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According to the technical requirements of harsh shock environment test, this paper presents the study on the pneumatic vertical test technology with large load and high-g value. The inspiration of this paper comes from the fact that a compressed air cannon can produce instantaneous and powerful air jets that can be used to drive the tested object to achieve a high initial collision velocity. Then, the principle of shock test technology based on an air cannon and an impact cylinder was put forward, and the idea gas mechanics model was established to theoretically analyze the laws that how the parameters of the air cannon and cylinder influence the initial impact velocities. The test system was built, and the test research was carried out. When the air cannon pressure is 0.5 MPa and 0.65 MPa, respectively, under no-load, the impact acceleration measured is 1990 g (pulse width, 1.26 ms) (1g = 9.8 m/s2) and 4429 g (pulse width, 1.20 ms). It preliminarily validated the effectiveness and feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new generation of large sky area spectroscopic survey project has produced nearly 10 million low-resolution stellar spectra. Based on these spectroscopic data, this paper introduces a machine learning algorithm named The Cannon. This algorithm is completely based on the known spectroscopic data of stellar atmospheric parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, and metal abundance, etc.), this algorithm builds the characteristic vector by means of data driving, and establishes the functional relation between spectral flux characteristics and stellar parameters. Then it is applied to the observed spectral data to calculate the atmospheric parameters. The main advantage of The Cannon is that it is not directly based on any stellar physical models, it has an even higher applicability. Moreover, because of the use of full-spectrum information, even for the spectra with a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), it still can obtain the parameter solutions of high reliability. This algorithm has significant advantages in the data processing and parameter determination of large-scale stellar spectra. In addition, this paper presents two examples of using The Cannon to obtain the stellar parameters of K and M giants from the LAMOST spectral data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution, we evaluate the effectiveness of firearm regulations in curbing the number of homicides and suicides committed both with and without firearms. We develop a gun control index that enables us to compare the restrictiveness of firearm regulations across time and space. We model the effects of gun control on figures of (gun) homicide and (gun) suicide gained from public health records in 16 West European countries between 1980 and 2010. We thus shift the analytical focus away from the United States, which can be considered an extreme case in many ways and analyze the effects of gun control in a least likely setting: a world region in which gun control is comparably strict to begin with. Our analysis demonstrates that stricter gun control entails a strong and robust negative effect not only on homicides and suicides committed with firearms, but also on overall homicide and suicide rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, different mechanical responses of polymer matrix composite rings under thermal cycling are analyzed. The polymer matrix composite rings are classified to un-notched and open-hole specimens and tested based on the naval ordnance laboratory-ring tensile test method. Internal pressure, fracture and surface degradation changes as a function of the hole diameter and number of cycles are investigated. Experimental results suggest that specimens with larger hole radius have more mechanical property variations during thermal cycling. Also, it is revealed that the mechanical properties of laminates degrade as a function of the number of cycles and the hole diameter. The results also demonstrate that long splitting fiber breakage is the main mode for the failure of un-notched specimens, whereas fiber breakage and fiber matrix debonding are the two main modes for the failure of open-hole specimens. Finally, a multiple regression model is proposed to predict the tensile response of un-notched and open-hole polymer matrix composite rings subjected to thermal cycling condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Mapping agencies (NMA) are frequently tasked with providing highly accurate geospatial data for a range of customers. Traditionally, this challenge has been met by combining the collection of remote sensing data with extensive field work, and the manual interpretation and processing of the combined data. Consequently, this task is a significant logistical undertaking which benefits the production of high quality output, but which is extremely expensive to deliver. Therefore, novel approaches that can automate feature extraction and classification from remotely sensed data, are of great potential interest to NMAs across the entire sector. Using research undertaken at Great Britain's NMA; Ordnance Survey (OS) as an example, this paper provides an overview of the recent advances at an NMA in the use of artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) based applications. Examples of these approaches are in automating the process of feature extraction and classification from remotely sensed aerial imagery. In addition, recent OS research in applying deep (convolutional) neural network architectures to image classification are also described. This overview is intended to be useful to other NMAs who may be considering the adoption of similar approaches within their workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accurately interpret the observed properties of exoplanets, it is necessary to first obtain a detailed understanding of host star properties. However, physical models that analyze stellar properties on a per-star basis can become computationally intractable for sufficiently large samples. Furthermore, these models are limited by the wavelength coverage of available spectra. We combine previously derived spectral properties from the Spectroscopic Properties of Cool Stars (SPOCS) catalog with generative modeling using The Cannon to produce a model capable of deriving stellar parameters (, Teff, and) and 15 elemental abundances (C, N, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, and Y) for stellar spectra observed with Keck Observatory's High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer (HIRES). We demonstrate the high accuracy and precision of our model, which takes just ∼3 s to classify each star, through cross-validation with pre-labeled spectra from the SPOCS sample. Our trained model, which takes continuum-normalized template spectra as its inputs, is publicly available at https://github.com/malenarice/keckspec. Finally, we interpolate our spectra and employ the same modeling scheme to recover labels for 477 stars using archival stellar spectra obtained prior to Keck's 2004 detector upgrade, demonstrating that our interpolated model can successfully predict stellar labels for different spectrographs that have (1) sufficiently similar systematics and (2) a wavelength range that substantially overlaps with that of the post-2004 HIRES spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In the 24th July 2018 issue of the European Defence Review (EDR) magazine, Paolo Valpolini wrote an article about TKX‐50 with the title "EURENCO Looks at New Future Energetic Materiel": "EURENCO is also looking at explosives with improved performances, which would allow to decrease the ordnance dimensions while maintaining their lethality. Eurenco aims at developing a new explosive based on molecules with higher performances but with less sensitivity and toxicity. The TKX‐50 explosive performances are already better than those of Hexogen (RDX) and Octogen (HMX) with a detonation speed that exceeds by 20 % that of current explosives. This is the road that Eurenco will follow, also aiming at compositions with a higher charge density, close to 96 % versus current 85 %. Eurenco aims at testing new molecules in 2019, these being at TRL 4‐5, while composition is still at TRL 2‐3." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences is the property of Editorial Board of Journal of Henan Agricultural Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Burial of munitions and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the seafloor complicates the detection and remediation of associated threats in coastal areas. We observed up to 0.6-m burial of surrogate UXO placed near the 8-m isobath during a series of winter storm events from late January to early March 2015 in Duck, NC, USA. We used time series from a pressure sensor located roughly 1 m above the bed during the experiment to apply an existing analytical solution for dynamic poroelastic wave–sediment interaction. The analytical solution yielded the spatial and temporal distributions of wave-induced pore pressures and effective stresses, which were used to evaluate five different criteria for wave-induced sediment instability. Four of the criteria have been applied previously considering different deterministic or stochastic wave types, whereas the fifth is novel and may be regarded as a generalization of the Sleath condition for plug flow. Using the estimated maximum depths of sediment instability (or bed failure) as predictors for observed surrogate UXO burial depths, we concluded that criteria based on vertical effective stress and the vertical distribution of pore pressures were most accurate. We believe that our data and the accompanying analysis are unique in the literature, where field observations of wave pressures were combined with a dynamic wave–seafloor interaction model to make predictions of sediment failure depths that were validated against actual observations of surrogate UXO burial depths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of discriminating underwater unexploded ordnance (UXO) from non-UXO objects using manifold learning principles when applied to data collected from low-frequency sonar. Our classification hypothesis is that the sequence of measurements collected from an object lie in some low-dimensional subspace which is locally linear but globally nonlinear. These low-dimensional features and their behavior on the manifold can then be used to discriminate among various UXO and non-UXO objects that may be encountered in shallow water environments. With this goal in mind, techniques are developed to not only learn the manifold but also to provide an out-of-sample embedding for newly acquired data. The manifold features from the training set are then used to construct local linear subspaces for representing each newly embedded testing feature vector. A statistical-based technique is then used to select the most likely class label by finding the class which best represents the data. The ability of the classifier to discriminate among multiple object types is then demonstrated using a sonar data set collected from underwater objects in a controlled setting. Classification results are presented and compared with an alternative method that also relies on a set of features extracted using manifold learning principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The course “Phy Ex” was created by Yves Couder in the Paris VII university to teach experimental physics through projects. In this article, we present this teaching method through a particular project that took place in the autumn semester 2019: the ping-pong ball water cannon. In this experiment, a glass containing water and a floating table tennis ball is dropped from some height to the ground. Following the impact, the ball is ejected vertically upwards at speeds that can be several times the impact speed. We report the student team’s initial dimensional and order-of-magnitude analysis, and describe the successive experimental set-ups that showed (1) that free flight is essential for the phenomenon to occur, (2) that the order of magnitude of the ball ejection momentum is correctly predicted by a momentum balance based on integrating the pressure impulse during impact and (3) that making the ball surface more wettable, or stirring the liquid, drastically increases the momentum transfer. The proposed explanation, confirmed by direct high-speed video observations, is that the immersion depth of the ball increases during free fall due to capillary forces or vortex depression—in the absence of buoyancy—and that the enormous excess pressure on the bottom of the ball during impact drives the ball up towards its buoyancy equilibrium. The transfered momentum is sufficient to expel the ball at high velocity, very similar to the formation of liquid jets in collapsing cavities in liquids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy, is commonly believed to be cast from the bronze of Russian cannon captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. There is no corroboration for this belief beyond an entry in The Times in 1857. Historical sources suggest that neither the Queen nor her Prime Minister would have favoured an association of the medal with Sebastopol. From 1914, however, it is likely that many Victoria Crosses were indeed sourced from captured ordnance, but probably using Chinese guns. Some may even have been cast from entirely unprovenanced metal. Recent examination of VCs and putative sources of their metal by X-ray fluorescence suggest multiple sources of material, presenting medals variously of bronze, brass and copper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conditions are obtained for effectiveness of Cannon and Composite sets of polynomials of two complex variables in Faber regions. It generalizes to these regions the results of Nassif on composite sets in balls of centre origin whose constituents are also cannon sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an Editorial highlighting: Moseler et al., 226: 967–977; Cannon & Petit, 226: 978–983; Kremer & Hipp, 226: 987–1011; Leroy et al., 226: 1012–1017, 1171–1182, 1183–1197; Nagamitsu et al., 226: 1018–1028; Bartholomé et al., 226: 1088–1103; Crowl et al., 226: 1158–1170; Hipp et al., 226: 1198–1212. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial fragmentation is the fundamental condition of Palestinian life, whether under occupation, or under siege, or in the global dispersal that has been the fate of refugees, denied their right of return to historic Palestine. Palestinian artist Emily Jacir's work inhabits this space and time of fragmentation, committed to the redemption of the fragments of violently broken histories. Working in the mode of assemblage and installation, she pieces together into constellations of memory and correspondences the overlooked objects and damaged archives that bear historical memory and future hope. This article explores this dialectic of fragmentation as a response to the conditions settler colonialism in Palestine that draw lines of solidarity with other sites of colonialism and resistance. The article focuses on her recent site-specific installation, 'Notes for a Cannon' (2016) at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, which explores the intervention of British and Israeli colonial regimes into temporality itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characteristic response parameterized in time-dependent target intrinsic polarizabilities has been widely used to create feature libraries for unexploded ordnance (UXO) discrimination. This paper discusses the accurate measurement of characteristic response for UXOs with transient electromagnetic (TEM) system. First, a specially designed TEM system, which utilizes a modified solenoid and a pair of rectangular coils as transmitting coils to ensure the uniformity of primary field up to 96% throughout the target, is described. Then, the characteristic responses of 12 UXOs are measured from directions vertical or parallel to the axis at distances from 40 to 120 cm. The measured characteristic responses show a power law decay function at an early time and an exponential decay function at a later time. The characteristic responses parallel to the target axis are larger, and the decay is considerably slower than those vertical to the axis, leading to one to two orders of magnitude difference at a later time. Results also show that the characteristic response measured from the direction vertical to the axis of the target is more precise than that from the direction parallel to the axis at the same distance. The portion of the target that is close to the system accounts for a large proportion of the response. A target can be approximated as a single dipole only when it is located no less than twice its length from the system. Finally, the characteristic responses of 12 targets are parameterized with the Pasion–Oldenburg expression for feature library creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gun violence remains a significant public health problem that is both understudied and underfunded, and plagued by inadequate or inaccessible data sources. Over the years, numerous trauma centers have attempted to use local registries to study single-institutional trends, however, this approach limits generalizability to our national epidemic. In fact, even easily accessible, health-centered data from the CDC lack national relevance because they are limited to those enrolled states only. We sought to examine how publicly available law enforcement data from all 50 states might complement our understanding of circumstances and demographics surrounding national firearm death and help forge the first step in partnering law enforcement with trauma centers.Methods: All homicide that occurred in the US during a 37-year period ending in 2016 was analyzed. Primary data files were obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and comprised the database. Data analyzed included homicide type, situation, circumstance, firearm type, and demographic characteristics of victims and offenders. The proportion of firearm-related homicide was stratified by year and compared over time using simple linear regression.Results: There were 485,288 incidents of firearm homicide analyzed (64% of 752,935 total homicides). Most victims were male (85%), black (53%), and a mean age of 33 years; offenders were predominantly male (67%), black (39%), and a mean age of 30 years. Fifty-four percent of all homicide involved a single victim and single offender, followed by a single victim and unknown offender(s) (31%); 4% of firearm homicide had multiple victims. Overall, handguns, shotguns, and rifles accounted for 76%, 7%, and 5% of all firearm homicide, respectively; 11% had no firearm type listed and <1% were other gun or unknown. Linear regression analysis identified a significant increase in the proportion of firearm-related homicide from 61% in 1980 to 71% in 2016 (β = 0.25; p < 0.0001).Conclusions: Gun violence represents an ongoing public health concern, with the proportion of firearm homicide steadily and significantly increasing from 1980 to 2016. Homicide data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation can serve to supplement trauma registry data by helping to define gun violence patterns. However, stronger partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and trauma centers are necessary to better characterize firearm type and resultant injury patterns, direct prevention efforts and firearm policy, and reduce gun-related deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) pose a significant threat to post-conflict communities, and current efforts to locate bombs rely on time-intensive and dangerous in-person enumeration. Very high resolution (VHR) sub-meter satellite images may offer a low-cost and high-efficiency approach to automatically detect craters and estimate UXO density. Machine-learning methods from the meteor crater literature are ill-suited to find bomb craters, which are smaller than meteor craters and have high appearance variation, particularly in spectral reflectance and shape, due to the complex terrain environment. A two-stage learning-based framework is created to address these challenges. First, a simple and loose statistical classifier based on histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) and spectral information is used for a first pass of crater recognition. In a second stage, a patch-dependent novel spatial feature is developed through dynamic mean-shift segmentation and SIFT descriptors. We apply the model to a multispectral WorldView-2 image of a Cambodian village, which was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War. The proposed method increased true bomb crater detection by over 160 percent. Comparative analysis demonstrates that our method significantly outperforms typical object-recognition algorithms and can be used for wide-area bomb crater detection. Our model, combined with declassified records and demining reports, suggests that 44 to 50 percent of the bombs in the vicinity of this particular Cambodian village may remain unexploded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The explosive ordnance disposal unit receives alerts to military origin unexploded ordnances from the whole region of Hungary. Difficulties make by these dangerous devices has to be considered during every earthwork or construction works. These projectiles and bombs are able to blow up and their localization and deactivation requires special methods and equipment. The explosive ordnance decontamination may significantly reduce the organizational process and the costs of construction works therefor it is worthy to make a thorough examination of the possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has established that women involved in criminal social networks and streetlife subculture tend to have high levels of personal victimization. Despite high levels of risk, and an apparent wide availability, these women typical neither carry nor use firearms, specifically handguns. Drawing upon interviews with 31 criminally involved women, this paper explores these women's victimization experiences and their experiences with, and attitudes towards, firearms, especially handguns. Overall, we find that many norms held by women towards firearms in mainstream culture are shared by their peers involved in streetlife subculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic modelling of unexploded ordnance (UXO) is a well-documented method used to interpret magnetic anomalies occurring in UXO excavation surveys. By treating UXO as a ferrous spheroidal object, the induced dipole moment can be estimated by approximation of UXO characteristics such as shape, size and orientation. Inversion of magnetic data with respect to UXO requires one to solve the equation for the induced dipole moment, while also determining the location and orientation of the object. This is a highly nonlinear, non-unique problem, where many solutions often are present, which make it difficult for standard inversion methods, such as linearized approaches and maximum likelihood estimators, in assessing uncertainties and correlations in estimated model parameters that often result in an incomplete solution. In this study, we treat the problem concerning magnetic UXO inversion by a probabilistic approach using Markov chain Monte Carlo (McMC) sampling. To deal with the potential multimodality, a combination of two well-known McMC sampling methods is employed in a single-chain approach: the extended Metropolis algorithm is used for efficient local sampling, and the Gibbs sampler is used to help exploring the possible multimodal density of the posterior. By adding a Gibbs step we significantly increase the efficiency of the extended Metropolis, making it viable to use as a single-chain sampler for this problem. We refer to the algorithm as the Gibbs-within-Metropolis algorithm. We test and compare the proposed algorithm to a multichain McMC parallel tempering setup using the extended Metropolis algorithm. We then present synthetic cases and a real data case, where the algorithm is used. We demonstrate how the probabilistic approach allows full inference of the parameters describing a UXO while also including the possible presence of remanent magnetization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aimed to analyze height, heart perimeter and cannon girth of Shagya Arabian mares, stallions and young horses during their growth; Rădăui studfarm provided data regarding livestock of these three categories of horses in 2000-2015 and it was interesting to study and compare each bloodline of this wonderful breed (Koheilan, Hadban, Dahoman, Shagya, Siglavy-Bagdady, El-Sbaa, Mersuch, Gazal - only for stallions and young horses). Therefore this study reflected that these body dimensions were representative for Shagya Arabian, regarding the whole population: mares had an average height of 159.59 cm, an average heart perimeter of 177.20 cm and an average cannon girth of 18.54 cm; regarding the stallions, the average height was 160.58 cm, the average heart perimeter was 180.61 cm and the average cannon girth was 18.95 cm; young male horses had an average value of height of 134.82 cm, an average thorax perimeter of 146.53 cm and an average cannon girth of 16.69 cm. Data obtained indicated that the studied population is included in breed standard regarding the main body dimensions that reflect their morphological type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Imago Temporis. Medium Aevum is the property of Consolidated Medieval Studies Research Group Space, Power & Culture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Folklore Studies / Tautosakos Darbai is the property of Institute of Lithuanian Literature & Folklore and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While the importance of European-style artillery, also called "red-barbarian cannon" by the people of the time, to the Ming-Qing transition (1618-1683) is generally recognized, much less is known about the actual performance of the weapon on the battlefield. Such a dearth of knowledge hinders historians from evaluating the extent of its impact on the Manchu conquest of China. Hoping to fill this gap, this article examines the actual performance of red-barbarian cannon through reconstructing the siege of Jiangyin (1645). Close examination of this episode reveals that, although the Qing army possessed abundant European-style artillery, the absence of appropriate and effective artillery siege tactics greatly constrained the effectiveness of these weapons in siege warfare. Hence, the importance of artillery in the early stage of the Ming-Qing transition (1618-1645) is likely to have been minimal. However, the siege of Jiangyin witnessed a reform of siege tactics in the Qing artillery corps. These newly devised siege tactics enabled the Qing army to capture the city with efficiency by fully utilizing the red-barbarian cannon. The reform greatly enhanced the siege ability of the Qing forces and paved the way for the Qing conquest of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Archeologia Postmedievale is the property of Edizioni all'Insegna del Giglio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Unexploded ordnance (UXO, also referred to as munitions) are located in nearshore and other underwater environments as a result of military activities. UXO have been found in the surf zone and on populated beaches. This paper describes the development and evaluation of instrumented UXO surrogates for observing munitions migration and burial. Surrogates were designed and fabricated to match mass properties for a variety of common munitions (81-mm Mortar, BLU-61 Cluster Bomb, M151-70 Hydra Rocket, M107 155-mm). Surrogates housed suites of self-logging sensors. Sensor suites that could record up to 7–12 h included various combinations of inertial motion units (IMUs), pressure transducers, shock recorders, and photocells. Instrumented surrogates were then exposed to prototype scale wave conditions over a mobile bed at the Littoral Warfare Environment at the Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen, MD, USA. Surrogates were deployed in the swash and breaker zones. IMUs and shock recorders provided congruent acceleration measurements of swash impact. IMUs accurately resolved heading and orientation during periods of low-frequency motion. Photocells resolved surrogate roll consistent with IMU as well as surrogate burial. However, in the breaker zone, the large presence of suspended sediment and surface foam make photocell data more difficult to interpret. Surrogate mobility and forcing conditions measurements can provide data to improve modeling of munitions burial and migration in the nearshore environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a new method of metaheuristic optimization, the algorithm of the innovative gunner (AIG), inspired by the choice of artillery parameters that sends a shot precisely to a target. The applied correction of the cannon's setting parameters differs from that defined by classic artillery theory. The innovativeness of the AIG results from the fact that at each step of the iterative process, the previous solution is corrected by means of specially selected multiplication factors. This is a major difference from most methods in which, at each successive step, a corrective element is added to the previous solution. The AIG is characterized by high efficiency and speed in solving various optimization problems having nothing to do with ballistics. It is extremely simple in description and implementation. The algorithm was tested on several known test-optimization tasks. The results are noticeably better than those achieved by other methods and prove the practical usefulness of the AIG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mayson's Ordnance model of the Lake District, commissioned by Henry and Thomas Mayson from the sculptor Raffaelle Monti in 1875, was based upon early maps from Ordnance Survey, the government mapping agency for Great Britain. It was displayed in the town of Keswick, now in Cumbria, England, until around 1980, when it is believed to have been destroyed. A large number of original negative moulds from the model were recovered, together with other historical objects, allowing the unique characteristics of the model to be explored for the first time. The study reveals the model to have been innovative for its time, being a very early example of a relief model constructed from contours. The scientific authority of the model, along with its cartographic detail and size, was used to promote it as a spectacle for early tourists. The article describes a process of digital capture, processing, and 3D fabrication that allowed parts of the model to be analysed and redisplayed. An exhibition explored public engagement with physical landscape models, included a novel visitor-led identification of the remaining moulds. Examples of modern landscape modelling and visualization techniques helped to explore the role physical models could play in the modern visitor experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unexploded ordnance (UXO) on the seabed off Northwest Europe poses a hazard to offshore developments such as windfarms. The traditional removal method is through high-order detonation of a donor explosive charge placed adjacent to the UXO, which poses a risk of injury or death to marine mammals and other fauna from the high sound levels produced and is destructive to the seabed. This paper describes a sea-trial in the Danish Great Belt to compare the sound produced by high-order detonations with that produced by deflagration, a low-order disposal method that offers reduced environmental impact from noise. The results demonstrate a substantial reduction over high-order detonation, with the peak sound pressure level and sound exposure level being around 20 dB lower for the deflagration. The damage to the seabed was also considerably reduced for deflagration, although there was some evidence for residues of explosives related chemicals in sediments. [Display omitted] • Underwater deflagration and detonation UXO disposal methods were compared in-situ • Deflagration events are 15-20 dB quieter than detonation of equivalent UXO's • Detonation events can result in significant seabed vibration and seabed damage • Debris field from deflagration events is contained in a few meters of the UXO • The acoustic levels of EOD methods tested can cause impacts at significant distances [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the Russian nuclear forces for 2006. The country continues to reduce its total nuclear forces in 2005, however, it plans for a new weapon systems and upgrades of existing one. Russian President Vladimir Putin attempts to reassert the country's nuclear strength and reinstate large-scale military exercises. Statistical data on the operational Russian strategic offensive weapons, nonstrategic and defensive weapons and projected strategic warheads from 2006 to 2015 are presented.