Integrating chronological uncertainties for annually laminated lake sediments using layer counting, independent chronologies and Bayesian age modelling (Lake Ohau, South Island, New Zealand)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vandergoes, Marcus J.; Howarth, Jamie D.; Dunbar, Gavin B.; Turnbull, Jocelyn C.; Roop, Heidi A.; Levy, Richard H.; Li, Xun; Prior, Christine; Norris, Margaret; Keller, Liz D.; Baisden, W. Troy; Ditchburn, Robert; Fitzsimons, Sean J.; Bronk Ramsey, Christopher

2018-05-01

Annually resolved (varved) lake sequences are important palaeoenvironmental archives as they offer a direct incremental dating technique for high-frequency reconstruction of environmental and climate change. Despite the importance of these records, establishing a robust chronology and quantifying its precision and accuracy (estimations of error) remains an essential but challenging component of their development. We outline an approach for building reliable independent chronologies, testing the accuracy of layer counts and integrating all chronological uncertainties to provide quantitative age and error estimates for varved lake sequences. The approach incorporates (1) layer counts and estimates of counting precision; (2) radiometric and biostratigrapic dating techniques to derive independent chronology; and (3) the application of Bayesian age modelling to produce an integrated age model. This approach is applied to a case study of an annually resolved sediment record from Lake Ohau, New Zealand. The most robust age model provides an average error of 72 years across the whole depth range. This represents a fractional uncertainty of ∼5%, higher than the <3% quoted for most published varve records. However, the age model and reported uncertainty represent the best fit between layer counts and independent chronology and the uncertainties account for both layer counting precision and the chronological accuracy of the layer counts. This integrated approach provides a more representative estimate of age uncertainty and therefore represents a statistically more robust chronology.

Development of Sr/Ca-d18O Temperature Calibrations of a Siderastrea siderea Coral from the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, A. J.; DeLong, K. L.; Kilbourne, H.; Slowey, N. C.

2016-12-01

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is sensitive to oceanic and atmospheric variability in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (i.e., Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific North American pattern (PNA), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)). The major GOM current, the Loop Current, feeds the Gulf Stream as it transports oceanic heat to the northern Atlantic Ocean. The northern GOM is the northernmost summer extent of the western hemisphere warm pool (WHWP) that drives oceanic moisture flux and precipitation into the Americas. Decadally-resolved foraminifera reconstructions from the northern GOM indicates SST was 2 to 4ºC colder on average than today during the Little Ice Age (LIA, 1850), whereas a subannually-resolved coral reconstruction from the southeastern GOM find 1.5 to 2ºC colder intervals and reduced areal extent of the WHWP on interannual time scales during some intervals of the LIA. However, records capable of resolving annual and subannual SST variability from the northern GOM, necessary for investigating WHWP northern extent, are still lacking. Here we present a new temperature reconstruction for the northern GOM derived from strontium-to-calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios of approximately monthly samples milled from a Siderastrea siderea coral core collected from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS; 27° 52.5'N, 93° 49'W) growing at a water depth of 20 m. Coral Sr/Ca and δ18O is calibrated to reef temperature data from FGBNMS Hobotemp data loggers near the reef cap in 22 m water depth (1986-2004) and to NOAA OISST (1981-2004). Coral Sr/Ca co-varies with the reef temperature (r=0.95, p<0.05, n=146) and consistently captures winter values in reef temperature with slightly warmer summers (0.9ºC on average). Pseudocoral analysis is used to assess the relationships between SST and SSS in coral δ18O.

Reconstruction of Monsoon Driven South China Sea Surface Ocean Circulation using Coral Δ14C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodkin, N.; Bolton, A.; Karnauskas, K. B.; Hughen, K. A.; Griffin, S.; Druffel, E. R. M.

2016-12-01

The need to improve our understanding of annual and decadal climate behavior in the South China Sea is increasingly important, as this region includes the largest population density globally but encompasses few climate records. Here we present a record of annually resolved Δ14C from a coral collected off the coast of Nha Trang, Vietnam (12°12'49.90″N, 109°18'17.51″E), that reveals a significant correlation to regional winter sea level pressure (SLP) and sea surface temperature (SST), and extends back more than 400 years. Coral Δ14C during thermonuclear bomb testing indicates the presence of wet-season (summer) upwelling, demonstrated by low Δ14C values for both baseline and peak values relative to other records in the region (Bolton et al., 2016, Radiocarbon). However, annually resolved pre-bomb Δ14C correlates significantly to regional dry-season (winter) SLP and SST, indicating that annual variability is driven by changes to the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM) and subsequent down-welling at this site. Spectral density is focused at 25, 11.8, 7, 4, and 3.2 years per cycle reflecting a range of influences on surface advection variability including the EAWM (D'Arrigo et al., 2005, GRL) and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Spectral power at all of these frequencies decreases following the Little Ice Age ( 1600-1850?) to today, indicating that wind driven surface advection was more variable when hemispheric temperatures were cooler. Decadal variance in the past 100 years is significantly correlated to variance records of the Arctic Oscillation (AO, Thompson and Wallace, 1989, GRL), suggesting that increasing variance in the EAWM may be tied to increasing variance of the AO during the Little Ice Age and vice versa.

Seasonality of bottom water temperature in the northern North Sea reconstructed from the oxygen isotope composition of the bivalve Arctica islandica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trofimova, Tamara; Andersson, Carin; Bonitz, Fabian

2017-04-01

The seasonality of temperature changes is an important characteristic of climate. However, observational data for the ocean are only available for the last 150 year from a limited number of locations. Prior to 18th century information is only available from proxy reconstructions. The vast majority of such reconstructions depend on land-based archives, primarily from dendrochronology. Established marine proxy records for the ocean, especially at high latitudes, are both sparsely distributed and poorly resolved in time. Therefore, the identification and development of proxies for studying key ocean processes at sub-annual resolution that can extend the marine instrumental record is a clear priority in marine climate science. In this study, we have developed a record of early Holocene seasonal variability of bottom water temperature from the Viking Bank in the northern most North Sea. This area is of a particular interest since the hydrography is controlled by the inflow of Atlantic water. The reconstruction is based on the oxygen isotope composition of the growth increments in two sub-fossil shells of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia), dated to 9600-9335 cal. yr BP. By combining radiocarbon dating and sclerochronological techniques a floating chronology spanning over 200 years was constructed. Using the chronology as an age model, oxygen isotope measurements from 2 shells were combined into a 22-years long record. The results from this oxygen isotope record are compared with stable oxygen isotope profiles from modern shells to estimate changes in the mean state and seasonality between present and early Holocene. Shell-derived oxygen isotope values together with ice-volume corrected oxygen isotope values for the seawater were used to calculate bottom-water temperatures on a sub-annual time-scale. Preliminary results of the reconstructed early Holocene bottom water temperature indicate higher seasonality and lower minimum temperature compared to the present.

Sea surface temperature variability in the Gulf of Mexico from 1734-2008 CE: A reconstruction using cross-dated Sr/Ca records from the coral Siderastrea siderea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLong, K. L.; Flannery, J. A.; Quinn, T. M.; Maupin, C. R.; Lin, K.; Shen, C.

2013-12-01

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the Gulf of Mexico impacts climate in Central and North America because the Gulf is a major source of moisture and is a source region for the Gulf Stream, which transports ocean heat northward. Here we use skeletal variations in coral Sr/Ca from three Siderastrea siderea coral colonies within the Dry Tortugas National Park in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico (24°42'N, 82°48'W) to develop 274 years of monthly-resolved SST variations. The cross-dated chronology, determined by counting annual density bands and correlating Sr/Ca variations, is verified by four replicated high precision 230Th dates (×1.7-37 years, 2σ). Calibration and verification of our replicated coral Sr/Ca-SST reconstruction with Dry Tortugas SST (r = 0.98 and 0.55 for monthly and 36-month smoothed, respectively; 1992-2008 CE) and Key West, Florida surface air temperature (1895-2008 CE) measurements reveals similar covariance (r = 0.96 and 0.56 for monthly and 36-month smoothed, respectively). The absolute coral SST reconstruction is consistent with SST recorded at the Dry Tortugas lighthouse from 1879-1907 CE indicating that this coral Sr/Ca-SST relationship is stable on centennial time scales. The Sr/Ca-SST reconstruction reveals ~2.0°C interannual variability, ~1.5°C decadal fluctuations, and a 0.7°C warming trend for the past 274 years. Secular variability in our reconstruction is similar to approximately decadally resolved planktic foraminifer Mg/Ca records from the northern Gulf of Mexico. The coral Sr/Ca-SST reconstruction reveals colder decades (~1.5°C) suggesting a reduction in moisture and ocean heat flux from the Gulf of Mexico. We find winter extremes are more variable than summer extremes (×2.2°C vs. ×1.6°C, 2σ) with a stronger warming trend (1°C) in the summers suggesting continued warming may increase coral bleaching.

Dermal Coverage of Traumatic War Wounds

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-11-01

Meeting in Washington, DC in December 2014 and at the ASRM (American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery ) Annual Meeting in the Bahamas in January...Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery ) Annual Meeting in the Bahamas in January 2015.  The first compassionate care case was presented by Dr. Fleming...for Reconstructive Microsurgery ) Annual Meeting in the Bahamas in January 2015. Moreover, the first compassionate care case was presented by Dr. Fleming

Multicentury Reconstruction of Precipitations (1300-2014) in Eastern Canada from Tree-Ring Width and Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giguère, Claudie; Boucher, Étienne; Bergeron, Yves

2016-04-01

Tree ring series enabling long hydroclimatic reconstructions are scarce in Northeastern America, mostly because most boreal species are rather thermo-dependant. Here we propose a new multi-proxy analysis (tree-ring, δ13C and δ18O) from one of the oldest Thuja occidentalis population in NE America (lake Duparquet, Quebec). These rare precipitation-sensitive, long-living trees (> 800 years) grow on xeric rocky shores and their potential for paleo-hydroclimatic reconstructions (based on ring widths solely) was previously assessed. The objectives of this study are twofold i) to strengthen the hydroclimatic signal of this long tree-ring chronology by adding analysis of stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) and ii) to reconstruct summer precipitation back to 1300 AD, which will represent, by far, the longest high-resolution hydroclimatic reconstruction in this region. A tree-ring chronology was constructed from 61 trees sampled in standing position. Eleven trees were also sampled to produce pooled carbon and oxygen isotope chronologies (annually resolved) with a replication of five to six trees per year. Signal analysis (correlation between climatic data and proxy values) confirms that growth is positively influenced by spring precipitations (May-June), while δ13C is negatively correlated to summer precipitation (June to August) and positively to June temperature. Adding δ18O analysis will strengthen the signal even more, since wood cellulose should be enriched in δ18O when high evapotranspiration conditions prevail. Based on a multi-proxy approach, a summer precipitation reconstruction was developed and compared to other temperature reconstructions from this region as well as to southernmost hydroclimatic reconstructions (e.g. Cook et al). A preliminary analysis of external and internal forcing is proposed in conclusion.

Annual Proxy Records from Tropical Cloud Forest Trees in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anchukaitis, K. J.; Evans, M. N.; Wheelwright, N. T.; Schrag, D. P.

2005-12-01

The extinction of the Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) from Costa Rica's Monteverde Cloud Forest prompted research into the causes of ecological change in the montane forests of Costa Rica. Subsequent analysis of meteorological data has suggested that warmer global surface and tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures contribute to an observed decrease in cloud cover at Monteverde. However, while recent studies may have concluded that climate change is already having an effect on cloud forest environments in Costa Rica, without the context provided by long-term climate records, it is difficult to confidently conclude that the observed ecological changes are the result of anthropogenic climate forcing, land clearance in the lowland rainforest, or natural variability in tropical climate. To address this, we develop high-resolution proxy paleoclimate records from trees without annual rings in the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica. Calibration of an age model in these trees is a fundamental prerequisite for proxy paleoclimate reconstructions. Our approach exploits the isotopic seasonality in the δ18O of water sources (fog versus rainfall) used by trees over the course of a single year. Ocotea tenera individuals of known age and measured annual growth increments were sampled in long-term monitored plantation sites in order to test this proposed age model. High-resolution (200μm increments) stable isotope measurements on cellulose reveal distinct, coherent δ18O cycles of 6 to 10‰. The calculated growth rates derived from the isotope timeseries match those observed from basal growth increment measurements. Spatial fidelity in the age model and climate signal is examined by using multiple cores from multiple trees and multiple sites. These data support our hypothesis that annual isotope cycles in these trees can be used to provide chronological control in the absence of rings. The ability of trees to record interannual climate variability in local hydrometeorology and remote climate forcing is evaluated using the isotope signal from multiple trees, local meteorological observations, and climate field data for the well-observed 1997-1998 warm El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. The successful calibration of our age model is a necessary step toward the development of long, annually-resolved paleoclimate reconstructions from old trees, even without rings, which will be used to evaluate the cause of recent observed climate change at Monteverde and as proxies for tropical climate field reconstructions.

Persistent northward North Atlantic tropical cyclone track migration over the past five centuries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baldini, Lisa M.; Baldini, James U. L.; McElwaine, Jim N.

Accurately predicting future tropical cyclone risk requires understanding the fundamental controls on tropical cyclone dynamics. Here we present an annually-resolved 450-year reconstruction of western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity developed using a new coupled carbon and oxygen isotope ratio technique in an exceptionally well-dated stalagmite from Belize. Western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity peaked at 1650 A.D., coincident with maximum Little Ice Age cooling, and decreased gradually until the end of the record in 1983. Considered with other reconstructions, the new record suggests that the mean track of Cape Verde tropical cyclones shifted gradually north-eastward from the western Caribbean toward the Northmore » American east coast over the last 450 years. Since ~1870 A.D., these shifts were largely driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas and sulphate aerosol emissions. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that future emission scenarios will result in more frequent tropical cyclone impacts on the financial and population centres of the northeastern United States.« less

Persistent northward North Atlantic tropical cyclone track migration over the past five centuries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baldini, Lisa M.; Baldini, James U. L.; McElwaine, Jim N.; Frappier, Amy Benoit; Asmerom, Yemane; Liu, Kam-Biu; Prufer, Keith M.; Ridley, Harriet E.; Polyak, Victor; Kennett, Douglas J.; MacPherson, Colin G.; Aquino, Valorie V.; Awe, Jaime; Breitenbach, Sebastian F. M.

2016-11-01

Accurately predicting future tropical cyclone risk requires understanding the fundamental controls on tropical cyclone dynamics. Here we present an annually-resolved 450-year reconstruction of western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity developed using a new coupled carbon and oxygen isotope ratio technique in an exceptionally well-dated stalagmite from Belize. Western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity peaked at 1650 A.D., coincident with maximum Little Ice Age cooling, and decreased gradually until the end of the record in 1983. Considered with other reconstructions, the new record suggests that the mean track of Cape Verde tropical cyclones shifted gradually north-eastward from the western Caribbean toward the North American east coast over the last 450 years. Since ~1870 A.D., these shifts were largely driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas and sulphate aerosol emissions. Our results strongly suggest that future emission scenarios will result in more frequent tropical cyclone impacts on the financial and population centres of the northeastern United States.

Persistent northward North Atlantic tropical cyclone track migration over the past five centuries

DOE PAGES

Baldini, Lisa M.; Baldini, James U. L.; McElwaine, Jim N.; ...

2016-11-23

Accurately predicting future tropical cyclone risk requires understanding the fundamental controls on tropical cyclone dynamics. Here we present an annually-resolved 450-year reconstruction of western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity developed using a new coupled carbon and oxygen isotope ratio technique in an exceptionally well-dated stalagmite from Belize. Western Caribbean tropical cyclone activity peaked at 1650 A.D., coincident with maximum Little Ice Age cooling, and decreased gradually until the end of the record in 1983. Considered with other reconstructions, the new record suggests that the mean track of Cape Verde tropical cyclones shifted gradually north-eastward from the western Caribbean toward the Northmore » American east coast over the last 450 years. Since ~1870 A.D., these shifts were largely driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas and sulphate aerosol emissions. In conclusion, our results strongly suggest that future emission scenarios will result in more frequent tropical cyclone impacts on the financial and population centres of the northeastern United States.« less

Four-dimensional volume-of-interest reconstruction for cone-beam computed tomography-guided radiation therapy.

PubMed

Ahmad, Moiz; Balter, Peter; Pan, Tinsu

2011-10-01

Data sufficiency are a major problem in four-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) on linear accelerator-integrated scanners for image-guided radiotherapy. Scan times must be in the range of 4-6 min to avoid undersampling artifacts. Various image reconstruction algorithms have been proposed to accommodate undersampled data acquisitions, but these algorithms are computationally expensive, may require long reconstruction times, and may require algorithm parameters to be optimized. The authors present a novel reconstruction method, 4D volume-of-interest (4D-VOI) reconstruction which suppresses undersampling artifacts and resolves lung tumor motion for undersampled 1-min scans. The 4D-VOI reconstruction is much less computationally expensive than other 4D-CBCT algorithms. The 4D-VOI method uses respiration-correlated projection data to reconstruct a four-dimensional (4D) image inside a VOI containing the moving tumor, and uncorrelated projection data to reconstruct a three-dimensional (3D) image outside the VOI. Anatomical motion is resolved inside the VOI and blurred outside the VOI. The authors acquired a 1-min. scan of an anthropomorphic chest phantom containing a moving water-filled sphere. The authors also used previously acquired 1-min scans for two lung cancer patients who had received CBCT-guided radiation therapy. The same raw data were used to test and compare the 4D-VOI reconstruction with the standard 4D reconstruction and the McKinnon-Bates (MB) reconstruction algorithms. Both the 4D-VOI and the MB reconstructions suppress nearly all the streak artifacts compared with the standard 4D reconstruction, but the 4D-VOI has 3-8 times greater contrast-to-noise ratio than the MB reconstruction. In the dynamic chest phantom study, the 4D-VOI and the standard 4D reconstructions both resolved a moving sphere with an 18 mm displacement. The 4D-VOI reconstruction shows a motion blur of only 3 mm, whereas the MB reconstruction shows a motion blur of 13 mm. With graphics processing unit hardware used to accelerate computations, the 4D-VOI reconstruction required a 40-s reconstruction time. 4D-VOI reconstruction effectively reduces undersampling artifacts and resolves lung tumor motion in 4D-CBCT. The 4D-VOI reconstruction is computationally inexpensive compared with more sophisticated iterative algorithms. Compared with these algorithms, our 4D-VOI reconstruction is an attractive alternative in 4D-CBCT for reconstructing target motion without generating numerous streak artifacts.

Four-dimensional volume-of-interest reconstruction for cone-beam computed tomography-guided radiation therapy

PubMed Central

Ahmad, Moiz; Balter, Peter; Pan, Tinsu

2011-01-01

Purpose: Data sufficiency are a major problem in four-dimensional cone-beam computed tomography (4D-CBCT) on linear accelerator-integrated scanners for image-guided radiotherapy. Scan times must be in the range of 4–6 min to avoid undersampling artifacts. Various image reconstruction algorithms have been proposed to accommodate undersampled data acquisitions, but these algorithms are computationally expensive, may require long reconstruction times, and may require algorithm parameters to be optimized. The authors present a novel reconstruction method, 4D volume-of-interest (4D-VOI) reconstruction which suppresses undersampling artifacts and resolves lung tumor motion for undersampled 1-min scans. The 4D-VOI reconstruction is much less computationally expensive than other 4D-CBCT algorithms. Methods: The 4D-VOI method uses respiration-correlated projection data to reconstruct a four-dimensional (4D) image inside a VOI containing the moving tumor, and uncorrelated projection data to reconstruct a three-dimensional (3D) image outside the VOI. Anatomical motion is resolved inside the VOI and blurred outside the VOI. The authors acquired a 1-min. scan of an anthropomorphic chest phantom containing a moving water-filled sphere. The authors also used previously acquired 1-min scans for two lung cancer patients who had received CBCT-guided radiation therapy. The same raw data were used to test and compare the 4D-VOI reconstruction with the standard 4D reconstruction and the McKinnon-Bates (MB) reconstruction algorithms. Results: Both the 4D-VOI and the MB reconstructions suppress nearly all the streak artifacts compared with the standard 4D reconstruction, but the 4D-VOI has 3–8 times greater contrast-to-noise ratio than the MB reconstruction. In the dynamic chest phantom study, the 4D-VOI and the standard 4D reconstructions both resolved a moving sphere with an 18 mm displacement. The 4D-VOI reconstruction shows a motion blur of only 3 mm, whereas the MB reconstruction shows a motion blur of 13 mm. With graphics processing unit hardware used to accelerate computations, the 4D-VOI reconstruction required a 40-s reconstruction time. Conclusions: 4D-VOI reconstruction effectively reduces undersampling artifacts and resolves lung tumor motion in 4D-CBCT. The 4D-VOI reconstruction is computationally inexpensive compared with more sophisticated iterative algorithms. Compared with these algorithms, our 4D-VOI reconstruction is an attractive alternative in 4D-CBCT for reconstructing target motion without generating numerous streak artifacts. PMID:21992381

Spectral reconstruction analysis for enhancing signal-to-noise in time-resolved spectroscopies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilhelm, Michael J.; Smith, Jonathan M.; Dai, Hai-Lung

2015-09-01

We demonstrate a new spectral analysis for the enhancement of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in time-resolved spectroscopies. Unlike the simple linear average which produces a single representative spectrum with enhanced SNR, this Spectral Reconstruction analysis (SRa) improves the SNR (by a factor of ca. 0 . 6 √{ n } ) for all n experimentally recorded time-resolved spectra. SRa operates by eliminating noise in the temporal domain, thereby attenuating noise in the spectral domain, as follows: Temporal profiles at each measured frequency are fit to a generic mathematical function that best represents the temporal evolution; spectra at each time are then reconstructed with data points from the fitted profiles. The SRa method is validated with simulated control spectral data sets. Finally, we apply SRa to two distinct experimentally measured sets of time-resolved IR emission spectra: (1) UV photolysis of carbonyl cyanide and (2) UV photolysis of vinyl cyanide.

Modeling and image reconstruction in spectrally resolved bioluminescence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dehghani, Hamid; Pogue, Brian W.; Davis, Scott C.; Patterson, Michael S.

2007-02-01

Recent interest in modeling and reconstruction algorithms for Bioluminescence Tomography (BLT) has increased and led to the general consensus that non-spectrally resolved intensity-based BLT results in a non-unique problem. However, the light emitted from, for example firefly Luciferase, is widely distributed over the band of wavelengths from 500 nm to 650 nm and above, with the dominant fraction emitted from tissue being above 550 nm. This paper demonstrates the development of an algorithm used for multi-wavelength 3D spectrally resolved BLT image reconstruction in a mouse model. It is shown that using a single view data, bioluminescence sources of up to 15 mm deep can be successfully recovered given correct information about the underlying tissue absorption and scatter.

Extreme aridity and mild temperatures in the Middle East during the late Little Ice Age indicated by paired coral Sr/Ca and δ18O from the northern Red Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Felis, T.; Ionita, M.; Rimbu, N.; Lohmann, G.; Kölling, M.

2016-12-01

Throughout the global deserts, annually resolved reconstructions of temperature that extend the short instrumental record are virtually absent, and proxy records of aridity are difficult to obtain. The Little Ice Age ( 1450-1850) is thought to have been characterized by generally cold conditions in many regions of the globe with little commonality regarding the hydroclimate. However, due to a lack of annually resolved natural archives in the Sahara and Arabian Desert, the precise characteristics of Middle Eastern climate during the Little Ice Age are unknown. Here we show, based on subseasonally resolved proxy records using corals from the northern Red Sea that the Middle East did not experience pronounced cooling during the late Little Ice Age (1751-1850). Instead, it was characterised by an even more arid climate than today. From our coral records and early instrumental data we conclude that Middle Eastern aridity resulted from a blocking-like atmospheric circulation over central Europe that weakened the moist Mediterranean westerlies and favoured the advection of dry continental air from Eurasia. We find that this extreme aridity terminated abruptly between 1850 and 1855 due to an atmospheric circulation change over the European-Middle East area at the end of the Little Ice Age with profound impacts on regional hydroclimate. Our results provide a hydroclimatic perspective on the resettlement of abandoned areas of the historical Fertile Crescent following the Little Ice Age. Furthermore, we speculate such an atmospheric blocking could have prevailed during other North Atlantic-European cold events of the Holocene epoch, and may explain the northern Mesopotamian aridification at 4,200 years ago that is thought to have led to the collapse of ancient civilizations.

A Skilful Marine Sclerochronological Network Based Reconstruction of North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, D.; Hall, I. R.; Slater, S. M.; Scourse, J. D.; Wanamaker, A. D.; Halloran, P. R.; Garry, F. K.

2017-12-01

Spatial network analyses of precisely dated, and annually resolved, tree-ring proxy records have facilitated robust reconstructions of past atmospheric climate variability and the associated mechanisms and forcings that drive it. In contrast, a lack of similarly dated marine archives has constrained the use of such techniques in the marine realm, despite the potential for developing a more robust understanding of the role basin scale ocean dynamics play in the global climate system. Here we show that a spatial network of marine molluscan sclerochronological oxygen isotope (δ18Oshell) series spanning the North Atlantic region provides a skilful reconstruction of basin scale North Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs). Our analyses demonstrate that the composite marine series (referred to as δ18Oproxy_PC1) is significantly sensitive to inter-annual variability in North Atlantic SSTs (R=-0.61 P<0.01) and surface air temperatures (SATs; R=-0.67, P<0.01) over the 20th century. Subpolar gyre (SPG) SSTs dominates variability in the δ18Oproxy_PC1 series at sub-centennial frequencies (R=-0.51, P<0.01). Comparison of the δ18Oproxy_PC1 series against variability in the strength of the European Slope Current and maximum North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation derived from numeric climate models (CMIP5), indicates that variability in the SPG region, associated with the strength of the surface currents of the North Atlantic, are playing a significant role in shaping the multi-decadal scale SST variability over the industrial era. These analyses demonstrate that spatial networks developed from sclerochronological archives can provide powerful baseline archives of past ocean variability that can facilitate the development of a quantitative understanding for the role the oceans play in the global climate systems and constraining uncertainties in numeric climate models.

Temperature Calibration of a Northern Gulf of Mexico Siderastrea siderea Coral

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wagner, A. J.; DeLong, K. L.; Kilbourne, K. H.; Richey, J. N.; Jelinek, K.; Hickerson, E.; Slowey, N. C.

2015-12-01

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is sensitive to oceanic and atmospheric variability in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (i.e., Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific North American Pattern (PNA), and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)). The major GOM current, the Loop Current, feeds the Gulf Stream as it transports oceanic heat to the northern Atlantic Ocean. The northern GOM is the northernmost summer extent of the western hemisphere warm pool (WHWP) that drives oceanic moisture flux and precipitation into the Americas. Decadally-resolved foraminifera reconstructions from the northern GOM indicates SST was 2 to 4ºC colder on average than today during the Little Ice Age (LIA, ~1850), whereas a subannually-resolved coral reconstruction from the southeastern GOM find 1.5 to 2ºC colder intervals and reduced areal extent of the WHWP on interannual time scales during some intervals of the LIA. However, records capable of resolving annual and subannual SST variability from the northern GOM, necessary for investigating WHWP northern extent, are still lacking. Here we present a new temperature reconstruction for the northern GOM derived from strontium-to-calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios of approximately monthly samples milled from a Siderastrea siderea coral core collected from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS; 27° 52.5'N, 93° 49'W) growing at a water depth of 20 m. Coral Sr/Ca is calibrated to reef temperature data from FGBNMS Hobotemp data loggers near the reef cap in ~22 m water depth (1986-2004) and to NOAA OISST (1981-2004), which co-varies with the reef temperature (r=0.95, p<0.05, n=146) and consistently captures winter values in reef temperature with slightly warmer summers (0.9ºC on average). The Sr/Ca-SST calibration slope (-0.043, r=-0.89, n=136, p<0.01 for reef temperature; -0.039, r=-0.94, n=275, p<0.01 for OISST) agrees well with published coral Sr/Ca-SST calibrations for S. siderea in the southeastern GOM from shallower water depths.

A New Approach to Time-Resolved 3D-PTV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boomsma, Aaron; Troolin, Dan; Bjorkquist, Dan; TSI Inc Team

2017-11-01

Volumetric three-component velocimetry via particle tracking is a powerful alternative to TomoPIV. It has been thoroughly documented that compared to TomoPIV, particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) methods (whether 2D or 3D) better resolve regions of high velocity gradient, identify fewer ghost particles, and are less computationally demanding, which results in shorter processing times. Recently, 3D-PTV has seen renewed interest in the PIV community with the availability of time-resolved data. Of course, advances in hardware are partly to thank for that availability-higher speed cameras, more effective memory management, and higher speed lasers. But in software, algorithms that utilize time resolved data to improve 3D particle reconstruction and particle tracking are also under development and advancing (e.g. shake-the-box, neighbor tracking reconstruction, etc.). .In the current study, we present a new 3D-PTV method that incorporates time-resolved data. We detail the method, its performance in terms of particle identification and reconstruction error and their relation to varying seeding densities, as well as computational performance.

Fast reconstruction of optical properties for complex segmentations in near infrared imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Jingjing; Wolf, Martin; Sánchez Majos, Salvador

2017-04-01

The intrinsic ill-posed nature of the inverse problem in near infrared imaging makes the reconstruction of fine details of objects deeply embedded in turbid media challenging even for the large amounts of data provided by time-resolved cameras. In addition, most reconstruction algorithms for this type of measurements are only suitable for highly symmetric geometries and rely on a linear approximation to the diffusion equation since a numerical solution of the fully non-linear problem is computationally too expensive. In this paper, we will show that a problem of practical interest can be successfully addressed making efficient use of the totality of the information supplied by time-resolved cameras. We set aside the goal of achieving high spatial resolution for deep structures and focus on the reconstruction of complex arrangements of large regions. We show numerical results based on a combined approach of wavelength-normalized data and prior geometrical information, defining a fully parallelizable problem in arbitrary geometries for time-resolved measurements. Fast reconstructions are obtained using a diffusion approximation and Monte-Carlo simulations, parallelized in a multicore computer and a GPU respectively.

Mg/Ca Ratios in Coralline Red Algae as Temperature Proxies for Reconstructing Labrador Current Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gamboa, G.; Hetzinger, S.; Halfar, J.; Zack, T.; Kunz, B.; Adey, W.

2009-05-01

Marine ecosystems and fishery productivity in the Northwestern Atlantic have been considerably affected by regional climate and oceanographic changes. Fluctuations of North Atlantic marine climate have been linked in part to a dominant pattern of atmospheric circulation known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which has a strong influence on transport variability of the Labrador Current (LC). The cold LC originates in the Labrador Sea and flows southbound along the Eastern Canadian coastline causing an important cooling effect on marine waters off the Canadian Atlantic provinces. Although interdecadal and interannual variability of sea surface temperatures (SST) in the LC system have been documented, a long-term pattern has not been identified. In order to better understand the observed ecosystem changes and their relationship with climate variability in the Northwestern Atlantic, a century-scale reconstruction of spatial and temporal variations of the LC is needed. This, however, requires reliable long-term and high-resolution SST records, which are not available from short instrumental observations. Here we present the first century-scale SST reconstructions from the Northwest Atlantic using long-lived coralline red algae. Coralline red algae have a high-Mg calcite skeleton, live in shallow water worldwide and develop annual growth bands. It has previously been demonstrated that subannual resolution SSTs can be obtained from coralline red algal Mg/Ca ratios, a commonly used paleotemperature proxy. Specimens of the long-lived coralline red algae Clathromorphum compactum were collected alive in August 2008 along a latitudinal transect spanning the southern extent of LC flow in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. This collection is supplemented with specimens from the same region collected in the 1960's. In order to reconstruct spatial and temporal patterns of the LC, selected samples of C. compactum were analyzed for Mg/Ca using Laser Ablation Inductively-Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Mg/Ca ratios range from 0.048 to 0.138 (measured in weight %) and relate to water temperatures of -1 to 16°C. Age models were established by comparing annual growth increments (average increment width 350 microns/year) with Mg/Ca cycles. This yielded subannually-resolved Mg/Ca-based SST reconstructions spanning the past century.

Spatio-temporal variability of Arctic summer temperatures over the past 2 millennia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, Johannes P.; Divine, Dmitry V.; Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik; Nilsen, Tine; Francus, Pierre

2018-04-01

In this article, the first spatially resolved and millennium-length summer (June-August) temperature reconstruction over the Arctic and sub-Arctic domain (north of 60° N) is presented. It is based on a set of 44 annually dated temperature-sensitive proxy archives of various types from the revised PAGES2k database supplemented with six new recently updated proxy records. As a major advance, an extension of the Bayesian BARCAST climate field (CF) reconstruction technique provides a means to treat climate archives with dating uncertainties. This results not only in a more precise reconstruction but additionally enables joint probabilistic constraints to be imposed on the chronologies of the used archives. The new seasonal CF reconstruction for the Arctic region can be shown to be skilful for the majority of the terrestrial nodes. The decrease in the proxy data density back in time, however, limits the analyses in the spatial domain to the period after 750 CE, while the spatially averaged reconstruction covers the entire time interval of 1-2002 CE.The centennial to millennial evolution of the reconstructed temperature is in good agreement with a general pattern that was inferred in recent studies for the Arctic and its subregions. In particular, the reconstruction shows a pronounced Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; here ca. 920-1060 CE), which was characterised by a sequence of extremely warm decades over the whole domain. The medieval warming was followed by a gradual cooling into the Little Ice Age (LIA), with 1766-1865 CE as the longest centennial-scale cold period, culminating around 1811-1820 CE for most of the target region.In total over 600 independent realisations of the temperature CF were generated. As showcased for local and regional trends and temperature anomalies, operating in a probabilistic framework directly results in comprehensive uncertainty estimates, even for complex analyses. For the presented multi-scale trend analysis, for example, the spread in different paths across the reconstruction ensemble prevents a robust analysis of features at timescales shorter than ca. 30 years. For the spatial reconstruction, the benefit of using the spatially resolved reconstruction ensemble is demonstrated by focusing on the regional expression of the recent warming and the MCA. While our analysis shows that the peak MCA summer temperatures were as high as in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the spatial coherence of extreme years over the last decades of the reconstruction (1980s onwards) seems unprecedented at least back until 750 CE. However, statistical testing could not provide conclusive support of the contemporary warming to exceed the peak of the MCA in terms of the pan-Arctic mean summer temperatures: the reconstruction cannot be extended reliably past 2002 CE due to lack of proxy data and thus the most recent warming is not captured.

Sr/Ca proxy sea-surface temperature reconstructions from modern and holocene Montastraea faveolata specimens from the Dry Tortugas National Park

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flannery, Jennifer A.; Poore, Richard Z.

2013-01-01

Sr/Ca ratios from skeletal samples from two Montastraea faveolata corals (one modern, one Holocene, ~6 Ka) from the Dry Tortugas National Park were measured as a proxy for sea-surface temperature (SST). We sampled coral specimens with a computer-driven triaxial micromilling machine, which yielded an average of 15 homogenous samples per annual growth increment. We regressed Sr/Ca values from resulting powdered samples against a local SST record to obtain a calibration equation of Sr/Ca = -0.0392 SST + 10.205, R = -0.97. The resulting calibration was used to generate a 47-year modern (1961-2008) and a 7-year Holocene (~6 Ka) Sr/Ca subannually resolved proxy record of SST. The modern M. faveolata yields well-defined annual Sr/Ca cycles ranging in amplitude from ~0.3 and 0.5 mmol/mol. The amplitude of ~0.3 to 0.5 mmol/mol equates to a 10-15°C seasonal SST amplitude, which is consistent with available local instrumental records. Summer maxima proxy SSTs calculated from the modern coral Sr/ Ca tend to be fairly stable: most SST maxima from 1961–2008 are 29°C ± 1°C. In contrast, winter minimum SST calculated in the 47-year modern time-series are highly variable, with a cool interval in the early to mid-1970s. The Holocene (~6 Ka) Montastraea faveolata coral also yields distinct annual Sr/Ca cycles with amplitudes ranging from ~0.3 to 0.6 mmol/mol. Absolute Sr/Ca values and thus resulting SST estimates over the ~7-year long record are similar to those from the modern coral. We conclude that Sr/Ca from Montastraea faveolata has high potential for developing subannually resolved Holocene SST records.

500-year Reconstructions of Circulation in the Northeastern Pacific and Western North America: Relation to Precipitation and Fire Conditions in California and Precipitation in Hawai'i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahl, E. R.; Zorita, E.; Trouet, V.; Diaz, H. F.

2015-12-01

A reconstruction of the position of the North Pacific Jet Stream (NPJ) over the past 500 years is evaluated in relation to dry and wet extremes in California and extremes of Sierra Nevada fire activity. This work represents a unique combination of independent annually-resolved paleoclimate and paleoecological reconstructions in the region. Results indicate that fire and precipitation extremes are both closely linked with NPJ winter position, with characteristic wet/low fire and dry/high fire NPJ spatial features in the Pacific adjacent to western North America. These features are in turn evaluated in 21st century climate model scenarios using transient integrations over the past millennium, the instrumental period, and the 21st century. The reconstruction of NPJ position is driven by an analog process that employs independent paleoclimate field reconstructions to select model states closest to the reconstructions; it is thus logically and scientifically most consistent to use comparable models to evaluate the future in relation to the past. Initial results indicate that relatively wet/low fire regional conditions are reasonably possible in the later 21st century under a high greenhouse gas forcing regime (RCP 8.5), even though temperatures rise significantly. Related hydroclimate research reconstructs a precipitation index for the Hawai'ian Islands (HI-precip) over the past 500 years. A northeastern Pacific sea level pressure index reconstructed using the analog process is employed as the driving variable in a calibration against HI-precip. Initial reconstruction results indicate significant bicentennial spectral power, which includes a long-term drying trend that began around 1850 and continues into the first decades of the 21st century. Related statistical downscaling of climate model output for HI-precip to the end of the 21st century suggests the possibility of continued drying under RCP 8.5.

Winter temperature conditions (1670-2010) reconstructed from varved sediments, western Canadian High Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amann, Benjamin; Lamoureux, Scott F.; Boreux, Maxime P.

2017-09-01

Advances in paleoclimatology from the Arctic have provided insights into long-term climate conditions. However, while past annual and summer temperature have received considerable research attention, comparatively little is known about winter paleoclimate. Arctic winter is of special interest as it is the season with the highest sensitivity to climate change, and because it differs substantially from summer and annual measures. Therefore, information about past changes in winter climate is key to improve our knowledge of past forced climate variability and to reduce uncertainty in climate projections. In this context, Arctic lakes with snowmelt-fed catchments are excellent potential winter climate archives. They respond strongly to snowmelt-induced runoff, and indirectly to winter temperature and snowfall conditions. To date, only a few well-calibrated lake sediment records exist, which appear to reflect site-specific responses with differing reconstructions. This limits the possibility to resolve large-scale winter climate change prior the instrumental period. Here, we present a well-calibrated quantitative temperature and snowfall record for the extended winter season (November through March; NDJFM) from Chevalier Bay (Melville Island, NWT, Canadian Arctic) back to CE 1670. The coastal embayment has a large catchment influenced by nival terrestrial processes, which leads to high sedimentation rates and annual sedimentary structures (varves). Using detailed microstratigraphic analysis from two sediment cores and supported by μ-XRF data, we separated the nival sedimentary units (spring snowmelt) from the rainfall units (summer) and identified subaqueous slumps. Statistical correlation analysis between the proxy data and monthly climate variables reveals that the thickness of the nival units can be used to predict winter temperature (r = 0.71, pc < 0.01, 5-yr filter) and snowfall (r = 0.65, pc < 0.01, 5-yr filter) for the western Canadian High Arctic over the last ca. 400 years. Results reveal a strong variability in winter temperature back to CE 1670 with the coldest decades reconstructed for the period CE 1800-1880, while the warmest decades and major trends are reconstructed for the period CE 1880-1930 (0.26°C/decade) and CE 1970-2010 (0.37°C/decade). Although the first aim of this study was to increase the paleoclimate data coverage for the winter season, the record from Chevalier Bay also holds great potential for more applied climate research such as data-model comparisons and proxy-data assimilation in climate model simulations.

Reconstructing Holocene seasonal hydrographic variability in the eastern North Atlantic using bivalve shells from St Kilda, Scotland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexandroff, Stella; Scourse, James; Butler, Paul; Schöne, Bernd; Reimer, Paula

2017-04-01

Bivalve shells like Arctica islandica and Glycymeris glycymeris can be used as highly resolved archives of past marine climate and long-term biomonitors. The annual growth patterns of the shell reflect the environment the animals live in and by cross-matching these growth patterns it is possible to construct multi-centennial, annually resolved chronologies that form a temporal template for isotope sampling. The aim of this study is to detect a signal of Atlantic hydrographic variability in Scottish Shelf Seas that is as far as possible uncontaminated by other influences. In May 2014, we collected dead valves and young live specimens of G. glycymeris from St Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and in April 2016, live specimens of A. islandica were collected at the same location. This area is of particular interest as it is close to the Scottish shelf margin, has negligible freshwater input, and is thought to represent open-ocean North Atlantic signals well. We here present two floating chronologies, each spanning >180 years, built from dead-collected G. glycymeris shells from St Kilda. All the shells in these chronologies were assigned radiocarbon ages between 3700-3300 cal yr BP. By combining the radiocarbon dates and the chronological data derived from cross-matching annual bands in the shells, one of the floating chronologies could be further constrained to 3750-3500 cal yr BP (95% range). Sub-annual δ18O data from the floating chronologies and from the modern specimens show a strong seasonal signal and multi-year trends. We calibrate the δ18O results from the modern specimens with instrumental data, which enables us (subject to the assumption that there has been no change in δ18Owater) to compare mean and seasonal seawater temperatures between the present day and the fourth millennium BP.

Annually-resolved temperature reconstructions of the past 2000 years from Dome-Fuji, East Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motizuki, Yuko; Takahashi, Kazuya; Nakai, Yoichi; Motoyama, Hideaki

2016-04-01

We present annually-resolved temperature and SST reconstructions of the past 2000 years based on water (oxygen and deuterium) isotope measurement on a shallow ice core drilled in 2010 at Dome Fuji station, East Antarctica. These time series records will be an essential contribution to the PAGES 2k project from sparse data area in Antarctica. Dome Fuji station is located on a summit of Dronning Maud Land at an altitude of 3810 m a.s.l. (above sea level) (77o19'01'' S, 39o42'12'' E) in East Antarctica. The 10 m depth mean snow temperature at Dome Fuji is -57.3oC1). The inland area around Dome Fuji has been recognized to be especially unique: The snow and ice there contain much stratospheric information. The direct evidence for this comes from tritium contents originated from the nuclear bomb tests in the 1960s; the tritium fallout at the Dome Fuji site is outstandingly high among 16 snow pit samples widely collected over Antarctica2). To date the concerned Dome Fuji ice core, we applied volcanic signature matching to transfer the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide ice core chronology constructed by annual layer counting as used in the study by Sigl et al. (2014)3). In our presentation, we confine ourselves to discuss the oscillation periodicity that we observed in the oxygen isotope record in our data: The periods of approximately 10, 20, and 200 years were found. We will present the time series analyses for this in detail, and will discuss the origin of this periodicity. References: 1) Kameda, T., Motoyama, H., Fujita, S., and Takahashi, S.: "Past temporal and spatial variability of surface mass balance at Dome Fuji", East Antarctica, by the stake method from 1995 to 2006, J. Glaciol., 54, 107-116, 2008. 2) Fourre, E., Jean-Baptiste, P., Dapoigny, A., Baumier, D., Petit, J.-R., and Jouzel, J.: "Past and recent tritium levels in Arctic and Antarctic polar caps", Earth Planet. Sc. Lett., 245, 56-64, 2006. 3) Sigl, M., J. McConnell, M. Toohey, M. Curran, S. Das, R. Edwards, E. Isaksson, K. Kawamura, S. Kipfstuhl, K. Kruger, L. Layman, O. Maselli, Y. Motizuki, H. Motoyama, D. Pasteris, M. Severi: "Insights from Antarctica on volcanic forcing during the Common Era", Nature Climate Change, 4, 693-697, 2014.

Monthly paleostreamflow reconstruction from annual tree-ring chronologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stagge, J. H.; Rosenberg, D. E.; DeRose, R. J.; Rittenour, T. M.

2018-02-01

Paleoclimate reconstructions are increasingly used to characterize annual climate variability prior to the instrumental record, to improve estimates of climate extremes, and to provide a baseline for climate-change projections. To date, paleoclimate records have seen limited engineering use to estimate hydrologic risks because water systems models and managers usually require streamflow input at the monthly scale. This study explores the hypothesis that monthly streamflows can be adequately modeled by statistically decomposing annual flow reconstructions. To test this hypothesis, a multiple linear regression model for monthly streamflow reconstruction is presented that expands the set of predictors to include annual streamflow reconstructions, reconstructions of global circulation, and potential differences among regional tree-ring chronologies related to tree species and geographic location. This approach is used to reconstruct 600 years of monthly streamflows at two sites on the Bear and Logan rivers in northern Utah. Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiencies remain above zero (0.26-0.60) for all months except April and Pearson's correlation coefficients (R) are 0.94 and 0.88 for the Bear and Logan rivers, respectively, confirming that the model can adequately reproduce monthly flows during the reference period (10/1942 to 9/2015). Incorporating a flexible transition between the previous and concurrent annual reconstructed flows was the most important factor for model skill. Expanding the model to include global climate indices and regional tree-ring chronologies produced smaller, but still significant improvements in model fit. The model presented here is the only approach currently available to reconstruct monthly streamflows directly from tree-ring chronologies and climate reconstructions, rather than using resampling of the observed record. With reasonable estimates of monthly flow that extend back in time many centuries, water managers can challenge systems models with a larger range of natural variability in drought and pluvial events and better evaluate extreme events with recurrence intervals longer than the observed record. Establishing this natural baseline is critical when estimating future hydrologic risks under conditions of a non-stationary climate.

Treating pre-instrumental data as "missing" data: using a tree-ring-based paleoclimate record and imputations to reconstruct streamflow in the Missouri River Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, M. W.; Lall, U.; Cook, E. R.

2015-12-01

Advances in paleoclimatology in the past few decades have provided opportunities to expand the temporal perspective of the hydrological and climatological variability across the world. The North American region is particularly fortunate in this respect where a relatively dense network of high resolution paleoclimate proxy records have been assembled. One such network is the annually-resolved Living Blended Drought Atlas (LBDA): a paleoclimate reconstruction of the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) that covers North America on a 0.5° × 0.5° grid based on tree-ring chronologies. However, the use of the LBDA to assess North American streamflow variability requires a model by which streamflow may be reconstructed. Paleoclimate reconstructions have typically used models that first seek to quantify the relationship between the paleoclimate variable and the environmental variable of interest before extrapolating the relationship back in time. In contrast, the pre-instrumental streamflow is here considered as "missing" data. A method of imputing the "missing" streamflow data, prior to the instrumental record, is applied through multiple imputation using chained equations for streamflow in the Missouri River Basin. In this method, the distribution of the instrumental streamflow and LBDA is used to estimate sets of plausible values for the "missing" streamflow data resulting in a ~600 year-long streamflow reconstruction. Past research into external climate forcings, oceanic-atmospheric variability and its teleconnections, and assessments of rare multi-centennial instrumental records demonstrate that large temporal oscillations in hydrological conditions are unlikely to be captured in most instrumental records. The reconstruction of multi-centennial records of streamflow will enable comprehensive assessments of current and future water resource infrastructure and operations under the existing scope of natural climate variability.

Snowpack variations since AD 1150 in the Andes of Chile and Argentina (30°-37°S) inferred from rainfall, tree-ring and documentary records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masiokas, M. H.; Villalba, R.; Christie, D. A.; Betman, E.; Luckman, B. H.; Le Quesne, C.; Prieto, M. R.; Mauget, S.

2012-03-01

The Andean snowpack is the main source of freshwater and arguably the single most important natural resource for the populated, semi-arid regions of central Chile and central-western Argentina. However, apart from recent analyses of instrumental snowpack data, very little is known about the long term variability of this key natural resource. Here we present two complementary, annually-resolved reconstructions of winter snow accumulation in the southern Andes between 30°-37°S. The reconstructions cover the past 850 years and were developed using simple regression models based on snowpack proxies with different inherent limitations. Rainfall data from central Chile (very strongly correlated with snow accumulation values in the adjacent mountains) were used to extend a regional 1951-2010 snowpack record back to AD 1866. Subsequently, snow accumulation variations since AD 1150 were inferred from precipitation-sensitive tree-ring width series. The reconstructed snowpack values were validated with independent historical and instrumental information. An innovative time series analysis approach allowed the identification of the onset, duration and statistical significance of the main intra- to multi-decadal patterns in the reconstructions and indicates that variations observed in the last 60 years are not particularly anomalous when assessed in a multi-century context. In addition to providing new information on past variations for a highly relevant hydroclimatic variable in the southern Andes, the snowpack reconstructions can also be used to improve the understanding and modeling of related, larger-scale atmospheric features such as ENSO and the PDO.

Cooler winters as a possible cause of mass extinctions at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivany, Linda C.; Patterson, William P.; Lohmann, Kyger C.

2000-10-01

The Eocene/Oligocene boundary, at about 33.7Myr ago, marks one of the largest extinctions of marine invertebrates in the Cenozoic period. For example, turnover of mollusc species in the US Gulf coastal plain was over 90% at this time. A temperature change across this boundary-from warm Eocene climates to cooler conditions in the Oligocene-has been suggested as a cause of this extinction event, but climate reconstructions have not provided support for this hypothesis. Here we report stable oxygen isotope measurements of aragonite in fish otoliths-ear stones-collected across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. Palaeotemperatures reconstructed from mean otolith oxygen isotope values show little change through this interval, in agreement with previous studies. From incremental microsampling of otoliths, however, we can resolve the seasonal variation in temperature, recorded as the otoliths continue to accrete new material over the life of the fish. These seasonal data suggest that winters became about 4°C colder across the Eocene/Oligocene boundary. We suggest that temperature variability, rather than change in mean annual temperature, helped to cause faunal turnover during this transition.

A 2000-year European Mean Summer Temperature Reconstruction from the PAGES 2k Regional Network and Comparison to Millennium-Length Forced Model Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smerdon, J. E.; Büntgen, U.; Ljungqvist, F. C.; Esper, J.; Fernández-Donado, L.; Gonzalez-Rouco, F. J.; Luterbacher, J.; McCarroll, D.; Wagner, S.; Wahl, E. R.; Wanner, H.; Werner, J.; Zorita, E.

2012-12-01

A reconstruction of mean European summer (JJA) land temperatures from 138 B.C.E. to 2003 C.E. is presented and compared to 37 forced transient simulations of the last millennium from coupled General Circulation Models (CGCMs). Eleven annually resolved tree-ring and documentary records from ten European countries/regions were used for the reconstruction and compiled as part of the Euro_Med working group contribution to the PAGES 2k Regional Network. Records were selected based upon their summer temperature signal, annual resolution, and time-continuous sampling. All tree-ring data were detrended using the Regional Curve Standardization (RCS) method to retain low-frequency variance in the resulting mean chronologies. The calibration time series was the area-weighted JJA temperature computed from the CRUTEM4v dataset over a European land domain (35°-70°N, 10°W-40°E). A nested 'Composite-Plus-Scale' reconstruction was derived using nine nests reflecting the availability of predictors back in time. Each nest was calculated by standardizing the available predictor series over the calibration interval, and subsequently calculating a weighted composite in which each proxy was multiplied by its correlation with the target index. The CPS methodology was implemented using a resampling scheme that uses 104 years for calibration. The initial calibration period extended from 1850-1953 C.E. and was incremented by one year until reaching the final period of 1900-2003 C.E., yielding a total of 51 reconstructions for each nest. Within each calibration step, the 50 years excluded from calibration were used for validation. Validation statistics across all reconstruction ensemble members within each nest indicate skillful reconstructions (RE: 0.42-0.64; CE: 0.26-0.54) and are all above the maximum validation statistics achieved in an ensemble of red noise benchmarking experiments. Warm periods in the derived reconstruction during the 1st, 2nd, and 7th-12th centuries compare to similar warm summer temperatures during the mid 20th century, although the 2003 summer remains the warmest single summer over the duration of the reconstruction. A relative period of cold summer temperatures is also noted from the 14th-19th centuries, consistent with the expected timing of the Little Ice Age. The nested CPS reconstruction is also compared to a 37-member ensemble of millennium-length forced transient simulations from CGCMs, including eleven simulations from the collection of CMIP5/PMIP3 last-millennium experiments. The simulations are separated based on their use of strong or weak scaling of total solar irradiance (TSI) forcing over the last millennium. Although both ensembles of simulated mean European temperatures compare well with the nested CPS reconstruction, there is some evidence that there is better agreement with the ensemble using strong TSI as forcing.

Last interglacial temperature seasonality reconstructed from tropical Atlantic corals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Felis, T.; Brocas, W.; Obert, J. C.; Gierz, P.; Lohmann, G.; Scholz, D.; Kölling, M.; Pfeiffer, M.; Scheffers, S. R.

2016-12-01

Reconstructions of last interglacial ( 127-117 ka) climate offer insights into the natural response and variability of the climate system during a period partially analogous to future climate change scenarios. However, the seasonal temperature changes of the tropical ocean are not well known for the last interglacial period. Here we present well preserved fossil corals (Diploria strigosa) recovered from the southern Caribbean island of Bonaire. These corals have been precisely dated by the 230Th/U-method to between 130 and 118 ka ago. Annual banding of the coral skeleton enabled construction of time windows of monthly resolved Sr/Ca temperature proxy records. Our eight coral records of up to 37 years in length cover a total of 105 years within the last interglacial period. From these coral records, sea surface temperature (SST) seasonality in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean is reconstructed. We detect similar to modern SST seasonality of 2.9 °C during the early (130 ka) and the late last interglacial (120 - 118 ka). However, within the mid-last interglacial, a significantly higher than modern SST seasonality of 4.9 °C (at 126 ka) and 4.1 °C (at 124 ka) is observed. These findings are supported by climate model simulations (COSMOS) and are consistent with the evolving amplitude of orbitally induced changes in seasonality of insolation throughout the last interglacial, irrespective of wider climatic instabilities that characterised this period, e.g. at 118 ka ago. The climate model simulations suggest that the SST seasonality changes documented in our last interglacial coral Sr/Ca records are representative of larger regions within the tropical North Atlantic. These simulations also suggest that the reconstructed SST seasonality increase during the mid-last interglacial is caused primarily by summer warming. Furthermore, a 124 ka old coral documents evidence of decadal SST variability in the tropical North Atlantic during the last interglacial, akin to that observed in modern instrumental records. Our results indicate that the dense theca walls of brain coral skeletons (e.g., Diploria strigosa) can provide robust seasonally resolved proxy records of tropical SST and reliable 230Th/U-ages for the last interglacial period.

RESOLVE: A new algorithm for aperture synthesis imaging of extended emission in radio astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Junklewitz, H.; Bell, M. R.; Selig, M.; Enßlin, T. A.

2016-02-01

We present resolve, a new algorithm for radio aperture synthesis imaging of extended and diffuse emission in total intensity. The algorithm is derived using Bayesian statistical inference techniques, estimating the surface brightness in the sky assuming a priori log-normal statistics. resolve estimates the measured sky brightness in total intensity, and the spatial correlation structure in the sky, which is used to guide the algorithm to an optimal reconstruction of extended and diffuse sources. During this process, the algorithm succeeds in deconvolving the effects of the radio interferometric point spread function. Additionally, resolve provides a map with an uncertainty estimate of the reconstructed surface brightness. Furthermore, with resolve we introduce a new, optimal visibility weighting scheme that can be viewed as an extension to robust weighting. In tests using simulated observations, the algorithm shows improved performance against two standard imaging approaches for extended sources, Multiscale-CLEAN and the Maximum Entropy Method.

Select, High-Resolution Windows Into Sub-Centennial-Scale Climate Variability in the Western Pacific Warm Pool Between 7 and 12 ka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinn, T. M.; Taylor, F. W.; Cheng, H.; Edwards, R. L.; Burr, G.; Chen, Y.

2004-12-01

Post-glacial, coral-based climate records from the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP), a region that serves as a major heat and moisture source to the ocean-atmosphere system, provide sub-annually resolved windows into climate variability on interannual to multi-decadal timescales from this climatologically significant region. Paleoclimate reconstructions based on fossil corals require that the skeletal geochemistry be unaffected by diagenesis and that secular changes in seawater chemistry be known. Global seawater \\delta18O variations can be constrained using knowledge of past variations in ice volume, whereas much less is known about global seawater Sr/Ca variations, if they occur in the post-glacial interval. Our paleoclimate reconstructions are based on monthly resolved \\delta18O and Sr/Ca records in fossil Porites corals from the Western Solomon Islands ( ˜8° S, ˜157° E; Tetepare and Rendova). Post-depositional alteration of our fossil coral samples is minimal based on mineralogic (XRD), petrographic (SEM) and geochemical criteria (preservation of modern marine initial \\delta234U values). Four of these fossil coral time series are of particular interest: 99RND (age, 7,992±42; ~45 years), 01T-B (age, 7,647±73; ~65 years), 01T-AQ (age, 10,208±44; ~30 years), and 99TET-B (age, 11,987±69; ~ 30 years). We apply a model that uses simultaneous variations in coral \\delta18O and Sr/Ca in combination with estimates of post-glacial changes in seawater chemistry to reconstruct mean climate state during the early Holocene and the Younger Dryas. Model results indicate that on average SSTs in the WPWP were within 1° C of modern and that surface waters were more saline than modern during each of the four time intervals during which our fossil corals grew.

A Data-Model Comparison over Europe using a new 2000-yr Summer Temperature Reconstruction from the PAGES 2k Regional Network and Last-Millennium GCM Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smerdon, Jason; Werner, Johannes; Fernandez-Donado, Laura; Buntgen, Ulf; Charpentier Ljungqvist, Fredrik; Esper, Jan; Fidel Gonzalez-Rouco, J.; Luterbacher, Juerg; McCarroll, Danny; Wagner, Sebastian; Wahl, Eugene; Wanner, Heinz; Zorita, Eduardo

2013-04-01

A new reconstruction of European summer (JJA) land temperatures is presented and compared to 37 forced transient simulations of the last millennium from coupled General Circulation Models (CGCMs). The reconstructions are derived from eleven annually resolved tree-ring and documentary records from ten European countries/regions, compiled as part of the Euro_Med working group contribution to the PAGES 2k Regional Network. Records were selected based upon their summer temperature signal, annual resolution, and time-continuous sampling. All tree-ring data were detrended using the Regional Curve Standardization (RCS) method to retain low-frequency variance in the resulting mean chronologies. A nested Composite-Plus-Scale (CPS) mean temperature reconstruction extending from 138 B.C.E. to 2003 C.E. was derived using nine nests reflecting the availability of predictors back in time. Each nest was calculated using a weighted composite based on the correlation of each proxy with the CRUTEM4v mean European JJA land temperature (35°-70°N, 10°W-40°E). The CPS methodology was implemented using a sliding calibration period, initially extending from 1850-1953 C.E. and incrementing by one year until reaching the final period of 1900-2003 C.E. Within each calibration step, the 50 years excluded from calibration were used for validation. Validation statistics across all reconstruction ensemble members within each nest indicate skillful reconstructions (RE: 0.42-0.64; CE: 0.26-0.54) and are all above the maximum validation statistics achieved in an ensemble of red noise benchmarking experiments. A gridded (5°x5°) European summer (JJA) temperature reconstruction back to 750 C.E. was derived using Bayesian inference together with a localized stochastic description of the underlying processes. Instrumental data are JJA means from the 5° European land grid cells in the CRUTEM4v dataset. Predictive experiments using the full proxy data were made, resulting in a multivariate distribution of temperature reconstructions from 750-2003 C.E. The mean of this distribution is the optimal estimate of the gridded JJA temperature anomalies and its width provides objective reconstruction uncertainties. The derived reconstruction is compared to withheld instrumental and proxy data to evaluate reconstruction skill on decadal-to-centennial time scales. A comparison between the mean Bayesian and CPS reconstructions indicates remarkable agreement, with a correlation during their period of overlap of 0.95. In both the Bayesian and CPS reconstructions, warm periods during the 1st, 2nd, and 7th-12th centuries compare to similar warm summer temperatures during the mid 20th century, although the 2003 summer remains the warmest single summer over the duration of the reconstructions. A relative period of cold summer temperatures is also noted from the 14th-19th centuries, consistent with the expected timing of the Little Ice Age. Comparisons between the reconstructions and the 37-member ensemble of millennium-length forced transient simulations from CGCMs, including eleven simulations from the collection of CMIP5/PMIP3 last-millennium experiments, indicate good regional agreement between reconstructions and models. Based on the separation of simulations into strong or weak scaling of total solar irradiance (TSI) forcing over the last millennium, there is some evidence that there is better agreement with the ensemble using strong TSI as forcing.

Monthly paleostreamflow reconstruction from annual tree-ring chronologies

Treesearch

J. H. Stagge; D. E. Rosenberg; R. J. DeRose; T. M. Rittenour

2018-01-01

Paleoclimate reconstructions are increasingly used to characterize annual climate variability prior to the instrumental record, to improve estimates of climate extremes, and to provide a baseline for climate change projections. To date, paleoclimate records have seen limited engineering use to estimate hydrologic risks because water systems models and managers usually...

Multiproxy summer precipitation reconstructions for Asia during the past 530 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, S.; Hu, Q. S.; Wu, Q.

2011-12-01

The Asian summer monsoons and the monsoon circulation affect the weather and climate in most of the tropics and extra-tropics of the Eastern Hemisphere, where more than 60% of the earth's population live. Thus it is of paramount importance to understand variations of the Asian summer monsoons from a long-term perspective. This study reconstructed a 0.5°×0.5° gridded summer (June-August) precipitation in Asia (5°-55°N, 60°-135°E) during the past 530 years based on annually resolved predictors from natural and human archives. There are 221 proxy records with temporally stable and significant correlations with the summer precipitation in the study region. Most of the proxy records only cover the last 300-400 years, and a few proxy records were available before 1470AD. The missing values in the proxy data were infilled using analogue techniques. Then the regularized expectation maximization method is used to reconstruct the summer precipitation back to 1470AD. The reduction of error (RE) between the reconstructed values and observations suggests that the reconstructions are reliable, with RE>0.0 on all grid points for the study region. The reconstruction skill is very high (RE>0.4) over regions with denser proxy records (e.g. East China, Mongolia and Central Asia), and slightly lower in northeastern and southeastern Asia with RE usually less than 0.2. The reconstructed gridded summer precipitation data allow us to identify and analyze the regional variations of drought and flood during the last 530 years. These analysis results show that the severe droughts that affected China during the Little Ice Age (e.g. the mega-drought during the late 1630s to early 1640s that triggered the collapse of the Ming Dynasty) shared a similar spatial extent with the modern droughts in northern and central China.

High-resolution elemental records of Glycymeris glycymeris (Bivalvia) shells from the Iberian upwelling system: Ontogeny and environmental control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freitas, Pedro; Richardson, Christopher; Chenery, Simon; Butler, Paul; Reynolds, David; Gaspar, Miguel; Scourse, James

2015-04-01

The great potential of bivalve shells as a high-resolution geochemical proxy archive of environmental conditions at the time of growth has been known for several decades. The elemental composition of bivalve shells has been studied with the purpose of reconstructing environmental conditions: e.g. seawater temperature (Sr and Mg), primary productivity (Li, Mn, Mo and Ba), redox conditions (Mn and Mo), terrigenous inputs (Li) and pollution (Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb). However, the interpretation of such records remains extremely challenging and complex, with processes affecting element incorporation in the shell (e.g. crystal fabrics, organic matrix, shell formation mechanisms and physiological processes) and the influence of more than one environmental parameter affecting elemental composition of bivalve shells. Nevertheless, bivalve shells remain an underused source of information on environmental conditions, with the potential to record high-resolution (sub-weekly to annually), multi-centennial time series of geochemical proxy data. The relatively long-lived bivalve (>100 years) Glycymeris glycymeris occurs in coastal shelf seas of Europe and North West Africa and is a valid annually resolved sclerochronological archive for palaeonvironmental reconstructions. The temporal framework provided by absolute annually dated shell material makes Glycymeris glycymeris a valuable, albeit unexplored, resource for investigating sub-annually resolved geochemical proxies. We present a first evaluation on the potential of Ba, P and U, the latter two elements rarely studied in bivalves, in Glycymeris glycymeris shells to record variations in the environmental conditions, respectively primary productivity, dissolved inorganic phosphorus and carbonate ion concentration/pH. High-resolution (31 to 77 samples per year) profiles of elemental/Ca ratios (E/Ca) over four years of growth (2001 to 2004) were obtained by LA-ICP-MS on two shells (13 and 16 years old) live-collected in 2010 at 30 m water depth on the Iberia upwelling system. In both shells, clear E/Ca annual cycles with significant higher-frequency variability (weekly to sub-monthly) were observed over the four years of growth analysed. However, E/Ca ratios and the amplitude of the annual E/Ca cycles were lower in the older shell and showed decreasing trends with age (ontogenetic effects). E/Ca ratios were age-detrended using statistical techniques derived from dendrochronology, resulting in similar and coherent profiles in both shells. It seems unlikely that enough variability in E/Ca ratios will be recorded in the shell after 15 to 20 years of age to allow the retrieval of an environmental signal by age-detrending E/Ca ratios. Detrended P/Ca, Ba/Ca and U/Ca in Glycymeris glycymeris shells showed coherent variations with coeval modelled and instrumental oceanographic series from the Iberia upwelling system that suggest a robust potential as an archive of environmental conditions in the first 15 to 20 years of growth. Nevertheless a robust calibration is required to distinguish between the influences of multiple environmental parameters. This study was financed and conducted in the frame of the Portuguese FCT GLYCY Project (contract PTDC/AAC-CLI/118003/2010).

Mg/Ca-temperature calibration and flux variability of Globigerinoides ruber based on a bi-weekly resolved sediment trap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monteagudo, M. M.; Weldeab, S.; Lea, D. W.; Karl, D. M.; Rosenthal, Y.

2016-12-01

Planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca is one of the most widely-applied proxies for sea surface temperature reconstructions. Current calibrations yield a temperature sensitivity of 9.0 ± 1.0% Mg/Ca per °C (1-2). According to culture studies (3-4), salinity may also influence Mg/Ca ratios by 3.3 ± 1.7% per salinity unit (4), though this effect has not been verified by a field-based study. Paired Mg/Ca-δ18O and faunal fluxes of Globigerinoides ruber (sensu lato) were measured from sediment trap samples at the Hawaii Ocean Time Series. Within the habitat depth range of G. ruber (0-50 m), seasonal temperature and salinity vary by 4 °C and 0.7 practical salinity units, respectively. Multivariate regression reveals that salinity influence is not significant at this site, allowing us to isolate and quantify the temperature influence on Mg/Ca using spatially and temporally highly-resolved temperature measurements. Our study shows an exponential Mg/Ca-temperature relationship of: Mg/Ca [mmol/mol] = (0.97 ± 0.39) exp ((0.063 ± 0.016)*T[°C]) (RMSE=0.32). The results of our faunal and geochemical analyses highlight two key findings. First, foraminiferal assemblage data reveals that the mean annual flux of G. ruber (13 shells/m2/day) is strongly skewed by flux during the summer (up to 63 shells/m2/day) with potential implications for reconstructing annual SST. Second, our results indicate a temperature sensitivity of 6.3 ± 1.6% Mg/Ca per °C, suggesting that the temperature influence on Mg/Ca may be lower than the canonical 9 ± 1 % Mg/Ca per °C value and is sensitive to the choice of habitat depth. 1. Anand et al., Paleoceanography, 18, 1050 (2003); 2. Dekens et al., G3, 3, 1022 (2002); 3. Hönisch et al., GCA, 121, 196-213 (2013); 4. Kisakürek et al., EPSL, 273, 260-269 (2008).

Reconstructing medieval climate in the tropical North Atlantic with corals from Anegada, British Virgin Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kilbourne, K. H.; Xu, Y. Y.

2014-12-01

Resolving the patterns of climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) is key for exploring forced versus unforced variability during the last 1000 years. Tropical Atlantic climate is currently not well resolved during the MCA despite it being an important source of heat and moisture to the climate system today. To fill this data gap, we collected cores from Diploria strigosa corals brought onto the low-lying island of Anegada, British Virgin Islands (18.7˚N, 64.3˚S) during an overwash event and use paired analysis of Sr/Ca and δ18O in the skeletal aragonite to explore climate in the tropical Atlantic at the end of the MCA. The three sub-fossil corals used in this analysis overlap temporally and together span the years 1256-1372 C.E. An assessment of three modern corals from the study site indicates that the most robust features of climate reconstructions using Sr/Ca and δ18O in this species are the seasonal cycle and inter-annual variability. The modern seasonal temperature range is 2.8 degrees Celsius and the similarity between the modern and sub-fossil coral Sr/Ca indicates a similar range during the MCA. Today seasonal salinity changes locally are driven in large part by the migration of a regional salinity front. The modern corals capture the related large seasonal seawater δ18O change, but the sub-fossil corals indicate stable seawater δ18O throughout the year, supporting the idea that this site remained on one side of the salinity front continuously throughout the year. Inter-annual variability in the region is influenced by the cross-equatorial SST gradient, the North Atlantic Oscillation and ENSO. Gridded instrumental SST from the area surrounding Anegada and coral geochemical records from nearby Puerto Rico demonstrate concentrations of variance in specific frequency bands associated with these phenomena. The sub-fossil coral shows no concentration of variance in the modern ENSO frequency band, consistent with reduced ENSO variability found in central Pacific corals growing at the same time.

Four-Dimensional Respiratory Motion-Resolved Whole Heart Coronary MR Angiography

PubMed Central

Piccini, Davide; Feng, Li; Bonanno, Gabriele; Coppo, Simone; Yerly, Jérôme; Lim, Ruth P.; Schwitter, Juerg; Sodickson, Daniel K.; Otazo, Ricardo; Stuber, Matthias

2016-01-01

Purpose Free-breathing whole-heart coronary MR angiography (MRA) commonly uses navigators to gate respiratory motion, resulting in lengthy and unpredictable acquisition times. Conversely, self-navigation has 100% scan efficiency, but requires motion correction over a broad range of respiratory displacements, which may introduce image artifacts. We propose replacing navigators and self-navigation with a respiratory motion-resolved reconstruction approach. Methods Using a respiratory signal extracted directly from the imaging data, individual signal-readouts are binned according to their respiratory states. The resultant series of undersampled images are reconstructed using an extradimensional golden-angle radial sparse parallel imaging (XD-GRASP) algorithm, which exploits sparsity along the respiratory dimension. Whole-heart coronary MRA was performed in 11 volunteers and four patients with the proposed methodology. Image quality was compared with that obtained with one-dimensional respiratory self-navigation. Results Respiratory-resolved reconstruction effectively suppressed respiratory motion artifacts. The quality score for XD-GRASP reconstructions was greater than or equal to self-navigation in 80/88 coronary segments, reaching diagnostic quality in 61/88 segments versus 41/88. Coronary sharpness and length were always superior for the respiratory-resolved datasets, reaching statistical significance (P < 0.05) in most cases. Conclusion XD-GRASP represents an attractive alternative for handling respiratory motion in free-breathing whole heart MRI and provides an effective alternative to self-navigation. PMID:27052418

Seasonally Distinct Reconstructions of Northern Alaskan Temperature Variability Since the Last Glacial Maximum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Longo, W. M.; Crowther, J.; Daniels, W.; Russell, J. M.; Giblin, A. E.; Morrill, C.; Zhang, X.; Wang, X.; Huang, Y.

2015-12-01

Paleoclimate reconstructions have provided little consensus on how continental temperatures in Eastern Beringia changed from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present. Reconstructions show regional differences in LGM severity, the timing of deglacial warming, and Holocene temperature variability. Currently, arctic temperatures are increasing at the fastest rates on the planet, highlighting the need to identify the sensitivities of arctic systems to various climate forcings. This cannot be done without resolving the complex climate history of Eastern Beringia. Here, we present two new organic geochemical temperature reconstructions from Lake E5, north central Alaska that span the LGM, last glacial termination and Holocene. The proxies (alkenones and brGDGTs) record seasonally distinct temperatures, allowing for the attribution of different forcings to each proxy. The alkenone-based UK37 reconstruction records spring/early summer lake temperatures and indicates a 4 oC abrupt warming at 13.1 ka and a relatively warm late Holocene, which peaks at 2.4 ka and exhibits a cooling trend from 2.4 to 0.1 ka. The brGDGT reconstruction is calibrated to mean annual air temperature and interpreted here as exhibiting a strong warm season bias. BrGDGTs show an abrupt 4.5 oC warming at 14 ka, and show evidence for an early Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM), which cools by 3 oC after 8.4 ka. Because UK37 temperatures do not exhibit an early HTM, we hypothesize that summer insolation had a minimal effect on spring/early summer lake temperatures. Instead, the UK37 reconstruction agrees with sea ice and sea surface temperature reconstructions from the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and northeast Pacific Ocean. We hypothesize that forcings associated with sea ice concentration and changes in atmospheric circulation had stronger affects on spring/early summer lake temperatures and we present modern observational data in support of this hypothesis. By contrast, the summer-biased brGDGT reconstruction suggests a strong and relatively direct temperature response to summer insolation forcing. Together, these records suggest that both internal and external forcings significantly affected LGM to present temperature variability in Eastern Beringia, with different seasonal biases.

High Resolution Spatiotemporal Climate Reconstruction and Variability in East Asia during Little Ice Age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, K. H. E.; Wang, P. K.; Lee, S. Y.; Liao, Y. C.; Fan, I. C.; Liao, H. M.

2017-12-01

The Little ice Age (LIA) is one of the most prominent epochs in paleoclimate reconstruction of the Common Era. While the signals of LIA were generally discovered across hemispheres, wide arrays of regional variability were found, and the reconstructed anomalies were sometimes inconsistent across studies by using various proxy data or historical records. This inconsistency is mainly attributed to limited data coverage at fine resolution that can assist high-resolution climate reconstruction in the continuous spatiotemporal trends. Qing dynasty (1644-1911 CE) of China existed in the coldest period of LIA. Owing to a long-standing tradition that acquired local officials to record odds and social or meteorological events, thousands of local chronicles were left. Zhang eds. (2004) took two decades to compile all these meteorological records in a compendium, for which we then digitized and coded all records into our REACHS database system for reconstructing climate. There were in total 1,435 points (sites) in our database for over 80,000 events in the period of time. After implementing two-rounds coding check for data quality control (accuracy rate 87.2%), multiple indexes were retrieved for reconstructing annually and seasonally resolved temperature and precipitation series for North, Central, and South China. The reconstruction methods include frequency count and grading, with usage of multiple regression models to test sensitivity and to calculate correlations among several reconstructed series. Validation was also conducted through comparison with instrumental data and with other reconstructed series in previous studies. Major research results reveal interannual (3-5 years), decadal (8-12 years), and interdecadal (≈30 years) variabilities with strong regional expressions across East China. Cooling effect was not homogenously distributed in space and time. Flood and drought conditions frequently repeated but the spatiotemporal pattern was variant, indicating likely different climate regimes that can be linked to the dynamism of large atmospheric circulation and East Asian monsoon. Spatiotemporal analysis of extreme events such as typhoons and extreme droughts also indicated similar patterns. More detailed analysis are undertaken to explain the physical mechanisms that can drive these changes.

Inferring biome-scale net primary productivity from tree-ring isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pederson, N.; Levesque, M.; Williams, A. P.; Hobi, M. L.; Smith, W. K.; Andreu-Hayles, L.

2017-12-01

Satellite estimates of vegetation growth (net primary productivity; NPP), tree-ring records, and forest inventories indicate that ongoing climate change and rising atmospheric CO2 concentration are altering productivity and carbon storage of forests worldwide. The impact of global change on the trends of NPP, however, remain unknown because of the lack of long-term high-resolution NPP data. For the first time, we tested if annually resolved carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) stable isotopes from the cellulose of tree rings from trees in temperate regions could be used as a tool for inferring NPP across spatiotemporal scales. We compared satellite NPP estimates from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer sensor (MODIS, product MOD17A) and a newly developed global NPP dataset derived from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) dataset to annually resolved tree-ring width and δ13C and δ18O records from four sites along a hydroclimatic gradient in Eastern and Central United States. We found strong correlations across large geographical regions between satellite-derived NPP and tree-ring isotopes that ranged from -0.40 to -0.91. Notably, tree-ring derived δ18O had the strongest relation to climate. The results were consistent among the studied tree species (Quercus rubra and Liriodendron tulipifera) and along the hydroclimatic conditions of our network. Our study indicates that tree-ring isotopes can potentially be used to reconstruct NPP in time and space. As such, our findings represent an important breakthrough for estimating long-term changes in vegetation productivity at the biome scale.

Sensitivity of proxies on non-linear interactions in the climate system

PubMed Central

Schultz, Johannes A.; Beck, Christoph; Menz, Gunter; Neuwirth, Burkhard; Ohlwein, Christian; Philipp, Andreas

2015-01-01

Recent climate change is affecting the earth system to an unprecedented extent and intensity and has the potential to cause severe ecological and socioeconomic consequences. To understand natural and anthropogenic induced processes, feedbacks, trends, and dynamics in the climate system, it is also essential to consider longer timescales. In this context, annually resolved tree-ring data are often used to reconstruct past temperature or precipitation variability as well as atmospheric or oceanic indices such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) or the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The aim of this study is to assess weather-type sensitivity across the Northern Atlantic region based on two tree-ring width networks. Our results indicate that nonstationarities in superordinate space and time scales of the climate system (here synoptic- to global scale, NAO, AMO) can affect the climate sensitivity of tree-rings in subordinate levels of the system (here meso- to synoptic scale, weather-types). This scale bias effect has the capability to impact even large multiproxy networks and the ability of these networks to provide information about past climate conditions. To avoid scale biases in climate reconstructions, interdependencies between the different scales in the climate system must be considered, especially internal ocean/atmosphere dynamics. PMID:26686001

Open-source image reconstruction of super-resolution structured illumination microscopy data in ImageJ

PubMed Central

Müller, Marcel; Mönkemöller, Viola; Hennig, Simon; Hübner, Wolfgang; Huser, Thomas

2016-01-01

Super-resolved structured illumination microscopy (SR-SIM) is an important tool for fluorescence microscopy. SR-SIM microscopes perform multiple image acquisitions with varying illumination patterns, and reconstruct them to a super-resolved image. In its most frequent, linear implementation, SR-SIM doubles the spatial resolution. The reconstruction is performed numerically on the acquired wide-field image data, and thus relies on a software implementation of specific SR-SIM image reconstruction algorithms. We present fairSIM, an easy-to-use plugin that provides SR-SIM reconstructions for a wide range of SR-SIM platforms directly within ImageJ. For research groups developing their own implementations of super-resolution structured illumination microscopy, fairSIM takes away the hurdle of generating yet another implementation of the reconstruction algorithm. For users of commercial microscopes, it offers an additional, in-depth analysis option for their data independent of specific operating systems. As a modular, open-source solution, fairSIM can easily be adapted, automated and extended as the field of SR-SIM progresses. PMID:26996201

Analyzing the relationship between sequence divergence and nodal support using Bayesian phylogenetic analyses.

PubMed

Makowsky, Robert; Cox, Christian L; Roelke, Corey; Chippindale, Paul T

2010-11-01

Determining the appropriate gene for phylogeny reconstruction can be a difficult process. Rapidly evolving genes tend to resolve recent relationships, but suffer from alignment issues and increased homoplasy among distantly related species. Conversely, slowly evolving genes generally perform best for deeper relationships, but lack sufficient variation to resolve recent relationships. We determine the relationship between sequence divergence and Bayesian phylogenetic reconstruction ability using both natural and simulated datasets. The natural data are based on 28 well-supported relationships within the subphylum Vertebrata. Sequences of 12 genes were acquired and Bayesian analyses were used to determine phylogenetic support for correct relationships. Simulated datasets were designed to determine whether an optimal range of sequence divergence exists across extreme phylogenetic conditions. Across all genes we found that an optimal range of divergence for resolving the correct relationships does exist, although this level of divergence expectedly depends on the distance metric. Simulated datasets show that an optimal range of sequence divergence exists across diverse topologies and models of evolution. We determine that a simple to measure property of genetic sequences (genetic distance) is related to phylogenic reconstruction ability in Bayesian analyses. This information should be useful for selecting the most informative gene to resolve any relationships, especially those that are difficult to resolve, as well as minimizing both cost and confounding information during project design. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Four-dimensional respiratory motion-resolved whole heart coronary MR angiography.

PubMed

Piccini, Davide; Feng, Li; Bonanno, Gabriele; Coppo, Simone; Yerly, Jérôme; Lim, Ruth P; Schwitter, Juerg; Sodickson, Daniel K; Otazo, Ricardo; Stuber, Matthias

2017-04-01

Free-breathing whole-heart coronary MR angiography (MRA) commonly uses navigators to gate respiratory motion, resulting in lengthy and unpredictable acquisition times. Conversely, self-navigation has 100% scan efficiency, but requires motion correction over a broad range of respiratory displacements, which may introduce image artifacts. We propose replacing navigators and self-navigation with a respiratory motion-resolved reconstruction approach. Using a respiratory signal extracted directly from the imaging data, individual signal-readouts are binned according to their respiratory states. The resultant series of undersampled images are reconstructed using an extradimensional golden-angle radial sparse parallel imaging (XD-GRASP) algorithm, which exploits sparsity along the respiratory dimension. Whole-heart coronary MRA was performed in 11 volunteers and four patients with the proposed methodology. Image quality was compared with that obtained with one-dimensional respiratory self-navigation. Respiratory-resolved reconstruction effectively suppressed respiratory motion artifacts. The quality score for XD-GRASP reconstructions was greater than or equal to self-navigation in 80/88 coronary segments, reaching diagnostic quality in 61/88 segments versus 41/88. Coronary sharpness and length were always superior for the respiratory-resolved datasets, reaching statistical significance (P < 0.05) in most cases. XD-GRASP represents an attractive alternative for handling respiratory motion in free-breathing whole heart MRI and provides an effective alternative to self-navigation. Magn Reson Med 77:1473-1484, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Reconstructing the δ(18) O of atmospheric water vapour via the CAM epiphyte Tillandsia usneoides: seasonal controls on δ(18) O in the field and large-scale reconstruction of δ(18) Oa.

PubMed

Helliker, Brent R

2014-03-01

Using both oxygen isotope ratios of leaf water (δ(18) OL ) and cellulose (δ(18) OC ) of Tillandsia usneoides in situ, this paper examined how short- and long-term responses to environmental variation and model parameterization affected the reconstruction of the atmospheric water vapour (δ(18) Oa ). During sample-intensive field campaigns, predictions of δ(18) OL matched observations well using a non-steady-state model, but the model required data-rich parameterization. Predictions from the more easily parameterized maximum enrichment model (δ(18) OL-M ) matched observed δ(18) OL and observed δ(18) Oa when leaf water turnover was less than 3.5 d. Using the δ(18) OL-M model and weekly samples of δ(18) OL across two growing seasons in Florida, USA, reconstructed δ(18) Oa was -12.6 ± 0.3‰. This is compared with δ(18) Oa of -12.4 ± 0.2‰ resolved from the growing-season-weighted δ(18) OC . Both of these values were similar to δ(18) Oa in equilibrium with precipitation, -12.9‰. δ(18) Oa was also reconstructed through a large-scale transect with δ(18) OL and the growing-season-integrated δ(18) OC across the southeastern United States. There was considerable large-scale variation, but there was regional, weather-induced coherence in δ(18) Oa when using δ(18) OL . The reconstruction of δ(18) Oa with δ(18) OC generally supported the assumption of δ(18) Oa being in equilibrium with precipitation δ(18) O (δ(18) Oppt ), but the pool of δ(18) Oppt with which δ(18) Oa was in equilibrium - growing season versus annual δ(18) Oppt - changed with latitude. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Was the Little Ice Age more or less El Niño-like than the Mediaeval Climate Anomaly? Evidence from hydrological and temperature proxy data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henke, L. M. K.; Lambert, F. H.; Charman, D. J.

2015-11-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), an ocean-atmosphere coupled oscillation over the equatorial Pacific, is the most important source of global climate variability on inter-annual time scales. It has substantial environmental and socio-economic consequences such as devastation of South American fish populations and increased forest fires in Indonesia. The instrumental ENSO record is too short for analysing long-term trends and variability, hence proxy data is used to extend the record. However, different proxy sources have produced varying reconstructions of ENSO, with some evidence for a temperature-precipitation divergence in ENSO trends over the past millennium, in particular during the Mediaeval Climate Anomaly (MCA; AD 800-1300) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; AD 1400-1850). This throws into question the stability of the modern ENSO system and its links to the global climate, which has implications for future projections. Here we use a new statistical approach using EOF-based weighting to create two new large-scale ENSO reconstructions derived independently from precipitation proxies and temperature proxies respectively. The method is developed and validated using pseudoproxy experiments that address the effects of proxy dating error, resolution and noise to improve uncertainty estimations. The precipitation ENSO reconstruction displays a significantly more El Niño-like state during the LIA than the MCA, while the temperature reconstruction shows no significant difference. The trends shown in the precipitation ENSO reconstruction are relatively robust to variations in the precipitation EOF pattern. However, the temperature reconstruction suffers significantly from a lack of high-quality, favourably located proxy records, which limits its ability to capture the large-scale ENSO signal. Further expansion of the palaeo-database and improvements to instrumental, satellite and model representations of ENSO are needed to fully resolve the discrepancies found among proxy records.

Bidirectional reflectance distribution function effects in ladar-based reflection tomography.

PubMed

Jin, Xuemin; Levine, Robert Y

2009-07-20

Light reflection from a surface is described by the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF). In this paper, BRDF effects in reflection tomography are studied using modeled range-resolved reflection from well-characterized geometrical surfaces. It is demonstrated that BRDF effects can cause a darkening at the interior boundary of the reconstructed surface analogous to the well-known beam hardening artifact in x-ray transmission computed tomography (CT). This artifact arises from reduced reflection at glancing incidence angles to the surface. It is shown that a purely Lambertian surface without shadowed components is perfectly reconstructed from range-resolved measurements. This result is relevant to newly fabricated carbon nanotube materials. Shadowing is shown to cause crossed streak artifacts similar to limited-angle effects in CT reconstruction. In tomographic reconstruction, these effects can overwhelm highly diffuse components in proximity to specularly reflecting elements. Diffuse components can be recovered by specialized processing, such as reducing glints via thresholded measurements.

Shrubs tracing sea surface temperature--Calluna vulgaris on the Faroe Islands.

PubMed

Beil, Ilka; Buras, Allan; Hallinger, Martin; Smiljanić, Marko; Wilmking, Martin

2015-11-01

The climate of Central and Northern Europe is highly influenced by the North Atlantic Ocean due to heat transfer from lower latitudes. Detailed knowledge about spatio-temporal variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in that region is thus of high interest for climate and environmental research. Because of the close relations between ocean and coastal climate and the climate sensitivity of plant growth, annual rings of woody plants in coastal regions might be used as a proxy for SST. We show here for the first time the proxy potential of the common and widespread evergreen dwarf shrub Calluna vulgaris (heather), using the Faroe Islands as our case study. Despite its small and irregular ring structure, the species seems suitable for dendroecological investigations. Ring width showed high and significant correlations with summer and winter air temperatures and SST. The C. vulgaris chronology from the Faroe Islands, placed directly within the North Atlantic Current, clearly reflects variations in summer SSTs over an area between Iceland and Scotland. Utilising shrubs like C. vulgaris as easy accessible and annually resolved proxies offers an interesting possibility for reconstruction of the coupled climate-ocean system at high latitudes.

Passive Standoff Super Resolution Imaging using Spatial-Spectral Multiplexing

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-14

94 5.0 Four -Dimensional Object-Space Data Reconstruction Using Spatial...103 5.3 Four -dimensional scene reconstruction using SSM...transitioning to systems based on spectrally resolved longitudinal spatial coherence interferometry. This document also includes research related to four

Tree Rings Show Recent High Summer-Autumn Precipitation in Northwest Australia Is Unprecedented within the Last Two Centuries

PubMed Central

O'Donnell, Alison J.; Cook, Edward R.; Palmer, Jonathan G.; Turney, Chris S. M.; Page, Gerald F. M.; Grierson, Pauline F.

2015-01-01

An understanding of past hydroclimatic variability is critical to resolving the significance of recent recorded trends in Australian precipitation and informing climate models. Our aim was to reconstruct past hydroclimatic variability in semi-arid northwest Australia to provide a longer context within which to examine a recent period of unusually high summer-autumn precipitation. We developed a 210-year ring-width chronology from Callitris columellaris, which was highly correlated with summer-autumn (Dec–May) precipitation (r = 0.81; 1910–2011; p < 0.0001) and autumn (Mar–May) self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI, r = 0.73; 1910–2011; p < 0.0001) across semi-arid northwest Australia. A linear regression model was used to reconstruct precipitation and explained 66% of the variance in observed summer-autumn precipitation. Our reconstruction reveals inter-annual to multi-decadal scale variation in hydroclimate of the region during the last 210 years, typically showing periods of below average precipitation extending from one to three decades and periods of above average precipitation, which were often less than a decade. Our results demonstrate that the last two decades (1995–2012) have been unusually wet (average summer-autumn precipitation of 310 mm) compared to the previous two centuries (average summer-autumn precipitation of 229 mm), coinciding with both an anomalously high frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in northwest Australia and the dominance of the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode. PMID:26039148

Tree Rings Show Recent High Summer-Autumn Precipitation in Northwest Australia Is Unprecedented within the Last Two Centuries.

PubMed

O'Donnell, Alison J; Cook, Edward R; Palmer, Jonathan G; Turney, Chris S M; Page, Gerald F M; Grierson, Pauline F

2015-01-01

An understanding of past hydroclimatic variability is critical to resolving the significance of recent recorded trends in Australian precipitation and informing climate models. Our aim was to reconstruct past hydroclimatic variability in semi-arid northwest Australia to provide a longer context within which to examine a recent period of unusually high summer-autumn precipitation. We developed a 210-year ring-width chronology from Callitris columellaris, which was highly correlated with summer-autumn (Dec-May) precipitation (r = 0.81; 1910-2011; p < 0.0001) and autumn (Mar-May) self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI, r = 0.73; 1910-2011; p < 0.0001) across semi-arid northwest Australia. A linear regression model was used to reconstruct precipitation and explained 66% of the variance in observed summer-autumn precipitation. Our reconstruction reveals inter-annual to multi-decadal scale variation in hydroclimate of the region during the last 210 years, typically showing periods of below average precipitation extending from one to three decades and periods of above average precipitation, which were often less than a decade. Our results demonstrate that the last two decades (1995-2012) have been unusually wet (average summer-autumn precipitation of 310 mm) compared to the previous two centuries (average summer-autumn precipitation of 229 mm), coinciding with both an anomalously high frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in northwest Australia and the dominance of the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode.

Greenland-Wide Seasonal Temperatures During the Last Deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buizert, C.; Keisling, B. A.; Box, J. E.; He, F.; Carlson, A. E.; Sinclair, G.; DeConto, R. M.

2018-02-01

The sensitivity of the Greenland ice sheet to climate forcing is of key importance in assessing its contribution to past and future sea level rise. Surface mass loss occurs during summer, and accounting for temperature seasonality is critical in simulating ice sheet evolution and in interpreting glacial landforms and chronologies. Ice core records constrain the timing and magnitude of climate change but are largely limited to annual mean estimates from the ice sheet interior. Here we merge ice core reconstructions with transient climate model simulations to generate Greenland-wide and seasonally resolved surface air temperature fields during the last deglaciation. Greenland summer temperatures peak in the early Holocene, consistent with records of ice core melt layers. We perform deglacial Greenland ice sheet model simulations to demonstrate that accounting for realistic temperature seasonality decreases simulated glacial ice volume, expedites the deglacial margin retreat, mutes the impact of abrupt climate warming, and gives rise to a clear Holocene ice volume minimum.

A 507-year rainfall and runoff reconstruction for the Monsoonal North West, Australia derived from remote paleoclimate archives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verdon-Kidd, Danielle C.; Hancock, Gregory R.; Lowry, John B.

2017-11-01

The Monsoonal North West (MNW) region of Australia faces a number of challenges adapting to anthropogenic climate change. These have the potential to impact on a range of industries, including agricultural, pastoral, mining and tourism. However future changes to rainfall regimes remain uncertain due to the inability of Global Climate Models to adequately capture the tropical weather/climate processes that are known to be important for this region. Compounding this is the brevity of the instrumental rainfall record for the MNW, which is unlikely to represent the full range of climatic variability. One avenue for addressing this issue (the focus of this paper) is to identify sources of paleoclimate information that can be used to reconstruct a plausible pre-instrumental rainfall history for the MNW. Adopting this approach we find that, even in the absence of local sources of paleoclimate data at a suitable temporal resolution, remote paleoclimate records can resolve 25% of the annual variability observed in the instrumental rainfall record. Importantly, the 507-year rainfall reconstruction developed using the remote proxies displays longer and more intense wet and dry periods than observed during the most recent 100 years. For example, the maximum number of consecutive years of below (above) average rainfall is 90% (40%) higher in the rainfall reconstruction than during the instrumental period. Further, implications for flood and drought risk are studied via a simple GR1A rainfall runoff model, which again highlights the likelihood of extremes greater than that observed in the limited instrumental record, consistent with previous paleoclimate studies elsewhere in Australia. Importantly, this research can assist in informing climate related risks to infrastructure, agriculture and mining, and the method can readily be applied to other regions in the MNW and beyond.

Reconstructing European forest management from 1600 to 2010

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGrath, M. J.; Luyssaert, S.; Meyfroidt, P.; Kaplan, J. O.; Bürgi, M.; Chen, Y.; Erb, K.; Gimmi, U.; McInerney, D.; Naudts, K.; Otto, J.; Pasztor, F.; Ryder, J.; Schelhaas, M.-J.; Valade, A.

2015-07-01

Because of the slow accumulation and long residence time of carbon in biomass and soils, the present state and future dynamics of temperate forests are influenced by management that took place centuries to millennia ago. Humans have exploited the forests of Europe for fuel, construction materials and fodder for the entire Holocene. In recent centuries, economic and demographic trends led to increases in both forest area and management intensity across much of Europe. In order to quantify the effects of these changes in forests and to provide a baseline for studies on future land-cover-climate interactions and biogeochemical cycling, we created a temporally and spatially resolved reconstruction of European forest management from 1600 to 2010. For the period 1600-1828, we took a supply-demand approach, in which supply was estimated on the basis of historical annual wood increment and land cover reconstructions. We made demand estimates by multiplying population with consumption factors for construction materials, household fuelwood, industrial food processing and brewing, metallurgy, and salt production. For the period 1829-2010, we used a supply-driven backcasting method based on national and regional statistics of forest age structure from the second half of the 20th century. Our reconstruction reproduces the most important changes in forest management between 1600 and 2010: (1) an increase of 593 000 km2 in conifers at the expense of deciduous forest (decreasing by 538 000 km2); (2) a 612 000 km2 decrease in unmanaged forest; (3) a 152 000 km2 decrease in coppice management; (4) a 818 000 km2 increase in high-stand management; and (5) the rise and fall of litter raking, which at its peak in 1853 resulted in the removal of 50 Tg dry litter per year.

Synchoronous inter-hemispheric alpine glacier advances during the Late Glacial?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakke, Jostein; Paasche, Øyvind

2016-04-01

The termination of the last glaciation in both hemispheres was a period of rapid climate swings superimposed on the overall warming trend, resulting from large-scale reorganizations of the atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns in both hemispheres. Environmental changes during the deglaciation have been inferred from proxy records, as well as by model simulations. Several oscillations took place both in northern and southern hemispheres caused by melt water releases such as during the Younger Dryas in north and the Antarctic Cold Reversal in south. However, a consensus on the hemispheric linkages through ocean and atmosphere are yet to be reached. Here we present a new multi-proxy reconstruction from a sub-annually resolved lake sediment record from Lake Lusvatnet in Arctic Norway compared with a new reconstruction from the same time interval at South Georgia, Southern Ocean, suggesting inter-hemispheric climate linkages during the Bølling/Allerød time period. Our reconstruction of the alpine glacier in the lake Lusvatnet catchment show a synchronous glacier advance with the Birch-hill moraine complex in the Southern Alps, New Zealand during the Intra Allerød Cooling period. We propose these inter hemispheric climate swings to be forced by the northward migration of the southern Subtropical Front during the Antarctic Cold Reversal. Such a northward migration of the Subtropical Front is shown in model simulation and in palaeorecords to reduce the Agulhas leakage impacting the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. We simply ask if this can be the carrier of rapid climate swings from one hemisphere to another? Our high-resolution reconstructions provide the basis for an enhanced understanding of the tiny balance between migration of the Subtropical Front in the Southern Ocean and the teleconnection to northern hemisphere.

An investigation of the role of winter and spring precipitation as drivers of streamflow in the Missouri River Headwaters using tree-ring reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frederick, S. E.; Woodhouse, C. A.; Martin, J. T.; Pederson, G. T.

2017-12-01

The Missouri River supplies water to over 3 million basin residents and is a driving force for the nation's agricultural and energy sectors. However, with changing climate and declining snowpack in western North America, seasonal water yields are becoming less predictable, revealing a gap in our understanding of regional hydroclimate and drivers of streamflow within the basin. By analyzing the relationship between seasonal precipitation and streamflow in the Missouri River Headwaters sub-basin, this study seeks to expand our knowledge based on the instrumental record alone. Here we present the first annually-resolved tree-ring reconstruction of spring precipitation for the Missouri River Headwaters. This reconstruction along with existing tree-ring reconstructions of April 1 snow-water equivalence (SWE) (Pederson et al. 2011) and natural streamflow (Martin, J.T. & Pederson, G.T., personal communication, June 2017) are used to test the feasibility of detecting a variable influence of winter and spring precipitation on streamflow over past centuries, and relative to the modern period. Initial analyses indicate that April 1 SWE is a significant control on streamflow, however, the April 1 SWE record does not fully account for anomalies observed in the streamflow record. This study therefore seeks to determine whether spring precipitation can account for some of this asynchronous variability observed between the April 1 SWE and streamflow records. Aside from improved understanding of the relationship between hydroclimate and streamflow in the headwaters of the Missouri River, our findings offer insights relating to changing contributions from snowmelt and spring precipitation, and long-term hydrologic variability and trends relevant to water resource management and planning efforts.

Reduction of Poisson noise in measured time-resolved data for time-domain diffuse optical tomography.

PubMed

Okawa, S; Endo, Y; Hoshi, Y; Yamada, Y

2012-01-01

A method to reduce noise for time-domain diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is proposed. Poisson noise which contaminates time-resolved photon counting data is reduced by use of maximum a posteriori estimation. The noise-free data are modeled as a Markov random process, and the measured time-resolved data are assumed as Poisson distributed random variables. The posterior probability of the occurrence of the noise-free data is formulated. By maximizing the probability, the noise-free data are estimated, and the Poisson noise is reduced as a result. The performances of the Poisson noise reduction are demonstrated in some experiments of the image reconstruction of time-domain DOT. In simulations, the proposed method reduces the relative error between the noise-free and noisy data to about one thirtieth, and the reconstructed DOT image was smoothed by the proposed noise reduction. The variance of the reconstructed absorption coefficients decreased by 22% in a phantom experiment. The quality of DOT, which can be applied to breast cancer screening etc., is improved by the proposed noise reduction.

Hydroclimate variability and regional atmospheric circulation over the past 1,350 years reconstructed from Lake Ohau, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roop, H. A.; Levy, R. H.; Vandergoes, M.; Dunbar, G. B.; Howarth, J. D.; Lorrey, A.; Phipps, S. J.

2016-12-01

Comprehensive understanding of natural climate-system dynamics requires high-resolution paleoclimate records extending beyond the instrumental period. This is particularly the case for the sparsely-instrumented Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes, where the timing and amplitude of regional and hemispheric-scale climatic events are poorly constrained. Here we present a 1,350-year record of hydroclimatic variability and regional circulation derived from an annually laminated sediment record from Lake Ohau, South Island, New Zealand (44.23°S, 169.85°E). The climate of New Zealand is influenced by climatological patterns originating in both the tropics (e.g. El-Niño-Southern Oscillation, Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation) and the Antarctic (Southern Annular Mode, SAM). Utilizing the annually resolved Lake Ohau hydroclimate record in combination with a tree-ring record of summer temperature from Oroko Swamp, New Zealand (Cook et al., 2002), we generate a circulation index for the Western South Island of New Zealand. This index utilizes the temperature and precipitation anomalies defined by the Regional Climate Regime Classification scheme for New Zealand to assign synoptic scale circulation patterns to 25-year intervals from 900-2000 AD. This circulation index shows significant periods of change, most notably 835 - 985 AD when northerly airflow dominated and from 1385 - 1710 AD when strong southerly airflow persisted. Comparisons with regional SAM and ENSO reconstructions show that dry, warm conditions at Lake Ohau are consistently associated with strengthened tropical teleconnections to New Zealand and a positive SAM, while cold and wet conditions are driven by increased southerly airflow and negative phase SAM. A persistent negative SAM dominates the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1385-1710 AD) interval in the Western South Island. This same period coincides with the Northern Hemisphere LIA.

Flow temporal reconstruction from non-time-resolved data part I: mathematic fundamentals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legrand, Mathieu; Nogueira, José; Lecuona, Antonio

2011-10-01

At least two circumstances point to the need of postprocessing techniques to recover lost time information from non-time-resolved data: the increasing interest in identifying and tracking coherent structures in flows of industrial interest and the high data throughput of global measuring techniques, such as PIV, for the validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. This paper offers the mathematic fundamentals of a space--time reconstruction technique from non-time-resolved, statistically independent data. An algorithm has been developed to identify and track traveling coherent structures in periodic flows. Phase-averaged flow fields are reconstructed with a correlation-based method, which uses information from the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). The theoretical background shows that the snapshot POD coefficients can be used to recover flow phase information. Once this information is recovered, the real snapshots are used to reconstruct the flow history and characteristics, avoiding neither the use of POD modes nor any associated artifact. The proposed time reconstruction algorithm is in agreement with the experimental evidence given by the practical implementation proposed in the second part of this work (Legrand et al. in Exp Fluids, 2011), using the coefficients corresponding to the first three POD modes. It also agrees with the results on similar issues by other authors (Ben Chiekh et al. in 9 Congrès Francophone de Vélocimétrie Laser, Bruxelles, Belgium, 2004; Van Oudheusden et al. in Exp Fluids 39-1:86-98, 2005; Meyer et al. in 7th International Symposium on Particle Image Velocimetry, Rome, Italy, 2007a; in J Fluid Mech 583:199-227, 2007b; Perrin et al. in Exp Fluids 43-2:341-355, 2007). Computer time to perform the reconstruction is relatively short, of the order of minutes with current PC technology.

Accelerated echo planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging in prostate cancer: a pilot validation of non-linear reconstruction using total variation and maximum entropy.

PubMed

Nagarajan, Rajakumar; Iqbal, Zohaib; Burns, Brian; Wilson, Neil E; Sarma, Manoj K; Margolis, Daniel A; Reiter, Robert E; Raman, Steven S; Thomas, M Albert

2015-11-01

The overlap of metabolites is a major limitation in one-dimensional (1D) spectral-based single-voxel MRS and multivoxel-based MRSI. By combining echo planar spectroscopic imaging (EPSI) with a two-dimensional (2D) J-resolved spectroscopic (JPRESS) sequence, 2D spectra can be recorded in multiple locations in a single slice of prostate using four-dimensional (4D) echo planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging (EP-JRESI). The goal of the present work was to validate two different non-linear reconstruction methods independently using compressed sensing-based 4D EP-JRESI in prostate cancer (PCa): maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and total variation (TV). Twenty-two patients with PCa with a mean age of 63.8 years (range, 46-79 years) were investigated in this study. A 4D non-uniformly undersampled (NUS) EP-JRESI sequence was implemented on a Siemens 3-T MRI scanner. The NUS data were reconstructed using two non-linear reconstruction methods, namely MaxEnt and TV. Using both TV and MaxEnt reconstruction methods, the following observations were made in cancerous compared with non-cancerous locations: (i) higher mean (choline + creatine)/citrate metabolite ratios; (ii) increased levels of (choline + creatine)/spermine and (choline + creatine)/myo-inositol; and (iii) decreased levels of (choline + creatine)/(glutamine + glutamate). We have shown that it is possible to accelerate the 4D EP-JRESI sequence by four times and that the data can be reliably reconstructed using the TV and MaxEnt methods. The total acquisition duration was less than 13 min and we were able to detect and quantify several metabolites. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

40 CFR 63.11544 - Am I subject to this subpart?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... nonferrous foundry has an annual metal melt production (for existing affected sources) or an annual metal... melt production for existing affected sources or the annual metal melt capacity for new affected... annual metal melt production for calendar year 2010. (ii) If you construct or reconstruct a melting...

Monte Carlo simulation studies on scintillation detectors and image reconstruction of brain-phantom tumors in TOFPET

PubMed Central

Mondal, Nagendra Nath

2009-01-01

This study presents Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) results of detection efficiencies, spatial resolutions and resolving powers of a time-of-flight (TOF) PET detector systems. Cerium activated Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate (Lu2SiO5: Ce in short LSO), Barium Fluoride (BaF2) and BriLanCe 380 (Cerium doped Lanthanum tri-Bromide, in short LaBr3) scintillation crystals are studied in view of their good time and energy resolutions and shorter decay times. The results of MCS based on GEANT show that spatial resolution, detection efficiency and resolving power of LSO are better than those of BaF2 and LaBr3, although it possesses inferior time and energy resolutions. Instead of the conventional position reconstruction method, newly established image reconstruction (talked about in the previous work) method is applied to produce high-tech images. Validation is a momentous step to ensure that this imaging method fulfills all purposes of motivation discussed by reconstructing images of two tumors in a brain phantom. PMID:20098551

Reconstruction for limited-projection fluorescence molecular tomography based on projected restarted conjugate gradient normal residual.

PubMed

Cao, Xu; Zhang, Bin; Liu, Fei; Wang, Xin; Bai, Jing

2011-12-01

Limited-projection fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) can greatly reduce the acquisition time, which is suitable for resolving fast biology processes in vivo but suffers from severe ill-posedness because of the reconstruction using only limited projections. To overcome the severe ill-posedness, we report a reconstruction method based on the projected restarted conjugate gradient normal residual. The reconstruction results of two phantom experiments demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible for limited-projection FMT. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Boreal spring precipitation variability in the cold arid western Himalaya during the last millennium, regional linkages, and socio-economic implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yadava, Akhilesh K.; Bräuning, Achim; Singh, Jayendra; Yadav, Ram R.

2016-07-01

Precipitation in the monsoon shadow zone of the western Himalayan region, largely under the influence of mid-latitude westerlies, is the dominant regional socioeconomic driver. Current knowledge of long-term regional precipitation variability is scarce due to spatially and temporally limited weather and high-resolution proxy climate records. We developed the first boreal spring precipitation reconstruction for the western Himalaya covering the last millennium (1030-2011 C.E.). The annually resolved reconstruction is based on a large tree-ring data set of Himalayan cedar (Cedrus deodara) and neoza pine (Pinus gerardiana) from 16 ecologically homogeneous moisture stressed settings in Kinnaur, western Indian Himalaya. The precipitation reconstruction revealed persistent long-term spring droughts from the 12th to early 16th century C.E. and pluvial from the late 16th century C.E. to recent decades. The late 15th and early 16th centuries (1490-1514 C.E.) displayed the driest episode, with precipitation being ∼15% lower than the long-term mean. The early 19th century (1820-1844 C.E.) was the wettest period of the past millennium, with mean precipitation ∼13% above the long-term mean. The reconstructed boreal spring precipitation from the western Himalaya revealed large-scale consistency with hydrological records from westerly dominated regions in Central Asia, indicating synoptic-scale changes in atmospheric circulation during the major part of the Medieval and Little Ice Age periods. Protracted droughts in Central Asia could have caused severe contraction of the regional economy, as indicated by striking coherence of reconstructed drought periods and historic social upheavals and invasions of India from Central and Western Asian invaders. Vulnerability to climatic extremes underpins the need to develop a better understanding of the temporal and spatial variability in regional hydroclimate in order to devise viable water resource management plans.

140-year subantarctic tree-ring temperature reconstruction reveals tropical forcing of increased Southern Ocean climate variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turney, C. S.; Fogwill, C. J.; Palmer, J. G.; VanSebille, E.; Thomas, Z.; McGlone, M.; Richardson, S.; Wilmshurst, J.; Fenwick, P.; Zunz, V.; Goosse, H.; Wilson, K. J.; Carter, L.; Lipson, M.; Jones, R. T.; Harsch, M.; Clark, G.; Marzinelli, E.; Rogers, T.; Rainsley, E.; Ciasto, L.; Waterman, S.; Thomas, E. R.; Visbeck, M.

2017-12-01

Occupying about 14 % of the world's surface, the Southern Ocean plays a fundamental role in ocean and atmosphere circulation, carbon cycling and Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics. Unfortunately, high interannual variability and a dearth of instrumental observations before the 1950s limits our understanding of how marine-atmosphere-ice domains interact on multi-decadal timescales and the impact of anthropogenic forcing. Here we integrate climate-sensitive tree growth with ocean and atmospheric observations on south-west Pacific subantarctic islands that lie at the boundary of polar and subtropical climates (52-54˚S). Our annually resolved temperature reconstruction captures regional change since the 1870s and demonstrates a significant increase in variability from the 1940s, a phenomenon predating the observational record, and coincident with major changes in mammalian and bird populations. Climate reanalysis and modelling show a parallel change in tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures that generate an atmospheric Rossby wave train which propagates across a large part of the Southern Hemisphere during the austral spring and summer. Our results suggest that modern observed high interannual variability was established across the mid-twentieth century, and that the influence of contemporary equatorial Pacific temperatures may now be a permanent feature across the mid- to high latitudes.

Tree Ring Chronology Indexes and Reconstructions of Precipitation in Central Iowa, USA (1984) (NDP-002)

DOE Data Explorer

Blasing, T. J. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Duvick, D. N. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC)

2012-01-01

Tree core samples (4 mm in diameter) were extracted from the trunks of white oak (Quercus alba) at three sites in central Iowa (Duvick Back Woods, Ledges State Park, and Pammel). At least 60 trees were sampled at each site, and at least two cores were taken from each tree. The growth rings of each core were dated by calendar year and measured; the measurements were then transformed into dimensionless ring-width indices and correlated with annual precipitation. Data were collected for the years 1680 through 1979. Each tree ring was characterized by the site, year, tree-ring-width index, number of core samples, decade year, and the annual reconstructed precipitation estimate. These data have more than 50% of their variance in common with the known annual statewide average precipitation for Iowa and serve as useful indicators of the precipitation and drought history of the region for the past 300 years. The data are in two files: tree-ring-chronology data (8 kB) and the annual reconstructed precipitation data for central Iowa (2 kB).

The relationship between the ratio of strontium to calcium and sea-surface temperature in a modern Porites astreoides coral: Implications for using P. astreoides as a paleoclimate archive

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tess E. Busch,; Flannery, Jennifer A.; Richey, Julie N.; Stathakopoulos, Anastasios

2015-11-13

An inverse relationship has been demonstrated between water temperature and the ratio of strontium to calcium (Sr/Ca) in coral aragonite for a number of Pacific species of the genus Porites. This empirically determined relationship has been used to reconstruct past sea-surface temperature (SST) from modern and Holocene age coral archives. A study was conducted to investigate this relationship for Porites astreoides to determine the potential for using these corals as a paleotemperature archive in the Caribbean and western tropical Atlantic Ocean. Skeletal aragonite from a P. astreoides colony growing offshore of the southeast coast of Florida was subsampled with a mean temporal resolution of 14 samples per year and analyzed for Sr/Ca. The resulting Sr/Ca time series yielded well-defined annual cycles that correspond to annual growth bands in the coral. Sr/Ca was regressed against a monthly SST record from C-MAN buoy station FWYF1 (located at Fowey Rocks, Florida), resulting in the following Sr/Ca-SST relationship: Sr/Ca = –0.040*SST + 10.128 (R = –0.77). A 10-year time series of Sr/Ca-derived SST yields annual cycles with a 10–12 degree Celsius seasonal amplitude, consistent with available local instrumental records. We conclude that Sr/Ca in Porites astreoides from the Caribbean/Atlantic region has high potential for developing subannually resolved modern and recent Holocene SST records.

Comparative assessment of pressure field reconstructions from particle image velocimetry measurements and Lagrangian particle tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Gent, P. L.; Michaelis, D.; van Oudheusden, B. W.; Weiss, P.-É.; de Kat, R.; Laskari, A.; Jeon, Y. J.; David, L.; Schanz, D.; Huhn, F.; Gesemann, S.; Novara, M.; McPhaden, C.; Neeteson, N. J.; Rival, D. E.; Schneiders, J. F. G.; Schrijer, F. F. J.

2017-04-01

A test case for pressure field reconstruction from particle image velocimetry (PIV) and Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) has been developed by constructing a simulated experiment from a zonal detached eddy simulation for an axisymmetric base flow at Mach 0.7. The test case comprises sequences of four subsequent particle images (representing multi-pulse data) as well as continuous time-resolved data which can realistically only be obtained for low-speed flows. Particle images were processed using tomographic PIV processing as well as the LPT algorithm `Shake-The-Box' (STB). Multiple pressure field reconstruction techniques have subsequently been applied to the PIV results (Eulerian approach, iterative least-square pseudo-tracking, Taylor's hypothesis approach, and instantaneous Vortex-in-Cell) and LPT results (FlowFit, Vortex-in-Cell-plus, Voronoi-based pressure evaluation, and iterative least-square pseudo-tracking). All methods were able to reconstruct the main features of the instantaneous pressure fields, including methods that reconstruct pressure from a single PIV velocity snapshot. Highly accurate reconstructed pressure fields could be obtained using LPT approaches in combination with more advanced techniques. In general, the use of longer series of time-resolved input data, when available, allows more accurate pressure field reconstruction. Noise in the input data typically reduces the accuracy of the reconstructed pressure fields, but none of the techniques proved to be critically sensitive to the amount of noise added in the present test case.

Palaeocirculation across New Zealand during the last glacial maximum at ˜21 ka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorrey, Andrew M.; Vandergoes, Marcus; Almond, Peter; Renwick, James; Stephens, Tom; Bostock, Helen; Mackintosh, Andrew; Newnham, Rewi; Williams, Paul W.; Ackerley, Duncan; Neil, Helen; Fowler, Anthony M.

2012-03-01

What circulation pattern drove Southern Alps glacial advances at ˜21 ka? Late 20th century glacial advances in New Zealand are commonly attributed to a dual precipitation increase and cooler than normal temperatures associated with enhanced westerly flow that occur under synoptic pressure patterns termed 'zonal' regimes (Kidson, 2000). But was the circulation pattern that supported major Southern Alps glacial advances during the global LGM similar to the modern analog? Here, a Regional Climate Regime Classification (RCRC) time slice was used to infer past circulation for New Zealand during the LGM at ˜21 ka. Palaeoclimate information that supported the construction of the ˜21 ka time slice was derived from the NZ-INTIMATE Climate Event Stratigraphy (CES), one new Auckland maar proxy record, and additional low-resolution data sourced from the literature. The terrestrial evidence at ˜21 ka implicates several possibilities for past circulation, depending on how interpretations for some proxies are made. The interpretation considered most tenable for the LGM, based on the agreement between terrestrial evidence, marine reconstructions and palaeoclimate model results is an 'anticyclonic/zonal' circulation regime characterized by increased influences from blocking 'highs' over the South Island during winter and an increase in zonal and trough synoptic types (with southerly to westerly quarter wind flow) during summer. These seasonal circulation traits would have generated lower mean annual temperatures, cooler than normal summer temperatures, and overall lower mean annual precipitation for New Zealand (particularly in the western South Island) at ˜21 ka. The anticyclonic/zonal time slice reconstruction presented in this study has different spatial traits than the late 20th Century and the early Little Ice Age signatures, suggesting more than one type of regional circulation pattern can drive Southern Alps glacial activity. This finding lends support to the hypothesis that temperature over precipitation change is more important as the primary modulator of Southern Alps ice advances. The RCRC approach also demonstrates some subtle advantages of integrating multi-proxy data within a palaeocirculation context for New Zealand, notably because this reconstruction technique enables direct comparisons to coarsely resolved palaeoclimate model outputs that do not have downscaled information.

Trees tell of past climates: but are they speaking less clearly today?

PubMed Central

Briffa, K. R.

1998-01-01

The annual growth of trees, as represented by a variety of ring-width, densitometric, or chemical parameters, represents a combined record of different environmental forcings, one of which is climate. Along with climate, relatively large-scale positive growth influences such as hypothesized 'fertilization' due to increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide or various nitrogenous compounds, or possibly deleterious effects of 'acid rain' or increased ultra-violet radiation, might all be expected to exert some influence on recent tree growth rates. Inferring the details of past climate variability from tree-ring data remains a largely empirical exercise, but one that goes hand-in-hand with the development of techniques that seek to identify and isolate the confounding influence of local and larger-scale non-climatic factors. By judicious sampling, and the use of rigorous statistical procedures, dendroclimatology has provided unique insight into the nature of past climate variability, but most significantly at interannual, decadal, and centennial timescales. Here, examples are shown that illustrate the reconstruction of annually resolved patterns of past summer temperature around the Northern Hemisphere, as well as some more localized reconstructions, but ones which span 1000 years or more. These data provide the means of exploring the possible role of different climate forcings; for example, they provide evidence of the large-scale effects of explosive volcanic eruptions on regional and hemispheric temperatures during the last 400 years. However, a dramatic change in the sensitivity of hemispheric tree-growth to temperature forcing has become apparent during recent decades, and there is additional evidence of major tree-growth (and hence, probably, ecosystem biomass) increases in the northern boreal forests, most clearly over the last century. These possibly anthropogenically related changes in the ecology of tree growth have important implications for modelling future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Also, where dendroclimatology is concerned to reconstruct longer (increasingly above centennial) temperature histories, such alterations of 'normal' (pre-industrial) tree-growth rates and climate-growth relationships must be accounted for in our attempts to translate the evidence of past tree growth changes.

Annual Percentage Rate and Annual Effective Rate: Resolving Confusion in Intermediate Accounting Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vicknair, David; Wright, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Evidence of confusion in intermediate accounting textbooks regarding the annual percentage rate (APR) and annual effective rate (AER) is presented. The APR and AER are briefly discussed in the context of a note payable and correct formulas for computing each is provided. Representative examples of the types of confusion that we found is presented…

Wavelet-based time series bootstrap model for multidecadal streamflow simulation using climate indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erkyihun, Solomon Tassew; Rajagopalan, Balaji; Zagona, Edith; Lall, Upmanu; Nowak, Kenneth

2016-05-01

A model to generate stochastic streamflow projections conditioned on quasi-oscillatory climate indices such as Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) is presented. Recognizing that each climate index has underlying band-limited components that contribute most of the energy of the signals, we first pursue a wavelet decomposition of the signals to identify and reconstruct these features from annually resolved historical data and proxy based paleoreconstructions of each climate index covering the period from 1650 to 2012. A K-Nearest Neighbor block bootstrap approach is then developed to simulate the total signal of each of these climate index series while preserving its time-frequency structure and marginal distributions. Finally, given the simulated climate signal time series, a K-Nearest Neighbor bootstrap is used to simulate annual streamflow series conditional on the joint state space defined by the simulated climate index for each year. We demonstrate this method by applying it to simulation of streamflow at Lees Ferry gauge on the Colorado River using indices of two large scale climate forcings: Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO), which are known to modulate the Colorado River Basin (CRB) hydrology at multidecadal time scales. Skill in stochastic simulation of multidecadal projections of flow using this approach is demonstrated.

A tree-ring based reconstruction of Logan River streamflow, northern Utah

Treesearch

Eric B. Allen; Tammy M. Rittenour; R. Justin DeRose; Matthew F. Bekker; Roger Kjelgren; Brendan M. Buckley

2013-01-01

We created six new tree-ring chronologies in northern Utah, which were used with preexisting chronologies from Utah and western Wyoming to reconstruct mean annual flow for the Logan River, the largest tributary of the regionally important Bear River. Two reconstruction models were developed, a ''Local'' model that incorporated two Rocky Mountain...

Filament capturing with the multimaterial moment-of-fluid method*

DOE PAGES

Jemison, Matthew; Sussman, Mark; Shashkov, Mikhail

2015-01-15

A novel method for capturing two-dimensional, thin, under-resolved material configurations, known as “filaments,” is presented in the context of interface reconstruction. This technique uses a partitioning procedure to detect disconnected regions of material in the advective preimage of a cell (indicative of a filament) and makes use of the existing functionality of the Multimaterial Moment-of-Fluid interface reconstruction method to accurately capture the under-resolved feature, while exactly conserving volume. An algorithm for Adaptive Mesh Refinement in the presence of filaments is developed so that refinement is introduced only near the tips of filaments and where the Moment-of-Fluid reconstruction error is stillmore » large. Comparison to the standard Moment-of-Fluid method is made. As a result, it is demonstrated that using filament capturing at a given resolution yields gains in accuracy comparable to introducing an additional level of mesh refinement at significantly lower cost.« less

Beyond Linear Sequence Comparisons: The use of genome-levelcharacters for phylogenetic reconstruction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boore, Jeffrey L.

2004-11-27

Although the phylogenetic relationships of many organisms have been convincingly resolved by the comparisons of nucleotide or amino acid sequences, others have remained equivocal despite great effort. Now that large-scale genome sequencing projects are sampling many lineages, it is becoming feasible to compare large data sets of genome-level features and to develop this as a tool for phylogenetic reconstruction that has advantages over conventional sequence comparisons. Although it is unlikely that these will address a large number of evolutionary branch points across the broad tree of life due to the infeasibility of such sampling, they have great potential for convincinglymore » resolving many critical, contested relationships for which no other data seems promising. However, it is important that we recognize potential pitfalls, establish reasonable standards for acceptance, and employ rigorous methodology to guard against a return to earlier days of scenario-driven evolutionary reconstructions.« less

Super-resolved refocusing with a plenoptic camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Zhiliang; Yuan, Yan; Bin, Xiangli; Qian, Lulu

2011-03-01

This paper presents an approach to enhance the resolution of refocused images by super resolution methods. In plenoptic imaging, we demonstrate that the raw sensor image can be divided to a number of low-resolution angular images with sub-pixel shifts between each other. The sub-pixel shift, which defines the super-resolving ability, is mathematically derived by considering the plenoptic camera as equivalent camera arrays. We implement simulation to demonstrate the imaging process of a plenoptic camera. A high-resolution image is then reconstructed using maximum a posteriori (MAP) super resolution algorithms. Without other degradation effects in simulation, the super resolved image achieves a resolution as high as predicted by the proposed model. We also build an experimental setup to acquire light fields. With traditional refocusing methods, the image is rendered at a rather low resolution. In contrast, we implement the super-resolved refocusing methods and recover an image with more spatial details. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, we finally compare the reconstructed images using image quality metrics like peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR).

Time-resolved C-arm cone beam CT angiography (TR-CBCTA) imaging from a single short-scan C-arm cone beam CT acquisition with intra-arterial contrast injection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yinsheng; Garrett, John W.; Li, Ke; Wu, Yijing; Johnson, Kevin; Schafer, Sebastian; Strother, Charles; Chen, Guang-Hong

2018-04-01

Time-resolved C-arm cone-beam CT (CBCT) angiography (TR-CBCTA) images can be generated from a series of CBCT acquisitions that satisfy data sufficiency condition in analytical image reconstruction theory. In this work, a new technique was developed to generate TR-CBCTA images from a single short-scan CBCT data acquisition with contrast media injection. The reconstruction technique enabling this application is a previously developed image reconstruction technique, synchronized multi-artifact reduction with tomographic reconstruction (SMART-RECON). In this new application, the acquired short-scan CBCT projection data were sorted into a union of several sub-sectors of view angles and each sub-sector of view angles corresponds to an individual image volume to be reconstructed. The SMART-RECON method was then used to jointly reconstruct all of these individual image volumes under two constraints: (1) each individual image volume is maximally consistent with the measured cone-beam projection data within the corresponding view angle sector and (2) the nuclear norm of the image matrix is minimized. The difference between these reconstructed individual image volumes is used to generated the desired subtracted angiograms. To validate the technique, numerical simulation data generated from a fractal tree angiogram phantom were used to quantitatively study the accuracy of the proposed method and retrospective in vivo human subject studies were used to demonstrate the feasibility of generating TR-CBCTA in clinical practice.

Quadriceps strength and weight acceptance strategies continue to improve two years after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

PubMed Central

Roewer, Ben D.; Di Stasi, Stephanie L.; Snyder-Mackler, Lynn

2011-01-01

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most commonly-injured knee ligament during sporting activities. After injury, most individuals experience episodes of the knee giving way during daily activities (non-copers). Non-copers demonstrate asymmetrical quadriceps strength and movement patterns which could have long-term deleterious effects on the integrity of the knee joint. The purpose of this study was to determine if non-copers resolve their strength and movement asymmetries within two years after surgery. 26 non-copers were recruited to undergo pre-operative quadriceps strength testing and 3-dimensional gait analysis. Subjects underwent surgery to reconstruct the ligament followed by physical therapy focused on restoring normal range of motion, quadriceps strength, and function. Subjects returned for quadriceps strength testing and gait analysis six months and two years after surgery. Acutely after injury, quadriceps strength was asymmetric between limbs, but resolved six months after surgery. Asymmetric knee angles, knee moments, and knee and hip power profiles were also observed acutely after injury and persisted six months after surgery despite subjects achieving symmetrical quadriceps strength. Two years after surgery, quadriceps strength in the involved limb continued to improve and most kinematic and kinetic asymmetries resolved. These findings suggest that adequate quadriceps strength does not immediately resolve gait asymmetries in non-copers. They also suggest that non-copers have the capacity to improve their quadriceps strength and gait symmetry long after ACL reconstruction. PMID:21592482

Respiratory Motion-Resolved Compressed Sensing Reconstruction of Free-Breathing Radial Acquisition for Dynamic Liver MRI

PubMed Central

Chandarana, Hersh; Feng, Li; Ream, Justin; Wang, Annie; Babb, James S; Block, Kai Tobias; Sodickson, Daniel K; Otazo, Ricardo

2015-01-01

Purpose Demonstrate feasibility of free-breathing radial acquisition with respiratory motion-resolved compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction (XD-GRASP) for multiphase dynamic Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced liver imaging, and compare image quality to CS reconstruction with respiratory motion-averaging (GRASP) and prior conventional breath-held Cartesian-sampled datasets (BH-VIBE) in same patients. Subjects and Methods In this HIPAA-compliant prospective study, 16 subjects underwent free-breathing continuous radial acquisition during Gd-EOB-DTPA injection, and had prior BH-VIBE exam available. Acquired data were reconstructed using motion-averaging GRASP approach, in which consecutive 84-spokes were grouped in each contrast-enhanced phase for a temporal resolution of ~14 seconds. Additionally, respiratory motion-resolved reconstruction was performed from the same k-space data, by sorting each contrast-enhanced phase into multiple respiratory motion states using compressed sensing algorithm named XD-GRASP, which exploits sparsity along both the contrast-enhancement and respiratory-state dimensions. Contrast-enhanced dynamic multi-phase XD-GRASP, GRASP, and BH-VIBE images were anonymized, pooled together in a random order and presented to two board-certified radiologists for independent evaluation of image quality, with higher score indicating more optimal exam. Results XD-GRASP reconstructions had significantly (all p<0.05) higher overall image quality scores compared to GRASP for early arterial (Reader 1: 4.3 ± 0.6 vs. 3.31 ± 0.6 ; Reader 2: 3.81 ± 0.8 vs. 3.38 ± 0.9) and late arterial (Reader 1: 4.5 ± 0.6 vs. 3.63 ± 0.6; Reader 2: 3.56 ± 0.5 vs. 2.88 ± 0.7) phases of enhancement for both readers. XD-GRASP also had higher overall image quality score in portal venous phase which was significant for Reader 1 (4.44 ± 0.5 vs. 3.75 ± 0.8; p=0.002). In addition, XD-GRASP had higher overall image quality score compared to BH-VIBE for early (Reader 1: 4.3±0.6 vs. 3.88±0.6; Reader 2: 3.81±0.8 vs. 3.50±1.0) and late (Reader 1: 4.5±0.6 vs. 3.44±0.6; Reader 2: 3.56±0.5 vs. 2.94±0.9) arterial phases. Conclusion Free-breathing motion-resolved XD-GRASP reconstructions provide diagnostic high-quality multiphase images in patients undergoing Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced liver exam. PMID:26146869

Evaluation of the resolving potency of a novel reconstruction filter on periodontal ligament space with dental cone-beam CT: a quantitative phantom study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houno, Yuuki; Hishikawa, Toshimitsu; Gotoh, Ken-ichi; Naitoh, Munetaka; Ariji, Eiichiro; Kodera, Yoshie

2014-03-01

Diagnosis of the alveolar bone condition is important for the treatment planning of periodontal disease. Especially the determination of periodontal ligament space is the most important remark because it represents the periodontal tissue support for tooth retention. However, owing to the image blur of the current cone-beam CT (CBCT) imaging technique, the periodontal ligament space is difficult to visualize. In this study, we developed an original periodontal ligament phantom (PLP) and evaluated the image quality of simulated periodontal ligament space using a novel reconstruction filter for CBCT that emphasized high frequency component. PLP was composed from two resin blocks of different materials, the bone equivalent block and the dentine equivalent block. They were assembled to make continuously changing space from 0.0 to 1.0 millimeter that mimics periodontal ligament space. PLP was placed in water and the image was obtained by using Alphard-3030 dental cone-beam CT (Asahi Roentgen Industry Co., Ltd.). Then we reconstructed the projection data with a novel reconstruction filter. The axial images were compared with conventional reconstructed images. In novel filter reconstruction images, 0.4 millimeter of the space width was steadily detected by calculation of pixel value, on the other hand 0.6 millimeter was in conventional images. With our method, the resolving potency of conebeam CT images was improved.

Estimation of a super-resolved PSF for the data reduction of undersampled stellar observations. Deriving an accurate model for fitting photometry with Corot space telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinheiro da Silva, L.; Auvergne, M.; Toublanc, D.; Rowe, J.; Kuschnig, R.; Matthews, J.

2006-06-01

Context: .Fitting photometry algorithms can be very effective provided that an accurate model of the instrumental point spread function (PSF) is available. When high-precision time-resolved photometry is required, however, the use of point-source star images as empirical PSF models can be unsatisfactory, due to the limits in their spatial resolution. Theoretically-derived models, on the other hand, are limited by the unavoidable assumption of simplifying hypothesis, while the use of analytical approximations is restricted to regularly-shaped PSFs. Aims: .This work investigates an innovative technique for space-based fitting photometry, based on the reconstruction of an empirical but properly-resolved PSF. The aim is the exploitation of arbitrary star images, including those produced under intentional defocus. The cases of both MOST and COROT, the first space telescopes dedicated to time-resolved stellar photometry, are considered in the evaluation of the effectiveness and performances of the proposed methodology. Methods: .PSF reconstruction is based on a set of star images, periodically acquired and presenting relative subpixel displacements due to motion of the acquisition system, in this case the jitter of the satellite attitude. Higher resolution is achieved through the solution of the inverse problem. The approach can be regarded as a special application of super-resolution techniques, though a specialised procedure is proposed to better meet the PSF determination problem specificities. The application of such a model to fitting photometry is illustrated by numerical simulations for COROT and on a complete set of observations from MOST. Results: .We verify that, in both scenarios, significantly better resolved PSFs can be estimated, leading to corresponding improvements in photometric results. For COROT, indeed, subpixel reconstruction enabled the successful use of fitting algorithms despite its rather complex PSF profile, which could hardly be modeled otherwise. For MOST, whose direct-imaging PSF is closer to the ordinary, comparison to other models or photometry techniques were carried out and confirmed the potential of PSF reconstruction in real observational conditions.

Multiple measures could alleviate long-branch attraction in phylogenomic reconstruction of Cupressoideae (Cupressaceae)

PubMed Central

Qu, Xiao-Jian; Jin, Jian-Jun; Chaw, Shu-Miaw; Li, De-Zhu; Yi, Ting-Shuang

2017-01-01

Long-branch attraction (LBA) is a major obstacle in phylogenetic reconstruction. The phylogenetic relationships among Juniperus (J), Cupressus (C) and the Hesperocyparis-Callitropsis-Xanthocyparis (HCX) subclades of Cupressoideae are controversial. Our initial analyses of plastid protein-coding gene matrix revealed both J and C with much longer stem branches than those of HCX, so their sister relationships may be attributed to LBA. We used multiple measures including data filtering and modifying, evolutionary model selection and coalescent phylogenetic reconstruction to alleviate the LBA artifact. Data filtering by strictly removing unreliable aligned regions and removing substitution saturation genes and rapidly evolving sites could significantly reduce branch lengths of subclades J and C and recovered a relationship of J (C, HCX). In addition, using coalescent phylogenetic reconstruction could elucidate the LBA artifact and recovered J (C, HCX). However, some valid methods for other taxa were inefficient in alleviating the LBA artifact in J-C-HCX. Different strategies should be carefully considered and justified to reduce LBA in phylogenetic reconstruction of different groups. Three subclades of J-C-HCX were estimated to have experienced ancient rapid divergence within a short period, which could be another major obstacle in resolving relationships. Furthermore, our plastid phylogenomic analyses fully resolved the intergeneric relationships of Cupressoideae. PMID:28120880

Multiple measures could alleviate long-branch attraction in phylogenomic reconstruction of Cupressoideae (Cupressaceae).

PubMed

Qu, Xiao-Jian; Jin, Jian-Jun; Chaw, Shu-Miaw; Li, De-Zhu; Yi, Ting-Shuang

2017-01-25

Long-branch attraction (LBA) is a major obstacle in phylogenetic reconstruction. The phylogenetic relationships among Juniperus (J), Cupressus (C) and the Hesperocyparis-Callitropsis-Xanthocyparis (HCX) subclades of Cupressoideae are controversial. Our initial analyses of plastid protein-coding gene matrix revealed both J and C with much longer stem branches than those of HCX, so their sister relationships may be attributed to LBA. We used multiple measures including data filtering and modifying, evolutionary model selection and coalescent phylogenetic reconstruction to alleviate the LBA artifact. Data filtering by strictly removing unreliable aligned regions and removing substitution saturation genes and rapidly evolving sites could significantly reduce branch lengths of subclades J and C and recovered a relationship of J (C, HCX). In addition, using coalescent phylogenetic reconstruction could elucidate the LBA artifact and recovered J (C, HCX). However, some valid methods for other taxa were inefficient in alleviating the LBA artifact in J-C-HCX. Different strategies should be carefully considered and justified to reduce LBA in phylogenetic reconstruction of different groups. Three subclades of J-C-HCX were estimated to have experienced ancient rapid divergence within a short period, which could be another major obstacle in resolving relationships. Furthermore, our plastid phylogenomic analyses fully resolved the intergeneric relationships of Cupressoideae.

Full statistical mode reconstruction of a light field via a photon-number-resolved measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burenkov, I. A.; Sharma, A. K.; Gerrits, T.; Harder, G.; Bartley, T. J.; Silberhorn, C.; Goldschmidt, E. A.; Polyakov, S. V.

2017-05-01

We present a method to reconstruct the complete statistical mode structure and optical losses of multimode conjugated optical fields using an experimentally measured joint photon-number probability distribution. We demonstrate that this method evaluates classical and nonclassical properties using a single measurement technique and is well suited for quantum mesoscopic state characterization. We obtain a nearly perfect reconstruction of a field comprised of up to ten modes based on a minimal set of assumptions. To show the utility of this method, we use it to reconstruct the mode structure of an unknown bright parametric down-conversion source.

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Solar activity reconstructed for 3 millennia (Usoskin+, 2014)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usoskin, I. G.; Hulot, G.; Gallet, Y.; Roth, R.; Licht, A.; Joos, F.; Kovaltsov, G. A.; Thebault, E.; Khokhlov, A.

2014-02-01

Indices of solar activity reconstructed from 14C using the m used in the paper. Two indices are provided - the sunspot number and the cosmic ray modulation potential, both with the 95% confidence intervals. The data sets are provided with decadal resolution, thus the individual solar cycles are not resolved. (2 data files).

Coralline algal Barium as indicator for 20th century northwestern North Atlantic surface ocean freshwater variability

PubMed Central

Hetzinger, S.; Halfar, J.; Zack, T.; Mecking, J. V.; Kunz, B. E.; Jacob, D. E.; Adey, W. H.

2013-01-01

During the past decades climate and freshwater dynamics in the northwestern North Atlantic have undergone major changes. Large-scale freshening episodes, related to polar freshwater pulses, have had a strong influence on ocean variability in this climatically important region. However, little is known about variability before 1950, mainly due to the lack of long-term high-resolution marine proxy archives. Here we present the first multidecadal-length records of annually resolved Ba/Ca variations from Northwest Atlantic coralline algae. We observe positive relationships between algal Ba/Ca ratios from two Newfoundland sites and salinity observations back to 1950. Both records capture episodical multi-year freshening events during the 20th century. Variability in algal Ba/Ca is sensitive to freshwater-induced changes in upper ocean stratification, which affect the transport of cold, Ba-enriched deep waters onto the shelf (highly stratified equals less Ba/Ca). Algal Ba/Ca ratios therefore may serve as a new resource for reconstructing past surface ocean freshwater changes. PMID:23636135

An extended network of documentary data from South America and its potential for quantitative precipitation reconstructions back to the 16th century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neukom, Raphael; del Rosario Prieto, María; Moyano, Rodolfo; Luterbacher, Jürg; Pfister, Christian; Villalba, Ricardo; Jones, Philip D.; Wanner, Heinz

2009-06-01

In South America (SA) several documentary based climate time series exist, some of them extending back to the 16th century. Most of these records end in the 19th century, and can not be calibrated against instrumental data. Here, we used the newspaper “Los Andes” from Mendoza, Argentina, to extend documentary based indices of Mendoza precipitation and Central Andes snow depth to the late 20th century. A statistical approach to create “pseudo documentary” 20th century data was applied to prolong eight other documentary records. Increased variability of the hydrological cycle in the Central Andes and prevailing periods of wet and dry years in Mendoza suggest that the 20th century is extraordinary in the context of the last 400 years. The final set of extended documentaries explains significant portions of SA precipitation variability in large areas between 20°S and 40°S and can therefore improve the network of annually resolved precipitation proxies.

Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium

PubMed Central

Wanamaker, Alan D.; Butler, Paul G.; Scourse, James D.; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A.

2012-01-01

Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector. PMID:22692542

Surface changes in the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during the last millennium.

PubMed

Wanamaker, Alan D; Butler, Paul G; Scourse, James D; Heinemeier, Jan; Eiríksson, Jón; Knudsen, Karen Luise; Richardson, Christopher A

2012-06-12

Despite numerous investigations, the dynamical origins of the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age remain uncertain. A major unresolved issue relating to internal climate dynamics is the mode and tempo of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation variability, and the significance of decadal-to-centennial scale changes in Atlantic meridional overturning circulation strength in regulating the climate of the last millennium. Here we use the time-constrained high-resolution local radiocarbon reservoir age offset derived from an absolutely dated annually resolved shell chronology spanning the past 1,350 years, to reconstruct changes in surface ocean circulation and climate. The water mass tracer data presented here from the North Icelandic shelf, combined with previously published data from the Arctic and subtropical Atlantic, show that surface Atlantic meridional overturning circulation dynamics likely amplified the relatively warm conditions during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the relatively cool conditions during the Little Ice Age within the North Atlantic sector.

Coralline algal barium as indicator for 20th century northwestern North Atlantic surface ocean freshwater variability.

PubMed

Hetzinger, S; Halfar, J; Zack, T; Mecking, J V; Kunz, B E; Jacob, D E; Adey, W H

2013-01-01

During the past decades climate and freshwater dynamics in the northwestern North Atlantic have undergone major changes. Large-scale freshening episodes, related to polar freshwater pulses, have had a strong influence on ocean variability in this climatically important region. However, little is known about variability before 1950, mainly due to the lack of long-term high-resolution marine proxy archives. Here we present the first multidecadal-length records of annually resolved Ba/Ca variations from Northwest Atlantic coralline algae. We observe positive relationships between algal Ba/Ca ratios from two Newfoundland sites and salinity observations back to 1950. Both records capture episodical multi-year freshening events during the 20th century. Variability in algal Ba/Ca is sensitive to freshwater-induced changes in upper ocean stratification, which affect the transport of cold, Ba-enriched deep waters onto the shelf (highly stratified equals less Ba/Ca). Algal Ba/Ca ratios therefore may serve as a new resource for reconstructing past surface ocean freshwater changes.

Multicentennial record of Labrador Sea primary productivity and sea-ice variability archived in coralline algal barium

PubMed Central

Chan, P.; Halfar, J.; Adey, W.; Hetzinger, S.; Zack, T.; Moore, G.W.K.; Wortmann, U. G.; Williams, B.; Hou, A.

2017-01-01

Accelerated warming and melting of Arctic sea-ice has been associated with significant increases in phytoplankton productivity in recent years. Here, utilizing a multiproxy approach, we reconstruct an annually resolved record of Labrador Sea productivity related to sea-ice variability in Labrador, Canada that extends well into the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1646 AD). Barium-to-calcium ratios (Ba/Ca) and carbon isotopes (δ13C) measured in long-lived coralline algae demonstrate significant correlations to both observational and proxy records of sea-ice variability, and show persistent patterns of co-variability broadly consistent with the timing and phasing of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). Results indicate reduced productivity in the Subarctic Northwest Atlantic associated with AMO cool phases during the LIA, followed by a step-wise increase from 1910 to present levels—unprecedented in the last 363 years. Increasing phytoplankton productivity is expected to fundamentally alter marine ecosystems as warming and freshening is projected to intensify over the coming century. PMID:28569839

Generic phylogeny, historical biogeography and character evolution of the cosmopolitan aquatic plant family Hydrocharitaceae.

PubMed

Chen, Ling-Yun; Chen, Jin-Ming; Gituru, Robert Wahiti; Wang, Qing-Feng

2012-03-10

Hydrocharitaceae is a fully aquatic monocot family, consists of 18 genera with approximately 120 species. The family includes both fresh and marine aquatics and exhibits great diversity in form and habit including annual and perennial life histories; submersed, partially submersed and floating leaf habits and linear to orbicular leaf shapes. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution and is well represented in the Tertiary fossil record in Europe. At present, the historical biogeography of the family is not well understood and the generic relationships remain controversial. In this study we investigated the phylogeny and biogeography of Hydrocharitaceae by integrating fossils and DNA sequences from eight genes. We also conducted ancestral state reconstruction for three morphological characters. Phylogenetic analyses produced a phylogeny with most branches strongly supported by bootstrap values greater than 95 and Bayesian posterior probability values of 1.0. Stratiotes is the first diverging lineage with the remaining genera in two clades, one clade consists of Lagarosiphon, Ottelia, Blyxa, Apalanthe, Elodea and Egeria; and the other consists of Hydrocharis-Limnobium, Thalassia, Enhalus, Halophila, Najas, Hydrilla, Vallisneria, Nechamandra and Maidenia. Biogeographic analyses (DIVA, Mesquite) and divergence time estimates (BEAST) resolved the most recent common ancestor of Hydrocharitaceae as being in Asia during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeocene (54.7-72.6 Ma). Dispersals (including long-distance dispersal and migrations through Tethys seaway and land bridges) probably played major roles in the intercontinental distribution of this family. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested that in Hydrocharitaceae evolution of dioecy is bidirectional, viz., from dioecy to hermaphroditism, and from hermaphroditism to dioecy, and that the aerial-submerged leaf habit and short-linear leaf shape are the ancestral states. Our study has shed light on the previously controversial generic phylogeny of Hydrocharitaceae. The study has resolved the historical biogeography of this family and supported dispersal as the most likely explanation for the intercontinental distribution. We have also provided valuable information for understanding the evolution of breeding system and leaf phenotype in aquatic monocots.

Empirical investigation into depth-resolution of Magnetotelluric data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piana Agostinetti, N.; Ogaya, X.

2017-12-01

We investigate the depth-resolution of MT data comparing reconstructed 1D resistivity profiles with measured resistivity and lithostratigraphy from borehole data. Inversion of MT data has been widely used to reconstruct the 1D fine-layered resistivity structure beneath an isolated Magnetotelluric (MT) station. Uncorrelated noise is generally assumed to be associated to MT data. However, wrong assumptions on error statistics have been proved to strongly bias the results obtained in geophysical inversions. In particular the number of resolved layers at depth strongly depends on error statistics. In this study, we applied a trans-dimensional McMC algorithm for reconstructing the 1D resistivity profile near-by the location of a 1500 m-deep borehole, using MT data. We resolve the MT inverse problem imposing different models for the error statistics associated to the MT data. Following a Hierachical Bayes' approach, we also inverted for the hyper-parameters associated to each error statistics model. Preliminary results indicate that assuming un-correlated noise leads to a number of resolved layers larger than expected from the retrieved lithostratigraphy. Moreover, comparing the inversion of synthetic resistivity data obtained from the "true" resistivity stratification measured along the borehole shows that a consistent number of resistivity layers can be obtained using a Gaussian model for the error statistics, with substantial correlation length.

Time-resolved flow reconstruction with indirect measurements using regression models and Kalman-filtered POD ROM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leroux, Romain; Chatellier, Ludovic; David, Laurent

2018-01-01

This article is devoted to the estimation of time-resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) flow fields using a time-resolved point measurements of a voltage signal obtained by hot-film anemometry. A multiple linear regression model is first defined to map the TR-PIV flow fields onto the voltage signal. Due to the high temporal resolution of the signal acquired by the hot-film sensor, the estimates of the TR-PIV flow fields are obtained with a multiple linear regression method called orthonormalized partial least squares regression (OPLSR). Subsequently, this model is incorporated as the observation equation in an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) applied on a proper orthogonal decomposition reduced-order model to stabilize it while reducing the effects of the hot-film sensor noise. This method is assessed for the reconstruction of the flow around a NACA0012 airfoil at a Reynolds number of 1000 and an angle of attack of {20}°. Comparisons with multi-time delay-modified linear stochastic estimation show that both the OPLSR and EnKF combined with OPLSR are more accurate as they produce a much lower relative estimation error, and provide a faithful reconstruction of the time evolution of the velocity flow fields.

Revision Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction

PubMed Central

Wilde, Jeffrey; Bedi, Asheesh; Altchek, David W.

2014-01-01

Context: Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common surgical procedures, with more than 200,000 ACL tears occurring annually. Although primary ACL reconstruction is a successful operation, success rates still range from 75% to 97%. Consequently, several thousand revision ACL reconstructions are performed annually and are unfortunately associated with inferior clinical outcomes when compared with primary reconstructions. Evidence Acquisition: Data were obtained from peer-reviewed literature through a search of the PubMed database (1988-2013) as well as from textbook chapters and surgical technique papers. Study Design: Clinical review. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Results: The clinical outcomes after revision ACL reconstruction are largely based on level IV case series. Much of the existing literature is heterogenous with regard to patient populations, primary and revision surgical techniques, concomitant ligamentous injuries, and additional procedures performed at the time of the revision, which limits generalizability. Nevertheless, there is a general consensus that the outcomes for revision ACL reconstruction are inferior to primary reconstruction. Conclusion: Excellent results can be achieved with regard to graft stability, return to play, and functional knee instability but are generally inferior to primary ACL reconstruction. A staged approach with autograft reconstruction is recommended in any circumstance in which a single-stage approach results in suboptimal graft selection, tunnel position, graft fixation, or biological milieu for tendon-bone healing. Strength-of-Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT): Good results may still be achieved with regard to graft stability, return to play, and functional knee instability, but results are generally inferior to primary ACL reconstruction: Level B. PMID:25364483

Growth chronology of Greenland Cockles (Serripes groenlandicus) from Bear Island, Svalbard, Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carroll, Michael; Ambrose, William; Locke, William; Wanamaker, Alan

2017-04-01

Climate change is occurring rapidly in the Arctic, and observing the links between environmental drivers and biological effects can provide key information on the ecosystem consequences of climate change. Analysis of shell-based records of mollusks (sclerochronology) provides an effective and expanding approach to reconstructing environmental-ecological linkages. In particular, annually resolved archives can be key indicators of how climate change manifests in the marine ecosystem. We developed a master growth chronology of the Greenland Cockle (Serripes groenlandicus) from Bear Island (Bjørnøya), Svalbard, Norway (74°41'N, 18°56'E) from analysis of annual shell increments. The chronology was developed from 20 individuals ranging in age from 24 to 45 years old (the oldest known individuals of this species to date). The chronology, expressed as a standardized growth index (SGI), extended from 1968 to 2012 and exhibited a cyclical pattern, with decadal periods of high growth, alternating with slower growth intervals. We also identified significant relationships between large-scale climate regimes (e.g. NAO, AMO), local environmental conditions (e.g. sea temperature, sea ice), and shell growth. Additionally, growth chronologies, and environmental linkages were compared from this, near the southern extent of the Barents Sea polar front, with other Arctic locations influenced by different water masses to examine the nature of the environmental regulation on shell growth of this species in the Barents Sea and Arctic Ocean. We conclude that the Greenland Cockle is quite sensitive to environmental changes over annual to decadal scales and therefore can serve as a proxy of climate change effects on ecosystem processes in the Arctic.

Pliocene Seasonality along the US Atlantic Coastal Plain Inferred from Growth Increment Analysis of Mercenaria carolinensis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winkelstern, I. Z.; Surge, D. M.

2010-12-01

Pliocene sea surface temperature (SST) data from the US Atlantic coastal plain is currently insufficient for a detailed understanding of the climatic shifts that occurred during the period. Previous studies, based on oxygen isotope proxy data from marine shells and bryozoan zooid size analysis, have provided constraints on possible annual-scale SST ranges for the region. However, more data are required to fully understand the forcing mechanisms affecting regional Pliocene climate and evaluate modeled temperature projections. Bivalve sclerochronology (growth increment analysis) is an alternative proxy for SST that can provide annually resolved multi-year time series. The method has been validated in previous studies using modern Arctica, Chione, and Mercenaria. We analyzed Pliocene Mercenaria carolinensis shells using sclerochronologic methods and tested the hypothesis that higher SST ranges are reflected in shells selected from the warmest climate interval (3.5-3.3 Ma, upper Yorktown Formation, Virginia) and lower SST ranges are observable in shells selected from the subsequent cooling interval (2.4-1.8 Ma, Chowan River Formation, North Carolina). These results further establish the validity of growth increment analysis using fossil shells and provide the first large dataset (from the region) of reconstructed annual SST from floating time series during these intervals. These data will enhance our knowledge about a warm climate state that has been identified in the 2007 IPCC report as an analogue for expected global warming. Future work will expand this study to include sampling in Florida to gain detailed information about Pliocene SST along a latitudinal gradient.

Cold-season temperature in the Swiss Alps from AD 1100-1500; trends, intra-annual variability and forcing factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Jong, Rixt; Kamenik, Christian; Grosjean, Martin

2010-05-01

To fully understand past climatic changes and their forcing factors, detailed reconstructions of past summer and winter temperatures are required. Winter temperature reconstructions are scarce, however, because most biological proxies are biased towards the growing season. This study presents a detailed reconstruction of winter temperatures based on Chrysophyte stomatocysts, silicious scales formed by so-called 'golden algae'. Previous studies (Kamenik and Schmidt, 2005; Pla and Catalan, 2005) have demonstrated the sensitivity of these algae to cold-season temperatures. Chrysophyte stomatocyst analysis was carried out on varved sediments from Lake Silvaplana (1791 m a.s.l.) at annual to near-annual resolution for two periods; AD 1100-1500 and AD 1870-2004. For both periods the reference date 'date of spring mixing' (Smix) was reconstructed using a transfer function developed for the Austrian Alps (Kamenik and Schmidt, 2005). In the Austrian Alps, Smix was primarily driven by air temperature in the cold season. The strength of stomatocysts as a proxy for winter temperature was tested by directly comparing reconstructed Smix with measured temperatures from nearby meteostation Sils Maria for the period AD 1870 - 2004. Correlation was highest (R = -0.6; p < 0.001) with mean October-April temperatures. The good agreement between reconstructed Smix and mean winter temperatures was interrupted only from AD 1925 - AD 1951, which was related to exceptionally high winter precipitation (thick snowpack) extending the ice-covered period. Strong lake eutrophication after AD 1950 only weakly affected the reconstruction of winter temperature. The winter temperature reconstruction (AD 1100-1500) shows strong interdecadal variability, superimposed on a cooling trend from around AD 1400 onwards. A direct comparison to summer temperature reconstructions based on biogenic silica and chironomid analysis from the same cores (Trachsel et al., in review; Larocque-Tobler et al., accepted manuscript) indicated strong fluctuations in intra-annual variability. A comparison to forcing factors shows that throughout the studied period, large tropical volcanic eruptions (Crowley, 2000) coincided with relatively warm winters in the study area. This is consistent with results from GCM experiments and observations of the limited number of eruptions during the much shorter instrumental period (Fischer et al., 2007). References: T. Crowley. Science 289, 270-277 (2000) E. Fischer et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 34, L05707 (2007) C. Kamenik and R. Schmidt. Boreas 34, 477-489 (2005) I. Larocque-Tobler et al. Quat. Sci. Rev., accepted. S. Pla and J. Catalan. Clim. Dyn. 24, 263-278 (2005) M. Trachsel et al. Manuscript in review

Synchronized multiartifact reduction with tomographic reconstruction (SMART-RECON): A statistical model based iterative image reconstruction method to eliminate limited-view artifacts and to mitigate the temporal-average artifacts in time-resolved CT.

PubMed

Chen, Guang-Hong; Li, Yinsheng

2015-08-01

In x-ray computed tomography (CT), a violation of the Tuy data sufficiency condition leads to limited-view artifacts. In some applications, it is desirable to use data corresponding to a narrow temporal window to reconstruct images with reduced temporal-average artifacts. However, the need to reduce temporal-average artifacts in practice may result in a violation of the Tuy condition and thus undesirable limited-view artifacts. In this paper, the authors present a new iterative reconstruction method, synchronized multiartifact reduction with tomographic reconstruction (SMART-RECON), to eliminate limited-view artifacts using data acquired within an ultranarrow temporal window that severely violates the Tuy condition. In time-resolved contrast enhanced CT acquisitions, image contrast dynamically changes during data acquisition. Each image reconstructed from data acquired in a given temporal window represents one time frame and can be denoted as an image vector. Conventionally, each individual time frame is reconstructed independently. In this paper, all image frames are grouped into a spatial-temporal image matrix and are reconstructed together. Rather than the spatial and/or temporal smoothing regularizers commonly used in iterative image reconstruction, the nuclear norm of the spatial-temporal image matrix is used in SMART-RECON to regularize the reconstruction of all image time frames. This regularizer exploits the low-dimensional structure of the spatial-temporal image matrix to mitigate limited-view artifacts when an ultranarrow temporal window is desired in some applications to reduce temporal-average artifacts. Both numerical simulations in two dimensional image slices with known ground truth and in vivo human subject data acquired in a contrast enhanced cone beam CT exam have been used to validate the proposed SMART-RECON algorithm and to demonstrate the initial performance of the algorithm. Reconstruction errors and temporal fidelity of the reconstructed images were quantified using the relative root mean square error (rRMSE) and the universal quality index (UQI) in numerical simulations. The performance of the SMART-RECON algorithm was compared with that of the prior image constrained compressed sensing (PICCS) reconstruction quantitatively in simulations and qualitatively in human subject exam. In numerical simulations, the 240(∘) short scan angular span was divided into four consecutive 60(∘) angular subsectors. SMART-RECON enables four high temporal fidelity images without limited-view artifacts. The average rRMSE is 16% and UQIs are 0.96 and 0.95 for the two local regions of interest, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding average rRMSE and UQIs are 25%, 0.78, and 0.81, respectively, for the PICCS reconstruction. Note that only one filtered backprojection image can be reconstructed from the same data set with an average rRMSE and UQIs are 45%, 0.71, and 0.79, respectively, to benchmark reconstruction accuracies. For in vivo contrast enhanced cone beam CT data acquired from a short scan angular span of 200(∘), three 66(∘) angular subsectors were used in SMART-RECON. The results demonstrated clear contrast difference in three SMART-RECON reconstructed image volumes without limited-view artifacts. In contrast, for the same angular sectors, PICCS cannot reconstruct images without limited-view artifacts and with clear contrast difference in three reconstructed image volumes. In time-resolved CT, the proposed SMART-RECON method provides a new method to eliminate limited-view artifacts using data acquired in an ultranarrow temporal window, which corresponds to approximately 60(∘) angular subsectors.

Annual growth bands in Hymenaea courbaril: implications for utilization in tropical paleoclimate reconstructions.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Westbrook, J. A.; Guilderson, T.; Colinvaux, P. A.; D'Arrigo, R.

2004-12-01

Instrumental records of environmental variables such as temperature and precipitation are necessary to understand climate patterns and variability. In general, such observations from the tropics do not exist prior to the late 19th century, and existing records contain large spatial and temporal gaps and are sparsely distributed. An important source of annual temperature and precipitation proxy-data comes from the regular annual growth rings of wood formed by trees. Tree growth rings occur in response to periodic seasonal changes in the environment. Although expansive and diverse in number and ecology, a vast majority of tropical trees do not produce distinct annual growth rings. Because of this, tropical dendrochronology and paleoclimate reconstructions have lagged behind their temperate and higher latitude cousins. Distinct secondary growth rings were investigated in a single individual of the tropical hardwood legume Hymenaea courbaril felled within the City of David, Republic of Panama. Rings that maintained circuitry were considered annual and were sampled for 14C. Radiocarbon values from the secondary growth rings from this specimen were compared with annual reference radiocarbon values from wood and air in North America, New Zealand and Germany. This comparison demonstrated that the secondary growth rings formed by H. courbaril were determined to be annual in nature in this one stem disk specimen. To confirm the consistency of the annual nature of the secondary growth rings in H. courbaril, nine (9) additional specimens were recovered from the small hamlet of San Carlos y Algarobbo in western Panama between the town of David and the cordillera approximately ~30km from the site of the first tree sample. Of the nine specimens, four were chosen for ring counts and isotope analyses. "Annual" rings were counted and samples corresponding to the equivalent time of the bomb-14C peak were sampled. In addition a small subset of years within one tree specimen were sub-annually sampled for d18O cellulose. Radiocarbon and 18Ocellulose are consistent with the secondary rings being annual. These results imply that H. courbaril may be suitable for extended paleoclimate reconstructions.

Water Budget Closure Based on GRACE Measurements and Reconstructed Evapotranspiration Using GLDAS and Water Use Data over the Yellow River and Changjiang River Basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, M.; Ma, Z.; Yuan, X.

2017-12-01

It is important to evaluate the water budget closure on the basis of the currently available data including precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), runoff, and GRACE-derived terrestrial water storage change (TWSC) before using them to resolve water-related issues. However, it remains challenging to achieve the balance without the consideration of human water use (e.g., inter-basin water diversion and irrigation) for the estimation of other water budget terms such as the ET. In this study, the terrestrial water budget closure is tested over the Yellow River Basin (YRB) and Changjiang River Basin (CJB, Yangtze River Basin) of China. First, the actual ET is reconstructed by using the GLDAS-1 land surface models, the high quality observation-based precipitation, naturalized streamflow, and the irrigation water (hereafter, ETrecon). The ETrecon, evaluated using the mean annual water-balance equation, is of good quality with the absolute relative errors less than 1.9% over the two studied basins. The total basin discharge (Rtotal) is calculated as the residual of the water budget among the observation-based precipitation, ETrecon, and the GRACE-TWSC. The value of the Rtotal minus the observed total basin discharge is used to evaluate the budget closure, with the consideration of inter-basin water diversion. After the ET reconstruction, the mean absolute imbalance value reduced from 3.31 cm/year to 1.69 cm/year and from 15.40 cm/year to 1.96 cm/year over the YRB and CJB, respectively. The estimation-to-observation ratios of total basin discharge improved from 180.8% to 86.8% over the YRB, and from 67.0% to 101.1% over the CJB. The proposed ET reconstruction method is applicable to other human-managed river basins to provide an alternative estimation.

Last interglacial temperature seasonality reconstructed from tropical Atlantic corals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brocas, William M.; Felis, Thomas; Obert, J. Christina; Gierz, Paul; Lohmann, Gerrit; Scholz, Denis; Kölling, Martin; Scheffers, Sander R.

2016-09-01

Reconstructions of last interglacial (LIG, MIS 5e, ∼127-117 ka) climate offer insights into the natural response and variability of the climate system during a period partially analogous to future climate change scenarios. We present well preserved fossil corals (Diploria strigosa) recovered from the southern Caribbean island of Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands). These have been precisely dated by the 230Th/U-method to between 130 and 120 ka ago. Annual banding of the coral skeleton enabled construction of time windows of monthly resolved strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) temperature proxy records. In conjunction with a previously published 118 ka coral record, our eight records of up to 37 years in length, cover a total of 105 years within the LIG period. From these, sea surface temperature (SST) seasonality and variability in the tropical North Atlantic Ocean is reconstructed. We detect similar to modern SST seasonality of ∼2.9 °C during the early (130 ka) and the late LIG (120-118 ka). However, within the mid-LIG, a significantly higher than modern SST seasonality of 4.9 °C (at 126 ka) and 4.1 °C (at 124 ka) is observed. These findings are supported by climate model simulations and are consistent with the evolving amplitude of orbitally induced changes in seasonality of insolation throughout the LIG, irrespective of wider climatic instabilities that characterised this period. The climate model simulations suggest that the SST seasonality changes documented in our LIG coral Sr/Ca records are representative of larger regions within the tropical North Atlantic. These simulations also suggest that the reconstructed SST seasonality increase during the mid-LIG is caused primarily by summer warming. A 124 ka old coral documents, for the first time, evidence of decadal SST variability in the tropical North Atlantic during the LIG, akin to that observed in modern instrumental records.

The oscillating fringe and paleo-intensity of the East Asian monsoon reconstructed using closed-basin lake-area and dDwax

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldsmith, Y.; Broecker, W. S.; Polissar, P. J.; Xu, H.; Lan, J.; Zhou, W.; An, Z.; deMenocal, P. B.

2016-12-01

The magnitude, rate and extent of East Asian Monsoon (EAM) rainfall changes during the late Pleistocene-Holocene is reconstructed using the first well-dated northeastern China lake-area record from a closed-lake basin, which enables reconstructing quantitative absolute paleo-rainfall amounts. In addition, compound specific hydrogen isotopes (dDwax) from lake-sediments are used to reconstruct the isotopic composition of rainwater (dP). Lake-levels were 60m higher than present during the early and middle Holocene. Requiring an absolute increase in mean annual rainfall to at least two times higher than today and a 400 km northward expansion. The EAM intensity and northern extent alternated abruptly between wet and dry periods on time scales of a few centuries. Both the onset ( 60 m rise at 11.5 ka BP) and termination ( 35 m drop at 5.5 ka BP) of the Holocene humid period occurred abruptly, within centuries. dDwax is negatively correlated with the lake area record (R2=0.77), showing for the first time, the co-evolution of dP and local rainfall amount. Lake level is also highly correlated with Both North and South Chinese stalagmite records. These results indicate that local distillation is a significant control on dP in East China, and that local rainfall amount is correlated with the intensity of the large EAM system. These results resolve a current debate regarding the use of dP as a proxy for rainfall amount and validate the "intensity-based" interpretations of the Chinese cave deposit records. The lake is located at the modern NW boundary of the EAM, therefore, lake level is governed by the northward extent of the EAM. The covariation of lake level and the intensity of the monsoon indicate that intensity and northward expansion of the EAM are linked and that during intense (weak) EAM periods the EAM northwestern boundary shifts northward (southward).

Low dose reconstruction algorithm for differential phase contrast imaging.

PubMed

Wang, Zhentian; Huang, Zhifeng; Zhang, Li; Chen, Zhiqiang; Kang, Kejun; Yin, Hongxia; Wang, Zhenchang; Marco, Stampanoni

2011-01-01

Differential phase contrast imaging computed tomography (DPCI-CT) is a novel x-ray inspection method to reconstruct the distribution of refraction index rather than the attenuation coefficient in weakly absorbing samples. In this paper, we propose an iterative reconstruction algorithm for DPCI-CT which benefits from the new compressed sensing theory. We first realize a differential algebraic reconstruction technique (DART) by discretizing the projection process of the differential phase contrast imaging into a linear partial derivative matrix. In this way the compressed sensing reconstruction problem of DPCI reconstruction can be transformed to a resolved problem in the transmission imaging CT. Our algorithm has the potential to reconstruct the refraction index distribution of the sample from highly undersampled projection data. Thus it can significantly reduce the dose and inspection time. The proposed algorithm has been validated by numerical simulations and actual experiments.

Phylogenomic Analysis Resolves the Interordinal Relationships and Rapid Diversification of the Laurasiatherian Mammals

PubMed Central

Zhou, Xuming; Xu, Shixia; Xu, Junxiao; Chen, Bingyao; Zhou, Kaiya; Yang, Guang

2012-01-01

Abstract Although great progress has been made in resolving the relationships of placental mammals, the position of several clades in Laurasiatheria remain controversial. In this study, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of 97 orthologs (46,152 bp) for 15 taxa, representing all laurasiatherian orders. Additionally, phylogenetic trees of laurasiatherian mammals with draft genome sequences were reconstructed based on 1608 exons (2,175,102 bp). Our reconstructions resolve the interordinal relationships within Laurasiatheria and corroborate the clades Scrotifera, Fereuungulata, and Cetartiodactyla. Furthermore, we tested alternative topologies within Laurasiatheria, and among alternatives for the phylogenetic position of Perissodactyla, a sister-group relationship with Cetartiodactyla receives the highest support. Thus, Pegasoferae (Perissodactyla + Carnivora + Pholidota + Chiroptera) does not appear to be a natural group. Divergence time estimates from these genes were compared with published estimates for splits within Laurasiatheria. Our estimates were similar to those of several studies and suggest that the divergences among these orders occurred within just a few million years. PMID:21900649

Double Barreled Wet Colostomy: Initial Experience and Literature Review

PubMed Central

Salgado-Cruz, Luis; Espin-Basany, Eloy; Vallribera-Valls, Francesc; Sanchez-Garcia, Jose; Jimenez-Gomez, Luis Miguel; Marti-Gallostra, Marc; Garza-Maldonado, Ana

2014-01-01

Background. Pelvic exenteration and multivisceral resection in colorectal have been described as a curative and palliative intervention. Urinary tract reconstruction in a pelvic exenteration is achieved in most cases with an ileal conduit of Bricker, although different urinary reservoirs have been described. Methods. A retrospective and observational study of six patients who underwent a pelvic exenteration and urinary tract reconstruction with a double barreled wet colostomy (DBWC) was done, describing the preoperative diagnosis, the indication for the pelvic exenteration, the complications associated with the procedure, and the followup in a period of 5 years. A literature review of the case series reported of the technique was performed. Results. Six patients had a urinary tract reconstruction with the DBWC technique, 5 male patients and one female patient. Age range was from 20 to 77 years, with a medium age 53.6 years. The most frequent complication presented was a pelvic abscess in 3 patients (42.85%); all complications could be resolved with a conservative treatment. Conclusion. In the group of our patients with pelvic exenteration and urinary tract reconstruction with a DBWC, it is a safe procedure and well tolerated by the patients, and most of the complications can be resolved with conservative treatment. PMID:25574498

Surface reconstruction from scattered data through pruning of unstructured grids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maksymiuk, C. M.; Merriam, M. L.

1991-01-01

This paper describes an algorithm for reconstructing a surface from a randomly digitized object. Scan data (treated as a cloud of points) is first tesselated out to its convex hull using Delaunay triangulation. The line-of-sight between each surface point and the scanning device is traversed, and any tetrahedra which are pierced by it are removed. The remaining tetrahedra form an approximate solid model of the scanned object. Due to the inherently limited resolution of any scan, this algorithm requires two additional procedures to produce a smooth, polyhedral surface: one process removes long, narrow tetrahedra which span indentations in the surface between digitized points; the other smooths sharp edges. The results for a moderately resolved sample body and a highly resolved aircraft are displayed.

Volcanic stratospheric sulfur injections and aerosol optical depth from 500 BCE to 1900 CE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toohey, Matthew; Sigl, Michael

2017-11-01

The injection of sulfur into the stratosphere by explosive volcanic eruptions is the cause of significant climate variability. Based on sulfate records from a suite of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, the eVolv2k database includes estimates of the magnitudes and approximate source latitudes of major volcanic stratospheric sulfur injection (VSSI) events from 500 BCE to 1900 CE, constituting an update of prior reconstructions and an extension of the record by 1000 years. The database incorporates improvements to the ice core records (in terms of synchronisation and dating) and refinements to the methods used to estimate VSSI from ice core records, and it includes first estimates of the random uncertainties in VSSI values. VSSI estimates for many of the largest eruptions, including Samalas (1257), Tambora (1815), and Laki (1783), are within 10 % of prior estimates. A number of strong events are included in eVolv2k which are largely underestimated or not included in earlier VSSI reconstructions, including events in 540, 574, 682, and 1108 CE. The long-term annual mean VSSI from major volcanic eruptions is estimated to be ˜ 0.5 Tg [S] yr-1, ˜ 50 % greater than a prior reconstruction due to the identification of more events and an increase in the magnitude of many intermediate events. A long-term latitudinally and monthly resolved stratospheric aerosol optical depth (SAOD) time series is reconstructed from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates, and the resulting global mean SAOD is found to be similar (within 33 %) to a prior reconstruction for most of the largest eruptions. The long-term (500 BCE-1900 CE) average global mean SAOD estimated from the eVolv2k VSSI estimates including a constant background injection of stratospheric sulfur is ˜ 0.014, 30 % greater than a prior reconstruction. These new long-term reconstructions of past VSSI and SAOD variability give context to recent volcanic forcing, suggesting that the 20th century was a period of somewhat weaker than average volcanic forcing, with current best estimates of 20th century mean VSSI and SAOD values being 25 and 14 % less, respectively, than the mean of the 500 BCE to 1900 CE period. The reconstructed VSSI and SAOD data are available at https://doi.org/10.1594/WDCC/eVolv2k_v2.

["Long-branch Attraction" artifact in phylogenetic reconstruction].

PubMed

Li, Yi-Wei; Yu, Li; Zhang, Ya-Ping

2007-06-01

Phylogenetic reconstruction among various organisms not only helps understand their evolutionary history but also reveal several fundamental evolutionary questions. Understanding of the evolutionary relationships among organisms establishes the foundation for the investigations of other biological disciplines. However, almost all the widely used phylogenetic methods have limitations which fail to eliminate systematic errors effectively, preventing the reconstruction of true organismal relationships. "Long-branch Attraction" (LBA) artifact is one of the most disturbing factors in phylogenetic reconstruction. In this review, the conception and analytic method as well as the avoidance strategy of LBA were summarized. In addition, several typical examples were provided. The approach to avoid and resolve LBA artifact has been discussed.

Road construction impact of the landscape transformation during the last 700 years in N Poland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Slowinski, M. M.; Ott, F.; Obremska, M.; Theuerkauf, M.; Czaja, R.; Wulf, S.; Błaszkiewicz, M.; Brauer, A.

2016-12-01

From way back, connecting pathways play an essential role in human life and are fundamental for cultural and economic exchange. However, routes also had negative impacts on nearby settlements since they became important during war times for troop transports and may even have fostered the spread of epidemic diseases. Here, we present, for the first time, a high-resolution reconstruction of the impact of the construction of the trade route "Via Marchionis" on landscape evolution in N Poland since more than 700 years. This reconstruction is based on exploiting the annually laminated (varved) sediment record of the nearby located Lake Czechowskie. The route was built in the early 13th century and it initially led from Brandenburg to the Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork. In the first few centuries this track developed and became the key migratory route during the Middle Ages on the territory of Pomerania. Moving armed forces often expended and devastated the region and caused changes in sovereignty and population density, all of which resulted in changes in regional vegetation and erosion processes in the lake's catchment. Based on a 5-year resolution pollen resolution pollen record combined with sub-annual resolving μ-XRF element scanning and precise varve dating five phases of significantly lower human activity interrupted by phases of stronger human impact were distinguished. Comparing these data with historical sources revealed a clear impact of wars and deployment through armed forces in this region. The strongest declines in anthropogenic pressure on the landscape are clearly related to periods of war and subsequent regeneration in the periods between wars. Hence, it was the construction of the "Via Marchionis" that indirectly influenced the development of Pomeranian landscape mainly due to its role as pathway for armed forces. This study is a contribution to ICLEA (VH-VI-415) and REKLIM projects of the Helmholtz Association and NCN UMO-2015/17/B/ST10/03430.

Respiratory Motion-Resolved Compressed Sensing Reconstruction of Free-Breathing Radial Acquisition for Dynamic Liver Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

PubMed

Chandarana, Hersh; Feng, Li; Ream, Justin; Wang, Annie; Babb, James S; Block, Kai Tobias; Sodickson, Daniel K; Otazo, Ricardo

2015-11-01

This study aimed to demonstrate feasibility of free-breathing radial acquisition with respiratory motion-resolved compressed sensing reconstruction [extra-dimensional golden-angle radial sparse parallel imaging (XD-GRASP)] for multiphase dynamic gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced liver imaging, and to compare image quality to compressed sensing reconstruction with respiratory motion-averaging (GRASP) and prior conventional breath-held Cartesian-sampled data sets [BH volume interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE)] in same patients. In this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant prospective study, 16 subjects underwent free-breathing continuous radial acquisition during Gd-EOB-DTPA injection and had prior BH-VIBE available. Acquired data were reconstructed using motion-averaging GRASP approach in which consecutive 84 spokes were grouped in each contrast-enhanced phase for a temporal resolution of approximately 14 seconds. Additionally, respiratory motion-resolved reconstruction was performed from the same k-space data by sorting each contrast-enhanced phase into multiple respiratory motion states using compressed sensing algorithm named XD-GRASP, which exploits sparsity along both the contrast-enhancement and respiratory-state dimensions.Contrast-enhanced dynamic multiphase XD-GRASP, GRASP, and BH-VIBE images were anonymized, pooled together in a random order, and presented to 2 board-certified radiologists for independent evaluation of image quality, with higher score indicating more optimal examination. The XD-GRASP reconstructions had significantly (all P < 0.05) higher overall image quality scores compared to GRASP for early arterial (reader 1: 4.3 ± 0.6 vs 3.31 ± 0.6; reader 2: 3.81 ± 0.8 vs 3.38 ± 0.9) and late arterial (reader 1: 4.5 ± 0.6 vs 3.63 ± 0.6; reader 2: 3.56 ± 0.5 vs 2.88 ± 0.7) phases of enhancement for both readers. The XD-GRASP also had higher overall image quality score in portal venous phase, which was significant for reader 1 (4.44 ± 0.5 vs 3.75 ± 0.8; P = 0.002). In addition, the XD-GRASP had higher overall image quality score compared to BH-VIBE for early (reader 1: 4.3 ± 0.6 vs 3.88 ± 0.6; reader 2: 3.81 ± 0.8 vs 3.50 ± 1.0) and late (reader 1: 4.5 ± 0.6 vs 3.44 ± 0.6; reader 2: 3.56 ± 0.5 vs 2.94 ± 0.9) arterial phases. Free-breathing motion-resolved XD-GRASP reconstructions provide diagnostic high-quality multiphase images in patients undergoing Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced liver examination.

Characterizing isolated attosecond pulses with angular streaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Siqi; Guo, Zhaoheng; Coffee, Ryan N.

Here, we present a reconstruction algorithm for isolated attosecond pulses, which exploits the phase dependent energy modulation of a photoelectron ionized in the presence of a strong laser field. The energy modulation due to a circularly polarized laser field is manifest strongly in the angle-resolved photoelectron momentum distribution, allowing for complete reconstruction of the temporal and spectral profile of an attosecond burst. We show that this type of reconstruction algorithm is robust against counting noise and suitable for single-shot experiments. This algorithm holds potential for a variety of applications for attosecond pulse sources.

Characterizing isolated attosecond pulses with angular streaking

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Sigi; Guo, Zhaoheng; Coffee, Ryan N.

We present a reconstruction algorithm for isolated attosecond pulses, which exploits the phase dependent energy modulation of a photoelectron ionized in the presence of a strong laser field. The energy modulation due to a circularly polarized laser field is manifest strongly in the angle-resolved photoelectron momentum distribution, allowing for complete reconstruction of the temporal and spectral profile of an attosecond burst. We show that this type of reconstruction algorithm is robust against counting noise and suitable for single-shot experiments. This algorithm holds potential for a variety of applications for attosecond pulse sources.

Characterizing isolated attosecond pulses with angular streaking

DOE PAGES

Li, Siqi; Guo, Zhaoheng; Coffee, Ryan N.; ...

2018-02-12

Here, we present a reconstruction algorithm for isolated attosecond pulses, which exploits the phase dependent energy modulation of a photoelectron ionized in the presence of a strong laser field. The energy modulation due to a circularly polarized laser field is manifest strongly in the angle-resolved photoelectron momentum distribution, allowing for complete reconstruction of the temporal and spectral profile of an attosecond burst. We show that this type of reconstruction algorithm is robust against counting noise and suitable for single-shot experiments. This algorithm holds potential for a variety of applications for attosecond pulse sources.

Characterizing isolated attosecond pulses with angular streaking

DOE PAGES

Li, Sigi; Guo, Zhaoheng; Coffee, Ryan N.; ...

2018-02-13

We present a reconstruction algorithm for isolated attosecond pulses, which exploits the phase dependent energy modulation of a photoelectron ionized in the presence of a strong laser field. The energy modulation due to a circularly polarized laser field is manifest strongly in the angle-resolved photoelectron momentum distribution, allowing for complete reconstruction of the temporal and spectral profile of an attosecond burst. We show that this type of reconstruction algorithm is robust against counting noise and suitable for single-shot experiments. This algorithm holds potential for a variety of applications for attosecond pulse sources.

An efficient and accurate approach to MTE-MART for time-resolved tomographic PIV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lynch, K. P.; Scarano, F.

2015-03-01

The motion-tracking-enhanced MART (MTE-MART; Novara et al. in Meas Sci Technol 21:035401, 2010) has demonstrated the potential to increase the accuracy of tomographic PIV by the combined use of a short sequence of non-simultaneous recordings. A clear bottleneck of the MTE-MART technique has been its computational cost. For large datasets comprising time-resolved sequences, MTE-MART becomes unaffordable and has been barely applied even for the analysis of densely seeded tomographic PIV datasets. A novel implementation is proposed for tomographic PIV image sequences, which strongly reduces the computational burden of MTE-MART, possibly below that of regular MART. The method is a sequential algorithm that produces a time-marching estimation of the object intensity field based on an enhanced guess, which is built upon the object reconstructed at the previous time instant. As the method becomes effective after a number of snapshots (typically 5-10), the sequential MTE-MART (SMTE) is most suited for time-resolved sequences. The computational cost reduction due to SMTE simply stems from the fewer MART iterations required for each time instant. Moreover, the method yields superior reconstruction quality and higher velocity field measurement precision when compared with both MART and MTE-MART. The working principle is assessed in terms of computational effort, reconstruction quality and velocity field accuracy with both synthetic time-resolved tomographic images of a turbulent boundary layer and two experimental databases documented in the literature. The first is the time-resolved data of flow past an airfoil trailing edge used in the study of Novara and Scarano (Exp Fluids 52:1027-1041, 2012); the second is a swirling jet in a water flow. In both cases, the effective elimination of ghost particles is demonstrated in number and intensity within a short temporal transient of 5-10 frames, depending on the seeding density. The increased value of the velocity space-time correlation coefficient demonstrates the increased velocity field accuracy of SMTE compared with MART.

A preindustrial to present record of SST from Darwin Island, Galápagos: constraining Eastern Pacific decadal variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jimenez, G.; Cole, J. E.; Vetter, L.; Thompson, D. M.; Tudhope, A. W.

2017-12-01

Climate reconstructions from sub-seasonally resolved corals have greatly enhanced our understanding of climate variability related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, few such records exist from the Eastern Pacific, which experiences the greatest ENSO-related variance in sea surface temperature (SST). Therefore, climate patterns and mechanisms in the region remain unclear, particularly on decadal to multidecadal timescales. Here, we present a new, bimonthly-resolved δ18O-SST reconstruction from a Darwin Island coral, in the northern Galápagos archipelago. Comparison with Sr/Ca data from the same coral demonstrates that δ18O values in the core dominantly track SST, as is expected in areas with low-magnitude sea surface salinity changes such as the Galápagos. Spanning 2015 to approximately 1800 CE, our record thus represents the longest sub-seasonally resolved SST reconstruction bridging the pre-industrial era to the present day in the Eastern Pacific. This time span and resolution is ideal for identifying climatic processes on a range of timescales: the presence of modern data allows us to calibrate the record using satellite datasets, while several decades of data preceding the onset of greenhouse warming enables comparison between natural and anthropogenic climate forcings. Together with other reconstructions from the region, we use the record to establish a baseline of (ENSO-related) Eastern Pacific interannual and decadal variability and assess evidence for climate emergence and trends. Preliminary evidence suggests increased decadal variability during the latter half of the twentieth century, as well as a secular warming trend of approximately 0.1°C/decade, in agreement with other Eastern Pacific coral records. Finally, we explore the applications of coral δ13C values in reconstructing regional upwelling. Our record contributes to constraining the pre- to post-industrial climate history of the Eastern Pacific and provides insight into natural versus forced climate variability in the region.

Accelerated echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging in the human brain using compressed sensing: a pilot validation in obstructive sleep apnea.

PubMed

Sarma, M K; Nagarajan, R; Macey, P M; Kumar, R; Villablanca, J P; Furuyama, J; Thomas, M A

2014-06-01

Echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging is a fast spectroscopic technique to record the biochemical information in multiple regions of the brain, but for clinical applications, time is still a constraint. Investigations of neural injury in obstructive sleep apnea have revealed structural changes in the brain, but determining the neurochemical changes requires more detailed measurements across multiple brain regions, demonstrating a need for faster echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging. Hence, we have extended the compressed sensing reconstruction of prospectively undersampled 4D echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging to investigate metabolic changes in multiple brain locations of patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy controls. Nonuniform undersampling was imposed along 1 spatial and 1 spectral dimension of 4D echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging, and test-retest reliability of the compressed sensing reconstruction of the nonuniform undersampling data was tested by using a brain phantom. In addition, 9 patients with obstructive sleep apnea and 11 healthy controls were investigated by using a 3T MR imaging/MR spectroscopy scanner. Significantly reduced metabolite differences were observed between patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy controls in multiple brain regions: NAA/Cr in the left hippocampus; total Cho/Cr and Glx/Cr in the right hippocampus; total NAA/Cr, taurine/Cr, scyllo-Inositol/Cr, phosphocholine/Cr, and total Cho/Cr in the occipital gray matter; total NAA/Cr and NAA/Cr in the medial frontal white matter; and taurine/Cr and total Cho/Cr in the left frontal white matter regions. The 4D echo-planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging technique using the nonuniform undersampling-based acquisition and compressed sensing reconstruction in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and healthy brain is feasible in a clinically suitable time. In addition to brain metabolite changes previously reported by 1D MR spectroscopy, our results show changes of additional metabolites in patients with obstructive sleep apnea compared with healthy controls. © 2014 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.

Time-resolved computed tomography of the liver: retrospective, multi-phase image reconstruction derived from volumetric perfusion imaging.

PubMed

Fischer, Michael A; Leidner, Bertil; Kartalis, Nikolaos; Svensson, Anders; Aspelin, Peter; Albiin, Nils; Brismar, Torkel B

2014-01-01

To assess feasibility and image quality (IQ) of a new post-processing algorithm for retrospective extraction of an optimised multi-phase CT (time-resolved CT) of the liver from volumetric perfusion imaging. Sixteen patients underwent clinically indicated perfusion CT using 4D spiral mode of dual-source 128-slice CT. Three image sets were reconstructed: motion-corrected and noise-reduced (MCNR) images derived from 4D raw data; maximum and average intensity projections (time MIP/AVG) of the arterial/portal/portal-venous phases and all phases (total MIP/ AVG) derived from retrospective fusion of dedicated MCNR split series. Two readers assessed the IQ, detection rate and evaluation time; one reader assessed image noise and lesion-to-liver contrast. Time-resolved CT was feasible in all patients. Each post-processing step yielded a significant reduction of image noise and evaluation time, maintaining lesion-to-liver contrast. Time MIPs/AVGs showed the highest overall IQ without relevant motion artefacts and best depiction of arterial and portal/portal-venous phases respectively. Time MIPs demonstrated a significantly higher detection rate for arterialised liver lesions than total MIPs/AVGs and the raw data series. Time-resolved CT allows data from volumetric perfusion imaging to be condensed into an optimised multi-phase liver CT, yielding a superior IQ and higher detection rate for arterialised liver lesions than the raw data series. • Four-dimensional computed tomography is limited by motion artefacts and poor image quality. • Time-resolved-CT facilitates 4D-CT data visualisation, segmentation and analysis by condensing raw data. • Time-resolved CT demonstrates better image quality than raw data images. • Time-resolved CT improves detection of arterialised liver lesions in cirrhotic patients.

Efficient super-resolution image reconstruction applied to surveillance video captured by small unmanned aircraft systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Qiang; Schultz, Richard R.; Chu, Chee-Hung Henry

2008-04-01

The concept surrounding super-resolution image reconstruction is to recover a highly-resolved image from a series of low-resolution images via between-frame subpixel image registration. In this paper, we propose a novel and efficient super-resolution algorithm, and then apply it to the reconstruction of real video data captured by a small Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). Small UAS aircraft generally have a wingspan of less than four meters, so that these vehicles and their payloads can be buffeted by even light winds, resulting in potentially unstable video. This algorithm is based on a coarse-to-fine strategy, in which a coarsely super-resolved image sequence is first built from the original video data by image registration and bi-cubic interpolation between a fixed reference frame and every additional frame. It is well known that the median filter is robust to outliers. If we calculate pixel-wise medians in the coarsely super-resolved image sequence, we can restore a refined super-resolved image. The primary advantage is that this is a noniterative algorithm, unlike traditional approaches based on highly-computational iterative algorithms. Experimental results show that our coarse-to-fine super-resolution algorithm is not only robust, but also very efficient. In comparison with five well-known super-resolution algorithms, namely the robust super-resolution algorithm, bi-cubic interpolation, projection onto convex sets (POCS), the Papoulis-Gerchberg algorithm, and the iterated back projection algorithm, our proposed algorithm gives both strong efficiency and robustness, as well as good visual performance. This is particularly useful for the application of super-resolution to UAS surveillance video, where real-time processing is highly desired.

Superresolution microscope image reconstruction by spatiotemporal object decomposition and association: application in resolving t-tubule structure in skeletal muscle

PubMed Central

Sun, Mingzhai; Huang, Jiaqing; Bunyak, Filiz; Gumpper, Kristyn; De, Gejing; Sermersheim, Matthew; Liu, George; Lin, Pei-Hui; Palaniappan, Kannappan; Ma, Jianjie

2014-01-01

One key factor that limits resolution of single-molecule superresolution microscopy relates to the localization accuracy of the activated emitters, which is usually deteriorated by two factors. One originates from the background noise due to out-of-focus signals, sample auto-fluorescence, and camera acquisition noise; and the other is due to the low photon count of emitters at a single frame. With fast acquisition rate, the activated emitters can last multiple frames before they transiently switch off or permanently bleach. Effectively incorporating the temporal information of these emitters is critical to improve the spatial resolution. However, majority of the existing reconstruction algorithms locate the emitters frame by frame, discarding or underusing the temporal information. Here we present a new image reconstruction algorithm based on tracklets, short trajectories of the same objects. We improve the localization accuracy by associating the same emitters from multiple frames to form tracklets and by aggregating signals to enhance the signal to noise ratio. We also introduce a weighted mean-shift algorithm (WMS) to automatically detect the number of modes (emitters) in overlapping regions of tracklets so that not only well-separated single emitters but also individual emitters within multi-emitter groups can be identified and tracked. In combination with a maximum likelihood estimator method (MLE), we are able to resolve low to medium density of overlapping emitters with improved localization accuracy. We evaluate the performance of our method with both synthetic and experimental data, and show that the tracklet-based reconstruction is superior in localization accuracy, particularly for weak signals embedded in a strong background. Using this method, for the first time, we resolve the transverse tubule structure of the mammalian skeletal muscle. PMID:24921337

Superresolution microscope image reconstruction by spatiotemporal object decomposition and association: application in resolving t-tubule structure in skeletal muscle.

PubMed

Sun, Mingzhai; Huang, Jiaqing; Bunyak, Filiz; Gumpper, Kristyn; De, Gejing; Sermersheim, Matthew; Liu, George; Lin, Pei-Hui; Palaniappan, Kannappan; Ma, Jianjie

2014-05-19

One key factor that limits resolution of single-molecule superresolution microscopy relates to the localization accuracy of the activated emitters, which is usually deteriorated by two factors. One originates from the background noise due to out-of-focus signals, sample auto-fluorescence, and camera acquisition noise; and the other is due to the low photon count of emitters at a single frame. With fast acquisition rate, the activated emitters can last multiple frames before they transiently switch off or permanently bleach. Effectively incorporating the temporal information of these emitters is critical to improve the spatial resolution. However, majority of the existing reconstruction algorithms locate the emitters frame by frame, discarding or underusing the temporal information. Here we present a new image reconstruction algorithm based on tracklets, short trajectories of the same objects. We improve the localization accuracy by associating the same emitters from multiple frames to form tracklets and by aggregating signals to enhance the signal to noise ratio. We also introduce a weighted mean-shift algorithm (WMS) to automatically detect the number of modes (emitters) in overlapping regions of tracklets so that not only well-separated single emitters but also individual emitters within multi-emitter groups can be identified and tracked. In combination with a maximum likelihood estimator method (MLE), we are able to resolve low to medium density of overlapping emitters with improved localization accuracy. We evaluate the performance of our method with both synthetic and experimental data, and show that the tracklet-based reconstruction is superior in localization accuracy, particularly for weak signals embedded in a strong background. Using this method, for the first time, we resolve the transverse tubule structure of the mammalian skeletal muscle.

2D image of local density and magnetic fluctuations from line-integrated interferometry-polarimetry measurements.

PubMed

Lin, L; Ding, W X; Brower, D L

2014-11-01

Combined polarimetry-interferometry capability permits simultaneous measurement of line-integrated density and Faraday effect with fast time response (∼1 μs) and high sensitivity. Faraday effect fluctuations with phase shift of order 0.05° associated with global tearing modes are resolved with an uncertainty ∼0.01°. For physics investigations, local density fluctuations are obtained by inverting the line-integrated interferometry data. The local magnetic and current density fluctuations are then reconstructed using a parameterized fit of the polarimetry data. Reconstructed 2D images of density and magnetic field fluctuations in a poloidal cross section exhibit significantly different spatial structure. Combined with their relative phase, the magnetic-fluctuation-induced particle transport flux and its spatial distribution are resolved.

2D image of local density and magnetic fluctuations from line-integrated interferometry-polarimetry measurements

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lin, L., E-mail: lianglin@ucla.edu; Ding, W. X.; Brower, D. L.

2014-11-15

Combined polarimetry-interferometry capability permits simultaneous measurement of line-integrated density and Faraday effect with fast time response (∼1 μs) and high sensitivity. Faraday effect fluctuations with phase shift of order 0.05° associated with global tearing modes are resolved with an uncertainty ∼0.01°. For physics investigations, local density fluctuations are obtained by inverting the line-integrated interferometry data. The local magnetic and current density fluctuations are then reconstructed using a parameterized fit of the polarimetry data. Reconstructed 2D images of density and magnetic field fluctuations in a poloidal cross section exhibit significantly different spatial structure. Combined with their relative phase, the magnetic-fluctuation-induced particlemore » transport flux and its spatial distribution are resolved.« less

Reconstructing the regulatory network controlling commitment and sporulation in Physarum polycephalum based on hierarchical Petri Net modelling and simulation.

PubMed

Marwan, Wolfgang; Sujatha, Arumugam; Starostzik, Christine

2005-10-21

We reconstruct the regulatory network controlling commitment and sporulation of Physarum polycephalum from experimental results using a hierarchical Petri Net-based modelling and simulation framework. The stochastic Petri Net consistently describes the structure and simulates the dynamics of the molecular network as analysed by genetic, biochemical and physiological experiments within a single coherent model. The Petri Net then is extended to simulate time-resolved somatic complementation experiments performed by mixing the cytoplasms of mutants altered in the sporulation response, to systematically explore the network structure and to probe its dynamics. This reverse engineering approach presumably can be employed to explore other molecular or genetic signalling systems where the activity of genes or their products can be experimentally controlled in a time-resolved manner.

A note on the annual cycles of surface heat balance and temperature over a continent. [North America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spar, J.; Crane, G.

1974-01-01

A surface heating function, defined as the ratio of the time derivative of the mean annual temperature curve to the surface heat balance, is computed from the annual temperature range and heat balance data for the North American continent. An annual cycle of the surface heat balance is then reconstructed from the surface heating function and the annual temperature curve, and an annual cycle of evaporative plus turbulent heat loss is recomputed from the annual cycles of radiation balance and surface heat balance for the continent. The implications of these results for long range weather forecasting are discussed.

Microwave assisted reconstruction of optical interferograms for distributed fiber optic sensing.

PubMed

Huang, Jie; Hua, Lei; Lan, Xinwei; Wei, Tao; Xiao, Hai

2013-07-29

This paper reports a distributed fiber optic sensing technique through microwave assisted separation and reconstruction of optical interferograms in spectrum domain. The approach involves sending a microwave-modulated optical signal through cascaded fiber optic interferometers. The microwave signal was used to resolve the position and reflectivity of each sensor along the optical fiber. By sweeping the optical wavelength and detecting the modulation signal, the optical spectrum of each sensor can be reconstructed. Three cascaded fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensors were used to prove the concept. Their microwave-reconstructed interferogram matched well with those recorded individually using an optical spectrum analyzer. The application in distributed strain measurement has also been demonstrated.

NIMROD modeling of quiescent H-mode: reconstruction considerations and saturation mechanism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, J. R.; Burrell, K. H.; Garofalo, A. M.; Groebner, R. J.; Kruger, S. E.; Pankin, A. Y.; Snyder, P. B.

2017-02-01

The extended-MHD NIMROD code (Sovinec and King 2010 J. Comput. Phys. 229 5803) models broadband-MHD activity from a reconstruction of a quiescent H-mode shot on the DIII-D tokamak (Luxon 2002 Nucl. Fusion 42 614). Computations with the reconstructed toroidal and poloidal ion flows exhibit low-{{n}φ} perturbations ({{n}φ}≃ 1 -5) that grow and saturate into a turbulent-like MHD state. The workflow used to project the reconstructed state onto the NIMROD basis functions re-solves the Grad-Shafranov equation and extrapolates profiles to include scrape-off-layer currents. Evaluation of the transport from the turbulent-like MHD state leads to a relaxation of the density and temperature profiles.

Multiscale combination of climate model simulations and proxy records over the last millennium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xin; Xing, Pei; Luo, Yong; Nie, Suping; Zhao, Zongci; Huang, Jianbin; Tian, Qinhua

2018-05-01

To highlight the compatibility of climate model simulation and proxy reconstruction at different timescales, a timescale separation merging method combining proxy records and climate model simulations is presented. Annual mean surface temperature anomalies for the last millennium (851-2005 AD) at various scales over the land of the Northern Hemisphere were reconstructed with 2° × 2° spatial resolution, using an optimal interpolation (OI) algorithm. All target series were decomposed using an ensemble empirical mode decomposition method followed by power spectral analysis. Four typical components were obtained at inter-annual, decadal, multidecadal, and centennial timescales. A total of 323 temperature-sensitive proxy chronologies were incorporated after screening for each component. By scaling the proxy components using variance matching and applying a localized OI algorithm to all four components point by point, we obtained merged surface temperatures. Independent validation indicates that the most significant improvement was for components at the inter-annual scale, but this became less evident with increasing timescales. In mid-latitude land areas, 10-30% of grids were significantly corrected at the inter-annual scale. By assimilating the proxy records, the merged results reduced the gap in response to volcanic forcing between a pure reconstruction and simulation. Difficulty remained in verifying the centennial information and quantifying corresponding uncertainties, so additional effort should be devoted to this aspect in future research.

The counterfactual process in weak values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shikano, Yutaka

2012-11-01

From the viewpoint of mathematics, quantum-mechanical probability seems to be controversial. To resolve this problem, we have reconstructed the Born rule using the weak value. We also discuss its meaning.

Echo-Planar Imaging-Based, J-Resolved Spectroscopic Imaging for Improved Metabolite Detection in Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-01

tiple dimensions (20). Hu et al. employed pseudo-random phase-encoding blips during the EPSI readout to create nonuniform sampling along the spatial...resolved MRSI with Nonuniform Undersampling and Compressed Sensing 514 30.5 Prior-knowledge Fitting for Metabolite Quantitation 515 30.6 Future Directions... NONUNIFORM UNDERSAMPLING AND COMPRESSED SENSING Nonuniform undersampling (NUS) of k-space and subsequent reconstruction using compressed sensing (CS

Relationship between annual precipitation variability and ENSO in Southern California for the Common Era (last 2,000 years)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DU, X.; Hendy, I. L.; Hinnov, L.; Brown, E. T.; Schimmelmann, A.; Pak, D. K.

2017-12-01

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has a major influence on Southern California's hydroclimate as demonstrated by both historical observations and model simulations. Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) off Southern California preserves a unique varved (i.e. annually laminated) marine sedimentary archive of modern and Holocene hydroclimate variability, notably including the transition from the regionally dry Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) to the wetter Little Ice Age (LIA). Here we present sub-annually resolved scanning XRF elemental counts for the last 2,000 years in SBB from core SPR0901-03KC. Titanium (associated with silicate minerals) is delivered more efficiently to SBB sediments during times of enhanced river flow and in the Mediterranean climate of Southern California, river flow only occurs after precipitation. The Ti record suggests that the precipitation frequency was reduced during the MCA except for a pluvial episode at CE 1075-1121, but increased during the LIA. Time series analysis of Ti counts indicates ENSO variability robustly increased during the intervals CE 450-520, 650-720, 980-1150, 1380-1550 and 1720-1750, and experienced relatively quiescent intervals between CE 50-150, 250-400, 550-650, 750-950, 1150-1280 and 1580-1620. Generally the LIA in Southern California is characterized by more active ENSO variability with long periodicities (4-7 yr) and multi-decadal variability (54 yr). MCA drought episodes were associated with less active ENSO. Active ENSO variability in Southern California during the last 2,000 years coincided with reconstructed southward migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) suggesting the ITCZ may play a role in the waxing and waning of ENSO teleconnections between the central Pacific and the west coast of North America.

High-resolution chronology for deglaciation of the Patagonian Ice Sheet at Lago Buenos Aires (46.5°S) revealed through varve chronology and Bayesian age modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bendle, Jacob M.; Palmer, Adrian P.; Thorndycraft, Varyl R.; Matthews, Ian P.

2017-12-01

Glaciolacustrine varves offer the potential to construct continuous, annually-resolved chronologies for ice-sheet deglaciation, and improved understanding of glacier retreat dynamics. This paper investigates laminated glaciolacustrine sediments deposited around the waning margins of the Patagonian Ice Sheet, following the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Detailed macro- and microfacies analyses confirm an annual (varve) structure within these sediments. The correlation of annual layers (varves) across five sites in eastern Lago Buenos Aires yields a 994 ± 36 varve-year (vyr) chronology and thickness record. The floating chronology has been anchored to the calendar-year timescale through identification of the Ho tephra (17,378 ± 118 cal a BP) in the varve sequences. Using a Bayesian age model to integrate the new varve chronology with published moraine ages, the onset of deglaciation at 46.5°S is dated to 18,086 ± 214 cal a BP. New age estimates for deglacial events are combined with high-resolution analysis of varve thickness trends, and new lithostratigraphic data on ice-margin position(s), to reconstruct ice-margin retreat rates for the earliest ca. 1000 years of ice-sheet demise. Glacier retreat rates were moderate (5.3-10.3 m yr-1) until 17,322 ± 115 cal a BP, but subsequently accelerated (15.4-18.0 m yr-1). Sustained influxes of ice-rafted debris (IRD) after 17,145 ± 122 cal a BP suggest retreat rates were enhanced by calving after ice contracted into deeper lake waters. Ice persisted in eastern Lago Buenos Aires until at least 16,934 ± 116 cal a BP, after which the glacier started to retreat towards the Patagonian mountains.

Lacustrine turbidites as a tool for quantitative earthquake reconstruction: New evidence for a variable rupture mode in south central Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moernaut, Jasper; Daele, Maarten Van; Heirman, Katrien; Fontijn, Karen; Strasser, Michael; Pino, Mario; Urrutia, Roberto; De Batist, Marc

2014-03-01

Understanding the long-term earthquake recurrence pattern at subduction zones requires continuous paleoseismic records with excellent temporal and spatial resolution and stable threshold conditions. South central Chilean lakes are typically characterized by laminated sediments providing a quasi-annual resolution. Our sedimentary data show that lacustrine turbidite sequences accurately reflect the historical record of large interplate earthquakes (among others the 2010 and 1960 events). Furthermore, we found that a turbidite's spatial extent and thickness are a function of the local seismic intensity and can be used for reconstructing paleo-intensities. Consequently, our multilake turbidite record aids in pinpointing magnitudes, rupture locations, and extent of past subduction earthquakes in south central Chile. Comparison of the lacustrine turbidite records with historical reports, a paleotsunami/subsidence record, and a marine megaturbidite record demonstrates that the Valdivia Segment is characterized by a variable rupture mode over the last 900 years including (i) full ruptures (Mw ~9.5: 1960, 1575, 1319 ± 9, 1127 ± 44), (ii) ruptures covering half of the Valdivia Segment (Mw ~9: 1837), and (iii) partial ruptures of much smaller coseismic slip and extent (Mw ~7.5-8: 1737, 1466 ± 4). Also, distant or smaller local earthquakes can leave a specific sedimentary imprint which may resolve subtle differences in seismic intensity values. For instance, the 2010 event at the Maule Segment produced higher seismic intensities toward southeastern localities compared to previous megathrust ruptures of similar size and extent near Concepción.

Magnetoacoustic Tomography with Magnetic Induction: Bioimepedance reconstruction through vector source imaging

PubMed Central

Mariappan, Leo; He, Bin

2013-01-01

Magneto acoustic tomography with magnetic induction (MAT-MI) is a technique proposed to reconstruct the conductivity distribution in biological tissue at ultrasound imaging resolution. A magnetic pulse is used to generate eddy currents in the object, which in the presence of a static magnetic field induces Lorentz force based acoustic waves in the medium. This time resolved acoustic waves are collected with ultrasound transducers and, in the present work, these are used to reconstruct the current source which gives rise to the MAT-MI acoustic signal using vector imaging point spread functions. The reconstructed source is then used to estimate the conductivity distribution of the object. Computer simulations and phantom experiments are performed to demonstrate conductivity reconstruction through vector source imaging in a circular scanning geometry with a limited bandwidth finite size piston transducer. The results demonstrate that the MAT-MI approach is capable of conductivity reconstruction in a physical setting. PMID:23322761

Bomb fall-out 236U as a global oceanic tracer using an annually resolved coral core

PubMed Central

Winkler, Stephan R.; Steier, Peter; Carilli, Jessica

2012-01-01

Anthropogenic 236U (t½=23.4 My) is an emerging isotopic ocean tracer with interesting oceanographic properties, but only with recent advances in accelerator mass spectrometry techniques is it now possible to detect the levels from global fall-out of nuclear weapons testing across the water column. To make full use of this tracer, an assessment of its input into the ocean over the past decades is required. We captured the bomb-pulse of 236U in an annually resolved coral core record from the Caribbean Sea. We thereby establish a concept which gives 236U great advantage – the presence of reliable, well-resolved chronological archives. This allows studies of not only the present distribution pattern, but gives access to the temporal evolution of 236U in ocean waters over the past decades. PMID:23564966

Effect of Predraft Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction on Future Performance in Professional Baseball: A Matched Cohort Comparison.

PubMed

Camp, Christopher L; Conte, Stan; D'Angelo, John; Fealy, Stephen A; Ahmad, Christopher S

2018-05-01

In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in the annual number of ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstructions performed in amateur baseball pitchers. Accordingly, increasing numbers of players are entering professional baseball having already undergone the procedure; however, the effect of prior UCL reconstruction on future success remains unknown. (1) To provide an epidemiologic report on baseball players who undergo UCL reconstruction before being selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft, (2) to define the outcomes in terms of statistical performance, and (3) to compare these results with those of matched controls (ie, non-UCL reconstruction). Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3. The MLB Amateur Draft Database was queried to identify all drafted pitchers who underwent UCL reconstruction before being drafted. For each pitcher drafted from 2005 to 2014 with prior UCL reconstruction, 3 healthy controls with no history of elbow surgery were randomly identified for matched analysis. A number of demographic and performance comparisons were made between these groups. A total of 345 pitchers met inclusion criteria. The annual number of pitchers undergoing predraft UCL reconstructions rose steadily from 2005 to 2016 ( P < .001). For matched control analysis, 252 pitchers with a UCL reconstruction and a minimum 2-year follow-up (drafted between 2005 and 2014) were matched to 756 controls (non-UCL reconstruction). As compared with the non-UCL reconstruction group, pitchers who underwent predraft UCL reconstruction reached the MLB level with greater frequency (20% vs 12%, P = .003), and their MLB statistical performances were similar for all measures. Compared with all other pitchers drafted during that period, players who had a predraft UCL reconstruction demonstrated an increased likelihood of reaching progressive levels of play (Full Season A, AA, and MLB) within a given time frame ( P < .05 for all). The number of UCL reconstructions performed in amateur baseball players before the draft increased year over year for the entire study period. Professional pitchers who underwent UCL reconstruction as amateurs appear to perform at least as well as, if not better than, matched controls without elbow surgery.

Long-term solar UV radiation reconstructed by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feister, U.; Junk, J.; Woldt, M.

2008-01-01

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are efficient tools to derive solar UV radiation from measured meteorological parameters such as global radiation, aerosol optical depths and atmospheric column ozone. The ANN model has been tested with different combinations of data from the two sites Potsdam and Lindenberg, and used to reconstruct solar UV radiation at eight European sites by more than 100 years into the past. Annual totals of UV radiation derived from reconstructed daily UV values reflect interannual variations and long-term patterns that are compatible with variabilities and changes of measured input data, in particular global dimming by about 1980-1990, subsequent global brightening, volcanic eruption effects such as that of Mt. Pinatubo, and the long-term ozone decline since the 1970s. Patterns of annual erythemal UV radiation are very similar at sites located at latitudes close to each other, but different patterns occur between UV radiation at sites in different latitude regions.

Reconstruction Options for Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Patients with Prior Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass.

PubMed

Shah, Mihir M; Martin, Benjamin M; Stetler, Jamil L; Patel, Ankit D; Davis, S Scott; Sarmiento, Juan M; Lin, Edward

2017-11-01

Patients with prior Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) operations for weight loss present reconstruction challenges during a pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). With over 60,000 RYGB performed annually, the increasing odds of encountering such patients during a PD make it imperative to understand the RYGB anatomy and anticipate reconstruction options. This article describes the possible reconstruction options and their rationale. We reviewed our PD reconstruction options, compared them to what have been described in the literature, and derived a consensus from internal conferences comprising bariatric and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeons to describe known reconstruction options. In general, reconstruction options can include one of three options: (1) remnant gastrectomy, (2) preservation of gastric remnant, or (3) reversal of gastric bypass. This article describes individualized reconstruction options for RYGB patients undergoing PD. The reconstruction options can be tailored to the needs of the patient.

Synchronized multiartifact reduction with tomographic reconstruction (SMART-RECON): A statistical model based iterative image reconstruction method to eliminate limited-view artifacts and to mitigate the temporal-average artifacts in time-resolved CT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Guang-Hong, E-mail: gchen7@wisc.edu; Li, Yinsheng

Purpose: In x-ray computed tomography (CT), a violation of the Tuy data sufficiency condition leads to limited-view artifacts. In some applications, it is desirable to use data corresponding to a narrow temporal window to reconstruct images with reduced temporal-average artifacts. However, the need to reduce temporal-average artifacts in practice may result in a violation of the Tuy condition and thus undesirable limited-view artifacts. In this paper, the authors present a new iterative reconstruction method, synchronized multiartifact reduction with tomographic reconstruction (SMART-RECON), to eliminate limited-view artifacts using data acquired within an ultranarrow temporal window that severely violates the Tuy condition. Methods:more » In time-resolved contrast enhanced CT acquisitions, image contrast dynamically changes during data acquisition. Each image reconstructed from data acquired in a given temporal window represents one time frame and can be denoted as an image vector. Conventionally, each individual time frame is reconstructed independently. In this paper, all image frames are grouped into a spatial–temporal image matrix and are reconstructed together. Rather than the spatial and/or temporal smoothing regularizers commonly used in iterative image reconstruction, the nuclear norm of the spatial–temporal image matrix is used in SMART-RECON to regularize the reconstruction of all image time frames. This regularizer exploits the low-dimensional structure of the spatial–temporal image matrix to mitigate limited-view artifacts when an ultranarrow temporal window is desired in some applications to reduce temporal-average artifacts. Both numerical simulations in two dimensional image slices with known ground truth and in vivo human subject data acquired in a contrast enhanced cone beam CT exam have been used to validate the proposed SMART-RECON algorithm and to demonstrate the initial performance of the algorithm. Reconstruction errors and temporal fidelity of the reconstructed images were quantified using the relative root mean square error (rRMSE) and the universal quality index (UQI) in numerical simulations. The performance of the SMART-RECON algorithm was compared with that of the prior image constrained compressed sensing (PICCS) reconstruction quantitatively in simulations and qualitatively in human subject exam. Results: In numerical simulations, the 240{sup ∘} short scan angular span was divided into four consecutive 60{sup ∘} angular subsectors. SMART-RECON enables four high temporal fidelity images without limited-view artifacts. The average rRMSE is 16% and UQIs are 0.96 and 0.95 for the two local regions of interest, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding average rRMSE and UQIs are 25%, 0.78, and 0.81, respectively, for the PICCS reconstruction. Note that only one filtered backprojection image can be reconstructed from the same data set with an average rRMSE and UQIs are 45%, 0.71, and 0.79, respectively, to benchmark reconstruction accuracies. For in vivo contrast enhanced cone beam CT data acquired from a short scan angular span of 200{sup ∘}, three 66{sup ∘} angular subsectors were used in SMART-RECON. The results demonstrated clear contrast difference in three SMART-RECON reconstructed image volumes without limited-view artifacts. In contrast, for the same angular sectors, PICCS cannot reconstruct images without limited-view artifacts and with clear contrast difference in three reconstructed image volumes. Conclusions: In time-resolved CT, the proposed SMART-RECON method provides a new method to eliminate limited-view artifacts using data acquired in an ultranarrow temporal window, which corresponds to approximately 60{sup ∘} angular subsectors.« less

Tree ring-based reconstruction of annual precipitation in the South-Central United State from 1750 to 1980. [Quercus stellata; Quercus alba

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Blasing, T.J.; Stahle, D.W.; Duvick, D.N.

1988-01-01

A 231-year reconstruction of annual precipitation, from 1750 through 1980 A.D., was developed from 10 tree ring chronologies (9 post oak, Quercus stellata, and 1 white oak, Q. alba, series) in the south-central United States. Straight line regression was used to calibrate regionally averaged precipitation with ring width data, and the derived reconstruction was verified with independent climatic data and historical evidence. A variance trend in the tree ring data, which may have resulted from nonclimatic factors, was removed. The reconstructed precipitation series indicates that (1) a drought which appears to have been more severe than any in the instrumentalmore » record occurred about 1860 and (2) severe and prolonged droughts comparable to twentieth century events have occurred at roughly 15- to 25-years intervals throughout the past 231 years. It follows that serious droughts in the south-central United States could be expected to recur even in the absence of projected CO/sub 2/-induced warming.« less

Historical Trends in pH and Carbonate Biogeochemistry on the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fowell, S. E.; Foster, G. L.; Ries, J. B.; Castillo, K. D.; de la Vega, E.; Tyrrell, T.; Donald, H. K.; Chalk, T. B.

2018-04-01

Coral reefs are important ecosystems that are increasingly negatively impacted by human activities. Understanding which anthropogenic stressors play the most significant role in their decline is vital for the accurate prediction of future trends in coral reef health and for effective mitigation of these threats. Here we present annually resolved boron and carbon isotope measurements of two cores capturing the past 90 years of growth of the tropical reef-building coral Siderastrea siderea from the Belize Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. The pairing of these two isotope systems allows us to parse the reconstructed pH change into relative changes in net ecosystem productivity and net ecosystem calcification between the two locations. This approach reveals that the relationship between seawater pH and coral calcification, at both a colony and ecosystem level, is complex and cannot simply be modeled as linear or even positive. This study also underscores both the utility of coupled δ11B-δ13C measurements in tracing past biogeochemical cycling in coral reefs and the complexity of this cycling relative to the open ocean.

History of bioavailable lead and iron in the Greater North Sea and Iceland during the last millennium - a bivalve sclerochronological reconstruction.

PubMed

Holland, Hilmar A; Schöne, Bernd R; Marali, Soraya; Jochum, Klaus P

2014-10-15

We present the first annually resolved record of biologically available Pb and Fe in the Greater North Sea and Iceland during 1040-2004 AD based on shells of the long-lived marine bivalve Arctica islandica. The iron content in pre-industrial shells from the North Sea largely remained below the detection limit. Only since 1830, shell Fe levels rose gradually reflecting the combined effect of increased terrestrial runoff of iron-bearing sediments and eutrophication. Although the lead gasoline peak of the 20th century was well recorded by the shells, bivalves that lived during the medieval heyday of metallurgy showed four-fold higher shell Pb levels than modern specimens. Presumably, pre-industrial bivalves were offered larger proportions of resuspended (Pb-enriched) organics, whereas modern specimens receive fresh increased amounts of (Pb-depleted) phytoplankton. As expected, metal loads in the shells from Iceland were much lower. Our study confirms that bivalve shells provide a powerful tool for retrospective environmental biomonitoring. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holographic method for site-resolved detection of a 2D array of ultracold atoms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffmann, Daniel Kai; Deissler, Benjamin; Limmer, Wolfgang; Hecker Denschlag, Johannes

2016-08-01

We propose a novel approach to site-resolved detection of a 2D gas of ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. A near-resonant laser beam is coherently scattered by the atomic array, and after passing a lens its interference pattern is holographically recorded by superimposing it with a reference laser beam on a CCD chip. Fourier transformation of the recorded intensity pattern reconstructs the atomic distribution in the lattice with single-site resolution. The holographic detection method requires only about two hundred scattered photons per atom in order to achieve a high reconstruction fidelity of 99.9 %. Therefore, additional cooling during detection might not be necessary even for light atomic elements such as lithium. Furthermore, first investigations suggest that small aberrations of the lens can be post-corrected in imaging processing.

Time-resolved large-scale volumetric pressure fields of an impinging jet from dense Lagrangian particle tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huhn, F.; Schanz, D.; Manovski, P.; Gesemann, S.; Schröder, A.

2018-05-01

Time-resolved volumetric pressure fields are reconstructed from Lagrangian particle tracking with high seeding concentration using the Shake-The-Box algorithm in a perpendicular impinging jet flow with exit velocity U=4 m/s (Re˜ 36,000) and nozzle-plate spacing H/D=5. Helium-filled soap bubbles are used as tracer particles which are illuminated with pulsed LED arrays. A large measurement volume has been covered (cloud of tracked particles in a volume of 54 L, ˜ 180,000 particles). The reconstructed pressure field has been validated against microphone recordings at the wall with high correlation coefficients up to 0.88. In a reduced measurement volume (13 L), dense Lagrangian particle tracking is shown to be feasable up to the maximal possible jet velocity of U=16 m/s.

Beyond annual streamflow reconstructions for the Upper Colorado River Basin: a paleo-water-balance approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gangopadhyay, Subhrendu; McCabe, Gregory J.; Woodhouse, Connie A.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present a methodology to use annual tree-ring chronologies and a monthly water balance model to generate annual reconstructions of water balance variables (e.g., potential evapotrans- piration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), snow water equivalent (SWE), soil moisture storage (SMS), and runoff (R)). The method involves resampling monthly temperature and precipitation from the instrumental record directed by variability indicated by the paleoclimate record. The generated time series of monthly temperature and precipitation are subsequently used as inputs to a monthly water balance model. The methodology is applied to the Upper Colorado River Basin, and results indicate that the methodology reliably simulates water-year runoff, maximum snow water equivalent, and seasonal soil moisture storage for the instrumental period. As a final application, the methodology is used to produce time series of PET, AET, SWE, SMS, and R for the 1404–1905 period for the Upper Colorado River Basin.

Probing atomic-scale friction on reconstructed surfaces of single-crystal semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goryl, M.; Budzioch, J.; Krok, F.; Wojtaszek, M.; Kolmer, M.; Walczak, L.; Konior, J.; Gnecco, E.; Szymonski, M.

2012-02-01

Friction force microscopy (FFM) investigations have been performed on reconstructed (001) surfaces of InSb and Ge in an ultrahigh vacuum. On the c(8×2) reconstruction of InSb(001) atomic resolution is achieved under superlubric conditions, and the features observed in the lateral force images are precisely reproduced by numerical simulations, taking into account possible decorations of the probing tip. On the simultaneously acquired (1×3) reconstruction a significant disorder of the surface atoms is observed. If the loading force increases, friction becomes much larger on this reconstruction compared to the c(8×2) one. In FFM images acquired on the Ge(001)(2×1) characteristic substructures are resolved within the unit cells. In such a case, a strong dependence of the friction pattern on the scan direction is observed.

Resolving boosted jets with XCone

DOE PAGES

Thaler, Jesse; Wilkason, Thomas F.

2015-12-01

We show how the recently proposed XCone jet algorithm smoothly interpolates between resolved and boosted kinematics. When using standard jet algorithms to reconstruct the decays of hadronic resonances like top quarks and Higgs bosons, one typically needs separate analysis strategies to handle the resolved regime of well-separated jets and the boosted regime of fat jets with substructure. XCone, by contrast, is an exclusive cone jet algorithm that always returns a fixed number of jets, so jet regions remain resolved even when (sub)jets are overlapping in the boosted regime. In this paper, we perform three LHC case studies $-$ dijet resonances,more » Higgs decays to bottom quarks, and all-hadronic top pairs$-$ that demonstrate the physics applications of XCone over a wide kinematic range.« less

NIMROD modeling of quiescent H-mode: Reconstruction considerations and saturation mechanism

DOE PAGES

King, Jacob R.; Burrell, Keith H.; Garofalo, Andrea M.; ...

2016-09-30

The extended-MHD NIMROD code (Sovinec and King 2010 J. Comput. Phys. 229 5803) models broadband-MHD activity from a reconstruction of a quiescent H-mode shot on the DIII-D tokamak (Luxon 2002 Nucl. Fusion 42 614). Computations with the reconstructed toroidal and poloidal ion flows exhibit low-n Φ perturbations (n Φ ≃1–5) that grow and saturate into a turbulent-like MHD state. The workflow used to project the reconstructed state onto the NIMROD basis functions re-solves the Grad–Shafranov equation and extrapolates profiles to include scrape-off-layer currents. In conclusion, evaluation of the transport from the turbulent-like MHD state leads to a relaxation of themore » density and temperature profiles.« less

NIMROD modeling of quiescent H-mode: Reconstruction considerations and saturation mechanism

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

King, Jacob R.; Burrell, Keith H.; Garofalo, Andrea M.

The extended-MHD NIMROD code (Sovinec and King 2010 J. Comput. Phys. 229 5803) models broadband-MHD activity from a reconstruction of a quiescent H-mode shot on the DIII-D tokamak (Luxon 2002 Nucl. Fusion 42 614). Computations with the reconstructed toroidal and poloidal ion flows exhibit low-n Φ perturbations (n Φ ≃1–5) that grow and saturate into a turbulent-like MHD state. The workflow used to project the reconstructed state onto the NIMROD basis functions re-solves the Grad–Shafranov equation and extrapolates profiles to include scrape-off-layer currents. In conclusion, evaluation of the transport from the turbulent-like MHD state leads to a relaxation of themore » density and temperature profiles.« less

Industrial applications of high-performance computing for phylogeny reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bader, David A.; Moret, Bernard M.; Vawter, Lisa

2001-07-01

Phylogenies (that is, tree-of-life relationships) derived from gene order data may prove crucial in answering some fundamental open questions in biomolecular evolution. Real-world interest is strong in determining these relationships. For example, pharmaceutical companies may use phylogeny reconstruction in drug discovery for discovering synthetic pathways unique to organisms that they wish to target. Health organizations study the phylogenies of organisms such as HIV in order to understand their epidemiologies and to aid in predicting the behaviors of future outbreaks. And governments are interested in aiding the production of such foodstuffs as rice, wheat and potatoes via genetics through understanding of the phylogenetic distribution of genetic variation in wild populations. Yet few techniques are available for difficult phylogenetic reconstruction problems. Appropriate tools for analysis of such data may aid in resolving some of the phylogenetic problems that have been analyzed without much resolution for decades. With the rapid accumulation of whole genome sequences for a wide diversity of taxa, especially microbial taxa, phylogenetic reconstruction based on changes in gene order and gene content is showing promise, particularly for resolving deep (i.e., ancient) branch splits. However, reconstruction from gene-order data is even more computationally expensive than reconstruction from sequence data, particularly in groups with large numbers of genes and highly-rearranged genomes. We have developed a software suite, GRAPPA, that extends the breakpoint analysis (BPAnalysis) method of Sankoff and Blanchette while running much faster: in a recent analysis of chloroplast genome data for species of Campanulaceae on a 512-processor Linux supercluster with Myrinet, we achieved a one-million-fold speedup over BPAnalysis. GRAPPA can use either breakpoint or inversion distance (computed exactly) for its computation and runs on single-processor machines as well as parallel and high-performance computers.

Monthly Mean Pressure Reconstructions for Europe (1780-1980) and North America (1858-1980) (1987) (NDP-025)

DOE Data Explorer

Jones, P D. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Wigley, T. M. L. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom; Briffa, K. R. [University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom

2012-01-01

Real and reconstructed measurements of monthly mean pressure data have been constructed for Europe for 1780 through 1980 and North America for 1858 through 1980. The reconstructions use early pressure, temperature, and precipitation data from a variety of sources including World Weather Records, meteorological and national archives, circulation maps, and daily chart series. Each record contains the year, monthly mean pressure, quality code, and annual mean pressure. These reconstructed gridded monthly pressures provide a reliable historical record of mean sea-level pressures for Europe and North America. The data are in two files: pressure reconstructions for Europe (1.47 MB) and for North America (0.72 MB).

Detecting and Predicting Climatic Variation from Old-Growth Baldcypress

Treesearch

Gregory A. Reams; Paul C. van Deusen

1998-01-01

Tree-ring data can extend back in time for thousands of years allowing researchers to reconstruct certain environmental factors that have left an imprint or signal in the tree-ring record. Typically, these factors include reconstructions of annual precipitation or temperature for months or seasons to which a particular tree species is sensitive. Over the last several...

A world-wide perspective on crucifer speciation and evolution: phylogenetics, biogeography and trait evolution in tribe Arabideae

PubMed Central

Karl, Robert; Koch, Marcus A.

2013-01-01

Background and Aims Tribe Arabideae are the most species-rich monophyletic lineage in Brassicaceae. More than 500 species are distributed in the majority of mountain and alpine regions worldwide. This study provides the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis for the species assemblage and tests for association of trait and characters, providing the first explanations for the enormous species radiation since the mid Miocene. Methods Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence variation of nuclear encoded loci and plastid DNA are used to unravel a reliable phylogenetic tree. Trait and ancestral area reconstructions were performed and lineage-specific diversification rates were calculated to explain various radiations in the last 15 Myr in space and time. Key Results A well-resolved phylogenetic tree demonstrates the paraphyly of the genus Arabis and a new systematic concept is established. Initially, multiple radiations involved a split between lowland annuals and mountain/alpine perennial sister species. Subsequently, increased speciation rates occur in the perennial lineages. The centre of origin of tribe Arabideae is most likely the Irano-Turanian region from which the various clades colonized the temperate mountain and alpine regions of the world. Conclusions Mid Miocene early diversification started with increased speciation rates due to the emergence of various annual lineages. Subsequent radiations were mostly driven by diversification within perennial species during the Pliocene, but increased speciation rates also occurred during that epoch. Taxonomic concepts in Arabis are still in need of a major taxonomic revision to define monophyletic groups. PMID:23904444

Investigation of undersampling and reconstruction algorithm dependence on respiratory correlated 4D-MRI for online MR-guided radiation therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mickevicius, Nikolai J.; Paulson, Eric S.

2017-04-01

The purpose of this work is to investigate the effects of undersampling and reconstruction algorithm on the total processing time and image quality of respiratory phase-resolved 4D MRI data. Specifically, the goal is to obtain quality 4D-MRI data with a combined acquisition and reconstruction time of five minutes or less, which we reasoned would be satisfactory for pre-treatment 4D-MRI in online MRI-gRT. A 3D stack-of-stars, self-navigated, 4D-MRI acquisition was used to scan three healthy volunteers at three image resolutions and two scan durations. The NUFFT, CG-SENSE, SPIRiT, and XD-GRASP reconstruction algorithms were used to reconstruct each dataset on a high performance reconstruction computer. The overall image quality, reconstruction time, artifact prevalence, and motion estimates were compared. The CG-SENSE and XD-GRASP reconstructions provided superior image quality over the other algorithms. The combination of a 3D SoS sequence and parallelized reconstruction algorithms using computing hardware more advanced than those typically seen on product MRI scanners, can result in acquisition and reconstruction of high quality respiratory correlated 4D-MRI images in less than five minutes.

Use of Tritium Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for Tree Ring Analysis

PubMed Central

LOVE, ADAM H.; HUNT, JAMES R.; ROBERTS, MARK L.; SOUTHON, JOHN R.; CHIARAPPA - ZUCCA, MARINA L.; DINGLEY, KAREN H.

2010-01-01

Public concerns over the health effects associated with low-level and long-term exposure to tritium released from industrial point sources have generated the demand for better methods to evaluate historical tritium exposure levels for these communities. The cellulose of trees accurately reflects the tritium concentration in the source water and may contain the only historical record of tritium exposure. The tritium activity in the annual rings of a tree was measured using accelerator mass spectrometry to reconstruct historical annual averages of tritium exposure. Milligram-sized samples of the annual tree rings from a Tamarix located at the Nevada Test Site are used for validation of this methodology. The salt cedar was chosen since it had a single source of tritiated water that was well-characterized as it varied over time. The decay-corrected tritium activity of the water in which the salt cedar grew closely agrees with the organically bound tritium activity in its annual rings. This demonstrates that the milligram-sized samples used in tritium accelerator mass spectrometry are suited for reconstructing anthropogenic tritium levels in the environment. PMID:12144257

Assessing performance and seasonal bias of pollen-based climate reconstructions in a perfect model world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trachsel, M.; Rehfeld, K.; Telford, R.; Laepple, T.

2017-12-01

Reconstructions of summer, winter or annual mean temperatures based on the species composition of bio-indicators such as pollen are routinely used in climate model-proxy data comparison studies. Most reconstruction algorithms exploit the joint distribution of modern spatial climate and species distribution for the development of the reconstructions. They rely on the space-for-time substitution and the specific assumption that environmental variables other than those reconstructed are not important or that their relationship with the reconstructed variable(s) should be the same in the past as in the modern spatial calibration dataset. Here we test the implications of this "correlative uniformitarianism" assumption on climate reconstructions in an ideal model world, in which climate and vegetation are known at all times. The alternate reality is a climate simulation of the last 6000 years with dynamic vegetation. Transient changes of plant functional types are considered as surrogate pollen counts and allow us to establish, apply and evaluate transfer functions in the modeled world. We find that the transfer function cross validation r2 is of limited use to identify reconstructible climate variables, as it only relies on the modern spatial climate-vegetation relationship. However, ordination approaches that assess the amount of fossil vegetation variance explained by the reconstructions are promising. We show that correlations between climate variables in the modern climate-vegetation relationship are systematically extended into the reconstructions. Summer temperatures, the most prominent driving variable for modeled vegetation change in the Northern Hemisphere, are accurately reconstructed. However, the amplitude of the model winter and mean annual temperature cooling between the mid-Holocene and present day is overestimated and similar to the summer trend in magnitude. This effect occurs because temporal changes of a dominant climate variable are imprinted on a less important variable, leading to reconstructions biased towards the dominant variable's trends. Our results, although based on a model vegetation that is inevitably simpler than reality, indicate that reconstructions of multiple climate variables based on modern spatial bio-indicator datasets should be treated with caution.

Esophagogastrostomy plus gastrojejunostomy: a novel reconstruction procedure after curative resection for proximal gastric cancer.

PubMed

Chen, Shicai; Li, Jianchang; Liu, Haiying; Zeng, Jun; Yang, Guohua; Wang, Jin; Lu, Weiqun; Yu, Nanrong; Huang, Zhiliang; Xu, Houwei; Zeng, Xiang

2014-03-01

The choice of surgical strategy for patients with proximal gastric cancer remains controversial. In this study, we recommend that a new reconstruction procedure be performed following proximal gastrectomy. We conducted a retrospective study involving 71 patients who underwent gastrectomy for proximal gastric cancer. Clinicopathological features, postoperative complications, nutritional status, and overall survival (OS) rate were compared among three different reconstruction approaches. There were 34 cases of proximal gastrectomy followed by esophagogastrostomy reconstruction (EG), 16 cases of total gastrectomy and Roux-en Y reconstruction (RY) and 21 cases of proximal gastrectomy followed by esophagogastrostomy plus gastrojejunostomy reconstruction (EGJ). Though the clinicopathological features, the nutritional status and OS rate were similar among the three groups of patients, the incidence of reflux esophagitis was significantly higher in the EG group (35.3%) than the RY (6.2%) and EGJ (9.6%) groups(P < 0.05). Few EGJ patients suffered from either reflux esophagitis or anastomotic stenosis. The EGJ reconstruction method helps to resolve the syndrome of reflux esophagitis. Our data indicates that it is a simple, safe, and effective reconstruction procedure for PGC.

Assessing the El Niño/Southern Oscillation proxy potential of the sediment record from Genovesa Crater Lake, Galápagos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Conroy, J.; Overpeck, J. T.; Cole, J. E.; Collins, A.; Bush, M. B.; Steinitz-Kannan, M.

2009-12-01

Paleoclimate records from the tropical Pacific Ocean suggest significant changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability during the Holocene, but there are still many spatial and temporal gaps in our understanding of past tropical Pacific climate change. Many of the annually-resolved records of past ENSO variability are short, discontinuous, or from outside the tropical Pacific, whereas those records from the tropical Pacific often do not have the temporal resolution to accurately resolve the timing of individual El Niño events. Paleoclimate records from the Galápagos Islands are ideal for reconstructing past changes in tropical Pacific climate variability, since these islands are located in the heart of the ENSO phenomenon. Records from other lakes in the Galápagos have already suggested significant changes in ENSO frequency and the mean state of the eastern tropical Pacific throughout the Holocene. However, these lake sediment records have interannual temporal resolution at best, hampering our understanding of past ENSO dynamics. Here we present our initial findings from an additional Galápagos lake: Genovesa Crater Lake. The Genovesa sediment record is finely laminated and will likely provide a high-resolution paleoclimate record for this region of the tropical Pacific, as well as a means to test the hypotheses proposed by other ENSO reconstructions. Scanning μ-XRF time series of elemental abundances in the Genovesa sediment cores indicate that peaks in Ca abundance reflect the warm/wet season and El Niño events. We hypothesize that during warm/wet periods, a reduced sea bird population around the typically guanotropic Genovesa Crater Lake reduces the guano input into the lake, allowing layers of relatively clean carbonate to precipitate. During the cool season and La Niña events, guano input dilutes the precipitated carbonate. High-resolution pollen and diatom analyses will provide additional constraints on the history of interannual and longer-term variability in the lake sediment record.

Generic phylogeny, historical biogeography and character evolution of the cosmopolitan aquatic plant family Hydrocharitaceae

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Hydrocharitaceae is a fully aquatic monocot family, consists of 18 genera with approximately 120 species. The family includes both fresh and marine aquatics and exhibits great diversity in form and habit including annual and perennial life histories; submersed, partially submersed and floating leaf habits and linear to orbicular leaf shapes. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution and is well represented in the Tertiary fossil record in Europe. At present, the historical biogeography of the family is not well understood and the generic relationships remain controversial. In this study we investigated the phylogeny and biogeography of Hydrocharitaceae by integrating fossils and DNA sequences from eight genes. We also conducted ancestral state reconstruction for three morphological characters. Results Phylogenetic analyses produced a phylogeny with most branches strongly supported by bootstrap values greater than 95 and Bayesian posterior probability values of 1.0. Stratiotes is the first diverging lineage with the remaining genera in two clades, one clade consists of Lagarosiphon, Ottelia, Blyxa, Apalanthe, Elodea and Egeria; and the other consists of Hydrocharis-Limnobium, Thalassia, Enhalus, Halophila, Najas, Hydrilla, Vallisneria, Nechamandra and Maidenia. Biogeographic analyses (DIVA, Mesquite) and divergence time estimates (BEAST) resolved the most recent common ancestor of Hydrocharitaceae as being in Asia during the Late Cretaceous and Palaeocene (54.7-72.6 Ma). Dispersals (including long-distance dispersal and migrations through Tethys seaway and land bridges) probably played major roles in the intercontinental distribution of this family. Ancestral state reconstruction suggested that in Hydrocharitaceae evolution of dioecy is bidirectional, viz., from dioecy to hermaphroditism, and from hermaphroditism to dioecy, and that the aerial-submerged leaf habit and short-linear leaf shape are the ancestral states. Conclusions Our study has shed light on the previously controversial generic phylogeny of Hydrocharitaceae. The study has resolved the historical biogeography of this family and supported dispersal as the most likely explanation for the intercontinental distribution. We have also provided valuable information for understanding the evolution of breeding system and leaf phenotype in aquatic monocots. PMID:22404786

Revisiting long-range dependence in annual precipitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iliopoulou, Theano; Papalexiou, Simon Michael; Markonis, Yannis; Koutsoyiannis, Demetris

2018-01-01

Long-range dependence (LRD), the so-called Hurst-Kolmogorov behaviour, is considered to be an intrinsic characteristic of most natural processes. This behaviour manifests itself by the prevalence of slowly decaying autocorrelation function and questions the Markov assumption, often habitually employed in time series analysis. Herein, we investigate the dependence structure of annual rainfall using a large set, comprising more than a thousand stations worldwide of length 100 years or more, as well as a smaller number of paleoclimatic reconstructions covering the last 12,000 years. Our findings suggest weak long-term persistence for instrumental data (average H = 0.59), which becomes stronger with scale, i.e. in the paleoclimatic reconstructions (average H = 0.75).

Fossil Coral Records of ENSO during the Last Glacial Period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Partin, J. W.; Taylor, F. W.; Shen, C. C.; Edwards, R. L.; Quinn, T. M.; DiNezro, P.

2017-12-01

Only a handful of paleoclimate records exist that can resolve interannual changes, and hence El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, during the last glacial period, a time of altered mean climate. The few existing data suggest reduced ENSO variability compared to the Holocene, possibly due to a weaker zonal sea surface temperature gradient across the tropical Pacific and/or a deeper thermocline in the eastern tropical Pacific. Our goal is to add crucial data to this extremely limited subset using sub-annually resolved fossil corals that grew during this time period to reconstruct ENSO. We seek to recover fossil corals from Vanuatu, SW Pacific (16°S, 167°E) with the objective of using coral δ18O to reconstruct changes in the ENSO during and near the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Modern δ18O coral records from Vanuatu show a high degree of skill in capturing ENSO variability, making it a suitable site for reconstructing ENSO variability. We have custom designed and are building a drill system that can rapidly core many 0-25 m holes resulting in much more meters of penetration than achieved by previous land-based reef drilling. As the new drill system is extremely portable and can be quickly relocated by workers without landing craft or vehicles, it is time and cost efficient. Because the proposed drilling sites have uplifted extremely fast, 7 mm/year, the LGM shoreline has been raised from 120-140 m depth to within a depth range of 10 below to 20 m above present sea level. This enables all the drilling to be within the time range of interest ( 15-25 ka). A last advantage is that the LGM corals either are still submersed in seawater or emerged only within the last 2000 years at the uplift rate of 7 mm/yr. This greatly reduces the chances of disruption of the original climate signal because sea water is less diagenetically damaging than meteoric water in the mixed, phreatic, or vadose zones. LGM coral records will enable us to compare the proxy variability to climate model simulations in order to elucidate the mechanisms driving the changes in ENSO. The proposed research activities will shed light on the sensitivity of ENSO to external forcings, a highly critical issue given that climate model projections used for future climate projection do not agree if ENSO will strengthen or weaken as the Earth warms.

Time-resolved ion velocity distribution in a cylindrical Hall thruster: heterodyne-based experiment and modeling.

PubMed

Diallo, A; Keller, S; Shi, Y; Raitses, Y; Mazouffre, S

2015-03-01

Time-resolved variations of the ion velocity distribution function (IVDF) are measured in the cylindrical Hall thruster using a novel heterodyne method based on the laser-induced fluorescence technique. This method consists in inducing modulations of the discharge plasma at frequencies that enable the coupling to the breathing mode. Using a harmonic decomposition of the IVDF, one can extract each harmonic component of the IVDF from which the time-resolved IVDF is reconstructed. In addition, simulations have been performed assuming a sloshing of the IVDF during the modulation that show agreement between the simulated and measured first order perturbation of the IVDF.

Surface reconstruction, figure-ground modulation, and border-ownership.

PubMed

Jeurissen, Danique; Self, Matthew W; Roelfsema, Pieter R

2013-01-01

The Differentiation-Integration for Surface Completion (DISC) model aims to explain the reconstruction of visual surfaces. We find the model a valuable contribution to our understanding of figure-ground organization. We point out that, next to border-ownership, neurons in visual cortex code whether surface elements belong to a figure or the background and that this is influenced by attention. We furthermore suggest that there must be strong links between object recognition and figure-ground assignment in order to resolve the status of interior contours. Incorporation of these factors in neurocomputational models will further improve our understanding of surface reconstruction, figure-ground organization, and border-ownership.

Impact of view reduction in CT on radiation dose for patients

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parcero, E.; Flores, L.; Sánchez, M. G.; Vidal, V.; Verdú, G.

2017-08-01

Iterative methods have become a hot topic of research in computed tomography (CT) imaging because of their capacity to resolve the reconstruction problem from a limited number of projections. This allows the reduction of radiation exposure on patients during the data acquisition. The reconstruction time and the high radiation dose imposed on patients are the two major drawbacks in CT. To solve them effectively we adapted the method for sparse linear equations and sparse least squares (LSQR) with soft threshold filtering (STF) and the fast iterative shrinkage-thresholding algorithm (FISTA) to computed tomography reconstruction. The feasibility of the proposed methods is demonstrated numerically.

Time-Resolved C-Arm Computed Tomographic Angiography Derived From Computed Tomographic Perfusion Acquisition: New Capability for One-Stop-Shop Acute Ischemic Stroke Treatment in the Angiosuite.

PubMed

Yang, Pengfei; Niu, Kai; Wu, Yijing; Struffert, Tobias; Dorfler, Arnd; Schafer, Sebastian; Royalty, Kevin; Strother, Charles; Chen, Guang-Hong

2015-12-01

Multimodal imaging using cone beam C-arm computed tomography (CT) may shorten the delay from ictus to revascularization for acute ischemic stroke patients with a large vessel occlusion. Largely because of limited temporal resolution, reconstruction of time-resolved CT angiography (CTA) from these systems has not yielded satisfactory results. We evaluated the image quality and diagnostic value of time-resolved C-arm CTA reconstructed using novel image processing algorithms. Studies were done under an Institutional Review Board approved protocol. Postprocessing of data from 21 C-arm CT dynamic perfusion acquisitions from 17 patients with acute ischemic stroke were done to derive time-resolved C-arm CTA images. Two observers independently evaluated image quality and diagnostic content for each case. ICC and receiver-operating characteristic analysis were performed to evaluate interobserver agreement and diagnostic value of this novel imaging modality. Time-resolved C-arm CTA images were successfully generated from 20 data sets (95.2%, 20/21). Two observers agreed well that the image quality for large cerebral arteries was good but was more limited for small cerebral arteries (distal to M1, A1, and P1). receiver-operating characteristic curves demonstrated excellent diagnostic value for detecting large vessel occlusions (area under the curve=0.987-1). Time-resolved CTAs derived from C-arm CT perfusion acquisitions provide high quality images that allowed accurate diagnosis of large vessel occlusions. Although image quality of smaller arteries in this study was not optimal ongoing modifications of the postprocessing algorithm will likely remove this limitation. Adding time-resolved C-arm CTAs to the capabilities of the angiography suite further enhances its suitability as a one-stop shop for care for patients with acute ischemic stroke. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Optimized respiratory-resolved motion-compensated 3D Cartesian coronary MR angiography.

PubMed

Correia, Teresa; Ginami, Giulia; Cruz, Gastão; Neji, Radhouene; Rashid, Imran; Botnar, René M; Prieto, Claudia

2018-04-22

To develop a robust and efficient reconstruction framework that provides high-quality motion-compensated respiratory-resolved images from free-breathing 3D whole-heart Cartesian coronary magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) acquisitions. Recently, XD-GRASP (eXtra-Dimensional Golden-angle RAdial Sparse Parallel MRI) was proposed to achieve 100% scan efficiency and provide respiratory-resolved 3D radial CMRA images by exploiting sparsity in the respiratory dimension. Here, a reconstruction framework for Cartesian CMRA imaging is proposed, which provides respiratory-resolved motion-compensated images by incorporating 2D beat-to-beat translational motion information to increase sparsity in the respiratory dimension. The motion information is extracted from interleaved image navigators and is also used to compensate for 2D translational motion within each respiratory phase. The proposed Optimized Respiratory-resolved Cartesian Coronary MR Angiography (XD-ORCCA) method was tested on 10 healthy subjects and 2 patients with cardiovascular disease, and compared against XD-GRASP. The proposed XD-ORCCA provides high-quality respiratory-resolved images, allowing clear visualization of the right and left coronary arteries, even for irregular breathing patterns. Compared with XD-GRASP, the proposed method improves the visibility and sharpness of both coronaries. Significant differences (p < .05) in visible vessel length and proximal vessel sharpness were found between the 2 methods. The XD-GRASP method provides good-quality images in the absence of intraphase motion. However, motion blurring is observed in XD-GRASP images for respiratory phases with larger motion amplitudes and subjects with irregular breathing patterns. A robust respiratory-resolved motion-compensated framework for Cartesian CMRA has been proposed and tested in healthy subjects and patients. The proposed XD-ORCCA provides high-quality images for all respiratory phases, independently of the regularity of the breathing pattern. © 2018 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Using High-Speed Video and VHF Broadband Interferometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yun; Qiu, Shi; Shi, Lihua; Huang, Zhengyu; Wang, Tao; Duan, Yantao

2017-12-01

The time resolved three-dimensional (3-D) spatial reconstruction of lightning channels using high-speed video (HSV) images and VHF broadband interferometer (BITF) data is first presented in this paper. Because VHF and optical radiations in step formation process occur with time separation no more than 1 μs, the observation data of BITF and HSV at two different sites provide the possibility of reconstructing the time resolved 3-D channel of lightning. With the proposed procedures for 3-D reconstruction of leader channels, dart leaders as well as stepped leaders with complex multiple branches can be well reconstructed. The differences between 2-D speeds and 3-D speeds of leader channels are analyzed by comparing the development of leader channels in 2-D and 3-D space. Since return stroke (RS) usually follows the path of previous leader channels, the 3-D speeds of the return strokes are first estimated by combination with the 3-D structure of the preceding leaders and HSV image sequences. For the fourth RS, the ratios of the 3-D to 2-D RS speeds increase with height, and the largest ratio of the 3-D to 2-D return stroke speeds can reach 2.03, which is larger than the result of triggered lightning reported by Idone. Since BITF can detect lightning radiation in a 360° view, correlated BITF and HSV observations increase the 3-D detection probability than dual-station HSV observations, which is helpful to obtain more events and deeper understanding of the lightning process.

Trends in Medicare Reimbursement for Orthopedic Procedures: 2000 to 2016.

PubMed

Eltorai, Adam E M; Durand, Wesley M; Haglin, Jack M; Rubin, Lee E; Weiss, Arnold-Peter C; Daniels, Alan H

2018-03-01

Understanding trends in reimbursement is critical to the financial sustainability of orthopedic practices. Little research has examined physician fee trends over time for orthopedic procedures. This study evaluated trends in Medicare reimbursements for orthopedic surgical procedures. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule was examined for Current Procedural Terminology code values for the most common orthopedic and nonorthopedic procedures between 2000 and 2016. Prices were adjusted for inflation to 2016-dollar values. To assess mean growth rate for each procedure and subspecialty, compound annual growth rates were calculated. Year-to-year dollar amount changes were calculated for each procedure and subspecialty. Reimbursement trends for individual procedures and across subspecialties were compared. Between 2000 and 2016, annual reimbursements decreased for all orthopedic procedures examined except removal of orthopedic implant. The orthopedic procedures with the greatest mean annual decreases in reimbursement were shoulder arthroscopy/decompression, total knee replacement, and total hip replacement. The orthopedic procedures with the least annual reimbursement decreases were carpal tunnel release and repair of ankle fracture. Rate of Medicare procedure reimbursement change varied between subspecialties. Trauma had the smallest decrease in annual change compared with spine, sports, and hand. Annual reimbursement decreased at a significantly greater rate for adult reconstruction procedures than for any of the other subspecialties. These findings indicate that reimbursement for procedures has steadily decreased, with the most rapid decrease seen in adult reconstruction. [Orthopedics. 2018; 41(2):95-102.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Viability estimation of pepper seeds using time-resolved photothermal signal characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Ghiseok; Kim, Geon-Hee; Lohumi, Santosh; Kang, Jum-Soon; Cho, Byoung-Kwan

2014-11-01

We used infrared thermal signal measurement system and photothermal signal and image reconstruction techniques for viability estimation of pepper seeds. Photothermal signals from healthy and aged seeds were measured for seven periods (24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, and 168 h) using an infrared camera and analyzed by a regression method. The photothermal signals were regressed using a two-term exponential decay curve with two amplitudes and two time variables (lifetime) as regression coefficients. The regression coefficients of the fitted curve showed significant differences for each seed groups, depending on the aging times. In addition, the viability of a single seed was estimated by imaging of its regression coefficient, which was reconstructed from the measured photothermal signals. The time-resolved photothermal characteristics, along with the regression coefficient images, can be used to discriminate the aged or dead pepper seeds from the healthy seeds.

Synthetic aperture in terahertz in-line digital holography for resolution enhancement.

PubMed

Huang, Haochong; Rong, Lu; Wang, Dayong; Li, Weihua; Deng, Qinghua; Li, Bin; Wang, Yunxin; Zhan, Zhiqiang; Wang, Xuemin; Wu, Weidong

2016-01-20

Terahertz digital holography is a combination of terahertz technology and digital holography. In digital holography, the imaging resolution is the key parameter in determining the detailed quality of a reconstructed wavefront. In this paper, the synthetic aperture method is used in terahertz digital holography and the in-line arrangement is built to perform the detection. The resolved capability of previous terahertz digital holographic systems restricts this technique to meet the requirement of practical detection. In contrast, the experimental resolved power of the present method can reach 125 μm, which is the best resolution of terahertz digital holography to date. Furthermore, the basic detection of a biological specimen is conducted to show the practical application. In all, the results of the proposed method demonstrate the enhancement of experimental imaging resolution and that the amplitude and phase distributions of the fine structure of samples can be reconstructed by using terahertz digital holography.

Resolving fluorophores by unmixing multispectral fluorescence tomography with independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Huangsheng; Zhang, Guanglei; He, Wei; Liu, Fei; Guang, Huizhi; Zhang, Yue; Bai, Jing; Luo, Jianwen

2014-09-01

It is a challenging problem to resolve and identify drug (or non-specific fluorophore) distribution throughout the whole body of small animals in vivo. In this article, an algorithm of unmixing multispectral fluorescence tomography (MFT) images based on independent component analysis (ICA) is proposed to solve this problem. ICA is used to unmix the data matrix assembled by the reconstruction results from MFT. Then the independent components (ICs) that represent spatial structures and the corresponding spectrum courses (SCs) which are associated with spectral variations can be obtained. By combining the ICs with SCs, the recovered MFT images can be generated and fluorophore concentration can be calculated. Simulation studies, phantom experiments and animal experiments with different concentration contrasts and spectrum combinations are performed to test the performance of the proposed algorithm. Results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can not only provide the spatial information of fluorophores, but also recover the actual reconstruction of MFT images.

Reconstructing Tropical Southwest Pacific Climate Variability and Mean State Changes at Vanuatu during the Medieval Climate Anomaly using Geochemical Proxies from Corals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawman, A. E.; Quinn, T. M.; Partin, J. W.; Taylor, F. W.; Thirumalai, K.; WU, C. C.; Shen, C. C.

2017-12-01

The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA: 950-1250 CE) is identified as a period during the last 2 millennia with Northern Hemisphere surface temperatures similar to the present. However, our understanding of tropical climate variability during the MCA is poorly constrained due to a lack of sub-annually resolved proxy records. We investigate seasonal and interannual variability during the MCA using geochemical records developed from two well preserved Porites lutea fossilized corals from the tropical southwest Pacific (Tasmaloum, Vanuatu; 15.6°S, 166.9°E). Absolute U/Th dates of 1127.1 ± 2.7 CE and 1105.1 ± 3.0 CE indicate that the selected fossil corals lived during the MCA. We use paired coral Sr/Ca and δ18O measurements to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST) and the δ18O of seawater (a proxy for salinity). To provide context for the fossil coral records and test whether the mean state and climate variability at Vanuatu during the MCA is similar to the modern climate, our analysis also incorporates two modern coral records from Sabine Bank (15.9°S, 166.0°E) and Malo Channel (15.7°S, 167.2°E), Vanuatu for comparison. We quantify the uncertainty in our modern and fossil coral SST estimates via replication with multiple, overlapping coral records. Both the modern and fossil corals reproduce their respective mean SST value over their common period of overlap, which is 25 years in both cases. Based on over 100 years of monthly Sr/Ca data from each time period, we find that SSTs at Vanuatu during the MCA are 1.3 ± 0.7°C cooler relative to the modern. We also find that the median amplitude of the annual cycle is 0.8 ± 0.3°C larger during the MCA relative to the modern. Multiple data analysis techniques, including the standard deviation and the difference between the 95th and 5th percentiles of the annual SST cycle estimates, also show that the MCA has greater annual SST variability relative to the modern. Stable isotope data acquisition is ongoing, and when complete we will have a suite of records of paired coral Sr/Ca and δ18O measurements. We will apply similar statistical techniques developed for the Sr/Ca-SST record to also investigate variability in the δ18O of seawater (salinity). Modern salinity variability at Vanuatu arises due to hydrological anomalies associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the tropical Pacific.

Streamflow variability over the 1881–2011 period in northern Quebec: comparison of hydrological reconstructions based on tree rings and geopotential height field reanalysis

DOE PAGES

Brigode, Pierre; Brissette, Francois; Nicault, Antoine; ...

2016-09-06

Over the last decades, different methods have been used by hydrologists to extend observed hydro-climatic time series, based on other data sources, such as tree rings or sedimentological datasets. For example, tree ring multi-proxies have been studied for the Caniapiscau Reservoir in northern Québec (Canada), leading to the reconstruction of flow time series for the last 150 years. In this paper, we applied a new hydro-climatic reconstruction method on the Caniapiscau Reservoir and compare the obtained streamflow time series against time series derived from dendrohydrology by other authors on the same catchment and study the natural streamflow variability over themore » 1881–2011 period in that region. This new reconstruction is based not on natural proxies but on a historical reanalysis of global geopotential height fields, and aims firstly to produce daily climatic time series, which are then used as inputs to a rainfall–runoff model in order to obtain daily streamflow time series. The performances of the hydro-climatic reconstruction were quantified over the observed period, and showed good performances, in terms of both monthly regimes and interannual variability. The streamflow reconstructions were then compared to two different reconstructions performed on the same catchment by using tree ring data series, one being focused on mean annual flows and the other on spring floods. In terms of mean annual flows, the interannual variability in the reconstructed flows was similar (except for the 1930–1940 decade), with noteworthy changes seen in wetter and drier years. For spring floods, the reconstructed interannual variabilities were quite similar for the 1955–2011 period, but strongly different between 1880 and 1940. Here, the results emphasize the need to apply different reconstruction methods on the same catchments. Indeed, comparisons such as those above highlight potential differences between available reconstructions and, finally, allow a retrospective analysis of the proposed reconstructions of past hydro-climatological variabilities.« less

Streamflow variability over the 1881–2011 period in northern Quebec: comparison of hydrological reconstructions based on tree rings and geopotential height field reanalysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brigode, Pierre; Brissette, Francois; Nicault, Antoine

Over the last decades, different methods have been used by hydrologists to extend observed hydro-climatic time series, based on other data sources, such as tree rings or sedimentological datasets. For example, tree ring multi-proxies have been studied for the Caniapiscau Reservoir in northern Québec (Canada), leading to the reconstruction of flow time series for the last 150 years. In this paper, we applied a new hydro-climatic reconstruction method on the Caniapiscau Reservoir and compare the obtained streamflow time series against time series derived from dendrohydrology by other authors on the same catchment and study the natural streamflow variability over themore » 1881–2011 period in that region. This new reconstruction is based not on natural proxies but on a historical reanalysis of global geopotential height fields, and aims firstly to produce daily climatic time series, which are then used as inputs to a rainfall–runoff model in order to obtain daily streamflow time series. The performances of the hydro-climatic reconstruction were quantified over the observed period, and showed good performances, in terms of both monthly regimes and interannual variability. The streamflow reconstructions were then compared to two different reconstructions performed on the same catchment by using tree ring data series, one being focused on mean annual flows and the other on spring floods. In terms of mean annual flows, the interannual variability in the reconstructed flows was similar (except for the 1930–1940 decade), with noteworthy changes seen in wetter and drier years. For spring floods, the reconstructed interannual variabilities were quite similar for the 1955–2011 period, but strongly different between 1880 and 1940. Here, the results emphasize the need to apply different reconstruction methods on the same catchments. Indeed, comparisons such as those above highlight potential differences between available reconstructions and, finally, allow a retrospective analysis of the proposed reconstructions of past hydro-climatological variabilities.« less

A fully resolved consensus between fully resolved phylogenetic trees.

PubMed

Quitzau, José Augusto Amgarten; Meidanis, João

2006-03-31

Nowadays, there are many phylogeny reconstruction methods, each with advantages and disadvantages. We explored the advantages of each method, putting together the common parts of trees constructed by several methods, by means of a consensus computation. A number of phylogenetic consensus methods are already known. Unfortunately, there is also a taboo concerning consensus methods, because most biologists see them mainly as comparators and not as phylogenetic tree constructors. We challenged this taboo by defining a consensus method that builds a fully resolved phylogenetic tree based on the most common parts of fully resolved trees in a given collection. We also generated results showing that this consensus is in a way a kind of "median" of the input trees; as such it can be closer to the correct tree in many situations.

Real-time quasi-3D tomographic reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buurlage, Jan-Willem; Kohr, Holger; Palenstijn, Willem Jan; Joost Batenburg, K.

2018-06-01

Developments in acquisition technology and a growing need for time-resolved experiments pose great computational challenges in tomography. In addition, access to reconstructions in real time is a highly demanded feature but has so far been out of reach. We show that by exploiting the mathematical properties of filtered backprojection-type methods, having access to real-time reconstructions of arbitrarily oriented slices becomes feasible. Furthermore, we present , software for visualization and on-demand reconstruction of slices. A user of can interactively shift and rotate slices in a GUI, while the software updates the slice in real time. For certain use cases, the possibility to study arbitrarily oriented slices in real time directly from the measured data provides sufficient visual and quantitative insight. Two such applications are discussed in this article.

The dynamic system corresponding to LOD and AAM.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Shida; Liu, Shikuo; Chen, Jiong

2000-02-01

Using wavelet transform, the authors can reconstruct the 1-D map of a multifractal object. The wavelet transform of LOD and AAM shows that at 20 years scale, annual scale and 2 - 3 years scale, the jump points of LOD and AAM accord with each other very well, and their reconstructing 1-D mapping dynamic system are also very similar.

Tree-Ring Based May-July Temperature Reconstruction Since AD 1630 on the Western Loess Plateau, China

PubMed Central

Song, Huiming; Liu, Yu; Li, Qiang; Gao, Na; Ma, Yongyong; Zhang, Yanhua

2014-01-01

Tree-ring samples from Chinese Pine (Pinus tabulaeformis Carr.) collected at Mt. Shimen on the western Loess Plateau, China, were used to reconstruct the mean May–July temperature during AD 1630–2011. The regression model explained 48% of the adjusted variance in the instrumentally observed mean May–July temperature. The reconstruction revealed significant temperature variations at interannual to decadal scales. Cool periods observed in the reconstruction coincided with reduced solar activities. The reconstructed temperature matched well with two other tree-ring based temperature reconstructions conducted on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains (on the southern margin of the Loess Plateau of China) for both annual and decadal scales. In addition, this study agreed well with several series derived from different proxies. This reconstruction improves upon the sparse network of high-resolution paleoclimatic records for the western Loess Plateau, China. PMID:24690885

Multi-proxy Paleoclimate and CO2 Reconstruction from the Latest Middle Eocene Sedimentary Fill of a Subarctic Kimberlitic Maar Crater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reyes, A. V.; Wolfe, A. P.; Royer, D. L.; Greenwood, D. R.; Tierney, J. E.; Doria, G.; Gagen, M. H.; Siver, P.; Westgate, J.

2016-12-01

Eocene paleoclimate reconstructions are rarely accompanied by parallel estimates of CO2, complicating assessment of the equilibrium climate responses to CO2. We reconstruct temperature, precipitation, and CO2 from latest middle Eocene ( 38 Myrs ago) peats in subarctic Canada, preserved in sediments that record infilling of a kimberlite pipe maar crater. Mutual climatic range analyses of pollen, together with oxygen isotope analyses of a-cellulose from unpermineralized wood and inferenecs from branched glycerol diakyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), reveal a high-latitude humid-temperate forest ecosystem with mean annual temperatures (MATs) >17 °C warmer than present, mean coldest month temperatures above 0 °C, and mean annual precipitation 4x present. Metasequoia stomatal indices and gas-exchange modeling produce median CO2 concentrations of 634 and 432 ppm, respectively, with a consensus median estimate of 494 ppm. Reconstructed MATs are >6 °C warmer than those produced by Eocene climate models forced at 560 ppm CO2, underscoring the capacity for exceptional polar amplification of warming and hydrological intensification under relatively modest CO2 concentrations, once both fast and slow feedbacks become expressed.

Relation between modern pollen rain, vegetation and climate in northern China: Implications for quantitative vegetation reconstruction in a steppe environment.

PubMed

Ge, Yawen; Li, Yuecong; Bunting, M Jane; Li, Bing; Li, Zetao; Wang, Junting

2017-05-15

Vegetation reconstructions from palaeoecological records depend on adequate understanding of relationships between modern pollen, vegetation and climate. A key parameter for quantitative vegetation reconstructions is the Relative Pollen Productivity (RPP). Differences in both environmental and methodological factors are known to alter the RPP estimated significantly, making it difficult to determine whether the underlying pollen productivity does actually vary, and if so, why. In this paper, we present the results of a replication study for the Bashang steppe region, a typical steppe area in northern China, carried out in 2013 and 2014. In each year, 30 surface samples were collected for pollen analysis, with accompanying vegetation survey using the "Crackles Bequest Project" methodology. Sampling designs differed slightly between the two years: in 2013, sites were located completely randomly, whilst in 2014 sampling locations were constrained to be within a few km of roads. There is a strong inter-annual variability in both the pollen and the vegetation spectra therefore in RPPs, and annual precipitation may be a key influence on these variations. The pollen assemblages in both years are dominated by herbaceous taxa such as Artemisia, Amaranthaceae, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae and Allium. Artemisia and Amaranthaceae pollen are significantly over-represented for their vegetation abundance. Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Fabaceae seem to have under-represented pollen for vegetation with correspondingly lower RPPs. Asteraceae seems to be well-represented, with moderate RPPs and less annual variation. Estimated Relevant Source Area of Pollen (RSAP) ranges from 2000 to 3000m. Different sampling designs have an effect both on RSAP and RPPs and random sample selection may be the best strategy for obtaining robust estimates. Our results have implications for further pollen-vegetation relationship and quantitative vegetation reconstruction research in typical steppe areas and in other open habitats with strong inter-annual variation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Scottish Council for Research in Education. Forty-Fourth Annual Report, 1971-72.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scottish Council for Research in Education.

This booklet contains the annual report for 1971-72 of the Scottish Council for Research in Education. The first section lists the officers, members, principle officials, and staff responsible for special projects. The second section presents reports from the various committees of the council, stressing the reconstruction of the council's…

Growth rates and geochemical proxies in Late Campanian bivalves - New insights from micro-X-ray Fluorescence mapping and numerical growth modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Winter, Niels; Goderis, Steven; van Malderen, Stijn; Vanhaecke, Frank; Claeys, Philippe

2017-04-01

Understanding the Late Cretaceous greenhouse climate is of vital importance for understanding present and future climate change. While a lot of good work has been done to reconstruct climate in this interesting period, most paleoclimatic studies have focused on long-term climate change[1]. Alternatively, multi-proxy records from marine bivalves provide us with a unique opportunity to study past climate on a seasonal scale. However, previous fossil bivalve studies have reported ambiguous results with regard to the interpretation of trace element and stable isotope proxies in marine bivalve shells[2]. One major problem in the interpretation of such records is the bivalve's vital effect and the occurrence of disequilibrium fractionation during bivalve growth. Both these problems are linked to the annual growth cycle of marine bivalves, which introduces internal effects on the incorporation of isotopes and trace elements into the shell[3]. Understanding this growth cycle in extinct bivalves is therefore of great importance for the interpretation of seasonal proxy records in their shells. In this study, three different species of extinct Late Campanian bivalves (two rudist species and one oyster species) that were found in the same stratigraphic interval are studied. Micro-X-Ray Fluorescence line scanning and mapping of trace elements such as Mg, Sr, S and Zn, calibrated by LA-ICP-MS measurements, is combined with microdrilled stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis on the well-preserved part of the shells. Data of this multi-proxy study is compared with results from a numerical growth model written in the open-source statistics package R[4] and based on annual growth increments observed in the shells and shell thickness. This growth model is used together with proxy data to reconstruct rates of trace element incorporation into the shell and to calculate the mass balance of stable oxygen and carbon isotopes. In order to achieve this goal, 2D mapping of bivalve shell surfaces is combined with high-precision point measurements and linescans to characterize different carbonate facies within the shell and to model changes in proxy data in three dimensions. Comparison of sub-annual variations in growth rate and shell geometry with proxy data sheds light on the degree to which observed seasonal variations in geochemical proxies are dependent on internal mechanisms of shell growth as opposed to external mechanisms such as climatic and environmental change. The use of three different species of bivalve from the same paleoenvironment allows the examination of species-specific responses to environmental change. This study attempts to determine which proxies in which species of bivalve are suitable for paleoenvironmental reconstruction and will aid future paleoseasonality studies in interpreting seasonally resolved multi-proxy records. References 1 DeConto R.M., et al. Cambridge University Press; 2000. 2 Elliot M, et al., PPP 2009. 3 Steuber T. Geology. 1996. 4 R core team, 2004, www.R-project.org

Dynamic Liver Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Free-Breathing: Feasibility of a Cartesian T1-Weighted Acquisition Technique With Compressed Sensing and Additional Self-Navigation Signal for Hard-Gated and Motion-Resolved Reconstruction.

PubMed

Kaltenbach, Benjamin; Bucher, Andreas M; Wichmann, Julian L; Nickel, Dominik; Polkowski, Christoph; Hammerstingl, Renate; Vogl, Thomas J; Bodelle, Boris

2017-11-01

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a free-breathing dynamic liver imaging technique using a prototype Cartesian T1-weighted volumetric interpolated breathhold examination (VIBE) sequence with compressed sensing and simultaneous acquisition of a navigation signal for hard-gated and motion state-resolved reconstruction. A total of 43 consecutive oncologic patients (mean age, 66 ± 11 years; 44% female) underwent free-breathing dynamic liver imaging for the evaluation of liver metastases from colorectal cancer using a prototype Cartesian VIBE sequence (field of view, 380 × 345 mm; image matrix, 320 × 218; echo time/repetition time, 1.8/3.76 milliseconds; flip angle, 10 degrees; slice thickness, 3.0 mm; acquisition time, 188 seconds) with continuous data sampling and additionally acquired self-navigation signal. Data were iteratively reconstructed using 2 different approaches: first, a hard-gated reconstruction only using data associated to the dominating motion state (CS VIBE, Compressed Sensing VIBE), and second, a motion-resolved reconstruction with 6 different motion states as additional image dimension (XD VIBE, eXtended dimension VIBE). Continuous acquired data were grouped in 16 subsequent time increments with 11.57 seconds each to resolve arterial and venous contrast phases. For image quality assessment, both CS VIBE and XD VIBE were compared with the patient's last staging dynamic liver magnetic resonance imaging including a breathhold (BH) VIBE as reference standard 4.5 ± 1.2 months before. Representative quality parameters including respiratory artifacts were evaluated for arterial and venous phase images independently, retrospectively and blindly by 3 experienced radiologists, with higher scores indicating better examination quality. To assess diagnostic accuracy, same readers evaluated the presence of metastatic lesions for XD VIBE and CS VIBE compared with reference BH examination in a second session. Compared with CS VIBE, XD VIBE showed significantly higher overall image quality for both arterial phase (4.2 ± 0.6 vs 3.8 ± 0.7, P = 0.008) and venous phase (4.7 ± 0.4 vs 4.3 ± 0.7, P < 0.001) imaging. There was no significant difference between XD VIBE and BH VIBE for overall image quality in the venous phase (4.7 ± 0.4 vs 4.8 ± 0.4, P = 0.834), whereas arterial phase images were scored slightly lower for XD VIBE (4.5 ± 0.6 vs 4.2 ± 0.6, P = 0.024). Both XD VIBE and BH VIBE were characterized by a very low level of respiratory artifacts with no significant difference between BH and motion-resolved free-breathing strategy (P = 0.505 for arterial phase; P = 0.496 for venous phase). Compared with CS VIBE, obvious quality improvement could be achieved for the extended XD VIBE reconstruction with significantly reduced motion artifacts for venous phase images (P = 0.007). Generally, arterial phase images were scored slightly lower compared with venous phase images when using the free-breathing protocol. Overall, 98% of all metastatic lesions were identified on XD VIBE images and 92% of all metastases were found on CS VIBE. Dynamic liver imaging using the proposed free-breathing Cartesian strategy is feasible in oncologic patients with excellent image quality, high respiratory motion robustness, and accurate lesion detection. Overall, XD VIBE was superior to CS VIBE in our study.

Sedimentary Reconstructions of Tropical Cyclone Activity over the Past 1500 Years from Blue Holes in the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, E. J.; Donnelly, J. P.; van Hengstum, P. J.; Wiman, C.; McKeon, K.; LaBella, A.; Sullivan, R.; Winkler, T. S.; Woodruff, J. D.; Hawkes, A.; Maio, C. V.

2017-12-01

Given the devastating socioeconomic impacts of tropical cyclones, it is of critical importance to quantify the risk of such storms to local human populations. However, this is difficult to accomplish given that historical tropical cyclone records are short and incomplete. A new array of sedimentary reconstructions from coastal basins record significant temporal variability in intense hurricane landfalls over the last several thousands of years. Unfortunately, these reconstructions are often limited to documenting changes in hurricane landfalls at one location. Here we present a larger spatial analysis of the changing frequency of hurricanes in the tropical Atlantic using near annually resolved records of intense hurricane events in blue holes from three islands in the Caribbean. The first record is a 1500-year record from South Andros Island on the Great Bahama Bank. This record is corroborated by cores collected from an adjacent blue hole. The second record is an 1100-year record from Long Island situated approximately 265 km southeast of South Andros. The final record is a 1000-year record from Caicos Island. All three carbonate islands are positioned in the western North Atlantic Ocean along the trackway of many storms originating in the Caribbean and Atlantic basins. All records contain coarse grained event deposits that correlate with known historical intense hurricane strikes in the Bahamas, within age uncertainties, including Hurricane Joaquin in 2015 at Long Island and the 1945 category 4 storm at South Andros. Over the past 1500 years, all three sedimentary archives show evidence of active and quiescent periods of hurricane activity. In particular, these records suggest that the Caribbean has experienced a higher frequency of hurricane events in intervals over of the past 1500 years than in the historical interval. However, the differences in hurricane frequency among the three records suggest regional controls on hurricane activity in the Atlantic.

Five centuries of climate change in Australia: the view from underground

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pollack, Henry N.; Huang, Shaopeng; Smerdon, Jason E.

2006-10-01

Fifty-seven borehole temperature profiles from across Australia are analysed to reconstruct a ground surface temperature history for the past five centuries. The five-hundred-year reconstruction is characterised by a temperature increase of approximately 0.5 K, with most of the warming occurring in the 19th and 20th centuries. The 17th century was the coolest interval of the five-century reconstruction. Comparison of the geothermal reconstruction to the Australian annual surface air temperature time series in their period of overlap shows excellent agreement. The full geothermal reconstruction also agrees well with the low-frequency component of dendroclimatic reconstructions from Tasmania and New Zealand. The warming of Australia over the past five centuries is only about half that experienced by the continents of the Northern Hemisphere in the same time interval. Copyright

Dorsal Intercostal Artery Perforator Propeller Flaps: A Reliable Option in Reconstruction of Large Meningomyelocele Defects.

PubMed

Basterzi, Yavuz; Tenekeci, Goktekin

2016-04-01

Several options have been reported for the reconstruction of myelomeningocele defects. In this article, we present our experience on soft tissue reconstruction of myelomeningocele defects by using island propeller dorsal intercostal artery perforator (DIAP) flaps. Between January 2008 and February 2014, all newborns with large myelomeningocele defects (13 newborns) were reconstructed with island propeller DIAP flaps. All flaps survived completely. In 8 patients out of 13, venous insufficiency was observed which then resolved spontaneously. Flap donor sites were closed primarily. Myelomeningocele defects with a diameter larger than 5 cm require reconstruction with flaps. To mobilize a well-vascularized tissue over the defect without tension in which the suture lines will not overlap over the midline where the dura is repaired and over the meninges is one of the goals of reconstruction for such defects. Perforator propeller flaps enable us to reach those goals. Use of perforator flaps provides 2 important advantages, namely, more predictability and also more freedom in mobilizing flaps toward the defect. This study proves the reliability of DIAP propeller flaps in the reconstruction of myelomeningocele defects.

Validation of luminescent source reconstruction using spectrally resolved bioluminescence images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virostko, John M.; Powers, Alvin C.; Jansen, E. D.

2008-02-01

This study examines the accuracy of the Living Image® Software 3D Analysis Package (Xenogen, Alameda, CA) in reconstruction of light source depth and intensity. Constant intensity light sources were placed in an optically homogeneous medium (chicken breast). Spectrally filtered images were taken at 560, 580, 600, 620, 640, and 660 nanometers. The Living Image® Software 3D Analysis Package was employed to reconstruct source depth and intensity using these spectrally filtered images. For sources shallower than the mean free path of light there was proportionally higher inaccuracy in reconstruction. For sources deeper than the mean free path, the average error in depth and intensity reconstruction was less than 4% and 12%, respectively. The ability to distinguish multiple sources decreased with increasing source depth and typically required a spatial separation of twice the depth. The constant intensity light sources were also implanted in mice to examine the effect of optical inhomogeneity. The reconstruction accuracy suffered in inhomogeneous tissue with accuracy influenced by the choice of optical properties used in reconstruction.

Paleoclimatic Reconstructions From Plant Macrofossils For The Last Glacial Maximum, Middle Holocene, And Latest Holocene In The American Southwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, R. S.; Anderson, K.; Pelltier, R.; Strickland, L. E.; Shafer, S. L.; Bartlein, P. J.

2013-12-01

Fossil plant remains preserved in a variety of geologic settings provide direct evidence of where individual species lived in the past, and there are long-established methods for paleoclimatic reconstructions based on comparisons between modern and past geographic ranges of plant species. In principle, these methods use relatively straightforward procedures that frequently result in what appear to be very precise estimates of past temperature and moisture conditions. The reconstructed estimates can be mapped for specific time slices for synoptic-scale reconstructions for data-model comparisons. Although paleobotanical data can provide apparently precise estimates of past climatic conditions, it is difficult to gauge the associated uncertainties. The estimates may be affected by the choice of modern calibration data, reconstruction methods employed, and whether the climatic variable under consideration is an important determinant of the distributions of the species being considered. For time-slice reconstructions, there are also issues involving the adequacy of the spatial coverage of the fossil data and the degree of variability through time. To examine some of these issues, we estimated annual precipitation and summer and winter temperatures for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21000 × 1000 yr BP), Middle Holocene (MH, 6000 × 500 yr BP), and Latest Holocene (LH, the last 500 yrs), based on the application of four quantitative approaches to paleobotanical assemblages preserved in packrat middens in the American Southwest. Our results indicate that historic variability and difficulties in interpolating climatic values to fossil sites may impose ranges of uncertainties of more than × 1°C for temperature and × 50 mm for annual precipitation. Climatic estimates based on modern midden assemblages generally fall within these ranges, although there may be biases that differ regionally. Samples of similar age and location provide similar climatic estimates, and the four approaches usually result in anomalies of the same sign, but with differing amplitudes. There is considerable variability among the anomalies for samples within each time slice, and different time slices have different geographic coverages of samples. The reconstructed temperature anomalies are similar between the MH and LH time slices, and generally fall within the uncertainties related to the modern climatic data. LGM anomalies were significantly colder, and for many samples exceeded -5°C in both winter and summer. There are what appear to be significant MH annual precipitation anomalies to the south (dry after 6.2 ka)and to the northwest (wet before 6.2 ka), but it may be misleading to compare these, given the differences in age. Positive annual precipitation anomalies for the LGM are more than 100 mm in the northwest, and smaller in the northeast and south.

A Four Lake Latitudinal Comparison Along Coastal Southern to Central California: A Late-Holocene Perspective on the Western US Precipitation Dipole.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirby, M.; Nichols, K. E.; Ramezan, R.; Palermo, J. A.; Hiner, C.; Bonuso, N.; Patterson, W. P.; Silveira, E.

2016-12-01

One of the dominant hydroclimatic features of the western United States is the winter season precipitation dipole. The dipole is characterized by a N-S antiphased precipitation regime presently centered on 40° N latitude (Cayan et al., 1998; Dettinger et al., 1998; Wise, 2010). For example, the position of the dipole dictates where CA receives its winter precipitation; thus, it is critical to understand the dipole from a paleoperspective, which at present is poorly known. Here, we present four lake sites spanning 33°-36° N latitude along coastal CA. These sites include: Lake Elsinore, Crystal Lake, Zaca Lake, and Abbott Lake. All four of these sites are located south of the dipole's average historic (since 1950 AD) latitude. The predominant hydroclimatic indicator is similar for each basin (i.e., grain size); although, several other indicators are used for independent verification/assessment of the grain size interpretation. Notably, these lakes contain varied age control, which limits site-to-site correlation without consideration of age model dependence. Following a Bayesian framework, MCMC algorithms in conjuction with radiocarbon dating will be used to estimate timestamps of sediment deposits with a degree of statistical uncertainty. Samples from the posterior distribution will be used to correlate hydroclimatic features between sites. Included in this analysis are tree ring records from the region to assess the similarities and differences as recorded in annually resolved tree ring drought reconstructions and decadally resolved lake sediment hydroclimatic records. Finally, the four sites are assessed in the context of tropical and north Pacific SST forcing.

Spatially and Temporally Resolved Studies of the Human Microbiome (2011 JGI User Meeting)

ScienceCinema

Knight, Rob

2018-04-26

The U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) invited scientists interested in the application of genomics to bioenergy and environmental issues, as well as all current and prospective users and collaborators, to attend the annual DOE JGI Genomics of Energy & Environment Meeting held March 22-24, 2011 in Walnut Creek, Calif. The emphasis of this meeting was on the genomics of renewable energy strategies, carbon cycling, environmental gene discovery, and engineering of fuel-producing organisms. The meeting features presentations by leading scientists advancing these topics. Rob Knight of the University of Colorado gives a presentation on "Spatially and Temporally Resolved Studies of the Human Microbiome" at the 6th annual Genomics of Energy & Environment Meeting on March 23, 2011.

Contingent Pacific-Atlantic Ocean influence on multicentury wildfire synchrony over western North America.

PubMed

Kitzberger, Thomas; Brown, Peter M; Heyerdahl, Emily K; Swetnam, Thomas W; Veblen, Thomas T

2007-01-09

Widespread synchronous wildfires driven by climatic variation, such as those that swept western North America during 1996, 2000, and 2002, can result in major environmental and societal impacts. Understanding relationships between continental-scale patterns of drought and modes of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) may explain how interannual to multidecadal variability in SSTs drives fire at continental scales. We used local wildfire chronologies reconstructed from fire scars on tree rings across western North America and independent reconstructions of SST developed from tree-ring widths at other sites to examine the relationships of multicentury patterns of climate and fire synchrony. From 33,039 annually resolved fire-scar dates at 238 sites (the largest paleofire record yet assembled), we examined forest fires at regional and subcontinental scales. Since 1550 CE, drought and forest fires covaried across the West, but in a manner contingent on SST modes. During certain phases of ENSO and PDO, fire was synchronous within broad subregions and sometimes asynchronous among those regions. In contrast, fires were most commonly synchronous across the West during warm phases of the AMO. ENSO and PDO were the main drivers of high-frequency variation in fire (interannual to decadal), whereas the AMO conditionally changed the strength and spatial influence of ENSO and PDO on wildfire occurrence at multidecadal scales. A current warming trend in AMO suggests that we may expect an increase in widespread, synchronous fires across the western U.S. in coming decades.

A fast 4D cone beam CT reconstruction method based on the OSC-TV algorithm.

PubMed

Mascolo-Fortin, Julia; Matenine, Dmitri; Archambault, Louis; Després, Philippe

2018-01-01

Four-dimensional cone beam computed tomography allows for temporally resolved imaging with useful applications in radiotherapy, but raises particular challenges in terms of image quality and computation time. The purpose of this work is to develop a fast and accurate 4D algorithm by adapting a GPU-accelerated ordered subsets convex algorithm (OSC), combined with the total variation minimization regularization technique (TV). Different initialization schemes were studied to adapt the OSC-TV algorithm to 4D reconstruction: each respiratory phase was initialized either with a 3D reconstruction or a blank image. Reconstruction algorithms were tested on a dynamic numerical phantom and on a clinical dataset. 4D iterations were implemented for a cluster of 8 GPUs. All developed methods allowed for an adequate visualization of the respiratory movement and compared favorably to the McKinnon-Bates and adaptive steepest descent projection onto convex sets algorithms, while the 4D reconstructions initialized from a prior 3D reconstruction led to better overall image quality. The most suitable adaptation of OSC-TV to 4D CBCT was found to be a combination of a prior FDK reconstruction and a 4D OSC-TV reconstruction with a reconstruction time of 4.5 minutes. This relatively short reconstruction time could facilitate a clinical use.

Comparison of tree-ring δ18O and meteorological data from Java island, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Y.; Hisamochi, R.; Sano, M.; Nakatsuka, T.; Tazuru, S.; Sugiyama, J.; Tsuda, T.; Tagami, T.

2016-12-01

Tree-ring has been widely recognized as a powerful tool to reconstruct the paleoclimate of terrestrial areas because it has an advantage of exact dating with annual resolution. Paleoclimate reconstruction based on tree-ring is, however, extremely limited in the tropics because it is difficult to acquire long-lived wood samples with annual tree-ring. In this study, as for four teak samples from central Java and six teak samples from western Java, we measured teak δ18O values on annual scale over the last 70 years to evaluate the conformity among oxygen isotopic variations of Javanese teak trees. As a result, oxygen isotopic time series of ten teak trees has significant correlations between each other, suggesting that Javanese teak δ18O values are affected by common climatic factor. In addition, there are significant positive correlations between teak δ18O values and precipitation during the dry season prior to growing season.

SSP: an interval integer linear programming for de novo transcriptome assembly and isoform discovery of RNA-seq reads.

PubMed

Safikhani, Zhaleh; Sadeghi, Mehdi; Pezeshk, Hamid; Eslahchi, Changiz

2013-01-01

Recent advances in the sequencing technologies have provided a handful of RNA-seq datasets for transcriptome analysis. However, reconstruction of full-length isoforms and estimation of the expression level of transcripts with a low cost are challenging tasks. We propose a novel de novo method named SSP that incorporates interval integer linear programming to resolve alternatively spliced isoforms and reconstruct the whole transcriptome from short reads. Experimental results show that SSP is fast and precise in determining different alternatively spliced isoforms along with the estimation of reconstructed transcript abundances. The SSP software package is available at http://www.bioinf.cs.ipm.ir/software/ssp. © 2013.

Application of the sequential quadratic programming algorithm for reconstructing the distribution of optical parameters based on the time-domain radiative transfer equation.

PubMed

Qi, Hong; Qiao, Yao-Bin; Ren, Ya-Tao; Shi, Jing-Wen; Zhang, Ze-Yu; Ruan, Li-Ming

2016-10-17

Sequential quadratic programming (SQP) is used as an optimization algorithm to reconstruct the optical parameters based on the time-domain radiative transfer equation (TD-RTE). Numerous time-resolved measurement signals are obtained using the TD-RTE as forward model. For a high computational efficiency, the gradient of objective function is calculated using an adjoint equation technique. SQP algorithm is employed to solve the inverse problem and the regularization term based on the generalized Gaussian Markov random field (GGMRF) model is used to overcome the ill-posed problem. Simulated results show that the proposed reconstruction scheme performs efficiently and accurately.

Species-specific response to climate reconstruction in upper-elevation mixed-conifer forests of the western Sierra Nevada, California

Treesearch

M. Hurteau; H. Zald; M. North

2007-01-01

Dendrochronology climate reconstruction studies often sample dominant, open-grown trees to reduce competition effects and isolate annual climate influences on radial increment growth. However, there has been no examination of how species respond as stand densities increase or which species in mixed-conifer forests provide a better record of past climate. We sampled 579...

Analytical framework for reconstructing heterogeneous environmental variables from mammal community structure.

PubMed

Louys, Julien; Meloro, Carlo; Elton, Sarah; Ditchfield, Peter; Bishop, Laura C

2015-01-01

We test the performance of two models that use mammalian communities to reconstruct multivariate palaeoenvironments. While both models exploit the correlation between mammal communities (defined in terms of functional groups) and arboreal heterogeneity, the first uses a multiple multivariate regression of community structure and arboreal heterogeneity, while the second uses a linear regression of the principal components of each ecospace. The success of these methods means the palaeoenvironment of a particular locality can be reconstructed in terms of the proportions of heavy, moderate, light, and absent tree canopy cover. The linear regression is less biased, and more precisely and accurately reconstructs heavy tree canopy cover than the multiple multivariate model. However, the multiple multivariate model performs better than the linear regression for all other canopy cover categories. Both models consistently perform better than randomly generated reconstructions. We apply both models to the palaeocommunity of the Upper Laetolil Beds, Tanzania. Our reconstructions indicate that there was very little heavy tree cover at this site (likely less than 10%), with the palaeo-landscape instead comprising a mixture of light and absent tree cover. These reconstructions help resolve the previous conflicting palaeoecological reconstructions made for this site. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Non-iterative volumetric particle reconstruction near moving bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendelson, Leah; Techet, Alexandra

2017-11-01

When multi-camera 3D PIV experiments are performed around a moving body, the body often obscures visibility of regions of interest in the flow field in a subset of cameras. We evaluate the performance of non-iterative particle reconstruction algorithms used for synthetic aperture PIV (SAPIV) in these partially-occluded regions. We show that when partial occlusions are present, the quality and availability of 3D tracer particle information depends on the number of cameras and reconstruction procedure used. Based on these findings, we introduce an improved non-iterative reconstruction routine for SAPIV around bodies. The reconstruction procedure combines binary masks, already required for reconstruction of the body's 3D visual hull, and a minimum line-of-sight algorithm. This approach accounts for partial occlusions without performing separate processing for each possible subset of cameras. We combine this reconstruction procedure with three-dimensional imaging on both sides of the free surface to reveal multi-fin wake interactions generated by a jumping archer fish. Sufficient particle reconstruction in near-body regions is crucial to resolving the wake structures of upstream fins (i.e., dorsal and anal fins) before and during interactions with the caudal tail.

Fragility of estimated spatial temperature patterns in climate field reconstructions of the Common Era

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Emile-Geay, J.; Vaccaro, A.; Guillot, D.; Rajaratnam, B.

2013-12-01

Climate field reconstructions (CFRs) of the Common Era can provide insight into dynamical causes of low-frequency climate variability. For instance, the Mann et al. [2009] study found that the reconstructed sea-surface temperature difference between the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age (hereinafter MCA - LIA) is marked by a La-Niña like pattern over the tropical Pacific, and proposed dynamical explanations for this observation. In this talk, we assess the robustness of such spatial patterns. First we examine the impact of the CFR methodology. Starting with the network of Mann et al. [2008] (hereinafter M08), we perform temperature reconstruction using four different CFR techniques: RegEM-TTLS [Schneider, 2001], the Mann et al. [2009] implementation of RegEM-TTLS (hereinafter M09), Canonical Correlation Analysis [Smerdon et al., 2010, CCA] and GraphEM [Guillot et al., in revision]. We find that results are greatly method-dependent even with identical inputs. While the M09 reconstruction displays a La Niña-like pattern over the tropical Pacific for MCA - LIA, CCA gives a neutral pattern, RegEM-TTLS and GraphEM both display El Niño-like pattern but show different amplitudes. Next we assess a given CFR technique's sensitivity to the selection of inputs. Proxies are selected based on the statistical significance of their correlations with HadCRUT3v annual temperature. A multiple hypothesis test [Ventura et al., 2004] is conducted to preclude spurious correlations. This choice has a large impact on resulting CFRs. In particular, whether the correlation is calculated between local or regional temperature-proxy pairs determines the number of significant records included in the proxy network. This in turn greatly affects the reconstructed spatial patterns and the Northern Hemispheric mean temperature time series with all CFR methods investigated. In order to further analyze CFRs' sensitivities to the abovementioned procedural choices, we assemble an updated multi-proxy network and produce a new 2000-year-long global temperature reconstruction. The network expands upon the existing M08 network by screening tree-ring proxies for the 'divergence problem' [D'Arrigo et al., 2008] and adds 58 non tree-ring proxies, of which 28 are located in the tropics and 11 are available within at least the past 1500 years. Overall, considerable differences are still evident among reconstructions using different CFR methods. Yet such differences are smaller using the updated proxy network compared with using the M08 network, consistent with pseudoproxy studies [Wang et al, 2013]. Our results collectively highlight the fragility of reconstructed patterns in the current state of proxy networks and CFR methods. We conclude that dynamical interpretations of such patterns are premature until these technical aspects are resolved. Reference: Wang, J., Emile-Geay, J., Guillot, D., Smerdon, J. E., and Rajaratnam, B.: Evaluating climate field reconstruction techniques using improved emulations of real-world conditions, Clim. Past Discuss., 9, 3015-3060, doi:10.5194/cpd-9-3015-2013, 2013.

X-ray tomography system to investigate granular materials during mechanical loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Athanassiadis, Athanasios G.; La Rivière, Patrick J.; Sidky, Emil; Pelizzari, Charles; Pan, Xiaochuan; Jaeger, Heinrich M.

2014-08-01

We integrate a small and portable medical x-ray device with mechanical testing equipment to enable in situ, non-invasive measurements of a granular material's response to mechanical loading. We employ an orthopedic C-arm as the x-ray source and detector to image samples mounted in the materials tester. We discuss the design of a custom rotation stage, which allows for sample rotation and tomographic reconstruction under applied compressive stress. We then discuss the calibration of the system for 3D computed tomography, as well as the subsequent image reconstruction process. Using this system to reconstruct packings of 3D-printed particles, we resolve packing features with 0.52 mm resolution in a (60 mm)3 field of view. By analyzing the performance bounds of the system, we demonstrate that the reconstructions exhibit only moderate noise.

Three dimensional X-ray Diffraction Contrast Tomography Reconstruction of Polycrystalline Strontium Titanate during Sintering and Electron Backscatter Diffraction Validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syha, M.; Rheinheimer, W.; Loedermann, B.; Graff, A.; Trenkle, A.; Baeurer, M.; Weygand, D.; Ludwig, W.; Gumbsch, P.

The microstructural evolution of polycrystalline strontium titanate was investigated in three dimensions (3D) using X-ray diffraction contrast tomography (DCT) before and after ex-situ annealing at 1600°C. Post-annealing, the specimen was additionally subjected to phase contrast tomography (PCT) in order to finely resolve the porosities. The resulting microstructure reconstructions were studied with special emphasis on morphology and interface orientation during microstructure evolution. Subsequently, cross-sections of the specimen were studied using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Corresponding cross-sections through the 3D reconstruction were identified and the quality of the reconstruction is validated with special emphasis on the spatial resolution at the grain boundaries, the size and location of pores contained in the material and the accuracy of the orientation determination.

Assessing performance and seasonal bias of pollen-based climate reconstructions in a perfect model world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rehfeld, Kira; Trachsel, Mathias; Telford, Richard J.; Laepple, Thomas

2016-12-01

Reconstructions of summer, winter or annual mean temperatures based on the species composition of bio-indicators such as pollen, foraminifera or chironomids are routinely used in climate model-proxy data comparison studies. Most reconstruction algorithms exploit the joint distribution of modern spatial climate and species distribution for the development of the reconstructions. They rely on the space-for-time substitution and the specific assumption that environmental variables other than those reconstructed are not important or that their relationship with the reconstructed variable(s) should be the same in the past as in the modern spatial calibration dataset. Here we test the implications of this "correlative uniformitarianism" assumption on climate reconstructions in an ideal model world, in which climate and vegetation are known at all times. The alternate reality is a climate simulation of the last 6000 years with dynamic vegetation. Transient changes of plant functional types are considered as surrogate pollen counts and allow us to establish, apply and evaluate transfer functions in the modeled world. We find that in our model experiments the transfer function cross validation r2 is of limited use to identify reconstructible climate variables, as it only relies on the modern spatial climate-vegetation relationship. However, ordination approaches that assess the amount of fossil vegetation variance explained by the reconstructions are promising. We furthermore show that correlations between climate variables in the modern climate-vegetation relationship are systematically extended into the reconstructions. Summer temperatures, the most prominent driving variable for modeled vegetation change in the Northern Hemisphere, are accurately reconstructed. However, the amplitude of the model winter and mean annual temperature cooling between the mid-Holocene and present day is overestimated and similar to the summer trend in magnitude. This effect occurs because temporal changes of a dominant climate variable, such as summer temperatures in the model's Arctic, are imprinted on a less important variable, leading to reconstructions biased towards the dominant variable's trends. Our results, although based on a model vegetation that is inevitably simpler than reality, indicate that reconstructions of multiple climate variables based on modern spatial bio-indicator datasets should be treated with caution. Expert knowledge on the ecophysiological drivers of the proxies, as well as statistical methods that go beyond the cross validation on modern calibration datasets, are crucial to avoid misinterpretation.

Clinical performance of a free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast-enhanced pediatric abdominal MR angiography.

PubMed

Zhang, Tao; Yousaf, Ufra; Hsiao, Albert; Cheng, Joseph Y; Alley, Marcus T; Lustig, Michael; Pauly, John M; Vasanawala, Shreyas S

2015-10-01

Pediatric contrast-enhanced MR angiography is often limited by respiration, other patient motion and compromised spatiotemporal resolution. To determine the reliability of a free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography method for depicting abdominal arterial anatomy in young children. With IRB approval and informed consent, we retrospectively identified 27 consecutive children (16 males and 11 females; mean age: 3.8 years, range: 14 days to 8.4 years) referred for contrast-enhanced MR angiography at our institution, who had undergone free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography studies. A radio-frequency-spoiled gradient echo sequence with Cartesian variable density k-space sampling and radial view ordering, intrinsic motion navigation and intermittent fat suppression was developed. Images were reconstructed with soft-gated parallel imaging locally low-rank method to achieve both motion correction and high spatiotemporal resolution. Quality of delineation of 13 abdominal arteries in the reconstructed images was assessed independently by two radiologists on a five-point scale. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals of the proportion of diagnostically adequate cases were calculated. Interobserver agreements were also analyzed. Eleven out of 13 arteries achieved acceptable image quality (mean score range: 3.9-5.0) for both readers. Fair to substantial interobserver agreement was reached on nine arteries. Free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography frequently yields diagnostic image quality for most abdominal arteries in young children.

[Evaluation of the resolving power of different angles in MPR images of 16DAS-MDCT].

PubMed

Kimura, Mikio; Usui, Junshi; Nozawa, Takeo

2007-03-20

In this study, we evaluated the resolving power of three-dimensional (3D) multiplanar reformation (MPR) images with various angles by using 16 data acquisition system multi detector row computed tomography (16DAS-MDCT) . We reconstructed the MPR images using data with a 0.75 mm slice thickness of the axial image in this examination. To evaluate resolving power, we used an original new phantom (RC phantom) that can be positioned at any slice angle in MPR images. We measured the modulation transfer function (MTF) by using the methods of measuring pre-sampling MTF, and used Fourier transform of image data of the square wave chart. The scan condition and image reconstruction condition that were adopted in this study correspond to the condition that we use for three-dimensional computed tomographic angiography (3D-CTA) examination of the head in our hospital. The MTF of MPR images showed minimum values at slice angles in parallel with the axial slice, and showed maximum values at the sagittal slice and coronal slice angles that are parallel to the Z-axis. With an oblique MPR image, MTF did not change with angle changes in the oblique sagittal slice plane, but in the oblique coronal slice plane, MTF increased as the tilt angle increased from the axial plane to the Z plane. As a result, we could evaluate the resolving power of a head 3D image by measuring the MTF of the axial image and sagittal image or the coronal image.

Detector response artefacts in spectral reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olsen, Ulrik L.; Christensen, Erik D.; Khalil, Mohamad; Gu, Yun; Kehres, Jan

2017-09-01

Energy resolved detectors are gaining traction as a tool to achieve better material contrast. K-edge imaging and tomography is an example of a method with high potential that has evolved on the capabilities of photon counting energy dispersive detectors. Border security is also beginning to see instruments taking advantage of energy resolved detectors. The progress of the field is halted by the limitations of the detectors. The limitations include nonlinear response for both x-ray intensity and x-ray spectrum. In this work we investigate how the physical interactions in the energy dispersive detectors affect the quality of the reconstruction and how corrections restore the quality. We have modeled detector responses for the primary detrimental effects occurring in the detector; escape peaks, charge sharing/loss and pileup. The effect of the change in the measured spectra is evaluated based on the artefacts occurring in the reconstructed images. We also evaluate the effect of a correction algorithm for reducing these artefacts on experimental data acquired with a setup using Multix ME-100 V-2 line detector modules. The artefacts were seen to introduce 20% deviation in the reconstructed attenuation coefficient for the uncorrected detector. We performed tomography experiments on samples with various materials interesting for security applications and found the SSIM to increase > 5% below 60keV. Our work shows that effective corrections schemes are necessary for the accurate material classification in security application promised by the advent of high flux detectors for spectral tomography

Understanding reliability and some limitations of the images and spectra reconstructed from a multi-monochromatic x-ray imager

DOE PAGES

Nagayama, T.; Mancini, R. C.; Mayes, D.; ...

2015-11-18

Temperature and density asymmetry diagnosis is critical to advance inertial confinement fusion (ICF) science. A multi-monochromatic x-ray imager (MMI) is an attractive diagnostic for this purpose. The MMI records the spectral signature from an ICF implosion core with time resolution, 2-D space resolution, and spectral resolution. While narrow-band images and 2-D space-resolved spectra from the MMI data constrain temperature and density spatial structure of the core, the accuracy of the images and spectra depends not only on the quality of the MMI data but also on the reliability of the post-processing tools. In this paper, we synthetically quantify the accuracymore » of images and spectra reconstructed from MMI data. Errors in the reconstructed images are less than a few percent when the space-resolution effect is applied to the modeled images. The errors in the reconstructed 2-D space-resolved spectra are also less than a few percent except those for the peripheral regions. Spectra reconstructed for the peripheral regions have slightly but systematically lower intensities by ~6% due to the instrumental spatial-resolution effects. However, this does not alter the relative line ratios and widths and thus does not affect the temperature and density diagnostics. We also investigate the impact of the pinhole size variation on the extracted images and spectra. A 10% pinhole size variation could introduce spatial bias to the images and spectra of ~10%. A correction algorithm is developed, and it successfully reduces the errors to a few percent. Finally, it is desirable to perform similar synthetic investigations to fully understand the reliability and limitations of each MMI application.« less

Resolving contradictory reconstructions of Alpine climate in 1540 - Using Nonlinearities in Tree Growth Response to Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, J.; Tolwinski-ward, S. E.

2013-12-01

Reconstructions of Swiss climate based on documentary data suggest that the year 1540 was anomalously hot and dry (Wetter and Pfister 2013, Wetter et al in prep). They stand in stark contrast to reconstructions from tree ring data (Casty et al. 2005) in which 1540 climate is within the range of average conditions. In this contribution we combine documentary and dendrochronological sources of information and account for potential nonlinearities in the response of the tree ring signal to climate in order to resolve this apparent contradiction. Our reconstruction uses a Bayesian hierarchical model, with a nonlinear, mechanisms-based model for tree-ring data (Tolwinski-Ward et al. 2010) and a multinomial model for the documentary data. The results show that the extreme heat conditions documented in written crop records of 1540 cross a biological threshold above which the formation of latewood density is not limited by temperature. We thus demonstrate that the tree ring and documentary data for 1540 are in fact consistent within the ranges of uncertainty used to interpret each source of information, and together indicate anomalously hot and dry conditions in that year, although to a lesser extend as reconstructed by Wetter and Pfister (2013). Casty et al. "Temperature and precipitation variability in the European Alps since 1500", Int. J. Climatol. 25, 1855-1880 (2005) Tolwinski-Ward et al. "An efficient forward model of the climate controls on interannual variation in tree-ring width", Clim. Dyn. 36, 2419--2439 (2010) Werner and Tolwinski-Ward, in prep. Wetter and Pfister "An underestimated record breaking event: why summer 1540 was very likely warmer than 2003", Clim. Past 9, 41-56 (2013) Wetter et al. "The European Mega-drought of 1540 - an evidence-based Worst Case Scenario" (in prep.)

Changing the Paradigm in Medial Canthal Reconstruction: The Bridge Principle and the Croissant-Like Keystone Island Perforator Flap as An Alternative for Medium Size Soft Tissue Defects in Internal Canthus Reconstruction.

PubMed

Kostopoulos, Epameinondas; Agiannidis, Christos; Konofaos, Petros; Kotsakis, Ioannis; Hatzigianni, Panagiota; Georgopoulos, Gerasimos; Papadatou, Zoe; Konstantinidou, Chara; Champsas, Gregorios; Papadopoulos, Othon; Casoli, Vincent

2018-03-08

Medial canthus is a common area of skin cancer prevalence. Defects in this region represent a challenging reconstructive task. The nasal version of keystone perforator island flap (KPIF) has proven its versatility. The aim of the present study was to expand its utilization in the neighbor medial canthus area. A modified croissant-like KPIF (CKPIF) was used resolving inner convexity-related problems. The presence of procerus in the glabella area, bridging a surface from nasalis up to the frontalis, changed the traditional dissecting flap technique. Thus, the authors introduce the bridge principle, which consists of the indirect transfer of the flap to the defect site through a muscular "bridge" (the procerus). The authors report their experience in medial canthal reconstruction combining a modified KPIF with a new dissecting "principle." From November 2016 to July 2017, a series of patients presenting soft tissue defects of various dimensions in the medial canthus, secondary to tumor extirpation, sustained reconstruction with a CKPIF dissected with the bridge principle. A total of 15 patients were treated with this new technique. Their mean age was 75.3 years. The mean size of the defect was 2.08 cm (length) × 1.5 cm (width). All flaps survived without any sign of venous congestion. A transient epiphora presented in 4 patients (4/15 or 26.6%), which was subsided 2 months later. A new approach following a novel paradigm was introduced to resolve an old problem. Initial outcomes are encouraging. However, longer series are needed to extract definitive and safer conclusion.

Understanding reliability and some limitations of the images and spectra reconstructed from a multi-monochromatic x-ray imager

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nagayama, T.; Mancini, R. C.; Mayes, D.

2015-11-15

Temperature and density asymmetry diagnosis is critical to advance inertial confinement fusion (ICF) science. A multi-monochromatic x-ray imager (MMI) is an attractive diagnostic for this purpose. The MMI records the spectral signature from an ICF implosion core with time resolution, 2-D space resolution, and spectral resolution. While narrow-band images and 2-D space-resolved spectra from the MMI data constrain temperature and density spatial structure of the core, the accuracy of the images and spectra depends not only on the quality of the MMI data but also on the reliability of the post-processing tools. Here, we synthetically quantify the accuracy of imagesmore » and spectra reconstructed from MMI data. Errors in the reconstructed images are less than a few percent when the space-resolution effect is applied to the modeled images. The errors in the reconstructed 2-D space-resolved spectra are also less than a few percent except those for the peripheral regions. Spectra reconstructed for the peripheral regions have slightly but systematically lower intensities by ∼6% due to the instrumental spatial-resolution effects. However, this does not alter the relative line ratios and widths and thus does not affect the temperature and density diagnostics. We also investigate the impact of the pinhole size variation on the extracted images and spectra. A 10% pinhole size variation could introduce spatial bias to the images and spectra of ∼10%. A correction algorithm is developed, and it successfully reduces the errors to a few percent. It is desirable to perform similar synthetic investigations to fully understand the reliability and limitations of each MMI application.« less

Understanding reliability and some limitations of the images and spectra reconstructed from a multi-monochromatic x-ray imager.

PubMed

Nagayama, T; Mancini, R C; Mayes, D; Tommasini, R; Florido, R

2015-11-01

Temperature and density asymmetry diagnosis is critical to advance inertial confinement fusion (ICF) science. A multi-monochromatic x-ray imager (MMI) is an attractive diagnostic for this purpose. The MMI records the spectral signature from an ICF implosion core with time resolution, 2-D space resolution, and spectral resolution. While narrow-band images and 2-D space-resolved spectra from the MMI data constrain temperature and density spatial structure of the core, the accuracy of the images and spectra depends not only on the quality of the MMI data but also on the reliability of the post-processing tools. Here, we synthetically quantify the accuracy of images and spectra reconstructed from MMI data. Errors in the reconstructed images are less than a few percent when the space-resolution effect is applied to the modeled images. The errors in the reconstructed 2-D space-resolved spectra are also less than a few percent except those for the peripheral regions. Spectra reconstructed for the peripheral regions have slightly but systematically lower intensities by ∼6% due to the instrumental spatial-resolution effects. However, this does not alter the relative line ratios and widths and thus does not affect the temperature and density diagnostics. We also investigate the impact of the pinhole size variation on the extracted images and spectra. A 10% pinhole size variation could introduce spatial bias to the images and spectra of ∼10%. A correction algorithm is developed, and it successfully reduces the errors to a few percent. It is desirable to perform similar synthetic investigations to fully understand the reliability and limitations of each MMI application.

Hydrographical variability and major ecosystem changes as recorded in the growth of Arctica islandica from the northern North Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trofimova, Tamara; Andersson, Carin; Bonitz, Fabian

2017-04-01

Reconstruction of marine climate variability on regional to global scales requires a network of climatically sensitive annually resolved archives from key oceanographic locations. The small number of records existing to date impedes the application of a network approach. In this study, we aim at improving the spatial coverage of annually resolved paleo proxy records by investigating the impact of climate variability on sclerochronological records of A. islandica from the Viking Bank in the northern North Sea. The northern North Sea has an excellent oceanographic setting because its hydrography is primarily controlled by the major Atlantic water inflow to the North Sea. Using annual growth increment measurements of 30 shells we constructed a 265-year shell-growth chronology spanning the time interval AD 1748-2013. Chronology statistics (Rbar (>0.5) and EPS (>0.85)) indicate a robust signal of a common environmental forcing controlling shell growth for the major part of the record. Comparison with other sclerochronologies from the oceanographically related locations reveals a coherency on longer time scales, which is likely a response to a common environmental driver or a combination of such drivers. No significant correlation on the year-on-year level has been found between the chronology and time series of temperature and salinity from the area close to the study site. However, the timing of major hydrographical anomalies described for the region (Great Salinity Anomalies) coincide with a decrease in shell growth; likely in response to an impact on lower trophic levels, i.e. plankton composition and abundance. Spectral analysis of the chronology reveals a 21-26 year periodicity recorded in the shell growth. The variability on a similar time scale has been observed in multiple records from the North Atlantic and in model outputs. It has been suggested to represent one of the dominant scales of multi-decadal variability especially pronounced prior to the 20th century. In our chronology this variability is clearly observed prior to the 1920's and fades out towards present day. This change coincides with the most significant regime shift in the North Atlantic observed in the 20th-century, connected with dramatic warming and increasing Atlantic inflow. Hence, our data show that growth chronology from the Viking Bank region has a high potential to be used in climate variability studies and can significantly contribute to the development of a spatial sclerochronological network.

Holocene climate dynamics in the central part of the East European plain (Russia)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novenko, Elena

2013-04-01

The Holocene climate and vegetation dynamics in the broad-leaved forest zone of the central part of the East European plain have been reconstructed on the base of pollen, plant macrofossil, testate amoebae and radiocarbon data from the mire Klukva (N 53.834812, E 36.252488), located in the kast depression in the Upper Oka River basin (Tula region, European Russia). The reconstruction of main parameters of past climate (the mean annual temperature precipitation) was carried out by the "Best Modern Analog" approach. Reconstructions of vegetation show that in the early Holocene the territory was occupied mainly by birch and pine-birch forests. Significant changes in the plant cover of the Upper Oka River basin are attributed to the 7.5 cal kyr BP). The climatic conditions were favorable for development of the broad-leaved forests those persisted in this area up to industrial period. In the 17th century, when the population density greatly increased and watersheds were ploughed, natural vegetation communities were gradually destroyed and transformed into agricultural landscapes. According to obtained climatic reconstructions the period 10-8.5 cal kyr BP was relatively cold and wet, when the mean annual temperature was in 3°C lower and precipitation was in 50-100 mm higher then nowadays. The significant climate warming occurred in about 7.0-5.0 cal kyr BP (The Holocene thermal maximum): the mean annual temperature in 2°C exceeded the modern value and precipitation was close to that. The environment conditions were drier due to decrease of effective moisture. In the second part of the Holocene the sequence of second-, and even third-order climatic oscillations expressed against the background of the overall slight trend towards cooling have been determined. The most pronounced cool and wet intervals were reconstructed in 2.5-2.0 cal kyr BP and 1.5-1.3 cal kyr BP. The mean annual temperature decreased in 1.5-2 °C and precipitation rose in 200 mm in compare to modern ones. During the last millennium the warming of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly and cooling of the Little Ice Age were clearly determined. This work was supported by RFBR grant 11-05-00557.

Oblique reconstructions in tomosynthesis. II. Super-resolution

PubMed Central

Acciavatti, Raymond J.; Maidment, Andrew D. A.

2013-01-01

Purpose: In tomosynthesis, super-resolution has been demonstrated using reconstruction planes parallel to the detector. Super-resolution allows for subpixel resolution relative to the detector. The purpose of this work is to develop an analytical model that generalizes super-resolution to oblique reconstruction planes. Methods: In a digital tomosynthesis system, a sinusoidal test object is modeled along oblique angles (i.e., “pitches”) relative to the plane of the detector in a 3D divergent-beam acquisition geometry. To investigate the potential for super-resolution, the input frequency is specified to be greater than the alias frequency of the detector. Reconstructions are evaluated in an oblique plane along the extent of the object using simple backprojection (SBP) and filtered backprojection (FBP). By comparing the amplitude of the reconstruction against the attenuation coefficient of the object at various frequencies, the modulation transfer function (MTF) is calculated to determine whether modulation is within detectable limits for super-resolution. For experimental validation of super-resolution, a goniometry stand was used to orient a bar pattern phantom along various pitches relative to the breast support in a commercial digital breast tomosynthesis system. Results: Using theoretical modeling, it is shown that a single projection image cannot resolve a sine input whose frequency exceeds the detector alias frequency. The high frequency input is correctly visualized in SBP or FBP reconstruction using a slice along the pitch of the object. The Fourier transform of this reconstructed slice is maximized at the input frequency as proof that the object is resolved. Consistent with the theoretical results, experimental images of a bar pattern phantom showed super-resolution in oblique reconstructions. At various pitches, the highest frequency with detectable modulation was determined by visual inspection of the bar patterns. The dependency of the highest detectable frequency on pitch followed the same trend as the analytical model. It was demonstrated that super-resolution is not achievable if the pitch of the object approaches 90°, corresponding to the case in which the test frequency is perpendicular to the breast support. Only low frequency objects are detectable at pitches close to 90°. Conclusions: This work provides a platform for investigating super-resolution in oblique reconstructions for tomosynthesis. In breast imaging, this study should have applications in visualizing microcalcifications and other subtle signs of cancer. PMID:24320445

Detect signals of interdecadal climate variations from an enhanced suite of reconstructed precipitation products since 1850 using the historical station data from Global Historical Climatology Network and the dynamical patterns derived from Global Precipitation Climatology Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S. S.

2015-12-01

This presentation describes the detection of interdecadal climate signals in a newly reconstructed precipitation data from 1850-present. Examples are on precipitation signatures of East Asian Monsoon (EAM), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillations (AMO). The new reconstruction dataset is an enhanced edition of a suite of global precipitation products reconstructed by Spectral Optimal Gridding of Precipitation Version 1.0 (SOGP 1.0). The maximum temporal coverage is 1850-present and the spatial coverage is quasi-global (75S, 75N). This enhanced version has three different temporal resolutions (5-day, monthly, and annual) and two different spatial resolutions (2.5 deg and 5.0 deg). It also has a friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI). SOGP uses a multivariate regression method using an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) expansion. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) precipitation data from 1981-20010 are used to calculate the EOFs. The Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) gridded data are used to calculate the regression coefficients for reconstructions. The sampling errors of the reconstruction are analyzed according to the number of EOF modes used in the reconstruction. Our reconstructed 1900-2011 time series of the global average annual precipitation shows a 0.024 (mm/day)/100a trend, which is very close to the trend derived from the mean of 25 models of the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5). Our reconstruction has been validated by GPCP data after 1979. Our reconstruction successfully displays the 1877 El Nino (see the attached figure), which is considered a validation before 1900. Our precipitation products are publically available online, including digital data, precipitation animations, computer codes, readme files, and the user manual. This work is a joint effort of San Diego State University (Sam Shen, Gregori Clarke, Christian Junjinger, Nancy Tafolla, Barbara Sperberg, and Melanie Thorn), UCLA (Yongkang Xue), and University of Maryland (Tom Smith and Phil Arkin) and supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Awards No. AGS-1419256 and AGS-1015957).

A suite of global reconstructed precipitation products and their error estimate by multivariate regression using empirical orthogonal functions: 1850-present

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S. S.

2014-12-01

This presentation describes a suite of global precipitation products reconstructed by a multivariate regression method using an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) expansion. The sampling errors of the reconstruction are estimated for each product datum entry. The maximum temporal coverage is 1850-present and the spatial coverage is quasi-global (75S, 75N). The temporal resolution ranges from 5-day, monthly, to seasonal and annual. The Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) precipitation data from 1979-2008 are used to calculate the EOFs. The Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) gridded data are used to calculate the regression coefficients for reconstructions. The sampling errors of the reconstruction are analyzed in detail for different EOF modes. Our reconstructed 1900-2011 time series of the global average annual precipitation shows a 0.024 (mm/day)/100a trend, which is very close to the trend derived from the mean of 25 models of the CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5). Our reconstruction examples of 1983 El Niño precipitation and 1917 La Niña precipitation (Figure 1) demonstrate that the El Niño and La Niña precipitation patterns are well reflected in the first two EOFs. The validation of our reconstruction results with GPCP makes it possible to use the reconstruction as the benchmark data for climate models. This will help the climate modeling community to improve model precipitation mechanisms and reduce the systematic difference between observed global precipitation, which hovers at around 2.7 mm/day for reconstructions and GPCP, and model precipitations, which have a range of 2.6-3.3 mm/day for CMIP5. Our precipitation products are publically available online, including digital data, precipitation animations, computer codes, readme files, and the user manual. This work is a joint effort between San Diego State University (Sam Shen, Nancy Tafolla, Barbara Sperberg, and Melanie Thorn) and University of Maryland (Phil Arkin, Tom Smith, Li Ren, and Li Dai) and supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Awards No. AGS-1015926 and AGS-1015957).

Insights into accumulation variability over the last 2000 years at James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massam, A.; Mulvaney, R.; McConnell, J.; Abram, N.; Arienzo, M. M.; Whitehouse, P. L.

2016-12-01

The James Ross Island ice core, drilled to 364 m on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, preserves a climate record that spans beyond the Holocene period to the end of the last glacial maximum (LGM). Reanalysis of the ice core using high-resolution continuous flow analysis (CFA) highlighted errors in the identification of events of known age that had been used to constrain the earlier chronology. The new JRI2 chronology is annual layer counted to 300 years, with the remaining profile reconstructed using a new age-depth model that is tied to age horizons identified in the annual-layer counted WAIS Divide ice core record. An accurate age-depth profile requires reliable known-age horizons along the ice core profile. In addition, these allow us to determine a solution for the accumulation history and rate of compaction due to vertical strain. The accuracy of the known-age constraints used in JRI2 allows only a small uncertainty in the reconstruction of the most recent 2000 years of accumulation variability. Independently, the surface temperature profile has been estimated from the stable water isotope profile and calibrated to borehole temperature observations. We present the accumulation, vertical thinning and temperature history interpreted from the James Ross Island ice core for the most recent 2000 years. JRI2 reconstructions show accumulation variability on a decadal to centennial timescale up to 20% from the present-day mean annual accumulation rate of 0.63 m yr-1. Analysis of the accumulation profile for James Ross Island offers insight into the sensitivity of accumulation to a change in surface temperature, as well as the reliability of the assumed relationship between accumulation and surface temperature in climate reconstructions using stable water isotope proxies.

Light-field camera-based 3D volumetric particle image velocimetry with dense ray tracing reconstruction technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Shengxian; Ding, Junfei; New, T. H.; Soria, Julio

2017-07-01

This paper presents a dense ray tracing reconstruction technique for a single light-field camera-based particle image velocimetry. The new approach pre-determines the location of a particle through inverse dense ray tracing and reconstructs the voxel value using multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (MART). Simulation studies were undertaken to identify the effects of iteration number, relaxation factor, particle density, voxel-pixel ratio and the effect of the velocity gradient on the performance of the proposed dense ray tracing-based MART method (DRT-MART). The results demonstrate that the DRT-MART method achieves higher reconstruction resolution at significantly better computational efficiency than the MART method (4-50 times faster). Both DRT-MART and MART approaches were applied to measure the velocity field of a low speed jet flow which revealed that for the same computational cost, the DRT-MART method accurately resolves the jet velocity field with improved precision, especially for the velocity component along the depth direction.

Understanding reconstructed Dante spectra using high resolution spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

May, M. J., E-mail: may13@llnl.gov; Widmann, K.; Kemp, G. E.

2016-11-15

The Dante is an 18 channel filtered diode array used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to measure the spectrally and temporally resolved radiation flux between 50 eV and 20 keV from various targets. The absolute flux is determined from the radiometric calibration of the x-ray diodes, filters, and mirrors and a reconstruction algorithm applied to the recorded voltages from each channel. The reconstructed spectra are very low resolution with features consistent with the instrument response and are not necessarily consistent with the spectral emission features from the plasma. Errors may exist between the reconstructed spectra and the actual emissionmore » features due to assumptions in the algorithm. Recently, a high resolution convex crystal spectrometer, VIRGIL, has been installed at NIF with the same line of sight as the Dante. Spectra from L-shell Ag and Xe have been recorded by both VIRGIL and Dante. Comparisons of these two spectroscopic measurements yield insights into the accuracy of the Dante reconstructions.« less

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations reconstruction with pixels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Obuljen, Andrej; Villaescusa-Navarro, Francisco; Castorina, Emanuele

2017-09-01

Gravitational non-linear evolution induces a shift in the position of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) peak together with a damping and broadening of its shape that bias and degrades the accuracy with which the position of the peak can be determined. BAO reconstruction is a technique developed to undo part of the effect of non-linearities. We present and analyse a reconstruction method that consists of displacing pixels instead of galaxies and whose implementation is easier than the standard reconstruction method. We show that this method is equivalent to the standard reconstruction technique in the limit where the number of pixelsmore » becomes very large. This method is particularly useful in surveys where individual galaxies are not resolved, as in 21cm intensity mapping observations. We validate this method by reconstructing mock pixelated maps, that we build from the distribution of matter and halos in real- and redshift-space, from a large set of numerical simulations. We find that this method is able to decrease the uncertainty in the BAO peak position by 30-50% over the typical angular resolution scales of 21 cm intensity mapping experiments.« less

The role of dendrochronology in natural resource management

Treesearch

Ramzi Touchan; Malcolm Hughes

2000-01-01

The discipline of dendrochronology, that is, development and use of time series of annual growth rings of trees, is a set of techniques by which the annual growth layers of trees may be assigned to definite calendar years. The history of changes in the trees’ environment may be reconstructed using various properties of tree rings. In this paper we will discuss how tree...

Topographic profiling and refractive-index analysis by use of differential interference contrast with bright-field intensity and atomic force imaging.

PubMed

Axelrod, Noel; Radko, Anna; Lewis, Aaron; Ben-Yosef, Nissim

2004-04-10

A methodology is described for phase restoration of an object function from differential interference contrast (DIC) images. The methodology involves collecting a set of DIC images in the same plane with different bias retardation between the two illuminating light components produced by a Wollaston prism. These images, together with one conventional bright-field image, allows for reduction of the phase deconvolution restoration problem from a highly complex nonlinear mathematical formulation to a set of linear equations that can be applied to resolve the phase for images with a relatively large number of pixels. Additionally, under certain conditions, an on-line atomic force imaging system that does not interfere with the standard DIC illumination modes resolves uncertainties in large topographical variations that generally lead to a basic problem in DIC imaging, i.e., phase unwrapping. Furthermore, the availability of confocal detection allows for a three-dimensional reconstruction with high accuracy of the refractive-index measurement of the object that is to be imaged. This has been applied to reconstruction of the refractive index of an arrayed waveguide in a region in which a defect in the sample is present. The results of this paper highlight the synergism of far-field microscopies integrated with scanned probe microscopies and restoration algorithms for phase reconstruction.

Examining the utility of categorical models and alleviating artifacts in phylogenetic reconstruction of the Squamata (Reptilia).

PubMed

Douglas, D A; Arnason, U

2009-09-01

Reconstruction artifacts are a serious hindrance to the elucidation of phylogenetic relationships and a number of methods have been devised to alleviate them. Previous studies have demonstrated a striking disparity in the evolutionary rates of the mitochondrial (mt) genomes of squamate reptiles (lizards, worm lizards and snakes) and the reconstruction artifacts that may arise from this. Here, to examine basal squamate relationships, we have added the mt genome of the blind skink Dibamus novaeguineae to the mitogenomic dataset and applied different models for resolving the squamate tree. Categorical models were found to be less susceptible to artifacts than were the commonly used noncategorical phylogenetic models GTR and mtREV. The application of different treatments to the data showed that the removal of the fastest evolving sites in snakes improved phylogenetic signal in the dataset. Basal divergences remained, nevertheless, poorly resolved. The proportion of both fast-evolving and conserved sites in the squamate mt genomes relative to sites with intermediate rates of evolution suggests rapid early divergences among squamate taxa and at least partly explains the short internal relative to external branches in the squamate tree. Thus, mt and nuclear trees may never reach full agreement because of the short branches characterizing these divergences.

Retrieval of the atomic displacements in the crystal from the coherent X-ray diffraction pattern.

PubMed

Minkevich, A A; Köhl, M; Escoubas, S; Thomas, O; Baumbach, T

2014-07-01

The retrieval of spatially resolved atomic displacements is investigated via the phases of the direct(real)-space image reconstructed from the strained crystal's coherent X-ray diffraction pattern. It is demonstrated that limiting the spatial variation of the first- and second-order spatial displacement derivatives improves convergence of the iterative phase-retrieval algorithm for displacements reconstructions to the true solution. This approach is exploited to retrieve the displacement in a periodic array of silicon lines isolated by silicon dioxide filled trenches.

Influence of Land Development on Holocene Porites Coral Calcification at Nagura Bay, Ishigaki Island, Japan

PubMed Central

Sowa, Kohki; Watanabe, Tsuyoshi; Kan, Hironobu; Yamano, Hiroya

2014-01-01

To evaluate the relationships between coral calcification, thermal stress, and sedimentation and eutrophication linked to human impact (hereafter referred to as “land development”) by river discharge, we analyzed growth characteristics in the context of a paleoenvironment that was reconstructed from geochemical signals in modern and fossil (1.2 cal kyr BP and 3.5 cal kyr BP, respectively) massive Porites corals from Nagura Bay (“Nagura”) and from modern Porites corals from the estuary of the Todoroki River, Shiraho Reef (“Todoroki”). Both sites are on Ishigaki Island, Japan, and Nagura is located approximately 12 km west of Todoroki. At Nagura, the individual corals provide time windows of 13 (modern), 10 (1.2 cal kyr BP), and 38 yr in length (3.5 cal kyr BP). Here, we present the coral annual calcification for Nagura and Todoroki, and (bi) monthly resolved records of Sr/Ca (a proxy of sea surface temperature (SST)) and Ba/Ca (a proxy of sedimentation and nutrients related to land development) for Nagura. At Nagura, the winter SST was cooler by 2.8°C in the 1.2 cal kyr BP, and the annual and winter SSTs in the 3.5 cal kyr BP were cooler by 2.6°C and 4.6°C, respectively. The annual periodicity of Ba/Ca in modern coral is linked to river discharge and is associated with land development including sugar cane cultivation. Modern coral calcification also has declined with SST warming and increasing Ba/Ca peaks in winter. However, calcification of fossil corals does not appear to have been influenced by variations in Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca. Modern coral growth characteristics at Nagura and Todoroki indicate that coral growth is both spatially and temporally influenced by river discharge and land development. At Nagura, our findings suggest that land development induces negative thermal sensitivity for calcification in winter due to sugar cane harvest, which is a specifically modern phenomenon. PMID:24586393

INVERTING CASCADE IMPACTOR DATA FOR SIZE-RESOLVED CHARACTERIZATION OF FINE PARTICULATE SOURCE EMISSIONS

EPA Science Inventory

Cascade impactors are particularly useful in determining the mass size distributions of particulate and individual chemical species. The impactor raw data must be inverted to reconstruct a continuous particle size distribution. An inversion method using a lognormal function for p...

Transition mechanism of sH to filled-ice Ih structure of methane hydrate under fixed pressure condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadobayashi, H.; Hirai, H.; Ohfuji, H.; Kojima, Y.; Ohishi, Y.; Hirao, N.; Ohtake, M.; Yamamoto, Y.

2017-10-01

The phase transition mechanism of methane hydrate from sH to filled-ice Ih structure was examined using a combination of time-resolved X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy in conjunction with charge-coupled device (CCD) camera observation under fixed pressure conditions. Prior to time-resolved Raman experiments, the typical C-H vibration modes and their pressure dependence of three methane hydrate structures, fluid methane and solid methane were measured using Raman spectroscopy to distinguish the phase transitions of methane hydrates from decomposition to solid methane and ice VI or VII. Experimental results by XRD, Raman spectroscopy and CCD camera observation revealed that the structural transition of sH to filled-ice Ih occurs through a collapse of the sH framework followed by the release of fluid methane that is then gradually incorporated into the filled-ice Ih to reconstruct its structure. These observations suggest that the phase transition of sH to filled-ice Ih takes place by a typical reconstructive mechanism.

Theoretical and experimental study on near infrared time-resolved optical diffuse tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Huijuan; Gao, Feng; Tanikawa, Yukari; Yamada, Yukio

2006-08-01

Parts of the works of our group in the past five years on near infrared time-resolved (TR) optical tomography are summarized in this paper. The image reconstruction algorithm is based on Newton Raphson scheme with a datatype R generated from modified Generalized Pulse Spectrum Technique. Firstly, the algorithm is evaluated with simulated data from a 2-D model and the datatype R is compared with other popularly used datatypes. In this second part of the paper, the in vitro and in vivo NIR DOT imaging on a chicken leg and a human forearm, respectively are presented for evaluating both the image reconstruction algorithm and the TR measurement system. The third part of this paper is about the differential pathlength factor of human head while monitoring head activity with NIRS and applying the modified Lambert-Beer law. Benefiting from the TR system, the measured DPF maps of the three import areas of human head are presented in this paper.

Single-spin stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy

PubMed Central

Pfender, Matthias; Aslam, Nabeel; Waldherr, Gerald; Neumann, Philipp; Wrachtrup, Jörg

2014-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate precision addressing of single-quantum emitters by combined optical microscopy and spin resonance techniques. To this end, we use nitrogen vacancy (NV) color centers in diamond confined within a few ten nanometers as individually resolvable quantum systems. By developing a stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) technique for NV centers, we are able to simultaneously perform sub–diffraction-limit imaging and optically detected spin resonance (ODMR) measurements on NV spins. This allows the assignment of spin resonance spectra to individual NV center locations with nanometer-scale resolution and thus further improves spatial discrimination. For example, we resolved formerly indistinguishable emitters by their spectra. Furthermore, ODMR spectra contain metrology information allowing for sub–diffraction-limit sensing of, for instance, magnetic or electric fields with inherently parallel data acquisition. As an example, we have detected nuclear spins with nanometer-scale precision. Finally, we give prospects of how this technique can evolve into a fully parallel quantum sensor for nanometer resolution imaging of delocalized quantum correlations. PMID:25267655

Digital x-ray tomosynthesis with interpolated projection data for thin slab objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ha, S.; Yun, J.; Kim, H. K.

2017-11-01

In relation with a thin slab-object inspection, we propose a digital tomosynthesis reconstruction with fewer numbers of measured projections in combinations with additional virtual projections, which are produced by interpolating the measured projections. Hence we can reconstruct tomographic images with less few-view artifacts. The projection interpolation assumes that variations in cone-beam ray path-lengths through an object are negligible and the object is rigid. The interpolation is performed in the projection-space domain. Pixel values in the interpolated projection are the weighted sum of pixel values of the measured projections considering their projection angles. The experimental simulation shows that the proposed method can enhance the contrast-to-noise performance in reconstructed images while sacrificing the spatial resolving power.

Source Plane Reconstruction of the Bright Lensed Galaxy RCSGA 032727-132609

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharon, Keren; Gladders, Michael D.; Rigby, Jane R.; Wuyts, Eva; Koester, Benjamin P.; Bayliss, Matthew B.; Barrientos, L. Felipe

2011-01-01

We present new HST/WFC3 imaging data of RCS2 032727-132609, a bright lensed galaxy at z=1.7 that is magnified and stretched by the lensing cluster RCS2 032727-132623. Using this new high-resolution imaging, we modify our previous lens model (which was based on ground-based data) to fully understand the lensing geometry, and use it to reconstruct the lensed galaxy in the source plane. This giant arc represents a unique opportunity to peer into 100-pc scale structures in a high redshift galaxy. This new source reconstruction will be crucial for a future analysis of the spatially-resolved rest-UV and rest-optical spectra of the brightest parts of the arc.

Data-processing strategies for nano-tomography with elemental specification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yijin; Cats, Korneel H.; Nelson Weker, Johanna; Andrews, Joy C.; Weckhuysen, Bert M.; Pianetta, Piero

2013-10-01

Combining the energy tunability provided by synchrotron X-ray sources with transmission X-ray microscopy, the morphology of materials can be resolved in 3D at spatial resolution down to 30 nm with elemental/chemical specification. In order to study the energy dependence of the absorption coefficient over the investigated volume, the tomographic reconstruction and image registration (before and/or after the tomographic reconstruction) are critical. We show in this paper the comparison of two different data processing strategies and conclude that the signal to noise ratio (S/N) in the final result can be improved via performing tomographic reconstruction prior to the evaluation of energy dependence. Our result echoes the dose fractionation theorem, and is particularly helpful when the element of interest has low concentration.

Long-term solar UV radiation reconstructed by ANN modelling with emphasis on spatial characteristics of input data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feister, U.; Junk, J.; Woldt, M.; Bais, A.; Helbig, A.; Janouch, M.; Josefsson, W.; Kazantzidis, A.; Lindfors, A.; den Outer, P. N.; Slaper, H.

2008-06-01

Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) are efficient tools to derive solar UV radiation from measured meteorological parameters such as global radiation, aerosol optical depths and atmospheric column ozone. The ANN model has been tested with different combinations of data from the two sites Potsdam and Lindenberg, and used to reconstruct solar UV radiation at eight European sites by more than 100 years into the past. Special emphasis will be given to the discussion of small-scale characteristics of input data to the ANN model. Annual totals of UV radiation derived from reconstructed daily UV values reflect interannual variations and long-term patterns that are compatible with variabilities and changes of measured input data, in particular global dimming by about 1980/1990, subsequent global brightening, volcanic eruption effects such as that of Mt. Pinatubo, and the long-term ozone decline since the 1970s. Patterns of annual erythemal UV radiation are very similar at sites located at latitudes close to each other, but different patterns occur between UV radiation at sites in different latitude regions.

Reconstruction of late Holocene climate based on tree growth and mechanistic hierarchical models

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tipton, John; Hooten, Mevin B.; Pederson, Neil; Tingley, Martin; Bishop, Daniel

2016-01-01

Reconstruction of pre-instrumental, late Holocene climate is important for understanding how climate has changed in the past and how climate might change in the future. Statistical prediction of paleoclimate from tree ring widths is challenging because tree ring widths are a one-dimensional summary of annual growth that represents a multi-dimensional set of climatic and biotic influences. We develop a Bayesian hierarchical framework using a nonlinear, biologically motivated tree ring growth model to jointly reconstruct temperature and precipitation in the Hudson Valley, New York. Using a common growth function to describe the response of a tree to climate, we allow for species-specific parameterizations of the growth response. To enable predictive backcasts, we model the climate variables with a vector autoregressive process on an annual timescale coupled with a multivariate conditional autoregressive process that accounts for temporal correlation and cross-correlation between temperature and precipitation on a monthly scale. Our multi-scale temporal model allows for flexibility in the climate response through time at different temporal scales and predicts reasonable climate scenarios given tree ring width data.

Space climate and space weather over the past 400 years: 2. Proxy indicators of geomagnetic storm and substorm occurrence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lockwood, Mike; Owens, Mathew J.; Barnard, Luke A.; Scott, Chris J.; Watt, Clare E.; Bentley, Sarah

2018-02-01

Using the reconstruction of power input to the magnetosphere presented in Paper 1 Lockwood et al. [J Space Weather Space Clim 7 (2017a)], we reconstruct annual means of the geomagnetic Ap and AE indices over the past 400 years to within a 1-sigma error of ±20%. In addition, we study the behaviour of the lognormal distribution of daily and hourly values about these annual means and show that we can also reconstruct the fraction of geomagnetically-active (storm-like) days and (substorm-like) hours in each year to accuracies of to accuracies of 50%, including the large percentage uncertainties in near-zero values. The results are the first physics-based quantification of the space weather conditions in both the Dalton and Maunder minima. Looking to the future, the weakening of Earth's magnetic moment means that the terrestrial disturbance levels during a future repeats of the solar Dalton and Maunder minima will be weaker and we here quantify this effect for the first time.

Recent Advances in 3D Time-Resolved Contrast-Enhanced MR Angiography

PubMed Central

Riederer, Stephen J.; Haider, Clifton R.; Borisch, Eric A.; Weavers, Paul T.; Young, Phillip M.

2015-01-01

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) was first introduced for clinical studies approximately 20 years ago. Early work provided 3 to 4 mm spatial resolution with acquisition times in the 30 sec range. Since that time there has been continuing effort to provide improved spatial resolution with reduced acquisition time, allowing high resolution three-dimensional (3D) time-resolved studies. The purpose of this work is to describe how this has been accomplished. Specific technical enablers have been: improved gradients allowing reduced repetition times, improved k-space sampling and reconstruction methods, parallel acquisition particularly in two directions, and improved and higher count receiver coil arrays. These have collectively made high resolution time-resolved studies readily available for many anatomic regions. Depending on the application, approximate 1 mm isotropic resolution is now possible with frame times of several seconds. Clinical applications of time-resolved CE-MRA are briefly reviewed. PMID:26032598

X-ray tomography system to investigate granular materials during mechanical loading

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Athanassiadis, Athanasios G.; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; La Rivière, Patrick J.

2014-08-15

We integrate a small and portable medical x-ray device with mechanical testing equipment to enable in situ, non-invasive measurements of a granular material's response to mechanical loading. We employ an orthopedic C-arm as the x-ray source and detector to image samples mounted in the materials tester. We discuss the design of a custom rotation stage, which allows for sample rotation and tomographic reconstruction under applied compressive stress. We then discuss the calibration of the system for 3D computed tomography, as well as the subsequent image reconstruction process. Using this system to reconstruct packings of 3D-printed particles, we resolve packing featuresmore » with 0.52 mm resolution in a (60 mm){sup 3} field of view. By analyzing the performance bounds of the system, we demonstrate that the reconstructions exhibit only moderate noise.« less

Hydrological drought in southeast Australia over the last five centuries: new insights from a multi-archive palaeoclimate streamflow reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henley, B.; Peel, M. C.; Nathan, R.; Karoly, D. J.

2017-12-01

South-eastern Australia experienced one of the most intense and prolonged droughts in the observed record over the period 1997-2009, widely termed the Millennium drought. Water managers are faced with major challenges in understanding this drought and preparing for future variability and change. In this study, we use a newly collated network of annual resolution palaeoclimate data, a novel reconstruction methodology and rigorous treatment of uncertainties to reconstruct water supply system inflows in a critical water supply catchment in southern Australia. Our new reconstruction allows us to investigate the intensity, frequency and duration of severe hydrological drought several centuries into the past, and to integrate knowledge from instrumental and palaeoclimate data.

A modern pollen-climate dataset from the Darjeeling area, eastern Himalaya: Assessing its potential for past climate reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, Ruby; Bruch, Angela A.; Portmann, Felix; Bera, Subir; Paruya, Dipak Kumar; Morthekai, P.; Ali, Sheikh Nawaz

2017-10-01

Relying on the ability of pollen assemblages to differentiate among elevationally stratified vegetation zones, we assess the potential of a modern pollen-climate dataset from the Darjeeling area, eastern Himalaya, in past climate reconstructions. The dataset includes 73 surface samples from 25 sites collected from a c. 130-3600 m a.s.l. elevation gradient along a horizontal distance of c. 150 km and 124 terrestrial pollen taxa, which are analysed with respect to various climatic and environmental variables such as mean annual temperature (MAT), mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean temperature of coldest quarter (MTCQ), mean temperature of warmest quarter (MTWQ), mean precipitation of driest quarter (MPDQ), mean precipitation of wettest quarter (MPWQ), AET (actual evapotranspiration) and MI (moisture index). To check the reliability of the modern pollen-climate relationships different ordination methods are employed and subsequently tested with Huisman-Olff-Fresco (HOF) models. A series of pollen-climate parameter transfer functions using weighted-averaging regression and calibration partial least squares (WA-PLS) models are developed to reconstruct past climate changes from modern pollen data, and have been cross-validated. Results indicate that three of the environmental variables i.e., MTCQ, MPDQ and MI have strong potential for past climate reconstruction based on the available surface pollen dataset. The potential of the present modern pollen-climate relationship for regional quantitative paleoclimate reconstruction is further tested on a Late Quaternary fossil pollen profile from the Darjeeling foothill region with previously reconstructed and quantified climate. The good agreement with existing data allows for new insights in the hydroclimatic conditions during the Last glacial maxima (LGM) with (winter) temperature being the dominant controlling factor for glacial changes during the LGM in the eastern Himalaya.

Teleconnection stationarity, variability and trends of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) during the last millennium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dätwyler, Christoph; Neukom, Raphael; Abram, Nerilie J.; Gallant, Ailie J. E.; Grosjean, Martin; Jacques-Coper, Martín; Karoly, David J.; Villalba, Ricardo

2017-11-01

The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) is the leading mode of atmospheric interannual variability in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) extra-tropics. Here, we assess the stationarity of SAM spatial correlations with instrumental and paleoclimate proxy data for the past millennium. The instrumental period shows that temporal non-stationarities in SAM teleconnections are not consistent across the SH land areas. This suggests that the influence of the SAM index is modulated by regional effects. However, within key-regions with good proxy data coverage (South America, Tasmania, New Zealand), teleconnections are mostly stationary over the instrumental period. Using different stationarity criteria for proxy record selection, we provide new austral summer and annual mean SAM index reconstructions over the last millennium. Our summer SAM reconstructions are very robust to changes in proxy record selection and the selection of the calibration period, particularly on the multi-decadal timescale. In contrast, the weaker performance and lower agreement in the annual mean SAM reconstructions point towards changing teleconnection patterns that may be particularly important outside the summer months. Our results clearly portend that the temporal stationarity of the proxy-climate relationships should be taken into account in the design of comprehensive regional and hemispherical climate reconstructions. The summer SAM reconstructions show no significant relationship to solar, greenhouse gas and volcanic forcing, with the exception of an extremely strong negative anomaly following the AD 1257 Samalas eruption. Furthermore, reconstructed pre-industrial summer SAM trends are very similar to trends obtained by model control simulations. We find that recent trends in the summer SAM lie outside the 5-95% range of pre-industrial natural variability.

Tree-Ring Reconstruction of Wet Season Rainfall Totals in the Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahle, D. W.; Lopez, L.; Granato-Souza, D.; Barbosa, A. C. M. C.; Torbenson, M.; Villalba, R.; Pereira, G. D. A.; Feng, S.; Schongart, J.; Cook, E. R.

2017-12-01

The Amazon Basin is a globally important center of deep atmospheric convection, energy balance, and biodiversity, but only a handful of weather stations in this vast Basin have recorded rainfall measurements for at least 50 years. The available rainfall and river level observations suggest that the hydrologic cycle in the Amazon may have become amplified in the last 40-years, with more extreme rainfall and streamflow seasonality, deeper droughts, and more severe flooding. These changes in the largest hydrological system on earth may be early evidence of the expected consequences of anthropogenic climate change and deforestation in the coming century. Placing these observed and simulated changes in the context of natural climate variability during the late Holocene is a significant challenge for high-resolution paleoclimatology. We have developed exactly dated and well-replicated annual tree-ring chronologies from two native Amazonian tree species (Cedrela sp and Centrolobium microchaete). These moisture sensitive chronologies have been used to compute two reconstructions of wet season rainfall totals, one in the southern Amazon based on Centrolobium and another in the eastern equatorial Amazon using Cedrela. Both reconstructions are over 200-years long and extend the available instrumental observations in each region by over 150-years. These reconstructions are well correlated with the same regional and large-scale climate dynamics that govern the inter-annual variability of the instrumental wet season rainfall totals. Increased multi-decadal variability is reconstructed after 1950 with the Centrolobium chronologies in the southern Amazon. The Cedrela reconstruction from the eastern Amazon exhibits changes in the spatial pattern of correlation with regional rainfall stations and the large-scale sea surface temperature field after 1990 that may be consistent with recent changes in the mean position of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone in March over the western Atlantic and South American sector.

A 3056-year tree-ring based annual precipitation reconstruction from southern Qaidam Basin, Qinghai, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, H.; Xuemei, S.; Yin, Z. Y.; LI, M.

2017-12-01

Past climate is desired for understanding the forcing of climatic changes, for evaluating present conditions in the long-term context of the past, and for the basis of projecting future climate scenarios. By using tree-ring data, temperature, precipitation, streamflow, and drought history have been reconstructed back to hundreds or even thousands of years. In China, many dendroclimatological studies have focused on west China, particularly in the environmental sensitive Tibetan Plateau. For example, several millennial-long climatic reconstructions for northeast and east Qaidam basin have been published, and got many new achievements. Whereas, there are few samples collected from the dry area in the south. In this study, we developed a new tree ring-width chronology (from 1403 BC to AD 2015) using samples from eight stands in the southeast of Qaidam basin near Nuomuhong. Response analysis showed significant positive correlations with monthly precipitation in July and September of the previous year, May and June of the current year. Statistically, the chronology was appropriate for reconstructing the annual precipitation of July-June from 1040 BC to AD 2015, and explains 45.5% of variance contained in the instrumental date for the calibration periods 1957-2015. In the past 3056 years of reconstruction, the precipitation has experienced 14 wetter periods and 13 drier ones, and the precipitation increased obviously in 20th century. Meanwhile, wavelet analysis shows that there are 2-3, 3-8 and 11 year cycles of variability, which may be associated with ENSO and solar activity. We expect that our reconstruction will improve the understanding of precipitation variation in millennial scale on the southern Qaidam basin.

Beyond the Empirical Tradition: Reconstructing Educational Inquiry. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society (30th, Boone, North Carolina, October 18-19, 1985).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craver, Samuel M., Ed.

The following papers (with authors and respondents) were presented at the annual conference of the South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society: (1) "Education as a Liberal Field of Study" (Walter Feinberg) Respondent--Eric Bredo; (2) "The Meaning of Foundations: An Alternative Paradigm for Assessing the Effects of Foundational…

Interannual variation in seasonal diatom dynamics - what information is preserved in an annual sediment record?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maier, D. B.; Bigler, C.; Diehl, S.

2017-12-01

Diatom sediment assemblages are among the most important proxies for past climate and ecological condition reconstruction in aquatic environments, but the role of seasonality in the formation of diatom records is poorly understood. In this study we combine the diatom record of a varved sediment with year-round physico-chemical water column monitoring and the corresponding sequential sediment trap diatom record to disentangle the process information contained in a diatom sediment signal. The comparison of three consecutive annual diatom records indicates that the entire annual diatom sediment signal can be driven by winter air temperature induced timing of ice and snow melt and persistent under-ice stratification promoting an early diatom bloom under ice before spring lake over-turn. By contrast, in a year of late ice thinning when the chlorophyll a maximum occurred after spring lake over-turn, a more annually integrated diatom sediment signal was built buy a continuous diatom flux. The contrasting diatom records produced during years of different winter conditions have important implications for diatom based paleoecological reconstructions. Decadal records of sediment trap samples as well as long-term varved sediment records provide further support for the role of late winter and early spring weather conditions in determining sediment diatom assemblages.

Clinical performance of a free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast-enhanced pediatric abdominal MR angiography

PubMed Central

Yousaf, Ufra; Hsiao, Albert; Cheng, Joseph Y.; Alley, Marcus T.; Lustig, Michael; Pauly, John M.; Vasanawala, Shreyas S.

2015-01-01

Background Pediatric contrast-enhanced MR angiography is often limited by respiration, other patient motion and compromised spatiotemporal resolution. Objective To determine the reliability of a free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast enhanced MR angiography method for depicting abdominal arterial anatomy in young children. Materials and methods With IRB approval and informed consent, we retrospectively identified 27 consecutive children (16 males and 11 females; mean age: 3.8 years, range: 14 days to 8.4 years) referred for contrast enhanced MR angiography at our institution, who had undergone free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated time-resolved contrast enhanced MR angiography studies. An radio-frequency-spoiled gradient echo sequence with Cartesian variable density k-space sampling and radial view ordering, intrinsic motion navigation and intermittent fat suppression was developed. Images were reconstructed with soft-gated parallel imaging locally low-rank method to achieve both motion correction and high spatiotemporal resolution. Quality of delineation of 13 abdominal arteries in the reconstructed images was assessed independently by two radiologists on a five-point scale. Ninety-five percent confidence intervals of the proportion of diagnostically adequate cases were calculated. Interobserver agreements were also analyzed. Results Eleven out of 13 arteries achieved acceptable image quality (mean score range: 3.9–5.0) for both readers. Fair to substantial interobserver agreement was reached on nine arteries. Conclusion Free-breathing spatiotemporally accelerated 3-D time-resolved contrast enhanced MR angiography frequently yields diagnostic image quality for most abdominal arteries for pediatric contrast enhanced MR angiography. PMID:26040509

Resolving z ~2 galaxy using adaptive coadded source plane reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Soniya; Richard, Johan; Kewley, Lisa; Yuan, Tiantian

2018-06-01

Natural magnification provided by gravitational lensing coupled with Integral field spectrographic observations (IFS) and adaptive optics (AO) imaging techniques have become the frontier of spatially resolved studies of high redshift galaxies (z>1). Mass models of gravitational lenses hold the key for understanding the spatially resolved source–plane (unlensed) physical properties of the background lensed galaxies. Lensing mass models very sensitively control the accuracy and precision of source-plane reconstructions of the observed lensed arcs. Effective source-plane resolution defined by image-plane (observed) point spread function (PSF) makes it challenging to recover the unlensed (source-plane) surface brightness distribution.We conduct a detailed study to recover the source-plane physical properties of z=2 lensed galaxy using spatially resolved observations from two different multiple images of the lensed target. To deal with PSF’s from two data sets on different multiple images of the galaxy, we employ a forward (Source to Image) approach to merge these independent observations. Using our novel technique, we are able to present a detailed analysis of the source-plane dynamics at scales much better than previously attainable through traditional image inversion methods. Moreover, our technique is adapted to magnification, thus allowing us to achieve higher resolution in highly magnified regions of the source. We find that this lensed system is highly evident of a minor merger. In my talk, I present this case study of z=2 lensed galaxy and also discuss the applications of our algorithm to study plethora of lensed systems, which will be available through future telescopes like JWST and GMT.

Wood Anatomy and Insect Defoliator Systems: Is there an anatomical response to sustained feeding by the western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis) on Douglas-fir (Pseudotusga menziesii)?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Axelson, Jodi; Gärtner, Holger; Alfaro, René; Smith, Dan

2013-04-01

The western spruce budworm (Choristoneura occidentalis Freeman) is the most widespread and destructive defoliator of coniferous forests in western North America, and has a long-term coexistence with its primary host tree, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii Franco). Western spruce budworm (WSB) outbreaks usually last for several years, and cause reductions in annual growth, stem defects, and regeneration delays. In British Columbia, the WSB is the second most damaging insect after the mountain pine beetle, and sustained and/or severe defoliation can result in the mortality of host trees. Numerous studies have used tree rings to reconstruct WSB outbreaks across long temporal scales, to evaluate losses in stand productivity, and examine isotope ratios. Although some studies have looked at the impacts of artificial defoliation on balsam fir in eastern North America, there has been no prior research on how WSB outbreaks affect the anatomical structure of the stem as described by intra-annual wood density and potential cell size variations. The objective of this study was to anatomically examine the response of Douglas-fir to sustained WSB outbreaks in two regions of southern British Columbia. We hypothesize that the anatomical intra-annual characteristics of the tree rings, such as cell wall thickness, latewood cell size, and/or lumen area changes during sustained WSB outbreaks. To test this hypothesis we sampled four permanent sample plots in coastal and dry interior sites, which had annually resolved defoliation data collected over a 7-12 year period. At each site diameter-at-breast height (cm), height (m), and crown position were recorded and three increment cores were extracted from 25 trees. Increment cores were prepared to permit anatomical and x-ray density analyses. For each tree, a 15µm thick micro section was cut from the radial plane. Digital images of the micro sections were captured and processed. In each annual ring, features such as cell lumen area (µm2), cell wall thickness (µm), lumen diameter (µm), and total cell width (µm) were measured. Preliminary results indicate that earlywood parameters remain quite stable during WSB outbreak, while latewood parameters such as secondary cell wall thickness and cell length undergo step shifts at the beginning and end of outbreaks. These parameters, tree-level data, and annual defoliation data will further be tested to determine if changes in stem wood anatomy during WSB outbreaks were statistically significant.

Reconstructions of Soil Moisture for the Upper Colorado River Basin Using Tree-Ring Chronologies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tootle, G.; Anderson, S.; Grissino-Mayer, H.

2012-12-01

Soil moisture is an important factor in the global hydrologic cycle, but existing reconstructions of historic soil moisture are limited. Tree-ring chronologies (TRCs) were used to reconstruct annual soil moisture in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Gridded soil moisture data were spatially regionalized using principal components analysis and k-nearest neighbor techniques. Moisture sensitive tree-ring chronologies in and adjacent to the UCRB were correlated with regional soil moisture and tested for temporal stability. TRCs that were positively correlated and stable for the calibration period were retained. Stepwise linear regression was applied to identify the best predictor combinations for each soil moisture region. The regressions explained 42-78% of the variability in soil moisture data. We performed reconstructions for individual soil moisture grid cells to enhance understanding of the disparity in reconstructive skill across the regions. Reconstructions that used chronologies based on ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) and pinyon pines (Pinus edulis) explained increased variance in the datasets. Reconstructed soil moisture was standardized and compared with standardized reconstructed streamflow and snow water equivalent from the same region. Soil moisture reconstructions were highly correlated with streamflow and snow water equivalent reconstructions, indicating reconstructions of soil moisture in the UCRB using TRCs successfully represent hydrologic trends, including the identification of periods of prolonged drought.

40 CFR 1.27 - Offices of the Associate Administrators.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... establishes Agency policy, and approves annual plans and modifications for travel abroad and attendance at.... The Office initiates and conducts on-site field visits to study, analyze, and resolve problems of...

40 CFR 1.27 - Offices of the Associate Administrators.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... establishes Agency policy, and approves annual plans and modifications for travel abroad and attendance at.... The Office initiates and conducts on-site field visits to study, analyze, and resolve problems of...

40 CFR 1.27 - Offices of the Associate Administrators.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... establishes Agency policy, and approves annual plans and modifications for travel abroad and attendance at.... The Office initiates and conducts on-site field visits to study, analyze, and resolve problems of...

40 CFR 1.27 - Offices of the Associate Administrators.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... establishes Agency policy, and approves annual plans and modifications for travel abroad and attendance at.... The Office initiates and conducts on-site field visits to study, analyze, and resolve problems of...

Annually resolved ice core records of tropical climate variability over the past ~1800 years.

PubMed

Thompson, L G; Mosley-Thompson, E; Davis, M E; Zagorodnov, V S; Howat, I M; Mikhalenko, V N; Lin, P-N

2013-05-24

Ice cores from low latitudes can provide a wealth of unique information about past climate in the tropics, but they are difficult to recover and few exist. Here, we report annually resolved ice core records from the Quelccaya ice cap (5670 meters above sea level) in Peru that extend back ~1800 years and provide a high-resolution record of climate variability there. Oxygen isotopic ratios (δ(18)O) are linked to sea surface temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific, whereas concentrations of ammonium and nitrate document the dominant role played by the migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the region of the tropical Andes. Quelccaya continues to retreat and thin. Radiocarbon dates on wetland plants exposed along its retreating margins indicate that it has not been smaller for at least six millennia.

Low-resolution Australasian palaeoclimate records of the last 2000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixon, Bronwyn C.; Tyler, Jonathan J.; Lorrey, Andrew M.; Goodwin, Ian D.; Gergis, Joëlle; Drysdale, Russell N.

2017-10-01

Non-annually resolved palaeoclimate records in the Australasian region were compiled to facilitate investigations of decadal to centennial climate variability over the past 2000 years. A total of 675 lake and wetland, geomorphic, marine, and speleothem records were identified. The majority of records are located near population centres in southeast Australia, in New Zealand, and across the maritime continent, and there are few records from the arid regions of central and western Australia. Each record was assessed against a set of a priori criteria based on temporal resolution, record length, dating methods, and confidence in the proxy-climate relationship over the Common Era. A subset of 22 records met the criteria and were endorsed for subsequent analyses. Chronological uncertainty was the primary reason why records did not meet the selection criteria. New chronologies based on Bayesian techniques were constructed for the high-quality subset to ensure a consistent approach to age modelling and quantification of age uncertainties. The primary reasons for differences between published and reconstructed age-depth models were the consideration of the non-singular distribution of ages in calibrated 14C dates and the use of estimated autocorrelation between sampled depths as a constraint for changes in accumulation rate. Existing proxies and reconstruction techniques that successfully capture climate variability in the region show potential to address spatial gaps and expand the range of climate variables covering the last 2000 years in the Australasian region. Future palaeoclimate research and records in Australasia could be greatly improved through three main actions: (i) greater data availability through the public archiving of published records; (ii) thorough characterisation of proxy-climate relationships through site monitoring and climate sensitivity tests; and (iii) improvement of chronologies through core-top dating, inclusion of tephra layers where possible, and increased date density during the Common Era.

A comparison of the climates of the Medieval Climate Anomaly, Little Ice Age, and Current Warm Period reconstructed using coral records from the northern South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Wenfeng; Liu, Xi; Chen, Xuefei; Wei, Gangjian; Zeng, Ti; Xie, Luhua; Zhao, Jian-xin

2017-01-01

For the global oceans, the characteristics of high-resolution climate changes during the last millennium remain uncertain because of the limited availability of proxy data. This study reconstructs climate conditions using annually resolved coral records from the South China Sea (SCS) to provide new insights into climate change over the last millennium. The results indicate that the climate of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, AD 900-1300) was similar to that of the Current Warm Period (CWP, AD 1850-present), which contradicts previous studies. The similar warmth levels for the MCA and CWP have also been recorded in the Makassar Strait of Indonesia, which suggests that the MCA was not warmer than the CWP in the western Pacific and that this may not have been a globally uniform change. Hydrological conditions were drier/saltier during the MCA and similar to those of the CWP. The drier/saltier MCA and CWP in the western Pacific may be associated with the reduced precipitation caused by variations in the Pacific Walker Circulation. As for the Little Ice Age (LIA, AD 1550-1850), the results from this study, together with previous data from the Makassar Strait, indicate a cold and wet period compared with the CWP and the MCA in the western Pacific. The cold LIA period agrees with the timing of the Maunder sunspot minimum and is therefore associated with low solar activity. The fresher/wetter LIA in the western Pacific may have been caused by the synchronized retreat of both the East Asian Summer Monsoon and the Australian Monsoon.

Blue intensity and density from northern Fennoscandian tree rings, exploring the potential to improve summer temperature reconstructions with earlywood information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Björklund, J. A.; Gunnarson, B. E.; Seftigen, K.; Esper, J.; Linderholm, H. W.

2014-04-01

Here we explore two new tree-ring parameters, derived from measurements of wood density and blue intensity (BI). The new proxies show an increase in the interannual summer temperature signal compared to established proxies, and present the potential to improve long-term performance. At high latitudes, where tree growth is mainly limited by low temperatures, radiodensitometric measurements of wood density, specifically maximum latewood density (MXD), provides a temperature proxy that is superior to that of tree-ring widths. The high cost of developing MXD has led to experimentation with a less expensive method using optical flatbed scanners to produce a new proxy, herein referred to as maximum latewood blue absorption intensity (abbreviated MXBI). MXBI is shown to be very similar to MXD on annual timescales but less accurate on centennial timescales. This is due to the fact that extractives, such as resin, stain the wood differentially from tree to tree and from heartwood to sapwood. To overcome this problem, and to address similar potential problems in radiodensitometric measurements, the new parameters Δblue intensity (ΔBI) and Δdensity are designed by subtracting the ambient BI/density in the earlywood, as a background value, from the latewood measurements. As a case-study, based on Scots pine trees from Northern Sweden, we show that Δdensity can be used as a quality control of MXD values and that the reconstructive performance of warm-season mean temperatures is more focused towards the summer months (JJA - June, July, August), with an increase by roughly 20% when also utilising the interannual information from the earlywood. However, even though the new parameter ΔBI experiences an improvement as well, there are still puzzling dissimilarities between Δdensity and ΔBI on multicentennial timescales. As a consequence, temperature reconstructions based on ΔBI will presently only be able to resolve information on decadal-to-centennial timescales. The possibility of trying to calibrate BI into a measure of lignin content or density, similarly to how radiographic measurements are calibrated into density, could be a solution. If this works, only then can ΔBI be used as a reliable proxy in multicentennial-scale climate reconstructions.

Growing Pains: A Theory of Stress and Moral Conflict.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blakeney, Ronnie Ann; Blakeney, Charles David

1992-01-01

Outlines relationship between crises that create stress in one's life and periods of instability in moral development. Suggests that stressful issues are more difficult to resolve during periods of developmental instability and that, when problems are most stressful, people often experience impact of stress physiologically. Reconstructs stress and…

Refining metabolic models and accounting for regulatory effects.

PubMed

Kim, Joonhoon; Reed, Jennifer L

2014-10-01

Advances in genome-scale metabolic modeling allow us to investigate and engineer metabolism at a systems level. Metabolic network reconstructions have been made for many organisms and computational approaches have been developed to convert these reconstructions into predictive models. However, due to incomplete knowledge these reconstructions often have missing or extraneous components and interactions, which can be identified by reconciling model predictions with experimental data. Recent studies have provided methods to further improve metabolic model predictions by incorporating transcriptional regulatory interactions and high-throughput omics data to yield context-specific metabolic models. Here we discuss recent approaches for resolving model-data discrepancies and building context-specific metabolic models. Once developed highly accurate metabolic models can be used in a variety of biotechnology applications. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zou, Lianfeng; Li, Jonathan; Zakharov, Dmitri

Using in situ transmission electron microscopy that spatially and temporally resolves the evolution of the atomic structure in the surface and subsurface regions, we Find that the surface segregation of Au atoms in a Cu(Au) solid solution results in the nucleation and growth of a (2 × 1) missing-row reconstructed, half-unit-cell thick L1 2 Cu 3Au(110) surface alloy. Our in situ electron microscopy observations and atomistic simulations demonstrate that the (2 × 1) reconstruction of the Cu 3Au(110) surface alloy remains as a stable surface structure as a result of the favored Cu-Au diatom configuration.

Diffractive shear interferometry for extreme ultraviolet high-resolution lensless imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansen, G. S. M.; de Beurs, A.; Liu, X.; Eikema, K. S. E.; Witte, S.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate a novel imaging approach and associated reconstruction algorithm for far-field coherent diffractive imaging, based on the measurement of a pair of laterally sheared diffraction patterns. The differential phase profile retrieved from such a measurement leads to improved reconstruction accuracy, increased robustness against noise, and faster convergence compared to traditional coherent diffractive imaging methods. We measure laterally sheared diffraction patterns using Fourier-transform spectroscopy with two phase-locked pulse pairs from a high harmonic source. Using this approach, we demonstrate spectrally resolved imaging at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths between 28 and 35 nm.

A high-throughput system for high-quality tomographic reconstruction of large datasets at Diamond Light Source

PubMed Central

Atwood, Robert C.; Bodey, Andrew J.; Price, Stephen W. T.; Basham, Mark; Drakopoulos, Michael

2015-01-01

Tomographic datasets collected at synchrotrons are becoming very large and complex, and, therefore, need to be managed efficiently. Raw images may have high pixel counts, and each pixel can be multidimensional and associated with additional data such as those derived from spectroscopy. In time-resolved studies, hundreds of tomographic datasets can be collected in sequence, yielding terabytes of data. Users of tomographic beamlines are drawn from various scientific disciplines, and many are keen to use tomographic reconstruction software that does not require a deep understanding of reconstruction principles. We have developed Savu, a reconstruction pipeline that enables users to rapidly reconstruct data to consistently create high-quality results. Savu is designed to work in an ‘orthogonal’ fashion, meaning that data can be converted between projection and sinogram space throughout the processing workflow as required. The Savu pipeline is modular and allows processing strategies to be optimized for users' purposes. In addition to the reconstruction algorithms themselves, it can include modules for identification of experimental problems, artefact correction, general image processing and data quality assessment. Savu is open source, open licensed and ‘facility-independent’: it can run on standard cluster infrastructure at any institution. PMID:25939626

Reconstruction of the vertebrate ancestral genome reveals dynamic genome reorganization in early vertebrates.

PubMed

Nakatani, Yoichiro; Takeda, Hiroyuki; Kohara, Yuji; Morishita, Shinichi

2007-09-01

Although several vertebrate genomes have been sequenced, little is known about the genome evolution of early vertebrates and how large-scale genomic changes such as the two rounds of whole-genome duplications (2R WGD) affected evolutionary complexity and novelty in vertebrates. Reconstructing the ancestral vertebrate genome is highly nontrivial because of the difficulty in identifying traces originating from the 2R WGD. To resolve this problem, we developed a novel method capable of pinning down remains of the 2R WGD in the human and medaka fish genomes using invertebrate tunicate and sea urchin genes to define ohnologs, i.e., paralogs produced by the 2R WGD. We validated the reconstruction using the chicken genome, which was not considered in the reconstruction step, and observed that many ancestral proto-chromosomes were retained in the chicken genome and had one-to-one correspondence to chicken microchromosomes, thereby confirming the reconstructed ancestral genomes. Our reconstruction revealed a contrast between the slow karyotype evolution after the second WGD and the rapid, lineage-specific genome reorganizations that occurred in the ancestral lineages of major taxonomic groups such as teleost fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and marsupials.

Reconstruction of improvised explosive device blast loading to personnel in the open

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiri, Suthee; Needham, Charles

2016-05-01

Significant advances in reconstructing attacks by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other blast events are reported. A high-fidelity three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics tool, called Second-order Hydrodynamic Automatic Mesh Refinement Code, was used for the analysis. Computer-aided design models for subjects or vehicles in the scene accurately represent geometries of objects in the blast field. A wide range of scenario types and blast exposure levels were reconstructed including free field blast, enclosed space of vehicle cabin, IED attack on a vehicle, buried charges, recoilless rifle operation, rocket-propelled grenade attack and missile attack with single subject or multiple subject exposure to pressure levels from ˜ 27.6 kPa (˜ 4 psi) to greater than 690 kPa (>100 psi). To create a full 3D pressure time-resolved reconstruction of a blast event for injury and blast exposure analysis, a combination of intelligence data and Blast Gauge data can be used to reconstruct an actual in-theatre blast event. The methodology to reconstruct an event and the "lessons learned" from multiple reconstructions in open space are presented. The analysis uses records of blast pressure at discrete points, and the output is a spatial and temporal blast load distribution for all personnel involved.

Automated 3D reconstruction of interiors with multiple scan views

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sequeira, Vitor; Ng, Kia C.; Wolfart, Erik; Goncalves, Joao G. M.; Hogg, David C.

1998-12-01

This paper presents two integrated solutions for realistic 3D model acquisition and reconstruction; an early prototype, in the form of a push trolley, and a later prototype in the form of an autonomous robot. The systems encompass all hardware and software required, from laser and video data acquisition, processing and output of texture-mapped 3D models in VRML format, to batteries for power supply and wireless network communications. The autonomous version is also equipped with a mobile platform and other sensors for the purpose of automatic navigation. The applications for such a system range from real estate and tourism (e.g., showing a 3D computer model of a property to a potential buyer or tenant) or as tool for content creation (e.g., creating 3D models of heritage buildings or producing broadcast quality virtual studios). The system can also be used in industrial environments as a reverse engineering tool to update the design of a plant, or as a 3D photo-archive for insurance purposes. The system is Internet compatible: the photo-realistic models can be accessed via the Internet and manipulated interactively in 3D using a common Web browser with a VRML plug-in. Further information and example reconstructed models are available on- line via the RESOLV web-page at http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/resolv/.

Prior-knowledge Fitting of Accelerated Five-dimensional Echo Planar J-resolved Spectroscopic Imaging: Effect of Nonlinear Reconstruction on Quantitation.

PubMed

Iqbal, Zohaib; Wilson, Neil E; Thomas, M Albert

2017-07-24

1 H Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic imaging (SI) is a powerful tool capable of investigating metabolism in vivo from mul- tiple regions. However, SI techniques are time consuming, and are therefore difficult to implement clinically. By applying non-uniform sampling (NUS) and compressed sensing (CS) reconstruction, it is possible to accelerate these scans while re- taining key spectral information. One recently developed method that utilizes this type of acceleration is the five-dimensional echo planar J-resolved spectroscopic imaging (5D EP-JRESI) sequence, which is capable of obtaining two-dimensional (2D) spectra from three spatial dimensions. The prior-knowledge fitting (ProFit) algorithm is typically used to quantify 2D spectra in vivo, however the effects of NUS and CS reconstruction on the quantitation results are unknown. This study utilized a simulated brain phantom to investigate the errors introduced through the acceleration methods. Errors (normalized root mean square error >15%) were found between metabolite concentrations after twelve-fold acceleration for several low concentra- tion (<2 mM) metabolites. The Cramér Rao lower bound% (CRLB%) values, which are typically used for quality control, were not reflective of the increased quantitation error arising from acceleration. Finally, occipital white (OWM) and gray (OGM) human brain matter were quantified in vivo using the 5D EP-JRESI sequence with eight-fold acceleration.

Photo-multiplier Tube Based Hybrid MRI and Frequency Domain Fluorescence Tomography System for Small Animal Imaging

PubMed Central

Lin, Y; Ghijsen, M T; Gao, H; Liu, N; Nalcioglu, O; Gulsen, G

2014-01-01

Fluorescence tomography (FT) is a promising molecular imaging technique that can spatially resolve both fluorophore concentration and lifetime parameters. However, recovered fluorophore parameters highly depend on the size and depth of the object due to the ill-posedness of the FT inverse problem. Structural a priori information from another high spatial resolution imaging modality has been demonstrated to significantly improve FT reconstruction accuracy. In this study, we have constructed a combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and FT system for small animal imaging. A photo-multiplier tube (PMT) is used as the detector to acquire frequency domain FT measurements. This is the first MR-compatible time-resolved FT system that can reconstruct both fluorescence concentration and lifetime maps simultaneously. The performance of the hybrid system is evaluated with phantom studies. Two different fluorophores, Indocyanine Green (ICG) and 3-3′ Diethylthiatricarbocyanine Iodide (DTTCI), which have similar excitation and emission spectra but different lifetimes, are utilized. The fluorescence concentration and lifetime maps are both reconstructed with and without the structural a priori information obtained from MRI for comparison. We show that the hybrid system can accurately recover both fluorescence intensity and lifetime within 10% error for two 4.2 mm-diameter cylindrical objects embedded in a 38 mm-diameter cylindrical phantom when MRI structural a priori information is utilized. PMID:21753235

Accelerated time-resolved three-dimensional MR velocity mapping of blood flow patterns in the aorta using SENSE and k-t BLAST.

PubMed

Stadlbauer, Andreas; van der Riet, Wilma; Crelier, Gerard; Salomonowitz, Erich

2010-07-01

To assess the feasibility and potential limitations of the acceleration techniques SENSE and k-t BLAST for time-resolved three-dimensional (3D) velocity mapping of aortic blood flow. Furthermore, to quantify differences in peak velocity versus heart phase curves. Time-resolved 3D blood flow patterns were investigated in eleven volunteers and two patients suffering from aortic diseases with accelerated PC-MR sequences either in combination with SENSE (R=2) or k-t BLAST (6-fold). Both sequences showed similar data acquisition times and hence acceleration efficiency. Flow-field streamlines were calculated and visualized using the GTFlow software tool in order to reconstruct 3D aortic blood flow patterns. Differences between the peak velocities from single-slice PC-MRI experiments using SENSE 2 and k-t BLAST 6 were calculated for the whole cardiac cycle and averaged for all volunteers. Reconstruction of 3D flow patterns in volunteers revealed attenuations in blood flow dynamics for k-t BLAST 6 compared to SENSE 2 in terms of 3D streamlines showing fewer and less distinct vortices and reduction in peak velocity, which is caused by temporal blurring. Solely by time-resolved 3D MR velocity mapping in combination with SENSE detected pathologic blood flow patterns in patients with aortic diseases. For volunteers, we found a broadening and flattering of the peak velocity versus heart phase diagram between the two acceleration techniques, which is an evidence for the temporal blurring of the k-t BLAST approach. We demonstrated the feasibility of SENSE and detected potential limitations of k-t BLAST when used for time-resolved 3D velocity mapping. The effects of higher k-t BLAST acceleration factors have to be considered for application in 3D velocity mapping. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The properties of SIRT, TVM, and DART for 3D imaging of tubular domains in nanocomposite thin-films and sections.

PubMed

Chen, Delei; Goris, Bart; Bleichrodt, Folkert; Mezerji, Hamed Heidari; Bals, Sara; Batenburg, Kees Joost; de With, Gijsbertus; Friedrich, Heiner

2014-12-01

In electron tomography, the fidelity of the 3D reconstruction strongly depends on the employed reconstruction algorithm. In this paper, the properties of SIRT, TVM and DART reconstructions are studied with respect to having only a limited number of electrons available for imaging and applying different angular sampling schemes. A well-defined realistic model is generated, which consists of tubular domains within a matrix having slab-geometry. Subsequently, the electron tomography workflow is simulated from calculated tilt-series over experimental effects to reconstruction. In comparison with the model, the fidelity of each reconstruction method is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively based on global and local edge profiles and resolvable distance between particles. Results show that the performance of all reconstruction methods declines with the total electron dose. Overall, SIRT algorithm is the most stable method and insensitive to changes in angular sampling. TVM algorithm yields significantly sharper edges in the reconstruction, but the edge positions are strongly influenced by the tilt scheme and the tubular objects become thinned. The DART algorithm markedly suppresses the elongation artifacts along the beam direction and moreover segments the reconstruction which can be considered a significant advantage for quantification. Finally, no advantage of TVM and DART to deal better with fewer projections was observed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rapid Late Holocene glacier fluctuations reconstructed from South Georgia lake sediments using novel analytical and numerical techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Bilt, Willem; Bakke, Jostein; Werner, Johannes; Paasche, Øyvind; Rosqvist, Gunhild

2016-04-01

The collapse of ice shelves, rapidly retreating glaciers and a dramatic recent temperature increase show that Southern Ocean climate is rapidly shifting. Also, instrumental and modelling data demonstrate transient interactions between oceanic and atmospheric forcings as well as climatic teleconnections with lower-latitude regions. Yet beyond the instrumental period, a lack of proxy climate timeseries impedes our understanding of Southern Ocean climate. Also, available records often lack the resolution and chronological control required to resolve rapid climate shifts like those observed at present. Alpine glaciers are found on most Southern Ocean islands and quickly respond to shifts in climate through changes in mass balance. Attendant changes in glacier size drive variations in the production of rock flour, the suspended product of glacial erosion. This climate response may be captured by downstream distal glacier-fed lakes, continuously recording glacier history. Sediment records from such lakes are considered prime sources for paleoclimate reconstructions. Here, we present the first reconstruction of Late Holocene glacier variability from the island of South Georgia. Using a toolbox of advanced physical, geochemical (XRF) and magnetic proxies, in combination with state-of-the-art numerical techniques, we fingerprinted a glacier signal from glacier-fed lake sediments. This lacustrine sediment signal was subsequently calibrated against mapped glacier extent with the help of geomorphological moraine evidence and remote sensing techniques. The outlined approach enabled us to robustly resolve variations of a complex glacier at sub-centennial timescales, while constraining the sedimentological imprint of other geomorphic catchment processes. From a paleoclimate perspective, our reconstruction reveals a dynamic Late Holocene climate, modulated by long-term shifts in regional circulation patterns. We also find evidence for rapid medieval glacier retreat as well as a synchronous bi-polar Little Ice Age (LIA). In conclusion, our work shows the potential of novel analytical and numerical tools to improve the robustness and resolution of lake sediment-based paleoclimate reconstructions beyond the current state-of-the-art.

Clinical Feasibility of Free-Breathing Dynamic T1-Weighted Imaging With Gadoxetic Acid-Enhanced Liver Magnetic Resonance Imaging Using a Combination of Variable Density Sampling and Compressed Sensing.

PubMed

Yoon, Jeong Hee; Yu, Mi Hye; Chang, Won; Park, Jin-Young; Nickel, Marcel Dominik; Son, Yohan; Kiefer, Berthold; Lee, Jeong Min

2017-10-01

The purpose of the study was to investigate the clinical feasibility of free-breathing dynamic T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) using Cartesian sampling, compressed sensing, and iterative reconstruction in gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board, and the requirement for informed consent was waived. A total of 51 patients at high risk of breath-holding failure underwent dynamic T1WI in a free-breathing manner using volumetric interpolated breath-hold (BH) examination with compressed sensing reconstruction (CS-VIBE) and hard gating. Timing, motion artifacts, and image quality were evaluated by 4 radiologists on a 4-point scale. For patients with low image quality scores (<3) on the late arterial phase, respiratory motion-resolved (extradimension [XD]) reconstruction was additionally performed and reviewed in the same manner. In addition, in 68.6% (35/51) patients who had previously undergone liver MRI, image quality and motion artifacts on dynamic phases using CS-VIBE were compared with previous BH-T1WIs. In all patients, adequate arterial-phase timing was obtained at least once. Overall image quality of free-breathing T1WI was 3.30 ± 0.59 on precontrast and 2.68 ± 0.70, 2.93 ± 0.65, and 3.30 ± 0.49 on early arterial, late arterial, and portal venous phases, respectively. In 13 patients with lower than average image quality (<3) on the late arterial phase, motion-resolved reconstructed T1WI (XD-reconstructed CS-VIBE) significantly reduced motion artifacts (P < 0.002-0.021) and improved image quality (P < 0.0001-0.002). In comparison with previous BH-T1WI, CS-VIBE with hard gating or XD reconstruction showed less motion artifacts and better image quality on precontrast, arterial, and portal venous phases (P < 0.0001-0.013). Volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination with compressed sensing has the potential to provide consistent, motion-corrected free-breathing dynamic T1WI for liver MRI in patients at high risk of breath-holding failure.

MO-FG-202-08: Real-Time Monte Carlo-Based Treatment Dose Reconstruction and Monitoring for Radiotherapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tian, Z; Shi, F; Gu, X

2016-06-15

Purpose: This proof-of-concept study is to develop a real-time Monte Carlo (MC) based treatment-dose reconstruction and monitoring system for radiotherapy, especially for the treatments with complicated delivery, to catch treatment delivery errors at the earliest possible opportunity and interrupt the treatment only when an unacceptable dosimetric deviation from our expectation occurs. Methods: First an offline scheme is launched to pre-calculate the expected dose from the treatment plan, used as ground truth for real-time monitoring later. Then an online scheme with three concurrent threads is launched while treatment delivering, to reconstruct and monitor the patient dose in a temporally resolved fashionmore » in real-time. Thread T1 acquires machine status every 20 ms to calculate and accumulate fluence map (FM). Once our accumulation threshold is reached, T1 transfers the FM to T2 for dose reconstruction ad starts to accumulate a new FM. A GPU-based MC dose calculation is performed on T2 when MC dose engine is ready and a new FM is available. The reconstructed instantaneous dose is directed to T3 for dose accumulation and real-time visualization. Multiple dose metrics (e.g. maximum and mean dose for targets and organs) are calculated from the current accumulated dose and compared with the pre-calculated expected values. Once the discrepancies go beyond our tolerance, an error message will be send to interrupt the treatment delivery. Results: A VMAT Head-and-neck patient case was used to test the performance of our system. Real-time machine status acquisition was simulated here. The differences between the actual dose metrics and the expected ones were 0.06%–0.36%, indicating an accurate delivery. ∼10Hz frequency of dose reconstruction and monitoring was achieved, with 287.94s online computation time compared to 287.84s treatment delivery time. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated the feasibility of computing a dose distribution in a temporally resolved fashion in real-time and quantitatively and dosimetrically monitoring the treatment delivery.« less

Northeast Artificial Intelligence Consortium Annual Report for 1987. Volume 5. Building an Intelligent Assistant: The Acquisition, Integration, and Maintenance of Complex Distributed Tasks

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-03-01

resolved through global or local (associated with specific nodes) conflict resolution strategies.$ One solution is to order the arcs in the set... according to their specificity and to execute the first triggered arc. In this way, the most specific subsuming situation will be preferred over other...priority; another says that random questions should be discouraged. In such a case a non-conventional resolution mechanism must be used to resolve the

Speleothem chronology with sub-annual resolution in a near-entrance cave setting using oxygen isotope and trace element records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, P. E.; Miller, N. R.; Banner, J.; Breecker, D.

2016-12-01

Speleothems that grow in well-ventilated zones of caves are typically avoided when selecting specimens for paleoclimate reconstruction, due to concerns about evaporation and kinetic isotope effects. Near-entrance cave environments are characterized by near-ambient CO2 concentrations year-round and are influenced by surface temperature fluctuations. At Westcave Preserve (Westcave), a shallow, well-ventilated cave in central Texas, we have found seasonal temperature differences recorded in both the oxygen isotope and trace element compositions of speleothem calcite. The seasonal nature of these records has been confirmed by monitoring the chemical composition of drip water and substrate calcite since 2009 (Feng et al., 2014; Casteel and Banner, 2015). We present an ultrahigh-resolution (weekly to monthly) record of δ18O, Mg, Sr, and Ba in Westcave stalagmite WC-3, as well as monthly measurements of drip water geochemistry. We find drip water δ18O and [Mg] are essentially invariant, while seasonal variations in stalagmite calcite δ18O and Mg compositions are in good agreement with predicted temperature-dependent fractionation between water and calcite. Both drip water and speleothem calcite Sr and Ba vary seasonally, which we hypothesize is due to seasonal changes in moisture conditions in the epikarst. We use each of these annual geochemical cycles as independent chronological controls in order to develop a single age model for the stalagmite. These independent chronological counts are consistent with each other, and with 14C bomb-peak and U-series evidence. We argue that the potential for this kind of multi-proxy, seasonally-resolved dating in near-entrance stalagmites makes them especially valuable paleoclimate archives that should not be ignored in speleothem studies.

Biological and climate controls on North Atlantic marine carbon dynamics over the last millennium: Insights from an absolutely-dated shell based record from the North Icelandic Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, I. R.; Reynolds, D.; Scourse, J. D.; Richardson, C.; Wanamaker, A. D.; Butler, P. G.

2017-12-01

Given the rapid increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (pCO2) over the industrial era there is a pressing need to construct longterm records of natural carbon cycling prior to this perturbation and to develop a more robust understanding of the role the oceans play in the sequestration of atmospheric carbon. Here we reconstruct the historical biological and climatic controls on the carbon isotopic (δ13C-shell) composition of the North Icelandic shelf waters over the last millennium derived from the shells of the long-lived marine bivalve mollusc Arctica islandica. Variability in the annually resolved δ13C-shell record is dominated by multi-decadal variability with a negative trend (-0.003±0.002‰yr-1) over the industrial era (1800-2000). This trend is consistent with the marine Suess effect brought about by the sequestration of isotopically light carbon (δ13C of CO2) derived from the burning of fossil fuels. Comparison of the δ13C-shell record with contemporary proxy archives, over the last millennium, and instrumental data over the 20th century, suggests that primary productivity and climate conditions over the sub-polar North Atlantic region played a vital role in driving inter-annual to multi-decadal scale variability in the δ13C-shell record. Our results highlight that relative shifts in the proportion of sub-polar mode waters and Arctic intermediate waters entrained onto the North Icelandic shelf, coupled with atmospheric circulation patterns associated with the winter North Atlantic Oscillation (wNAO), are the likely physical mechanisms that drive natural variations in seawater δ13C variability on the North Icelandic shelf.

Nong Thale Pron - a key site from southern Thailand for studying monsoon variability during the past 15000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bredberg, Camilla; Chawchai, Sakonvan; Chabangborn, Akkaneewut; Kylander, Malin; Fritz, Sherilyn; Reimer, Paula J.; Wohlfarth, Barbara

2014-05-01

Studies of marine sediments, cave speleothemes, annually laminated corals, and tree rings from Asian monsoon regions have added knowledge to our understanding of the factors that control inter-annual to millennial monsoon variability in the past and have provided important constraints for climate modeling scenarios. In contrast, the spatial and temporal pattern of sub-millennial scale monsoon variability and its impact on land cover in SE Asia are still unresolved. This shortcoming stems from the fact that temporally well-resolved paleo-environmental studies are missing from large parts of SE Asia, especially from Thailand. Given that global and regional climate models are increasingly using terrestrial paleo- data to test their performance, past changes in land cover are therefore important variables to better understand feedbacks between different Earth systems. We obtained sediments from Lake Nong Thale Pron, in southern Thailand (8º 10`N, 99 º23`E; 380 m.asl). The aim of our study is to reconstruct lake status changes and to evaluate whether the extent of these changes are linked to known shifts in monsoon intensity and variability. Preliminary results show that lake infilling started more than 15,000 years ago and that the sediments cover the last deglaciation and the Holocene. Current analyses include Itrax XRF core scanning, loss-on-ignition (LOI at 950 and 550ºC), CN elemental and isotopic composition. We expect that our results will be able to give a picture of how the lake's status has changed over time and whether the extent of these changes is linked to known shifts in monsoon intensity and variability.

The Comparative Efficacy of the Masquelet versus Titanium Mesh Cage Reconstruction Techniques for the Treatment of Large Long Bone Deficiencies

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-10-01

AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-13-1-0492 TITLE: The Comparative Efficacy of the Masquelet versus Titanium Mesh Cage Reconstruction Techniques for the...decision unless so designated by other documentation. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this...DATE October 2017 2. REPORT TYPE Annual 3. DATES COVERED 30Sept2016 - 29Sept2017 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Comparative Efficacy of the Masquelet versus

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971-2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Zhongwei; Hejazi, Mohamad; Li, Xinya; Tang, Qiuhong; Vernon, Chris; Leng, Guoyong; Liu, Yaling; Döll, Petra; Eisner, Stephanie; Gerten, Dieter; Hanasaki, Naota; Wada, Yoshihide

2018-04-01

Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5°) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971-2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation, domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971-2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual timescales. The reconstructed gridded water withdrawal dataset is open access, and can be used for examining issues related to water withdrawals at fine spatial, temporal, and sectoral scales.

Is the extremely rare Iberian endemic plant species Castrilanthemum debeauxii (Compositae, Anthemideae) a 'living fossil'? Evidence from a multi-locus species tree reconstruction.

PubMed

Tomasello, Salvatore; Álvarez, Inés; Vargas, Pablo; Oberprieler, Christoph

2015-01-01

The present study provides results of multi-species coalescent species tree analyses of DNA sequences sampled from multiple nuclear and plastid regions to infer the phylogenetic relationships among the members of the subtribe Leucanthemopsidinae (Compositae, Anthemideae), to which besides the annual Castrilanthemum debeauxii (Degen, Hervier & É.Rev.) Vogt & Oberp., one of the rarest flowering plant species of the Iberian Peninsula, two other unispecific genera (Hymenostemma, Prolongoa), and the polyploidy complex of the genus Leucanthemopsis belong. Based on sequence information from two single- to low-copy nuclear regions (C16, D35, characterised by Chapman et al. (2007)), the multi-copy region of the nrDNA internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2, and two intergenic spacer regions of the cpDNA gene trees were reconstructed using Bayesian inference methods. For the reconstruction of a multi-locus species tree we applied three different methods: (a) analysis of concatenated sequences using Bayesian inference (MrBayes), (b) a tree reconciliation approach by minimizing the number of deep coalescences (PhyloNet), and (c) a coalescent-based species-tree method in a Bayesian framework ((∗)BEAST). All three species tree reconstruction methods unequivocally support the close relationship of the subtribe with the hitherto unclassified genus Phalacrocarpum, the sister-group relationship of Castrilanthemum with the three remaining genera of the subtribe, and the further sister-group relationship of the clade of Hymenostemma+Prolongoa with a monophyletic genus Leucanthemopsis. Dating of the (∗)BEAST phylogeny supports the long-lasting (Early Miocene, 15-22Ma) taxonomical independence and the switch from the plesiomorphic perennial to the apomorphic annual life-form assumed for the Castrilanthemum lineage that may have occurred not earlier than in the Pliocene (3Ma) when the establishment of a Mediterranean climate with summer droughts triggered evolution towards annuality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microfocal X-ray computed tomography post-processing operations for optimizing reconstruction volumes of stented arteries during 3D computational fluid dynamics modeling.

PubMed

Ladisa, John F; Olson, Lars E; Ropella, Kristina M; Molthen, Robert C; Haworth, Steven T; Kersten, Judy R; Warltier, David C; Pagel, Paul S

2005-08-01

Restenosis caused by neointimal hyperplasia (NH) remains an important clinical problem after stent implantation. Restenosis varies with stent geometry, and idealized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models have indicated that geometric properties of the implanted stent may differentially influence NH. However, 3D studies capturing the in vivo flow domain within stented vessels have not been conducted at a resolution sufficient to detect subtle alterations in vascular geometry caused by the stent and the subsequent temporal development of NH. We present the details and limitations of a series of post-processing operations used in conjunction with microfocal X-ray CT imaging and reconstruction to generate geometrically accurate flow domains within the localized region of a stent several weeks after implantation. Microfocal X-ray CT reconstruction volumes were subjected to an automated program to perform arterial thresholding, spatial orientation, and surface smoothing of stented and unstented rabbit iliac arteries several weeks after antegrade implantation. A transfer function was obtained for the current post-processing methodology containing reconstructed 16 mm stents implanted into rabbit iliac arteries for up to 21 days after implantation and resolved at circumferential and axial resolutions of 32 and 50 microm, respectively. The results indicate that the techniques presented are sufficient to resolve distributions of WSS with 80% accuracy in segments containing 16 surface perturbations over a 16 mm stented region. These methods will be used to test the hypothesis that reductions in normalized wall shear stress (WSS) and increases in the spatial disparity of WSS immediately after stent implantation may spatially correlate with the temporal development of NH within the stented region.

Three-dimensional through-time radial GRAPPA for renal MR angiography.

PubMed

Wright, Katherine L; Lee, Gregory R; Ehses, Philipp; Griswold, Mark A; Gulani, Vikas; Seiberlich, Nicole

2014-10-01

To achieve high temporal and spatial resolution for contrast-enhanced time-resolved MR angiography exams (trMRAs), fast imaging techniques such as non-Cartesian parallel imaging must be used. In this study, the three-dimensional (3D) through-time radial generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition (GRAPPA) method is used to reconstruct highly accelerated stack-of-stars data for time-resolved renal MRAs. Through-time radial GRAPPA has been recently introduced as a method for non-Cartesian GRAPPA weight calibration, and a similar concept can also be used in 3D acquisitions. By combining different sources of calibration information, acquisition time can be reduced. Here, different GRAPPA weight calibration schemes are explored in simulation, and the results are applied to reconstruct undersampled stack-of-stars data. Simulations demonstrate that an accurate and efficient approach to 3D calibration is to combine a small number of central partitions with as many temporal repetitions as exam time permits. These findings were used to reconstruct renal trMRA data with an in-plane acceleration factor as high as 12.6 with respect to the Nyquist sampling criterion, where the lowest root mean squared error value of 16.4% was achieved when using a calibration scheme with 8 partitions, 16 repetitions, and a 4 projection × 8 read point segment size. 3D through-time radial GRAPPA can be used to successfully reconstruct highly accelerated non-Cartesian data. By using in-plane radial undersampling, a trMRA can be acquired with a temporal footprint less than 4s/frame with a spatial resolution of approximately 1.5 mm × 1.5 mm × 3 mm. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Laboratory Experiments to Simulate and Investigate the Physics Underlying the Dynamics of Merging Solar Corona Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-06-05

have attended and made presen- tations at the annual APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting, the bi-annual High Energy Laboratory Astrophysics meeting...the AFOSR Space Science Pro- gram Review, the SHINE solar physics meeting, the International Astrophysics Conference, and the workshop “Complex plasma...tor k and Resolving Space-time Ambiguity. GR-Space Physics . submitted. Bellan, P. M., Zhai, X., Chai, K. B., & Ha, B. N. 2015. Complex astrophysical

Orbital Reconstruction: Patient-Specific Orbital Floor Reconstruction Using a Mirroring Technique and a Customized Titanium Mesh.

PubMed

Tarsitano, Achille; Badiali, Giovanni; Pizzigallo, Angelo; Marchetti, Claudio

2016-10-01

Enophthalmos is a severe complication of primary reconstruction of orbital floor fractures. The goal of secondary reconstruction procedures is to restore symmetrical globe positions to recover function and aesthetics. The authors propose a new method of orbital floor reconstruction using a mirroring technique and a customized titanium mesh, printed using a direct metal laser-sintering method. This reconstructive protocol involves 4 steps: mirroring of the healthy orbit at the affected site, virtual design of a patient-specific orbital floor mesh, CAM procedures for direct laser-sintering of the customized titanium mesh, and surgical insertion of the device. Using a computed tomography data set, the normal, uninjured side of the craniofacial skeleton was reflected onto the contralateral injured side, and a reconstructive orbital floor mesh was designed virtually on the mirrored orbital bone surface. The solid-to-layer files of the mesh were then manufactured using direct metal laser sintering, which resolves the shaping and bending biases inherent in the indirect method. An intraoperative navigation system ensured accuracy of the entire procedure. Clinical outcomes were assessed using 3dMD photogrammetry and computed tomography data in 7 treated patients. The technique described here appears to be a viable method to correct complex orbital floor defects needing delayed reconstruction. This study represents the first step in the development of a wider experimental protocol for orbital floor reconstruction using computer-assisted design-computer-assisted manufacturing technology.

Super-resolution of fluorescence-free plasmonic nanoparticles using enhanced dark-field illumination based on wavelength-modulation

DOE PAGES

Zhang, Peng; Lee, Seungah; Yu, Hyunung; ...

2015-06-15

Super-resolution imaging of fluorescence-free plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) was achieved using enhanced dark-field (EDF) illumination based on wavelength-modulation. Indistinguishable adjacent EDF images of 103-nm gold nanoparticles (GNPs), 40-nm gold nanorods (GNRs), and 80-nm silver nanoparticles (SNPs) were modulated at their wavelengths of specific localized surface plasmon scattering. The coordinates (x, y) of each NP were resolved by fitting their point spread functions with a two-dimensional Gaussian. The measured localization precisions of GNPs, GNRs, and SNPs were 2.5 nm, 5.0 nm, and 2.9 nm, respectively. From the resolved coordinates of NPs and the corresponding localization precisions, super-resolution images were reconstructed. Depending onmore » the spontaneous polarization of GNR scattering, the orientation angle of GNRs in two-dimensions was resolved and provided more elaborate localization information. This novel fluorescence-free super-resolution method was applied to live HeLa cells to resolve NPs and provided remarkable subdiffraction limit images.« less

Compressive hyperspectral time-resolved wide-field fluorescence lifetime imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pian, Qi; Yao, Ruoyang; Sinsuebphon, Nattawut; Intes, Xavier

2017-07-01

Spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging and spatial multiplexing have offered information content and collection-efficiency boosts in microscopy, but efficient implementations for macroscopic applications are still lacking. An imaging platform based on time-resolved structured light and hyperspectral single-pixel detection has been developed to perform quantitative macroscopic fluorescence lifetime imaging (MFLI) over a large field of view (FOV) and multiple spectral bands simultaneously. The system makes use of three digital micromirror device (DMD)-based spatial light modulators (SLMs) to generate spatial optical bases and reconstruct N by N images over 16 spectral channels with a time-resolved capability (∼40 ps temporal resolution) using fewer than N2 optical measurements. We demonstrate the potential of this new imaging platform by quantitatively imaging near-infrared (NIR) Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) both in vitro and in vivo. The technique is well suited for quantitative hyperspectral lifetime imaging with a high sensitivity and paves the way for many important biomedical applications.

The Comparative Efficacy of the Masquelet versus Titanium Mesh Cage Reconstruction Techniques for the Treatment of Large Long Bone Deficiencies

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-01

Branch; Galveston, TX 77555 REPORT DATE: October, 2015 TYPE OF REPORT: Annual PREPARED FOR: U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command...1October 2015 2. REPORT TYPE Annual 3. DATES COVERED 30 Sep 2014 - 29 Sep 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE The Comparative Efficacy of the Masquelet versus...necrosis. During the course of infection treatment which included intravenous antibiotics and several surgical wound irrigation and debridement

Use of titanium mesh for reconstruction of large anterior cranial base defects.

PubMed

Badie, B; Preston, J K; Hartig, G K

2000-10-01

The authors evaluated the role of titanium mesh used in combination with vascularized pericranium to provide rigid support during reconstruction of anterior skull base defects. Thirteen patients with large anterior skull base defects caused by tumor invasion or traumatic injury involving the cribriform plate, orbital roof, and planum sphenoidale were included in the study. The reconstruction technique involved placement of titanium mesh between two layers of continuous vascularized pericranium. Surgical glue and routine lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage were not used in any patient. At a mean postoperative follow-up time of 22 months (range 8-39 months), none of the patients had developed infection or meningocele. Postoperative CSF rhinorrhea occurred in two patients with extensive dural defects, which resolved with temporary lumbar drainage. Use of titanium mesh and a two-layer vascularized pericranial graft is a safe, reproducible, and feasible method for reconstructing the anterior skull base. Patients with large dural defects may need temporary CSF diversion to avoid postoperative fistula formation.

Reconstructing Space- and Energy-Dependent Exciton Generation in Solution-Processed Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

PubMed

Wang, Yuheng; Zhang, Yajie; Lu, Guanghao; Feng, Xiaoshan; Xiao, Tong; Xie, Jing; Liu, Xiaoyan; Ji, Jiahui; Wei, Zhixiang; Bu, Laju

2018-04-25

Photon absorption-induced exciton generation plays an important role in determining the photovoltaic properties of donor/acceptor organic solar cells with an inverted architecture. However, the reconstruction of light harvesting and thus exciton generation at different locations within organic inverted device are still not well resolved. Here, we investigate the film depth-dependent light absorption spectra in a small molecule donor/acceptor film. Including depth-dependent spectra into an optical transfer matrix method allows us to reconstruct both film depth- and energy-dependent exciton generation profiles, using which short-circuit current and external quantum efficiency of the inverted device are simulated and compared with the experimental measurements. The film depth-dependent spectroscopy, from which we are able to simultaneously reconstruct light harvesting profile, depth-dependent composition distribution, and vertical energy level variations, provides insights into photovoltaic process. In combination with appropriate material processing methods and device architecture, the method proposed in this work will help optimizing film depth-dependent optical/electronic properties for high-performance solar cells.

Cathodoluminescence | Materials Science | NREL

Science.gov Websites

image, the time to acquire the entire spectrum series is about five minutes. When the acquisition is ) processes the spectrum series to reconstruct images of the photon emission (energy resolved) or to extract : Mapping of the photon energy and full-width-half maximum of selected transitions ASCII output Quantitative

Dynamic drainage of froth with wood fibers

Treesearch

J.Y. Zhu; Freya Tan

2005-01-01

Understanding froth drainage with fibers (or simply called fiber drainage in froth) is important for improving fiber yield in the flotation deinking operation. In this study, the data of water and fiber mass in foams collected at different froth heights were used to reconstruct the time dependent and spatially resolved froth density and fiber volumetric concentration...

Increasing phylogenetic resolution at low taxonomic levels using massively parallel sequencing of chloroplast genomes

Treesearch

Matthew Parks; Richard Cronn; Aaron Liston

2009-01-01

We reconstruct the infrageneric phylogeny of Pinus from 37 nearly-complete chloroplast genomes (average 109 kilobases each of an approximately 120 kilobase genome) generated using multiplexed massively parallel sequencing. We found that 30/33 ingroup nodes resolved wlth > 95-percent bootstrap support; this is a substantial improvement relative...

Phase Reconstruction from FROG Using Genetic Algorithms[Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Omenetto, F.G.; Nicholson, J.W.; Funk, D.J.

1999-04-12

The authors describe a new technique for obtaining the phase and electric field from FROG measurements using genetic algorithms. Frequency-Resolved Optical Gating (FROG) has gained prominence as a technique for characterizing ultrashort pulses. FROG consists of a spectrally resolved autocorrelation of the pulse to be measured. Typically a combination of iterative algorithms is used, applying constraints from experimental data, and alternating between the time and frequency domain, in order to retrieve an optical pulse. The authors have developed a new approach to retrieving the intensity and phase from FROG data using a genetic algorithm (GA). A GA is a generalmore » parallel search technique that operates on a population of potential solutions simultaneously. Operators in a genetic algorithm, such as crossover, selection, and mutation are based on ideas taken from evolution.« less

Contrasting runoff trends between dry and wet parts of eastern Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Wang, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Yongqiang; Chiew, Francis H S; McVicar, Tim R; Zhang, Lu; Li, Hongxia; Qin, Guanghua

2017-11-13

As the "Asian Water Tower", the Tibetan Plateau (TP) provides water resources for more than 1.4 billion people, but suffers from climatic and environmental changes, followed by the changes in water balance components. We used state-of-the-art satellite-based products to estimate spatial and temporal variations and trends in annual precipitation, evapotranspiration and total water storage change across eastern TP, which were then used to reconstruct an annual runoff variability series for 2003-2014. The basin-scale reconstructed streamflow variability matched well with gauge observations for five large rivers. Annual runoff increased strongly in dry part because of increases in precipitation, but decreased in wet part because of decreases in precipitation, aggravated by noticeable increases in evapotranspiration in the north of wet part. Although precipitation primarily governed temporal-spatial pattern of runoff, total water storage change contributed greatly to runoff variation in regions with wide-spread permanent snow/ice or permafrost. Our study indicates that the contrasting runoff trends between the dry and wet parts of eastern TP requires a change in water security strategy, and attention should be paid to the negative water resources impacts detected for southwestern part which has undergone vast glacier retreat and decreasing precipitation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Turkington, T.

This education session will cover the physics and operation principles of gamma cameras and PET scanners. The first talk will focus on PET imaging. An overview of the principles of PET imaging will be provided, including positron decay physics, and the transition from 2D to 3D imaging. More recent advances in hardware and software will be discussed, such as time-of-flight imaging, and improvements in reconstruction algorithms that provide for options such as depth-of-interaction corrections. Quantitative applications of PET will be discussed, as well as the requirements for doing accurate quantitation. Relevant performance tests will also be described. Learning Objectives: Bemore » able to describe basic physics principles of PET and operation of PET scanners. Learn about recent advances in PET scanner hardware technology. Be able to describe advances in reconstruction techniques and improvements Be able to list relevant performance tests. The second talk will focus on gamma cameras. The Nuclear Medicine subcommittee has charged a task group (TG177) to develop a report on the current state of physics testing of gamma cameras, SPECT, and SPECT/CT systems. The report makes recommendations for performance tests to be done for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests, and identifies those needed satisfy the ACR accreditation program and The Joint Commission imaging standards. The report is also intended to be used as a manual with detailed instructions on how to perform tests under widely varying conditions. Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation members of the audience will: Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of gamma cameras for planar imaging. Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of SPECT systems. Be familiar with the tests of a SPECT/CT system that include the CT images for SPECT reconstructions. Become knowledgeable of items to be included in annual acceptance testing reports including CT dosimetry and PACS monitor measurements. T. Turkington, GE Healthcare.« less

Epidemic Reconstruction in a Phylogenetics Framework: Transmission Trees as Partitions of the Node Set

PubMed Central

Hall, Matthew; Woolhouse, Mark; Rambaut, Andrew

2015-01-01

The use of genetic data to reconstruct the transmission tree of infectious disease epidemics and outbreaks has been the subject of an increasing number of studies, but previous approaches have usually either made assumptions that are not fully compatible with phylogenetic inference, or, where they have based inference on a phylogeny, have employed a procedure that requires this tree to be fixed. At the same time, the coalescent-based models of the pathogen population that are employed in the methods usually used for time-resolved phylogeny reconstruction are a considerable simplification of epidemic process, as they assume that pathogen lineages mix freely. Here, we contribute a new method that is simultaneously a phylogeny reconstruction method for isolates taken from an epidemic, and a procedure for transmission tree reconstruction. We observe that, if one or more samples is taken from each host in an epidemic or outbreak and these are used to build a phylogeny, a transmission tree is equivalent to a partition of the set of nodes of this phylogeny, such that each partition element is a set of nodes that is connected in the full tree and contains all the tips corresponding to samples taken from one and only one host. We then implement a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) procedure for simultaneous sampling from the spaces of both trees, utilising a newly-designed set of phylogenetic tree proposals that also respect node partitions. We calculate the posterior probability of these partitioned trees based on a model that acknowledges the population structure of an epidemic by employing an individual-based disease transmission model and a coalescent process taking place within each host. We demonstrate our method, first using simulated data, and then with sequences taken from the H7N7 avian influenza outbreak that occurred in the Netherlands in 2003. We show that it is superior to established coalescent methods for reconstructing the topology and node heights of the phylogeny and performs well for transmission tree reconstruction when the phylogeny is well-resolved by the genetic data, but caution that this will often not be the case in practice and that existing genetic and epidemiological data should be used to configure such analyses whenever possible. This method is available for use by the research community as part of BEAST, one of the most widely-used packages for reconstruction of dated phylogenies. PMID:26717515

Resection and reconstruction of pelvic and extremity soft tissue sarcomas with major vascular involvement: Current concepts

PubMed Central

McGoldrick, Niall P; Butler, Joseph S; Lavelle, Maire; Sheehan, Stephen; Dudeney, Sean; O'Toole, Gary C

2016-01-01

Soft tissue sarcoma accounts for approximately 1% of all cancers diagnosed annually in the United States. When these rare malignant mesodermal tumours arise in the pelvis and extremities, they may potentially encase or invade large calibre vascular structures. This presents a major challenge in terms of safe excision while also leaving acceptable surgical margins. In recent times, the trend has been towards limb salvage with vascular reconstruction in preference to amputation. Newer orthopaedic and vascular reconstructive techniques including both synthetic and autogenous graft reconstruction have made complex limb-salvage surgery feasible. Despite this, limb-salvage surgery with concomitant vascular reconstruction remains associated with higher rates of post-operative complications including infection and amputation. In this review we describe the initial presentation and investigation of patients presenting with soft tissue sarcomas in the pelvis and extremities, which involve vascular structures. We further discuss the key surgical reconstructive principles and techniques available for the management of these complex tumours, drawn from our institution’s experience as a national tertiary referral sarcoma service. PMID:27190757

Resection and reconstruction of pelvic and extremity soft tissue sarcomas with major vascular involvement: Current concepts.

PubMed

McGoldrick, Niall P; Butler, Joseph S; Lavelle, Maire; Sheehan, Stephen; Dudeney, Sean; O'Toole, Gary C

2016-05-18

Soft tissue sarcoma accounts for approximately 1% of all cancers diagnosed annually in the United States. When these rare malignant mesodermal tumours arise in the pelvis and extremities, they may potentially encase or invade large calibre vascular structures. This presents a major challenge in terms of safe excision while also leaving acceptable surgical margins. In recent times, the trend has been towards limb salvage with vascular reconstruction in preference to amputation. Newer orthopaedic and vascular reconstructive techniques including both synthetic and autogenous graft reconstruction have made complex limb-salvage surgery feasible. Despite this, limb-salvage surgery with concomitant vascular reconstruction remains associated with higher rates of post-operative complications including infection and amputation. In this review we describe the initial presentation and investigation of patients presenting with soft tissue sarcomas in the pelvis and extremities, which involve vascular structures. We further discuss the key surgical reconstructive principles and techniques available for the management of these complex tumours, drawn from our institution's experience as a national tertiary referral sarcoma service.

Reconstructing spatial-temporal continuous MODIS land surface temperature using the DINEOF method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Wang; Peng, Bin; Shi, Jiancheng

2017-10-01

Land surface temperature (LST) is one of the key states of the Earth surface system. Remote sensing has the capability to obtain high-frequency LST observations with global coverage. However, mainly due to cloud cover, there are always gaps in the remotely sensed LST product, which hampers the application of satellite-based LST in data-driven modeling of surface energy and water exchange processes. We explored the suitability of the data interpolating empirical orthogonal functions (DINEOF) method in moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer LST reconstruction around Ali on the Tibetan Plateau. To validate the reconstruction accuracy, synthetic clouds during both daytime and nighttime are created. With DINEOF reconstruction, the root mean square error and bias under synthetic clouds in daytime are 4.57 and -0.0472 K, respectively, and during the nighttime are 2.30 and 0.0045 K, respectively. The DINEOF method can well recover the spatial pattern of LST. Time-series analysis of LST before and after DINEOF reconstruction from 2002 to 2016 shows that the annual and interannual variabilities of LST can be well reconstructed by the DINEOF method.

Multi-species coral Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature reconstruction using Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea from the Florida Straits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flannery, Jennifer A.; Richey, Julie N.; Thirumalai, Kaustubh; Poore, Richard Z.; DeLong, Kristine L.

2017-01-01

We present new, monthly-resolved Sr/Ca-based sea-surface temperature (SST) records from two species of massive coral, Orbicella faveolata and Siderastrea siderea, from the Dry Tortugas National Park, FL, USA (DTNP). We combine these new records with published data from three additional S. siderea coral colonies to generate a 278-year long multi-species stacked Sr/Ca-SST record from DTNP. The composite record of mean annual Sr/Ca-SST at DTNP shows pronounced decadal-scale variability with a range of 1 to 2°C. Notable cool intervals in the Sr/Ca-derived SST lasting about a decade centered at ~1845, ~1935, and ~1965 are associated with reduced summer Sr/Ca-SST (monthly maxima < 29°C), and imply a reduction in the spatial extent of the Atlantic Warm Pool (AWP). There is significant coherence between the composite DTNP Sr/Ca-SST record and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index, with the AMO lagging Sr/Ca-SST at DTNP by 9 years. Low frequency variability in the Gulf Stream surface transport, which originates near DTNP, may provide a link for the lagged relationship between multidecadal variability at DTNP and the AMO.

Insights into Atlantic multidecadal variability using the Last Millennium Reanalysis framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Hansi K. A.; Hakim, Gregory J.; Tardif, Robert; Emile-Geay, Julien; Noone, David C.

2018-02-01

The Last Millennium Reanalysis (LMR) employs a data assimilation approach to reconstruct climate fields from annually resolved proxy data over years 0-2000 CE. We use the LMR to examine Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) over the last 2 millennia and find several robust thermodynamic features associated with a positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index that reveal a dynamically consistent pattern of variability: the Atlantic and most continents warm; sea ice thins over the Arctic and retreats over the Greenland, Iceland, and Norwegian seas; and equatorial precipitation shifts northward. The latter is consistent with anomalous southward energy transport mediated by the atmosphere. Net downward shortwave radiation increases at both the top of the atmosphere and the surface, indicating a decrease in planetary albedo, likely due to a decrease in low clouds. Heat is absorbed by the climate system and the oceans warm. Wavelet analysis of the AMO time series shows a reddening of the frequency spectrum on the 50- to 100-year timescale, but no evidence of a distinct multidecadal or centennial spectral peak. This latter result is insensitive to both the choice of prior model and the calibration dataset used in the data assimilation algorithm, suggesting that the lack of a distinct multidecadal spectral peak is a robust result.

How to make a tree ring: Coupling stem water flow and cambial activity in mature Alpine conifers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peters, Richard L.; Frank, David C.; Treydte, Kerstin; Steppe, Kathy; Kahmen, Ansgar; Fonti, Patrick

2017-04-01

Inter-annual tree-ring measurements are used to understand tree-growth responses to climatic variability and reconstruct past climate conditions. In parallel, mechanistic models use experimentally defined plant-atmosphere interactions to explain past growth responses and predict future environmental impact on forest productivity. Yet, substantial inconsistencies within mechanistic model ensembles and mismatches with empirical data indicate that significant progress is still needed to understand the processes occurring at an intra-annual resolution that drive annual growth. However, challenges arise due to i) few datasets describing climatic responses of high-resolution physiological processes over longer time-scales, ii) uncertainties on the main mechanistic process limiting radial stem growth and iii) complex interactions between multiple environmental factors which obscure detection of the main stem growth driver, generating a gap between our understanding of intra- and inter-annual growth mechanisms. We attempt to bridge the gap between inter-annual tree-ring width and sub-daily radial stem-growth and provide a mechanistic perspective on how environmental conditions affect physiological processes that shape tree rings in conifers. We combine sub-hourly sap flow and point dendrometer measurements performed on mature Alpine conifers (Larix decidua) into an individual-based mechanistic tree-growth model to simulate sub-hourly cambial activity. The monitored trees are located along a high elevational transect in the Swiss Alps (Lötschental) to analyse the effect of increasing temperature. The model quantifies internal tree hydraulic pathways that regulate the turgidity within the cambial zone and induce cell enlargement for radial growth. The simulations are validated against intra-annual growth patterns derived from xylogenesis data and anatomical analyses. Our efforts advance the process-based understanding of how climate shapes the annual tree-ring structures and could potentially improve our ability to reconstruct the climate of the past and predict future growth under changing climate.

First Gridded Spatial Field Reconstructions of Snow from Tree Rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coulthard, B. L.; Anchukaitis, K. J.; Pederson, G. T.; Alder, J. R.; Hostetler, S. W.; Gray, S. T.

2017-12-01

Western North America's mountain snowpacks provide critical water resources for human populations and ecosystems. Warmer temperatures and changing precipitation patterns will increasingly alter the quantity, extent, and persistence of snow in coming decades. A comprehensive understanding of the causes and range of long-term variability in this system is required for forecasting future anomalies, but snowpack observations are limited and sparse. While individual tree ring-based annual snowpack reconstructions have been developed for specific regions and mountain ranges, we present here the first collection of spatially-explicit gridded field reconstructions of seasonal snowpack within the American Rocky Mountains. Capitalizing on a new western North American snow-sensitive network of over 700 tree-ring chronologies, as well as recent advances in PRISM-based snow modeling, our gridded reconstructions offer a full space-time characterization of snow and associated water resource fluctuations over several centuries. The quality of reconstructions is evaluated against existing observations, proxy-records, and an independently-developed first-order monthly snow model.

Excitation-resolved cone-beam x-ray luminescence tomography.

PubMed

Liu, Xin; Liao, Qimei; Wang, Hongkai; Yan, Zhuangzhi

2015-07-01

Cone-beam x-ray luminescence computed tomography (CB-XLCT), as an emerging imaging technique, plays an important role in in vivo small animal imaging studies. However, CB-XLCT suffers from low-spatial resolution due to the ill-posed nature of reconstruction. We improve the imaging performance of CB-XLCT by using a multiband excitation-resolved imaging scheme combined with principal component analysis. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the physical phantom experiment is performed with a custom-made XLCT/XCT imaging system. The experimental results validate the feasibility of the method, where two adjacent nanophosphors (with an edge-to-edge distance of 2.4 mm) can be located.

Atomically Visualizing Elemental Segregation-Induced Surface Alloying and Restructuring

DOE PAGES

Zou, Lianfeng; Li, Jonathan; Zakharov, Dmitri; ...

2017-12-01

Using in situ transmission electron microscopy that spatially and temporally resolves the evolution of the atomic structure in the surface and subsurface regions, we Find that the surface segregation of Au atoms in a Cu(Au) solid solution results in the nucleation and growth of a (2 × 1) missing-row reconstructed, half-unit-cell thick L1 2 Cu 3Au(110) surface alloy. Our in situ electron microscopy observations and atomistic simulations demonstrate that the (2 × 1) reconstruction of the Cu 3Au(110) surface alloy remains as a stable surface structure as a result of the favored Cu-Au diatom configuration.

Ballistic Reconstruction of a Migrating Bullet in the Parapharyngeal Space

PubMed Central

Bächinger, David; Bolliger, Stephan; Huber, Gerhard F.; Laske, Roman D.

2015-01-01

A 21-year-old male suffering from severe throat pain after being hit by a bullet in Syria claimed that he was shot through his eye and that the bullet subsequently descended behind his throat. Even though the first medical report stated that this course is implausible, meticulous workup provided evidence that the bullet might have entered the parapharyngeal space in a more cranial position than the one it was found eight months later. Our case highlights that bullets are able to move within the body, rendering ballistic reconstruction difficult. However, after removal of the bullet the patient's symptoms completely resolved. PMID:26770857

Three-dimensional wide-field pump-probe structured illumination microscopy

PubMed Central

Kim, Yang-Hyo; So, Peter T.C.

2017-01-01

We propose a new structured illumination scheme for achieving depth resolved wide-field pump-probe microscopy with sub-diffraction limit resolution. By acquiring coherent pump-probe images using a set of 3D structured light illumination patterns, a 3D super-resolution pump-probe image can be reconstructed. We derive the theoretical framework to describe the coherent image formation and reconstruction scheme for this structured illumination pump-probe imaging system and carry out numerical simulations to investigate its imaging performance. The results demonstrate a lateral resolution improvement by a factor of three and providing 0.5 µm level axial optical sectioning. PMID:28380860

Indices and Dynamics of Global Hydroclimate Over the Past Millennium from Data Assimilation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiger, N. J.; Smerdon, J. E.

2017-12-01

Reconstructions based on data assimilation (DA) are at the forefront of model-data syntheses in that such reconstructions optimally fuse proxy data with climate models. DA-based paleoclimate reconstructions have the benefit of being physically-consistent across the reconstructed climate variables and are capable of providing dynamical information about past climate phenomena. Here we use a new implementation of DA, that includes updated proxy system models and climate model bias correction procedures, to reconstruct global hydroclimate on seasonal and annual timescales over the last millennium. This new global hydroclimate product includes reconstructions of the Palmer Drought Severity Index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, and global surface temperature along with dynamical variables including the Nino 3.4 index, the latitudinal location of the intertropical convergence zone, and an index of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Here we present a validation of the reconstruction product and also elucidate the causes of severe drought in North America and in equatorial Africa. Specifically, we explore the connection between droughts in North America and modes of ocean variability in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. We also link drought over equatorial Africa to shifts of the intertropical convergence zone and modes of ocean variability.

Review of evolution of tunnel position in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

PubMed

Rayan, Faizal; Nanjayan, Shashi Kumar; Quah, Conal; Ramoutar, Darryl; Konan, Sujith; Haddad, Fares S

2015-03-18

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is one of the commonest knee sport injuries. The annual incidence of the ACL injury is between 100000-200000 in the United States. Worldwide around 400000 ACL reconstructions are performed in a year. The goal of ACL reconstruction is to restore the normal knee anatomy and kinesiology. The tibial and femoral tunnel placements are of primordial importance in achieving this outcome. Other factors that influence successful reconstruction are types of grafts, surgical techniques and rehabilitation programmes. A comprehensive understanding of ACL anatomy has led to the development of newer techniques supplemented by more robust biological and mechanical concepts. In this review we are mainly focussing on the evolution of tunnel placement in ACL reconstruction, focusing on three main categories, i.e., anatomical, biological and clinical outcomes. The importance of tunnel placement in the success of ACL reconstruction is well researched. Definite clinical and functional data is lacking to establish the superiority of the single or double bundle reconstruction technique. While there is a trend towards the use of anteromedial portals for femoral tunnel placement, their clinical superiority over trans-tibial tunnels is yet to be established.

Review of evolution of tunnel position in anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

PubMed Central

Rayan, Faizal; Nanjayan, Shashi Kumar; Quah, Conal; Ramoutar, Darryl; Konan, Sujith; Haddad, Fares S

2015-01-01

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is one of the commonest knee sport injuries. The annual incidence of the ACL injury is between 100000-200000 in the United States. Worldwide around 400000 ACL reconstructions are performed in a year. The goal of ACL reconstruction is to restore the normal knee anatomy and kinesiology. The tibial and femoral tunnel placements are of primordial importance in achieving this outcome. Other factors that influence successful reconstruction are types of grafts, surgical techniques and rehabilitation programmes. A comprehensive understanding of ACL anatomy has led to the development of newer techniques supplemented by more robust biological and mechanical concepts. In this review we are mainly focussing on the evolution of tunnel placement in ACL reconstruction, focusing on three main categories, i.e., anatomical, biological and clinical outcomes. The importance of tunnel placement in the success of ACL reconstruction is well researched. Definite clinical and functional data is lacking to establish the superiority of the single or double bundle reconstruction technique. While there is a trend towards the use of anteromedial portals for femoral tunnel placement, their clinical superiority over trans-tibial tunnels is yet to be established. PMID:25793165

Optimal Ranking Regime Analysis of TreeFlow Dendrohydrological Reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mauget, S. A.

2017-12-01

The Optimal Ranking Regime (ORR) method was used to identify 6-100 year time windows containing significant ranking sequences in 55 western U.S. streamflow reconstructions, and reconstructions of the level of the Great Salt Lake and San Francisco Bay salinity during 1500-2007. The method's ability to identify optimally significant and non-overlapping runs of low and high rankings allows it to re-express a reconstruction time series as a simplified sequence of regime segments marking intra- to multi-decadal (IMD) periods of low or high streamflow, lake level, or salinity. Those ORR sequences, referred to here as Z-lines, can be plotted to identify consistent regime patterns in the analysis of numerous reconstructions. The Z-lines for the 57 reconstructions evaluated here show a common pattern of IMD cycles of drought and pluvial periods during the late 16th and 17th centuries, a relatively dormant period during the 18th century, and the reappearance of alternating dry and wet IMD periods during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although this pattern suggests the possibility of similarly active and inactive oceanic modes in the North Pacific and North Atlantic, such centennial-scale patterns are not evident in the ORR analyses of reconstructed Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and North Atlantic seas-surface temperature variation. But given the inconsistency in the analyses of four PDO reconstructions the possible role of centennial-scale oceanic mechanisms is uncertain. In future research the ORR method might be applied to climate reconstructions around the Pacific Basin to try to resolve this uncertainty. Given its ability to compare regime patterns in climate reconstructions derived using different methods and proxies, the method may also be used in future research to evaluate long-term regional temperature reconstructions.

Arctic Temperature Variability over the last Millennium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Divine, Dmitry V.; Werner, Johannes P.

2017-04-01

This study presents two new climate field reconstructions (CFR) of Arctic surface air temperature (SAT) variability over the last 1000 years. The CFR is based on collection of 60 temperature sensitive proxies north of 60 N mainly from the recently updated Pages2K v 2.0.0 global multiproxy database (Pages2K, 2017) of the Common Era supplemented with some new records not yet included in the Pages 2K archive. Using two subsets of annually dated proxy records sensitive to summer temperatures and those representative of both summer and annual mean SAT, we generated seasonal (summer) and annual SAT CFR for the study region. This study provides a substantial extension to the previous Artic CFR reconstruction by Tingley& Huybers (2013) in terms of both the input proxy data density and duration back in time as well as improved reconstruction technique applied. As a major innovation we used a recently developed extension to the BARCAST method of Tingley&Huybers (2010), BARCAST+AMS (Werner&Tingley, 2015) that provides a means to treat climate archives with dating uncertainties via probabilistic constraining the age-depth models of time-uncertain climate proxies within the hierarchical Bayesian framework. Preliminary analysis of the new reconstructions confirms the recent warming to interrupt the millennial scale general cooling trend. The rate of contemporary circum- Arctic warming of 0.04(0.01) C year-1 since AD 1961 is unprecedented on the time scale of at least past 1000 years. Since AD 1990 the circum-Arctic SAT persistently exceeds the two historical warm extremes of AD 1014-1017 and 1028-1033 associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA). A previous well-recorded early 20th century Arctic warming is manifested as event with a magnitude and duration comparable to a number of other anomalies detected in past centuries including the MCA. The new reconstructions provide a prospective framework for further analysis of seasonal regional past climate variability on the range of time-scales. It includes the periods of past rapid changes in the Arctic with a focus on the regional manifestation and time evolution of past major climate extremes. References: Tingley, M. P. and Huybers, P.: Recent temperature extremes at high northern latitudes unprecedented in the past 600 years, Nature, 496, 201-205, 2013. Werner, J. P. and Tingley, M. P.: Technical Note: Probabilistically constraining proxy age-depth models within a Bayesian hierarchical reconstruction model, Clim. Past, 11, 533-545, doi:10.5194/cp-11-533-2015, 2015.

Single photon emission computed tomography-guided Cerenkov luminescence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhenhua; Chen, Xueli; Liang, Jimin; Qu, Xiaochao; Chen, Duofang; Yang, Weidong; Wang, Jing; Cao, Feng; Tian, Jie

2012-07-01

Cerenkov luminescence tomography (CLT) has become a valuable tool for preclinical imaging because of its ability of reconstructing the three-dimensional distribution and activity of the radiopharmaceuticals. However, it is still far from a mature technology and suffers from relatively low spatial resolution due to the ill-posed inverse problem for the tomographic reconstruction. In this paper, we presented a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-guided reconstruction method for CLT, in which a priori information of the permissible source region (PSR) from SPECT imaging results was incorporated to effectively reduce the ill-posedness of the inverse reconstruction problem. The performance of the method was first validated with the experimental reconstruction of an adult athymic nude mouse implanted with a Na131I radioactive source and an adult athymic nude mouse received an intravenous tail injection of Na131I. A tissue-mimic phantom based experiment was then conducted to illustrate the ability of the proposed method in resolving double sources. Compared with the traditional PSR strategy in which the PSR was determined by the surface flux distribution, the proposed method obtained much more accurate and encouraging localization and resolution results. Preliminary results showed that the proposed SPECT-guided reconstruction method was insensitive to the regularization methods and ignored the heterogeneity of tissues which can avoid the segmentation procedure of the organs.

Exposure Reconstruction: A Framework of Advancing Exposure Assessment

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) primary goal for environmental protection is to eliminate or minimize the exposure of humans and ecosystems to potential contaminants. With the number of environmental contaminants increasing annually – more than 2000 new chemical...

Socioeconomic Factors Associated with Post-Mastectomy Immediate Reconstruction in a Contemporary Cohort of Breast Cancer Survivors.

PubMed

Schumacher, Jessica R; Taylor, Lauren J; Tucholka, Jennifer L; Poore, Samuel; Eggen, Amanda; Steiman, Jennifer; Wilke, Lee G; Greenberg, Caprice C; Neuman, Heather B

2017-10-01

Post-mastectomy reconstruction is a critical component of high-quality breast cancer care. Prior studies demonstrate socioeconomic disparity in receipt of reconstruction. Our objective was to evaluate trends in receipt of immediate reconstruction and examine socioeconomic factors associated with reconstruction in a contemporary cohort. Using the National Cancer Database, we identified women <75 years of age with stage 0-1 breast cancer treated with mastectomy (n = 297,121). Trends in immediate reconstruction rates (2004-2013) for the overall cohort and stratified by socioeconomic factors were examined using Join-point regression analysis, and annual percentage change (APC) was calculated. We then restricted our sample to a contemporary cohort (2010-2013, n = 145,577). Multivariable logistic regression identified socioeconomic factors associated with immediate reconstruction. Average adjusted predicted probabilities of receiving reconstruction were calculated. Immediate reconstruction rates increased from 27 to 48%. Although absolute rates of reconstruction for each stratification group increased, similar APCs across strata led to persistent gaps in receipt of reconstruction. On multivariable logistic regression using our contemporary cohort, race, income, education, and insurance type were all strongly associated with immediate reconstruction. Patients with the lowest predicted probability of receiving reconstruction were patients with Medicaid who lived in areas with the lowest rates of high-school graduation (Black 42.4% [95% CI 40.5-44.3], White 45.7% [95% CI 43.9-47.4]). Although reconstruction rates have increased dramatically over the past decade, lower rates persist for disadvantaged patients. Understanding how socioeconomic factors influence receipt of reconstruction, and identifying modifiable factors, are critical next steps towards identifying interventions to reduce disparities in breast cancer surgical care.

Extensor Tendon Instability Due to Sagittal Band Injury in a Martial Arts Athlete: A Case Report.

PubMed

Kochevar, Andrew; Rayan, Ghazi

2017-03-01

A Taekwondo participant sustained a hand injury from punching an opponent that resulted in painful instability of the ring finger extensor digitorum communis tendon due to sagittal band damage. His symptoms resolved after reconstructive surgery on the sagittal band (SB) with stabilization of the extensor tendon over the metacarpophalangeal joint.

The temperature and precipitation reconstructions on Swiss stalagmites with a special emphasis on altitude gradient using noble-gases, δO-18 and δD of fluid inclusions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghadiri, Elaheh; Brennwald, Matthias; Kipfer, Rolf

2017-04-01

We present the results of an application of 'Combined Vacuum Crushing and Sieving (CVCS)' system (e.g., allowing to crush samples to defined grain size in vacuum) for the first time to stalagmites grown in cold climates during the last glacial-interglacial transition, but at different altitudes. Recently, concentrations of dissolved atmospheric noble gases in fluid inclusions of stalagmites were used to reconstruct past ambient cave temperatures, the annual mean temperature and hydrological conditions when the water was trapped. To reconstruct temperatures from noble gases (noble gas temperature: NGT) in water-filled inclusions, we processed samples from Swiss stalagmites M6 from Milandre cave (400 m.a.s.l) and GEF1 from Grotte aux Fées cave (895 m.a.s.l) covering the climatic transitions Allerød-Younger Dryas-Holocene. Water content. The amount of water extracted per unit mass of calcite fabric (e.g., 'water yield': WT) was shown to be a measure of the total water content. The data shows that the WT systematically changes with δ18Ocalcite of the calcite. We therefore conclude that WT records can be linked on changes in drip rates and thus can be used to track changes of past precipitation even in cold regions. Noble gases. Noble gas analysis shows that the annual mean temperatures in Milandre cave were 2.2±2.0°C during the late Allerød and dropped to 0±2°C at the Younger Dryas. Such temperatures close 0°C indicate that drip water supply stopped in response to the formation of permafrost conditions around the cave preventing further stalagmite growth. However, one late Holocene sample gave a cave temperature of 8.7±1.4°C agreeing generally with present day annual mean temperature. The annual mean temperature of 5.7±1.3°C from GEF1 was determined for the early Holocene. The observed data show systematic variations with sample elevation, e.g., higher temperature from lower altitude and vice versa. Combining the isotopic composition of water in fluid inclusions (δ18Owater, δDwater) and the NGTs allows determining the δ18O-T relation ('laps rate') in the past as both δ18O and T scale with altitude. This calibration is key as paleo-temperatures are often reconstructed from δ18O, δD data whereby it is implicitly assumed that the modern Δ(δ18Owater, δDwater)-ΔT relation is also valid for the past. Our study makes an argument that noble gas analysis in stalagmites can also be a new route to address this fundamental hypothesis of past climate reconstruction.

Resolution of deep nodes yields an improved backbone phylogeny and a new basal lineage to study early evolution of Asteraceae.

PubMed

Panero, Jose L; Freire, Susana E; Ariza Espinar, Luis; Crozier, Bonnie S; Barboza, Gloria E; Cantero, Juan J

2014-11-01

A backbone phylogeny that fully resolves all subfamily and deeper nodes of Asteraceae was constructed using 14 chloroplast DNA loci. The recently named genus Famatinanthus was found to be sister to the Mutisioideae-Asteroideae clade that represents more than 99% of Asteraceae and was found to have the two chloroplast inversions present in all Asteraceae except the nine genera of Barnadesioideae. A monotypic subfamily Famatinanthoideae and tribe Famatinantheae are named herein as new. Relationships among the basal lineages of the family were resolved with strong support in the Bayesian analysis as (Barnadesioideae (Famatinanthoideae (Mutisioideae (Stifftioideae (Wunderlichioideae-Asteroideae))))). Ancestral state reconstruction of ten morphological characters at the root node of the Asteraceae showed that the ancestral sunflower would have had a woody habit, alternate leaves, solitary capitulescences, epaleate receptacles, smooth styles, smooth to microechinate pollen surface sculpturing, white to yellow corollas, and insect-mediated pollination. Herbaceous habit, echinate pollen surface, pubescent styles, and cymose capitulescences were reconstructed for backbone nodes of the phylogeny corresponding to clades that evolved shortly after Asteraceae dispersed out of South America. No support was found for discoid capitula, multiseriate involucres or bird pollination as the ancestral character condition for any node. Using this more resolved phylogenetic tree, the recently described Raiguenrayun cura+Mutisiapollis telleriae fossil should be associated to a more derived node than previously suggested when time calibrating phylogenies of Asteraceae. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neighborhood resolved fiber orientation distributions (NRFOD) in automatic labeling of white matter fiber pathways.

PubMed

Ugurlu, Devran; Firat, Zeynep; Türe, Uğur; Unal, Gozde

2018-05-01

Accurate digital representation of major white matter bundles in the brain is an important goal in neuroscience image computing since the representations can be used for surgical planning, intra-patient longitudinal analysis and inter-subject population connectivity studies. Reconstructing desired fiber bundles generally involves manual selection of regions of interest by an expert, which is subject to user bias and fatigue, hence an automation is desirable. To that end, we first present a novel anatomical representation based on Neighborhood Resolved Fiber Orientation Distributions (NRFOD) along the fibers. The resolved fiber orientations are obtained by generalized q-sampling imaging (GQI) and a subsequent diffusion decomposition method. A fiber-to-fiber distance measure between the proposed fiber representations is then used in a density-based clustering framework to select the clusters corresponding to the major pathways of interest. In addition, neuroanatomical priors are utilized to constrain the set of candidate fibers before density-based clustering. The proposed fiber clustering approach is exemplified on automation of the reconstruction of the major fiber pathways in the brainstem: corticospinal tract (CST); medial lemniscus (ML); middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP); inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP); superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP). Experimental results on Human Connectome Project (HCP)'s publicly available "WU-Minn 500 Subjects + MEG2 dataset" and expert evaluations demonstrate the potential of the proposed fiber clustering method in brainstem white matter structure analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Motion robust high resolution 3D free-breathing pulmonary MRI using dynamic 3D image self-navigator.

PubMed

Jiang, Wenwen; Ong, Frank; Johnson, Kevin M; Nagle, Scott K; Hope, Thomas A; Lustig, Michael; Larson, Peder E Z

2018-06-01

To achieve motion robust high resolution 3D free-breathing pulmonary MRI utilizing a novel dynamic 3D image navigator derived directly from imaging data. Five-minute free-breathing scans were acquired with a 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequence with 1.25 mm isotropic resolution. From this data, dynamic 3D self-navigating images were reconstructed under locally low rank (LLR) constraints and used for motion compensation with one of two methods: a soft-gating technique to penalize the respiratory motion induced data inconsistency, and a respiratory motion-resolved technique to provide images of all respiratory motion states. Respiratory motion estimation derived from the proposed dynamic 3D self-navigator of 7.5 mm isotropic reconstruction resolution and a temporal resolution of 300 ms was successful for estimating complex respiratory motion patterns. This estimation improved image quality compared to respiratory belt and DC-based navigators. Respiratory motion compensation with soft-gating and respiratory motion-resolved techniques provided good image quality from highly undersampled data in volunteers and clinical patients. An optimized 3D UTE sequence combined with the proposed reconstruction methods can provide high-resolution motion robust pulmonary MRI. Feasibility was shown in patients who had irregular breathing patterns in which our approach could depict clinically relevant pulmonary pathologies. Magn Reson Med 79:2954-2967, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Free-breathing volumetric fat/water separation by combining radial sampling, compressed sensing, and parallel imaging.

PubMed

Benkert, Thomas; Feng, Li; Sodickson, Daniel K; Chandarana, Hersh; Block, Kai Tobias

2017-08-01

Conventional fat/water separation techniques require that patients hold breath during abdominal acquisitions, which often fails and limits the achievable spatial resolution and anatomic coverage. This work presents a novel approach for free-breathing volumetric fat/water separation. Multiecho data are acquired using a motion-robust radial stack-of-stars three-dimensional GRE sequence with bipolar readout. To obtain fat/water maps, a model-based reconstruction is used that accounts for the off-resonant blurring of fat and integrates both compressed sensing and parallel imaging. The approach additionally enables generation of respiration-resolved fat/water maps by detecting motion from k-space data and reconstructing different respiration states. Furthermore, an extension is described for dynamic contrast-enhanced fat-water-separated measurements. Uniform and robust fat/water separation is demonstrated in several clinical applications, including free-breathing noncontrast abdominal examination of adults and a pediatric subject with both motion-averaged and motion-resolved reconstructions, as well as in a noncontrast breast exam. Furthermore, dynamic contrast-enhanced fat/water imaging with high temporal resolution is demonstrated in the abdomen and breast. The described framework provides a viable approach for motion-robust fat/water separation and promises particular value for clinical applications that are currently limited by the breath-holding capacity or cooperation of patients. Magn Reson Med 78:565-576, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Development of time-resolved reflectance diffuse optical tomography for breast cancer monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshimoto, Kenji; Ohmae, Etsuko; Yamashita, Daisuke; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Homma, Shu; Mimura, Tetsuya; Wada, Hiroko; Suzuki, Toshihiko; Yoshizawa, Nobuko; Nasu, Hatsuko; Ogura, Hiroyuki; Sakahara, Harumi; Yamashita, Yutaka; Ueda, Yukio

2017-02-01

We developed a time-resolved reflectance diffuse optical tomography (RDOT) system to measure tumor responses to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients at the bedside. This system irradiates the breast with a three-wavelength pulsed laser (760, 800, and 830 nm) through a source fiber specified by an optical switch. The light collected by detector fibers is guided to a detector unit consisting of variable attenuators and photomultiplier tubes. Thirteen irradiation and 12 detection points were set to a measurement area of 50 × 50 mm for a hand-held probe. The data acquisition time required to obtain the temporal profiles within the measurement area is about 2 minutes. The RDOT system generates topographic and tomographic images of tissue properties such as hemoglobin concentration and tissue oxygen saturation using two imaging methods. Topographic images are obtained from the optical properties determined for each source-detector pair using a curve-fitting method based on the photon diffusion theory, while tomographic images are reconstructed using an iterative image reconstruction method. In an experiment using a tissue-like solid phantom, a tumor-like cylindrical target (15 mm diameter, 15 mm high) embedded in a breast tissue-like background medium was successfully reconstructed. Preliminary clinical measurements indicated that the tumor in a breast cancer patient was detected as a region of high hemoglobin concentration. In addition, the total hemoglobin concentration decreased during chemotherapy. These results demonstrate the potential of RDOT for evaluating the effectiveness of chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Abrupt Greenland Ice Sheet runoff and sea water temperature changes since 1821, recorded by coralline algae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamenos, N.; Hoey, T.; Bedford, J.; Claverie, T.; Fallick, A. E.; Lamb, C. M.; Nienow, P. W.; O'Neill, S.; Shepherd, I.; Thormar, J.

2012-12-01

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) contains the largest store of fresh water in the northern hemisphere, equivalent to ~7.4m of eustatic sea level rise, but its impacts on current, past and future sea level, ocean circulation and European climate are poorly understood. Previous estimates of GrIS melt, from 26 years of satellite observations and temperature driven melt-models over 48 years, show a trend of increasing melt. There are however no runoff data of comparable duration with which to validate temperature-based runoff models, or relationships between the spatial extent of melt and runoff. Further, longer runoff records that extend GrIS melt records to centennial timescales will enable recently observed trends to be put into a better historical context. We measured Mg/Ca, δ18O and structural cell size in annual growth bands of red coralline algae to reconstruct: (1) near surface sea water temperature; and, (2) melt/runoff from the GrIS. (1) Temperature: we reconstructed the longest (1821-2009) sub-annual resolution record of water temperature in Disko Bugt (western Greenland) showing an abrupt change in temperature oscillation patterns during the 1920s which may be attributable to the interaction between atmospheric temperature and mass loss from Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier. (2) GrIS runoff: using samples from distal parts of Søndre Strømfjord we produced the first reconstruction of decadal (1939-2002) GrIS runoff. We observed significant negative relationships between historic runoff, relative salinity and marine summer temperature. Our reconstruction shows a trend of increasing reconstructed runoff since the mid 1980s. In situ summer marine temperatures followed a similar trend. We suggest that since 1939 atmospheric temperatures have been important in forcing runoff. Subject to locating in situ coralline algae samples, these methods can be applied across hundreds to thousands of years. These results show that our technique has significant potential to enhance understanding of runoff from large ice sheets as it will enable melt reconstruction over centennial-millennial time scales.; Red coralline algal thalli (Lithothamnion glaciale) similar to those used in Greenland reconstructions. Each thallus is 5cm in diameter.

Cropland changes in times of conflict, reconstruction, and economic development in Iraqi Kurdistan.

PubMed

Eklund, Lina; Persson, Andreas; Pilesjö, Petter

2016-02-01

The destruction of land and forced migration during the Anfal attacks against the Kurds in Iraq in the late 1980s has been reported to have severe consequences for agricultural development. A reconstruction program to aid people in returning to their lands was launched in 1991. To assess the agricultural situation in the Duhok governorate during the pre-Anfal (A), post-Anfal (B), reconstruction (C), and present (D) periods, we mapped winter crops by focusing on inter-annual variability in vegetation greenness, using satellite images. The results indicate a decrease in cultivated area between period A and B, and a small increase between period B and C. This supports reports of a decline in cultivated area related to the Anfal campaign, and indicates increased activity during the reconstruction program. Period D showed a potential recovery with a cropland area similar to period A.

CORRIGENDUM: A new algorithm for the shape reconstruction of perfectly conducting objects A new algorithm for the shape reconstruction of perfectly conducting objects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Çayören, M.; Akduman, I.; Yapar, A.; Crocco, L.

2010-03-01

The reference list should have included the conference communications [1] and [2], wherein we introduced the algorithm described in this paper. Note that a less complete description of the algorithm was given in [1]. However, the example considering a bean-shaped target is the same in the two papers and it is reused in this paper by kind permission of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society. References [1] Crocco L, Akduman I, Çayören M and Yapar A 2007 A new method for shape reconstruction of perfectly conducting targets The 23rd Annual Review of Progress in Applied Computational Electromagnetics (Verona, Italy) [2] Çayören M, Akduman I, Yapar A and Crocco L 2007 A new algorithm for the shape reconstruction of perfectly conducting objects Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS) (Beijing, PRC)

Time-resolved absorption and hemoglobin concentration difference maps: a method to retrieve depth-related information on cerebral hemodynamics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montcel, Bruno; Chabrier, Renée; Poulet, Patrick

2006-12-01

Time-resolved diffuse optical methods have been applied to detect hemodynamic changes induced by cerebral activity. We describe a near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) reconstruction free method which allows retrieving depth-related information on absorption variations. Variations in the absorption coefficient of tissues have been computed over the duration of the whole experiment, but also over each temporal step of the time-resolved optical signal, using the microscopic Beer-Lambert law.Finite element simulations show that time-resolved computation of the absorption difference as a function of the propagation time of detected photons is sensitive to the depth profile of optical absorption variations. Differences in deoxyhemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin concentrations can also be calculated from multi-wavelength measurements. Experimental validations of the simulated results have been obtained for resin phantoms. They confirm that time-resolved computation of the absorption differences exhibited completely different behaviours, depending on whether these variations occurred deeply or superficially. The hemodynamic response to a short finger tapping stimulus was measured over the motor cortex and compared to experiments involving Valsalva manoeuvres. Functional maps were also calculated for the hemodynamic response induced by finger tapping movements.

Time-resolved absorption and hemoglobin concentration difference maps: a method to retrieve depth-related information on cerebral hemodynamics.

PubMed

Montcel, Bruno; Chabrier, Renée; Poulet, Patrick

2006-12-11

Time-resolved diffuse optical methods have been applied to detect hemodynamic changes induced by cerebral activity. We describe a near infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) reconstruction free method which allows retrieving depth-related information on absorption variations. Variations in the absorption coefficient of tissues have been computed over the duration of the whole experiment, but also over each temporal step of the time-resolved optical signal, using the microscopic Beer-Lambert law.Finite element simulations show that time-resolved computation of the absorption difference as a function of the propagation time of detected photons is sensitive to the depth profile of optical absorption variations. Differences in deoxyhemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin concentrations can also be calculated from multi-wavelength measurements. Experimental validations of the simulated results have been obtained for resin phantoms. They confirm that time-resolved computation of the absorption differences exhibited completely different behaviours, depending on whether these variations occurred deeply or superficially. The hemodynamic response to a short finger tapping stimulus was measured over the motor cortex and compared to experiments involving Valsalva manoeuvres. Functional maps were also calculated for the hemodynamic response induced by finger tapping movements.

Supermassive Black Holes with High Accretion Rates in Active Galactic Nuclei. VI. Velocity-resolved Reverberation Mapping of the Hβ Line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Pu; Lu, Kai-Xing; Hu, Chen; Qiu, Jie; Li, Yan-Rong; Huang, Ying-Ke; Wang, Fang; Bai, Jin-Ming; Bian, Wei-Hao; Yuan, Ye-Fei; Ho, Luis C.; Wang, Jian-Min; SEAMBH Collaboration

2016-03-01

In the sixth of a series of papers reporting on a large reverberation mapping (RM) campaign of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with high accretion rates, we present velocity-resolved time lags of Hβ emission lines for nine objects observed in the campaign during 2012-2013. In order to correct the line broadening caused by seeing and instruments before analyzing the velocity-resolved RM, we adopt the Richardson-Lucy deconvolution to reconstruct their Hβ profiles. The validity and effectiveness of the deconvolution are checked using Monte Carlo simulation. Five among the nine objects show clear dependence of the time delay on velocity. Mrk 335 and Mrk 486 show signatures of gas inflow whereas the clouds in the broad-line regions (BLRs) of Mrk 142 and MCG +06-26-012 tend to be radial outflowing. Mrk 1044 is consistent with having virialized motions. The lags of the remaining four are not velocity-resolvable. The velocity-resolved RM of super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs) shows that they have diverse kinematics in their BLRs. Comparing with the AGNs with sub-Eddington accretion rates, we do not find significant differences in the BLR kinematics of SEAMBHs.

Multilocus phylogeny reconstruction: new insights into the evolutionary history of the genus Petunia.

PubMed

Reck-Kortmann, Maikel; Silva-Arias, Gustavo Adolfo; Segatto, Ana Lúcia Anversa; Mäder, Geraldo; Bonatto, Sandro Luis; de Freitas, Loreta Brandão

2014-12-01

The phylogeny of Petunia species has been difficult to resolve, primarily due to the recent diversification of the genus. Several studies have included molecular data in phylogenetic reconstructions of this genus, but all of them have failed to include all taxa and/or analyzed few genetic markers. In the present study, we employed the most inclusive genetic and taxonomic datasets for the genus, aiming to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Petunia based on molecular phylogeny, biogeographic distribution, and character evolution. We included all 20 Petunia morphological species or subspecies in these analyses. Based on nine nuclear and five plastid DNA markers, our phylogenetic analysis reinforces the monophyly of the genus Petunia and supports the hypothesis that the basal divergence is more related to the differentiation of corolla tube length, whereas the geographic distribution of species is more related to divergences within these main clades. Ancestral area reconstructions suggest the Pampas region as the area of origin and earliest divergence in Petunia. The state reconstructions suggest that the ancestor of Petunia might have had a short corolla tube and a bee pollination floral syndrome. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

3D reconstruction of the porous microstructure of Al2O3-coatings based on sequentially revealed surface data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loftfield, Nina; Kästner, Markus; Reithmeier, Eduard

2018-06-01

Local and global liquid transport properties correlate strongly with the morphology of porous materials. Therefore, by characterizing the porous network information is indirectly gained on the materials properties. Properties like the open-porosity are easily accessible with techniques like mercury porosimetry. However, the 3D image reconstruction, destructive or non-destructive, holds advantages like an accurate spatially resolved representation of the investigated material. Common 3D data acquisition is done by x-ray microtomography or a combination of focused ion beam based milling and scanning electron microscopy. In this work a reconstruction approach similar to the latter one is implemented. The porous network is reconstructed based on an alternating process of milling the surface by fly cutting and measuring the surface data with a confocal laser scanning microscope. This has the benefit of reconstructing the pore network on the basis of surface height data, measuring the structure boundaries directly. The stack of milled surface height data needs to be registered and the pore structure to be segmented. The segmented pore structure is connected throughout each height layer and afterwards meshed. The investigated materials are porous surface coatings of aluminum oxide for the usage in tribological pairings.

Early experience with the free lumbar artery perforator flap for breast reconstruction.

PubMed

Peters, Kevin T; Blondeel, Phillip N; Lobo, Fernando; van Landuyt, Koenraad

2015-08-01

Autologous breast reconstruction has become a progressively more popular method of breast reconstruction. A wide variety of perforator flaps have been described and subsequently refined to decrease donor-site morbidity. Recently, the lumbar artery perforator (LAP) flap has been reported as an option for autologous breast reconstruction. This study summarises the prospectively gathered data of 35 free LAP flaps for breast reconstruction in 28 patients. The mean follow-up was 18 months. The internal mammary artery and the venae comitantes were used as recipient vessels in all reconstructions. In 80% of the reconstructions (28 flaps), an interposition graft was used. Six flaps (17%) had to be revised for venous thrombosis. Two of the revised flaps (5.7%) could not be salvaged, and total flap necrosis occurred. The mean operating time was 6 h and 15 min, 6 h and 39 min when an interposition graft was used and 5 h and 23 min when no interposition graft was necessary. The LAP flap should be considered as a further alternative for breast reconstruction in patients in whom a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEAP) flap is not possible or not desirable. Shaping of this flap is easier compared to any other flaps due to the quality of the lumbar fat and the gluteal extension. An interposition graft is frequently used to facilitate anastomosis, either to lengthen the pedicle or to resolve size mismatch. This is a disadvantage of the LAP flap. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sclerochronological study of a dog cockle (Glycymeris glycymeris L.) population from the Madeira Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Németh, Alexandra; Kern, Zoltán

2017-04-01

The use of the annual increments in the shell of the abundant dog cockle (Glycymeris glycymeris L.) in sclerochronological studies has been demonstrated to be a valid method to reconstruct oceanographic variability in the North Atlantic region [1,2]. However, the sclerochronological potential of the species has not been investigated at the southern limit of its distribution, at the southern North East Atlantic. Therefore the first aim of our study was to analyse growth patterns of G. glycymeris specimens collected around the Madeira Islands to understand which environmental variable has the strongest limiting effect on their growth. The second aim was to find out whether G. glycymeris could be used to build chronologies for sea surface temperature (SST) reconstruction for the region. In 2013 a group of dead shells were collected near the Desertas Islands, Madeira, at 80-300 m water depth range, together with two living specimens. The live collected shells were relatively young (<37 years) while the dead shells proved to have much higher ontogenetic ages (up to 164 years). All groups showed similar ontogenetic trends, however, the average growth rate in the shallower environment was higher in the first four years of their life compared to the deeper collection sites. Subsets of the Madeira (n=18) samples could be collected into a robust chronology: between 1950 and 2000 the value of the expressed population signal EPS was found to be higher than 0.8. In this time interval their composite chronology exhibited negative correlation (r=-0.6, p<0.1.) with the averaged February-May SST fields around Madeira. At the same time, it correlated positively (r>0.8) with the averaged February satellite derived Chlorophyll (Chl) concentrations in the region, although this data was available only between 1998 and 2012. Our results suggest that the relationship between shell growth of G. glycymeris and SST is complex and not direct. In contrast with the northern populations the low water temperature was not a limiting environmental factor for the shells. Chl concentration of the surface water around the Madeira Islands usually exhibits a maximum in February or March (spring phytoplankton bloom) when vertical mixing is the most intensive and SST is the lowest during the year. This could explain the negative correlation between the shell growth and SST. The vertical mixing, timing and the intensity of the blooms are controlled by regional atmospheric patterns, such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) [3]. [1] Brocas, W.M., Reynolds, D.J., Butler, P.G., Richardson, C.A., Scourse, J.D., Ridgway, I.D., Ramsay, K., 2013. The dog cockle, Glycymeris glycymeris (L.), a new annually resolved sclerochronological archive for the Irish Sea. Paleogeogr. Paleoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 373, 133-140. [2] Reynolds, D.J., Butler, P.G., Williams, S.M., Scourse, J.D., Richardson, C.A., Wanamaker, A.D., Austin, W.E.N., Cage, A.G., 2013. A multiproxy reconstruction of Hebridean (NW Scotland) spring sea surface temperatures between AD 1805 and 2010. Paleogeogr. Paleoclimatol. Paleoecol. 386, 275-285. [3] Bashmachnikov, I., Belonenko, T.V., Koldunov, A.V., 2013 Intra-annual and interannual non-stationary cycles of chlorophyll concentration in the Northeast Atlantic. Remote Sens. of Environ. 137, 55-68.

Annually resolved southern hemisphere volcanic history from two Antarctic ice cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cole-Dai, Jihong; Mosley-Thompson, Ellen; Thompson, Lonnie G.

1997-07-01

The continuous sulfate analysis of two Antarctic ice cores, one from the Antarctic Peninsula region and one from West Antarctica, provides an annually resolved proxy history of southern semisphere volcanism since early in the 15th century. The dating is accurate within ±3 years due to the high rate of snow accumulation at both core sites and the small sample sizes used for analysis. The two sulfate records are consistent with each other. A systematic and objective method of separating outstanding sulfate events from the background sulfate flux is proposed and used to identify all volcanic signals. The resulting volcanic chronology covering 1417-1989 A.D. resolves temporal ambiguities about several recently discovered events. A number of previously unknown, moderate eruptions during late 1600s are uncovered in this chronology. The eruption of Tambora (1815) and the recently discovered eruption of Kuwae (1453) in the tropical South Pacific injected the greatest amount of sulfur dioxide into the southern hemisphere stratosphere during the last half millennium. A technique for comparing the magnitude of volcanic events preserved within different ice cores is developed using normalized sulfate flux. For the same eruptions the variability of the volcanic sulfate flux between the cores is within ±20% of the sulfate flux from the Tambora eruption.

Hydroclimate of the northeastern United States is highly sensitive to solar forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nichols, Jonathan E.; Huang, Yongsong

2012-02-01

Dramatic hydrological fluctuations strongly impact human society, but the driving mechanisms for these changes are unclear. One suggested driver is solar variability, but supporting paleoclimate evidence is lacking. Therefore, long, continuous, high-resolution records from strategic locations are crucial for resolving the scientific debate regarding sensitivity of climate to solar forcing. We present a 6800-year, decadally-resolved biomarker and multidecadally-resolved hydrogen isotope record of hydroclimate from a coastal Maine peatland, The Great Heath (TGH). Regional moisture balance responds strongly and consistently to solar forcing at centennial to millennial timescales, with solar minima concurrent with wet conditions. We propose that the Arctic/North Atlantic Oscillation (AO/NAO) can amplify small solar fluctuations, producing the reconstructed hydrological variations. The Sun may be entering a weak phase, analogous to the Maunder minimum, which could lead to more frequent flooding in the northeastern US at this multidecadal timescale.

Angle-resolved PED and AED calculations for different structures of the diamond C(111) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niebergall, L.; Rennert, P.; Chassé, A.; Kucherenko, Yu

1998-05-01

Angle-resolved (AR) photoelectron diffraction (PED) spectra for electrons excited from the C 1s core state and angle-resolved KVV Auger electron diffraction (AED) spectra are calculated for the Pandey and the Tsai stucture models of diamond C(111) which extend previous investigations of the ideal structure. It is shown how to decide on the structure model by comparing PE spectra for different directions and by comparing PED and AED spectra. Calculations have been performed by evaluating the scattering path operator for a finite cluster in a curved-wave approximation. The different matrix elements for the photoelectron excitation and for the Auger process, respectively, are included. It is shown that the PED intensities are very sensitive to the surface reconstruction for polar angles in the range of 80°. In the AED intensities, polar scans in the plane perpendicular to the chain direction can be considered.

Optical asymmetric cryptography based on elliptical polarized light linear truncation and a numerical reconstruction technique.

PubMed

Lin, Chao; Shen, Xueju; Wang, Zhisong; Zhao, Cheng

2014-06-20

We demonstrate a novel optical asymmetric cryptosystem based on the principle of elliptical polarized light linear truncation and a numerical reconstruction technique. The device of an array of linear polarizers is introduced to achieve linear truncation on the spatially resolved elliptical polarization distribution during image encryption. This encoding process can be characterized as confusion-based optical cryptography that involves no Fourier lens and diffusion operation. Based on the Jones matrix formalism, the intensity transmittance for this truncation is deduced to perform elliptical polarized light reconstruction based on two intensity measurements. Use of a quick response code makes the proposed cryptosystem practical, with versatile key sensitivity and fault tolerance. Both simulation and preliminary experimental results that support theoretical analysis are presented. An analysis of the resistance of the proposed method on a known public key attack is also provided.

Metabolic network reconstruction of Chlamydomonas offers insight into light-driven algal metabolism

PubMed Central

Chang, Roger L; Ghamsari, Lila; Manichaikul, Ani; Hom, Erik F Y; Balaji, Santhanam; Fu, Weiqi; Shen, Yun; Hao, Tong; Palsson, Bernhard Ø; Salehi-Ashtiani, Kourosh; Papin, Jason A

2011-01-01

Metabolic network reconstruction encompasses existing knowledge about an organism's metabolism and genome annotation, providing a platform for omics data analysis and phenotype prediction. The model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is employed to study diverse biological processes from photosynthesis to phototaxis. Recent heightened interest in this species results from an international movement to develop algal biofuels. Integrating biological and optical data, we reconstructed a genome-scale metabolic network for this alga and devised a novel light-modeling approach that enables quantitative growth prediction for a given light source, resolving wavelength and photon flux. We experimentally verified transcripts accounted for in the network and physiologically validated model function through simulation and generation of new experimental growth data, providing high confidence in network contents and predictive applications. The network offers insight into algal metabolism and potential for genetic engineering and efficient light source design, a pioneering resource for studying light-driven metabolism and quantitative systems biology. PMID:21811229

[Thin filament elasticity and its role in the muscle contraction].

PubMed

Skubiszak, L

2006-01-01

The available experimental methods do not allow one to establish unambiguously the molecular structural events during muscle contraction. To resolve the existing controversies, I have devised an unconventional original computer program. The new approach allows the reconstruction of the hexagonal lattice of the sarcomere for different muscle states and verification of the structure by comparison of the calculated Fourier spectra with the real diffraction patterns. Previously, by the use of this approach, the real structure of a myosin filament from vertebrate striated muscle has been reconstructed (http://zope.ibib.waw.pl/pspk). In this work, a reconstruction for the thin filament is presented for three states: relaxed, after activation, and during contraction. Good consistency of the calculated Fourier spectra with the real diffraction patterns available in the literature suggests that the thin filament, due to flexibility, plays an active part in muscle contraction, as myosin cross-bridges do.

A method for reconstructing the development of the sapwood area of balsam fir.

PubMed

Coyea, M R; Margolis, H A; Gagnon, R R

1990-09-01

Leaf area is commonly estimated as a function of sapwood area. However, because sapwood changes to heartwood over time, it has not previously been possible to reconstruct either the sapwood area or the leaf area of older trees into the past. In this study, we report a method for reconstructing the development of the sapwood area of dominant and codominant balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.). The technique is based on establishing a species-specific relationship between the number of annual growth rings in the sapwood area and tree age. Because the number of annual growth rings in the sapwood of balsam fir at a given age was found to be independent of site quality and stand density, the number of rings in sapwood (NRS) can be predicted from the age of a tree thus: NRS = 14.818 (1 - e(-0.031 age)), unweighted R(2) = 0.80, and NRS = 2.490 (1 - e(-0.038 age)), unweighted R(2) = 0.64, for measurements at breast height and at the base of the live crown, respectively. These nonlinear asymptotic regression models based only on age, were not improved by adding other tree variables such as diameter at breast height, diameter at the base of the live crown, total tree height or percent live crown.

On the assessment of spatial resolution of PET systems with iterative image reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Kuang; Cherry, Simon R.; Qi, Jinyi

2016-03-01

Spatial resolution is an important metric for performance characterization in PET systems. Measuring spatial resolution is straightforward with a linear reconstruction algorithm, such as filtered backprojection, and can be performed by reconstructing a point source scan and calculating the full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) along the principal directions. With the widespread adoption of iterative reconstruction methods, it is desirable to quantify the spatial resolution using an iterative reconstruction algorithm. However, the task can be difficult because the reconstruction algorithms are nonlinear and the non-negativity constraint can artificially enhance the apparent spatial resolution if a point source image is reconstructed without any background. Thus, it was recommended that a background should be added to the point source data before reconstruction for resolution measurement. However, there has been no detailed study on the effect of the point source contrast on the measured spatial resolution. Here we use point source scans from a preclinical PET scanner to investigate the relationship between measured spatial resolution and the point source contrast. We also evaluate whether the reconstruction of an isolated point source is predictive of the ability of the system to resolve two adjacent point sources. Our results indicate that when the point source contrast is below a certain threshold, the measured FWHM remains stable. Once the contrast is above the threshold, the measured FWHM monotonically decreases with increasing point source contrast. In addition, the measured FWHM also monotonically decreases with iteration number for maximum likelihood estimate. Therefore, when measuring system resolution with an iterative reconstruction algorithm, we recommend using a low-contrast point source and a fixed number of iterations.

Paleoclimatological study using stalagmites from Java Island, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watanabe, Y.; Matsuoka, H.; Ohsawa, S.; Yamada, M.; Kitaoka, K.; Kiguchi, M.; Ueda, J.; Yoshimura, K.; Kurisaki, K.; Nakai, S.; Brahmantyo, B.; Maryunani, K. A.; Tagami, T.; Takemura, K.; Yoden, S.

2006-12-01

In the last decade, decoding geochemical records in stalagmites has been widely recognized as a powerful tool for the elucidation of paleoclimate/environment of the terrestrial areas. The previous data are mainly reported from areas that are located in middle latitude. However, this study aims at reconstructing past climate variations in the Asian equatorial regions by using oxygen isotopes and other geochemical proxies recorded in Indonesian stalagmites.. Especially, we focus on the detection of the precipitation anomaly that reflects the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). We performed geological surveys in Buniayu limestone caves, Sukabumi, West Java, and Karangbolong, Central Java, Indonesia and collected a series of stalagmites/stalactites and drip water samples. Detailed textures of stalagmite samples were observed using thin sections to identify "annual" bandings. Moreover, we also measured both (1) annual luminescent banding that can be viewed by ultraviolet-light stimulation and (2) uranium series disequilibrium ages using the MC-ICP-MS for each stalagmite to construct the age model. We also carried out 3H-3He dating and stable isotope measurements of drip water samples to understand hydrogeology in study areas. Based on these frameworks, oxygen isotopes and other geochemical proxies will be analyzed for annual or sub-annual time scales. The proxy data will then be compared with meteorological data set, such as local precipitation, in the past 50 years. Finally, we will reconstruct for longer timescales the past climate, particularly the precipitation anomaly, in the region to detect ancient ENSO.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jacoby, G.C.; D`Arrigo, R.D.; Davaajamts, T.

A 450-year tree-ring width chronology of Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) growing at timberline (2450 meters) in the Tarvagatay Mountains in west central Mongolia shows wide annual growth rings for the recent century. Ecological site observations and comparisons with instrumental temperature records indicate that the ring widths of these trees are sensitive to annual temperature variations. Low-frequency variations in the Tarvagatay tree-ring record are similar to those in a reconstruction of Arctic annual temperatures, which is based on 20 tree-ring width series from northern North America, Scandinavia, and western Russia. The results indicate that recent warming is unusual relativemore » to temperatures of the past 450 years. 29 refs., 2 figs.« less

Malpractice Risk Among US Pediatricians

PubMed Central

Chandra, Amitabh; Seabury, Seth A.

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To characterize malpractice risk among US pediatricians. METHODS: We analyzed malpractice claims of all pediatricians and other physicians covered by a nationwide liability insurer from 1991 to 2005 (n = 1630 pediatricians; 40 916 total physicians). We characterized annual malpractice risk among pediatricians compared with other physicians. We characterized claims according to patient age, injury type, months required to resolve the claim, and whether an indemnity payment was made. We estimated how patient age and injury type were associated with whether a claim resulted in payment to a patient (and if so, payment size) and the time required to resolve the claim. RESULTS: The annual percentage of pediatricians facing a malpractice claim was 3.1% (7.4% among other physicians, P < .001). Among 404 claims, 83 (20.5%) resulted in an indemnity payment and 15 (3.7%) resulted in a payment exceeding $1 million. Annual rates of indemnity were lower among pediatricians (0.5%) than other physicians (1.6%, P < .001), whereas rates of payments exceeding $1 million were similar (0.13% among pediatricians and 0.11% among other physicians, P = .57). The mean indemnity payment was $562 180 (SD $667 962). Cases with permanent injury (n = 172) had larger mean payments ($703 373) compared with fatalities ($559 102; n = 131) or temporary or psychological injuries ($127 663; n = 101), P < .05. The mean time to resolution was 23.4 months (SD 21.8 months). CONCLUSIONS: Indemnity payments among pediatricians are infrequent but large, particularly in cases with permanent patient injury rather than death or temporary injury. The time required to resolve claims may be considered to be long. PMID:23650293

Exploring the potential of hyper-spectral imaging for the biogeochemical analysis of varved lake sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butz, Christoph; Grosjean, Martin; Enters, Dirk; Tylmann, Wojciech

2014-05-01

Varved lake sediments have successfully been used to make inferences about past environmental and climate conditions from annual to multi-millennial scales. Among other proxies, concentrations of sedimentary photopigments have been used for temperature reconstructions. However, obtaining well calibrated annually resolved records from sediments still remains challenging. Most laboratory methods used to analyse lake sediments require physical subsampling and are destructive in the process. Hence, temporal resolution and number of data are limited by the amount of material available in the core. Furthermore, for very low sediment accumulation rates annual subsampling is often very difficult or even impossible. To address these problems we explore hyper-spectral imaging as a new method to analyse lake sediments based on their reflectance spectra in the visible and near infrared spectrum. In contrast to other fast and non-destructive methods like X-ray fluorescence, VIS/NIR reflectance spectrometry distinguishes between biogeochemical substances rather than single elements. Rein (2003) has shown that VIS-RS can be used to detect relative concentrations of sedimentary photopigments (e.g. chlorins, carotenoids) and clay minerals. This study presents an advanced approach using a hyper-spectral camera and remote sensing techniques to infer climate proxy data from reflectance spectra of varved lake sediments. Hyper-spectral imaging allows analysing an entire sediment core in a single measurement, producing a spectral dataset with very high spatial (30x30µm/pixel) and spectral resolutions (~1nm) and a higher spectral range (400-1000nm) compared to previously used spectrophotometers. This allows the analysis of data time series at sub-varve scales or spatial mapping of sedimentary substances (e.g. chlorophyll-a and diagenetic products) at very high resolution. The method is demonstrated on varved lake sediments from northern Poland showing the change of the relative concentrations of chlorin pigments within individual varve years. In a next step absolute concentrations of chlorins derived from HPLC measurements have been calibrated to the spectral data using a linear regression model. This results in a very high-resolution dataset of absolute sedimentary pigment concentrations. In a second example µXRF measurements are used to validate a spectral index for clay mineral detection.

Hyper-spectral imaging: A promising tool for quantitative pigment analysis of varved lake sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butz, Christoph; Grosjean, Martin; Tylmann, Wojciech

2015-04-01

Varved lake sediments are good archives for past environmental and climate conditions from annual to multi-millennial scales. Among other proxies, concentrations of sedimentary photopigments have been used for temperature reconstructions. However, obtaining well calibrated annually resolved records from sediments still remains challenging. Most laboratory methods used to analyse lake sediments require physical subsampling and are destructive in the process. Hence, temporal resolution and number of data are limited by the amount of material available in the core. Furthermore, for very low sediment accumulation rates annual subsampling is often very difficult or even impossible. To address these problems we explore hyper-spectral imaging as a non-destructive method to analyse lake sediments based on their reflectance spectra in the visible and near infrared spectrum. In contrast to other scanning methods like X-ray fluorescence, VIS/NIR reflectance spectrometry distinguishes between biogeochemical substances rather than single elements. Among others Rein (2003) has shown that VIS-RS can be used to detect relative concentrations of sedimentary photopigments (e.g. chlorins, carotenoids) and clay minerals. In this study hyper-spectral imaging is used to infer ecological proxy data from reflectance spectra of varved lake sediments. Hyper-spectral imaging permits the measurement of an entire sediment core in a single run at high spatial (30x30µm/pixel) and spectral resolutions (~2.8nm) within the visual to near infrared spectrum (400-1000nm). This allows the analysis of data time series and spatial mapping of sedimentary substances (e.g. chlorophylls/bacterio-chlorophylls and diagenetic products) at sub-varve scales. The method is demonstrated on two varved lake sediments from northern Poland showing the distributions of relative concentrations of two types of sedimentary pigments (Chlorophyll-a + derivatives and Bacterio-pheophytin-a) within individual varve years. The relative concentrations from the spectral data set have then been calibrated with absolute concentrations derived by High-Performance-Liquid-Chromatography (HPLC). This results in very high-resolution data sets of absolute sedimentary pigment concentrations suitable for the analysis of seasonal pigment variations.

Varve-based Reconstruction of Seasonal Hydroclimate from Nar Gölü, Turkey over the last 2.6 ka BP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Primmer, N.; Jones, M.; Metcalfe, S. E.; Eastwood, W.; Brauer, A.; Roberts, C. N.

2017-12-01

In south-west Asia, the wet-dry seasonality and semi-arid climatology increases societal vulnerability to drought. Long, continuous records of such droughts from the region are therefore important to put recent extremes in context, to benchmark natural variability in water availability. We present the longest annual record of south-west Asian climate to date, spanning the entirety of the Common Era. We reconstruct seasonal hydrological change from a climatically sensitive lake, Nar Gölü, Turkey over the past 2,589 years using varve sedimentology. Organic-calcareous varve deposition is driven by the climatic wet-dry seasonality, where varve microfacies analysis has developed an inter- and intra-annual record of the resultant limnological variability. Calibration using modern meteorological data identified that the March-May evaporation/precipitation ratio as the primary control on carbonate sublayer thickness. Combining these analyses with previous stable isotope, pollen and diatom records from the same cores further develops a holistic environmental record of palaeoseasonality able to gauge past and present hydrology, including drought severity. Two threshold hydrological changes to the spring growing season are well-dated at 535 and 1406 AD, thus coinciding with the onset of the Late Antiquity Little Ice Age (LALIA) and Little Ice Age (LIA) respectively. Carbonate mineralogy indicates generally fresher water conditions during the intermediary 871-year long period, with an inferred dry period at 850 AD possibly marking the start of regional, long-term aridification. By reconstructing high resolution hydroclimate, this well constrained annual record of past water availability provides a unique context for understanding climate change and its potential impact in this vulnerable region.

The indexing ambiguity in serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) resolved using an expectation maximization algorithm.

PubMed

Liu, Haiguang; Spence, John C H

2014-11-01

Crystallographic auto-indexing algorithms provide crystal orientations and unit-cell parameters and assign Miller indices based on the geometric relations between the Bragg peaks observed in diffraction patterns. However, if the Bravais symmetry is higher than the space-group symmetry, there will be multiple indexing options that are geometrically equivalent, and hence many ways to merge diffraction intensities from protein nanocrystals. Structure factor magnitudes from full reflections are required to resolve this ambiguity but only partial reflections are available from each XFEL shot, which must be merged to obtain full reflections from these 'stills'. To resolve this chicken-and-egg problem, an expectation maximization algorithm is described that iteratively constructs a model from the intensities recorded in the diffraction patterns as the indexing ambiguity is being resolved. The reconstructed model is then used to guide the resolution of the indexing ambiguity as feedback for the next iteration. Using both simulated and experimental data collected at an X-ray laser for photosystem I in the P63 space group (which supports a merohedral twinning indexing ambiguity), the method is validated.

Historical Chronology of ENSO Events Based Upon Documentary Data From South America: Strengths and Limitations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luc, O.

2007-05-01

The first reconstructions of past El Niño occurrences were proposed by W. Quinn twenty years ago. They were based on documentary evidence of anomalous rainfall episodes, destructive floods and other possible impacts of El Niño conditions in Peru and other South-American countries. It has been shown, later, that the El Niño chronological sequence covering the last four and a half centuries produced by Quinn needed a thorough revision since many so-called EN events had not occurred while some others had been overlooked. Beside the classical methodological problems met in historical climatology studies (reliability of data, confidence in the sources, primary and secondary information), the reconstruction of former EN events faces specific difficulties dealing with the significance of the indicators and their spatial location. For instance, strong precipitation anomalies during summer in Southern Ecuador and northern Peru and precipitation excess recorded in the preceding winter in central Chile constitute quite reliable proxies of El Niño conditions, in modern times. However this observed teleconnection pattern, which is useful to reinforce the interpretation of past EN occurrences, seems to have been inoperative before the early nineteenth century. It is interpreted that atmospheric circulation features during the Little Ice Age interfered with the teleconnection system linking the EN impacts in northern Peru and central Chile. As a consequence, how should be evaluated the significance of documented winter precipitation excess in central Chile in years during which there is drought evidence in northern Peru, during the sixteenth to eighteenth century? And vice versa, are former evidences for precipitation excess in northern Peru (prior to the nineteenth century) quite reliable indicators for EN conditions, even if the preceding winter was dry in the Valparaiso-Santiago region? Other specific problems met in the building-up of a consolidated EN chronological sequence deal with the non-homogeneity of the documentary records, the reconstruction of the paleo-events strength and the difficulty to cross check documentary data with other annually resolved records (corals, tree-rings and ice-core data). In spite of all these limitations, the documentation of former EN occurrences based upon written archives from colonial South-America remains an unavoidable and powerful tool to reconstruct a solid El Niño chronology for the last half millennium and to better understand the interplay of the different modes (at the interannual, decadal, multidecadal and centennial scales) of climate variations in this part of the world.

The History of the Statutory Control of Mercury Poisoning in Great Britain1

PubMed Central

Lee, W. R.

1968-01-01

`Notification is only useful as the prelude to inquiry and recommendations, and without such development, is nothing more than a cog in the wheel of statistics which resolves annually but gets nowhere.' Sir Frank Tillyard (1948) Images PMID:4868255

Annually resolved North Atlantic marine climate over the last millennium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reynolds, D. J.; Scourse, J. D.; Halloran, P. R.; Nederbragt, A. J.; Wanamaker, A. D.; Butler, P. G.; Richardson, C. A.; Heinemeier, J.; Eiríksson, J.; Knudsen, K. L.; Hall, I. R.

2016-12-01

Owing to the lack of absolutely dated oceanographic information before the modern instrumental period, there is currently significant debate as to the role played by North Atlantic Ocean dynamics in previous climate transitions (for example, Medieval Climate Anomaly-Little Ice Age, MCA-LIA). Here we present analyses of a millennial-length, annually resolved and absolutely dated marine δ18O archive. We interpret our record of oxygen isotope ratios from the shells of the long-lived marine bivalve Arctica islandica (δ18O-shell), from the North Icelandic shelf, in relation to seawater density variability and demonstrate that solar and volcanic forcing coupled with ocean circulation dynamics are key drivers of climate variability over the last millennium. During the pre-industrial period (AD 1000-1800) variability in the sub-polar North Atlantic leads changes in Northern Hemisphere surface air temperatures at multi-decadal timescales, indicating that North Atlantic Ocean dynamics played an active role in modulating the response of the atmosphere to solar and volcanic forcing.

Assessing coral reef health across onshore to offshore stress gradients in the US Virgin Islands.

PubMed

Smith, T B; Nemeth, R S; Blondeau, J; Calnan, J M; Kadison, E; Herzlieb, S

2008-12-01

Managing the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on coral reefs is highly dependant on effective strategies to assess degradation and recovery. We used five years of field data in the US Virgin Islands to investigate coral reef response to a potential gradient of stress. We found that the prevalence of old partial mortality, bleaching, and all forms of coral health impairment (a novel category) increased with nearshore anthropogenic processes, such as a five-fold higher rate of clay and silt sedimentation. Other patterns of coral health, such as recent partial mortality, other diseases, and benthic cover, did not respond to this potential gradient of stress or their response could not be resolved at the frequency or scale of monitoring. We suggest that persistent signs of disturbance are more useful to short-term, non-intensive (annual) coral reef assessments, but more intensive (semi-annual) assessments are necessary to resolve patterns of transient signs of coral health impairment.

A Modular Hierarchical Approach to 3D Electron Microscopy Image Segmentation

PubMed Central

Liu, Ting; Jones, Cory; Seyedhosseini, Mojtaba; Tasdizen, Tolga

2014-01-01

The study of neural circuit reconstruction, i.e., connectomics, is a challenging problem in neuroscience. Automated and semi-automated electron microscopy (EM) image analysis can be tremendously helpful for connectomics research. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic approach for intra-section segmentation and inter-section reconstruction of neurons using EM images. A hierarchical merge tree structure is built to represent multiple region hypotheses and supervised classification techniques are used to evaluate their potentials, based on which we resolve the merge tree with consistency constraints to acquire final intra-section segmentation. Then, we use a supervised learning based linking procedure for the inter-section neuron reconstruction. Also, we develop a semi-automatic method that utilizes the intermediate outputs of our automatic algorithm and achieves intra-segmentation with minimal user intervention. The experimental results show that our automatic method can achieve close-to-human intra-segmentation accuracy and state-of-the-art inter-section reconstruction accuracy. We also show that our semi-automatic method can further improve the intra-segmentation accuracy. PMID:24491638

Resolving the Complexity of Human Skin Metagenomes Using Single-Molecule Sequencing

PubMed Central

Tsai, Yu-Chih; Deming, Clayton; Segre, Julia A.; Kong, Heidi H.; Korlach, Jonas

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Deep metagenomic shotgun sequencing has emerged as a powerful tool to interrogate composition and function of complex microbial communities. Computational approaches to assemble genome fragments have been demonstrated to be an effective tool for de novo reconstruction of genomes from these communities. However, the resultant “genomes” are typically fragmented and incomplete due to the limited ability of short-read sequence data to assemble complex or low-coverage regions. Here, we use single-molecule, real-time (SMRT) sequencing to reconstruct a high-quality, closed genome of a previously uncharacterized Corynebacterium simulans and its companion bacteriophage from a skin metagenomic sample. Considerable improvement in assembly quality occurs in hybrid approaches incorporating short-read data, with even relatively small amounts of long-read data being sufficient to improve metagenome reconstruction. Using short-read data to evaluate strain variation of this C. simulans in its skin community at single-nucleotide resolution, we observed a dominant C. simulans strain with moderate allelic heterozygosity throughout the population. We demonstrate the utility of SMRT sequencing and hybrid approaches in metagenome quantitation, reconstruction, and annotation. PMID:26861018

Monochromatic-beam-based dynamic X-ray microtomography based on OSEM-TV algorithm.

PubMed

Xu, Liang; Chen, Rongchang; Yang, Yiming; Deng, Biao; Du, Guohao; Xie, Honglan; Xiao, Tiqiao

2017-01-01

Monochromatic-beam-based dynamic X-ray computed microtomography (CT) was developed to observe evolution of microstructure inside samples. However, the low flux density results in low efficiency in data collection. To increase efficiency, reducing the number of projections should be a practical solution. However, it has disadvantages of low image reconstruction quality using the traditional filtered back projection (FBP) algorithm. In this study, an iterative reconstruction method using an ordered subset expectation maximization-total variation (OSEM-TV) algorithm was employed to address and solve this problem. The simulated results demonstrated that normalized mean square error of the image slices reconstructed by the OSEM-TV algorithm was about 1/4 of that by FBP. Experimental results also demonstrated that the density resolution of OSEM-TV was high enough to resolve different materials with the number of projections less than 100. As a result, with the introduction of OSEM-TV, the monochromatic-beam-based dynamic X-ray microtomography is potentially practicable for the quantitative and non-destructive analysis to the evolution of microstructure with acceptable efficiency in data collection and reconstructed image quality.

A Last Interglacial pollen-temperature reconstruction, central North Island, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newnham, Rewi; Alloway, Brent; McGlone, Matt; Juchnowicz, Hannah; Rees, Andrew; Wilmshurst, Janet

2017-08-01

We present new pollen-temperature reconstructions for the Last Interglacial from central North Island, New Zealand using partial least squares regression (PLS) and modern analogue technique applied with the New Zealand pre-deforestation calibration pollen dataset. The pollen-bearing organic sequence includes numerous millimetre- to decimetre- thick tephra mostly from the adjacent Tongariro Volcanic Centre and is overlain by tephric cover-beds including the c. 25.4 ka cal BP Kawakawa/Oruanui Tephra. Fine-resolution pollen and preliminary diatom analyses above and below prominent tephra layers showed that significant vegetation impact followed only the thickest ashfall event (22 cm thickness), with vegetation recovery taking several hundred years. Apart from this, changes in the longer-term pollen record are likely to be related to climate oscillations that resemble the classic five-fold subdivision of MIS 5. The warmest interval, ascribed to MIS 5e, was characterised by tall, temperate rainforest, and occurs at the base of the sequence, with mean annual temperatures reaching around 1.1 °C higher than present. Mean annual temperatures declined to ∼4 °C below present during MIS 5d and MIS 5b and were within 1-2 °C of present during MIS 5c. The PLS temperature reconstructions are corroborated by estimates derived independently from elevational changes to vegetation communities, corresponding to modern temperature controls, inferred from the Karioi pollen spectra. Temperatures reconstructed quantitatively by the modern analogue technique were up to 1.3 °C higher for MIS 5e, MIS 5d and MIS 5b, possibly reflecting weaker modern vegetation analogues for these intervals.

Spatial decorrelation stretch of annual (2003-2014) Daymet precipitation summaries on a 1-km grid for California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.

PubMed

Ch Miliaresis, George

2016-06-01

A method is presented for elevation (H) and spatial position (X, Y) decorrelation stretch of annual precipitation summaries on a 1-km grid for SW USA for the period 2003 to 2014. Multiple linear regression analysis of the first and second principal component (PC) quantifies the variance in the multi-temporal precipitation imagery that is explained by X, Y, and elevation (h). The multi-temporal dataset is reconstructed from the PC1 and PC2 residual images and the later PCs by taking into account the variance that is not related to X, Y, and h. Clustering of the reconstructed precipitation dataset allowed the definition of positive (for example, in Sierra Nevada, Salt Lake City) and negative (for example, in San Joaquin Valley, Nevada, Colorado Plateau) precipitation anomalies. The temporal and spatial patterns defined from the spatially standardized multi-temporal precipitation imagery provide a tool of comparison for regions in different geographic environments according to the deviation from the precipitation amount that they are expected to receive as function of X, Y, and h. Such a standardization allows the definition of less or more sensitive to climatic change regions and gives an insight in the spatial impact of atmospheric circulation that causes the annual precipitation.

Variability of suspended-sediment concentration at tidal to annual time scales in San Francisco Bay, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schoellhamer, D.H.

2002-01-01

Singular spectrum analysis for time series with missing data (SSAM) was used to reconstruct components of a 6-yr time series of suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) from San Francisco Bay. Data were collected every 15 min and the time series contained missing values that primarily were due to sensor fouling. SSAM was applied in a sequential manner to calculate reconstructed components with time scales of variability that ranged from tidal to annual. Physical processes that controlled SSC and their contribution to the total variance of SSC were (1) diurnal, semidiurnal, and other higher frequency tidal constituents (24%), (2) semimonthly tidal cycles (21%), (3) monthly tidal cycles (19%), (4) semiannual tidal cycles (12%), and (5) annual pulses of sediment caused by freshwater inflow, deposition, and subsequent wind-wave resuspension (13%). Of the total variance 89% was explained and subtidal variability (65%) was greater than tidal variability (24%). Processes at subtidal time scales accounted for more variance of SSC than processes at tidal time scales because sediment accumulated in the water column and the supply of easily erodible bed sediment increased during periods of increased subtidal energy. This large range of time scales that each contained significant variability of SSC and associated contaminants can confound design of sampling programs and interpretation of resulting data.

Bullet identification: a case of a fatal hunting accident resolved by comparison of lead shot using instrumental neutron activation analysis.

PubMed

Capannesi, G; Sedda, A F

1992-03-01

Bullet identification by chemical analysis often provides a powerful clue in forensic science. A case is reported in which a hunting accident was resolved by using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for direct comparison of the trace element content in lead shot. Different preparation batches of lead shot appear to have a high within-group composition homogeneity, and good differentiation is achieved between different batches. Determination of the nickel and antimony content on a bush branch demonstrated that the branch had been perforated by one of the shot pellets, and this helped the detectives in reconstruction of the crime scene.

Mid-infrared laser absorption tomography for quantitative 2D thermochemistry measurements in premixed jet flames

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Chuyu; Pineda, Daniel I.; Paxton, Laurel; Egolfopoulos, Fokion N.; Spearrin, R. Mitchell

2018-06-01

A tomographic laser absorption spectroscopy technique, utilizing mid-infrared light sources, is presented as a quantitative method to spatially resolve species and temperature profiles in small-diameter reacting flows relevant to combustion systems. Here, tunable quantum and interband cascade lasers are used to spectrally resolve select rovibrational transitions near 4.98 and 4.19 μm to measure CO and {CO2}, respectively, as well as their vibrational temperatures, in piloted premixed jet flames. Signal processing methods are detailed for the reconstruction of axial and radial profiles of thermochemical structure in a canonical ethylene-air jet flame. The method is further demonstrated to quantitatively distinguish between different turbulent flow conditions.

Photon-number discrimination without a photon counter and its application to reconstructing non-Gaussian states

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chrzanowski, H. M.; Bernu, J.; Sparkes, B. M.

2011-11-15

The nonlinearity of a conditional photon-counting measurement can be used to ''de-Gaussify'' a Gaussian state of light. Here we present and experimentally demonstrate a technique for photon-number resolution using only homodyne detection. We then apply this technique to inform a conditional measurement, unambiguously reconstructing the statistics of the non-Gaussian one- and two-photon-subtracted squeezed vacuum states. Although our photon-number measurement relies on ensemble averages and cannot be used to prepare non-Gaussian states of light, its high efficiency, photon-number-resolving capabilities, and compatibility with the telecommunications band make it suitable for quantum-information tasks relying on the outcomes of mean values.

Choice of data types in time resolved fluorescence enhanced diffuse optical tomography.

PubMed

Riley, Jason; Hassan, Moinuddin; Chernomordik, Victor; Gandjbakhche, Amir

2007-12-01

In this paper we examine possible data types for time resolved fluorescence enhanced diffuse optical tomography (FDOT). FDOT is a particular case of diffuse optical tomography, where our goal is to analyze fluorophores deeply embedded in a turbid medium. We focus on the relative robustness of the different sets of data types to noise. We use an analytical model to generate the expected temporal point spread function (TPSF) and generate the data types from this. Varying levels of noise are applied to the TPSF before generating the data types. We show that local data types are more robust to noise than global data types, and should provide enhanced information to the inverse problem. We go on to show that with a simple reconstruction algorithm, depth and lifetime (the parameters of interest) of the fluorophore are better reconstructed using the local data types. Further we show that the relationship between depth and lifetime is better preserved for the local data types, suggesting they are in some way not only more robust, but also self-regularizing. We conclude that while the local data types may be more expensive to generate in the general case, they do offer clear advantages over the standard global data types.

Walking peptide on Au(110) surface: Origin and nature of interfacial process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humblot, V.; Tejeda, A.; Landoulsi, J.; Vallée, A.; Naitabdi, A.; Taleb, A.; Pradier, C.-M.

2014-10-01

IGF tri-peptide adsorption on Au(110)-(1 × 2) under Ultra High Vacuum (UHV) conditions has been investigated using surface science techniques such as synchrotron based Angle Resolved X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy (AR-PES or AR-XPS), Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM). The behaviour of IGF molecules has been revealed to be coverage dependent; at low coverage, there is formation of islands presenting a chiral self-organised molecular network with a (4 2, - 3 2) symmetry as shown by Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED) and Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM) on the unaltered Au(110)-(1 × 2) reconstruction, suggesting significant intermolecular interactions. When the coverage is increased, the islands grow bigger, and one can observe the disappearance of the self-organised network, along with a remarkable destruction of the (1 × 2) substrate reconstruction, as shown by STM. The effect of IGF on the surface gold atoms has been further confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission measurements which suggest a modification of the electronic states with the (1 × 2) symmetry. The resulting molecular organisation, and overall the gold surface disorganisation, prove a strong surface-molecule interaction, which may be probably be explained by a covalent bonding.

4D Magnetic Resonance Velocimetry in a 3D printed brain aneurysm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amili, Omid; Schiavazzi, Daniele; Coletti, Filippo

2016-11-01

Cerebral aneurysms are of great clinical importance. It is believed that hemodynamics play a critical role in the development, growth, and rupture of brain arteries with such condition. The flow structure in the aneurysm sac is complex, unsteady, and three-dimensional. Therefore the time-resolved measurement of the three-dimensional three-component velocity field is crucial to predict the clinical outcome. In this study magnetic resonance velocimetry is used to assess the fluid dynamics inside a 3D printed model of a giant intracranial aneurysm. We reach sub-millimeter resolution while resolving sixteen instances within the cardiac cycle. The physiological flow waveform is imposed using an in-house built pump in a flow circuit where the cardiovascular impedance is matched. The flow evolution over time is reconstructed in detail. The complex flow structure is characterized by vortical and helical motions that reside in the aneurysm for most part of the cycle. The 4D pressured distribution is also reconstructed from the velocity field. The present case study was used in a previous CFD challenge, therefore these results may provide useful experimental comparison for simulations performed by other research groups.

Wide-field spectrally resolved quantitative fluorescence imaging system: toward neurosurgical guidance in glioma resection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Yijing; Thom, Maria; Ebner, Michael; Wykes, Victoria; Desjardins, Adrien; Miserocchi, Anna; Ourselin, Sebastien; McEvoy, Andrew W.; Vercauteren, Tom

2017-11-01

In high-grade glioma surgery, tumor resection is often guided by intraoperative fluorescence imaging. 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) provides fluorescent contrast between normal brain tissue and glioma tissue, thus achieving improved tumor delineation and prolonged patient survival compared with conventional white-light-guided resection. However, commercially available fluorescence imaging systems rely solely on visual assessment of fluorescence patterns by the surgeon, which makes the resection more subjective than necessary. We developed a wide-field spectrally resolved fluorescence imaging system utilizing a Generation II scientific CMOS camera and an improved computational model for the precise reconstruction of the PpIX concentration map. In our model, the tissue's optical properties and illumination geometry, which distort the fluorescent emission spectra, are considered. We demonstrate that the CMOS-based system can detect low PpIX concentration at short camera exposure times, while providing high-pixel resolution wide-field images. We show that total variation regularization improves the contrast-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed quantitative concentration map by approximately twofold. Quantitative comparison between the estimated PpIX concentration and tumor histopathology was also investigated to further evaluate the system.

Pixel-super-resolved lensfree holography using adaptive relaxation factor and positional error correction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jialin; Chen, Qian; Sun, Jiasong; Li, Jiaji; Zuo, Chao

2018-01-01

Lensfree holography provides a new way to effectively bypass the intrinsical trade-off between the spatial resolution and field-of-view (FOV) of conventional lens-based microscopes. Unfortunately, due to the limited sensor pixel-size, unpredictable disturbance during image acquisition, and sub-optimum solution to the phase retrieval problem, typical lensfree microscopes only produce compromised imaging quality in terms of lateral resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this paper, we propose an adaptive pixel-super-resolved lensfree imaging (APLI) method to address the pixel aliasing problem by Z-scanning only, without resorting to subpixel shifting or beam-angle manipulation. Furthermore, an automatic positional error correction algorithm and adaptive relaxation strategy are introduced to enhance the robustness and SNR of reconstruction significantly. Based on APLI, we perform full-FOV reconstruction of a USAF resolution target across a wide imaging area of {29.85 mm2 and achieve half-pitch lateral resolution of 770 nm, surpassing 2.17 times of the theoretical Nyquist-Shannon sampling resolution limit imposed by the sensor pixel-size (1.67 μm). Full-FOV imaging result of a typical dicot root is also provided to demonstrate its promising potential applications in biologic imaging.

Evolution at the tips: Asclepias phylogenomics and new perspectives on leaf surfaces.

PubMed

Fishbein, Mark; Straub, Shannon C K; Boutte, Julien; Hansen, Kimberly; Cronn, Richard C; Liston, Aaron

2018-03-01

Leaf surface traits, such as trichome density and wax production, mediate important ecological processes such as anti-herbivory defense and water-use efficiency. We present a phylogenetic analysis of Asclepias plastomes as a framework for analyzing the evolution of trichome density and presence of epicuticular waxes. We produced a maximum-likelihood phylogeny using plastomes of 103 species of Asclepias. We reconstructed ancestral states and used model comparisons in a likelihood framework to analyze character evolution across Asclepias. We resolved the backbone of Asclepias, placing the Sonoran Desert clade and Incarnatae clade as successive sisters to the remaining species. We present novel findings about leaf surface evolution of Asclepias-the ancestor is reconstructed as waxless and sparsely hairy, a macroevolutionary optimal trichome density is supported, and the rate of evolution of trichome density has accelerated. Increased sampling and selection of best-fitting models of evolution provide more resolved and robust estimates of phylogeny and character evolution than obtained in previous studies. Evolutionary inferences are more sensitive to character coding than model selection. © 2018 The Authors. American Journal of Botany is published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of the Botanical Society of America.

Ultrasonic Imaging Techniques for Breast Cancer Detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goulding, N. R.; Marquez, J. D.; Prewett, E. M.; Claytor, T. N.; Nadler, B. R.

2008-02-01

Improving the resolution and specificity of current ultrasonic imaging technology is needed to enhance its relevance to breast cancer detection. A novel ultrasonic imaging reconstruction method is described that exploits classical straight-ray migration. This novel method improves signal processing for better image resolution and uses novel staging hardware options using a pulse-echo approach. A breast phantom with various inclusions is imaged using the classical migration method and is compared to standard computed tomography (CT) scans. These innovative ultrasonic methods incorporate ultrasound data acquisition, beam profile characterization, and image reconstruction. For an ultrasonic frequency of 2.25 MHz, imaged inclusions of approximately 1 cm are resolved and identified. Better resolution is expected with minor modifications. Improved image quality and resolution enables earlier detection and more accurate diagnoses of tumors thus reducing the number of biopsies performed, increasing treatment options, and lowering remission percentages. Using these new techniques the inclusions in the phantom are resolved and compared to the results of standard methods. Refinement of this application using other imaging techniques such as time-reversal mirrors (TRM), synthetic aperture focusing technique (SAFT), decomposition of the time reversal operator (DORT), and factorization methods is also discussed.

GPS Tomography: Water Vapour Monitoring for Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bender, Michael; Dick, Galina; Wickert, Jens; Raabe, Armin

2010-05-01

Ground based GPS atmosphere sounding provides numerous atmospheric quantities with a high temporal resolution for all weather conditions. The spatial resolution of the GPS observations is mainly given by the number of GNSS satellites and GPS ground stations. The latter could considerably be increased in the last few years leading to more reliable and better resolved GPS products. New techniques such as the GPS water vapour tomography gain increased significance as data from large and dense GPS networks become available. The GPS tomography has the potential to provide spatially resolved fields of different quantities operationally, i. e. the humidity or wet refractivity as required for meteorological applications or the refraction index which is important for several space based observations or for precise positioning. The number of German GPS stations operationally processed by the GFZ in Potsdam was recently enlarged to more than 300. About 28000 IWV observations and more than 1.4 millions of slant total delay data are now available per day with a temporal resolution of 15 min and 2.5 min, respectively. The extended network leads not only to a higher spatial resolution of the tomographically reconstructed 3D fields but also to a much higher stability of the inversion process and with that to an increased quality of the results. Under these improved conditions the GPS tomography can operate continuously over several days or weeks without applying too tight constraints. Time series of tomographically reconstructed humidity fields will be shown and different initialisation strategies will be discussed: Initialisation with a simple exponential profile, with a 3D humidity field extrapolated from synoptic observations and with the result of the preceeding reconstruction. The results are compared to tomographic reconstructions initialised with COSMO-DE analyses and to the corresponding model fields. The inversion can be further stabilised by making use of independent adequately weighted observations, such as synoptic observations or IWV data. The impact of such observations on the quality of the tomographic reconstruction will be discussed together with different alternatives for weighting different types of observations.

Nitrogen deposition outweighs climatic variability in driving annual growth rate of canopy beech trees: Evidence from long-term growth reconstruction across a geographic gradient.

PubMed

Gentilesca, Tiziana; Rita, Angelo; Brunetti, Michele; Giammarchi, Francesco; Leonardi, Stefano; Magnani, Federico; van Noije, Twan; Tonon, Giustino; Borghetti, Marco

2018-07-01

In this study, we investigated the role of climatic variability and atmospheric nitrogen deposition in driving long-term tree growth in canopy beech trees along a geographic gradient in the montane belt of the Italian peninsula, from the Alps to the southern Apennines. We sampled dominant trees at different developmental stages (from young to mature tree cohorts, with tree ages spanning from 35 to 160 years) and used stem analysis to infer historic reconstruction of tree volume and dominant height. Annual growth volume (G V ) and height (G H ) variability were related to annual variability in model simulated atmospheric nitrogen deposition and site-specific climatic variables, (i.e. mean annual temperature, total annual precipitation, mean growing period temperature, total growing period precipitation, and standard precipitation evapotranspiration index) and atmospheric CO 2 concentration, including tree cambial age among growth predictors. Generalized additive models (GAM), linear mixed-effects models (LMM), and Bayesian regression models (BRM) were independently employed to assess explanatory variables. The main results from our study were as follows: (i) tree age was the main explanatory variable for long-term growth variability; (ii) GAM, LMM, and BRM results consistently indicated climatic variables and CO 2 effects on G V and G H were weak, therefore evidence of recent climatic variability influence on beech annual growth rates was limited in the montane belt of the Italian peninsula; (iii) instead, significant positive nitrogen deposition (N dep ) effects were repeatedly observed in G V and G H ; the positive effects of N dep on canopy height growth rates, which tended to level off at N dep values greater than approximately 1.0 g m -2  y -1 , were interpreted as positive impacts on forest stand above-ground net productivity at the selected study sites. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analysis of algebraic reconstruction technique for accurate imaging of gas temperature and concentration based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hui-Hui, Xia; Rui-Feng, Kan; Jian-Guo, Liu; Zhen-Yu, Xu; Ya-Bai, He

2016-06-01

An improved algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) combined with tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy(TDLAS) is presented in this paper for determining two-dimensional (2D) distribution of H2O concentration and temperature in a simulated combustion flame. This work aims to simulate the reconstruction of spectroscopic measurements by a multi-view parallel-beam scanning geometry and analyze the effects of projection rays on reconstruction accuracy. It finally proves that reconstruction quality dramatically increases with the number of projection rays increasing until more than 180 for 20 × 20 grid, and after that point, the number of projection rays has little influence on reconstruction accuracy. It is clear that the temperature reconstruction results are more accurate than the water vapor concentration obtained by the traditional concentration calculation method. In the present study an innovative way to reduce the error of concentration reconstruction and improve the reconstruction quality greatly is also proposed, and the capability of this new method is evaluated by using appropriate assessment parameters. By using this new approach, not only the concentration reconstruction accuracy is greatly improved, but also a suitable parallel-beam arrangement is put forward for high reconstruction accuracy and simplicity of experimental validation. Finally, a bimodal structure of the combustion region is assumed to demonstrate the robustness and universality of the proposed method. Numerical investigation indicates that the proposed TDLAS tomographic algorithm is capable of detecting accurate temperature and concentration profiles. This feasible formula for reconstruction research is expected to resolve several key issues in practical combustion devices. Project supported by the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61205151), the National Key Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Project of China (Grant No. 2014YQ060537), and the National Basic Research Program, China (Grant No. 2013CB632803).

WE-FG-207B-02: Material Reconstruction for Spectral Computed Tomography with Detector Response Function

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, J; Gao, H

2016-06-15

Purpose: Different from the conventional computed tomography (CT), spectral CT based on energy-resolved photon-counting detectors is able to provide the unprecedented material composition. However, an important missing piece for accurate spectral CT is to incorporate the detector response function (DRF), which is distorted by factors such as pulse pileup and charge-sharing. In this work, we propose material reconstruction methods for spectral CT with DRF. Methods: The polyenergetic X-ray forward model takes the DRF into account for accurate material reconstruction. Two image reconstruction methods are proposed: a direct method based on the nonlinear data fidelity from DRF-based forward model; a linear-data-fidelitymore » based method that relies on the spectral rebinning so that the corresponding DRF matrix is invertible. Then the image reconstruction problem is regularized with the isotropic TV term and solved by alternating direction method of multipliers. Results: The simulation results suggest that the proposed methods provided more accurate material compositions than the standard method without DRF. Moreover, the proposed method with linear data fidelity had improved reconstruction quality from the proposed method with nonlinear data fidelity. Conclusion: We have proposed material reconstruction methods for spectral CT with DRF, whichprovided more accurate material compositions than the standard methods without DRF. Moreover, the proposed method with linear data fidelity had improved reconstruction quality from the proposed method with nonlinear data fidelity. Jiulong Liu and Hao Gao were partially supported by the NSFC (#11405105), the 973 Program (#2015CB856000), and the Shanghai Pujiang Talent Program (#14PJ1404500).« less

Eddy-resolving 1/10° model of the World Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrayev, R. A.; Khabeev, R. N.; Ushakov, K. V.

2012-02-01

The first results on simulating the intra-annual variability of the World Ocean circulation by use of the eddy-resolving model are considered. For this purpose, a model of the World Ocean with a 1/10° horizontal resolution and 49 vertical levels was developed (a 1/10 × 1/10 × 49 model of the World Ocean). This model is based on the traditional system of three-dimensional equations of the large-scale dynamics of the ocean and boundary conditions with an explicit allowance for water fluxes on the free surface of the ocean. The equations are written in the tripolar coordinate system. The numerical method is based on the separation of the barotropic and baroclinic components of the solution. Discretization in time is implemented using explicit schemes allowing effective parallelization for a large number of processors. The model uses the sub-models of the boundary layer of the atmosphere and the submodel of sea-ice thermodynamics. The model of the World Ocean was developed at the Institute of Numerical Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INM RAS) and the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanogy (IO RAS). The formulation of the problem of simulating the intra-annual variability of thermohydrodynamic processes of the World Ocean and the parameterizations that were used are considered. In the numerical experiment, the temporal evolution of the atmospheric effect is determined by the normal annual cycle according to the conditions of the international Coordinated Ocean-Ice Reference Experiment (CORE-I). The calculation was carried out on a multiprocessor computer with distributed memory; 1601 computational cores were used. The presented analysis demonstrates that the obtained results are quite satisfactory when compared to the results that were obtained by other eddy-resolving models of the global ocean. The analysis of the model solution is, to a larger extent, of a descriptive character. A detailed analysis of the results is to be presented in following works. This experiment is a significant first step in developing the eddy-resolving model of the World Ocean.

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971–2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

DOE PAGES

Huang, Zhongwei; Hejazi, Mohamad; Li, Xinya; ...

2018-04-06

Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5°) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971–2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation,more » domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971–2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual timescales. Here, the reconstructed gridded water withdrawal dataset is open access, and can be used for examining issues related to water withdrawals at fine spatial, temporal, and sectoral scales.« less

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971–2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhongwei; Hejazi, Mohamad; Li, Xinya

Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5°) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971–2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation,more » domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971–2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual timescales. Here, the reconstructed gridded water withdrawal dataset is open access, and can be used for examining issues related to water withdrawals at fine spatial, temporal, and sectoral scales.« less

Reconstruction of global gridded monthly sectoral water withdrawals for 1971–2010 and analysis of their spatiotemporal patterns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhongwei; Hejazi, Mohamad; Li, Xinya

Human water withdrawal has increasingly altered the global water cycle in past decades, yet our understanding of its driving forces and patterns is limited. Reported historical estimates of sectoral water withdrawals are often sparse and incomplete, mainly restricted to water withdrawal estimates available at annual and country scales, due to a lack of observations at seasonal and local scales. In this study, through collecting and consolidating various sources of reported data and developing spatial and temporal statistical downscaling algorithms, we reconstruct a global monthly gridded (0.5°) sectoral water withdrawal dataset for the period 1971–2010, which distinguishes six water use sectors, i.e., irrigation,more » domestic, electricity generation (cooling of thermal power plants), livestock, mining, and manufacturing. Based on the reconstructed dataset, the spatial and temporal patterns of historical water withdrawal are analyzed. Results show that total global water withdrawal has increased significantly during 1971–2010, mainly driven by the increase in irrigation water withdrawal. Regions with high water withdrawal are those densely populated or with large irrigated cropland production, e.g., the United States (US), eastern China, India, and Europe. Seasonally, irrigation water withdrawal in summer for the major crops contributes a large percentage of total annual irrigation water withdrawal in mid- and high-latitude regions, and the dominant season of irrigation water withdrawal is also different across regions. Domestic water withdrawal is mostly characterized by a summer peak, while water withdrawal for electricity generation has a winter peak in high-latitude regions and a summer peak in low-latitude regions. Despite the overall increasing trend, irrigation in the western US and domestic water withdrawal in western Europe exhibit a decreasing trend. Our results highlight the distinct spatial pattern of human water use by sectors at the seasonal and annual timescales. The reconstructed gridded water withdrawal dataset is open access, and can be used for examining issues related to water withdrawals at fine spatial, temporal, and sectoral scales.« less

Development of a GNSS water vapour tomography system using algebraic reconstruction techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bender, Michael; Dick, Galina; Ge, Maorong; Deng, Zhiguo; Wickert, Jens; Kahle, Hans-Gert; Raabe, Armin; Tetzlaff, Gerd

2011-05-01

A GNSS water vapour tomography system developed to reconstruct spatially resolved humidity fields in the troposphere is described. The tomography system was designed to process the slant path delays of about 270 German GNSS stations in near real-time with a temporal resolution of 30 min, a horizontal resolution of 40 km and a vertical resolution of 500 m or better. After a short introduction to the GPS slant delay processing the framework of the GNSS tomography is described in detail. Different implementations of the iterative algebraic reconstruction techniques (ART) used to invert the linear inverse problem are discussed. It was found that the multiplicative techniques (MART) provide the best results with least processing time, i.e., a tomographic reconstruction of about 26,000 slant delays on a 8280 cell grid can be obtained in less than 10 min. Different iterative reconstruction techniques are compared with respect to their convergence behaviour and some numerical parameters. The inversion can be considerably stabilized by using additional non-GNSS observations and implementing various constraints. Different strategies for initialising the tomography and utilizing extra information are discussed. At last an example of a reconstructed field of the wet refractivity is presented and compared to the corresponding distribution of the integrated water vapour, an analysis of a numerical weather model (COSMO-DE) and some radiosonde profiles.

Photoacoustic image reconstruction: a quantitative analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sperl, Jonathan I.; Zell, Karin; Menzenbach, Peter; Haisch, Christoph; Ketzer, Stephan; Marquart, Markus; Koenig, Hartmut; Vogel, Mika W.

2007-07-01

Photoacoustic imaging is a promising new way to generate unprecedented contrast in ultrasound diagnostic imaging. It differs from other medical imaging approaches, in that it provides spatially resolved information about optical absorption of targeted tissue structures. Because the data acquisition process deviates from standard clinical ultrasound, choice of the proper image reconstruction method is crucial for successful application of the technique. In the literature, multiple approaches have been advocated, and the purpose of this paper is to compare four reconstruction techniques. Thereby, we focused on resolution limits, stability, reconstruction speed, and SNR. We generated experimental and simulated data and reconstructed images of the pressure distribution using four different methods: delay-and-sum (DnS), circular backprojection (CBP), generalized 2D Hough transform (HTA), and Fourier transform (FTA). All methods were able to depict the point sources properly. DnS and CBP produce blurred images containing typical superposition artifacts. The HTA provides excellent SNR and allows a good point source separation. The FTA is the fastest and shows the best FWHM. In our study, we found the FTA to show the best overall performance. It allows a very fast and theoretically exact reconstruction. Only a hardware-implemented DnS might be faster and enable real-time imaging. A commercial system may also perform several methods to fully utilize the new contrast mechanism and guarantee optimal resolution and fidelity.

Experimental verification of a 4D MLEM reconstruction algorithm used for in-beam PET measurements in particle therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stützer, K.; Bert, C.; Enghardt, W.; Helmbrecht, S.; Parodi, K.; Priegnitz, M.; Saito, N.; Fiedler, F.

2013-08-01

In-beam positron emission tomography (PET) has been proven to be a reliable technique in ion beam radiotherapy for the in situ and non-invasive evaluation of the correct dose deposition in static tumour entities. In the presence of intra-fractional target motion an appropriate time-resolved (four-dimensional, 4D) reconstruction algorithm has to be used to avoid reconstructed activity distributions suffering from motion-related blurring artefacts and to allow for a dedicated dose monitoring. Four-dimensional reconstruction algorithms from diagnostic PET imaging that can properly handle the typically low counting statistics of in-beam PET data have been adapted and optimized for the characteristics of the double-head PET scanner BASTEI installed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum Darmstadt, Germany (GSI). Systematic investigations with moving radioactive sources demonstrate the more effective reduction of motion artefacts by applying a 4D maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM) algorithm instead of the retrospective co-registration of phasewise reconstructed quasi-static activity distributions. Further 4D MLEM results are presented from in-beam PET measurements of irradiated moving phantoms which verify the accessibility of relevant parameters for the dose monitoring of intra-fractionally moving targets. From in-beam PET listmode data sets acquired together with a motion surrogate signal, valuable images can be generated by the 4D MLEM reconstruction for different motion patterns and motion-compensated beam delivery techniques.

Fully automated reconstruction of three-dimensional vascular tree structures from two orthogonal views using computational algorithms and productionrules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Iching; Sun, Ying

1992-10-01

A system for reconstructing 3-D vascular structure from two orthogonally projected images is presented. The formidable problem of matching segments between two views is solved using knowledge of the epipolar constraint and the similarity of segment geometry and connectivity. The knowledge is represented in a rule-based system, which also controls the operation of several computational algorithms for tracking segments in each image, representing 2-D segments with directed graphs, and reconstructing 3-D segments from matching 2-D segment pairs. Uncertain reasoning governs the interaction between segmentation and matching; it also provides a framework for resolving the matching ambiguities in an iterative way. The system was implemented in the C language and the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) expert system shell. Using video images of a tree model, the standard deviation of reconstructed centerlines was estimated to be 0.8 mm (1.7 mm) when the view direction was parallel (perpendicular) to the epipolar plane. Feasibility of clinical use was shown using x-ray angiograms of a human chest phantom. The correspondence of vessel segments between two views was accurate. Computational time for the entire reconstruction process was under 30 s on a workstation. A fully automated system for two-view reconstruction that does not require the a priori knowledge of vascular anatomy is demonstrated.

Warm Mediterranean mid-Holocene summers inferred from fossil midge assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samartin, Stéphanie; Heiri, Oliver; Joos, Fortunat; Renssen, Hans; Franke, Jörg; Brönnimann, Stefan; Tinner, Willy

2017-02-01

Understanding past climate trends is key for reliable projections of global warming and associated risks and hazards. Uncomfortably large discrepancies between vegetation-based summer temperature reconstructions (mainly based on pollen) and climate model results have been reported for the current interglacial, the Holocene. For the Mediterranean region these reconstructions indicate cooler-than-present mid-Holocene summers, in contrast with expectations based on climate models and long-term changes in summer insolation. We present new quantitative and replicated Holocene summer temperature reconstructions based on fossil chironomid midges from the northern central Mediterranean region. The Holocene thermal maximum is reconstructed 9,000-5,000 years ago and estimated to have been 1-2 °C warmer in mean July temperature than the recent pre-industrial period, consistent with glacier and marine records, and with transient climate model runs. This combined evidence implies that widely used pollen-based summer temperature reconstructions in the Mediterranean area are significantly biased by precipitation or other forcings such as early land use. Our interpretation can resolve the previous discrepancy between climate models and quantitative palaeotemperature records for millennial-scale Holocene summer temperature trends in the Mediterranean region. It also suggests that pollen-based evidence for cool mid-Holocene summers in other semi-arid to arid regions of the Northern Hemisphere may have to be reconsidered, with potential implications for global-scale reconstructions.

Improving global paleogeographic reconstructions since the Devonian using paleobiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Wenchao; Zahirovic, Sabin; Williams, Simon; Flament, Nicolas; Müller, Dietmar

2017-04-01

Paleogeographic reconstructions are important to understand past eustatic and regional sea level change, the tectonic evolution of the planet, hydrocarbon genesis, and to constrain and interpret the dynamic topography predicted by time-dependent global mantle convection models. Several global paleogeographic compilations have been published, generally presented as static snapshots with varying temporal resolution and fixed spatial resolution. Published paleogeographic compilations are tied to a particular plate motion model, making it difficult to link them to alternative digital plate tectonic reconstructions. In order to address this issue, we developed a workflow to reverse-engineer reconstructed paleogeographies to their present-day coordinates and link them to any reconstruction model. Published paleogeographic compilations are also tied to a given dataset. We used fossil data from the Paleobiology Database to identify inconsistencies between fossils paleoenvironments and paleogeographic reconstructions, and to improve reconstructed terrestrial-marine boundaries by resolving these inconsistencies. We used the improved reconstructed paleogeographies to estimate the surface areas of global paleogeographic features (shallow marine environments, landmasses, mountains and ice sheets), to investigate the global continental flooding history since the late Paleozoic, which has inherent links to global eustasy as well as dynamic topography. Finally, we discuss the relationships between our modeled emerged land area and total continental area through time, continental growth models, and strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) signatures in ocean water. Our study highlights the flexibility of digital paleogeographic models linked to state-of-the-art plate tectonic reconstructions in order to better understand the interplay of continental growth and eustasy, with wider implications for understanding Earth's paleotopography, ocean circulation, and the role of mantle convection in shaping long-wavelength topography.

A look backwards at environmental risk assessment: an approach to reconstructing ecological exposures

EPA Science Inventory

The primary goal for environmental protection is to eliminate or minimize the exposure of humans and ecosystems to potential contaminants. With the number of environmental contaminants increasing annually, more than 2,000 new chemicals are manufactured or imported each year for u...

LDRD Annual Report.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sweany, Melinda

2017-10-01

This is a high-risk effort to leverage knowledge gained from previous work, which focused on detector development leading to better energy resolution and reconstruction errors. This work seeks to enable applications that require precise elemental characterization of materials, such as chemical munitions remediation, offering the potential to close current detection gaps.

Reconstructing pre-instrumental streamflow in Eastern Australia using a water balance approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tozer, C. R.; Kiem, A. S.; Vance, T. R.; Roberts, J. L.; Curran, M. A. J.; Moy, A. D.

2018-03-01

Streamflow reconstructions based on paleoclimate proxies provide much longer records than the short instrumental period records on which water resource management plans are currently based. In Australia there is a lack of in-situ high resolution paleoclimate proxy records, but remote proxies with teleconnections to Australian climate have utility in producing streamflow reconstructions. Here we investigate, via a case study for a catchment in eastern Australia, the novel use of an Antarctic ice-core based rainfall reconstruction within a Budyko-framework to reconstruct ∼1000 years of annual streamflow. The resulting streamflow reconstruction captures interannual to decadal variability in the instrumental streamflow, validating both the use of the ice core rainfall proxy record and the Budyko-framework method. In the preinstrumental era the streamflow reconstruction shows longer wet and dry epochs and periods of streamflow variability that are higher than observed in the instrumental era. Importantly, for both the instrumental record and preinstrumental reconstructions, the wet (dry) epochs in the rainfall record are shorter (longer) in the streamflow record and this non-linearity must be considered when inferring hydroclimatic risk or historical water availability directly from rainfall proxy records alone. These insights provide a better understanding of present infrastructure vulnerability in the context of past climate variability for eastern Australia. The streamflow reconstruction presented here also provides a better understanding of the range of hydroclimatic variability possible, and therefore represents a more realistic baseline on which to quantify the potential impacts of anthropogenic climate change on water security.

The North Atlantic Oscillation Reconstructed at Bermuda for 220 Years Using Sr/Ca Ratios in Diploria labyrinthiformis (brain coral)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodkin, N. F.; Hughen, K. A.; Cohen, A. L.; Curry, W. B.; Doney, S. C.

2006-12-01

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a meridional oscillation in atmospheric mass measured by pressure anomalies between Iceland (65°N, 23°W) and the Azores (38°N, 26°W) (Hurrell, 1995). Changes between the positive and negative phase of the NAO strongly influence weather patterns across the US, Europe and the Middle East. A shift in recent decades toward a sustained positive NAO has raised questions about the influence of greenhouse gas emissions on this system. Unfortunately, instrumental records are too short to identify the natural baseline variability of the NAO, and NAO reconstructions generally encompass only land-based proxies, excluding ocean processes. Winter-time sea surface temperatures (SST) in the Sargasso Sea have previously been shown to correlate to the NAO (Visbeck et al., 2001), and thus a long winter SST record based on proxy data could be used to reconstruct NAO variability back in time. Here we present an annually resolved winter-time strontium to calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) record from a 220-year old brain coral (Diploria labyrinthiformis) collected from the south shore of Bermuda. Brain coral is prevalent in Bermuda and shows distinct annual banding in its skeleton providing precise age models. Winter-time coral Sr/Ca has previously been shown to accurately record winter SST free from growth rate influences (Goodkin et al., 2005), and that relationship is confirmed here. Cross-spectral analysis between winter-time coral Sr/Ca and four instrumental and proxy records of the NAO (Hurrell, 1995, Jones et al., 1997, Luterbacher et al., 2001, Cook et al., 2002) show two frequencies of coherence with >95% confidence. At periods greater than 20 years and between 3 and 5 years, the coral Sr/Ca effectively captures the NAO variability. Filtering the coral record to these frequencies and comparing to the instrumental and proxy records, including another marine-based NAO reconstruction from the North and Norwegian Seas (Schoene et al., 2003), show strong agreement and provide information about the differences between high and low frequency responses to the NAO. At high frequencies, SST at Bermuda shows a positive correlation to the NAO, as predicted by the tri-pole SST response (Visbeck et al., 2001), and succeeds well at capturing amplitude variability. At low frequencies, however, Bermuda SST shows a negative correlation to the NAO, different than the response predicted by the high frequency tri-pole pattern. One possible explanation for this shift is a response to changes in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC), which is believed to show variability at lower frequencies (Curry et al., 2003) and which may be driving changes in both SST and the NAO. Over 50 years during the late 20th century warming (1950-1999), the amplitude of the Sr/Ca-based NAO record at 3-5 year periods is 20% greater than that found during an equivalent interval at the end of the LIA (1800- 1849). Low-frequency (20-50 year) variability also appears larger during the second half of the 20th century, compared to the LIA. These results indicate a change in NAO variability at different mean temperatures, with larger amplitude changes during warmer climates. However, a sustained positive NAO during the late LIA does not appear to support the hypothesis of a linear relationship between mean NAO and mean hemispheric temperature, as observed during the late 20th century warming.

Whole-head functional brain imaging of neonates at cot-side using time-resolved diffuse optical tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dempsey, Laura A.; Cooper, Robert J.; Powell, Samuel; Edwards, Andrea; Lee, Chuen-Wai; Brigadoi, Sabrina; Everdell, Nick; Arridge, Simon; Gibson, Adam P.; Austin, Topun; Hebden, Jeremy C.

2015-07-01

We present a method for acquiring whole-head images of changes in blood volume and oxygenation from the infant brain at cot-side using time-resolved diffuse optical tomography (TR-DOT). At UCL, we have built a portable TR-DOT device, known as MONSTIR II, which is capable of obtaining a whole-head (1024 channels) image sequence in 75 seconds. Datatypes extracted from the temporal point spread functions acquired by the system allow us to determine changes in absorption and reduced scattering coefficients within the interrogated tissue. This information can then be used to define clinically relevant measures, such as oxygen saturation, as well as to reconstruct images of relative changes in tissue chromophore concentration, notably those of oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin. Additionally, the effective temporal resolution of our system is improved with spatio-temporal regularisation implemented through a Kalman filtering approach, allowing us to image transient haemodynamic changes. By using this filtering technique with intensity and mean time-of-flight datatypes, we have reconstructed images of changes in absorption and reduced scattering coefficients in a dynamic 2D phantom. These results demonstrate that MONSTIR II is capable of resolving slow changes in tissue optical properties within volumes that are comparable to the preterm head. Following this verification study, we are progressing to imaging a 3D dynamic phantom as well as the neonatal brain at cot-side. Our current study involves scanning healthy babies to demonstrate the quality of recordings we are able to achieve in this challenging patient population, with the eventual goal of imaging functional activation and seizures.

Cochlear fluid space dimensions for six species derived from reconstructions of three-dimensional magnetic resonance images.

PubMed

Thorne, M; Salt, A N; DeMott, J E; Henson, M M; Henson, O W; Gewalt, S L

1999-10-01

To establish the dimensions and volumes of the cochlear fluid spaces. Fluid space volumes, lengths, and cross-sectional areas were derived for the cochleas from six species: human, guinea pig, bat, rat, mouse, and gerbil. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the fluid spaces were made from magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) images. Consecutive serial slices composed of isotropic voxels (25 microm3) representing the entire volume of fixed, isolated cochleas were obtained. The boundaries delineating the fluid spaces, including Reissner's membrane, were resolved for all specimens, except for the human, in which Reissner's membrane was not consistently resolved. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the endolymphatic and perilymphatic fluid spaces were generated. Fluid space length and variation of cross-sectional area with distance were derived by an algorithm that followed the midpoint of the space along the length of the spiral. The total volume of each fluid space was derived from a voxel count for each specimen. Length, volume, and cross-sectional areas are provided for six species. In all cases, the length of the endolymphatic fluid space was consistently longer than that of either perilymphatic scala, primarily as a result of a greater radius of curvature. For guinea pig specimens, the measured volumes of the fluid spaces were considerably lower than those suggested by previous reports based on histological data. The quantification of cochlear fluid spaces provided by this study will enable the more accurate calculation of drug and other solute movements in fluids of the inner ear during experimental or clinical manipulations.

Investigation of second harmonic generation and multispectral imaging as new contrast mechanisms in scanning laser optical tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nolte, Lena; Antonopoulos, Georgios C.; Heisterkamp, Alexander; Ripken, Tammo; Meyer, Heiko

2018-02-01

Scanning laser optical tomography (SLOT) is a 3D imaging technique, based on the principle of computed tomography to visualize samples up to magnitude of several centimeters. Intrinsic contrast mechanisms as absorption, scattering and autofluorescence provide information about the 3D architecture and composition of the sample. Another valuable intrinsic contrast mechanism is second harmonic generation (SHG), which is generated in noncentrosymmetric materials and commonly used to image collagen in biological samples. The angular dependence of the SHG signal, however, produces artifacts in reconstructed optical tomography datasets (OPT, SLOT). Thus, successful use of this intrinsic contrast mechanism is impaired. We investigate these artifacts by simulation and experiment and propose an elimination procedure that enables successful reconstruction of SHG-SLOT data. Nevertheless, in many cases specific labeling of certain structures is necessary to make them visible. Using multiple dyes in one sample can lead to crosstalk between the different channels and reduce contrast of the images. Also autofluorescence of the sample itself can account for that. By using multispectral imaging in combination with spectral unmixing techniques, this loss can be compensated. Therefore either a spectrally resolved detection path, or spectrally resolved excitation is required. Therefore we integrated a white supercontinuum light source in our SLOT-setup that enables a spectral selection of the excitation beam and extended the detection path to a four channel setup. This enables the detection of three fluorescence channels and one absorption channel in parallel, and increases the contrast in the reconstructed 3D images significantly.

Modeling and optimization of a time-resolved proton radiographic imaging system for proton cancer treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Bin

This dissertation describes a research project to test the clinical utility of a time-resolved proton radiographic (TRPR) imaging system by performing comprehensive Monte Carlo simulations of a physical device coupled with realistic lung cancer patient anatomy defined by 4DCT for proton therapy. A time-resolved proton radiographic imaging system was modeled through Monte Carlo simulations. A particle-tracking feature was employed to evaluate the performance of the proton imaging system, especially in its ability to visualize and quantify proton range variations during respiration. The Most Likely Path (MLP) algorithm was developed to approximate the multiple Coulomb scattering paths of protons for the purpose of image reconstruction. Spatial resolution of ˜ 1 mm and range resolution of 1.3% of the total range were achieved using the MLP algorithm. Time-resolved proton radiographs of five patient cases were reconstructed to track tumor motion and to calculate water equivalent length variations. By comparing with direct 4DCT measurement, the accuracy of tumor tracking was found to be better than 2 mm in five patient cases. Utilizing tumor tracking information to reduce margins to the planning target volume, a gated treatment plan was compared with un-gated treatment plan. The equivalent uniform dose (EUD) and the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) were used to quantify the gain in the quality of treatments. The EUD of the OARs was found to be reduced up to 11% and the corresponding NTCP of organs at risk (OARs) was found to be reduced up to 16.5%. These results suggest that, with image guidance by proton radiography, dose to OARs can be reduced and the corresponding NTCPs can be significantly reduced. The study concludes that the proton imaging system can accurately track the motion of the tumor and detect the WEL variations, leading to potential gains in using image-guided proton radiography for lung cancer treatments.

Evolution of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation in the late Holocene and insolation driven change in the tropical annual SST cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loubere, Paul; Creamer, Winifred; Haas, Jonathan

2013-01-01

South American lake sediment records indicate that El Nino events in the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) became more frequent after 3000 calendar years BP. The reason for this evolution of ENSO behavior remains in question. An important trigger for ocean-atmosphere state switching in the tropical ocean is the annual cycle of sea surface temperature south of the equator along the margin of South America. This annual cycle can be reconstructed from the oxygen isotope records of the surf clam Mesodesma donacium. We provide evidence that these isotope records, as preserved in archeological deposits in coastal central Peru, reflect seasonal paleo-SST. We find that the annual SST cycle in the eastern equatorial Pacific became larger over the 4500-2500 calendar year BP interval. This is consistent with increased ENSO variability. The magnification of the annual SST cycle can be attributed to changing insolation, indicating that ENSO is sensitive to the intensity and seasonal timing of solar heating of the southern EEP.

Structured Light Based 3d Scanning for Specular Surface by the Combination of Gray Code and Phase Shifting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yujia; Yilmaz, Alper

2016-06-01

Surface reconstruction using coded structured light is considered one of the most reliable techniques for high-quality 3D scanning. With a calibrated projector-camera stereo system, a light pattern is projected onto the scene and imaged by the camera. Correspondences between projected and recovered patterns are computed in the decoding process, which is used to generate 3D point cloud of the surface. However, the indirect illumination effects on the surface, such as subsurface scattering and interreflections, will raise the difficulties in reconstruction. In this paper, we apply maximum min-SW gray code to reduce the indirect illumination effects of the specular surface. We also analysis the errors when comparing the maximum min-SW gray code and the conventional gray code, which justifies that the maximum min-SW gray code has significant superiority to reduce the indirect illumination effects. To achieve sub-pixel accuracy, we project high frequency sinusoidal patterns onto the scene simultaneously. But for specular surface, the high frequency patterns are susceptible to decoding errors. Incorrect decoding of high frequency patterns will result in a loss of depth resolution. Our method to resolve this problem is combining the low frequency maximum min-SW gray code and the high frequency phase shifting code, which achieves dense 3D reconstruction for specular surface. Our contributions include: (i) A complete setup of the structured light based 3D scanning system; (ii) A novel combination technique of the maximum min-SW gray code and phase shifting code. First, phase shifting decoding with sub-pixel accuracy. Then, the maximum min-SW gray code is used to resolve the ambiguity resolution. According to the experimental results and data analysis, our structured light based 3D scanning system enables high quality dense reconstruction of scenes with a small number of images. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons are performed to extract the advantages of our new combined coding method.

MO-AB-206-02: Testing Gamma Cameras Based On TG177 WG Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Halama, J.

2016-06-15

This education session will cover the physics and operation principles of gamma cameras and PET scanners. The first talk will focus on PET imaging. An overview of the principles of PET imaging will be provided, including positron decay physics, and the transition from 2D to 3D imaging. More recent advances in hardware and software will be discussed, such as time-of-flight imaging, and improvements in reconstruction algorithms that provide for options such as depth-of-interaction corrections. Quantitative applications of PET will be discussed, as well as the requirements for doing accurate quantitation. Relevant performance tests will also be described. Learning Objectives: Bemore » able to describe basic physics principles of PET and operation of PET scanners. Learn about recent advances in PET scanner hardware technology. Be able to describe advances in reconstruction techniques and improvements Be able to list relevant performance tests. The second talk will focus on gamma cameras. The Nuclear Medicine subcommittee has charged a task group (TG177) to develop a report on the current state of physics testing of gamma cameras, SPECT, and SPECT/CT systems. The report makes recommendations for performance tests to be done for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests, and identifies those needed satisfy the ACR accreditation program and The Joint Commission imaging standards. The report is also intended to be used as a manual with detailed instructions on how to perform tests under widely varying conditions. Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation members of the audience will: Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of gamma cameras for planar imaging. Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of SPECT systems. Be familiar with the tests of a SPECT/CT system that include the CT images for SPECT reconstructions. Become knowledgeable of items to be included in annual acceptance testing reports including CT dosimetry and PACS monitor measurements. T. Turkington, GE Healthcare.« less

MO-AB-206-00: Nuclear Medicine Physics and Testing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

This education session will cover the physics and operation principles of gamma cameras and PET scanners. The first talk will focus on PET imaging. An overview of the principles of PET imaging will be provided, including positron decay physics, and the transition from 2D to 3D imaging. More recent advances in hardware and software will be discussed, such as time-of-flight imaging, and improvements in reconstruction algorithms that provide for options such as depth-of-interaction corrections. Quantitative applications of PET will be discussed, as well as the requirements for doing accurate quantitation. Relevant performance tests will also be described. Learning Objectives: Bemore » able to describe basic physics principles of PET and operation of PET scanners. Learn about recent advances in PET scanner hardware technology. Be able to describe advances in reconstruction techniques and improvements Be able to list relevant performance tests. The second talk will focus on gamma cameras. The Nuclear Medicine subcommittee has charged a task group (TG177) to develop a report on the current state of physics testing of gamma cameras, SPECT, and SPECT/CT systems. The report makes recommendations for performance tests to be done for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests, and identifies those needed satisfy the ACR accreditation program and The Joint Commission imaging standards. The report is also intended to be used as a manual with detailed instructions on how to perform tests under widely varying conditions. Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation members of the audience will: Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of gamma cameras for planar imaging. Be familiar with the tests recommended for routine quality assurance, annual physics testing, and acceptance tests of SPECT systems. Be familiar with the tests of a SPECT/CT system that include the CT images for SPECT reconstructions. Become knowledgeable of items to be included in annual acceptance testing reports including CT dosimetry and PACS monitor measurements. T. Turkington, GE Healthcare.« less

Holocene climate in the western Great Lakes national parks and lakeshores: Implications for future climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Davis, Margaret; Douglas, Christine; Cole, K.L.; Winkler, Marge; Flaknes, Robyn

2000-01-01

We reconstruct Holocene climate history (last 10,000 years) for each of the U.S. National Park Service units in the western Great Lakes region in order to evaluate their sensitivity to global warming. Annual precipitation, annual temperature, and July and January temperatures were reconstructed by comparing fossil pollen in lake sediment with pollen in surface samples, assuming that ancient climates were similar to modern climate near analogous surface samples. In the early Holocene, most of the parks experienced colder winters, warmer summers, and lower precipitation than today. An exception is Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota where, by 8000 years ago, January temperatures were higher than today. The combination of high mean annual temperature and lower precipitation at Voyageurs resulted in a dry period between 8000 and 5000 years ago, similar to the Prairie Period in regions to the south and west. A mid-Holocene warm-dry period also occurred at other northern and central parks but was much less strongly developed. In southern parks there was no clear evidence of a mid-Holocene warm-dry period. These differences suggest that global model predictions of a warm, dry climate in the northern Great Plains under doubled atmospheric CO2 may be more applicable to Voyageurs than to the other parks. The contrast in reconstructed temperatures at Voyageurs and Isle Royale indicates that the ameliorating effect of the Great Lakes on temperatures has been in effect throughout the Holocene and presumably will continue in the future, thus reducing the potential for species loss caused by future temperature extremes. Increased numbers of mesic trees at all of the parks in the late Holocene reflect increasing annual precipitation. This trend toward more mesic conditions began 6000 years ago in the south and 4000 years ago in the north and increased sharply in recent millennia at parks located today in lake-effect snow belts. This suggests that lake-effect snowfall is sensitive to continental-scale changes in climate and could be affected by future climate change. Plant and animal species sensitive to changes in the moisture regime could thus be endangered within the Great Lakes parks.

SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES WITH HIGH ACCRETION RATES IN ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI. VI. VELOCITY-RESOLVED REVERBERATION MAPPING OF THE Hβ LINE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Du, Pu; Lu, Kai-Xing; Hu, Chen

In the sixth of a series of papers reporting on a large reverberation mapping (RM) campaign of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) with high accretion rates, we present velocity-resolved time lags of Hβ emission lines for nine objects observed in the campaign during 2012–2013. In order to correct the line broadening caused by seeing and instruments before analyzing the velocity-resolved RM, we adopt the Richardson–Lucy deconvolution to reconstruct their Hβ profiles. The validity and effectiveness of the deconvolution are checked using Monte Carlo simulation. Five among the nine objects show clear dependence of the time delay on velocity. Mrk 335 andmore » Mrk 486 show signatures of gas inflow whereas the clouds in the broad-line regions (BLRs) of Mrk 142 and MCG +06-26-012 tend to be radial outflowing. Mrk 1044 is consistent with having virialized motions. The lags of the remaining four are not velocity-resolvable. The velocity-resolved RM of super-Eddington accreting massive black holes (SEAMBHs) shows that they have diverse kinematics in their BLRs. Comparing with the AGNs with sub-Eddington accretion rates, we do not find significant differences in the BLR kinematics of SEAMBHs.« less

Comparison of DWI Methods in the Pediatric Brain: PROPELLER Turbo Spin-Echo Imaging Versus Readout-Segmented Echo-Planar Imaging Versus Single-Shot Echo-Planar Imaging.

PubMed

Kim, Tae-Hyung; Baek, Moon-Young; Park, Ji Eun; Ryu, Young Jin; Cheon, Jung-Eun; Kim, In-One; Choi, Young Hun

2018-06-01

The purpose of this study is to compare DWI for pediatric brain evaluation using single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI), periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (Blade), and readout-segmented EPI (Resolve). Blade, Resolve, and single-shot EPI were performed for 27 pediatric patients (median age, 9 years), and three datasets were independently reviewed by two radiologists. Qualitative analyses were performed for perceptive coarseness, image distortion, susceptibility-related changes, motion artifacts, and lesion conspicuity using a 5-point Likert scale. Quantitative analyses were conducted for spatial distortion and signal uniformity of each sequence. Mean scores were 2.13, 3.17, and 3.76 for perceptive coarseness; 4.85, 3.96, and 2.19 for image distortion; 4.76, 3.96, and 2.30 for susceptibility-related change; 4.96, 3.83, and 4.69 for motion artifacts; and 2.71, 3.75, and 1.92 for lesion conspicuity, for Blade, Resolve, and single-shot EPI, respectively. Blade and Resolve showed better quality than did single-shot EPI for image distortion, susceptibility-related changes, and lesion conspicuity. Blade showed less image distortion, fewer susceptibility-related changes, and fewer motion artifacts than did Resolve, whereas lesion conspicuity was better with Resolve. Blade showed increased signal variation compared with Resolve and single-shot EPI (coefficients of variation were 0.10, 0.08, and 0.05 for lateral ventricle; 0.13, 0.09, and 0.05 for centrum semiovale; and 0.16, 0.09, and 0.06 for pons in Blade, Resolve, and single-shot EPI, respectively). DWI with Resolve or Blade yields better quality regarding distortion, susceptibility-related changes, and lesion conspicuity, compared with single-shot EPI. Blade is less susceptible to motion artifacts than is Resolve, whereas Resolve yields less noise and better lesion conspicuity than does Blade.

Surface topography characterization using 3D stereoscopic reconstruction of SEM images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vedantha Krishna, Amogh; Flys, Olena; Reddy, Vijeth V.; Rosén, B. G.

2018-06-01

A major drawback of the optical microscope is its limitation to resolve finer details. Many microscopes have been developed to overcome the limitations set by the diffraction of visible light. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is one such alternative: it uses electrons for imaging, which have much smaller wavelength than photons. As a result high magnification with superior image resolution can be achieved. However, SEM generates 2D images which provide limited data for surface measurements and analysis. Often many research areas require the knowledge of 3D structures as they contribute to a comprehensive understanding of microstructure by allowing effective measurements and qualitative visualization of the samples under study. For this reason, stereo photogrammetry technique is employed to convert SEM images into 3D measurable data. This paper aims to utilize a stereoscopic reconstruction technique as a reliable method for characterization of surface topography. Reconstructed results from SEM images are compared with coherence scanning interferometer (CSI) results obtained by measuring a roughness reference standard sample. This paper presents a method to select the most robust/consistent surface texture parameters that are insensitive to the uncertainties involved in the reconstruction technique itself. Results from the two-stereoscopic reconstruction algorithms are also documented in this paper.

Image Reconstruction for Hybrid True-Color Micro-CT

PubMed Central

Xu, Qiong; Yu, Hengyong; Bennett, James; He, Peng; Zainon, Rafidah; Doesburg, Robert; Opie, Alex; Walsh, Mike; Shen, Haiou; Butler, Anthony; Butler, Phillip; Mou, Xuanqin; Wang, Ge

2013-01-01

X-ray micro-CT is an important imaging tool for biomedical researchers. Our group has recently proposed a hybrid “true-color” micro-CT system to improve contrast resolution with lower system cost and radiation dose. The system incorporates an energy-resolved photon-counting true-color detector into a conventional micro-CT configuration, and can be used for material decomposition. In this paper, we demonstrate an interior color-CT image reconstruction algorithm developed for this hybrid true-color micro-CT system. A compressive sensing-based statistical interior tomography method is employed to reconstruct each channel in the local spectral imaging chain, where the reconstructed global gray-scale image from the conventional imaging chain served as the initial guess. Principal component analysis was used to map the spectral reconstructions into the color space. The proposed algorithm was evaluated by numerical simulations, physical phantom experiments, and animal studies. The results confirm the merits of the proposed algorithm, and demonstrate the feasibility of the hybrid true-color micro-CT system. Additionally, a “color diffusion” phenomenon was observed whereby high-quality true-color images are produced not only inside the region of interest, but also in neighboring regions. It appears harnessing that this phenomenon could potentially reduce the color detector size for a given ROI, further reducing system cost and radiation dose. PMID:22481806

A Robust Feedforward Model of the Olfactory System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yilun; Sharpee, Tatyana

Most natural odors have sparse molecular composition. This makes the principles of compressing sensing potentially relevant to the structure of the olfactory code. Yet, the largely feedforward organization of the olfactory system precludes reconstruction using standard compressed sensing algorithms. To resolve this problem, recent theoretical work has proposed that signal reconstruction could take place as a result of a low dimensional dynamical system converging to one of its attractor states. The dynamical aspects of optimization, however, would slow down odor recognition and were also found to be susceptible to noise. Here we describe a feedforward model of the olfactory system that achieves both strong compression and fast reconstruction that is also robust to noise. A key feature of the proposed model is a specific relationship between how odors are represented at the glomeruli stage, which corresponds to a compression, and the connections from glomeruli to Kenyon cells, which in the model corresponds to reconstruction. We show that provided this specific relationship holds true, the reconstruction will be both fast and robust to noise, and in particular to failure of glomeruli. The predicted connectivity rate from glomeruli to the Kenyon cells can be tested experimentally. This research was supported by James S. McDonnell Foundation, NSF CAREER award IIS-1254123, NSF Ideas Lab Collaborative Research IOS 1556388.

Comparison Study of Regularizations in Spectral Computed Tomography Reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salehjahromi, Morteza; Zhang, Yanbo; Yu, Hengyong

2018-12-01

The energy-resolving photon-counting detectors in spectral computed tomography (CT) can acquire projections of an object in different energy channels. In other words, they are able to reliably distinguish the received photon energies. These detectors lead to the emerging spectral CT, which is also called multi-energy CT, energy-selective CT, color CT, etc. Spectral CT can provide additional information in comparison with the conventional CT in which energy integrating detectors are used to acquire polychromatic projections of an object being investigated. The measurements obtained by X-ray CT detectors are noisy in reality, especially in spectral CT where the photon number is low in each energy channel. Therefore, some regularization should be applied to obtain a better image quality for this ill-posed problem in spectral CT image reconstruction. Quadratic-based regularizations are not often satisfactory as they blur the edges in the reconstructed images. As a result, different edge-preserving regularization methods have been adopted for reconstructing high quality images in the last decade. In this work, we numerically evaluate the performance of different regularizers in spectral CT, including total variation, non-local means and anisotropic diffusion. The goal is to provide some practical guidance to accurately reconstruct the attenuation distribution in each energy channel of the spectral CT data.

Can Reorganization Save the AAUP?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Robin

2008-01-01

When the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) held its annual meeting in Washington, in mid-June, some members called the gathering the most crucial in the group's 93-year history. On the last day of the meeting, members overwhelmingly approved a restructuring plan that could resolve longstanding problems, which include declining…

Resolving inter-annual terrestrial water storage variations using microwave-based surface soil moisture retrievals

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Due to their shallow vertical support, remotely-sensed surface soil moisture retrievals are commonly regarded as being of limited value for water budget applications requiring the characterization of temporal variations in total terrestrial water storage (S). However, advances in our ability to esti...

Tree Ring Analyses Unlock a Century of Hydroclimatic Variability Across the Himalayas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunello, C. F.; Andermann, C.; Helle, G.; Comiti, F.; Tonon, G.; Hovius, N.

2017-12-01

Climate change has altered precipitation patterns and impacted the spatio-temporal distribution and availability of water in high mountain environments. For example, intensification of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) increases the potential for moisture laden air to breach the Himalayan orographic barrier and penetrate into the arid, elevated southern Tibetan Plateau, with geomorphological and hydrological consequences. Such trends should be considered against a solid background, but a consistent record of centennial monsoon dynamics in the trans-Himalayan region has never been developed. Instrumental data are sparse and only cover a limited time period as well as remotely sensed information. Meanwhile, models have major systematic bias and substantial uncertainty in reproducing ISM interannual variability. In this context, hydro-climatic proxies, such as oxygen stable isotope ratios in cellulose of tree rings, are a valuable source of data, especially because isotope mass spectroscopy can unlock yearly resolved information by tracing the isotopic signature (18O) stored within each growth ring. Here we present three centennial records of monsoon dynamics, along a latitudinal transect, spanning a pronounced precipitation gradient across the Himalayan orogen. Three sites were selected along the Kali Gandaki valley in the central Himalayas (Nepal), this valley connects the wet, monsoon dominated Gangetic plain with the arid Tibetan Plateau. Our transect covers the sensitive northern end of the precipitation gradient, located in the upper part of the catchment. Our results show that inter-annual variation of monsoon strength can be reconstructed by tree ring δ18O. The inferred monsoon dynamics are compared against independent constraints on precipitation, snow cover and river discharge. Different water sources contribute disproportionally at the three sites, reflecting spatial and temporal shifts of the westerlies and the Indian summer monsoon. These two dominant sources of humidity are complemented by recycled continental circulation characterizing pre-monsoon rainfall. Our yearly resolved records of monsoon strength provide insights into anomalous hydro-climatic years and highlight the importance of precipitation variability for the hydrological processes in high mountain regions.

A synthesis of sedimentary records of Australian environmental change during the last 2000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tyler, J. J.; Karoly, D. J.; Gell, P.; Goodwin, I. D.

2013-12-01

Our understanding of Southern Hemispheric climate variability on multidecadal to multicentennial timescales is limited by a scarcity of quantitative, highly resolved climate records, a problem which is particularly manifest in Australia. To date there are no quantitative, annually resolved records from within continental Australia which extend further back in time than the most recent c. 300 years [Neukom and Gergis, 2012; PAGES 2k Consortium, 2013]. By contrast, a number of marine, lake, peat and speleothem sedimentary records exist, some of which span multiple millennia at sub-decadal resolution. Here we report a database of existing sedimentary records of environmental change in Australia [Freeman et al., 2011], of which 25 have sample resolutions < 100 years/sample and which span > 500 years in duration. The majority of these records are located in southeastern Australia, providing an invaluable resource with which to examine regional scale climate and environmental change. Although most of the records can not be quantitatively related to climate variability, Empirical Orthogonal Functions coupled with Monte Carlo iterative age modelling, demonstrate coherent patterns of environmental and ecological change. This coherency, as well as comparisons with a limited number of quantitative records, suggests that regional hydroclimatic changes were responsible for the observed patterns. Here, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to Southern Hemisphere climate during the last 2000 years. In addition, we review the progress and potential of ongoing research in the region. References: Freeman, R., I. D. Goodwin, and T. Donovan (2011), Paleoclimate data synthesis and data base for the reconstruction of climate variability and impacts in NSW over the past 2000 years., Climate Futures Technical Report, 1/2011, 50 pages. Neukom, R., and J. Gergis (2012), Southern Hemisphere high-resolution palaeoclimate records of the last 2000 years, Holocene, 22(5), 501-524, doi:10.1177/0959683611427335. PAGES 2k Consortium (2013), Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia, Nature Geoscience, 6, 339-346.

Improvement of isotope-based climate reconstructions in Patagonia through a better understanding of climate influences on isotopic fractionation in tree rings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lavergne, Aliénor; Daux, Valérie; Villalba, Ricardo; Pierre, Monique; Stievenard, Michel; Srur, Ana Marina

2017-02-01

Very few studies of stable isotopes exist across the Andes in South America. This study is the first presenting annually resolved chronologies of both δ18 O and δ13 C in Nothofagus pumilio and Fitzroya cupressoides trees from Northern Patagonia. Interannual variability in δ18 O and δ13 C was assessed over the period 1952-2011. Based on these chronologies, we determined the primary climatic controls on stable isotopes and tree physiological responses to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations (ca), temperature and humidity. Changes in specific intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) were inferred from variations in δ13 C whereas the effects of CO2 increase on stomatal conductance were explored using δ18 O. Over the 60-year period, iWUE increased significantly (by ca. 25%) in coincidence with the rise of ca. The two species appear to have different strategies of gas-exchange. Whereas iWUE variations were likely driven by both stomatal conductance and photosynthetic assimilation rates in F. cupressoides, they were largely related to stomatal conductance in N. pumilio. After removing the low-frequency trends related to increasing ca, significant relationships between δ13 C and summer temperatures were recorded for both species. However, δ13 C variations in F. cupressoides were more strongly influenced by summer temperatures than in N. pumilio. Our results advocate for an indirect effect of summer temperatures on stable isotope ratios, which is mostly influenced by sunlight radiation in F. cupressoides and relative humidity/soil moisture in N. pumilio. δ13 C variations in F. cupressoides were spatially correlated to a large area south of 35°S in southern South America. These promising results encourage the use of δ13 C variations in F. cupressoides for reconstructing past variations in temperature and large-scale circulation indexes such as the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) in the Southern Hemisphere.

Arctic Temperature and Moisture Variability Associated with the Pliocene M2 Glacial Event from Lake El'gygytgyn, NE Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salacup, J. M.; Castañeda, I. S.; Brigham-Grette, J.

2014-12-01

The early Late Pliocene (3.6-3.0 Ma) is the last time atmospheric CO2 concentrations equaled today's values (~400 ppm). Despite this, and the warmer than modern climate it fostered, this period experienced an intense global glaciation during marine isotope stage (MIS) M2 (~3.3 Ma). Constraints imposed by the estimated sea level drop associated with this event suggest ice growth was not isolated to Antarctica, as had previously been the case, but that ice grew in high northern latitudes as well. M2 is unique during the Pliocene and is likely the first attempt of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets to grow into those experienced during Pleistocene ice ages. However, the effects of MIS M2, and any attendant Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, on Arctic terrestrial temperature and hydrology are not well understood. Here we present and compare results from the biomarker-based MBT/CBT paleotemperature proxy with δDleaf wax results, sensitive to both temperature hydrology, from Lake El'gygytgyn (NE Russia) in an attempt to isolate and characterize variability in both air temperature and moisture source/availability. We compare our results with more coarsely resolved preexisting pollen-based temperature and moisture reconstructions. Our temperature reconstruction is, as far as we know, the highest resolution terrestrial record of this dramatic global cooling event. It implies a ~6°C cooling circa 3.29 Ma was accomplished in two steps before a rebound of ~7°C into the start of the mid-Pliocene Warm Period. Removal of the temperature effect from M2 δDleaf wax profiles using our MBT/CBT results provide insight into changes in local hydrology during this event that are compared with pollen-based estimates of minimum, maximum, and mean annual precipitation in order to discuss changes in amount and seasonality of moisture delivery to Lake El'gygytgyn (NE Russia) during the expansion of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets.

Causes of global mean surface temperature slowdowns, trends and variations from months to a century, 1891-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Folland, C. K.; Boucher, O.; Colman, A.; Parker, D. E.

2017-12-01

The recent slowdown in the warming of global mean surface temperature (GST) has highlighted the influences of natural variability. This talk discusses reconstructions of the variations of GST down to the monthly time scale since 1891 using monthly forcing data. We show that most of the variations in annual, and to some extent sub-annual, GST since 1891 can be reproduced skillfully from known forcing factors external and internal to the climate system. This includes the slowdown in warming over about 1998-2013 where reconstruction skill is particularly high down to the multi-monthly time scale. The relative contributions of the several key forcing factors to GST continually vary, but most of the net warming since 1891 is reconstructed to be attributable to the net forcing due to increasing greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols. Separate analyses are carried out for three periods of GST slowdown:- 1896-1910, 1941-1976, together with 1998-2013 and some of its sub periods. We also study two periods where strong warming occurred, 1911-1940 and 1977-1997. Comparisons are made with the skill of average GST provided by 40 CMIP5 models. In the recent 1998-2013 slowdown, TSI forcing appears to have caused significant cooling, particularly over 2001-2010. This is additional to well documented cooling effects of an increased frequency of La Nina events, a negative Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation and some increases in volcanic forcing. Although there are short-term features of the GST curve since 1891 that cannot be fully explained, the most serious disagreements between the reconstructions and observations occur in the Second World War, especially in 1944-1945. Here observed near worldwide SSTs may be biased significantly too warm. Despite this, our generally high reconstruction skill is consistent with a good understanding of the multiple causes of observed GST variations and the general veracity of the GST record since 1891.

Reconstructing paleoclimate fields using online data assimilation with a linear inverse model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perkins, Walter A.; Hakim, Gregory J.

2017-05-01

We examine the skill of a new approach to climate field reconstructions (CFRs) using an online paleoclimate data assimilation (PDA) method. Several recent studies have foregone climate model forecasts during assimilation due to the computational expense of running coupled global climate models (CGCMs) and the relatively low skill of these forecasts on longer timescales. Here we greatly diminish the computational cost by employing an empirical forecast model (linear inverse model, LIM), which has been shown to have skill comparable to CGCMs for forecasting annual-to-decadal surface temperature anomalies. We reconstruct annual-average 2 m air temperature over the instrumental period (1850-2000) using proxy records from the PAGES 2k Consortium Phase 1 database; proxy models for estimating proxy observations are calibrated on GISTEMP surface temperature analyses. We compare results for LIMs calibrated using observational (Berkeley Earth), reanalysis (20th Century Reanalysis), and CMIP5 climate model (CCSM4 and MPI) data relative to a control offline reconstruction method. Generally, we find that the usage of LIM forecasts for online PDA increases reconstruction agreement with the instrumental record for both spatial fields and global mean temperature (GMT). Specifically, the coefficient of efficiency (CE) skill metric for detrended GMT increases by an average of 57 % over the offline benchmark. LIM experiments display a common pattern of skill improvement in the spatial fields over Northern Hemisphere land areas and in the high-latitude North Atlantic-Barents Sea corridor. Experiments for non-CGCM-calibrated LIMs reveal region-specific reductions in spatial skill compared to the offline control, likely due to aspects of the LIM calibration process. Overall, the CGCM-calibrated LIMs have the best performance when considering both spatial fields and GMT. A comparison with the persistence forecast experiment suggests that improvements are associated with the linear dynamical constraints of the forecast and not simply persistence of temperature anomalies.

Disentangling Seasonality and Mean Annual Precipitation in the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool: Insights from Coupled Plant Wax C and H Isotope Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galy, V.; Oppo, D.; Dubois, N.; Arbuszewski, J. A.; Mohtadi, M.; Schefuss, E.; Rosenthal, Y.; Linsley, B. K.

2016-12-01

There is ample evidence suggesting that rainfall distribution across the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP) - a key component of the global climate system - has substantially varied over the last deglaciation. Yet, the precise nature of these hydroclimate changes remains to be elucidated. In particular, the relative importance of variations in precipitation seasonality versus annual precipitation amount is essentially unknown. Here we use a set of surface sediments from the IPWP covering a wide range of modern hydroclimate conditions to evaluate how plant wax stable isotope composition records rainfall distribution in the area. We focus on long chain fatty acids, which are exclusively produced by vascular plants living on nearby land and delivered to the ocean by rivers. We relate the C (δ13C) and H (δD) isotope composition of long chain fatty acids preserved in surface sediments to modern precipitation distribution and stable isotope composition in their respective source area. We show that: 1) δ13C values reflect vegetation distribution (in particular the relative abundance of C3 and C4 plants) and are primarily recording precipitation seasonality (Dubois et al., 2014) and, 2) once corrected for plant fractionation effects, δD values reflect the amount-weighted average stable isotope composition of precipitation and are primarily recording annual precipitation amounts. We propose that combining the C and H isotope composition of long chain fatty acids thus allows independent reconstructions of precipitation seasonality and annual amounts in the IPWP. The practical implications for reconstructing past hydroclimate in the IPWP will be discussed.

Guam '79: Facing the New Pacific Era. Annual Economic Review.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Guam Dept. of Commerce, Agana.

Socioeconomic conditions and developments are analysed in this report, designed to be useful to planners in government and the private sector. The introduction summarizes Guam's economic outlook emphasizing the effect of federal funds for reconstruction following Supertyphoon Pamela in 1976, moderate growth in tourism, and Guam's potential to…

Global warming in the context of 2000 years of Australian alpine temperature and snow cover.

PubMed

McGowan, Hamish; Callow, John Nikolaus; Soderholm, Joshua; McGrath, Gavan; Campbell, Micheline; Zhao, Jian-Xin

2018-03-13

Annual resolution reconstructions of alpine temperatures are rare, particularly for the Southern Hemisphere, while no snow cover reconstructions exist. These records are essential to place in context the impact of anthropogenic global warming against historical major natural climate events such as the Roman Warm Period (RWP), Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and Little Ice Age (LIA). Here we show for a marginal alpine region of Australia using a carbon isotope speleothem reconstruction, warming over the past five decades has experienced equivalent magnitude of temperature change and snow cover decline to the RWP and MCA. The current rate of warming is unmatched for the past 2000 years and seasonal snow cover is at a minimum. On scales of several decades, mean maximum temperatures have undergone considerable change ≈ ± 0.8 °C highlighting local scale susceptibility to rapid temperature change, evidence of which is often masked in regional to hemisphere scale temperature reconstructions.

Unraveling gene regulatory networks from time-resolved gene expression data -- a measures comparison study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Inferring regulatory interactions between genes from transcriptomics time-resolved data, yielding reverse engineered gene regulatory networks, is of paramount importance to systems biology and bioinformatics studies. Accurate methods to address this problem can ultimately provide a deeper insight into the complexity, behavior, and functions of the underlying biological systems. However, the large number of interacting genes coupled with short and often noisy time-resolved read-outs of the system renders the reverse engineering a challenging task. Therefore, the development and assessment of methods which are computationally efficient, robust against noise, applicable to short time series data, and preferably capable of reconstructing the directionality of the regulatory interactions remains a pressing research problem with valuable applications. Results Here we perform the largest systematic analysis of a set of similarity measures and scoring schemes within the scope of the relevance network approach which are commonly used for gene regulatory network reconstruction from time series data. In addition, we define and analyze several novel measures and schemes which are particularly suitable for short transcriptomics time series. We also compare the considered 21 measures and 6 scoring schemes according to their ability to correctly reconstruct such networks from short time series data by calculating summary statistics based on the corresponding specificity and sensitivity. Our results demonstrate that rank and symbol based measures have the highest performance in inferring regulatory interactions. In addition, the proposed scoring scheme by asymmetric weighting has shown to be valuable in reducing the number of false positive interactions. On the other hand, Granger causality as well as information-theoretic measures, frequently used in inference of regulatory networks, show low performance on the short time series analyzed in this study. Conclusions Our study is intended to serve as a guide for choosing a particular combination of similarity measures and scoring schemes suitable for reconstruction of gene regulatory networks from short time series data. We show that further improvement of algorithms for reverse engineering can be obtained if one considers measures that are rooted in the study of symbolic dynamics or ranks, in contrast to the application of common similarity measures which do not consider the temporal character of the employed data. Moreover, we establish that the asymmetric weighting scoring scheme together with symbol based measures (for low noise level) and rank based measures (for high noise level) are the most suitable choices. PMID:21771321

Potential and limitation of combining terrestrial and marine growth records from Iceland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piermattei, A.; Urbinati, C.; Tonelli, E.; Eggertsson, Ó.; Levanič, T.; Kaczka, R. J.; Andrew, C.; Schöne, B. R.; Büntgen, U.

2017-08-01

Seasonally formed, perennial growth increments of various organisms may possibly contain information about past environmental changes, well before instrumental measurements occurred. Such annually resolved proxy records have been mainly obtained from terrestrial archives, with a paucity of similar data originating from marine habitats. Iceland represents ideal conditions to develop both, tree ring (dendro) and bivalve shell (sclero) chronologies from adjacent sites. Here we introduce the first network of Icelandic birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) and rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) dendrochronologies, as well as ocean quahog (Arctica islandica L.) sclerochronologies. In order to identify the dominant external drivers of tree and shell growth, we assess the common growth trends and growth extremes within and between the terrestrial and marine records, as well as relationships of both archives with instrumental-based meteorological indices. Capturing a strong signal of June-August mean air temperature, the dendrochronologies are significantly positively correlated to each other. The sclerochronologies, however, reveal much lower growth coherency, which likely results from different sampling strategies and growth habitats. Disagreement between the dendro- and sclerochronologies possibly originates from unequal sample size, offset in the seasonal timing and rate of the growth, as well as varying sensitivities to different environmental factors. Our results emphasize the importance of considering a wide range of species and taxa to reconstruct a more complete picture of terrestrial and marine ecosystem functioning and productivity across various spatiotemporal scales.

A pseudoproxy assessment of data assimilation for reconstructing the atmosphere-ocean dynamics of hydroclimate extremes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steiger, Nathan J.; Smerdon, Jason E.

2017-10-01

Because of the relatively brief observational record, the climate dynamics that drive multiyear to centennial hydroclimate variability are not adequately characterized and understood. Paleoclimate reconstructions based on data assimilation (DA) optimally fuse paleoclimate proxies with the dynamical constraints of climate models, thus providing a coherent dynamical picture of the past. DA is therefore an important new tool for elucidating the mechanisms of hydroclimate variability over the last several millennia. But DA has so far remained untested for global hydroclimate reconstructions. Here we explore whether or not DA can be used to skillfully reconstruct global hydroclimate variability along with the driving climate dynamics. Through a set of idealized pseudoproxy experiments, we find that an established DA reconstruction approach can in principle be used to reconstruct hydroclimate at both annual and seasonal timescales. We find that the skill of such reconstructions is generally highest near the proxy sites. This set of reconstruction experiments is specifically designed to estimate a realistic upper bound for the skill of this DA approach. Importantly, this experimental framework allows us to see where and for what variables the reconstruction approach may never achieve high skill. In particular for tree rings, we find that hydroclimate reconstructions depend critically on moisture-sensitive trees, while temperature reconstructions depend critically on temperature-sensitive trees. Real-world DA-based reconstructions will therefore likely require a spatial mixture of temperature- and moisture-sensitive trees to reconstruct both temperature and hydroclimate variables. Additionally, we illustrate how DA can be used to elucidate the dynamical mechanisms of drought with two examples: tropical drivers of multiyear droughts in the North American Southwest and in equatorial East Africa. This work thus provides a foundation for future DA-based hydroclimate reconstructions using real-proxy networks while also highlighting the utility of this important tool for hydroclimate research.

Super-resolved terahertz microscopy by knife-edge scan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giliberti, V.; Flammini, M.; Ciano, C.; Pontecorvo, E.; Del Re, E.; Ortolani, M.

2017-08-01

We present a compact, all solid-state THz confocal microscope operating at 0.30 THz that achieves super-resolution by using the knife-edge scan approach. In the final reconstructed image, a lateral resolution of 60 μm ≍ λ/17 is demonstrated when the knife-edge is deep in the near-field of the sample surface. When the knife-edge is lifted up to λ/4 from the sample surface, a certain degree of super-resolution is maintained with a resolution of 0.4 mm, i.e. more than a factor 2 if compared to the diffraction-limited scheme. The present results open an interesting path towards super-resolved imaging with in-depth information that would be peculiar to THz microscopy systems.

Time-resolved measurements in diffuse reflectance: effects of the instrument response function of different detection systems on the depth sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puszka, Agathe; Planat-Chrétien, Anne; Berger, Michel; Hervé, Lionel; Dinten, Jean-Marc

2014-02-01

We demonstrate the loss of depth sensitivity induced by the instrument response function on reflectance time-resolved diffuse optical tomography through the comparison of 3 detection systems: on one hand a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a hybrid PMT coupled with a time-correlated single-photon counting card and on the other hand a high rate intensified camera. We experimentally evaluate the depth sensitivity achieved for each detection module with an absorbing inclusion embedded in a turbid medium. The different interfiber distances of 5, 10 and 15 mm are considered. Finally, we determine a maximal depth reached for each detection system by using 3D tomographic reconstructions based on the Mellin-Laplace transform.

Distinguishing time-delayed causal interactions using convergent cross mapping

PubMed Central

Ye, Hao; Deyle, Ethan R.; Gilarranz, Luis J.; Sugihara, George

2015-01-01

An important problem across many scientific fields is the identification of causal effects from observational data alone. Recent methods (convergent cross mapping, CCM) have made substantial progress on this problem by applying the idea of nonlinear attractor reconstruction to time series data. Here, we expand upon the technique of CCM by explicitly considering time lags. Applying this extended method to representative examples (model simulations, a laboratory predator-prey experiment, temperature and greenhouse gas reconstructions from the Vostok ice core, and long-term ecological time series collected in the Southern California Bight), we demonstrate the ability to identify different time-delayed interactions, distinguish between synchrony induced by strong unidirectional-forcing and true bidirectional causality, and resolve transitive causal chains. PMID:26435402

Fractional-order Fourier analysis for ultrashort pulse characterization.

PubMed

Brunel, Marc; Coetmellec, Sébastien; Lelek, Mickael; Louradour, Frédéric

2007-06-01

We report what we believe to be the first experimental demonstration of ultrashort pulse characterization using fractional-order Fourier analysis. The analysis is applied to the interpretation of spectral interferometry resolved in time (SPIRIT) traces [which are spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER)-like interferograms]. First, the fractional-order Fourier transformation is shown to naturally allow the determination of the cubic spectral phase coefficient of pulses to be analyzed. A simultaneous determination of both cubic and quadratic spectral phase coefficients of the pulses using the fractional-order Fourier series expansion is further demonstrated. This latter technique consists of localizing relative maxima in a 2D cartography representing decomposition coefficients. It is further used to reconstruct or filter SPIRIT traces.

Impurity profiles and radial transport in the EXTRAP-T2 reversed field pinch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sallander, J.

1999-05-01

Radially resolved spectroscopy has been used to measure the radial distribution of impurity ions (O III-O V and C III-CVI) in the EXTRAP-T2 reversed field pinch (RFP). The radial profile of the emission is reconstructed from line emission measured along five lines of sight. The ion density profile is the fitted quantity in the reconstruction of the brightness profile and is thus obtained directly in this process. These measurements are then used to adjust the parameters in transport calculations in order to obtain consistency with the observed ion density profiles. Comparison between model and measurements show that a radial dependence in the diffusion is needed to explain the measured ion densities.

Three-dimensional reconstruction and display of the heart, lungs and circulation by multiplanar X-ray scanning videodensitometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robb, R. A.; Ritman, E. L.; Wood, E. H.

1975-01-01

A device was developed which makes possible the dynamic reconstruction of the heart and lungs within the intact thorax of a living dog or human and which can record approximately 30 multiplanar X-ray images of the thorax practically instantaneously, and at frequent enough intervals of time and with sufficient density and spatial resolution to capture and resolve the most rapid changes in cardiac structural detail throughout each cardiac cycle. It can be installed in a clinical diagnostic setting as well as in a research environment and its construction and application for determination and display in real-time modes of cross sections of the functioning thorax and its contents of living animals and man is technologically feasible.

Molluscan sclerochronology on the Faroese Shelf and its potential to obtain closer insights into the climate variability of North Atlantic water masses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonitz, F. G. W.; Andersson Dahl, C.; Trofimova, T.

2016-12-01

In this study, we investigate the climate variability in the North Atlantic during the last 350 years by applying sclerochronological methods. The inflow of North Atlantic water masses into the Arctic and the Norwegian Sea is important for the climate in these regions. A better understanding of the climate variability on highly resolved time scales is needed to obtain a better fundament for climate predictions for these areas. However, highly resolved paleoclimate records are sparse in the North Atlantic and instrumental data cover only the last 50 - 150 years. Bivalve shells provide highly resolved climate archives, especially the shells of the long-lived bivalve species Arctica islandica. This widely occurring species forms annual growth increments, which can be analyzed similarly to tree rings. Climatic and oceanographic changes are recorded population-wide in the shell`s growth rate and in the isotopic composition of the shell. Hence, multi-centennial absolutely dated chronologies can be built by cross-matching live-collected and sub-fossil specimens. Our chronology building effort has led to the first multi-centennial absolutely dated chronology from the Faroese Shelf covering the time period from AD 1642 - 2013. The growth indices of the chronology anti-correlate with April - September sea surface temperatures (SST) for the last 100 years indicating favorable conditions for growth when temperatures are lower. This also suggests that the main growing season of A. islandica around the Faroe Islands occurs in this time period; a hypothesis supported by δ18O-based temperature reconstructions from growth increments representing the years 2001 - 2013. The RBAR, which is an indicator for the signal strength throughout the chronology shows an inverse relationship with Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) data indicating that periods of higher AMO indexes result in a weakened signal strength in the chronology for the same time period. In conclusion, our results suggest that a combination of the growth increment variability and δ18O measurements of the growth increments can provide a tool to obtain information about the year-to-year SST variability beyond instrumental observations and the signal strength throughout the chronology may provide information about the timing of major AMO shifts.

The problem of isotopic baseline: Reconstructing the diet and trophic position of fossil animals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casey, Michelle M.; Post, David M.

2011-05-01

Stable isotope methods are powerful, frequently used tools which allow diet and trophic position reconstruction of organisms and the tracking of energy sources through ecosystems. The majority of ecosystems have multiple food sources which have distinct carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures despite occupying a single trophic level. This difference in the starting isotopic composition of primary producers sets up an isotopic baseline that needs to be accounted for when calculating diet or trophic position using stable isotopic methods. This is particularly important when comparing animals from different regions or different times. Failure to do so can cause erroneous estimations of diet or trophic level, especially for organisms with mixed diets. The isotopic baseline is known to vary seasonally and in concert with a host of physical and chemical variables such as mean annual rainfall, soil maturity, and soil pH in terrestrial settings and lake size, depth, and distance from shore in aquatic settings. In the fossil record, the presence of shallowing upward suites of rock, or parasequences, will have a considerable impact on the isotopic baseline as basin size, depth and distance from shore change simultaneously with stratigraphic depth. For this reason, each stratigraphic level is likely to need an independent estimation of baseline even within a single outcrop. Very little is known about the scope of millennial or decadal variation in isotopic baseline. Without multi-year data on the nature of isotopic baseline variation, the impacts of time averaging on our ability to resolve trophic relationships in the fossil record will remain unclear. The use of a time averaged baseline will increase the amount of error surrounding diet and trophic position reconstructions. Where signal to noise ratios are low, due to low end member disparity (e.g., aquatic systems), or where the observed isotopic shift is small (≤ 1‰) the error introduced by time averaging may severely inhibit the scope of one's interpretations and limit the types of questions one can reliably answer. In situations with strong signal strength, resulting from high amounts of end member disparity (e.g., terrestrial settings), this additional error maybe surmountable. Baseline variation that is adequately characterized can be dealt with by applying multiple end-member mixing models.

Reconstruction of glacial lake outburst floods in northern Tien Shan: Implications for hazard assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaginaev, V.; Ballesteros-Cánovas, J. A.; Erokhin, S.; Matov, E.; Petrakov, D.; Stoffel, M.

2016-09-01

Glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and related debris flows are among the most significant natural threats in the Tien Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan and have even caused the loss of life and damage to infrastructure in its capital Bishkek. An improved understanding of the occurrence of this process is essential so as to be able to design reliable disaster risk reduction strategies, even more so in view of ongoing climate change and scenarios of future evolutions. Here, we apply a dendrogeomorphic approach to reconstruct past debris-flow activity on the Aksay cone (Ala-Archa valley, Kyrgyz range), where outbursting glacier lakes and intense rainfalls have triggered huge debris flows over the past decades. A total of 96 Picea abies (L.) Karst. trees growing on the cone and along the main channel have been selected based on the evidence of past debris-flow damage in their trunks; these trees were then sampled using increment borers. The dating of past events was based on the assessment of growth disturbances (GD) in the tree-ring records and included the detection of injuries, tangential rows of traumatic resin ducts, reaction wood, and abrupt growth changes. In total, 320 GD were identified in the tree-ring samples. In combination with aerial imagery and geomorphic recognition in the field, reactions in trees and their position on the cone have allowed reconstruction of the main spatial patterns of past events on the Aksay cone. Our findings suggest that at least 27 debris flows have occurred on the site between 1877 and 2015 and point to the occurrence of at least 17 events that were not documented prior to this study. We also observe high process activity during the 1950s and 1960s, with major events on the cone in 1950, 1966, and 1968, coinciding with phases of slight glacier advance. The spatial analyses of events also point to two different spatial patterns, suggesting that quite dissimilar magnitudes probably occurred during glacier lake outburst floods and rainfall-induced debris-flow events. The results presented here represent the longest, annually resolved GLOF series in the region, which in turn has key implications on risk assessment, not just in the Ala-Archa valley, but also in the entire Kyrgyz range (northern Tien Shan).

Immediate Implant-based Prepectoral Breast Reconstruction Using a Vertical Incision

PubMed Central

Lind, Jeffrey G.; Hopkins, Elizabeth G.

2015-01-01

Background: Ideally, breast reconstruction is performed at the time of mastectomy in a single stage with minimal scarring. However, postoperative complications with direct-to-implant subpectoral reconstruction remain significant. These include asymmetry, flap necrosis, animation deformity, and discomfort. We report on a series of patients who have undergone immediate single-stage prepectoral, implant-based breast reconstruction with a smooth, adjustable saline implant covered with mesh/acellular dermal matrix for support using a vertical mastectomy incision. This technique, when combined with an adjustable implant, addresses the complications related to subpectoral implant placement of traditional expanders. Our follow-up time, 4.6 years (55 months), shows a low risk of implant loss and elimination of animation deformity while also providing patients with a safe and aesthetically pleasing result. Methods: All patients who underwent immediate implant-based prepectoral breast reconstruction using a vertical mastectomy incision as a single-staged procedure were included. Charts were reviewed retrospectively. Adjustable smooth round saline implants and mesh/acellular dermal matrix were used for fixation in all cases. Results: Thirty-one patients (62 breasts) underwent single-staged implant-based prepectoral breast reconstruction using a vertical mastectomy incision. Postoperative complications occurred in 9 patients, 6 of which were resolved with postoperative intervention while only 2 cases resulted in implant loss. Conclusions: There can be significant morbidity associated with traditional subpectoral implant-based breast reconstruction. As an alternative, the results of this study show that an immediate single-stage prepectoral breast reconstruction with a smooth saline adjustable implant, using a vertical incision, in conjunction with mesh/matrix support can be performed with excellent aesthetic outcomes and minimal complications. PMID:26180713

Multi-timescale data assimilation for atmosphere–ocean state estimates

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Steiger, Nathan; Hakim, Gregory

2016-06-24

Paleoclimate proxy data span seasonal to millennial timescales, and Earth's climate system has both high- and low-frequency components. Yet it is currently unclear how best to incorporate multiple timescales of proxy data into a single reconstruction framework and to also capture both high- and low-frequency components of reconstructed variables. Here we present a data assimilation approach that can explicitly incorporate proxy data at arbitrary timescales. The principal advantage of using such an approach is that it allows much more proxy data to inform a climate reconstruction, though there can be additional benefits. Through a series of offline data-assimilation-based pseudoproxy experiments,more » we find that atmosphere–ocean states are most skillfully reconstructed by incorporating proxies across multiple timescales compared to using proxies at short (annual) or long (~ decadal) timescales alone. Additionally, reconstructions that incorporate long-timescale pseudoproxies improve the low-frequency components of the reconstructions relative to using only high-resolution pseudoproxies. We argue that this is because time averaging high-resolution observations improves their covariance relationship with the slowly varying components of the coupled-climate system, which the data assimilation algorithm can exploit. These results are consistent across the climate models considered, despite the model variables having very different spectral characteristics. Furthermore, our results also suggest that it may be possible to reconstruct features of the oceanic meridional overturning circulation based on atmospheric surface temperature proxies, though here we find such reconstructions lack spectral power over a broad range of frequencies.« less

MITIE: Simultaneous RNA-Seq-based transcript identification and quantification in multiple samples.

PubMed

Behr, Jonas; Kahles, André; Zhong, Yi; Sreedharan, Vipin T; Drewe, Philipp; Rätsch, Gunnar

2013-10-15

High-throughput sequencing of mRNA (RNA-Seq) has led to tremendous improvements in the detection of expressed genes and reconstruction of RNA transcripts. However, the extensive dynamic range of gene expression, technical limitations and biases, as well as the observed complexity of the transcriptional landscape, pose profound computational challenges for transcriptome reconstruction. We present the novel framework MITIE (Mixed Integer Transcript IdEntification) for simultaneous transcript reconstruction and quantification. We define a likelihood function based on the negative binomial distribution, use a regularization approach to select a few transcripts collectively explaining the observed read data and show how to find the optimal solution using Mixed Integer Programming. MITIE can (i) take advantage of known transcripts, (ii) reconstruct and quantify transcripts simultaneously in multiple samples, and (iii) resolve the location of multi-mapping reads. It is designed for genome- and assembly-based transcriptome reconstruction. We present an extensive study based on realistic simulated RNA-Seq data. When compared with state-of-the-art approaches, MITIE proves to be significantly more sensitive and overall more accurate. Moreover, MITIE yields substantial performance gains when used with multiple samples. We applied our system to 38 Drosophila melanogaster modENCODE RNA-Seq libraries and estimated the sensitivity of reconstructing omitted transcript annotations and the specificity with respect to annotated transcripts. Our results corroborate that a well-motivated objective paired with appropriate optimization techniques lead to significant improvements over the state-of-the-art in transcriptome reconstruction. MITIE is implemented in C++ and is available from http://bioweb.me/mitie under the GPL license.

Observation of Structure of Surfaces and Interfaces by Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction: Atomic-Scale Imaging and Time-Resolved Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakabayashi, Yusuke; Shirasawa, Tetsuroh; Voegeli, Wolfgang; Takahashi, Toshio

2018-06-01

The recent developments in synchrotron optics, X-ray detectors, and data analysis algorithms have enhanced the capability of the surface X-ray diffraction technique. This technique has been used to clarify the atomic arrangement around surfaces in a non-contact and nondestructive manner. An overview of surface X-ray diffraction, from the historical development to recent topics, is presented. In the early stage of this technique, surface reconstructions of simple semiconductors or metals were studied. Currently, the surface or interface structures of complicated functional materials are examined with sub-Å resolution. As examples, the surface structure determination of organic semiconductors and of a one-dimensional structure on silicon are presented. A new frontier is time-resolved interfacial structure analysis. A recent observation of the structure and dynamics of the electric double layer of ionic liquids, and an investigation of the structural evolution in the wettability transition on a TiO2 surface that utilizes a newly designed time-resolved surface diffractometer, are presented.

On the properties of energy stable flux reconstruction schemes for implicit large eddy simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vermeire, B. C.; Vincent, P. E.

2016-12-01

We begin by investigating the stability, order of accuracy, and dispersion and dissipation characteristics of the extended range of energy stable flux reconstruction (E-ESFR) schemes in the context of implicit large eddy simulation (ILES). We proceed to demonstrate that subsets of the E-ESFR schemes are more stable than collocation nodal discontinuous Galerkin methods recovered with the flux reconstruction approach (FRDG) for marginally-resolved ILES simulations of the Taylor-Green vortex. These schemes are shown to have reduced dissipation and dispersion errors relative to FRDG schemes of the same polynomial degree and, simultaneously, have increased Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) limits. Finally, we simulate turbulent flow over an SD7003 aerofoil using two of the most stable E-ESFR schemes identified by the aforementioned Taylor-Green vortex experiments. Results demonstrate that subsets of E-ESFR schemes appear more stable than the commonly used FRDG method, have increased CFL limits, and are suitable for ILES of complex turbulent flows on unstructured grids.

Direct reconstruction in CT-analogous pharmacokinetic diffuse fluorescence tomography: two-dimensional simulative and experimental validations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xin; Zhang, Yanqi; Zhang, Limin; Li, Jiao; Zhou, Zhongxing; Zhao, Huijuan; Gao, Feng

2016-04-01

We present a generalized strategy for direct reconstruction in pharmacokinetic diffuse fluorescence tomography (DFT) with CT-analogous scanning mode, which can accomplish one-step reconstruction of the indocyanine-green pharmacokinetic-rate images within in vivo small animals by incorporating the compartmental kinetic model into an adaptive extended Kalman filtering scheme and using an instantaneous sampling dataset. This scheme, compared with the established indirect and direct methods, eliminates the interim error of the DFT inversion and relaxes the expensive requirement of the instrument for obtaining highly time-resolved date-sets of complete 360 deg projections. The scheme is validated by two-dimensional simulations for the two-compartment model and pilot phantom experiments for the one-compartment model, suggesting that the proposed method can estimate the compartmental concentrations and the pharmacokinetic-rates simultaneously with a fair quantitative and localization accuracy, and is well suitable for cost-effective and dense-sampling instrumentation based on the highly-sensitive photon counting technique.

Low-dimensional and Data Fusion Techniques Applied to a Rectangular Supersonic Multi-stream Jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berry, Matthew; Stack, Cory; Magstadt, Andrew; Ali, Mohd; Gaitonde, Datta; Glauser, Mark

2017-11-01

Low-dimensional models of experimental and simulation data for a complex supersonic jet were fused to reconstruct time-dependent proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) coefficients. The jet consists of a multi-stream rectangular single expansion ramp nozzle, containing a core stream operating at Mj , 1 = 1.6 , and bypass stream at Mj , 3 = 1.0 with an underlying deck. POD was applied to schlieren and PIV data to acquire the spatial basis functions. These eigenfunctions were projected onto their corresponding time-dependent large eddy simulation (LES) fields to reconstruct the temporal POD coefficients. This reconstruction was able to resolve spectral peaks that were previously aliased due to the slower sampling rates of the experiments. Additionally, dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) was applied to the experimental and LES datasets, and the spatio-temporal characteristics were compared to POD. The authors would like to acknowledge AFOSR, program manager Dr. Doug Smith, for funding this research, Grant No. FA9550-15-1-0435.

Pancreaticojejuno anastomosis after pancreaticoduodenectomy: brief pathophysiological considerations for a rational surgical choice.

PubMed

Caronna, Roberto; Peparini, Nadia; Cosimo Russillo, Gabriele; Antonio Rogano, Adolfo; Dinatale, Giuseppe; Chirletti, Piero

2012-01-01

Introduction. The best pancreatic anastomosis technique after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still debated. Pancreatic fistula (PF) is the most important complication but is also related to postoperative bleedings and pancreatic remnant involution. We support pancreaticojejuno anastomosis (PJ) advantages describing our technique with brief technical considerations. Materials and Methods. 89 consecutive patients underwent PD with suprapyloric gastric resection and double loop reconstruction. Pancreaticojejunal end-to-end anastomosis was done by simple invagination with a single layer of interrupted pledget-supported Ticron stitches. Results. Pancreatic fistula occurred in seven patients (7.8%): six cases of grade A fistula resolved spontaneously, and in only one case of grade B fistula percutaneous drainage was necessary. Postoperative hemorrhage occurred in only two (2.2%) of 89 patients. Conclusion. Pancreaticojejunostomy with minor changes in anastomotic techniques can contribute to improvement of the outcome of Roux-en-Y reconstruction regarding PF and other related complications. The particular reconstruction reported seems also to preserve the pancreatic exocrine function.

Pancreaticojejuno Anastomosis after Pancreaticoduodenectomy: Brief Pathophysiological Considerations for a Rational Surgical Choice

PubMed Central

Caronna, Roberto; Peparini, Nadia; Cosimo Russillo, Gabriele; Antonio Rogano, Adolfo; Dinatale, Giuseppe; Chirletti, Piero

2012-01-01

Introduction. The best pancreatic anastomosis technique after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still debated. Pancreatic fistula (PF) is the most important complication but is also related to postoperative bleedings and pancreatic remnant involution. We support pancreaticojejuno anastomosis (PJ) advantages describing our technique with brief technical considerations. Materials and Methods. 89 consecutive patients underwent PD with suprapyloric gastric resection and double loop reconstruction. Pancreaticojejunal end-to-end anastomosis was done by simple invagination with a single layer of interrupted pledget-supported Ticron stitches. Results. Pancreatic fistula occurred in seven patients (7.8%): six cases of grade A fistula resolved spontaneously, and in only one case of grade B fistula percutaneous drainage was necessary. Postoperative hemorrhage occurred in only two (2.2%) of 89 patients. Conclusion. Pancreaticojejunostomy with minor changes in anastomotic techniques can contribute to improvement of the outcome of Roux-en-Y reconstruction regarding PF and other related complications. The particular reconstruction reported seems also to preserve the pancreatic exocrine function. PMID:22489265

Joint synthetic aperture radar plus ground moving target indicator from single-channel radar using compressive sensing

DOEpatents

Thompson, Douglas; Hallquist, Aaron; Anderson, Hyrum

2017-10-17

The various embodiments presented herein relate to utilizing an operational single-channel radar to collect and process synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) imagery from a same set of radar returns. In an embodiment, data is collected by randomly staggering a slow-time pulse repetition interval (PRI) over a SAR aperture such that a number of transmitted pulses in the SAR aperture is preserved with respect to standard SAR, but many of the pulses are spaced very closely enabling movers (e.g., targets) to be resolved, wherein a relative velocity of the movers places them outside of the SAR ground patch. The various embodiments of image reconstruction can be based on compressed sensing inversion from undersampled data, which can be solved efficiently using such techniques as Bregman iteration. The various embodiments enable high-quality SAR reconstruction, and high-quality GMTI reconstruction from the same set of radar returns.

Three-step orbitofacial reconstruction after extended total maxillectomy using free RAM flap and expanded cervicofacial flap with cartilage grafts.

PubMed

Kajikawa, Akiyoshi; Ueda, Kazuki; Katsuragi, Yoko; Hirose, Taro; Asai, Emiko

2010-10-01

Facial defect after an extended total maxillectomy is one of the most difficult deformities to reconstruct aesthetically, because the defect is not only large but also three-dimensional. Although free-flap reconstruction is useful, the patchwork-like scar, bad colour match and poor texture match are major problems. The contracture and displacement of the reconstructed eyelids and eye socket are also serious matters. To resolve these problems, we have performed a three-step reconstruction using a free rectus abdominis myocutaneous (RAM) flap and an expanded cervicofacial flap with cartilage grafts. In the first step, a free RAM flap was transplanted to the defect after extended total maxillectomy. In the second step, tissue expanders were placed under the skin of the cheek and neck a year after the RAM flap transplantation. After expansion of the cheek and neck skin, the third step was performed. The inferior part of the external skin island of the RAM flap was raised and sutured to the superior margin of the skin island to create a pouch for the eye socket. Costal cartilage was grafted to reconstruct the orbital floor and malar prominence, and auricular cartilage was grafted to reconstruct the tarsal plates. Finally, the expanded cervicofacial flap was rotated to cover this construct. Two weeks after reconstruction, the neo-eyelids were divided to form the lid fissure. We performed the three-step reconstruction on six cases after extended total maxillectomy. In all cases, a deep and stable eye socket was reconstructed. The reconstructed eyelids and cheek were natural in appearance with good colour and texture match without conspicuous scars. To obtain symmetry and natural appearance in the orbitomaxillary reconstruction, there are five points that should be formed; the eye socket, the groundwork of the eye socket, the orbital floor and malar prominence, the tarsal plates and the surface of the eyelids and cheek. We do not reconstruct the palate to set prosthetic dentures and to clean the surface of the skin island in the nasal cavity. To reconstruct the indispensable five points and achieve satisfying results, we propose this three-step reconstruction. Copyright 2009 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multispecies tree ring reconstruction of Potomac River streamflow (950-2001)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxwell, R. Stockton; Hessl, Amy E.; Cook, Edward R.; Pederson, Neil

2011-05-01

Mean May-September Potomac River streamflow was reconstructed from 950-2001 using a network of tree ring chronologies (n = 27) representing multiple species. We chose a nested principal components reconstruction method to maximize use of available chronologies backward in time. Explained variance during the period of calibration ranged from 20% to 53% depending on the number and species of chronologies available in each 25 year time step. The model was verified by two goodness of fit tests, the coefficient of efficiency (CE) and the reduction of error statistic (RE). The RE and CE never fell below zero, suggesting the model had explanatory power over the entire period of reconstruction. Beta weights indicated a loss of explained variance during the 1550-1700 period that we hypothesize was caused by the reduction in total number of predictor chronologies and loss of important predictor species. Thus, the reconstruction is strongest from 1700-2001. Frequency, intensity, and duration of drought and pluvial events were examined to aid water resource managers. We found that the instrumental period did not represent adequately the full range of annual to multidecadal variability present in the reconstruction. Our reconstruction of mean May-September Potomac River streamflow was a significant improvement over the Cook and Jacoby (1983) reconstruction because it expanded the seasonal window, lengthened the record by 780 years, and better replicated the mean and variance of the instrumental record. By capitalizing on variable phenologies and tree growth responses to climate, multispecies reconstructions may provide significantly more information about past hydroclimate, especially in regions with low aridity and high tree species diversity.

Retroauricular skin: a flaps bank for ear reconstruction.

PubMed

Cordova, A; D'Arpa, S; Pirrello, R; Giambona, C; Moschella, F

2008-01-01

The retroauricular skin has always been given much attention by the reconstructive surgeon for ear and face reconstruction because it is richly vascularised, as many anatomical investigations show, it is hidden behind the ear, its skin is very similar to that of ear and face. All these reasons make it an ideal donor site for ear reconstruction. The authors propose their own algorithm for reconstruction of every kind of anterior defects of the auricle with different Retroauricular Island Flaps (RIFs) based on the location and size of the defect developed over a 16 years single institution's experience with a series of 216 consecutive cases. 216 patients have undergone ear reconstruction with RIFs from 1999 to 2006. In 52 a Superior Pedicle RIF (SP-RIF) was used for defects of the upper half of the auricle. In 68 cases a Perforator RIF (P-RIF) was used for conchal reconstruction. In 96 cases an Inferior Pedicle RIF (IP-RIF) was used for reconstruction of nonmarginal and superficial marginal defects of the auricle. No flap failure was recorded. Excellent morphological reconstruction was obtained with these flaps with no sequealae at the donor site in terms of form and function. Only in the case of P-RIFs the sulcus becomes flat in its central part, but this has never affected the possibility of wearing spectacles. The SP-RIFs may sometimes show some signs of venous stasis that invariably resolve in the first two postoperative days. The retroauricular skin may be considered a flaps bank for ear reconstruction. It offers in fact a great variety of island flaps that are suitable for every kind of loss of substance of the ear, have a safe vascularisation, skin of similar colour and texture, are easy to harvest under local anaesthesia on an outpatient basis and cause no relevant morbidity at the donor site. Location and size of the defects lead the choice between the different types of RIFs.

Staying married after stroke: a constructivist grounded theory qualitative study.

PubMed

Anderson, Sharon; Keating, Norah C; Wilson, Donna M

2017-10-01

Marriages are one of the most powerful predictors of health and longevity, yet research in stroke has focused separately on survivors' experience of impairments and how spouses deal with caregiving. The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to understand the key themes related to reconstruction or breakdown of marriages after stroke. In semi-structured interviews, 18 couples in long-term marriages discussed how their marriages were reconstructed or broke down after one member of the couple returned home after being hospitalized for a stroke. Constant comparison methods were used to compare the experiences of 12 couples in which both partners indicated their relationship was going well with 6 couples who either separated or remained in parallel marriages. Analysis revealed an overarching process of reconstructing compatible role-identities and three themes related to the reconstruction or breakdown of the marital identity: feeling overwhelmed, resolving conflict, and perceiving value in the marriage. Our findings highlight that marriages are contexts in which survivors and spouses can recalibrate their role-identities. Marriage relationships are not peripheral to survivors' and spouses' outcomes after stroke; rather, marriage is fundamental to the management of impairments and to the well-being of the couple.

Anatomical and Functional Images of in vitro and in vivo Tissues by NIR Time-domain Diffuse Optical Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Huijuan; Gao, Feng; Tanikawa, Yukari; Homma, Kazuhiro; Onodera, Yoichi; Yamada, Yukio

Near infra-red (NIR) diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has gained much attention and it will be clinically applied to imaging breast, neonatal head, and the hemodynamics of the brain because of its noninvasiveness and deep penetration in biological tissue. Prior to achieving the imaging of infant brain using DOT, the developed methodologies need to be experimentally justified by imaging some real organs with simpler structures. Here we report our results of an in vitro chicken leg and an in vivo exercising human forearm from the data measured by a multi-channel time-resolved NIR system. Tomographic images were reconstructed by a two-dimensional image reconstruction algorithm based on a modified generalized pulse spectrum technique for simultaneous reconstruction of the µa and µs´. The absolute µa- and µs´-images revealed the inner structures of the chicken leg and the forearm, where the bones were clearly distinguished from the muscle. The Δµa-images showed the blood volume changes during the forearm exercise, proving that the system and the image reconstruction algorithm could potentially be used for imaging not only the anatomic structure but also the hemodynamics in neonatal heads.

Polaron-mediated surface reconstruction in the reduced Rutile TiO2 (110) surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reticcioli, Michele; Setvin, Martin; Hao, Xianfeng; Diebold, Ulrike; Franchini, Cesare

The role of polarons is of key importance for the understanding of the fundamental properties and functionalities of TiO2. We use density functional theory with an on-site Coulomb interaction and molecular dynamics to study the formation and dynamics of small polarons in the reduced rutile (110) surface. We show that excess electrons donated by oxygen-vacancies (VO) form mobile small polarons that hop easily in subsurface and surface Ti-sites. The polaron formation becomes more favorable by increasing the VO concentration level (up to 20%) due to the progressively lower energy cost needed to distort the lattice. However, at higher VO concentration the shortening of the averaged polaron-polaron distance leads to an increased Coulomb repulsion among the trapped charges at the Ti-sites, which weakens this trend. This instability is overtaken by means of a structural 1 × 2 surface reconstruction, characterized by a distinctively more favorable polaron distribution. The calculations are validated by a direct comparison with experimental AFM and STM data. Our study identifies a fundamentally novel mechanism to drive surface reconstructions and resolves a long standing issue on the origin of the reconstruction in rutile (110) surface.

Optimization of the Reconstruction Interval in Neurovascular 4D-CTA Imaging

PubMed Central

Hoogenboom, T.C.H.; van Beurden, R.M.J.; van Teylingen, B.; Schenk, B.; Willems, P.W.A.

2012-01-01

Summary Time resolved whole brain CT angiography (4D-CTA) is a novel imaging technology providing information regarding blood flow. One of the factors that influence the diagnostic value of this examination is the temporal resolution, which is affected by the gantry rotation speed during acquisition and the reconstruction interval during post-processing. Post-processing determines the time spacing between two reconstructed volumes and, unlike rotation speed, does not affect radiation burden. The data sets of six patients who underwent a cranial 4D-CTA were used for this study. Raw data was acquired using a 320-slice scanner with a rotation speed of 2 Hz. The arterial to venous passage of an intravenous contrast bolus was captured during a 15 s continuous scan. The raw data was reconstructed using four different reconstruction-intervals: 0.2, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 s. The results were rated by two observers using a standardized score sheet. The appearance of each lesion was rated correctly in all readings. Scoring for quality of temporal resolution revealed a stepwise improvement from the 1.0 s interval to the 0.3 s interval, while no discernable improvement was noted between the 0.3 s and 0.2 s interval. An increase in temporal resolution may improve the diagnostic quality of cranial 4D-CTA. Using a rotation speed of 0.5 s, the optimal reconstruction interval appears to be 0.3 s, beyond which, changes can no longer be discerned. PMID:23217631

Reconstruction of Bile Duct Injury and Defect with the Round Ligament.

PubMed

Dokmak, Safi; Aussilhou, Béatrice; Ragot, Emilia; Tantardini, Camille; Cauchy, François; Ponsot, Philippe; Belghiti, Jacques; Sauvanet, Alain; Soubrane, Olivier

2017-09-01

Lateral injury of the bile duct can occur after cholecystectomy, bile duct dissection, or exploration. If direct repair is not possible, conversion to bilioenteric anastomosis can be needed with the risk of long-term bile duct infections and associated complications. We developed a new surgical technique which consist of reconstructing the bile duct with the round ligament. The vascularized round ligament is completely mobilized until its origin and used for lateral reconstruction of the bile duct to cover the defect. T tube was inserted and removed after few months. Patency of the bile duct was assessed by cholangiography, the liver function test and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Two patients aged 33 and 59 years old underwent lateral reconstruction of the bile duct for defects secondary to choledocotomy for stone extraction or during dissection for Mirizzi syndrome. The defects measured 2 and 3 cm and occupied half of the bile duct circumference. The postoperative course was marked by low output biliary fistula resolved spontaneously. In one patient, the T tube was removed at 3 months after surgery and MRI at 9 months showed strictly normal aspect of the bile duct with normal liver function test. The second patient is going very well 2 months after surgery and the T tube is closed. Lateral reconstruction of the bile duct can be safely achieved with the vascularized round ligament. We will extend our indications to tubular reconstruction.

An update on auricular reconstruction: three major auricular malformations of microtia, prominent ear and cryptotia.

PubMed

Park, Chul; Yoo, Yeon-Sik; Hong, Sung-Taek

2010-12-01

Microtia, prominent ear, and cryptotia are the most common types of auricular malformations. This review provides updated information on these types of reconstructions, in addition to recalling previously accepted surgical methods. Autogenous costal cartilage is still considered as an ideal material for framework fabrication in microtia reconstruction. Many surgeons have adopted the Nagata approach, the Brent approach, or variations of the two, in their work. With these employed techniques, auricles reconstructed by experienced surgeons have proven to be aesthetically promising. However, with regards to the harvesting of the costal cartilage, the underdevelopment of the chest wall donor site, alopecia of the scalp, and scarring of the postauricular-mastoid region are still considered problematic aspects of these approaches. Some articles have described attempts to solve these problems, whereas some experiments in cartilage production using tissue engineering techniques have shown promise in their initial stages of development.It is generally accepted that prominent ears should be corrected through a combination of sculpting and suture techniques, according to the individual shape and the quality of the ear prominence.Most of the cryptotia malformations show not only embedded upper auricles, but also associated adhesions of the upper auricular cartilage. Their correction should therefore resolve both deformities. A number of articles highlighting clinical experiences with auricular reconstructions for microtia, prominent ear, and cryptotia have been included in this review. We believe that the information synthesized here will become a basis for further development of auricular reconstruction techniques.

Postmastectomy reconstruction: comparative analysis of the psychosocial, functional, and cosmetic effects of transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap versus breast implant reconstruction.

PubMed

Cederna, P S; Yates, W R; Chang, P; Cram, A E; Ricciardelli, E J

1995-11-01

Over 40,000 postmastectomy breast reconstructions are performed annually. In this study, we investigated the psychosocial, functional, and cosmetic effects of transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous (TRAM) flap versus breast implant reconstruction. Thirty-three women who had undergone postmastectomy breast reconstruction were contacted by telephone and agreed to participate in the study. Twenty-two women completed the self-assessment questionnaires regarding their quality of life, psychological symptoms, functional status, body image, and global satisfaction. The TRAM and implant groups contained 8 and 14 patients, respectively. The groups were well matched for age, employment status, marital status, race, religion, and severity of medical and surgical illnesses. The average follow-up was 36 months. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed that women who had undergone TRAM flap reconstruction were more satisfied with how their reconstructed breast felt to the touch (p = .01), and there was a trend toward greater satisfaction with the appearance of their reconstructed breast (p = .08). However, these same patients identified more difficulties as far as functioning at work or school, performing vigorous physical activities, participating in community or religious activities, visiting with relatives, and interacting with male friends (p < .04). There were no statistically significant differences in body image or overall satisfaction. In this small cohort study, both the TRAM flap group and the implant group were satisfied with the results of their breast reconstruction, but the TRAM flap group was more satisfied with how their breast felt and tended to be more satisfied with the cosmetic result. The TRAM flap group reported greater psychological, social, and physical impairments as a result of their reconstruction.

76 FR 1168 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Health and Diet...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-07

... annual Hours per Total hours respondents response responses response General Topics: Pretest......... 27... administration of the Health and Diet Survey--General Topics, the Agency plans to conduct a pretest to identify and resolve potential problems. The pretest will be conducted with 27 participants; we estimate that...

Sparse recovery of undersampled intensity patterns for coherent diffraction imaging at high X-ray energies

DOE PAGES

Maddali, S.; Calvo-Almazan, I.; Almer, J.; ...

2018-03-21

Coherent X-ray photons with energies higher than 50 keV offer new possibilities for imaging nanoscale lattice distortions in bulk crystalline materials using Bragg peak phase retrieval methods. However, the compression of reciprocal space at high energies typically results in poorly resolved fringes on an area detector, rendering the diffraction data unsuitable for the three-dimensional reconstruction of compact crystals. To address this problem, we propose a method by which to recover fine fringe detail in the scattered intensity. This recovery is achieved in two steps: multiple undersampled measurements are made by in-plane sub-pixel motion of the area detector, then this datamore » set is passed to a sparsity-based numerical solver that recovers fringe detail suitable for standard Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) reconstruction methods of compact single crystals. The key insight of this paper is that sparsity in a BCDI data set can be enforced by recognising that the signal in the detector, though poorly resolved, is band-limited. This requires fewer in-plane detector translations for complete signal recovery, while adhering to information theory limits. Lastly, we use simulated BCDI data sets to demonstrate the approach, outline our sparse recovery strategy, and comment on future opportunities.« less

Sparse recovery of undersampled intensity patterns for coherent diffraction imaging at high X-ray energies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Maddali, S.; Calvo-Almazan, I.; Almer, J.

Coherent X-ray photons with energies higher than 50 keV offer new possibilities for imaging nanoscale lattice distortions in bulk crystalline materials using Bragg peak phase retrieval methods. However, the compression of reciprocal space at high energies typically results in poorly resolved fringes on an area detector, rendering the diffraction data unsuitable for the three-dimensional reconstruction of compact crystals. To address this problem, we propose a method by which to recover fine fringe detail in the scattered intensity. This recovery is achieved in two steps: multiple undersampled measurements are made by in-plane sub-pixel motion of the area detector, then this datamore » set is passed to a sparsity-based numerical solver that recovers fringe detail suitable for standard Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) reconstruction methods of compact single crystals. The key insight of this paper is that sparsity in a BCDI data set can be enforced by recognising that the signal in the detector, though poorly resolved, is band-limited. This requires fewer in-plane detector translations for complete signal recovery, while adhering to information theory limits. Lastly, we use simulated BCDI data sets to demonstrate the approach, outline our sparse recovery strategy, and comment on future opportunities.« less

Toward the resolution of an explosive radiation--a multilocus phylogeny of oceanic dolphins (Delphinidae).

PubMed

McGowen, Michael R

2011-09-01

Oceanic dolphins (Delphinidae) are the product of a rapid radiation that yielded ∼36 extant species of small to medium-sized cetaceans that first emerged in the Late Miocene. Although they are a charismatic group of organisms that have become poster children for marine conservation, many phylogenetic relationships within Delphinidae remain elusive due to the slow molecular evolution of the group and the difficulty of resolving short branches from successive cladogenic events. Here I combine existing and newly generated sequences from four mitochondrial (mt) genes and 20 nuclear (nu) genes to reconstruct a well-supported phylogenetic hypothesis for Delphinidae. This study compares maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference methods of several data sets including mtDNA, combined nuDNA, gene trees of individual nuDNA loci, and concatenated mtDNA+nuDNA. In addition, I contrast these standard phylogenetic analyses with the species tree reconstruction method of Bayesian concordance analysis (BCA). Despite finding discordance between mtDNA and individual nuDNA loci, the concatenated matrix recovers a completely resolved and robustly supported phylogeny that is also broadly congruent with BCA trees. This study strongly supports groupings such as Delphininae, Lissodelphininae, Globicephalinae, Sotalia+Delphininae, Steno+Orcaella+Globicephalinae, and Leucopleurus acutus, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, and Orcinus orca as basal delphinid taxa. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Time resolved optical system for an early detection of prostate tumor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hervé, Lionel; Laidevant, Aurélie; Debourdeau, Mathieu; Boutet, Jérôme; Dinten, Jean-Marc

2011-02-01

We developed an endorectal time-resolved optical probe aiming at an early detection of prostate tumors targeted by fluorescent markers. Optical fibers are embedded inside a clinical available ultrasound endorectal probe. Excitation light is driven sequentially from a femtosecond laser (775 nm) into 6 source fibers. 4 detection fibers collect the medium responses at the excitation and fluorescence wavelength (850 nm) by the mean of 4 photomultipliers associated with a 4 channel time-correlated single photon counting card. We also developed the method to process the experimental data. This involves the numerical computation of the forward model, the creation of robust features which are automatically correctly from numerous experimental possible biases and the reconstruction of the inclusion by using the intensity and mean time of these features. To evaluate our system performance, we acquired measurements of a 40 μL ICG inclusion (10 μmol.L-1) at various lateral and depth locations in a phantom. Analysis of results showed we correctly reconstructed the fluorophore for the lateral positions (16 mm range) and for a distance to the probe going up to 1.5 cm. Precision of localization was found to be around 1 mm which complies well with precision specifications needed for the clinical application.

Sparse recovery of undersampled intensity patterns for coherent diffraction imaging at high X-ray energies.

PubMed

Maddali, S; Calvo-Almazan, I; Almer, J; Kenesei, P; Park, J-S; Harder, R; Nashed, Y; Hruszkewycz, S O

2018-03-21

Coherent X-ray photons with energies higher than 50 keV offer new possibilities for imaging nanoscale lattice distortions in bulk crystalline materials using Bragg peak phase retrieval methods. However, the compression of reciprocal space at high energies typically results in poorly resolved fringes on an area detector, rendering the diffraction data unsuitable for the three-dimensional reconstruction of compact crystals. To address this problem, we propose a method by which to recover fine fringe detail in the scattered intensity. This recovery is achieved in two steps: multiple undersampled measurements are made by in-plane sub-pixel motion of the area detector, then this data set is passed to a sparsity-based numerical solver that recovers fringe detail suitable for standard Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) reconstruction methods of compact single crystals. The key insight of this paper is that sparsity in a BCDI data set can be enforced by recognising that the signal in the detector, though poorly resolved, is band-limited. This requires fewer in-plane detector translations for complete signal recovery, while adhering to information theory limits. We use simulated BCDI data sets to demonstrate the approach, outline our sparse recovery strategy, and comment on future opportunities.

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart Aaaa of... - Applicability of NESHAP General Provisions to Subpart AAAA

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... constructed, and reconstructed sources 63.6(e) Operation and maintenance requirements, startup, shutdown and... taken during a startup, shutdown and malfunction plan are consistent with the procedures in the startup, shutdown and malfunction plan, this information shall be included in a semi-annual startup, shutdown and...

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart Aaaa of... - Applicability of NESHAP General Provisions to Subpart AAAA

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... constructed, and reconstructed sources 63.6(e) Operation and maintenance requirements, startup, shutdown and... taken during a startup, shutdown and malfunction plan are consistent with the procedures in the startup, shutdown and malfunction plan, this information shall be included in a semi-annual startup, shutdown and...

40 CFR Table 1 to Subpart Aaaa of... - Applicability of NESHAP General Provisions to Subpart AAAA

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... constructed, and reconstructed sources 63.6(e) Operation and maintenance requirements, startup, shutdown and... taken during a startup, shutdown and malfunction plan are consistent with the procedures in the startup, shutdown and malfunction plan, this information shall be included in a semi-annual startup, shutdown and...

40 CFR 60.1410 - What must I include in my annual report?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

...? 60.1410 Section 60.1410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... Modification or Reconstruction is Commenced After June 6, 2001 Reporting § 60.1410 What must I include in my... units, for eight pollutants, as recorded under § 60.1360(a): (1) Dioxins/furans. (2) Cadmium. (3) Lead...

40 CFR 60.1410 - What must I include in my annual report?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

...? 60.1410 Section 60.1410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... Modification or Reconstruction is Commenced After June 6, 2001 Reporting § 60.1410 What must I include in my... units, for eight pollutants, as recorded under § 60.1360(a): (1) Dioxins/furans. (2) Cadmium. (3) Lead...

40 CFR 60.1410 - What must I include in my annual report?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

...? 60.1410 Section 60.1410 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... Modification or Reconstruction is Commenced After June 6, 2001 Reporting § 60.1410 What must I include in my... units, for eight pollutants, as recorded under § 60.1360(a): (1) Dioxins/furans. (2) Cadmium. (3) Lead...

Evaluation of the Heshang Cave stalagmite calcium isotope composition as a paleohydrologic proxy by comparison with the instrumental precipitation record.

PubMed

Li, Xiuli; Cui, Xueping; He, Dong; Liao, Jin; Hu, Chaoyong

2018-02-08

With their merits of precise dating and sensitivity to climate changes, laminated stalagmites are an important terrestrial archive for reconstructions of paleohydrological changes. In particular, the Ca isotope composition (δ 44/42 Ca) of the Heshang Cave stalagmite has been documented to record a precipitation decrease during the 8.2 ka event in central China. As an extension, this study directly compares near-annual resolution δ 44/42 Ca data with an instrumental precipitation record to evaluate the fidelity of δ 44/42 Ca as a paleohydrologic proxy on annual to decade timescales. Over the period 1881-2001 AD, the δ 44/42 Ca values correlate significantly with both precipitation from a nearby weather station and the dryness/wetness index in the middle Yangtze River, with a stronger correlation on decadal smoothed data. These results clearly show that the δ 44/42 Ca ratio from stalagmites is an effective proxy for paleohydrological changes on a decadal timescale. More study is encouraged to refine understanding of stalagmite Ca isotope ratios and hydrological conditions and their application in paleohydrologic reconstructions.

Common trends in elements? Within- and between-tree variations of wood-chemistry measured by X-ray fluorescence - A dendrochemical study.

PubMed

Scharnweber, Tobias; Hevia, Andrea; Buras, Allan; van der Maaten, Ernst; Wilmking, Martin

2016-10-01

Element composition of annually resolved tree-rings constitutes a promising biological proxy for reconstructions of environmental conditions and pollution history. However, several methodological and physiological issues have to be addressed before sound conclusions can be drawn from dendrochemical time series. For example, radial and vertical translocation processes of elements in the wood might blur or obscure any dendrochemical signal. In this study, we tested the degree of synchronism of elemental time series within and between trees of one coniferous (Pinus sylvestris L.) and one broadleaf (Castanea sativa Mill.) species growing in conventionally managed forests without direct pollution sources in their surroundings. Micro X-ray fluorescence (μXRF) analysis was used to establish time series of relative concentrations of multiple elements (Mg, Al, P, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni) for different stem heights and stem exposures. We found a common long-term (decadal) trend for most elements in both species, but only little coherence in the high frequency domain (inter-annual variations). Aligning the element curves by cambial age instead of year of ring formation reduced the standard deviations between the single measurements. This points at an influence of age on longer term trends and would require a detrending in order to extract any environmental signal from dendrochemical time series. The common signal was stronger for pine than for chestnut. In pine, many elements show a concentration gradient with higher values towards the tree crown. Mobility of elements in the stem leading to high within- and between-tree variability, as well as a potential age-trend apparently complicate the establishment of reliable dendrochemical chronologies. For future wood-chemical studies, we recommend to work with element ratios instead of single element time series, to consider potential age trends and to analyze more than one sample per tree to account for internal variability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Reconstruction Potential of a 350 year-long, Mid-Elevation Proxy for PDSI in a Tree-Ring Record from Tropical North Queensland, Australia.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

English, N. B.; Duffy, R.; Balanzategui, D.; Baker, P. J.; Evans, M. N.

2014-12-01

In far northern Queensland (FNQ) there are only sporadic coral and speleothem precipitation proxy records, and only one annually resolved, terrestrial record of rainfall that predates 1850 CE. Black kauri pine, Agathis atropurpurea, is a large conifer present in isolated stands near 1000 masl in the wet tropical dividing range of FNQ. Little is known about its phenology or responses to climate, although its presence near the elevational limit of the dividing range may hinder its ability to respond to increased temperature or decreased precipitation through elevational migration. We hypothesize that in this energy-limited forest, increased (decreased) solar radiation leads to increased (decreased) ring widths, and higher (lower) evapotranspiration rates produce increases (decreases) in the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of the a-cellulose component of wood. To test this hypothesis, we collected over 60 cores from 21 large (dbh = 56 to 186 cm) A. atropurpurea trees from Spurgeon Peak National Park. The resulting tree-ring chronology extends from 2013 to 1438 CE and shows high average mean sensitivity (0.642) although expressed population signal drops off at 1650 CE as sample depth decreases. Comparison of the most recent 100 years of ring widths and direct climate observations show a significant positive relationship (r2 = 0.4, p < 0.01) to PDSI in December through March, coinciding with the austral rainy season associated with onset of the northern Australian Monsoon. Annualized δ18Oxygen (a-cellulose) maxima for 1983-2013 show strong and significant spatial positive relationships to Tmax and Pacific seasurface temperatures. Work to refine the interpretation of the data is onoing, but the resulting dataset may enable extension of the terrestrial climate record of north Queensland two centuries beyond current tree-ring proxies and historical observations.

Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to two bottom quarks at ATLAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Yangyang

This thesis presents a search for dark matter production in association with a Higgs boson decaying to a pair of bottom quarks, using data from 20.3 fb-1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The dark matter particles are assumed to be Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, and can be produced in pairs at collider experiments. Events with large missing transverse energy are selected when produced in association with high momentum jets, of which at least two are identified as jets containing b-quarks consistent with those from a Higgs boson decay. To maintain good detector acceptance and selection efficiency of the signal across a wide kinematic range, two methods of Higgs boson reconstruction are used. The Higgs boson is reconstructed either as a pair of small-radius jets both containing b-quarks, called the "resolved'' analysis, or as a single large-radius jet with substructure consistent with a high momentum b b system, called the "boosted'' analysis. The resolved analysis is the focus of this thesis. The observed data are found to be consistent with the expected Standard Model backgrounds. The result from the resolved analysis is interpreted using a simplified model with a Z' gauge boson decaying into different Higgs bosons predicted in a two-Higgs-doublet model, of which the heavy pseudoscalar Higgs decays into a pair of dark matter particles. Exclusion limits are set in regions of parameter space for this model. Model-independent upper limits are also placed on the visible cross-sections for events with a Higgs boson decaying into bb and large missing transverse momentum with thresholds ranging from 150 GeV to 400 GeV.

Resolving the relationships of Paleocene placental mammals.

PubMed

Halliday, Thomas J D; Upchurch, Paul; Goswami, Anjali

2017-02-01

The 'Age of Mammals' began in the Paleocene epoch, the 10 million year interval immediately following the Cretaceous-Palaeogene mass extinction. The apparently rapid shift in mammalian ecomorphs from small, largely insectivorous forms to many small-to-large-bodied, diverse taxa has driven a hypothesis that the end-Cretaceous heralded an adaptive radiation in placental mammal evolution. However, the affinities of most Paleocene mammals have remained unresolved, despite significant advances in understanding the relationships of the extant orders, hindering efforts to reconstruct robustly the origin and early evolution of placental mammals. Here we present the largest cladistic analysis of Paleocene placentals to date, from a data matrix including 177 taxa (130 of which are Palaeogene) and 680 morphological characters. We improve the resolution of the relationships of several enigmatic Paleocene clades, including families of 'condylarths'. Protungulatum is resolved as a stem eutherian, meaning that no crown-placental mammal unambiguously pre-dates the Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary. Our results support an Atlantogenata-Boreoeutheria split at the root of crown Placentalia, the presence of phenacodontids as closest relatives of Perissodactyla, the validity of Euungulata, and the placement of Arctocyonidae close to Carnivora. Periptychidae and Pantodonta are resolved as sister taxa, Leptictida and Cimolestidae are found to be stem eutherians, and Hyopsodontidae is highly polyphyletic. The inclusion of Paleocene taxa in a placental phylogeny alters interpretations of relationships and key events in mammalian evolutionary history. Paleocene mammals are an essential source of data for understanding fully the biotic dynamics associated with the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. The relationships presented here mark a critical first step towards accurate reconstruction of this important interval in the evolution of the modern fauna. © 2015 The Authors. Biological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Resolving Evolutionary Relationships in Closely Related Species with Whole-Genome Sequencing Data

PubMed Central

Nater, Alexander; Burri, Reto; Kawakami, Takeshi; Smeds, Linnéa; Ellegren, Hans

2015-01-01

Using genetic data to resolve the evolutionary relationships of species is of major interest in evolutionary and systematic biology. However, reconstructing the sequence of speciation events, the so-called species tree, in closely related and potentially hybridizing species is very challenging. Processes such as incomplete lineage sorting and interspecific gene flow result in local gene genealogies that differ in their topology from the species tree, and analyses of few loci with a single sequence per species are likely to produce conflicting or even misleading results. To study these phenomena on a full phylogenomic scale, we use whole-genome sequence data from 200 individuals of four black-and-white flycatcher species with so far unresolved phylogenetic relationships to infer gene tree topologies and visualize genome-wide patterns of gene tree incongruence. Using phylogenetic analysis in nonoverlapping 10-kb windows, we show that gene tree topologies are extremely diverse and change on a very small physical scale. Moreover, we find strong evidence for gene flow among flycatcher species, with distinct patterns of reduced introgression on the Z chromosome. To resolve species relationships on the background of widespread gene tree incongruence, we used four complementary coalescent-based methods for species tree reconstruction, including complex modeling approaches that incorporate post-divergence gene flow among species. This allowed us to infer the most likely species tree with high confidence. Based on this finding, we show that regions of reduced effective population size, which have been suggested as particularly useful for species tree inference, can produce positively misleading species tree topologies. Our findings disclose the pitfalls of using loci potentially under selection as phylogenetic markers and highlight the potential of modeling approaches to disentangle species relationships in systems with large effective population sizes and post-divergence gene flow. PMID:26187295

Star Formation at z = 2.481 in the Lensed Galaxy SDSS J1110 = 6459. I. Lens Modeling and Source Reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Traci L.; Sharon, Keren; Gladders, Michael D.; Rigby, Jane R.; Bayliss, Matthew B.; Wuyts, Eva; Whitaker, Katherine E.; Florian, Michael; Murray, Katherine T.

2017-07-01

Using the combined resolving power of the Hubble Space Telescope and gravitational lensing, we resolve star-forming structures in a z˜ 2.5 galaxy on scales much smaller than the usual kiloparsec diffraction limit of HST. SGAS J111020.0+645950.8 is a clumpy, star-forming galaxy lensed by the galaxy cluster SDSS J1110+6459 at z=0.659, with a total magnification ˜ 30× across the entire arc. We use a hybrid parametric/non-parametric strong lensing mass model to compute the deflection and magnification of this giant arc, reconstruct the light distribution of the lensed galaxy in the source plane, and resolve the star formation into two dozen clumps. We develop a forward-modeling technique to model each clump in the source plane. We ray-trace the model to the image plane, convolve with the instrumental point-spread function (PSF), and compare with the GALFIT model of the clumps in the image plane, which decomposes clump structure from more extended emission. This technique has the advantage, over ray-tracing, of accounting for the asymmetric lensing shear of the galaxy in the image plane and the instrument PSF. At this resolution, we can begin to study star formation on a clump-by-clump basis, toward the goal of understanding feedback mechanisms and the buildup of exponential disks at high redshift. Based on observations made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. These observations are associated with program # 13003.

Inversion of calcite twin data for paleostress orientations and magnitudes: A new technique tested and calibrated on numerically-generated and natural data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parlangeau, Camille; Lacombe, Olivier; Schueller, Sylvie; Daniel, Jean-Marc

2018-01-01

The inversion of calcite twin data is a powerful tool to reconstruct paleostresses sustained by carbonate rocks during their geological history. Following Etchecopar's (1984) pioneering work, this study presents a new technique for the inversion of calcite twin data that reconstructs the 5 parameters of the deviatoric stress tensors from both monophase and polyphase twin datasets. The uncertainties in the parameters of the stress tensors reconstructed by this new technique are evaluated on numerically-generated datasets. The technique not only reliably defines the 5 parameters of the deviatoric stress tensor, but also reliably separates very close superimposed stress tensors (30° of difference in maximum principal stress orientation or switch between σ3 and σ2 axes). The technique is further shown to be robust to sampling bias and to slight variability in the critical resolved shear stress. Due to our still incomplete knowledge of the evolution of the critical resolved shear stress with grain size, our results show that it is recommended to analyze twin data subsets of homogeneous grain size to minimize possible errors, mainly those concerning differential stress values. The methodological uncertainty in principal stress orientations is about ± 10°; it is about ± 0.1 for the stress ratio. For differential stresses, the uncertainty is lower than ± 30%. Applying the technique to vein samples within Mesozoic limestones from the Monte Nero anticline (northern Apennines, Italy) demonstrates its ability to reliably detect and separate tectonically significant paleostress orientations and magnitudes from naturally deformed polyphase samples, hence to fingerprint the regional paleostresses of interest in tectonic studies.

Accurate upwind methods for the Euler equations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huynh, Hung T.

1993-01-01

A new class of piecewise linear methods for the numerical solution of the one-dimensional Euler equations of gas dynamics is presented. These methods are uniformly second-order accurate, and can be considered as extensions of Godunov's scheme. With an appropriate definition of monotonicity preservation for the case of linear convection, it can be shown that they preserve monotonicity. Similar to Van Leer's MUSCL scheme, they consist of two key steps: a reconstruction step followed by an upwind step. For the reconstruction step, a monotonicity constraint that preserves uniform second-order accuracy is introduced. Computational efficiency is enhanced by devising a criterion that detects the 'smooth' part of the data where the constraint is redundant. The concept and coding of the constraint are simplified by the use of the median function. A slope steepening technique, which has no effect at smooth regions and can resolve a contact discontinuity in four cells, is described. As for the upwind step, existing and new methods are applied in a manner slightly different from those in the literature. These methods are derived by approximating the Euler equations via linearization and diagonalization. At a 'smooth' interface, Harten, Lax, and Van Leer's one intermediate state model is employed. A modification for this model that can resolve contact discontinuities is presented. Near a discontinuity, either this modified model or a more accurate one, namely, Roe's flux-difference splitting. is used. The current presentation of Roe's method, via the conceptually simple flux-vector splitting, not only establishes a connection between the two splittings, but also leads to an admissibility correction with no conditional statement, and an efficient approximation to Osher's approximate Riemann solver. These reconstruction and upwind steps result in schemes that are uniformly second-order accurate and economical at smooth regions, and yield high resolution at discontinuities.

Proxy-based reconstruction of erythemal UV doses over Estonia for 1955 2004

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eerme, K.; Veismann, U.; Lätt, S.

2006-08-01

A proxy-based reconstruction of the erythemally-weighted UV doses for 1955-2004 has been performed for the Tartu-Tõravere Meteorological Station (58°16' N, 26°28' E, 70 m a.s.l.) site. The pyrheliometer-measured daily sum of direct irradiance on partly cloudy and clear days, and the pyranometer-measured daily sum of global irradiance on overcast days were used as the cloudiness influence related proxies. The TOMS ozone data have been used for detecting the daily deviations from the climatic value (averaged annual cycle). In 1998-2004, the biases between the measured and reconstructed daily doses in 55.5% of the cases were within ±10% and in 83.5% of the cases within ±20%, on average. In the summer half-year these amounts were 62% and 88%, respectively. In most years the results for longer intervals did not differ significantly, if no correction was made for the daily deviations of total ozone from its climatic value. The annual and summer half-yearly erythemal doses (contributing, on average, 89% of the annual value) agreed within ±2%, except for the years after major volcanic eruptions and one extremely fine weather year (2002). Using the daily relative sunshine duration as a proxy without detailed correction for atmospheric turbidity results in biases of 2-4% in the summer half-yearly dose in the years after major volcanic eruptions and a few other years of high atmospheric turbidity. The year-to-year variations of the summer half-yearly erythemal dose in 1955-2004 were found to be within 92-111% relative to their average value. Exclusion of eight extreme years reduces this range for the remaining to 95-105.5%. Due to the quasi-periodic alternation of wet and dry periods, the interval of cloudy summers 1976-1993 regularly manifests summer half-yearly erythemal dose values lower than the 1955-2004 average. Since 1996/1997 midwinters have been darker than on average.

Listening In on the Past: What Can Otolith δ18O Values Really Tell Us about the Environmental History of Fishes?

PubMed Central

Darnaude, Audrey M.; Sturrock, Anna; Trueman, Clive N.; Mouillot, David; EIMF; Campana, Steven E.; Hunter, Ewan

2014-01-01

Oxygen isotope ratios from fish otoliths are used to discriminate marine stocks and reconstruct past climate, assuming that variations in otolith δ18O values closely reflect differences in temperature history of fish when accounting for salinity induced variability in water δ18O. To investigate this, we exploited the environmental and migratory data gathered from a decade using archival tags to study the behaviour of adult plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) in the North Sea. Based on the tag-derived monthly distributions of the fish and corresponding temperature and salinity estimates modelled across three consecutive years, we first predicted annual otolith δ18O values for three geographically discrete offshore sub-stocks, using three alternative plausible scenarios for otolith growth. Comparison of predicted vs. measured annual δ18O values demonstrated >96% correct prediction of sub-stock membership, irrespective of the otolith growth scenario. Pronounced inter-stock differences in δ18O values, notably in summer, provide a robust marker for reconstructing broad-scale plaice distribution in the North Sea. However, although largely congruent, measured and predicted annual δ18O values of did not fully match. Small, but consistent, offsets were also observed between individual high-resolution otolith δ18O values measured during tag recording time and corresponding δ18O predictions using concomitant tag-recorded temperatures and location-specific salinity estimates. The nature of the shifts differed among sub-stocks, suggesting specific vital effects linked to variation in physiological response to temperature. Therefore, although otolith δ18O in free-ranging fish largely reflects environmental temperature and salinity, we counsel prudence when interpreting otolith δ18O data for stock discrimination or temperature reconstruction until the mechanisms underpinning otolith δ18O signature acquisition, and associated variation, are clarified. PMID:25279667

Pleistocene climate, phylogeny, and climate envelope models: an integrative approach to better understand species' response to climate change.

PubMed

Lawing, A Michelle; Polly, P David

2011-01-01

Mean annual temperature reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change increases at least 1.1°C to 6.4°C over the next 90 years. In context, a change in climate of 6°C is approximately the difference between the mean annual temperature of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and our current warm interglacial. Species have been responding to changing climate throughout Earth's history and their previous biological responses can inform our expectations for future climate change. Here we synthesize geological evidence in the form of stable oxygen isotopes, general circulation paleoclimate models, species' evolutionary relatedness, and species' geographic distributions. We use the stable oxygen isotope record to develop a series of temporally high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions spanning the Middle Pleistocene to Recent, which we use to map ancestral climatic envelope reconstructions for North American rattlesnakes. A simple linear interpolation between current climate and a general circulation paleoclimate model of the LGM using stable oxygen isotope ratios provides good estimates of paleoclimate at other time periods. We use geologically informed rates of change derived from these reconstructions to predict magnitudes and rates of change in species' suitable habitat over the next century. Our approach to modeling the past suitable habitat of species is general and can be adopted by others. We use multiple lines of evidence of past climate (isotopes and climate models), phylogenetic topology (to correct the models for long-term changes in the suitable habitat of a species), and the fossil record, however sparse, to cross check the models. Our models indicate the annual rate of displacement in a clade of rattlesnakes over the next century will be 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater (430-2,420 m/yr) than it has been on average for the past 320 ky (2.3 m/yr).

Pleistocene Climate, Phylogeny, and Climate Envelope Models: An Integrative Approach to Better Understand Species' Response to Climate Change

PubMed Central

Lawing, A. Michelle; Polly, P. David

2011-01-01

Mean annual temperature reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change increases at least 1.1°C to 6.4°C over the next 90 years. In context, a change in climate of 6°C is approximately the difference between the mean annual temperature of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and our current warm interglacial. Species have been responding to changing climate throughout Earth's history and their previous biological responses can inform our expectations for future climate change. Here we synthesize geological evidence in the form of stable oxygen isotopes, general circulation paleoclimate models, species' evolutionary relatedness, and species' geographic distributions. We use the stable oxygen isotope record to develop a series of temporally high-resolution paleoclimate reconstructions spanning the Middle Pleistocene to Recent, which we use to map ancestral climatic envelope reconstructions for North American rattlesnakes. A simple linear interpolation between current climate and a general circulation paleoclimate model of the LGM using stable oxygen isotope ratios provides good estimates of paleoclimate at other time periods. We use geologically informed rates of change derived from these reconstructions to predict magnitudes and rates of change in species' suitable habitat over the next century. Our approach to modeling the past suitable habitat of species is general and can be adopted by others. We use multiple lines of evidence of past climate (isotopes and climate models), phylogenetic topology (to correct the models for long-term changes in the suitable habitat of a species), and the fossil record, however sparse, to cross check the models. Our models indicate the annual rate of displacement in a clade of rattlesnakes over the next century will be 2 to 3 orders of magnitude greater (430-2,420 m/yr) than it has been on average for the past 320 ky (2.3 m/yr). PMID:22164305

Experimental evaluation of the optical quality of DMD SLM for its application as Fourier holograms displaying device

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molodtsov, D. Y.; Cheremkhin, P. A.; Krasnov, V. V.; Rodin, V. G.

2016-04-01

In this paper, the optical quality of micromirror DMD spatial light modulator (SLM) is evaluated and its applicability as an output device for holographic filters in dispersive correlators is analyzed. The possibility of using of DMD SLM extracted from consumer DLP-projector was experimentally evaluated by displaying of Fourier holograms. Software for displaying of holograms was developed. Experiments on holograms reconstruction was conducted with a different number of holograms pixels (and different placement on SLM). Reduction of number of pixels of output hologram (i.e. size of minimum resolvable element) led to improvement of reconstructed image quality. The evaluation shows that not every DMD-chip has acceptable optical quality for its application as display device for Fourier holograms. It was determined that major factor of reconstructed image quality degradation is a curvature of surface of SLM or its safety glass. Ranging hologram size allowed to estimate approximate size of sufficiently flat area of SLM matrix. For tested SLM it was about 1.5 mm. Further hologram size increase led to significant reconstructed image quality degradation. Developed and applied a technique allows to quickly estimate maximum size of holograms that can be displayed with specific SLM without significant degradation of reconstructed image. Additionally it allows to identify areas on the SLM with increased curvature of the surface.

Seasonality intensification and long-term winter cooling as a part of the Late Pliocene climate development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klotz, Stefan; Fauquette, Séverine; Combourieu-Nebout, Nathalie; Uhl, Dieter; Suc, Jean-Pierre; Mosbrugger, Volker

2006-01-01

A mutual climatic range method is applied to the Mediterranean marine pollen record of Semaforo (Vrica section, Calabria, Italy) covering the period from ∼2.46 Ma to ∼2.11 Ma. The method yields detailed information on summer, annual and winter temperatures and on precipitation during the nine obliquity and precession-controlled 'glacial' periods (marine isotope stages 96 to 80) and eight 'interglacial' periods (marine isotope stages 95 to 81) characterising this time interval. The reconstruction reveals higher temperatures of at least 2.8 °C in mean annual and 2.2 °C in winter temperatures, and 500 mm in precipitation during the 'interglacials' as compared to the present-day climate in the study area. During the 'glacials', temperatures are generally lower as compared to the present-day climate in the region, but precipitation is equivalent. Along the consecutive 'interglacials', a trend toward a reduction in annual and winter temperatures by more than 2.3 °C, and toward a higher seasonality is observed. Along the consecutive 'glacials', a trend toward a strong reduction in all temperature parameters of at least 1.6 °C is reconstructed. Climatic amplitudes of 'interglacial-glacial' transitions increase from the older to the younger cycles for summer and annual temperatures. The cross-spectral analyses suggest obliquity related warm/humid-cold/dry 'interglacial-glacial' cycles which are superimposed by precession related warm/dry- cold/humid cycles. A time displacement in the development of temperatures and precipitation is indicated for the obliquity band by temperatures generally leading precipitation change at ∼4 kyr, and on the precession band of ∼9.6 kyr in maximum.

Application of the flow-through time-resolved analysis technique to trace element determination in ostracod shells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Börner, Nicole; De Baere, Bart; Francois, Roger; Frenzel, Peter; Schwalb, Antje

2014-05-01

Trace element analyses of ostracod shells are a vital tool for paleoenvironmental reconstructions from lake sediments (Börner et al., 2013). Conventional batch dissolution ICP-MS is the most common way for analyzing trace elements in ostracod shells. However, due to dissolution or secondary overgrowth the primary signal may be masked. Resulting variations in trace element composition have been identified to be in the order of a magnitude range. Therefore, the application of the newly developed flow-through technique will be assessed. The flow-through time-resolved analysis technique allows to chemically separate mineral phases of different solubility such as, in particular, original shell calcite from overgrowth calcite, and thus to correct the measurements for the biogenic signal. During a flow-through experiment, eluent is continuously pumped through a sample column, typically a filter in which the ostracod valves are loaded. The gradual dissolution of the substrate is controlled by a combination of eluent type, eluent temperature and eluent flow rate. The dissolved sample then flows directly to a mass spectrometer. The resulting data is a chromatogram, featuring different mineral phases dissolving as time progresses. Hence, the flow-through technique provides a detailed geochemical fingerprint of the substrate and therefore additional data relative to conventional methods. To calibrate this technique for the application to ostracods we use ostracod shells from Southern Tibetan Plateau lakes, which feature an alkaline environment but show highly diverse hydrochemistry. Cleaned as well as uncleaned ostracod shells show similarity in their trace element signals, allowing measurements without prior cleaning of the shells, and thus more time-efficient sample throughput. Measurements of unclean shells are corrected for the biogenic signal using an equation from Klinkhammer et al. (2004). Another advantage is that the measurements can be carried out on single ostracod shells, as not every single sediment sample contains enough adult intact specimens of all required genera, making batch cleaning dissolution impossible. The flow-through time-resolved analysis technique gives an accurate and high-resolution dataset. The trace elemental data for living ostracods compared to the hydrological data from each sampling site provides a calibration dataset for further hydrological and thus climatological reconstruction of a sediment core from Nam Co. Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios in ostracod shells will provide information about past water temperature and salinity resulting from changes in precipitation vs. evaporation ratios and monsoon activity. Further, we will exploit Mn/Ca, Fe/Ca and U/Ca ratios as redox indicators to reconstruct oxygenation cycles and Ba/Ca ratios to detect changes in productivity and/or salinity. This reconstruction should provide a more extensive insight in past climatic change, e.g. precipitation - evaporation balance, lake level and circulation changes, and the recording of environmental signatures by ostracod shells. Börner, N., De Baere, B., Yang, Q., Jochum, K.P., Frenzel, P., Andreae, M.O., Schwalb, A., 2013. Ostracod shell chemistry as proxy for paleoenvironmental change. Quaternary International 313-314, 17-37. Klinkhammer, G.P., Haley, B.A., Mix, A.C., Benway, H., Cheseby, M., 2004. Evaluation of automated flow-through time-resolved analysis of foraminifera for Mg/Ca paleothermometry. Paleoceanography 19, PA4030.

Annually and monthly resolved solar irradiance and atmospheric temperature data across the Hawaiian archipelago from 1998 to 2015 with interannual summary statistics.

PubMed

Bryce, Richard; Losada Carreño, Ignacio; Kumler, Andrew; Hodge, Bri-Mathias; Roberts, Billy; Brancucci Martinez-Anido, Carlo

2018-08-01

This article contains data and summary statistics of solar irradiance and dry bulb temperature across the Hawaiian archipelago resolved on a monthly basis and spanning years 1998-2015. This data was derived in association with an article titled "Consequences of Neglecting the Interannual Variability of the Solar Resource: A Case Study of Photovoltaic Power Among the Hawaiian Islands" (Bryce et al., 2018 [7]). The solar irradiance data is presented in terms of Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance (DHI), and Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) and was obtained from the satellite-derived data contained in the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). The temperature data is also obtained from this source. We have processed the NSRDB data and compiled these monthly resolved data sets, along with interannual summary statistics including the interannual coefficient of variability.

A comparison of head dynamic response and brain tissue stress and strain using accident reconstructions for concussion, concussion with persistent postconcussive symptoms, and subdural hematoma.

PubMed

Oeur, R Anna; Karton, Clara; Post, Andrew; Rousseau, Philippe; Hoshizaki, T Blaine; Marshall, Shawn; Brien, Susan E; Smith, Aynsley; Cusimano, Michael D; Gilchrist, Michael D

2015-08-01

Concussions typically resolve within several days, but in a few cases the symptoms last for a month or longer and are termed persistent postconcussive symptoms (PPCS). These persisting symptoms may also be associated with more serious brain trauma similar to subdural hematoma (SDH). The objective of this study was to investigate the head dynamic and brain tissue responses of injury reconstructions resulting in concussion, PPCS, and SDH. Reconstruction cases were obtained from sports medicine clinics and hospitals. All subjects received a direct blow to the head resulting in symptoms. Those symptoms that resolved in 9 days or fewer were defined as concussions (n = 3). Those with symptoms lasting longer than 18 months were defined as PPCS (n = 3), and 3 patients presented with SDHs (n = 3). A Hybrid III headform was used in reconstruction to obtain linear and rotational accelerations of the head. These dynamic response data were then input into the University College Dublin Brain Trauma Model to calculate maximum principal strain and von Mises stress. A Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Tukey post hoc tests were used to compare head dynamic and brain tissue responses between injury groups. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. A significant difference was identified for peak resultant linear and rotational acceleration between injury groups. Post hoc analyses revealed the SDH group had higher linear and rotational acceleration responses (316 g and 23,181 rad/sec(2), respectively) than the concussion group (149 g and 8111 rad/sec(2), respectively; p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between groups for either brain tissue measures of maximum principal strain or von Mises stress. The reconstruction of accidents resulting in a concussion with transient symptoms (low severity) and SDHs revealed a positive relationship between an increase in head dynamic response and the risk for more serious brain injury. This type of relationship was not found for brain tissue stress and strain results derived by finite element analysis. Future research should be undertaken using a larger sample size to confirm these initial findings. Understanding the relationship between the head dynamic and brain tissue response and the nature of the injury provides important information for developing strategies for injury prevention.

Variability in Bias of Gridded Sea Surface Temperature Data Products: Implications for Seasonally Resolved Marine Proxy Reconstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ouellette, G., Jr.; DeLong, K. L.

2016-12-01

Seasonally resolved reconstructions of sea surface temperature (SST) are commonly produced using isotopic ratios and trace elemental ratios within the skeletal material of marine organisms such as corals, coralline algae, and mollusks. Using these geochemical proxies to produce paleoclimate reconstructions requires using regression methods to calibrate the proxy to observed SST, ideally with in situ SST records that span many years. Unfortunately, the few locations with in situ SST records rarely coincide with the time span of the marine proxy archive. Therefore, SST data products are often used for calibration and they are based on MOHSST or ICOADS SST observations as their main SST source but use different algorithms to produce globally gridded data products. These products include the Hadley Center's HADSST (5º) and interpolated HADISST (1º), NOAA's extended reconstructed SST (ERSST; 2º), optimum interpolation SST (OISST; 1º), and the Kaplan SST (5º). This study assessed the potential bias in these data products at marine archive sites throughout the tropical Atlantic using in situ SST where it was available, and a high-resolution (4 km) satellite-based SST data product from NOAA Pathfinder that has been shown to closely reflect in situ SST for our locations. Bias was assessed at each site, and then within each data product across the region for spatial homogeneity. Our results reveal seasonal biases in all data products, but not for all locations and not of a uniform magnitude or season among products. We found the largest differences in mean SST on the order of 1-3°C for single sites in the Gulf of Mexico, and differences for regional mean SST bias were 0.5-1°C when sites in the Gulf of Mexico were compared to sites in the Caribbean Sea within the same data product. No one SST data product outperformed the others and no systematic bias was found. This analysis illustrates regional strengths and weaknesses of these data products, and serves as a cautionary note against the wholesale use of a particular gridded data product for marine proxy calibration, whether for a single site or larger regional reconstruction, without considering the inherent heterogeneous bias present in each data product that we show varies among locations. Furthermore, this study has implications for comparing climate models and these SST data products.

Delayed reconstruction of the upper digestive tract in a patient following total pharyngolaryngectomy with resection of the cervical oesophagus

PubMed Central

Szewczyk, Mateusz; Pazdrowski, Jakub; Golusiński, Paweł; Golusiński, Wojciech

2015-01-01

Carcinoma of the hypopharynx is an uncommon disease, with an annual incidence of approximately 1 in 100,000. Post-cricoid carcinoma is more common in women and is not usually associated with tobacco and alcohol abuse. Reconstruction of large pharyngeal defects following surgery for squamous cell carcinoma is complex and often requires microvascular free tissue transfer to achieve the best oncological and functional outcomes. The most common complications of such procedures include fistulas and strictures of the neopharynx. Here, we describe a case of a female patient admitted to the Head and Neck Department at our hospital to undergo delayed reconstruction following pharyngolaryngectomy and removal of the cervical oesophagus. Several complications occurred during post-operative care, including stricture and skin dehiscence. At present, the patient is able to swallow saliva and is currently being prepared to return to a normal diet. PMID:25949230

Reconstruction of the Precipitation in the Canary Islands for the Period 1595-1836.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García, Ricardo; Macias, Antonio; Gallego, David; Hernández, Emiliano; Gimeno, Luis; Ribera, Pedro

2003-08-01

Historical documentary sources in the Canary Islands have been used to construct cereal production series for the period 1595-1836. The cereal growth period in this region covers essentially the rainy season, making these crops adequate to characterize the annual precipitation. A proxy for the Islands' rainfall based on the historical series of wheat and barley production has been constructed and assessed by using two independent series of dry and wet years. The spectral analysis of the crop production reveals a strong non stationary behavior. This fact, along with the direct comparison with several reconstructed and instrumental North Atlantic Oscillation series, suggests the potential use of the reconstructed precipitation as a proxy for this climatic oscillation during preinstrumental times.This is an abridged version of the full-length article that is available online (10.1175/BAMS-84-8-García)

Pluvials, Droughts, the Mongol Empire, and Modern Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hessl, A. E.; Pederson, N.; Baatarbileg, N.; Anchukaitis, K. J.

2013-12-01

Understanding the connections between climate, ecosystems, and society during historical and modern climatic transitions requires annual resolution records with high fidelity climate signals. Many studies link the demise of complex societies with deteriorating climate conditions, but few have investigated the connection between climate, surplus energy, and the rise of empires. Inner Asia in the 13th century underwent a major political transformation requiring enormous energetic inputs that altered human history. The Mongol Empire, centered on the city of Karakorum, became the largest contiguous land empire in world history (Fig. 1 inset). Powered by domesticated grazing animals, the empire grew at the expense of sedentary agriculturalists across Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Although some scholars and conventional wisdom agree that dry conditions spurred the Mongol conquests, little paleoenvironmental data at annual resolution are available to evaluate the role of climate in the development of the Mongol Empire. Here we present a 2600 year tree-ring reconstruction of warm-season, self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI), a measure of water balance, derived from 107 live and dead Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica) trees growing on a Holocene lava flow in central Mongolia. Trees growing on the Khorgo lava flow today are stunted and widely spaced, occurring on microsites with little to no soil development. These trees are extremely water-stressed and their radial growth is well-correlated with both drought (scPDSI) and grassland productivity (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)). Our reconstruction, calibrated and validated on instrumental June-September scPDSI (1959-2009) accounts for 55.8% of the variability in the regional scPDSI when 73% of the annual rainfall occurs. Our scPDSI reconstruction places historic and modern social change in Mongolia in the context of the range of climatic variability during the Common Era. Our record, in combination with a gridded temperature reconstruction, shows that the climate during the conquests of Chinggis Khaan's (Ghengis Khan) 13th century Mongol Empire was warm and persistently wet. Tree-ring and meteorological data combined suggest that the early 21st century drought was the hottest drought in the last 1000 years, consistent with model projections of warming in Inner Asia. Future warming may overwhelm increases in precipitation leading to similar 'heat droughts', with potentially severe consequences for modern Mongolia.