25 CFR 542.4 - How do these regulations affect minimum internal control standards established in a Tribal-State...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false How do these regulations affect minimum internal control standards established in a Tribal-State compact? 542.4 Section 542.4 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES MINIMUM INTERNAL CONTROL STANDARDS § 542.4 How do these regulations affect minimum internal...

The impact of radiation belts region on top side ionosphere condition during last solar minimum.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rothkaehl, Hanna; Przepiórka, Dororta; Matyjasiak, Barbara

2014-05-01

The wave particle interactions in radiation belts region are one of the key parameters in understanding the global physical processes which govern the near Earth environment. The populations of outer radiation belts electrons increasing in response to changes in the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field, and decreasing as a result of scattering into the loss cone and subsequent absorption by the atmosphere. The most important question in relation to understanding the physical processes in radiation belts region relates to estimate the ratio between acceleration and loss processes. This can be also very useful for construct adequate models adopted in Space Weather program. Moreover the wave particle interaction in inner radiation zone and in outer radiation zone have significant influence on the space plasma property at ionospheric altitude. The aim of this presentation is to show the manifestation of radiation belts region at the top side ionosphere during the last long solar minimum. The presentation of longitude and seasonal changes of plasma parameters affected by process occurred in radiation belts region has been performed on the base of the DEMETER and COSMIC 3 satellite registration. This research is partly supported by grant O N517 418440

Aberrations in stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antonello, Jacopo; Burke, Daniel; Booth, Martin J.

2017-12-01

Like all methods of super-resolution microscopy, stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy can suffer from the effects of aberrations. The most important aspect of a STED microscope is that the depletion focus maintains a minimum, ideally zero, intensity point that is surrounded by a region of higher intensity. It follows that aberrations that cause a non-zero value of this minimum intensity are the most detrimental, as they inhibit fluorescence emission even at the centre of the depletion focus. We present analysis that elucidates the nature of these effects in terms of the different polarisation components at the focus for two-dimensional and three-dimensional STED resolution enhancement. It is found that only certain low-order aberration modes can affect the minimum intensity at the Gaussian focus. This has important consequences for the design of adaptive optics aberration correction systems.

76 FR 16686 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-25

... region in which the affected airport is located; 3. The National Flight Procedures Office, 6500 South... Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation of a... Field. 1/3779 2/7/11 This NOTAM, Published in TL 11-07, is hereby rescinded in its entirety 7-Apr-11 MS...

76 FR 64006 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-17

... Office of the region in which the affected airport is located; 3. The National Flight Procedures Office... Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation of a... Milwaukee/Lawrence 1/4410 9/1/11 This NOTAM, published in TL 11-22, is J. Timmerman. hereby rescinded in its...

78 FR 18803 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-28

... region in which the affected airport is located; 3. The National Flight Procedures Office, 6500 South... Policies and Procedures (44 FR 11034; February 26, 1979); and (3) does not warrant preparation of a... City Airport FDC No. FDC date Subject 2-May-13 IL Decatur Decatur 3/8961 2/25/13 This NOTAM, published...

Sparse EEG/MEG source estimation via a group lasso

PubMed Central

Lim, Michael; Ales, Justin M.; Cottereau, Benoit R.; Hastie, Trevor

2017-01-01

Non-invasive recordings of human brain activity through electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencelphalography (MEG) are of value for both basic science and clinical applications in sensory, cognitive, and affective neuroscience. Here we introduce a new approach to estimating the intra-cranial sources of EEG/MEG activity measured from extra-cranial sensors. The approach is based on the group lasso, a sparse-prior inverse that has been adapted to take advantage of functionally-defined regions of interest for the definition of physiologically meaningful groups within a functionally-based common space. Detailed simulations using realistic source-geometries and data from a human Visual Evoked Potential experiment demonstrate that the group-lasso method has improved performance over traditional ℓ2 minimum-norm methods. In addition, we show that pooling source estimates across subjects over functionally defined regions of interest results in improvements in the accuracy of source estimates for both the group-lasso and minimum-norm approaches. PMID:28604790

Analysis of the electron-beam-induced current of a polycrystalline p-n junction when the diffusion lengths of the material on either side of a grain boundary differ

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Von Roos, O.; Luke, K. L.

1984-01-01

The short circuit current generated by the electron beam of a scanning electron microscope in p-n junctions is reduced by enhanced recombination at grain boundaries in polycrystalline material. Frequently, grain boundaries separate the semiconductor into regions possessing different minority carrier life times. This markedly affects the short circuit current I(sc) as a function of scanning distance from the grain boundary. It will be shown theoretically that (1) the minimum of the I(sc) in crossing the grain boundary with the scanning electron beam is shifted away from the grain boundary toward the region with smaller life time (shorter diffusion length), (2) the magnitude of the minimum differs markedly from those calculated under the assumption of equal diffusion lengths on either side of the grain boundary, and (3) the minimum disappears altogether for small surface recombination velocities (s less than 10,000 cm/s). These effects become negligible, however, for large recombination velocities s at grain boundaries. For p-type silicon this happens for s not less than 100,000 cm/s.

The oxygen minimum zone of the eastern South Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ulloa, Osvaldo; Pantoja, Silvio

2009-07-01

In spite of the fact that oxygen-deficient waters with ⩽20 μM of dissolved oxygen—known as oxygen minimum zones (OMZs)—occupy only ˜1% of the volume of the global ocean, they disproportionately affect global biogeochemical cycles, particularly the nitrogen cycle. The macrobiota diversity in OMZs is low, but the fauna that do inhabit these regions present special adaptations to the low-oxygen conditions. Conversely, microbial communities in the OMZ water column and sediments are abundant and phylogenetically and metabolically very diverse, and microbial processes occurring therein (e.g., denitrification, anammox, and organic matter degradation) are important for global marine biogeochemical cycles. In this introductory article, we present the collection of papers for the special volume on the OMZ of the eastern South Pacific, one of the three main open-ocean oxygen-deficient regions of the global ocean. These papers deal with aspects of regional oceanography, inorganic and organic geochemistry, ecology, and the biochemistry of micro and macro organisms—both in the plankton and in the sediments—and past changes in the fish scales preserved in the sediments bathed by OMZ waters.

Minimum Wage and Community College Attendance: How Economic Circumstances Affect Educational Choices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Betsy

2013-01-01

How do changes in minimum wages affect community college enrollment and employment? In particular, among adults without associate's or bachelor's degrees who may earn near the minimum wage, do endowment effects of a higher minimum wage encourage school attendance? Among adults without associate's or bachelor's degrees who may earn near the minimum…

Fish Ecology and Evolution in the World's Oxygen Minimum Zones and Implications of Ocean Deoxygenation.

PubMed

Gallo, N D; Levin, L A

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) and oxygen limited zones (OLZs) are important oceanographic features in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean, and are characterized by hypoxic conditions that are physiologically challenging for demersal fish. Thickness, depth of the upper boundary, minimum oxygen levels, local temperatures, and diurnal, seasonal, and interannual oxycline variability differ regionally, with the thickest and shallowest OMZs occurring in the subtropics and tropics. Although most fish are not hypoxia-tolerant, at least 77 demersal fish species from 16 orders have evolved physiological, behavioural, and morphological adaptations that allow them to live under the severely hypoxic, hypercapnic, and at times sulphidic conditions found in OMZs. Tolerance to OMZ conditions has evolved multiple times in multiple groups with no single fish family or genus exploiting all OMZs globally. Severely hypoxic conditions in OMZs lead to decreased demersal fish diversity, but fish density trends are variable and dependent on region-specific thresholds. Some OMZ-adapted fish species are more hypoxia-tolerant than most megafaunal invertebrates and are present even when most invertebrates are excluded. Expansions and contractions of OMZs in the past have affected fish evolution and diversity. Current patterns of ocean warming are leading to ocean deoxygenation, causing the expansion and shoaling of OMZs, which is expected to decrease demersal fish diversity and alter trophic pathways on affected margins. Habitat compression is expected for hypoxia-intolerant species, causing increased susceptibility to overfishing for fisheries species. Demersal fisheries are likely to be negatively impacted overall by the expansion of OMZs in a warming world. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Alzheimer Classification Using a Minimum Spanning Tree of High-Order Functional Network on fMRI Dataset

PubMed Central

Guo, Hao; Liu, Lei; Chen, Junjie; Xu, Yong; Jie, Xiang

2017-01-01

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the most useful methods to generate functional connectivity networks of the brain. However, conventional network generation methods ignore dynamic changes of functional connectivity between brain regions. Previous studies proposed constructing high-order functional connectivity networks that consider the time-varying characteristics of functional connectivity, and a clustering method was performed to decrease computational cost. However, random selection of the initial clustering centers and the number of clusters negatively affected classification accuracy, and the network lost neurological interpretability. Here we propose a novel method that introduces the minimum spanning tree method to high-order functional connectivity networks. As an unbiased method, the minimum spanning tree simplifies high-order network structure while preserving its core framework. The dynamic characteristics of time series are not lost with this approach, and the neurological interpretation of the network is guaranteed. Simultaneously, we propose a multi-parameter optimization framework that involves extracting discriminative features from the minimum spanning tree high-order functional connectivity networks. Compared with the conventional methods, our resting-state fMRI classification method based on minimum spanning tree high-order functional connectivity networks greatly improved the diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer's disease. PMID:29249926

Contribution of urban expansion and a changing climate to decline of a butterfly fauna.

PubMed

Casner, Kayce L; Forister, Matthew L; O'Brien, Joshua M; Thorne, James; Waetjen, David; Shapiro, Arthur M

2014-06-01

Butterfly populations are naturally patchy and undergo extinctions and recolonizations. Analyses based on more than 2 decades of data on California's Central Valley butterfly fauna show a net loss in species richness through time. We analyzed 22 years of phenological and faunistic data for butterflies to investigate patterns of species richness over time. We then used 18-22 years of data on changes in regional land use and 37 years of seasonal climate data to develop an explanatory model. The model related the effects of changes in land-use patterns, from working landscapes (farm and ranchland) to urban and suburban landscapes, and of a changing climate on butterfly species richness. Additionally, we investigated local trends in land use and climate. A decline in the area of farmland and ranchland, an increase in minimum temperatures during the summer and maximum temperatures in the fall negatively affected net species richness, whereas increased minimum temperatures in the spring and greater precipitation in the previous summer positively affected species richness. According to the model, there was a threshold between 30% and 40% working-landscape area below which further loss of working-landscape area had a proportionally greater effect on butterfly richness. Some of the isolated effects of a warming climate acted in opposition to affect butterfly richness. Three of the 4 climate variables that most affected richness showed systematic trends (spring and summer mean minimum and fall mean maximum temperatures). Higher spring minimum temperatures were associated with greater species richness, whereas higher summer temperatures in the previous year and lower rainfall were linked to lower richness. Patterns of land use contributed to declines in species richness (although the pattern was not linear), but the net effect of a changing climate on butterfly richness was more difficult to discern. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

Impacts of SST Patterns on Rapid Intensification of Typhoon Megi (2010)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kanada, Sachie; Tsujino, Satoki; Aiki, Hidenori; Yoshioka, Mayumi K.; Miyazawa, Yasumasa; Tsuboki, Kazuhisa; Takayabu, Izuru

2017-12-01

Typhoon Megi (2010), a very intense tropical cyclone with a minimum central pressure of 885 hPa, was characterized by especially rapid intensification. We investigated this intensification process by a simulation experiment using a high-resolution (0.02° × 0.02°) three-dimensional atmosphere-ocean coupled regional model. We also performed a sensitivity experiment with a time-fixed sea surface temperature (SST). The coupled model successfully simulated the minimum central pressure of Typhoon Megi, whereas the fixed SST experiment simulated an excessively low minimum central pressure of 839 hPa. The simulation results also showed a close relationship between the radial SST profiles and the rapid intensification process. Because the warm sea increased near-surface water vapor and hence the convective available potential energy, the high SST in the eye region facilitated tall and intense updrafts inside the radius of maximum wind speed and led to the start of rapid intensification. In contrast, high SST outside this radius induced local secondary updrafts that inhibited rapid intensification even if the mean SST in the core region exceeded 29.0°C. These secondary updrafts moved inward and eventually merged with the primary eyewall updrafts. Then the storm intensified rapidly when the high SST appeared in the eye region. Thus, the changes in the local SST pattern around the storm center strongly affected the rapid intensification process by modulating the radial structure of core convection. Our results also show that the use of a high-resolution three-dimensional atmosphere-ocean coupled model offers promise for improving intensity forecasts of tropical cyclones.

Assessing the combined effects of climatic factors on spring wheat phenophase and grain yield in Inner Mongolia, China

PubMed Central

Pu, Feiyu; Li, Yunpeng; Xu, Jingwen; Li, Ning; Zhang, Yi; Guo, Jianping; Pan, Zhihua

2017-01-01

Understanding the regional relationships between climate change and crop production will benefit strategic decisions for future agricultural adaptation in China. In this study, the combined effects of climatic factors on spring wheat phenophase and grain yield over the past three decades in Inner Mongolia, China, were explored based on the daily climate variables from 1981–2014 and detailed observed data of spring wheat from 1981–2014. Inner Mongolia was divided into three different climate type regions, the eastern, central and western regions. The data were gathered from 10 representative agricultural meteorological experimental stations in Inner Mongolia and analysed with the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model. First, the performance of the APSIM model in the spring wheat planting areas of Inner Mongolia was tested. Then, the key climatic factors limiting the phenophases and yield of spring wheat were identified. Finally, the responses of spring wheat phenophases and yield to climate change were further explored regionally. Our results revealed a general yield reduction of spring wheat in response to the pronounced climate warming from 1981 to 2014, with an average of 3564 kg·ha-1. The regional differences in yields were significant. The maximum potential yield of spring wheat was found in the western region. However, the minimum potential yield was found in the middle region. The air temperature and soil surface temperature were the optimum climatic factors that affected the key phenophases of spring wheat in Inner Mongolia. The influence of the average maximum temperature on the key phenophases of spring wheat was greater than the average minimum temperature, followed by the relative humidity and solar radiation. The most insensitive climatic factors were precipitation, wind speed and reference crop evapotranspiration. As for the yield of spring wheat, temperature, solar radiation and air relative humidity were major meteorological factors that affected in the eastern and western Inner Mongolia. Furthermore, the effect of the average minimum temperature on yield was greater than that of the average maximum temperature. The increase of temperature in the western and middle regions would reduce the spring wheat yield, while in the eastern region due to the rising temperature, the spring wheat yield increased. The increase of solar radiation in the eastern and central regions would increase the yield of spring wheat. The increased air relative humidity would make the western spring wheat yield increased and the eastern spring wheat yield decreased. Finally, the models describing combined effects of these dominant climatic factors on the maturity and yield in different regions of Inner Mongolia were used to establish geographical differences. Our findings have important implications for improving climate change impact studies and for local agricultural production to cope with ongoing climate change. PMID:29099842

Assessing the combined effects of climatic factors on spring wheat phenophase and grain yield in Inner Mongolia, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Junfang; Pu, Feiyu; Li, Yunpeng; Xu, Jingwen; Li, Ning; Zhang, Yi; Guo, Jianping; Pan, Zhihua

2017-01-01

Understanding the regional relationships between climate change and crop production will benefit strategic decisions for future agricultural adaptation in China. In this study, the combined effects of climatic factors on spring wheat phenophase and grain yield over the past three decades in Inner Mongolia, China, were explored based on the daily climate variables from 1981-2014 and detailed observed data of spring wheat from 1981-2014. Inner Mongolia was divided into three different climate type regions, the eastern, central and western regions. The data were gathered from 10 representative agricultural meteorological experimental stations in Inner Mongolia and analysed with the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) model. First, the performance of the APSIM model in the spring wheat planting areas of Inner Mongolia was tested. Then, the key climatic factors limiting the phenophases and yield of spring wheat were identified. Finally, the responses of spring wheat phenophases and yield to climate change were further explored regionally. Our results revealed a general yield reduction of spring wheat in response to the pronounced climate warming from 1981 to 2014, with an average of 3564 kg·ha-1. The regional differences in yields were significant. The maximum potential yield of spring wheat was found in the western region. However, the minimum potential yield was found in the middle region. The air temperature and soil surface temperature were the optimum climatic factors that affected the key phenophases of spring wheat in Inner Mongolia. The influence of the average maximum temperature on the key phenophases of spring wheat was greater than the average minimum temperature, followed by the relative humidity and solar radiation. The most insensitive climatic factors were precipitation, wind speed and reference crop evapotranspiration. As for the yield of spring wheat, temperature, solar radiation and air relative humidity were major meteorological factors that affected in the eastern and western Inner Mongolia. Furthermore, the effect of the average minimum temperature on yield was greater than that of the average maximum temperature. The increase of temperature in the western and middle regions would reduce the spring wheat yield, while in the eastern region due to the rising temperature, the spring wheat yield increased. The increase of solar radiation in the eastern and central regions would increase the yield of spring wheat. The increased air relative humidity would make the western spring wheat yield increased and the eastern spring wheat yield decreased. Finally, the models describing combined effects of these dominant climatic factors on the maturity and yield in different regions of Inner Mongolia were used to establish geographical differences. Our findings have important implications for improving climate change impact studies and for local agricultural production to cope with ongoing climate change.

Estimating the degree of identity by descent in consanguineous couples.

PubMed

Carr, Ian M; Markham, Sir Alexander F; Pena, Sérgio D J

2011-12-01

In some clinical and research settings, it is often necessary to identify the true level of "identity by descent" (IBD) between two individuals. However, as the individuals become more distantly related, it is increasingly difficult to accurately calculate this value. Consequently, we have developed a computer program that uses genome-wide SNP genotype data from related individuals to estimate the size and extent of IBD in their genomes. In addition, the software can compare a couple's IBD regions with either the autozygous regions of a relative affected by an autosomal recessive disease of unknown cause, or the IBD regions in the parents of the affected relative. It is then possible to calculate the probability of one of the couple's children suffering from the same disease. The software works by finding SNPs that exclude any possible IBD and then identifies regions that lack these SNPs, while exceeding a minimum size and number of SNPs. The accuracy of the algorithm was established by estimating the pairwise IBD between different members of a large pedigree with varying known coefficients of genetic relationship (CGR). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Delimitation of homogeneous regions in the UNIFESP/EPM healthcare center coverage area based on sociodemographic indicators.

PubMed

Harada, K Y; Silva, J G; Schenkman, S; Hayama, E T; Santos, F R; Prado, M C; Pontes, R H

1999-01-07

The drawing up of adequate Public Health action planning to address the true needs of the population would increase the chances of effectiveness and decrease unnecessary expenses. To identify homogeneous regions in the UNIFESP/EPM healthcare center (HCC) coverage area based on sociodemographic indicators and to relate them to causes of deaths in 1995. Secondary data analysis. HCC coverage area; primary care. Sociodemographic indicators were obtained from special tabulations of the Demographic Census of 1991. Proportion of children and elderly in the population; family providers' education level (maximum: > 15 years, minimum: < 1 year) and income level (maximum: > 20 minimum wages, minimum: < 1 minimum wage); proportional mortality distribution The maximum income permitted the construction of four homogeneous regions, according to income ranking. Although the proportion of children and of elderly did not vary significantly among the regions, minimum income and education showed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) difference between the first region (least affluent) and the others. A clear trend of increasing maximum education was observed across the regions. Mortality also differed in the first region, with deaths generated by possibly preventable infections. The inequalities observed may contribute to primary health prevention.

Estimating the Temporal Domain when the Discount of the Net Evaporation Term Affects the Resulting Net Precipitation Pattern in the Moisture Budget Using a 3-D Lagrangian Approach

PubMed Central

Castillo, Rodrigo; Nieto, Raquel; Drumond, Anita; Gimeno, Luis

2014-01-01

The Lagrangian FLEXPART model has been used during the last decade to detect moisture sources that affect the climate in different regions of the world. While most of these studies provided a climatological perspective on the atmospheric branch of the hydrological cycle in terms of precipitation, none assessed the minimum temporal domain for which the climatological approach is valid. The methodology identifies the contribution of humidity to the moisture budget in a region by computing the changes in specific humidity along backward (or forward) trajectories of air masses over a period of ten days beforehand (afterwards), thereby allowing the calculation of monthly, seasonal and annual averages. The current study calculates as an example the climatological seasonal mean and variance of the net precipitation for regions in which precipitation exceeds evaporation (E-P<0) for the North Atlantic moisture source region using different time periods, for winter and summer from 1980 to 2000. The results show that net evaporation (E-P>0) can be discounted after when the integration of E-P is done without affecting the general net precipitation patterns when it is discounted in a monthly or longer time scale. PMID:24893002

Modeling the effects of climate on date palm scale ( Parlatoria blanchardi) population dynamics during different phenological stages of life history under hot arid conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Idder-Ighili, Hakima; Idder, Mohamed Azzedine; Doumandji-Mitiche, Bahia; Chenchouni, Haroun

2015-10-01

The date palm scale (DPS) Parlatoria blanchardi is a serious pest due to the damage it inflicts on its host tree ( Phoenix dactylifera). To develop an effective control against DPS in arid regions, it is essential to know its bio-ecology including population dynamics and climatic factors influencing the duration and timing of life history and also the densities of different phenological stages (crawlers, first and second instars nymphs, adult males, and adult females). Monitoring of biological cycle and population dynamics of the pest were achieved through weekly counts of DPS densities on leaflets sampled at different position of date palm trees in an oasis of Ouargla region (Algerian Sahara Desert). Within this hyper-arid region, DPS established four generations per year, the most important was the spring generation. Two overlapping generations occurred in spring-early summer and two in autumn-early winter; these two pairs of generations were interspersed by two phases of high-mortality rates, the first corresponds to winter cold and the second refers to the extreme heat of summer. Statistical analysis of the effects of the studied climatic conditions (minimum, maximum and mean temperatures, precipitation, humidity, wind, rain days, and climatic indices) on the DPS densities at different phenological stages showed great variability from one stage to another. Among these, adult females were the most affected by climate factors. For the total DPS population, high values of minimum temperatures negatively affected population density, while high maximum temperatures, hygrometry, and De Martonne aridity index showed a positive influence.

Modeling the effects of climate on date palm scale (Parlatoria blanchardi) population dynamics during different phenological stages of life history under hot arid conditions.

PubMed

Idder-Ighili, Hakima; Idder, Mohamed Azzedine; Doumandji-Mitiche, Bahia; Chenchouni, Haroun

2015-10-01

The date palm scale (DPS) Parlatoria blanchardi is a serious pest due to the damage it inflicts on its host tree (Phoenix dactylifera). To develop an effective control against DPS in arid regions, it is essential to know its bio-ecology including population dynamics and climatic factors influencing the duration and timing of life history and also the densities of different phenological stages (crawlers, first and second instars nymphs, adult males, and adult females). Monitoring of biological cycle and population dynamics of the pest were achieved through weekly counts of DPS densities on leaflets sampled at different position of date palm trees in an oasis of Ouargla region (Algerian Sahara Desert). Within this hyper-arid region, DPS established four generations per year, the most important was the spring generation. Two overlapping generations occurred in spring-early summer and two in autumn-early winter; these two pairs of generations were interspersed by two phases of high-mortality rates, the first corresponds to winter cold and the second refers to the extreme heat of summer. Statistical analysis of the effects of the studied climatic conditions (minimum, maximum and mean temperatures, precipitation, humidity, wind, rain days, and climatic indices) on the DPS densities at different phenological stages showed great variability from one stage to another. Among these, adult females were the most affected by climate factors. For the total DPS population, high values of minimum temperatures negatively affected population density, while high maximum temperatures, hygrometry, and De Martonne aridity index showed a positive influence.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Trends and periodicities of regional drought projections in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Vivek; Jain, Manoj Kumar

2017-04-01

Climate change is believed to be altering the hydrologic cycle of different regions worldwide. This may alter the occurrence and distribution of extreme events such as droughts and floods. India is one of the most drought affected country, it is therefore important to understand spatiotemporal variation of droughts in future due to climate change. In this paper, we have analyzed the spatiotemporal projections of droughts over India for 21st century using Global Climate Model (GCM) precipitation projections of ESM2G model under two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) namely, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5. K-means Clustering algorithm has been exploited to obtain homogeneous precipitation region in India for regional drought analysis. Further, temporal analysis of projected annual minimum SPI for year 2006 to 2100 has been performed for different homogeneous regions obtained using cluster analysis. Trend analysis of annual minimum SPI series has also been performed using Mann-Kendall and Sen's slope method. Furthermore, periodicity in SPI series have been examined using wavelet periodogram analysis. Findings of this paper suggest that major drought events for Northeastern and Southern India are likely to occur in second half of the 21st century while for all other parts of India, most of the major drought events are expected in first half of the 21st century. Also, wavelet periodicity analysis indicates inter-annual periodicities of projected droughts between 3 to 9.5 years in different regions of India.

Solar cycle evolution of solar wind speed structure between 1973 and 1985 observed with the interplanetary scintillation method

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

Kojima, M.; Kakinuma, T.

1987-07-01

The solar cycle evolution of solar wind speed structure was studied for the years from 1973 to 1985 on a basis of interplanetary scintillation observations using a new method for mapping solar wind speed to the source surface. The major minimum-speed regions are distributed along a neutral line through the whole period of a solar cycle: when solar activity is low, they are distributed on the wavy neutral line along the solar equator; in the active phase they also tend to be distributed along the neutral line, which has a large latitudinal amplitude. The minimum-speed regions tend to be distributedmore » not only along the neutral line but also at low magnetic intensity regions and/or coronal bright regions which do not correspond to the neutral line. As the polar high-speed regions extend equatorward around the minimum phase, the latitudinal gradient of speed increases at the boundaries of the low-speed region, and the width of the low-speed region decreases. One or two years before the minimum of solar activity, two localized minimum-speed regions appear on the neutral line, and their locations are longitudinally separated by 180. copyright American Geophysical Union 1987« less

OSO 8 observations of wave propagation in the solar chromosphere and transition region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chipman, E. G.

1978-01-01

The University of Colorado instrument on OSO 8 has been used to observe relative phases of the 300-s intensity variation between the temperature-minimum region and several emission lines formed in the solar chromosphere and chromosphere-corona transition region. The lines used are due to Fe II, Si II, C II, Si IV, and C IV. The scattered light in the spectrograph, which originates almost entirely in the spectral region between 1700 and 1900 A, was used as a probe of the temperature-minimum region. The lines of Fe II, Si II, and C II show almost identical delays of approximately 30 s relative to the temperature minimum, while the intensity oscillations of the lines of Si IV and C IV appear to lead the temperature-minimum intensity oscillations by about 10 s.

Surface ozone at Nam Co in the inland Tibetan Plateau: variation, synthesis comparison and regional representativeness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Xiufeng; Kang, Shichang; de Foy, Benjamin; Cong, Zhiyuan; Luo, Jiali; Zhang, Lang; Ma, Yaoming; Zhang, Guoshuai; Rupakheti, Dipesh; Zhang, Qianggong

2017-09-01

Ozone is an important pollutant and greenhouse gas, and tropospheric ozone variations are generally associated with both natural and anthropogenic processes. As one of the most pristine and inaccessible regions in the world, the Tibetan Plateau has been considered as an ideal region for studying processes of the background atmosphere. Due to the vast area of the Tibetan Plateau, sites in the southern, northern and central regions exhibit different patterns of variation in surface ozone. Here, we present continuous measurements of surface ozone mixing ratios at Nam Co Station over a period of ˜ 5 years (January 2011 to October 2015), which is a background site in the inland Tibetan Plateau. An average surface ozone mixing ratio of 47.6 ± 11.6 ppb (mean ± standard deviation) was recorded, and a large annual cycle was observed with maximum ozone mixing ratios in the spring and minimum ratios during the winter. The diurnal cycle is characterized by a minimum in the early morning and a maximum in the late afternoon. Nam Co Station represents a background region where surface ozone receives negligible local anthropogenic emissions inputs, and the anthropogenic contribution from South Asia in spring and China in summer may affect Nam Co Station occasionally. Surface ozone at Nam Co Station is mainly dominated by natural processes involving photochemical reactions, vertical mixing and downward transport of stratospheric air mass. Model results indicate that the study site is affected differently by the surrounding areas in different seasons: air masses from the southern Tibetan Plateau contribute to the high ozone levels in the spring, and enhanced ozone levels in the summer are associated with air masses from the northern Tibetan Plateau. By comparing measurements at Nam Co Station with those from other sites on the Tibetan Plateau, we aim to expand the understanding of ozone cycles and transport processes over the Tibetan Plateau. This work may provide a reference for future model simulations.

Self consistent MHD modeling of the solar wind from coronal holes with distinct geometries

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, G. A.; Bravo, S.

1995-01-01

Utilizing an iterative scheme, a self-consistent axisymmetric MHD model for the solar wind has been developed. We use this model to evaluate the properties of the solar wind issuing from the open polar coronal hole regions of the Sun, during solar minimum. We explore the variation of solar wind parameters across the extent of the hole and we investigate how these variations are affected by the geometry of the hole and the strength of the field at the coronal base.

Rising above the Minimum Wage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Even, William; Macpherson, David

An in-depth analysis was made of how quickly most people move up the wage scale from minimum wage, what factors influence their progress, and how minimum wage increases affect wage growth above the minimum. Very few workers remain at the minimum wage over the long run, according to this study of data drawn from the 1977-78 May Current Population…

Impact of evolving greenhouse gas forcing on the warming signal in regional climate model experiments.

PubMed

Jerez, S; López-Romero, J M; Turco, M; Jiménez-Guerrero, P; Vautard, R; Montávez, J P

2018-04-03

Variations in the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) may not be included as external forcing when running regional climate models (RCMs); at least, this is a non-regulated, non-documented practice. Here we investigate the so far unexplored impact of considering the rising evolution of the CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O atmospheric concentrations on near-surface air temperature (TAS) trends, for both the recent past and the near future, as simulated by a state-of-the-art RCM over Europe. The results show that the TAS trends are significantly affected by 1-2 K century -1 , which under 1.5 °C global warming translates into a non-negligible impact of up to 1 K in the regional projections of TAS, similarly affecting projections for maximum and minimum temperatures. In some cases, these differences involve a doubling signal, laying further claim to careful reconsideration of the RCM setups with regard to the inclusion of GHG concentrations as an evolving external forcing which, for the sake of research reproducibility and reliability, should be clearly documented in the literature.

Transient climate simulation from the Maunder Minimum to present day using prescribed changes in GHG, total/spectral solar irradiance and ozone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spangehl, Thomas; Cubasch, Ulrich; Schimanke, Semjon

A fully coupled AO-GCM including representation of the middle atmosphere is used for tran-sient simulation of climate from 1630 to 2000 AD. For better representation of changes in the UV/visible part of the solar spectrum an improved short-wave radiation scheme is implemented. The model is driven by changes in GHG concentrations, solar activity and volcanic eruptions. Solar variability is introduced via changes in total/spectral solar irradiance (TSI/SSI) and pre-scribed changes in stratospheric ozone. The secular trend in TSI is in the range of 0.1 percent increase from Maunder Minimum to present-day. Volcanic eruptions are represented via abrupt reduction in TSI. With the applied forcings the model does not simulate a clear reduction of the annual Northern Hemisphere (NH) mean near surface temperature during Maunder Minimum. By contrast the Dalton Minimum is characterized by distinct cooling and there is a significant raise of NH mean near surface temperature until the end of the 20th century. Focusing on the North Atlantic/European region the winter mean near surface temperature change pat-tern from Late Maunder Minimum (1675-1715) to present-day (1960-1990) reveals maximum warming over north-eastern Europe and cooling over the western North Atlantic with maxi-mum cooling west of Greenland. These changes can partly be explained by a shift of the NAO towards a more positive phase. The simulated changes in tropospheric circulation are discussed with special emphasize on the role of the solar forcing. Besides the stratospheric solar forcing which may affect NAO variability via downward propagation of the solar signal from the strato-sphere to the troposphere the magnitude of the secular trend in TSI might play a role. For the period from Maunder Minimum to present-day the simulation shows less near surface temper-ature increase especially over arctic regions when compared to simulations performed with the same model including the standard radiation scheme but applying larger TSI variations. The associated changes in lower tropospheric baroclinicity are more favourable for synoptic scale wave activity over the North Atlantic and might thereby contribute to strengthening of the NAO.

Does IQ affect the functional brain network involved in pseudoword reading in students with reading disability? A magnetoencephalography study

PubMed Central

Simos, Panagiotis G.; Rezaie, Roozbeh; Papanicolaou, Andrew C.; Fletcher, Jack M.

2014-01-01

The study examined whether individual differences in performance and verbal IQ affect the profiles of reading-related regional brain activation in 127 students experiencing reading difficulties and typical readers. Using magnetoencephalography in a pseudoword read-aloud task, we compared brain activation profiles of students experiencing word-level reading difficulties who did (n = 29) or did not (n = 36) meet the IQ-reading achievement discrepancy criterion. Typical readers assigned to a lower-IQ (n = 18) or a higher IQ (n = 44) subgroup served as controls. Minimum norm estimates of regional cortical activity revealed that the degree of hypoactivation in the left superior temporal and supramarginal gyri in both RD subgroups was not affected by IQ. Moreover, IQ did not moderate the positive association between degree of activation in the left fusiform gyrus and phonological decoding ability. We did find, however, that the hypoactivation of the left pars opercularis in RD was restricted to lower-IQ participants. In accordance with previous morphometric and fMRI studies, degree of activity in inferior frontal, and inferior parietal regions correlated with IQ across reading ability subgroups. Results are consistent with current views questioning the relevance of IQ-discrepancy criteria in the diagnosis of dyslexia. PMID:24409136

Does IQ affect the functional brain network involved in pseudoword reading in students with reading disability? A magnetoencephalography study.

PubMed

Simos, Panagiotis G; Rezaie, Roozbeh; Papanicolaou, Andrew C; Fletcher, Jack M

2014-01-01

The study examined whether individual differences in performance and verbal IQ affect the profiles of reading-related regional brain activation in 127 students experiencing reading difficulties and typical readers. Using magnetoencephalography in a pseudoword read-aloud task, we compared brain activation profiles of students experiencing word-level reading difficulties who did (n = 29) or did not (n = 36) meet the IQ-reading achievement discrepancy criterion. Typical readers assigned to a lower-IQ (n = 18) or a higher IQ (n = 44) subgroup served as controls. Minimum norm estimates of regional cortical activity revealed that the degree of hypoactivation in the left superior temporal and supramarginal gyri in both RD subgroups was not affected by IQ. Moreover, IQ did not moderate the positive association between degree of activation in the left fusiform gyrus and phonological decoding ability. We did find, however, that the hypoactivation of the left pars opercularis in RD was restricted to lower-IQ participants. In accordance with previous morphometric and fMRI studies, degree of activity in inferior frontal, and inferior parietal regions correlated with IQ across reading ability subgroups. Results are consistent with current views questioning the relevance of IQ-discrepancy criteria in the diagnosis of dyslexia.

Comparative Study of foF2 Measurements with IRI-2007 Model Predictions During Extended Solar Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zakharenkova, I. E.; Krankowski, A.; Bilitza, D.; Cherniak, Iu.V.; Shagimuratov, I.I.; Sieradzki, R.

2013-01-01

The unusually deep and extended solar minimum of cycle 2324 made it very difficult to predict the solar indices 1 or 2 years into the future. Most of the predictions were proven wrong by the actual observed indices. IRI gets its solar, magnetic, and ionospheric indices from an indices file that is updated twice a year. In recent years, due to the unusual solar minimum, predictions had to be corrected downward with every new indices update. In this paper we analyse how much the uncertainties in the predictability of solar activity indices affect the IRI outcome and how the IRI values calculated with predicted and observed indices compared to the actual measurements.Monthly median values of F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) derived from the ionosonde measurements at the mid-latitude ionospheric station Juliusruh were compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2007) model predictions. The analysis found that IRIprovides reliable results that compare well with actual measurements, when the definite (observed and adjusted) indices of solar activityare used, while IRI values based on earlier predictions of these indices noticeably overestimated the measurements during the solar minimum.One of the principal objectives of this paper is to direct attention of IRI users to update their solar activity indices files regularly.Use of an older index file can lead to serious IRI overestimations of F-region electron density during the recent extended solar minimum.

Interface test series: An in situ study of factors affecting the containment of hydraulic fractures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warpinski, N. R.; Finley, S. J.; Vollendorf, W. C.; Obrien, M.; Eshom, E.

1982-02-01

In situ experiments, which are accessible for direct observation by mineback, were conducted to determine the effect that material-property interfaces and in situ stress differences have on hydraulic fracture propagation and the resultant overall geometry. These experiments show conclusively that a difference in elastic modulus at a geologic interface has little or no effect on crack growth and, therefore, is not a feature which would promote containment of fractures within a specified reservoir zone. However, differences in the in situ stress between adjacent layers is shown to have a considerable influence on fracture propagation. Experiments were conducted in a low modulus ash-fall tuff which contained two layers of high minimum principal in situ stress and which was overlain by a formation with at least a factor of 5 increase in elastic modulus. Fractures were observed to terminate in regions of high minimum principal in situ stress in nearly every case.

Zooplankton Responses to Low-Oxygen Condition upon a Shallow Oxygen Minimum Zone in the Upwelling Region off Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidalgo, P.; Escribano, R.

2015-12-01

A shallow oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) is a critical component in the coastal upwelling ecosystem off Chile. This OMZ causes oxygen-deficient water entering the photic layer and affecting plankton communities having low tolerance to hypoxia. Variable, and usually species-dependent, responses of zooplankton to hypoxia condition can be found. Most dominant species avoid hypoxia by restricting their vertical distribution, while others can temporarily enter and even spent part of their life cycle within the OMZ. Whatever the case, low-oxygen conditions appear to affect virtually all vital rates of zooplankton, such as mortality, fecundity, development and growth and metabolism, and early developmental stages seem more sensitive, with significant consequences for population and community dynamics. For most study cases, these effects are negative at individual and population levels. Observations and predictions upon increasing upwelling intensity over the last 20-30 years indicate a gradual shoaling of the OMZ, and so that an expected enhancement of these negative effects of hypoxia on the zooplankton community. Unknown processes of adaptation and community-structure adjustments are expected to take place with uncertain consequences for the food web of this highly productive eastern boundary current ecosystem.

Optical Properties of Snow

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-01-01

snow grains could in some wavelength region significantly sponding to the minimum in mi,, and lower in the near affect Qex but not g or 3 is an open ...on as density increases. Neither BB nor WWI nor CC obtained a small ice shelf at the coast of Antarctica) to he Io% after a a density dependence in...emissivi- 6- eA -.* ty (Figures 8b and 1 lb of WWI) by virtue of Kirchhoff’s law S._...~ [Siegel and Howell, 1972, p. 70]: er 4 --- ,,- e(Oo, X) = I - a,(Oo

Attribution of ionospheric vertical plasma drift perturbations to large-scale waves and the dependence on solar activity (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, H.; Richmond, A. D.

2013-12-01

In this study we quantify the contribution of individual large-scale waves to ionospheric electrodynamics, and examine the dependence of the ionospheric perturbations on solar activity. We focus on migrating diurnal tide (DW1) plus mean winds, migrating semidiurnal tide (SW2), quasi-stationary planetary wave 1 (QSPW1), and nonmigrating semidiurnal westward wave 1 (SW1) under northern winter conditions, when QSPW1 and SW1 are climatologically strong. From TIME-GCM simulations under solar minimum conditions, we calculate equatorial vertical ExB drifts due to mean winds and DW1, SW2, SW1 and QSPW1. In particular, wind components of both SW2 and SW1 become large at mid to high latitudes in the E-region, and kernel functions obtained from numerical experiments reveal that they can significantly affect the equatorial ion drift, likely through modulating the E-region wind dynamo. The most evident changes of total ionospheric vertical drift when solar activity is increased are seen around dawn and dusk, reflecting the more dominant role of large F-region Pedersen conductivity and of the F-region dynamo under high solar activity. Therefore, the lower atmosphere driving of the ionospheric variability is more evident under solar minimum conditions, not only because variability is more identifiable in a quieter background, but also because the E-region wind dynamo is more significant. These numerical experiments also demonstrate that the amplitudes, phases and latitudinal and vertical structures of large-scale waves are important in quantifying the ionospheric responses.

Water resources of the Cook Inlet Basin, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Freethey, Geoffrey W.; Scully, David R.

1980-01-01

Ground-water and surface-water systems of Cook Inlet basin, Alaska, are analyzed. Geologic and topographic features that control the movement and regional availability of ground water are explained and illustrated. Five aquifer systems beneath the most populous areas are described. Estimates of ground-water yield were determined for the region by using ground-water data for the populated areas and by extrapolating known subsurface conditions and interpreting subsurface conditions from surficial features in the other areas. Area maps of generalized geology, Quaternary sediment thickness, and general availability of ground water are shown. Surface-water resources are summarized by describing how basin characteristics affect the discharge in streams. Seasonal trend of streamflow for three types of streams is described. Regression equations for 4 streamflow characteristics (annual, monthly minimum, and maximum discharge) were obtained by using gaging station streamflow characteristics and 10 basin characteristics. In the 24 regression equations presented, drainage area is the most significant basin characteristic, but 5 others are used. Maps of mean annual unit runoff and minimum unit yield for 7 consecutive days with a recurrence interval of 10 years are shown. Historic discharge data at gaging stations is tabulated and representative low-flow and flood-flow frequency curves are shown. (USGS)

The Little Ice Age and Solar Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco Herrera, Victor Manuel; Leal Silva, C. M. Carmen; Velasco Herrera, Graciela

We analyze the ice winter severity index on the Baltic region since 1501-1995. We found that the variability of this index is modulated among other factors by the secular solar activity. The little ice ages that have appeared in the North Hemisphere occurred during periods of low solar activity. Seemingly our star is experiencing a new quiet stage compared with Maunder or Dalton minimum, this is important because it is estimated that even small changes in weather can represent a great impact in ice index. These results are relevant since ice is a very important element in the climate system of the Baltic region and it can affect directly or indirectly many of the oceanographic, climatic, eco-logical, economical and cultural patterns.

Does the Minimum Wage Affect Welfare Caseloads?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Page, Marianne E.; Spetz, Joanne; Millar, Jane

2005-01-01

Although minimum wages are advocated as a policy that will help the poor, few studies have examined their effect on poor families. This paper uses variation in minimum wages across states and over time to estimate the impact of minimum wage legislation on welfare caseloads. We find that the elasticity of the welfare caseload with respect to the…

Source apportionment of ambient PM10 and PM2.5 in Haikou, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, Xiaozhen; Bi, Xiaohui; Xu, Hong; Wu, Jianhui; Zhang, Yufen; Feng, Yinchang

2017-07-01

In order to identify the sources of PM10 and PM2.5 in Haikou, 60 ambient air samples were collected in winter and spring, respectively. Fifteen elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb), water-soluble ions (SO42 - and NO3-), and organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) were analyzed. It was clear that the concentration of particulate matter was higher in winter than in spring. The value of PM2.5/PM10 was > 0.6. Moreover, the proportions of TC, ions, Na, Al, Si and Ca were more high in PM10 and PM2.5. The SOC concentration was estimated by the minimum OC/EC ratio method, and deducted from particulate matter compositions when running CMB model. According to the results of CMB model, the resuspended dust (17.5-35.0%), vehicle exhaust (14.9-23.6%) and secondary particulates (20.4-28.8%) were the major source categories of ambient particulate matter. Additionally, sea salt also had partial contribution (3-8%). And back trajectory analysis results showed that particulate matter was greatly affected by regional sources in winter, while less affected in spring. So particulate matter was not only affected by local sources, but also affected by sea salt and regional sources in coastal cities. Further research could focuses on establishing the actual secondary particles profiles and identifying the local and regional sources of PM at once by one model or analysis method.

A Multi-Year Aerosol Characterization for the Greater Tehran Area Using Satellite, Surface, and Modeling Data

PubMed Central

Crosbie, Ewan; Sorooshian, Armin; Monfared, Negar Abolhassani; Shingler, Taylor; Esmaili, Omid

2014-01-01

This study reports a multi-year (2000–2009) aerosol characterization for metropolitan Tehran and surrounding areas using multiple datasets (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), Goddard Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART), and surface and upper air data from local stations). Monthly trends in aerosol characteristics are examined in the context of the local meteorology, regional and local emission sources, and air mass back-trajectory data. Dust strongly affects the region during the late spring and summer months (May–August) when aerosol optical depth (AOD) is at its peak and precipitation accumulation is at a minimum. In addition, the peak AOD that occurs in July is further enhanced by a substantial number of seasonal wildfires in upwind regions. Conversely, AOD is at a minimum during winter; however, reduced mixing heights and a stagnant lower atmosphere trap local aerosol emissions near the surface and lead to significant reductions in visibility within Tehran. The unique meteorology and topographic setting makes wintertime visibility and surface aerosol concentrations particularly sensitive to local anthropogenic sources and is evident in the noteworthy improvement in visibility observed on weekends. Scavenging of aerosol due to precipitation is evident during the winter when aconsistent increase in surface visibility and concurrent decrease in AOD is observed in the days after rain compared with the days immediately before rain. PMID:25083295

Characteristics of treatment provided for amphetamine use in New South Wales, Australia.

PubMed

McKetin, Rebecca; Kelly, Erin; Indig, Devon

2005-09-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the types of treatment services provided for amphetamine use, the characteristics of amphetamine treatment clients and the geographic areas most affected by amphetamine treatment provision within New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Data on completed amphetamine treatment episodes were extracted from the NSW Minimum Data Set for Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services for the year 2002/03 (n = 4,337). The geographic area of treatment presentations was based on the location of the treatment service, and was categorized as metropolitan, regional or rural. Treatment disproportionately affected regional and rural NSW, and treatment clients often presented with concurrent cannabis and/or alcohol problems. Clients were overwhelmingly injecting drug users with poor socio-demographic characteristics. Counselling was the most common treatment service provided, followed by detoxification and residential rehabilitation. Detoxification was usually provided in an in-patient setting, particularly within metropolitan NSW. Compliance with residential rehabilitation was notably poor. In conclusion, the development of appropriate interventions for amphetamine use needs to consider that the majority of treatment recipients will be based in a regional or rural setting, and treating amphetamine users will often involve treatment of concurrent cannabis and alcohol problems. The nature and appropriateness of treatment services provided for amphetamine use needs to be reviewed in detail, and further research is needed into the nature of problematic amphetamine use and factors affecting treatment demand in regional and rural NSW.

Minimum Wage Effects throughout the Wage Distribution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumark, David; Schweitzer, Mark; Wascher, William

2004-01-01

This paper provides evidence on a wide set of margins along which labor markets can adjust in response to increases in the minimum wage, including wages, hours, employment, and ultimately labor income. Not surprisingly, the evidence indicates that low-wage workers are most strongly affected, while higher-wage workers are little affected. Workers…

Effect of LES models on the entrainment characteristics in a turbulent planar jet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chambel Lopes, Diogo; da Silva, Carlos; Raman, Venkat

2012-11-01

The effect of subgrid-scale (SGS) models in the jet spreading rate and centreline passive scalar decay rates are assessed and compared. The modelling of the subgrid-scale fluxes is particularly challenging in the turbulent/nonturbulent (T/NT) region that divides the two regions in the jet flow: the outer region where the flow is irrotational and the inner region where the flow is turbulent: it has been shown that important Reynolds stresses exist near the T/NT interface and that these stresses determine in part the mixing and combustion rates in jets. In this work direct and large-eddy simulations (DNS/LES) of turbulent planar jets are used to study the role of subgrid-scale models in the integral characteristics of the passive scalar mixing in a jet. LES show that different SGS modes lead to different spreading rates for the velocity and scalar fields, and the scalar quantities are more affected than the velocity e.g. SGS models affect strongly the centreline mean scalar decay than the centreline mean velocity decay. The results suggest the need for a minimum resolution close to the Taylor micro-scale in order to recover the correct results for the integral quantities and this can be explained by recent results on the dynamics of the T/NT interface.

Life in the sea of plenty: Seasonal and regional comparison of physiological performance of Euphausia hanseni in the northern Benguela upwelling system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werner, Thorsten; Buchholz, Cornelia; Buchholz, Friedrich

2015-09-01

Variability in upwelling events may lead to periods of constrained food availability in the northern Benguela upwelling system (NBUS), thereby affecting the physiological state and metabolic activity of euphausiids. Most attention has so far been paid to seasonal effects but little is known about regional variability. Metabolic activity (expressed by respiration and excretion rates) and physiological state (expressed by reproductive effort and moult activity) in Euphausia hanseni were examined at different stations during austral summer (minimum upwelling) and austral winter (maximum upwelling). Overall, regional differences in physiological state, influencing metabolic activity, were greater than seasonal ones, indicating favourable conditions for growth and reproduction year-round. Higher respiration rates were found for females in more advanced stages of sexual development. Moult stage did not affect oxygen consumption rates, however. The physiological state of E. hanseni at the time of capture may serve as a meaningful indicator of the associated hydrographic conditions in the NBUS, to be further used in eco-system analysis on seasonal or long-term time scales. A latitudinal comparison of species highlights the extraordinary physiological plasticity of euphausiids.

25 CFR 547.10 - What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... GAMES § 547.10 What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events? This section... component can no longer be considered reliable. Accordingly, any game play on the affected component shall... or the medium itself has some fault.Any game play on the affected component shall cease immediately...

25 CFR 547.10 - What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... GAMES § 547.10 What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events? This section... component can no longer be considered reliable. Accordingly, any game play on the affected component shall... or the medium itself has some fault.Any game play on the affected component shall cease immediately...

25 CFR 547.10 - What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... GAMES § 547.10 What are the minimum standards for Class II gaming system critical events? This section... be considered reliable. Accordingly, any game play on the affected component shall cease immediately... has some fault.Any game play on the affected component shall cease immediately, and an appropriate...

New Minimum Wage Research: A Symposium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ehrenberg, Ronald G.; And Others

1992-01-01

Includes "Introduction" (Ehrenberg); "Effect of the Minimum Wage [MW] on the Fast-Food Industry" (Katz, Krueger); "Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure Effects of the Federal MW" (Card); "Do MWs Reduce Employment?" (Card); "Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages" (Neumark,…

Volumetric Abnormalities Predating the Onset of Schizophrenia and Affective Psychoses: An MRI Study in Subjects at Ultrahigh Risk of Psychosis

PubMed Central

Dazzan, Paola; Soulsby, Bridget; Mechelli, Andrea; Wood, Stephen J.; Velakoulis, Dennis; Phillips, Lisa J.; Yung, Alison R.; Chitnis, Xavier; Lin, Ashleigh; Murray, Robin M.; McGorry, Patrick D.; McGuire, Philip K.; Pantelis, Christos

2012-01-01

It remains unclear whether brain structural abnormalities observed before the onset of psychosis are specific to schizophrenia or are common to all psychotic disorders. This study aimed to measure regional gray matter volume prior to the onset of schizophreniform and of affective psychoses. We investigated 102 subjects at ultrahigh risk (UHR) of developing psychosis recruited from the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation Clinic in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-eight of these subjects developed psychosis subsequent to scanning: 19 schizophrenia, 7 affective psychoses, and 2 other psychoses. We examined regional gray matter volume using 1.5 mm thick, coronal, 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry methods of image analysis. Subjects were scanned at presentation and were followed up clinically for a minimum of 12 months, to detect later transition to psychosis. We found that both groups of subjects who subsequently developed psychosis (schizophrenia and affective psychosis) showed reductions in the frontal cortex relative to UHR subjects who did not develop psychosis. The subgroup that subsequently developed schizophrenia also showed smaller volumes in the parietal cortex and, at trend level, in the temporal cortex, whereas those who developed an affective psychosis had significantly smaller subgenual cingulate volumes. These preliminary findings suggest that volumetric abnormalities in UHR individuals developing schizophrenia vs affective psychoses comprise a combination of features that predate both disorders and others that may be specific to the nature of the subsequent disorder. PMID:21518921

Modeling Seasonal Influenza Transmission and Its Association with Climate Factors in Thailand Using Time-Series and ARIMAX Analyses.

PubMed

Chadsuthi, Sudarat; Iamsirithaworn, Sopon; Triampo, Wannapong; Modchang, Charin

2015-01-01

Influenza is a worldwide respiratory infectious disease that easily spreads from one person to another. Previous research has found that the influenza transmission process is often associated with climate variables. In this study, we used autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation plots to determine the appropriate autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model for influenza transmission in the central and southern regions of Thailand. The relationships between reported influenza cases and the climate data, such as the amount of rainfall, average temperature, average maximum relative humidity, average minimum relative humidity, and average relative humidity, were evaluated using cross-correlation function. Based on the available data of suspected influenza cases and climate variables, the most appropriate ARIMA(X) model for each region was obtained. We found that the average temperature correlated with influenza cases in both central and southern regions, but average minimum relative humidity played an important role only in the southern region. The ARIMAX model that includes the average temperature with a 4-month lag and the minimum relative humidity with a 2-month lag is the appropriate model for the central region, whereas including the minimum relative humidity with a 4-month lag results in the best model for the southern region.

Designing a Bioengine for Detection and Analysis of Base String on an Affected Sequence in High-Concentration Regions

PubMed Central

Mandal, Bijoy Kumar; Kim, Tai-hoon

2013-01-01

We design an Algorithm for bioengine. As a program are enable optimal alignments searching between two sequences, the host sequence (normal plant) as well as query sequence (virus). Searching for homologues has become a routine operation of biological sequences in 4 × 4 combination with different subsequence (word size). This program takes the advantage of the high degree of homology between such sequences to construct an alignment of the matching regions. There is a main aim which is to detect the overlapping reading frames. This program also enables to find out the highly infected colones selection highest matching region with minimum gap or mismatch zones and unique virus colones matches. This is a small, portable, interactive, front-end program intended to be used to find out the regions of matching between host sequence and query subsequences. All the operations are carried out in fraction of seconds, depending on the required task and on the sequence length. PMID:24000321

Dynamics of the Ili delta with consideration of fluctuations of the level of Lake Balkhash

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

Abdrasilov, S.A.; Tulebaeva, K.A.

1995-02-01

This article examines the dynamics of the Ili delta region of Russia, with consideration of the fluctuations of the level of Lake Balkhash. Level fluctuations over a period of approximately 700 years are reviewed, and numerical data is presented. It is shown that the dynamics of the delta region affect both the amplitude and duration of the cycle of fluctuations of the lake level. In particular, the phase of the delta cycle that started cuts off the peak of the maximum ordinate of the level at the end of the tranasgressive period reduces still more the minimum elevations of themore » lake level at the end of the regressive period. It also accelerates the time of occurence of individual phases of the intrasecular cycle.« less

Climate Prediction Center - Monitoring and Data - Regional Climate Maps:

Science.gov Websites

; Precipitation & Temperature > Regional Climate Maps: USA Menu Weekly 1-Month 3-Month 12-Month Weekly Total Precipitation Average Temperature Extreme Maximum Temperature Extreme Minimum Temperature Departure of Average Temperature from Normal Extreme Apparent Temperature Minimum Wind Chill Temperature

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

25 CFR 547.12 - What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II gaming system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.12 What are the minimum technical standards for downloading on a Class II... software, files, data, and prize schedules. (2) Downloads of software, games, prize schedules, or other... performed in a manner that will not affect game play. (5) Downloads shall not affect the integrity of...

Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and attribution of extreme regional low temperature event

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Tai-Chen; Zhang, Ke-Quan; Su, Hai-Jing; Wang, Xiao-Juan; Gong, Zhi-Qiang; Zhang, Wen-Yu

2015-10-01

Based on an objective identification technique for regional low temperature event (OITRLTE), the daily minimum temperature in China has been detected from 1960 to 2013. During this period, there were 60 regional extreme low temperature events (ERLTEs), which are included in the 690 regional low temperature events (RLTEs). The 60 ERLTEs are analyzed in this paper. The results show that in the last 50 years, the intensity of the ERLTEs has become weak; the number of lasted days has decreased; and, the affected area has become small. However, that situation has changed in this century. In terms of spatial distribution, the high intensity regions are mainly in Northern China while the high frequency regions concentrate in Central and Eastern China. According to the affected area of each event, the 60 ERLTEs are classified into six types. The atmospheric circulation background fields which correspond to these types are also analyzed. The results show that, influenced by stronger blocking highs of Ural and Lake Baikal, as well as stronger southward polar vortex and East Asia major trough at 500-hPa geopotential height, cold air from high latitudes is guided to move southward and abnormal northerly winds at 850 hPa makes the cold air blow into China along diverse paths, thereby forming different types of regional extreme low temperatures in winter. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41305075), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2012CB955203 and 2012CB955902), and the Special Scientific Research on Public Welfare Industry, China (Grant No. GYHY201306049).

Time course of discrimination between emotional facial expressions: the role of visual saliency.

PubMed

Calvo, Manuel G; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2011-08-01

Saccadic and manual responses were used to investigate the speed of discrimination between happy and non-happy facial expressions in two-alternative-forced-choice tasks. The minimum latencies of correct saccadic responses indicated that the earliest time point at which discrimination occurred ranged between 200 and 280ms, depending on type of expression. Corresponding minimum latencies for manual responses ranged between 440 and 500ms. For both response modalities, visual saliency of the mouth region was a critical factor in facilitating discrimination: The more salient the mouth was in happy face targets in comparison with non-happy distracters, the faster discrimination was. Global image characteristics (e.g., luminance) and semantic factors (i.e., categorical similarity and affective valence of expression) made minor or no contribution to discrimination efficiency. This suggests that visual saliency of distinctive facial features, rather than the significance of expression, is used to make both early and later expression discrimination decisions. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antibacterial, cytotoxicity and anticoagulant activities from Hypnea esperi and Caulerpa prolifera marine algae.

PubMed

Selim, Samy; Amin, Abeer; Hassan, Sherif; Hagazey, Mohamed

2015-03-01

Extracts from 2 algal species (Hypnea esperi and Caulerpa prolifera) from Suez Canal region, Egypt were screened for the production of antibacterial compounds against some pathogenic bacteria. The bacteria tested included Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Aeromonas hydrophila, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Algal species displayed antibacterial activity. The methanolic extracts showed variable response by producing various zones of inhibition against studied bacteria. The tested Gram-negative bacteria were less affected by studied algal extracts than Gram-positive bacteria. We determined some biopotentials properties such as cytotoxicity and anticoagulant activity of most potent algal active extracts. The secondary metabolites of only Hypnea esperi algal extract effectively prevented the blood clotting to the extent of 120 seconds. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) indicated that all potent tested algal extract C inhibits Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was between 1 and 1.4mg/ml. The algal isolates from Egypt have been found showing promising results against infectious bacteria instead of some synthetic antibiotics.

Solar origins of solar wind properties during the cycle 23 solar minimum and rising phase of cycle 24

PubMed Central

Luhmann, Janet G.; Petrie, Gordon; Riley, Pete

2012-01-01

The solar wind was originally envisioned using a simple dipolar corona/polar coronal hole sources picture, but modern observations and models, together with the recent unusual solar cycle minimum, have demonstrated the limitations of this picture. The solar surface fields in both polar and low-to-mid-latitude active region zones routinely produce coronal magnetic fields and related solar wind sources much more complex than a dipole. This makes low-to-mid latitude coronal holes and their associated streamer boundaries major contributors to what is observed in the ecliptic and affects the Earth. In this paper we use magnetogram-based coronal field models to describe the conditions that prevailed in the corona from the decline of cycle 23 into the rising phase of cycle 24. The results emphasize the need for adopting new views of what is ‘typical’ solar wind, even when the Sun is relatively inactive. PMID:25685422

40 CFR Table 11 to Subpart Xxxx of... - Minimum Data for Continuous Compliance With the Emission Limits for Tire Cord Production Affected...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... With the Emission Limits for Tire Cord Production Affected Sources 11 Table 11 to Subpart XXXX of Part... for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Rubber Tire Manufacturing Pt. 63, Subpt. XXXX, Table 11 Table 11 to Subpart XXXX of Part 63—Minimum Data for Continuous Compliance With the Emission Limits for Tire Cord...

Tuberculosis in Asia and the pacific: the role of socioeconomic status and health system development.

PubMed

Wu, Jie; Dalal, Koustuv

2012-01-01

To identify the relationship between socioeconomic status, health system development and the incidence, prevalence and mortality of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific. Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis and 20 variables of socioeconomic, health system and biological-behavioral issues were included in the study involving all 46 countries of the Asian Development Bank region (2007 data). Both univariate and multivariate linear regressions were used. The worst three tuberculosis affected countries were Cambodia, India and Indonesia, while the least affected was Australia. Tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and mortality rate were higher in countries with lower human development index, corruption perception index, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and countries with more people under minimum food supplements. Among the health system variables, total health expenditure per capita, governmental health expenditure per capita, hospital beds, and access to improved water and sanitation were strongly associated with tuberculosis. Socioeconomic determinants and health system development have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific region. The study has some policy implications by means of lowering the corruption and improving the sanitation.

Characteristics of pitch angle distributions of hundreds of keV electrons in the slot region and inner radiation belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, H.; Li, X.; Blake, J. B.; Fennell, J. F.; Claudepierre, S. G.; Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Malaspina, D. M.

2014-12-01

The pitch angle distribution (PAD) of energetic electrons in the slot region and inner radiation belt received little attention in the past decades due to the lack of quality measurements. Using the state-of-the-art pitch angle-resolved data from the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer instrument onboard the Van Allen Probes, a detailed analysis of hundreds of keV electron PADs below L = 4 is performed, in which the PADs are categorized into three types: normal (flux peaking at 90°), cap (exceedingly peaking narrowly around 90°), and 90° minimum (lower flux at 90°) PADs. By examining the characteristics of the PADs of ˜460 keV electrons for over a year, we find that the 90° minimum PADs are generally present in the inner belt (L<2), while normal PADs dominate at L˜3.5-4. In the region between, 90° minimum PADs dominate during injection times and normal PADs dominate during quiet times. Cap PADs appear mostly at the decay phase of storms in the slot region and are likely caused by the pitch angle scattering of hiss waves. Fitting the normal PADs into sinnα form, the parameter n is much higher below L = 3 than that in the outer belt and relatively constant in the inner belt but changes significantly in the slot region (2 < L < 3) during injection times. As for the 90° minimum PADs, by performing a detailed case study, we find in the slot region this type of PAD is likely caused by chorus wave heating, but this mechanism can hardly explain the formation of 90° minimum PADs at the center of inner belt.

SU-E-T-296: Single Field Per Day Vs. Multiple Fields Per Day and the Impact On BED in Proton Therapy Treatment

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

Grantham, K; Wooten, H; Zhao, T

2014-06-01

Purpose: A common practice, in proton therapy, is to deliver a rotating subset of fields from the treatment plan for the daily fractions. This study compares the impact this practice has on the biological effective dose (BED) versus delivering all planned fields daily. Methods: For two scenarios (a phantom with a geometry approximating the anatomy of a prostate treatment with opposing lateral beams, and a clinical 3-field brain treatment), treatment plans were produced in Eclipse (Varian) to simulate delivery of one, two, and three fields per fraction. The RT-Dose file, structure set, and α/β ratios were processed using in-house MATLABmore » code to return a new RT-Dose file containing the BED (including a proton RBE of 1.1) which was imported back into Eclipse for analysis. Results: For targets and regions of field overlap in the treatment plan, BED is not affected by delivery regimen. In the phantom, BED in the femoral heads showed increased by 20% when a single field was used rather than two fields. In the brain treatment, the minimum BED to the left optic nerve and the pituitary gland increased by 13% and 10% respectively, for a one-field regime compared to three-fields per fraction. Comparing the two-field and threefield regimes, the optic nerve BED was not significantly affected and the minimum pituitary BED was 4% higher for two fields per day. Conclusion: Hypo-fractionation effects, in regions of non-overlap of fields, significantly increase the BED to the involved tissues by as much as 20%. Care should be taken to avoid inadvertently sacrificing plan effectiveness in the interest of reduced treatment time.« less

Geographical and Geomorphological Effects on Air Temperatures in the Columbia Basin's Signature Vineyards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olson, L.; Pogue, K. R.; Bader, N.

2012-12-01

The Columbia Basin of Washington and Oregon is one of the most productive grape-growing areas in the United States. Wines produced in this region are influenced by their terroir - the amalgamation of physical and cultural elements that influence grapes grown at a particular vineyard site. Of the physical factors, climate, and in particular air temperature, has been recognized as a primary influence on viticulture. Air temperature directly affects ripening in the grapes. Proper fruit ripening, which requires precise and balanced levels of acid and sugar, and the accumulation of pigment in the grape skin, directly correlates with the quality of wine produced. Many features control air temperature within a particular vineyard. Elevation, latitude, slope, and aspect all converge to form complex relationships with air temperatures; however, the relative degree to which these attributes affect temperatures varies between regions and is not well understood. This study examines the influence of geography and geomorphology on air temperatures within the American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) of the Columbia Basin in eastern Washington and Oregon. The premier vineyards within each AVA, which have been recognized for producing high-quality wine, were equipped with air temperature monitoring stations that collected hourly temperature measurements. A variety of temperature statistics were calculated, including daily average, maximum, and minimum temperatures. From these values, average diurnal variation and growing degree-days (10°C) were calculated. A variety of other statistics were computed, including date of first and last frost and time spent below a minimum temperature threshold. These parameters were compared to the vineyard's elevation, latitude, slope, aspect, and local topography using GPS, ArcCatalog, and GIS in an attempt to determine their relative influences on air temperatures. From these statistics, it was possible to delineate two trends of temperature variation controlled by elevation. In some AVAs, such as Walla Walla Valley and Red Mountain, average air temperatures increased with elevation because of the effect of cold air pooling on valley floors. In other AVAs, such as Horse Heaven Hills, Lake Chelan and Columbia Gorge, average temperatures decreased with elevation due to the moderating influences of the Columbia River and Lake Chelan. Other temperature statistics, including average diurnal range and maximum and minimum temperature, were influenced by relative topography, including local topography and slope. Vineyards with flat slopes that had low elevations relative to their surroundings had larger diurnal variations and lower maximum and minimum temperatures than vineyards with steeper slopes that were high relative to their surroundings.

Agriculture and irrigation as potential drivers of urban heat island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, R.; Buzan, J. R.; Mishra, V.; Kumar, R.; Shindell, D. T.; Huber, M.

2017-12-01

More than half the population are urban dwellers and are most vulnerable to global environmental changes. Urban extents are more prone to intense heating as compared to the surroundings rural area. Presently about 33% of India's population lives in the urban area and is expected to rise steeply, so a better understanding of the phenomenon affecting the urban population is very much important. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a well-known phenomenon which potentially affects energy consumption, spreading of diseases and mortality. In general, almost all (90%) of the major urban area of the country faces UHI at night time in the range (1-5 °C) while 60% of the regions face Urban Cool Island (UCI) in the range of -1 to 6 °C in day time. Our observations and simulations show that vegetation and irrigation in the surrounding non urban directly affects day time Urban Cool Island effects. This is due to the relative cooling by vegetation and irrigated lands in the vicinity of these urban regions. There is a contrasting variation in UHI/UCI intensities in different seasons and in different time of the day. Most of the urban regions face UHI effect in summers whereas this phenomenton reverses in winters. Daytime UCI is more prominent in the months of April and May due to minimum availability of moisture. We observed that apart from vegetation and irrigation, aerosol is also an important factor governing UHI phenomenon.

Good initialization model with constrained body structure for scene text recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Anna; Wang, Guoyou; Dong, Yangbo

2016-09-01

Scene text recognition has gained significant attention in the computer vision community. Character detection and recognition are the promise of text recognition and affect the overall performance to a large extent. We proposed a good initialization model for scene character recognition from cropped text regions. We use constrained character's body structures with deformable part-based models to detect and recognize characters in various backgrounds. The character's body structures are achieved by an unsupervised discriminative clustering approach followed by a statistical model and a self-build minimum spanning tree model. Our method utilizes part appearance and location information, and combines character detection and recognition in cropped text region together. The evaluation results on the benchmark datasets demonstrate that our proposed scheme outperforms the state-of-the-art methods both on scene character recognition and word recognition aspects.

Modelling Spatial Dependence Structures Between Climate Variables by Combining Mixture Models with Copula Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khan, F.; Pilz, J.; Spöck, G.

2017-12-01

Spatio-temporal dependence structures play a pivotal role in understanding the meteorological characteristics of a basin or sub-basin. This further affects the hydrological conditions and consequently will provide misleading results if these structures are not taken into account properly. In this study we modeled the spatial dependence structure between climate variables including maximum, minimum temperature and precipitation in the Monsoon dominated region of Pakistan. For temperature, six, and for precipitation four meteorological stations have been considered. For modelling the dependence structure between temperature and precipitation at multiple sites, we utilized C-Vine, D-Vine and Student t-copula models. For temperature, multivariate mixture normal distributions and for precipitation gamma distributions have been used as marginals under the copula models. A comparison was made between C-Vine, D-Vine and Student t-copula by observational and simulated spatial dependence structure to choose an appropriate model for the climate data. The results show that all copula models performed well, however, there are subtle differences in their performances. The copula models captured the patterns of spatial dependence structures between climate variables at multiple meteorological sites, however, the t-copula showed poor performance in reproducing the dependence structure with respect to magnitude. It was observed that important statistics of observed data have been closely approximated except of maximum values for temperature and minimum values for minimum temperature. Probability density functions of simulated data closely follow the probability density functions of observational data for all variables. C and D-Vines are better tools when it comes to modelling the dependence between variables, however, Student t-copulas compete closely for precipitation. Keywords: Copula model, C-Vine, D-Vine, Spatial dependence structure, Monsoon dominated region of Pakistan, Mixture models, EM algorithm.

13CO Survey of Northern Intermediate-Mass Star-Forming Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lundquist, Michael J.; Kobulnicky, H. A.; Kerton, C. R.

2014-01-01

We conducted a survey of 13CO with the OSO 20-m telescope toward 68 intermediate-mass star-forming regions (IM SFRs) visible in the northern hemisphere. These regions have mostly been excluded from previous CO surveys and were selected from IRAS colors that specify cool dust and large PAH contribution. These regions are known to host stars up to, but not exceeding, about 8 solar masses. We detect 13CO in 57 of the 68 IM SFRs down to a typical RMS of ~50 mK. We present kinematic distances, minimum column densities, and minimum masses for these IM SFRs.

The Minimum Wage and the Employment of Teenagers. Recent Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fallick, Bruce; Currie, Janet

A study used individual-level data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth to examine the effects of changes in the federal minimum wage on teenage employment. Individuals in the sample were classified as either likely or unlikely to be affected by these increases in the federal minimum wage on the basis of their wage rates and industry of…

50 CFR 648.75 - Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 12 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size... Measures for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries § 648.75 Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size. (a) Shucking at sea—(1) Observers. (i) The Regional Administrator may allow the shucking of...

50 CFR 648.75 - Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 12 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size... Measures for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries § 648.75 Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size. (a) Shucking at sea—(1) Observers. (i) The Regional Administrator may allow the shucking of...

50 CFR 648.75 - Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 12 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size... Measures for the Atlantic Surf Clam and Ocean Quahog Fisheries § 648.75 Shucking at sea and minimum surfclam size. (a) Shucking at sea—(1) Observers. (i) The Regional Administrator may allow the shucking of...

Modeling impacts of climate change on the potential distribution of the carcinogenic liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, in Thailand.

PubMed

Suwannatrai, A; Pratumchart, K; Suwannatrai, K; Thinkhamrop, K; Chaiyos, J; Kim, C S; Suwanweerakamtorn, R; Boonmars, T; Wongsaroj, T; Sripa, B

2017-01-01

Global climate change is now regarded as imposing a significant threat of enhancing transmission of parasitic diseases. Maximum entropy species distribution modeling (MaxEnt) was used to explore how projected climate change could affect the potential distribution of the carcinogenic liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, in Thailand. A range of climate variables was used: the Hadley Global Environment Model 2-Earth System (HadGEM2-ES) climate change model and also the IPCC scenarios A2a for 2050 and 2070. Occurrence data from surveys conducted in 2009 and 2014 were obtained from the Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. The MaxEnt model performed better than random for O. viverrini with training AUC values greater than 0.8 under current and future climatic conditions. The current distribution of O. viverrini is significantly affected by precipitation and minimum temperature. According to current conditions, parts of Thailand climatically suitable for O. viverrini are mostly in the northeast and north, but the parasite is largely absent from southern Thailand. Under future climate change scenarios, the distribution of O. viverrini in 2050 should be significantly affected by precipitation, maximum temperature, and mean temperature of the wettest quarter, whereas in 2070, significant factors are likely to be precipitation during the coldest quarter, maximum, and minimum temperatures. Maps of predicted future distribution revealed a drastic decrease in presence of O. viverrini in the northeast region. The information gained from this study should be a useful reference for implementing long-term prevention and control strategies for O. viverrini in Thailand.

Investigation of temperature and its indices under climate change scenarios over different regions of Rajasthan state in India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharma, Aditya; Sharma, Devesh; Panda, S. K.; Dubey, Swatantra Kumar; Pradhan, Rajani K.

2018-02-01

The ongoing increases in concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gas will most likely affect global climate for the rest of this century. Global warming brings a huge provocation to society and human beings. Single extreme events and increased climate variability have a greater impact than long-term changes in the mean of climatic variables. This study analyzed the temperature projections for Rajasthan state, India using data obtain from two General Circulation Models (GFCM21 and HadCM3) for three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Range of Emission Scenarios (SRES) A1B, A2, and B1. A 30 years of maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperature for the period 1976-2005 has been obtained from India Meteorological Department (IMD) and by using LARS-WG5 to generate the long-term weather series for three different periods i.e. 2011-2040 (2025s), 2041-2070 (2055s), and 2071-2100 (2085s). Further to determine the changes in extreme temperature events, the data for the baseline period and the future periods was represented by eight extreme temperature indices. Results illustrate that an increase in minimum and the maximum temperature are observed in all the three future periods. The average mean temperature for base period and three future periods over four regions of Rajasthan was observed highest in region 3 which shows an incessantly increased in mean temperature about 2.6 °C i.e. north-east and north-west part of Rajasthan. Two GCMs depicts that the incessant temperatures may be increase in the future and future maximum temperature in all the seasons varies from 2.43 °C to 4.27 °C in the direction from south to north of Rajasthan during 2071-2100. While for minimum temperature, the range of temperature changes varies from 0.23 °C to 1.42 °C from south-east to north-west of Rajasthan during 2011-2040. In the temperature indices, the number of tropical nights (TR20), warmest day (TX90p), warmest night (TN90p) and summer days (SU25) is expected to increase during all three future periods. The maximum changes was found in region 2 (39.4 days) and region 1 (38.8 days) during the 2071-2100 periods, followed by 2041-2070 and 2011-2040. In all the four regions, the annual occurrence of Cold Spells Duration Indicator (CSDI) decreased and Warm Spells Duration Indicator (WSDI) increased for all three future periods.

Colluvium supply in humid regions limits the frequency of storm-triggered landslides.

PubMed

Parker, Robert N; Hales, Tristram C; Mudd, Simon M; Grieve, Stuart W D; Constantine, José A

2016-09-30

Shallow landslides, triggered by extreme rainfall, are a significant hazard in mountainous landscapes. The hazard posed by shallow landslides depends on the availability and strength of colluvial material in landslide source areas and the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events. Here we investigate how the time taken to accumulate colluvium affects landslide triggering rate in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA and how this may affect future landslide hazards. We calculated the failure potential of 283 hollows by comparing colluvium depths to the minimum (critical) soil depth required for landslide initiation in each hollow. Our data show that most hollow soil depths are close to their critical depth, with 62% of hollows having soils that are too thin to fail. Our results, supported by numerical modeling, reveal that landslide frequency in many humid landscapes may be insensitive to projected changes in the frequency of intense rainfall events.

Colluvium supply in humid regions limits the frequency of storm-triggered landslides

PubMed Central

Parker, Robert N.; Hales, Tristram C.; Mudd, Simon M.; Grieve, Stuart W. D.; Constantine, José A.

2016-01-01

Shallow landslides, triggered by extreme rainfall, are a significant hazard in mountainous landscapes. The hazard posed by shallow landslides depends on the availability and strength of colluvial material in landslide source areas and the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events. Here we investigate how the time taken to accumulate colluvium affects landslide triggering rate in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA and how this may affect future landslide hazards. We calculated the failure potential of 283 hollows by comparing colluvium depths to the minimum (critical) soil depth required for landslide initiation in each hollow. Our data show that most hollow soil depths are close to their critical depth, with 62% of hollows having soils that are too thin to fail. Our results, supported by numerical modeling, reveal that landslide frequency in many humid landscapes may be insensitive to projected changes in the frequency of intense rainfall events. PMID:27688039

Characteristics of Pitch Angle Distributions of 100s Kev Electrons in the Slot Region and Inner Radiation Belt­­­­­­­­

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, H.; Li, X.; Blake, J. B.; Fennell, J.; Claudepierre, S. G.; Baker, D. N.; Jaynes, A. N.; Malaspina, D.

2014-12-01

The pitch angle distribution (PAD) of energetic electrons in the slot region and inner radiation belt received little attention in the past decades due to the lack of quality measurements. Using the state-of-art pitch-angle-resolved data from the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer (MagEIS) instrument onboard the Van Allen Probes, a detailed analysis of 100s keV electron PADs below L =4 is performed, in which the PADs is categorized into three types: normal (flux peaking at 90°), cap (exceedingly peaking narrowly around 90°) and 90°-minimum (lower flux at 90°) PADs. By examining the characteristics of the PADs of 460 keV electrons for over a year, we find that the 90°-minimum PADs are generally present in the inner belt (L<2), while normal PADs dominate at L~3.5-4. In the region between, 90°-minimum PADs dominate during injection times and normal PADs dominate during quiet times. Cap PADs appear mostly at the decay phase of storms in the slot region and are likely caused by the pitch angle scattering of hiss waves. Fitting the normal PADs into sinnα form, the parameter n is much higher below L=3 than that in the outer belt and relatively constant in the inner belt but changes significantly in the slot region (2

Energy and IAQ Implications of Alternative Minimum Ventilation Rates in California Retail and School Buildings

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

Dutton, Spencer M.; Fisk, William J.

For a stand-alone retail building, a primary school, and a secondary school in each of the 16 California climate zones, the EnergyPlus building energy simulation model was used to estimate how minimum mechanical ventilation rates (VRs) affect energy use and indoor air concentrations of an indoor-generated contaminant. The modeling indicates large changes in heating energy use, but only moderate changes in total building energy use, as minimum VRs in the retail building are changed. For example, predicted state-wide heating energy consumption in the retail building decreases by more than 50% and total building energy consumption decreases by approximately 10% asmore » the minimum VR decreases from the Title 24 requirement to no mechanical ventilation. The primary and secondary schools have notably higher internal heat gains than in the retail building models, resulting in significantly reduced demand for heating. The school heating energy use was correspondingly less sensitive to changes in the minimum VR. The modeling indicates that minimum VRs influence HVAC energy and total energy use in schools by only a few percent. For both the retail building and the school buildings, minimum VRs substantially affected the predicted annual-average indoor concentrations of an indoor generated contaminant, with larger effects in schools. The shape of the curves relating contaminant concentrations with VRs illustrate the importance of avoiding particularly low VRs.« less

Crop-climate relationships of cereals in Greece and the impacts of recent climate trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mavromatis, Theodoros

2015-05-01

Notwithstanding technological developments, agricultural production is still affected by uncontrollable factors, such weather and climate. Within this context, the present study aims at exploring the relative influence of growing season climate on the yields of major cereals (hard and soft wheat, maize, and barley) on a regional scale in Greece. To this end, crop-climate relationships and the impacts of climate trends over the period 1978-2005 were explored using linear regression and change point analysis (CPA). Climate data used include maximum (Tx) and minimum temperature (Tn), diurnal temperature range (Tr), precipitation (Prec), and solar radiation (Rad). Temperature effects were the most substantial. Yields reduced by 1.8-7.1 %/°C with increasing Tx and by 1.4-6.1 %/°C with decreasing Tr. The warming trends of Tn caused bilateral yield effects (from -3.7 to 8.4 %/°C). The fewer significantly increasing Rad and decreasing Prec anomalies were associated with larger yield decreases (within the range of 2.2 % MJ/m2/day (for maize) to 4.9 % MJ/m2/day (for hard wheat)) and smaller yield increases (from 0.04 to 1.4 %/mm per decade), respectively. Wheat and barley—the most vulnerable cereals—were most affected by the trends of extreme temperatures and least by Tr. On the contrary, solar radiation has proven to be the least affecting climate variable on all cereals. Despite the similarity in the direction of crop responses with both analyses, yield changes were much more substantial in the case of CPA analysis. In conclusion, regional climate change has affected Greek cereal productivity, in a few, but important for cereal production, regions. The results of this study are expected to be valuable in anticipating the effects of weather/climate on other warm regions worldwide, where the upper temperature limit for some cereals and further changes in climate may push them past suitability for their cultivation.

Studies of plasma irregularities and convection in the polar ionosphere using HILAT, SABRE and EISCAT. Interim report, 1 Feb 88-31 Mar 89

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

Jones, T.B.; Lester, M.; Wilkinson, A.J.

A statistical study of the F-region main ionospheric trough has been undertaken with EISCAT common programme data to assess the possibility that the trough region is a perferential region for the generation of E-region irregularities. Three years of CP-3 data from EISCAT formed the basis of this study. Backscatter observed by the coherent radar, SABRE, was also utilized to study the occurrence of irregularities in the E-region. On 26 out of the 36 days when the trough was observed by EISCAT, SABRE observed coherent backscatter. Although this percentage seems high, there was no consistent relationship between the latitude of themore » trough minimum and the latitude of peak backscatter intensity. A case study involving a four day run of EISCAT in September 1986 indicates that the trough latitude can be affected by changes in the interplanetary magnetic field north-south components. On two days rapid decreases in the latitude of the trough were related to a southward turning of the IMF and the onset of backscatter. The high percentage of occurrence of backscatter is believed to be caused by enhanced convection.« less

Sink fast and swim harder! Round-trip cost-of-transport for buoyant divers.

PubMed

Miller, Patrick J O; Biuw, Martin; Watanabe, Yuuki Y; Thompson, Dave; Fedak, Mike A

2012-10-15

Efficient locomotion between prey resources at depth and oxygen at the surface is crucial for breath-hold divers to maximize time spent in the foraging layer, and thereby net energy intake rates. The body density of divers, which changes with body condition, determines the apparent weight (buoyancy) of divers, which may affect round-trip cost-of-transport (COT) between the surface and depth. We evaluated alternative predictions from external-work and actuator-disc theory of how non-neutral buoyancy affects round-trip COT to depth, and the minimum COT speed for steady-state vertical transit. Not surprisingly, the models predict that one-way COT decreases (increases) when buoyancy aids (hinders) one-way transit. At extreme deviations from neutral buoyancy, gliding at terminal velocity is the minimum COT strategy in the direction aided by buoyancy. In the transit direction hindered by buoyancy, the external-work model predicted that minimum COT speeds would not change at greater deviations from neutral buoyancy, but minimum COT speeds were predicted to increase under the actuator disc model. As previously documented for grey seals, we found that vertical transit rates of 36 elephant seals increased in both directions as body density deviated from neutral buoyancy, indicating that actuator disc theory may more closely predict the power requirements of divers affected by gravity than an external work model. For both models, minor deviations from neutral buoyancy did not affect minimum COT speed or round-trip COT itself. However, at body-density extremes, both models predict that savings in the aided direction do not fully offset the increased COT imposed by the greater thrusting required in the hindered direction.

Diffusion-weighted imaging of breast lesions: Region-of-interest placement and different ADC parameters influence apparent diffusion coefficient values.

PubMed

Bickel, Hubert; Pinker, Katja; Polanec, Stephan; Magometschnigg, Heinrich; Wengert, Georg; Spick, Claudio; Bogner, Wolfgang; Bago-Horvath, Zsuzsanna; Helbich, Thomas H; Baltzer, Pascal

2017-05-01

To investigate the influence of region-of-interest (ROI) placement and different apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) parameters on ADC values, diagnostic performance, reproducibility and measurement time in breast tumours. In this IRB-approved, retrospective study, 149 histopathologically proven breast tumours (109 malignant, 40 benign) in 147 women (mean age 53.2) were investigated. Three radiologists independently measured minimum, mean and maximum ADC, each using three ROI placement approaches:1 - small 2D-ROI, 2 - large 2D-ROI and 3 - 3D-ROI covering the whole lesion. One reader performed all measurements twice. Median ADC values, diagnostic performance, reproducibility, and measurement time were calculated and compared between all combinations of ROI placement approaches and ADC parameters. Median ADC values differed significantly between the ROI placement approaches (p < .001). Minimum ADC showed the best diagnostic performance (AUC .928-.956), followed by mean ADC obtained from 2D ROIs (.926-.94). Minimum and mean ADC showed high intra- (ICC .85-.94) and inter-reader reproducibility (ICC .74-.94). Median measurement time was significantly shorter for the 2D ROIs (p < .001). ROI placement significantly influences ADC values measured in breast tumours. Minimum and mean ADC acquired from 2D-ROIs are useful for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions, and are highly reproducible, with rapid measurement. • Region of interest placement significantly influences apparent diffusion coefficient of breast tumours. • Minimum and mean apparent diffusion coefficient perform best and are reproducible. • 2D regions of interest perform best and provide rapid measurement times.

29 CFR 1926.1001 - Minimum performance criteria for rollover protective structures for designated scrapers, loaders...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... of Steel Products (available at each Regional Office of the Occupational Safety and Health... Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practices: SAE J320a, Minimum Performance Criteria for Roll...

29 CFR 1926.1001 - Minimum performance criteria for rollover protective structures for designated scrapers, loaders...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... of Steel Products (available at each Regional Office of the Occupational Safety and Health... Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practices: SAE J320a, Minimum Performance Criteria for Roll...

29 CFR 1926.1001 - Minimum performance criteria for rollover protective structures for designated scrapers, loaders...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... of Steel Products (available at each Regional Office of the Occupational Safety and Health... Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practices: SAE J320a, Minimum Performance Criteria for Roll...

29 CFR 1926.1001 - Minimum performance criteria for rollover protective structures for designated scrapers, loaders...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... of Steel Products (available at each Regional Office of the Occupational Safety and Health... Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practices: SAE J320a, Minimum Performance Criteria for Roll...

29 CFR 1926.1001 - Minimum performance criteria for rollover protective structures for designated scrapers, loaders...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... of Steel Products (available at each Regional Office of the Occupational Safety and Health... Society of Automotive Engineers Recommended Practices: SAE J320a, Minimum Performance Criteria for Roll...

Suppression of Growth by Multiplicative White Noise in a Parametric Resonant System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishihara, Masamichi

2015-02-01

The growth of the amplitude in a Mathieu-like equation with multiplicative white noise is studied. To obtain an approximate analytical expression for the exponent at the extremum on parametric resonance regions, a time-interval width is introduced. To determine the exponents numerically, the stochastic differential equations are solved by a symplectic numerical method. The Mathieu-like equation contains a parameter α determined by the intensity of noise and the strength of the coupling between the variable and noise; without loss of generality, only non-negative α can be considered. The exponent is shown to decrease with α, reach a minimum and increase after that. The minimum exponent is obtained analytically and numerically. As a function of α, the minimum at α≠0, occurs on the parametric resonance regions of α=0. This minimum indicates suppression of growth by multiplicative white noise.

Ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density in multifragmentation of Au + Au

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, C. L.; Ma, Y. G.; Fang, D. Q.; Li, S. X.; Zhang, G. Q.

2012-06-01

The ratio of the shear viscosity (η) to entropy density (s) for the intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions has been calculated by using the Green-Kubo method in the framework of the quantum molecular dynamics model. The theoretical curve of η/s as a function of the incident energy for the head-on Au + Au collisions displays that a minimum region of η/s has been approached at higher incident energies, where the minimum η/s value is about 7 times Kovtun-Son-Starinets (KSS) bound (1/4π). We argue that the onset of minimum η/s region at higher incident energies corresponds to the nuclear liquid gas phase transition in nuclear multifragmentation.

Tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Health System Development

PubMed Central

Wu, Jie; Dalal, Koustuv

2012-01-01

Objective: To identify the relationship between socioeconomic status, health system development and the incidence, prevalence and mortality of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific. Methods: Incidence, prevalence and mortality rates of tuberculosis and 20 variables of socioeconomic, health system and biological–behavioral issues were included in the study involving all 46 countries of the Asian Development Bank region (2007 data). Both univariate and multivariate linear regressions were used. Results: The worst three tuberculosis affected countries were Cambodia, India and Indonesia, while the least affected was Australia. Tuberculosis incidence, prevalence and mortality rate were higher in countries with lower human development index, corruption perception index, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and countries with more people under minimum food supplements. Among the health system variables, total health expenditure per capita, governmental health expenditure per capita, hospital beds, and access to improved water and sanitation were strongly associated with tuberculosis. Conclusions: Socioeconomic determinants and health system development have significant effect on the control of tuberculosis in Asia and the Pacific region. The study has some policy implications by means of lowering the corruption and improving the sanitation. PMID:22355472

25 CFR 547.15 - What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data communications between system...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.15 What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data...) Player tracking information; (8) Download Packages; and (9) Any information that affects game outcome. (b...

25 CFR 547.15 - What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data communications between system...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.15 What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data...) Player tracking information; (8) Download Packages; and (9) Any information that affects game outcome. (b...

25 CFR 547.15 - What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data communications between system...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.15 What are the minimum technical standards for electronic data...) Player tracking information; (8) Download Packages; and (9) Any information that affects game outcome. (b...

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

Guo, X.; Florinski, V.

We present a new model that couples galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) propagation with magnetic turbulence transport and the MHD background evolution in the heliosphere. The model is applied to the problem of the formation of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) during the last solar minimum from the period between 2007 and 2009. The numerical model simultaneously calculates the large-scale supersonic solar wind properties and its small-scale turbulent content from 0.3 au to the termination shock. Cosmic rays are then transported through the background, and thus computed, with diffusion coefficients derived from the solar wind turbulent properties, using a stochastic Parker approach. Ourmore » results demonstrate that GCR variations depend on the ratio of diffusion coefficients in the fast and slow solar winds. Stream interfaces inside the CIRs always lead to depressions of the GCR intensity. On the other hand, heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossings do not appreciably affect GCR intensities in the model, which is consistent with the two observations under quiet solar wind conditions. Therefore, variations in diffusion coefficients associated with CIR stream interfaces are more important for GCR propagation than the drift effects of the HCS during a negative solar minimum.« less

The Impact of a City-Level Minimum-Wage Policy on Supermarket Food Prices in Seattle-King County.

PubMed

Otten, Jennifer J; Buszkiewicz, James; Tang, Wesley; Aggarwal, Anju; Long, Mark; Vigdor, Jacob; Drewnowski, Adam

2017-09-09

Background : Many states and localities throughout the U.S. have adopted higher minimum wages. Higher labor costs among low-wage food system workers could result in higher food prices. Methods : Using a market basket of 106 foods, food prices were collected at affected chain supermarket stores in Seattle and same-chain unaffected stores in King County (n = 12 total, six per location). Prices were collected at 1 month pre- (March 2015) and 1-month post-policy enactment (May 2015), then again 1-year post-policy enactment (May 2016). Unpaired t-tests were used to detect price differences by location at fixed time while paired t-tests were used to detect price difference across time with fixed store chain. A multi-level, linear differences-in-differences model, was used to detect the changes in the average market basket item food prices over time across regions, overall and by food group. Results : There were no significant differences in overall market basket or item-level costs at one-month (-$0.01, SE = 0.05, p = 0.884) or one-year post-policy enactment (-$0.02, SE = 0.08, p = 0.772). No significant increases were observed by food group. Conclusions : There is no evidence of change in supermarket food prices by market basket or increase in prices by food group in response to the implementation of Seattle's minimum wage ordinance.

Assessment of future extreme climate events over the Porto wine Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Viceto, Carolina; Cardoso, Susana; Marta-Almeida, Martinho; Gorodetskaya, Irina; Rocha, Alfredo

2017-04-01

The Douro Demarcated Region (DDR) is a wine region, in the northern Portugal, recognized for the Porto wine, which is responsible for more than 60% of the total value of national wine exportations. Since the viticulture is highly dependent on weather/climate patterns, the global warming is expected to affect the areas suitable to the growth of a certain variety of grape, its production and quality. This highlights the need of regional studies that assess the future climate changes effects in the vineyard, which might allow an early adjustment. We explore future climate change in the DDR region using a high-resolution regional climate model for Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) forced by the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model - low resolution (MPI-ESM-LR). Two future periods have been simulated using the emission scenario RCP8.5 - for the mid- (2046-2065) and late 21st century (2081-2100) - and compared to a reference period (1986-2005). The RCP8.5 is a "baseline" scenario without any climate mitigation and corresponds to the pathway with the highest greenhouse gas emissions compared to other scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change. Our regional WRF implementation uses three online-nested domains with increasing resolution at a downscaling ratio of three. The coarser domain of 81-km resolution covers part of the North Atlantic Ocean and most of the Europe. The innermost 9-km horizontal resolution domain includes the Iberian Peninsula, a portion of Northern Africa and the adjacent part of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Our study uses this 9-km resolution domain and focuses on a confined area, which comprises the DDR. Such dynamical downscaling approach gives an advantage to assess climate effects on the DDR region, where the high horizontal resolution allows including effects of the oceanic coastline, local riverbeds and complex topography. The climatology of the DDR region determines the more suitable wine variety to be produced (Porto and Douro wine), while climate variability affects the annual productivity and quality of the grape harvest. Our study investigates changes in the extreme climate events in the future model runs, through a set of climate change indicators defined by the WRCP's Expert Team in Climate Change Detection and Indices, which uses variables such as daily maximum and minimum temperatures and precipitation amounts. Furthermore, we explore heat waves and their properties (duration, intensity and recovery factor). The analysis shows an increase of the mean temperature in the DDR higher than 2°C by the mid-21st century and 4.5°C by the end of the century, relatively to the reference period. Moreover, we found a major predisposition towards higher values of minimum and maximum daily temperatures and a decrease in the total precipitation during both future periods. These preliminary results indicate increased climatic stress on the DDR wine production and increased vulnerability of the wine varieties in this region.

Projected changes in climate extremes over Qatar and the Arabian Gulf region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kundeti, K.; Kanikicharla, K. K.; Al sulaiti, M.; Khulaifi, M.; Alboinin, N.; Kito, A.

2015-12-01

The climate of the State of Qatar and the adjacent region is dominated by subtropical dry, hot desert climate with low annual rainfall, very high temperatures in summer and a big difference between maximum and minimum temperatures, especially in the inland areas. The coastal areas are influenced by the Arabian Gulf, and have lower maximum, but higher minimum temperatures and a higher moisture percentage in the air. The global warming can have profound impact on the mean climate as well as extreme weather events over the Arabian Peninsula that may affect both natural and human systems significantly. Therefore, it is important to assess the future changes in the seasonal/annual mean of temperature and precipitation and also the extremes in temperature and wind events for a country like Qatar. This study assesses the performance of the Coupled Model Inter comparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations in present and develops future climate scenarios. The changes in climate extremes are assessed for three future periods 2016-2035, 2046-2065 and 2080-2099 with respect to 1986-2005 (base line) under two RCPs (Representative Concentrate Pathways) - RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. We analyzed the projected changes in temperature and precipitation extremes using several indices including those that capture heat stress. The observations show an increase in warm extremes over many parts in this region that are generally well captured by the models. The results indicate a significant change in frequency and intensity of both temperature and precipitation extremes over many parts of this region which may have serious implications on human health, water resources and the onshore/offshore infrastructure in this region. Data from a high-resolution (20km) AGCM simulation from Meteorological Research Institute of Japan Meteorological Agency for the present (1979-2003) and a future time slice (2075-2099) corresponding to RCP8.5 have also been utilized to assess the impact of climate change on regional climate extremes as well. The scenarios generated with the high-resolution model simulation were compared with the coarse resolution CMIP5 model scenarios to identify region specific features that might be better resolved in the former simulation.

[Efficiency indicators to contribute to sustainability of health services in Spain].

PubMed

García, E I; Mira Solves, J J; Guilabert Mora, M

2014-01-01

Identifying a minimum set of efficiency indicators calculated from current information sources. Interventions adopted from the analysis of these indicators could contribute to health services sustainability. We applied the discussion group technique. A total of 23 quality coordinators from around the country and the representatives of the regional quality societies in SECA (Spanish Society for Quality in Healthcare) participated. Ten efficiency indicators useful for integrated management areas were identified and accepted, 5 in the area of primary care and 5 for hospital management. The efficiency indicators agreed upon could contribute to the sustainability of the health system without this affecting the quality of care. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

The Potential Effects of Minimum Wage Changes on Naval Accessions

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

price floor affects the market’s demand for labor and utilizes the two-sector and search models to demonstrate how the minimum wage market ...and search models to demonstrate how the minimum wage market correlates to military ascensions. Finally, the report examines studies that show the...that Derives from a Price Floor. Source: “Price Floor” (n.d.). .....14 Figure 3. Price Floor below the Market . Source: “Price Floor” (n.d

Trends in rainfall and temperature extremes in Morocco

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khomsi, K.; Mahe, G.; Tramblay, Y.; Sinan, M.; Snoussi, M.

2015-02-01

In Morocco, socioeconomic fields are vulnerable to weather extreme events. This work aims to analyze the frequency and the trends of temperature and rainfall extreme events in two contrasted Moroccan regions (the Tensift in the semi-arid South, and the Bouregreg in the sub-humid North), during the second half of the 20th century. This study considers long time series of daily extreme temperatures and rainfall, recorded in the stations of Marrakech and Safi for the Tensift region, and Kasba-Tadla and Rabat-Sale for the Bouregreg region, data from four other stations (Tanger, Fes, Agadir and Ouarzazate) from outside the regions were added. Extremes are defined by using as thresholds the 1st, 5th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles. Results show upward trends in maximum and minimum temperatures of both regions and no generalized trends in rainfall amounts. Changes in cold events are larger than those for warm events, and the number of very cold events decrease significantly in the whole studied area. The southern region is the most affected with the changes of the temperature regime. Most of the trends found in rainfall heavy events are positive with weak magnitudes even though no statistically significant generalized trends could be identified during both seasons.

The control gain region for synchronization in non-diffusively coupled complex networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gequn, Liu; Wenhui, Li; Huijie, Yang; Knowles, Gareth

2014-07-01

The control gain region for synchronization of non-diffusively coupled networks was studied with respect to three conditions: synchronization, synchronization in finite time, and synchronization in the minimum time. Based on cancellation control methodology and master stability function formalism, we found that a complete feasible control gain region may be bounded, unbounded, empty or a union of several bounded and unbounded regions, with a similar shape to the synchronized region. An interesting possibility emerged that a network could be synchronized by both negative and positive feedback control simultaneously. By bridging synchronizability and synchronizing response speeds with a settling time index, we have developed timed synchronized region (TSR) as a substitute for the classical synchronized region to study finite time synchronization. As for the last condition, a graphical method was developed to estimate control gain with the minimum synchronization time (CGMST). Each condition has examples provided for illustration and verification.

How Does Definition of Minimum Break Length Affect Objective Measures of Sitting Outcomes Among Office Workers?

PubMed

Kloster, Stine; Danquah, Ida Høgstedt; Holtermann, Andreas; Aadahl, Mette; Tolstrup, Janne Schurmann

2017-01-01

Harmful health effects associated with sedentary behavior may be attenuated by breaking up long periods of sitting by standing or walking. However, studies assess interruptions in sitting time differently, making comparisons between studies difficult. It has not previously been described how the definition of minimum break duration affects sitting outcomes. Therefore, the aim was to address how definitions of break length affect total sitting time, number of sit-to-stand transitions, prolonged sitting periods and time accumulated in prolonged sitting periods among office workers. Data were collected from 317 office workers. Thigh position was assessed with an ActiGraph GT3X+ fixed on the right thigh. Data were exported with varying bout length of breaks. Afterward, sitting outcomes were calculated for the respective break lengths. Absolute numbers of sit-to-stand transitions decreased, and number of prolonged sitting periods and total time accumulated in prolonged sitting periods increased, with increasing minimum break length. Total sitting time was not influenced by varying break length. The definition of minimum break length influenced the sitting outcomes with the exception of total sitting time. A standard definition of break length is needed for comparison and interpretation of studies in the evolving research field of sedentary behavior.

25 CFR 36.20 - Standard V-Minimum academic programs/school calendar.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., physical education, music, etc.) which are directly related to or affect student instruction shall provide....20 Section 36.20 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR EDUCATION MINIMUM ACADEMIC STANDARDS FOR THE BASIC EDUCATION OF INDIAN CHILDREN AND NATIONAL CRITERIA FOR DORMITORY...

Would a Higher Minimum Wage Help Poor Families Headed by Women?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Linda R.; Giannaros, Demetrios

1990-01-01

Studies suggest negative employment consequences if the minimum wage is increased. This may not affect poverty among households headed by women because the unemployment rate does not seem to play a statistically significant role in determining the poverty rate for this cohort. (Author)

Three-Dimensional Distribution of Larval Fish Habitats in the Shallow Oxygen Minimum Zone in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean off Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, S.; Sanchez Velasco, L.; Beier, E.; Godinez, V. M.; Barton, E. D.; Tamayo, A.

2016-02-01

Three-dimensional distribution of larval fish habitats was analyzed, from the upper limit of the shallow oxygen minimum zone ( 0.2 mL/L) to the sea surface, in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean off Mexico in February 2010.The upper limit rises from 250 m depth in the entrance of the Gulf of California to 80 m depth off Cabo Corrientes. Three larval fish habitats were defined statistically: (i) a Gulf of California habitat dominated by Anchoa spp. larvae (epipelagic species), constrained to the oxygenated surface layer (>3.5 mL/L) in and above the thermocline ( 60 m depth), and separated by a salinity front from the Tropical Pacific habitat; (ii) a Tropical Pacific habitat, dominated by Vinciguerria lucetia larvae (mesopelagic species), located throughout the sampled water column, but with the highest abundance in the oxygenated upper layer above the thermocline; (iii) an Oxygen Minimum habitat defined mostly below the thermocline in hypoxic (<1 mL/L; 70 m depth) and anoxic (<0.2 mL/L; 80 m depth) water off Cabo Corrientes. This subsurface hypoxic habitat had the highest species richness and larval abundance, with dominance of Bregmaceros bathymaster, an endemic neritic pelagic species; which was an unexpected result. This maybe associated with the shoaling of the upper limit of the shallow oxygen minimum zone near the coast, a result of the strong costal upwelling detected by the Bakun Index. In this region of strong and semi-continuous coastal upwelling in the eastern tropical Pacific off Mexico, the shallow hypoxic water does not have dramatic effects on the total larval fish abundance but appears to affect species composition.

The use of NOAA AVHRR data for assessment of the urban heat sland effect

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gallo, K.P.; McNab, A. L.; Karl, Thomas R.; Brown, Jesslyn F.; Hood, J. J.; Tarpley, J.D.

1993-01-01

A vegetation index and a radiative surface temperature were derived from satellite data acquired at approximately 1330 LST for each of 37 cities and for their respective nearby rural regions from 28 June through 8 August 1991. Urban–rural differences for the vegetation index and the surface temperatures were computed and then compared to observed urban–rural differences in minimum air temperatures. The purpose of these comparisons was to evaluate the use of satellite data to assess the influence of the urban environment on observed minimum air temperatures (the urban heat island effect). The temporal consistency of the data, from daily data to weekly, biweekly, and monthly intervals, was also evaluated. The satellite-derived normalized difference (ND) vegetation-index data, sampled over urban and rural regions composed of a variety of land surface environments, were linearly related to the difference in observed urban and rural minimum temperatures. The relationship between the ND index and observed differences in minimum temperature was improved when analyses were restricted by elevation differences between the sample locations and when biweekly or monthly intervals were utilized. The difference in the ND index between urban and rural regions appears to be an indicator of the difference in surface properties (evaporation and heat storage capacity) between the two environments that are responsible for differences in urban and rural minimum temperatures. The urban and rural differences in the ND index explain a greater amount of the variation observed in minimum temperature differences than past analyses that utilized urban population data. The use of satellite data may contribute to a globally consistent method for analysis of urban heat island bias.

49 CFR 192.245 - Repair or removal of defects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Welding of Steel in Pipelines § 192... be preheated if conditions exist which would adversely affect the quality of the weld repair. After... minimum mechanical properties specified for the welding procedure used to make the original weld are met...

49 CFR 192.245 - Repair or removal of defects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Welding of Steel in Pipelines § 192... be preheated if conditions exist which would adversely affect the quality of the weld repair. After... minimum mechanical properties specified for the welding procedure used to make the original weld are met...

49 CFR 192.245 - Repair or removal of defects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Welding of Steel in Pipelines § 192... be preheated if conditions exist which would adversely affect the quality of the weld repair. After... minimum mechanical properties specified for the welding procedure used to make the original weld are met...

49 CFR 192.245 - Repair or removal of defects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Welding of Steel in Pipelines § 192... be preheated if conditions exist which would adversely affect the quality of the weld repair. After... minimum mechanical properties specified for the welding procedure used to make the original weld are met...

49 CFR 192.245 - Repair or removal of defects.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... NATURAL AND OTHER GAS BY PIPELINE: MINIMUM FEDERAL SAFETY STANDARDS Welding of Steel in Pipelines § 192... be preheated if conditions exist which would adversely affect the quality of the weld repair. After... minimum mechanical properties specified for the welding procedure used to make the original weld are met...

76 FR 43534 - Alternative to Minimum Days Off Requirements

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-21

... fatigue does not adversely affect public health and safety and the common defense and security. Among... health and safety and the common defense and security by establishing clear and enforceable requirements... public health and safety and common defense and security. B. Alternative to the Minimum Days Off...

12 CFR 567.3 - Individual minimum capital requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... example: (1) The conditions or circumstances leading to the determination that a higher minimum capital...) Change in circumstances. If, after a decision is made under paragraph (d)(3) of this section, there is a change in the circumstances affecting the savings association's capital adequacy or its ability to reach...

Reply to Comment on ‘The cancer Warburg effect may be a testable example of the minimum entropy production rate principle’

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabater, Bartolomé; Marín, Dolores

2018-03-01

The minimum rate principle is applied to the chemical reaction in a steady-state open cell system where, under constant supply of the glucose precursor, reference to time or to glucose consumption does not affect the conclusions.

Effect of multiple engine placement on aeroelastic trim and stability of flying wing aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mardanpour, Pezhman; Richards, Phillip W.; Nabipour, Omid; Hodges, Dewey H.

2014-01-01

Effects of multiple engine placement on flutter characteristics of a backswept flying wing resembling the HORTEN IV are investigated using the code NATASHA (Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim And Stability of HALE Aircraft). Four identical engines with defined mass, inertia, and angular momentum are placed in different locations along the span with different offsets from the elastic axis while fixing the location of the aircraft c.g. The aircraft experiences body freedom flutter along with non-oscillatory instabilities that originate from flight dynamics. Multiple engine placement increases flutter speed particularly when the engines are placed in the outboard portion of the wing (60-70% span), forward of the elastic axis, while the lift to drag ratio is affected negligibly. The behavior of the sub- and supercritical eigenvalues is studied for two cases of engine placement. NATASHA captures a hump body-freedom flutter with low frequency for the clean wing case, which disappears as the engines are placed on the wings. In neither case is there any apparent coalescence between the unstable modes. NATASHA captures other non-oscillatory unstable roots with very small amplitude, apparently originating with flight dynamics. For the clean-wing case, in the absence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces, the regions of minimum kinetic energy density for the first and third bending modes are located around 60% span. For the second mode, this kinetic energy density has local minima around the 20% and 80% span. The regions of minimum kinetic energy of these modes are in agreement with calculations that show a noticeable increase in flutter speed if engines are placed forward of the elastic axis at these regions.

Climate Change and the Central American Mid-summer Drought - The Importance of Changing Precipitation Patterns for Food and Water Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurer, E. P.; Stewart, I. T.; Sundstrom, W.; Bacon, C. M.

2016-12-01

In addition to periodic long-term drought, much of Central America experiences a rainy season with two peaks separated by a dry period of weeks to over a month in duration, termed the mid-summer drought (MSD). Food and water security for smallholder farmers in the region hinge on accommodating this phenomenon, anticipating its arrival and estimating its duration. Model output from 1980 through the late 21st century projects changes in precipitation amount, variability, and timing, with potential to affect regional food production. Using surveys of farmer experiences in conjunction with gridded daily precipitation for a historic period on multiple scales, and with projections through the 21st century, we characterize the MSD across much of Central America using four measures: onset date, duration, intensity, and minimum, and test for significant changes. Our findings indicate that the most significant changes are for the duration, which, by the end of the century, is projected to increase by an average of over a week, and the MSD minimum precipitation, which is projected to decline by an average of over 26%, with statistically significant changes for most of Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala (assuming a higher emissions pathway through the 21st century). These changes toward a longer and drier MSD have important implications for food and water security for vulnerable communities through the region. We find that for the four metrics the changes in interannual variability are small compared to historical variability, and are generally statistically insignificant. New farmer survey results are compared to findings from our climate analysis for the historic period, are used to interpret what MSD characteristics are of greatest interest locally, and are used for the development of adaptation strategies.

Temporal Trends of NO2, CO and their Relation to the Fire Occurrences over the Indo-Gangetic Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, A. K.; Kumar, K.

2016-12-01

Air pollution is an environmental issue that has a gigantic impact on human health, and it is a major problem in the densely populated regions throughout the world. Situated in the foothills of the great Himalayas Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) is among one of the most densely populated regions of the earth. NO2 and CO are among major air pollutants which affect the air quality of IGP predominantly. In the present study, we studied the temporal trends of NO2, CO and fire count over the IGP region. Further, we investigated the role of the fire occurrences in the ambient NO2 and CO levels. We used MODIS instrument (Aqua satellite), OMI sensor and AIRS instrument data for fire count, Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) tropospheric column and Carbon monoxide (CO) column study respectively. The IGP is divided into three part geographically i.e. Eastern (E-IGP), Central (C-IGP) and Western (W-IGP). A higher columnar CO concentration is observed in the E-IGP whereas NO2 concentration is highest in the W-IGP. A higher NO2 concentration is obtained in winter followed by summer and a minimum in monsoon months throughout the IGP. Columnar CO concentration is higher in the E-IGP and its concentration is maximum in pre-monsoon months and minimum in the monsoon months. Fire pixel count is highest in the W-IGP with peak twice every year i.e. in the April - May and October - November corresponding to the harvest period in the Rabi-Kharif cropping system. We also obtained a significant positive correlation between fire occurrences and columnar NO2 & CO levels over the IGP which shows the biomass burning practices associated with the agriculture influences the NO2 and CO concentration in the atmosphere.

Climate Data Homogenization and its Impact on Heatwave Changes in the Eastern Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuglitsch, F. G.; Toreti, A.; Xoplaki, E.; Della-Marta, P. M.; Zerefos, C. S.; Turkes, M.; Luterbacher, J.

2010-12-01

Heatwaves have discernible impacts on mortality and morbidity, infrastructure, agricultural resources, the retail industry, ecosystem and tourism and consequently affect human societies. A new definition of socially relevant heatwaves is presented and applied to new data sets of high-quality homogenized daily maximum and minimum summer air temperature series from 246 stations in the eastern Mediterranean region (including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey). Changes in heatwave number, length and intensity between 1960 and 2006 are quantified before and after data homogenization. Daily temperature homogeneity analyses suggest that many instrumental measurements in the 1960s are warm-biased, correcting for these biases regionally averaged heatwave trends are up to 8% higher. We find significant changes across the western Balkans, southwestern and western Turkey, and along the southern Black Sea coastline. Since the 1960s, the mean heatwave intensity, heatwave length and heatwave number across the eastern Mediterranean region have increased by a factor of 7.6 ± 1.3, 7.5 ± 1.3 and 6.2 ± 1.1, respectively. These findings suggest that the heatwave increase in this region is higher than previously reported.

Heat Wave Changes in the Eastern Mediterranean since 1960

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuglitsch, Franz G.; Toreti, Andrea; Xoplaki, Elena; Della-Marta, Paul M.; Zerefos, Christos S.; Türkes, Murat; Luterbacher, Jürg

2010-05-01

Heat waves have discernible impacts on mortality and morbidity, infrastructure, agricultural resources, the retail industry, ecosystem and tourism and consequently affect human societies. A new definition of socially relevant heat waves is presented and applied to new data sets of high-quality homogenized daily maximum and minimum summer air temperature series from 246 stations in the eastern Mediterranean region (including Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Turkey). Changes in heat wave number, length and intensity between 1960 and 2006 are quantified. Daily temperature homogeneity analysis suggest that many instrumental measurements in the 1960s are warm-biased, correcting for these biases regionally averaged heat wave trends are up to 8% higher. We find significant changes across the western Balkans, southwestern and western Turkey, and along the southern Black Sea coastline. Since the 1960s, the mean heat wave intensity, heat wave length and heat wave number across the eastern Mediterranean region have increased by a factor 7.6 ±1.3, 7.5 ±1.3 and 6.2 ±1.1, respectively. These findings suggest that the heat wave increase in this region is higher than previously reported.

Spatio-temporal variations in the siphonophore community of the northern South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Kaizhi; Yin, Jianqiang; Huang, Liangmin; Lian, Shumin; Zhang, Jianlin

2013-03-01

To understand how hydrological and biological factors affect near- to off-shore variations in the siphonophore community, we sampled zooplankton at 82 stations in the northern South China Sea during summer, winter, and spring. Forty-one species of siphonophore were collected by vertical trawling. The species richness of siphonophores increased from the nearshore to offshore regions in all three seasons of investigation, with maximum richness in summer and minimum richness in winter. The abundance of siphonophores was also higher in summer than in spring and winter, concentrated in the nearshore region in the warm season and scattered in the offshore region in the cold season. Four siphonophore groups were classified according to the frequency of occurrence: nearshore, near-offshore, offshore, and tropical pelagic. Among them, the nearshore group had higher abundance nearshore compared with the offshore. The tropical pelagic group had higher species number offshore than nearshore. Spatial and temporal fluctuations in taxonomic composition and abundance of siphonophores were due to the influence of the coastal upwelling and surface ocean currents of the South China Sea, driven by the East Asia monsoonal system.

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species.

PubMed

Slik, J W Ferry; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Alves, Luciana F; Ashton, Peter; Balvanera, Patricia; Bastian, Meredith L; Bellingham, Peter J; van den Berg, Eduardo; Bernacci, Luis; da Conceição Bispo, Polyanna; Blanc, Lilian; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Boeckx, Pascal; Bongers, Frans; Boyle, Brad; Bradford, Matt; Brearley, Francis Q; Breuer-Ndoundou Hockemba, Mireille; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Calderado Leal Matos, Darley; Castillo-Santiago, Miguel; Catharino, Eduardo L M; Chai, Shauna-Lee; Chen, Yukai; Colwell, Robert K; Chazdon, Robin L; Robin, Chazdon L; Clark, Connie; Clark, David B; Clark, Deborah A; Culmsee, Heike; Damas, Kipiro; Dattaraja, Handanakere S; Dauby, Gilles; Davidar, Priya; DeWalt, Saara J; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Duque, Alvaro; Durigan, Giselda; Eichhorn, Karl A O; Eisenlohr, Pedro V; Eler, Eduardo; Ewango, Corneille; Farwig, Nina; Feeley, Kenneth J; Ferreira, Leandro; Field, Richard; de Oliveira Filho, Ary T; Fletcher, Christine; Forshed, Olle; Franco, Geraldo; Fredriksson, Gabriella; Gillespie, Thomas; Gillet, Jean-François; Amarnath, Giriraj; Griffith, Daniel M; Grogan, James; Gunatilleke, Nimal; Harris, David; Harrison, Rhett; Hector, Andy; Homeier, Jürgen; Imai, Nobuo; Itoh, Akira; Jansen, Patrick A; Joly, Carlos A; de Jong, Bernardus H J; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Kelly, Daniel L; Kenfack, David; Kessler, Michael; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Kooyman, Robert; Larney, Eileen; Laumonier, Yves; Laurance, Susan; Laurance, William F; Lawes, Michael J; Amaral, Ieda Leao do; Letcher, Susan G; Lindsell, Jeremy; Lu, Xinghui; Mansor, Asyraf; Marjokorpi, Antti; Martin, Emanuel H; Meilby, Henrik; Melo, Felipe P L; Metcalfe, Daniel J; Medjibe, Vincent P; Metzger, Jean Paul; Millet, Jerome; Mohandass, D; Montero, Juan C; de Morisson Valeriano, Márcio; Mugerwa, Badru; Nagamasu, Hidetoshi; Nilus, Reuben; Ochoa-Gaona, Susana; Onrizal; Page, Navendu; Parolin, Pia; Parren, Marc; Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy; Paudel, Ekananda; Permana, Andrea; Piedade, Maria T F; Pitman, Nigel C A; Poorter, Lourens; Poulsen, Axel D; Poulsen, John; Powers, Jennifer; Prasad, Rama C; Puyravaud, Jean-Philippe; Razafimahaimodison, Jean-Claude; Reitsma, Jan; Dos Santos, João Roberto; Roberto Spironello, Wilson; Romero-Saltos, Hugo; Rovero, Francesco; Rozak, Andes Hamuraby; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Rutishauser, Ervan; Saiter, Felipe; Saner, Philippe; Santos, Braulio A; Santos, Fernanda; Sarker, Swapan K; Satdichanh, Manichanh; Schmitt, Christine B; Schöngart, Jochen; Schulze, Mark; Suganuma, Marcio S; Sheil, Douglas; da Silva Pinheiro, Eduardo; Sist, Plinio; Stevart, Tariq; Sukumar, Raman; Sun, I-Fang; Sunderland, Terry; Sunderand, Terry; Suresh, H S; Suzuki, Eizi; Tabarelli, Marcelo; Tang, Jangwei; Targhetta, Natália; Theilade, Ida; Thomas, Duncan W; Tchouto, Peguy; Hurtado, Johanna; Valencia, Renato; van Valkenburg, Johan L C H; Van Do, Tran; Vasquez, Rodolfo; Verbeeck, Hans; Adekunle, Victor; Vieira, Simone A; Webb, Campbell O; Whitfeld, Timothy; Wich, Serge A; Williams, John; Wittmann, Florian; Wöll, Hannsjoerg; Yang, Xiaobo; Adou Yao, C Yves; Yap, Sandra L; Yoneda, Tsuyoshi; Zahawi, Rakan A; Zakaria, Rahmad; Zang, Runguo; de Assis, Rafael L; Garcia Luize, Bruno; Venticinque, Eduardo M

2015-06-16

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼ 40,000 and ∼ 53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼ 19,000-25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼ 4,500-6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa.

Aroma types of flue-cured tobacco in China: spatial distribution and association with climatic factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chao; Wu, Wei; Wu, Shu-Cheng; Liu, Hong-Bin; Peng, Qing

2014-02-01

Aroma types of flue-cured tobacco (FCT) are classified into light, medium, and heavy in China. However, the spatial distribution of FCT aroma types and the relationships among aroma types, chemical parameters, and climatic variables were still unknown at national scale. In the current study, multi-year averaged chemical parameters (total sugars, reducing sugars, nicotine, total nitrogen, chloride, and K2O) of FCT samples with grade of C3F and climatic variables (mean, minimum and maximum temperatures, rainfall, relative humidity, and sunshine hours) during the growth periods were collected from main planting areas across China. Significant relationships were found between chemical parameters and climatic variables ( p < 0.05). A spatial distribution map of FCT aroma types were produced using support vector machine algorithms and chemical parameters. Significant differences in chemical parameters and climatic variables were observed among the three aroma types based on one-way analysis of variance ( p < 0.05). Areas with light aroma type had significantly lower values of mean, maximum, and minimum temperatures than regions with medium and heavy aroma types ( p < 0.05). Areas with heavy aroma type had significantly lower values of rainfall and relative humidity and higher values of sunshine hours than regions with light and medium aroma types ( p < 0.05). The output produced by classification and regression trees showed that sunshine hours, rainfall, and maximum temperature were the most important factors affecting FCT aroma types at national scale.

Evaluating species-specific changes in hydrologic regimes: an iterative approach for salmonids in the Greater Yellowstone Area (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Al-Chokhachy, Robert K.; Sepulveda, Adam; Ray, Andrew M.; Thoma, David P.; Tercek, Michael T.

2017-01-01

Despite the importance of hydrologic regimes to the phenology, demography, and abundance of fishes such as salmonids, there have been surprisingly few syntheses that holistically assess regional, species-specific trends in hydrologic regimes within a framework of climate change. Here, we consider hydrologic regimes within the Greater Yellowstone Area in the Rocky Mountains of western North America to evaluate changes in hydrologic metrics anticipated to affect salmonids, a group of fishes with high regional ecological and socioeconomic value. Our analyses assessed trends across different sites and time periods (1930–, 1950–, and 1970–2015) as means to evaluate spatial and temporal shifts. Consistent patterns emerged from our analyses indicating substantial shifts to (1) earlier peak discharge events; (2) reductions of summer minimum streamflows; (3) declines in the duration of river ice; and (4) decreases in total volume of water. We found accelerated trends in hydrologic change for the 1970–2015 period, with an average peak discharge 7.5 days earlier, 27.5% decline in summer minimum streamflows, and a 15.6% decline in the annual total volume of water (1 October–September 30) across sites. We did observe considerable variability in magnitude of change across sites, suggesting different levels of vulnerability to a changing climate. Our analyses provide an iterative means for assessing climate predictions and an important step in identifying the climate resilience of landscapes.

[Impacts of climate warming on growth period and yield of rice in Northeast China during recent two decades].

PubMed

Hou, Wen-jia; Geng, Ting; Chen, Qun; Chen, Chang-qing

2015-01-01

By using rice growth period, yield and climate observation data during the recent two decades, the impact of climate warming on rice in Northeast China was investigated by mathematical statistics methods. The results indicated that in the three provinces of Northeast China, the average, maximum and minimum temperatures in rice growing season were on the. rise, and the rainfall presented a downward trend during 1989-2009. Compared to 1990s, the rice whole growth periods of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces in 2000s were prolonged 14 d, 4.5 d and 5.1 d, respectively. The increase of temperature in May, June and September could extend the rice growth period, while that in July would shorten the growth duration. The rice growth duration of registered varieties and experiment sites had a similar increasing trend in Northeast China except for the Heilongjiang Province, and the extension of registered varieties growth period was the main factor causing the prolonged growth period of rice at experiment sites. The change in daily average, minimum and maximum temperatures all could affect the rice yield in Northeast China. The increasing temperature significantly increased the rice yield in Heilongjiang Province, especially in the west region of Sanjiang Plain. Except for the south of Liaoning Province, rice yields in other regions of Northeast China were promoted by increasing temperature. Proper measures for breeding, cultivation and farming, could be adopted to fully improve the adaptation of rice to climate warming in Northeast China.

Groundwater Modelling For Recharge Estimation Using Satellite Based Evapotranspiration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soheili, Mahmoud; (Tom) Rientjes, T. H. M.; (Christiaan) van der Tol, C.

2017-04-01

Groundwater movement is influenced by several factors and processes in the hydrological cycle, from which, recharge is of high relevance. Since the amount of aquifer extractable water directly relates to the recharge amount, estimation of recharge is a perquisite of groundwater resources management. Recharge is highly affected by water loss mechanisms the major of which is actual evapotranspiration (ETa). It is, therefore, essential to have detailed assessment of ETa impact on groundwater recharge. The objective of this study was to evaluate how recharge was affected when satellite-based evapotranspiration was used instead of in-situ based ETa in the Salland area, the Netherlands. The Methodology for Interactive Planning for Water Management (MIPWA) model setup which includes a groundwater model for the northern part of the Netherlands was used for recharge estimation. The Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land (SEBAL) based actual evapotranspiration maps from Waterschap Groot Salland were also used. Comparison of SEBAL based ETa estimates with in-situ abased estimates in the Netherlands showed that these SEBAL estimates were not reliable. As such results could not serve for calibrating root zone parameters in the CAPSIM model. The annual cumulative ETa map produced by the model showed that the maximum amount of evapotranspiration occurs in mixed forest areas in the northeast and a portion of central parts. Estimates ranged from 579 mm to a minimum of 0 mm in the highest elevated areas with woody vegetation in the southeast of the region. Variations in mean seasonal hydraulic head and groundwater level for each layer showed that the hydraulic gradient follows elevation in the Salland area from southeast (maximum) to northwest (minimum) of the region which depicts the groundwater flow direction. The mean seasonal water balance in CAPSIM part was evaluated to represent recharge estimation in the first layer. The highest recharge estimated flux was for autumn season and was equal to 28 m3/day whereas the lowest flux was -5.6 m3/day in spring. The spatial distribution also shows that maximum groundwater recharge estimated was in the southeast of the region due to the lack of vegetation cover and deep groundwater levels. Lowest groundwater recharge estimated in urban and agricultural areas in the northwest of the Salland area. The overall conclusion of this study is that groundwater level fluctuations in the Salland area are affected by seasonal climatic variations specially precipitation and evapotranspiration. Such however was not supported by the SEBAL images which proved to be unreliable.

A three-stage hybrid model for regionalization, trends and sensitivity analyses of temperature anomalies in China from 1966 to 2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Feifei; Yang, XiaoHua; Shen, Zhenyao

2018-06-01

Temperature anomalies have received increasing attention due to their potentially severe impacts on ecosystems, economy and human health. To facilitate objective regionalization and examine regional temperature anomalies, a three-stage hybrid model with stages of regionalization, trends and sensitivity analyses was developed. Annual mean and extreme temperatures were analyzed using the daily data collected from 537 stations in China from 1966 to 2015, including the annual mean, minimum and maximum temperatures (Tm, TNm and TXm) as well as the extreme minimum and maximum temperatures (TNe and TXe). The results showed the following: (1) subregions with coherent temperature changes were identified using the rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis and K-means clustering algorithm. The numbers of subregions were 6, 7, 8, 9 and 8 for Tm, TNm, TXm, TNe and TXe, respectively. (2) Significant increases in temperature were observed in most regions of China from 1966 to 2015, although warming slowed down over the last decade. This warming primarily featured a remarkable increase in its minimum temperature. For Tm and TNm, 95% of the stations showed a significant upward trend at the 99% confidence level. TNe increased the fastest, at a rate of 0.56 °C/decade, whereas 21% of the stations in TXe showed a downward trend. (3) The mean temperatures (Tm, TNm and TXm) in the high-latitude regions increased more quickly than those in the low-latitude regions. The maximum temperature increased significantly at high elevations, whereas the minimum temperature increased greatly at middle-low elevations. The most pronounced warming occurred in eastern China in TNe and northwestern China in TXe, with mean elevations of 51 m and 2098 m, respectively. A cooling trend in TXe was observed at the northwestern end of China. The warming rate in TNe varied the most among the subregions (0.63 °C/decade).

Impact of asymmetry in the total ozone distribution in Antarctic region to the South Ocean ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalenok, S.; Evtushevsky, A.; Grytsai, A.; Milinevsky, G.

2009-04-01

Impact of asymmetry in the total ozone distribution in Antarctic region to South Ocean ecosystem is studied. The existence of the considerable zonal asymmetry in total ozone distribution over Antarctica observed last decades based on the satellite TOMS measurements in 1979-2005 due to existence of quasi-stationary planetary waves in a polar stratosphere. As was shown by authors earlier in the latitudinal interval of 55-75°S in Antarctic spring months (Sep-Nov) the region of zonal total ozone minimum experienced the systematic spatial drift to the east. In the same period a minimum and maximum of quasi-stationary wave in TOC distribution are located: minimum over the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea area, and maximum in the Ross Sea area. We expect that zonal asymmetry in total ozone distribution and its long-term spatial changes should impact to South Ocean ecosystem food chain, especially in primary level. The systematic eastern shift of the quasi-stationary minimum in ozone distribution over north Weddell Sea area should cause the increased UV radiation on sea surface in comparison to Ross Sea area, where the lack of UVR should exist in spring month. To study this influence the available data of phytoplankton distribution in South Ocean in 1997-2007 were analyzed. The results of analysis in connections with Antarctic Peninsula regional climate warming are discussed. The research was partly supported by project 06BF051-12 of the National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv.

News update.

PubMed

2012-11-28

The RCN has raised concerns that many healthcare assistants are paid less than the ethical minimum. While the current UK-wide minimum wage is £6.19 per hour, the Living Wage Foundation - which campaigns for minimum wages that refl ect the cost of living - claims the minimum wage should be £8.30 per hour in London and £7.20 per hour in other parts of UK. Commenting during the recent Living Wage Week, RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: 'This affects college members, particularly healthcare assistants in the private sector, who are often paid less than the living wage. Some struggle to make ends meet, forcing them to claim benefi ts.'

[Medical image segmentation based on the minimum variation snake model].

PubMed

Zhou, Changxiong; Yu, Shenglin

2007-02-01

It is difficult for traditional parametric active contour (Snake) model to deal with automatic segmentation of weak edge medical image. After analyzing snake and geometric active contour model, a minimum variation snake model was proposed and successfully applied to weak edge medical image segmentation. This proposed model replaces constant force in the balloon snake model by variable force incorporating foreground and background two regions information. It drives curve to evolve with the criterion of the minimum variation of foreground and background two regions. Experiments and results have proved that the proposed model is robust to initial contours placements and can segment weak edge medical image automatically. Besides, the testing for segmentation on the noise medical image filtered by curvature flow filter, which preserves edge features, shows a significant effect.

Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. II - Regional Study

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

Cochran, Jaquelin M.; Palchak, Joseph D; McBennett, Brendan

The higher-spatial-resolution model of 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. II - Regional Study' (the Regional Study), which better represents the impact of congestion on least-cost scheduling and dispatch, provides a deeper understanding of the relationship among renewable energy (RE) location, transmission, and system flexibility with regard to RE integration, compared to 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. I - National Study.' The Regional Study validates the relative value of mitigation strategies demonstrated in the National Study - namely, coordinatedmore » operations among states reduce production costs, and reducing coal minimum generation levels reduces RE curtailment. Significantly, the Regional Study also highlights a potential barrier to realizing the value of these mitigation strategies: when locations of RE development are planned independently of state-level transmission, intrastate congestion can result in undesirable levels of RE curtailment. Therefore a key objective of this study is to illustrate to state-level power system planners and operators, in particular, how a higher-resolution model, inclusive of intrastate granularity, can be used as a planning tool for two primary purposes: -To better anticipate, understand, and mitigate system constraints that could affect RE integration; and - To provide a modeling framework that can be used as part of future transmission studies and planning efforts. The Regional Study is not intended to predict precisely how RE will affect state-level operations. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the locations of the RE development, as well as how contract terms can affect access to the inherent physical flexibility of the system. But the scenarios analyzed identify the types of issues that can arise under various RE and transmission expansion pathways. The model developed for this study provides a rigorous framework for future work and can be updated with the characteristics of new capacity as more information on the future power system is known.« less

Greening the Grid: Integrating 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid - A Detailed Look at the Southern Region

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

Cochran, Jaquelin M

The higher-spatial-resolution model of 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. II - Regional Study' (the Regional Study), which better represents the impact of congestion on least-cost scheduling and dispatch, provides a deeper understanding of the relationship among renewable energy (RE) location, transmission, and system flexibility with regard to RE integration, compared to 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. I - National Study.' The Regional Study validates the relative value of mitigation strategies demonstrated in the National Study - namely, coordinatedmore » operations among states reduce production costs, and reducing coal minimum generation levels reduces RE curtailment. Significantly, the Regional Study also highlights a potential barrier to realizing the value of these mitigation strategies: when locations of RE development are planned independently of state-level transmission, intrastate congestion can result in undesirable levels of RE curtailment. Therefore a key objective of this study is to illustrate to state-level power system planners and operators, in particular, how a higher-resolution model, inclusive of intrastate granularity, can be used as a planning tool for two primary purposes: to better anticipate, understand, and mitigate system constraints that could affect RE integration; and to provide a modeling framework that can be used as part of future transmission studies and planning efforts. The Regional Study is not intended to predict precisely how RE will affect state-level operations. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the locations of the RE development, as well as how contract terms can affect access to the inherent physical flexibility of the system. But the scenarios analyzed identify the types of issues that can arise under various RE and transmission expansion pathways. The model developed for this study provides a rigorous framework for future work and can be updated with the characteristics of new capacity as more information on the future power system is known.« less

Greening the Grid: Integrating 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid - A Detailed Look at the Western Region

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

Cochran, Jaquelin

The higher-spatial-resolution model of 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. II - Regional Study' (the Regional Study), which better represents the impact of congestion on least-cost scheduling and dispatch, provides a deeper understanding of the relationship among renewable energy (RE) location, transmission, and system flexibility with regard to RE integration, compared to 'Greening the Grid: Pathways to Integrate 175 Gigawatts of Renewable Energy into India's Electric Grid, Vol. I - National Study.' The Regional Study validates the relative value of mitigation strategies demonstrated in the National Study - namely, coordinatedmore » operations among states reduce production costs, and reducing coal minimum generation levels reduces RE curtailment. Significantly, the Regional Study also highlights a potential barrier to realizing the value of these mitigation strategies: when locations of RE development are planned independently of state-level transmission, intrastate congestion can result in undesirable levels of RE curtailment. Therefore a key objective of this study is to illustrate to state-level power system planners and operators, in particular, how a higher-resolution model, inclusive of intrastate granularity, can be used as a planning tool for two primary purposes: -To better anticipate, understand, and mitigate system constraints that could affect RE integration; and - To provide a modeling framework that can be used as part of future transmission studies and planning efforts. The Regional Study is not intended to predict precisely how RE will affect state-level operations. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the locations of the RE development, as well as how contract terms can affect access to the inherent physical flexibility of the system. But the scenarios analyzed identify the types of issues that can arise under various RE and transmission expansion pathways. The model developed for this study provides a rigorous framework for future work and can be updated with the characteristics of new capacity as more information on the future power system is known.« less

Survey of the spectral properties of turbulence in the solar wind, the magnetospheres of Venus and Earth, at solar minimum and maximum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Echim, Marius M.

2014-05-01

In the framework of the European FP7 project STORM ("Solar system plasma Turbulence: Observations, inteRmittency and Multifractals") we analyze the properties of turbulence in various regions of the solar system, for the minimum and respectively maximum of the solar activity. The main scientific objective of STORM is to advance the understanding of the turbulent energy transfer, intermittency and multifractals in space plasmas. Specific analysis methods are applied on magnetic field and plasma data provided by Ulysses, Venus Express and Cluster, as well as other solar system missions (e.g. Giotto, Cassini). In this paper we provide an overview of the spectral properties of turbulence derived from Power Spectral Densities (PSD) computed in the solar wind (from Ulysses, Cluster, Venus Express) and at the interface of planetary magnetospheres with the solar wind (from Venus Express, Cluster). Ulysses provides data in the solar wind between 1992 and 2008, out of the ecliptic, at radial distances ranging between 1.3 and 5.4 AU. We selected only those Ulysses data that satisfy a consolidated set of selection criteria able to identify "pure" fast and slow wind. We analyzed Venus Express data close to the orbital apogee, in the solar wind, at 0.72 AU, and in the Venus magnetosheath. We investigated Cluster data in the solar wind (for time intervals not affected by planetary ions effects), the magnetosheath and few crossings of other key magnetospheric regions (cusp, plasma sheet). We organize our PSD results in three solar wind data bases (one for the solar maximum, 1999-2001, two for the solar minimum, 1997-1998 and respectively, 2007-2008), and two planetary databases (one for the solar maximum, 2000-2001, that includes PSD obtained in the terrestrial magnetosphere, and one for the solar minimum, 2007-2008, that includes PSD obtained in the terrestrial and Venus magnetospheres and magnetosheaths). In addition to investigating the properties of turbulence for the minimum and maximum of the solar cycle we also analyze the spectral similarities and differences between fast and slow wind turbulence. We emphasize the importance of our data survey and analysis in the context of understanding the solar wind turbulence, the exploitation of data bases and as a first step towards developing a (virtual) laboratory for studying solar system plasma turbulence. Research supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 313038/STORM, and a grant of the Romanian Ministry of National Education, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2012-4-0418.

Effects of local and regional climatic fluctuations on dengue outbreaks in southern Taiwan

PubMed Central

Chaves, Luis Fernando; Chen, Po-Jiang

2017-01-01

Background Southern Taiwan has been a hotspot for dengue fever transmission since 1998. During 2014 and 2015, Taiwan experienced unprecedented dengue outbreaks and the causes are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the influence of regional and local climate conditions on the incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan, as well as to develop a climate-based model for future forecasting. Methodology/Principle findings Historical time-series data on dengue outbreaks in southern Taiwan from 1998 to 2015 were investigated. Local climate variables were analyzed using a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM), and the model of best fit was used to predict dengue incidence between 2013 and 2015. The cross-wavelet coherence approach was used to evaluate the regional El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) effects on dengue incidence and local climate variables. The DLNM results highlighted the important non-linear and lag effects of minimum temperature and precipitation. Minimum temperature above 23°C or below 17°C can increase dengue incidence rate with lag effects of 10 to 15 weeks. Moderate to high precipitation can increase dengue incidence rates with a lag of 10 or 20 weeks. The model of best fit successfully predicted dengue transmission between 2013 and 2015. The prediction accuracy ranged from 0.7 to 0.9, depending on the number of weeks ahead of the prediction. ENSO and IOD were associated with nonstationary inter-annual patterns of dengue transmission. IOD had a greater impact on the seasonality of local climate conditions. Conclusions/Significance Our findings suggest that dengue transmission can be affected by regional and local climatic fluctuations in southern Taiwan. The climate-based model developed in this study can provide important information for dengue early warning systems in Taiwan. Local climate conditions might be influenced by ENSO and IOD, to result in unusual dengue outbreaks. PMID:28575035

Environmental flows in the context of unconventional natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale

DOE PAGES

Buchanan, Brian P.; Auerbach, Daniel A.; McManamay, Ryan A.; ...

2017-01-04

Quantitative flow-ecology relationships are needed to evaluate how water withdrawals for unconventional natural gas development may impact aquatic ecosystems. Addressing this need, we studied current patterns of hydrologic alteration in the Marcellus Shale region and related the estimated flow alteration to fish community measures. We then used these empirical flow-ecology relationships to evaluate alternative surface water withdrawals and environmental flow rules. Reduced high-flow magnitude, dampened rates of change, and increased low-flow magnitudes were apparent regionally, but changes in many of the flow metrics likely to be sensitive to withdrawals also showed substantial regional variation. Fish community measures were significantly relatedmore » to flow alteration, including declines in species richness with diminished annual runoff, winter low-flow, and summer median-flow. In addition, the relative abundance of intolerant taxa decreased with reduced winter high-flow and increased flow constancy, while fluvial specialist species decreased with reduced winter and annual flows. Stream size strongly mediated both the impact of withdrawal scenarios and the protection afforded by environmental flow standards. Under the most intense withdrawal scenario, 75% of reference headwaters and creeks (drainage areas <99 km 2) experienced at least 78% reduction in summer flow, whereas little change was predicted for larger rivers. Moreover, the least intense withdrawal scenario still reduced summer flows by at least 21% for 50% of headwaters and creeks. The observed 90th quantile flow-ecology relationships indicate that such alteration could reduce species richness by 23% or more. Seasonally varying environmental flow standards and high fixed minimum flows protected the most streams from hydrologic alteration, but common minimum flow standards left numerous locations vulnerable to substantial flow alteration. This study clarifies how additional water demands in the region may adversely affect freshwater biological integrity. Furthermore, the results make clear that policies to limit or prevent water withdrawals from smaller streams can reduce the risk of ecosystem impairment.« less

Environmental flows in the context of unconventional natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale

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

Buchanan, Brian P.; Auerbach, Daniel A.; McManamay, Ryan A.

Quantitative flow-ecology relationships are needed to evaluate how water withdrawals for unconventional natural gas development may impact aquatic ecosystems. Addressing this need, we studied current patterns of hydrologic alteration in the Marcellus Shale region and related the estimated flow alteration to fish community measures. We then used these empirical flow-ecology relationships to evaluate alternative surface water withdrawals and environmental flow rules. Reduced high-flow magnitude, dampened rates of change, and increased low-flow magnitudes were apparent regionally, but changes in many of the flow metrics likely to be sensitive to withdrawals also showed substantial regional variation. Fish community measures were significantly relatedmore » to flow alteration, including declines in species richness with diminished annual runoff, winter low-flow, and summer median-flow. In addition, the relative abundance of intolerant taxa decreased with reduced winter high-flow and increased flow constancy, while fluvial specialist species decreased with reduced winter and annual flows. Stream size strongly mediated both the impact of withdrawal scenarios and the protection afforded by environmental flow standards. Under the most intense withdrawal scenario, 75% of reference headwaters and creeks (drainage areas <99 km 2) experienced at least 78% reduction in summer flow, whereas little change was predicted for larger rivers. Moreover, the least intense withdrawal scenario still reduced summer flows by at least 21% for 50% of headwaters and creeks. The observed 90th quantile flow-ecology relationships indicate that such alteration could reduce species richness by 23% or more. Seasonally varying environmental flow standards and high fixed minimum flows protected the most streams from hydrologic alteration, but common minimum flow standards left numerous locations vulnerable to substantial flow alteration. This study clarifies how additional water demands in the region may adversely affect freshwater biological integrity. Furthermore, the results make clear that policies to limit or prevent water withdrawals from smaller streams can reduce the risk of ecosystem impairment.« less

Effects of local and regional climatic fluctuations on dengue outbreaks in southern Taiwan.

PubMed

Chuang, Ting-Wu; Chaves, Luis Fernando; Chen, Po-Jiang

2017-01-01

Southern Taiwan has been a hotspot for dengue fever transmission since 1998. During 2014 and 2015, Taiwan experienced unprecedented dengue outbreaks and the causes are poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the influence of regional and local climate conditions on the incidence of dengue fever in Taiwan, as well as to develop a climate-based model for future forecasting. Historical time-series data on dengue outbreaks in southern Taiwan from 1998 to 2015 were investigated. Local climate variables were analyzed using a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM), and the model of best fit was used to predict dengue incidence between 2013 and 2015. The cross-wavelet coherence approach was used to evaluate the regional El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) effects on dengue incidence and local climate variables. The DLNM results highlighted the important non-linear and lag effects of minimum temperature and precipitation. Minimum temperature above 23°C or below 17°C can increase dengue incidence rate with lag effects of 10 to 15 weeks. Moderate to high precipitation can increase dengue incidence rates with a lag of 10 or 20 weeks. The model of best fit successfully predicted dengue transmission between 2013 and 2015. The prediction accuracy ranged from 0.7 to 0.9, depending on the number of weeks ahead of the prediction. ENSO and IOD were associated with nonstationary inter-annual patterns of dengue transmission. IOD had a greater impact on the seasonality of local climate conditions. Our findings suggest that dengue transmission can be affected by regional and local climatic fluctuations in southern Taiwan. The climate-based model developed in this study can provide important information for dengue early warning systems in Taiwan. Local climate conditions might be influenced by ENSO and IOD, to result in unusual dengue outbreaks.

Enhanced Pacific Ocean Sea Surface Temperature and Its Relation to Typhoon Haiyan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comiso, Josefino C.; Perez, Gay Jane P.; Stock, Larry V.

2015-01-01

Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Visayan Islands in the Philippines on November 8, 2013 was recorded as the strongest typhoon ever-observed using satellite data. Typhoons in the region usually originate from the mid-Pacific region that includes the Warm Pool, which is regarded as the warmest ocean surface region globally. Two study areas were considered: one in the Warm Pool Region and the other in the West Pacific Region near the Philippines. Among the most important factors that affect the strength of a typhoon are sea surface temperature (SST) and water vapor. It is remarkable that in November 2013 the average SST in the Warm Pool Region was the highest observed during the 1981 to 2014 period while that of the West Pacific Region was among the highest as well. Moreover, the increasing trend in SST was around 0.20C per decade in the warm pool region and even higher at 0.23C per decade in the West Pacific region. The yearly minimum SST has also been increasing suggesting that the temperature of the ocean mixed layer is also increasing. Further analysis indicated that water vapor, clouds, winds and sea level pressure for the same period did not reveal strong signals associated with the 2013 event. The SST is shown to be well-correlated with wind strength of historically strong typhoons in the country and the observed trends in SST suggest that extremely destructive typhoons like Haiyan are likely to occur in the future.

The Plasma Environment Associated With Equatorial Ionospheric Irregularities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Jonathon M.; Heelis, R. A.

2018-02-01

We examine the density structure of equatorial depletions referred to here as equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). Data recorded by the Ion Velocity Meter as part of the Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) aboard the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite are used to study EPBs from 1600 to 0600 h local time at altitudes from 350 to 850 km. The data are taken during the 7 years from 2008 to 2014, more than one half of a magnetic solar cycle, that include solar minimum and a moderate solar maximum. Using a rolling ball algorithm, EPBs are identified by profiles in the plasma density, each having a depth measured as the percent change between the background and minimum density (ΔN/N). During solar moderate activity bubbles observed in the topside postsunset sector are more likely to have large depths compared to those observed in the topside postmidnight sector. Large bubble depths can be observed near 350 km in the bottomside F region in the postsunset period. Conversely at solar minimum the distribution of depths is similar in the postsunset and postmidnight sectors in all longitude sectors. Deep bubbles are rarely observed in the topside postsunset sector and never in the bottomside above 400 km in altitude. We suggest that these features result from the vertical drift of the plasma for these two solar activity levels. These drift conditions affect both the background density in which bubbles are embedded and the growth rate of perturbations in the bottomside where bubbles originate.

The Impact of a City-Level Minimum-Wage Policy on Supermarket Food Prices in Seattle-King County

PubMed Central

Tang, Wesley; Aggarwal, Anju; Vigdor, Jacob; Drewnowski, Adam

2017-01-01

Background: Many states and localities throughout the U.S. have adopted higher minimum wages. Higher labor costs among low-wage food system workers could result in higher food prices. Methods: Using a market basket of 106 foods, food prices were collected at affected chain supermarket stores in Seattle and same-chain unaffected stores in King County (n = 12 total, six per location). Prices were collected at 1 month pre- (March 2015) and 1-month post-policy enactment (May 2015), then again 1-year post-policy enactment (May 2016). Unpaired t-tests were used to detect price differences by location at fixed time while paired t-tests were used to detect price difference across time with fixed store chain. A multi-level, linear differences-in-differences model, was used to detect the changes in the average market basket item food prices over time across regions, overall and by food group. Results: There were no significant differences in overall market basket or item-level costs at one-month (−$0.01, SE = 0.05, p = 0.884) or one-year post-policy enactment (−$0.02, SE = 0.08, p = 0.772). No significant increases were observed by food group. Conclusions: There is no evidence of change in supermarket food prices by market basket or increase in prices by food group in response to the implementation of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance. PMID:28891937

Consideration of vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise assessments: Mobile Bay, Alabama case study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gesch, Dean B.

2013-01-01

The accuracy with which coastal topography has been mapped directly affects the reliability and usefulness of elevationbased sea-level rise vulnerability assessments. Recent research has shown that the qualities of the elevation data must be well understood to properly model potential impacts. The cumulative vertical uncertainty has contributions from elevation data error, water level data uncertainties, and vertical datum and transformation uncertainties. The concepts of minimum sealevel rise increment and minimum planning timeline, important parameters for an elevation-based sea-level rise assessment, are used in recognition of the inherent vertical uncertainty of the underlying data. These concepts were applied to conduct a sea-level rise vulnerability assessment of the Mobile Bay, Alabama, region based on high-quality lidar-derived elevation data. The results that detail the area and associated resources (land cover, population, and infrastructure) vulnerable to a 1.18-m sea-level rise by the year 2100 are reported as a range of values (at the 95% confidence level) to account for the vertical uncertainty in the base data. Examination of the tabulated statistics about land cover, population, and infrastructure in the minimum and maximum vulnerable areas shows that these resources are not uniformly distributed throughout the overall vulnerable zone. The methods demonstrated in the Mobile Bay analysis provide an example of how to consider and properly account for vertical uncertainty in elevation-based sea-level rise vulnerability assessments, and the advantages of doing so.

40 CFR 146.62 - Minimum criteria for siting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... structural and stratigraphic geology, the hydrogeology, and the seismicity of the region; (2) An analysis of the local geology and hydrogeology of the well site, including, at a minimum, detailed information...) A determination that the geology of the area can be described confidently and that limits of waste...

40 CFR 146.62 - Minimum criteria for siting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... structural and stratigraphic geology, the hydrogeology, and the seismicity of the region; (2) An analysis of the local geology and hydrogeology of the well site, including, at a minimum, detailed information...) A determination that the geology of the area can be described confidently and that limits of waste...

40 CFR 146.62 - Minimum criteria for siting.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... structural and stratigraphic geology, the hydrogeology, and the seismicity of the region; (2) An analysis of the local geology and hydrogeology of the well site, including, at a minimum, detailed information...) A determination that the geology of the area can be described confidently and that limits of waste...

Evaluating the status of African wild dogs Lycaon pictus and cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus through tourist-based photographic surveys in the Kruger National Park [corrected].

PubMed

Marnewick, Kelly; Ferreira, Sam M; Grange, Sophie; Watermeyer, Jessica; Maputla, Nakedi; Davies-Mostert, Harriet T

2014-01-01

The Kruger National Park is a stronghold for African wild dog Lycaon pictus and cheetah Acinonyx jubatus conservation in South Africa. Tourist photographic surveys have been used to evaluate the minimum number of wild dogs and cheetahs alive over the last two decades. Photographic-based capture-recapture techniques for open populations were used on data collected during a survey done in 2008/9. Models were run for the park as a whole and per region (northern, central, southern). A total of 412 (329-495; SE 41.95) cheetahs and 151 (144-157; SE 3.21) wild dogs occur in the Kruger National Park. Cheetah capture probabilities were affected by time (number of entries) and sex, whereas wild dog capture probabilities were affected by the region of the park. When plotting the number of new individuals identified against the number of entries received, the addition of new wild dogs to the survey reached an asymptote at 210 entries, but cheetahs did not reach an asymptote. The cheetah population of Kruger appears to be acceptable, while the wild dog population size and density are of concern. The effectiveness of tourist-based surveys for estimating population sizes through capture-recapture analyses is shown.

Evaluating the Status of and African Wild Dogs Lycaon pictus and Cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus through Tourist-based Photographic Surveys in the Kruger National Park

PubMed Central

Marnewick, Kelly; Ferreira, Sam M.; Grange, Sophie; Watermeyer, Jessica; Maputla, Nakedi; Davies-Mostert, Harriet T.

2014-01-01

The Kruger National Park is a stronghold for African wild dog Lycaon pictus and cheetah Acinonyx jubatus conservation in South Africa. Tourist photographic surveys have been used to evaluate the minimum number of wild dogs and cheetahs alive over the last two decades. Photographic-based capture-recapture techniques for open populations were used on data collected during a survey done in 2008/9. Models were run for the park as a whole and per region (northern, central, southern). A total of 412 (329–495; SE 41.95) cheetahs and 151 (144–157; SE 3.21) wild dogs occur in the Kruger National Park. Cheetah capture probabilities were affected by time (number of entries) and sex, whereas wild dog capture probabilities were affected by the region of the park. When plotting the number of new individuals identified against the number of entries received, the addition of new wild dogs to the survey reached an asymptote at 210 entries, but cheetahs did not reach an asymptote. The cheetah population of Kruger appears to be acceptable, while the wild dog population size and density are of concern. The effectiveness of tourist-based surveys for estimating population sizes through capture-recapture analyses is shown. PMID:24465998

Erosion of water-based fracturing fluid containing particles in a sudden contraction of horizontal pipe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Jiarui; Cao, Yinping; Dou, Yihua; Li, Zhen

2017-10-01

A lab experiment was carried out to study the effects of pipe flow rate, particle concentration and pipe inner diameter ratio on proppant erosion of the reducing wall in hydraulic fracturing. The results show that the erosion rate and erosion distribution are different not only in radial direction but also in circumferential direction of the sample. The upper part of sample always has a minimum erosion rate and erosion area. Besides, the erosion rate of reducing wall is most affected by fluid flow velocity, and the erosion area is most sensitive to the change in the diameter ratio. Meanwhile, the erosion rate of reducing wall in crosslinked fracturing fluid is mainly determined by the fluid flowing state due to the high viscosity of the liquid. In general, the increase in flow velocity and diameter ratio not only cause the expansion of erosion-affected flow region in sudden contraction section, but also lead to more particles impact the wall.

Ascent trajectory optimization for stratospheric airship with thermal effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Xiao; Zhu, Ming

2013-09-01

Ascent trajectory optimization with thermal effects is addressed for a stratospheric airship. Basic thermal characteristics of the stratospheric airship are introduced. Besides, the airship’s equations of motion are constructed by including the factors about aerodynamic force, added mass and wind profiles which are developed based on horizontal-wind model. For both minimum-time and minimum-energy flights during ascent, the trajectory optimization problem is described with the path and terminal constraints in different scenarios and then, is converted into a parameter optimization problem by a direct collocation method. Sparse Nonlinear OPTimizer(SNOPT) is employed as a nonlinear programming solver and two scenarios are adopted. The solutions obtained illustrate that the trajectories are greatly affected by the thermal behaviors which prolong the daytime minimum-time flights of about 20.8% compared with that of nighttime in scenario 1 and of about 10.5% in scenario 2. And there is the same trend for minimum-energy flights. For the energy consumption of minimum-time flights, 6% decrease is abstained in scenario 1 and 5% decrease in scenario 2. However, a few energy consumption reduction is achieved for minimum-energy flights. Solar radiation is the principal component and the natural wind also affects the thermal behaviors of stratospheric airship during ascent. The relationship between take-off time and performance of airship during ascent is discussed. it is found that the take-off time at dusk is best choice for stratospheric airship. And in addition, for saving energy, airship prefers to fly downwind.

The extended atmosphere of Lambda Pavonis at the time of the emergence of H-emissions from minimum intensity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sahade, Jorge; Rovira, Marta; Ringuelet, Adela E.; Kondo, Yoji; Cidale, Lydia

1988-01-01

A study of the Be star Lambda Pavonis, particularly of the changes in the Balmer discontinuity in the interval 1949-1982, is presented. Nearly simultaneous observations carried out with the ESO 1.5 m reflector at La Silla and with the IUE satellite correspond to an epoch when the H emission is starting to increase intensity immediately after having reached its minimum strength. These observations suggest the presence of four distinct regions of line formation, with the material moving outward in the transition region.

Impacts of urbanization and agricultural development on observed changes in surface air temperature over mainland China from 1961 to 2006

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Songjun; Tang, Qiuhong; Xu, Di; Yang, Zhiyong

2018-03-01

A large proportion of meteorological stations in mainland China are located in or near either urban or agricultural lands that were established throughout the period of rapid urbanization and agricultural development (1961-2006). The extent of the impacts of urbanization and agricultural development on observed air temperature changes across different climate regions remains elusive. This study evaluates the surface air temperature trends observed by 598 meteorological stations in relation to the urbanization and agricultural development over the arid northwest, semi-arid intermediate, and humid southeast regions of mainland China based on linear regressions of temperature trends on the fractions of urban and cultivated land within a 3-km radius of the stations. In all three regions, the stations surrounded by large urban land tend to experience rapid warming, especially at minimum temperature. This dependence is particularly significant in the southeast region, which experiences the most intense urbanization. In the northwest and intermediate regions, stations surrounded by large cultivated land encounter less warming during the main growing season, especially at the maximum temperature changes. These findings suggest that the observed surface warming has been affected by urbanization and agricultural development represented by urban and cultivated land fractions around stations in with land cover changes in their proximity and should thus be considered when analyzing regional temperature changes in mainland China.

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

Allen, Melissa R.; Aziz, H. M. Abdul; Coletti, Mark A.

Changing human activity within a geographical location may have significant influence on the global climate, but that activity must be parameterized in such a way as to allow these high-resolution sub-grid processes to affect global climate within that modeling framework. Additionally, we must have tools that provide decision support and inform local and regional policies regarding mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. The development of next-generation earth system models, that can produce actionable results with minimum uncertainties, depends on understanding global climate change and human activity interactions at policy implementation scales. Unfortunately, at best we currently have only limitedmore » schemes for relating high-resolution sectoral emissions to real-time weather, ultimately to become part of larger regions and well-mixed atmosphere. Moreover, even our understanding of meteorological processes at these scales is imperfect. This workshop addresses these shortcomings by providing a forum for discussion of what we know about these processes, what we can model, where we have gaps in these areas and how we can rise to the challenge to fill these gaps.« less

Methodological Considerations When Quantifying High-Intensity Efforts in Team Sport Using Global Positioning System Technology.

PubMed

Varley, Matthew C; Jaspers, Arne; Helsen, Werner F; Malone, James J

2017-09-01

Sprints and accelerations are popular performance indicators in applied sport. The methods used to define these efforts using athlete-tracking technology could affect the number of efforts reported. This study aimed to determine the influence of different techniques and settings for detecting high-intensity efforts using global positioning system (GPS) data. Velocity and acceleration data from a professional soccer match were recorded via 10-Hz GPS. Velocity data were filtered using either a median or an exponential filter. Acceleration data were derived from velocity data over a 0.2-s time interval (with and without an exponential filter applied) and a 0.3-second time interval. High-speed-running (≥4.17 m/s 2 ), sprint (≥7.00 m/s 2 ), and acceleration (≥2.78 m/s 2 ) efforts were then identified using minimum-effort durations (0.1-0.9 s) to assess differences in the total number of efforts reported. Different velocity-filtering methods resulted in small to moderate differences (effect size [ES] 0.28-1.09) in the number of high-speed-running and sprint efforts detected when minimum duration was <0.5 s and small to very large differences (ES -5.69 to 0.26) in the number of accelerations when minimum duration was <0.7 s. There was an exponential decline in the number of all efforts as minimum duration increased, regardless of filtering method, with the largest declines in acceleration efforts. Filtering techniques and minimum durations substantially affect the number of high-speed-running, sprint, and acceleration efforts detected with GPS. Changes to how high-intensity efforts are defined affect reported data. Therefore, consistency in data processing is advised.

Minimum flow unit installation at the South Edwards Hydro Plant

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

Bernhardt, P.; Bates, D.

1995-12-31

Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. owns and operates the 3.3 MW South Edwards Hydro Plant in Northern New York. The FERC license for this plant requires a minimum flow release in the bypass region of the river. NMPC submitted a license amendment to the FERC to permit the addition of a minimum flow unit to take advantage of this flow. The amendment was accepted, permitting the installation of the 236 kw, 60 cfs unit to proceed. The unit was installed and commissioned in 1994.

Parameterized study of the ionospheric modification associated with sun-aligned polar cap arcs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crain, D. J.; Sojka, J. J.; Schunk, R. W.; Zhu, L.

1993-01-01

The local ionospheric modification that is due to a generalized steady state solar aligned (SA) arc structure is addressed. For a representative set of SA arc parameters which includes both convection and precipitation, emphasis is placed on the modification by SA polar cap arcs upon the F region electron density and the height integrated conductivity. At low fluxes and low characteristic energies, SA polar cap arcs have the most pronounced relative effect at F region altitudes in darkness for winter solar minimum conditions. The absolute enhancement in summer solar minimum and winter solar maximum is equivalent to that of winter solar minimum, but the higher ambient densities make the relative enhancement less. The TEC enhancement associated with an SA arc may be used to indicate the degree of plasma cross flow across the arc.

78 FR 34559 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-10

... airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or... Minimums and ODPS contained in this amendment are based on the criteria contained in the U.S. Standard for... criteria were applied to the conditions existing or anticipated at the affected airports. Because of the...

77 FR 31180 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-25

... airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or... Minimums and ODPS contained in this amendment are based on the criteria contained in the U.S. Standard for... criteria were applied to the conditions existing or anticipated at the affected airports. Because of the...

State Flexibility: The Minimum Wage and Welfare Reform.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Employment Policies Inst., Washington, DC.

In 1999, Congress for the first time, is debating a federal minimum wage hike that will affect low-skilled people who have dramatically fewer options if they cannot find work. This public policy debate has been occasioned by the new state focus on welfare reform that, to some, suggests that a state flexibility approach be applied to the minimum…

Change in mean temperature as a predictor of extreme temperature change in the Asia-Pacific region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffiths, G. M.; Chambers, L. E.; Haylock, M. R.; Manton, M. J.; Nicholls, N.; Baek, H.-J.; Choi, Y.; della-Marta, P. M.; Gosai, A.; Iga, N.; Lata, R.; Laurent, V.; Maitrepierre, L.; Nakamigawa, H.; Ouprasitwong, N.; Solofa, D.; Tahani, L.; Thuy, D. T.; Tibig, L.; Trewin, B.; Vediapan, K.; Zhai, P.

2005-08-01

Trends (1961-2003) in daily maximum and minimum temperatures, extremes and variance were found to be spatially coherent across the Asia-Pacific region. The majority of stations exhibited significant trends: increases in mean maximum and mean minimum temperature, decreases in cold nights and cool days, and increases in warm nights. No station showed a significant increase in cold days or cold nights, but a few sites showed significant decreases in hot days and warm nights. Significant decreases were observed in both maximum and minimum temperature standard deviation in China, Korea and some stations in Japan (probably reflecting urbanization effects), but also for some Thailand and coastal Australian sites. The South Pacific convergence zone (SPCZ) region between Fiji and the Solomon Islands showed a significant increase in maximum temperature variability.Correlations between mean temperature and the frequency of extreme temperatures were strongest in the tropical Pacific Ocean from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and southern Japan. Correlations were weaker at continental or higher latitude locations, which may partly reflect urbanization.For non-urban stations, the dominant distribution change for both maximum and minimum temperature involved a change in the mean, impacting on one or both extremes, with no change in standard deviation. This occurred from French Polynesia to Papua New Guinea (except for maximum temperature changes near the SPCZ), in Malaysia, the Philippines, and several outlying Japanese islands. For urbanized stations the dominant change was a change in the mean and variance, impacting on one or both extremes. This result was particularly evident for minimum temperature.The results presented here, for non-urban tropical and maritime locations in the Asia-Pacific region, support the hypothesis that changes in mean temperature may be used to predict changes in extreme temperatures. At urbanized or higher latitude locations, changes in variance should be incorporated.

33 CFR 279.10 - Implementation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... boundaries, conduct of regional studies and content and format of report requirements. As a minimum, one... projects with existing use patterns and constructed facilities. (b) Regional studies are prerequisite to... not be restricted either to States or to District hydrologic boundaries. In those cases where a region...

33 CFR 279.10 - Implementation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... boundaries, conduct of regional studies and content and format of report requirements. As a minimum, one... projects with existing use patterns and constructed facilities. (b) Regional studies are prerequisite to... not be restricted either to States or to District hydrologic boundaries. In those cases where a region...

33 CFR 279.10 - Implementation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... boundaries, conduct of regional studies and content and format of report requirements. As a minimum, one... projects with existing use patterns and constructed facilities. (b) Regional studies are prerequisite to... not be restricted either to States or to District hydrologic boundaries. In those cases where a region...

33 CFR 279.10 - Implementation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... boundaries, conduct of regional studies and content and format of report requirements. As a minimum, one... projects with existing use patterns and constructed facilities. (b) Regional studies are prerequisite to... not be restricted either to States or to District hydrologic boundaries. In those cases where a region...

33 CFR 279.10 - Implementation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... boundaries, conduct of regional studies and content and format of report requirements. As a minimum, one... projects with existing use patterns and constructed facilities. (b) Regional studies are prerequisite to... not be restricted either to States or to District hydrologic boundaries. In those cases where a region...

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

PubMed Central

Slik, J. W. Ferry; Arroyo-Rodríguez, Víctor; Aiba, Shin-Ichiro; Alvarez-Loayza, Patricia; Alves, Luciana F.; Ashton, Peter; Balvanera, Patricia; Bastian, Meredith L.; Bellingham, Peter J.; van den Berg, Eduardo; Bernacci, Luis; da Conceição Bispo, Polyanna; Blanc, Lilian; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Boeckx, Pascal; Bongers, Frans; Boyle, Brad; Bradford, Matt; Brearley, Francis Q.; Breuer-Ndoundou Hockemba, Mireille; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Calderado Leal Matos, Darley; Castillo-Santiago, Miguel; Catharino, Eduardo L. M.; Chai, Shauna-Lee; Chen, Yukai; Colwell, Robert K.; Chazdon, Robin L.; Clark, Connie; Clark, David B.; Clark, Deborah A.; Culmsee, Heike; Damas, Kipiro; Dattaraja, Handanakere S.; Dauby, Gilles; Davidar, Priya; DeWalt, Saara J.; Doucet, Jean-Louis; Duque, Alvaro; Durigan, Giselda; Eichhorn, Karl A. O.; Eisenlohr, Pedro V.; Eler, Eduardo; Ewango, Corneille; Farwig, Nina; Feeley, Kenneth J.; Ferreira, Leandro; Field, Richard; de Oliveira Filho, Ary T.; Fletcher, Christine; Forshed, Olle; Franco, Geraldo; Fredriksson, Gabriella; Gillespie, Thomas; Gillet, Jean-François; Amarnath, Giriraj; Griffith, Daniel M.; Grogan, James; Gunatilleke, Nimal; Harris, David; Harrison, Rhett; Hector, Andy; Homeier, Jürgen; Imai, Nobuo; Itoh, Akira; Jansen, Patrick A.; Joly, Carlos A.; de Jong, Bernardus H. J.; Kartawinata, Kuswata; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Kelly, Daniel L.; Kenfack, David; Kessler, Michael; Kitayama, Kanehiro; Kooyman, Robert; Larney, Eileen; Laumonier, Yves; Laurance, Susan; Laurance, William F.; Lawes, Michael J.; do Amaral, Ieda Leao; Letcher, Susan G.; Lindsell, Jeremy; Lu, Xinghui; Mansor, Asyraf; Marjokorpi, Antti; Martin, Emanuel H.; Meilby, Henrik; Melo, Felipe P. L.; Metcalfe, Daniel J.; Medjibe, Vincent P.; Metzger, Jean Paul; Millet, Jerome; Mohandass, D.; Montero, Juan C.; de Morisson Valeriano, Márcio; Mugerwa, Badru; Nagamasu, Hidetoshi; Nilus, Reuben; Ochoa-Gaona, Susana; Onrizal; Page, Navendu; Parolin, Pia; Parren, Marc; Parthasarathy, Narayanaswamy; Paudel, Ekananda; Permana, Andrea; Piedade, Maria T. F.; Pitman, Nigel C. A.; Poorter, Lourens; Poulsen, Axel D.; Poulsen, John; Powers, Jennifer; Prasad, Rama C.; Puyravaud, Jean-Philippe; Razafimahaimodison, Jean-Claude; Reitsma, Jan; dos Santos, João Roberto; Roberto Spironello, Wilson; Romero-Saltos, Hugo; Rovero, Francesco; Rozak, Andes Hamuraby; Ruokolainen, Kalle; Rutishauser, Ervan; Saiter, Felipe; Saner, Philippe; Santos, Braulio A.; Santos, Fernanda; Sarker, Swapan K.; Satdichanh, Manichanh; Schmitt, Christine B.; Schöngart, Jochen; Schulze, Mark; Suganuma, Marcio S.; Sheil, Douglas; da Silva Pinheiro, Eduardo; Sist, Plinio; Stevart, Tariq; Sukumar, Raman; Sun, I.-Fang; Sunderland, Terry; Suresh, H. S.; Suzuki, Eizi; Tabarelli, Marcelo; Tang, Jangwei; Targhetta, Natália; Theilade, Ida; Thomas, Duncan W.; Tchouto, Peguy; Hurtado, Johanna; Valencia, Renato; van Valkenburg, Johan L. C. H.; Van Do, Tran; Vasquez, Rodolfo; Verbeeck, Hans; Adekunle, Victor; Vieira, Simone A.; Webb, Campbell O.; Whitfeld, Timothy; Wich, Serge A.; Williams, John; Wittmann, Florian; Wöll, Hannsjoerg; Yang, Xiaobo; Adou Yao, C. Yves; Yap, Sandra L.; Yoneda, Tsuyoshi; Zahawi, Rakan A.; Zakaria, Rahmad; Zang, Runguo; de Assis, Rafael L.; Garcia Luize, Bruno; Venticinque, Eduardo M.

2015-01-01

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa. PMID:26034279

Influence of regional-scale anthropogenic activity in northeast Asia on seasonal variations of surface ozone and carbon monoxide observed at Oki, Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pochanart, Pakpong; Hirokawa, Jun; Kajii, Yoshizumi; Akimoto, Hajime; Nakao, Makoto

1999-02-01

Surface O3 and CO measurements were carried out at Oki, Japan during March 1994 to February 1996 in order to elucidate the processes determining temporal variations of O3 and CO in the northeast Asian Pacific rim region. The isentropic trajectory analysis was applied to sort out the influences of the air mass exchange under the Asian monsoon system and the regional-scale photochemical buildup of O3. The trajectories were categorized into five groups which cover background and regionally polluted air masses. The seasonal cycles of O3 and CO in the background continental air mass revealed spring maximum-summer minimum with averaged concentrations ranging from 32 and 120 ppb to 45 and 208 ppb, respectively. In contrast, O3 concentrations in the regionally polluted continental air mass ranged from 44 to 57 ppb and showed a winter minimum and a spring-summer-autumn broad maximum, which was characterized by photochemical O3 production due to anthropogenic activities in northeast Asia. CO concentrations in the same air mass showed a spring maximum of 271 ppb and a summer-autumn minimum of 180 ppb. The photochemical buildup of O3 resulting from anthropogenic activities in this region was estimated to be 21 ppb in summer, while its production was insignificant, an average 3 ppb, in winter. A comparison between data in northeast Asia and in Europe shows many similarities, supporting the contention that photochemical buildup of O3 from large-scale precursor emissions in both regions is very significant.

[Minimum Standards for the Spatial Accessibility of Primary Care: A Systematic Review].

PubMed

Voigtländer, S; Deiters, T

2015-12-01

Regional disparities of access to primary care are substantial in Germany, especially in terms of spatial accessibility. However, there is no legally or generally binding minimum standard for the spatial accessibility effort that is still acceptable. Our objective is to analyse existing minimum standards, the methods used as well as their empirical basis. A systematic literature review was undertaken of publications regarding minimum standards for the spatial accessibility of primary care based on a title word and keyword search using PubMed, SSCI/Web of Science, EMBASE and Cochrane Library. 8 minimum standards from the USA, Germany and Austria could be identified. All of them specify the acceptable spatial accessibility effort in terms of travel time; almost half include also distance(s). The travel time maximum, which is acceptable, is 30 min and it tends to be lower in urban areas. Primary care is, according to the identified minimum standards, part of the local area (Nahbereich) of so-called central places (Zentrale Orte) providing basic goods and services. The consideration of means of transport, e. g. public transport, is heterogeneous. The standards are based on empirical studies, consultation with service providers, practical experiences, and regional planning/central place theory as well as on legal or political regulations. The identified minimum standards provide important insights into the effort that is still acceptable regarding spatial accessibility, i. e. travel time, distance and means of transport. It seems reasonable to complement the current planning system for outpatient care, which is based on provider-to-population ratios, by a gravity-model method to identify places as well as populations with insufficient spatial accessibility. Due to a lack of a common minimum standard we propose - subject to further discussion - to begin with a threshold based on the spatial accessibility limit of the local area, i. e. 30 min to the next primary care provider for at least 90% of the regional population. The exceeding of the threshold would necessitate a discussion of a health care deficit and in line with this a potential need for intervention, e. g. in terms of alternative forms of health care provision. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

25 CFR 542.5 - How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction? 542.5 Section 542.5 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES MINIMUM INTERNAL CONTROL STANDARDS § 542.5 How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction? Nothing in this part...

29 CFR 42.20 - Regional Farm Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Labor Coordinated Enforcement Committee. (a) Under the leadership of the ESA Regional Administrator... subagencies; (3) Develop a written coordinated enforcement strategy specifying for the region all information... annual coordination plan. This strategy shall include at a minimum all information called for by § 42.8...

Exclusion of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) from two candidate regions of chromosomes 1 and 6

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

Sarfarazi, M.; Akarsu, A.N.; Barsoum-Homsy, M.

1994-09-01

PCG is a genetically heterogeneous condition in which a significant proportion of families inherit in an autosomally recessive fashion. Although association of PCG with chromosomal abnormalities has been repeatedly reported in the literature, the chromosomal location of this condition is still unknown. Therefore, this study is designed to identify the chromosomal location of the PCG locus by positional mapping. We have identified 80 PCG families with a total of 261 potential informative meiosis. A group of 19 pedigrees with a minimum of 2 affected children in each pedigree and consanguinity in most of the parental generation were selected as ourmore » initial screening panel. This panel consists of a total of 44 affected and 93 unaffected individuals giving a total of 99 informative meiosis, including 5 phase-known. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR), denaturing polyacrylamide gels and silver staining to genotype our families. We first screened for markers on 1q21-q31, the reported location for juvenile primary open-angle glaucoma and excluded a region of 30 cM as the likely site for the PCG locus. Association of PCG with both ring chromosome 6 and HLA-B8 has also been reported. Therefore, we genotyped our PCG panel with PCR applicable markers from 6p21. Significant negative lod scores were obtained for D6S105 (Z = -18.70) and D6S306 (Z = -5.99) at {theta}=0.001. HLA class 1 region has also contained one of the tubulin genes (TUBB) which is an obvious candidate for PCG. Study of this gene revealed a significant negative lod score with PCG (Z = -16.74, {theta}=0.001). A multipoint linkage analysis of markers in this and other regions containing the candidate genes will be presented.« less

Solar Forcing of Regional Climate Change During the Maunder Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shindell, Drew T.; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Mann, Michael E.; Rind, David; Waple, Anne; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

We examine the climate response to solar irradiance changes between the late 17th century Maunder Minimum and the late 18th century. Global average temperature changes are small (about 0.3 to 0.4 C) in both a climate model and empirical reconstructions. However, regional temperature changes are quite large. In the model, these occur primarily through a forced shift toward the low index state of the Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation. This leads to colder temperatures over the Northern Hemisphere continents, especially in winter (1 to 2 C), in agreement with historical records and proxy data for surface temperatures.

Considerations in Managing the Fill Rate of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Reservoir Using a System Dynamics Approach.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keith, Bruce; Ford, David N.; Horton, Radley M.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study is to evaluate simulated fill rate scenarios for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam while taking into account plausible climate change outcomes for the Nile River Basin. The region lacks a comprehensive equitable water resource management strategy, which creates regional security concerns and future possible conflicts. We employ climate estimates from 33 general circulation models within a system dynamics model as a step in moving toward a feasible regional water resource management strategy. We find that annual reservoir fill rates of 8-15% are capable of building hydroelectric capacity in Ethiopia while concurrently ensuring a minimum level of stream flow disruption into Egypt before 2039. Insofar as climate change estimates suggest a modest average increase in stream flow into the Aswan, climate changes through 2039 are unlikely to affect the fill rate policies. However, larger fill rates will have a more detrimental effect on stream flow into the Aswan, particularly beyond a policy of 15%. While this study demonstrates that a technical solution for reservoir fill rates is feasible, the corresponding policy challenge is political. Implementation of water resource management strategies in the Nile River Basin specifically and Africa generally will necessitate a national and regional willingness to cooperate.

Effect of physical inactivity on major noncommunicable diseases and life expectancy in Brazil.

PubMed

de Rezende, Leandro Fornias Machado; Rabacow, Fabiana Maluf; Viscondi, Juliana Yukari Kodaira; Luiz, Olinda do Carmo; Matsudo, Victor Keihan Rodrigues; Lee, I-Min

2015-03-01

In Brazil, one-fifth of the population reports not doing any physical activity. This study aimed to assess the impact of physical inactivity on major noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), all-cause mortality and life expectancy in Brazil, by region and sociodemographic profile. We estimated the population attributable fraction (PAF) for physical inactivity associated with coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, colon cancer, and all-cause mortality. To calculate the PAF, we used the physical inactivity prevalence from the 2008 Brazilian Household Survey and relative risk data in the literature. In Brazil, physical inactivity is attributable to 3% to 5% of all major NCDs and 5.31% of all-cause mortality, ranging from 5.82% in the southeastern region to 2.83% in the southern region. Eliminating physical inactivity would increase the life expectancy by an average of 0.31 years. This reduction would affect mainly individuals with ≥ 15 years of schooling, male, Asian, elderly, residing in an urban area and earning ≥ 2 times the national minimum wage. In Brazil, physical inactivity has a major impact on NCDs and mortality, principally in the southeastern and central-west regions. Public policies and interventions promoting physical activity will significantly improve the health of the population.

Stellar model chromospheres. III - Arcturus /K2 III/

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ayres, T. R.; Linsky, J. L.

1975-01-01

Models are constructed for the upper photosphere and chromosphere of Arcturus based on the H, K, and IR triplet lines of Ca II and the h and k lines of Mg II. The chromosphere model is derived from complete redistribution solutions for a five-level Ca II ion and a two-level Mg II ion. A photospheric model is derived from the Ca II wings using first the 'traditional' complete-redistribution limit and then the more realistic partial-redistribution approximation. The temperature and mass column densities for the temperature-minimum region and the chromosphere-transition region boundary are computed, and the pressure in the transition region and corona are estimated. It is found that the ratio of minimum temperature to effective temperature is approximately 0.77 for Arcturus, Procyon, and the sun, and that mass tends to increase at the temperature minimum with decreasing gravity. The pressure is found to be about 1 percent of the solar value, and the surface brightness of the Arcturus transition region and coronal spectrum is estimated to be much less than for the sun. The partial-redistribution calculation for the Ca II K line indicates that the emission width is at least partially determined by damping rather than Doppler broadening, suggesting a reexamination of previous explanations for the Wilson-Bappu effect.

Robustness of mission plans for unmanned aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niendorf, Moritz

This thesis studies the robustness of optimal mission plans for unmanned aircraft. Mission planning typically involves tactical planning and path planning. Tactical planning refers to task scheduling and in multi aircraft scenarios also includes establishing a communication topology. Path planning refers to computing a feasible and collision-free trajectory. For a prototypical mission planning problem, the traveling salesman problem on a weighted graph, the robustness of an optimal tour is analyzed with respect to changes to the edge costs. Specifically, the stability region of an optimal tour is obtained, i.e., the set of all edge cost perturbations for which that tour is optimal. The exact stability region of solutions to variants of the traveling salesman problems is obtained from a linear programming relaxation of an auxiliary problem. Edge cost tolerances and edge criticalities are derived from the stability region. For Euclidean traveling salesman problems, robustness with respect to perturbations to vertex locations is considered and safe radii and vertex criticalities are introduced. For weighted-sum multi-objective problems, stability regions with respect to changes in the objectives, weights, and simultaneous changes are given. Most critical weight perturbations are derived. Computing exact stability regions is intractable for large instances. Therefore, tractable approximations are desirable. The stability region of solutions to relaxations of the traveling salesman problem give under approximations and sets of tours give over approximations. The application of these results to the two-neighborhood and the minimum 1-tree relaxation are discussed. Bounds on edge cost tolerances and approximate criticalities are obtainable likewise. A minimum spanning tree is an optimal communication topology for minimizing the cumulative transmission power in multi aircraft missions. The stability region of a minimum spanning tree is given and tolerances, stability balls, and criticalities are derived. This analysis is extended to Euclidean minimum spanning trees. This thesis aims at enabling increased mission performance by providing means of assessing the robustness and optimality of a mission and methods for identifying critical elements. Examples of the application to mission planning in contested environments, cargo aircraft mission planning, multi-objective mission planning, and planning optimal communication topologies for teams of unmanned aircraft are given.

PERIOD–COLOR AND AMPLITUDE–COLOR RELATIONS AT MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM LIGHT FOR RR LYRAE STARS IN THE SDSS STRIPE 82 REGION

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

Ngeow, Chow-Choong; Kanbur, Shashi M.; Schrecengost, Zachariah

Investigation of period–color (PC) and amplitude–color (AC) relations at the maximum and minimum light can be used to probe the interaction of the hydrogen ionization front (HIF) with the photosphere and the radiation hydrodynamics of the outer envelopes of Cepheids and RR Lyraes. For example, theoretical calculations indicated that such interactions would occur at minimum light for RR Lyrae and result in a flatter PC relation. In the past, the PC and AC relations have been investigated by using either the ( V − R ){sub MACHO} or ( V − I ) colors. In this work, we extend previousmore » work to other bands by analyzing the RR Lyraes in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82 Region. Multi-epoch data are available for RR Lyraes located within the footprint of the Stripe 82 Region in five ( ugriz ) bands. We present the PC and AC relations at maximum and minimum light in four colors: ( u − g ){sub 0}, ( g − r ){sub 0}, ( r − i ){sub 0}, and ( i − z ){sub 0}, after they are corrected for extinction. We found that the PC and AC relations for this sample of RR Lyraes show a complex nature in the form of flat, linear or quadratic relations. Furthermore, the PC relations at minimum light for fundamental mode RR Lyrae stars are separated according to the Oosterhoff type, especially in the ( g − r ){sub 0} and ( r − i ){sub 0} colors. If only considering the results from linear regressions, our results are quantitatively consistent with the theory of HIF-photosphere interaction for both fundamental and first overtone RR Lyraes.« less

Spatial and Temporal Means and Variability of Arctic Sea Ice Climate Indicators from Satellite Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, G.; Meier, W.; Bliss, A. C.; Steele, M.; Dickinson, S.

2017-12-01

Arctic sea ice has been undergoing rapid and accelerated loss since satellite-based measurements became available in late 1970s, especially the summer ice coverage. For the Arctic as a whole, the long-term trend for the annual sea ice extent (SIE) minimum is about -13.5±2.93 % per decade change relative to the 1979-2015 climate average, while the trends of the annual SIE minimum for the local regions can range from 0 to up to -42 % per decade. This presentation aims to examine and baseline spatial and temporal means and variability of Arctic sea ice climate indicators, such as the annual SIE minimum and maximum, snow/ice melt onset, etc., from a consistent, inter-calibrated, long-term time series of remote sensing sea ice data for understanding regional vulnerability and monitoring ice state for climate adaptation and risk mitigation.

Comparison of imaging modalities and source-localization algorithms in locating the induced activity during deep brain stimulation of the STN.

PubMed

Mideksa, K G; Singh, A; Hoogenboom, N; Hellriegel, H; Krause, H; Schnitzler, A; Deuschl, G; Raethjen, J; Schmidt, G; Muthuraman, M

2016-08-01

One of the most commonly used therapy to treat patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Identifying the most optimal target area for the placement of the DBS electrodes have become one of the intensive research area. In this study, the first aim is to investigate the capabilities of different source-analysis techniques in detecting deep sources located at the sub-cortical level and validating it using the a-priori information about the location of the source, that is, the STN. Secondly, we aim at an investigation of whether EEG or MEG is best suited in mapping the DBS-induced brain activity. To do this, simultaneous EEG and MEG measurement were used to record the DBS-induced electromagnetic potentials and fields. The boundary-element method (BEM) have been used to solve the forward problem. The position of the DBS electrodes was then estimated using the dipole (moving, rotating, and fixed MUSIC), and current-density-reconstruction (CDR) (minimum-norm and sLORETA) approaches. The source-localization results from the dipole approaches demonstrated that the fixed MUSIC algorithm best localizes deep focal sources, whereas the moving dipole detects not only the region of interest but also neighboring regions that are affected by stimulating the STN. The results from the CDR approaches validated the capability of sLORETA in detecting the STN compared to minimum-norm. Moreover, the source-localization results using the EEG modality outperformed that of the MEG by locating the DBS-induced activity in the STN.

Performance evaluation of the inverse dynamics method for optimal spacecraft reorientation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ventura, Jacopo; Romano, Marcello; Walter, Ulrich

2015-05-01

This paper investigates the application of the inverse dynamics in the virtual domain method to Euler angles, quaternions, and modified Rodrigues parameters for rapid optimal attitude trajectory generation for spacecraft reorientation maneuvers. The impact of the virtual domain and attitude representation is numerically investigated for both minimum time and minimum energy problems. Owing to the nature of the inverse dynamics method, it yields sub-optimal solutions for minimum time problems. Furthermore, the virtual domain improves the optimality of the solution, but at the cost of more computational time. The attitude representation also affects solution quality and computational speed. For minimum energy problems, the optimal solution can be obtained without the virtual domain with any considered attitude representation.

Seasonal precipitation forecasting for the Melbourne region using a Self-Organizing Maps approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pidoto, Ross; Wallner, Markus; Haberlandt, Uwe

2017-04-01

The Melbourne region experiences highly variable inter-annual rainfall. For close to a decade during the 2000s, below average rainfall seriously affected the environment, water supplies and agriculture. A seasonal rainfall forecasting model for the Melbourne region based on the novel approach of a Self-Organizing Map has been developed and tested for its prediction performance. Predictor variables at varying lead times were first assessed for inclusion within the model by calculating their importance via Random Forests. Predictor variables tested include the climate indices SOI, DMI and N3.4, in addition to gridded global sea surface temperature data. Five forecasting models were developed: an annual model and four seasonal models, each individually optimized for performance through Pearson's correlation r and the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency. The annual model showed a prediction performance of r = 0.54 and NSE = 0.14. The best seasonal model was for spring, with r = 0.61 and NSE = 0.31. Autumn was the worst performing seasonal model. The sea surface temperature data contributed fewer predictor variables compared to climate indices. Most predictor variables were supplied at a minimum lead, however some predictors were found at lead times of up to a year.

Modifications to intermittent turbulent structures by sheared flow in LAPD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rossi, Giovanni; Schaffner, David; Carter, Troy; Guice, Danny; Bengtson, Roger

2012-10-01

Turbulence in the edge of the Large Plasma Device is generally observed to be intermittent with the production of filamentary structures. Density-enhancement events (called ``blobs'') are localized to the region radially outside the edge of the cathode source while density-depletion events (called ``holes'') are localized to the region radially inward. A flow-shear layer is also observed to be localized to this same spatial region. Control over the edge flow and shear in LAPD is now possible using a biasable limiter. Edge intermittency is observed to be strongly affected by variations in the edge flow, with intermittency (as measured by skewness of the fluctuation amplitude PDF) increasing with edge flow (in either direction) and reaching a minimum when spontaneous edge flow is zeroed-out using biasing. This trend is counter to the observed changes in turbulent particle flux, which peaks at low flow/shear. Two-dimensional cross-conditional averaging confirms the blobs to be detached filamentary structures with a clear dipolar potential structure and a geometry also dependent on the magnitude of sheared flow. More detailed measurements are made to connect the occurrence of these blobs to observed flow-driven coherent modes and their contribution to radial particle flux.

The Colorado River and its deposits downstream from Grand Canyon in Arizona, California, and Nevada

USGS Publications Warehouse

Crow, Ryan S.; Block, Debra L.; Felger, Tracey J.; House, P. Kyle; Pearthree, Philip A.; Gootee, Brian F.; Youberg, Ann M.; Howard, Keith A.; Beard, L. Sue

2018-02-05

Understanding the evolution of the Colorado River system has direct implications for (1) the processes and timing of continental-scale river system integration, (2) the formation of iconic landscapes like those in and around Grand Canyon, and (3) the availability of groundwater resources. Spatial patterns in the position and type of Colorado River deposits, only discernible through geologic mapping, can be used to test models related to Colorado River evolution. This is particularly true downstream from Grand Canyon where ancestral Colorado River deposits are well-exposed. We are principally interested in (1) regional patterns in the minimum and maximum elevation of each depositional unit, which are affected by depositional mechanism and postdepositional deformation; and (2) the volume of each unit, which reflects regional changes in erosion, transport efficiency, and accommodation space. The volume of Colorado River deposits below Grand Canyon has implications for groundwater resources, as the primary regional aquifer there is composed of those deposits. To this end, we are presently mapping Colorado River deposits and compiling and updating older mapping. This preliminary data release shows the current status of our mapping and compilation efforts. We plan to update it at regular intervals in conjunction with ongoing mapping.

The Minimum Binding Energy and Size of Doubly Muonic D3 Molecule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eskandari, M. R.; Faghihi, F.; Mahdavi, M.

The minimum energy and size of doubly muonic D3 molecule, which two of the electrons are replaced by the much heavier muons, are calculated by the well-known variational method. The calculations show that the system possesses two minimum positions, one at typically muonic distance and the second at the atomic distance. It is shown that at the muonic distance, the effective charge, zeff is 2.9. We assumed a symmetric planar vibrational model between two minima and an oscillation potential energy is approximated in this region.

Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, D.; Mitra, S. K.

2014-05-01

This paper investigates the high-temperature corrosion behavior of microstructurally different regions of the weldment of 9 Cr-1 Mo steel used in thermal power plant boiler in SO2 + O2 environment. The weldment is produced by tungsten inert gas welding method, and the different regions of the weldment (weld metal, heat-affected zone, and base metal) are exposed in SO2 + O2 (ratio 2:1) environment at 973 K for 120 h. The reaction kinetics and corrosion growth rate of different regions of weldment in isothermal condition are evaluated. The post corroded scales of the different specimens are studied in SEM, EDS, and XRD. The results indicate that the weld metal shows higher corrosion rate followed by HAZ and base metal. The higher rate of corrosion of weldmetal is mainly attributed to the least protective inner scale of Cr2O3 with minimum Cr Content. This is due to the formation of delta ferrite, which leads to the precipitation of the Cr-based secondary phases and depletes the free Cr from the matrix. The thermal cycles during welding at high temperature are favorable for the formation of delta ferrite. On the other hand, in absence of delta ferrite, the base metal and HAZ regions of the weldment show lower corrosion rate than weld metal. The difference in corrosion rate in the three regions of the weldment is supplemented by post-corroded scale characterizations.

The relationship between solar activity and coronal hole evolution

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolte, J. T.; Davis, J. M.; Gerassimenko, M.; Krieger, A. S.; Solodyna, C. V.; Golub, L.

1978-01-01

The relationship between coronal hole evolution and solar active regions during the Skylab period is examined. A tendency is found for holes to grow or remain stable when the activity nearby, seen as calcium plages and bright regions in X-rays, is predominantly large, long-lived regions. It is also found that there is a significantly higher number of small, short-lived active regions, as indicated by X-ray bright points, in the vicinity of decaying holes than there is near other holes. This is interpreted to mean that holes disappear at least in part because they become filled with many small scale, magnetically closed, X-ray emitting features. This interpretation, together with the observation that the number of X-ray bright points was much larger near solar minimum than it was during the Skylab period, provides a possible explanation for the disappearance of the large, near-equatorial coronal holes at the time of solar minimum.

Distribution and ecophysiology of calanoid copepods in relation to the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern tropical atlantic.

PubMed

Teuber, Lena; Schukat, Anna; Hagen, Wilhelm; Auel, Holger

2013-01-01

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) affect distribution patterns, community structure and metabolic processes of marine organisms. Due to the prominent role of zooplankton, especially copepods, in the marine carbon cycle and the predicted intensification and expansion of OMZs, it is essential to understand the effects of hypoxia on zooplankton distribution and ecophysiology. For this study, calanoid copepods were sampled from different depths (0-1800 m) at eight stations in the eastern tropical Atlantic (3 °47'N to 18 °S) during three expeditions in 2010 and 2011. Their horizontal and vertical distribution was determined and related to the extent and intensity of the OMZ, which increased from north to south with minimum O2 concentrations (12.7 µmol kg(-1)) in the southern Angola Gyre. Calanoid copepod abundance was highest in the northeastern Angola Basin and decreased towards equatorial regions as well as with increasing depth. Maximum copepod biodiversity was observed in the deep waters of the central Angola Basin. Respiration rates and enzyme activities were measured to reveal species-specific physiological adaptations. Enzyme activities of the electron transport system (ETS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) served as proxies for aerobic and anaerobic metabolic activity, respectively. Mass-specific respiration rates and ETS activities decreased with depth of occurrence, consistent with vertical changes in copepod body mass and ambient temperature. Copepods of the families Eucalanidae and Metridinidae dominated within the OMZ. Several of these species showed adaptive characteristics such as lower metabolic rates, additional anaerobic activity and diel vertical migration that enable them to successfully inhabit hypoxic zones.

Distribution and Ecophysiology of Calanoid Copepods in Relation to the Oxygen Minimum Zone in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic

PubMed Central

Teuber, Lena; Schukat, Anna; Hagen, Wilhelm; Auel, Holger

2013-01-01

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) affect distribution patterns, community structure and metabolic processes of marine organisms. Due to the prominent role of zooplankton, especially copepods, in the marine carbon cycle and the predicted intensification and expansion of OMZs, it is essential to understand the effects of hypoxia on zooplankton distribution and ecophysiology. For this study, calanoid copepods were sampled from different depths (0–1800 m) at eight stations in the eastern tropical Atlantic (3°47′N to 18°S) during three expeditions in 2010 and 2011. Their horizontal and vertical distribution was determined and related to the extent and intensity of the OMZ, which increased from north to south with minimum O2 concentrations (12.7 µmol kg−1) in the southern Angola Gyre. Calanoid copepod abundance was highest in the northeastern Angola Basin and decreased towards equatorial regions as well as with increasing depth. Maximum copepod biodiversity was observed in the deep waters of the central Angola Basin. Respiration rates and enzyme activities were measured to reveal species-specific physiological adaptations. Enzyme activities of the electron transport system (ETS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) served as proxies for aerobic and anaerobic metabolic activity, respectively. Mass-specific respiration rates and ETS activities decreased with depth of occurrence, consistent with vertical changes in copepod body mass and ambient temperature. Copepods of the families Eucalanidae and Metridinidae dominated within the OMZ. Several of these species showed adaptive characteristics such as lower metabolic rates, additional anaerobic activity and diel vertical migration that enable them to successfully inhabit hypoxic zones. PMID:24223716

Three Years of the New Minimum Drinking Age Law: The Search for the "Spillover Effect."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Venable, Riley H.; Strano, Donald A.; Watson, Zarus E. P.

Raising the legal drinking age nationally was designed to decrease highway deaths, but it has not seemed to have affected the drinking behavior of 18-20 year old college students. In August of 1995, the Louisiana legislature raised the legal minimum drinking age to 21. This provided a unique opportunity to examine the effects of a change in legal…

Declining functional connectivity and changing hub locations in Alzheimer's disease: an EEG study.

PubMed

Engels, Marjolein M A; Stam, Cornelis J; van der Flier, Wiesje M; Scheltens, Philip; de Waal, Hanneke; van Straaten, Elisabeth C W

2015-08-20

EEG studies have shown that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have weaker functional connectivity than controls, especially in higher frequency bands. Furthermore, active regions seem more prone to AD pathology. How functional connectivity is affected in AD subgroups of disease severity and how network hubs (highly connected brain areas) change is not known. We compared AD patients with different disease severity and controls in terms of functional connections, hub strength and hub location. We studied routine 21-channel resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) of 318 AD patients (divided into tertiles based on disease severity: mild, moderate and severe AD) and 133 age-matched controls. Functional connectivity between EEG channels was estimated with the Phase Lag Index (PLI). From the PLI-based connectivity matrix, the minimum spanning tree (MST) was derived. For each node (EEG channel) in the MST, the betweenness centrality (BC) was computed, a measure to quantify the relative importance of a node within the network. Then we derived color-coded head plots based on BC values and calculated the center of mass (the exact middle had x and y values of 0). A shifting of the hub locations was defined as a shift of the center of mass on the y-axis across groups. Multivariate general linear models with PLI or BC values as dependent variables and the groups as continuous variables were used in the five conventional frequency bands. We found that functional connectivity decreases with increasing disease severity in the alpha band. All, except for posterior, regions showed increasing BC values with increasing disease severity. The center of mass shifted from posterior to more anterior regions with increasing disease severity in the higher frequency bands, indicating a loss of relative functional importance of the posterior brain regions. In conclusion, we observed decreasing functional connectivity in the posterior regions, together with a shifted hub location from posterior to central regions with increasing AD severity. Relative hub strength decreases in posterior regions while other regions show a relative rise with increasing AD severity, which is in accordance with the activity-dependent degeneration theory. Our results indicate that hubs are disproportionally affected in AD.

Annual minimum temperature variations in early 21st century in Punjab, Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jahangir, Misbah; Maria Ali, Syeda; Khalid, Bushra

2016-01-01

Climate change is a key emerging threat to the global environment. It imposes long lasting impacts both at regional and national level. In the recent era, global warming and extreme temperatures have drawn great interest to the scientific community. As in a past century considerable increase in global surface temperatures have been observed and predictions revealed that it will continue in the future. In this regard, current study mainly focused on analysis of regional climatic change (annual minimum temperature trends and its correlation with land surface temperatures in the early 21st century in Punjab) for a period of 1979-2013. The projected model data European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-Interim) has been used for eight Tehsils of Punjab i.e., annual minimum temperatures and annual seasonal temperatures. Trend analysis of annual minimum and annual seasonal temperature in (Khushab, Noorpur, Sargodha, Bhalwal, Sahiwal, Shahpur, Sillanwali and Chinoit) tehsils of Punjab was carried out by Regression analysis and Mann-Kendall test. Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) data was used in comparison with Model data for the month of May from the years 2000, 2009 and 2010. Results showed that no significant trends were observed in annual minimum temperature. A significant change was observed in Noorpur, Bhalwal, Shahpur, Sillanwali, Sahiwal, Chinoit and Sargodha tehsils during spring season, which indicated that this particular season was a transient period of time.

Stock assessment of fish species Labeo rohita, Tor tor and Labeo calbasu in the rivers of Vindhyan region, India.

PubMed

Dwivedi, Amitabh Chandra; Nautiyal, Prakash

2012-03-01

A study was conducted on the economically important fishes Labeo rohita (Hamilton 1822), Tortor (Hamilton 1822) and Labeo calbasu (Hamilton 1822) stocks from the Ken, the Paisuni and the Tons rivers in the Vindhyan region. Asymptotic length was maximum in L. rohita (946, 833 and 962 mm) as compared with T. tor (822, 787 and 946 mm) and minimum in L. calbasu (567, 612 and 692 mm) in the Ken, the Paisuni and the Tons rivers, respectively. The growth coefficient and total mortality was maximum in T. torcompared to L. rohita and minimum in L. calbasu. Fishing mortality was maximum in T. tor (2.9, 4.57 and 3.44) and minimum in L. calbasu (0.51, 1.21 and 1.18) while natural mortality was maximum in L. rohita (0.74, 0.94 and 1.86) and minimum in L. calbasu (0.47, 0.65 and 0.68). Natural mortality indicated that the habitat was more suitable for L. calbasu. Comparatively, fishing pressure was very high in T. tor than L. rohita and L. calbasu. Exploitation rate was maximum in T. tor (0.71, 0.82 and 0.84) compared to L. rohita (0.77, 0.74 and 0.56) and minimum in L. calbasu (0.52, 0.65 and 0.63) in the Ken, Paisuni and Tons rivers, respectively.

Projections for Achieving the Lancet Commission Recommended Surgical Rate of 5000 Operations per 100,000 Population by Region-Specific Surgical Rate Estimates.

PubMed

Uribe-Leitz, Tarsicio; Esquivel, Micaela M; Molina, George; Lipsitz, Stuart R; Verguet, Stéphane; Rose, John; Bickler, Stephen W; Gawande, Atul A; Haynes, Alex B; Weiser, Thomas G

2015-09-01

We previously identified a range of 4344-5028 annual operations per 100,000 people to be related to desirable health outcomes. From this and other evidence, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery recommends a minimum rate of 5000 operations per 100,000 people. We evaluate rates of growth and estimate the time it will take to reach this minimum surgical rate threshold. We aggregated country-level surgical rate estimates from 2004 to 2012 into the twenty-one Global Burden of Disease (GBD) regions. We calculated mean rates of surgery proportional to population size for each year and assessed the rate of growth over time. We then extrapolated the time it will take each region to reach a surgical rate of 5000 operations per 100,000 population based on linear rates of change. All but two regions experienced growth in their surgical rates during the past 8 years. Fourteen regions did not meet the recommended threshold in 2012. If surgical capacity continues to grow at current rates, seven regions will not meet the threshold by 2035. Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa will not reach the recommended threshold until 2124. The rates of growth in surgical service delivery are exceedingly variable. At current rates of surgical and population growth, 6.2 billion people (73% of the world's population) will be living in countries below the minimum recommended rate of surgical care in 2035. A strategy for strengthening surgical capacity is essential if these targets are to be met in a timely fashion as part of the integrated health system development.

Integrated Analysis and Visualization of Group Differences in Structural and Functional Brain Connectivity: Applications in Typical Ageing and Schizophrenia.

PubMed

Langen, Carolyn D; White, Tonya; Ikram, M Arfan; Vernooij, Meike W; Niessen, Wiro J

2015-01-01

Structural and functional brain connectivity are increasingly used to identify and analyze group differences in studies of brain disease. This study presents methods to analyze uni- and bi-modal brain connectivity and evaluate their ability to identify differences. Novel visualizations of significantly different connections comparing multiple metrics are presented. On the global level, "bi-modal comparison plots" show the distribution of uni- and bi-modal group differences and the relationship between structure and function. Differences between brain lobes are visualized using "worm plots". Group differences in connections are examined with an existing visualization, the "connectogram". These visualizations were evaluated in two proof-of-concept studies: (1) middle-aged versus elderly subjects; and (2) patients with schizophrenia versus controls. Each included two measures derived from diffusion weighted images and two from functional magnetic resonance images. The structural measures were minimum cost path between two anatomical regions according to the "Statistical Analysis of Minimum cost path based Structural Connectivity" method and the average fractional anisotropy along the fiber. The functional measures were Pearson's correlation and partial correlation of mean regional time series. The relationship between structure and function was similar in both studies. Uni-modal group differences varied greatly between connectivity types. Group differences were identified in both studies globally, within brain lobes and between regions. In the aging study, minimum cost path was highly effective in identifying group differences on all levels; fractional anisotropy and mean correlation showed smaller differences on the brain lobe and regional levels. In the schizophrenia study, minimum cost path and fractional anisotropy showed differences on the global level and within brain lobes; mean correlation showed small differences on the lobe level. Only fractional anisotropy and mean correlation showed regional differences. The presented visualizations were helpful in comparing and evaluating connectivity measures on multiple levels in both studies.

Modeled intermittency risk for small streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin under climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reynolds, Lindsay V.; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Poff, N. LeRoy

2015-01-01

Longer, drier summers projected for arid and semi-arid regions of western North America under climate change are likely to have enormous consequences for water resources and river-dependent ecosystems. Many climate change scenarios for this region involve decreases in mean annual streamflow, late summer precipitation and late-summer streamflow in the coming decades. Intermittent streams are already common in this region, and it is likely that minimum flows will decrease and some perennial streams will shift to intermittent flow under climate-driven changes in timing and magnitude of precipitation and runoff, combined with increases in temperature. To understand current intermittency among streams and analyze the potential for streams to shift from perennial to intermittent under a warmer climate, we analyzed historic flow records from streams in the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). Approximately two-thirds of 115 gaged stream reaches included in our analysis are currently perennial and the rest have some degree of intermittency. Dry years with combinations of high temperatures and low precipitation were associated with more zero-flow days. Mean annual flow was positively related to minimum flows, suggesting that potential future declines in mean annual flows will correspond with declines in minimum flows. The most important landscape variables for predicting low flow metrics were precipitation, percent snow, potential evapotranspiration, soils, and drainage area. Perennial streams in the UCRB that have high minimum-flow variability and low mean flows are likely to be most susceptible to increasing streamflow intermittency in the future.

Construction of physical maps for the sex-specific regions of papaya sex chromosomes.

PubMed

Na, Jong-Kuk; Wang, Jianping; Murray, Jan E; Gschwend, Andrea R; Zhang, Wenli; Yu, Qingyi; Navajas-Pérez, Rafael; Feltus, F Alex; Chen, Cuixia; Kubat, Zdenek; Moore, Paul H; Jiang, Jiming; Paterson, Andrew H; Ming, Ray

2012-05-08

Papaya is a major fruit crop in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. It is trioecious with three sex forms: male, female, and hermaphrodite. Sex determination is controlled by a pair of nascent sex chromosomes with two slightly different Y chromosomes, Y for male and Yh for hermaphrodite. The sex chromosome genotypes are XY (male), XYh (hermaphrodite), and XX (female). The papaya hermaphrodite-specific Yh chromosome region (HSY) is pericentromeric and heterochromatic. Physical mapping of HSY and its X counterpart is essential for sequencing these regions and uncovering the early events of sex chromosome evolution and to identify the sex determination genes for crop improvement. A reiterate chromosome walking strategy was applied to construct the two physical maps with three bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries. The HSY physical map consists of 68 overlapped BACs on the minimum tiling path, and covers all four HSY-specific Knobs. One gap remained in the region of Knob 1, the only knob structure shared between HSY and X, due to the lack of HSY-specific sequences. This gap was filled on the physical map of the HSY corresponding region in the X chromosome. The X physical map consists of 44 BACs on the minimum tiling path with one gap remaining in the middle, due to the nature of highly repetitive sequences. This gap was filled on the HSY physical map. The borders of the non-recombining HSY were defined genetically by fine mapping using 1460 F2 individuals. The genetically defined HSY spanned approximately 8.5 Mb, whereas its X counterpart extended about 5.4 Mb including a 900 Kb region containing the Knob 1 shared by the HSY and X. The 8.5 Mb HSY corresponds to 4.5 Mb of its X counterpart, showing 4 Mb (89%) DNA sequence expansion. The 89% increase of DNA sequence in HSY indicates rapid expansion of the Yh chromosome after genetic recombination was suppressed 2-3 million years ago. The genetically defined borders coincide with the common BACs on the minimum tiling paths of HSY and X. The minimum tiling paths of HSY and its X counterpart are being used for sequencing these X and Yh-specific regions.

Changing spring phenology dates in the Three-Rivers Headwater Region of the Tibetan Plateau during 1960-2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shuang; Xia, Jiangjiang; Yan, Zhongwei; Yang, Kun

2018-01-01

The variation of the vegetation growing season in the Three-Rivers Headwater Region of the Tibetan Plateau has recently become a controversial topic. One issue is that the estimated local trend in the start of the vegetation growing season (SOS) based on remote sensing data is easily affected by outliers because this data series is short. In this study, we determine that the spring minimum temperature is the most influential factor for SOS. The significant negative linear relationship between the two variables in the region is evaluated using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data for 2000-13. We then reconstruct the SOS time series based on the temperature data for 1960-2013. The regional mean SOS shows an advancing trend of 1.42 d (10 yr)-1 during 1960-2013, with the SOS occurring on the 160th and 151st days in 1960 and 2013, respectively. The advancing trend enhances to 6.04 d (10 yr)-1 during the past 14 years. The spatiotemporal variations of the reconstructed SOS data are similar to those deduced from remote sensing data during the past 14 years. The latter exhibit an even larger regional mean trend of SOS [7.98 d (10 yr-1)] during 2000-13. The Arctic Oscillation is found to have significantly influenced the changing SOS, especially for the eastern part of the region, during 2000-13.

Ion-neutral Coupling During Deep Solar Minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huang, Cheryl Y.; Roddy, Patrick A.; Sutton, Eric K.; Stoneback, Russell; Pfaff, Robert F.; Gentile, Louise C.; Delay, Susan H.

2013-01-01

The equatorial ionosphere under conditions of deep solar minimum exhibits structuring due to tidal forces. Data from instruments carried by the Communication Navigation Outage Forecasting System (CNOFS) which was launched in April 2008 have been analyzed for the first 2 years following launch. The Planar Langmuir Probe (PLP), Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) and Vector Electric Field Investigation (VEFI) all detect periodic structures during the 20082010 period which appear to be tides. However when the tidal features detected by these instruments are compared, there are distinctive and significant differences between the observations. Tides in neutral densities measured by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite were also observed during June 2008. In addition, Broad Plasma Decreases (BPDs) appear as a deep absolute minimum in the plasma and neutral density tidal pattern. These are co-located with regions of large downward-directed ion meridional velocities and minima in the zonal drifts, all on the nightside. The region in which BPDs occur coincides with a peak in occurrence rate of dawn depletions in plasma density observed on the Defense Meterological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft, as well as a minimum in radiance detected by UV imagers on the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) and IMAGE satellites

Improved superficial brain hemorrhage visualization in susceptibility weighted images by constrained minimum intensity projection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro, Marcelo A.; Pham, Dzung L.; Butman, John

2016-03-01

Minimum intensity projection is a technique commonly used to display magnetic resonance susceptibility weighted images, allowing the observer to better visualize hemorrhages and vasculature. The technique displays the minimum intensity in a given projection within a thick slab, allowing different connectivity patterns to be easily revealed. Unfortunately, the low signal intensity of the skull within the thick slab can mask superficial tissues near the skull base and other regions. Because superficial microhemorrhages are a common feature of traumatic brain injury, this effect limits the ability to proper diagnose and follow up patients. In order to overcome this limitation, we developed a method to allow minimum intensity projection to properly display superficial tissues adjacent to the skull. Our approach is based on two brain masks, the largest of which includes extracerebral voxels. The analysis of the rind within both masks containing the actual brain boundary allows reclassification of those voxels initially missed in the smaller mask. Morphological operations are applied to guarantee accuracy and topological correctness, and the mean intensity within the mask is assigned to all outer voxels. This prevents bone from dominating superficial regions in the projection, enabling superior visualization of cortical hemorrhages and vessels.

The study of ozone variations in the Las Vegas metropolitan area using remote sensing information and ground observations

USGS Publications Warehouse

Xian, G.; Crane, M.

2006-01-01

Urban development in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, has grown rapidly in the past fifty years. Associated with this growth has been a change in landscape from natural cover types to developed urban land mixed with planned vegetation canopy throughout in the metropolitan area. Air quality in the Las Vegas Valley has been affected by increases in anthropogenic emissions and concentrations of carbon monoxide, ozone, and criteria pollutants of particular matter. Ozone concentration in the region is generally influenced by synoptic and mesoscale meteorological conditions, as well as regional transport of pollutants from the western side of Las Vegas. Local influences from ground-level nitrogen oxide emissions and vegetation canopy coverage also affect ozone concentration. Multi-year observational data collected by a network of local air monitoring stations in Clark County, Nevada, indicate that ozone maximums develop in May and June, while minimums exist primarily from November to February. Ozone concentrations are high on the west and northwest sides of the valley. A nighttime ozone reduction in the urban area characterizes the heterogeneous features of spatial distribution for average ozone levels in the Las Vegas urban area. The urban vegetation canopy has a locally positive effect by reducing ozone in urban areas. Decreased ozone levels associated with increased urban development density suggests that the highest ozone concentrations are associated with medium- to low-density urban development in Las Vegas.

10 CFR 470.15 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... population; and (2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a). (b) The minimum... year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region. (c) For the purposes...

10 CFR 470.15 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... population; and (2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a). (b) The minimum... year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region. (c) For the purposes...

10 CFR 470.15 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... population; and (2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a). (b) The minimum... year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region. (c) For the purposes...

10 CFR 470.15 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... population; and (2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a). (b) The minimum... year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region. (c) For the purposes...

10 CFR 470.15 - Allocation of funds.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... population; and (2) One-third to be allocated according to the number of proposals received, per hundred thousand of population of the Region, which meet the requirements set forth in § 470.14(a). (b) The minimum... year funds allocated to the Region, divided by the number of States in the Region. (c) For the purposes...

Extracting Vegetation Coverage in Dry-hot Valley Regions Based on Alternating Angle Minimum Algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Y Yang, M.; Wang, J.; Zhang, Q.

2017-07-01

Vegetation coverage is one of the most important indicators for ecological environment change, and is also an effective index for the assessment of land degradation and desertification. The dry-hot valley regions have sparse surface vegetation, and the spectral information about the vegetation in such regions usually has a weak representation in remote sensing, so there are considerable limitations for applying the commonly-used vegetation index method to calculate the vegetation coverage in the dry-hot valley regions. Therefore, in this paper, Alternating Angle Minimum (AAM) algorithm of deterministic model is adopted for selective endmember for pixel unmixing of MODIS image in order to extract the vegetation coverage, and accuracy test is carried out by the use of the Landsat TM image over the same period. As shown by the results, in the dry-hot valley regions with sparse vegetation, AAM model has a high unmixing accuracy, and the extracted vegetation coverage is close to the actual situation, so it is promising to apply the AAM model to the extraction of vegetation coverage in the dry-hot valley regions.

Methods and apparatus for moving and separating materials exhibiting different physical properties

DOEpatents

Peterson, Stephen C.; Brimhall, Owen D.; McLaughlin, Thomas J.; Baker, Charles D.; Sparks, Sam L.

1991-01-01

Methods and apparatus for controlling the movement of materials having different physical properties when one of the materials is a fluid. The invention does not rely on flocculation, sedimentation, centrifugation, the buoyancy of the materials, or any other gravity dependent characteristic, in order to achieve its desired results. The methods of the present invention provide that a first acoustic wave is propagated through a vessel containing the materials. A second acoustic wave, at a frequency different than the first acoustic wave, is also propagated through the vessel so that the two acoustic waves are superimposed upon each other. The superimposition of the two waves creates a beat frequency wave. The beat frequency wave comprises pressure gradients dividing regions of maximum and minimum pressure. The pressure gradients and the regions of maximum and minimum pressure move through space and time at a group velocity. The moving pressure gradients and regions of maximum and minimum pressure act upon the materials so as to move one of the materials towards a predetermined location in the vessel. The present invention provides that the materials may be controllably moved toward a location, aggregated at a particular location, or physically separated from each other.

Methods and apparatus for moving and separating materials exhibiting different physical properties

DOEpatents

Peterson, Stephen C.; Brimhall, Owen D.; McLaughlin, Thomas J.; Baker, Charles D.; Sparks, Sam L.

1988-01-01

Methods and apparatus for controlling the movement of materials having different physical properties when one of the materials is a fluid. The invention does not rely on flocculation, sedimentation, centrifugation, the buoyancy of the materials, or any other gravity dependent characteristic, in order to achieve its desired results. The methods of the present invention provide that a first acoustic wave is progpagated through a vessel containing the materials. A second acoustic wave, at a frequency different than the first acoustic wave, is also propagated through the vessel so that the two acoustic waves are superimposed upon each other. The superimposition of the two waves creates a beat frequency wave. The beat frequency wave comprises pressure gradients dividing regions of maximum and minimum pressure. The pressure gradients and the regions of maximum and minimum pressure move through space and time at a group velocity. The moving pressure gradients and regions of maximum and minimum pressure act upon the marterials so as to move one of the materials towards a predetermined location in the vessel. The present invention provides that the materials may be controllably moved toward a location, aggreated at a particular location, or physically separated from each other.

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

Guha, Saikat; Shapiro, Jeffrey H.; Erkmen, Baris I.

Previous work on the classical information capacities of bosonic channels has established the capacity of the single-user pure-loss channel, bounded the capacity of the single-user thermal-noise channel, and bounded the capacity region of the multiple-access channel. The latter is a multiple-user scenario in which several transmitters seek to simultaneously and independently communicate to a single receiver. We study the capacity region of the bosonic broadcast channel, in which a single transmitter seeks to simultaneously and independently communicate to two different receivers. It is known that the tightest available lower bound on the capacity of the single-user thermal-noise channel is thatmore » channel's capacity if, as conjectured, the minimum von Neumann entropy at the output of a bosonic channel with additive thermal noise occurs for coherent-state inputs. Evidence in support of this minimum output entropy conjecture has been accumulated, but a rigorous proof has not been obtained. We propose a minimum output entropy conjecture that, if proved to be correct, will establish that the capacity region of the bosonic broadcast channel equals the inner bound achieved using a coherent-state encoding and optimum detection. We provide some evidence that supports this conjecture, but again a full proof is not available.« less

Assessing climate change over the Marche Region (central Italy) from 1961 to 2100: projected changes in mean temperature and future heat waves characterization (with a statistical evaluation of RCMs local performance)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sangelantoni, Lorenzo; Coluccelli, Alessandro; Russo, Aniello

2014-05-01

Marche region (central Italy, facing the Adriatic Sea) climate dynamics are connected to the Mediterranean basin, identified as one of the most sensitive areas to ongoing climate change. Taken into account difficulties to carry out an overarching assessment over the heterogeneous Mediterranean climate-change issues frame, we opted toward a consistent regional bordered study. Projected changes in mean seasonal temperature, with an introductory multi-statistical model performance evaluation and a future heat waves intensity and duration characterization, are here presented. Multi-model projections over Marche Region, on daily mean, minimum and maximum temperature, have been extracted from the outputs of a set of 7 Regional Climate Models (RCMs) over Europe run by several research Institutes participating to the EU ENSEMBLE project. These climate simulations from 1961 to 2100 refer to the boundary conditions of the IPCC A1B emission scenario, and have a horizontal resolution of 25km × 25km. Furthermore, two RCMs outputs from Med-CORDEX project, with a higher horizontal resolution (12km x 12km) and boundary conditions provided by the new Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 and 8.5, are considered. Observed daily mean, minimum and maximum temperature over Marche region domain have been extracted from E-OBS gridded data set (Version 9.0) referring to the period 1970-2004. This twofold work firstly provides a concise statistical summary of how well employed RCMs reproduce observed (1970-2004) mean temperature over Marche region in term of correlation, root-mean-square difference, and ratio of their variances, graphically displayed on a 2D-Taylor diagram. This multi-statistical model performance evaluation easily allows: - to compare the agreement with observation of the 9 individual RCMs - to compare RCMs with different horizontal resolution (12 km and 25 km) - to evaluate the improvement provided by the RCMs ensemble. Results indicate that the 9 RCMs ensemble provides the statistically best reproduction of the observed interannual mean temperature distribution. Secondly, we assessed projected seasonal ensemble average change in mean temperature referring to the ending 21st century obtained by comparison between 2071-2100 and 1961-1990 time slice modeled mean value over Marche region. Results emphasize summer as the season most affected by projected temperature increase (+4.5°C / +5.0°C), followed by spring season temperature increase (+3.5°C / +4.0°C). Finally, considering that some of the most severe health hazards arise from multi-day heat-waves, associated with both hot day-time and warm night-time temperatures, we assessed modeled trend (1961-2100) of the heat waves intensity and duration: intensity through the temporal evolution of the summer (J J A months) maximum and minimum temperature 90th percentile, heat waves length by temporal evolution of two detected threshold-based indices (annual maximum number of consecutive days characterized by Tmin >= 24°C and annual maximum number of consecutive days characterized by Tmax > = 32°C). Same analysis for both coastal and mountainous areas has been conducted. Future research plans aim to involve ensemble RCMs simulation, processed with bias correction methods, in forcing climate change impacts models, to provide a detailed regional heat waves impacts scenario, mainly over agriculture and health sectors.

The return of international labour migrants in the ESCAP Region.

PubMed

1986-03-01

The social phenomenon of massive temporary international labor migration from the ESCAP region has emerged extremely rapidly. Within 10 years, the number of persons from ESCAP countries grew from a negligible one to 3.5 million. Related research and government policies have lagged behind this latest surge in migration. Most research conducted has been small-scale and lacks an analytical or theoretical framework. Policy formulation for temporary labor migration is difficult because most of the rapid growth in the industry has occurred as a result of private efforts, with a minimum of government intervention. It is now difficult, for the government to provide effective regulations or measures to stimulate and assist the process. Regulations on compulsory remittances or overseas minimum wages have proved to be unrealistic and, if not rescinded, are routinely circumvented. The most effective policies to assist return migrants may not be those which are intended to do so, but those which control the earlier stages of the migration process, such as recruitment, working conditions, and banking arrangements. The most valuable policies may also include those affecting education, training, employment, and general socioeconomic growth. Governments are recommended to provide social services for migrants and their families who are experiencing problems, and to institute community programs in areas with a large number of labor migrants. Governmental efforts to promote forms of labor migration beneficial to the workers would be valuable and should include measures to identify overseas labor markets for employing its nationals, government ot government labor contracts, and government participation in joint-venture projects. International migration should be analyzed in the context of theories and social change in order for governments to formulate effective measures for the reintegration of returning workers. Labor migration on the current scale has many social implications for the sending countries; relationships between employers and employees, the government and private sectors, and white and blue collar workers are affected. Social change and technological innovation will become more rapid, women's status and family roles will change markedly, and behavior is likely to become less conformist and more individualistic.

[Temporal change in annual air temperature and heat island effect in a coastal city and an inland city at mid-latitude in China during 1956-1998].

PubMed

Chao, Lu-men; Sun, Jian-xin

2009-12-01

Temporal changes in air temperature and urban heat island (UHI) effects during 1956-1998 were compared between a coastal city, Ji' nan, and an inland city, Xi' an, which were similar in latitude, size and development. During 1956-1978, except that the annual mean minimum temperature in Ji' nan increased by 0.37 degrees C x 10 a(-1), the temperature variables in the two cities did not display any apparent trend. During 1979-1998, all temperature variables of the two cities showed an increasing trend. Comparing with that in Ji' nan, the increasing rate of annual mean maximum temperature and annual mean temperature in Xi' an was greater, but that of annual mean minimum temperature was smaller. In the two cities, heat island effect occurred during 1956-1978 but without any apparent trend, whereas during 1979-1998, this effect increased with time, especially in Xi' an where the annual mean minimum temperature and annual mean temperature increased by 0.22 degrees C x 10 a(-1) and 0.32 degrees C x 10 a(-1), respectively. Both the level and the inter-annual variation of the heat island effect were much greater in Ji' nan than in Xi' an, but the increasing rate of this effect was greater in Xi' an than in Ji' nan. Obvious differences were observed in the increasing rate of annual mean maximum air temperature, annual mean air temperature, and annual mean minimum temperature as well as the heat island effect in Ji' nan, whereas negligible differences were found in Xi' an. Among the three temperature variables, annual mean minimum temperature displayed the most obvious increasing trend and was most affected by heat island effect, while annual mean maximum temperature was most variable inter-annually. Geographical location not only affected the magnitude of urban warming, but also affected the mode of urban warming and the strength of heat island effect.

Potential impacts of a future Grand Solar Minimum on decadal regional climate change and interannual hemispherical climate variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spiegl, Tobias; Langematz, Ulrike

2016-04-01

The political, technical and socio-economic developments of the next decades will determine the magnitude of 21st century climate change, since they are inextricably linked to future anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. To assess the range of uncertainty that is related to these developments, it is common to assume different emission scenarios for 21st climate projections. While the uncertainties associated with the anthropogenic greenhouse gas forcing have been studied intensely, the contribution of natural climate drivers (particularly solar variability) to recent and future climate change are subject of intense debate. The past 1,000 years featured at least 5 excursions (lasting 60-100 years) of exceptionally low solar activity, induced by a weak magnetic field of the Sun, so called Grand Solar Minima. While the global temperature response to such a decrease in solar activity is assumed to be rather small, nonlinear mechanisms in the climate system might amplify the regional temperature signal. This hypothesis is supported by the last Grand Solar Minimum (the Maunder Minimum, 1645-1715) which coincides with the Little Ice Age, an epoch which is characterized by severe cold and hardship over Europe, North America and Asia. The long-lasting minimum of Solar Cycle 23 as well as the overall weak maximum of Cycle 24 reveal the possibility for a return to Grand Solar Minimum conditions within the next decades. The quantification of the implications of such a projected decrease in solar forcing is of ultimate importance, given the on-going public discussion of the role of carbon dioxide emissions for global warming, and the possible role a cooling due to decreasing solar activity could be ascribed to. Since there is still no clear consensus about the actual strength of the Maunder Minimum, we used 3 acknowledged solar reconstruction datasets that show significant differences in both, total solar irradiance (TSI) and spectral irradiance (SSI) to simulate a future Grand Solar Minimum under RCP6.0 conditions. The results obtained were compared to a RCP6.0 simulation that was carried out using the CCMI recommendations for a 21st century solar forcing. We used the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) chemistry-climate model that incorporates interactive ozone chemistry, a high-resolution shortwave radiation scheme, a high model top (0.01 hPa) and is coupled to a 3D ocean general circulation model. We focused on the regional responses to a future Grand Solar Minimum and interannual variability patterns (i.e. the Northern and Southern Annular Mode (NAM/SAM)).

Patterns of Song across Natural and Anthropogenic Soundscapes Suggest That White-Crowned Sparrows Minimize Acoustic Masking and Maximize Signal Content.

PubMed

Derryberry, Elizabeth P; Danner, Raymond M; Danner, Julie E; Derryberry, Graham E; Phillips, Jennifer N; Lipshutz, Sara E; Gentry, Katherine; Luther, David A

2016-01-01

Soundscapes pose both evolutionarily recent and long-standing sources of selection on acoustic communication. We currently know more about the impact of evolutionarily recent human-generated noise on communication than we do about how natural sounds such as pounding surf have shaped communication signals over evolutionary time. Based on signal detection theory, we hypothesized that acoustic phenotypes will vary with both anthropogenic and natural background noise levels and that similar mechanisms of cultural evolution and/or behavioral flexibility may underlie this variation. We studied song characteristics of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) across a noise gradient that includes both anthropogenic and natural sources of noise in San Francisco and Marin counties, California, USA. Both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes contain high amplitude low frequency noise (traffic or surf, respectively), so we predicted that birds would produce songs with higher minimum frequencies in areas with higher amplitude background noise to avoid auditory masking. We also anticipated that song minimum frequencies would be higher than the projected lower frequency limit of hearing based on site-specific masking profiles. Background noise was a strong predictor of song minimum frequency, both within a local noise gradient of three urban sites with the same song dialect and cultural evolutionary history, and across the regional noise gradient, which encompasses 11 urban and rural sites, several dialects, and several anthropogenic and natural sources of noise. Among rural sites alone, background noise tended to predict song minimum frequency, indicating that urban sites were not solely responsible for driving the regional pattern. These findings support the hypothesis that songs vary with local and regional soundscapes regardless of the source of noise. Song minimum frequency from five core study sites was also higher than the lower frequency limit of hearing at each site, further supporting the hypothesis that songs vary to transmit through noise in local soundscapes. Minimum frequencies leveled off at noisier sites, suggesting that minimum frequencies are constrained to an upper limit, possibly to retain the information content of wider bandwidths. We found evidence that site noise was a better predictor of song minimum frequency than territory noise in both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes, suggesting that cultural evolution rather than immediate behavioral flexibility is responsible for local song variation. Taken together, these results indicate that soundscapes shape song phenotype across both evolutionarily recent and long-standing soundscapes.

Patterns of Song across Natural and Anthropogenic Soundscapes Suggest That White-Crowned Sparrows Minimize Acoustic Masking and Maximize Signal Content

PubMed Central

Derryberry, Graham E.; Phillips, Jennifer N.; Lipshutz, Sara E.; Gentry, Katherine; Luther, David A.

2016-01-01

Soundscapes pose both evolutionarily recent and long-standing sources of selection on acoustic communication. We currently know more about the impact of evolutionarily recent human-generated noise on communication than we do about how natural sounds such as pounding surf have shaped communication signals over evolutionary time. Based on signal detection theory, we hypothesized that acoustic phenotypes will vary with both anthropogenic and natural background noise levels and that similar mechanisms of cultural evolution and/or behavioral flexibility may underlie this variation. We studied song characteristics of white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys nuttalli) across a noise gradient that includes both anthropogenic and natural sources of noise in San Francisco and Marin counties, California, USA. Both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes contain high amplitude low frequency noise (traffic or surf, respectively), so we predicted that birds would produce songs with higher minimum frequencies in areas with higher amplitude background noise to avoid auditory masking. We also anticipated that song minimum frequencies would be higher than the projected lower frequency limit of hearing based on site-specific masking profiles. Background noise was a strong predictor of song minimum frequency, both within a local noise gradient of three urban sites with the same song dialect and cultural evolutionary history, and across the regional noise gradient, which encompasses 11 urban and rural sites, several dialects, and several anthropogenic and natural sources of noise. Among rural sites alone, background noise tended to predict song minimum frequency, indicating that urban sites were not solely responsible for driving the regional pattern. These findings support the hypothesis that songs vary with local and regional soundscapes regardless of the source of noise. Song minimum frequency from five core study sites was also higher than the lower frequency limit of hearing at each site, further supporting the hypothesis that songs vary to transmit through noise in local soundscapes. Minimum frequencies leveled off at noisier sites, suggesting that minimum frequencies are constrained to an upper limit, possibly to retain the information content of wider bandwidths. We found evidence that site noise was a better predictor of song minimum frequency than territory noise in both anthropogenic and natural soundscapes, suggesting that cultural evolution rather than immediate behavioral flexibility is responsible for local song variation. Taken together, these results indicate that soundscapes shape song phenotype across both evolutionarily recent and long-standing soundscapes. PMID:27128443

[Distribution characteristics of dissolved oxygen and its affecting factors in the Pearl River Estuary during the summer of the extremely drought hydrological year 2011].

PubMed

Ye, Feng; Huang, Xiao-ping; Shi, Zhen; Liu, Qing-xi

2013-05-01

More and more attention has focused on assessing impacts of extreme hydrologic events on estuarine ecosystem under the background of climate change. Based on a summer cruise conducted in the Pearl River Estuary in 2011 (extreme drought event), we have investigated the spatial distribution of dissolved oxygen (DO) and its relationships to water column stability, nutrient concentrations, and organic matter; besides, the major reason which caused the oxygen depletion was discussed. Under the influence of the extreme drought event, low bottom water dissolved oxygen was apparent in regions characterized by great depths, with an oxygen minimum value of 1.38 mg x L(-1). Statistical analysis shows significant correlations among deltaDO, deltaT, deltaS and deltaPOC. A comparison was conducted to show the mechanisms of oxygen depletion during the summers of 1999, 2009 and 2011, respectively. The result indicates that prolonged residence time of water due to the extremely low discharge and the subsequently decomposition of organic substance are major factors causing the formation of hypoxia during the summer drought in 2011. Despite the changing nutrient and organic matter regime in the Pearl River Estuary, there was no apparent trend in the minimum values of DO over the past 2 decades.

Deepening Minimums in Phase Space Density as an Evidence of the Localied Loss of Electrons by EMIC waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shprits, Y.; Aseev, N.; Drozdov, A.; Kellerman, A. C.; Usanova, M.

2017-12-01

Recent observations and modeling provided significant improvements in our understanding of the energization mechanisms for the electrons in the radiation belts. However, loss processes remain poorly understood. In this study we present analysis of the evolution of electron radial profiles of fluxes, pitch angle and energy distributions. Our modeling and observational results show that different loss mechanisms are operational at different energies. Global simulations at all energies, radial distances, and pitch angels are compared to Van Allen Probes observations of electron fluxes. VERB 3D model including various waves is capable of reproducing the dynamics of pitch angle distributions and energy spectra, demonstrating which loss mechanisms dominate at different energies. Analysis of the profiles of phase space density provides additional confirmation for our conclusions and presents a novel technique that identifies the region of intense local loss due to EMIC wave scattering. This technique allows us to identify the minimum energy affected by the EMIC loss and the location of the location of the EMIC-induced loss. Further comparison with theoretical estimates confirms that 1-2 MeV electrons cannot be effectively scattered by EMIC waves and most pronounced effect of EMIC waves is seen above 4MeV.

Water-level fluctuation in wetlands as a function of landscape condition in the prairie pothole region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Euliss, Ned H.; Mushet, David M.

1996-01-01

We evaluated water-level fluctuation (maximum water depth - minimum water depth/catchment size) in 12 temporary, 12 seasonal, and 12 semipermanent wetlands equally distributed among landscapes dominated by tilled agricultural lands and landscapes dominated by grassland. Water levels fluctuated an average of 14.14 cm in wetlands within tilled agricultural landscapes, while water levels in wetlands within grassland landscapes fluctuated an average of only 4.27 cm. Tillage reduces the natural capacity of catch meets to mitigate surface flow into wetland basins during precipitation events, resulting in greater water-level fluctuations in wetlands with tilled catchments. In addition, water levels in temporary and seasonal wetlands fluctuated an average of 13.74 cm and 11.82 cm, respectively, while water levels in semipermanent wetlands fluctuated only 2.77 cm. Semipermanent wetlands receive a larger proportion of their water as input from ground water than do either temporary or seasonal wetlands. This input of water from the ground has a stabilizing effect on water-levels of semipermanent wetlands. Increases in water-level fluctuation due to tillage or due to alteration of ground-water hydrology may ultimately affect the composition of a wetland's flora and fauna. In this paper, we also describe an inexpensive device for determining absolute maximum and minimum water levels in wetlands.

A superconducting magnet mandrel with minimum symmetry laminations for proton therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caspi, S.; Arbelaez, D.; Brouwer, L.; Dietderich, D. R.; Felice, H.; Hafalia, R.; Prestemon, S.; Robin, D.; Sun, C.; Wan, W.

2013-08-01

The size and weight of ion-beam cancer therapy gantries are frequently determined by a large aperture, curved, ninety degree, dipole magnet. The higher fields achievable with superconducting technology promise to greatly reduce the size and weight of this magnet and therefore also the gantry as a whole. This paper reports advances in the design of winding mandrels for curved, canted cosine-theta (CCT) magnets in the context of a preliminary magnet design for a proton gantry. The winding mandrel is integral to the CCT design and significantly affects the construction cost, stress management, winding feasibility, eddy current power losses, and field quality of the magnet. A laminated mandrel design using a minimum symmetry in the winding path is introduced and its feasibility demonstrated by a rapid prototype model. Piecewise construction of the mandrel using this laminated approach allows for increased manufacturing techniques and material choices. Sectioning the mandrel also reduces eddy currents produced during field changes accommodating the scan of beam energies during treatment. This symmetry concept can also greatly reduce the computational resources needed for 3D finite element calculations. It is shown that the small region of symmetry forming the laminations combined with periodic boundary conditions can model the entire magnet geometry disregarding the ends.

20 CFR 655.0 - Scope and purpose of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. These factual determinations... job opportunity will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S... employment under conditions below the established minimum levels. Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. v. Usery...

20 CFR 655.0 - Scope and purpose of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. These factual determinations... job opportunity will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S... employment under conditions below the established minimum levels. Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. v. Usery...

20 CFR 655.0 - Scope and purpose of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. These factual determinations... job opportunity will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S... employment under conditions below the established minimum levels. Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. v. Usery...

20 CFR 655.0 - Scope and purpose of part.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S. workers. These factual determinations... job opportunity will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of similarly employed U.S... employment under conditions below the established minimum levels. Florida Sugar Cane League, Inc. v. Usery...

Spring-Summer Temperatures Since AD 1780 Reconstructed from Stable Oxygen Isotope Ratios in White Spruce Tree-Rings from the Mackenzie Delta, Northwestern Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Porter, Trevor J.; Pisaric, Michael F. J.; Field, Robert D.; Kokelj, Steven V.; Edwards, Thomas W. D.; deMontigny, Peter; Healy, Richard; LeGrande, Allegra N.

2013-01-01

High-latitude delta(exp 18)O archives deriving from meteoric water (e.g., tree-rings and ice-cores) can provide valuable information on past temperature variability, but stationarity of temperature signals in these archives depends on the stability of moisture source/trajectory and precipitation seasonality, both of which can be affected by atmospheric circulation changes. A tree-ring delta(exp 18)O record (AD 1780-2003) from the Mackenzie Delta is evaluated as a temperature proxy based on linear regression diagnostics. The primary source of moisture for this region is the North Pacific and, thus, North Pacific atmospheric circulation variability could potentially affect the tree-ring delta(exp 18)O-temperature signal. Over the instrumental period (AD 1892-2003), tree-ring delta(exp 18)O explained 29% of interannual variability in April-July minimum temperatures, and the explained variability increases substantially at lower-frequencies. A split-period calibration/verification analysis found the delta(exp 18)O-temperature relation was time-stable, which supported a temperature reconstruction back to AD 1780. The stability of the delta(exp 18)O-temperature signal indirectly implies the study region is insensitive to North Pacific circulation effects, since North Pacific circulation was not constant over the calibration period. Simulations from the NASA-GISS ModelE isotope-enabled general circulation model confirm that meteoric delta(exp 18)O and precipitation seasonality in the study region are likely insensitive to North Pacific circulation effects, highlighting the paleoclimatic value of tree-ring and possibly other delta(exp 18)O records from this region. Our delta(exp 18)O-based temperature reconstruction is the first of its kind in northwestern North America, and one of few worldwide, and provides a long-term context for evaluating recent climate warming in the Mackenzie Delta region.

Antioxidant response of ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda to harmful dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum exposure and its histological change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Cuimin; Ren, Xianyun; Ge, Qianqian; Wang, Jiajia; Li, Jian

2017-04-01

The dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum, one of the most widespread red tide causing species, affects marine aquaculture and ecosystems worldwide. In this study, ridgetail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda were exposed to P. minimum cells (5 × 104 cells mL-1) to investigate its harmful effects on the shrimp. Antioxidant activities and histological changes were used as indicators of health status of the shrimp. In 72 hours, the mortality of E. carinicauda was not affected, but its antioxidant response and histology were statistically different from those of control. Elevated superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities and depressed catalase (CAT) activity were observed in gill; while increased SOD, glutathione S-transferase (GST), CAT activities and modulated GPX activity were observed in hepatopancreas. Thus, antioxidant activities in gill and hepatopancreas seem to respond differentially to harmful alga exposure. Increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content in early a few hours indicates the damage of the antioxidant defense system. Although MDA content recovered to a low level thereafter, a series of histological abnormalities including accumulation or infiltration of hemocytes, tissue lesions and necrosis were discovered in gill and hepatopancreas. Exposure to P. minimum induced sublethal effects on E. carinicauda, including temporary oxidative damage and histological injury.

Household food security and adequacy of child diet in the food insecure region north in Ghana.

PubMed

Agbadi, Pascal; Urke, Helga Bjørnøy; Mittelmark, Maurice B

2017-01-01

Adequate diet is of crucial importance for healthy child development. In food insecure areas of the world, the provision of adequate child diet is threatened in the many households that sometimes experience having no food at all to eat (household food insecurity). In the context of food insecure northern Ghana, this study investigated the relationship between level of household food security and achievement of recommended child diet as measured by WHO Infant and Young Child Feeding Indicators. Using data from households and 6-23 month old children in the 2012 Feed the Future baseline survey (n = 871), descriptive analyses assessed the prevalence of minimum meal frequency; minimum dietary diversity, and minimum acceptable diet. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of minimum acceptable diet with household food security, while accounting for the effects of child sex and age, maternal -age, -dietary diversity, -literacy and -education, household size, region, and urban-rural setting. Household food security was assessed with the Household Hunger Scale developed by USAID's Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project. Forty-nine percent of children received minimum recommended meal frequency, 31% received minimum dietary diversity, and 17% of the children received minimum acceptable diet. Sixty-four percent of the children lived in food secure households, and they were significantly more likely than children in food insecure households to receive recommended minimum acceptable diet [O.R = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.82]. However, in 80% of food secure households, children did not receive a minimal acceptable diet by WHO standards. Children living in food secure households were more likely than others to receive a minimum acceptable diet. Yet living in a food secure household was no guarantee of child dietary adequacy, since eight of 10 children in food secure households received less than a minimum acceptable diet. The results call for research into factors besides household food security in the search for determinants of child diet adequacy. In this study at least, household food security was a very weak marker of child diet adequacy. This finding is of significance to public health practice, since it calls into question any assumption that having enough food in a household necessarily results in adequately fed children.

Temperature fine-tunes Mediterranean Arabidopsis thaliana life-cycle phenology geographically.

PubMed

Marcer, A; Vidigal, D S; James, P M A; Fortin, M-J; Méndez-Vigo, B; Hilhorst, H W M; Bentsink, L; Alonso-Blanco, C; Picó, F X

2018-01-01

To understand how adaptive evolution in life-cycle phenology operates in plants, we need to unravel the effects of geographic variation in putative agents of natural selection on life-cycle phenology by considering all key developmental transitions and their co-variation patterns. We address this goal by quantifying the temperature-driven and geographically varying relationship between seed dormancy and flowering time in the annual Arabidopsis thaliana across the Iberian Peninsula. We used data on genetic variation in two major life-cycle traits, seed dormancy (DSDS50) and flowering time (FT), in a collection of 300 A. thaliana accessions from the Iberian Peninsula. The geographically varying relationship between life-cycle traits and minimum temperature, a major driver of variation in DSDS50 and FT, was explored with geographically weighted regressions (GWR). The environmentally varying correlation between DSDS50 and FT was analysed by means of sliding window analysis across a minimum temperature gradient. Maximum local adjustments between minimum temperature and life-cycle traits were obtained in the southwest Iberian Peninsula, an area with the highest minimum temperatures. In contrast, in off-southwest locations, the effects of minimum temperature on DSDS50 were rather constant across the region, whereas those of minimum temperature on FT were more variable, with peaks of strong local adjustments of GWR models in central and northwest Spain. Sliding window analysis identified a minimum temperature turning point in the relationship between DSDS50 and FT around a minimum temperature of 7.2 °C. Above this minimum temperature turning point, the variation in the FT/DSDS50 ratio became rapidly constrained and the negative correlation between FT and DSDS50 did not increase any further with increasing minimum temperatures. The southwest Iberian Peninsula emerges as an area where variation in life-cycle phenology appears to be restricted by the duration and severity of the hot summer drought. The temperature-driven varying relationship between DSDS50 and FT detected environmental boundaries for the co-evolution between FT and DSDS50 in A. thaliana. In the context of global warming, we conclude that A. thaliana phenology from the southwest Iberian Peninsula, determined by early flowering and deep seed dormancy, might become the most common life-cycle phenotype for this annual plant in the region. © 2017 German Botanical Society and The Royal Botanical Society of the Netherlands.

Household food security and adequacy of child diet in the food insecure region north in Ghana

PubMed Central

Agbadi, Pascal; Urke, Helga Bjørnøy; Mittelmark, Maurice B.

2017-01-01

Background and objectives Adequate diet is of crucial importance for healthy child development. In food insecure areas of the world, the provision of adequate child diet is threatened in the many households that sometimes experience having no food at all to eat (household food insecurity). In the context of food insecure northern Ghana, this study investigated the relationship between level of household food security and achievement of recommended child diet as measured by WHO Infant and Young Child Feeding Indicators. Methods Using data from households and 6–23 month old children in the 2012 Feed the Future baseline survey (n = 871), descriptive analyses assessed the prevalence of minimum meal frequency; minimum dietary diversity, and minimum acceptable diet. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association of minimum acceptable diet with household food security, while accounting for the effects of child sex and age, maternal -age, -dietary diversity, -literacy and -education, household size, region, and urban-rural setting. Household food security was assessed with the Household Hunger Scale developed by USAID’s Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project. Results Forty-nine percent of children received minimum recommended meal frequency, 31% received minimum dietary diversity, and 17% of the children received minimum acceptable diet. Sixty-four percent of the children lived in food secure households, and they were significantly more likely than children in food insecure households to receive recommended minimum acceptable diet [O.R = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.35, 0.82]. However, in 80% of food secure households, children did not receive a minimal acceptable diet by WHO standards. Conclusions Children living in food secure households were more likely than others to receive a minimum acceptable diet. Yet living in a food secure household was no guarantee of child dietary adequacy, since eight of 10 children in food secure households received less than a minimum acceptable diet. The results call for research into factors besides household food security in the search for determinants of child diet adequacy. In this study at least, household food security was a very weak marker of child diet adequacy. This finding is of significance to public health practice, since it calls into question any assumption that having enough food in a household necessarily results in adequately fed children. PMID:28494024

Tropical Sumatra Squalls drive stable isotope ratios of precipitation in Singapore

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, S.; Niezgoda, K.; Kurita, N.; Wang, X.; Rubin, C. M.; Goodkin, N.

2016-12-01

Sumatra Squalls, organized bands of thunderstorms, are the dominant mesoscale convective systems in the study area during the inter-monsoon and southwest monsoon season. Accompanied by gusty winds and heavy rains, the squalls can be very destructive, affecting Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and Singapore. To understand how they affect precipitation and its stable isotopes, we continuously analyzed real-time δ-values of precipitation during the squalls in 2015 and also obtained δ-values of daily precipitation. We expect the study will improve our knowledge on cloud dynamics, water cycle during the squalls, and the drive of δ-value of precipitation in the region. We found that δ18O values of precipitation during the squalls mainly exhibit a "V" shape pattern or less commonly a "W" shape pattern. Change in the δ18O value during a single event is approximately 1 to 6‰, with the lowest values mostly observed in the stratiform zone. These observations can be largely explained by the mesoscale subsidence and rain re-evaporation in combination with other processes, such as the entrainment of ambient air. In some events, however, the minimum δ-value occurs in the convection core and coincides with 90% of the total event rainfall, implying a control of rain amount and the dominance of condensation mechanism during these events. Daily precipitation is characterized by periodic negative shifts in its δ18O value. Moreover, the shifts are associated with Sumatra Squalls. Compared to 2014, the frequency of the squalls and corresponding negative shifts in δ-values in 2015 is lower probably due to a weak monsoon. During the ENSO event in 2015, the region was generally drier as a result of reduced moisture convergence with the shift of convection in the western Pacific to the central and eastern Pacific. Therefore, Pacific warm/cold events likely affect the formation of the Sumatra Squalls in the region.

Influence of Desert Dust Intrusions on Ground-based and Satellite Derived Ultraviolet Irradiance in Southeastern Spain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krotkov, Nickolay A.; Anton, Manuel; Valenzuela, Antonio; Roman, Roberto; Lyamani, Hassan; Arola, Antti; Olmo, Francisco J.; Alados-Arboledas

2012-01-01

The desert dust aerosols strongly affect propagation of solar radiation through the atmosphere, reducing surface irradiance available for photochemistry and photosynthesis. This paper evaluates effects of desert dust on surface UV erythemal irradiance (UVER), as measured by a ground-based broadband UV radiometer and retrieved from the satellite Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) at Granada (southern Spain) from January 2006 to December 2010. The dust effects are characterized by the transmittance ra tio of the measured UVER to the corresponding modeled clear sky value. The transmittance has an exponential dependency on aerosol optical depth (AOD), with minimum values of approximately 0.6 (attenuation of approximately 40%). The OMI UVER algorithm does not account for UV aerosol absorption, which results in overestimation of the ground-based UVER especially during dust episodes with a mean relative difference up to 40%. The application of aerosol absorption post-correction method reduces OMI bias up to approximately 13%. The results highlight great effect of desert dust on the surface UV irradiance in regions like southern Spain, where dust intrusions from Sahara region are very frequent.

An investigation of laser cutting quality of 22MnB5 ultra high strength steel using response surface methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tahir, Abdul Fattah Mohd; Aqida, Syarifah Nur

2017-07-01

In hot press forming, changes of mechanical properties in boron steel blanks have been a setback in trimming the final shape components. This paper presents investigation of kerf width and heat affected zone (HAZ) of ultra high strength 22MnB5 steel cutting. Sample cutting was conducted using a 4 kW Carbon Dioxide (CO2) laser machine with 10.6 μm wavelength with the laser spot size of 0.2 mm. A response surface methodology (RSM) using three level Box-Behnken design of experiment was developed with three factors of peak power, cutting speed and duty cycle. The parameters were optimised for minimum kerf width and HAZ formation. Optical evaluation using MITUTOYO TM 505 were conducted to measure the kerf width and HAZ region. From the findings, laser duty cycle was crucial to determine cutting quality of ultra-high strength steel; followed by cutting speed and laser power. Meanwhile, low power intensity with continuous wave contributes the narrowest kerf width formation and least HAZ region.

THE EFFECT OF A DYNAMIC INNER HELIOSHEATH THICKNESS ON COSMIC-RAY MODULATION

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

Manuel, R.; Ferreira, S. E. S.; Potgieter, M. S., E-mail: rexmanuel@live.com

2015-02-01

The time-dependent modulation of galactic cosmic rays in the heliosphere is studied over different polarity cycles by computing 2.5 GV proton intensities using a two-dimensional, time-dependent modulation model. By incorporating recent theoretical advances in the relevant transport parameters in the model, we showed in previous work that this approach gave realistic computed intensities over a solar cycle. New in this work is that a time dependence of the solar wind termination shock (TS) position is implemented in our model to study the effect of a dynamic inner heliosheath thickness (the region between the TS and heliopause) on the solar modulationmore » of galactic cosmic rays. The study reveals that changes in the inner heliosheath thickness, arising from a time-dependent shock position, does affect cosmic-ray intensities everywhere in the heliosphere over a solar cycle, with the smallest effect in the innermost heliosphere. A time-dependent TS position causes a phase difference between the solar activity periods and the corresponding intensity periods. The maximum intensities in response to a solar minimum activity period are found to be dependent on the time-dependent TS profile. It is found that changing the width of the inner heliosheath with time over a solar cycle can shift the time of when the maximum or minimum cosmic-ray intensities occur at various distances throughout the heliosphere, but more significantly in the outer heliosphere. The time-dependent extent of the inner heliosheath, as affected by solar activity conditions, is thus an additional time-dependent factor to be considered in the long-term modulation of cosmic rays.« less

[Difference in responses of major tree species growth to climate in the Miyaluo Mountains, western Sichuan, China].

PubMed

Guo, Ming-ming; Zhang, Yuan-dong; Wang, Xiao-chun; Liu, Shi-rong

2015-08-01

To explore the responses of different tree species growth to climate change in the semi-humid region of the eastern Tibetan Plateau, we investigated climate-growth relationships of Tsuga chinensis, Abies faxoniana, Picea purpurea at an altitude of 3000 m (low altitude) and A. faxoniana and Larix mastersiana at an altitude of 4000 m (high altitude) using tree ring-width chronologies (total of 182 cores) developed from Miyaluo, western Sichuan, China. Five residual chronologies were developed from the cross-dated ring width series using the program ARSTAN, and the relationships between monthly climate variables and tree-ring index were analyzed. Results showed that the chronologies of trees at low altitudes were negatively correlated with air temperature but positively with precipitation in April and May. This indicated that drought stress limited tree growth at low altitude, but different tree species showed significant variations. T. chinensis was most severely affected by drought stress, followed by A. faxoniana and P. purpurea. Trees at high altitude were mainly affected by growing season temperature. Tree-ring index of A. faxoniana was positively correlated with monthly minimum temperature in February and July of the current year and monthly maximum temperature in October of the previous year. Radial growth of L. mastersiana was positively correlated with monthly maximum temperature in May, and negatively with monthly mean temperature in February and monthly minimum temperature in March. In recent decadal years, the climate in northeast Tibetan Plateau had a warming and drying trend. If this trend continues, we could deduce that P. purpurea should grow faster than T. chinensis and A. faxoniana at low altitudes, while A. faxoniana would benefit more from global warming at high altitudes.

7 CFR 993.97 - Exhibit A; minimum standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... condition; (3) end cracks; (4) fermentation; (5) skin or flesh damage; (6) scab; (7) burned; (8) mold; (9... substantially affected. (3) End cracks means callous growth cracks, at the blossom end of prunes, aggregating... flavor is substantially affected. (5) Skin or flesh damage means growth cracks, splits, breaks in skin or...

The Increase of the Ice-free Season as Further Indication of the Rapid Decline of the Arctic sea ice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigues, J.

2008-12-01

The unprecedented depletion of sea ice in large sectors of the Arctic Ocean in the summer of 2007 has been the subject of many publications which highlight the spectacular disappearance of the sea ice at the time of minimum ice cover or emphasise the losses at very high latitudes. However, minimum values can be strongly affected by specific circumstances occurring in a comparatively short time interval. The unusually clear skies and the presence of a particular wind pattern over the Arctic Ocean may partly explain the record minimum attained in September 2007. In this contribution, instead of limiting ourselves to the September minimum or the March maximum, we consider the ice conditions throughout the year, opting for a less used, and hopefully more convenient approach. We chose as variables to describe the evolution of the sea ice situation in the Arctic Ocean and peripheral seas in the 1979-2007 period the length of the ice- free season (LIFS) and the inverse sea ice index (ISII). The latter is a quantity that measures the degree of absence of sea ice in a year and varies between zero (when there is a perennial ice cover) and one (when there is open water all year round). We used sea ice concentration data obtained from passive microwave satellite imagery and processed with the Bootstrap algorithm for the SMMR and SSM/I periods, and with the Enhanced NASA Team algorithm for the AMSR-E period. From a linear fit of the observed data, we found that the average LIFS in the Arctic went from 118 days in the late 1970s to 148 days in 2006, which represents an average rate of increase of 1.1 days/year. In the period 2001-2007 the LIFS increased monotonically at an average rate of 5.5 days/year, in good agreement with the general consensus that the Arctic sea ice is currently in an accelerated decline. We also found that 2007 was the longest ice- free season on record (168 days). The ISII also reached a maximum in 2007 . We also investigated what happened at the regional level. For example, the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route are especially relevant to assess the maritime transport between the Atlantic and the Pacific, changes in the ice cover in oil rich areas such as the north coast of Alaska will attract the attention of the oil industry, and the disappearance of the sea ice in Hudson Bay will strongly affect its wildlife. We divided the Arctic in 85 regions and examined how the LIFS and the ISII changed in each of them since 1979. 53 regions enjoyed their longest ice-free seasons in 2006 or 2007. 2006 was special for the Canadian Arctic (longest ice-free season on record for about half of the regions) while 2007 was the year of the Russian Arctic (with the longest ice-free season in the period under study for more than half of the regions). Some of the largest variations were observed in the Russian Arctic, where the average LIFS increased from 84 days in the late 1970s to 129 around 2006, to reach a maximum of 171 days in 2007. Let us quote the changes in the White Sea (105 days between 1979 and 2006), in the South Barents Sea (70 days), in the South East Siberian Sea (60 days) and in the mid-latitude Chukchi Sea (66 days). Other areas where important changes took place include the Gulf of Finland (101 days), the Gulf of Riga (111 days) and the West coast of Spitsbergen (61 days). In the Canadian Arctic it is worth mentioning the increase of 62 days in Hudson Strait, 36 days in Hudson and Baffin Bays, and 52 days in Davis St. In almost all straits and sounds of the High Canadian Arctic the increase has been clearly non-linear and we prefer to compare the average LIFS in the periods 1979-1983 and 2002-2006. We quote an increase of 87 days in Lancaster Sound and of 74 days in Coronation Gulf. class="ab'>

The use of modern data about the composition and properties of soils for the development of transport infrastructure of Tyumen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eremin, Dmitry

2017-10-01

Sedimentary properties territory Tura-Pyshma interfluve, where Tyumen is located are determined by the general course of ancient and especially the newest tectonic movements. Active development of the transport network on the territory of the Tour-Pyshma interfluve has created the need for a contemporary study of regional peculiarities of grounds. This will allow you to create roads with the quality meet the international standards. The use of average values of indicators of the properties of silty-clay soils during the development of the transport infrastructure projects of the city of Tyumen and its environs is ineffective due to the genetic characteristics of the rocks located at the depth of 1.5-5.0 meters. Detailed analysis showed that the studied soil belongs to the covering carbonate loams and clays, differing in its characteristics from loess-like sediments of the European part of Russia. The thickness of the covering rocks is not more than 5 meters. It’s low-carbonate, non-saline and often has a layered structure. The upper three meters of sediments contain the minimum quantity of water-soluble salts (dry residue less than 0.1%). Studied covering loams are characterized by favorable physical properties: the density of the bulk and the particle is 1.44 to 1.62 and 2.70-2.78 g/cm3, respectively. Water permeability is high - the filtration coefficient varies from 3.4 to 6.4 m/day, the minimum water velocity observed in the clay types of soil. The presence of sand layers adversely affects the permeability of soil. Therefore, the design and construction of transport infrastructure of the city and the surrounding territories it is necessary to consider regional features of grounds.

Factors affecting unmet need for family planning in southern nations, nationalities and peoples region, ethiopia.

PubMed

Hailemariam, Assefa; Haddis, Fikrewold

2011-07-01

High fertility and low contraceptive prevalence characterize Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region. In such populations, unmet needs for contraception have a tendency to be high, mainly due to the effect of socio-economic and demographic variables. However, there has not been any study examining the relationship between these variables and unmet need in the region. This study, therefore, identifies the key socio- demographic determinants of unmet need for family planning in the region. The study used data from the 2000 and 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys. A total of 2,133 currently married women age 15-49 from the 2000 survey and 1,988 from the 2005 survey were included in the study. Unmet need for spacing, unmet need for limiting and total unmet need were used as dependent variables. Socio- demographic variables (respondent's age, age at marriage, number of living children, sex composition of living children, child mortality experience, place of residence, respondent's and partner's education, religion and work status) were treated as explanatory variables and their relative importance was examined on each of the dependent variables using multinomial and binary logistic regression models. Unmet need for contraception increased from 35.1% in 2000 to 37.4% in 2005. Unmet need for spacing remained constant at about 25%, while unmet need for limiting increased by 20% between 2000 and 2005. Age, age at marriage, number of living children, place of residence, respondent's education, knowledge of family planning, respondent's work status, being visited by a family planning worker and survey year emerged as significant factors affecting unmet need. On the other hand, number of living children, education, age and age at marriage were the only explanatory variables affecting unmet need for limiting. Number of living children, place of residence, age and age at marriage were also identified as factors affecting total unmet need for contraception. unmet need for spacing is more prevalent than unmet need for limiting. Women with unmet need for both spacing and limiting are more likely to be living in rural areas, have lower level of education, lower level of knowledge about family planning methods, have no work other than household chores, and have never been visited by a family planning worker. In order to address unmet need for family planning in the region, policy should set mechanisms to enforce the law on minimum age for marriage, improve child survival and increase educational access to females. In addition, the policy should promote awareness creation about family planning in rural areas.

Assessing Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations of Lake Surface Areas in Mongolia during 2000-2011 Using Minimum Composite MODIS NDVI

PubMed Central

Kang, Sinkyu; Hong, Suk Young

2016-01-01

A minimum composite method was applied to produce a 15-day interval normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily 250 m reflectance in the red and near-infrared bands. This dataset was applied to determine lake surface areas in Mongolia. A total of 73 lakes greater than 6.25 km2in area were selected, and 28 of these lakes were used to evaluate detection errors. The minimum composite NDVI showed a better detection performance on lake water pixels than did the official MODIS 16-day 250 m NDVI based on a maximum composite method. The overall lake area detection performance based on the 15-day minimum composite NDVI showed -2.5% error relative to the Landsat-derived lake area for the 28 evaluated lakes. The errors increased with increases in the perimeter-to-area ratio but decreased with lake size over 10 km2. The lake area decreased by -9.3% at an annual rate of -53.7 km2 yr-1 during 2000 to 2011 for the 73 lakes. However, considerable spatial variations, such as slight-to-moderate lake area reductions in semi-arid regions and rapid lake area reductions in arid regions, were also detected. This study demonstrated applicability of MODIS 250 m reflectance data for biweekly monitoring of lake area change and diagnosed considerable lake area reduction and its spatial variability in arid and semi-arid regions of Mongolia. Future studies are required for explaining reasons of lake area changes and their spatial variability. PMID:27007233

Climate and climate change and infectious disease risk in Thailand: A spatial study of dengue hemorrhagic fever using GIS and remotely-sensed imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzera, Kristopher

The scientific community has widely accepted that climate plays a key role in the sustainability and transmission of many infectious diseases. Global climate change can potentially trigger the spread of disease into new regions and increase the intensity of disease in regions where it is endemic. This study explores the association between monthly conditions of climate change to changes in disease risk, emphasizing the potential spread of dengue fever due to climate change in Thailand. This study also develops techniques new to GIS and remote sensing that generate surfaces of daily minimum temperature toward identifying areas at greater transmission risk. Dengue fever expansion due to global warming is a serious concern for Thailand where warming temperatures may increase the size of the habitat of the disease-spreading vector, Aedes aegypti, particularly during cooler months when transmission is limited by environmental conditions. In this study, first, the association between past dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and climate in Thailand is determined. Second, evidence of recent climate change is related to changes in DHF rates. Third, daily minimum temperature is derived from remote sensing toward identifying the spatial and temporal limitations of potential transmission risk. The results indicate that minimum temperature has recently experienced a rapid increase, particularly in the winter months when transmission is low. This is associated with a recent rise in winter DHF cases. As increasing minimum temperatures in these regions are anticipated to continue, we can expect dengue transmission rates to also increase throughout the year.

A Tree-Ring Temperature Reconstruction from the Wrangell Mountains, Alaska (1593-1992): Evidence for Pronounced Regional Cooling During the Maunder Minimum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DArrigo, R.; Davi, N.; Jacoby, G.; Wiles, G.

2002-05-01

The Maunder Minimum interval (from the mid-1600s-early 1700s) is believed to have been one of the coldest periods of the past thousand years in the Northern Hemisphere. A maximum latewood density temperature reconstruction for the Wrangell Mountains, southern Alaska (1593-1992) provides information on regional temperature change during the Maunder Minimum and other periods of severe cold over the past four centuries. The Wrangell density record, which reflects warm season (July-September) temperatures, shows an overall cooling over the Maunder Minimum period with annual values reaching as low as -1.8oC below the long-term mean. Ring widths, which can integrate annual as well as summer conditions, also show pronounced cooling at the Wrangell site during this time, as do Arctic and hemispheric-scale temperature reconstructions based on tree rings and other proxy data. Maximum ages of glacial advance based on kill dates from overrun logs (which reflect cooler temperatures) coincide temporally with the cooling seen in the density and ring width records. In contrast, a recent modeling study indicates that during this period there was cold season (November-April) warming over much of Alaska, but cooling over other northern continental regions, as a result of decreased solar irradiance initiating low Arctic Oscillation index conditions. The influence of other forcings on Alaskan climate, the absence of ocean dynamical feedbacks in the model, and the different seasonality represented by the model and the trees may be some of the possible explanations for the different model and proxy results.

Assessing Seasonal and Inter-Annual Variations of Lake Surface Areas in Mongolia during 2000-2011 Using Minimum Composite MODIS NDVI.

PubMed

Kang, Sinkyu; Hong, Suk Young

2016-01-01

A minimum composite method was applied to produce a 15-day interval normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) dataset from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily 250 m reflectance in the red and near-infrared bands. This dataset was applied to determine lake surface areas in Mongolia. A total of 73 lakes greater than 6.25 km2in area were selected, and 28 of these lakes were used to evaluate detection errors. The minimum composite NDVI showed a better detection performance on lake water pixels than did the official MODIS 16-day 250 m NDVI based on a maximum composite method. The overall lake area detection performance based on the 15-day minimum composite NDVI showed -2.5% error relative to the Landsat-derived lake area for the 28 evaluated lakes. The errors increased with increases in the perimeter-to-area ratio but decreased with lake size over 10 km(2). The lake area decreased by -9.3% at an annual rate of -53.7 km(2) yr(-1) during 2000 to 2011 for the 73 lakes. However, considerable spatial variations, such as slight-to-moderate lake area reductions in semi-arid regions and rapid lake area reductions in arid regions, were also detected. This study demonstrated applicability of MODIS 250 m reflectance data for biweekly monitoring of lake area change and diagnosed considerable lake area reduction and its spatial variability in arid and semi-arid regions of Mongolia. Future studies are required for explaining reasons of lake area changes and their spatial variability.

Observation of F region irregularities near a northern equatorial anomaly crest during solar minimum using ionosonde, GPS receiver, and satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, C.-C.; Chen, W. S.; Chu, F. D.

2013-06-01

For solar minimum, the spread F, GPS phase fluctuations, and plasma bubbles near the crest of equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) are simultaneously analyzed to investigate F region irregularities for the first time. The data were observed using the Chungli ionosonde, YMSM GPS receiver, and DMSP satellites during 1996. It is found that in the observed ionograms, the frequency spread F (FSF) usually comes after the range spread F (RSF) in a series of nighttime spread F events. This results in that the maximum occurrence of RSF appears before that of FSF in the nighttime variations in occurrence probabilities. Moreover, the seasonal variation for RSF is close to that for FSF. Both have a board maximum in the J-months and a secondary maximum in December. These indicate that RSF and FSF should be regarded as one type of spread F, which is the all spread F (ASF) in this study. Because the equatorial plasma bubbles occur infrequently during solar minimum, the F region irregularities forming ASF are not related to the equatorial spread F. On the other hand, the similarity in seasonal occurrence between ASF and medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) demonstrates that the F region irregularities near the EIA crest are mainly generated by the gradient drift instability driven by MSTIDs. The irregularities, generated by MSTIDs, mostly occur in the bottom side of the F region. Consequently, the events of significant GPS phase fluctuations and plasma bubble near the EIA crest are rare during 1996.

The detection and characterization of high frequency and high wavenumber solar oscillations. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fernandes, David Neil

1992-01-01

Doppler shift measurements of the Na D(sub 1) absorption line have revealed solar oscillations in a new regime of frequency and wavenumber. Oscillations of vertical velocities in the temperature minimum and low chromosphere of the Sun are observed with frequencies ranging up to 9.5 mHz. There is no evidence for chromospheric modes of 3 minute period. This indicates that the chromosphere does not form a good cavity for acoustic waves. The fundamental-modes appear with wavenumbers up to 5.57 M per m (equivalent spherical harmonic degree, 3877). The frequencies lie below the predicted values at wavenumbers above 1 M per m. The values are in agreement with previous measurements that exist for wavenumbers up to 2.67 M per m. Spatial maps of velocity power show that high wavenumber oscillations are suppressed in active regions. The shape of the power depression indicates that wave motion is affected in the layer of atmosphere where the measurement is made. The f-modes are suppressed in the same way as p-modes, indicating that the mechanism for wave suppression affects velocity fluctuations. Mode frequencies are not affected by the magnetic fields by more than 50 micro Hz, the precision of the measurement.

40 CFR 109.3 - Purpose and scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., LOCAL AND REGIONAL OIL REMOVAL CONTINGENCY PLANS § 109.3 Purpose and scope. The guidelines in this part establish minimum criteria for the development and implementation of State, local, and regional contingency..., fish, shellfish, wildlife, and public and private property, shorelines, and beaches. The development...

Microstability Properties of the Local Minimum | B | Regime in Pegasus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, David R.; Bongard, M. W.; Fonck, R. J.; Reusch, J. A.; Rhodes, A. T.

2017-10-01

A local minimum | B | region, or ``magnetic well,'' was recently observed in the low-aspect-ratio Pegasus device in high- β scenarios with strong edge current peaking. The ∇B reversal within the magnetic well alters particle drifts, orbits, fast ion losses, and instability drives. Here, we report on the microstability properties of the magnetic well region with calculations from the GENE gyrokinetic code. In particular, we explore the dependence on magnetic well depth and the role of electromagnetic effects. Preliminary results from local electromagnetic calculations indicate unstable electron modes exist in the magnetic well region. Connections to NSTX-U and MAST-U operational scenarios are also discussed. Finally, probe measurements of electrostatic and magnetic fluctuations in the Pegasus magnetic well region are presented in Ref. 3. This material is based upon work supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, under Award Number DE-SC0001288 and DE-FG02-96ER54375.

Sovereign debt crisis in the European Union: A minimum spanning tree approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dias, João

2012-03-01

In the wake of the financial crisis, sovereign debt crisis has emerged and is severely affecting some countries in the European Union, threatening the viability of the euro and even the EU itself. This paper applies recent developments in econophysics, in particular the minimum spanning tree approach and the associate hierarchical tree, to analyze the asynchronization between the four most affected countries and other resilient countries in the euro area. For this purpose, daily government bond yield rates are used, covering the period from April 2007 to October 2010, thus including yield rates before, during and after the financial crises. The results show an increasing separation of the two groups of euro countries with the deepening of the government bond crisis.

Seattle's minimum wage ordinance did not affect supermarket food prices by food processing category.

PubMed

Spoden, Amanda L; Buszkiewicz, James H; Drewnowski, Adam; Long, Mark C; Otten, Jennifer J

2018-06-01

To examine the impacts of Seattle's minimum wage ordinance on food prices by food processing category. Supermarket food prices were collected for 106 items using a University of Washington Center for Public Health Nutrition market basket at affected and unaffected supermarket chain stores at three times: March 2015 (1-month pre-policy enactment), May 2015 (1-month post-policy enactment) and May 2016 (1-year post-policy enactment). Food items were categorized into four food processing groups, from minimally to ultra-processed. Data were analysed across time using a multilevel, linear difference-in-differences model at the store and price level stratified by level of food processing. Six large supermarket chain stores located in Seattle ('intervention') affected by the policy and six same-chain but unaffected stores in King County ('control'), Washington, USA. One hundred and six food and beverage items. The largest change in average price by food item was +$US 0·53 for 'processed foods' in King County between 1-month post-policy and 1-year post-policy enactment (P < 0·01). The smallest change was $US 0·00 for 'unprocessed or minimally processed foods' in Seattle between 1-month post-policy and 1-year post-policy enactment (P = 0·94). No significant changes in averaged chain prices were observed across food processing level strata in Seattle v. King County stores at 1-month or 1-year post-policy enactment. Supermarket food prices do not appear to be differentially impacted by Seattle's minimum wage ordinance by level of the food's processing. These results suggest that the early implementation of a city-level minimum wage policy does not alter supermarket food prices by level of food processing.

Monitoring glacier albedo as a proxy to derive summer and annual surface mass balances from optical remote-sensing data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davaze, Lucas; Rabatel, Antoine; Arnaud, Yves; Sirguey, Pascal; Six, Delphine; Letreguilly, Anne; Dumont, Marie

2018-01-01

Less than 0.25 % of the 250 000 glaciers inventoried in the Randolph Glacier Inventory (RGI V.5) are currently monitored with in situ measurements of surface mass balance. Increasing this archive is very challenging, especially using time-consuming methods based on in situ measurements, and complementary methods are required to quantify the surface mass balance of unmonitored glaciers. The current study relies on the so-called albedo method, based on the analysis of albedo maps retrieved from optical satellite imagery acquired since 2000 by the MODIS sensor, on board the TERRA satellite. Recent studies revealed substantial relationships between summer minimum glacier-wide surface albedo and annual surface mass balance, because this minimum surface albedo is directly related to the accumulation-area ratio and the equilibrium-line altitude. On the basis of 30 glaciers located in the French Alps where annual surface mass balance data are available, our study conducted on the period 2000-2015 confirms the robustness and reliability of the relationship between the summer minimum surface albedo and the annual surface mass balance. For the ablation season, the integrated summer surface albedo is significantly correlated with the summer surface mass balance of the six glaciers seasonally monitored. These results are promising to monitor both annual and summer glacier-wide surface mass balances of individual glaciers at a regional scale using optical satellite images. A sensitivity study on the computed cloud masks revealed a high confidence in the retrieved albedo maps, restricting the number of omission errors. Albedo retrieval artifacts have been detected for topographically incised glaciers, highlighting limitations in the shadow correction algorithm, although inter-annual comparisons are not affected by systematic errors.

Gamma Irradiation as a Phytosanitary Treatment of Bactrocera tau (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Pumpkin Fruits.

PubMed

Guoping, Zhan; Lili, Ren; Ying, Shao; Qiaoling, Wang; Daojian, Yu; Yuejin, Wang; Tianxiu, Li

2015-02-01

The fruit fly Bactrocera tau (Walker) is an important quarantine pest that damages fruits and vegetables throughout Asian regions. Host commodities shipped from infested areas should undergo phytosanitary measures to reduce the risk of shipping viable flies. The dose-response tests with 1-d-old eggs and 3-, 5-, 7-, 8-d-old larvae were initiated to determine the most resistant stages in fruits, and the minimum dose for 99.9968% prevention of adult eclosion at 95% confidence level was validated in the confirmatory tests. The results showed that 1) the pupariation rate was not affected by gamma radiation except for eggs and first instars, while the percent of eclosion was reduced significantly in all instars at all radiation dose; 2) the tolerance to radiation increased with increasing age and developmental stage; 3) the estimated dose to 99.9968% preventing adult eclosion from late third instars was 70.9 Gy (95% CL: 65.6-78.2, probit model) and 71.8 Gy (95% CL: 63.0-87.3, logit model); and iv) in total, 107,135 late third instars cage infested in pumpkin fruits were irradiated at the target dose of 70 Gy (62.5-85.0, Gy measured), which resulted in no adult emergence in the two confirmatory tests. Therefore, a minimum dose of 85 and 72 Gy, which could prevent adult emergence at the efficacy of 99.9972 and 99.9938% at the 95% confidence level, respectively, can be recommended as a minimum dose for phytosanitary treatment of B. tau in any host fruits and vegetables under ambient atmospheres. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The Effects of Spectral Nudging on Arctic Temperature and Precipitation Extremes as Produced by the Pan-Arctic WRF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glisan, J. M.; Gutowski, W. J.; Higgins, M.; Cassano, J. J.

2011-12-01

Pan-Arctic WRF (PAW) simulations produced using the 50-km wr50a domain developed for the fully-coupled Regional Arctic Climate Model (RACM) were found to produce deep atmospheric circulation biases over the northern Pacific Ocean, manifested in pressure, geopotential height, and temperature fields. Various remedies were unsuccessfully tested to correct these large biases, such as modifying the physical domain or using different initial/boundary conditions. Spectral (interior) nudging was introduced as a way of constraining the model to be more consistent with observed behavior. However, such control over numerical model behavior raises concerns over how much nudging may affect unforced variability and extremes. Strong nudging may reduce or filter out extreme events, since the nudging pushes the model toward a relatively smooth, large-scale state. The question then becomes - what is the minimum spectral nudging needed to correct the biases occurring on the RACM domain while not limiting PAW simulation of extreme events? To determine this, case studies were devised, using a six-member PAW ensemble on the RACM grid with varying spectral nudging strength. Two simulations were run, one in the cold season (January 2007) and one in a warm season (July 2007). Precipitation and 2-m temperature fields were extracted from the output and analyzed to determine how changing spectral nudging strength impacts both temporal and spatial temperature and precipitation extremes. The maximum and minimum temperatures at each point from among the ensemble members were examined, on the 95th confidence interval. The maximum and minimums over the simulation period will also be considered. Results suggest that there is a marked lack of sensitivity to the degrees of nudging. Moreover, it appears nudging strength can be considerably smaller than the standard strength and still produce reliably good simulations.

Vulnerability assessment of the impact of sea-level rise and flooding on the Moroccan coast: The case of the Mediterranean eastern zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snoussi, Maria; Ouchani, Tachfine; Niazi, Saïda

2008-04-01

The eastern part of the Mediterranean coast of Morocco is physically and socio-economically vulnerable to accelerated sea-level rise, due to its low topography and its high ecological and touristic value. Assessment of the potential land loss by inundation has been based on empirical approaches using a minimum inundation level of 2 m and a maximum inundation level of 7 m, where scenarios for future sea-level rise range from 200 to 860 mm, with a 'best estimate' of 490 mm. The socio-economic impacts have been based on two possible alternative futures: (1) a 'worst-case' scenario, obtained by combining the 'economic development first' scenario with the maximum inundation level; and (2) a 'best-case' scenario, by combining the 'sustainability first' scenario with the minimum inundation level. Inundation analysis, based on Geographical Information Systems and a modelling approach to erosion, has identified both locations and the socioeconomic sectors that are most at risk to accelerated sea-level rise. Results indicate that 24% and 59% of the area will be lost by flooding at minimum and maximum inundation levels, respectively. The most severely impacted sectors are expected to be the residential and recreational areas, agricultural land, and the natural ecosystem. Shoreline erosion will affect 50% and 70% of the total area in 2050 and 2100, respectively. Potential strategies to ameliorate the impact of seawater inundation include: wetland preservation; beach nourishment at tourist resorts; and the afforestation of dunes. As this coast is planned to become one of the most developed tourist resorts in Morocco by 2010, measures such as building regulation, urban growth planning and development of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan, are recommended for the region.

Universal inverse power-law distribution for temperature and rainfall in the UK region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Selvam, A. M.

2014-06-01

Meteorological parameters, such as temperature, rainfall, pressure, etc., exhibit selfsimilar space-time fractal fluctuations generic to dynamical systems in nature such as fluid flows, spread of forest fires, earthquakes, etc. The power spectra of fractal fluctuations display inverse power-law form signifying long-range correlations. A general systems theory model predicts universal inverse power-law form incorporating the golden mean for the fractal fluctuations. The model predicted distribution was compared with observed distribution of fractal fluctuations of all size scales (small, large and extreme values) in the historic month-wise temperature (maximum and minimum) and total rainfall for the four stations Oxford, Armagh, Durham and Stornoway in the UK region, for data periods ranging from 92 years to 160 years. For each parameter, the two cumulative probability distributions, namely cmax and cmin starting from respectively maximum and minimum data value were used. The results of the study show that (i) temperature distributions (maximum and minimum) follow model predicted distribution except for Stornowy, minimum temperature cmin. (ii) Rainfall distribution for cmin follow model predicted distribution for all the four stations. (iii) Rainfall distribution for cmax follows model predicted distribution for the two stations Armagh and Stornoway. The present study suggests that fractal fluctuations result from the superimposition of eddy continuum fluctuations.

[68% of Brazilians want abortion prohibited].

PubMed

1991-09-25

According to a survey, 68% of the Brazilian population want the continuation of the law banning abortion. Only 24% favor liberalization. The penal code stipulates a jail term of 2-8 years for abortion. The survey was carried out in 1991 involving 7018 persons aged 16 in 15 municipalities. 71% who approved the ban lived in the northeast north, and central-east regions. 68% in the south and 65% in the southeast were in favor of the prohibition. 74% in the small towns endorsed this law. 73% with up to 5 times the minimum monthly salary were against abortion, 65% of those with incomes between 5-10 times the minimum salary and 57% of those earning more than 10 times the minimum salary condemned abortion. 72% of women and 64% of men were against it. 73% of young people aged 16-25 wanted the continuation of the ban, compared to 66% of those aged 26-40 and 65% of people 41 or over. 72% of those with up to primary school education, 65% with secondary school education, and 48% with higher education approved the ban. Among those who favored liberalization, 27% lived in the southwest region, 31% were inhabitants of large cities, 36% earned more than 10 times the minimum income monthly, and 39% had obtained higher education.

Minimum Wave Drag for Arbitrary Arrangements of Wings and Bodies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Robert T

1957-01-01

Studies of various arrangements of wings and bodies designed to provide favorable wave interference at supersonic speeds lead to the problem of determining the minimum possible valve of the wave resistance obtainable by any disposition of the elements of an aircraft within a definitely prescribed region. Under the assumptions that the total lift and the total volume of the aircraft are given, conditions that must be satisfied if the drag is to be a minimum are found. The report concludes with a discussion of recent developments of the theory which lead to an improved understanding of the drag associated with the production of lift.

Urban-rural migration: uncertainty and the effect of a change in the minimum wage.

PubMed

Ingene, C A; Yu, E S

1989-01-01

"This paper extends the neoclassical, Harris-Todaro model of urban-rural migration to the case of production uncertainty in the agricultural sector. A unique feature of the Harris-Todaro model is an exogenously determined minimum wage in the urban sector that exceeds the rural wage. Migration occurs until the rural wage equals the expected urban wage ('expected' due to employment uncertainty). The effects of a change in the minimum wage upon regional outputs, resource allocation, factor rewards, expected profits, and expected national income are explored, and the influence of production uncertainty upon the obtained results are delineated." The geographical focus is on developing countries. excerpt

Minimum package for cross-border TB control and care in the WHO European region: a Wolfheze consensus statement

PubMed Central

Dara, Masoud; de Colombani, Pierpaolo; Petrova-Benedict, Roumyana; Centis, Rosella; Zellweger, Jean-Pierre; Sandgren, Andreas; Heldal, Einar; Sotgiu, Giovanni; Jansen, Niesje; Bahtijarevic, Rankica; Migliori, Giovanni Battista

2012-01-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) European region estimates that more than 400,000 tuberculosis (TB) cases occur in Europe, a large proportion of them among migrants. A coordinated public health mechanism to guarantee TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care across borders is not in place. A consensus paper describing the minimum package of cross-border TB control and care was prepared by a task force following a literature review, and with input from the national TB control programme managers of the WHO European region and the Wolfheze 2011 conference. A literature review focused on the subject of TB in migrants was carried out, selecting documents published during the 11-yr period 2001–2011. Several issues were identified in cross-border TB control and care, varying from the limited access to early TB diagnosis, to the lack of continuity of care and information during migration, and the availability of, and access to, health services in the new country. The recommended minimum package addresses the current shortcomings and intends to improve the situation by covering several areas: political commitment (including the implementation of a legal framework for TB cross-border collaboration), financial mechanisms and adequate health service delivery (prevention, infection control, contact management, diagnosis and treatment, and psychosocial support). PMID:22653772

Effects of GPS sampling intensity on home range analyses

Treesearch

Jeffrey J. Kolodzinski; Lawrence V. Tannenbaum; David A. Osborn; Mark C. Conner; W. Mark Ford; Karl V. Miller

2010-01-01

The two most common methods for determining home ranges, minimum convex polygon (MCP) and kernel analyses, can be affected by sampling intensity. Despite prior research, it remains unclear how high-intensity sampling regimes affect home range estimations. We used datasets from 14 GPS-collared, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to describe...

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly! Highlights of the 1996 Major Tax Acts (Effective Immediately!).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lukaszewski, Thomas E.

1997-01-01

Describes four major tax acts which significantly impact businesses and individual taxpayers. Includes important issues affecting businesses, such as changes in minimum wage, depreciable personal property, pensions, and tax credits. Also describes important issues affecting individuals, including changes in spousal IRAs, adoption expense credits,…

Biology and Potential Biogeochemical Impacts of Novel Predatory Flavobacteria

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-01

isolates to affect prey communities under more environmentally relevant conditions. An investigation of the minimum number of predatory cells needed...of present knowledge of predatory bacteria, they seem likely to affect microbial communities in ways distinct from those of protozoan grazers and...relatively less studied than both larger and smaller predators, some have been shown to affect prey communities. Much of this work has focused on the

Is the Ejecta of ETA Carinae Overabundant or Overexcited

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gull, Theodore; Davidson, Kris; Johansson, Sveneric; Damineli, Augusto; Ishibashi, Kaxunori; Corcoran, Michael; Hartman, Henrick; Viera, Gladys; Nielsen, Krister

2003-01-01

The ejecta of Eta Carinae, revealed by HST/STIS, are in a large range of physical conditions. As Eta Carinae undergoes a 5.52 period, changes occur in nebular emission and nebular absorption. "Warm" neutral regions, partially ionized regions, and fully ionized regions undergo significant changes. Over 2000 emission lines, most of Fe-like elements, have been indentified in the Weigelt blobs B and D. Over 500 emission lines have been indentified in the Strontium Filament. An ionized Little Homunculus is nestled within the neutral-shelled Homunculus. In line of sight, over 500 nebular absorption lines have been identified with up to twenty velocity components. STIS is following changes in many nebular emission and absorption lines as Eta Carinae approaches the minimum, predicted to be in June/July 2003, during the General Assembly. Coordinated observations with HST, CHANDRA, RXTE, FUSE, UVES/VLT, Gemini and other observatories are following this minimum.

Regional climate impacts of a possible future grand solar minimum.

PubMed

Ineson, Sarah; Maycock, Amanda C; Gray, Lesley J; Scaife, Adam A; Dunstone, Nick J; Harder, Jerald W; Knight, Jeff R; Lockwood, Mike; Manners, James C; Wood, Richard A

2015-06-23

Any reduction in global mean near-surface temperature due to a future decline in solar activity is likely to be a small fraction of projected anthropogenic warming. However, variability in ultraviolet solar irradiance is linked to modulation of the Arctic and North Atlantic Oscillations, suggesting the potential for larger regional surface climate effects. Here, we explore possible impacts through two experiments designed to bracket uncertainty in ultraviolet irradiance in a scenario in which future solar activity decreases to Maunder Minimum-like conditions by 2050. Both experiments show regional structure in the wintertime response, resembling the North Atlantic Oscillation, with enhanced relative cooling over northern Eurasia and the eastern United States. For a high-end decline in solar ultraviolet irradiance, the impact on winter northern European surface temperatures over the late twenty-first century could be a significant fraction of the difference in climate change between plausible AR5 scenarios of greenhouse gas concentrations.

Characterizing the annual cycle of African dust transport to the Caribbean Basin and South America and its impact on the environment and air quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prospero, Joseph M.; Collard, François-Xavier; Molinié, Jack; Jeannot, Alexis

2014-07-01

Decades of aerosol measurements on Barbados have yielded a detailed picture of African mineral dust transport to the Caribbean Basin that shows a strong seasonal cycle with a maximum in boreal summer and a minimum in winter. Satellite aerosol products suggest that in spring, there is a comparable transport to northeastern South America. Here we characterize the complete annual cycle of dust transport to the western Atlantic by linking the Barbados record to multiyear records of airborne particulate matter less than 10 µm diameter (PM10) measured in air quality programs at Cayenne (French Guiana) and Guadeloupe. Comparisons of PM10 at these sites with concurrent dust measurements at Barbados demonstrate that high PM10 levels are almost entirely due to dust. Cayenne PM10 peaks in spring in a cycle which is consistent with satellite aerosol optical depth and suggests that the Sahel is the dominant source. The persistent transport of dust during much of the year could impact a wide range of environmental processes over a broad region that extends from the southern United States to the Amazon Basin. Finally, the average 24 h PM10 concentrations at Cayenne and Guadeloupe frequently exceed the World Health Organization air quality guideline. Thus soil dust PM10 could be a significant, but generally unrecognized, health factor at western Atlantic sites and also in other relatively remote regions affected by long-range dust from Africa. Because dust emissions and transport are highly sensitive to climate variability, climate change in coming decades could greatly affect a wide range of biogeochemical processes and human health in this region.

Zero, minimum and maximum relative radial acceleration for planar formation flight dynamics near triangular libration points in the Earth-Moon system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salazar, F. J. T.; Masdemont, J. J.; Gómez, G.; Macau, E. E.; Winter, O. C.

2014-11-01

Assume a constellation of satellites is flying near a given nominal trajectory around L4 or L5 in the Earth-Moon system in such a way that there is some freedom in the selection of the geometry of the constellation. We are interested in avoiding large variations of the mutual distances between spacecraft. In this case, the existence of regions of zero and minimum relative radial acceleration with respect to the nominal trajectory will prevent from the expansion or contraction of the constellation. In the other case, the existence of regions of maximum relative radial acceleration with respect to the nominal trajectory will produce a larger expansion and contraction of the constellation. The goal of this paper is to study these regions in the scenario of the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem by means of a linearization of the equations of motion relative to the periodic orbits around L4 or L5. This study corresponds to a preliminar planar formation flight dynamics about triangular libration points in the Earth-Moon system. Additionally, the cost estimate to maintain the constellation in the regions of zero and minimum relative radial acceleration or keeping a rigid configuration is computed with the use of the residual acceleration concept. At the end, the results are compared with the dynamical behavior of the deviation of the constellation from a periodic orbit.

A six hundred-year annual minimum temperature history for the central Tibetan Plateau derived from tree-ring width series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Minhui; Yang, Bao; Datsenko, Nina M.

2014-08-01

The recent unprecedented warming found in different regions has aroused much attention in the past years. How temperature has really changed on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) remains unknown since very limited high-resolution temperature series can be found over this region, where large areas of snow and ice exist. Herein, we develop two Juniperus tibetica Kom. tree-ring width chronologies from different elevations. We found that the two tree-ring series only share high-frequency variability. Correlation, response function and partial correlation analysis indicate that prior year annual (January-December) minimum temperature is most responsible for the higher belt juniper radial growth, while more or less precipitation signal is contained by the tree-ring width chronology at the lower belt and is thus excluded from further analysis. The tree growth-climate model accounted for 40 % of the total variance in actual temperature during the common period 1957-2010. The detected temperature signal is further robustly verified by other results. Consequently, a six century long annual minimum temperature history was firstly recovered for the Yushu region, central TP. Interestingly, the rapid warming trend during the past five decades is identified as a significant cold phase in the context of the past 600 years. The recovered temperature series reflects low-frequency variability consistent with other temperature reconstructions over the whole TP region. Furthermore, the present recovered temperature series is associated with the Asian monsoon strength on decadal to multidecadal scales over the past 600 years.

Supporting Climatic Trends of Corn and Soybean Production in the USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, V.; Cherkauer, K. A.; Verdin, J. P.

2010-12-01

The United States of America (USA) is a major source of corn and soybeans, producing about 39 percent of the world’s corn and 50 percent of world’s soybean supply. The north central states, including parts of the Midwestern US and the Great Plains form what is commonly described as the “Corn Belt” and consist of the most productive grain growing region in the United States. Changes in climate, including precipitation and temperature, are being observed throughout the world, and the Corn Belt region of the US is not immune posing a potential threat to global food security. We conducted a retrospective analysis of observed climate variables and crop production statistics to evaluate if observed climatic trends are having a positive or negative effect on corn and soybean production in the US. We selected climate indices based on gridded daily precipitation, maximum and minimum air temperature data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for the period of 1920-2009 and for 13 states in the Corn Belt region. We used the standardized precipitation index (SPI) and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) for different periods overlapping the important seasons for crop growths, such as the planting (April-May), grain-filling (June-August), and harvesting (September -October) seasons. We estimated the seasonal average of maximum and minimum daily temperatures to identify the historic trends and variability in air temperature during the key crop-growth seasons. Extreme warm temperatures can affect crop growth and yields adversely; therefore, cumulative maximum air temperature above the 90th percentiles (e.g. Cumulative Heat Index) was estimated for each growing period. We evaluated historic trends and variability of areal extents of severe or extreme droughts along with the areal extents facing the high cumulative heat stress. Our results showed that climatic extremes (e.g. droughts and heat stress) that occurred during the period of June - August (JJA), affected the yields of corn and soybeans most severely. High moisture and low heat stress during the JJA period favored crop yields, while low moisture and high heat conditions during the planting season (April-May) increased yields. Results also indicated that this part of the US is trending towards lower heat stress and drought extents, and higher moisture conditions during the JJA period. Therefore, in future, if the present trends persist, we expect the climate will more supportive of increased corn and soybean yields.

Variability of Surface pollutants and aerosol concentration over Abu Dhabi, UAE - sources, transport and current levels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phanikumar, Devulapalli V.; Basha, Ghouse; Ouarda, Taha B. M. J.

2015-04-01

In the view of recent economic, industrial, and rapid development, Abu Dhabi (24.4oN; 54.4oE; 27m msl) has become one of the most populated regions in the world despite of extreme heat, frequent dust storms, and with distinctive topography. The major sources of air pollution are from the dust and sand storms, greenhouse gas emissions, and to some extent from industrial pollution. In order to realize the accurate and comprehensive understanding of air quality and plausible sources over this region, we have made a detailed analysis of three years simultaneous measurements during 2011-13 of pollutants such as O3, SO2, NO2, CO, and PM10 concentrations. Diurnal variation of meteorological parameters such as temperature and wind speed/relative humidity clearly shows daytime maximum/minimum in summer followed by pre-monsoon, post-monsoon and winter. The prevailing winds over this region are mostly from northwesterly direction (Shamal wind). Diurnal wind pattern showed a clear contrast with the majority of the wind pattern during nighttime and early morning is from the westerly/northwesterly and daytime is from southwesterly/southeasterly directions. The diurnal pattern of O3 shows minimum during 08 LT and increases thereafter reaching maximum at 17 LT and decreases during nighttime. However, the diurnal pattern of SO2 and NO2 show a peak at ~ 08 LT and dip at ~ 14 LT during all the seasons with some variability in each season. On the other hand, the diurnal pattern of CO shows a peculiar picture of elevated levels during daytime peaking at ~ 10 LT (prominent in summer and post-monsoon) followed by a sharp decrease and minimum is ~14 LT. PM10 concentration has an early morning peak at ~ 02 LT and then decreases to a minimum value at ~11 LT and again increases in the afternoon hours (maximum at ~17 LT) depicting a forenoon-afternoon asymmetry. Monthly variation of PM10 shows maximum in pre-monsoon season and minimum in winter. Our observations show the diurnal pattern of pollutants are in contrast with the diurnal pattern of wind speed as evident from the previous observations. Wind rose diagram of pollutants reveal that the dominant source directions are scattered from northwesterly to southwesterly. Our results (2011-13) are compared with earlier observations from the same region (2007-08) and no alarming differences were observed in the pollutant levels. Our observations are discussed in the light of current understanding of pollutants sources over this region.

ACSB: A minimum performance assessment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Lloyd Thomas; Kissick, William A.

1988-01-01

Amplitude companded sideband (ACSB) is a new modulation technique which uses a much smaller channel width than does conventional frequency modulation (FM). Among the requirements of a mobile communications system is adequate speech intelligibility. This paper explores this aspect of minimum required performance. First, the basic principles of ACSB are described, with emphasis on those features that affect speech quality. Second, the appropriate performance measures for ACSB are reviewed. Third, a subjective voice quality scoring method is used to determine the values of the performance measures that equate to the minimum level of intelligibility. It is assumed that the intelligibility of an FM system operating at 12 dB SINAD represents that minimum. It was determined that ACSB operating at 12 dB SINAD with an audio-to-pilot ratio of 10 dB provides approximately the same intelligibility as FM operating at 12 dB SINAD.

Diffusional encounter of barnase and barstar.

PubMed

Spaar, Alexander; Dammer, Christian; Gabdoulline, Razif R; Wade, Rebecca C; Helms, Volkhard

2006-03-15

We present an analysis of trajectories from Brownian dynamics simulations of diffusional protein-protein encounter for the well-studied system of barnase and barstar. This analysis reveals details about the optimal association pathways, the regions of the encounter complex, possible differences of the pathways for dissociation and association, the coupling of translational and rotation motion, and the effect of mutations on the trajectories. We found that a small free-energy barrier divides the energetically most favorable region into a region of the encounter complex above the barnase binding interface and a region around a second energy minimum near the RNA binding loop. When entering the region of the encounter complex from the region near the RNA binding loop, barstar has to change its orientation to increase the electrostatic attraction between the proteins. By concentrating the analysis on the successful binding trajectories, we found that the region of the second minimum is not essential for the binding of barstar to barnase. Nevertheless, this region may be helpful to steer barstar into the region of the encounter complex. When applying the same analysis to several barnase mutants, we found that single mutations may drastically change the free-energy landscape and may significantly alter the population of the two minima. Therefore, certain protein-protein pairs may require careful adaptation of the positions of encounter and transition states when interpreting mutation effects on kinetic rates of association and/or dissociation.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY WETLANDS REGIONAL MONITORING PROGRAM

EPA Science Inventory

The geographic area to be monitored is the San Francisco Estuary and its watersheds from the Golden Gate to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta at Broad Slough. The initial focus will be the baylands of the region defined as the lands between the maximum and minimum elevations of t...

Barriers and dispersal surfaces in minimum-time interception

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajan, N.; Ardema, M. D.

1982-01-01

Minimum time interception of a target moving in a horizontal plane is analyzed as a one-player differential game. Dispersal points and points on the barrier are located for a class of pursuit evasion and interception problems. These points are determined by constructing cross sections of the isochrones and hence obtaining the barrier, dispersal, and control level surfaces. The game solution maps the controls as a function of the state within the capture region.

Global-scale high-resolution ( 1 km) modelling of mean, maximum and minimum annual streamflow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbarossa, Valerio; Huijbregts, Mark; Hendriks, Jan; Beusen, Arthur; Clavreul, Julie; King, Henry; Schipper, Aafke

2017-04-01

Quantifying mean, maximum and minimum annual flow (AF) of rivers at ungauged sites is essential for a number of applications, including assessments of global water supply, ecosystem integrity and water footprints. AF metrics can be quantified with spatially explicit process-based models, which might be overly time-consuming and data-intensive for this purpose, or with empirical regression models that predict AF metrics based on climate and catchment characteristics. Yet, so far, regression models have mostly been developed at a regional scale and the extent to which they can be extrapolated to other regions is not known. We developed global-scale regression models that quantify mean, maximum and minimum AF as function of catchment area and catchment-averaged slope, elevation, and mean, maximum and minimum annual precipitation and air temperature. We then used these models to obtain global 30 arc-seconds (˜ 1 km) maps of mean, maximum and minimum AF for each year from 1960 through 2015, based on a newly developed hydrologically conditioned digital elevation model. We calibrated our regression models based on observations of discharge and catchment characteristics from about 4,000 catchments worldwide, ranging from 100 to 106 km2 in size, and validated them against independent measurements as well as the output of a number of process-based global hydrological models (GHMs). The variance explained by our regression models ranged up to 90% and the performance of the models compared well with the performance of existing GHMs. Yet, our AF maps provide a level of spatial detail that cannot yet be achieved by current GHMs.

Current Status of Multidisciplinary Care in Psoriatic Arthritis in Spain: NEXUS 2.0 Project.

PubMed

Queiro, Rubén; Coto, Pablo; Joven, Beatriz; Rivera, Raquel; Navío Marco, Teresa; de la Cueva, Pablo; Alvarez Vega, Jose Luis; Narváez Moreno, Basilio; Rodriguez Martínez, Fernando José; Pardo Sánchez, José; Feced Olmos, Carlos; Pujol, Conrad; Rodríguez, Jesús; Notario, Jaume; Pujol Busquets, Manel; García Font, Mercè; Galindez, Eva; Pérez Barrio, Silvia; Urruticoechea-Arana, Ana; Hergueta, Merce; López Montilla, M Dolores; Vélez García-Nieto, Antonio; Maceiras, Francisco; Rodríguez Pazos, Laura; Rubio Romero, Esteban; Rodríguez Fernandez Freire, Lourdes; Luelmo, Jesús; Gratacós, Jordi

2018-02-26

1) To analyze the implementation of multidisciplinary care models in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients, 2) To define minimum and excellent standards of care. A survey was sent to clinicians who already performed multidisciplinary care or were in the process of undertaking it, asking: 1) Type of multidisciplinary care model implemented; 2) Degree, priority and feasibility of the implementation of quality standards in the structure, process and result for care. In 6 regional meetings the results of the survey were presented and discussed, and the ultimate priority of quality standards for care was defined. At a nominal meeting group, 11 experts (rheumatologists and dermatologists) analyzed the results of the survey and the regional meetings. With this information, they defined which standards of care are currently considered as minimum and which are excellent. The simultaneous and parallel models of multidisciplinary care are those most widely implemented, but the implementation of quality standards is highly variable. In terms of structure it ranges from 22% to 74%, in those related to process from 17% to 54% and in the results from 2% to 28%. Of the 25 original quality standards for care, 9 were considered only minimum, 4 were excellent and 12 defined criteria for minimum level and others for excellence. The definition of minimum and excellent quality standards for care will help achieve the goal of multidisciplinary care for patients with PAs, which is the best healthcare possible. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.

Problems in evaluating regional and local trends in temperature: An example from eastern Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pielke, R.A.; Stohlgren, T.; Schell, L.; Parton, W.; Doesken, N.; Redmond, K.; Moeny, J.; McKee, T.; Kittel, T.G.F.

2002-01-01

We evaluated long-term trends in average maximum and minimum temperatures, threshold temperatures, and growing season in eastern Colorado, USA, to explore the potential shortcomings of many climate-change studies that either: (1) generalize regional patterns from single stations, single seasons, or a few parameters over short duration from averaging dissimilar stations: or (2) generalize an average regional pattern from coarse-scale general circulation models. Based on 11 weather stations, some trends were weakly regionally consistent with previous studies of night-time temperature warming. Long-term (80 + years) mean minimum temperatures increased significantly (P < 0.2) in about half the stations in winter, spring, and autumn and six stations had significant decreases in the number of days per year with temperatures ??? - 17.8 ??C (???0??F). However, spatial and temporal variation in the direction of change was enormous for all the other weather parameters tested, and, in the majority of tests, few stations showed significant trends (even at P < 0.2). In summer, four stations had significant increases and three stations had significant decreases in minimum temperatures, producing a strongly mixed regional signal. Trends in maximum temperature varied seasonally and geographically, as did trends in threshold temperature days ???32.2??C (???90??F) or days ???37.8??C (???100??F). There was evidence of a subregional cooling in autumn's maximum temperatures, with five stations showing significant decreasing trends. There were many geographic anomalies where neighbouring weather stations differed greatly in the magnitude of change or where they had significant and opposite trends. We conclude that sub-regional spatial and seasonal variation cannot be ignored when evaluating the direction and magnitude of climate change. It is unlikely that one or a few weather stations are representative of regional climate trends, and equally unlikely that regionally projected climate change from coarse-scale general circulation models will accurately portray trends at sub-regional scales. However, the assessment of a group of stations for consistent more qualitative trends (such as the number of days less than - 17.8??C, such as we found) provides a reasonably robust procedure to evaluate climate trends and variability. Copyright ?? 2002 Royal Meteorological Society.

α Centauri A in the far infrared. First measurement of the temperature minimum of a star other than the Sun

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liseau, R.; Montesinos, B.; Olofsson, G.; Bryden, G.; Marshall, J. P.; Ardila, D.; Bayo Aran, A.; Danchi, W. C.; del Burgo, C.; Eiroa, C.; Ertel, S.; Fridlund, M. C. W.; Krivov, A. V.; Pilbratt, G. L.; Roberge, A.; Thébault, P.; Wiegert, J.; White, G. J.

2013-01-01

Context. Chromospheres and coronae are common phenomena on solar-type stars. Understanding the energy transfer to these heated atmospheric layers requires direct access to the relevant empirical data. Study of these structures has, by and large, been limited to the Sun thus far. Aims: The region of the temperature reversal can be directly observed only in the far infrared and submillimetre spectral regime. We aim at determining the characteristics of the atmosphere in the region of the temperature minimum of the solar sister star α Cen A. As a bonus this will also provide a detailed mapping of the spectral energy distribution, i.e. knowledge that is crucial when searching for faint, Kuiper belt-like dust emission around other stars. Methods: For the nearby binary system α Cen, stellar parameters are known with high accuracy from measurements. For the basic model parameters Teff, log g and [Fe/H], we interpolate stellar model atmospheres in the grid of Gaia/PHOENIX and compute the corresponding model for the G2 V star α Cen A. Comparison with photometric measurements shows excellent agreement between observed photospheric data in the optical and infrared. For longer wavelengths, the modelled spectral energy distribution is compared to Spitzer-MIPS, Herschel-PACS, Herschel-SPIRE, and APEX-LABOCA photometry. A specifically tailored Uppsala model based on the MARCS code and extending further in wavelength is used to gauge the emission characteristics of α Cen A in the far infared. Results: Similar to the Sun, the far infrared (FIR) emission of α Cen A originates in the minimum temperature region above the stellar photosphere in the visible. However, in comparison with the solar case, the FIR photosphere of α Cen A appears marginally cooler, Tmin ~ T160 μm = 3920 ± 375 K. Beyond the minimum near 160 μm, the brightness temperatures increase, and this radiation very likely originates in warmer regions of the chromosphere of α Cen A. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a temperature minimum has been directly measured on a main-sequence star other than the Sun. Based on observations with Herschel, which is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by the European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

Performance of transonic fan stage with weight flow per unit annulus area of 178 kilograms per second per square meter (6.5(lb/sec)/(sq ft))

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, R. D.; Urasek, D. C.; Kovich, G.

1973-01-01

The overall and blade-element performances are presented over the stable flow operating range from 50 to 100 percent of design speed. Stage peak efficiency of 0.834 was obtained at a weight flow of 26.4 kg/sec (58.3 lb/sec) and a pressure ratio of 1.581. The stall margin for the stage was 7.5 percent based on weight flow and pressure ratio at stall and peak efficiency conditions. The rotor minimum losses were approximately equal to design except in the blade vibration damper region. Stator minimum losses were less than design except in the tip and damper regions.

Path Planning Algorithms for the Adaptive Sensor Fleet

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stoneking, Eric; Hosler, Jeff

2005-01-01

The Adaptive Sensor Fleet (ASF) is a general purpose fleet management and planning system being developed by NASA in coordination with NOAA. The current mission of ASF is to provide the capability for autonomous cooperative survey and sampling of dynamic oceanographic phenomena such as current systems and algae blooms. Each ASF vessel is a software model that represents a real world platform that carries a variety of sensors. The OASIS platform will provide the first physical vessel, outfitted with the systems and payloads necessary to execute the oceanographic observations described in this paper. The ASF architecture is being designed for extensibility to accommodate heterogenous fleet elements, and is not limited to using the OASIS platform to acquire data. This paper describes the path planning algorithms developed for the acquisition phase of a typical ASF task. Given a polygonal target region to be surveyed, the region is subdivided according to the number of vessels in the fleet. The subdivision algorithm seeks a solution in which all subregions have equal area and minimum mean radius. Once the subregions are defined, a dynamic programming method is used to find a minimum-time path for each vessel from its initial position to its assigned region. This path plan includes the effects of water currents as well as avoidance of known obstacles. A fleet-level planning algorithm then shuffles the individual vessel assignments to find the overall solution which puts all vessels in their assigned regions in the minimum time. This shuffle algorithm may be described as a process of elimination on the sorted list of permutations of a cost matrix. All these path planning algorithms are facilitated by discretizing the region of interest onto a hexagonal tiling.

Short wavelength turbulence generated by shear in the quiescent H-mode edge on DIII–D

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

Rost, J. C.; Porkolab, M.; Dorris, J.

2014-06-15

A region of turbulence with large radial wavenumber (k{sub r}ρ{sub s}>1) is found in the high-shear portion of the plasma edge in Quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) on DIII–D using the Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI) diagnostic. At its peak outside the minimum of the E{sub r} well, the turbulence exhibits large amplitude n{sup ~}/n∼40%, with large radial wavenumber |k{sup ¯}{sub r}/k{sup ¯}{sub θ}|∼11 and short radial correlation length L{sub r}/ρ{sub i}∼0.2. The turbulence inside the E{sub r} well minimum is characterized by the opposite sign in radial wavenumber from that of turbulence outside the minimum, consistent with the expected effects of velocitymore » shear. The PCI diagnostic provides a line-integrated measurement of density fluctuations, so data are taken during a scan of plasma position at constant parameters to allow the PCI to sample a range in k{sub r}/k{sub θ}. Analysis of the Doppler shift and plasma geometry allows the turbulence to be localized to a narrow region 3 mm inside the last closed flux surface, outside the minimum of the E{sub r} well. The turbulence amplitude and radial wavenumber and correlation length are determined by fitting the PCI results with a simple non-isotropic turbulence model with two regions of turbulence. These PCI observations, made in QH-mode, are qualitatively similar to those made in standard edge localized modes (ELM)-free H-mode and between ELMs, suggesting a similar role for large k{sub r} turbulence there.« less

Short wavelength turbulence generated by shear in the quiescent H-mode edge on DIII–D [Short wavelength turbulence generated by shear in the QH-mode edge on DIII-D

DOE PAGES

Rost, Jon C.; Porkolab, Miklos; Dorris, James R.; ...

2014-06-17

A region of turbulence with large radial wavenumber (k rρ s > 1) is found in the high-shear portion of the plasma edge in Quiescent H-mode (QH-mode) on DIII{D using the Phase Contrast Imaging (PCI) diagnostic. At its peak outside the minimum of the E r well, the turbulence exhibits large amplitudemore » $$\\tilde{n}$$/n ~ 40%, with large radial wavenumber |$$\\bar{k}$$ r/ $$\\bar{k}$$ θ| ~ 11 and short radial correlation length L r/ρ i ~ 0.2. The turbulence inside the E r well minimum is characterized by the opposite sign in radial wavenumber from that of turbulence outside the minimum, consistent with the expected effects of velocity shear. The PCI diagnostic provides a line-integrated measurement of density uctuations, so data is taken during a scan of plasma position at constant parameters to allow the PCI to sample a range in k r/k θ . Analysis of the Doppler Shift and plasma geometry allows the turbulence to be localized to a narrow region 3 mm inside the last closed flux surface (LCFS), outside the minimum of the E r well. The turbulence amplitude and radial wavenumber and correlation length are determined by fitting the PCI results with a simple non-isotropic turbulence model with two regions of turbulence. Finally, these PCI observations, made in QH-mode, are qualitatively similar to those made in standard ELM-free H-mode and between edge localized modes (ELMs), suggesting a similar role for large k r turbulence there.« less

A Study of Light Level Effect on the Accuracy of Image Processing-based Tomato Grading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prijatna, D.; Muhaemin, M.; Wulandari, R. P.; Herwanto, T.; Saukat, M.; Sugandi, W. K.

2018-05-01

Image processing method has been used in non-destructive tests of agricultural products. Compared to manual method, image processing method may produce more objective and consistent results. Image capturing box installed in currently used tomato grading machine (TEP-4) is equipped with four fluorescence lamps to illuminate the processed tomatoes. Since the performance of any lamp will decrease if its service time has exceeded its lifetime, it is predicted that this will affect tomato classification. The objective of this study was to determine the minimum light levels which affect classification accuracy. This study was conducted by varying light level from minimum and maximum on tomatoes in image capturing boxes and then investigates its effects on image characteristics. Research results showed that light intensity affects two variables which are important for classification, for example, area and color of captured image. Image processing program was able to determine correctly the weight and classification of tomatoes when light level was 30 lx to 140 lx.

25 CFR 547.2 - How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction? 547.2 Section 547.2 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES MINIMUM TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR GAMING EQUIPMENT USED WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.2 How do these...

25 CFR 547.2 - How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction? 547.2 Section 547.2 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES MINIMUM TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR GAMING EQUIPMENT USED WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.2 How do these...

25 CFR 547.2 - How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false How do these regulations affect state jurisdiction? 547.2 Section 547.2 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HUMAN SERVICES MINIMUM TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR GAMING EQUIPMENT USED WITH THE PLAY OF CLASS II GAMES § 547.2 How do these...

Space shuttle engineering and operations support. Orbiter to spacelab electrical power interface. Avionics system engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Emmons, T. E.

1976-01-01

The results are presented of an investigation of the factors which affect the determination of Spacelab (S/L) minimum interface main dc voltage and available power from the orbiter. The dedicated fuel cell mode of powering the S/L is examined along with the minimum S/L interface voltage and available power using the predicted fuel cell power plant performance curves. The values obtained are slightly lower than current estimates and represent a more marginal operating condition than previously estimated.

Shortened Mean Transit Time in CT Perfusion With Singular Value Decomposition Analysis in Acute Cerebral Infarction: Quantitative Evaluation and Comparison With Various CT Perfusion Parameters.

PubMed

Murayama, Kazuhiro; Katada, Kazuhiro; Hayakawa, Motoharu; Toyama, Hiroshi

We aimed to clarify the cause of shortened mean transit time (MTT) in acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease and examined its relationship with reperfusion. Twenty-three patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular disease underwent whole-brain computed tomography perfusion (CTP). The maximum MTT (MTTmax), minimum MTT (MTTmin), ratio of maximum and minimum MTT (MTTmin/max), and minimum cerebral blood volume (CBV) (CBVmin) were measured by automatic region of interest analysis. Diffusion weighted image was performed to calculate infarction volume. We compared these CTP parameters between reperfusion and nonreperfusion groups and calculated correlation coefficients between the infarction core volume and CTP parameters. Significant differences were observed between reperfusion and nonreperfusion groups (MTTmin/max: P = 0.014; CBVmin ratio: P = 0.038). Regression analysis of CTP and high-intensity volume on diffusion weighted image showed negative correlation (CBVmin ratio: r = -0.41; MTTmin/max: r = -0.30; MTTmin ratio: r = -0.27). A region of shortened MTT indicated obstructed blood flow, which was attributed to the singular value decomposition method error.

Implications of fractured Arctic perennial ice cover on thermodynamic and dynamic sea ice processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asplin, Matthew G.; Scharien, Randall; Else, Brent; Howell, Stephen; Barber, David G.; Papakyriakou, Tim; Prinsenberg, Simon

2014-04-01

Decline of the Arctic summer minimum sea ice extent is characterized by large expanses of open water in the Siberian, Laptev, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, and introduces large fetch distances in the Arctic Ocean. Long waves can propagate deep into the pack ice, thereby causing flexural swell and failure of the sea ice. This process shifts the floe size diameter distribution smaller, increases floe surface area, and thereby affects sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes. The results of Radarsat-2 imagery analysis show that a flexural fracture event which occurred in the Beaufort Sea region on 6 September 2009 affected ˜40,000 km2. Open water fractional area in the area affected initially decreased from 3.7% to 2.7%, but later increased to ˜20% following wind-forced divergence of the ice pack. Energy available for lateral melting was assessed by estimating the change in energy entrainment from longwave and shortwave radiation in the mixed-layer of the ocean following flexural fracture. 11.54 MJ m-2 of additional energy for lateral melting of ice floes was identified in affected areas. The impact of this process in future Arctic sea ice melt seasons was assessed using estimations of earlier occurrences of fracture during the melt season, and is discussed in context with ocean heat fluxes, atmospheric mixing of the ocean mixed layer, and declining sea ice cover. We conclude that this process is an important positive feedback to Arctic sea ice loss, and timing of initiation is critical in how it affects sea ice thermodynamic and dynamic processes.

Women's labour and economic globalisation: a participatory workshop created by Alternative Women in Development (Alt-WID).

PubMed

Barton, C; Nazombei, E

2000-03-01

This article describes the aims, methods, materials and topics used in a participatory workshop created by Alternative Women in Development. The organization aims to bridge the gaps in analyzing human rights and economic justice in both North and South from a feminist perspective through a workshop. This workshop considers the varied roles that women play in the global economy and features a series of anecdotes to illustrate the diverse ways in which globalization affects women in all regions worldwide. The workshop runs for a minimum of 3 hours and is structured as follows: introduction; plenary: identifying the human rights of the women; small-group work, plenary: building a group analysis and discussion of alternatives to the existing policies; and individual and plenary evaluations. Furthermore, four anecdotes used at the workshop are presented. Among the outcomes of the workshop included the identification of the problem causes and development of strategies for action.

Modeling chain folding in protein-constrained circular DNA.

PubMed Central

Martino, J A; Olson, W K

1998-01-01

An efficient method for sampling equilibrium configurations of DNA chains binding one or more DNA-bending proteins is presented. The technique is applied to obtain the tertiary structures of minimal bending energy for a selection of dinucleosomal minichromosomes that differ in degree of protein-DNA interaction, protein spacing along the DNA chain contour, and ring size. The protein-bound portions of the DNA chains are represented by tight, left-handed supercoils of fixed geometry. The protein-free regions are modeled individually as elastic rods. For each random spatial arrangement of the two nucleosomes assumed during a stochastic search for the global minimum, the paths of the flexible connecting DNA segments are determined through a numerical solution of the equations of equilibrium for torsionally relaxed elastic rods. The minimal energy forms reveal how protein binding and spacing and plasmid size differentially affect folding and offer new insights into experimental minichromosome systems. PMID:9591675

Aspects of Hydrological Modelling In The Punjab Himalayan and Karakoram Ranges, Pakistan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loukas, A.; Khan, M. I.; Quick, M. C.

Various aspects of hydrologic modelling of high mountainous basins in the Punjab Hi- malayan and Karakoram ranges of Northern Pakistan were studied. The runoff from three basins in this region was simulated using the U.B.C. watershed model, which re- quires limited meteorological data of minimum and maximum daily temperature and precipitation. The structure of the model is based on the concept that the hydrolog- ical behavior is a function of elevation and thus, a watershed is conceptualized as a number of elevational zones. A simplified energy budget approach, which is based on daily maximum and minimum temperature and can account for forested and open areas, and aspect and latitude, is used in the U.B.C. model for the estimation of the snowmelt and glacier melt. The studied basins have different hydrological responses and limited data. The runoff from the first basin, the Astore basin, is mainly gener- ated by snowmelt. In the second basin, the Kunhar basin, the runoff is generated by snowmelt but significant redistribution of snow, caused by snow avalanches, affect the runoff generation. The third basin, the Hunza basin, is a highly glacierized basin and its runoff is mainly generated by glacier melt. The application of the U.B.C. watershed model to these three basins showed that the model could estimate reasonably well the runoff generated by the different components.

Functioning of the Ocean Biological Pump in the Oxygen Minimum Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, J. K.

2015-12-01

Oxygen minimum zones occur at mid-depths in the water column in regions with weak ventilation and relatively high export of organic matter from surface waters. They are important ocean for ocean biogeochemistry, and potentially for climate, as sites of water column denitrification and nitrous oxide production. Denitrification is the dominant loss process for fixed nitrogen in the oceans, and can thus affect the ocean inventory of this key nutrient. Denitrification is less energetically efficient than oxic remineralization. Larger zooplankton, which feed on sinking particles, are not present in the lowest oxygen waters. Both of these factors suggest that the remineralization of sinking particles may be slower within the OMZs than in more oxygenated waters. There is limited field evidence and from some modeling studies that remineralization is slower (remineralization length scales are longer) within OMZ waters. In this talk, I will present results from the Community Earth System Model (CESM) ocean component attempting to test this hypothesis. Comparing model results with observed ocean biogeochemical tracer distributions (i.e., phosphate, oxygen), I will examine whether slower remineralization within low oxygen waters provides a better match between simulated and observed tracer distributions. Longer remineralization length scales under low oxygen conditions would provide a negative feedback under global warming scenarios. The biological pump would transfer organic materials to depth more efficiently as ocean oxygen concentrations decline and the OMZs expand.

Associations Between Minimum Wage Policy and Access to Health Care: Evidence From the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1996–2007

PubMed Central

Zimmerman, Frederick J.; Ralston, James D.; Martin, Diane P.

2011-01-01

Objectives. We examined whether minimum wage policy is associated with access to medical care among low-skilled workers in the United States. Methods. We used multilevel logistic regression to analyze a data set consisting of individual-level indicators of uninsurance and unmet medical need from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and state-level ecological controls from the US Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and several other sources in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1996 and 2007. Results. Higher state-level minimum wage rates were associated with significantly reduced odds of reporting unmet medical need after control for the ecological covariates, substate region fixed effects, and individual demographic and health characteristics (odds ratio = 0.853; 95% confidence interval = 0.750, 0.971). Minimum wage rates were not significantly associated with being uninsured. Conclusions. Higher minimum wages may be associated with a reduced likelihood of experiencing unmet medical need among low-skilled workers, and do not appear to be associated with uninsurance. These findings appear to refute the suggestion that minimum wage laws have detrimental effects on access to health care, as opponents of the policies have suggested. PMID:21164102

Associations between minimum wage policy and access to health care: evidence from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1996-2007.

PubMed

McCarrier, Kelly P; Zimmerman, Frederick J; Ralston, James D; Martin, Diane P

2011-02-01

We examined whether minimum wage policy is associated with access to medical care among low-skilled workers in the United States. We used multilevel logistic regression to analyze a data set consisting of individual-level indicators of uninsurance and unmet medical need from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and state-level ecological controls from the US Census, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and several other sources in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between 1996 and 2007. Higher state-level minimum wage rates were associated with significantly reduced odds of reporting unmet medical need after control for the ecological covariates, substate region fixed effects, and individual demographic and health characteristics (odds ratio = 0.853; 95% confidence interval = 0.750, 0.971). Minimum wage rates were not significantly associated with being uninsured. Higher minimum wages may be associated with a reduced likelihood of experiencing unmet medical need among low-skilled workers, and do not appear to be associated with uninsurance. These findings appear to refute the suggestion that minimum wage laws have detrimental effects on access to health care, as opponents of the policies have suggested.

Bounds of cavitation inception in a creeping flow between eccentric cylinders rotating with a small minimum gap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monakhov, A. A.; Chernyavski, V. M.; Shtemler, Yu.

2013-09-01

Bounds of cavitation inception are experimentally determined in a creeping flow between eccentric cylinders, the inner one being static and the outer rotating at a constant angular velocity, Ω. The geometric configuration is additionally specified by a small minimum gap between cylinders, H, as compared with the radii of the inner and outer cylinders. For some values H and Ω, cavitation bubbles are observed, which are collected on the surface of the inner cylinder and equally distributed over the line parallel to its axis near the downstream minimum gap position. Cavitation occurs for the parameters {H,Ω} within a region bounded on the right by the cavitation inception curve that passes through the plane origin and cannot exceed the asymptotic threshold value of the minimum gap, Ha, in whose vicinity cavitation may occur at H < Ha only for high angular rotation velocities.

Force and Directional Force Modulation Effects on Accuracy and Variability in Low-Level Pinch Force Tracking.

PubMed

Park, Sangsoo; Spirduso, Waneen; Eakin, Tim; Abraham, Lawrence

2018-01-01

The authors investigated how varying the required low-level forces and the direction of force change affect accuracy and variability of force production in a cyclic isometric pinch force tracking task. Eighteen healthy right-handed adult volunteers performed the tracking task over 3 different force ranges. Root mean square error and coefficient of variation were higher at lower force levels and during minimum reversals compared with maximum reversals. Overall, the thumb showed greater root mean square error and coefficient of variation scores than did the index finger during maximum reversals, but not during minimum reversals. The observed impaired performance during minimum reversals might originate from history-dependent mechanisms of force production and highly coupled 2-digit performance.

Bimodal behavior of post-measured entropy and one-way quantum deficit for two-qubit X states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yurischev, Mikhail A.

2018-01-01

A method for calculating the one-way quantum deficit is developed. It involves a careful study of post-measured entropy shapes. We discovered that in some regions of X-state space the post-measured entropy \\tilde{S} as a function of measurement angle θ \\in [0,π /2] exhibits a bimodal behavior inside the open interval (0,π /2), i.e., it has two interior extrema: one minimum and one maximum. Furthermore, cases are found when the interior minimum of such a bimodal function \\tilde{S}(θ ) is less than that one at the endpoint θ =0 or π /2. This leads to the formation of a boundary between the phases of one-way quantum deficit via finite jumps of optimal measured angle from the endpoint to the interior minimum. Phase diagram is built up for a two-parameter family of X states. The subregions with variable optimal measured angle are around 1% of the total region, with their relative linear sizes achieving 17.5%, and the fidelity between the states of those subregions can be reduced to F=0.968. In addition, a correction to the one-way deficit due to the interior minimum can achieve 2.3%. Such conditions are favorable to detect the subregions with variable optimal measured angle of one-way quantum deficit in an experiment.

The Variance of Solar Wind Magnetic Fluctuations: Solutions and Further Puzzles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Roberts, D. A.; Goldstein, M. L.

2006-01-01

We study the dependence of the variance directions of the magnetic field in the solar wind as a function of scale, radial distance, and Alfvenicity. The study resolves the question of why different studies have arrived at widely differing values for the maximum to minimum power (approximately equal to 3:1 up to approximately equal to 20:1). This is due to the decreasing anisotropy with increasing time interval chosen for the variance, and is a direct result of the "spherical polarization" of the waves which follows from the near constancy of |B|. The reason for the magnitude preserving evolution is still unresolved. Moreover, while the long-known tendency for the minimum variance to lie along the mean field also follows from this view (as shown by Barnes many years ago), there is no theory for why the minimum variance follows the field direction as the Parker angle changes. We show that this turning is quite generally true in Alfvenic regions over a wide range of heliocentric distances. The fact that nonAlfvenic regions, while still showing strong power anisotropies, tend to have a much broader range of angles between the minimum variance and the mean field makes it unlikely that the cause of the variance turning is to be found in a turbulence mechanism. There are no obvious alternative mechanisms, leaving us with another intriguing puzzle.

Trend of annual temperature and frequency of extreme events in the MATOPIBA region of Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvador, Mozar de A.; de Brito, J. I. B.

2017-06-01

During the 1980s, a new agricultural frontier arouse in Brazil, which occupied part of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia. Currently, this new frontier is known as the MATOPIBA region. The region went through intense transformations in its social and environmental characteristics, with the emergence of extensive areas of intensive agriculture and large herds. The purpose of this research was to study the climatic variabilities of temperature in the MATOPIBA region through extreme climate indexes of ClimAp tool. Data from 11 weather stations were analyzed for yearly air temperature (maximum and minimum) in the period of 1970 to 2012. To verify the trend in the series, we used methods of linear regression analysis and Kendall-tau test. The annual analysis of maximum and minimum temperatures and of the temperature extremes indexes showed a strong positive trend in practically every series (with p value less than 0.05). These results indicated that the region went through to a significant heating process in the last 3 decades. The indices of extreme also showed a significant positive trend in most of the analyzed stations, indicating a higher frequency of warm days during the year.

46 CFR 70.01-1 - Purpose of regulations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... set forth uniform minimum requirements for passenger vessels. The regulations are necessary to carry out the provisions of law affecting passenger vessels and such regulations have the force of law...

Community Support for Basic Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Region Human Development Working Paper Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watt, Patrick

Currently, Africa stands out as the world's poorest and most educationally deprived region. Where communities are empowered to identify their own needs and priorities, participate in decisions about resource allocation, and hold education providers accountable for ensuring that children receive a minimum acceptable standard of education, schooling…

Minimum initial service package (MISP) for sexual and reproductive health in disasters.

PubMed

Lisam, Suchitra

2014-12-01

This paper is based on a presentation given at the Evidence Aid Symposium, on 20 September 2014, at Hyderabad, India. The paper provides background about how the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) got conceived as a humanitarian health response that adopts human right approach, based on core principles driven by needs of adolescent girls and women, and having respect for their values, ethics and morals. Good practices across nations documented by Inter-Agency Working Groups (IAWGs) on Reproductive Health in Humanitarian Crisis has supported the provision of essential SRH care services to adolescent girls and women in humanitarian crisis and in disasters. Secondary desk review is used to document the lessons learnt and good practices followed and documents for SRH. These essential SRH care services are to be provided as "Minimum Initial Service Package (MISP)" for implementation at the outset of disaster. The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response incorporated the MISP for SRH as a minimum standard of care in disaster response with a goal to reduce mortality, morbidity and disability among populations affected by crises, particularly women and girls. Disaster prone countries are expected to roll out MISP to improve humanitarian response and emergency preparedness systems. The East Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region including India have rolled out MISP starting from 2011 (EECA) and from 2013-2014 onwards in India across cities such as Chennai, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Faridabad and Calcutta. Across India, through these national and state level trainings, nearly 600 people from NGOs, institutions, and government agencies were developed as national level trainers and resource persons for MISP who could advocate for RH in emergencies, apply core techniques provided in the MISP, apply coordination skills for the implementation of MISP and develop an action plan to integrate RH and Gender Based Violence (GBV) into Disaster Management Plans of respective agencies. The way forward includes focusing on MISP distance learning module, integration of MISP in Health action plans, and integration into national disaster preparedness and contingency planning of respective agencies and departments and building capacity at various levels. © 2014 Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Search for magnetic monopoles in sqrt[s]=7  TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector.

PubMed

Aad, G; Abajyan, T; Abbott, B; Abdallah, J; Abdel Khalek, S; Abdelalim, A A; Abdinov, O; Aben, R; Abi, B; Abolins, M; AbouZeid, O S; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; Acerbi, E; Acharya, B S; Adamczyk, L; Adams, D L; Addy, T N; Adelman, J; Adomeit, S; Adragna, P; Adye, T; Aefsky, S; Aguilar-Saavedra, J A; Agustoni, M; Aharrouche, M; Ahlen, S P; Ahles, F; Ahmad, A; Ahsan, M; Aielli, G; Akdogan, T; Åkesson, T P A; Akimoto, G; Akimov, A V; Alam, M S; Alam, M A; Albert, J; Albrand, S; Aleksa, M; Aleksandrov, I N; Alessandria, F; Alexa, C; Alexander, G; Alexandre, G; Alexopoulos, T; Alhroob, M; Aliev, M; Alimonti, G; Alison, J; Allbrooke, B M M; Allport, P P; Allwood-Spiers, S E; Almond, J; Aloisio, A; Alon, R; Alonso, A; Alonso, F; Alvarez Gonzalez, B; Alviggi, M G; Amako, K; Amelung, C; Ammosov, V V; Amorim, A; Amram, N; Anastopoulos, C; Ancu, L S; Andari, N; Andeen, T; Anders, C F; Anders, G; Anderson, K J; Andreazza, A; Andrei, V; Anduaga, X S; Anger, P; Angerami, A; Anghinolfi, F; Anisenkov, A; 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Barone, G; Barr, A J; Barreiro, F; Barreiro Guimarães da Costa, J; Barrillon, P; Bartoldus, R; Barton, A E; Bartsch, V; Bates, R L; Batkova, L; Batley, J R; Battaglia, A; Battistin, M; Bauer, F; Bawa, H S; Beale, S; Beau, T; Beauchemin, P H; Beccherle, R; Bechtle, P; Beck, H P; Becker, A K; Becker, S; Beckingham, M; Becks, K H; Beddall, A J; Beddall, A; Bedikian, S; Bednyakov, V A; Bee, C P; Beemster, L J; Begel, M; Behar Harpaz, S; Beimforde, M; Belanger-Champagne, C; Bell, P J; Bell, W H; Bella, G; Bellagamba, L; Bellina, F; Bellomo, M; Belloni, A; Beloborodova, O; Belotskiy, K; Beltramello, O; Benary, O; Benchekroun, D; Bendtz, K; Benekos, N; Benhammou, Y; Benhar Noccioli, E; Benitez Garcia, J A; Benjamin, D P; Benoit, M; Bensinger, J R; Benslama, K; Bentvelsen, S; Berge, D; Bergeaas Kuutmann, E; Berger, N; Berghaus, F; Berglund, E; Beringer, J; Bernat, P; Bernhard, R; Bernius, C; Berry, T; Bertella, C; Bertin, A; Bertolucci, F; Besana, M I; Besjes, G J; Besson, N; Bethke, S; Bhimji, W; Bianchi, R M; Bianco, M; Biebel, O; Bieniek, S P; Bierwagen, K; Biesiada, J; Biglietti, M; Bilokon, H; Bindi, M; Binet, S; Bingul, A; Bini, C; Biscarat, C; Bitenc, U; Black, K M; Blair, R E; Blanchard, J-B; Blanchot, G; Blazek, T; Blocker, C; Blocki, J; Blondel, A; Blum, W; Blumenschein, U; Bobbink, G J; Bobrovnikov, V B; Bocchetta, S S; Bocci, A; Boddy, C R; Boehler, M; Boek, J; Boelaert, N; Bogaerts, J A; Bogdanchikov, A; Bogouch, A; Bohm, C; Bohm, J; Boisvert, V; Bold, T; Boldea, V; Bolnet, N M; Bomben, M; Bona, M; Boonekamp, M; Booth, C N; Bordoni, S; Borer, C; Borisov, A; Borissov, G; Borjanovic, I; Borri, M; Borroni, S; Bortolotto, V; Bos, K; Boscherini, D; Bosman, M; Boterenbrood, H; Bouchami, J; Boudreau, J; Bouhova-Thacker, E V; Boumediene, D; Bourdarios, C; Bousson, N; Boveia, A; Boyd, J; Boyko, I R; Bozovic-Jelisavcic, I; Bracinik, J; Branchini, P; Brandt, A; Brandt, G; Brandt, O; Bratzler, U; Brau, B; Brau, J E; Braun, H M; Brazzale, S F; Brelier, B; Bremer, J; Brendlinger, K; Brenner, R; Bressler, S; Britton, D; Brochu, F M; Brock, I; Brock, R; Broggi, F; Bromberg, C; Bronner, J; Brooijmans, G; Brooks, T; Brooks, W K; Brown, G; Brown, H; Bruckman de Renstrom, P A; Bruncko, D; Bruneliere, R; Brunet, S; Bruni, A; Bruni, G; Bruschi, M; Buanes, T; Buat, Q; Bucci, F; Buchanan, J; Buchholz, P; Buckingham, R M; Buckley, A G; Buda, S I; Budagov, I A; Budick, B; Büscher, V; Bugge, L; Bulekov, O; Bundock, A C; Bunse, M; Buran, T; Burckhart, H; Burdin, S; Burgess, T; Burke, S; Busato, E; Bussey, P; Buszello, C P; Butler, B; Butler, J M; Buttar, C M; Butterworth, J M; Buttinger, W; Byszewski, M; Cabrera Urbán, S; Caforio, D; Cakir, O; Calafiura, P; Calderini, G; Calfayan, P; Calkins, R; Caloba, L P; Caloi, R; Calvet, D; Calvet, S; Camacho Toro, R; Camarri, P; Cameron, D; Caminada, L M; Campana, S; Campanelli, M; Canale, V; Canelli, F; Canepa, A; Cantero, J; Cantrill, R; Capasso, L; Capeans Garrido, M D M; Caprini, I; Caprini, M; Capriotti, D; Capua, M; Caputo, R; Cardarelli, R; Carli, T; Carlino, G; Carminati, L; Caron, B; Caron, S; Carquin, E; Carrillo Montoya, G D; Carter, A A; Carter, J R; Carvalho, J; Casadei, D; Casado, M P; Cascella, M; Caso, C; Castaneda Hernandez, A M; Castaneda-Miranda, E; Castillo Gimenez, V; Castro, N F; Cataldi, G; Catastini, P; Catinaccio, A; Catmore, J R; Cattai, A; Cattani, G; Caughron, S; Cavaliere, V; Cavalleri, P; Cavalli, D; Cavalli-Sforza, M; Cavasinni, V; Ceradini, F; Cerqueira, A S; Cerri, A; Cerrito, L; Cerutti, F; Cetin, S A; Chafaq, A; Chakraborty, D; Chalupkova, I; Chan, K; Chapleau, B; Chapman, J D; Chapman, J W; Chareyre, E; Charlton, D G; Chavda, V; Chavez Barajas, C A; Cheatham, S; Chekanov, S; Chekulaev, S V; Chelkov, G A; Chelstowska, M A; Chen, C; Chen, H; Chen, S; Chen, X; Chen, Y; Cheplakov, A; Cherkaoui El Moursli, R; Chernyatin, V; Cheu, E; Cheung, S L; Chevalier, L; Chiefari, G; Chikovani, L; Childers, J T; Chilingarov, A; Chiodini, G; Chisholm, A S; Chislett, R T; Chitan, A; Chizhov, M V; Choudalakis, G; Chouridou, S; Christidi, I A; Christov, A; Chromek-Burckhart, D; Chu, M L; Chudoba, J; Ciapetti, G; Ciftci, A K; Ciftci, R; Cinca, D; Cindro, V; Ciocca, C; Ciocio, A; Cirilli, M; Cirkovic, P; Citterio, M; Ciubancan, M; Clark, A; Clark, P J; Clarke, R N; Cleland, W; Clemens, J C; Clement, B; Clement, C; Coadou, Y; Cobal, M; Coccaro, A; Cochran, J; Cogan, J G; Coggeshall, J; Cogneras, E; Colas, J; Cole, S; Colijn, A P; Collins, N J; Collins-Tooth, C; Collot, J; Colombo, T; Colon, G; Conde Muiño, P; Coniavitis, E; Conidi, M C; Consonni, S M; Consorti, V; Constantinescu, S; Conta, C; Conti, G; Conventi, F; Cooke, M; Cooper, B D; Cooper-Sarkar, A M; Copic, K; Cornelissen, T; Corradi, M; Corriveau, F; Cortes-Gonzalez, A; Cortiana, G; Costa, G; Costa, M J; Costanzo, D; Costin, T; Côté, D; Courneyea, L; Cowan, G; Cowden, C; Cox, B E; Cranmer, K; Crescioli, F; Cristinziani, M; Crosetti, G; Crépé-Renaudin, S; Cuciuc, C-M; Cuenca Almenar, C; Cuhadar Donszelmann, T; Curatolo, M; Curtis, C J; Cuthbert, C; 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2012-12-28

This Letter presents a search for magnetic monopoles with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider using an integrated luminosity of 2.0  fb(-1) of pp collisions recorded at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt[s]=7  TeV. No event is found in the signal region, leading to an upper limit on the production cross section at 95% confidence level of 1.6/ϵ  fb for Dirac magnetic monopoles with the minimum unit magnetic charge and with mass between 200 GeV and 1500 GeV, where ϵ is the monopole reconstruction efficiency. The efficiency ϵ is high and uniform in the fiducial region given by pseudorapidity |η|<1.37 and transverse kinetic energy 600-700

Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUM) Site Screening Map Service, 2016, US EPA Region 9

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

As described in detail in the Five-Year Report, US EPA completed on-the-ground screening of 521 abandoned uranium mine areas. US EPA and the Navajo EPA are using the Comprehensive Database and Atlas to determine which mines should be cleaned up first. US EPA continues to research and identify Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) under Superfund to contribute to the costs of cleanup efforts.This US EPA Region 9 web service contains the following map layers:Abandoned Uranium Mines, Priority Mines, Tronox Mines, Navajo Environmental Response Trust Mines, Mines with Enforcement Actions, Superfund AUM Regions, Navajo Nation Administrative Boundaries and Chapter Houses.Mine points have a maximum scale of 1:220,000, while Mine polygons have a minimum scale of 1:220,000. Chapter houses have a minimum scale of 1:200,000. BLM Land Status has a minimum scale of 1:150,000.Full FGDC metadata records for each layer can be found by clicking the layer name at the web service endpoint and viewing the layer description. Data used to create this web service are available for download at https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/data/data.page.Security Classification: Public. Access Constraints: None. Use Constraints: None. Please check sources, scale, accuracy, currentness and other available information. Please confirm that you are using the most recent copy of both data and metadata. Acknowledgement of the EPA would be appreciated.

Trends in Middle East climate extreme indices from 1950 to 2003

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xuebin; Aguilar, Enric; Sensoy, Serhat; Melkonyan, Hamlet; Tagiyeva, Umayra; Ahmed, Nader; Kutaladze, Nato; Rahimzadeh, Fatemeh; Taghipour, Afsaneh; Hantosh, T. H.; Albert, Pinhas; Semawi, Mohammed; Karam Ali, Mohammad; Said Al-Shabibi, Mansoor Halal; Al-Oulan, Zaid; Zatari, Taha; Al Dean Khelet, Imad; Hamoud, Saleh; Sagir, Ramazan; Demircan, Mesut; Eken, Mehmet; Adiguzel, Mustafa; Alexander, Lisa; Peterson, Thomas C.; Wallis, Trevor

2005-11-01

A climate change workshop for the Middle East brought together scientists and data for the region to produce the first area-wide analysis of climate extremes for the region. This paper reports trends in extreme precipitation and temperature indices that were computed during the workshop and additional indices data that became available after the workshop. Trends in these indices were examined for 1950-2003 at 52 stations covering 15 countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Turkey. Results indicate that there have been statistically significant, spatially coherent trends in temperature indices that are related to temperature increases in the region. Significant, increasing trends have been found in the annual maximum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the annual minimum of daily maximum and minimum temperature, the number of summer nights, and the number of days where daily temperature has exceeded its 90th percentile. Significant negative trends have been found in the number of days when daily temperature is below its 10th percentile and daily temperature range. Trends in precipitation indices, including the number of days with precipitation, the average precipitation intensity, and maximum daily precipitation events, are weak in general and do not show spatial coherence. The workshop attendees have generously made the indices data available for the international research community.

Predicting depression based on dynamic regional connectivity: a windowed Granger causality analysis of MEG recordings.

PubMed

Lu, Qing; Bi, Kun; Liu, Chu; Luo, Guoping; Tang, Hao; Yao, Zhijian

2013-10-16

Abnormal inter-regional causalities can be mapped for the objective diagnosis of various diseases. These inter-regional connectivities are usually calculated over an entire scan and used to characterize the stationary strength of the connections. However, the connectivity within networks may undergo substantial changes during a scan. In this study, we developed an objective depression recognition approach using the dynamic regional interactions that occur in response to sad facial stimuli. The whole time-period magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals from the visual cortex, amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) were separated into sequential time intervals. The Granger causality mapping method was used to identify the pairwise interaction pattern within each time interval. Feature selection was then undertaken within a minimum redundancy-maximum relevance (mRMR) framework. Typical classifiers were utilized to predict those patients who had depression. The overall performances of these classifiers were similar, and the highest classification accuracy rate was 87.5%. The best discriminative performance was obtained when the number of features was within a robust range. The discriminative network pattern obtained through support vector machine (SVM) analyses displayed abnormal causal connectivities that involved the amygdala during the early and late stages. These early and late connections in the amygdala appear to reveal a negative bias to coarse expression information processing and abnormal negative modulation in patients with depression, which may critically affect depression discrimination. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Historical seismicity, palaeoseismicity and seismic risk in Western Macedonia, Northern Greece

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stiros, Stathis C.

Western Macedonia, Northern Greece, was a seismically quiescent region for one or more centuries, and was regarded as a nearly aseismic, rigid block inside a broad zone of distributed continental deformation and faulting, and a region of minimum seismic risk. Consequently, the May 13, 1995 destructive earthquake ( M = 6.6) which hit this assumed aseismic zone was a surprise for scientists, government and population. However, historical and archaeoseismic evidence, as well as coastal change data indicate that the assumed aseismic region of Western Macedonia has been affected in the last 2,000 years by at least seven, and possibly nine destructive earthquakes. One of these earthquakes occurred in circa 1700, and probably had the same epicentre with, but higher magnitude than the 1995 shock. The earthquake in circa 1700 is deduced from historical data and is modelled on the base of a swarm of church repairs which is explained as post-seismic recovery of the broader Kozani area: except for certain well known cases of towns or areas in which religious privileges were granted, large scale repairs or reconstruction of churches during the Ottoman period were possible only after Sultan's permissions, usually following earthquakes and other calamities. It can hence be concluded that some, at least, of the apparently aseismic regions inside broad zones of distributed seismicity are hit by stronger shocks, but with longer (200 years or more) recurrence intervals than their adjacent zones. Consequently, the seismic risk of the apparently aseismic regions is certainly not low, especially since relatively long periods of seismic quiescence lead to constructions vulnerable to earthquakes.

Prediction of the thermal imaging minimum resolvable (circle) temperature difference with neural network application.

PubMed

Fang, Yi-Chin; Wu, Bo-Wen

2008-12-01

Thermal imaging is an important technology in both national defense and the private sector. An advantage of thermal imaging is its ability to be deployed while fully engaged in duties, not limited by weather or the brightness of indoor or outdoor conditions. However, in an outdoor environment, many factors, including atmospheric decay, target shape, great distance, fog, temperature out of range and diffraction limits can lead to bad image formation, which directly affects the accuracy of object recognition. The visual characteristics of the human eye mean that it has a much better capacity for picture recognition under normal conditions than artificial intelligence does. However, conditions of interference significantly reduce this capacity for picture recognition for instance, fatigue impairs human eyesight. Hence, psychological and physiological factors can affect the result when the human eye is adopted to measure MRTD (minimum resolvable temperature difference) and MRCTD (minimum resolvable circle temperature difference). This study explores thermal imaging recognition, and presents a method for effectively choosing the characteristic values and processing the images fully. Neural network technology is successfully applied to recognize thermal imaging and predict MRTD and MRCTD (Appendix A), exceeding thermal imaging recognition under fatigue and the limits of the human eye.

Optimal rendezvous in the neighborhood of a circular orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, J. B.

1975-01-01

The minimum velocity change rendezvous solutions, when the motion may be linearized about a circular orbit, fall into two separate regions; the phase-for-free region and the general region. Phase-for-free solutions are derived from the optimum transfer solutions, require the same velocity change expenditure, but may not be unique. Analytic solutions are presented in two of the three subregions. An algorithm is presented for determining the unique solutions in the general region. Various sources of initial conditions are discussed and three examples presented.

A recent time of minimum for and atmospheric-eclipse in the ultraviolet spectrum of the Wolf-Rayet eclipsing binary V444 Cygni

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eaton, J. E.; Cherepashchuk, A. M.; Khaliullin, K. F.

1982-01-01

The 1200-1900 angstrom region and fine error sensor observations in the optical for V444 Cyg were continuously observed. More than half of a primary minimum and almost a complete secondary minimum were observed. It is found that the time of minimum for the secondary eclipse is consistent with that for primary eclipse, and the ultraviolet times of minimum are consistent with the optical ones. The spectrum shows a considerable amount of phase dependence. The general shaps and depths of the light curves for the FES signal and the 1565-1900 angstrom continuum are similar to those for the blue continuum. The FES, however, detected an atmospheric eclipse in line absorption at about the phase the NIV absorption was strongest. It is suggested that there is a source of continuum absorption shortward of 1460 angstrom which exists throughout a large part of the extended atmosphere and which, by implication, must redden considerably the ultraviolet continuua of WN stars. A fairly high degree of ionization for the inner part of the WN star a atmosphere is implied.

Competing with peers: mentalizing-related brain activity reflects what is at stake.

PubMed

Halko, Marja-Liisa; Hlushchuk, Yevhen; Hari, Riitta; Schürmann, Martin

2009-06-01

Competition imposes constraints for humans who make decisions. Concomitantly, people do not only maximize their personal profit but they also try to punish unfair conspecifics. In bargaining games, subjects typically accept equal-share offers but reject unduly small offers; competition affects this balance. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study adjustment to competition in a bargaining game where subjects competed against another person for a share of the stake. For medium-sized, but not for minimum offers, competition increased the likelihood of acceptance and thus shifted behavior towards maximizing personal profits, emphasizing the importance of financial incentives. Specifically for medium-sized offers, competition was associated with increased brain activation bilaterally in the temporo-parietal junction, a region associated with mentalizing. In the right inferior frontal region, competition-related brain activation was strongest in subjects whose high acceptance rates in the standard ultimatum game hinted at a profit-oriented approach. The results suggest a network of brain areas supporting decision making under competition, with incentive-dependent mentalizing engaged when the competitor's behavior is difficult to predict and when the stake is attractive enough to justify the effort.

[Construction and evaluation of ecological network in Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone, China.

PubMed

Chen, Xiao Ping; Chen, Wen Bo

2016-05-01

Large-scale ecological patches play an important role in regional biodiversity conservation. However, with the rapid progress of China's urbanization, human disturbance on the environment is becoming stronger. Large-scale ecological patches will degrade not only in quantity, but also in quality, threatening the connections among them due to isolation and seriously affecting the biodiversity protection. Taking Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone as a case, this paper established the potential ecological corridors by minimum cost model and GIS technique taking the impacts of landscape types, slope and human disturbance into consideration. Then, based on gravity quantitative model, we analyzed the intensity of ecological interactions between patches, and the potential ecological corridors were divided into two classes for sake of protection. Finally, the important ecological nodes and breaking points were identified, and the structure of the potential ecological network was analyzed. The results showed that forest and cropland were the main landscape types of ecological corridor composition, interaction between ecological patches differed obviously and the structure of the composed regional ecological network was complex with high connectivity and closure. It might provide a scientific basis for the protection of biodiversity and ecological network optimization in Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone.

Fiber Volume Fraction Influence on Fiber Compaction in Tapered Resin Injection Pultrusion Manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masuram, N. B.; Roux, J. A.; Jeswani, A. L.

2016-06-01

Liquid resin is injected into the tapered injection chamber through the injection slots to completely wetout the fiber reinforcements in a resin injection pultrusion process. As the resin penetrates through the fibers, the resin also pushes the fibers away from the wall towards the centerline causing compaction of the fiber reinforcements. The fibers are squeezed together due to compaction, making resin penetration more difficult; thus higher resin injection pressures are required to effectively penetrate through the fibers and achieve complete wetout. Fiber volume fraction in the final pultruded composite is a key to decide the mechanical and/or chemical properties of the composite. If the fiber volume fraction is too high, more fibers are squeezed together creating a fiber lean region near the wall and fiber rich region away from the wall. Also, the design of the injection chamber significantly affects the minimum injection pressure required to completely wet the fibers. A tapered injection chamber is considered such that wetout occurs at lower injection pressures due to the taper angle of the injection chamber. In this study, the effect of fiber volume fraction on the fiber reinforcement compaction and complete fiber wetout for a tapered injection chamber is investigated.

Improving Crop Productions Using the Irrigation & Crop Production Model Under Drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Y.; Lee, T.; Lee, S. H.; Kim, J.; Jang, W.; Park, S.

2017-12-01

We aimed to improve crop productions by providing optimal irrigation water amounts (IWAs) for various soils and crops using the Irrigation & Crop Production (ICP) model under various hydro-climatic regions. We selected the Little Washita (LW 13/21) and Bangdong-ri sites in Oklahoma (United States of America) and Chuncheon (Republic of Korea) for the synthetic studies. Our results showed that the ICP model performed well for improving crop productions by providing optimal IWAs during the study period (2000 to 2016). Crop productions were significantly affected by the solar radiation and precipitation, but the maximum and minimum temperature showed less impact on crop productions. When we considerd that the weather variables cannot be adjusted by artifical activities, irrigation might be the only solution for improving crop productions under drought. Also, the presence of shallow ground water (SGW) table depths higlhy influences on crop production. Although certainties exist in the synthetic studies, our results showed the robustness of the ICP model for improving crop productions under the drought condition. Thus, the ICP model can contribute to efficient water management plans under drought in regions at where water availability is limited.

Simulation-optimization of large agro-hydrosystems using a decomposition approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuetze, Niels; Grundmann, Jens

2014-05-01

In this contribution a stochastic simulation-optimization framework for decision support for optimal planning and operation of water supply of large agro-hydrosystems is presented. It is based on a decomposition solution strategy which allows for (i) the usage of numerical process models together with efficient Monte Carlo simulations for a reliable estimation of higher quantiles of the minimum agricultural water demand for full and deficit irrigation strategies at small scale (farm level), and (ii) the utilization of the optimization results at small scale for solving water resources management problems at regional scale. As a secondary result of several simulation-optimization runs at the smaller scale stochastic crop-water production functions (SCWPF) for different crops are derived which can be used as a basic tool for assessing the impact of climate variability on risk for potential yield. In addition, microeconomic impacts of climate change and the vulnerability of the agro-ecological systems are evaluated. The developed methodology is demonstrated through its application on a real-world case study for the South Al-Batinah region in the Sultanate of Oman where a coastal aquifer is affected by saltwater intrusion due to excessive groundwater withdrawal for irrigated agriculture.

FUPSOL: Modelling the Future and Past Solar Influence on Earth Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anet, J. G.; Rozanov, E.; Peter, T.

2012-04-01

Global warming is becoming one of the main threats to mankind. There is growing evidence that anthropogenic greenhouse gases have become the dominant factor since about 1970. At the same time natural factors of climate change such as solar and volcanic forcings cannot be neglected on longer time scales. Despite growing scientific efforts over the last decades in both, observations and simulations, the uncertainty of the solar contribution to the past climate change remained unacceptably high (IPCC, 2007), the reasons being on one hand missing observations of solar irradiance prior to the satellite era, and on the other hand a majority of models so far not including all processes relevant for solar-climate interactions. This project aims at elucidating the processes governing the effects of solar activity variations on Earth's climate. We use the state-of-the-art coupled atmosphere-ocean-chemistry-climate model (AOCCM) SOCOL (Schraner et al, 2008) developed in Switzerland by coupling the community Earth System Model (ESM) COSMOS distributed by MPI for Meteorology (Hamburg, Germany) with a comprehensive atmospheric chemistry module. The model solves an extensive set of equations describing the dynamics of the atmosphere and ocean, radiative transfer, transport of species, their chemical transformations, cloud formation and the hydrological cycle. The intention is to show how past solar variations affected climate and how the decrease in solar forcing expected for the next decades will affect climate on global and regional scales. We will simulate the global climate system behavior during Dalton minimum (1790 and 1830) and first half of 21st century with a series of multiyear ensemble experiments and perform these experiments using all known anthropogenic and natural climate forcing taken in different combinations to understand the effects of solar irradiance in different spectral regions and particle precipitation variability. Further on, we will quantify the solar influence on global climate in the future by evaluating the simulations and using information from past analogs such as the Dalton minimum. In the end, the project aims at reducing the uncertainty of the solar contribution to past and future climate change, which so far remained high despite many years of analyses of observational records and theoretical investigations with climate models of different complexity.

How do minimum cigarette price laws affect cigarette prices at the retail level?

PubMed Central

Feighery, E; Ribisl, K; Schleicher, N; Zellers, L; Wellington, N

2005-01-01

Objectives: Half of US states have minimum cigarette price laws that were originally passed to protect small independent retailers from unfair price competition with larger retailers. These laws prohibit cigarettes from being sold below a minimum price that is set by a formula. Many of these laws allow cigarette company promotional incentives offered to retailers, such as buydowns and master-type programmes, to be calculated into the formula. Allowing this provision has the potential to lower the allowable minimum price. This study assesses whether stores in states with minimum price laws have higher cigarette prices and lower rates of retailer participation in cigarette company promotional incentive programmes. Design: Retail cigarette prices and retailer participation in cigarette company incentive programmes in 2001 were compared in eight states with minimum price laws and seven states without them. New York State had the most stringent minimum price law at the time of the study because it excluded promotional incentive programmes in its price setting formula; cigarette prices in New York were compared to all other states included in the study. Results: Cigarette prices were not significantly different in our sample of US states with and without cigarette minimum price laws. Cigarette prices were significantly higher in New York stores than in the 14 other states combined. Conclusions: Most existing minimum cigarette price laws appear to have little impact on the retail price of cigarettes. This may be because they allow the use of promotional programmes, which are used by manufacturers to reduce cigarette prices. New York's strategy to disallow these types of incentive programmes may result in higher minimum cigarette prices, and should also be explored as a potential policy strategy to control cigarette company marketing practices in stores. Strict cigarette minimum price laws may have the potential to reduce cigarette consumption by decreasing demand through increased cigarette prices and reduced promotional activities at retail outlets. PMID:15791016

How do minimum cigarette price laws affect cigarette prices at the retail level?

PubMed

Feighery, E C; Ribisl, K M; Schleicher, N C; Zellers, L; Wellington, N

2005-04-01

Half of US states have minimum cigarette price laws that were originally passed to protect small independent retailers from unfair price competition with larger retailers. These laws prohibit cigarettes from being sold below a minimum price that is set by a formula. Many of these laws allow cigarette company promotional incentives offered to retailers, such as buydowns and master-type programmes, to be calculated into the formula. Allowing this provision has the potential to lower the allowable minimum price. This study assesses whether stores in states with minimum price laws have higher cigarette prices and lower rates of retailer participation in cigarette company promotional incentive programmes. Retail cigarette prices and retailer participation in cigarette company incentive programmes in 2001 were compared in eight states with minimum price laws and seven states without them. New York State had the most stringent minimum price law at the time of the study because it excluded promotional incentive programmes in its price setting formula; cigarette prices in New York were compared to all other states included in the study. Cigarette prices were not significantly different in our sample of US states with and without cigarette minimum price laws. Cigarette prices were significantly higher in New York stores than in the 14 other states combined. Most existing minimum cigarette price laws appear to have little impact on the retail price of cigarettes. This may be because they allow the use of promotional programmes, which are used by manufacturers to reduce cigarette prices. New York's strategy to disallow these types of incentive programmes may result in higher minimum cigarette prices, and should also be explored as a potential policy strategy to control cigarette company marketing practices in stores. Strict cigarette minimum price laws may have the potential to reduce cigarette consumption by decreasing demand through increased cigarette prices and reduced promotional activities at retail outlets.

Projected changes in rainfall and temperature over homogeneous regions of India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patwardhan, Savita; Kulkarni, Ashwini; Rao, K. Koteswara

2018-01-01

The impact of climate change on the characteristics of seasonal maximum and minimum temperature and seasonal summer monsoon rainfall is assessed over five homogeneous regions of India using a high-resolution regional climate model. Providing REgional Climate for Climate Studies (PRECIS) is developed at Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, UK. The model simulations are carried out over South Asian domain for the continuous period of 1961-2098 at 50-km horizontal resolution. Here, three simulations from a 17-member perturbed physics ensemble (PPE) produced using HadCM3 under the Quantifying Model Uncertainties in Model Predictions (QUMP) project of Hadley Centre, Met. Office, UK, have been used as lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) for the 138-year simulations of the regional climate model under Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B scenario. The projections indicate the increase in the summer monsoon (June through September) rainfall over all the homogeneous regions (15 to 19%) except peninsular India (around 5%). There may be marginal change in the frequency of medium and heavy rainfall events (>20 mm) towards the end of the present century. The analysis over five homogeneous regions indicates that the mean maximum surface air temperatures for the pre-monsoon season (March-April-May) as well as the mean minimum surface air temperature for winter season (January-February) may be warmer by around 4 °C towards the end of the twenty-first century.

Uncertainties in observations and climate projections for the North East India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soraisam, Bidyabati; Karumuri, Ashok; D. S., Pai

2018-01-01

The Northeast-India has undergone many changes in climatic-vegetation related issues in the last few decades due to increased human activities. However, lack of observations makes it difficult to ascertain the climate change. The study involves the mean, seasonal cycle, trend and extreme-month analysis for summer-monsoon and winter seasons of observed climate data from Indian Meteorological Department (1° × 1°) and Aphrodite & CRU-reanalysis (both 0.5° × 0.5°), and five regional-climate-model simulations (LMDZ, MPI, GFDL, CNRM and ACCESS) data from AR5/CORDEX-South-Asia (0.5° × 0.5°). Long-term (1970-2005) observed, minimum and maximum monthly temperature and precipitation, and the corresponding CORDEX-South-Asia data for historical (1970-2005) and future-projections of RCP4.5 (2011-2060) have been analyzed for long-term trends. A large spread is found across the models in spatial distributions of various mean maximum/minimum climate statistics, though models capture a similar trend in the corresponding area-averaged seasonal cycles qualitatively. Our observational analysis broadly suggests that there is no significant trend in rainfall. Significant trends are observed in the area-averaged minimum temperature during winter. All the CORDEX-South-Asia simulations for the future project either a decreasing insignificant trend in seasonal precipitation, but increasing trend for both seasonal maximum and minimum temperature over the northeast India. The frequency of extreme monthly maximum and minimum temperature are projected to increase. It is not clear from future projections how the extreme rainfall months during JJAS may change. The results show the uncertainty exists in the CORDEX-South-Asia model projections over the region in spite of the relatively high resolution.

Diurnal and Seasonal Variations in the Net Ecosystem CO2 Exchange of a Pasture in the Three-River Source Region of the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau

PubMed Central

Wang, Bin; Jin, Haiyan; Li, Qi; Chen, Dongdong; Zhao, Liang; Tang, Yanhong; Kato, Tomomichi; Gu, Song

2017-01-01

Carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange between the atmosphere and grassland ecosystems is very important for the global carbon balance. To assess the CO2 flux and its relationship to environmental factors, the eddy covariance method was used to evaluate the diurnal cycle and seasonal pattern of the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) of a cultivated pasture in the Three-River Source Region (TRSR) on the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau from January 1 to December 31, 2008. The diurnal variations in the NEE and ecosystem respiration (Re) during the growing season exhibited single-peak patterns, the maximum and minimum CO2 uptake observed during the noon hours and night; and the maximum and minimum Re took place in the afternoon and early morning, respectively. The minimum hourly NEE rate and the maximum hourly Re rate were −7.89 and 5.03 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1, respectively. The NEE and Re showed clear seasonal variations, with lower values in winter and higher values in the peak growth period. The highest daily values for C uptake and Re were observed on August 12 (−2.91 g C m−2 d−1) and July 28 (5.04 g C m−2 day−1), respectively. The annual total NEE and Re were −140.01 and 403.57 g C m−2 year−1, respectively. The apparent quantum yield (α) was −0.0275 μmol μmol−1 for the entire growing period, and the α values for the pasture’s light response curve varied with the leaf area index (LAI), air temperature (Ta), soil water content (SWC) and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Piecewise regression results indicated that the optimum Ta and VPD for the daytime NEE were 14.1°C and 0.65 kPa, respectively. The daytime NEE decreased with increasing SWC, and the temperature sensitivity of respiration (Q10) was 3.0 during the growing season, which was controlled by the SWC conditions. Path analysis suggested that the soil temperature at a depth of 5 cm (Tsoil) was the most important environmental factor affecting daily variations in NEE during the growing season, and the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) was the major limiting factor for this cultivated pasture. PMID:28129406

Microdisk Injection Lasers for the 1.27-μm Spectral Range

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

Kryzhanovskaya, N. V.; Maximov, M. V.; Blokhin, S. A.

2016-03-15

Microdisk injection lasers on GaAs substrates, with a minimum diameter of 15 μm and an active region based on InAs/InGaAs quantum dots, are fabricated. The lasers operate in the continuous-wave mode at room temperature without external cooling. The lasing wavelength is around 1.27 μm at a minimum threshold current of 1.6 mA. The specific thermal resistance is estimated to be 5 × 10–3 °C cm{sup 2}/W.

Variational nature, integration, and properties of Newton reaction path

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bofill, Josep Maria; Quapp, Wolfgang

2011-02-01

The distinguished coordinate path and the reduced gradient following path or its equivalent formulation, the Newton trajectory, are analyzed and unified using the theory of calculus of variations. It is shown that their minimum character is related to the fact that the curve is located in a valley region. In this case, we say that the Newton trajectory is a reaction path with the category of minimum energy path. In addition to these findings a Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg algorithm to integrate these curves is also proposed.

Variational nature, integration, and properties of Newton reaction path.

PubMed

Bofill, Josep Maria; Quapp, Wolfgang

2011-02-21

The distinguished coordinate path and the reduced gradient following path or its equivalent formulation, the Newton trajectory, are analyzed and unified using the theory of calculus of variations. It is shown that their minimum character is related to the fact that the curve is located in a valley region. In this case, we say that the Newton trajectory is a reaction path with the category of minimum energy path. In addition to these findings a Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg algorithm to integrate these curves is also proposed.

Planning Minimum-Energy Paths in an Off-Road Environment with Anisotropic Traversal Costs and Motion Constraints

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-06-01

problems, and (3) weighted-region problems. Since the minimum-energy path-planning problem addressed in this dissertation is a hybrid between the two...contains components that are strictly vehicle dependent, components that are strictly terrain dependent, and components representing a hybrid of...Single Segment Braking/Multiple Segment Hybrid Using Eq. (3.46), the traversal cost U 1,.-1 can be rewritten as Uop- 1 = mgD Itan01 , (4.12a) and the

The Unusual Minimum of Cycle 23: Observations and Interpretation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martens, Petrus C.; Nandy, D.; Munoz-Jaramillo, A.

2009-05-01

The current minimum of cycle 23 is unusual in its long duration, the very low level to which Total Solar Irradiance (TSI) has fallen, and the small flux of the open polar fields. The deep minimum of TSI seems to be related to an unprecedented dearth of polar faculae, and hence to the small amount of open flux. Based upon surface flux transport models it has been suggested that the causes of these phenomena may be an unusually vigorous meridional flow, or even a deviation from Joy's law resulting in smaller Joy angles than usual for emerging flux in cycle 23. There is also the possibility of a connection with the recently inferred emergence in polar regions of bipoles that systematically defy Hale's law. Much speculation has been going on as to the consequences of this exceptional minimum: are we entering another global minimum, is this the end of the 80 year period of exceptionally high solar activity, or is this just a statistical hiccup? Dynamo simulations are underway that may help answer this question. As an aside it must be mentioned that the current minimum of TSI puts an upper limit in the TSI input for global climate simulations during the Maunder minimum, and that a possible decrease in future solar activity will result in a very small but not insignificant reduction in the pace of global warming.

Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA) and comparison with IRI model during descending phase of solar activity (2005-2009)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Sanjay; Singh, A. K.; Lee, Jiyun

2014-03-01

The ionospheric variability at equatorial and low latitude region is known to be extreme as compared to mid latitude region. In this study the ionospheric total electron content (TEC), is derived by analyzing dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) data recorded at two stations separated by 325 km near the Indian equatorial anomaly region, Varanasi (Geog latitude 25°, 16/ N, longitude 82°, 59/ E, Geomagnetic latitude 16°, 08/ N) and Kanpur (Geog latitude 26°, 18/ N, longitude 80°, 12/ E, Geomagnetic latitude 17°, 18/ N). Specifically, we studied monthly, seasonal and annual variations as well as solar and geomagnetic effects on the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) during the descending phase of solar activity from 2005 to 2009. It is found that the maximum TEC (EIA) near equatorial anomaly crest yield their maximum values during the equinox months and their minimum values during the summer. Using monthly averaged peak magnitude of TEC, a clear semi-annual variation is seen with two maxima occurring in both spring and autumn. Results also showed the presence of winter anomaly or seasonal anomaly in the EIA crest throughout the period 2005-2009 only except during the deep solar minimum year 2007-2008. The correlation analysis indicate that the variation of EIA crest is more affected by solar activity compared to geomagnetic activity with maximum dependence on the solar EUV flux, which is attributed to direct link of EUV flux on the formation of ionosphere and main agent of the ionization. The statistical mean occurrence of EIA crest in TEC during the year from 2005 to 2009 is found to around 12:54 LT hour and at 21.12° N geographic latitude. The crest of EIA shifts towards lower latitudes and the rate of shift of the crest latitude during this period is found to be 0.87° N/per year. The comparison between IRI models with observation during this period has been made and comparison is poor with increasing solar activity with maximum difference during the year 2005.

Seasonal and Solar Activity Variations of f3 Layer and StF-4 F-Layer Quadruple Stratification) Near the Equatorial Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tardelli, A.; Fagundes, P. R.; Pezzopane, M.; Kavutarapu, V.

2016-12-01

The ionospheric F-layer shape and electron density peak variations depend on local time, latitude, longitude, season, solar cycle, geomagnetic activity, and electrodynamic conditions. In particular, the equatorial and low latitude F-layer may change its shape and peak height in a few minutes due to electric fields induced by propagation of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) or thermospheric - ionospheric coupling. This F-layer electrodynamics feature characterizing the low latitudes is one of the most remarkable ionospheric physics research field. The study of multiple-stratification of the F-layer has the initial records in the mid of the 20th century. Since then, many studies were focused on F3 layer. The diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations of the F3 layer characteristics have been investigated by several researchers. Recently, investigations on multiple-stratifications of F-layer received an important boost after the quadruple stratification (StF-4) was observed at Palmas (10.3°S, 48.3°W; dip latitude 5.5°S - near equatorial region), Brazil (Tardelli & Fagundes, JGR, 2015). This study present the latest findings related with the seasonal and solar activity characteristics of the F3 layer and StF-4 near the equatorial region during the period from 2002 to 2006. A significant connection between StF-4 and F3 layer has been noticed, since the StF-4 is always preceded and followed by an F3 layer appearance. However, the F3 layer and StF-4 present different seasonal and solar cycle variations. At a near equatorial station Palmas, the F3 layer shows the maximum and minimum occurrence during summer and winter seasons respectively. On the contrary, the StF-4 presents the maximum and minimum occurrence during winter and summer seasons respectively. While the F3 layer occurrence is not affected by solar cycle, the StF-4 appearance is instead more frequent during High Solar Activity (HSA).

The Effect of Changes in the Hadley Circulation on Oceanic Oxygen Minimum Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De La Cruz Tello, G.; Ummenhofer, C.; Karnauskas, K. B.

2014-12-01

Recent research argued that the Hadley circulation (HC) is composed of three regional cells located at the eastern edges of the ocean basins, rather than a single, globe-encircling cell as the classic textbook view suggests. The HC is expected to expand in concert with global warming, which means that the dry regions beneath the descending branches of the HC are projected to become even drier. Changes in the HC are thus likely to impact freshwater resources on land, as well as the underlying ocean in the subtropics. The eastern edges of ocean basins are characterized by oxygen minimum zones (OMZs), which are regions of very low oxygen concentrations. They affect marine life, as many animals cannot handle the stress caused by such conditions. OMZs have expanded and shoaled in the last 50 years, and they are expected to continue to do so as global climate changes. The purpose of this research is to find links between the projected changes in OMZs and the HC. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Earth System Model 1.0 (CESM), Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) experiment with a resolution of 0.9 by 1.25 degrees, which formed part of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5), was used for this analysis. Meridional winds and oceanic oxygen concentrations were the primarily analyzed variables. Latitudinal ocean oxygen slices demonstrate the OMZs' location along the eastern edges of ocean basins. Meridional winds overlayed with oxygen concentration are consistent with the idea that surface meridional 'Hadleywise flow' (i.e., towards the equator at the surface and towards the poles aloft) and OMZs are linked through changes in upwelling. Area-averaged time series spanning the historical period through to the end of the 21st century with RCP8.5 confirm that future changes in OMZs and the HC may be connected. Further research could lead to improved understanding of the factors that drive changes in both, which could help anticipate and mitigate the consequences discussed previously.

Present and future ecological niche modeling of garter snake species from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

PubMed Central

García-Vázquez, Uri; D’Addario, Maristella

2018-01-01

Land use and climate change are affecting the abundance and distribution of species. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) is a very diverse region due to geological history, geographic position, and climate. It is also one of the most disturbed regions in Mexico. Reptiles are particularly sensitive to environmental changes due to their low dispersal capacity and thermal ecology. In this study, we define the important environmental variables (considering climate, topography, and land use) and potential distribution (present and future) of the five Thamnophis species present in TMVB. To do so, we used the maximum entropy modeling software (MAXENT). First, we modeled to select the most important variables to explain the distribution of each species, then we modeled again using only the most important variables and projected these models to the future considering a middle-moderate climate change scenario (rcp45), and land use and vegetation variables for the year 2050 (generated according to land use changes that occurred between years 2002 and 2011). Arid vegetation had an important negative effect on habitat suitability for all species, and minimum temperature of the coldest month was important for four of the five species. Thamnophis cyrtopsis was the species with the lowest tolerance to minimum temperatures. The maximum temperature of the warmest month was important for T. scalaris and T. cyrtopsis. Low percentages of agriculture were positive for T. eques and T. melanogaster but, at higher values, agriculture had a negative effect on habitat suitability for both species. Elevation was the most important variable to explain T. eques and T. melanogaster potential distribution while distance to Abies forests was the most important variable for T. scalaris and T. scaliger. All species had a high proportion of their potential distribution in the TMVB. However, according to our models, all Thamnophis species will experience reductions in their potential distribution in this region. T. scalaris will suffer the biggest reduction because this species is limited by high temperatures and will not be able to shift its distribution upward, as it is already present in the highest elevations of the TMVB. PMID:29666767

Probablilistic evaluation of earthquake detection and location capability for Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia

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

Mauk, F.J.; Christensen, D.H.

1980-09-01

Probabilistic estimations of earthquake detection and location capabilities for the states of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia are presented in this document. The algorithm used in these epicentrality and minimum-magnitude estimations is a version of the program NETWORTH by Wirth, Blandford, and Husted (DARPA Order No. 2551, 1978) which was modified for local array evaluation at the University of Michigan Seismological Observatory. Estimations of earthquake detection capability for the years 1970 and 1980 are presented in four regional minimum m/sub b/ magnitude contour maps. Regional 90% confidence error ellipsoids are included for m/sub b/ magnitude events from 2.0more » through 5.0 at 0.5 m/sub b/ unit increments. The close agreement between these predicted epicentral 90% confidence estimates and the calculated error ellipses associated with actual earthquakes within the studied region suggest that these error determinations can be used to estimate the reliability of epicenter location. 8 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Persistence and long-term memories of daily maximum and minimum temperatures in southern South America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naumann, Gustavo; Vargas, Walter M.; Minetti, Juan L.

2011-10-01

The persistence and long-term memories in daily maximum and minimum temperature series during the instrumental period in southern South America were analysed. Here, we found a markedly seasonal pattern both for short- and long-term memories that can lead to enhanced predictability on intraseasonal timescales. In addition, well-defined spatial patterns of these properties were found in the region. Throughout the entire region, the strongest dependence was observed in autumn and early winter. In the Patagonia region only, the temperatures exhibited more memory during the spring. In general, these elements indicate that nonlinear interactions exist between the annual cycles of temperature and its anomalies. Knowledge of the spatiotemporal behaviour of these long-term memories can be used in the building of stochastic models that only use persistence. It is possible to propose two objective forecast models based on linear interactions associated with persistence and one that allows for the use of information from nonlinear interactions that are manifested in the form of forerunners.

Potential Seasonal Terrestrial Water Storage Monitoring from GPS Vertical Displacements: A Case Study in the Lower Three-Rivers Headwater Region, China.

PubMed

Zhang, Bao; Yao, Yibin; Fok, Hok Sum; Hu, Yufeng; Chen, Qiang

2016-09-19

This study uses the observed vertical displacements of Global Positioning System (GPS) time series obtained from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) with careful pre- and post-processing to estimate the seasonal crustal deformation in response to the hydrological loading in lower three-rivers headwater region of southwest China, followed by inferring the annual EWH changes through geodetic inversion methods. The Helmert Variance Component Estimation (HVCE) and the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) criterion were successfully employed. The GPS inferred EWH changes agree well qualitatively with the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)-inferred and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS)-inferred EWH changes, with a discrepancy of 3.2-3.9 cm and 4.8-5.2 cm, respectively. In the research areas, the EWH changes in the Lancang basin is larger than in the other regions, with a maximum of 21.8-24.7 cm and a minimum of 3.1-6.9 cm.

On streak spacing in wall-bounded turbulent flows

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hamilton, James M.; Kim, John J.

1993-01-01

The present study is a continuation of the examination by Hamilton et al. of the regeneration mechanisms of near-wall turbulence and an attempt to investigate the conjecture of Waleffe et al. The basis of this study is an extension of the 'minimal channel' approach of Jimenez and Moin that emphasizes the near-wall region and reduces the complexity of the turbulent flow by considering a plane Couette flow of near minimum Reynolds number and stream-wise and span-wise extent. Reduction of the flow Reynolds number to the minimum value which will allow turbulence to be sustained has the effect of reducing the ratio of the largest scales to the smallest scales or, equivalently, of causing the near-wall region to fill more of the area between the channel walls. A plane Couette flow was chosen for study since this type of flow has a mean shear of a single sign, and at low Reynolds numbers, the two wall regions are found to share a single set of structures.

Electron avalanche structure determined by random walk theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Englert, G. W.

1973-01-01

A self-consistent avalanche solution which accounts for collective long range Coulomb interactions as well as short range elastic and inelastic collisions between electrons and background atoms is made possible by a random walk technique. Results show that the electric field patterns in the early formation stages of avalanches in helium are close to those obtained from theory based on constant transport coefficients. Regions of maximum and minimum induced electrostatic potential phi are located on the axis of symmetry and within the volume covered by the electron swarm. As formation time continues, however, the region of minimum phi moves to slightly higher radii and the electric field between the extrema becomes somewhat erratic. In the intermediate formation periods the avalanche growth is slightly retarded by the high concentration of ions in the tail which oppose the external electric field. Eventually the formation of ions and electrons in the localized regions of high field strength more than offset this effect causing a very abrupt increase in avalanche growth.

Application of Climate Impact Metrics to Rotorcraft Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Carl; Johnson, Wayne

2013-01-01

Multiple metrics are applied to the design of large civil rotorcraft, integrating minimum cost and minimum environmental impact. The design mission is passenger transport with similar range and capacity to a regional jet. Separate aircraft designs are generated for minimum empty weight, fuel burn, and environmental impact. A metric specifically developed for the design of aircraft is employed to evaluate emissions. The designs are generated using the NDARC rotorcraft sizing code, and rotor analysis is performed with the CAMRAD II aeromechanics code. Design and mission parameters such as wing loading, disk loading, and cruise altitude are varied to minimize both cost and environmental impact metrics. This paper presents the results of these parametric sweeps as well as the final aircraft designs.

Application of Climate Impact Metrics to Civil Tiltrotor Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Russell, Carl R.; Johnson, Wayne

2013-01-01

Multiple metrics are applied to the design of a large civil tiltrotor, integrating minimum cost and minimum environmental impact. The design mission is passenger transport with similar range and capacity to a regional jet. Separate aircraft designs are generated for minimum empty weight, fuel burn, and environmental impact. A metric specifically developed for the design of aircraft is employed to evaluate emissions. The designs are generated using the NDARC rotorcraft sizing code, and rotor analysis is performed with the CAMRAD II aeromechanics code. Design and mission parameters such as wing loading, disk loading, and cruise altitude are varied to minimize both cost and environmental impact metrics. This paper presents the results of these parametric sweeps as well as the final aircraft designs.

A comparison of solar wind streams and coronal structure near solar minimum

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolte, J. T.; Davis, J. M.; Gerassimenko, M.; Lazarus, A. J.; Sullivan, J. D.

1977-01-01

Solar wind data from the MIT detectors on the IMP 7 and 8 satellites and the SOLRAD 11B satellite for the solar-minimum period September-December, 1976, were compared with X-ray images of the solar corona taken by rocket-borne telescopes on September 16 and November 17, 1976. There was no compelling evidence that a coronal hole was the source of any high speed stream. Thus it is possible that either coronal holes were not the sources of all recurrent high-speed solar wind streams during the declining phase of the solar cycle, as might be inferred from the Skylab period, or there was a change in the appearance of some magnetic field regions near the time of solar minimum.

Dynamic fracture toughness of ASME SA508 Class 2a ASME SA533 grade A Class 2 base and heat affected zone material and applicable weld metals

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

Logsdon, W.A.; Begley, J.A.; Gottshall, C.L.

1978-03-01

The ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section III, Article G-2000, requires that dynamic fracture toughness data be developed for materials with specified minimum yield strengths greater than 50 ksi to provide verification and utilization of the ASME specified minimum reference toughness K/sub IR/ curve. In order to qualify ASME SA508 Class 2a and ASME SA533 Grade A Class 2 pressure vessel steels (minimum yield strengths equal 65 kip/in./sup 2/ and 70 kip/in./sup 2/, respectively) per this requirement, dynamic fracture toughness tests were performed on these materials. All dynamic fracture toughness values of SA508 Class 2a base and HAZ material,more » SA533 Grade A Class 2 base and HAZ material, and applicable weld metals exceeded the ASME specified minimum reference toughness K/sub IR/ curve.« less

Root region airfoil for wind turbine

DOEpatents

Tangler, James L.; Somers, Dan M.

1995-01-01

A thick airfoil for the root region of the blade of a wind turbine. The airfoil has a thickness in a range from 24%-26% and a Reynolds number in a range from 1,000,000 to 1,800,000. The airfoil has a maximum lift coefficient of 1.4-1.6 that has minimum sensitivity to roughness effects.

Understanding the science of climate change: Talking points - Impacts to Prairie Potholes and Grasslands

Treesearch

Rachel Loehman

2009-01-01

Climate changes in the Prairie Potholes and Grasslands bioregion include increased seasonal, annual, minimum, and maximum temperature and changing precipitation patterns. Because the region is relatively dry with a strong seasonal climate, it is sensitive to climatic changes and vulnerable to changes in climatic regime. For example, model simulations show that regional...

Impacts of Model Bias on the Climate Change Signal and Effects of Weighted Ensembles of Regional Climate Model Simulations: A Case Study over Southern Québec, Canada

DOE PAGES

Eum, Hyung-Il; Gachon, Philippe; Laprise, René

2016-01-01

This study examined the impact of model biases on climate change signals for daily precipitation and for minimum and maximum temperatures. Through the use of multiple climate scenarios from 12 regional climate model simulations, the ensemble mean, and three synthetic simulations generated by a weighting procedure, we investigated intermodel seasonal climate change signals between current and future periods, for both median and extreme precipitation/temperature values. A significant dependence of seasonal climate change signals on the model biases over southern Québec in Canada was detected for temperatures, but not for precipitation. This suggests that the regional temperature change signal is affectedmore » by local processes. Seasonally, model bias affects future mean and extreme values in winter and summer. In addition, potentially large increases in future extremes of temperature and precipitation values were projected. For three synthetic scenarios, systematically less bias and a narrow range of mean change for all variables were projected compared to those of climate model simulations. In addition, synthetic scenarios were found to better capture the spatial variability of extreme cold temperatures than the ensemble mean scenario. Finally, these results indicate that the synthetic scenarios have greater potential to reduce the uncertainty of future climate projections and capture the spatial variability of extreme climate events.« less

Impacts of Model Bias on the Climate Change Signal and Effects of Weighted Ensembles of Regional Climate Model Simulations: A Case Study over Southern Québec, Canada

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

Eum, Hyung-Il; Gachon, Philippe; Laprise, René

This study examined the impact of model biases on climate change signals for daily precipitation and for minimum and maximum temperatures. Through the use of multiple climate scenarios from 12 regional climate model simulations, the ensemble mean, and three synthetic simulations generated by a weighting procedure, we investigated intermodel seasonal climate change signals between current and future periods, for both median and extreme precipitation/temperature values. A significant dependence of seasonal climate change signals on the model biases over southern Québec in Canada was detected for temperatures, but not for precipitation. This suggests that the regional temperature change signal is affectedmore » by local processes. Seasonally, model bias affects future mean and extreme values in winter and summer. In addition, potentially large increases in future extremes of temperature and precipitation values were projected. For three synthetic scenarios, systematically less bias and a narrow range of mean change for all variables were projected compared to those of climate model simulations. In addition, synthetic scenarios were found to better capture the spatial variability of extreme cold temperatures than the ensemble mean scenario. Finally, these results indicate that the synthetic scenarios have greater potential to reduce the uncertainty of future climate projections and capture the spatial variability of extreme climate events.« less

The Assessment of Chemical Quality of Drinking Water in Hamadan Province, the West of Iran.

PubMed

Leili, Mostafa; Naghibi, Afsaneh; Norouzi, HoseinAli; Khodabakhshi, Mahdi

2015-01-01

The aim of present work was to evaluate the drinking water quality from various regions including both urban and rural areas of Hamadan Province, western Iran. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the samples were collected for a periods of 12 months between January 25, 2014 and January 25, 2015 from frequently used household taps as well as from municipal and communal water supplies. The main parameters investigated were nitrate, fluoride, pH, turbidity and chlorine. The maximum and minimum values for nitrate concentrations were measured as 140.80 mg/l and 1.56 mg/l, respectively. Nitrate and fluoride content of samples were higher in wet season than in dry season and their concentration was higher in rural areas rather to urban areas. On average, fluoride contents in both urban and rural areas were well compliance with the WHO guidelines. The pH of all samples of the study regions was in the ranges of 6.25 to 8.41 that were in the standard ranges. Twenty three percent of total samples were exceeded Iranian standards of one NTU for turbidity. The groundwater of the study area is presently having not serious health risks. However, regarding that disinfection efficiency adversely is affected by turbidity, particular attention and more programs for regular monitoring has to be done, which will not always be done in all regions.

Climatic variability leads to later seasonal flowering of Floridian plants.

PubMed

Von Holle, Betsy; Wei, Yun; Nickerson, David

2010-07-21

Understanding species responses to global change will help predict shifts in species distributions as well as aid in conservation. Changes in the timing of seasonal activities of organisms over time may be the most responsive and easily observable indicator of environmental changes associated with global climate change. It is unknown how global climate change will affect species distributions and developmental events in subtropical ecosystems or if climate change will differentially favor nonnative species. Contrary to previously observed trends for earlier flowering onset of plant species with increasing spring temperatures from mid and higher latitudes, we document a trend for delayed seasonal flowering among plants in Florida. Additionally, there were few differences in reproductive responses by native and nonnative species to climatic changes. We argue that plants in Florida have different reproductive cues than those from more northern climates. With global change, minimum temperatures have become more variable within the temperate-subtropical zone that occurs across the peninsula and this variation is strongly associated with delayed flowering among Florida plants. Our data suggest that climate change varies by region and season and is not a simple case of species responding to consistently increasing temperatures across the region. Research on climate change impacts need to be extended outside of the heavily studied higher latitudes to include subtropical and tropical systems in order to properly understand the complexity of regional and seasonal differences of climate change on species responses.

Thermography as an early predictive measurement for evaluating epidural and femoral-sciatic block success in dogs.

PubMed

Küls, Nina; Blissitt, Karen J; Shaw, Darren J; Schöffmann, Gudrun; Clutton, Richard E

2017-09-01

To evaluate skin temperature increase as an early predictive measure for evaluating epidural and femoral-sciatic block success in dogs. Prospective clinical trial. A total of 29 dogs undergoing orthopaedic surgery on one hindlimb. Dogs were anaesthetized and placed into lateral recumbency with the affected limb uppermost and the coat was clipped. Baseline infrared thermographic images (T0) of the affected limb, of the paw pad of the affected leg and of the ipsilateral paw pad were taken. Subsequently, dogs were administered either an epidural (EPI; n=11) or a femoral-sciatic block (FS; n=18) using bupivacaine 1 mg kg -1 . Then, 2 minutes after placement of the block, thermographic images were obtained every 3 minutes for a total of four measurements (T1-T4) and surgery was commenced. Rescue analgesia consisting of fentanyl 1 μg kg -1 was administered if needed. A regional block was considered successful if the dose of fentanyl administered was less than the lower 95% confidence interval of the geometric mean of the total fentanyl used in each group. A ≥ 1 °C increase of skin temperature was considered as the minimum increase required for detection of a successful block. A total of 12 out of 18 blocks in the FS and eight of 11 in the EPI group were considered successful based on fentanyl consumption. Out of these, only four of 12 in the FS and one of eight in the EPI group developed an increase in temperature of ≥ 1 °C. Contrarily, four of six of the nonsuccessful cases in the FS and three of three in the EPI group developed an increase in temperature of ≥ 1 °C. Contrary to reports in humans, thermography did not indicate regional block success prior to surgery in dogs. However further studies under more controlled conditions are needed to determine whether thermography can be used to indicate failure of regional blockade. Copyright © 2017 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Asteroid Deflection Mission Design Considering On-Ground Risks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumpf, Clemens; Lewis, Hugh G.; Atkinson, Peter

The deflection of an Earth-threatening asteroid requires high transparency of the mission design process. The goal of such a mission is to move the projected point of impact over the face of Earth until the asteroid is on a miss trajectory. During the course of deflection operations, the projected point of impact will match regions that were less affected before alteration of the asteroid’s trajectory. These regions are at risk of sustaining considerable damage if the deflecting spacecraft becomes non-operational. The projected impact point would remain where the deflection mission put it at the time of mission failure. Hence, all regions that are potentially affected by the deflection campaign need to be informed about this risk and should be involved in the mission design process. A mission design compromise will have to be found that is acceptable to all affected parties (Schweickart, 2004). A software tool that assesses the on-ground risk due to deflection missions is under development. It will allow to study the accumulated on-ground risk along the path of the projected impact point. The tool will help determine a deflection mission design that minimizes the on-ground casualty and damage risk due to deflection operations. Currently, the tool is capable of simulating asteroid trajectories through the solar system and considers gravitational forces between solar system bodies. A virtual asteroid may be placed at an arbitrary point in the simulation for analysis and manipulation. Furthermore, the tool determines the asteroid’s point of impact and provides an estimate of the population at risk. Validation has been conducted against the solar system ephemeris catalogue HORIZONS by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Asteroids that are propagated over a period of 15 years show typical position discrepancies of 0.05 Earth radii relative to HORIZONS’ output. Ultimately, results from this research will aid in the identification of requirements for deflection missions that enable effective, minimum risk asteroid deflection. Schweickart, R. L. (2004). THE REAL DEFLECTION DILEMMA. In 2004 Planetary Defense Conference: Protecting Earth from Asteroids (pp. 1-6). Orange County, California. Retrieved from http://b612foundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Real_Deflection_Dilemma.pdf

Bromine partitioning between olivine and melt at OIB source conditions: Indication for volatile recycling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joachim, Bastian; Ruzié, Lorraine; Burgess, Ray; Pawley, Alison; Clay, Patricia L.; Ballentine, Christopher J.

2016-04-01

Halogens play a key role in our understanding of volatile transport processes in the Earth's mantle. Their moderate (fluorine) to highly (iodine) incompatible and volatile behavior implies that their distribution is influenced by partial melting, fractionation and degassing processes as well as fluid mobilities. The heavy halogens, particularly bromine and iodine, are far more depleted in the Earth's mantle than expected from their condensation temperature (Palme and O'Neill 2014), so that their very low abundances in basalts and peridotites (ppb-range) make it analytically challenging to investigate their concentrations in Earth's mantle reservoirs and their behavior during transport processes (Pyle and Mather, 2009). We used a new experimental technique, which combines the irradiation technique (Johnson et al. 2000), laser ablation and conventional mass spectrometry. This enables us to present the first experimentally derived bromine partition coefficient between olivine and melt. Partitioning experiments were performed at 1500° C and 2.3 GPa, a P-T condition that is representative for partial melting processes in the OIB source region (Davis et al. 2011). The bromine partition coefficient between olivine and silicate melt at this condition has been determined to DBrol/melt = 4.37•10-4± 1.96•10-4. Results show that bromine is significantly more incompatible than chlorine (˜1.5 orders of magnitude) and fluorine (˜2 orders of magnitude) due to its larger ionic radius. We have used our bromine partitioning data to estimate minimum bromine abundances in EM1 and EM2 source regions. We used minimum bromine bulk rock concentrations determined in an EM1 (Pitcairn: 1066 ppb) and EM2 (Society: 2063 ppb) basalt (Kendrick et al. 2012), together with an estimated minimum melt fraction of 0.01 in OIB source regions (Dasgupta et al. 2007). The almost perfect bromine incompatibility results in minimum bromine abundances in EM1 and EM2 OIB source regions of 11 ppb and 20 ppb, respectively. The effect on the partitioning behaviour of other minerals such as pyroxene, mantle inhomogeneity, incongruent melting, a potential effect of iron, temperature, pressure or the presence of fluids, would be to shift the estimated bromine mantle source concentration to higher but not to lower values. Comparing our minimum bromine OIB source region estimate with the estimated primitive mantle bromine abundance (3.6 ppb; Lyubetskaya and Korenaga, 2007) implies that the OIB source mantle is enriched in bromine relative to the primitive mantle by at least a factor of 3 in EM1 source regions and a factor of 5.5 in EM2 source regions. One explanation is that bromine may be efficiently recycled into the OIB source mantle region through recycling of subducted oceanic crust. Dasgupta R, Hirschmann MM, Humayun, ND (2007) J. Petrol. 48, pp. 2093-2124. Davis FA, Hirschmann MM, Humayun M (2011) Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 308, pp. 380-390. Johnson L, Burgess R, Turner G, Milledge JH, Harris JW (2000) Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 64, pp. 717-732. Kendrick MA, Woodhead JD, Kamenetsky VS (2012) Geol. 32, pp. 441-444. Lyubetskaya T, Korenaga J (2007) J. Geophys. Res.-Sol. Earth 112, B03211. Palme H, O'Neill HStC (2014). Cosmochemical Estimates of Mantle Composition. Treat. Geochem. 2nd edition, 3, pp. 1-39. Pyle DM, Mather TA (2009) Chem. Geol. 263, pp. 110-121.

Automatic quantification of mammary glands on non-contrast x-ray CT by using a novel segmentation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Xiangrong; Kano, Takuya; Cai, Yunliang; Li, Shuo; Zhou, Xinxin; Hara, Takeshi; Yokoyama, Ryujiro; Fujita, Hiroshi

2016-03-01

This paper describes a brand new automatic segmentation method for quantifying volume and density of mammary gland regions on non-contrast CT images. The proposed method uses two processing steps: (1) breast region localization, and (2) breast region decomposition to accomplish a robust mammary gland segmentation task on CT images. The first step detects two minimum bounding boxes of left and right breast regions, respectively, based on a machine-learning approach that adapts to a large variance of the breast appearances on different age levels. The second step divides the whole breast region in each side into mammary gland, fat tissue, and other regions by using spectral clustering technique that focuses on intra-region similarities of each patient and aims to overcome the image variance caused by different scan-parameters. The whole approach is designed as a simple structure with very minimum number of parameters to gain a superior robustness and computational efficiency for real clinical setting. We applied this approach to a dataset of 300 CT scans, which are sampled with the equal number from 30 to 50 years-old-women. Comparing to human annotations, the proposed approach can measure volume and quantify distributions of the CT numbers of mammary gland regions successfully. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed approach achieves results consistent with manual annotations. Through our proposed framework, an efficient and effective low cost clinical screening scheme may be easily implemented to predict breast cancer risk, especially on those already acquired scans.

Tackling alcohol misuse: purchasing patterns affected by minimum pricing for alcohol.

PubMed

Ludbrook, Anne; Petrie, Dennis; McKenzie, Lynda; Farrar, Shelley

2012-01-01

Alcohol consumption is associated with a range of health and social harms that increase with the level of consumption. Policy makers are interested in effective and cost-effective interventions to reduce alcohol consumption and associated harms. Economic theory and research evidence demonstrate that increasing price is effective at the population level. Price interventions that target heavier consumers of alcohol may be more effective at reducing alcohol-related harms with less impact on moderate consumers. Minimum pricing per unit of alcohol has been proposed on this basis but concerns have been expressed that 'moderate drinkers of modest means' will be unfairly penalized. If those on low incomes are disproportionately affected by a policy that removes very cheap alcohol from the market, the policy could be regressive. The effect on households' budgets will depend on who currently purchases cheaper products and the extent to which the resulting changes in prices will impact on their demand for alcohol. This paper focuses on the first of these points. This paper aims to identify patterns of purchasing of cheap off-trade alcohol products, focusing on income and the level of all alcohol purchased. Three years (2006-08) of UK household survey data were used. The Expenditure and Food Survey provides comprehensive 2-week data on household expenditure. Regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between the purchase of cheap off-trade alcohol, household income levels and whether the household level of alcohol purchasing is categorized as moderate, hazardous or harmful, while controlling for other household and non-household characteristics. Predicted probabilities and quantities for cheap alcohol purchasing patterns were generated for all households. The descriptive statistics and regression analyses indicate that low-income households are not the predominant purchasers of any alcohol or even of cheap alcohol. Of those who do purchase off-trade alcohol, the lowest income households are the most likely to purchase cheap alcohol. However, when combined with the fact that the lowest income households are the least likely to purchase any off-trade alcohol, they have the lowest probability of purchasing cheap off-trade alcohol at the population level. Moderate purchasing households in all income quintiles are the group predicted as least likely to purchase cheap alcohol. The predicted average quantity of low-cost off-trade alcohol reveals similar patterns. The results suggest that heavier household purchasers of alcohol are most likely to be affected by the introduction of a 'minimum price per unit of alcohol' policy. When we focus only on those households that purchase off-trade alcohol, lower income households are the most likely to be affected. However, minimum pricing in the UK is unlikely to be significantly regressive when the effects are considered for the whole population, including those households that do not purchase any off-trade alcohol. Minimum pricing will affect the minority of low-income households that purchase off-trade alcohol and, within this group, those most likely to be affected are households purchasing at a harmful level.

Disturbance zonal and vertical plasma drifts in the Peruvian sector during solar minimum phases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, A. M.; Abdu, M. A.; Souza, J. R.; Sobral, J. H. A.; Batista, I. S.

2016-03-01

In the present work, we investigate the behavior of the equatorial F region zonal plasma drifts over the Peruvian region under magnetically disturbed conditions during two solar minimum epochs, one of them being the recent prolonged solar activity minimum. The study utilizes the vertical and zonal components of the plasma drifts measured by the Jicamarca (11.95°S; 76.87°W) incoherent scatter radar during two events that occurred on 10 April 1997 and 24 June 2008 and model calculation of the zonal drift in a realistic ionosphere simulated by the Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model-INPE. Two main points are focused: (1) the connection between electric fields and plasma drifts under prompt penetration electric field during a disturbed periods and (2) anomalous behavior of daytime zonal drift in the absence of any magnetic storm. A perfect anticorrelation between vertical and zonal drifts was observed during the night and in the initial and growth phases of the magnetic storm. For the first time, based on a realistic low-latitude ionosphere, we will show, on a detailed quantitative basis, that this anticorrelation is driven mainly by a vertical Hall electric field induced by the primary zonal electric field in the presence of an enhanced nighttime E region ionization. It is shown that an increase in the field line-integrated Hall-to-Pedersen conductivity ratio (∑H/∑P), which can arise from precipitation of energetic particles in the region of the South American Magnetic Anomaly, is capable of explaining the observed anticorrelation between the vertical and zonal plasma drifts. Evidence for the particle ionization is provided from the occurrence of anomalous sporadic E layers over the low-latitude station, Cachoeira Paulista (22.67°S; 44.9°W)—Brazil. It will also be shown that the zonal plasma drift reversal to eastward in the afternoon two hours earlier than its reference quiet time pattern is possibly caused by weakening of the zonal wind system during the prolonged solar minimum period.

Future changes over the Himalayas: Maximum and minimum temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dimri, A. P.; Kumar, D.; Choudhary, A.; Maharana, P.

2018-03-01

An assessment of the projection of minimum and maximum air temperature over the Indian Himalayan region (IHR) from the COordinated Regional Climate Downscaling EXperiment- South Asia (hereafter, CORDEX-SA) regional climate model (RCM) experiments have been carried out under two different Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios. The major aim of this study is to assess the probable future changes in the minimum and maximum climatology and its long-term trend under different RCPs along with the elevation dependent warming over the IHR. A number of statistical analysis such as changes in mean climatology, long-term spatial trend and probability distribution function are carried out to detect the signals of changes in climate. The study also tries to quantify the uncertainties associated with different model experiments and their ensemble in space, time and for different seasons. The model experiments and their ensemble show prominent cold bias over Himalayas for present climate. However, statistically significant higher warming rate (0.23-0.52 °C/decade) for both minimum and maximum air temperature (Tmin and Tmax) is observed for all the seasons under both RCPs. The rate of warming intensifies with the increase in the radiative forcing under a range of greenhouse gas scenarios starting from RCP4.5 to RCP8.5. In addition to this, a wide range of spatial variability and disagreements in the magnitude of trend between different models describes the uncertainty associated with the model projections and scenarios. The projected rate of increase of Tmin may destabilize the snow formation at the higher altitudes in the northern and western parts of Himalayan region, while rising trend of Tmax over southern flank may effectively melt more snow cover. Such combined effect of rising trend of Tmin and Tmax may pose a potential threat to the glacial deposits. The overall trend of Diurnal temperature range (DTR) portrays increasing trend across entire area with highest magnitude under RCP8.5. This higher rate of increase is imparted from the predominant rise of Tmax as compared to Tmin.

Impact of HIPAA’s Minimum Necessary Standard on Genomic Data Sharing

PubMed Central

Evans, Barbara J.; Jarvik, Gail P.

2017-01-01

Purpose This article provides a brief introduction to the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s minimum necessary standard, which applies to sharing of genomic data, particularly clinical data, following 2013 Privacy Rule revisions. Methods This research used the Thomson Reuters Westlaw™ database and law library resources in its legal analysis of the HIPAA privacy tiers and the impact of the minimum necessary standard on genomic data-sharing. We considered relevant example cases of genomic data-sharing needs. Results In a climate of stepped-up HIPAA enforcement, this standard is of concern to laboratories that generate, use, and share genomic information. How data-sharing activities are characterized—whether for research, public health, or clinical interpretation and medical practice support—affects how the minimum necessary standard applies and its overall impact on data access and use. Conclusion There is no clear regulatory guidance on how to apply HIPAA’s minimum necessary standard when considering the sharing of information in the data-rich environment of genomic testing. Laboratories that perform genomic testing should engage with policy-makers to foster sound, well-informed policies and appropriate characterization of data-sharing activities to minimize adverse impacts on day-to-day workflows. PMID:28914268

Impact of HIPAA's minimum necessary standard on genomic data sharing.

PubMed

Evans, Barbara J; Jarvik, Gail P

2018-04-01

This article provides a brief introduction to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule's minimum necessary standard, which applies to sharing of genomic data, particularly clinical data, following 2013 Privacy Rule revisions. This research used the Thomson Reuters Westlaw database and law library resources in its legal analysis of the HIPAA privacy tiers and the impact of the minimum necessary standard on genomic data sharing. We considered relevant example cases of genomic data-sharing needs. In a climate of stepped-up HIPAA enforcement, this standard is of concern to laboratories that generate, use, and share genomic information. How data-sharing activities are characterized-whether for research, public health, or clinical interpretation and medical practice support-affects how the minimum necessary standard applies and its overall impact on data access and use. There is no clear regulatory guidance on how to apply HIPAA's minimum necessary standard when considering the sharing of information in the data-rich environment of genomic testing. Laboratories that perform genomic testing should engage with policy makers to foster sound, well-informed policies and appropriate characterization of data-sharing activities to minimize adverse impacts on day-to-day workflows.

Quantifying 10 years of Improvements in Earthquake and Tsunami Monitoring in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

von Hillebrandt-Andrade, C.; Huerfano Moreno, V. A.; McNamara, D. E.; Saurel, J. M.

2014-12-01

The magnitude-9.3 Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake of December 26, 2004, increased global awareness to the destructive hazard of earthquakes and tsunamis. Post event assessments of global coastline vulnerability highlighted the Caribbean as a region of high hazard and risk and that it was poorly monitored. Nearly 100 tsunamis have been reported for the Caribbean region and Adjacent Regions in the past 500 years and continue to pose a threat for its nations, coastal areas along the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic seaboard of North and South America. Significant efforts to improve monitoring capabilities have been undertaken since this time including an expansion of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Global Seismographic Network (GSN) (McNamara et al., 2006) and establishment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Coordination Group (ICG) for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (CARIBE EWS). The minimum performance standards it recommended for initial earthquake locations include: 1) Earthquake detection within 1 minute, 2) Minimum magnitude threshold = M4.5, and 3) Initial hypocenter error of <30 km. In this study, we assess current compliance with performance standards and model improvements in earthquake and tsunami monitoring capabilities in the Caribbean region since the first meeting of the UNESCO ICG-Caribe EWS in 2006. The three measures of network capability modeled in this study are: 1) minimum Mw detection threshold; 2) P-wave detection time of an automatic processing system and; 3) theoretical earthquake location uncertainty. By modeling three measures of seismic network capability, we can optimize the distribution of ICG-Caribe EWS seismic stations and select an international network that will be contributed from existing real-time broadband national networks in the region. Sea level monitoring improvements both offshore and along the coast will also be addressed. With the support of Member States and other countries and organizations it has been possible to significantly expand the sea level network thus reducing the amount of time it now takes to verify tsunamis.

The role of the oceanic oxygen minima in generating biodiversity in the deep sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, Alex D.

2000-01-01

Many studies on the deep-sea benthic biota have shown that the most species-rich areas lie on the continental margins between 500 and 2500 m, which coincides with the present oxygen-minimum in the world's oceans. Some species have adapted to hypoxic conditions in oxygen-minimum zones, and some can even fulfil all their energy requirements through anaerobic metabolism for at least short periods of time. It is, however, apparent that the geographic and vertical distribution of many species is restricted by the presence of oxygen-minimum zones. Historically, cycles of global warming and cooling have led to periods of expansion and contraction of oxygen-minimum layers throughout the world's oceans. Such shifts in the global distribution of oxygen-minimum zones have presented many opportunities for allopatric speciation in organisms inhabiting slope habitats associated with continental margins, oceanic islands and seamounts. On a smaller scale, oxygen-minimum zones can be seen today as providing a barrier to gene-flow between allopatric populations. Recent studies of the Arabian Sea and in other regions of upwelling also have shown that the presence of an oxygen-minimum layer creates a strong vertical gradient in physical and biological parameters. The reduced utilisation of the downward flux of organic material in the oxygen-minimum zone results in an abundant supply of food for organisms immediately below it. The occupation of this area by species exploiting abundant food supplies may lead to strong vertical gradients in selective pressures for optimal rates of growth, modes of reproduction and development and in other aspects of species biology. The presence of such strong selective gradients may have led to an increase in habitat specialisation in the lower reaches of oxygen-minimum zones and an increased rate of speciation.

Theoretical study of the C-H/O-H stretching vibrations in malonaldehyde

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pitsevich, G. A.; Malevich, A. E.; Kozlovskaya, E. N.; Doroshenko, I. Yu.; Pogorelov, V. E.; Sablinskas, V.; Balevicius, V.

2015-06-01

IR and Raman spectra of the malonaldehyde molecule and its deuterated analogues were calculated in the B3LYP/cc-pVQZ approximation. Anharmonicity effects were taken into account both in the context of a standard model of the second order perturbation theory and by constructing the potential energy surfaces (PES) with a limited number of dimensions using the Cartesian coordinates of the hydroxyl hydrogen atom and the stretching coordinates of С-Н, C-D, O-H, and O-D bonds. It was shown that in each of the two equivalent forms of the molecule, besides the global minimum, an additional local minimum at the PES is formed with the energy more than 3000 cm-1 higher than the energy in the global minimum. Calculations carried out by constructing the 2D and 3D PESs indicate a high anharmonicity level and multiple manifestations of the stretching О-Н vibrations, despite the fact that the model used does not take into account the splitting of the ground-state and excited vibrational energy levels. In particular, the vibration with the frequency 3258 cm-1 may be associated with proton transfer to the region of a local minimum of energy. Comparing the results obtained with the experimental data presented in the literature allowed us to propose a new variant of bands assignments in IR and Raman spectra of the molecule in the spectral region 2500-3500 cm-1.

Cemento-ossifying fibroma occurring in an elderly patient. A case report and a review of literature

PubMed Central

Dalghous, Abdulbaset; Alkhabuli, Juma O

2007-01-01

Cemento-ossifying fibromas (COF) are benign lesions affecting the jaws and other craniofacial bones. They commonly affect adults between the third and fourth decade of life. Radiographically, they appear as well-defined unilocular or multilocular intraosseous masses, commonly in the premolar/molar region of the mandible. The lesion is invariably encapsulated and of mixed radiolucent densities. The tumour may grow quite extensively, thus the term aggressive is some times applied. Their clinical, radiographical and histopathological features and those of fibro-osseous lesions are overlapping and may cause confusion in classification, diagnosis, and treatment. The histopathology is composed of fibrous tissues with calcified structures resembling bone or cementum. Surgical enucleation or resection is the treatment of choice. They are insensitive to radiotherapy and recurrences are uncommon. This case report presents a case of COF in 70 years old female patient that was asymptomatic. Clinically, there was an expansion of the buccal plate but not the lingual plate of the right mandible. The covering mucosa was normal and there was no tenderness or paraesthesia. Radiographically, the lesion extends superio-inferiory from the alveolar ridge to the area of inferior dental canal and mesiodistally from the premolar region to the retro-molar area. The lesion was of mixed radiolucent densities. The patient was followed up periodically for 5 years without any treatment. The patient continued to be asymptomatic with minimum changes. Occurrence of cemento-ossifying fibroma in patients over 60 years of age is unusual and had not been reported. The clinical, radiographic, histopathology and literature review are discussed. PMID:21503260

Cemento-ossifying fibroma occurring in an elderly patient. A case report and a review of literature.

PubMed

Dalghous, Abdulbaset; Alkhabuli, Juma O

2007-06-01

Cemento-ossifying fibromas (COF) are benign lesions affecting the jaws and other craniofacial bones. They commonly affect adults between the third and fourth decade of life. Radiographically, they appear as well-defined unilocular or multilocular intraosseous masses, commonly in the premolar/molar region of the mandible. The lesion is invariably encapsulated and of mixed radiolucent densities. The tumour may grow quite extensively, thus the term aggressive is some times applied. Their clinical, radiographical and histopathological features and those of fibro-osseous lesions are overlapping and may cause confusion in classification, diagnosis, and treatment. The histopathology is composed of fibrous tissues with calcified structures resembling bone or cementum. Surgical enucleation or resection is the treatment of choice. They are insensitive to radiotherapy and recurrences are uncommon. This case report presents a case of COF in 70 years old female patient that was asymptomatic. Clinically, there was an expansion of the buccal plate but not the lingual plate of the right mandible. The covering mucosa was normal and there was no tenderness or paraesthesia. Radiographically, the lesion extends superio-inferiory from the alveolar ridge to the area of inferior dental canal and mesiodistally from the premolar region to the retro-molar area. The lesion was of mixed radiolucent densities. The patient was followed up periodically for 5 years without any treatment. The patient continued to be asymptomatic with minimum changes. Occurrence of cemento-ossifying fibroma in patients over 60 years of age is unusual and had not been reported. The clinical, radiographic, histopathology and literature review are discussed.

Impacts of Initial Soil Moisture and Vegetation on the Diurnal Temperature Range in Arid and Semiarid Regions in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Guanghui; Zhang, Lei; Liang, Jiening; Cao, Xianjie; Guo, Qi; Yang, Zhaohong

2017-11-01

To assess the impacts of initial soil moisture (SMOIS) and the vegetation fraction (Fg) on the diurnal temperature range (DTR) in arid and semiarid regions in China, three simulations using the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model are conducted by modifying the SMOIS, surface emissivity and Fg. SMOIS affects the daily maximum temperature (Tmax) and daily minimum temperature (Tmin) by altering the distribution of available energy between sensible and latent heat fluxes during the day and by altering the surface emissivity at night. Reduced soil wetness can increase both the Tmax and Tmin, but the effect on the DTR is determined by the relative strength of the effects on Tmax and Tmin. Observational data from the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) and the Shapotou Desert Research and Experimental Station (SPD) suggest that the magnitude of the SMOIS effect on the distribution of available energy during the day is larger than that on surface emissivity at night. In other words, SMOIS has a negative effect on the DTR. Changes in Fg modify the surface radiation and the energy budget. Due to the depth of the daytime convective boundary layer, the temperature in daytime is affected less than in nighttime by the radiation and energy budget. Increases in surface emissivity and decreases in soil heating resulting from increased Fg mainly decrease Tmin, thereby increasing the DTR. The effects of SMOIS and Fg on both Tmax and Tmin are the same, but the effects on DTR are the opposite.

Soil erosion-runoff relationships: insights from laboratory studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamedov, Amrakh; Warrington, David; Levy, Guy

2016-04-01

Understanding the processes and mechanisms affecting runoff generation and subsequent soil erosion in semi-arid regions is essential for the development of improved soil and water conservation management practices. Using a drip type laboratory rain simulator, we studied runoff and soil erosion, and the relationships between them, in 60 semi-arid region soils varying in their intrinsic properties (e.g., texture, organic matter) under differing extrinsic conditions (e.g., rain properties, and conditions prevailing in the field soil). Both runoff and soil erosion were significantly affected by the intrinsic soil and rain properties, and soil conditions within agricultural fields or watersheds. The relationship between soil erosion and runoff was stronger when the rain kinetic energy was higher rather than lower, and could be expressed either as a linear or exponential function. Linear functions applied to certain limited cases associated with conditions that enhanced soil structure stability, (e.g., slow wetting, amending with soil stabilizers, minimum tillage in clay soils, and short duration exposure to rain). Exponential functions applied to most of the cases under conditions that tended to harm soil stability (e.g., fast wetting of soils, a wide range of antecedent soil water contents and rain kinetic energies, conventional tillage, following biosolid applications, irrigation with water of poor quality, consecutive rain simulations). The established relationships between runoff and soil erosion contributed to a better understanding of the mechanisms governing overland flow and soil loss, and could assist in (i) further development of soil erosion models and research techniques, and (ii) the design of more suitable management practices for soil and water conservation.

42 CFR 600.420 - Enhanced availability of standard health plans.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... minimum statutory requirements and available BHP funding: and (iii) Whether potential bidders have... variations that may occur as a result of regional differences between the participating states with respect...

Variability of Diurnal Temperature Range During Winter Over Western Himalaya: Range- and Altitude-Wise Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shekhar, M. S.; Devi, Usha; Dash, S. K.; Singh, G. P.; Singh, Amreek

2018-04-01

The current trends in diurnal temperature range, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, mean temperature, and sun shine hours over different ranges and altitudes of Western Himalaya during winter have been studied. Analysis of 25 years of data shows an increasing trend in diurnal temperature range over all the ranges and altitudes of Western Himalaya during winter, thereby confirming regional warming of the region due to present climate change and global warming. Statistical studies show significant increasing trend in maximum temperature over all the ranges and altitudes of Western Himalaya. Minimum temperature shows significant decreasing trend over Pir Panjal and Shamshawari range and significant increasing trend over higher altitude of Western Himalaya. Similarly, sunshine hours show significant decreasing trend over Karakoram range. There exists strong positive correlation between diurnal temperature range and maximum temperature for all the ranges and altitudes of Western Himalaya. Strong negative correlation exists between diurnal temperature range and minimum temperature over Shamshawari and Great Himalaya range and lower altitude of Western Himalaya. Sunshine hours show strong positive correlation with diurnal temperature range over Pir Panjal and Great Himalaya range and lower and higher altitudes.

Table of superdeformed nuclear bands and fission isomers

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

Firestone, R.B.; Singh, B.

A minimum in the second potential well of deformed nuclei was predicted and the associated shell gaps are illustrated in the harmonic oscillator potential shell energy surface calculations shown in this report. A strong superdeformed minimum in {sup 152}Dy was predicted for {beta}{sub 2}-0.65. Subsequently, a discrete set of {gamma}-ray transitions in {sup 152}DY was observed and, assigned to the predicted superdeformed band. Extensive research at several laboratories has since focused on searching for other mass regions of large deformation. A new generation of {gamma}-ray detector arrays is already producing a wealth of information about the mechanisms for feeding andmore » deexciting superdeformed bands. These bands have been found in three distinct regions near A=l30, 150, and 190. This research extends upon previous work in the actinide region near A=240 where fission isomers were identified and also associated with the second potential well. Quadrupole moment measurements for selected cases in each mass region are consistent with assigning the bands to excitations in the second local minimum. As part of our committment to maintain nuclear structure data as current as possible in the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Reference File (ENSDF) and the Table of Isotopes, we have updated the information on superdeformed nuclear bands. As of April 1994, we have complied data from 86 superdeformed bands and 46 fission isomers identified in 73 nuclides for this report. For each nuclide there is a complete level table listing both normal and superdeformed band assignments; level energy, spin, parity, half-life, magneto moments, decay branchings; and the energies, final levels, relative intensities, multipolarities, and mixing ratios for transitions deexciting each level. Mass excess, decay energies, and proton and neutron separation energies are also provided from the evaluation of Audi and Wapstra.« less

Statistical prediction of September Arctic Sea Ice minimum based on stable teleconnections with global climate and oceanic patterns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ionita, M.; Grosfeld, K.; Scholz, P.; Lohmann, G.

2016-12-01

Sea ice in both Polar Regions is an important indicator for the expression of global climate change and its polar amplification. Consequently, a broad information interest exists on sea ice, its coverage, variability and long term change. Knowledge on sea ice requires high quality data on ice extent, thickness and its dynamics. However, its predictability depends on various climate parameters and conditions. In order to provide insights into the potential development of a monthly/seasonal signal, we developed a robust statistical model based on ocean heat content, sea surface temperature and atmospheric variables to calculate an estimate of the September minimum sea ice extent for every year. Although previous statistical attempts at monthly/seasonal forecasts of September sea ice minimum show a relatively reduced skill, here it is shown that more than 97% (r = 0.98) of the September sea ice extent can predicted three months in advance by using previous months conditions via a multiple linear regression model based on global sea surface temperature (SST), mean sea level pressure (SLP), air temperature at 850hPa (TT850), surface winds and sea ice extent persistence. The statistical model is based on the identification of regions with stable teleconnections between the predictors (climatological parameters) and the predictand (here sea ice extent). The results based on our statistical model contribute to the sea ice prediction network for the sea ice outlook report (https://www.arcus.org/sipn) and could provide a tool for identifying relevant regions and climate parameters that are important for the sea ice development in the Arctic and for detecting sensitive and critical regions in global coupled climate models with focus on sea ice formation.

Groundwater-level trends in the U.S. glacial aquifer system, 1964-2013

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hodgkins, Glenn A.; Dudley, Robert W.; Nielsen, Martha G.; Renard, Benjamin; Qi, Sharon L.

2017-01-01

The glacial aquifer system in the United States is a major source of water supply but previous work on historical groundwater trends across the system is lacking. Trends in annual minimum, mean, and maximum groundwater levels for 205 monitoring wells were analyzed across three regions of the system (East, Central, West Central) for four time periods: 1964-2013, 1974-2013, 1984-2013, and 1994-2013. Trends were computed separately for wells in the glacial aquifer system with low potential for human influence on groundwater levels and ones with high potential influence from activities such as groundwater pumping. Generally there were more wells with significantly increasing groundwater levels (levels closer to ground surface) than wells with significantly decreasing levels. The highest numbers of significant increases for all four time periods were with annual minimum and/or mean levels. There were many more wells with significant increases from 1964 to 2013 than from more recent periods, consistent with low precipitation in the 1960s. Overall there were low numbers of wells with significantly decreasing trends regardless of time period considered; the highest number of these were generally for annual minimum groundwater levels at wells with likely human influence. There were substantial differences in the number of wells with significant groundwater-level trends over time, depending on whether the historical time series are assumed to be independent, have short-term persistence, or have long-term persistence. Mean annual groundwater levels have significant lag-one-year autocorrelation at 26.0% of wells in the East region, 65.4% of wells in the Central region, and 100% of wells in the West Central region. Annual precipitation across the glacial aquifer system, on the other hand, has significant autocorrelation at only 5.5% of stations, about the percentage expected due to chance.

Weldability evaluation of high tensile plates using GMAW process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Datta, R.; Mukerjee, D.; Rohira, K. L.; Veeraraghavan, R.

1999-08-01

High tensile plates, SAILMA-450 high impact (HI) (yield strength, 45 kg/mm2 minimum; ultimate tensile strength, 57 kg/mm2 minimum; elongation, 19% minimum; Charpy impact energy 2.0 kg.m at -20 °C minimum) were successfully developed at the Steel Authority of India Ltd., up to 32 mm plate thickness. Since then the steel has been extensively used for the fabrication of impellers, bridges, excavators, and mining machineries, where welding is an important processing step. The present study deals with the weldability properties of SAILMA-450 HI plates employing the gas metal arc welding process and carbon dioxide gas. Implant and elastic restraint cracking tests were conducted to assess the cold cracking resistance of the weld joint under different welding conditions. The static fatigue limit values were found to be in excess of minimum specified yield strength at higher heat input levels (9.4 and 13.0 kJ/cm), indicating adequate cold cracking resistance. The critical restraint intensities, K cr, were found to vary between 720 and 1280 kg/mm2, indicating that the process can be utilized for fabrication of structures involving moderate to low restraint intensities (200 to 1000 kg/mm2). Lamellar tear tests conducted using full thickness plates at heat input levels ranging from 10 to 27 kJ/cm showed no incidence of lamellar tear upon visual, ultrasonic, and four-section macroexamination. These tests were repeated using machined plates, such that the midthickness of the plates (segregated zone) corresponded to the heat affected zone of the weld. No cracks were observed, indicating good lamellar tear resistance of the weld joint. Optimized welding conditions were formulated based on these tests. The weld joint was subjected to extensive tests to assess the physical properties and soundness of the weld joint. The weld joint exhibited good strength (64.7 kg/mm2) and impact toughness (5.7 and 3.5 kg.m at -20 °C for weld metal and heat affected zone properties. Crack tip opening displacement (CTOD) tests carried out for parent metal, heat-affected zone, and weld metal resulted in δm values of 0.41, 0.40, and 0.34 mm, respectively, which indicates adequate resistance to cleavage fracture. It was concluded that the weld joint conforms to the requirements of SAILMA-450 HI specification and ensures a high integrity of the fabricated products.

14 CFR 135.4 - Applicability of rules for eligible on-demand operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... minimum of 500 hours. (ii) For multi-engine turbine-powered fixed-wing and powered-lift aircraft, the... runway to be used has water, snow, slush, ice, or similar contamination that may adversely affect...

Specific surface area of overlapping spheres in the presence of obstructions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jenkins, D. R.

2013-02-01

This study considers the random placement of uniform sized spheres, which may overlap, in the presence of another set of randomly placed (hard) spheres, which do not overlap. The overlapping spheres do not intersect the hard spheres. It is shown that the specific surface area of the collection of overlapping spheres is affected by the hard spheres, such that there is a minimum in the specific surface area as a function of the relative size of the two sets of spheres. The occurrence of the minimum is explained in terms of the break-up of pore connectivity. The configuration can be considered to be a simple model of the structure of a porous composite material. In particular, the overlapping particles represent voids while the hard particles represent fillers. Example materials are pervious concrete, metallurgical coke, ice cream, and polymer composites. We also show how the material properties of such composites are affected by the void structure.

Acoustic Aspects of Active-Twist Rotor Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Booth, Earl R., Jr.; Wilbur, Matthew L.

2002-01-01

The use of an Active Twist Rotor system to provide both vibration reduction and performance enhancement has been explored in recent analytical and experimental studies. Effects of active-twist control on rotor noise, however, had not been determined. During a recent wind tunnel test of an active-twist rotor system, a set of acoustic measurements were obtained to assess the effects of active-twist control on noise produced by the rotor, especially blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise. It was found that for rotor operating conditions where BVI noise is dominant, active-twist control provided a reduction in BVI noise level. This BVI noise reduction was almost, but not quite, as large as that obtained in a similar test using HHC. However, vibration levels were usually adversely affected at operating conditions favoring minimum BVI noise. Conversely, operating conditions favoring minimum vibration levels affected BVI noise levels, but not always adversely.

Specific surface area of overlapping spheres in the presence of obstructions.

PubMed

Jenkins, D R

2013-02-21

This study considers the random placement of uniform sized spheres, which may overlap, in the presence of another set of randomly placed (hard) spheres, which do not overlap. The overlapping spheres do not intersect the hard spheres. It is shown that the specific surface area of the collection of overlapping spheres is affected by the hard spheres, such that there is a minimum in the specific surface area as a function of the relative size of the two sets of spheres. The occurrence of the minimum is explained in terms of the break-up of pore connectivity. The configuration can be considered to be a simple model of the structure of a porous composite material. In particular, the overlapping particles represent voids while the hard particles represent fillers. Example materials are pervious concrete, metallurgical coke, ice cream, and polymer composites. We also show how the material properties of such composites are affected by the void structure.

Optical tomographic detection of rheumatoid arthritis with computer-aided classification schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klose, Christian D.; Klose, Alexander D.; Netz, Uwe; Beuthan, Jürgen; Hielscher, Andreas H.

2009-02-01

A recent research study has shown that combining multiple parameters, drawn from optical tomographic images, leads to better classification results to identifying human finger joints that are affected or not affected by rheumatic arthritis RA. Building up on the research findings of the previous study, this article presents an advanced computer-aided classification approach for interpreting optical image data to detect RA in finger joints. Additional data are used including, for example, maximum and minimum values of the absorption coefficient as well as their ratios and image variances. Classification performances obtained by the proposed method were evaluated in terms of sensitivity, specificity, Youden index and area under the curve AUC. Results were compared to different benchmarks ("gold standard"): magnet resonance, ultrasound and clinical evaluation. Maximum accuracies (AUC=0.88) were reached when combining minimum/maximum-ratios and image variances and using ultrasound as gold standard.

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

Grigg, Reid; McPherson, Brian; Lee, Rober

The Southwest Regional Partnership on Carbon Sequestration (SWP) one of seven regional partnerships sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) carried out five field pilot tests in its Phase II Carbon Sequestration Demonstration effort, to validate the most promising sequestration technologies and infrastructure concepts, including three geologic pilot tests and two terrestrial pilot programs. This field testing demonstrated the efficacy of proposed sequestration technologies to reduce or offset greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Risk mitigation, optimization of monitoring, verification, and accounting (MVA) protocols, and effective outreach and communication were additional critical goals of these field validation tests. Themore » program included geologic pilot tests located in Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and a region-wide terrestrial analysis. Each geologic sequestration test site was intended to include injection of a minimum of ~75,000 tons/year CO{sub 2}, with minimum injection duration of one year. These pilots represent medium- scale validation tests in sinks that host capacity for possible larger-scale sequestration operations in the future. These validation tests also demonstrated a broad variety of carbon sink targets and multiple value-added benefits, including testing of enhanced oil recovery and sequestration, enhanced coalbed methane production and a geologic sequestration test combined with a local terrestrial sequestration pilot. A regional terrestrial sequestration demonstration was also carried out, with a focus on improved terrestrial MVA methods and reporting approaches specific for the Southwest region.« less

Anisotropic patterns of liver cancer prevalence in Guangxi in Southwest China: is local climate a contributing factor?

PubMed

Deng, Wei; Long, Long; Tang, Xian-Yan; Huang, Tian-Ren; Li, Ji-Lin; Rong, Min-Hua; Li, Ke-Zhi; Liu, Hai-Zhou

2015-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has useful applications for epidemiology, enabling the detection of spatial patterns of disease dispersion and locating geographic areas at increased risk. In this study, we applied GIS technology to characterize the spatial pattern of mortality due to liver cancer in the autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang in southwest China. A database with liver cancer mortality data for 1971-1973, 1990-1992, and 2004-2005, including geographic locations and climate conditions, was constructed, and the appropriate associations were investigated. It was found that the regions with the highest mortality rates were central Guangxi with Guigang City at the center, and southwest Guangxi centered in Fusui County. Regions with the lowest mortality rates were eastern Guangxi with Pingnan County at the center, and northern Guangxi centered in Sanjiang and Rongshui counties. Regarding climate conditions, in the 1990s the mortality rate of liver cancer positively correlated with average temperature and average minimum temperature, and negatively correlated with average precipitation. In 2004 through 2005, mortality due to liver cancer positively correlated with the average minimum temperature. Regions of high mortality had lower average humidity and higher average barometric pressure than did regions of low mortality. Our results provide information to benefit development of a regional liver cancer prevention program in Guangxi, and provide important information and a reference for exploring causes of liver cancer.

Forensic Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cobb, P. G. W.

1973-01-01

Summarizes the type of work carried out by forensic chemists and the minimum qualification needed for appointment. Indicates that there are eight Home Office regional forensic science laboratories in addition to the Central Research Establishment at Aldermaston. (CC)

25 CFR 256.2 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... standards for the region; (ii) The heating system must have the capacity to maintain a minimum temperature... economical access to utilities and must be easy to enter and leave; and (ix) Aesthetics and access to school...

Universal time dependence of nighttime F region densities at high latitudes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

De La Beaujardiere, O.; Wickwar, V. B.; Caudal, G.; Holt, J. M.; Craven, J. D.; Frank, L. A.; Brace, L. H.

1985-01-01

Coincident auroral-zone experiments using three incoherent-scatter radars at widely spaced longitudes are reported. The observational results demonstrate that, during the night, the F layer electron density is strongly dependent on the longitude of the observing site. Ionization patches were observed in the nighttime F region from the Chatanika and EISCAT radars, while densities observed from the Millstone radar were substantially smaller. The electron density within these maxima is larger at EISCAT than at Chatanika. When observed in the midnight sector auroral zone, these densities had a peak density at a high altitude of 360-475 km. The density was maximum when EISCAT was in the midnight sector and minimum when Millstone was in the midnight sector. A minimum in insolation in the auroral zone occurs at the UT when Millstone is in the midnight sector.

Summer weather characteristics and periodicity observed over the period 1888-2013 in the region of Belgrade, Serbia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vujović, Dragana; Todorović, Nedeljko; Paskota, Mira

2018-04-01

With the goal of finding summer climate patterns in the region of Belgrade (Serbia) over the period 1888-2013, different techniques of multivariate statistical analysis were used in order to analyze the simultaneous changes of a number of climatologic parameters. An increasing trend of the mean daily minimum temperature was detected. In the recent decades (1960-2013), this increase was much more pronounced. The number of days with the daily minimum temperature greater or equal to 20 °C also increased significantly. Precipitation had no statistically significant trend. Spectral analysis showed a repetitive nature of the climatologic parameters which had periods that roughly can be classified into three groups, with the durations of the following: (1) 6 to 7 years, (2) 10 to 18 years, and (3) 21, 31, and 41 years. The temperature variables mainly had one period of repetitiveness of 5 to 7 years. Among other variables, the correlations of regional fluctuations of the temperature and precipitation and atmospheric circulation indices were analyzed. The North Atlantic oscillation index had the same periodicity as that of the precipitation, and it was not correlated to the temperature variables. Atlantic multidecadal oscillation index correlated well to the summer mean daily minimum and summer mean temperatures. The underlying structure of the data was analyzed by principal component analysis, which detected the following four easily interpreted dimensions: More sunshine-Higher temperature, Precipitation, Extreme heats, and Changeable summer.

Frequency range selection method of trans-impedance amplifier for high sensitivity lock-in amplifier used in the optical sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Chang-In; Jeon, Su-Jin; Hong, Nam-Pyo; Choi, Young-Wan

2016-03-01

Lock-in amplifier (LIA) has been proposed as a detection technique for optical sensors because it can measure low signal in high noise level. LIA uses synchronous method, so the input signal frequency is locked to a reference frequency that is used to carry out the measurements. Generally, input signal frequency of LIA used in optical sensors is determined by modulation frequency of optical signal. It is important to understand the noise characteristics of the trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) to determine the modulation frequency. The TIA has a frequency range in which noise is minimized by the capacitance of photo diode (PD) and the passive component of TIA feedback network. When the modulation frequency is determined in this range, it is possible to design a robust system to noise. In this paper, we propose a method for the determination of optical signal modulation frequency selection by using the noise characteristics of TIA. Frequency response of noise in TIA is measured by spectrum analyzer and minimum noise region is confirmed. The LIA and TIA circuit have been designed as a hybrid circuit. The optical sensor is modeled by the laser diode (LD) and photo diode (PD) and the modulation frequency was used as the input to the signal generator. The experiments were performed to compare the signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the minimum noise region and the others. The results clearly show that the SNR is enhanced in the minimum noise region of TIA.

Optimizing occupancy surveys by maximizing detection probability: application to amphibian monitoring in the Mediterranean region.

PubMed

Petitot, Maud; Manceau, Nicolas; Geniez, Philippe; Besnard, Aurélien

2014-09-01

Setting up effective conservation strategies requires the precise determination of the targeted species' distribution area and, if possible, its local abundance. However, detection issues make these objectives complex for most vertebrates. The detection probability is usually <1 and is highly dependent on species phenology and other environmental variables. The aim of this study was to define an optimized survey protocol for the Mediterranean amphibian community, that is, to determine the most favorable periods and the most effective sampling techniques for detecting all species present on a site in a minimum number of field sessions and a minimum amount of prospecting effort. We visited 49 ponds located in the Languedoc region of southern France on four occasions between February and June 2011. Amphibians were detected using three methods: nighttime call count, nighttime visual encounter, and daytime netting. The detection nondetection data obtained was then modeled using site-occupancy models. The detection probability of amphibians sharply differed between species, the survey method used and the date of the survey. These three covariates also interacted. Thus, a minimum of three visits spread over the breeding season, using a combination of all three survey methods, is needed to reach a 95% detection level for all species in the Mediterranean region. Synthesis and applications: detection nondetection surveys combined to site occupancy modeling approach are powerful methods that can be used to estimate the detection probability and to determine the prospecting effort necessary to assert that a species is absent from a site.

Sequencing of a QTL-rich region of the Theobroma cacao genome using pooled BACs and the identification of trait specific candidate genes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Background: BAC-based physical maps provide for sequencing across an entire genome or selected sub-genome regions of biological interest. Using the minimum tiling path as a guide, it is possible to select specific BAC clones from prioritized genome sections such as a genetically defined QTL interv...

Root region airfoil for wind turbine

DOEpatents

Tangler, J.L.; Somers, D.M.

1995-05-23

A thick airfoil is described for the root region of the blade of a wind turbine. The airfoil has a thickness in a range from 24%--26% and a Reynolds number in a range from 1,000,000 to 1,800,000. The airfoil has a maximum lift coefficient of 1.4--1.6 that has minimum sensitivity to roughness effects. 3 Figs.

A cost-sharing formula for online circulation and a union catalog through a regional, multitype library cooperative.

PubMed Central

Arcari, R D

1987-01-01

The experience of the Capitol Region Library Council and the University of Connecticut Health Center in developing a cost allocation formula for a circulation and online catalog shared by twenty-nine libraries is reviewed. The resulting formula identifies a basic unit cost as a minimum for each system participant. PMID:3676536

Optimal rendezvous in the neighborhood of a circular orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, J. B.

1976-01-01

The minimum velocity-change rendezvous solutions, when the motion may be linearized about a circular orbit, fall into two separate regions; the phase-for-free region and the general region. Phase-for-free solutions are derived from the optimum transfer solutions, require the same velocity-change expenditure, but may not be unique. Analytic solutions are presented in two of the three subregions. An algorithm is presented for determining the unique solutions in the general region. Various sources of initial conditions are discussed and three examples are presented.

Analysis of a long drought in Piedmont, Italy - Autumn 2001

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gandini, D.; Marchisio, C.; Paesano, G.; Pelosini, P.

2003-04-01

A long period of drought and cold temperatures has characterised the seasons of Autumn 2001 and Winter 2001-2002 on the regions of the southern Alpine chain. The analysis of precipitation's data, collected by the Regional Monitoring network of Piedmont Region (on the south-west side of Alps), shows that they are far below the mean values and very close to the historical minimum of the last century. The six months accumulated precipitation in Turin (Piedmont chief town), from June to December 2001, has reached the historical minimum value of 206 mm in comparison with a mean value of 540 mm. The drought has been remarkable also in the mountain areas with the lack of snowfalls and critical consequences for water reservoirs. At the same time, the number of days with daily averaged temperature below or close to 0°C in December 2001 has been the greatest value of the last 50 years, much higher than the 50 years average, for the whole Piedmont region. This study contains a detailed analysis of observed data to characterise the drought episode, associated with a climatological analysis of meteorological parameters in order to detect the typical large scale pattern of the drought periods and their persistency's features.

7p15 deletion as the cause of hand-foot-genital syndrome: a case report, literature review and proposal of a minimum region for this phenotype.

PubMed

Yokoyama, Emiy; Smith-Pellegrin, Dennise Lesley; Sánchez, Silvia; Molina, Bertha; Rodríguez, Alfredo; Juárez, Rocío; Lieberman, Esther; Avila, Silvia; Castrillo, José Luis; Del Castillo, Victoria; Frías, Sara

2017-01-01

Hand-foot-genital syndrome (HFGS) is a rare condition characterized by congenital malformations in the limbs and genitourinary tract. Generally, this syndrome occurs due to point mutations that cause loss of function of the HOXA13 gene, which is located on 7p15; however, there are some patients with HFGS caused by interstitial deletions in this region. We describe a pediatric Mexican patient who came to the Medical Genetics Department at the National Institute of Pediatrics because he presented with genital, hand and feet anomalies, facial dysmorphisms, and learning difficulties. Array CGH reported a 12.7 Mb deletion that includes HOXA13 . We compared our patient with cases of HFGS reported in the literature caused by a microdeletion; we found a minimum shared region in 7p15.2. By analyzing the phenotype in these patients, we suggest that microdeletions in this region should be investigated in all patients with clinical characteristics of HFGS who also present with dysplastic ears, mainly low-set implantation with a prominent antihelix, as well as a low nasal bridge and long philtrum.

Exact and Approximate Stability of Solutions to Traveling Salesman Problems.

PubMed

Niendorf, Moritz; Girard, Anouck R

2018-02-01

This paper presents the stability analysis of an optimal tour for the symmetric traveling salesman problem (TSP) by obtaining stability regions. The stability region of an optimal tour is the set of all cost changes for which that solution remains optimal and can be understood as the margin of optimality for a solution with respect to perturbations in the problem data. It is known that it is not possible to test in polynomial time whether an optimal tour remains optimal after the cost of an arbitrary set of edges changes. Therefore, this paper develops tractable methods to obtain under and over approximations of stability regions based on neighborhoods and relaxations. The application of the results to the two-neighborhood and the minimum 1 tree (M1T) relaxation are discussed in detail. For Euclidean TSPs, stability regions with respect to vertex location perturbations and the notion of safe radii and location criticalities are introduced. Benefits of this paper include insight into robustness properties of tours, minimum spanning trees, M1Ts, and fast methods to evaluate optimality after perturbations occur. Numerical examples are given to demonstrate the methods and achievable approximation quality.

Pharmacokinetics of rectal levetiracetam as add-on treatment in dogs affected by cluster seizures or status epilepticus.

PubMed

Cagnotti, Giulia; Odore, Rosangela; Gardini, Giulia; Amedeo, Stefano; Bertone, Iride; Guerriero, Giulia; Lentini, Laura; Dappiano, Elena; D'Angelo, Antonio

2018-06-18

Levetiracetam can be used for seizure control alone or in combination with other antiepileptic medications. A previous study achieved the minimum targeted serum drug concentration after rectal administration of levetiracetam in healthy dogs. The purpose of the present study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of rectal LEV in dogs presented for cluster seizures or status epilepticus and potentially in treatment with other anti-epileptic drugs. Furthermore, preliminary information on response to this treatment as add-on to the standard treatment protocol is reported. Eight client-owned dogs were enrolled. Plasma levetiracetam concentrations (measured at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 360, 720, and 1440 min after drug administration) reached the minimum target concentration (5 μg/ml) at 30 min in all but one patient. At T1 (30 min) the mean concentration was 28.2 ± 15.5 μg/ml. Plasma concentrations remained above the targeted minimum concentration in all patients until 240 min and in 7/8 until 360 min. Six out of eight patients experienced no seizures in the 24-h period after hospitalization and were classified as "responders". Minimum plasma levetiracetam concentration can be reached after rectal administration of 40 mg/kg in dogs affected by cluster seizures and status epilepticus and concurrently receiving other antiepileptic drugs. These preliminary results may encourage the evaluation of rectal levetiracetam as an additional treatment option for cluster seizures and status epilepticus in a larger number of dogs.

TERENO-MED: Observation and Exploration Platform for Water Resources in the Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krueger, E.; Zacharias, S.; Friesen, J.; Vereecken, H.; Bogena, H.; Kallioras, A.

2012-04-01

According to the latest IPCC projections, the Circum-Mediterranean region will be particularly affected by Global and Climate Change. These changes include population growth, increases in food, water and energy demands, changes in land use patterns and urbanization/industrialization, while at the same time, the renewable water resources in the region are predicted to decrease by up to 50 % within the next 100 years. However, a profound basis for estimating and predicting the long-term effects of Global and Climate Change on the development of the quantity and quality of water resources and on ecosystems is still lacking. The main reason for this is that environmental monitoring, in particular in the Mediterranean region, is strongly disciplinarily oriented, and financing is usually limited to short-term periods. The TERENO-MED (Terrestrial Environmental Observatories in the Mediterranean) initiative aims to fill the described gap. Together with partners in the region, TERENO-MED will establish a Circum-Mediterranean network of Global Change observatories, and will investigate the effects of anthropogenic impacts and of climate change on Mediterranean water resources and ecosystems. Within a set of representative catchments around the Circum-Mediterranean region (Southern Europe, Northern Africa, Near East), observatory sites will be installed with state-of-the-art and innovative monitoring equipment, in order to measure hydrological states and fluxes on a long-term basis (minimum 15 years). Monitoring equipment will cover all scales, from the point to the regional scale using ground-based and remote sensing technologies. Based on the acquired information, TERENO-MED, together with partners across the Mediterranean region will develop model scenarios that may serve as a basis for sustainable political and economical decisions. In order to gain a deep understanding of the most relevant processes and feedbacks, and to deliver reliable future scenarios for the Mediterranean region, the two initiating Helmholtz Centres, UFZ (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research) and Forschungszentrum Juelich, are seeking interested German and international partners to conduct joint research within the planned monitoring network.

Impact of the ozone monitoring instrument row anomaly on the long-term record of aerosol products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Torres, Omar; Bhartia, Pawan K.; Jethva, Hiren; Ahn, Changwoo

2018-05-01

Since about three years after the launch the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the EOS-Aura satellite, the sensor's viewing capability has been affected by what is believed to be an internal obstruction that has reduced OMI's spatial coverage. It currently affects about half of the instrument's 60 viewing positions. In this work we carry out an analysis to assess the effect of the reduced spatial coverage on the monthly average values of retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD), single scattering albedo (SSA) and the UV Aerosol Index (UVAI) using the 2005-2007 three-year period prior to the onset of the row anomaly. Regional monthly average values calculated using viewing positions 1 through 30 were compared to similarly obtained values using positions 31 through 60, with the expectation of finding close agreement between the two calculations. As expected, mean monthly values of AOD and SSA obtained with these two scattering-angle dependent subsets of OMI observations agreed over regions where carbonaceous or sulphate aerosol particles are the predominant aerosol type. However, over arid regions, where desert dust is the main aerosol type, significant differences between the two sets of calculated regional mean values of AOD were observed. As it turned out, the difference in retrieved desert dust AOD between the scattering-angle dependent observation subsets was due to the incorrect representation of desert dust scattering phase function. A sensitivity analysis using radiative transfer calculations demonstrated that the source of the observed AOD bias was the spherical shape assumption of desert dust particles. A similar analysis in terms of UVAI yielded large differences in the monthly mean values for the two sets of calculations over cloudy regions. On the contrary, in arid regions with minimum cloud presence, the resulting UVAI monthly average values for the two sets of observations were in very close agreement. The discrepancy under cloudy conditions was found to be caused by the parameterization of clouds as opaque Lambertian reflectors. When properly accounting for cloud scattering effects using Mie theory, the observed UVAI angular bias was significantly reduced. The analysis discussed here has uncovered important algorithmic deficiencies associated with the model representation of the angular dependence of scattering effects of desert dust aerosols and cloud droplets. The resulting improvements in the handling of desert dust and cloud scattering have been incorporated in an improved version of the OMAERUV algorithm.

Comparison of the driving forces of spring phenology among savanna landscapes by including combined spatial and temporal heterogeneity.

PubMed

Zhu, Likai; Southworth, Jane; Meng, Jijun

2015-10-01

Understanding spatial and temporal dynamics of land surface phenology (LSP) and its driving forces are critical for providing information relevant to short- and long-term decision making, particularly as it relates to climate response planning. With the third generation Global Inventory Monitoring and Modeling System (GIMMS3g) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data and environmental data from multiple sources, we investigated the spatio-temporal changes in the start of the growing season (SOS) in southern African savannas from 1982 through 2010 and determined its linkage to environmental factors using spatial panel data models. Overall, the SOS occurs earlier in the north compared to the south. This relates in part to the differences in ecosystems, with northern areas representing high rainfall and dense tree cover (mainly tree savannas), whereas the south has lower rainfall and sparse tree cover (mainly bush and grass savannas). From 1982 to 2010, an advanced trend was observed predominantly in the tree savanna areas of the north, whereas a delayed trend was chiefly found in the floodplain of the north and bush/grass savannas of the south. Different environmental drivers were detected within tree- and grass-dominated savannas, with a critical division being represented by the 800 mm isohyet. Our results supported the importance of water as a driver in this water-limited system, specifically preseason soil moisture, in determining the SOS in these water-limited, grass-dominated savannas. In addition, the research pointed to other, often overlooked, effects of preseason maximum and minimum temperatures on the SOS across the entire region. Higher preseason maximum temperatures led to an advance of the SOS, whereas the opposite effects of preseason minimum temperature were observed. With the rapid increase in global change research, this work will prove helpful for managing savanna landscapes and key to predicting how projected climate changes will affect regional vegetation phenology and productivity.

Weather Types, temperature and relief relationship in the Iberian Peninsula: A regional adiabatic processes under directional weather types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peña Angulo, Dhais; Trigo, Ricardo; Cortesi, Nicola; Gonzalez-Hidalgo, Jose Carlos

2016-04-01

We have analyzed at monthly scale the spatial distribution of Pearson correlation between monthly mean of maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures with weather types (WTs) in the Iberian Peninsula (IP), represent them in a high spatial resolution grid (10km x 10km) from MOTEDAS dataset (Gonzalez-Hidalgo et al., 2015a). The WT classification was that developed by Jenkinson and Collison, adapted to the Iberian Peninsula by Trigo and DaCamara, using Sea Level Pressure data from NCAR/NCEP Reanalysis dataset (period 1951-2010). The spatial distribution of Pearson correlations shows a clear zonal gradient in Tmax under the zonal advection produced in westerly (W) and easterly (E) flows, with negative correlation in the coastland where the air mass come from but positive correlation to the inland areas. The same is true under North-West (NW), North-East (NE), South-West (SW) and South-East (SE) WTs. These spatial gradients are coherent with the spatial distribution of the main mountain chain and offer an example of regional adiabatic phenomena that affect the entire IP (Peña-Angulo et al., 2015b). These spatial gradients have not been observed in Tmin. We suggest that Tmin values are less sensitive to changes in Sea Level Pressure and more related to local factors. These directional WT present a monthly frequency over 10 days and could be a valuable tool for downscaling processes. González-Hidalgo J.C., Peña-Angulo D., Brunetti M., Cortesi, C. (2015a): MOTEDAS: a new monthly temperature database for mainland Spain and the trend in temperature (1951-2010). International Journal of Climatology 31, 715-731. DOI: 10.1002/joc.4298 Peña-Angulo, D., Trigo, R., Cortesi, C., González-Hidalgo, J.C. (2015b): The influence of weather types on the monthly average maximum and minimum temperatures in the Iberian Peninsula. Submitted to Hydrology and Earth System Sciences.

Study the gradient characteristics of the ionosphere at equatorial latitude during the latest cycle of solar activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen Thai, Chinh; Temitope Seun, Oluwadare; Le Thi, Nhung; Schuh, Harald

2017-04-01

The sun has its own seasons with an average duration of about 11 years. In this time, the sun enters a period of increased activity called the solar maximum and a period of decreased activity called the solar minimum. Cycles span from one minimum to the next. The current solar cycle is 24, which began on January 4, 2008 and is expected to be ended in 2019. During this period, the ionosphere changes its thickness and its characteristics as well. The change is most complicated and unpredictable at the equatorial latitudes in a band around 150 northward and 150 southward from the equator. Thailand is located in these regions is known as one of the countries most affected by the ionosphere change. Ionospheric information such as the vertical total electron content (VTEC) and scintillation indices can be extracted from the measurements of GNSS dual-frequency receivers. In this study, a Matlab tool is programmed to calculate some ionosphere parameters from the normal RINEX observation file including VTEC value, amplitude scintillation S4 index and others. The value of VTEC at one IGS station in Thailand (13.740N, 100.530E) is computed for almost one full solar cycle, that is 8 years, from 2009 to 2016. From these results, we are able to derive the rules of TEC variation over time and its dependence on solar activity in the equatorial regions. The change of VTEC is estimated in diurnal, seasonal and annual variation for the latest solar cycle. The solar cycle can be represented in several ways, in this paper we use the sunspot number and the F10.7 cm radio flux to describe the solar activity. The correlation coefficients between these solar indices and the monthly maximum of VTEC value are around 0.87, this indicates a high dependence of the ionosphere on solar activity. Besides, a scintillation map derived from GNSS data is displayed to indicate the intensity of scintillation activity.

Which lesson can be learnt from a historical contamination analysis of the most polluted river in Europe?

PubMed

Lofrano, Giusy; Libralato, Giovanni; Acanfora, Floriana Giuseppina; Pucci, Luca; Carotenuto, Maurizio

2015-08-15

The Sarno River trend analysis during the last 60 years was traced focusing on the socio-economic and environmental issues. The river, originally worshiped as a god by Romans, is affected by an extreme level of environmental degradation, being sadly reputed as the most polluted river in Europe. This is the "not to be followed" example of the worst way a European river can be managed. Data about water, sediment, soil, biota and air contamination were collected from scientific papers, monitoring surveys, and technical reports depicting a sick river. Originally, the river was reputed as a source of livelihood, now it is considered a direct threat for human health. Wastewater can still flow through the river partially or completely untreated, waste production associated with the manufacture of metal products and leather tanning continues to suffer from the historical inadequacy of regional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), associated with the partial or no reuse of effluents. All efforts should be devoted to solving the lack of wastewater and waste management, the gap in land planning, improving the capacity of existing WWTPs also via the construction of new sewer sections, restoring Sarno River minimum vital-flow, keeping to a minimum uncontrolled discharges as well as supporting river contracts. The 2015 goal stated by the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) is still far to be reached. The lesson has not been learnt yet. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Adolescent exercise associated with long-term superior measures of bone geometry: a cross-sectional DXA and MRI study.

PubMed

Kato, T; Yamashita, T; Mizutani, S; Honda, A; Matumoto, M; Umemura, Y

2009-12-01

To investigate whether childhood sports participation, particularly weight-bearing sports, has any effect on bone mineral content (BMC), areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and bone geometric characteristics in middle-aged postmenopausal women. Design/ In this cross-sectional comparison of two groups, 46 middle-aged women (mean age, 60.2 (SD 5.6) years; range, 52-73 years) were grouped according to sport participation during growth: weight-bearing sports, including high-impact weight-bearing activities; and low-impact non-weight-bearing sports or no participation. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-measured BMC, aBMD in the lumbar spine and femur. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) determined bone geometric characteristics in the femur, such as femoral mid-diaphyseal cross-sectional area, periosteal and endosteal perimeters and maximum and minimum second moment of area. Postmenopausal middle-aged women with participation in weight-bearing sports during junior high to high school (12-18 years old) displayed significantly greater BMC in both lumbar spine and femoral neck regions, and also significantly greater femoral mid-diaphyseal bone cross-sectional area, periosteal perimeter and maximum and minimum second moment of area than the non-weight-bearing sports group. Adolescent weight-bearing exercise exerts preservational effects on femoral mid-diaphyseal size and shape, while DXA-measured BMC effectively identified the same tendency. Weight-bearing exercise in youth affects bone, and these effects may be preserved as BMC, geometric and structural advantages even after 40 years.

Considering the dynamic refueling behavior in locating electric vehicle charging stations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, K.; Sun, X. H.

2014-11-01

Electric vehicles (EVs) will certainly play an important role in addressing the energy and environmental challenges at current situation. However, location problem of EV charging stations was realized as one of the key issues of EVs launching strategy. While for the case of locating EV charging stations, more influence factors and constraints need to be considered since the EVs have some special attributes. The minimum requested charging time for EVs is usually more than 30minutes, therefore the possible delay time due to waiting or looking for an available station is one of the most important influence factors. In addition, the intention to purchase and use of EVs that also affects the location of EV charging stations is distributed unevenly among regions and should be considered when modelling. Unfortunately, these kinds of time-spatial constraints were always ignored in previous models. Based on the related research of refuelling behaviours and refuelling demands, this paper developed a new concept with dual objectives of minimum waiting time and maximum service accessibility for locating EV charging stations - named as Time-Spatial Location Model (TSLM). The proposed model and the traditional flow-capturing location model are applied on an example network respectively and the results are compared. Results demonstrate that time constraint has great effects on the location of EV charging stations. The proposed model has some obvious advantages and will help energy providers to make a viable plan for the network of EV charging stations.

Planning maximally smooth hand movements constrained to nonplanar workspaces.

PubMed

Liebermann, Dario G; Krasovsky, Tal; Berman, Sigal

2008-11-01

The article characterizes hand paths and speed profiles for movements performed in a nonplanar, 2-dimensional workspace (a hemisphere of constant curvature). The authors assessed endpoint kinematics (i.e., paths and speeds) under the minimum-jerk model assumptions and calculated minimal amplitude paths (geodesics) and the corresponding speed profiles. The authors also calculated hand speeds using the 2/3 power law. They then compared modeled results with the empirical observations. In all, 10 participants moved their hands forward and backward from a common starting position toward 3 targets located within a hemispheric workspace of small or large curvature. Comparisons of modeled observed differences using 2-way RM-ANOVAs showed that movement direction had no clear influence on hand kinetics (p < .05). Workspace curvature affected the hand paths, which seldom followed geodesic lines. Constraining the paths to different curvatures did not affect the hand speed profiles. Minimum-jerk speed profiles closely matched the observations and were superior to those predicted by 2/3 power law (p < .001). The authors conclude that speed and path cannot be unambiguously linked under the minimum-jerk assumption when individuals move the hand in a nonplanar 2-dimensional workspace. In such a case, the hands do not follow geodesic paths, but they preserve the speed profile, regardless of the geometric features of the workspace.

Maternal depression does not affect complementary feeding indicators or stunting status of young children (6-23 months) in Northern Ghana.

PubMed

Wemakor, Anthony; Iddrisu, Habib

2018-06-25

Maternal depression may affect child feeding practice which is an important determinant of child nutritional status. The objective of this study was to explore the association between maternal depression and WHO complementary feeding indicators [minimum dietary diversity (MDD), minimum meal frequency (MMF) and minimum acceptable diet (MAD)] or stunting status of children (6-23 months) in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana. A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out involving 200 mother-child pairs randomly sampled from three communities in Tamale Metropolis, Ghana. The prevalence of MDD, MMF, and MAD were 56.5, 65.0, and 44.0% respectively and 41.0% of the children sampled were stunted. A third of the mothers (33.5%) screened positive for depression. Maternal depression did not influence significantly MDD (p = 0.245), MMF (p = 0.442), and MAD (p = 0.885) or children's risk of stunting (p = 0.872). In conclusion maternal depression and child stunting are prevalent in Northern Ghana but there is a lack of evidence of an association between maternal depression and child feeding practices or nutritional status in this study population. Further research is needed to assess the effect of maternal depression on feeding practices and growth of young children.

Solar Energetic Particle Composition over Two Solar Cycles as Observed by the Ulysses/HISCALE and ACE/EPAM Pulse Height Analyzers.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patterson, J. D.; Madanian, H.; Manweiler, J. W.; Lanzerotti, L. J.

2017-12-01

We present the compositional variation in the Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) population in the inner heliosphere over two solar cycles using data from the Ulysses Heliospheric Instrument for Spectra, Composition, and Anisotropy at Low Energies (HISCALE) and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (EPAM). The Ulysses mission was active from late 1990 to mid-2009 in a heliopolar orbit inclined by 80° with a perihelion of 1.3 AU and an aphelion of 5.4 AU. The ACE mission has been active since its launch in late 1997 and is in a halo orbit about L1. These two missions provide a total of 27 years of continuous observation in the inner heliosphere with twelve years of simultaneous observation. HISCALE and EPAM data provide species-resolved differential flux and density of SEP between 0.5-5 MeV/nuc. Several ion species (He, C, O, Ne, Si, Fe) are identified using the Pulse Height Analyzer (PHA) system of the Composition Aperture for both instruments. The He density shows a noticeable increase at high solar activity followed by a moderate drop at the quiet time of the solar minimum between cycles 23 and 24. The density of heavier ions (i.e. O and Fe) change minimally with respect to the F10.7 index variations however, certain energy-specific count rates decrease during solar minimum. With Ulysses and ACE observing in different regions of the inner heliosphere, there are significant latitudinal differences in how the O/He ratios vary with the solar cycle. At solar minimum, there is reasonable agreement between the observations from both instruments. At solar max 23, the differences in composition over the course of the solar cycle, and as observed at different heliospheric locations can provide insight to the origins of and acceleration processes differentially affecting solar energetic ions.

Aerodynamic design of a rotor blade for minimum noise radiation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Karamcheti, K.; Yu, Y. H.

1974-01-01

An analysis of the aerodynamic design of a hovering rotor blade for obtaining minimum aerodynamic rotor noise has been carried out. In this analysis, which is based on both acoustical and aerodynamic considerations, attention is given only to the rotational noise due to the pressure fluctuations on the blade surfaces. The lift distribution obtained in this analysis has different characteristics from those of the conventional distribution. The present distribution shows negative lift values over a quarter of the span from the blade tip, and a maximum lift at about the midspan. Results are presented to show that the noise field is considerably affected by the shape of the lift distribution along the blade and that noise reduction of about 5 dB may be obtained by designing the rotor blade to yield minimum noise.

Auxin minimum triggers the developmental switch from cell division to cell differentiation in the Arabidopsis root

PubMed Central

De Ruvo, Micol; Pacifici, Elena; Salvi, Elena; Sozzani, Rosangela; Benfey, Philip N.; Di Paola, Luisa; Marée, Athanasius F. M.; Costantino, Paolo; Grieneisen, Verônica A.; Sabatini, Sabrina

2017-01-01

In multicellular organisms, a stringent control of the transition between cell division and differentiation is crucial for correct tissue and organ development. In the Arabidopsis root, the boundary between dividing and differentiating cells is positioned by the antagonistic interaction of the hormones auxin and cytokinin. Cytokinin affects polar auxin transport, but how this impacts the positional information required to establish this tissue boundary, is still unknown. By combining computational modeling with molecular genetics, we show that boundary formation is dependent on cytokinin’s control on auxin polar transport and degradation. The regulation of both processes shapes the auxin profile in a well-defined auxin minimum. This auxin minimum positions the boundary between dividing and differentiating cells, acting as a trigger for this developmental transition, thus controlling meristem size. PMID:28831001

The price of a drink: the potential of alcohol minimum unit pricing as a public health measure in the UK.

PubMed

Rice, Peter; Drummond, Colin

2012-09-01

The UK has seen a dramatic increase in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm over the past 30 years. Alcohol taxation has long been considered a key method of controlling alcohol-related harm but a combination of factors has recently led to consideration of methods which affect the price of the cheapest alcohol as a means of improved targeting of alcohol control measures to curb the consumption of the heaviest drinkers. Although much of the evidence in favour of setting a minimum price of a unit of alcohol is based on complex econometric models rather than empirical data, all jurisdictions within the UK now intend to make selling alcohol below a set price illegal, which will provide a naturalistic experiment allowing assessment of the impact of minimum pricing.

Sub-Saharan Africa Report, No. 2817.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-06

between the two countries. During his visit to Montevideo, he will deliver a personal message from the head of state, El Hadj Omar Bongo , to his...inception. The spokesman said that unless (Khaketla) could manage to attract the minimum affection from the people of Lesotho he would never have the...socialist countries would affect religion adversely. [Text] [MB180718 Maseru Domestic Service in English 0500 GMT 18 Jun 83] JONATHAN TOUR—The

Do minimum wages improve early life health? Evidence from developing countries.

PubMed

Majid, Muhammad Farhan; Mendoza Rodríguez, José M; Harper, Sam; Frank, John; Nandi, Arijit

2016-06-01

The impact of legislated minimum wages on the early-life health of children living in low and middle-income countries has not been examined. For our analyses, we used data from the Demographic and Household Surveys (DHS) from 57 countries conducted between 1999 and 2013. Our analyses focus on height-for-age z scores (HAZ) for children under 5 years of age who were surveyed as part of the DHS. To identify the causal effect of minimum wages, we utilized plausibly exogenous variation in the legislated minimum wages during each child's year of birth, the identifying assumption being that mothers do not time their births around changes in the minimum wage. As a sensitivity exercise, we also made within family comparisons (mother fixed effect models). Our final analysis on 49 countries reveal that a 1% increase in minimum wages was associated with 0.1% (95% CI = -0.2, 0) decrease in HAZ scores. Adverse effects of an increase in the minimum wage were observed among girls and for children of fathers who were less than 35 years old, mothers aged 20-29, parents who were married, parents who were less educated, and parents involved in manual work. We also explored heterogeneity by region and GDP per capita at baseline (1999). Adverse effects were concentrated in lower-income countries and were most pronounced in South Asia. By contrast, increases in the minimum wage improved children's HAZ in Latin America, and among children of parents working in a skilled sector. Our findings are inconsistent with the hypothesis that increases in the minimum wage unconditionally improve child health in lower-income countries, and highlight heterogeneity in the impact of minimum wages around the globe. Future work should involve country and occupation specific studies which can explore not only different outcomes such as infant mortality rates, but also explore the role of parental investments in shaping these effects. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Caregiver supportive policies to improve child outcomes in the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: an analysis of the gap between what is needed and what is available in 25 high prevalence countries.

PubMed

Kidman, Rachel; Heymann, Jody

2016-03-01

In the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, caregivers are struggling to support HIV-affected children. For reasons of equity and efficiency, their needs can be best met through strong social protections and policies. This paper presents a conceptual framework to help address the needs of HIV-affected caregivers and to prioritize policies. We describe the needs that are common across diverse caregiving populations (e.g., economic security); the needs which are intensified (e.g., leave to care for sick children) or unique to providing care to HIV-affected children (e.g., ARV treatment). The paper then explores the types of social policies that would facilitate families meeting these needs. We outline a basic package of policies that would support HIV-affected families, and would meet goals agreed to by national governments. We examine the availability of these policies in 25 highly affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of countries guarantee short-term income protection during illness, free primary school, and educational inclusion of children with special needs. However, there are significant gaps in areas critical to family economic security and healthy child development. Fewer than half of the countries we analyzed guarantee a minimum wage that will enable families to escape poverty; only six have eliminated tuition fees for secondary school; and only three offer paid leave to care for sick children. Filling these policy gaps, as well as making mental health and social services more widely available, is essential to support caregiving by families for HIV-affected children. As part of the HIV agenda, the global community can help national governments advance towards their policy targets. This would provide meaningful protection for families affected by HIV, as well as for millions of other vulnerable families and children across the region.

Caregiver supportive policies to improve child outcomes in the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: an analysis of the gap between what is needed and what is available in 25 high prevalence countries

PubMed Central

Kidman, Rachel; Heymann, Jody

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT In the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, caregivers are struggling to support HIV-affected children. For reasons of equity and efficiency, their needs can be best met through strong social protections and policies. This paper presents a conceptual framework to help address the needs of HIV-affected caregivers and to prioritize policies. We describe the needs that are common across diverse caregiving populations (e.g., economic security); the needs which are intensified (e.g., leave to care for sick children) or unique to providing care to HIV-affected children (e.g., ARV treatment). The paper then explores the types of social policies that would facilitate families meeting these needs. We outline a basic package of policies that would support HIV-affected families, and would meet goals agreed to by national governments. We examine the availability of these policies in 25 highly affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of countries guarantee short-term income protection during illness, free primary school, and educational inclusion of children with special needs. However, there are significant gaps in areas critical to family economic security and healthy child development. Fewer than half of the countries we analyzed guarantee a minimum wage that will enable families to escape poverty; only six have eliminated tuition fees for secondary school; and only three offer paid leave to care for sick children. Filling these policy gaps, as well as making mental health and social services more widely available, is essential to support caregiving by families for HIV-affected children. As part of the HIV agenda, the global community can help national governments advance towards their policy targets. This would provide meaningful protection for families affected by HIV, as well as for millions of other vulnerable families and children across the region. PMID:27392009

Atypical face shape and genomic structural variants in epilepsy

PubMed Central

Chinthapalli, Krishna; Bartolini, Emanuele; Novy, Jan; Suttie, Michael; Marini, Carla; Falchi, Melania; Fox, Zoe; Clayton, Lisa M. S.; Sander, Josemir W.; Guerrini, Renzo; Depondt, Chantal; Hennekam, Raoul; Hammond, Peter

2012-01-01

Many pathogenic structural variants of the human genome are known to cause facial dysmorphism. During the past decade, pathogenic structural variants have also been found to be an important class of genetic risk factor for epilepsy. In other fields, face shape has been assessed objectively using 3D stereophotogrammetry and dense surface models. We hypothesized that computer-based analysis of 3D face images would detect subtle facial abnormality in people with epilepsy who carry pathogenic structural variants as determined by chromosome microarray. In 118 children and adults attending three European epilepsy clinics, we used an objective measure called Face Shape Difference to show that those with pathogenic structural variants have a significantly more atypical face shape than those without such variants. This is true when analysing the whole face, or the periorbital region or the perinasal region alone. We then tested the predictive accuracy of our measure in a second group of 63 patients. Using a minimum threshold to detect face shape abnormalities with pathogenic structural variants, we found high sensitivity (4/5, 80% for whole face; 3/5, 60% for periorbital and perinasal regions) and specificity (45/58, 78% for whole face and perinasal regions; 40/58, 69% for periorbital region). We show that the results do not seem to be affected by facial injury, facial expression, intellectual disability, drug history or demographic differences. Finally, we use bioinformatics tools to explore relationships between facial shape and gene expression within the developing forebrain. Stereophotogrammetry and dense surface models are powerful, objective, non-contact methods of detecting relevant face shape abnormalities. We demonstrate that they are useful in identifying atypical face shape in adults or children with structural variants, and they may give insights into the molecular genetics of facial development. PMID:22975390

The role of transients in the Mid Summer Drought over the Tropical Americas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herrera, E.; Magaña Rueda, V.; Caetano, E.

2013-05-01

The Mid Summer Drought (MSD) has raised the interested of those interested in regional climate dynamics since it appears to be a unique characteristic of the tropical Americas climate. The MSD corresponds to a relative minimum in summer precipitation between July and August in the Mesoamerican region. Several theories have been posed to explain its origin including the annual cycle march of the ITCZ, a teleconnection from the Asian monsoon region, or an air sea interaction process that relates the warm pools over the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea. However, none of them has addressed the various characteristics of the MSD described by Magaña et al (1999) and Magaña and Caetano (2005). In the present paper, the role of the transient mean flow interaction over the Caribbean Sea is explored. The Caribbean Low Level Jet (CLLJ) and the transients interact in such a way that the CLLJ reaches maximum intensity when the MSD occurs. This is a period of minimum Perturbation Kinetic Energy in the region, suggesting that a CLLJ stronger than approximately 15 m/s tends to inhibit the amplification of eddies. Transients are crucial dynamic elements to produce precipitation over the Mexico and Central American region. Over the eastern Pacific warm pool, tropical convection and sea surface temperature are related by a sort of Clausius Clapeyron exponential equation. However, there are two branches for the relationship, one for the first maximum in tropical convection during June, and a second one during September, with a relative minimum corresponding to the MSD in July - August. The most interesting aspect of such patterns is that while the June exponential curves occurs at SST larger than 28°C, the curve corresponding to September takes place at lower SSTs, suggesting that transient activity in this period is necessary to enhance tropical convective activity during the latter part of the summer rains in the region. This is exactly the period when PKE increases over the Intra Americas Seas and the eastern tropical Pacific. A more comprehensive qualitative model is proposed to connect the various dynamical elements in the region that result in the MSD. This new model presents a more complicated picture of the regional climate dynamics than various theories have proposed.

Spatial-temporal variations in surface ozone over Ushuaia and the Antarctic region: observations from in situ measurements, satellite data, and global models.

PubMed

Nadzir, Mohd Shahrul Mohd; Ashfold, Matthew J; Khan, Md Firoz; Robinson, Andrew D; Bolas, Conor; Latif, Mohd Talib; Wallis, Benjamin M; Mead, Mohammed Iqbal; Hamid, Haris Hafizal Abdul; Harris, Neil R P; Ramly, Zamzam Tuah Ahmad; Lai, Goh Thian; Liew, Ju Neng; Ahamad, Fatimah; Uning, Royston; Samah, Azizan Abu; Maulud, Khairul Nizam; Suparta, Wayan; Zainudin, Siti Khalijah; Wahab, Muhammad Ikram Abdul; Sahani, Mazrura; Müller, Moritz; Yeok, Foong Swee; Rahman, Nasaruddin Abdul; Mujahid, Aazani; Morris, Kenobi Isima; Sasso, Nicholas Dal

2018-01-01

The Antarctic continent is known to be an unpopulated region due to its extreme weather and climate conditions. However, the air quality over this continent can be affected by long-lived anthropogenic pollutants from the mainland. The Argentinian region of Ushuaia is often the main source area of accumulated hazardous gases over the Antarctic Peninsula. The main objective of this study is to report the first in situ observations yet known of surface ozone (O 3 ) over Ushuaia, the Drake Passage, and Coastal Antarctic Peninsula (CAP) on board the RV Australis during the Malaysian Antarctic Scientific Expedition Cruise 2016 (MASEC'16). Hourly O 3 data was measured continuously for 23 days using an EcoTech O 3 analyzer. To understand more about the distribution of surface O 3 over the Antarctic, we present the spatial and temporal of surface O 3 of long-term data (2009-2015) obtained online from the World Meteorology Organization of World Data Centre for greenhouse gases (WMO WDCGG). Furthermore, surface O 3 satellite data from the free online NOAA-Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) database and online data assimilation from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF)-Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate (MACC) were used. The data from both online products are compared to document the data sets and to give an indication of its quality towards in situ data. Finally, we used past carbon monoxide (CO) data as a proxy of surface O 3 formation over Ushuaia and the Antarctic region. Our key findings were that the surface O 3 mixing ratio during MASEC'16 increased from a minimum of 5 ppb to ~ 10-13 ppb approaching the Drake Passage and the Coastal Antarctic Peninsula (CAP) region. The anthropogenic and biogenic O 3 precursors from Ushuaia and the marine region influenced the mixing ratio of surface O 3 over the Drake Passage and CAP region. The past data from WDCGG showed that the annual O 3 cycle has a maximum during the winter of 30 to 35 ppb between June and August and a minimum during the summer (January to February) of 10 to 20 ppb. The surface O 3 mixing ratio during the summer was controlled by photochemical processes in the presence of sunlight, leading to the depletion process. During the winter, the photochemical production of surface O 3 was more dominant. The NOAA-AIRS and ECMWF-MACC analysis agreed well with the MASEC'16 data but twice were higher during the expedition period. Finally, the CO past data showed the surface O 3 mixing ratio was influenced by the CO mixing ratio over both the Ushuaia and Antarctic regions. Peak surface O 3 and CO hourly mixing ratios reached up to ~ 38 ppb (O 3 ) and ~ 500 ppb (CO) over Ushuaia. High CO over Ushuaia led to the depletion process of surface O 3 over the region. Monthly CO mixing ratio over Antarctic (South Pole) were low, leading to the production of surface O 3 over the Antarctic region.

Impact of climate variability on various Rabi crops over Northwest India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nageswararao, M. M.; Dhekale, B. S.; Mohanty, U. C.

2018-01-01

The Indian agriculture with its two prominent cropping seasons [summer ( Kharif) and winter ( Rabi)] is the mainstay of the rural economy. Northwest India (NWI) is an important region for the cultivation of Rabi crops grown during the period from October to April. In the present study, state wise impact analysis is carried out to ascertain the influence of climate indices Nino3.4 region Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), Arctic Oscillation (AO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and local precipitation, soil moisture, minimum ( T min), maximum ( T max) and mean ( T mean) temperatures on different Rabi crops (wheat, gram, rapeseed-mustard, oilseeds, and total Rabi food grains) over NWI during the years 1966-2011. To study the impact of climate variability on different Rabi crops, firstly, the influence of technology on the productivity of these crops has been removed by using linear function, as linear trend has noticed in all the time series. Correlation analysis provides an indication of the influence of local precipitation, soil moisture, T min, T max and T mean and some of its potential predictors (Nino3.4 region SST, SOI, AO, and NAO) on the productivity of different Rabi crops. Overall impact analysis indicates that the productivity of different Rabi crops in most of the places of NWI is most likely influenced by variability in local temperatures. Moreover, Nino3.4 region SST (SOI) positively (negatively) affects the productivity of gram, rapeseed-mustard, and total Rabi oilseeds in most of the states. The results of this study are useful in determining the strategies for increasing sustainable production through better agronomic practices.

Rainfall and temperature changes and variability in the Upper East Region of Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Issahaku, Abdul-Rahaman; Campion, Benjamin Betey; Edziyie, Regina

2016-08-01

The aim of the research was to assess the current trend and variation in rainfall and temperature in the Upper East Region, Ghana, using time series moving average analysis and decomposition methods. Meteorological data obtained from the Ghana Meteorological Agency in Accra, Ghana, from 1954 to 2014 were used in the models. The additive decomposition model was used to analyze the rainfall because the seasonal variation was relatively constant over time, while the multiplicative model was used for both the daytime and nighttime temperatures because their seasonal variations increase over time. The monthly maximum and the minimum values for the entire period were as follows: rainfall 455.50 and 0.00 mm, nighttime temperature 29.10°C and 13.25°C and daytime temperature 41.10°C and 26.10°C, respectively. Also, while rainfall was decreasing, nighttime and daytime temperatures were increasing in decadal times. Since both the daytime and nighttime temperatures were increasing and rainfall was decreasing, climate extreme events such as droughts could result and affect agriculture in the region, which is predominantly rain fed. Also, rivers, dams, and dugouts are likely to dry up in the region. It was also observed that there was much variation in rainfall making prediction difficult. Day temperatures were generally high with the months of March and April have been the highest. The months of December recorded the lowest night temperature. Inhabitants are therefore advised to sleep in well-ventilated rooms during the warmest months and wear protective clothing during the cold months to avoid contracting climate-related diseases.

78 FR 32088 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-29

...This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

75 FR 69331 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-12

...This establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

77 FR 12454 - Standard Instrument Approach Procedures, and Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-01

...This rule establishes, amends, suspends, or revokes Standard Instrument Approach Procedures (SIAPs) and associated Takeoff Minimums and Obstacle Departure Procedures for operations at certain airports. These regulatory actions are needed because of the adoption of new or revised criteria, or because of changes occurring in the National Airspace System, such as the commissioning of new navigational facilities, adding new obstacles, or changing air traffic requirements. These changes are designed to provide safe and efficient use of the navigable airspace and to promote safe flight operations under instrument flight rules at the affected airports.

Evolution of the eastward shift in the quasi-stationary minimum of the Antarctic total ozone column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grytsai, Asen; Klekociuk, Andrew; Milinevsky, Gennadi; Evtushevsky, Oleksandr; Stone, Kane

2017-02-01

The quasi-stationary pattern of the Antarctic total ozone has changed during the last 4 decades, showing an eastward shift in the zonal ozone minimum. In this work, the association between the longitudinal shift of the zonal ozone minimum and changes in meteorological fields in austral spring (September-November) for 1979-2014 is analyzed using ERA-Interim and NCEP-NCAR reanalyses. Regressive, correlative and anomaly composite analyses are applied to reanalysis data. Patterns of the Southern Annular Mode and quasi-stationary zonal waves 1 and 3 in the meteorological fields show relationships with interannual variability in the longitude of the zonal ozone minimum. On decadal timescales, consistent longitudinal shifts of the zonal ozone minimum and zonal wave 3 pattern in the middle-troposphere temperature at the southern midlatitudes are shown. Attribution runs of the chemistry-climate version of the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator (ACCESS-CCM) model suggest that long-term shifts of the zonal ozone minimum are separately contributed by changes in ozone-depleting substances and greenhouse gases. As is known, Antarctic ozone depletion in spring is strongly projected on the Southern Annular Mode in summer and impacts summertime surface climate across the Southern Hemisphere. The results of this study suggest that changes in zonal ozone asymmetry accompanying ozone depletion could be associated with regional climate changes in the Southern Hemisphere in spring.

Preparing and Licensing High Quality Teachers in Pacific Region Jurisdictions. Issues & Answers. REL 2007-No. 031

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heine, Hilda C.; Emesiochl, Masa Akii

2007-01-01

The provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 for teacher quality direct that all students in U.S. public schools be taught by highly qualified teachers. Although the Pacific Region entities are trying to meet this teacher-quality mandate, most are still far from fulfilling the minimum education requirements for their teachers. By…

Boundaries of the Realizability Region of Membrane Separation Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsirlin, A. M.; Akhrenemkov, A. A.

2018-01-01

The region of realizability of membrane separation systems having a constant total membrane area has been determined for a definite output of a final product at a definite composition of a mixture flow. The law of change in the pressure in the mixture, corresponding to the minimum energy required for its separation, was concretized for media close in properties to ideal gases and solutions.

Measured and predicted air temperatures at basin to regional scales in the southern Appalachian mountains

Treesearch

Paul V. Bolstad; Lloyd Swift; Fred Collins; Jacques Regniere

1998-01-01

Landscape and temporal patterns of temperature were observed for local (13 station) and regional (35 station) networks in the Southern Appalachian mountains of North America. Temperatures decreased with altitude at mean rates of 7EC/km (maximum temperature) and 3EC/km (minimum temperature). Daily lapse rates depended on the method and stations used in the calculations...

Relationships Between Minimum Alcohol Pricing and Crime During the Partial Privatization of a Canadian Government Alcohol Monopoly.

PubMed

Stockwell, Tim; Zhao, Jinhui; Marzell, Miesha; Gruenewald, Paul J; Macdonald, Scott; Ponicki, William R; Martin, Gina

2015-07-01

The purpose of this study was to estimate the independent effects of increases in minimum alcohol prices and densities of private liquor stores on crime outcomes in British Columbia, Canada, during a partial privatization of off-premise liquor sales. A time-series cross-sectional panel study was conducted using mixed model regression analysis to explore associations between minimum alcohol prices, densities of liquor outlets, and crime outcomes across 89 local health areas of British Columbia between 2002 and 2010. Archival data on minimum alcohol prices, per capita alcohol outlet densities, and ecological demographic characteristics were related to measures of crimes against persons, alcohol-related traffic violations, and non-alcohol-related traffic violations. Analyses were adjusted for temporal and regional autocorrelation. A 10% increase in provincial minimum alcohol prices was associated with an 18.81% (95% CI: ±17.99%, p < .05) reduction in alcohol-related traffic violations, a 9.17% (95% CI: ±5.95%, p < .01) reduction in crimes against persons, and a 9.39% (95% CI: ±3.80%, p < .001) reduction in total rates of crime outcomes examined. There was no significant association between minimum alcohol prices and non-alcohol-related traffic violations (p > .05). Densities of private liquor stores were not significantly associated with alcohol-involved traffic violations or crimes against persons, though they were with non-alcohol-related traffic violations. Reductions in crime events associated with minimum-alcohol-price changes were more substantial and specific to alcohol-related events than the countervailing increases in densities of private liquor stores. The findings lend further support to the application of minimum alcohol prices for public health and safety objectives.

The minimum or natural rate of flow and droplet size ejected by Taylor cone-jets: physical symmetries and scaling laws

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gañán-Calvo, A. M.; Rebollo-Muñoz, N.; Montanero, J. M.

2013-03-01

We aim to establish the scaling laws for both the minimum rate of flow attainable in the steady cone-jet mode of electrospray, and the size of the resulting droplets in that limit. Use is made of a small body of literature on Taylor cone-jets reporting precise measurements of the transported electric current and droplet size as a function of the liquid properties and flow rate. The projection of the data onto an appropriate non-dimensional parameter space maps a region bounded by the minimum rate of flow attainable in the steady state. To explain these experimental results, we propose a theoretical model based on the generalized concept of physical symmetry, stemming from the system time invariance (steadiness). A group of symmetries rising at the cone-to-jet geometrical transition determines the scaling for the minimum flow rate and related variables. If the flow rate is decreased below that minimum value, those symmetries break down, which leads to dripping. We find that the system exhibits two instability mechanisms depending on the nature of the forces arising against the flow: one dominated by viscosity and the other by the liquid polarity. In the former case, full charge relaxation is guaranteed down to the minimum flow rate, while in the latter the instability condition becomes equivalent to the symmetry breakdown by charge relaxation or separation. When cone-jets are formed without artificially imposing a flow rate, a microjet is issued quasi-steadily. The flow rate naturally ejected this way coincides with the minimum flow rate studied here. This natural flow rate determines the minimum droplet size that can be steadily produced by any electrohydrodynamic means for a given set of liquid properties.

Low Oxygen and Ocean Acidification on the Vancouver Island Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bianucci, L.; Denman, K.

2008-12-01

In the recent years hypoxic events have been observed along the west coast of North America (off Oregon and California). Although a common cause of coastal hypoxia is usually anthropogenic eutrophication, in these upwelling regions the advection of oxygen-depleted waters from offshore is a key mechanism. Moreover, the high productivity typical of these margins generates a large flux of sinking particular organic matter. The remineralization of this matter below the euphotic zone produces an elevated consumption of oxygen. When concentrations become lower than certain threshold, hypoxia leads to a major change in the ecosystem and the affected areas are called 'dead zones'. Furthermore, the two processes that drive oxygen levels down (physical upwelling and biological demand) also increase dissolved inorganic carbon in the shelf, which leads to a pH reduction. Ocean acidification and hypoxia can severely affect ecosystems, and the links between these phenomena have not been explored. This presentation will discuss a model study of the carbon and oxygen coupling on the Vancouver Island shelf, with focus on the connection between acidification and hypoxia. Moreover, the role of biology versus physics will be investigated. This region comprises the northern end of the wind-driven upwelling margin off western North America, where low oxygen events have not been extensively studied. However, the proximity to an Oxygen Minimum Zone offshore and the observed decline of oxygen in the Northeast Pacific turns this shelf into a potential candidate to suffer from low-oxygen events. The model used is the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) in a quasi-2D configuration of the shelf (across-shore section with uniform properties alongshore). The biogeochemical model has carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen as state variables, and includes cycling of dissolved organic matter. Carbon and oxygen cycles are coupled through ecosystem processes such as photosynthesis and remineralization, while they are decoupled by other processes (e.g., nitrification and denitrification).

Towards Mountains without Permanent Snow and Ice - Impacts and Challenges for Adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vuille, M. F.; Huss, M.; Bookhagen, B.; Huggel, C.; Jacobsen, D.; Bradley, R. S.; Clague, J. J.; Buytaert, W.; Carey, M.; Rabatel, A.; Cayan, D. R.; Greenwood, G. B.; Milner, A.; Mark, B. G.; Weingartner, R.; Winder, M.

2017-12-01

Mountain glaciers throughout the world are retreating; a trend that is expected to accelerate over the next several decades due to anthropogenic climate change. In some places glaciers are projected to completely disappear, while the area of frozen ground will diminish and the ratio of snow to rainfall will decrease. These changes will also affect the surrounding lowlands in a cascade of effects, with ramifications for human livelihoods that include ecosystem services, natural hazards, tourism and recreation, energy production, agriculture, local economies and many other sectors. Glacier shrinkage and changes in snow cover will affect timing and magnitude of both maximum and minimum streamflow. In glacier-dominated catchments a temporary increase in dry season water supply will give way to a long-term reduction in river discharge. Populations living downstream of glacier- and snow-dominated catchments who depend on meltwater for drinking water supplies, sanitation, irrigation, mining, hydropower and recreation will therefore need to adapt to changes in runoff seasonality. Social and political problems surrounding water allocation may be exacerbated in regions where adequate water governance is lacking. These changes in runoff characteristics will also affect erosion rates, sediment, and nutrient flux, temperature and biogeochemistry of rivers and proglacial lakes, all of which influence water quality, aquatic habitat and biotic communities. In some mountain regions slope failures due to thawing alpine permafrost, and outburst floods from glacier- and moraine-dammed lakes will pose an increased threat to downstream populations and will require enhanced monitoring or preventive measures. Comprehensive adaptation strategies, that aim to address all these challenges, will need to focus not only on the scientific aspects, but also consider cultural and societal needs of affected populations as well as the local economic and political agendas. Here we will review the impacts of anticipated climate change on the alpine environment. We will consider the implications for adaptation to a future of mountains without permanent snow and ice, with a special focus on the tropical Andes, where many adaptation projects are faced with significant challenges and constraints.

Potential Seasonal Terrestrial Water Storage Monitoring from GPS Vertical Displacements: A Case Study in the Lower Three-Rivers Headwater Region, China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Bao; Yao, Yibin; Fok, Hok Sum; Hu, Yufeng; Chen, Qiang

2016-01-01

This study uses the observed vertical displacements of Global Positioning System (GPS) time series obtained from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) with careful pre- and post-processing to estimate the seasonal crustal deformation in response to the hydrological loading in lower three-rivers headwater region of southwest China, followed by inferring the annual EWH changes through geodetic inversion methods. The Helmert Variance Component Estimation (HVCE) and the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) criterion were successfully employed. The GPS inferred EWH changes agree well qualitatively with the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)-inferred and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS)-inferred EWH changes, with a discrepancy of 3.2–3.9 cm and 4.8–5.2 cm, respectively. In the research areas, the EWH changes in the Lancang basin is larger than in the other regions, with a maximum of 21.8–24.7 cm and a minimum of 3.1–6.9 cm. PMID:27657064

Relationship of magnetic field strength and brightness of fine-structure elements in the solar temperature minimum region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cook, J. W.; Ewing, J. A.

1990-01-01

A quantitative relationship was determined between magnetic field strength (or magnetic flux) from photospheric magnetograph observations and the brightness temperature of solar fine-structure elements observed at 1600 A, where the predominant flux source is continuum emission from the solar temperature minimum region. A Kitt Peak magnetogram and spectroheliograph observations at 1600 A taken during a sounding rocket flight of the High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph from December 11, 1987 were used. The statistical distributions of brightness temperature in the quiet sun at 1600 A, and absolute value of magnetic field strength in the same area were determined from these observations. Using a technique which obtains the best-fit relationship of a given functional form between these two histogram distributions, a quantitative relationship was determined between absolute value of magnetic field strength B and brightness temperature which is essentially linear from 10 to 150 G. An interpretation is suggested, in which a basal heating occurs generally, while brighter elements are produced in magnetic regions with temperature enhancements proportional to B.

Dominance of non-native riparian trees in western USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Friedman, J.M.; Auble, G.T.; Shafroth, P.B.; Scott, M.L.; Merigliano, M.F.; Freehling, M.D.; Griffin, E.R.

2005-01-01

Concern about spread of non-native riparian trees in the western USA has led to Congressional proposals to accelerate control efforts. Debate over these proposals is frustrated by limited knowledge of non-native species distribution and abundance. We measured abundance of 44 riparian woody plants at 475 randomly selected stream gaging stations in 17 western states. Our sample indicates that Tamarix ramosissima and Elaeagnus angustifolia are already the third and fourth most frequently occurring woody riparian plants in the region. Although many species of Tamarix have been reported in the region, T. ramosissima (here including T. chinensis and hybrids) is by far the most abundant. The frequency of occurrence of T. ramosissima has a strong positive relation with the mean annual minimum temperature, which is consistent with hypothesized frost sensitivity. In contrast the frequency of occurrence of E. angustifolia decreases with increasing minimum temperatures. Based on mean normalized cover, T. ramosissima and E. angustifolia are the second and fifth most dominant woody riparian species in the western USA. The dominance of T. ramosissima has been suspected for decades; the regional ascendance of E. angustifolia, however, has not previously been reported.

The impact of the UK National Minimum Wage on mental health.

PubMed

Kronenberg, Christoph; Jacobs, Rowena; Zucchelli, Eugenio

2017-12-01

Despite an emerging literature, there is still sparse and mixed evidence on the wider societal benefits of Minimum Wage policies, including their effects on mental health. Furthermore, causal evidence on the relationship between earnings and mental health is limited. We focus on low-wage earners, who are at higher risk of psychological distress, and exploit the quasi-experiment provided by the introduction of the UK National Minimum Wage (NMW) to identify the causal impact of wage increases on mental health. We employ difference-in-differences models and find that the introduction of the UK NMW had no effect on mental health. Our estimates do not appear to support earlier findings which indicate that minimum wages affect mental health of low-wage earners. A series of robustness checks accounting for measurement error, as well as treatment and control group composition, confirm our main results. Overall, our findings suggest that policies aimed at improving the mental health of low-wage earners should either consider the non-wage characteristics of employment or potentially larger wage increases.

Elevated temperature ductility of types 304 and 316 stainless steel. [640/sup 0/ to 750/sup 0/C

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

Sikka, V. K.

1978-01-01

Austenitic stainless steel types 304 and 316 are known for their high ductility and toughness. However, the present study shows that certain combinations of strain rate and test temperature can result in a significant loss in elevated-temperature ductility. Such a phenomenon is referred to as ductility minimum. The strain rate, below which ductility loss is initiated, decreases with decrease in test temperature. Besides strain rate and temperature, the ductility minimum was also affected by nitrogen content and thermal aging conditions. Thermal aging at 649/sup 0/C was observed to eliminate the ductility minimum at 649/sup 0/C in both types 304 andmore » 316 stainless steel. Such an aging treatment resulted in a higher ductility than the unaged value. Aging at 593/sup 0/C still resulted in some loss in ductility. Current results suggest that ductility-minimum conditions for stainless steel should be considered in design, thermal aging data analysis, and while studying the effects of chemical composition.« less

77 FR 51110 - Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-23

... approved collection. Title: Labeling and Advertising Requirements Under the Federal Alcohol Administration... standards include minimum mandatory labeling and advertising statements. Affected Public: Private Sector...: Extension without change of a currently approved collection. Title: Beer for Exportation. Form: TTB F 5130...

What Is a Current Equivalent to Unemployment Rates of the Past?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Antos, Joseph; And Others

1979-01-01

The results of various attempts to quantify how much changes in the labor force, unemployment insurance, and minimum wages have affected unemployment rates are reasonably close; but no total effect on jobless rates can be determined. (BM)

The Politics of Evidence Use in Health Policy Making in Germany-the Case of Regulating Hospital Minimum Volumes.

PubMed

Ettelt, Stefanie

2017-06-01

This article examines the role of scientific evidence in informing health policy decisions in Germany, using minimum volumes policy as a case study. It argues that scientific evidence was used strategically at various stages of the policy process both by individual corporatist actors and by the Federal Joint Committee as the regulator. Minimum volumes regulation was inspired by scientific evidence suggesting a positive relationship between service volume and patient outcomes for complex surgical interventions. Federal legislation was introduced in 2002 to delegate the selection of services and the setting of volumes to corporatist decision makers. Yet, despite being represented in the Federal Joint Committee, hospitals affected by its decisions took the Committee to court to seek legal redress and prevent policy implementation. Evidence has been key to support, and challenge, decisions about minimum volumes, including in court. The analysis of the role of scientific evidence in minimum volumes regulation in Germany highlights the dynamic relationship between evidence use and the political and institutional context of health policy making, which in this case is characterized by the legislative nature of policy making, corporatism, and the role of the judiciary in reviewing policy decisions. Copyright © 2017 by Stefanie Ettelt.

Dengue endemic and its impact on the gross national product of BRAZILIAN'S economy.

PubMed

Montibeler, Everlam Elias; Oliveira, Daniel Ribeiro de

2018-02-01

In history disease has caused social and economic damage. Dengue is an illness typically found in the tropics that has affected more and more people. In Brazil, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 2013 at least 12.9% of the population (25.8 million) reported already having had dengue in their life. So, how wide are the economic impacts that dengue's contagion has on the gross national product? Using Leontief's method, it became possible to estimate the direct and indirect impact on the workforce and output by one country. Workforce absenteeism reduced the national productiveness and welfare state where we found maximum inoperability of 0.027% and a minimum of 0.002%. This paper develops a methodology for estimation of the impact dengue has incurred in each sector of an economy; designing a ranking with sectors that have been more affected and forecasting the propagation of the endemic throughout a region. This research measures the impact of dengue on economy, the result was that the total loss of the Brazilian economy in 2013 was around BRL 1,023,174,876.83; the importance of 0.02% of the Gross Domestic Product. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Earthquake response of heavily damaged historical masonry mosques after restoration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Altunışık, Ahmet Can; Fuat Genç, Ali

2017-10-01

Restoration works have been accelerated substantially in Turkey in the last decade. Many historical buildings, mosques, minaret, bridges, towers and structures have been restored. With these restorations an important issue arises, namely how restoration work affects the structure. For this reason, we aimed to investigate the restoration effect on the earthquake response of a historical masonry mosque considering the openings on the masonry dome. For this purpose, we used the Hüsrev Pasha Mosque, which is located in the Ortakapı district in the old city of Van, Turkey. The region of Van is in an active seismic zone; therefore, earthquake analyses were performed in this study. Firstly a finite element model of the mosque was constructed considering the restoration drawings and 16 window openings on the dome. Then model was constructed with eight window openings. Structural analyses were performed under dead load and earthquake load, and the mode superposition method was used in analyses. Maximum displacements, maximum-minimum principal stresses and shear stresses are given with contours diagrams. The results are analyzed according to Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC, 2007) and compared between 8 and 16 window openings cases. The results show that reduction of the window openings affected the structural behavior of the mosque positively.

[Identification of ecological corridors and its importance by integrating circuit theory].

PubMed

Song, Li Li; Qin, Ming Zhou

2016-10-01

Landscape connectivity is considered as an extraordinarily important factor affecting various ecological processes. The least cost path (LCP) on the basis of minimum cumulative resis-tance model (MCRM) may provide a more efficient approach to identify functional connectivity in heterogeneous landscapes, and is already adopted by the research of landscape functional connecti-vity assessment and ecological corridor simulation. Connectivity model on circuit theory (CMCT) replaced the edges in the graph theory with resistors, cost distance with resistance distance to measure the functional connectivity in heterogeneous landscapes. By means of Linkage Mapper tool and Circuitscape software, the simulated landscape generated from SIMMAP 2.0 software was viewed as the study object in this article, aimed at exploring how to integrate MCRM with CMCT to identify ecological corridors and relative importance of landscape factors. The results showed that two models had their individual advantages and mutual complement. MCRM could effectively identify least cost corridors among habitats. CMCT could effectively identify important landscape factor and pinch point, which had important influence on landscape connectivity. We also found that the position of pinch point was not affected by corridor width, which had obvious advantage in the research of identifying the importance of corridors. The integrated method could provide certain scientific basis for regional ecological protection planning and ecological corridor design.

Comparative endoscopic evaluation of normal and ulcerated gastric mucosae in Thoroughbred foals

PubMed Central

OKAI, Kazuhiko; TAHARAGUCHI, Sadao; ORITA, Yasuhiro; YOKOTA, Hiroshi; TANIYAMA, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

To contribute to early diagnosis and treatment of gastric ulcer of foals, we examined the gastric mucosa of healthy and affected foals using an endoscope. In healthy foals, the characteristic changes in the development of the squamous mucosa were seen mainly in the squamous mucosa, and maturation of the squamous mucosa in the greater curvature (GC-S) occurred more slowly than that of the squamous mucosa in the lesser curvature (LC-S). Epithelial desquamation in the LC-S and GC-S was observed between 6 and 90 days but was not observed in the LC-S at about 60 days, whereas it was observed in the GC-S until 90 days old. These findings suggest that there is a difference in the development of the gastric mucosa by region and that desquamation continues over a term longer than studies have reported in the past. In the affected foals, the minimum age at which gastric ulcer was observed was 4 days old. Gastric ulcers formed predominantly in the squamous mucosa (LC-S and GC-S) of foals with an immature mucosa before the weaning period, and the peak incidence occurred between 61 and 90 days old. The differences in the ulceration sites were considered to depend on the difference in the development (maturation) stage of the squamous mucosa. The grading score of the gastric ulcer increased with the growth of the affected foals. The gastric ulcer might be enhanced greatly by stress in the weaning period. PMID:25648790

Impact of a new alcohol policy on homemade alcohol consumption and sales in Russia.

PubMed

Radaev, Vadim

2015-05-01

To describe the effects of Russian policy since 2006 affecting price and availability on the consumption of recorded and unrecorded alcohol, with specific reference to homemade alcohol, and to investigate other factors affecting homemade alcohol consumption and purchasing. Consumption and preferred beverage data were collected from RLMS-HSE nationwide panel surveys from 1994 to 2013, with a detailed analysis of 2012 data (18,221 respondents aged 16+ years). Official statistics on manufactured alcohol sales, regional price increase and real disposable income were used. Homemade distilled spirits (samogon) consumption decreased together with that of recorded and unrecorded manufactured spirits since 2000. The consumption of spirits was partially replaced by the consumption of beer and wine. These trends in alcohol consumption were interrupted in 2008-2013. The interruption was more likely affected by the economic crisis and recession than by the new alcohol policy. Social networks and availability of unrecorded alcohol were more important predictors of homemade alcohol consumption and purchasing than was a recorded alcohol price increase. Homemade alcohol consumption does not replace the declining market for recorded spirits in Russia. The effects of economic and social factors on homemade alcohol consumption are greater than are the short-term effects of the new alcohol policy. The very recent (2015) reduction of the minimum unit price of vodka may be premature. © The Author 2015. Medical Council on Alcohol and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

76 FR 77806 - International Affairs; U.S. Fish Quotas in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-14

... available from Douglas Christel, at the NMFS Northeast Regional Office at 55 Great Republic Drive..., autonomous vessel monitoring system; and adherence to all relevant minimum size, gear, bycatch, and other...

Microstructure of the IMF turbulences at 2.5 AU

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mavromichalaki, H.; Vassilaki, A.; Marmatsouri, L.; Moussas, X.; Quenby, J. J.; Smith, E. J.

1995-01-01

A detailed analysis of small period (15-900 sec) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulences of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) has been made using Pioneer-11 high time resolution data (0.75 sec) inside a Corotating Interaction Region (CIR) at a heliocentric distance of 2.5 AU in 1973. The methods used are the hodogram analysis, the minimum variance matrix analysis and the cohenrence analysis. The minimum variance analysis gives evidence of linear polarized wave modes. Coherence analysis has shown that the field fluctuations are dominated by the magnetosonic fast modes with periods 15 sec to 15 min. However, it is also shown that some small amplitude Alfven waves are present in the trailing edge of this region with characteristic periods (15-200 sec). The observed wave modes are locally generated and possibly attributed to the scattering of Alfven waves energy into random magnetosonic waves.

The characteristics of abnormal wintertime pollution events in the Jing-Jin-Ji region and its relationships with meteorological factors.

PubMed

Zhu, Wenhui; Xu, Xiangde; Zheng, Jun; Yan, Peng; Wang, Yinjun; Cai, Wenyue

2018-06-01

Despite the implementation of strict air pollution control measures in recent years, severe haze events were still encountered in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) region during the winter 2016. In this work, seasonal differences in correlations between air pollution and geographic terrain, atmospheric dynamical and thermal structures, and PBL height over the Jing-Jin-Ji region in history and recent years were investigated and a comprehensive model of atmospheric factors affecting winter air pollution formation was proposed. We found that the distribution of PM 2.5 concentration closely correlated with the topography feature of China and the difference in haze pollution intensity between winter and other seasons was the most significant in the Jing-Jin-Ji region. The "semi-enclosed" terrain along with the enhanced winter "downdraft" strongly inhibited the diffusion and convection of air pollutants in this region. Meanwhile, seasonal variations of the vertical thermal structure over the Jing-Jin-Ji region, i.e., the anomalous pattern of "upper warming and bottom cooling" structure in the middle troposphere, and the "weak wind zone" were more distinct in winter 2016 than historical record, providing an important precondition for the frequent occurrence of thermal inversion layers and severe pollution episodes in the lower troposphere. In addition, abnormally low PBL heights occurred in the Jing-Jin-Ji region during severe pollutant episodes in winter 2016, with mean postmeridian PBL height in December of only 869.4 m, the minimum value since 2013. PM 2.5 concentration was not only closely related to PBL height but also the "warm cover" structure in the middle troposphere. The stronger the structure was, the lower the PBL height became, and severer the pollution event was encountered, accompanying water vapor accumulation and intensification of the thermal inversion layer in the lower troposphere. All above observations revealed the mutual feedback correlations between air pollutants concentration and meteorological factors. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The role of Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea anticyclonic circulation in forcing marine air intrusions into West Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emanuelsson, B. Daniel; Bertler, Nancy A. N.; Neff, Peter D.; Renwick, James A.; Markle, Bradley R.; Baisden, W. Troy; Keller, Elizabeth D.

2018-01-01

Persistent positive 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies from the ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis are used to quantify Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea (ABS) anticyclonic event occurrences associated with precipitation in West Antarctica (WA). We demonstrate that multi-day (minimum 3-day duration) anticyclones play a key role in the ABS by dynamically inducing meridional transport, which is associated with heat and moisture advection into WA. This affects surface climate variability and trends, precipitation rates and thus WA ice sheet surface mass balance. We show that the snow accumulation record from the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution (RICE) ice core reflects interannual variability of blocking and geopotential height conditions in the ABS/Ross Sea region. Furthermore, our analysis shows that larger precipitation events are related to enhanced anticyclonic circulation and meridional winds, which cause pronounced dipole patterns in air temperature anomalies and sea ice concentrations between the eastern Ross Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea/Weddell Sea, as well as between the eastern and western Ross Sea.

Deposition and composition-control of Mn-doped ZnO thin films by combinatorial pulsed laser deposition using two delayed plasma plumes

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

Sanchez-Ake, C.; Camacho, R.; Moreno, L.

2012-08-15

Thin films of ZnO doped with manganese were deposited by double-beam, combinatorial pulsed laser deposition. The laser-induced plasmas were studied by means of fast photography and using a Langmuir probe, whereas the films were analyzed by x-ray-diffraction and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The effect of the relative delay between plasma plumes on the characteristics of the films was analyzed. It was found that using this parameter, it is possible to control the dopant content keeping the oriented wurtzite structure of the films. The minimum content of Mn was found for plume delays between 0 and 10 {mu}s as the interaction betweenmore » plasmas scatters the dopant species away from the substrate, thus reducing the incorporation of Mn into the films. Results suggest that for delays shorter than {approx}100 {mu}s, the expansion of the second plume through the region behind the first plume affects the composition of the film.« less

Image Processing Of Images From Peripheral-Artery Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, David L.; Tarbox, Lawrence R.; Cist, David B.; Faul, David D.

1988-06-01

A system is being developed to test the possibility of doing peripheral, digital subtraction angiography (DSA) with a single contrast injection using a moving gantry system. Given repositioning errors that occur between the mask and contrast-containing images, factors affecting the success of subtractions following image registration have been investigated theoretically and experimentally. For a 1 mm gantry displacement, parallax and geometric image distortion (pin-cushion) both give subtraction errors following registration that are approximately 25% of the error resulting from no registration. Image processing techniques improve the subtractions. The geometric distortion effect is reduced using a piece-wise, 8 parameter unwarping method. Plots of image similarity measures versus pixel shift are well behaved and well fit by a parabola, leading to the development of an iterative, automatic registration algorithm that uses parabolic prediction of the new minimum. The registration algorithm converges quickly (less than 1 second on a MicroVAX) and is relatively immune to the region of interest (ROI) selected.

Seasonal prediction skill of winter temperature over North India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tiwari, P. R.; Kar, S. C.; Mohanty, U. C.; Dey, S.; Kumari, S.; Sinha, P.

2016-04-01

The climatology, amplitude error, phase error, and mean square skill score (MSSS) of temperature predictions from five different state-of-the-art general circulation models (GCMs) have been examined for the winter (December-January-February) seasons over North India. In this region, temperature variability affects the phenological development processes of wheat crops and the grain yield. The GCM forecasts of temperature for a whole season issued in November from various organizations are compared with observed gridded temperature data obtained from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for the period 1982-2009. The MSSS indicates that the models have skills of varying degrees. Predictions of maximum and minimum temperature obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) climate forecast system model (NCEP_CFSv2) are compared with station level observations from the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE). It has been found that when the model temperatures are corrected to account the bias in the model and actual orography, the predictions are able to delineate the observed trend compared to the trend without orography correction.

Tetrahedron Formation Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Guzman, Jose J.

2003-01-01

Spacecraft flying in tetrahedron formations are excellent instrument platforms for electromagnetic and plasma studies. A minimum of four spacecraft - to establish a volume - is required to study some of the key regions of a planetary magnetic field. The usefulness of the measurements recorded is strongly affected by the tetrahedron orbital evolution. This paper considers the preliminary development of a general optimization procedure for tetrahedron formation control. The maneuvers are assumed to be impulsive and a multi-stage optimization method is employed. The stages include targeting to a fixed tetrahedron orientation, rotating and translating the tetrahedron and/or varying the initial and final times. The number of impulsive maneuvers citn also be varied. As the impulse locations and times change, new arcs are computed using a differential corrections scheme that varies the impulse magnitudes and directions. The result is a continuous trajectory with velocity discontinuities. The velocity discontinuities are then used to formulate the cost function. Direct optimization techniques are employed. The procedure is applied to the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) to compute preliminary formation control fuel requirements.

Long term fluctuations of groundwater mine pollution in a sulfide mining district with dry Mediterranean climate: Implications for water resources management and remediation.

PubMed

Caraballo, Manuel A; Macías, Francisco; Nieto, José Miguel; Ayora, Carlos

2016-01-01

Water resources management and restoration strategies, and subsequently ecological and human life quality, are highly influenced by the presence of short and long term cycles affecting the intensity of a targeted pollution. On this respect, a typical acid mine drainage (AMD) groundwater from a sulfide mining district with dry Mediterranean climate (Iberian Pyrite Belt, SW Spain) was studied to unravel the effect of long term weather changes in water flow rate and metal pollutants concentration. Three well differentiated polluting stages were observed and the specific geochemical, mineralogical and hydrological processes involved (pyrite and enclosing rocks dissolution, evaporitic salts precipitation-redisolution and pluviometric long term fluctuations) were discussed. Evidencing the importance of including longer background monitoring stage in AMD management and restoration strategies, the present study strongly advise a minimum 5-years period of AMD continuous monitoring previous to the design of any AMD remediation system in regions with dry Mediterranean climate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Habitat Preferences of Boros schneideri (Coleoptera: Boridae) in the Natural Tree Stands of the Białowieża Forest

PubMed Central

Gutowski, Jerzy M.; Sućko, Krzysztof; Zub, Karol; Bohdan, Adam

2014-01-01

Abstract We analyzed habitat requirements of Boros schneideri (Panzer, 1796) (Coleoptera: Boridae) in the natural forests of the continental biogeographical region, using data collected in the Białowieża Forest. This species has been found on the six host trees, but it preferred dead, standing pine trees, characterized by large diameter, moderately moist and moist phloem but avoided trees in sunny locations. It occurred mostly in mesic and wet coniferous forests. This species demonstrated preferences for old tree stands (over 140-yr old), and its occurrence in younger tree-stand age classes (minimum 31–40-yr old) was not significantly different from random distribution. B. schneideri occupied more frequently locations distant from the forest edge, which were less affected by logging. Considering habitat requirements, character of occurrence, and decreasing number of occupied locations in the whole range of distribution, this species can be treated as relict of primeval forests. PMID:25527586

Radiation pattern of a borehole radar antenna

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ellefsen, K.J.; Wright, D.L.

2005-01-01

The finite-difference time-domain method was used to simulate radar waves that were generated by a transmitting antenna inside a borehole. The simulations were of four different models that included features such as a water-filled borehole and an antenna with resistive loading. For each model, radiation patterns for the far-field region were calculated. The radiation patterns show that the amplitude of the radar wave was strongly affected by its frequency, the water-filled borehole, the resistive loading of the antenna, and the external metal parts of the antenna (e.g., the cable head and the battery pack). For the models with a water-filled borehole, their normalized radiation patterns were practically identical to the normalized radiation pattern of a finite-length electric dipole when the wavelength in the formation was significantly greater than the total length of the radiating elements of the model antenna. The minimum wavelength at which this criterion was satisfied depended upon the features of the antenna, especially its external metal parts. ?? 2005 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.

Causes of unusual distribution of coseismic landslides triggered by the Mw 6.1 2014 Ludian, Yunnan, China earthquake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Xiao-li; Liu, Chun-guo; Wang, Ming-ming; Zhou, Qing

2018-06-01

The Mw 6.1 2014 Ludian, Yunnan, China earthquake triggered numerous coseismic landslides that do not appear to be associated with any previously known seismogenic fault. Traditional models of triggering for seismically generated landslides do not provide a reasonable explanation for the landslide pattern observed here. Here the Newmark method is applied to a grid to calculate the minimum accelerations required for slope failures throughout the affected region. The results demonstrate that for much of the study area, the distribution of failure prone slopes is similar to the actual pattern of coseismic landslides, however there are some areas where the model predicts considerably fewer failures than occurred. We suggest that this is a result of the complex source faults that generated the Ludian earthquake, which produced a half-conjugate rupture on nearly EW- and NNW trending faults at depth. The rupture directed much of its seismic moment southeast of the epicenter, increasing ground shaking and the number of resulting landslides.

Thermodynamic geometry of minimum-dissipation driven barrier crossing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivak, David A.; Crooks, Gavin E.

2016-11-01

We explore the thermodynamic geometry of a simple system that models the bistable dynamics of nucleic acid hairpins in single molecule force-extension experiments. Near equilibrium, optimal (minimum-dissipation) driving protocols are governed by a generalized linear response friction coefficient. Our analysis demonstrates that the friction coefficient of the driving protocols is sharply peaked at the interface between metastable regions, which leads to minimum-dissipation protocols that drive rapidly within a metastable basin, but then linger longest at the interface, giving thermal fluctuations maximal time to kick the system over the barrier. Intuitively, the same principle applies generically in free energy estimation (both in steered molecular dynamics simulations and in single-molecule experiments), provides a design principle for the construction of thermodynamically efficient coupling between stochastic objects, and makes a prediction regarding the construction of evolved biomolecular motors.

Thermodynamic geometry of minimum-dissipation driven barrier crossing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sivak, David; Crooks, Gavin

We explore the thermodynamic geometry of a simple system that models the bistable dynamics of nucleic acid hairpins in single molecule force-extension experiments. Near equilibrium, optimal (minimum-dissipation) driving protocols are governed by a generalized linear response friction coefficient. Our analysis demonstrates that the friction coefficient of the driving protocols is sharply peaked at the interface between metastable regions, which leads to minimum-dissipation protocols that drive rapidly within a metastable basin, but then linger longest at the interface, giving thermal fluctuations maximal time to kick the system over the barrier. Intuitively, the same principle applies generically in free energy estimation (both in steered molecular dynamics simulations and in single-molecule experiments), provides a design principle for the construction of thermodynamically efficient coupling between stochastic objects, and makes a prediction regarding the construction of evolved biomolecular motors.

Equatorial temperature anomaly during solar minimum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhasini, R.; Raghavarao, R.; Mayr, H. G.; Hoegy, W. R.; Wharton, L. E.

2001-11-01

We show evidence for the occurrence of the equatorial temperature anomaly (ETA) during solar minimum by analyzing the temperature and total ion density data from the Neutral Atmosphere Temperature Experiment (NATE) and the Cylindrical Electrostatic Probe (CEP), respectively, on board the Atmospheric Explorer-E satellite. The chosen data refer to a height of ~254 km in the African and Asian longitude sector (340.1°E-200°E) during a summer season in the Southern Hemisphere. As during the solar maximum period, the spatial characteristics of the ETA are similar to those of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA). A minimum in the gas temperature is collocated with the minimum in the ion density at the dip equator, and a temperature maximum on the south side of the equator is collocated with the density maximum of the EIA. The daytime behavior of ETA formation is about the same as that of EIA as both of them are clearly present at around 1300 and 1400 local solar time (LST) only. At 1400 LST the difference between the temperatures at the crest and the trough (ETA strength) reaches a maximum value of about 100°K which is ~14% of the temperature at the trough. Like the EIA, the ETA also suddenly disappears after 1400 LST. Thus the EIA appears to be a prerequisite for the ETA formation. During the premidnight time (2200 LST), however, while the EIA is nonexistent, the temperature distribution forms a pattern opposite to that at 1400 LST in the daytime. It shows a maximum around the dip equator and a broad minimum at the daytime crest region where the postsunset cooling also is faster and occurs earlier than at the dip equator. This nighttime maximum appears to be related to the signature of the midnight temperature maximum (MTM). Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter (MSIS) model temperatures, in general, are higher than the observed average temperatures for the summer season and in particular for the region around the dip equator around noon hours.

Patterns of species richness and the center of diversity in modern Indo-Pacific larger foraminifera.

PubMed

Förderer, Meena; Rödder, Dennis; Langer, Martin R

2018-05-29

Symbiont-bearing Larger Benthic Foraminifera (LBF) are ubiquitous components of shallow tropical and subtropical environments and contribute substantially to carbonaceous reef and shelf sediments. Climate change is dramatically affecting carbonate producing organisms and threatens the diversity and structural integrity of coral reef ecosystems. Recent invertebrate and vertebrate surveys have identified the Coral Triangle as the planet's richest center of marine life delineating the region as a top priority for conservation. We compiled and analyzed extensive occurrence records for 68 validly recognized species of LBF from the Indian and Pacific Ocean, established individual range maps and applied Minimum Convex Polygon (MCP) and Species Distribution Model (SDM) methodologies to create the first ocean-wide species richness maps. SDM output was further used for visualizing latitudinal and longitudinal diversity gradients. Our findings provide strong support for assigning the tropical Central Indo-Pacific as the world's species-richest marine region with the Central Philippines emerging as the bullseye of LBF diversity. Sea surface temperature and nutrient content were identified as the most influential environmental constraints exerting control over the distribution of LBF. Our findings contribute to the completion of worldwide research on tropical marine biodiversity patterns and the identification of targeting centers for conservation efforts.

Settling of hot particles through turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coletti, Filippo; Frankel, Ari; Pouransari, Hadi; Mani, Ali

2014-11-01

Particle-laden flows in which the dispersed phase is not isothermal with the continuous phase are common in a wealth of natural and industrial setting. In this study we consider the case of inertial particles heated by thermal radiation while settling through a turbulent transparent gas. Particles much smaller than the minimum flow scales are considered. The particle Stokes number (based on the Kolmogorov time scale) and the nominal settling velocity (normalized by the root-mean-square fluid velocity fluctuation) are both of order unity. In the considered dilute and optically thin regime, each particle receives the same heat flux. Numerical simulations are performed in which the two-way coupling between dispersed and continuous phase is taken into account. The momentum and energy equations are solved in a triply periodic domain, resolving all spatial and temporal scales. While falling, the heated particles shed plumes of buoyant gas, modifying the turbulence structure and enhancing velocity fluctuations in the vertical direction. The radiative forcing does not affect preferential concentration (clustering of particles in low vorticity regions), but reduces preferential sweeping (particle sampling regions of downward fluid motion). Overall, the mean settling velocity varies slightly when heating the particles, while its variance is greatly increased. We gratefully acknowledges support from DOE PSAAP II program.

Speciation has a spatial scale that depends on levels of gene flow.

PubMed

Kisel, Yael; Barraclough, Timothy G

2010-03-01

Area is generally assumed to affect speciation rates, but work on the spatial context of speciation has focused mostly on patterns of range overlap between emerging species rather than on questions of geographical scale. A variety of geographical theories of speciation predict that the probability of speciation occurring within a given region should (1) increase with the size of the region and (2) increase as the spatial extent of intraspecific gene flow becomes smaller. Using a survey of speciation events on isolated oceanic islands for a broad range of taxa, we find evidence for both predictions. The probability of in situ speciation scales with island area in bats, carnivorous mammals, birds, flowering plants, lizards, butterflies and moths, and snails. Ferns are an exception to these findings, but they exhibit high frequencies of polyploid and hybrid speciation, which are expected to be scale independent. Furthermore, the minimum island size for speciation correlates across groups with the strength of intraspecific gene flow, as is estimated from a meta-analysis of published population genetic studies. These results indicate a general geographical model of speciation rates that are dependent on both area and gene flow. The spatial scale of population divergence is an important but neglected determinant of broad-scale diversity patterns.

Soil Water Holding Capacity Mitigates Downside Risk and Volatility in US Rainfed Maize: Time to Invest in Soil Organic Matter?

PubMed Central

Williams, Alwyn; Hunter, Mitchell C.; Kammerer, Melanie; Kane, Daniel A.; Jordan, Nicholas R.; Mortensen, David A.; Smith, Richard G.; Snapp, Sieglinde

2016-01-01

Yield stability is fundamental to global food security in the face of climate change, and better strategies are needed for buffering crop yields against increased weather variability. Regional- scale analyses of yield stability can support robust inferences about buffering strategies for widely-grown staple crops, but have not been accomplished. We present a novel analytical approach, synthesizing 2000–2014 data on weather and soil factors to quantify their impact on county-level maize yield stability in four US states that vary widely in these factors (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania). Yield stability is quantified as both ‘downside risk’ (minimum yield potential, MYP) and ‘volatility’ (temporal yield variability). We show that excessive heat and drought decreased mean yields and yield stability, while higher precipitation increased stability. Soil water holding capacity strongly affected yield volatility in all four states, either directly (Minnesota and Pennsylvania) or indirectly, via its effects on MYP (Illinois and Michigan). We infer that factors contributing to soil water holding capacity can help buffer maize yields against variable weather. Given that soil water holding capacity responds (within limits) to agronomic management, our analysis highlights broadly relevant management strategies for buffering crop yields against climate variability, and informs region-specific strategies. PMID:27560666

Fluid flow analysis behind heliostat using LES and RANS: A step towards optimized field design in desert regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boddupalli, Nibodh; Goenka, Vikash; Chandra, Laltu

2017-06-01

Heliostats are used for concentrating beam radiation onto a receiver. The flow induced dust deposition on these reflectors will lead to failure of the receiver. For this purpose, the wake behind a heliostat is analyzed at 25° of inclination and at a Reynolds number of 60000. In this paper the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approaches are used for analyzing the air-flow behind a heliostat. LES and RANS are performed with a wall-resolved grid. For the purpose of validation, the horizontal velocity is measured in a wind-tunnel with a model heliostat using laser Doppler velocimetry technique. RANS and LES approaches are found to qualitatively predict the statistical quantities, like the mean horizontal-velocity in comparison to experiment. RANS under-predicts root-mean-square of the horizontal-velocity and even failed to capture the flow features behind heliostat. Thus, it is concluded that RANS will suffice with well-resolved grid for analyzing mean flow features. For analyzing wake and to understand the induced dust deposition LES is required. Further, the analysis reveals that the wake-affected region is up to three times the length of the heliostat's mirror. This can be recommended as the minimum distance between any two aligned heliostats in Jodhpur.

INFERRING THE STRUCTURE OF THE SOLAR CORONA AND INNER HELIOSPHERE DURING THE MAUNDER MINIMUM USING GLOBAL THERMODYNAMIC MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC SIMULATIONS

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

Riley, Pete; Lionello, Roberto; Linker, Jon A., E-mail: pete@predsci.com, E-mail: lionel@predsci.com, E-mail: linkerj@predsci.com

Observations of the Sun’s corona during the space era have led to a picture of relatively constant, but cyclically varying solar output and structure. Longer-term, more indirect measurements, such as from {sup 10}Be, coupled by other albeit less reliable contemporaneous reports, however, suggest periods of significant departure from this standard. The Maunder Minimum was one such epoch where: (1) sunspots effectively disappeared for long intervals during a 70 yr period; (2) eclipse observations suggested the distinct lack of a visible K-corona but possible appearance of the F-corona; (3) reports of aurora were notably reduced; and (4) cosmic ray intensities atmore » Earth were inferred to be substantially higher. Using a global thermodynamic MHD model, we have constructed a range of possible coronal configurations for the Maunder Minimum period and compared their predictions with these limited observational constraints. We conclude that the most likely state of the corona during—at least—the later portion of the Maunder Minimum was not merely that of the 2008/2009 solar minimum, as has been suggested recently, but rather a state devoid of any large-scale structure, driven by a photospheric field composed of only ephemeral regions, and likely substantially reduced in strength. Moreover, we suggest that the Sun evolved from a 2008/2009-like configuration at the start of the Maunder Minimum toward an ephemeral-only configuration by the end of it, supporting a prediction that we may be on the cusp of a new grand solar minimum.« less

Pediatric Program Director Minimum Milestone Expectations before Allowing Supervision of Others and Unsupervised Practice.

PubMed

Li, Su-Ting T; Tancredi, Daniel J; Schwartz, Alan; Guillot, Ann; Burke, Ann E; Trimm, R Franklin; Guralnick, Susan; Mahan, John D; Gifford, Kimberly

2018-04-25

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires semiannual Milestone reporting on all residents. Milestone expectations of performance are unknown. Determine pediatric program director (PD) minimum Milestone expectations for residents prior to being ready to supervise and prior to being ready to graduate. Mixed methods survey of pediatric PDs on their programs' Milestone expectations before residents are ready to supervise and before they are ready to graduate, and in what ways PDs use Milestones to make supervision and graduation decisions. If programs had no established Milestone expectations, PDs indicated expectations they considered for use in their program. Mean minimum Milestone level expectations adjusted for program size, region, and clustering of Milestone expectations by program were calculated for prior to supervise and prior to graduate. Free-text questions were analyzed using thematic analysis. The response rate was 56.8% (113/199). Most programs had no required minimum Milestone level before residents are ready to supervise (80%; 76/95) or ready to graduate (84%; 80/95). For readiness to supervise, minimum Milestone expectations PDs considered establishing for their program were highest for humanism (2.46, 95% CI: 2.21-2.71) and professionalization (2.37, 2.15-2.60). Minimum Milestone expectations for graduates were highest for help-seeking (3.14, 2.83-3.46). Main themes included the use of Milestones in combination with other information to assess learner performance and Milestones are not equally weighted when making advancement decisions. Most PDs have not established program minimum Milestones, but would vary such expectations by competency. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Low-flow analysis and selected flow statistics representative of 1930-2002 for streamflow-gaging stations in or near West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wiley, Jeffrey B.

2006-01-01

Five time periods between 1930 and 2002 are identified as having distinct patterns of annual minimum daily mean flows (minimum flows). Average minimum flows increased around 1970 at many streamflow-gaging stations in West Virginia. Before 1930, however, there might have been a period of minimum flows greater than any period identified between 1930 and 2002. The effects of climate variability are probably the principal causes of the differences among the five time periods. Comparisons of selected streamflow statistics are made between values computed for the five identified time periods and values computed for the 1930-2002 interval for 15 streamflow-gaging stations. The average difference between statistics computed for the five time periods and the 1930-2002 interval decreases with increasing magnitude of the low-flow statistic. The greatest individual-station absolute difference was 582.5 percent greater for the 7-day 10-year low flow computed for 1970-1979 compared to the value computed for 1930-2002. The hydrologically based low flows indicate approximately equal or smaller absolute differences than biologically based low flows. The average 1-day 3-year biologically based low flow (1B3) and 4-day 3-year biologically based low flow (4B3) are less than the average 1-day 10-year hydrologically based low flow (1Q10) and 7-day 10-year hydrologic-based low flow (7Q10) respectively, and range between 28.5 percent less and 13.6 percent greater. Seasonally, the average difference between low-flow statistics computed for the five time periods and 1930-2002 is not consistent between magnitudes of low-flow statistics, and the greatest difference is for the summer (July 1-September 30) and fall (October 1-December 31) for the same time period as the greatest difference determined in the annual analysis. The greatest average difference between 1B3 and 4B3 compared to 1Q10 and 7Q10, respectively, is in the spring (April 1-June 30), ranging between 11.6 and 102.3 percent greater. Statistics computed for the individual station's record period may not represent the statistics computed for the period 1930 to 2002 because (1) station records are available predominantly after about 1970 when minimum flows were greater than the average between 1930 and 2002 and (2) some short-term station records are mostly during dry periods, whereas others are mostly during wet periods. A criterion-based sampling of the individual station's record periods at stations was taken to reduce the effects of statistics computed for the entire record periods not representing the statistics computed for 1930-2002. The criterion used to sample the entire record periods is based on a comparison between the regional minimum flows and the minimum flows at the stations. Criterion-based sampling of the available record periods was superior to record-extension techniques for this study because more stations were selected and areal distribution of stations was more widespread. Principal component and correlation analyses of the minimum flows at 20 stations in or near West Virginia identify three regions of the State encompassing stations with similar patterns of minimum flows: the Lower Appalachian Plateaus, the Upper Appalachian Plateaus, and the Eastern Panhandle. All record periods of 10 years or greater between 1930 and 2002 where the average of the regional minimum flows are nearly equal to the average for 1930-2002 are determined as representative of 1930-2002. Selected statistics are presented for the longest representative record period that matches the record period for 77 stations in West Virginia and 40 stations near West Virginia. These statistics can be used to develop equations for estimating flow in ungaged stream locations.

Practicability of monitoring soil Cd, Hg, and Pb pollution based on a geochemical survey in China.

PubMed

Xia, Xueqi; Yang, Zhongfang; Li, Guocheng; Yu, Tao; Hou, Qingye; Mutelo, Admire Muchimamui

2017-04-01

Repeated visiting, i.e., sampling and analysis at two or more temporal points, is one of the important ways of monitoring soil heavy metal contamination. However, with the concern about the cost, determination of the number of samples and the temporal interval, and their capability to detect a certain change is a key technical problem to be solved. This depends on the spatial variation of the parameters in the monitoring units. The "National Multi-Purpose Regional Geochemical Survey" (NMPRGS) project in China, acquired the spatial distribution of heavy metals using a high density sampling method in the most arable regions in China. Based on soil Cd, Hg, and Pb data and taking administrative regions as the monitoring units, the number of samples and temporal intervals that may be used for monitoring soil heavy metal contamination were determined. It was found that there is a large variety of spatial variation of the elements in each NMPRGS region. This results in the difficulty in the determination of the minimum detectable changes (MDC), the number of samples, and temporal intervals for revisiting. This paper recommends a suitable set of the number of samples (n r ) for each region under the balance of cost, practicability, and monitoring precision. Under n r , MDC values are acceptable for all the regions, and the minimum temporal intervals are practical with the range of 3.3-13.3 years. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eta Carinae: Linelist for the Emission Spectrum of the Weigelt Blobs in the 1700-10400Angstrom Wavelength Region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zethson, T.; Johansson, S.; Hartman, H.; Gull, T. R.

2011-01-01

Aims. We present line identifications in the 1700 to 10400A region for the Weigelt Blobs B and D, located 0.1 to 0.3" NNW of Eta Carinae. The aim of this work is to characterize the behavior of these luminous, dense gas condensations in response to the broad maximum and short minimum states of Eta Carinae during its 5.54-year spectroscopic period. Methods. The observations were carried out during March 1998, the minimum spectrum, and in February 1999, early maximum spectrum, with the Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) from 1640 to 10400A using the 52"x0.1" aperture centered on Eta Carinae at position angle -28 degrees. Extractions of the reduced spectrum centered on Weigelt B and D, 0.28: in length along the slit, were used to identify the narrow, nebular emission lines, measure their wavelengths and estimate their fluxes. Results. A linelist of 1500 lines is presented for the maximum and minimum states of combined Weigelt blobs B and D. The spectra are dominated by emission lines from the iron-group elements, but include lines from lighter elements. They include parity permitted and forbidden lines. A number of lines are fluorescent lines pumped by H Ly alpha. Other lines show anomalous excitation.

Behavior of Solar Cycles 23 and 24 Revealed by Microwave Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gopalswamy, N.; Yashiro, S.; Maekelae, P.; Michalek, G.; Shibasaki, K.; Hathaway, D. H.

2012-01-01

Using magnetic and microwave butterfly diagrams, we compare the behavior of solar polar regions to show that (1) the polar magnetic field and the microwave brightness temperature during solar minimum substantially diminished during the cycle 23/24 minimum compared to the 22/23 minimum. (2) The polar microwave brightness temperature (Tb) seems to be a good proxy for the underlying magnetic field strength (B). The analysis indicates a relationship, B = 0.0067Tb - 70, where B is in G and Tb in K. (3) Both the brightness temperature and the magnetic field strength show north-south asymmetry most of the time except for a short period during the maximum phase. (4) The rush-to-the-pole phenomenon observed in the prominence eruption (PE) activity seems to be complete in the northern hemisphere as of 2012 March. (5) The decline of the microwave brightness temperature in the north polar region to the quiet-Sun levels and the sustained PE activity poleward of 60degN suggest that solar maximum conditions have arrived at the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere continues to exhibit conditions corresponding to the rise phase of solar cycle 24. Key words: Sun: chromosphere Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs) Sun: filaments, prominences Sun: photosphere Sun: radio radiation Sun: surface magnetism

Mapping Topoclimate and Microclimate in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiss, S. B.

2006-12-01

Overwintering monarch butterflies in Mexico select areas of the high elevation Oyamel fir -pine forest providing a canopy that protects them from extremes of cold, heat, sun, and wind. These exacting microclimatic conditions are found in relatively small areas of forest with appropriate topography and canopy cover. The major goal of this investigation is to map topoclimatic and microclimatic conditions within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve by combining temperature monitoring (iButton Thermochrons), hemispherical canopy photography, multiple regression, and GIS modeling. Temperature measurements included base weather stations and arrays of Thermochrons (on the north-side of trees at 2m height) across local topographic and canopy cover gradients. Topoclimatic models of minimum temperatures included topographic position, slope, and elevation, and predicted that thermal belts on slopes and cold air drainage into canyons create local minimum temperature gradients of 2°C. Topoclimatic models of maximum temperatures models included elevation, topographic position, and relative solar exposure, with local gradients of 3°C. These models, which are independent of forest canopy structure, were then projected across the entire region. Forest canopy structure, including direct and diffuse solar radiation, was assessed with hemispherical photography at each Thermochron site. Canopy cover affected minimum temperatures primarily on the calmest, coldest nights. Maximum temperatures were predicted by direct radiation below the canopy. Fine- scale grids (25 m spacing) at three overwintering sites characterized effects of canopy gaps and edges on temperature and wind exposure. The effects of temperature variation were considered for lipid loss rates, ability to take flight, and freezing mortality. Lipid loss rates were estimated by measured hourly temperatures. Many of the closed canopy sites allowed for substantial lipid reserves at the end of the season (March 15), but increases in average temperature could effectively deplete lipids by that time. The large influence of canopy cover on daytime maximum temperatures demonstrates that forest thinning directly reduces habitat suitability. Monarchs' flight behavior under warmer conditions suggests that daytime temperatures drive the dynamics of monarch distribution within colonies. Thinning also decreases nighttime minimum temperatures, and increases wind exposure. These results create a basis for quantitative understanding of the combinations of topography and forest structure that provide high quality overwintering habitat.

Radio Imaging Observations of Solar Activity Cycle and Its Anomaly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibasaki, K.

2011-12-01

The 24th solar activity cycle has started and relative sunspot numbers are increasing. However, their rate of increase is rather slow compared to previous cycles. Active region sizes are small, lifetime is short, and big (X-class) flares are rare so far. We study this anomalous situation using data from Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH). Radio imaging observations have been done by NoRH since 1992. Nearly 20 years of daily radio images of the Sun at 17 GHz are used to synthesize a radio butterfly diagram. Due to stable operation of the instrument and a robust calibration method, uniform datasets are available covering the whole period of observation. The radio butterfly diagram shows bright features corresponding to active region belts and their migration toward low latitude as the solar cycle progresses. In the present solar activity cycle (24), increase of radio brightness is delayed and slow. There are also bright features around both poles (polar brightening). Their brightness show solar cycle dependence but peaks around solar minimum. Comparison between the last minimum and the previous one shows decrease of its brightness. This corresponds to weakening of polar magnetic field activity between them. In the northern pole, polar brightening is already weakened in 2011, which means it is close to solar maximum in the northern hemisphere. Southern pole does not show such feature yet. Slow rise of activity in active region belt, weakening of polar activity during the minimum, and large north-south asymmetry in polar activity imply that global solar activity and its synchronization are weakening.

THE MINIMUM OF SOLAR CYCLE 23: AS DEEP AS IT COULD BE?

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

Muñoz-Jaramillo, Andrés; Longcope, Dana W.; Senkpeil, Ryan R.

2015-05-01

In this work we introduce a new way of binning sunspot group data with the purpose of better understanding the impact of the solar cycle on sunspot properties and how this defined the characteristics of the extended minimum of cycle 23. Our approach assumes that the statistical properties of sunspots are completely determined by the strength of the underlying large-scale field and have no additional time dependencies. We use the amplitude of the cycle at any given moment (something we refer to as activity level) as a proxy for the strength of this deep-seated magnetic field. We find that themore » sunspot size distribution is composed of two populations: one population of groups and active regions and a second population of pores and ephemeral regions. When fits are performed at periods of different activity level, only the statistical properties of the former population, the active regions, are found to vary. Finally, we study the relative contribution of each component (small-scale versus large-scale) to solar magnetism. We find that when hemispheres are treated separately, almost every one of the past 12 solar minima reaches a point where the main contribution to magnetism comes from the small-scale component. However, due to asymmetries in cycle phase, this state is very rarely reached by both hemispheres at the same time. From this we infer that even though each hemisphere did reach the magnetic baseline, from a heliospheric point of view the minimum of cycle 23 was not as deep as it could have been.« less

Mycosporine-like amino acids and xanthophyll-cycle pigments favour a massive spring bloom development of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum in Grande Bay (Argentina), an ozone hole affected area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carreto, José I.; Carignan, Mario O.; Montoya, Nora G.; Cozzolino, Ezequiel; Akselman, Rut

2018-02-01

In Grande Bay (Southern Patagonian Shelf) in a eutrophic and recirculating area slightly stratified during spring, we observed an intense (up to 1 × 107 cells L- 1) and shallow, quasi mono-specific bloom of the dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. Peridinin was the most abundant carotenoid, but the relative amounts of the xanthophyll cycle carotenoids (diadinoxanthin + diatoxanthin = DT) to light-harvesting pigments were high (DT/Chl a ratio = 0.32 and DT/peridinin ratio = 0.40). Shinorine, usujirene, palythene, mycosporine-serine-glycine methyl ester and palythenic acid were the primary mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), followed by mycosporine-glycine, palythine, and porphyra-334. The ΣMAAs/Chl a ratios (up to 27.9 nmol/nmol) were in the upper range reported either in nutrient-replete dinoflagellate cultures or natural populations. We monitored, from space (using satellite ocean colour data), the spatial and temporal bloom variability (from September 22 to October 31, 2005) using an approach to discriminate dinoflagellate from diatom blooms. The results indicated that an intense diatom bloom started in early spring but was rapidly replaced by an intense bloom of the dinoflagellate P. minimum, although the nutrient concentrations were apparently not limiting. The most notorious change in this period was a sharp increase in the levels of solar UVB radiation (UVB index 9.0) as a consequence of the overpass of the polar vortex over this area. We postulated that the synthesis and accumulation of MAAs and xanthophyll pigments, were competitive advantages for the opportunistic red tide dinoflagellate P. minimum over the sensitive diatoms, favouring the development of their surface blooms in this seasonally solar UVB radiation (UVBR) affected area.

Signatures of moderate (M-class) and low (C and B class) intensity solar flares on the equatorial electrojet current: Case studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakrabarty, D.; Bagiya, Mala S.; Thampi, Smitha V.; Pathan, B. M.; Sekar, R.

2013-12-01

The present investigation brings out, in contrast to the earlier works, the changes in the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) current in response to a few moderate (M-class) and low (C and B class) intensity solar flares during 2005-2010. Special care is taken to pick these flare events in the absence of prompt electric field perturbations associated with geomagnetic storms and substorms that also affect the electrojet current. Interestingly, only the normalized (with respect to the pre-flare level) deviations of daytime EEJ (and not the deviations alone) change linearly with the increases in the EUV and X-ray fluxes. These linear relationships break down during local morning hours when the E-region electric field approaches zero before reversal of polarity. This elicits that the response of EEJ strength corresponding to less-intense flares can be appropriately gauged only when the local time variation of the quiet time E-region zonal electric field is taken into account. The flare events enhanced the EEJ strength irrespective of normal or counter electrojet (CEJ) conditions that shows that solar flares change the E-region ionization density and not the electric field. In addition, the enhancements in the X-ray and EUV fluxes, for these flares occurring during this solar minimum period, are found to be significantly correlated as opposed to the solar maximum period, indicating the differences in the solar processes in different solar epochs.

Climatic Variability Leads to Later Seasonal Flowering of Floridian Plants

PubMed Central

Von Holle, Betsy; Wei, Yun; Nickerson, David

2010-01-01

Understanding species responses to global change will help predict shifts in species distributions as well as aid in conservation. Changes in the timing of seasonal activities of organisms over time may be the most responsive and easily observable indicator of environmental changes associated with global climate change. It is unknown how global climate change will affect species distributions and developmental events in subtropical ecosystems or if climate change will differentially favor nonnative species. Contrary to previously observed trends for earlier flowering onset of plant species with increasing spring temperatures from mid and higher latitudes, we document a trend for delayed seasonal flowering among plants in Florida. Additionally, there were few differences in reproductive responses by native and nonnative species to climatic changes. We argue that plants in Florida have different reproductive cues than those from more northern climates. With global change, minimum temperatures have become more variable within the temperate-subtropical zone that occurs across the peninsula and this variation is strongly associated with delayed flowering among Florida plants. Our data suggest that climate change varies by region and season and is not a simple case of species responding to consistently increasing temperatures across the region. Research on climate change impacts need to be extended outside of the heavily studied higher latitudes to include subtropical and tropical systems in order to properly understand the complexity of regional and seasonal differences of climate change on species responses. PMID:20657765

The TRK-Fused Gene Is Mutated in Hereditary Motor and Sensory Neuropathy with Proximal Dominant Involvement

PubMed Central

Ishiura, Hiroyuki; Sako, Wataru; Yoshida, Mari; Kawarai, Toshitaka; Tanabe, Osamu; Goto, Jun; Takahashi, Yuji; Date, Hidetoshi; Mitsui, Jun; Ahsan, Budrul; Ichikawa, Yaeko; Iwata, Atsushi; Yoshino, Hiide; Izumi, Yuishin; Fujita, Koji; Maeda, Kouji; Goto, Satoshi; Koizumi, Hidetaka; Morigaki, Ryoma; Ikemura, Masako; Yamauchi, Naoko; Murayama, Shigeo; Nicholson, Garth A.; Ito, Hidefumi; Sobue, Gen; Nakagawa, Masanori; Kaji, Ryuji; Tsuji, Shoji

2012-01-01

Hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy with proximal dominant involvement (HMSN-P) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by widespread fasciculations, proximal-predominant muscle weakness, and atrophy followed by distal sensory involvement. To date, large families affected by HMSN-P have been reported from two different regions in Japan. Linkage and haplotype analyses of two previously reported families and two new families with the use of high-density SNP arrays further defined the minimum candidate region of 3.3 Mb in chromosomal region 3q12. Exome sequencing showed an identical c.854C>T (p.Pro285Leu) mutation in the TRK-fused gene (TFG) in the four families. Detailed haplotype analysis suggested two independent origins of the mutation. Pathological studies of an autopsied patient revealed TFG- and ubiquitin-immunopositive cytoplasmic inclusions in the spinal and cortical motor neurons. Fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus, a frequent finding in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, was also observed in the motor neurons with inclusion bodies. Moreover, TAR DNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43)-positive cytoplasmic inclusions were also demonstrated. In cultured cells expressing mutant TFG, cytoplasmic aggregation of TDP-43 was demonstrated. These findings indicate that formation of TFG-containing cytoplasmic inclusions and concomitant mislocalization of TDP-43 underlie motor neuron degeneration in HMSN-P. Pathological overlap of proteinopathies involving TFG and TDP-43 highlights a new pathway leading to motor neuron degeneration. PMID:22883144

Magnetic and Velocity Field Changes Related to the Solar Flares of 28 and 29 October 2003

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maurya, R. A.; Ambastha, A.

Magnetic and velocity field measurements of solar active regions suffer from ambiguities caused by the change in spectral line profiles that occur during the impulsive phase of a major flare. This leads to difficulties in correct interpretation of any flare-related changes. Using magnetic and Doppler movies taken with GONG and MDI, we have detected transient, "moving" features around the peak phases of the X17.2/4B flare observed on 28 October 2003 and the X10/2B flare observed on 29 October 2003 in super-active region NOAA 10486. These features were located near the compact acoustic sources reported earlier by Donea and Lindsey (2005) and the seismic sources reported by Zharkova and Zharkov (2007).We find a moving feature, spatially and temporally associated with the flare ribbons, that separates away at speeds ranging from 30 to 50 km s-1 as observed in photospheric white light and in temperature-minimum (1600 Å), chromospheric (Hα), and transition-region (284Å ) intensities.We suggest that such moving features arise from the line-profile changes attributed to downward electron jets associated with the flare, and do not reflect real changes in the photospheric magnetic and velocity fields. However, abrupt and persistent changes in the pre- and post-flare phases were also found, which do not seem to be affected by line-profile changes. The detailed results have been appeared in Maurya and Ambastha (2009).

A new inversion algorithm for HF sky-wave backscatter ionograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Jing; Ni, Binbin; Lou, Peng; Wei, Na; Yang, Longquan; Liu, Wen; Zhao, Zhengyu; Li, Xue

2018-05-01

HF sky-wave backscatter sounding system is capable of measuring the large-scale, two-dimensional (2-D) distributions of ionospheric electron density. The leading edge (LE) of a backscatter ionogram (BSI) is widely used for ionospheric inversion since it is hardly affected by any factors other than ionospheric electron density. Traditional BSI inversion methods have failed to distinguish LEs associated with different ionospheric layers, and simply utilize the minimum group path of each operating frequency, which generally corresponds to the LE associated with the F2 layer. Consequently, while the inversion results can provide accurate profiles of the F region below the F2 peak, the diagnostics may not be so effective for other ionospheric layers. In order to resolve this issue, we present a new BSI inversion method using LEs associated with different layers, which can further improve the accuracy of electron density distribution, especially the profile of the ionospheric layers below the F2 region. The efficiency of the algorithm is evaluated by computing the mean and the standard deviation of the differences between inverted parameter values and true values obtained from both vertical and oblique incidence sounding. Test results clearly manifest that the method we have developed outputs more accurate electron density profiles due to improvements to acquire the profiles of the layers below the F2 region. Our study can further improve the current BSI inversion methods on the reconstruction of 2-D electron density distribution in a vertical plane aligned with the direction of sounding.

Welding-Induced Microstructure Evolution of a Cu-Bearing High-Strength Blast-Resistant Steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caron, Jeremy L.; Babu, Sudarsanam Suresh; Lippold, John C.

2011-12-01

A new high strength, high toughness steel containing Cu for precipitation strengthening was recently developed for naval, blast-resistant structural applications. This steel, known as BlastAlloy160 (BA-160), is of nominal composition Fe-0.05C-3.65Cu-6.5Ni-1.84Cr-0.6Mo-0.1V (wt pct). The evident solidification substructure of an autogenous gas tungsten arc (GTA) weld suggested fcc austenite as the primary solidification phase. The heat-affected zone (HAZ) hardness ranged from a minimum of 353 HV in the coarse-grained HAZ (CGHAZ) to a maximum of 448 HV in the intercritical HAZ (ICHAZ). After postweld heat treatment (PWHT) of the spot weld, hardness increases were observed in the fusion zone (FZ), CGHAZ, and fine-grained HAZ (FGHAZ) regions. Phase transformation and metallographic analyses of simulated single-pass HAZ regions revealed lath martensite to be the only austenitic transformation product in the HAZ. Single-pass HAZ simulations revealed a similar hardness profile for low heat-input (LHI) and high heat-input (HHI) conditions, with higher hardness values being measured for the LHI samples. The measured hardness values were in good agreement with those from the GTA weld. Single-pass HAZ regions exhibited higher Charpy V-notch impact toughness than the BM at both test temperatures of 293 K and 223 K (20 °C and -50 °C). Hardness increases were observed for multipass HAZ simulations employing an initial CGHAZ simulation.

Speleothem evidence for MIS 5c and 5a sea level above modern level at Bermuda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wainer, Karine A. I.; Rowe, Mark P.; Thomas, Alexander L.; Mason, Andrew J.; Williams, Bruce; Tamisiea, Mark E.; Williams, Felicity H.; Düsterhus, André; Henderson, Gideon M.

2017-01-01

The history of sea level in regions impacted by glacio-isostasy provides constraints on past ice-sheet distribution and on the characteristics of deformation of the planet in response to loading. The Western North Atlantic-Caribbean region, and Bermuda in particular, is strongly affected by the glacial forebulge that forms as a result of the Laurentide ice-sheet present during glacial periods. The timing of growth of speleothems, at elevations close to sea level can provide records of minimum relative sea level (RSL). In this study we used U-Th dating to precisely date growth periods of speleothems from Bermuda which were found close to modern-day sea level. Results suggest that RSL at this location was above modern during MIS5e, MIS5c and MIS5a. These data support controversial previous indications that Bermudian RSL was significantly higher than RSL at other locations during MIS 5c and MIS 5a. We confirm that it is possible to explain a wide range of MIS5c-a relative sea levels observed across the Western North Atlantic-Caribbean in glacial isostatic adjustment models, but only with a limited range of mantle deformation constants. This study demonstrates the particular power of Bermuda as a gauge for response of the forebulge to glacial loading, and demonstrates the potential for highstands at this location to be significantly higher than in other regions, helping to explain the high sea levels observed for Bermuda from earlier highstands.

76 FR 16627 - Statutory Provisions Affecting State Appraiser Regulatory Programs

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-24

... following provisions: Reciprocity. Qualification requirements for State licensed appraisers. Minimum...' efforts to implement the requirements. Reciprocity: Provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act require States to... related transaction unless the State wherein the appraiser is credentialed has such a reciprocity policy...

78 FR 22222 - Proposed Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-15

... of referenced elevations, effective and modified elevations, and communities affected for Mercer...) and modified BFEs for communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), in... CFR 60.3, are minimum requirements. They should not be construed to mean that the community must...

School Law.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Splitt, David A.

1986-01-01

Reviews four recent court decisions affecting school law. A Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upheld Norfolk Schools' decision to abolish busing and reinstate neighborhood schools. The United States Supreme Court dismissed appeals to lower court decisions involving a minimum grade prerequisite, a teacher's privacy rights, and an "adult"…

42 CFR 84.177 - Inhalation and exhalation valves; minimum requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... air from adversely affecting filters, except where filters are specifically designed to resist... DEVICES Non-Powered Air-Purifying Particulate Respirators § 84.177 Inhalation and exhalation valves... external influence; and (3) Designed and constructed to prevent inward leakage of contaminated air. ...

42 CFR 84.177 - Inhalation and exhalation valves; minimum requirements.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... air from adversely affecting filters, except where filters are specifically designed to resist... DEVICES Non-Powered Air-Purifying Particulate Respirators § 84.177 Inhalation and exhalation valves... external influence; and (3) Designed and constructed to prevent inward leakage of contaminated air. ...

Precipitable water vapor characterization in the coastal regions of China based on ground-based GPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhaoyang; Zhou, Xinghua; Liu, Yanxiong; Zhou, Dongxu; Zhang, Huayi; Sun, Weikang

2017-12-01

Water vapor plays an important role in climate change; thus, studying the spatial distribution and temporal variation of precipitable water vapor (PWV) in the coastal regions of China would help researchers to understand the climate characteristics of those regions. In this paper, 6-year 1-h interval PWV were derived from 27 Global Positioning System stations observations of Chinese coastal GPS observation network, surface meteorological data and European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-Interim) reanalysis products. The present study provides the use of these data to investigate the spatial-temporal variability of water vapor throughout the coastal regions of China. Latitude is the main factor affecting the spatial distribution of GPS-derived PWV; that is, PWV decreased by about 1.5 mm for each 1° increase of latitude. For regions at the same latitude, a region that is relatively close to the ocean will have a higher content of PWV. The PWV in the southeastern and southwestern coastal regions of China is significantly higher in summer; this may be influenced by the southeastern and southwestern water vapor inflow corridors. The PWV obviously varies monthly, reaching a minimum in January; however, the timing of the maximum varied but usually appeared in June, July or August and was affected by the monsoons. The PWV varies largely between summer and winter with a larger gradient of change in PWV with latitude in winter than in summer. The positive correlation coefficient between PWV and the surface temperature varied in different seasons; this is related to the changes of temperature and the horizontal motion of water vapor. Use of the Fast Fourier Transform method showed that the PWV time series data have multi-scale characteristics. The amplitude and phase of the PWV time series in annual, semiannual, four month and seasonal cycles were extracted through harmonic wave analysis. The amplitude of four month and seasonal cycles did not pass significance testing. The maximum amplitude of the annual PWV cycle is located in mid-latitudes with 22.09 mm, which gradually decreases towards high latitude and equator area. The peak time of annual PWV cycle occurs in July, which does not agree with the timing of the maximum monthly average PWV. The semiannual cycle amplitudes is between 0.42 and 6.32 mm, with no significant correlation between their distribution and latitude. The peak time of semiannual PWV cycles is during about January-March and July-September, and the peak time gradually becomes late from north to south.

[Interhospital transfer--clinical approach: equipment, risks and complications].

PubMed

Melzer-Gartzke, Christoph

2013-05-01

Interhospital transfers are an integral part of German health care system and a prerequisite to provide specialist investigation, management and best possible outcome for all patients irrespective of regional differences in medical care. In order to reduce transport associated risks to a minimum, adequate specialized transport teams and modern equipped transport vehicles are needed better and better adapted to regional and demographic changes. © Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York.

Anthropogenic noise decreases urban songbird diversity and may contribute to homogenization.

PubMed

Proppe, Darren S; Sturdy, Christopher B; St Clair, Colleen Cassady

2013-04-01

More humans reside in urban areas than at any other time in history. Protected urban green spaces and transportation greenbelts support many species, but diversity in these areas is generally lower than in undeveloped landscapes. Habitat degradation and fragmentation contribute to lowered diversity and urban homogenization, but less is known about the role of anthropogenic noise. Songbirds are especially vulnerable to anthropogenic noise because they rely on acoustic signals for communication. Recent studies suggest that anthropogenic noise reduces the density and reproductive success of some bird species, but that species which vocalize at frequencies above those of anthropogenic noise are more likely to inhabit noisy areas. We hypothesize that anthropogenic noise is contributing to declines in urban diversity by reducing the abundance of select species in noisy areas, and that species with low-frequency songs are those most likely to be affected. To examine this relationship, we calculated the noise-associated change in overall species richness and in abundance for seven common songbird species. After accounting for variance due to vegetative differences, species richness and the abundance of three of seven species were reduced in noisier locations. Acoustic analysis revealed that minimum song frequency was highly predictive of a species' response to noise, with lower minimum song frequencies incurring greater noise-associated reduction in abundance. These results suggest that anthropogenic noise affects some species independently of vegetative conditions, exacerbating the exclusion of some songbird species in otherwise suitable habitat. Minimum song frequency may provide a useful metric to predict how particular species will be affected by noise. In sum, mitigation of noise may enhance habitat suitability for many songbird species, especially for species with songs that include low-frequency elements. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Winter climatic condictions in Andalusia (southern Spain) during the Dalton Minimum from documentary sources.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodrigo, Fernando S.

2010-05-01

In this work, a reconstruction of winter rainfall and temperature in Andalusia (southern Iberia Peninsula) during the period 1750-1850 is presented. The reconstruction is based on the analysis of a wide variety of documentary data. This period is interesting because it is characterized by a minimum in the solar irradiance (Dalton Minimum, around 1800), as well as intense volcanic activity (for instance, the eruption of the Tambora in 1815), when the increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations were of minor importance. The reconstruction methodology is based on accounting the number of extreme events in past, and inferring mean value and standard deviation using the assumption of normal distribution for the climate variables. Results are compared with the behaviour of regional series for the reference period 1960-1990. The comparison of the distribution functions corresponding to 1790-1820 and 1960-1990 periods indicates that during the Dalton Minimum the frequency of droughts and warm winters was lesser than during the reference period, while the frequencies of wet and cold winters were similar. Future research work is outlined.

Solar activity during the deep minimum of 2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sylwester, Janusz; Siarkowski, Marek; Gburek, Szymon; Gryciuk, Magdalena; Kepa, Anna; Kowaliński, Mirosław; Mrozek, Tomek; Phillips, Kenneth J. H.; Podgórski, Piotr; Sylwester, Barbara

2014-12-01

We discuss the character of the unusually deep solar activity minimum of 2009 between Solar Cycles 23 and 24. Levels of solar activity in various parts of the solar atmosphere -- photosphere, chromosphere, transition region, and corona -- were observed to be at their lowest for a century. The soft X-ray emission from the corona (hot outer part of the Sun's atmosphere) was measured throughout most of 2009 with the Polish-built SphinX spectrophotometer. Unlike other X-ray monitoring spacecraft, this sensitive spacecraft-borne instrument was able to continue measurements throughout this extended period of low activity.

BOREAS AES READAC Surface Meteorological Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atkinson, G. Barrie; Funk, Barry; Hall, Forrest G. (Editor); Knapp, David E. (Editor)

2000-01-01

Canadian AES personnel collected and processed data related to surface atmospheric meteorological conditions over the BOREAS region. This data set contains 15-minute meteorological data from one READAC meteorology station in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. Parameters include day, time, type of report, sky condition, visibility, mean sea level pressure, temperature, dewpoint, wind, altimeter, opacity, minimum and maximum visibility, station pressure, minimum and maximum air temperature, a wind group, precipitation, and precipitation in the last hour. The data were collected non-continuously from 24-May-1994 to 20-Sep-1994. The data are provided in tabular ASCII files, and are classified as AFM-Staff data.