Showing papers by "Nova Southeastern University published in 1978"

A 200 year record of carbon-13 and carbon-14 variations in a Bermuda coral

Abstract: A 200 year old brain coral, captured in Bermuda in 1976 was slabbed and x-rayed. Using the annual growth bands sequential, dated samples were taken over the entire growth period of the coral and analyzed for Δ14C, δ13C and δ18O. During the past 80 years atmospheric variations in Δ14C and δ13C due to human effects, such as release of bomb C-14 and dilution of both C-14 and C-13 by fossil fuel burning, are closely tracked by the coral. Prior to 1900 divergences between the coral and tree Δ14C and δ13C can be related to world-wide changes in plant production and possibly oceanic upwelling rates.

Growth of pulmonary circulation in normal pig--structural analysis and cardiopulmonary function

Abstract: Morphometric analysis of the postnatal development of the pig lung, with emphasis on alveoli and vessels, shows features of growth similar to man, but occurring at a much faster rate in the pig, wh...

Zoogeography of Tropical Western Atlantic Crinoidea (Echinodermata)

Abstract: Recent collcctions of crinoids from the intertidal zone to ] ,650 m in the tropical western Atlantic have provided significant range extensions for more than half of the 44 comatulid and stalked species known from the region. Of the 34 comatulid species, over 60% are endemic to the region; of the 10 stalked species, 90% are endemic. At the familial level, this fauna has its strongest affinities with the tropical Indo-Pacific region. Comatulids are most abundant above 300 ill, while stalked species occur primarily between 100 and 700 ill. Species that occur primarily above 600 ill (the deepest penetration of the 10°C isotherm in the region) have depth ranges generally narrower than 200 m. Species that are found below 1,000 m generally have much broader depth ranges. During the 1950's and 1960's, extensive collections of marine life were made in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean by M/V OREGON, operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and R/V ]OHNELLIOTTPILLSBURY and R/V GERDA,in connection with the University of Miami's Deep-Sea Biology Program. These collections have generously broadened our knowledge of the marine biogeography of the region, a knowledge based previously on the expeditions of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The recent widespread use of SCUBA in marine research has opened up previously inaccessible environments and has thus added to the picture. This paper summarizes zoogeographical and bathymetric data on the Crinoidea (Echinodermata) collected by these vessels and by SCUBA and presents revised distributions for many of the 44 species, both comatulid and stalked, currently known from the tropical western Atlantic. In this paper, the tropical western Atlantic region extends from southeastern Florida southward along the Antillean Arc to Trinidad, and along the Brazilian coast as far south as Rio de Janeiro, and includes the Caribbean Sea, southern Gulf of Mexico, and the Bahama Islands. The Caribbean, including the Antillean Arc and the Bahamas, constitutes the richest part of this region in both diversity and abundance of crinoids, and is also the most intensively studied part to date. The Blake Plateau and the coast of the United States from southeastern Florida to Cape Lookout, North Carolina, appear to represent a warm temperate transitional zone. At least regarding crinoids, this zone is more closely related to the tropics than to more northerly waters. With the exception of the more tropical Flower Garden Banks, south of Port Arthur, Texas, the northern Gulf of Mexico also falls into this zone. For the crinoid fauna, however, the precise tropical-temperate boundaries in the Gulf are unknown. The difficulties encountered in erecting marine zoogeographic boundaries are compounded by species, including many crinoids, that are limited to warm water latitudes but that live in deeper, colder waters. The parameters governing the distribution of these deep water, tropical species remain largely undefined. The tropical western Atlantic crinoids first became widely known during the period of intensive oceanographic exploration of the late 1800's. The U.S. Coast Survey pioneered the work in this region during the late 1860's (Pourtales, 1867, 1869), followed by the extensive work of BLAKE

A self-evaluation token system versus an external evaluation token system alone in a residential setting with predelinquent youth.

Abstract: This study compared the effects of self-evaluation and adult-dispensed tokens on room-cleaning behavior of six predelinquent youths in a residential token-economy setting The self-evaluation token system proved to be as effective as the external adult-administered system in increasing room-cleaning behavior and was more effective in maintaining performance after contingencies were withdrawn The self-evaluation token system increased resistance to extinction, compared to the external token system, and appeared to be a useful component for a traditional token-economy system

The Bight of Abaco Pressure Experiment

Abstract: In November-December of 1974, we conducted a joint experiment to investigate microscale air pressure fluctuations above surface gravity waves. The primary objective of this experiment was to study the vertical structure of the wave-induced component of these fluctuations and to estimate the corresponding differential and integral momentum transfer to the wave field. Secondary objectives included the resolution of differences between previous independent field measurements of wave-induced pressure by Dobson (l97l), Elliott (1972), and Snyder (1974), and the construction of a multidimensional model of the turbulent component of the air pressure field. We have, to one extent or another, succeeded in achieving all of these objectives and in due course will publish details in the literature. In this brief report, we wish to convey only the flavour of the investigation along with several somewhat preliminary findings.

An accurate non-iterative algorithm for computing the length of the position vector to a subsatellite point

Abstract: The radial distance (length of a position vector) from the geocenter to the geoid as defined by the spherical harmonic potential coefficients is needed e.g. in the process of adjusting satellite altimeter data. The geocentric latitude and longitude associated with this distance are assumed known—in this case derived from satellite altimetry. Typically, the radial distance can be computed to a desired accuracy in an iterative process. Even if a crude initial value is adopted, a sub-meter accuracy is achieved on the second iteration, while the third iteration yields a sub-millimeter accuracy. If the best possible initial value is taken, such as the radial distance to the mean earth ellipsoid, the iterative process may be accelerated by one iteration. But even then two iterations will be needed in most cases. However, an algorithm has been designed that yields excellent results, characterized by a sub-centimeter accuracy, already from the first iteration. It results in important computer savings, considering that in real data reductions of satellite altimetry, the radial distance needs to be computed at thousands of locations.

Response to “Comments on Least Squares Prediction and Filtering in Any Dimensions Using the Principles of Array Algebra”

Abstract: This presentation is a follow-up of the paper \"A Few Basic Principles and Techniques of Array Algebra\" published previously in the Bulletin G6od~sique. The attention is focused on the use of array algebra in the problem area of multilinear least squares prediction and j~dtering. The prediction mathematical models are treated using the concept of the covarlance function and node points. In the latter part of the paper, efficient prediction formulas in two dimensions are developed and solved through the least squares filtering process, upon specializing the results derived previously for any dimensionL (Errata Sheet for the previous paper is added).