edge in a real-world network for a specific leisure activity (i.e. road cycling). Second, as literature on these leisure activities is still sparse, we want to create a thorough understanding of the activities at hand for future work. An appreciation model is proposed and the spread of this score is analyzed in shortest-path alternatives of popular routing engines for this activity. This analysis successfully discriminates these shortest paths based on the scoring value and three morphological parameters of the path. However, the robustness of the model should be improved to ensure the viability of the proposed approach in future work. More specifically, further research on the local optimality of the route choices will be imperative.     

Recent advances on study of hadrosaurid dinosaurs in Heilongjiang(Amur) River area between China and Russia

Four main dinosaur-bearing sites have been investigated in latest Cretaceous deposits from the Amur/Heilongjiang Region: Jiayin and Wulaga in China (Yuliangze Formation) ,Blagoveschensk and Kundur in Rus- sia (Udurchukan Formation) . More than 90% of the bones discovered in these localities belong to hollowcrested lambeosaurine hadrosaurids: Charonosaurus jiayinensis at Jiayin,Amurosaurus riabinini at Blagoveschensk, Olorotitan arharensis at Kundur,and Sahaliyania elunchunorum at Wulaga. Flat-headed hadrosaurine hadrosau- rids are much less numerous,but appear well diversified as well: Kerberosaurus manakini at Blagoveschensk, Wulagasaurus dongi at Wulaga,and a new genus at Kundur. Theropods are represented by shed teeth and isolated bones; isolated scutes and teeth discovered at Kundur are tentatively attributed to nodosaurids. Palynologi- cal studies suggest that these sites are probably synchronous with the Lancian’ vertebrate localities of western North America,which represent the youngest dinosaur faunas in this area. However,the latest Cretaceous dinosaur assemblages are completely different in the Amur/Heilongjiang region (lambeosaurines abundant,ceratopsids absent) and in western North America (ceratopsids abundant,lambeosaurines extremely rare or absent) . This probably reflects some kind of geographical barrier between both areas by Maastrichtian time rather than strong differences in palaeoecological conditions.     

Plate Motion of India and Interseismic Strain in the Nepal Himalaya from GPS and DORIS Measurements

We analyse geodetically estimated deformation across the Nepal Himalaya in order to determine the geodetic rate of shortening between Southern Tibet and India, previously proposed to range from 12 to 21 mm yr^?1. The dataset includes spirit-levelling data along a road going from the Indian to the Tibetan border across Central Nepal, data from the DORIS station on Everest, which has been analysed since 1993, GPS campaign measurements from surveys carried on between 1995 and 2001, as well as data from continuous GPS stations along a transect at the logitude of Kathmandu operated continuously since 1997. The GPS data were processed in International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000 (ITRF2000), together with the data from 20 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations and then combined using quasi- observation combination analysis (QOCA). Finally, spatially complementary velocities at stations in Southern Tibet, initially determined in ITRF97, were expressed in ITRF2000. After analysing previous studies by different authors, we determined the pole of rotation of the Indian tectonic plate to be located in ITRF2000 at 51.409±1.560° N and ?10.915±5.556°E, with an angular velocity of 0.483±0.015°. Myr^?1. Internal deformation of India is found to be small, corresponding to less than about 2 mm yr^?1 of baseline change between Southern India and the Himalayan piedmont. Based on an elastic dislocation model of interseismic strain and taking into account the uncertainty on India plate motion, the mean convergence rate across Central and Eastern Nepal is estimated to 19±2.5 mm yr^?1, (at the 67% confidence level). The main himalayan thrust (MHT) fault was found to be locked from the surface to a depth of about 20 km over a width of about 115 km. In these regions, the model parameters are well constrained, thanks to the long and continuous time-series from the permanent GPS as well as DORIS data. Further west, a convergence rate of 13.4±5 mm yr^?1, as well as a fault zone, locked over 150 km, are proposed. The slight discrepancy between the geologically estimated deformation rate of 21±1.5 mm yr^?1 and the 19±2.5 mm yr^?1 geodetic rate in Central and Eastern Nepal, as well as the lower geodetic rate in Western Nepal compared to Eastern Nepal, places bounds on possible temporal variations of the pattern and rate of strain in the period between large earthquakes in this region.