WorldWideScience

Sample records for extreme environments including

  1. Extreme environment electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Cressler, John D

    2012-01-01

    Unfriendly to conventional electronic devices, circuits, and systems, extreme environments represent a serious challenge to designers and mission architects. The first truly comprehensive guide to this specialized field, Extreme Environment Electronics explains the essential aspects of designing and using devices, circuits, and electronic systems intended to operate in extreme environments, including across wide temperature ranges and in radiation-intense scenarios such as space. The Definitive Guide to Extreme Environment Electronics Featuring contributions by some of the world's foremost exp

  2. Moving in extreme environments: what's extreme and who decides?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotter, James David; Tipton, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    Humans work, rest and play in immensely varied extreme environments. The term 'extreme' typically refers to insufficiency or excess of one or more stressors, such as thermal energy or gravity. Individuals' behavioural and physiological capacity to endure and enjoy such environments varies immensely. Adverse effects of acute exposure to these environments are readily identifiable (e.g. heat stroke or bone fracture), whereas adverse effects of chronic exposure (e.g. stress fractures or osteoporosis) may be as important but much less discernable. Modern societies have increasingly sought to protect people from such stressors and, in that way, minimise their adverse effects. Regulations are thus established, and advice is provided on what is 'acceptable' exposure. Examples include work/rest cycles in the heat, hydration regimes, rates of ascent to and duration of stay at altitude and diving depth. While usually valuable and well intentioned, it is important to realise the breadth and importance of limitations associated with such guidelines. Regulations and advisories leave less room for self-determination, learning and perhaps adaptation. Regulations based on stress (e.g. work/rest cycles relative to WBGT) are more practical but less direct than those based on strain (e.g. core temperature), but even the latter can be substantively limited (e.g. by lack of criterion validation and allowance for behavioural regulation in the research on which they are based). Extreme Physiology & Medicine is publishing a series of reviews aimed at critically examining the issues involved with self- versus regulation-controlled human movement acutely and chronically in extreme environments. These papers, arising from a research symposium in 2013, are about the impact of people engaging in such environments and the effect of rules and guidelines on their safety, enjoyment, autonomy and productivity. The reviews will cover occupational heat stress, sporting heat stress, hydration, diving

  3. Plant volatiles in extreme terrestrial and marine environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rinnan, Riikka; Steinke, Michael; McGenity, Terry; Loreto, Francesco

    2014-08-01

    This review summarizes the current understanding on plant and algal volatile organic compound (VOC) production and emission in extreme environments, where temperature, water availability, salinity or other environmental factors pose stress on vegetation. Here, the extreme environments include terrestrial systems, such as arctic tundra, deserts, CO₂ springs and wetlands, and marine systems such as sea ice, tidal rock pools and hypersaline environments, with mangroves and salt marshes at the land-sea interface. The emission potentials at fixed temperature and light level or actual emission rates for phototrophs in extreme environments are frequently higher than for organisms from less stressful environments. For example, plants from the arctic tundra appear to have higher emission potentials for isoprenoids than temperate species, and hypersaline marine habitats contribute to global dimethyl sulphide (DMS) emissions in significant amounts. DMS emissions are more widespread than previously considered, for example, in salt marshes and some desert plants. The reason for widespread VOC, especially isoprenoid, emissions from different extreme environments deserves further attention, as these compounds may have important roles in stress resistance and adaptation to extremes. Climate warming is likely to significantly increase VOC emissions from extreme environments both by direct effects on VOC production and volatility, and indirectly by altering the composition of the vegetation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Extreme environments abound in the solar system and include the radiation around Jupiter, high surface temperatures on Mercury and Venus, and hot, high pressure...

  5. Automation Rover for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sauder, Jonathan; Hilgemann, Evan; Johnson, Michael; Parness, Aaron; Hall, Jeffrey; Kawata, Jessie; Stack, Kathryn

    2017-01-01

    Almost 2,300 years ago the ancient Greeks built the Antikythera automaton. This purely mechanical computer accurately predicted past and future astronomical events long before electronics existed1. Automata have been credibly used for hundreds of years as computers, art pieces, and clocks. However, in the past several decades automata have become less popular as the capabilities of electronics increased, leaving them an unexplored solution for robotic spacecraft. The Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments (AREE) proposes an exciting paradigm shift from electronics to a fully mechanical system, enabling longitudinal exploration of the most extreme environments within the solar system.

  6. Dual Axis Controller for Extreme Environments, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Dual Axis Controller for Extreme Environments (DACEE) addresses a critical need of NASA's future exploration plans to investigate extreme environments within our...

  7. Wireless Sensor Applications in Extreme Aeronautical Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, William C.; Atkinson, Gary M.

    2013-01-01

    NASA aeronautical programs require rigorous ground and flight testing. Many of the testing environments can be extremely harsh. These environments include cryogenic temperatures and high temperatures (greater than 1500 C). Temperature, pressure, vibration, ionizing radiation, and chemical exposure may all be part of the harsh environment found in testing. This paper presents a survey of research opportunities for universities and industry to develop new wireless sensors that address anticipated structural health monitoring (SHM) and testing needs for aeronautical vehicles. Potential applications of passive wireless sensors for ground testing and high altitude aircraft operations are presented. Some of the challenges and issues of the technology are also presented.

  8. Advances in hybrid optics physical sensors for extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riza, Nabeel A.

    2010-04-01

    Highlighted are novel innovations in hybrid optical design physical sensors for extreme environments. Various hybrid design compositions are proposed that are suited for a particular sensor application. Examples includes combining freespace (wireless) and fiber-optics (wired) for gas turbine sensing and combining single crystal and sintered Silicon Carbide (SiC) materials for robust extreme environment Coefficent of Thermal Expansion (CTE) matched frontend probe design. Sensor signal processing also includes the hybrid theme where for example Black-Body radiation thermometry (pyrometry) is combined with laser interferometry to provide extreme temperature measurements. The hybrid theme also operates on the optical device level where a digital optical device such as a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) is combined with an analog optical device such as an Electronically Controlled Variable Focal Length Lens (ECVFL) to deliver a smart and compressive Three Dimensional (3-D) imaging sensor for remote scene and object shape capture including both ambient light (passive) mode and active laser targeting and receive processing. Within a device level, the hybrid theme also operates via combined analog and digital control such as within a wavelength-coded variable optical delay line. These powerful hybrid design optical sensors have numerous applications in engineering and science applications from the military to the commercial/industrial sectors.

  9. Quest for the QCD phase diagram in extreme environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fukushima, Kenji, E-mail: fuku@rk.phys.keio.ac.jp [Keio University, Department of Physics (Japan)

    2013-03-15

    We review the state-of-the-art status of the research on the phase diagram of QCD matter out of quarks and gluons. Our discussions particularly include the extreme environments such as the high temperature, the high baryon density, and the strong magnetic field.

  10. Moving in extreme environments:what’s extreme and who decides?

    OpenAIRE

    Cotter, James David; Tipton, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    Humans work, rest and play in immensely varied extreme environments. The term ‘extreme’ typically refers to insufficiency or excess of one or more stressors, such as thermal energy or gravity. Individuals’ behavioural and physiological capacity to endure and enjoy such environments varies immensely. Adverse effects of acute exposure to these environments are readily identifiable (e.g. heat stroke or bone fracture), whereas adverse effects of chronic exposure (e.g. stress fractures or osteopor...

  11. Motor Controller for Extreme Environments Based on SiGe, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The proposed innovation is a motor-control subsystem capable of operation in extreme environments, including those to be encountered on the Moon and Mars....

  12. Examining personal values in extreme environment contexts: Revisiting the question of generalizability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, N.; Sandal, G. M.; Leon, G. R.; Kjærgaard, A.

    2017-08-01

    Land-based extreme environments (e.g. polar expeditions, Antarctic research stations, confinement chambers) have often been used as analog settings for spaceflight. These settings share similarities with the conditions experienced during space missions, including confinement, isolation and limited possibilities for evacuation. To determine the utility of analog settings for understanding human spaceflight, researchers have examined the extent to which the individual characteristics (e.g., personality) of people operating in extreme environments can be generalized across contexts (Sandal, 2000) [1]. Building on previous work, and utilising new and pre-existing data, the present study examined the extent to which personal value motives could be generalized across extreme environments. Four populations were assessed; mountaineers (N =59), military personnel (N = 25), Antarctic over-winterers (N = 21) and Mars simulation participants (N = 12). All participants completed the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ; Schwartz; 2) capturing information on 10 personal values. Rank scores suggest that all groups identified Self-direction, Stimulation, Universalism and Benevolence as important values and acknowledged Power and Tradition as being low priorities. Results from difference testing suggest the extreme environment groups were most comparable on Self-direction, Stimulation, Benevolence, Tradition and Security. There were significant between-group differences on five of the ten values. Overall, findings pinpointed specific values that may be important for functioning in challenging environments. However, the differences that emerged on certain values highlight the importance of considering the specific population when comparing results across extreme settings. We recommend that further research examine the impact of personal value motives on indicators of adjustment, group working, and performance. Information from such studies could then be used to aid selection and

  13. LiDAR in extreme environment: surveying in Antarctica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Abate

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available This study was performed under the patronage of the Italian National Research Programme in Antarctica (PNRA with the aim to realize a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM of the moraine named "Boulder Clay" which insists approximately 7 km far from the Italian Research Base "Mario Zucchelli Station" in the Terra Nova Bay area. The DEM will be included in the project for the construction of two runways to be used as support facilities for the scientific research campaigns which take place on regular basis each year. Although the research efforts to realize a detailed cartography of the area is on-going, for the specific aim and urgency of this project it was decided to perform a laser scanning survey in this extreme environment in order to obtain contour lines describing the terrain elevation each 50 cm and volume analysis. The final result will be super imposed on a photogrammetric DEM with contour lines each 2.5 m and satellite images. This paper focus both on the final scientific data and on all the challenges have to be faced in such extreme and particular environment during the laser scanning survey.

  14. SOI MESFETs for Extreme Environment Electronics, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We are proposing a new extreme environment electronics (EEE) technology based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MESFETs)....

  15. The Future of Coral Reefs Subject to Rapid Climate Change: Lessons from Natural Extreme Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emma F. Camp

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Global climate change and localized anthropogenic stressors are driving rapid declines in coral reef health. In vitro experiments have been fundamental in providing insight into how reef organisms will potentially respond to future climates. However, such experiments are inevitably limited in their ability to reproduce the complex interactions that govern reef systems. Studies examining coral communities that already persist under naturally-occurring extreme and marginal physicochemical conditions have therefore become increasingly popular to advance ecosystem scale predictions of future reef form and function, although no single site provides a perfect analog to future reefs. Here we review the current state of knowledge that exists on the distribution of corals in marginal and extreme environments, and geographic sites at the latitudinal extremes of reef growth, as well as a variety of shallow reef systems and reef-neighboring environments (including upwelling and CO2 vent sites. We also conduct a synthesis of the abiotic data that have been collected at these systems, to provide the first collective assessment on the range of extreme conditions under which corals currently persist. We use the review and data synthesis to increase our understanding of the biological and ecological mechanisms that facilitate survival and success under sub-optimal physicochemical conditions. This comprehensive assessment can begin to: (i highlight the extent of extreme abiotic scenarios under which corals can persist, (ii explore whether there are commonalities in coral taxa able to persist in such extremes, (iii provide evidence for key mechanisms required to support survival and/or persistence under sub-optimal environmental conditions, and (iv evaluate the potential of current sub-optimal coral environments to act as potential refugia under changing environmental conditions. Such a collective approach is critical to better understand the future survival of

  16. Overview of Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Driver, David M.; Ellerby, Donald T.; Gasch, Matthew J.; Mahzari, Milad; Milos, Frank S.; Nishioka, Owen S.; Stackpoole, Margaret M.; Venkatapathy, Ethiraj; Young, Zion W.; Gage, Peter J.; hide

    2018-01-01

    The Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) projects objective is to mature a 3-D Woven Thermal Protection System (TPS) to Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 6 to support future NASA missions to destinations such as Venus and Saturn. The scope of the project, status of which will be discussed, encompasses development of manufacturing and integration processes, fabrication of a prototype 1m diameter engineering test unit (ETU) that will undergo a series of structural tests, characterizing material aerothermal performance including development of a material response model, and structural testing and analysis to develop tools to support design and establish system capability.

  17. Electro-Mechanical Systems for Extreme Space Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mojarradi, Mohammad M.; Tyler, Tony R.; Abel, Phillip B.; Levanas, Greg

    2011-01-01

    Exploration beyond low earth orbit presents challenges for hardware that must operate in extreme environments. The current state of the art is to isolate and provide heating for sensitive hardware in order to survive. However, this protection results in penalties of weight and power for the spacecraft. This is particularly true for electro-mechanical based technology such as electronics, actuators and sensors. Especially when considering distributed electronics, many electro-mechanical systems need to be located in appendage type locations, making it much harder to protect from the extreme environments. The purpose of this paper to describe the advances made in the area of developing electro-mechanical technology to survive these environments with minimal protection. The Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL), the Glenn Research Center (GRC), the Langley Research Center (LaRC), and Aeroflex, Inc. over the last few years have worked to develop and test electro-mechanical hardware that will meet the stringent environmental demands of the moon, and which can also be leveraged for other challenging space exploration missions. Prototype actuators and electronics have been built and tested. Brushless DC actuators designed by Aeroflex, Inc have been tested with interface temperatures as low as 14 degrees Kelvin. Testing of the Aeroflex design has shown that a brushless DC motor with a single stage planetary gearbox can operate in low temperature environments for at least 120 million cycles (measured at motor) if long life is considered as part of the design. A motor control distributed electronics concept developed by JPL was built and operated at temperatures as low as -160 C, with many components still operational down to -245 C. Testing identified the components not capable of meeting the low temperature goal of -230 C. This distributed controller is universal in design with the ability to control different types of motors and read many different types of sensors. The controller

  18. Flexible Electronics-Based Transformers for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quadrelli, Marco B.; Stoica, Adrian; Ingham, Michel; Thakur, Anubhav

    2015-01-01

    This paper provides a survey of the use of modular multifunctional systems, called Flexible Transformers, to facilitate the exploration of extreme and previously inaccessible environments. A novel dynamics and control model of a modular algorithm for assembly, folding, and unfolding of these innovative structural systems is also described, together with the control model and the simulation results.

  19. EXTREMELY METAL-POOR GALAXIES: THE ENVIRONMENT

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Filho, M. E. [Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria–Universidad de La Laguna, CIE Canarias: Tri-Continental Atlantic Campus, Canary Islands (Spain); Almeida, J. Sánchez; Muñoz-Tuñón, C. [Instituto Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Nuza, S. E.; Kitaura, F.; Heß, S., E-mail: mfilho@astro.up.pt [Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany)

    2015-04-01

    We have analyzed bibliographical observational data and theoretical predictions, in order to probe the environment in which extremely metal-poor dwarf galaxies (XMPs) reside. We have assessed the H i component and its relation to the optical galaxy, the cosmic web type (voids, sheets, filaments and knots), the overdensity parameter and analyzed the nearest galaxy neighbors. The aim is to understand the role of interactions and cosmological accretion flows in the XMP observational properties, particularly the triggering and feeding of the star formation. We find that XMPs behave similarly to Blue Compact Dwarfs; they preferably populate low-density environments in the local universe: ∼60% occupy underdense regions, and ∼75% reside in voids and sheets. This is more extreme than the distribution of irregular galaxies, and in contrast to those regions preferred by elliptical galaxies (knots and filaments). We further find results consistent with previous observations; while the environment does determine the fraction of a certain galaxy type, it does not determine the overall observational properties. With the exception of five documented cases (four sources with companions and one recent merger), XMPs do not generally show signatures of major mergers and interactions; we find only one XMP with a companion galaxy within a distance of 100 kpc, and the H i gas in XMPs is typically well-behaved, demonstrating asymmetries mostly in the outskirts. We conclude that metal-poor accretion flows may be driving the XMP evolution. Such cosmological accretion could explain all the major XMP observational properties: isolation, lack of interaction/merger signatures, asymmetric optical morphology, large amounts of unsettled, metal-poor H i gas, metallicity inhomogeneities, and large specific star formation.

  20. Mitochondrial Plasticity With Exercise Training and Extreme Environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boushel, Robert; Lundby, Carsten; Qvortrup, Klaus

    2014-01-01

    Mitochondria form a reticulum in skeletal muscle. Exercise training stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis, yet an emerging hypothesis is that training also induces qualitative regulatory changes. Substrate oxidation, oxygen affinity and biochemical coupling efficiency may be differentially regulated...... with training and exposure to extreme environments. Threshold training doses inducing mitochondrial up-regulation remain to be elucidated considering fitness level. SUMMARY: Muscle mitochondrial are responsive to training and environment, yet thresholds for volume vs. regulatory changes and their physiological...

  1. TransFormers for Ensuring Long-Term Operations in Lunar Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantovani, J. G.; Stoica, A.; Alkalai, L.; Wilcox, B.; Quadrelli, M.

    2016-01-01

    "Surviving Extreme Space Environments" (EE) is one of NASA's Space Technology Grand Challenges. Power generation and thermal control are the key survival ingredients that allow a robotic explorer to cope with the EE using resources available to it, for example, by harvesting the local solar energy or by utilizing an onboard radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG). TransFormers (TFs) are a new technology concept designed to transform a localized area within a harsh extreme environment into a survivable micro-environment by projecting energy to the precise location where robots or humans operate. For example, TFs placed at a location on the rim of Shackleton Crater, which is illuminated by solar radiation for most of the year, would be able to reflect solar energy onto robots operating in the dark cold crater. TFs utilize a shape transformation mechanism to un-fold from a compact volume to a large reflective surface, and to control how much-and where-the energy is projected, and by adjusting for the changing position of the sun. TFs would enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) activities within locations of high interest that would normally be unreachable because of their extreme environment

  2. Fabrication of Diamond Based Sensors for Use in Extreme Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gopi K. Samudrala

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Electrical and magnetic sensors can be lithographically fabricated on top of diamond substrates and encapsulated in a protective layer of chemical vapor deposited single crystalline diamond. This process when carried out on single crystal diamond anvils employed in high pressure research is termed as designer diamond anvil fabrication. These designer diamond anvils allow researchers to study electrical and magnetic properties of materials under extreme conditions without any possibility of damaging the sensing elements. We describe a novel method for the fabrication of designer diamond anvils with the use of maskless lithography and chemical vapor deposition in this paper. This method can be utilized to produce diamond based sensors which can function in extreme environments of high pressures, high and low temperatures, corrosive and high radiation conditions. We demonstrate applicability of these diamonds under extreme environments by performing electrical resistance measurements during superconducting transition in rare earth doped iron-based compounds under high pressures to 12 GPa and low temperatures to 10 K.

  3. Magnetotactic Bacteria from Extreme Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher T. Lefèvre

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB represent a diverse collection of motile prokaryotes that biomineralize intracellular, membrane-bounded, tens-of-nanometer-sized crystals of a magnetic mineral called magnetosomes. Magnetosome minerals consist of either magnetite (Fe3O4 or greigite (Fe3S4 and cause cells to align along the Earth’s geomagnetic field lines as they swim, a trait called magnetotaxis. MTB are known to mainly inhabit the oxic–anoxic interface (OAI in water columns or sediments of aquatic habitats and it is currently thought that magnetosomes function as a means of making chemotaxis more efficient in locating and maintaining an optimal position for growth and survival at the OAI. Known cultured and uncultured MTB are phylogenetically associated with the Alpha-, Gamma- and Deltaproteobacteria classes of the phylum Proteobacteria, the Nitrospirae phylum and the candidate division OP3, part of the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae (PVC bacterial superphylum. MTB are generally thought to be ubiquitous in aquatic environments as they are cosmopolitan in distribution and have been found in every continent although for years MTB were thought to be restricted to habitats with pH values near neutral and at ambient temperature. Recently, however, moderate thermophilic and alkaliphilic MTB have been described including: an uncultured, moderately thermophilic magnetotactic bacterium present in hot springs in northern Nevada with a probable upper growth limit of about 63 °C; and several strains of obligately alkaliphilic MTB isolated in pure culture from different aquatic habitats in California, including the hypersaline, extremely alkaline Mono Lake, with an optimal growth pH of >9.0.

  4. Automated Precision Maneuvering and Landing in Extreme and Constrained Environments

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Autonomous, precise maneuvering and landing in extreme and constrained environments is a key enabler for future NASA missions. Missions to map the interior of a...

  5. Enabling Structured Exploration of Workflow Performance Variability in Extreme-Scale Environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kleese van Dam, Kerstin; Stephan, Eric G.; Raju, Bibi; Altintas, Ilkay; Elsethagen, Todd O.; Krishnamoorthy, Sriram

    2015-11-15

    Workflows are taking an Workflows are taking an increasingly important role in orchestrating complex scientific processes in extreme scale and highly heterogeneous environments. However, to date we cannot reliably predict, understand, and optimize workflow performance. Sources of performance variability and in particular the interdependencies of workflow design, execution environment and system architecture are not well understood. While there is a rich portfolio of tools for performance analysis, modeling and prediction for single applications in homogenous computing environments, these are not applicable to workflows, due to the number and heterogeneity of the involved workflow and system components and their strong interdependencies. In this paper, we investigate workflow performance goals and identify factors that could have a relevant impact. Based on our analysis, we propose a new workflow performance provenance ontology, the Open Provenance Model-based WorkFlow Performance Provenance, or OPM-WFPP, that will enable the empirical study of workflow performance characteristics and variability including complex source attribution.

  6. Rapid adaptation of microalgae to bodies of water with extreme pollution from uranium mining: An explanation of how mesophilic organisms can rapidly colonise extremely toxic environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    García-Balboa, C.; Baselga-Cervera, B. [Genetica, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain); García-Sanchez, A.; Igual, J.M. [Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC), PO Box 257, 37071 Salamanca (Spain); Lopez-Rodas, V. [Genetica, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Costas, E., E-mail: ecostas@vet.ucm.es [Genetica, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

    2013-11-15

    Highlights: •Some microalgae species survive to extreme environments in ponds of residual waters from uranium mining. •Adaptation of microalgae to U arose very fast. •Spontaneous mutations that confer large adaptive value were able to produce the adaptation to residual waters of U mining. •Adaptation to more extreme waters of U mining is only possible after the recombination subsequent to sexual mating. •Resistant microalgae bio-adsorbs uranium to the cell wall and internalises uranium inside the cytoplasm. -- Abstract: Extreme environments may support communities of microalgae living at the limits of their tolerance. It is usually assumed that these extreme environments are inhabited by extremophile species. However, global anthropogenic environmental changes are generating new extreme environments, such as mining-effluent pools of residual waters from uranium mining with high U levels, acidity and radioactivity in Salamanca (Spain). Certain microalgal species have rapidly adapted to these extreme waters (uranium mining in this area began in 1960). Experiments have demonstrated that physiological acclimatisation would be unable to achieve adaptation. In contrast, rapid genetic adaptation was observed in waters ostensibly lethal to microalgae by means of rare spontaneous mutations that occurred prior to the exposure to effluent waters from uranium mining. However, adaptation to the most extreme conditions was only possible after recombination through sexual mating because adaptation requires more than one mutation. Microalgae living in extreme environments could be the descendants of pre-selective mutants that confer significant adaptive value to extreme contamination. These “lucky mutants” could allow for the evolutionary rescue of populations faced with rapid environmental change.

  7. Rapid adaptation of microalgae to bodies of water with extreme pollution from uranium mining: An explanation of how mesophilic organisms can rapidly colonise extremely toxic environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    García-Balboa, C.; Baselga-Cervera, B.; García-Sanchez, A.; Igual, J.M.; Lopez-Rodas, V.; Costas, E.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: •Some microalgae species survive to extreme environments in ponds of residual waters from uranium mining. •Adaptation of microalgae to U arose very fast. •Spontaneous mutations that confer large adaptive value were able to produce the adaptation to residual waters of U mining. •Adaptation to more extreme waters of U mining is only possible after the recombination subsequent to sexual mating. •Resistant microalgae bio-adsorbs uranium to the cell wall and internalises uranium inside the cytoplasm. -- Abstract: Extreme environments may support communities of microalgae living at the limits of their tolerance. It is usually assumed that these extreme environments are inhabited by extremophile species. However, global anthropogenic environmental changes are generating new extreme environments, such as mining-effluent pools of residual waters from uranium mining with high U levels, acidity and radioactivity in Salamanca (Spain). Certain microalgal species have rapidly adapted to these extreme waters (uranium mining in this area began in 1960). Experiments have demonstrated that physiological acclimatisation would be unable to achieve adaptation. In contrast, rapid genetic adaptation was observed in waters ostensibly lethal to microalgae by means of rare spontaneous mutations that occurred prior to the exposure to effluent waters from uranium mining. However, adaptation to the most extreme conditions was only possible after recombination through sexual mating because adaptation requires more than one mutation. Microalgae living in extreme environments could be the descendants of pre-selective mutants that confer significant adaptive value to extreme contamination. These “lucky mutants” could allow for the evolutionary rescue of populations faced with rapid environmental change

  8. Rapid adaptation of microalgae to bodies of water with extreme pollution from uranium mining: an explanation of how mesophilic organisms can rapidly colonise extremely toxic environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Balboa, C; Baselga-Cervera, B; García-Sanchez, A; Igual, J M; Lopez-Rodas, V; Costas, E

    2013-11-15

    Extreme environments may support communities of microalgae living at the limits of their tolerance. It is usually assumed that these extreme environments are inhabited by extremophile species. However, global anthropogenic environmental changes are generating new extreme environments, such as mining-effluent pools of residual waters from uranium mining with high U levels, acidity and radioactivity in Salamanca (Spain). Certain microalgal species have rapidly adapted to these extreme waters (uranium mining in this area began in 1960). Experiments have demonstrated that physiological acclimatisation would be unable to achieve adaptation. In contrast, rapid genetic adaptation was observed in waters ostensibly lethal to microalgae by means of rare spontaneous mutations that occurred prior to the exposure to effluent waters from uranium mining. However, adaptation to the most extreme conditions was only possible after recombination through sexual mating because adaptation requires more than one mutation. Microalgae living in extreme environments could be the descendants of pre-selective mutants that confer significant adaptive value to extreme contamination. These "lucky mutants" could allow for the evolutionary rescue of populations faced with rapid environmental change. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Development of an Extreme Environment Materials Research Facility at Princeton

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, A.B.; Gentile, C.A.; Tully, C.G.; Austin, R.; Calaprice, F.; McDonald, K.; Ascione, G.; Baker, G.; Davidson, R.; Dudek, L.; Grisham, L.; Kugel, H.; Pagdon, K.; Stevenson, T.; Woolley, R.; Zwicker, A.

    2010-01-01

    The need for a fundamental understanding of material response to a neutron and/or high heat flux environment can yield development of improved materials and operations with existing materials. Such understanding has numerous applications in fields such as nuclear power (for the current fleet and future fission and fusion reactors), aerospace, and other research fields (e.g., high-intensity proton accelerator facilities for high energy physics research). A proposal has been advanced to develop a facility for testing various materials under extreme heat and neutron exposure conditions at Princeton. The Extreme Environment Materials Research Facility comprises an environmentally controlled chamber (48 m 3 ) capable of high vacuum conditions, with extreme flux beams and probe beams accessing a central, large volume target. The facility will have the capability to expose large surface areas (1 m 2 ) to 14 MeV neutrons at a fluence in excess of 10 13 n/s. Depending on the operating mode. Additionally beam line power on the order of 15-75 MW/m 2 for durations of 1-15 seconds are planned. The multi-second duration of exposure can be repeated every 2-10 minutes for periods of 10-12 hours. The facility will be housed in the test cell that held the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), which has the desired radiation and safety controls as well as the necessary loading and assembly infrastructure. The facility will allow testing of various materials to their physical limit of thermal endurance and allow for exploring the interplay between radiation-induced embrittlement, swelling and deformation of materials, and the fatigue and fracturing that occur in response to thermal shocks. The combination of high neutron energies and intense fluences will enable accelerated time scale studies. The results will make contributions for refining predictive failure modes (modeling) in extreme environments, as well as providing a technical platform for the development of new alloys, new

  10. Genomes in Turmoil: Frugality Drives Microbial Community Structure in Extremely Acidic Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, D. S.

    2016-12-01

    Extremely acidic environments (To gain insight into these issues, we have conducted deep bioinformatic analyses, including metabolic reconstruction of key assimilatory pathways, phylogenomics and network scrutiny of >160 genomes of acidophiles, including representatives from Archaea, Bacteria and Eukarya and at least ten metagenomes of acidic environments [Cardenas JP, et al. pp 179-197 in Acidophiles, eds R. Quatrini and D. B. Johnson, Caister Academic Press, UK (2016)]. Results yielded valuable insights into cellular processes, including carbon and nitrogen management and energy production, linking biogeochemical processes to organismal physiology. They also provided insight into the evolutionary forces that shape the genomic structure of members of acidophile communities. Niche partitioning can explain diversity patterns in rapidly changing acidic environments such as bioleaching heaps. However, in spatially and temporally homogeneous acidic environments genome flux appears to provide deeper insight into the composition and evolution of acidic consortia. Acidophiles have undergone genome streamlining by gene loss promoting mutual coexistence of species that exploit complementarity use of scarce resources consistent with the Black Queen hypothesis [Morris JJ et al. mBio 3: e00036-12 (2012)]. Acidophiles also have a large pool of accessory genes (the microbial super-genome) that can be accessed by horizontal gene transfer. This further promotes dependency relationships as drivers of community structure and the evolution of keystone species. Acknowledgements: Fondecyt 1130683; Basal CCTE PFB16

  11. Summary of Research Issues in Behavior and Performance in Isolated and Confined Extreme (ICE) Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palinkas, Lawrence A.

    2000-01-01

    The papers presented in this section describe changes in behavior and performance in various isolated and confined extreme (ICE) environments, including Antarctic expeditions and research stations, space simulators and isolation chambers, and submarines. Each of these environments possesses characteristics that are in some way analogous to those found on long-duration space missions. Despite differences in length of mission, characteristics of mission personnel or crew, and characteristics in the physical environment, the various ICE environments described in this collection of papers appear to produce similar changes in behavior and performance. These changes include increased disturbances of mood, increased rates of psychiatric disorder, increased interpersonal tension, and a disruption of circadian rhythms. However, these environments do not inherently produce decrements in performance. Palinkas and colleagues suggest that prolonged exposure to the isolation and confinement in the Antarctic can actually have positive or "salutogenic" effects as well, evidenced by a decrease in mood disturbances and increase in performance measures.

  12. Evidence of Molecular Adaptation to Extreme Environments and Applicability to Space Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filipović, M. D.

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available This is initial investigation of gene signatures responsible for adapting microscopic life to the extreme Earth environments. We present preliminary results on identification of the clusters of orthologous groups (COGs common to several hyperthermophiles and exclusion of those common to a mesophile (non-hyperthermophile: {it Escherichia coli (E. coli K12}, will yield a group of proteins possibly involved in adaptation to life under extreme temperatures. Comparative genome analyses represent a powerful tool in discovery of novel genes responsible for adaptation to specific extreme environments. Methanogens stand out as the only group of organisms that have species capable of growth at 0D C ({it Metarhizium frigidum (M.~frigidum} and {it Methanococcoides burtonii (M.~burtonii} and 110D C ({it Methanopyrus kandleri (M.~kandleri}. Although not all the components of heat adaptation can be attributed to novel genes, the {it chaperones} known as heat shock proteins stabilize the enzymes under elevated temperature. However, highly conserved {it chaperons} found in bacteria and eukaryots are not present in hyperthermophilic Archea, rather, they have a unique {it chaperone TF55}. Our aim was to use software which we specifically developed for extremophile genome comparative analyses in order to search for additional novel genes involved in hyperthermophile adaptation. The followinghyperthermophile genomes incorporated in this software were used forthese studies: {it Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (M.~jannaschii, M.~kandleri, Archaeoglobus fulgidus (A.~fulgidus} and threespecies of {it Pyrococcus}. Common genes were annotated and groupedaccording to their roles in cellular processes where such informationwas available and proteins not previously implicated in theheat-adaptation of hyperthermophiles were identified. Additionalexperimental data are needed in order to learn more about theseproteins. To address non-gene based components of thermaladaptation

  13. Evidence of molecular adaptation to extreme environments and applicability to space environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Filipović M.

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available This is initial investigation of gene signatures responsible for adapting microscopic life to the extreme Earth environments. We present preliminary results on identification of the clusters of orthologous groups (COGs common to several hyperthermophiles and exclusion of those common to a mesophile (non-hyperthermophile: Escherichia coli (E. coli K12, will yield a group of proteins possibly involved in adaptation to life under extreme temperatures. Comparative genome analyses represent a powerful tool in discovery of novel genes responsible for adaptation to specific extreme environments. Methanogens stand out as the only group of organisms that have species capable of growth at 0ºC (Metarhizium frigidum (M. frigidum and Methanococcoides burtonii (M. burtonii and 110ºC (Methanopyrus kandleri (M. kandleri. Although not all the components of heat adaptation can be attributed to novel genes, the chaperones known as heat shock proteins stabilize the enzymes under elevated temperature. However, highly conserved chaperons found in bacteria and eukaryots are not present in hyperthermophilic Archea, rather, they have a unique chaperone TF55. Our aim was to use software which we specifically developed for extremophile genome comparative analyses in order to search for additional novel genes involved in hyperthermophile adaptation. The following hyperthermophile genomes incorporated in this software were used for these studies: Methanocaldococcus jannaschii (M. jannaschii, M. kandleri, Archaeoglobus fulgidus (A. fulgidus and three species of Pyrococcus. Common genes were annotated and grouped according to their roles in cellular processes where such information was available and proteins not previously implicated in the heat-adaptation of hyperthermophiles were identified. Additional experimental data are needed in order to learn more about these proteins. To address non-gene based components of thermal adaptation, all sequenced extremophiles were

  14. Exascale Co-design for Modeling Materials in Extreme Environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Germann, Timothy C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2014-07-08

    Computational materials science has provided great insight into the response of materials under extreme conditions that are difficult to probe experimentally. For example, shock-induced plasticity and phase transformation processes in single-crystal and nanocrystalline metals have been widely studied via large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, and many of these predictions are beginning to be tested at advanced 4th generation light sources such as the Advanced Photon Source (APS) and Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). I will describe our simulation predictions and their recent verification at LCLS, outstanding challenges in modeling the response of materials to extreme mechanical and radiation environments, and our efforts to tackle these as part of the multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary Exascale Co-design Center for Materials in Extreme Environments (ExMatEx). ExMatEx has initiated an early and deep collaboration between domain (computational materials) scientists, applied mathematicians, computer scientists, and hardware architects, in order to establish the relationships between algorithms, software stacks, and architectures needed to enable exascale-ready materials science application codes within the next decade. We anticipate that we will be able to exploit hierarchical, heterogeneous architectures to achieve more realistic large-scale simulations with adaptive physics refinement, and are using tractable application scale-bridging proxy application testbeds to assess new approaches and requirements. Such current scale-bridging strategies accumulate (or recompute) a distributed response database from fine-scale calculations, in a top-down rather than bottom-up multiscale approach.

  15. Toxicity at the Edge of Life: A Review on Cyanobacterial Toxins from Extreme Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cirés, Samuel; Casero, María Cristina; Quesada, Antonio

    2017-07-24

    Cyanotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria, of varied chemical nature and toxic effects. Although cyanobacteria thrive in all kinds of ecosystems on Earth even under very harsh conditions, current knowledge on cyanotoxin distribution is almost restricted to freshwaters from temperate latitudes. In this review, we bring to the forefront the presence of cyanotoxins in extreme environments. Cyanotoxins have been reported especially in polar deserts (both from the Arctic and Antarctica) and alkaline lakes, but also in hot deserts, hypersaline environments, and hot springs. Cyanotoxins detected in these ecosystems include neurotoxins-anatoxin-a, anatoxin-a (S), paralytic shellfish toxins, β-methylaminopropionic acid, N -(2-aminoethyl) glycine and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid- and hepatotoxins -cylindrospermopsins, microcystins and nodularins-with microcystins being the most frequently reported. Toxin production there has been linked to at least eleven cyanobacterial genera yet only three of these ( Arthrospira , Synechococcus and Oscillatoria ) have been confirmed as producers in culture. Beyond a comprehensive analysis of cyanotoxin presence in each of the extreme environments, this review also identifies the main knowledge gaps to overcome (e.g., scarcity of isolates and -omics data, among others) toward an initial assessment of ecological and human health risks in these amazing ecosystems developing at the very edge of life.

  16. Copahue Geothermal System: A Volcanic Environment with Rich Extreme Prokaryotic Biodiversity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urbieta, María Sofía; Porati, Graciana Willis; Segretín, Ana Belén; González-Toril, Elena; Giaveno, María Alejandra; Donati, Edgardo Rubén

    2015-07-08

    The Copahue geothermal system is a natural extreme environment located at the northern end of the Cordillera de los Andes in Neuquén province in Argentina. The geochemistry and consequently the biodiversity of the area are dominated by the activity of the Copahue volcano. The main characteristic of Copahue is the extreme acidity of its aquatic environments; ponds and hot springs of moderate and high temperature as well as Río Agrio. In spite of being an apparently hostile location, the prokaryotic biodiversity detected by molecular ecology techniques as well as cultivation shows a rich and diverse environment dominated by acidophilic, sulphur oxidising bacteria or archaea, depending on the conditions of the particular niche studied. In microbial biofilms, found in the borders of the ponds where thermal activity is less intense, the species found are completely different, with a high presence of cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic species. Our results, collected during more than 10 years of work in Copahue, have enabled us to outline geomicrobiological models for the different environments found in the ponds and Río Agrio. Besides, Copahue seems to be the habitat of novel, not yet characterised autochthonous species, especially in the domain Archaea.

  17. Qualification of Fiber Optic Cables for Martian Extreme Temperature Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramesham, Rajeshuni; Lindensmith, Christian A.; Roberts, William T.; Rainen, Richard A.

    2011-01-01

    Means have been developed for enabling fiber optic cables of the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer instrument to survive ground operations plus the nominal 670 Martian conditions that include Martian summer and winter seasons. The purpose of this development was to validate the use of the rover external fiber optic cabling of ChemCam for space applications under the extreme thermal environments to be encountered during the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. Flight-representative fiber optic cables were subjected to extreme temperature thermal cycling of the same diurnal depth (or delta T) as expected in flight, but for three times the expected number of in-flight thermal cycles. The survivability of fiber optic cables was tested for 600 cumulative thermal cycles from -130 to +15 C to cover the winter season, and another 1,410 cumulative cycles from -105 to +40 C to cover the summer season. This test satisfies the required 3 times the design margin that is a total of 2,010 thermal cycles (670 x 3). This development test included functional optical transmission tests during the course of the test. Transmission of the fiber optic cables was performed prior to and after 1,288 thermal cycles and 2,010 thermal cycles. No significant changes in transmission were observed on either of the two representative fiber cables subject through the 3X MSL mission life that is 2,010 thermal cycles.

  18. Results from the European Integrated Project '' New Materials for Extreme Environments (ExtreMat) ''

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bolt, H.; Linsmeier, Ch.; Baluc, N.; Garcia-Rosales, G.; Gualco, G. C.; Simancik, F.

    2006-01-01

    The goal of the European Integrated Project '' ExtreMat '' is to provide and to industrialize new materials and their compounds for applications in extreme environments that are beyond reach with incremental materials development only. The R(and)D activities in this project aim to provide a) self-passivating protection materials for sensitive structures operated in physico-chemically aggressive environments at high temperatures; b) new heat sink materials with the capability of very efficient heat removal, often at very high temperature level; c) radiation resistant materials for very high operation temperatures; d) new processing routes for complex heterogeneous compounds that can be operated in extreme environments. Key applications for these new materials are in the sectors of fusion, advanced fission, space, and electronic applications. Further use of these materials is expected in spin-off fields, such as brake applications and energy conversion. The project started in December 2004 for a duration of five years and is supported by the European Community. The 37 project participants are from 13 EU member states and include 6 universities, 7 research institutes, 10 research centres and 14 industrial companies. Research results regarding the development of materials for application in nuclear fusion, especially on protection, heat sink, and radiation resistant materials will be presented. A view to other applications of these materials in the fields of fission, space and electronics will be given in the presentation. ExtreMat Project Partners: see http://www.extremat.org/. (author)

  19. Copahue Geothermal System: A Volcanic Environment with Rich Extreme Prokaryotic Biodiversity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Sofía Urbieta

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available The Copahue geothermal system is a natural extreme environment located at the northern end of the Cordillera de los Andes in Neuquén province in Argentina. The geochemistry and consequently the biodiversity of the area are dominated by the activity of the Copahue volcano. The main characteristic of Copahue is the extreme acidity of its aquatic environments; ponds and hot springs of moderate and high temperature as well as Río Agrio. In spite of being an apparently hostile location, the prokaryotic biodiversity detected by molecular ecology techniques as well as cultivation shows a rich and diverse environment dominated by acidophilic, sulphur oxidising bacteria or archaea, depending on the conditions of the particular niche studied. In microbial biofilms, found in the borders of the ponds where thermal activity is less intense, the species found are completely different, with a high presence of cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic species. Our results, collected during more than 10 years of work in Copahue, have enabled us to outline geomicrobiological models for the different environments found in the ponds and Río Agrio. Besides, Copahue seems to be the habitat of novel, not yet characterised autochthonous species, especially in the domain Archaea.

  20. Creating and Understanding Hybrid Interfaces of Multifunctional Composite Laminates for Extreme Environments

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Due to increasing needs for lightweight and multifunctional structures and materials that can operate at and sustain the extreme environment such as high temperature...

  1. Heat-shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Development Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venkatapathy, Ethiraj; Ellerby, Don; Gage, Peter

    2016-01-01

    The Heat shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Project is a NASA STMD and SMD co-funded effort. The goal is to develop and mission infuse a new ablative Thermal Protection System that can withstand extreme entry. It is targeted to support NASA's high priority missions, as defined in the latest decadal survey, to destinations such as Venus and Saturn in-situ robotic science missions. Entry into these planetary atmospheres results in extreme heating. The entry peak heat-flux and associated pressure are estimated to be between one and two orders of magnitude higher than those experienced by Mars Science Laboratory or Lunar return missions. In the recent New Frontiers community announcement NASA has indicated that it is considering providing an increase to the PI managed mission cost (PIMMC) for investigations utilizing the Heat Shield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) and in addition, NASA is considering limiting the risk assessment to only their accommodation on the spacecraft and the mission environment. The HEEET ablative TPS utilizes 3D weaving technology to manufacture a dual layer material architecture. The 3-D weaving allows for flat panels to be woven. The dual layer consists of a top layer designed to withstand the extreme external environment while the inner or insulating layer by design, is designed to achieve low thermal conductivity, and it keeps the heat from conducting towards the structure underneath. Both arc jet testing combined with material properties have been used to develop thermal response models that allows for comparison of performance with heritage carbon phenolic. A 50% mass efficiency is achieved by the dual layer construct compared to carbon phenolic for a broad range of missions both to Saturn and Venus. The 3-D woven flat preforms are molded to achieve the shape as they are compliant and then resin infusion with curing forms a rigid panels. These panels are then bonded on to the aeroshell structure. Gaps

  2. Extreme-Environment Silicon-Carbide (SiC) Wireless Sensor Suite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jie

    2015-01-01

    Phase II objectives: Develop an integrated silicon-carbide wireless sensor suite capable of in situ measurements of critical characteristics of NTP engine; Compose silicon-carbide wireless sensor suite of: Extreme-environment sensors center, Dedicated high-temperature (450 deg C) silicon-carbide electronics that provide power and signal conditioning capabilities as well as radio frequency modulation and wireless data transmission capabilities center, An onboard energy harvesting system as a power source.

  3. Prevention through policy: Urban macroplastic leakages to the marine environment during extreme rainfall events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Axelsson, Charles; van Sebille, Erik

    2017-11-15

    The leakage of large plastic litter (macroplastics) into the ocean is a major environmental problem. A significant fraction of this leakage originates from coastal cities, particularly during extreme rainfall events. As coastal cities continue to grow, finding ways to reduce this macroplastic leakage is extremely pertinent. Here, we explore why and how coastal cities can reduce macroplastic leakages during extreme rainfall events. Using nine global cities as a basis, we establish that while cities actively create policies that reduce plastic leakages, more needs to be done. Nonetheless, these policies are economically, socially and environmentally cobeneficial to the city environment. While the lack of political engagement and economic concerns limit these policies, lacking social motivation and engagement is the largest limitation towards implementing policy. We recommend cities to incentivize citizen and municipal engagement with responsible usage of plastics, cleaning the environment and preparing for future extreme rainfall events. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  4. Constructing and Screening a Metagenomic Library of a Cold and Alkaline Extreme Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaring, Mikkel A; Vester, Jan K; Stougaard, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Natural cold or alkaline environments are common on Earth. A rare combination of these two extremes is found in the permanently cold (less than 6 °C) and alkaline (pH above 10) ikaite columns in the Ikka Fjord in Southern Greenland. Bioprospecting efforts have established the ikaite columns as a source of bacteria and enzymes adapted to these conditions. They have also highlighted the limitations of cultivation-based methods in this extreme environment and metagenomic approaches may provide access to novel extremophilic enzymes from the uncultured majority of bacteria. Here, we describe the construction and screening of a metagenomic library of the prokaryotic community inhabiting the ikaite columns.

  5. Relations Between Self-Reported and Linguistic Monitoring Assessments of Affective Experience in an Extreme Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Nathan

    2018-03-01

    Approaches for monitoring psychosocial health in challenging environments are needed to maintain the performance and safety of personnel. The purpose of the present research was to examine the relationship between 2 candidate methods (self-reported and linguistics) for monitoring affective experience during extreme environment activities. A single-subject repeated-measures design was used in the present work. The participant was a 46-year-old individual scheduled to complete a self-supported ski expedition across Arctic Greenland. The expedition lasted 28 days, and conditions included severe cold, low stimulation, whiteouts, limited habitability, and threats to life and limb. During the expedition, the participant completed a daily self-report log including assessment of psychological health (perceptions of control and affect) and a video diary (emotion). Video diary entries were subjected to linguistic inquiry and word count analyses before the links between self-report and linguistic data across the expedition period were tested. Similarities in the pattern of self-reported and linguistic assessments emerged across the expedition period. A number of predictable correlations were identified between self-reported and linguistic assessments of affective/emotional experience. Overall, there was better agreement between self-reports and linguistic analytics for indicators of negative affect/emotion. Future research should build on this initial study to further test the links between self-reported affect and emotional states monitored via linguistics. This could help develop methods for monitoring psychological health in extreme environments and support organizational decision making. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Optimization of multi-channel neutron focusing guides for extreme sample environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Julio, D D; Lelièvre-Berna, E; Andersen, K H; Bentley, P M; Courtois, P

    2014-01-01

    In this work, we present and discuss simulation results for the design of multichannel neutron focusing guides for extreme sample environments. A single focusing guide consists of any number of supermirror-coated curved outer channels surrounding a central channel. Furthermore, a guide is separated into two sections in order to allow for extension into a sample environment. The performance of a guide is evaluated through a Monte-Carlo ray tracing simulation which is further coupled to an optimization algorithm in order to find the best possible guide for a given situation. A number of population-based algorithms have been investigated for this purpose. These include particle-swarm optimization, artificial bee colony, and differential evolution. The performance of each algorithm and preliminary results of the design of a multi-channel neutron focusing guide using these methods are described. We found that a three-channel focusing guide offered the best performance, with a gain factor of 2.4 compared to no focusing guide, for the design scenario investigated in this work.

  7. Magnetic Reconnection in Extreme Astrophysical Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uzdensky, Dmitri

    Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma physics process of breaking ideal-MHD's frozen-in constraints on magnetic field connectivity and of dramatic rearranging of the magnetic topol-ogy, which often leads to a violent release of the free magnetic energy. Reconnection has long been acknowledged to be of great importance in laboratory plasma physics (magnetic fusion) and in space and solar physics (responsible for solar flares and magnetospheric substorms). In addition, its importance in Astrophysics has been increasingly recognized in recent years. However, due to a great diversity of astrophysical environments, the fundamental physics of astrophysical magnetic reconnection can be quite different from that of the traditional recon-nection encountered in the solar system. In particular, environments like the solar corona and the magnetosphere are characterized by relatively low energy densities, where the plasma is ad-equately described as a mixture of electrons and ions whose numbers are conserved and where the dissipated magnetic energy basically stays with the plasma. In contrast, in many high-energy astrophysical phenomena the energy density is so large that photons play as important a role as electrons and ions and, in particular, radiation pressure and radiative cooling become dominant. In this talk I focus on the most extreme case of high-energy-density astrophysical reconnec-tion — reconnection of magnetar-strength (1014 - 1015 Gauss) magnetic fields, important for giant flares in soft-gamma repeaters (SGRs), and for rapid magnetic energy release in either the central engines or in the relativistic jets of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). I outline the key relevant physical processes and present a new theoretical picture of magnetic reconnection in these environments. The corresponding magnetic energy density is so enormous that, when suddenly released, it inevitably heats the plasma to relativistic temperatures, resulting in co-pious production of electron

  8. Insertion sequences enrichment in extreme Red sea brine pool vent

    KAUST Repository

    Elbehery, Ali H. A.

    2016-12-03

    Mobile genetic elements are major agents of genome diversification and evolution. Limited studies addressed their characteristics, including abundance, and role in extreme habitats. One of the rare natural habitats exposed to multiple-extreme conditions, including high temperature, salinity and concentration of heavy metals, are the Red Sea brine pools. We assessed the abundance and distribution of different mobile genetic elements in four Red Sea brine pools including the world’s largest known multiple-extreme deep-sea environment, the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. We report a gradient in the abundance of mobile genetic elements, dramatically increasing in the harshest environment of the pool. Additionally, we identified a strong association between the abundance of insertion sequences and extreme conditions, being highest in the harshest and deepest layer of the Red Sea Atlantis II Deep. Our comparative analyses of mobile genetic elements in secluded, extreme and relatively non-extreme environments, suggest that insertion sequences predominantly contribute to polyextremophiles genome plasticity.

  9. Magnetic-Field-Assisted Assembly of Ordered Multifunctional Ceramic Nanocomposites for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-01

    SUBJECT TERMS carbon nanotubes, composite, electromagnetic shielding , extreme environments, magnetism, fibers, woven composite, boron nitride...The samples were sealed in glass vial and exposed to the magnetic field immediately after deposition prior to crystallization of PEG that allowed

  10. Complex Plasma Research Under Extreme Conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishihara, Osamu

    2008-01-01

    Complex plasma research under extreme conditions is described. The extreme conditions include low-dimensionality for self-organized structures of dust particles, dust magnetization in high magnetic field, criticality in phase transition, and cryogenic environment for Coulomb crystals and dust dynamics.

  11. Alteration of a human intestinal microbiota under extreme life environment in the Antarctica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jin, Jong-Sik; Touyama, Mutsumi; Yamada, Shin; Yamazaki, Takashi; Benno, Yoshimi

    2014-01-01

    The human intestinal microbiota (HIM) settles from birth and continues to change phenotype by some factors (e.g. host's diet) throughout life. However, the effect of extreme life environment on human HIM composition is not well known. To understand HIM fluctuation under extreme life environment in humans, fecal samples were collected from six Japanese men on a long Antarctic expedition. They explored Antarctica for 3 months and collected their fecal samples at once-monthly intervals. Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, the composition of HIM in six subjects was investigated. Three subjects presented restoration of HIM after the expedition compared versus before and during the expedition. Two thirds samples collected during the expedition belonged to the same cluster in dendrogram. However, all through the expedition, T-RFLP patterns showed interindividual variability. Especially, Bifidobacterium spp. showed a tendency to decrease during and restore after the expedition. A reduction of Bifidobacterium spp. was observed in five subjects the first 1 month of the expedition. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, which is thought to proliferate during emotional stress, significantly decreased in one subject, indicating that other factors in addition to emotional stress may affect the composition of HIM in this study. These findings could be helpful to understand the effect of extreme life environment on HIM.

  12. Maritime Military Decision Making in Environments of Extreme Information Ambiguity: An Initial Exploration

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Reeves, Andrew T

    2005-01-01

    ... to make effective decisions. An environment of extreme information ambiguity, a dependent variable, is one of the most difficult components of a battle where the decision maker may reach a confusing and debilitating point...

  13. Advanced Life Systems for Extreme Environments: An Arctic Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Carol E.; Stanford, Kerry L.; Bubenheim, David L.; Covington, Alan (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    The problems of obtaining adequate pure drinking water and disposing of liquid and solid waste in the U.S. Arctic, a region where virtually all water is frozen solid for much of the year, has led to unsanitary solutions (U.S. Arctic Research Commission). These solutions are also damaging to the environment. Sanitation and a safe water supply are particularly problems in rural villages. About one-fourth of Alaska's 86.000 Native residents live in these communities. They are without running water and use plastic buckets for toilets. The outbreak of diseases is believed to be partially attributable to exposure to human waste. Villages with the most frequent outbreaks of disease are those in which running water is difficult to obtain (Office of Technology Assessment, 1994). Waste is emptied into open lagoons, rivers, or onto the sea coast. It does not degrade rapidly and in addition to affecting human health, can be harmful to the fragile ecology of the Arctic and the indigenous wildlife and fish populations. Advanced Life Systems for Extreme Environments (ALSEE) provides a solution to sanitation and safe water problems. The system uses an advanced integrated technology developed for Antarctic and space applications. ALSEE uses the systems approach to address more than waste and water problems. By incorporating hydroponic horticulture and aquaculture into the waste treatment system, ALSEE addresses the quality and quantity of fresh foods available to Arctic residents. A temperate climate is required for year-round plant growth. ALSEE facilities can be designed to include a climate controlled area within the structure. This type of environment is a change from the long periods of darkness and cold found in the Arctic and can help alleviate stress so often associated with these extremes. While the overall concept of ALSEE projects is advanced, system facilities can be operated by village residents with appropriate training. ALSEE provides continuing training and

  14. Vertical GaN Devices for Power Electronics in Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-31

    Vertical GaN Devices for Power Electronics in Extreme Environments Isik C. Kizilyalli (1), Robert J. Kaplar (2), O. Aktas (1), A. M. Armstrong (2...electronics applications. In this paper vertical p-n diodes and transistors fabricated on pseudo bulk low defect density (104 to 106 cm-2) GaN substrates are...discussed. Homoepitaxial MOCVD growth of GaN on its native substrate and being able to control doping has allowed the realization of vertical

  15. From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE): Promoting Earth Systems Science Literacy Through Student Inquiry and Real Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goehring, E. C.; Carlsen, W.; Larsen, J.; Simms, E.; Smith, M.

    2007-12-01

    From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE) is an innovative new project of the GLOBE Program that involves middle and high school students in systematic, facilitated analyses and comparisons of real environmental data. Through FLEXE, students collect and analyze data from various sources, including the multi-year GLOBE database, deep-sea scientific research projects, and direct measurements of the local environment collected by students using GLOBE sampling protocols. Initial FLEXE materials and training have focused on student understanding of energy transfer through components of the Earth system, including a comparison of how local environmental conditions differ from those found at deep-sea hydrothermal vent communities. While the importance of data acquisition, accuracy and replication is emphasized, FLEXE is also uniquely structured to deepen students' understanding of multiple aspects of the process and nature of science, including written communication of results and on-line peer review. Analyses of data are facilitated through structured, web-based interactions and culminating activities with at-sea scientists through an online forum. The project benefits from the involvement of a professional evaluator, and as the model is tested and refined, it may serve as a template for the inclusion of additional "extreme" earth systems. FLEXE is a partnership of the international GLOBE web- based education program and the NSF Ridge 2000 mid-ocean ridge and hydrothermal vent research program, and includes the expertise of the Center for Science and the Schools at Penn State University. International collaborators also include the InterRidge and ChEss international research programs.

  16. Plants as extreme environments? Ni-resistant bacteria and Ni-hyperaccumulators of serpentine flora.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mengoni, A.; Schat, H.; Vangronsveld, J.

    2010-01-01

    During recent years there has been an increasing interest in the bacterial communities occurring in unusual, often extreme, environments. On serpentine outcrops around the world, a high diversity of plant species showing the peculiar features of metal hyperaccumulation is present. These metal

  17. Anhydrobiotic insect Polypedilum vanderplanki: molecular mechanisms of DNA and protein protection against extreme environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gusev, Oleg; Nakahara, Yuichi; Kikawada, Takahiro; Levinskikh, Margarita; Sychev, Vladimir; Okuda, Takashi

    Some organisms showing no sign of living due to complete desiccation are nevertheless able to resume active life after rehydration. This peculiar biological state is referred to as "anhydrobiosis". Larvae of the sleeping chironomid, P. vanderplanki living in temporary pools in semi-arid areas on the African continent become completely desiccated upon drought, but can revive after water becomes available upon the next rain. The dried larvae can stand other extreme conditions, such as exposure to 100˚C, -270˚C, 100We have adopted several methods to evaluated DNA damage in cells of P. vanderplanki and cloned and analyzed expression of the main agent of genetic stress response showing that the larvae possess highly developed anti-stress genetic system, involving anti-oxidative stress genes, hsp and DNA reparation enzymes acting together to provide stability of proteins and DNA in the absence of water. From 2005, dried larvae were included in a number of research programs, including exposition to space environments onboard ISS and long-term exposure to outer space environment outside of ISS ("Expose-R" and"Biorisk" projects) and now are being considered for including into the Phobos-Grunt mission as a testing organism to analyze capability of resting stages of multicellular organism to interplanetary flights.

  18. Predictors of Behavior and Performance in Extreme Environments: The Antarctic Space Analogue Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palinkas, Lawrence A.; Gunderson, E K. Eric; Holland, A. W.; Miller, Christopher; Johnson, Jeffrey C.

    2000-01-01

    To determine which, if any, characteristics should be incorporated into a select-in approach to screening personnel for long-duration spaceflight, we examined the influence of crewmember social/ demographic characteristics, personality traits, interpersonal needs, and characteristics of station physical environments on performance measures in 657 American men who spent an austral winter in Antarctica between 1963 and 1974. During screening, subjects completed a Personal History Questionnaire which obtained information on social and demographic characteristics, the Deep Freeze Opinion Survey which assessed 5 different personality traits, and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior (FIRO-B) Scale which measured 6 dimensions of interpersonal needs. Station environment included measures of crew size and severity of physical environment. Performance was assessed on the basis of combined peer-supervisor evaluations of overall performance, peer nominations of fellow crewmembers who made ideal winter-over candidates, and self-reported depressive symptoms. Social/demographic characteristics, personality traits, interpersonal needs, and characteristics of station environments collectively accounted for 9-17% of the variance in performance measures. The following characteristics were significant independent predictors of more than one performance measure: military service, low levels of neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness, and a low desire for affection from others. These results represent an important first step in the development of select-in criteria for personnel on long-duration missions in space and other extreme environments. These criteria must take into consideration the characteristics of the environment and the limitations they place on meeting needs for interpersonal relations and task performance, as well as the characteristics of the individuals and groups who live and work in these environments.

  19. Constructing and screening a metagenomic library of a cold and alkaline extreme environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glaring, Mikkel Andreas; Vester, Jan Kjølhede; Stougaard, Peter

    2017-01-01

    Natural cold or alkaline environments are common on Earth. A rare combination of these two extremes is found in the permanently cold (less than 6 °C) and alkaline (pH above 10) ikaite columns in the Ikka Fjord in Southern Greenland. Bioprospecting efforts have established the ikaite columns...

  20. Radiation diagnostics in extremely harsh environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dona, H.; Lee, P.H.Y.; Williams, A.H.; McGurn, J.L.; Veeser, L.R.

    1986-01-01

    Some recent Trailmaster experiments have required to use of rather delicate radiation diagnostics in hostile environments. We have developed instrumentation for use high-explosive magnetic flux compression generators and near the noisy environment of high energy capacitor banks. These include some rather unique ''fly-away'' designs for x-ray imaging and spectroscopy, and other optical techniques for plasma temperature and field measurements. We will show some representative data and will also discuss an on-going program for the determination of magnetic field via atomic spectral line splitting and/or broadening

  1. Improving diversity in cultures of bacteria from an extreme environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vester, Jan Kjølhede; Glaring, Mikkel Andreas; Stougaard, Peter

    2013-01-01

    The ikaite columns in the Ikka Fjord in Greenland represent one of the few permanently cold and alkaline environments on Earth, and the interior of the columns is home to a bacterial community adapted to these extreme conditions. The community is characterized by low cell numbers imbedded in a ca...... the diversity of the culture and many hitherto uncharacterized genera could be brought into culture by extended incubation time. Extended incubation time also gave rise to a more diverse community with a significant number of rare species not detected in the initial community....

  2. Generalist feeding strategies in Arctic freshwater fish: A mechanism for dealing with extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laske, Sarah M.; Rosenberger, Amanda E.; Wipfli, Mark S.; Zimmerman, Christian E.

    2018-01-01

    Generalist feeding strategies are favoured in stressful or variable environments where flexibility in ecological traits is beneficial. Species that feed across multiple habitat types and trophic levels may impart stability on food webs through the use of readily available, alternative energy pools. In lakes, generalist fish species may take advantage of spatially and temporally variable prey by consuming both benthic and pelagic prey to meet their energy demands. Using stomach content and stable isotope analyses, we examined the feeding habits of fish species in Alaska's Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) lakes to determine the prevalence of generalist feeding strategies as a mechanism for persistence in extreme environments (e.g. low productivity, extreme cold and short growing season). Generalist and flexible feeding strategies were evident in five common fish species. Fish fed on benthic and pelagic (or nektonic) prey and across trophic levels. Three species were clearly omnivorous, feeding on fish and their shared invertebrate prey. Dietary differences based on stomach content analysis often exceeded 70%, and overlap in dietary niches based on shared isotopic space varied from zero to 40%. Metrics of community‐wide trophic structure varied with the number and identity of species involved and on the dietary overlap and niche size of individual fishes. Accumulation of energy from shared carbon sources by Arctic fishes creates redundancy in food webs, increasing likely resistance to perturbations or stochastic events. Therefore, the generalist and omnivorous feeding strategies employed by ACP fish may maintain energy flow and food web stability in extreme environments.

  3. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Development and Maturation Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Boghozian, T.; Driver, D.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzales, G.; Kazemba, C.; Kellermann, C.; hide

    2018-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D (Three Dimensional) Woven TPS (Thermal Protection System) being developed under NASA's Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a TPS capable of surviving entry into Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  4. Development of in-vessel neutron flux monitor equipped with microfission chambers to withstand the extreme ITER environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ishikawa, Masao, E-mail: ishikawa.masao@jaea.go.jp; Takeda, Keigo; Itami, Kiyoshi

    2016-11-01

    Highlights: • The in-vessel components of MFC system must withstand the extreme ITER environment. • To verify this, the thermal cycle test and the vibration tests were conducted. • Both tests were conducted under much severer conditions than ITER environment. • Soundness verification tests after the tests indicated that no problemswere found. • It is shown that the in-vessel component is sufficiently robust ITER environment. - Abstract: Via thermal cycling and vibration tests, this study aims to demonstrate that the in-vessel components of the microfission chamber (MFC) system can withstand the extreme International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) environment. In thermal cycle tests, the signal cable of the device was bent into a smaller radius and it was given more bends than those in its actual configuration within ITER. A faster rate of temperature change than that under the typical ITER baking scenario was then imposed on in-vessel components. For the vibration tests, strong 10 G vibrational accelerations with frequencies ranging from 30 Hz to 2000 Hz were imposed to the detector and the connector of the in-vessel components to simulate various types of electromagnetic events. Soundness verification tests of the in-vessel components conducted after thermal cycling and vibration testing indicated that problems related to the signal transmission cable functioning were not found. Thus, it was demonstrated that the in-vessel components of the MFC can withstand the extreme environment within ITER.

  5. An Overview of SBIR Phase 2 Materials Structures for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2015-01-01

    Technological innovation is the overall focus of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The program invests in the development of innovative concepts and technologies to help NASA's mission directorates address critical research and development needs for agency projects. This report highlights innovative SBIR Phase II projects from 2007-2012 specifically addressing Areas in Materials and Structures for Extreme Environments which is one of six core competencies at NASA Glenn Research Center. There are twenty three technologies featured with emphasis on a wide spectrum of applications such as fine-filament superconductor wire, composite oxide cathode materials, nano-composites, high radiation solar cell, wrapped multilayer insulation, thin aerogel, and much more. Each article in this booklet describes an innovation, technical objective, and highlights NASA commercial and industrial applications. This report serves as an opportunity for NASA personnel including engineers, researchers, and program managers to learn of NASA SBIR's capabilities that might be crosscutting into this technology area. As the result, it would cause collaborations and partnerships between the small companies and NASA Programs and Projects resulting in benefit to both SBIR companies and NASA.

  6. Summary of presentation for research on social structure, agreement, and conflict in groups in extreme and isolated environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-01

    Despite a vast amount of research, little is known concerning the effect of group structure, and individuals' understanding of that structure, on conflict in Antarctic groups. The overall objective of the research discussed is to determine the interrelationships of group structure, social cognition, and group function and conflict in isolated and extreme environments. In the two decades following WWII, a large body of research focused on the physiological, psychological, and social psychological factors affecting the functioning of individuals and groups in a variety of extreme and isolated environments in both the Arctic and Antarctic. There are two primary reasons for further research of this type. First, Antarctic polar stations are considered to be natural laboratories for the social and behavioral sciences and provide an opportunity to address certain theoretical and empirical questions concerned with agreement and conflict in social groups in general and group behavior in extreme, isolated environments in particular. Recent advances in the analysis of social networks and intracultural variation have improved the methods and have shifted the theoretical questions. The research is motivated by three classes of questions: (1) What are the characteristics of the social relations among individuals working and living together in extreme and isolated environments?; (2) What do individuals understand about their group, how does that understanding develop, and how is it socially distributed?; and (3) What is the relationship between that understanding and the functioning of the social group? Answers to these questions are important if we are to advance our knowledge of how individuals and groups adapt to extreme environments. Second, although Antarctic winter-over candidates may be evaluated as qualified on the basis of individual characteristics, they may fail to adapt because of certain characteristics of the social group. Consequently, the ability of winter

  7. Consideration of Task Performance for Robots Engaged in Extremely Dangerous Environment in Nuclear Power Plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hong, Seung Mo; Han, Kee Soo; Yi, Sung Deok; Kim, Seoung Rae [Nuclear Engineering Service and Solution Co. Ltd., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Young [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    After Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident, it is started to pay more attention to operation and accident of nuclear power plants (NPPs). For domestic nuclear industry, it was recommended to establish corresponding strategies against accidents due to extremely dangerous natural disasters. Each nuclear power plant is also preparing to establish strategies to secure nuclear safety functions by estimating the counterplans for extreme accidents. Robots are particularly being used to access the areas where those are dangerous for human beings to access or to restore the accident. Robot technologies in NPPs are emerging cutting-edge technologies that are just a start except the developed countries like USA, Japan, etc. But they are carefully considered because they have the advantages of performing tasks in extremely dangerous environment in NPPs instead of human beings. In this study, the applicability of robots will be considered in extremely dangerous environment in NPPs. Accurate judgment of the inside situation of the plant and quick actions in the extreme condition like earthquake accompanied by loss of all AC powers should be considered as major function in terms of prevention of accident spread. According to the reported stress test results of domestic NPPs, the difficult things for operators to carry out in extreme conditions can be predictable, therefore the active use of robots as accident mitigation strategies will be helpful to reduce the unnecessary spending for facility improvement. Current trend of domestic and foreign robot technology development focuses on the information search of the inside of the plant and development of preventive maintenance of NPPs. As seen actually in Fukushima Daiichi, main roles of robots place emphasis on measuring the inside radiation level accessing to the area where operator cannot access and delivering information which can support operator's decision-making and actions. Therefore, it is considered that development of

  8. Digital Learning Network Education Events of NASA's Extreme Environments Mission Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Heather; Guillory, Erika

    2007-01-01

    NASA's Digital Learning Network (DLN) reaches out to thousands of students each year through video conferencing and web casting. The DLN has created a series of live education videoconferences connecting NASA s Extreme Environment Missions Operations (NEEMO) team to students across the United States. The programs are also extended to students around the world live web casting. The primary focus of the events is the vision for space exploration. During the programs, NEEMO Crewmembers including NASA astronauts, engineers and scientists inform and inspire students about the importance of exploration and share the impact of the project as it correlates with plans to return to the moon and explore the planet Mars. These events highlight interactivity. Students talk live with the aquanauts in Aquarius, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s underwater laboratory. With this program, NASA continues the Agency s tradition of investing in the nation's education programs. It is directly tied to the Agency's major education goal of attracting and retaining students in science, technology, and engineering disciplines. Before connecting with the aquanauts, the students conduct experiments of their own designed to coincide with mission objectives. This paper describes the events that took place in September 2006.

  9. Extreme Science (LBNL Science at the Theater)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ajo-Franklin, Caroline; Klein, Spencer; Minor, Andrew; Torok, Tamas

    2012-02-27

    On Feb. 27, 2012 at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, four Berkeley Lab scientists presented talks related to extreme science - and what it means to you. Topics include: Neutrino hunting in Antarctica. Learn why Spencer Klein goes to the ends of the Earth to search for these ghostly particles. From Chernobyl to Central Asia, Tamas Torok travels the globe to study microbial diversity in extreme environments. Andrew Minor uses the world's most advanced electron microscopes to explore materials at ultrahigh stresses and in harsh environments. And microbes that talk to computers? Caroline Ajo-Franklin is pioneering cellular-electrical connections that could help transform sunlight into fuel.

  10. Astrobiology: Life in Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Preeti

    2011-01-01

    Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe. It seeks to answer two important scientific questions: how did we get here and are we alone in the universe? Scientists begin by studying life on Earth and its limits. The discovery of extremophiles on Earth capable of surviving extremes encourages the…

  11. Colors of extreme exo-Earth environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hegde, Siddharth; Kaltenegger, Lisa

    2013-01-01

    The search for extrasolar planets has already detected rocky planets and several planetary candidates with minimum masses that are consistent with rocky planets in the habitable zone of their host stars. A low-resolution spectrum in the form of a color-color diagram of an exoplanet is likely to be one of the first post-detection quantities to be measured for the case of direct detection. In this paper, we explore potentially detectable surface features on rocky exoplanets and their connection to, and importance as, a habitat for extremophiles, as known on Earth. Extremophiles provide us with the minimum known envelope of environmental limits for life on our planet. The color of a planet reveals information on its properties, especially for surface features of rocky planets with clear atmospheres. We use filter photometry in the visible as a first step in the characterization of rocky exoplanets to prioritize targets for follow-up spectroscopy. Many surface environments on Earth have characteristic albedos and occupy a different color space in the visible waveband (0.4-0.9 μm) that can be distinguished remotely. These detectable surface features can be linked to the extreme niches that support extremophiles on Earth and provide a link between geomicrobiology and observational astronomy. This paper explores how filter photometry can serve as a first step in characterizing Earth-like exoplanets for an aerobic as well as an anaerobic atmosphere, thereby prioritizing targets to search for atmospheric biosignatures.

  12. Biofilms and planktonic cells of Deinococcus geothermalis in extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panitz, Corinna; Reitz, Guenther; Rabbow, Elke; Rettberg, Petra; Flemming, Hans-Curt; Wingender, Jost; Froesler, Jan

    In addition to the several extreme environments on Earth, Space can be considered as just another exceptional environment with a unique mixture of stress factors comprising UV radiation, vacuum, desiccation, temperature, ionizing radiation and microgravity. Life that processes in these environments can depend on the life forms and their state of living. The question is whether there are different strategies for individual microorganisms compared to communities of the same organisms to cope with the different factors of their surroundings. Comparative studies of the survi-val of these communities called biofilms and planktonic cell samples of Deinococcus geothermalis stand at the focal point of the presented investigations. A biofilm is a structured community of microorganisms that live encapsulated in a matrix of extracellular polymeric substances on a surface. Microorganisms living in a biofilm usually have significantly different properties to cooperate than individually living microorganisms of the same species. An advantage of the biofilm is increased resistance to various chemical and physical effects, while the dense extracellular matrix and the outer layer of the cells protect the interior of the microbial consortium. The space experiment BOSS (Biofilm organisms surfing Space) as part the ESA experimental unit EXPOSE R-2 with a planned launch date in July 2014 will be subsequently mounted on the Russian Svesda module outside the ISS. An international team of scientists coordinated by Dr. P. Rettberg will investigate the hypothesis whether microorganisms organized as biofilm outmatch the same microorganisms exposed individually in the long-term survival of the harsh environmental conditions as they occur in space and on Mars. Another protective function in the samples could be dust par-ticles for instance Mars regolith simulant contained inside the biofilms or mixed with the planktonic cells, as additional shelter especially against the extraterrestrial UV

  13. Adventure and Extreme Sports.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomez, Andrew Thomas; Rao, Ashwin

    2016-03-01

    Adventure and extreme sports often involve unpredictable and inhospitable environments, high velocities, and stunts. These activities vary widely and include sports like BASE jumping, snowboarding, kayaking, and surfing. Increasing interest and participation in adventure and extreme sports warrants understanding by clinicians to facilitate prevention, identification, and treatment of injuries unique to each sport. This article covers alpine skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, surfing, bungee jumping, BASE jumping, and whitewater sports with emphasis on epidemiology, demographics, general injury mechanisms, specific injuries, chronic injuries, fatality data, and prevention. Overall, most injuries are related to overuse, trauma, and environmental or microbial exposure. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. A low cost, high precision extreme/harsh cold environment, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission platform.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

    2014-12-01

    SWIMS III, is a low cost, autonomous sensor data gathering platform developed specifically for extreme/harsh cold environments. Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally inert materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enabling the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. SWIMS III's sophisticated autonomous sensors are designed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. This platform uses low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless solution. The system also incorporates tilt sensors and sonar based ice thickness sensors. The system is light weight and can be deployed by hand by a single person. This presentation covers the technical, and design challenges in developing and deploying these platforms.

  15. Improving diversity in cultures of bacteria from an extreme environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vester, Jan Kjølhede; Glaring, Mikkel Andreas; Stougaard, Peter

    2013-08-01

    The ikaite columns in the Ikka Fjord in Greenland represent one of the few permanently cold and alkaline environments on Earth, and the interior of the columns is home to a bacterial community adapted to these extreme conditions. The community is characterized by low cell numbers imbedded in a calcium carbonate matrix, making extraction of bacterial cells and DNA a challenge and limiting molecular and genomic studies of this environment. To utilize this genetic resource, cultivation at high pH and low temperature was studied as a method for obtaining biomass and DNA from the fraction of this community that would not otherwise be amenable to genetic analyses. The diversity and community dynamics in mixed cultures of bacteria from ikaite columns was investigated using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and pyrosequencing of 16S rDNA. Both medium composition and incubation time influenced the diversity of the culture and many hitherto uncharacterized genera could be brought into culture by extended incubation time. Extended incubation time also gave rise to a more diverse community with a significant number of rare species not detected in the initial community.

  16. Radiological protection of the environment, including non-human species-views from the global nuclear industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saint-Pierre, S.; RPWG

    2008-01-01

    This paper updates the WNA key messages on the RP of the environment. This paper shows that the chronology of views (2000-2008) leads to a recognition that the current RP system has provided adequate protection of people and of the environment. In early 2000s, doubts were raised on the adequacy of the RP system. Next (2002-2005), the international community forged the view that the current RP system has in practice provided appropriate standards of environmental protection, but also acknowledged that the system needs further development to fill a 'conceptual gap'. In 2005, the IAEA plan of activities on the RP of the environment formalized international developments and conditioned the future revision (if any) of current standards. During 2006-2008, ICRP issued new guidance on RP of non-human species which offers little on an assessment framework of practical use and on a compelling case for such assessments. This guidance, based on the new ICRP concept of Reference Animals and Plants, falls short in terms of environmental protection approach. A milestone study on the RP of non-human species is the SENES independent overview (2007) which 'confirmed that both people and nature have been adequately protected from radioactive releases from all kinds of nuclear sites, old and new'. This overview covers case studies for nuclear sites including some that had experienced major accidents. It derives that the earlier acknowledgement on the 'conceptual gap' appears no longer valid or at the very least, that the gap (if any) is extremely small. The RP of the environment is part of the on-going revision of the current IAEA Basic Safety Standards (BSS). We emphasize that the recently published BSS draft 1.0 in July 2008 covers (with adequacy) RP of the environment through general provisions (free of provisions to non-human species) on the assessment of environmental impact. (author)

  17. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Beerman, A.; Blosser, M.; Boghozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Chinnapongse, R.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzaes, G.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D Woven TPS being developed under NASAs Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a Thermal Protection System (TPS) capable of surviving entry into Venus or Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  18. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) - Enabling Missions Beyond Heritage Carbon Phenolic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Beerman, A.; Blosser, M.; Boghozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Chinnapongse, R.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzales, G.; hide

    2015-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D Woven TPS being developed under NASA's Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a Thermal Protection System (TPS) capable of surviving entry into Venus or Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  19. Toxicity at the Edge of Life: A Review on Cyanobacterial Toxins from Extreme Environments

    OpenAIRE

    Cir?s, Samuel; Casero, Mar?a Cristina; Quesada, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    Cyanotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria, of varied chemical nature and toxic effects. Although cyanobacteria thrive in all kinds of ecosystems on Earth even under very harsh conditions, current knowledge on cyanotoxin distribution is almost restricted to freshwaters from temperate latitudes. In this review, we bring to the forefront the presence of cyanotoxins in extreme environments. Cyanotoxins have been reported especially in polar deserts (both from the Arctic and ...

  20. Extreme Programming: Maestro Style

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norris, Jeffrey; Fox, Jason; Rabe, Kenneth; Shu, I-Hsiang; Powell, Mark

    2009-01-01

    "Extreme Programming: Maestro Style" is the name of a computer programming methodology that has evolved as a custom version of a methodology, called extreme programming that has been practiced in the software industry since the late 1990s. The name of this version reflects its origin in the work of the Maestro team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory that develops software for Mars exploration missions. Extreme programming is oriented toward agile development of software resting on values of simplicity, communication, testing, and aggressiveness. Extreme programming involves use of methods of rapidly building and disseminating institutional knowledge among members of a computer-programming team to give all the members a shared view that matches the view of the customers for whom the software system is to be developed. Extreme programming includes frequent planning by programmers in collaboration with customers, continually examining and rewriting code in striving for the simplest workable software designs, a system metaphor (basically, an abstraction of the system that provides easy-to-remember software-naming conventions and insight into the architecture of the system), programmers working in pairs, adherence to a set of coding standards, collaboration of customers and programmers, frequent verbal communication, frequent releases of software in small increments of development, repeated testing of the developmental software by both programmers and customers, and continuous interaction between the team and the customers. The environment in which the Maestro team works requires the team to quickly adapt to changing needs of its customers. In addition, the team cannot afford to accept unnecessary development risk. Extreme programming enables the Maestro team to remain agile and provide high-quality software and service to its customers. However, several factors in the Maestro environment have made it necessary to modify some of the conventional extreme

  1. PRELIMINARY BIOGEOCHEMICAL DATA ON MICROBIAL CARBONATOGENESIS IN ANCIENT EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS (KESS-KESS MOUNDS, MOROCCO

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ADRIANO GUIDO

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available The Devonian Kess-Kess mounds, cropping out in the Hamar Laghdad Ridge (SE Morocco, provide a useful case-study for understanding the relationships between the microbial metabolic activities and micrite precipitation in an extreme environment. Very fine dark and white wrinkled laminae record microbial activity and the geochemistry of the organic matter allows the  characterization of the source organisms. The biogeochemical characterization of extracted organic matter was performed through the functional group analyses by FT-IR Spectroscopy. FT-IR parameters indicate a marine origin and low thermal evolution for the organic material. The organic matter is characterized by the presence of stretching ?C=C vibrations attributable to alkene and/or unsaturated carboxylic acids. Preliminary analysis with GC-MS provides evidence for an autochthonous (extreme environment may have implications in astrobiological research considering the recent discovery of carbonate deposits on Mars. 

  2. Four newly isolated fuselloviruses from extreme geothermal environments reveal unusual morphologies and a possible interviral recombination mechanism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Redder, Peter; Peng, Xu; Brügger, Kim

    2009-01-01

    Spindle-shaped virus-like particles are abundant in extreme geothermal environments, from which five spindle-shaped viral species have been isolated to date. They infect members of the hyperthermophilic archaeal genus Sulfolobus, and constitute the Fuselloviridae, a family of double-stranded DNA...

  3. Individual Traits, Personal Values, and Conflict Resolution in an Isolated, Confined, Extreme Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corneliussen, Jesper G; Leon, Gloria R; Kjærgaard, Anders; Fink, Birgit A; Venables, Noah C

    2017-06-01

    The study of personality traits, personal values, and the emergence of conflicts within groups performing in an isolated, confined, and extreme environment (ICE) may provide insights helpful for the composition and support of space crews for long duration missions. Studied pre/post and over the 2-yr period of the investigation were 10 Danish military personnel deployed to stations in Greenland on a 26-mo staggered rotation. Subjects completed the NEO PI-R, Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, and Portrait Values Questionnaire, and participated in structured interviews. During deployment, questionnaires were completed biweekly and a cognitive function test once a month. Personality findings indicated a generally well-adjusted group, above average in positive personality traits [Conscientiousness T-score = 59.4 (11.41); Agreeableness T-score = 54.4 (9.36)] and boldness. Personal values of benevolence and self-direction were highly rated. The decision when to "pick sides" and intervene during disagreements between group members was viewed as an important component of conflict resolution. There were no changes in positive/negative affect or cognitive function over the annual light/dark cycle. The personal values of group members appear highly compatible for living in a small group ICE environment for an extended period. Disagreements between group members impact the functioning of the entire group, particularly in regard to decisions whether to support one of the individuals or let the argument run its course. Extended training in strategies for conflict resolution are needed in planning for future long duration missions to avoid fault lines forming within the group.Corneliussen JG, Leon GR, Kjærgaard A, Fink BA, Venables NC. Individual traits, personal values, and conflict resolution in an isolated, confined, extreme environment. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2017; 88(6):535-543.

  4. Superior radiation-resistant nanoengineered austenitic 304L stainless steel for applications in extreme radiation environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, C; Zheng, S; Wei, C C; Wu, Y; Shao, L; Yang, Y; Hartwig, K T; Maloy, S A; Zinkle, S J; Allen, T R; Wang, H; Zhang, X

    2015-01-15

    Nuclear energy provides more than 10% of electrical power internationally, and the increasing engagement of nuclear energy is essential to meet the rapid worldwide increase in energy demand. A paramount challenge in the development of advanced nuclear reactors is the discovery of advanced structural materials that can endure extreme environments, such as severe neutron irradiation damage at high temperatures. It has been known for decades that high dose radiation can introduce significant void swelling accompanied by precipitation in austenitic stainless steel (SS). Here we report, however, that through nanoengineering, ultra-fine grained (UFG) 304 L SS with an average grain size of ~100 nm, can withstand Fe ion irradiation at 500 °C to 80 displacements-per-atom (dpa) with moderate grain coarsening. Compared to coarse grained (CG) counterparts, swelling resistance of UFG SS is improved by nearly an order of magnitude and swelling rate is reduced by a factor of 5. M(23)C(6) precipitates, abundant in irradiated CG SS, are largely absent in UFG SS. This study provides a nanoengineering approach to design and discover radiation tolerant metallic materials for applications in extreme radiation environments.

  5. Transformers For Extreme Environments

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Imagine a revolutionary way to remotely control the environment surrounding one or more roving vehicles exploring remote and unexplored areas of the Solar System,...

  6. Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Development and Maturation Status for NF Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerby, D.; Blosser, M.; Boghozian, T.; Chavez-Garcia, J.; Chinnapongse, R.; Fowler, M.; Gage, P.; Gasch, M.; Gonzales, G.; Hamm, K.; hide

    2016-01-01

    This poster provides an overview of the requirements, design, development and testing of the 3D Woven TPS being developed under NASA's Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project. Under this current program, NASA is working to develop a Thermal Protection System (TPS) capable of surviving entry into Saturn. A primary goal of the project is to build and test an Engineering Test Unit (ETU) to establish a Technical Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 for this technology by 2017.

  7. Biota and biomolecules in extreme environments on Earth: implications for life detection on Mars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aerts, Joost W; Röling, Wilfred F M; Elsaesser, Andreas; Ehrenfreund, Pascale

    2014-10-13

    The three main requirements for life as we know it are the presence of organic compounds, liquid water, and free energy. Several groups of organic compounds (e.g., amino acids, nucleobases, lipids) occur in all life forms on Earth and are used as diagnostic molecules, i.e., biomarkers, for the characterization of extant or extinct life. Due to their indispensability for life on Earth, these biomarkers are also prime targets in the search for life on Mars. Biomarkers degrade over time; in situ environmental conditions influence the preservation of those molecules. Nonetheless, upon shielding (e.g., by mineral surfaces), particular biomarkers can persist for billions of years, making them of vital importance in answering questions about the origins and limits of life on early Earth and Mars. The search for organic material and biosignatures on Mars is particularly challenging due to the hostile environment and its effect on organic compounds near the surface. In support of life detection on Mars, it is crucial to investigate analogue environments on Earth that resemble best past and present Mars conditions. Terrestrial extreme environments offer a rich source of information allowing us to determine how extreme conditions affect life and molecules associated with it. Extremophilic organisms have adapted to the most stunning conditions on Earth in environments with often unique geological and chemical features. One challenge in detecting biomarkers is to optimize extraction, since organic molecules can be low in abundance and can strongly adsorb to mineral surfaces. Methods and analytical tools in the field of life science are continuously improving. Amplification methods are very useful for the detection of low concentrations of genomic material but most other organic molecules are not prone to amplification methods. Therefore, a great deal depends on the extraction efficiency. The questions "what to look for", "where to look", and "how to look for it" require more of

  8. Biota and Biomolecules in Extreme Environments on Earth: Implications for Life Detection on Mars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joost W. Aerts

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available The three main requirements for life as we know it are the presence of organic compounds, liquid water, and free energy. Several groups of organic compounds (e.g., amino acids, nucleobases, lipids occur in all life forms on Earth and are used as diagnostic molecules, i.e., biomarkers, for the characterization of extant or extinct life. Due to their indispensability for life on Earth, these biomarkers are also prime targets in the search for life on Mars. Biomarkers degrade over time; in situ environmental conditions influence the preservation of those molecules. Nonetheless, upon shielding (e.g., by mineral surfaces, particular biomarkers can persist for billions of years, making them of vital importance in answering questions about the origins and limits of life on early Earth and Mars. The search for organic material and biosignatures on Mars is particularly challenging due to the hostile environment and its effect on organic compounds near the surface. In support of life detection on Mars, it is crucial to investigate analogue environments on Earth that resemble best past and present Mars conditions. Terrestrial extreme environments offer a rich source of information allowing us to determine how extreme conditions affect life and molecules associated with it. Extremophilic organisms have adapted to the most stunning conditions on Earth in environments with often unique geological and chemical features. One challenge in detecting biomarkers is to optimize extraction, since organic molecules can be low in abundance and can strongly adsorb to mineral surfaces. Methods and analytical tools in the field of life science are continuously improving. Amplification methods are very useful for the detection of low concentrations of genomic material but most other organic molecules are not prone to amplification methods. Therefore, a great deal depends on the extraction efficiency. The questions “what to look for”, “where to look”, and “how to

  9. Silicon-Carbide Power MOSFET Performance in High Efficiency Boost Power Processing Unit for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikpe, Stanley A.; Lauenstein, Jean-Marie; Carr, Gregory A.; Hunter, Don; Ludwig, Lawrence L.; Wood, William; Del Castillo, Linda Y.; Fitzpatrick, Fred; Chen, Yuan

    2016-01-01

    Silicon-Carbide device technology has generated much interest in recent years. With superior thermal performance, power ratings and potential switching frequencies over its Silicon counterpart, Silicon-Carbide offers a greater possibility for high powered switching applications in extreme environment. In particular, Silicon-Carbide Metal-Oxide- Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors' (MOSFETs) maturing process technology has produced a plethora of commercially available power dense, low on-state resistance devices capable of switching at high frequencies. A novel hard-switched power processing unit (PPU) is implemented utilizing Silicon-Carbide power devices. Accelerated life data is captured and assessed in conjunction with a damage accumulation model of gate oxide and drain-source junction lifetime to evaluate potential system performance at high temperature environments.

  10. Millimeter waves or extremely high frequency electromagnetic fields in the environment: what are their effects on bacteria?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soghomonyan, Diana; Trchounian, Karen; Trchounian, Armen

    2016-06-01

    Millimeter waves (MMW) or electromagnetic fields of extremely high frequencies at low intensity is a new environmental factor, the level of which is increased as technology advance. It is of interest that bacteria and other cells might communicate with each other by electromagnetic field of sub-extremely high frequency range. These MMW affected Escherichia coli and many other bacteria, mainly depressing their growth and changing properties and activity. These effects were non-thermal and depended on different factors. The significant cellular targets for MMW effects could be water, cell plasma membrane, and genome. The model for the MMW interaction with bacteria is suggested; a role of the membrane-associated proton FOF1-ATPase, key enzyme of bioenergetic relevance, is proposed. The consequences of MMW interaction with bacteria are the changes in their sensitivity to different biologically active chemicals, including antibiotics. Novel data on MMW effects on bacteria and their sensitivity to different antibiotics are presented and discussed; the combined action of MMW and antibiotics resulted with more strong effects. These effects are of significance for understanding changed metabolic pathways and distinguish role of bacteria in environment; they might be leading to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. The effects might have applications in the development of technique, therapeutic practices, and food protection technology.

  11. Composite Materials under Extreme Radiation and Temperature Environments of the Next Generation Nuclear Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Simos, N.

    2011-01-01

    In the nuclear energy renaissance, driven by fission reactor concepts utilizing very high temperatures and fast neutron spectra, materials with enhanced performance that exceeds are expected to play a central role. With the operating temperatures of the Generation III reactors bringing the classical reactor materials close to their performance limits there is an urgent need to develop and qualify new alloys and composites. Efforts have been focused on the intricate relations and the high demands placed on materials at the anticipated extreme states within the next generation fusion and fission reactors which combine high radiation fluxes, elevated temperatures and aggressive environments. While nuclear reactors have been in operation for several decades, the structural materials associated with the next generation options need to endure much higher temperatures (1200 C), higher neutron doses (tens of displacements per atom, dpa), and extremely corrosive environments, which are beyond the experience on materials accumulated to-date. The most important consideration is the performance and reliability of structural materials for both in-core and out-of-core functions. While there exists a great body of nuclear materials research and operating experience/performance from fission reactors where epithermal and thermal neutrons interact with materials and alter their physio-mechanical properties, a process that is well understood by now, there are no operating or even experimental facilities that will facilitate the extreme conditions of flux and temperature anticipated and thus provide insights into the behaviour of these well understood materials. Materials, however, still need to be developed and their interaction and damage potential or lifetime to be quantified for the next generation nuclear energy. Based on material development advances, composites, and in particular ceramic composites, seem to inherently possess properties suitable for key functions within the

  12. Solid Lubricants and Coatings for Extreme Environments: State-of-the-Art Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyoshi, Kazuhisa

    2007-01-01

    An investigation was conducted to survey anticipated requirements for solid lubricants in lunar and Martian environments, as well as the effects of these environments on lubricants and their performance and durability. The success of habitats and vehicles on the Moon and Mars, and ultimately, of the human exploration of and permanent human presence on the Moon and Mars, are critically dependent on the correct and reliable operation of many moving mechanical assemblies and tribological components. The coefficient of friction and lifetime of any lubricant generally vary with the environment, and lubricants have very different characteristics under different conditions. It is essential, therefore, to select the right lubrication technique and lubricant for each mechanical and tribological application. Several environmental factors are hazardous to performance integrity on the Moon and Mars. Potential threats common to both the Moon and Mars are low ambient temperatures, wide daily temperature swings (thermal cycling), solar flux, cosmic radiation, and large quantities of dust. The surface of Mars has the additional challenges of dust storms, winds, and a carbon dioxide atmosphere. Solid lubricants and coatings are needed for lunar and Martian applications, where liquid lubricants are ineffective and undesirable, and these lubricants must perform well in the extreme environments of the Moon, Mars, and space, as well as on Earth, where they will be assembled and tested. No solid lubricants and coatings and their systems currently exist or have been validated that meet these requirements, so new solid lubricants must be designed and validated for these applications.

  13. Adaptation strategies of endolithic chlorophototrophs to survive the hyperarid and extreme solar radiation environment of the Atacama Desert

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Wierzchos, J.; DiRuggiero, J.; Vítek, Petr; Artieda, O.; Souza-Egipsy, V.; Škaloud, P.; Tisza, M.; Davilla, A. F.; Vilchez, C.; Garbayo, I.; Ascaso, C.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 6, č. 934 (2015), s. 1-17 ISSN 1664-302X R&D Projects: GA MŠk EE2.3.20.0246 Institutional support: RVO:67179843 Keywords : Atacama Desert * carotenoids * endolithic chlorophototrophs * extreme environment * gypsum * scytonemin Subject RIV: EF - Botanics Impact factor: 4.165, year: 2015

  14. An Overview of 2014 SBIR Phase I and Phase II Materials Structures for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.; Morris, Jessica R.

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program focuses on technological innovation by investing in development of innovative concepts and technologies to help NASA mission directorates address critical research needs for Agency programs. This report highlights nine of the innovative SBIR 2014 Phase I and Phase II projects that emphasize one of NASA Glenn Research Center's six core competencies-Materials and Structures for Extreme Environments. The technologies cover a wide spectrum of applications such as high temperature environmental barrier coating systems, deployable space structures, solid oxide fuel cells, and self-lubricating hard coatings for extreme temperatures. Each featured technology describes an innovation, technical objective, and highlights NASA commercial and industrial applications. This report provides an opportunity for NASA engineers, researchers, and program managers to learn how NASA SBIR technologies could help their programs and projects, and lead to collaborations and partnerships between the small SBIR companies and NASA that would benefit both.

  15. TRACING MOLECULAR GAS MASS IN EXTREME EXTRAGALACTIC ENVIRONMENTS: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu Ming; Papadopoulos, Padeli P.; Xilouris, Emmanuel M.; Kuno, Nario; Lisenfeld, Ute

    2009-01-01

    We present a new observational study of the 12 CO(1-0) line emission as an H 2 gas mass tracer under extreme conditions in extragalactic environments. Our approach is to study the full neutral interstellar medium (H 2 , H I, and dust) of two galaxies whose bulk interstellar medium (ISM) resides in environments that mark (and bracket) the excitation extremes of the ISM conditions found in infrared luminous galaxies, the starburst NGC 3310, and the quiescent spiral NGC 157. Our study maintains a robust statistical notion of the so-called X = N(H 2 )/I CO factor (i.e., a large ensemble of clouds is involved) while exploring its dependence on the very different average ISM conditions prevailing within these two systems. These are constrained by fully sampled 12 CO(3-2) and 12 CO(1-0) observations, at a matched beam resolution of half-power beam width ∼15'', obtained with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea (Hawaii) and the 45 m telescope of the Nobeyama Radio Observatory in Japan, combined with sensitive 850 μm and 450 μm dust emission and H I interferometric images which allow a complete view of all the neutral ISM components. Complementary 12 CO(2-1) observations were obtained with the JCMT toward the center of the two galaxies. We found an X factor varying by a factor of 5 within the spiral galaxy NGC 157 and about two times lower than the Galactic value in NGC 3310. In addition, the dust emission spectrum in NGC 3310 shows a pronounced submillimeter 'excess'. We tried to fit this excess by a cold dust component but very low temperatures were required (T C ∼ 5-11 K) with a correspondingly low gas-to-dust mass ratio of ∼5-43. We furthermore show that it is not possible to maintain the large quantities of dust required at these low temperatures in this starburst galaxy. Instead, we conclude that the dust properties need to be different from Galactic dust in order to fit the submillimeter 'excess'. We show that the dust spectral energy

  16. How Do Modern Extreme Hydrothermal Environments Inform the Identification of Martian Habitability? The Case of the El Tatio Geyser Field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Barbieri

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Despite the success in knowledge gained by the Mars missions in the last two decades, the search for traces of life on Mars is still in progress. The reconstruction of (paleo- environments on Mars have seen a dramatic increase, in particular with regard to the potentially habitable conditions, and it is now possible to recognize a significant role to subaerial hydrothermal processes. For this reason, and because the conditions of the primordial Earth—when these extreme environments had to be common—probably resembled Mars during its most suitable time to host life, research on terrestrial extreme hydrothermal habitats may assist in understanding how to recognize life on Mars. A number of geological and environmental reasons, and logistics opportunities, make the geothermal field of El Tatio, in the Chilean Andes an ideal location to study.

  17. Extremely environment-hard and low work function transfer-mold field emitter arrays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakamoto, Masayuki, E-mail: m-nakamoto@rie.shizuoka.ac.jp [Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan); Moon, Jonghyun [Research Institute of Electronics, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 432-8011 (Japan)

    2013-06-15

    Extremely environment-hard and low work function field-emitter arrays (FEAs) were fabricated by a transfer-mold emitter fabrication method to produce highly reliable vacuum nanoelectronic devices able to operate stably at low voltage in highly oxidizing atmospheres. Amorphous carbon (a-C) having a work function of 3.6 eV and sp{sup 3} fraction of 85.6% prepared by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition was used as the emitter material. The field-emission characteristics of the obtained transfer-mold FEAs strongly depended on their work function and morphology. The environment-hard characteristics of the transfer-mold a-C FEAs were compared with those of the transfer-mold titanium nitride FEAs and nickel FEAs. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to confirm the stable chemical states of the FEAs after oxygen radical treatment. The small amount of material oxidized (6.3%) at the surface of the a-C FEAs compared with 11.8% for the TiN-FEAs and 39.0% for Ni FEAs after oxygen radical treatment explained their almost constant work function in oxidizing atmospheres. The emission fluctuation rates of transfer-mold a-C FEAs without resistive layers under in situ radical treatment were as low as ±5.0%, compared with 5–100% for conventional FEAs with resistive layers not under highly oxidizing atmospheres. Therefore, the present environment-hard and low work function transfer-mold a-C FEAs are expected to be useful for reliable vacuum nanoelectronic devices.

  18. Microbial ecology of extreme environments: Antarctic yeasts and growth in substrate-limited habitats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishniac, H. S.

    1984-01-01

    An extreme environment is by definition one with a depauperate biota. While the Ross Desert is by no means homogeneous, the most exposed and arid habitats, soils in the unglaciated high valleys, do indeed contain a very sparse biota of low diversity. So sparse that the natives could easily be outnumbered by airborne exogenous microbes. Native biota must be capable of overwintering as well as growing in the high valley summer. Tourists may undergo a few divisions before contributing their enzymes and, ultimately, elements to the soil - or may die before landing. The simplest way to demonstrate the indigenicity of a particular microbe is therefore to establish unique distribution; occurrence only in the habitat in question precludes foreign origin.

  19. Evaluation of the Physiological Challenges in Extreme Environments: Implications for Enhanced Training, Operational Performance and Sex-Specific Responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-01

    Operational Performance and Sex -Specific Responses PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brent C. Ruby CONTRACTING ORGANIZATION: The University of Montana Missoula...Implications for Enhanced Training, Operational Performance and Sex -Specific Responses 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT...Evaluation of the physiological challenges in extreme environments: Implications for enhanced training, operational performance and sex -specific

  20. Vegetation Cover and Furrow Erosion due to Extreme Rain Events in Semiarid Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Belén Cárceles-Rodríguez

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The conservation of the soil resource in semi-arid environments is one of the major challenges of agricultural systems, particularly in the Mediterranean region. In the present study, two types of soil management were compared: minimum tillage (ML and minimum tillage with spontaneous vegetation cover (MLVE. The comparison was conducted in a rainfed almond plantation at slope (35%, under an extraordinary event in 2015 (91.3 mm and EI30 of 2,719.89 mm ha-1 h-1. In this situation in MLVE plots, the development of furrows in contrast to ML were not recorded; the total soil loss was more than 12 times lower than that recorded in the latter. This fact demonstrated the effectiveness of the vegetal cover in the protection of the agricultural soil against the erosion during extreme events. Also, for ML management, furrow erosion represented more than 60% of the total soil loss, demonstrating the dominance of this type of erosion. Finally, it should be noted that this event represents the almost total loss of soil recorded in the experimental plots during the period 2012-2015; and this consequently shows the significant impact of extreme events on erosion rates in the Mediterranean region.

  1. Extreme Environment High Temperature Communication Systems, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The purpose of this project is to develop and demonstrate a communications system capable of operation at extreme temperatures and pressures in hostile and corrosive...

  2. Magnetic Logic Circuits for Extreme Environments, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The program aims to demonstrate a new genre of all-magnetic logic circuits which are radiation-tolerant and capable of reliable operation in extreme environmental...

  3. NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations: Science Operations Development for Human Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Mary S.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission 16 in 2012 was to evaluate and compare the performance of a defined series of representative near-Earth asteroid (NEA) extravehicular activity (EVA) tasks under different conditions and combinations of work systems, constraints, and assumptions considered for future human NEA exploration missions. NEEMO 16 followed NASA's 2011 Desert Research and Technology Studies (D-RATS), the primary focus of which was understanding the implications of communication latency, crew size, and work system combinations with respect to scientific data quality, data management, crew workload, and crew/mission control interactions. The 1-g environment precluded meaningful evaluation of NEA EVA translation, worksite stabilization, sampling, or instrument deployment techniques. Thus, NEEMO missions were designed to provide an opportunity to perform a preliminary evaluation of these important factors for each of the conditions being considered. NEEMO 15 also took place in 2011 and provided a first look at many of the factors, but the mission was cut short due to a hurricane threat before all objectives were completed. ARES Directorate (KX) personnel consulted with JSC engineers to ensure that high-fidelity planetary science protocols were incorporated into NEEMO mission architectures. ARES has been collaborating with NEEMO mission planners since NEEMO 9 in 2006, successively building upon previous developments to refine science operations concepts within engineering constraints; it is expected to continue the collaboration as NASA's human exploration mission plans evolve.

  4. Study on the interaction mechanism between the special geological environment and their extreme geo-microbes in Dagang Oilfield by combined methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Jun

    2010-05-01

    Geo-microbes and their function were widespread ever since life appeared on the earth. Geo-microbiological process has left a rich and colorful material record in the geological body of earth, the most critical record of which is all sorts of organic hieroglyph and various forms of organic matter derived from bio-organisms, and oil field is the most ideal geological location to preserve these organic matters. It have already produced or might produce petroleum and natural gas sedimentary rocks under natural conditions, also known as olefiant (gas) rock or the parent rock, which is the product of the interaction between the life-system and earth environmental system in the specific geological conditions and integrate the whole microbial ecosystem in the geological time. The microbial community under extreme geological environment of Dagang Oilfield is relatively simple, therefore it is quite easy to investigate the special relationship between geo-microbes and biogeochemistry. We have mastered a large number of information related with the geological condition and biological species of Dagang Oilfield; what's more we also have isolated a number of archimycetes strains with different extremophiles capacity from the core samples collected in the Dagang oil field. At present, we are to proceed with the cooperative research at Environment School of Yale University and Institute of the Earth's biosphere using these strains. In the future, we will work together to carry out geological surveys in the field using international first-class equipment and methods and study the geological environment of Dagang Oilfield utilizing isotope techniques and mineral phase analysis method. Meanwhile we are going to undertake the on-line monitoring of the overall microbial activity of these collected geological samples, the specific metabolic activity of these extreme strains of microorganisms and the biomarkers produced during their metabolic processes under laboratory conditions

  5. Correlating Microbial Diversity Patterns with Geochemistry in an Extreme and Heterogeneous Environment of Mine Tailings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Jun; Hua, Zheng-Shuang; Chen, Lin-Xing; Kuang, Jia-Liang; Li, Sheng-Jin; Shu, Wen-Sheng

    2014-01-01

    Recent molecular surveys have advanced our understanding of the forces shaping the large-scale ecological distribution of microbes in Earth's extreme habitats, such as hot springs and acid mine drainage. However, few investigations have attempted dense spatial analyses of specific sites to resolve the local diversity of these extraordinary organisms and how communities are shaped by the harsh environmental conditions found there. We have applied a 16S rRNA gene-targeted 454 pyrosequencing approach to explore the phylogenetic differentiation among 90 microbial communities from a massive copper tailing impoundment generating acidic drainage and coupled these variations in community composition with geochemical parameters to reveal ecological interactions in this extreme environment. Our data showed that the overall microbial diversity estimates and relative abundances of most of the dominant lineages were significantly correlated with pH, with the simplest assemblages occurring under extremely acidic conditions and more diverse assemblages associated with neutral pHs. The consistent shifts in community composition along the pH gradient indicated that different taxa were involved in the different acidification stages of the mine tailings. Moreover, the effect of pH in shaping phylogenetic structure within specific lineages was also clearly evident, although the phylogenetic differentiations within the Alphaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, and Firmicutes were attributed to variations in ferric and ferrous iron concentrations. Application of the microbial assemblage prediction model further supported pH as the major factor driving community structure and demonstrated that several of the major lineages are readily predictable. Together, these results suggest that pH is primarily responsible for structuring whole communities in the extreme and heterogeneous mine tailings, although the diverse microbial taxa may respond differently to various environmental conditions

  6. Metaorganisms in extreme environments: do microbes play a role in organismal adaptation?

    KAUST Repository

    Bang, Corinna

    2018-02-15

    From protists to humans, all animals and plants are inhabited by microbial organisms. There is an increasing appreciation that these resident microbes influence the fitness of their plant and animal hosts, ultimately forming a metaorganism consisting of a uni- or multicellular host and a community of associated microorganisms. Research on host–microbe interactions has become an emerging cross-disciplinary field. In both vertebrates and invertebrates a complex microbiome confers immunological, metabolic and behavioural benefits; conversely, its disturbance can contribute to the development of disease states. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling the interactions within a metaorganism are poorly understood and many key interactions between the associated organisms remain unknown. In this perspective article, we outline some of the issues in interspecies interactions and in particular address the question of how metaorganisms react and adapt to inputs from extreme environments such as deserts, the intertidal zone, oligothrophic seas, and hydrothermal vents.

  7. Metaorganisms in extreme environments: do microbes play a role in organismal adaptation?

    KAUST Repository

    Bang, Corinna; Dagan, Tal; Deines, Peter; Dubilier, Nicole; Duschl, Wolfgang J.; Fraune, Sebastian; Hentschel, Ute; Hirt, Heribert; Hü lter, Nils; Lachnit, Tim; Picazo, Devani; Pita, Lucia; Pogoreutz, Claudia; Radecker, Nils; Saad, Maged; Schmitz, Ruth A.; Schulenburg, Hinrich; Voolstra, Christian R.; Weiland-Brä uer, Nancy; Ziegler, Maren; Bosch, Thomas C.G.

    2018-01-01

    From protists to humans, all animals and plants are inhabited by microbial organisms. There is an increasing appreciation that these resident microbes influence the fitness of their plant and animal hosts, ultimately forming a metaorganism consisting of a uni- or multicellular host and a community of associated microorganisms. Research on host–microbe interactions has become an emerging cross-disciplinary field. In both vertebrates and invertebrates a complex microbiome confers immunological, metabolic and behavioural benefits; conversely, its disturbance can contribute to the development of disease states. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling the interactions within a metaorganism are poorly understood and many key interactions between the associated organisms remain unknown. In this perspective article, we outline some of the issues in interspecies interactions and in particular address the question of how metaorganisms react and adapt to inputs from extreme environments such as deserts, the intertidal zone, oligothrophic seas, and hydrothermal vents.

  8. Genomic insights into microbial iron oxidation and iron uptake strategies in extremely acidic environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonnefoy, Violaine; Holmes, David S

    2012-07-01

    This minireview presents recent advances in our understanding of iron oxidation and homeostasis in acidophilic Bacteria and Archaea. These processes influence the flux of metals and nutrients in pristine and man-made acidic environments such as acid mine drainage and industrial bioleaching operations. Acidophiles are also being studied to understand life in extreme conditions and their role in the generation of biomarkers used in the search for evidence of existing or past extra-terrestrial life. Iron oxidation in acidophiles is best understood in the model organism Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. However, recent functional genomic analysis of acidophiles is leading to a deeper appreciation of the diversity of acidophilic iron-oxidizing pathways. Although it is too early to paint a detailed picture of the role played by lateral gene transfer in the evolution of iron oxidation, emerging evidence tends to support the view that iron oxidation arose independently more than once in evolution. Acidic environments are generally rich in soluble iron and extreme acidophiles (e.g. the Leptospirillum genus) have considerably fewer iron uptake systems compared with neutrophiles. However, some acidophiles have been shown to grow as high as pH 6 and, in the case of the Acidithiobacillus genus, to have multiple iron uptake systems. This could be an adaption allowing them to respond to different iron concentrations via the use of a multiplicity of different siderophores. Both Leptospirillum spp. and Acidithiobacillus spp. are predicted to synthesize the acid stable citrate siderophore for Fe(III) uptake. In addition, both groups have predicted receptors for siderophores produced by other microorganisms, suggesting that competition for iron occurs influencing the ecophysiology of acidic environments. Little is known about the genetic regulation of iron oxidation and iron uptake in acidophiles, especially how the use of iron as an energy source is balanced with its need to take up

  9. Design, conception, and metrology of Extreme Ultraviolet multilayers mirrors resistant environments of space and EUV sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hecquet, Ch.

    2009-03-01

    The Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrum (EUV) wavelengths, which range between 13 nm and 40 nm, have many applications in science and technology. These have been developed for example in plasma physics (high order harmonics sources, X ray lasers). The work presented is about the design, the fabrication and the metrology of periodic multilayer mirrors. The main motivation of this study is to establish a cycle of development taking into account both the optical properties of reflective coatings (reflectivity, spectral selectivity, attenuation) and their behaviour under various environments. To improve the spectral selectivity, new multilayer periodic structures have been developed. They are characterized by a bimodal reflectance profile with adjustable attenuation. The effect of environment on the stability of performance is especially critical for the optical collection. The addition of material barriers has stabilized the performance of the peak reflectivity for over 200 h at 400 C deg. and it reduces the influence of other factors of instability on the reflectance. In addition, all structures have been fabricated successfully and evaluated in severe environments. (author)

  10. Extreme Environment Electronics based on Silicon Carbide, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Radiation tolerant, extreme temperature capable electronics are needed for a variety of planned NASA missions. For example, in-situ exploration of Venus and long...

  11. Extreme Environment Electronics based on Silicon Carbide, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Radiation tolerant, extreme temperature capable electronics are needed for a variety of planned NASA missions. For example, in-situ exploration of Venus and long...

  12. New insights into microbial adaptation to extreme saline environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vauclare P.

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Extreme halophiles are microorganisms adapted to low water activity living at the upper salt concentration that life can tolerate. We review here recent data that specify the main factors, which determine their peculiar salt-dependent biochemistry. The data suggested that evolution proceeds by stage to modify the molecular dynamics properties of the entire proteome. Extreme halophiles therefore represent tractable models to understand how fast and to what extent microorganisms adapt to environmental changes. Halophiles are also robust organisms, capable to resist multiple stressors. Preliminary studies indicated that they have developed a cellular response specifically aimed to survive when the salt condition fluctuates. Because of these properties halophilic organisms deserve special attention in the search for traces of life on other planets.

  13. Gene adaptation to extreme environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marlaire, P.; Rodriguez, V.; Kerner, N.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: This work is oriented to the study of gene adaptation to extreme conditions, such as the hydrothermal system located in Copahue, Neuquen, Argentina. The organisms living there develop under two pressure selection conditions: the high temperature of thermal water and the strong impact of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Several microorganisms found in this region were isolated and different colonies resistant to UV radiation were selected, a Geobacillus thermoleovorans strain identified through 16S RNA sequence, being the most remarkable. A gene library was prepared out of this strain with UV sensitive bacteria BH200 (uvrA::Tn10). A number of clones were isolated by means of UV selection, the most outstanding being a gene carrier able to codify for the guanosine monophosphate synthetase enzyme (GMPs). The suitability of said enzyme was proved by means of additional assays performed on ght 1 bacteria (guaA26::Tn 10) which lacked the enzyme. A transcript of 1100 pb was detected through Northern Blot. The result was consistent with that obtained for the mapping of the starting transcription site. The cloned GMPs produces an increase in growth speed and a greater biomass in BH200 bacteria. (author)

  14. Massive stars dying alone: Extremely remote environments of SN2009ip and SN2010jp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Nathan

    2014-10-01

    We propose an imaging study of the astonishingly remote environments of two recent supernovae (SNe): SN2009ip and SN2010jp. Both were unusual Type IIn explosions that crashed into dense circumstellar material (CSM) ejected by the star shortly before explosion. The favored progenitors of these SNe are very massive luminous blue variable (LBV) stars. In fact, SN2009ip presents an extraordinay case where the LBV-like progenitor was actually detected directly in archival HST data, and where we obtained spectra and photometry for numerous pre-SN eruptions. No other SN has this treasure trove of detailed information about the progenitor (not even SN1987A). SN2010jp represents a possible collapsar-powered event, since it showed evidence of a fast bipolar jet in spectra and a low 56Ni mass; this would be an analog of the black-hole forming explosions that cause gamma ray bursts, but where the relativistic jet is damped by a residual H envelope on the star. In both cases, the only viable models for these SNe involve extremely massive (initial masses of 40-100 Msun) progenitor stars. This seems at odds with their extremely remote environments in the far outskirts of their host galaxies, with no detected evidence for an underlying massive star population in ground-based data (nor in the single shallow WFPC2/F606W image of SN2009ip). Here we propose deep UV HST images to search for any mid/late O-type stars nearby, deep red images to detect any red supergiants, and an H-alpha image to search for any evidence of ongoing star formation in the vicinity. These observations will place important and demanding constraints on the initial masses and ages of these progenitors.

  15. An extreme magneto-ionic environment associated with the fast radio burst source FRB 121102

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michilli, D.; Seymour, A.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Spitler, L. G.; Gajjar, V.; Archibald, A. M.; Bower, G. C.; Chatterjee, S.; Cordes, J. M.; Gourdji, K.; Heald, G. H.; Kaspi, V. M.; Law, C. J.; Sobey, C.; Adams, E. A. K.; Bassa, C. G.; Bogdanov, S.; Brinkman, C.; Demorest, P.; Fernandez, F.; Hellbourg, G.; Lazio, T. J. W.; Lynch, R. S.; Maddox, N.; Marcote, B.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Paragi, Z.; Ransom, S. M.; Scholz, P.; Siemion, A. P. V.; Tendulkar, S. P.; van Rooy, P.; Wharton, R. S.; Whitlow, D.

    2018-01-01

    Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration, extragalactic radio flashes of unknown physical origin. The only known repeating fast radio burst source—FRB 121102—has been localized to a star-forming region in a dwarf galaxy at redshift 0.193 and is spatially coincident with a compact, persistent radio source. The origin of the bursts, the nature of the persistent source and the properties of the local environment are still unclear. Here we report observations of FRB 121102 that show almost 100 per cent linearly polarized emission at a very high and variable Faraday rotation measure in the source frame (varying from +1.46 × 105 radians per square metre to +1.33 × 105 radians per square metre at epochs separated by seven months) and narrow (below 30 microseconds) temporal structure. The large and variable rotation measure demonstrates that FRB 121102 is in an extreme and dynamic magneto-ionic environment, and the short durations of the bursts suggest a neutron star origin. Such large rotation measures have hitherto been observed only in the vicinities of massive black holes (larger than about 10,000 solar masses). Indeed, the properties of the persistent radio source are compatible with those of a low-luminosity, accreting massive black hole. The bursts may therefore come from a neutron star in such an environment or could be explained by other models, such as a highly magnetized wind nebula or supernova remnant surrounding a young neutron star.

  16. Is southwestern China experiencing more frequent precipitation extremes?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Meixian; Xu, Xianli; Wang, Kelin; Sun, Alexander Y; Liu, Wen; Zhang, Xiaoyan

    2014-01-01

    Climate extremes have and will continue to cause severe damages to buildings and natural environments around the world. A full knowledge of the probability of the climate extremes is important for the management and mitigation of natural hazards. Based on Mann–Kendall trend test and copulas, this study investigated the characteristics of precipitation extremes as well as their implications in southwestern China (Yunnan, Guangxi and Guizhou Province), through analyzing the changing trends and probabilistic characteristics of six indices, including the consecutive dry days, consecutive wet days, annual total wet day precipitation, heavy precipitation days (R25), max 5 day precipitation amount (Rx5) and the rainy days (RDs). Results showed that the study area had generally become drier (regional mean annual precipitation decreased by 11.4 mm per decade) and experienced enhanced precipitation extremes in the past 60 years. Relatively higher risk of drought in Yuanan and flood in Guangxi was observed, respectively. However, the changing trends of the precipitation extremes were not spatially uniform: increasing risk of extreme wet events for Guangxi and Guizhou, and increasing probability of concurrent extreme wet and dry events for Yunnan. Meanwhile, trend analyses of the 10 year return levels of the selected indices implied that the severity of droughts decreased in Yunnan but increased significantly in Guangxi and Guizhou, and the severity of floods increased in Yunnan and Guangxi in the past decades. Hence, the policy-makers need to be aware of the different characterizations and the spatial heterogeneity of the precipitation extremes. (letters)

  17. Global patterns of NDVI-indicated vegetation extremes and their sensitivity to climate extremes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Guo; Liu Hongyan; Yin Yi

    2013-01-01

    Extremes in climate have significant impacts on ecosystems and are expected to increase under future climate change. Extremes in vegetation could capture such impacts and indicate the vulnerability of ecosystems, but currently have not received a global long-term assessment. In this study, a robust method has been developed to detect significant extremes (low values) in biweekly time series of global normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1982 to 2006 and thus to acquire a global pattern of vegetation extreme frequency. This pattern coincides with vegetation vulnerability patterns suggested by earlier studies using different methods over different time spans, indicating a consistent mechanism of regulation. Vegetation extremes were found to aggregate in Amazonia and in the semi-arid and semi-humid regions in low and middle latitudes, while they seldom occurred in high latitudes. Among the environmental variables studied, extreme low precipitation has the highest slope against extreme vegetation. For the eight biomes analyzed, these slopes are highest in temperate broadleaf forest and temperate grassland, suggesting a higher sensitivity in these environments. The results presented here contradict the hypothesis that vegetation in water-limited semi-arid and semi-humid regions might be adapted to drought and suggest that vegetation in these regions (especially temperate broadleaf forest and temperate grassland) is highly prone to vegetation extreme events under more severe precipitation extremes. It is also suggested here that more attention be paid to precipitation-induced vegetation changes than to temperature-induced events. (letter)

  18. Integration of modern statistical tools for the analysis of climate extremes into the web-GIS “CLIMATE”

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryazanova, A. A.; Okladnikov, I. G.; Gordov, E. P.

    2017-11-01

    The frequency of occurrence and magnitude of precipitation and temperature extreme events show positive trends in several geographical regions. These events must be analyzed and studied in order to better understand their impact on the environment, predict their occurrences, and mitigate their effects. For this purpose, we augmented web-GIS called “CLIMATE” to include a dedicated statistical package developed in the R language. The web-GIS “CLIMATE” is a software platform for cloud storage processing and visualization of distributed archives of spatial datasets. It is based on a combined use of web and GIS technologies with reliable procedures for searching, extracting, processing, and visualizing the spatial data archives. The system provides a set of thematic online tools for the complex analysis of current and future climate changes and their effects on the environment. The package includes new powerful methods of time-dependent statistics of extremes, quantile regression and copula approach for the detailed analysis of various climate extreme events. Specifically, the very promising copula approach allows obtaining the structural connections between the extremes and the various environmental characteristics. The new statistical methods integrated into the web-GIS “CLIMATE” can significantly facilitate and accelerate the complex analysis of climate extremes using only a desktop PC connected to the Internet.

  19. Competition and facilitation structure plant communities under nurse tree canopies in extremely stressful environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Namazi, Ali A; El-Bana, Magdy I; Bonser, Stephen P

    2017-04-01

    Nurse plant facilitation in stressful environments can produce an environment with relatively low stress under its canopy. These nurse plants may produce the conditions promoting intense competition between coexisting species under the canopy, and canopies may establish stress gradients, where stress increases toward the edge of the canopy. Competition and facilitation on these stress gradients may control species distributions in the communities under canopies. We tested the following predictions: (1) interactions between understory species shift from competition to facilitation in habitats experiencing increasing stress from the center to the edge of canopy of a nurse plant, and (2) species distributions in understory communities are controlled by competitive interactions at the center of canopy, and facilitation at the edge of the canopy. We tested these predictions using a neighbor removal experiment under nurse trees growing in arid environments. Established individuals of each of four of the most common herbaceous species in the understory were used in the experiment. Two species were more frequent in the center of the canopy, and two species were more frequent at the edge of the canopy. Established individuals of each species were subjected to neighbor removal or control treatments in both canopy center and edge habitats. We found a shift from competitive to facilitative interactions from the center to the edge of the canopy. The shift in the effect of neighbors on the target species can help to explain species distributions in these canopies. Canopy-dominant species only perform well in the presence of neighbors in the edge microhabitat. Competition from canopy-dominant species can also limit the performance of edge-dominant species in the canopy microhabitat. The shift from competition to facilitation under nurse plant canopies can structure the understory communities in extremely stressful environments.

  20. Adaptation strategies of endolithic chlorophototrophs to survive the hyperarid and extreme solar radiation environment of the Atacama Desert.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wierzchos, Jacek; DiRuggiero, Jocelyne; Vítek, Petr; Artieda, Octavio; Souza-Egipsy, Virginia; Škaloud, Pavel; Tisza, Michel; Davila, Alfonso F; Vílchez, Carlos; Garbayo, Inés; Ascaso, Carmen

    2015-01-01

    The Atacama Desert, northern Chile, is one of the driest deserts on Earth and, as such, a natural laboratory to explore the limits of life and the strategies evolved by microorganisms to adapt to extreme environments. Here we report the exceptional adaptation strategies of chlorophototrophic and eukaryotic algae, and chlorophototrophic and prokaryotic cyanobacteria to the hyperarid and extremely high solar radiation conditions occurring in this desert. Our approach combined several microscopy techniques, spectroscopic analytical methods, and molecular analyses. We found that the major adaptation strategy was to avoid the extreme environmental conditions by colonizing cryptoendolithic, as well as, hypoendolithic habitats within gypsum deposits. The cryptoendolithic colonization occurred a few millimeters beneath the gypsum surface and showed a succession of organized horizons of algae and cyanobacteria, which has never been reported for endolithic microbial communities. The presence of cyanobacteria beneath the algal layer, in close contact with sepiolite inclusions, and their hypoendolithic colonization suggest that occasional liquid water might persist within these sub-microhabitats. We also identified the presence of abundant carotenoids in the upper cryptoendolithic algal habitat and scytonemin in the cyanobacteria hypoendolithic habitat. This study illustrates that successful lithobiontic microbial colonization at the limit for microbial life is the result of a combination of adaptive strategies to avoid excess solar irradiance and extreme evapotranspiration rates, taking advantage of the complex structural and mineralogical characteristics of gypsum deposits-conceptually called "rock's habitable architecture." Additionally, self-protection by synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites likely produces a shielding effect that prevents photoinhibition and lethal photooxidative damage to the chlorophototrophs, representing another level of adaptation.

  1. Solar Probe Plus MAG Sensor Thermal Design for Low Heater Power and Extreme Thermal Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Michael K.

    2015-01-01

    The heater power available for the Solar Probe Plus FIELDS MAG sensor is less than half of the heritage value for other missions. Nominally the MAG sensors are in the spacecraft's umbra. In the worst hot case, approximately 200 spacecraft communication downlinks, up to 10 hours each, are required at 0.7 AU. These downlinks require the spacecraft to slew 45 deg. about the Y-axis, exposing the MAG sensors and boom to sunlight. This paper presents the thermal design to meet the MAG sensor thermal requirements in the extreme thermal environment and with low heater power. A thermal balance test on the MAG sensor engineering model has verified the thermal design and correlated the thermal model for flight temperature predictions.

  2. Adaptation to extreme environments: structure-function relationships in Emperor penguin haemoglobin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamburrini, M; Condò, S G; di Prisco, G; Giardina, B

    1994-04-15

    The functional properties of the single haemoglobin (Hb) of Emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) have been investigated at different temperatures as a function of proton and organic phosphate concentration. The complete amino acid sequence has been established. Comparison with that of human HbA shows 12 substitutions in the contact regions of alpha beta dimers. In addition to overall similarities shared with most of the avian Hbs previously described, this Hb shows significant differences, which could be related to the peculiar behaviour of this penguin. In particular we may consider that: (1) the shape of the Bohr effect curve seems well adapted for gas exchange during very prolonged dives, preserving penguin Hb from a sudden and not controlled stripping of oxygen; (2) the very minor enthalpy change observed at lower pH could be an example of molecular adaptation, through which oxygen delivery becomes essentially insensitive to exposure to the extremely low temperatures of the environment. Moreover, the small alkaline Bohr effect has been found to be only chloride-linked, since the pH dependence of the oxygen affinity is totally abolished in the absence of this ion. These functional characteristics are discussed on the basis of the primary structure of alpha and beta-chains.

  3. Use of extremity insulation during whole body hyperthermia to reduce temperature nonuniformity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thrall, D.E.; Page, R.L.

    1987-01-01

    The author previously documented during whole body hyperthermia in dogs using a radiant heating device that temperature at superficial sites, including tibial bone marrow, falls below systemic arterial temperature during the plateau phase of heating. This may be due to direct heat loss to the environment. Sites where temperature is lower than systemic arterial temperature during the plateau phase may become sanctuary sites where tumor deposits are spared because they do not receive the prescribed thermal dose. In an attempt to decrease temperature nonuniformity and increase thermal dose delivered to such superficial sites, extremity insulation has been employed during whole body hyperthermia in dogs. The author measured temperature at cutaneous and subcutaneous sites and within tibial bone marrow in insulated and noninsulated extremities of dogs undergoing whole body hyperthermia in the radiant heating device. The author found that extremity insulation is effective in reducing extremity temperature nonuniformity. Specific results are presented. Extremity insulation may be necessary during whole body hyperthermia to assure that extremity tumor deposits receive a thermal dose similar to that prescribed for the entire body

  4. Fiscal 1990 achievement report on next-generation industrial structure technology. Research and development of advanced materials for extreme environments (Research and development of advanced materials for extreme environments); 1990 nendo chotaikankyosei senshin zairyo no kenkyu kaihatsu seika hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1991-03-01

    Research and development went on for coal pitch derived and PAN (polyacrylonitrile) based carbon fiber/carbon matrix composite materials for use under high temperature environments, and a comprehensive survey was also conducted on the said materials. For the development of C/C (carbon/carbon) composite materials using coal pitch derived or PAN based carbon fibers, the carbonization process and the like were studied for improvement on carbon based matrix material performance, and basic studies were conducted for the compounding and molding of C/C composite materials under ultrahigh temperature/pressure circumstances. Oxidation resistant coatings were fabricated by use of candidate materials expected to present excellent oxidation resistance, and technical problems were isolated and studied for the optimization of the technology of surface coating. In the comprehensive survey, the latest technical trends inside and outside Japan were investigated, and technical issues were studied for the development of materials usable under extreme environments such as ultrahigh temperatures. (NEDO)

  5. Portable instrumentation for quantitatively measuring radioactive surface contaminations, including 90Sr

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brodzinski, R.L.

    1983-10-01

    In order to measure the effectiveness of decontamination efforts, a quantitative analysis of the radiocontamination is necessary, both before and after decontamination. Since it is desirable to release the decontaminated material for unrestricted use or disposal, the assay equipment must provide adequate sensitivity to measure the radioactivity at or below the release limit. In addition, the instrumentation must be capable of measuring all kinds of radiocontaminants including fission products, activation products, and transuranic materials. Finally, the survey instrumentation must be extremely versatile in order to assay the wide variety of contaminated surfaces in many environments, some of which may be extremely hostile or remote. This communication describes the development and application of portable instrumentation capable of quantitatively measuring most transuranics, activation products, and fission products, including 90 Sr, on almost any contaminated surface in nearly any location

  6. Two spatial scales in a bleaching event: Corals from the mildest and the most extreme thermal environments escape mortality

    KAUST Repository

    Pineda, Jesús

    2013-07-28

    In summer 2010, a bleaching event decimated the abundant reef flat coral Stylophora pistillata in some areas of the central Red Sea, where a series of coral reefs 100–300 m wide by several kilometers long extends from the coastline to about 20 km offshore. Mortality of corals along the exposed and protected sides of inner (inshore) and mid and outer (offshore) reefs and in situ and satellite sea surface temperatures (SSTs) revealed that the variability in the mortality event corresponded to two spatial scales of temperature variability: 300 m across the reef flat and 20 km across a series of reefs. However, the relationship between coral mortality and habitat thermal severity was opposite at the two scales. SSTs in summer 2010 were similar or increased modestly (0.5°C) in the outer and mid reefs relative to 2009. In the inner reef, 2010 temperatures were 1.4°C above the 2009 seasonal maximum for several weeks. We detected little or no coral mortality in mid and outer reefs. In the inner reef, mortality depended on exposure. Within the inner reef, mortality was modest on the protected (shoreward) side, the most severe thermal environment, with highest overall mean and maximum temperatures. In contrast, acute mortality was observed in the exposed (seaward) side, where temperature fluctuations and upper water temperature values were relatively less extreme. Refuges to thermally induced coral bleaching may include sites where extreme, high-frequency thermal variability may select for coral holobionts preadapted to, and physiologically condition corals to withstand, regional increases in water temperature.

  7. Adaptation strategies of endolithic chlorophototrophs to survive the hyperarid and extreme solar radiation environment of the Atacama Desert

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacek eWierzchos

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The Atacama Desert, northern Chile, is one of the driest deserts on Earth and, as such, a natural laboratory to explore the limits of life and the strategies evolved by microorganisms to adapt to extreme environments. Here we report the exceptional adaptation strategies of chlorophototrophic and eukaryotic algae, and chlorophototrophic and prokaryotic cyanobacteria to the hyperarid and extremely high solar radiation conditions occurring in this desert. Our approach combined several microscopy techniques, spectroscopic analytical methods, and molecular analyses. We found that the major adaptation strategy was to avoid the extreme environmental conditions by colonizing cryptoendolithic, as well as, hypoendolithic habitats within gypsum deposits. The cryptoendolithic colonization occurred a few millimeters beneath the gypsum surface and showed a succession of organized horizons of algae and cyanobacteria, which has never been reported for endolithic microbial communities. The presence of cyanobacteria beneath the algal layer, in close contact with sepiolite inclusions, and their hypoendolithic colonization suggest that occasional liquid water might persist within these sub-microhabitats. We also identified the presence of abundant carotenoids in the upper cryptoendolithic algal habitat and scytonemin in the cyanobacteria hypoendolithic habitat. This study illustrates that successful lithobiontic microbial colonization at the limit for microbial life is the result of a combination of adaptive strategies to avoid excess solar irradiance and extreme evapotranspiration rates, taking advantage of the complex structural and mineralogical characteristics of gypsum deposits – conceptually called rock’s habitable architecture. Additionally self-protection by synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites likely produces a shielding effect that prevents photoinhibition and lethal photooxidative damage to the chlorophototrophs, representing another

  8. In-Situ Acoustic Measurements of Temperature Profile in Extreme Environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Skliar, Mikhail [Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)

    2015-03-31

    A gasifier’s temperature is the primary characteristic that must be monitored to ensure its performance and the longevity of its refractory. One of the key technological challenges impacting the reliability and economics of coal and biomass gasification is the lack of temperature sensors that are capable of providing accurate, reliable, and long-life performance in an extreme gasification environment. This research has proposed, demonstrated, and validated a novel approach that uses a noninvasive ultrasound method that provides real-time temperature distribution monitoring across the refractory, especially the hot face temperature of the refractory. The essential idea of the ultrasound measurements of segmental temperature distribution is to use an ultrasound propagation waveguide across a refractory that has been engineered to contain multiple internal partial reflectors at known locations. When an ultrasound excitation pulse is introduced on the cold side of the refractory, it will be partially reflected from each scatterer in the US propagation path in the refractory wall and returned to the receiver as a train of partial echoes. The temperature in the corresponding segment can be determined based on recorded ultrasonic waveform and experimentally defined relationship between the speed of sound and temperature. The ultrasound measurement method offers a powerful solution to provide continuous real time temperature monitoring for the occasions that conventional thermal, optical and other sensors are infeasible, such as the impossibility of insertion of temperature sensor, harsh environment, unavailable optical path, and more. Our developed ultrasound system consists of an ultrasound engineered waveguide, ultrasound transducer/receiver, and data acquisition, logging, interpretation, and online display system, which is simple to install on the existing units with minimal modification on the gasifier or use with new units. This system has been successfully tested

  9. Evolution caused by extreme events.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grant, Peter R; Grant, B Rosemary; Huey, Raymond B; Johnson, Marc T J; Knoll, Andrew H; Schmitt, Johanna

    2017-06-19

    Extreme events can be a major driver of evolutionary change over geological and contemporary timescales. Outstanding examples are evolutionary diversification following mass extinctions caused by extreme volcanism or asteroid impact. The evolution of organisms in contemporary time is typically viewed as a gradual and incremental process that results from genetic change, environmental perturbation or both. However, contemporary environments occasionally experience strong perturbations such as heat waves, floods, hurricanes, droughts and pest outbreaks. These extreme events set up strong selection pressures on organisms, and are small-scale analogues of the dramatic changes documented in the fossil record. Because extreme events are rare, almost by definition, they are difficult to study. So far most attention has been given to their ecological rather than to their evolutionary consequences. We review several case studies of contemporary evolution in response to two types of extreme environmental perturbations, episodic (pulse) or prolonged (press). Evolution is most likely to occur when extreme events alter community composition. We encourage investigators to be prepared for evolutionary change in response to rare events during long-term field studies.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  10. New seismic instrumentation packaged for all terrestrial environments (including the quietest observatories!).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Tim; Devanney, Peter; Bainbridge, Geoff; Townsend, Bruce

    2017-04-01

    The march to make every type of seismometer, weak to strong motion, reliable and economically deployable in any terrestrial environment continues with the availability of three new sensors and seismic systems including ones with over 200dB of dynamic range. Until recently there were probably 100 pier type broadband sensors for every observatory type pier, not the types of deployments geoscientists are needing to advance science and monitoring capability. Deeper boreholes are now the recognized quieter environments for best observatory class instruments and these same instruments can now be deployed in direct burial environments which is unprecedented. The experiences of facilities in large deployments of broadband seismometers in continental scale rolling arrays proves the utility of packaging new sensors in corrosion resistant casings and designing in the robustness needed to work reliably in temporary deployments. Integrating digitizers and other sensors decreases deployment complexity, decreases acquisition and deployment costs, increases reliability and utility. We'll discuss the informed evolution of broadband pier instruments into the modern integrated field tools that enable economic densification of monitoring arrays along with supporting new ways to approach geoscience research in a field environment.

  11. VALIDATION OF HANFORD PERSONNEL AND EXTREMITY DOSIMETERS IN PLUTONIUM ENVIRONMENTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scherpelz, Robert I.; Fix, John J.; Rathbone, Bruce A.

    2000-02-10

    A study was performed in the Plutonium Finishing Plant to assess the performance of Hanford personnel neutron dosimetry. The study was assessed whole body dosimetry and extremity dosimetry performance. For both parts of the study, the TEPC was used as the principle instrument for characterizing workplace neutron fields. In the whole body study, 12.7-cm-diameter TEPCs were used in ten different locations in the facility. TLD and TED personnel dosimeters were exposed on a water-filled phantom to enable a comparison of TEPC and dosimeter response. In the extremity study, 1.27-cm-diameter TEPCs were exposed inside the fingers of a gloveboxe glove. Extremity dosimeters were wrapped around the TEPCs. The glove was then exposed to six different cans of plutonium, simulating the exposure that a worker's fingers would receive in a glovebox. The comparison of TEPC-measured neutron dose equivalent to TLD-measured gamma dose equivalent provided neutron-to-gamma ratios that can be used to estimate the neutron dose equivalent received by a worker's finger based on the gamma readings of an extremity dosimeter. The study also utilized a Snoopy and detectors based on bubble technology for assessing neutron exposures, providing a comparison of the effectiveness of these instruments for workplace monitoring. The study concludes that the TLD component of the HCND performs adequately overall, with a positive bias of 30%, but exhibits excessive variability in individual results due to instabilities in the algorithm. The TED response was less variable but only 20% of the TEPC reference dose on average because of the low neutron energies involved. The neutron response of the HSD was more variable than the TLD component of the HCND and biased high by a factor of 8 overall due to its calibration to unmoderated 252Cf. The study recommends further work to correct instabilities in the HCND algorithm and to explore the potential shown by the bubble-based dosimeters.

  12. Mathematical Analysis of Extremity Immersion Cooling for Brain Temperature Management

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Xu, Xiaojiang; Santee, William; Berglund, Larry; Gonzalez, Richard

    2004-01-01

    .... As blood flow rates and surface-to-volume ratios are generally high in the extremities, heat exchange between the body and the environment through the extremities is an important path for heat exchange...

  13. A Laboratory of Extremophiles: Iceland Coordination Action for Research Activities on Life in Extreme Environments (CAREX Field Campaign

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Hänsch

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available Existence of life in extreme environments has been known for a long time, and their habitants have been investigated by different scientific disciplines for decades. However, reports of multidisciplinary research are uncommon. In this paper, we report an interdisciplinary three-day field campaign conducted in the framework of the Coordination Action for Research Activities on Life in Extreme Environments (CAREX FP7EU program, with participation of experts in the fields of life and earth sciences. In situ experiments and sampling were performed in a 20 m long hot springs system of different temperature (57 °C to 100 °C and pH (2 to 4. Abiotic factors were measured to study their influence on the diversity. The CO2 and H2S concentration varied at different sampling locations in the system, but the SO2 remained the same. Four biofilms, mainly composed by four different algae and phototrophic protists, showed differences in photosynthetic activity. Varying temperature of the sampling location affects chlorophyll fluorescence, not only in the microbial mats, but plants (Juncus, indicating selective adaptation to the environmental conditions. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR, DNA microarray and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE-based analysis in laboratory showed the presence of a diverse microbial population. Even a short duration (30 h deployment of a micro colonizer in this hot spring system led to colonization of microorganisms based on ribosomal intergenic spacer (RISA analysis. Polyphasic analysis of this hot spring system was possible due to the involvement of multidisciplinary approaches.

  14. Defining Population Health Vulnerability Following an Extreme Weather Event in an Urban Pacific Island Environment: Honiara, Solomon Islands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natuzzi, Eileen S.; Joshua, Cynthia; Shortus, Matthew; Reubin, Reginald; Dalipanda, Tenneth; Ferran, Karen; Aumua, Audrey; Brodine, Stephanie

    2016-01-01

    Extreme weather events are common and increasing in intensity in the southwestern Pacific region. Health impacts from cyclones and tropical storms cause acute injuries and infectious disease outbreaks. Defining population vulnerability to extreme weather events by examining a recent flood in Honiara, Solomon Islands, can help stakeholders and policymakers adapt development to reduce future threats. The acute and subacute health impacts following the April 2014 floods were defined using data obtained from hospitals and clinics, the Ministry of Health and in-country World Health Organization office in Honiara. Geographical information system (GIS) was used to assess morbidity and mortality, and vulnerability of the health system infrastructure and households in Honiara. The April flash floods were responsible for 21 acute deaths, 33 injuries, and a diarrhea outbreak that affected 8,584 people with 10 pediatric deaths. A GIS vulnerability assessment of the location of the health system infrastructure and households relative to rivers and the coastline identified 75% of the health infrastructure and over 29% of Honiara's population as vulnerable to future hydrological events. Honiara, Solomon Islands, is a rapidly growing, highly vulnerable urban Pacific Island environment. Evaluation of the mortality and morbidity from the April 2014 floods as well as the infectious disease outbreaks that followed allows public health specialists and policy makers to understand the health system and populations vulnerability to future shocks. Understanding the negative impacts natural disaster have on people living in urban Pacific environments will help the government as well as development partners in crafting resilient adaptation development. PMID:27091867

  15. Survival in extreme environments – on the current knowledge of adaptations in tardigrades

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møbjerg, Nadja; Halberg, Kenneth Agerlin; Jørgensen, Aslak

    2011-01-01

    of mechanisms explaining this phenomenon is lacking. Importantly, recent research has shown that tardigrades even in their active states may be extremely tolerant to environmental stress, handling extreme levels of ionizing radiation, large fluctuation in external salinity and avoiding freezing by supercooling...

  16. Microbial ecology of extreme environments: Antarctic yeasts and growth in substrate-limited habitats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vishniac, H. S.

    1985-01-01

    The high, dry valleys of the Ross Desert of Antarctic, characterized by extremely low temperatures, aridity and a depauperate biota, are used as an analog of the postulated extreme climates of other planetary bodies of the Solar System to test the hypothesis that if life could be supported by Ross, it might be possible where similar conditions prevail. The previously considered sterility of the Ross Desert soil ecosystem has yielded up an indigenous yeast, Cryptoccus vishniacci, which is able to resist the extremes of cold, wet and dry freezing, and long arid periods, while making minimal nutritional demands on the soil.

  17. The benefits of integrating Internet technology with standard communications for telemedicine in extreme environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harnett, B M; Satava, R; Angood, P; Merriam, N R; Doarn, C R; Merrell, R C

    2001-12-01

    The ability to continuously monitor the vital signs of a person can be beneficial especially if the environment is hazardous or a person simply has general health concerns. We wanted to ascertain if, by integrating the Internet, ubiquitous switching technologies and off-the-shelf tools, this "suite of services" could provide a topology to enable remote monitoring in extreme and remote locations. An evaluation of this approach was conducted at the base camp of Mount Everest in the spring of 1999. Three climbers were outfitted with wireless, wearable sensors and transmitters for 24 h as they ascended through the Khumbu Icefall toward Camp One. The physiologic data was forwarded to the receiving station at Base Camp where it was forwarded to the U.S. mainland. Two of the three devices delivered physiologic data 95%-100% of the time while the third unit operated at only 78%. According to the climbers, the devices were unobtrusive, however, any additional weight while climbing Everest must provide advantage.

  18. Distributional records of Antarctic fungi based on strains preserved in the Culture Collection of Fungi from Extreme Environments (CCFEE Mycological Section associated with the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura Selbmann

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This dataset includes information regarding fungal strains collected during several Antarctic expeditions: the Italian National Antarctic Research program (PNRA expeditions “X” (1994/1995, “XII” (1996/1997, “XVII” (2001/2002, “XIX” (2003/2004, “XXVI” (2010/2011, the Czech “IPY Expedition” (2007–2009 and a number of strains donated by E. Imre Friedmann (Florida State University in 2001, isolated from samples collected during the U.S.A. Antarctic Expeditions of 1980-1982. Samples, consisting of colonized rocks, mosses, lichens, sediments and soils, were collected in Southern and Northern Victoria Land of the continental Antarctica and in the Antarctic Peninsula. A total of 259 different strains were isolated, belonging to 32 genera and 38 species, out of which 12 represented new taxa. These strains are preserved in the Antarctic section of the Culture Collection of Fungi from Extreme Environments (CCFEE, which represents one of the collections associated with the Italian National Antarctic Museum (MNA, Section of Genoa, Italy, located at the Laboratory of Systematic Botany and Mycology, Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences (DEB, Tuscia University (Viterbo, Italy. The CCFEE hosts a total of 486 Antarctic fungal strains from worldwide extreme environments. Distributional records are reported here for 259 of these strains. The holotypes of the 12 new species included in this dataset are maintained at CCFEE and in other international collections: CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre (Utrecht, Netherlands; DBVPG, Industrial Yeasts Collection (University of Perugia, Italy; DSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures (Brunswick, Germany; IMI, International Mycological Institute (London, U.K..

  19. In Situ Raman Spectral Characteristics of Carbon Dioxide in a Deep-Sea Simulator of Extreme Environments Reaching 300 ℃ and 30 MPa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Lianfu; Du, Zengfeng; Zhang, Xin; Xi, Shichuan; Wang, Bing; Luan, Zhendong; Lian, Chao; Yan, Jun

    2018-01-01

    Deep-sea carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) plays a significant role in the global carbon cycle and directly affects the living environment of marine organisms. In situ Raman detection technology is an effective approach to study the behavior of deep-sea CO 2 . However, the Raman spectral characteristics of CO 2 can be affected by the environment, thus restricting the phase identification and quantitative analysis of CO 2 . In order to study the Raman spectral characteristics of CO 2 in extreme environments (up to 300 ℃ and 30 MPa), which cover most regions of hydrothermal vents and cold seeps around the world, a deep-sea extreme environment simulator was developed. The Raman spectra of CO 2 in different phases were obtained with Raman insertion probe (RiP) system, which was also used in in situ Raman detection in the deep sea carried by remotely operated vehicle (ROV) "Faxian". The Raman frequency shifts and bandwidths of gaseous, liquid, solid, and supercritical CO 2 and the CO 2 -H 2 O system were determined with the simulator. In our experiments (0-300 ℃ and 0-30 MPa), the peak positions of the symmetric stretching modes of gaseous CO 2, liquid CO 2 , and supercritical CO 2 shift approximately 0.6 cm -1 (1387.8-1388.4 cm -1 ), 0.7 cm -1 (1385.5-1386.2 cm -1 ), and 2.5 cm -1 (1385.7-1388.2 cm -1 ), and those of the bending modes shift about 1.0 cm -1 (1284.7-1285.7 cm -1 ), 1.9 cm -1 (1280.1-1282.0 cm -1 ), and 4.4 cm -1 (1281.0-1285.4 cm -1 ), respectively. The Raman spectral characteristics of the CO 2 -H 2 O system were also studied under the same conditions. The peak positions of dissolved CO 2 varied approximately 4.5 cm -1 (1282.5-1287.0 cm -1 ) and 2.4 cm -1 (1274.4-1276.8 cm -1 ) for each peak. In comparison with our experiment results, the phases of CO 2 in extreme conditions (0-3000 m and 0-300 ℃) can be identified with the Raman spectra collected in situ. This qualitative research on CO 2 can also support the

  20. What are extreme environmental conditions and how do organisms cope with them?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John C. WINGFIELD, J. Patrick KELLEY, Frédéric ANGELIER

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Severe environmental conditions affect organisms in two major ways. The environment may be predictably severe such as in deserts, polar and alpine regions, or individuals may be exposed to temporarily extreme conditions through weather, presence of predators, lack of food, social status etc. Existence in an extreme environment may be possible, but then to breed or molt in addition can present major bottlenecks that have resulted in the evolution of hormone-behavior adaptations to cope with unpredictable events. Examples of hormone-behavior adaptations in extreme conditions include attenuated testosterone secretion because territoriality and excess courtship may be too costly when there is one opportunity to reproduce. The individual may even become insensitive to testosterone when target areas of the brain regulating reproductive behavior no longer respond to the hormone. A second example is reduced sensitivity to glucocorticoids following acute stress during the breeding season or molt that allows successful reproduction and/or a vital renewal of the integument to endure extreme conditions during the rest of the year. Reduced sensitivity could involve: (a modulated response of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, (b reduced sensitivity to high glucocorticoid levels, or (c a combination of (a and (b. Moreover, corticosteroid binding proteins (CBP buffer responses to stress by reducing the movement of glucocorticoids into target cells. Finally, intracellular enzymes (11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and variants can deactivate glucocorticoids entering cells thus reducing interaction with receptors. These mechanisms have important implications for climate change and increasing extremes of weather [Current Zoology 57 (3: 363–374, 2011].

  1. Biosignatures of Hypersaline Environments (Salt Crusts) an Analog for Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, H. D.; Duncan, A. G.; Davilla, A. F.; McKay, C. P.

    2016-05-01

    Halophilic ecosystems are models for life in extreme environments including planetary surfaces such as Mars. Our research focuses on biosignatures in a salt crusts and the detection of these biomarkers by ground and orbital assests.

  2. Rain Characteristics and Large-Scale Environments of Precipitation Objects with Extreme Rain Volumes from TRMM Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yaping; Lau, William K M.; Liu, Chuntao

    2013-01-01

    This study adopts a "precipitation object" approach by using 14 years of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Feature (PF) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis data to study rainfall structure and environmental factors associated with extreme heavy rain events. Characteristics of instantaneous extreme volumetric PFs are examined and compared to those of intermediate and small systems. It is found that instantaneous PFs exhibit a much wider scale range compared to the daily gridded precipitation accumulation range. The top 1% of the rainiest PFs contribute over 55% of total rainfall and have 2 orders of rain volume magnitude greater than those of the median PFs. We find a threshold near the top 10% beyond which the PFs grow exponentially into larger, deeper, and colder rain systems. NCEP reanalyses show that midlevel relative humidity and total precipitable water increase steadily with increasingly larger PFs, along with a rapid increase of 500 hPa upward vertical velocity beyond the top 10%. This provides the necessary moisture convergence to amplify and sustain the extreme events. The rapid increase in vertical motion is associated with the release of convective available potential energy (CAPE) in mature systems, as is evident in the increase in CAPE of PFs up to 10% and the subsequent dropoff. The study illustrates distinct stages in the development of an extreme rainfall event including: (1) a systematic buildup in large-scale temperature and moisture, (2) a rapid change in rain structure, (3) explosive growth of the PF size, and (4) a release of CAPE before the demise of the event.

  3. Prevention through policy: Urban macroplastic leakages to the marine environment during extreme rainfall events

    OpenAIRE

    Axelsson, Charles; van Sebille, Erik

    2017-01-01

    The leakage of large plastic litter (macroplastics) into the ocean is a major environmental problem. A significant fraction of this leakage originates from coastal cities, particularly during extreme rainfall events. As coastal cities continue to grow, finding ways to reduce this macroplastic leakage is extremely pertinent. Here, we explore why and how coastal cities can reduce macroplastic leakages during extreme rainfall events. Using nine global cities as a basis, we establish that while c...

  4. Atomic collisions under extreme conditions in space

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itikawa, Yukikazu

    1987-01-01

    In space, atoms and molecules are often placed under the extreme conditions which are very difficult to be realized on Earth. For instance, extremely hot and dense plasmas are found in and around various stellar objects (e.g., neutron stars) on one hand and extremely cold and diffuse gases prevail in interstellar space on the other. There is so strong a magnetic field that electron clouds in atoms and molecules are distorted. The study of atomic collisions under the extreme conditions is not only helpful in understanding the astrophysical environment but also reveals new aspects of the physics of atoms and molecules. This paper is an invitation to the study. (References are not exhaustive but only provide a clue with which more details can be found.) (author)

  5. Extreme environments select for reproductive assurance: evidence from evening primroses (Oenothera).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Margaret E K; Hearn, David J; Theiss, Kathryn E; Cranston, Karen; Holsinger, Kent E; Donoghue, Michael J

    2011-07-01

    Competing evolutionary forces shape plant breeding systems (e.g. inbreeding depression, reproductive assurance). Which of these forces prevails in a given population or species is predicted to depend upon such factors as life history, ecological conditions, and geographical context. Here, we examined two such predictions: that self-compatibility should be associated with the annual life history or extreme climatic conditions. We analyzed data from a clade of plants remarkable for variation in breeding system, life history and climatic conditions (Oenothera, sections Anogra and Kleinia, Onagraceae). We used a phylogenetic comparative approach and Bayesian or hybrid Bayesian tests to account for phylogenetic uncertainty. Geographic information system (GIS)-based climate data and ecological niche modeling allowed us to quantify climatic conditions. Breeding system and reproductive life span are not correlated in Anogra and Kleinia. Instead, self-compatibility is associated with the extremes of temperature in the coldest part of the year and precipitation in the driest part of the year. In the 60 yr since this pattern was anticipated, this is the first demonstration of a relationship between the evolution of self-compatibility and climatic extremes. We discuss possible explanations for this pattern and possible implications with respect to anthropogenic climate change. © 2011 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2011 New Phytologist Trust.

  6. E.X.T.R.E.M.E. project. Launch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eyrolle, F.; Charmasson, S.; Masson, O.

    2005-01-01

    Due to the drastic decrease in artificial radioactivity levels from primary sources such as atmospheric fallout or industrial releases, radioactive storages constituted in the past within several environmental compartments act today as non negligible secondary sources. These delayed sources are particularly active during extreme weather or climatic events such as rainfalls or atmospheric deposits, floods, storms, etc...that may remove important mass, generate activity levels higher than the predicted ones from modeling based on mean transfer process, and produce in a couple of hours or days fluxes similar to those accrued over several month or years. Extreme aims at assessing the consequences on man and its environment of natural events that generate extreme radioactive stocks and/or fluxes within several environmental compartments (atmosphere, soils, rivers, coastal marine environment and deep sea areas). (authors)

  7. A Generalized Framework for Non-Stationary Extreme Value Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ragno, E.; Cheng, L.; Sadegh, M.; AghaKouchak, A.

    2017-12-01

    Empirical trends in climate variables including precipitation, temperature, snow-water equivalent at regional to continental scales are evidence of changes in climate over time. The evolving climate conditions and human activity-related factors such as urbanization and population growth can exert further changes in weather and climate extremes. As a result, the scientific community faces an increasing demand for updated appraisal of the time-varying climate extremes. The purpose of this study is to offer a robust and flexible statistical tool for non-stationary extreme value analysis which can better characterize the severity and likelihood of extreme climatic variables. This is critical to ensure a more resilient environment in a changing climate. Following the positive feedback on the first version of Non-Stationary Extreme Value Analysis (NEVA) Toolbox by Cheng at al. 2014, we present an improved version, i.e. NEVA2.0. The upgraded version herein builds upon a newly-developed hybrid evolution Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach for numerical parameters estimation and uncertainty assessment. This addition leads to a more robust uncertainty estimates of return levels, return periods, and risks of climatic extremes under both stationary and non-stationary assumptions. Moreover, NEVA2.0 is flexible in incorporating any user-specified covariate other than the default time-covariate (e.g., CO2 emissions, large scale climatic oscillation patterns). The new feature will allow users to examine non-stationarity of extremes induced by physical conditions that underlie the extreme events (e.g. antecedent soil moisture deficit, large-scale climatic teleconnections, urbanization). In addition, the new version offers an option to generate stationary and/or non-stationary rainfall Intensity - Duration - Frequency (IDF) curves that are widely used for risk assessment and infrastructure design. Finally, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the package is provided, making NEVA

  8. Automaton Rover for Extreme Environments, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Venus, with its sulfuric acid clouds, temperatures of over 450', and surface pressure of 92 bar, is one of the most hostile planetary environments in the solar...

  9. 40 CFR 355.12 - What quantities of extremely hazardous substances trigger emergency planning requirements?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... EMERGENCY PLANNING AND NOTIFICATION Emergency Planning Who Must Comply § 355.12 What quantities of extremely... 40 Protection of Environment 27 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What quantities of extremely hazardous substances trigger emergency planning requirements? 355.12 Section 355.12 Protection of Environment...

  10. Nonhydrostatic and surfbeat model predictions of extreme wave run-up in fringing reef environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lashley, Christopher H.; Roelvink, Dano; van Dongeren, Ap R.; Buckley, Mark L.; Lowe, Ryan J.

    2018-01-01

    The accurate prediction of extreme wave run-up is important for effective coastal engineering design and coastal hazard management. While run-up processes on open sandy coasts have been reasonably well-studied, very few studies have focused on understanding and predicting wave run-up at coral reef-fronted coastlines. This paper applies the short-wave resolving, Nonhydrostatic (XB-NH) and short-wave averaged, Surfbeat (XB-SB) modes of the XBeach numerical model to validate run-up using data from two 1D (alongshore uniform) fringing-reef profiles without roughness elements, with two objectives: i) to provide insight into the physical processes governing run-up in such environments; and ii) to evaluate the performance of both modes in accurately predicting run-up over a wide range of conditions. XBeach was calibrated by optimizing the maximum wave steepness parameter (maxbrsteep) in XB-NH and the dissipation coefficient (alpha) in XB-SB) using the first dataset; and then applied to the second dataset for validation. XB-NH and XB-SB predictions of extreme wave run-up (Rmax and R2%) and its components, infragravity- and sea-swell band swash (SIG and SSS) and shoreline setup (), were compared to observations. XB-NH more accurately simulated wave transformation but under-predicted shoreline setup due to its exclusion of parameterized wave-roller dynamics. XB-SB under-predicted sea-swell band swash but overestimated shoreline setup due to an over-prediction of wave heights on the reef flat. Run-up (swash) spectra were dominated by infragravity motions, allowing the short-wave (but not wave group) averaged model (XB-SB) to perform comparably well to its more complete, short-wave resolving (XB-NH) counterpart. Despite their respective limitations, both modes were able to accurately predict Rmax and R2%.

  11. “An Environment Built to Include Rather than Exclude Me”: Creating Inclusive Environments for Human Well-Being

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natasha A. Layton

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Contemporary discourses which challenge the notion of health as the “absence of disease” are prompting changes in health policy and practice. People with disability have been influential in progressing our understanding of the impact of contextual factors in individual and population health, highlighting the impact of environmental factors on functioning and inclusion. The World Health Organization’s (WHO more holistic definition of health as “wellbeing” is now applied in frameworks and legislation, and has long been understood in occupational therapy theory. In practice, however, occupational therapists and other professionals often address only local and individual environmental factors to promote wellbeing, within systems and societies that limit equity in population health and restrict inclusion in communities. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the supports and accommodations identified by a cohort of individuals (n-100 living with disability. A range of environmental facilitators and barriers were identified in peoples’ experience of “inclusive community environs” and found to influence inclusion and wellbeing. The roles and responsibilities of individuals, professionals, and society to enact change in environments are discussed in light of these findings. Recommendations include a focus on the subjective experience of environments, and application of theory from human rights and inclusive economics to address the multiple dimensions and levels of environments in working towards inclusion and wellbeing.

  12. Investigating Extreme Lifestyles through Mangrove Transcriptomics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dassanayake, Maheshi

    2009-01-01

    Mangroves represent phylogenetically diverse taxa in tropical coastal terrestrial habitats. They are extremophiles, evolutionarily adapted to tolerate flooding, anoxia, high temperatures, wind, and high and extremely variable salt conditions in typically resource-poor environments. The genetic basis for these adaptations is, however, virtually…

  13. [The heart in extreme sports: hyperbaric activity and microgravity].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berrettini, Umberto; Landolfi, Angelo; Patteri, Giovanna

    2008-10-01

    The study of the cardiovascular and respiratory modifications in extreme environments could be useful for the understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of the body in particular conditions. The knowledge of how different environmental conditions in terms of extreme pressure, temperature and gravity modify the neurovegetative and cardiovascular system could be useful in daily practice for hypobaric and hyperbaric sports.

  14. Mechanisms of interfacial reactivity in near surface and extreme environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Ying [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Balaska, Eric [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Weare, John [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Fulton, John [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Bogatko, Stuart [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Balasubramanian, Mahalingam [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Cauet, Emilie [Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Kerisit, Sebastien [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Felmy, Andrew [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Schenter, Gregory [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Weare, Jonathan [U of Chicago

    2017-01-09

    +, Co2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Cr3+. Calculations on these systems are demanding because of their open electronic shells, and high ionic charge. Principal Investigator: Professor John Weare (University of California, San Diego) The prediction of the interactions of geochemical fluids with minerals, nanoparticles, and colloids under extreme near surface conditions of temperature (T) and pressure (P) is a grand challenge research need in geosciences (U.S. DOE 2007, Basic Research Needs for Geosciences: Facilitating the 21st Energy Systems.). To evaluate the impact of these processes on energy production and management strategies it is necessary to have a high level of understanding of the interaction between complex natural fluids and mineral formations. This program emphasizes 1st principle parameter free simulations of complex chemical processes in solutions, in the mineral phase, and in the interfaces between these phases The development of new computational tools (with emphasis on oxide materials and reaction dynamics) tailored to treat wide range of conditions and time scales experienced in such geochemical applications is has been developed. Because of the sensitivity of the interaction in these systems to electronic structure and local bonding environments, and of the need to describe bond breaking/formation, our simulations are based on interactions calculated at the electronic structure level (ab-initio molecular dynamics, AIMD). The progress in the computational aspects of program may be summarized in terms of the following themes (objectives); Development of efficient parameter free dynamical simulation technology based on 1st principles force and energy calculations especially adapted for geochemical applications (e.g., mineral, interfaces and aqueous solutions) (continuing program); Calculation of the dynamics of water structure of in the surface-water interface of transition metal oxides and oxihydroxides; and

  15. Quality-control of an hourly rainfall dataset and climatology of extremes for the UK.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blenkinsop, Stephen; Lewis, Elizabeth; Chan, Steven C; Fowler, Hayley J

    2017-02-01

    Sub-daily rainfall extremes may be associated with flash flooding, particularly in urban areas but, compared with extremes on daily timescales, have been relatively little studied in many regions. This paper describes a new, hourly rainfall dataset for the UK based on ∼1600 rain gauges from three different data sources. This includes tipping bucket rain gauge data from the UK Environment Agency (EA), which has been collected for operational purposes, principally flood forecasting. Significant problems in the use of such data for the analysis of extreme events include the recording of accumulated totals, high frequency bucket tips, rain gauge recording errors and the non-operation of gauges. Given the prospect of an intensification of short-duration rainfall in a warming climate, the identification of such errors is essential if sub-daily datasets are to be used to better understand extreme events. We therefore first describe a series of procedures developed to quality control this new dataset. We then analyse ∼380 gauges with near-complete hourly records for 1992-2011 and map the seasonal climatology of intense rainfall based on UK hourly extremes using annual maxima, n-largest events and fixed threshold approaches. We find that the highest frequencies and intensities of hourly extreme rainfall occur during summer when the usual orographically defined pattern of extreme rainfall is replaced by a weaker, north-south pattern. A strong diurnal cycle in hourly extremes, peaking in late afternoon to early evening, is also identified in summer and, for some areas, in spring. This likely reflects the different mechanisms that generate sub-daily rainfall, with convection dominating during summer. The resulting quality-controlled hourly rainfall dataset will provide considerable value in several contexts, including the development of standard, globally applicable quality-control procedures for sub-daily data, the validation of the new generation of very high

  16. Extreme conditions (p, T, H)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mesot, J [Lab. for Neutron Scattering ETH Zurich, Zurich (Switzerland) and Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen (Switzerland)

    1996-11-01

    The aim of this paper is to summarize the sample environment which will be accessible at the SINQ. In order to illustrate the type of experiments which will be feasible under extreme conditions of temperature, magnetic field and pressure at the SINQ a few selected examples are also given. (author) 7 figs., 14 refs.

  17. Extreme Geohazards: Reducing the Disaster Risk and Increasing Resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plag, Hans-Peter; Stein, Seth; Brocklebank, Sean; Jules-Plag, Shelley; Marsh, Stuart; Campus, Paola

    2013-04-01

    Extreme geohazards have the potential to escalate the global sustainability crisis and put us close to the boundaries of the safe operating space for humanity. Exposure of human assets to geohazards has increased dramatically in recent decades, and the sensitivity of the built environment and the embedded socio-economic fabric have changed. We are putting the urban environment, including megacities, in harm's way. Paradoxically, innovation during recent decades, in particular, urban innovation, has increased the disaster risk and coupled this risk to the sustainability crisis. Only more innovation can reduce disaster risk and lead us out of the sustainability crisis. Extreme geohazards (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis) that occurred regularly throughout the last few millennia mostly did not cause major disasters because population density was low and the built environment was not sprawling into hazardous areas to the same extent as today. Similar extreme events today would cause unparalleled damage on a global scale and could worsen the sustainability crisis. Simulation of these extreme hazards under present conditions can help to assess the disaster risk. The Geohazards Community of Practice of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) with support from the European Science Foundation is preparing a white paper assessing the contemporary disaster risks associated with extreme geohazards and developing a vision for science and society to engage in deliberations addressing this risk (see http://www.geohazcop.org/projects/extgeowp). Risk awareness and monitoring is highly uneven across the world, and this creates two kinds of problems. Firstly, potential hazards are much more closely monitored in wealthy countries than in the developing world. But the largest hazards are global in nature, and it is critical to get as much forewarning as possible to develop an effective response. The disasters and near-misses of the past show that adherence to scientific

  18. Statistics of extremes theory and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Beirlant, Jan; Segers, Johan; Teugels, Jozef; De Waal, Daniel; Ferro, Chris

    2006-01-01

    Research in the statistical analysis of extreme values has flourished over the past decade: new probability models, inference and data analysis techniques have been introduced; and new application areas have been explored. Statistics of Extremes comprehensively covers a wide range of models and application areas, including risk and insurance: a major area of interest and relevance to extreme value theory. Case studies are introduced providing a good balance of theory and application of each model discussed, incorporating many illustrated examples and plots of data. The last part of the book covers some interesting advanced topics, including  time series, regression, multivariate and Bayesian modelling of extremes, the use of which has huge potential.  

  19. Life under Multiple Extreme Conditions: Diversity and Physiology of the Halophilic Alkalithermophiles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiegel, Juergen

    2012-01-01

    Around the world, there are numerous alkaline, hypersaline environments that are heated either geothermally or through intense solar radiation. It was once thought that such harsh environments were inhospitable and incapable of supporting a variety of life. However, numerous culture-dependent and -independent studies revealed the presence of an extensive diversity of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and archaea that survive and grow under these multiple harsh conditions. This diversity includes the halophilic alkalithermophiles, a novel group of polyextremophiles that require for growth and proliferation the multiple extremes of high salinity, alkaline pH, and elevated temperature. Life under these conditions undoubtedly involves the development of unique physiological characteristics, phenotypic properties, and adaptive mechanisms that enable control of membrane permeability, control of intracellular osmotic balance, and stability of the cell wall, intracellular proteins, and other cellular constituents. This minireview highlights the ecology and growth characteristics of the extremely halophilic alkalithermophiles that have been isolated thus far. Biochemical, metabolic, and physiological properties of the extremely halophilic alkalithermophiles are described, and their roles in resistance to the combined stressors of high salinity, alkaline pH, and high temperature are discussed. The isolation of halophilic alkalithermophiles broadens the physicochemical boundaries for life and extends the boundaries for the combinations of the maximum salinity, pH, and temperature that can support microbial growth. PMID:22492435

  20. Modular SiGe 130 nm Cell Library for Extreme Environments, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA space missions utilizing application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) under extreme conditions have a critical need for high performance analog cell...

  1. Meeting the challenge of extremely corrosive service: A primer on clad oilfield equipment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pendley, M.R.

    1993-01-01

    Extremely corrosive environments, such as those often encountered in deep, hot, sour oil and gas wells, are usually characterized by the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), chlorides, and other corrosive species coupled with high temperatures (> 400 F/204 C) and high pressures (up to 20,000 psi/138 MPa). Most low alloy and stainless steel materials are not suitable for such environments. Extremely corrosive service conditions dictate the use of a corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) in areas which are exposed to the hostile environment. However, it is often cost-prohibitive to make an entire component out of CRA material. An alternative strategy is to use a low alloy steel for the bulk of the component and clad critical surfaces with a corrosion-resistant material. Clad equipment can provide excellent corrosion resistance in hostile environments at a fraction of the cost of 100% CRA components. This paper will detail the problems posed by extremely corrosive environments and discuss how clad equipment provides a cost-effective solution

  2. Integrated model of port oil piping transportation system safety including operating environment threats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kołowrocki Krzysztof

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents an integrated general model of complex technical system, linking its multistate safety model and the model of its operation process including operating environment threats and considering variable at different operation states its safety structures and its components safety parameters. Under the assumption that the system has exponential safety function, the safety characteristics of the port oil piping transportation system are determined.

  3. Integrated model of port oil piping transportation system safety including operating environment threats

    OpenAIRE

    Kołowrocki, Krzysztof; Kuligowska, Ewa; Soszyńska-Budny, Joanna

    2017-01-01

    The paper presents an integrated general model of complex technical system, linking its multistate safety model and the model of its operation process including operating environment threats and considering variable at different operation states its safety structures and its components safety parameters. Under the assumption that the system has exponential safety function, the safety characteristics of the port oil piping transportation system are determined.

  4. Cell-Sediment Separation and Elemental Stoichiometries in Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neveu, M.; Poret-peterson, A. T.; Lee, Z. M.; Anbar, A. D.; Elser, J. J.

    2012-12-01

    counting by epifluorescence microscopy indicated a cell recovery yield between 6 and 40% in field-collected samples (95% for cultured E. coli). Aluminum, assumed to be non-biological in origin, was used to estimate the extent of mineral contamination of isolated cell communities. These results show that our method is successful at separating microbial cells from sediment collected in extreme environments and preserving them for analysis of a broad suite of elements. Photosynthetic sites yielded much more cell material than hotter, chemosynthetic sites (Cox et al., 2011). We are currently measuring cellular elemental abundances and ratios in samples from relatively low-temperature (25 to 65°C), photosynthetic areas, spanning a wide range of pH (2 to 9.5) and composition. These measurements will be compared to existing datasets on the bulk sediment stoichiometry of these ecosystems, and to previous observations of cellular elemental composition. References: Redfield, A.C. (1934) In Daniel, R.J. [Ed.], James Johnstone Memorial Volume, pp. 176-192, Univ. Press Liverpool. Sterner, R.W., Elser, J.J. (2002) Ecological Stoichiometry Princeton Univ. Press, 441p. Havig, J.R., et al. (2011) JGR 116, G01005. Amalfitano, S., Fazi, S. (2008) J. of Microbiol. Methods 75, 237-243. Cox, A., et al. (2011) Chem. Geol. 280, 344-351.

  5. Microbial iron management mechanisms in extremely acidic environments: comparative genomics evidence for diversity and versatility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nieto Pamela A

    2008-11-01

    uptake systems could reflect their obligatory occupation of extremely low pH environments where high concentrations of soluble iron may always be available and were oxidized sulfur species might not compromise iron speciation dynamics. Presence of bacterioferritin in the Acidithiobacilli, polyphosphate accumulation functions and variants of FieF-like diffusion facilitators in both Acidithiobacilli and Leptospirilla, indicate that they may remove or store iron under conditions of variable availability. In addition, the Fe(II-oxidizing capacity of both A. ferrooxidans and Leptospirilla could itself be a way to evade iron stress imposed by readily available Fe(II ions at low pH. Fur regulatory sites have been predicted for a number of gene clusters including iron related and non-iron related functions in both the Acidithiobacilli and Leptospirilla, laying the foundation for the future discovery of iron regulated and iron-phosphate coordinated regulatory control circuits. Conclusion In silico analyses of the genomes of acidophilic bacteria are beginning to tease apart the mechanisms that mediate iron uptake and homeostasis in low pH environments. Initial models pinpoint significant differences in abundance and diversity of iron management mechanisms between Leptospirilla and Acidithiobacilli, and begin to reveal how these two groups respond to iron cycling and iron fluctuations in naturally acidic environments and in industrial operations. Niche partitions and ecological successions between acidophilic microorganisms may be partially explained by these observed differences. Models derived from these analyses pave the way for improved hypothesis testing and well directed experimental investigation. In addition, aspects of these models should challenge investigators to evaluate alternative iron management strategies in non-acidophilic model organisms.

  6. Challenges for Life Support Systems in Space Environments, Including Food Production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheeler, Raymond M.

    2012-01-01

    Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) refer to the technologies needed to sustain human life in space environments. Histor ically these technologies have focused on providing a breathable atmo sphere, clean water, food, managing wastes, and the associated monitoring capabilities. Depending on the space agency or program, ELCSS has sometimes expanded to include other aspects of managing space enviro nments, such as thermal control, radiation protection, fire detection I suppression, and habitat design. Other times, testing and providing these latter technologies have been associated with the vehicle engi neering. The choice of ECLSS technologies is typically driven by the mission profile and their associated costs and reliabilities. These co sts are largely defined by the mass, volume, power, and crew time req uirements. For missions close to Earth, e.g., low-Earth orbit flights, stowage and resupply of food, some 0 2, and some water are often the most cost effective option. But as missions venture further into spa ce, e.g., transit missions to Mars or asteroids, or surface missions to Moon or Mars, the supply line economics change and the need to clos e the loop on life support consumables increases. These are often ref erred to as closed loop or regenerative life support systems. Regardless of the technologies, the systems must be capable of operating in a space environment, which could include micro to fractional g setting s, high radiation levels, and tightly closed atmospheres, including perhaps reduced cabin pressures. Food production using photosynthetic o rganisms such as plants by nature also provides atmospheric regenerat ion (e.g., CO2 removal and reduction, and 0 2 production), yet to date such "bioregenerative" technologies have not been used due largely t o the high power requirements for lighting. A likely first step in te sting bioregenerative capabilities will involve production of small a mounts of fresh foods to supplement to crew

  7. Extreme low temperature tolerance in woody plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Richard Strimbeck

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Woody plants in boreal to arctic environments and high mountains survive prolonged exposure to temperatures below -40˚C and minimum temperatures below -60˚C, and laboratory tests show that many of these species can also survive immersion in liquid nitrogen at -196˚C. Studies of biochemical changes that occur during acclimation, including recent proteomic and metabolomic studies, have identified changes in carbohydrate and compatible solute concentrations, membrane lipid composition, and proteins, notably dehydrins, that may have important roles in survival at extreme low temperature. Consideration of the biophysical mechanisms of membrane stress and strain lead to the following hypotheses for cellular and molecular mechanisms of survival at extreme low temperature: 1. Changes in lipid composition stabilize membranes at temperatures above the lipid phase transition temperature (-20 to 30˚C, preventing phase changes that result in irreversible injury. 2. High concentrations of oligosaccharides promote vitrification or high viscosity in the cytoplasm in freeze-dehydrated cells, which would prevent deleterious interactions between membranes. 3. Dehydrins bind membranes and further promote vitrification or act stearically to prevent membrane-membrane interactions.

  8. Predictive characterization of aging and degradation of reactor materials in extreme environments. Final report, December 20, 2013 - September 20, 2017

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qu, Jianmin [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

    2017-09-20

    Understanding of reactor material behavior in extreme environments is vital not only to the development of new materials for the next generation nuclear reactors, but also to the extension of the operating lifetimes of the current fleet of nuclear reactors. To this end, this project conducted a suite of unique experimental techniques, augmented by a mesoscale computational framework, to understand and predict the long-term effects of irradiation, temperature, and stress on material microstructures and their macroscopic behavior. The experimental techniques and computational tools were demonstrated on two distinctive types of reactor materials, namely, Zr alloys and high-Cr martensitic steels. These materials are chosen as the test beds because they are the archetypes of high-performance reactor materials (cladding, wrappers, ducts, pressure vessel, piping, etc.). To fill the knowledge gaps, and to meet the technology needs, a suite of innovative in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization techniques (heating, heavy ion irradiation, He implantation, quantitative small-scale mechanical testing, and various combinations thereof) were developed and used to elucidate and map the fundamental mechanisms of microstructure evolution in both Zr and Cr alloys for a wide range environmental boundary conditions in the thermal-mechanical-irradiation input space. Knowledge gained from the experimental observations of the active mechanisms and the role of local microstructural defects on the response of the material has been incorporated into a mathematically rigorous and comprehensive three-dimensional mesoscale framework capable of accounting for the compositional variation, microstructural evolution and localized deformation (radiation damage) to predict aging and degradation of key reactor materials operating in extreme environments. Predictions from this mesoscale framework were compared with the in situ TEM observations to validate the model.

  9. Predictive characterization of aging and degradation of reactor materials in extreme environments. Final report, December 20, 2013 - September 20, 2017

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu, Jianmin

    2017-01-01

    Understanding of reactor material behavior in extreme environments is vital not only to the development of new materials for the next generation nuclear reactors, but also to the extension of the operating lifetimes of the current fleet of nuclear reactors. To this end, this project conducted a suite of unique experimental techniques, augmented by a mesoscale computational framework, to understand and predict the long-term effects of irradiation, temperature, and stress on material microstructures and their macroscopic behavior. The experimental techniques and computational tools were demonstrated on two distinctive types of reactor materials, namely, Zr alloys and high-Cr martensitic steels. These materials are chosen as the test beds because they are the archetypes of high-performance reactor materials (cladding, wrappers, ducts, pressure vessel, piping, etc.). To fill the knowledge gaps, and to meet the technology needs, a suite of innovative in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization techniques (heating, heavy ion irradiation, He implantation, quantitative small-scale mechanical testing, and various combinations thereof) were developed and used to elucidate and map the fundamental mechanisms of microstructure evolution in both Zr and Cr alloys for a wide range environmental boundary conditions in the thermal-mechanical-irradiation input space. Knowledge gained from the experimental observations of the active mechanisms and the role of local microstructural defects on the response of the material has been incorporated into a mathematically rigorous and comprehensive three-dimensional mesoscale framework capable of accounting for the compositional variation, microstructural evolution and localized deformation (radiation damage) to predict aging and degradation of key reactor materials operating in extreme environments. Predictions from this mesoscale framework were compared with the in situ TEM observations to validate the model.

  10. The Engineering for Climate Extremes Partnership

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holland, G. J.; Tye, M. R.

    2014-12-01

    Hurricane Sandy and the recent floods in Thailand have demonstrated not only how sensitive the urban environment is to the impact of severe weather, but also the associated global reach of the ramifications. These, together with other growing extreme weather impacts and the increasing interdependence of global commercial activities point towards a growing vulnerability to weather and climate extremes. The Engineering for Climate Extremes Partnership brings academia, industry and government together with the goals encouraging joint activities aimed at developing new, robust, and well-communicated responses to this increasing vulnerability. Integral to the approach is the concept of 'graceful failure' in which flexible designs are adopted that protect against failure by combining engineering or network strengths with a plan for efficient and rapid recovery if and when they fail. Such an approach enables optimal planning for both known future scenarios and their assessed uncertainty.

  11. Solar Weather Ice Monitoring Station (SWIMS). A low cost, extreme/harsh environment, solar powered, autonomous sensor data gathering and transmission system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chetty, S.; Field, L. A.

    2013-12-01

    The Arctic ocean's continuing decrease of summer-time ice is related to rapidly diminishing multi-year ice due to the effects of climate change. Ice911 Research aims to develop environmentally respectful materials that when deployed will increase the albedo, enhancing the formation and/preservation of multi-year ice. Small scale deployments using various materials have been done in Canada, California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and a pond in Minnesota to test the albedo performance and environmental characteristics of these materials. SWIMS is a sophisticated autonomous sensor system being developed to measure the albedo, weather, water temperature and other environmental parameters. The system (SWIMS) employs low cost, high accuracy/precision sensors, high resolution cameras, and an extreme environment command and data handling computer system using satellite and terrestrial wireless communication. The entire system is solar powered with redundant battery backup on a floating buoy platform engineered for low temperature (-40C) and high wind conditions. The system also incorporates tilt sensors, sonar based ice thickness sensors and a weather station. To keep the costs low, each SWIMS unit measures incoming and reflected radiation from the four quadrants around the buoy. This allows data from four sets of sensors, cameras, weather station, water temperature probe to be collected and transmitted by a single on-board solar powered computer. This presentation covers the technical, logistical and cost challenges in designing, developing and deploying these stations in remote, extreme environments. Image captured by camera #3 of setting sun on the SWIMS station One of the images captured by SWIMS Camera #4

  12. Somersault of Paramecium in extremely confined environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jana, Saikat; Eddins, Aja; Spoon, Corrie; Jung, Sunghwan

    2015-08-01

    We investigate various swimming modes of Paramecium in geometric confinements and a non-swimming self-bending behavior like a somersault, which is quite different from the previously reported behaviors. We observe that Paramecia execute directional sinusoidal trajectories in thick fluid films, whereas Paramecia meander around a localized region and execute frequent turns due to collisions with adjacent walls in thin fluid films. When Paramecia are further constrained in rectangular channels narrower than the length of the cell body, a fraction of meandering Paramecia buckle their body by pushing on the channel walls. The bucking (self-bending) of the cell body allows the Paramecium to reorient its anterior end and explore a completely new direction in extremely confined spaces. Using force deflection method, we quantify the Young’s modulus of the cell and estimate the swimming and bending powers exerted by Paramecium. The analysis shows that Paramecia can utilize a fraction of its swimming power to execute the self-bending maneuver within the confined channel and no extra power may be required for this new kind of self-bending behavior. This investigation sheds light on how micro-organisms can use the flexibility of the body to actively navigate within confined spaces.

  13. Resistance of Bacillus Endospores to Extreme Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholson, Wayne L.; Munakata, Nobuo; Horneck, Gerda; Melosh, Henry J.; Setlow, Peter

    2000-01-01

    Endospores of Bacillus spp., especially Bacillus subtilis, have served as experimental models for exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying the incredible longevity of spores and their resistance to environmental insults. In this review we summarize the molecular laboratory model of spore resistance mechanisms and attempt to use the model as a basis for exploration of the resistance of spores to environmental extremes both on Earth and during postulated interplanetary transfer through space as a result of natural impact processes. PMID:10974126

  14. Extremal graph theory

    CERN Document Server

    Bollobas, Bela

    2004-01-01

    The ever-expanding field of extremal graph theory encompasses a diverse array of problem-solving methods, including applications to economics, computer science, and optimization theory. This volume, based on a series of lectures delivered to graduate students at the University of Cambridge, presents a concise yet comprehensive treatment of extremal graph theory.Unlike most graph theory treatises, this text features complete proofs for almost all of its results. Further insights into theory are provided by the numerous exercises of varying degrees of difficulty that accompany each chapter. A

  15. Bioprospecting and Functional Analysis of Neglected Environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vogt, Josef Korbinian

    on Biological Diversity (explained in Chapter 3). Proteolytic enzymes – described in Chapter 4 – are the target for bioprospecting due to their high market value. Section II describes methods used for the analysis of metagenomic and RNA-seq datasets, including Manuscript I, which includes the taxonomic...... of arctic marine metagenomes reveals bacterial strategies for deep sea persistence (Manuscript II). Furthermore, this extreme environment is a fertile ground to mine for novel proteolytic enzymes. Manuscript III presents a bioinformatics approach to identify sequences for potential commercialization...

  16. Functional studies in 79-year-olds. II. Upper extremity function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lundgren-Lindquist, B; Sperling, L

    1983-01-01

    As part of the Gerontological and Geriatric Population Study of 79-year-old people in Göteborg, a representative subsample comprising 112 women and 93 men took part in a study of upper extremity function. Thirty-eight per cent of the women and 37% of the men had disorders in the upper extremities. The investigation included tests of co-ordination, static strength in the key-grip and the transversal volar grip, power capacity in opening jars and a bottle, basal movements in the upper extremities in personal hygiene and dressing activities, function in the kitchen e.g. reaching shelves, manual tasks including tests of pronation and supination of the forearm. In the key-grip as well as in the transversal volar grip men showed a generally larger decrease in strength with age than women compared to 70-year-olds in a previous population study. Significant correlations were found between strength in the key-grip and the performance time in the test of co-ordination. Women produced about 66% of the muscular force of the men when opening jars. Significant correlations were found between strength in the transversal volar grip and the maximal torque for opening the jars. Female and male subjects who were not capable of handling the electric plug in the manual ability test had significantly weaker strength in the key-grip. The importance of designing products and adapting the environment so as to correspond to the functional capacity of the elderly, is emphasized.

  17. Beyond Comfort in Built Environments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bazley, C.M.

    2015-01-01

    Every person on the planet lives a significant portion of his or her life in a built indoor environment. Ideally, the built environment serves as protection from the extremes of the outdoor environment and is preferably comfortable. The first ‘built environment’ was a painted cave. The cave served

  18. Mobile genetic elements, a key to microbial adaptation in extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Houdt, Rob; Mijnendonckx, Kristel; Provoost, Ann; Monsieurs, Pieter; Mergeay, Max; Leys, Natalie

    hydrogenotrophy. Five transposons were identified in CH34. Two mercury transposons Tn4378 and Tn4380, respectively located on pMOL28 and pMOL30, were previously described. In addition, 3 novel transposons were identified. The large Tn6048 transposon contained 8 genes highly induced by zinc and lead. Transposon Tn6049 was found in twelve copies in the genome of strain CH34 and is seem-ingly often associated with genomic islands. Finally, Tn6050 was observed twice in the second chromosome with accessory genes not classically associated with transposons, namely a sulfate permease, a universal stress protein (UspA) and a DksA-like DnaK suppressor protein. The role of these genes is unclear but a functional association could be assumed. Finally, a set of 21 IS elements was found, counting in total for 57 copies dispersed over the genome. The number of copies ranged from 1 to 9 (IS1088 ) and 10 (ISRme3 ). The 21 IS elements could be divided into 10 different families. The elements ISRme5 and IS1071 were putatively involved in the recruitment of the genes for hydrogenotrophy and CO2 fixation, with mutants unable to grow on H2 and CO2 appeared to have lost these genes by IS1071 -mediated excision. These data clearly showed that the C. metallidurans CH34 model bacterium and some of it's Cupriavidus and Ralstonia relatives carry a multitude of tools that allowed them to genetically adapt to polluted and extreme soil environments, and that are a key in their success to adapt to the new anthropogenic spacecraft environments. Furthermore, these tools could be exploited to assess and measure genetic effects of spaceflight conditions. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the European Space Agency (ESA-PRODEX) and the Belgian Science Policy (Belspo) through the MISSEX and COMICS projects.

  19. Connecting people and place: a new framework for reducing urban vulnerability to extreme heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilhelmi, Olga V; Hayden, Mary H

    2010-01-01

    Climate change is predicted to increase the intensity and negative impacts of urban heat events, prompting the need to develop preparedness and adaptation strategies that reduce societal vulnerability to extreme heat. Analysis of societal vulnerability to extreme heat events requires an interdisciplinary approach that includes information about weather and climate, the natural and built environment, social processes and characteristics, interactions with stakeholders, and an assessment of community vulnerability at a local level. In this letter, we explore the relationships between people and places, in the context of urban heat stress, and present a new research framework for a multi-faceted, top-down and bottom-up analysis of local-level vulnerability to extreme heat. This framework aims to better represent societal vulnerability through the integration of quantitative and qualitative data that go beyond aggregate demographic information. We discuss how different elements of the framework help to focus attention and resources on more targeted health interventions, heat hazard mitigation and climate adaptation strategies.

  20. Extreme hypoxia tolerance of naked mole-rat brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larson, John; Park, Thomas J

    2009-12-09

    Mammalian brains have extremely high levels of aerobic metabolism and typically suffer irreversible damage after brief periods of oxygen deprivation such as occur during stroke or cardiac arrest. Here we report that brain tissue from naked mole-rats, rodents that live in a chronically low-oxygen environment, is remarkably resistant to hypoxia: naked mole-rat neurons maintain synaptic transmission much longer than mouse neurons and can recover from periods of anoxia exceeding 30 min. We suggest that brain tolerance to hypoxia may result from slowed or arrested brain development in these extremely long-lived animals.

  1. Meteorological Drivers of Extreme Air Pollution Events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horton, D. E.; Schnell, J.; Callahan, C. W.; Suo, Y.

    2017-12-01

    The accumulation of pollutants in the near-surface atmosphere has been shown to have deleterious consequences for public health, agricultural productivity, and economic vitality. Natural and anthropogenic emissions of ozone and particulate matter can accumulate to hazardous concentrations when atmospheric conditions are favorable, and can reach extreme levels when such conditions persist. Favorable atmospheric conditions for pollutant accumulation include optimal temperatures for photochemical reaction rates, circulation patterns conducive to pollutant advection, and a lack of ventilation, dispersion, and scavenging in the local environment. Given our changing climate system and the dual ingredients of poor air quality - pollutants and the atmospheric conditions favorable to their accumulation - it is important to characterize recent changes in favorable meteorological conditions, and quantify their potential contribution to recent extreme air pollution events. To facilitate our characterization, this study employs the recently updated Schnell et al (2015) 1°×1° gridded observed surface ozone and particulate matter datasets for the period of 1998 to 2015, in conjunction with reanalysis and climate model simulation data. We identify extreme air pollution episodes in the observational record and assess the meteorological factors of primary support at local and synoptic scales. We then assess (i) the contribution of observed meteorological trends (if extant) to the magnitude of the event, (ii) the return interval of the meteorological event in the observational record, simulated historical climate, and simulated pre-industrial climate, as well as (iii) the probability of the observed meteorological trend in historical and pre-industrial climates.

  2. Extremely deformable structures

    CERN Document Server

    2015-01-01

    Recently, a new research stimulus has derived from the observation that soft structures, such as biological systems, but also rubber and gel, may work in a post critical regime, where elastic elements are subject to extreme deformations, though still exhibiting excellent mechanical performances. This is the realm of ‘extreme mechanics’, to which this book is addressed. The possibility of exploiting highly deformable structures opens new and unexpected technological possibilities. In particular, the challenge is the design of deformable and bi-stable mechanisms which can reach superior mechanical performances and can have a strong impact on several high-tech applications, including stretchable electronics, nanotube serpentines, deployable structures for aerospace engineering, cable deployment in the ocean, but also sensors and flexible actuators and vibration absorbers. Readers are introduced to a variety of interrelated topics involving the mechanics of extremely deformable structures, with emphasis on ...

  3. Exascale Co-Design Center for Materials in Extreme Environments (ExMatEx) Annual Report - Year 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Germann, T. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Richards, D. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); McPherson, A. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Belak, J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2013-11-25

    All activities of the Exascale Co-design Center for Materials in Extreme Environments (Ex- MatEx) are focused on the two ultimate goals of the project: (1) demonstrating and delivering a prototype scale-bridging materials science application based upon adaptive physics refinement, and (2) identifying the requirements for the exascale ecosystem that are necessary to perform computational materials science simulations (both single- and multi-scale). During the first year of ExMatEx, our focus was on establishing how we do computational materials science, by developing an initial suite of flexible proxy applications. These “proxy apps” are the primary vehicle for the co-design process, involving assessments and tradeoff evaluations both within the ExMatEx team, and with the entire exascale ecosystem. These interactions have formed the basis of our second year activities. The set of artifacts from these co-design interactions are the lessons learned, that are used to re-express the applications and algorithms within the context of emerging architectures, programming models, and runtime systems.

  4. Lichensphere: a protected natural microhabitat of the non-lichenised fungal communities living in extreme environments of Antarctica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santiago, Iara F; Soares, Marco Aurélio; Rosa, Carlos A; Rosa, Luiz H

    2015-11-01

    We surveyed the diversity, distribution and ecology of non-lichenised fungal communities associated with the Antarctic lichens Usnea antarctica and Usnea aurantiaco-atra across Antarctica. The phylogenetic study of the 438 fungi isolates identified 74 taxa from 21 genera of Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Zygomycota. The most abundant taxa were Pseudogymnoascus sp., Thelebolus sp., Antarctomyces psychrotrophicus and Cryptococcus victoriae, which are considered endemic and/or highly adapted to Antarctica. Thirty-five fungi may represent new and/or endemic species. The fungal communities displayed high diversity, richness and dominance indices; however, the similarity among the communities was variable. After discovering rich and diverse fungal communities composed of symbionts, decomposers, parasites and endemic and cold-adapted cosmopolitan taxa, we introduced the term "lichensphere". We hypothesised that the lichensphere may represent a protected natural microhabitat with favourable conditions able to help non-lichenised fungi and other Antarctic life forms survive and disperse in the extreme environments of Antarctica.

  5. Rhabdomyosarcoma of the extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rao, Bhaskar N

    1997-01-01

    Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft tissue sarcoma accounting for almost 55%. These tumors arise from unsegmented mesoderm or primitive mesenchyma, which have the capacity to differentiate into muscle. Less than 5% occur in the first year of life. Extremity rhabdomyosarcoma are mainly seen in the adolescent years. The most common histologic subtype is the alveolar variant. Other characteristics of extremity rhabdomyosarcoma include a predilection for lymph node metastasis, a high local failure, and a relatively low survival rate. They often present as slow painless masses; however, lesions in the hand and foot often present as painful masses and imaging studies may show invasion of the bone. Initial diagnostic approaches include needle biopsy or incisional biopsy for larger lesions. Excisional biopsy is indicated preferably for lesions less than 2.5 cm. following this in most instances therapy is initiated with multi agent chemotherapy depending upon response, the next modality may be either surgery with intent to cure or radiation therapy. Amputation of an extremity for local control is not considered in most instances. Prognostic factors that have been determined over the years to be of significance by multi variant analysis have included age, tumor size, invasiveness, presence of either nodal or distant metastasis, and complete excision whenever feasible, with supplemental radiation therapy for local control

  6. Spatial extreme value analysis to project extremes of large-scale indicators for severe weather.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilleland, Eric; Brown, Barbara G; Ammann, Caspar M

    2013-09-01

    Concurrently high values of the maximum potential wind speed of updrafts ( W max ) and 0-6 km wind shear (Shear) have been found to represent conducive environments for severe weather, which subsequently provides a way to study severe weather in future climates. Here, we employ a model for the product of these variables (WmSh) from the National Center for Atmospheric Research/United States National Center for Environmental Prediction reanalysis over North America conditioned on their having extreme energy in the spatial field in order to project the predominant spatial patterns of WmSh. The approach is based on the Heffernan and Tawn conditional extreme value model. Results suggest that this technique estimates the spatial behavior of WmSh well, which allows for exploring possible changes in the patterns over time. While the model enables a method for inferring the uncertainty in the patterns, such analysis is difficult with the currently available inference approach. A variation of the method is also explored to investigate how this type of model might be used to qualitatively understand how the spatial patterns of WmSh correspond to extreme river flow events. A case study for river flows from three rivers in northwestern Tennessee is studied, and it is found that advection of WmSh from the Gulf of Mexico prevails while elsewhere, WmSh is generally very low during such extreme events. © 2013 The Authors. Environmetrics published by JohnWiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. LEVELS OF EXTREMELY LOW-FREQUENCY ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS FROM OVERHEAD POWER LINES IN THE OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT OF RAMALLAH CITY-PALESTINE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abuasbi, Falastine; Lahham, Adnan; Abdel-Raziq, Issam Rashid

    2018-05-01

    In this study, levels of extremely low-frequency electric and magnetic fields originated from overhead power lines were investigated in the outdoor environment in Ramallah city, Palestine. Spot measurements were applied to record fields intensities over 6-min period. The Spectrum Analyzer NF-5035 was used to perform measurements at 1 m above ground level and directly underneath 40 randomly selected power lines distributed fairly within the city. Levels of electric fields varied depending on the line's category (power line, transformer or distributor), a minimum mean electric field of 3.9 V/m was found under a distributor line, and a maximum of 769.4 V/m under a high-voltage power line (66 kV). However, results of electric fields showed a log-normal distribution with the geometric mean and the geometric standard deviation of 35.9 and 2.8 V/m, respectively. Magnetic fields measured at power lines, on contrast, were not log-normally distributed; the minimum and maximum mean magnetic fields under power lines were 0.89 and 3.5 μT, respectively. As a result, none of the measured fields exceeded the ICNIRP's guidelines recommended for general public exposures to extremely low-frequency fields.

  8. Extreme weather events and infectious disease outbreaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMichael, Anthony J

    2015-01-01

    Human-driven climatic changes will fundamentally influence patterns of human health, including infectious disease clusters and epidemics following extreme weather events. Extreme weather events are projected to increase further with the advance of human-driven climate change. Both recent and historical experiences indicate that infectious disease outbreaks very often follow extreme weather events, as microbes, vectors and reservoir animal hosts exploit the disrupted social and environmental conditions of extreme weather events. This review article examines infectious disease risks associated with extreme weather events; it draws on recent experiences including Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the 2010 Pakistan mega-floods, and historical examples from previous centuries of epidemics and 'pestilence' associated with extreme weather disasters and climatic changes. A fuller understanding of climatic change, the precursors and triggers of extreme weather events and health consequences is needed in order to anticipate and respond to the infectious disease risks associated with human-driven climate change. Post-event risks to human health can be constrained, nonetheless, by reducing background rates of persistent infection, preparatory action such as coordinated disease surveillance and vaccination coverage, and strengthened disaster response. In the face of changing climate and weather conditions, it is critically important to think in ecological terms about the determinants of health, disease and death in human populations.

  9. Isolation and characterization of extreme halophilic archaea

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Franze, Madlen; Cherkouk, Andrea [Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V., Dresden (Germany). HZDR Young Investigator Group

    2017-06-01

    Extreme halophilic archaea from the family Halobactereacea represent a dominant part of the microbial community present in saline soils as well as rock salts. By using a culture-dependent approach different Haloarchaea could be isolated and were phylogenetic analysed. Interestingly, isolates closely related to different Halobacterium spp. were found in both environments.

  10. Isolation and characterization of extreme halophilic archaea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Franze, Madlen; Cherkouk, Andrea

    2017-01-01

    Extreme halophilic archaea from the family Halobactereacea represent a dominant part of the microbial community present in saline soils as well as rock salts. By using a culture-dependent approach different Haloarchaea could be isolated and were phylogenetic analysed. Interestingly, isolates closely related to different Halobacterium spp. were found in both environments.

  11. Contribution of eukaryotic microbial communities to the formation of Fe-rich accretions in an extreme acidic environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, L.; Valente, T.; Correia, A.; Alves, A.; Foing, B.; Davies, G. R.

    2012-04-01

    In the acid mine drainage of Valdarcas, northern Portugal, Fe-rich tubular and spherical macroaccretions are directly associated with the presence of eukaryotic microorganisms. This raises the question whether they are biogenically-derived or the result of an abiotic process mediated by microeukaryotic phototrophs. The drainage water at Valdarcas is characterized by very low pH values (pHhigh metal solubility and presence of iron colloids. Mineralogical analysis (XRD and SEM) of the precipitates indicates a mixture of goethite, schwertmannite and jarosite. Euglenophyta and Chlorophyta acidophilic algal were previously identified in this site. The spatial distribution of Euglena mutabilis indicated that it has a preference to grow up on schwertmannite-rich precipitates. Field observations demonstrate the existence of oxygenated microenvironments created by algal activity suggesting that algae influence iron minerals precipitation, especially schwertmannite. The mineral-microorganism interactions are relevant to understanding this unique and extreme environment. Further investigations regarding the mineralogical and chemical characterization of these deposits, and the identification of microorganisms involved in the process could be helpful to enhance our knowledge of past Fe formations throughout Earth's primordial environment. It is expectable that this information will contribute to establish a framework for recognition of biosignatures on other planets and extraterrestrial bodies. In this study, results on the chemical and mineralogical composition of the structures are presented. The biological context is characterised based on observations made by optical microscopy complemented with molecular data on the microbial communities obtained by culture independent methods. The results are discussed within the context of two models: the studied Fe-rich stromatolites are microeukaryotic-mediated as described by previous workers from similar environments or are the

  12. Extreme Events in Nature and Society

    CERN Document Server

    Albeverio, Sergio; Kantz, Holger

    2006-01-01

    Significant, and usually unwelcome, surprises, such as floods, financial crisis, epileptic seizures, or material rupture, are the topics of Extreme Events in Nature and Society. The book, authored by foremost experts in these fields, reveals unifying and distinguishing features of extreme events, including problems of understanding and modelling their origin, spatial and temporal extension, and potential impact. The chapters converge towards the difficult problem of anticipation: forecasting the event and proposing measures to moderate or prevent it. Extreme Events in Nature and Society will interest not only specialists, but also the general reader eager to learn how the multifaceted field of extreme events can be viewed as a coherent whole.

  13. The potential impacts of climate variability and change on health impacts of extreme weather events in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenough, G; McGeehin, M; Bernard, S M; Trtanj, J; Riad, J; Engelberg, D

    2001-05-01

    Extreme weather events such as precipitation extremes and severe storms cause hundreds of deaths and injuries annually in the United States. Climate change may alter the frequency, timing, intensity, and duration of these events. Increases in heavy precipitation have occurred over the past century. Future climate scenarios show likely increases in the frequency of extreme precipitation events, including precipitation during hurricanes, raising the risk of floods. Frequencies of tornadoes and hurricanes cannot reliably be projected. Injury and death are the direct health impacts most often associated with natural disasters. Secondary effects, mediated by changes in ecologic systems and public health infrastructure, also occur. The health impacts of extreme weather events hinge on the vulnerabilities and recovery capacities of the natural environment and the local population. Relevant variables include building codes, warning systems, disaster policies, evacuation plans, and relief efforts. There are many federal, state, and local government agencies and nongovernmental organizations involved in planning for and responding to natural disasters in the United States. Future research on health impacts of extreme weather events should focus on improving climate models to project any trends in regional extreme events and as a result improve public health preparedness and mitigation. Epidemiologic studies of health effects beyond the direct impacts of disaster will provide a more accurate measure of the full health impacts and will assist in planning and resource allocation.

  14. Identification of Climate Change with Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) Distribution Approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rahayu, Anita

    2013-01-01

    Some events are difficult to avoid and gives considerable influence to humans and the environment is extreme weather and climate change. Many of the problems that require knowledge about the behavior of extreme values and one of the methods used are the Extreme Value Theory (EVT). EVT used to draw up reliable systems in a variety of conditions, so as to minimize the risk of a major disaster. There are two methods for identifying extreme value, Block Maxima with Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution approach and Peaks over Threshold (POT) with Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) approach. This research in Indramayu with January 1961-December 2003 period, the method used is Block Maxima with GEV distribution approach. The result showed that there is no climate change in Indramayu with January 1961-December 2003 period.

  15. Role of short-term dispersal on the dynamics of Zika virus in an extreme idealized environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor M. Moreno

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In November 2015, El Salvador reported their first case of Zika virus (ZIKV infection, an event followed by an explosive outbreak that generated over 6000 suspected cases in a period of two months. National agencies began implementing control measures that included vector control and recommending an increased use of repellents. Further, in response to the alarming and growing number of microcephaly cases in Brazil, the importance of avoiding pregnancies for two years was stressed. In this paper, we explore the role of mobility within communities characterized by extreme poverty, crime and violence. Specifically, the role of short term mobility between two idealized interconnected highly distinct communities is explored in the context of ZIKV outbreaks. We make use of a Lagrangian modeling approach within a two-patch setting in order to highlight the possible effects that short-term mobility, within highly distinct environments, may have on the dynamics of ZIKV outbreak when the overall goal is to reduce the number of cases not just in the most affluent areas but everywhere. Outcomes depend on existing mobility patterns, levels of disease risk, and the ability of federal or state public health services to invest in resource limited areas, particularly in those where violence is systemic. The results of simulations in highly polarized and simplified scenarios are used to assess the role of mobility. It quickly became evident that matching observed patterns of ZIKV outbreaks could not be captured without incorporating increasing levels of heterogeneity. The number of distinct patches and variations on patch connectivity structure required to match ZIKV patterns could not be met within the highly aggregated model that is used in the simulations. Keywords: Vector-borne diseases, Zika virus, Residence times, Multi-patch model

  16. Design, conception, and metrology of Extreme Ultraviolet multilayers mirrors resistant environments of space and EUV sources; Conception, realisation et metrologie de miroirs multicouches pour l'extreme ultraviolet resistants aux environnements du spatial et des sources EUV

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hecquet, Ch.

    2009-03-15

    The Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrum (EUV) wavelengths, which range between 13 nm and 40 nm, have many applications in science and technology. These have been developed for example in plasma physics (high order harmonics sources, X ray lasers). The work presented is about the design, the fabrication and the metrology of periodic multilayer mirrors. The main motivation of this study is to establish a cycle of development taking into account both the optical properties of reflective coatings (reflectivity, spectral selectivity, attenuation) and their behaviour under various environments. To improve the spectral selectivity, new multilayer periodic structures have been developed. They are characterized by a bimodal reflectance profile with adjustable attenuation. The effect of environment on the stability of performance is especially critical for the optical collection. The addition of material barriers has stabilized the performance of the peak reflectivity for over 200 h at 400 C deg. and it reduces the influence of other factors of instability on the reflectance. In addition, all structures have been fabricated successfully and evaluated in severe environments. (author)

  17. Rheological Properties of Extreme Pressure Greases Measured Using a Process Control Rheometer

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Glasscock, Julie; Smith, Robin S.

    2012-01-01

    A new process control rheometer (PCR) designed for use in industrial process flows has been used to measure the rheological properties of three extreme-pressure greases. The rheometer is a robust yet sensitive instrument designed to operate in an industrial processing environment in either in......-line or on-line configurations. The PCR was able to measure the rheological properties including the elastic modulus, viscous modulus, and complex viscosity of the greases which in an industrial flow application could be used as variables in a feedback system to control the process and the quality...

  18. Variations in morphological and life-history traits under extreme ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Two extremely stressful temperatures (18°C and 32°C) and one standard ... and non-stressful environments on the morphological and life-history traits in males and ... Genetics Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, ...

  19. Plasmonic nanocomposite thin film enabled fiber optic sensors for simultaneous gas and temperature sensing at extreme temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohodnicki, Paul R; Buric, Michael P; Brown, Thomas D; Matranga, Christopher; Wang, Congjun; Baltrus, John; Andio, Mark

    2013-10-07

    Embedded sensors capable of operation in extreme environments including high temperatures, high pressures, and highly reducing, oxidizing and/or corrosive environments can make a significant impact on enhanced efficiencies and reduced greenhouse gas emissions of current and future fossil-based power generation systems. Relevant technologies can also be leveraged in a wide range of other applications with similar needs including nuclear power generation, industrial process monitoring and control, and aviation/aerospace. Here we describe a novel approach to embedded sensing under extreme temperature conditions by integration of Au-nanoparticle based plasmonic nanocomposite thin films with optical fibers in an evanescent wave absorption spectroscopy configuration. Such sensors can potentially enable simultaneous temperature and gas sensing at temperatures approaching 900-1000 °C in a manner compatible with embedded and distributed sensing approaches. The approach is demonstrated using the Au/SiO2 system deposited on silica-based optical fibers. Stability of optical fibers under relevant high temperature conditions and interactions with changing ambient gas atmospheres is an area requiring additional investigation and development but the simplicity of the sensor design makes it potentially cost-effective and may offer a potential for widespread deployment.

  20. The extreme environments and their microbes as models for extraterrestrial life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seckbach, J.; Oren, A.; Chela-Flores, J.

    2008-09-01

    Life exists almost everywhere on Earth. Presence of liquid water is a prerequisite for life (Oren, 2008). Living organisms are not only found in `normal' habitats (from the anthropocentric view). Many types, especially of microorganisms, not only tolerate harsh environmental conditions, but even thive in them. Such organisms that resist very harsh physical and chemical conditions in their habitats are termed `extremophiles'. Some extremophilic microorganisms are able to overcome more than one type of extreme conditions in their environment. For example, some `polyextremophiles' grow under hundreds of atmospheres of hydrostatic pressure (barophiles) and at very low, or alternatively at very high temperatures. In many hot springs there are acido-thermophiles that tolerate elevated temperatures and very low pH levels (e.g. the Cyanidium caldarium group, see Seckbach 1994). Members of Cyanidium are able to thrive in pure CO2, a condition not tolerated by most algae (Seckbach et al., 1970). Some thermophilic Archaea grow at temperatures up to 1130C and possibly even higher. In the Arctic and Antarctic regions and in the permafrost region in Siberia there are cold-loving microorganisms (psychrophiles) which are able to grow at -200C. Many types of Bacteria and Archaea tolerate extreme dryness, and spores of Bacillus and relatives that have been encapsulated within salt crystals may have survived in a dormant state for thousands and even millions of years, and still can be revived today. Other extremophiles tolerate salt concentrations up to saturation. Halophilic microorganisms such as found in the Dead Sea or in the Great Salt Lake have developed different strategies to cope with the high osmotic pressure of their environment. Some (e.g. the unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina) balance the salts in their medium by accumulating organic compounds such as glycerol. Others (halophilic Archaea of the order Halobacteriales, as well as a few representatives of the

  1. Advances in Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft Communications and Remote Sensing in Maritime Environments including the Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGillivary, P. A.; Borges de Sousa, J.; Wackowski, S.; Walker, G.

    2011-12-01

    Small remotely piloted aircraft have recently been used for maritime remote sensing, including launch and retrieval operations from land, ships and sea ice. Such aircraft can also function to collect and communicate data from other ocean observing system platforms including moorings, tagged animals, drifters, autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and autonomous underwater vessels (AUVs). The use of small remotely piloted aircraft (or UASs, unmanned aerial systems) with a combination of these capabilities will be required to monitor the vast areas of the open ocean, as well as in harsh high-latitude ecosystems. Indeed, these aircraft are a key component of planned high latitude maritime domain awareness environmental data collection capabilities, including use of visible, IR and hyperspectral sensors, as well as lidar, meteorological sensors, and interferometric synthetic aperture radars (ISARs). We here first describe at-sea demonstrations of improved reliability and bandwidth of communications from ocean sensors on autonomous underwater vehicles to autonomous surface vessels, and then via remotely piloted aircraft to shore, ships and manned aircraft using Delay and Disruption Tolerant (DTN) communication protocols. DTN enables data exchange in communications-challenged environments, such as remote regions of the ocean including high latitudes where low satellite angles and auroral disturbances can be problematic. DTN provides a network architecture and application interface structured around optionally-reliable asynchronous message forwarding, with limited expectations of end-to-end connectivity and node resources. This communications method enables aircraft and surface vessels to function as data mules to move data between physically disparate nodes. We provide examples of the uses of this communication protocol for environmental data collection and data distribution with a variety of different remotely piloted aircraft in a coastal ocean environment. Next, we

  2. Psychological Adaptation to Extreme Environments: Effects of Team Composition on Individual Adaptation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, J.; Hysong, S. J.; Lugg, D. J.; Harm, D. L.

    1999-01-01

    This study is part of an ongoing program of research examining the psychological effects of isolation and confinement on individual adaptation, productivity and group relations in Antarctic winter personnel. This environment is used as an analogue for long-duration space mission scenarios, such as a space station sojourn, or a mission to Mars. Earlier results from this and other environments have demonstrated that: (1) most changes in psychological well-being are event-related and of relatively short duration; and (2) the greatest problem facing most individuals is interpersonal conflict. Content analysis of responses to open-ended questions has identified the numerous enjoyable aspects of Antarctic living, and confirmed that many of the problems reported were interpersonal in nature, and that problems varied significantly by station. Current work is exploring the effects of team assignment on the self-reported psychological changes and self-evaluations of members of isolated teams. This work includes identifying the dimensions by which subjects determine how well they are functioning. These dimensions (e.g., work, social life, internal emotional state) appear to play an important role in how subjects evaluate many aspects of life in isolation.

  3. STRUCTURAL SCALE LIFE PREDICTION OF AERO STRUCTURES EXPERIENCING COMBINED EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-07-01

    complex loading environments. Today’s state of the art methods cannot address structural reliability under combined environment conditions due to...probabilistically assess the structural life under complex loading environments. Today’s state of the art methods cannot address structural reliability...Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, San Diego, CA, January 4th‐8th, 2016. Clark, L. D., Bae, H., Gobal, K., and Penmetsa, R., “ Engineering

  4. Forecasting extreme temperature health hazards in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Napoli, Claudia; Pappenberger, Florian; Cloke, Hannah L.

    2017-04-01

    Extreme hot temperatures, such as those experienced during a heat wave, represent a dangerous meteorological hazard to human health. Heat disorders such as sunstroke are harmful to people of all ages and responsible for excess mortality in the affected areas. In 2003 more than 50,000 people died in western and southern Europe because of a severe and sustained episode of summer heat [1]. Furthermore, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change heat waves are expected to get more frequent in the future thus posing an increasing threat to human lives. Developing appropriate tools for extreme hot temperatures prediction is therefore mandatory to increase public preparedness and mitigate heat-induced impacts. A recent study has shown that forecasts of the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) provide a valid overview of extreme temperature health hazards on a global scale [2]. UTCI is a parameter related to the temperature of the human body and its regulatory responses to the surrounding atmospheric environment. UTCI is calculated using an advanced thermo-physiological model that includes the human heat budget, physiology and clothing. To forecast UTCI the model uses meteorological inputs, such as 2m air temperature, 2m water vapour pressure and wind velocity at body height derived from 10m wind speed, from NWP models. Here we examine the potential of UTCI as an extreme hot temperature prediction tool for the European area. UTCI forecasts calculated using above-mentioned parameters from ECMWF models are presented. The skill in predicting UTCI for medium lead times is also analysed and discussed for implementation to international health-hazard warning systems. This research is supported by the ANYWHERE project (EnhANcing emergencY management and response to extreme WeatHER and climate Events) which is funded by the European Commission's HORIZON2020 programme. [1] Koppe C. et al., Heat waves: risks and responses. World Health Organization. Health and

  5. Mass spectrometry in identification of ecotoxicants including chemical and biological warfare agents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lebedev, Albert T.

    2005-01-01

    Mass spectrometry is a unique tool to detect and identify trace levels of organic and bioorganic compounds as well as microorganisms in the environment. The range of potential chemical warfare (CW) and biological warfare (BW) agents is very broad. An important advantage of mass spectrometry over other techniques involves potential for full spectrum detection of chemical and biological agents including mid-spectrum materials (i.e. bioactive peptides, toxins, etc.) for which biological approaches are inadequate. Being very fast (seconds and minutes), extremely sensitive (zeptomoles 10 -21 ), and informative (detailed qualitative and quantitative composition of mixtures containing hundreds of chemicals), mass spectrometry is a principal analytical tool at the sites of destruction of CW. Due to its unique features, mass spectrometry is applied not only for the detection of CW agents, but for the analysis of products of metabolism and degradation of these agents in organisms or environment as well. The present paper deals with some examples of successful application of mass spectrometry for the analyses of ecotoxicants, chemical warfare agents, explosives, and microorganisms including biology warfare agents

  6. Species-specific coral calcification responses to the extreme environment of the southern Persian Gulf

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Howells, Emily J.; Dunshea, Glenn John; McParland, Dain

    2018-01-01

    Sustained accretion of calcium carbonate (mostly by scleractinian corals) is fundamental for maintaining the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems, but may be greatly constrained by extreme and rapidly changing environmental conditions. Corals in the southern Persian Gulf already...... experience extreme temperature ranges ( 34°C), chronic hypersalinity (> 43 psu) and frequent light limitation (coral species in the region (Platygyra daedalea and Cyphastrea microphthalma) along marked...... Persian Gulf was lowest at Ras Ghanada, where there was lowest light and highest maximum temperatures. These data reveal striking taxonomic differences in the specific environmental constraints on coral calcification, which will further reinforce changes in the structure of coral assemblages with ongoing...

  7. Effects of aquatic PNF lower extremity patterns on balance and ADL of stroke patients

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Eun-Kyung; Lee, Dong-Kyu; Kim, Young-Mi

    2015-01-01

    [Purpose] This study investigated the effect of aquatic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) patterns in the lower extremity on balance and activities of daily living (ADL) in stroke patients. [Subjects] Twenty poststroke participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). The experimental group performed lower extremity patterns in an aquatic environment, and the control group performed lower extremity patterns on the ground. Both exe...

  8. Ionospheric Response to Extremes in the Space Environment: Establishing Benchmarks for the Space Weather Action Plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viereck, R. A.; Azeem, S. I.

    2017-12-01

    One of the goals of the National Space Weather Action Plan is to establish extreme event benchmarks. These benchmarks are estimates of environmental parameters that impact technologies and systems during extreme space weather events. Quantitative assessment of anticipated conditions during these extreme space weather event will enable operators and users of affected technologies to develop plans for mitigating space weather risks and improve preparedness. The ionosphere is one of the most important regions of space because so many applications either depend on ionospheric space weather for their operation (HF communication, over-the-horizon radars), or can be deleteriously affected by ionospheric conditions (e.g. GNSS navigation and timing, UHF satellite communications, synthetic aperture radar, HF communications). Since the processes that influence the ionosphere vary over time scales from seconds to years, it continues to be a challenge to adequately predict its behavior in many circumstances. Estimates with large uncertainties, in excess of 100%, may result in operators of impacted technologies over or under preparing for such events. The goal of the next phase of the benchmarking activity is to reduce these uncertainties. In this presentation, we will focus on the sources of uncertainty in the ionospheric response to extreme geomagnetic storms. We will then discuss various research efforts required to better understand the underlying processes of ionospheric variability and how the uncertainties in ionospheric response to extreme space weather could be reduced and the estimates improved.

  9. More tornadoes in the most extreme U.S. tornado outbreaks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tippett, Michael K; Lepore, Chiara; Cohen, Joel E

    2016-12-16

    Tornadoes and severe thunderstorms kill people and damage property every year. Estimated U.S. insured losses due to severe thunderstorms in the first half of 2016 were $8.5 billion (US). The largest U.S. effects of tornadoes result from tornado outbreaks, which are sequences of tornadoes that occur in close succession. Here, using extreme value analysis, we find that the frequency of U.S. outbreaks with many tornadoes is increasing and that it is increasing faster for more extreme outbreaks. We model this behavior by extreme value distributions with parameters that are linear functions of time or of some indicators of multidecadal climatic variability. Extreme meteorological environments associated with severe thunderstorms show consistent upward trends, but the trends do not resemble those currently expected to result from global warming. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  10. Radioassay for hydrogenase activity in viable cells and documentation of aerobic hydrogen-consuming bacteria living in extreme environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schink, B.; Lupton, F.S.; Zeikus, J.G.

    1983-01-01

    An isotopic tracer assay based on the hydrogenase-dependent formation of tritiated water from tritium gas was developed for in life analysis of microbial hydrogen transformation. This method allowed detection of bacterial hydrogen metabolism in pure cultures or in natural samples obtained from aquatic ecosystems. A differentiation between chemical-biological and aerobic-anaerobic hydrogen metabolism was established by variation of the experimental incubation temperature or by addition of selective inhibitors. Hydrogenase activity was shown to be proportional to the consumption or production of hydrogen by cultures of Desulfovibrio vulgaris, Clostridium pasteurianum, and Methanosarcina barkeri. This method was applied, in connection with measurements of free hydrogen and most-probable-number enumerations, in aerobic natural source waters to establish the activity and document the ecology of hydrogen-consuming bacteria in extreme acid, thermal, or saline environments. The utility of the assay is based in part on the ability to quantify bacterial hydrogen transformation at natural hydrogen partial pressures, without the use of artificial electron acceptors

  11. Temperature extremes: Effect on plant growth and development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jerry L. Hatfield

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Temperature is a primary factor affecting the rate of plant development. Warmer temperatures expected with climate change and the potential for more extreme temperature events will impact plant productivity. Pollination is one of the most sensitive phenological stages to temperature extremes across all species and during this developmental stage temperature extremes would greatly affect production. Few adaptation strategies are available to cope with temperature extremes at this developmental stage other than to select for plants which shed pollen during the cooler periods of the day or are indeterminate so flowering occurs over a longer period of the growing season. In controlled environment studies, warm temperatures increased the rate of phenological development; however, there was no effect on leaf area or vegetative biomass compared to normal temperatures. The major impact of warmer temperatures was during the reproductive stage of development and in all cases grain yield in maize was significantly reduced by as much as 80−90% from a normal temperature regime. Temperature effects are increased by water deficits and excess soil water demonstrating that understanding the interaction of temperature and water will be needed to develop more effective adaptation strategies to offset the impacts of greater temperature extreme events associated with a changing climate.

  12. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students: Perceived Social Support in the High School Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munoz-Plaza, Corrine; Quinn, Sandra Crouse; Rounds, Kathleen A.

    2002-01-01

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth (LGBT) continue to face extreme discrimination within the school environment. Existing literature suggests that LGBT youth are at high risk for a number of health problems, including suicide ideation and attempts, harassment, substance abuse, homelessness, and declining school performance. This…

  13. Opportunities and constraints for improved water resources management under increasing hydrological extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wada, Y.

    2017-12-01

    Increased occurrence of extreme climate events is one of the most damaging consequences of global climate change today and in the future. Estimating the impacts of such extreme events on global and regional water resources is therefore crucial for quantifying increasing risks from climate change. The quest for water security has been a struggle throughout human history. Only in recent years has the scale of this quest moved beyond the local, to the national and regional scales and to the planet itself. Absent or unreliable water supply, sanitation and irrigation services, unmitigated floods and droughts, and degraded water environments severely impact half of the planet's population. The scale and complexity of the water challenges faced by society, particularly but not only in the world's poorest regions, are now recognized, as is the imperative of overcoming these challenges for a stable and equitable world. IIASA's Water Futures and Solutions Initiative (WFAS) is an unprecedented inter-disciplinary scientific initiative to identify robust and adaptive portfolios of optional solutions across different economic sectors, including agriculture, energy and industry, and to test these solution-portfolios with multi-model ensembles of hydrologic and sector models to obtain a clearer picture of the trade-offs, risks, and opportunities. The results of WFaS scenarios and models provide a basis for long-term strategic planning of water resource development under changing environments and increasing climate extremes. And given the complexity of the water system, WFaS uniquely provides policy makers with optional sets of solutions that work together and that can be easily adapted as circumstances change in the future. As WFaS progresses, it will establish a network involving information exchange, mutual learning and horizontal cooperation across teams of researchers, public and private decision makers and practitioners exploring solutions at regional, national and local

  14. Exploring societal solidarity in the context of extreme prematurity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendriks, Manya J; Bucher, Hans Ulrich; Klein, Sabine D; Streuli, Jürg C; Baumann-Hölzle, Ruth; Fauchère, Jean-Claude

    2017-03-21

    Extreme prematurity can result in long-term disabilities. Its impact on society is often not taken into account and deemed controversial. Our study examined attitudes of the Swiss population regarding extreme prematurity and people's perspectives regarding the question of solidarity with disabled people. We conducted a nationwide representative anonymous telephone survey with 1210 Swiss residents aged 18 years or older. We asked how people estimate their own personal solidarity, the solidarity of their social environment and the solidarity across the country with disabled persons. Spearman's correlation calculations were used to assess if a correlation exists between solidarity and setting financial limits to intensive care and between solidarity and withholding neonatal intensive care. According to 36.0% of the respondents intensive medical care should not be withheld from extremely preterm infants, even if their chances for an acceptable quality of life were poor. For 28.8%, intensive care should be withheld from these infants, and 26.9% held an intermediate position depending on the situation. A total of 31.5% were against setting a financial limit to treatment of extremely preterm newborns with an uncertain future quality of life, 34.2% were in favour and 26.9% were deliberating. A majority (88.8%) considered their solidarity toward disabled people as substantial; the solidarity of their personal environment and of the society at large was estimated as high by 79.1% and 48.6%, respectively. The Swiss population expressed a high level of solidarity which may alleviate some pressure on parents and health care providers in the decision-making process in neonatal intensive care units. In addition, there was no relationship between solidarity and people's willingness to pay for the care or withholding treatment of extremely preterm babies.

  15. Spatial dependence of extreme rainfall

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radi, Noor Fadhilah Ahmad; Zakaria, Roslinazairimah; Satari, Siti Zanariah; Azman, Muhammad Az-zuhri

    2017-05-01

    This study aims to model the spatial extreme daily rainfall process using the max-stable model. The max-stable model is used to capture the dependence structure of spatial properties of extreme rainfall. Three models from max-stable are considered namely Smith, Schlather and Brown-Resnick models. The methods are applied on 12 selected rainfall stations in Kelantan, Malaysia. Most of the extreme rainfall data occur during wet season from October to December of 1971 to 2012. This period is chosen to assure the available data is enough to satisfy the assumption of stationarity. The dependence parameters including the range and smoothness, are estimated using composite likelihood approach. Then, the bootstrap approach is applied to generate synthetic extreme rainfall data for all models using the estimated dependence parameters. The goodness of fit between the observed extreme rainfall and the synthetic data is assessed using the composite likelihood information criterion (CLIC). Results show that Schlather model is the best followed by Brown-Resnick and Smith models based on the smallest CLIC's value. Thus, the max-stable model is suitable to be used to model extreme rainfall in Kelantan. The study on spatial dependence in extreme rainfall modelling is important to reduce the uncertainties of the point estimates for the tail index. If the spatial dependency is estimated individually, the uncertainties will be large. Furthermore, in the case of joint return level is of interest, taking into accounts the spatial dependence properties will improve the estimation process.

  16. Prevention of Lower Extremity Injuries in Basketball

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Jeffrey B.; Ford, Kevin R.; Nguyen, Anh-Dung; Terry, Lauren N.; Hegedus, Eric J.

    2015-01-01

    Context: Lower extremity injuries are common in basketball, yet it is unclear how prophylactic interventions affect lower extremity injury incidence rates. Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of current lower extremity injury prevention programs in basketball athletes, focusing on injury rates of (1) general lower extremity injuries, (2) ankle sprains, and (3) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. Data Sources: PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials were searched in January 2015. Study Selection: Studies were included if they were randomized controlled or prospective cohort trials, contained a population of competitive basketball athletes, and reported lower extremity injury incidence rates specific to basketball players. In total, 426 individual studies were identified. Of these, 9 met the inclusion criteria. One other study was found during a hand search of the literature, resulting in 10 total studies included in this meta-analysis. Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Level of Evidence: Level 2. Data Extraction: Details of the intervention (eg, neuromuscular vs external support), size of control and intervention groups, and number of injuries in each group were extracted from each study. Injury data were classified into 3 groups based on the anatomic diagnosis reported (general lower extremity injury, ankle sprain, ACL rupture). Results: Meta-analyses were performed independently for each injury classification. Results indicate that prophylactic programs significantly reduced the incidence of general lower extremity injuries (odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% CI, 0.57-0.85; P basketball athletes. Conclusion: In basketball players, prophylactic programs may be effective in reducing the risk of general lower extremity injuries and ankle sprains, yet not ACL injuries. PMID:26502412

  17. Book review: Extreme ocean waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geist, Eric L.

    2011-01-01

    ‘‘Extreme Ocean Waves’’ is a collection of ten papers edited by Efim Pelinovsky and Christian Kharif that followed the April 2007 meeting of the General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union. A note on terminology: extreme waves in this volume broadly encompass different types of waves, includ- ing deep-water and shallow-water rogue waves (alternatively termed freak waves), storm surges from cyclones, and internal waves. Other types of waves such as tsunamis or rissaga (meteotsunamis) are not discussed in this volume. It is generally implied that ‘‘extreme’’ has a statistical connotation relative to the average or significant wave height specific to each type of wave. Throughout the book, in fact, the reader will find a combination of theoretical and statistical/ empirical treatment necessary for the complete examination of this subject. In the introduction, the editors underscore the importance of studying extreme waves, documenting several dramatic instances of damaging extreme waves that occurred in 2007. 

  18. The quality of visual information about the lower extremities influences visuomotor coordination during virtual obstacle negotiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Aram; Kretch, Kari S; Zhou, Zixuan; Finley, James M

    2018-05-09

    Successful negotiation of obstacles during walking relies on the integration of visual information about the environment with ongoing locomotor commands. When information about the body and environment are removed through occlusion of the lower visual field, individuals increase downward head pitch angle, reduce foot placement precision, and increase safety margins during crossing. However, whether these effects are mediated by loss of visual information about the lower extremities, the obstacle, or both remains to be seen. Here, we used a fully immersive, virtual obstacle negotiation task to investigate how visual information about the lower extremities is integrated with information about the environment to facilitate skillful obstacle negotiation. Participants stepped over virtual obstacles while walking on a treadmill with one of three types of visual feedback about the lower extremities: no feedback, end-point feedback, or a link-segment model. We found that absence of visual information about the lower extremities led to an increase in the variability of leading foot placement after crossing. The presence of a visual representation of the lower extremities promoted greater downward head pitch angle during the approach to and subsequent crossing of an obstacle. In addition, having greater downward head pitch was associated with closer placement of the trailing foot to the obstacle, further placement of the leading foot after the obstacle, and higher trailing foot clearance. These results demonstrate that the fidelity of visual information about the lower extremities influences both feed-forward and feedback aspects of visuomotor coordination during obstacle negotiation.

  19. Evaluation of Extremal Hypotheses as a Criterion to Resolve Channel Indeterminacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tranmer, A.

    2012-12-01

    Design criteria for river restoration and sustainable development have significantly advanced in recent decades, yet complete deterministic formulations to address channel form and sinuosity still prove elusive. Many hypotheses have been presented to ascertain the dynamic-equilibrium of a stream at both the cross sectional and reach level. These efforts to better understand the functioning of alluvial systems include regime theory, stability theory, perturbation analysis, threshold theory, reference reach comparison, downstream hydraulic geometry, and extremal hypotheses. The latter of these theories, the extremal hypothesis, is based on optimizing one variable or criterion in the alluvial system in order to find closure to the channel design problem. Currently, there is no method to directly compare the various hypotheses at the system scale, understanding of their sensitivity to the various formulae employed or consensus regarding which hypothesis is most appropriate. This study analyzed the various extremal hypotheses in as close to a pristine environment as exists (a remote part of Patagonia, Chile), in order to assess which hypothesis (or collective hypotheses) is most appropriate for channel design. Extremal hypotheses were applied in the longitudinal direction, under the assumption of a space-for-time substitution, to evaluate the geomorphic trends of a river evolving during deglaciation. The space-for-time model assumes the watershed reaches stable, dynamic-equilibrium in its lower meandering reaches and the point of equilibrium extends upstream through its braiding reaches as the watershed adapts to new climatic and environmental conditions. Extremal hypotheses applied in a downstream fashion are then expected to predict chaotic and oversized channel characteristics in the upstream reaches and trend towards a point of equilibrium (minimum/maximum of tested hypothesis). Initial findings indicate that many hypotheses predict similar geometry and sinuosity

  20. Digital mapping in extreme and remote environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersson, Joel; Bauer, Tobias; Sarlus, Zimer; Zainy, Maher; Brethes, Anais

    2017-04-01

    During the last few years, Luleå University of Technology has performed a series of research projects in remote areas with extreme climatic conditions using digital mapping technologies. The majority of past and ongoing research projects focus on the arctic regions of the Fennoscandian Shield and Greenland but also on the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt in northern Iraq. Currently, we use the Midland Valley application FieldMove on iPad mini devices with ruggedized casings. As all projects have a strong focus on geological field work, harsh climatic conditions are a challenge not only for the geologists but also for the digital mapping hardware. In the arctic regions especially cold temperatures affect battery lifetime and performance of the screens. But also high temperatures are restricting digital mapping. From experience, a typical temperature range where digital mapping, using iPad tablets, is possible lies between -20 and +40 degrees. Furthermore, the remote character of field areas complicates access but also availability of electricity. By a combination of robust solar chargers and ruggedized batteries we are able to work entirely autarkical. Additionally, we are currently installing a drone system that allows us to map outcrops normally inaccessible because of safety reasons or time deficiency. The produced data will subsequently be taken into our Virtual Reality studio for interpretation and processing. There we will be able to work also with high resolution DEM data from Lidar scanning allowing us to interpret structural features such as post-glacial faults in areas that are otherwise only accessible by helicopter. By combining digital field mapping with drone technique and a Virtual Reality studio we are able to work in hardly accessible areas, improve safety during field work and increase efficiency substantially.

  1. Evaluation of teleoperated surgical robots in an enclosed undersea environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doarn, Charles R; Anvari, Mehran; Low, Thomas; Broderick, Timothy J

    2009-05-01

    The ability to support surgical care in an extreme environment is a significant issue for both military medicine and space medicine. Telemanipulation systems, those that can be remotely operated from a distant site, have been used extensively by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for a number of years. These systems, often called telerobots, have successfully been applied to surgical interventions. A further extension is to operate these robotic systems over data communication networks where robotic slave and master are separated by a great distance. NASA utilizes the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius underwater habitat as an analog environment for research and technology evaluation missions, known as NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). Three NEEMO missions have provided an opportunity to evaluate teleoperated surgical robotics by astronauts and surgeons. Three robotic systems were deployed to the habitat for evaluation during NEEMO 7, 9, and 12. These systems were linked via a telecommunications link to various sites for remote manipulation. Researchers in the habitat conducted a variety of tests to evaluate performance and applicability in extreme environments. Over three different NEEMO missions, components of the Automated Endoscopic System for Optimal Positioning (AESOP), the M7 Surgical System, and the RAVEN were deployed and evaluated. A number of factors were evaluated, including communication latency and semiautonomous functions. The M7 was modified to permit a remote surgeon the ability to insert a needle into simulated tissue with ultrasound guidance, resulting in the world's first semi-autonomous supervisory-controlled medical task. The deployment and operation of teleoperated surgical systems and semi-autonomous, supervisory-controlled tasks were successfully conducted.

  2. Detection of Stress Levels from Biosignals Measured in Virtual Reality Environments Using a Kernel-Based Extreme Learning Machine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Dongrae; Ham, Jinsil; Oh, Jooyoung; Park, Jeanho; Kim, Sayup; Lee, Nak-Kyu; Lee, Boreom

    2017-10-24

    Virtual reality (VR) is a computer technique that creates an artificial environment composed of realistic images, sounds, and other sensations. Many researchers have used VR devices to generate various stimuli, and have utilized them to perform experiments or to provide treatment. In this study, the participants performed mental tasks using a VR device while physiological signals were measured: a photoplethysmogram (PPG), electrodermal activity (EDA), and skin temperature (SKT). In general, stress is an important factor that can influence the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Heart-rate variability (HRV) is known to be related to ANS activity, so we used an HRV derived from the PPG peak interval. In addition, the peak characteristics of the skin conductance (SC) from EDA and SKT variation can also reflect ANS activity; we utilized them as well. Then, we applied a kernel-based extreme-learning machine (K-ELM) to correctly classify the stress levels induced by the VR task to reflect five different levels of stress situations: baseline, mild stress, moderate stress, severe stress, and recovery. Twelve healthy subjects voluntarily participated in the study. Three physiological signals were measured in stress environment generated by VR device. As a result, the average classification accuracy was over 95% using K-ELM and the integrated feature (IT = HRV + SC + SKT). In addition, the proposed algorithm can embed a microcontroller chip since K-ELM algorithm have very short computation time. Therefore, a compact wearable device classifying stress levels using physiological signals can be developed.

  3. Global predictability of temperature extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coughlan de Perez, Erin; van Aalst, Maarten; Bischiniotis, Konstantinos; Mason, Simon; Nissan, Hannah; Pappenberger, Florian; Stephens, Elisabeth; Zsoter, Ervin; van den Hurk, Bart

    2018-05-01

    Extreme temperatures are one of the leading causes of death and disease in both developed and developing countries, and heat extremes are projected to rise in many regions. To reduce risk, heatwave plans and cold weather plans have been effectively implemented around the world. However, much of the world’s population is not yet protected by such systems, including many data-scarce but also highly vulnerable regions. In this study, we assess at a global level where such systems have the potential to be effective at reducing risk from temperature extremes, characterizing (1) long-term average occurrence of heatwaves and coldwaves, (2) seasonality of these extremes, and (3) short-term predictability of these extreme events three to ten days in advance. Using both the NOAA and ECMWF weather forecast models, we develop global maps indicating a first approximation of the locations that are likely to benefit from the development of seasonal preparedness plans and/or short-term early warning systems for extreme temperature. The extratropics generally show both short-term skill as well as strong seasonality; in the tropics, most locations do also demonstrate one or both. In fact, almost 5 billion people live in regions that have seasonality and predictability of heatwaves and/or coldwaves. Climate adaptation investments in these regions can take advantage of seasonality and predictability to reduce risks to vulnerable populations.

  4. Gravo-Aeroelastic Scaling for Extreme-Scale Wind Turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fingersh, Lee J [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Loth, Eric [University of Virginia; Kaminski, Meghan [University of Virginia; Qin, Chao [University of Virginia; Griffith, D. Todd [Sandia National Laboratories

    2017-06-09

    A scaling methodology is described in the present paper for extreme-scale wind turbines (rated at 10 MW or more) that allow their sub-scale turbines to capture their key blade dynamics and aeroelastic deflections. For extreme-scale turbines, such deflections and dynamics can be substantial and are primarily driven by centrifugal, thrust and gravity forces as well as the net torque. Each of these are in turn a function of various wind conditions, including turbulence levels that cause shear, veer, and gust loads. The 13.2 MW rated SNL100-03 rotor design, having a blade length of 100-meters, is herein scaled to the CART3 wind turbine at NREL using 25% geometric scaling and blade mass and wind speed scaled by gravo-aeroelastic constraints. In order to mimic the ultralight structure on the advanced concept extreme-scale design the scaling results indicate that the gravo-aeroelastically scaled blades for the CART3 are be three times lighter and 25% longer than the current CART3 blades. A benefit of this scaling approach is that the scaled wind speeds needed for testing are reduced (in this case by a factor of two), allowing testing under extreme gust conditions to be much more easily achieved. Most importantly, this scaling approach can investigate extreme-scale concepts including dynamic behaviors and aeroelastic deflections (including flutter) at an extremely small fraction of the full-scale cost.

  5. Investigating NARCCAP Precipitation Extremes via Bivariate Extreme Value Theory (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weller, G. B.; Cooley, D. S.; Sain, S. R.; Bukovsky, M. S.; Mearns, L. O.

    2013-12-01

    We introduce methodology from statistical extreme value theory to examine the ability of reanalysis-drive regional climate models to simulate past daily precipitation extremes. Going beyond a comparison of summary statistics such as 20-year return values, we study whether the most extreme precipitation events produced by climate model simulations exhibit correspondence to the most extreme events seen in observational records. The extent of this correspondence is formulated via the statistical concept of tail dependence. We examine several case studies of extreme precipitation events simulated by the six models of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) driven by NCEP reanalysis. It is found that the NARCCAP models generally reproduce daily winter precipitation extremes along the Pacific coast quite well; in contrast, simulation of past daily summer precipitation extremes in a central US region is poor. Some differences in the strength of extremal correspondence are seen in the central region between models which employ spectral nudging and those which do not. We demonstrate how these techniques may be used to draw a link between extreme precipitation events and large-scale atmospheric drivers, as well as to downscale extreme precipitation simulated by a future run of a regional climate model. Specifically, we examine potential future changes in the nature of extreme precipitation along the Pacific coast produced by the pineapple express (PE) phenomenon. A link between extreme precipitation events and a "PE Index" derived from North Pacific sea-surface pressure fields is found. This link is used to study PE-influenced extreme precipitation produced by a future-scenario climate model run.

  6. Australia's Unprecedented Future Temperature Extremes Under Paris Limits to Warming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewis, Sophie C.; King, Andrew D.; Mitchell, Daniel M.

    2017-10-01

    Record-breaking temperatures can detrimentally impact ecosystems, infrastructure, and human health. Previous studies show that climate change has influenced some observed extremes, which are expected to become more frequent under enhanced future warming. Understanding the magnitude, as a well as frequency, of such future extremes is critical for limiting detrimental impacts. We focus on temperature changes in Australian regions, including over a major coral reef-building area, and assess the potential magnitude of future extreme temperatures under Paris Agreement global warming targets (1.5°C and 2°C). Under these limits to global mean warming, we determine a set of projected high-magnitude unprecedented Australian temperature extremes. These include extremes unexpected based on observational temperatures, including current record-breaking events. For example, while the difference in global-average warming during the hottest Australian summer and the 2°C Paris target is 1.1°C, extremes of 2.4°C above the observed summer record are simulated. This example represents a more than doubling of the magnitude of extremes, compared with global mean change, and such temperatures are unexpected based on the observed record alone. Projected extremes do not necessarily scale linearly with mean global warming, and this effect demonstrates the significant potential benefits of limiting warming to 1.5°C, compared to 2°C or warmer.

  7. Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Bright Source List

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malina, Roger F.; Marshall, Herman L.; Antia, Behram; Christian, Carol A.; Dobson, Carl A.; Finley, David S.; Fruscione, Antonella; Girouard, Forrest R.; Hawkins, Isabel; Jelinsky, Patrick

    1994-01-01

    Initial results from the analysis of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) all-sky survey (58-740 A) and deep survey (67-364 A) are presented through the EUVE Bright Source List (BSL). The BSL contains 356 confirmed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) point sources with supporting information, including positions, observed EUV count rates, and the identification of possible optical counterparts. One-hundred twenty-six sources have been detected longward of 200 A.

  8. Measurement and Analysis of the Extreme Physical Shock Environment Experienced by Crane-Mounted Radiation Detection Systems.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Boyd, M [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Erchinger, J [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Marianno, C [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States); Kallenbach, Gene A. [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Grypp, M [US Dept. of the Navy

    2017-09-01

    Potentially, radiation detectors at ports of entry could be mounted on container gantry crane spreaders to monitor cargo containers entering and leaving the country. These detectors would have to withstand the extreme physical environment experienced by these spreaders during normal operations. Physical shock data from the gable ends of a spreader were recorded during the loading and unloading of a cargo ship with two Lansmont SAVER 9X30 units (with padding) and two PCB Piezotronics model 340A50 accelerometers (hard mounted). Physical shocks in the form of rapid acceleration were observed in all accelerometer units with values ranging from 0.20 g’s to 199.99 g’s. The majority of the shocks for all the Lansmont and PCB accelerometers were below 50 g’s. The Lansmont recorded mean shocks of 21.83 ± 13.62 g’s and 24.78 ± 11.49 g’s while the PCB accelerometers experienced mean shocks of 34.39 ± 25.51 g’s and 41.77 ± 22.68 g’s for the landside and waterside units, respectively. Encased detector units with external padding should be designed to withstand at least 200 g’s of acceleration without padding and typical shocks of 30 g’s with padding for mounting on a spreader.

  9. Extreme ground motions and Yucca Mountain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanks, Thomas C.; Abrahamson, Norman A.; Baker, Jack W.; Boore, David M.; Board, Mark; Brune, James N.; Cornell, C. Allin; Whitney, John W.

    2013-01-01

    Yucca Mountain is the designated site of the underground repository for the United States' high-level radioactive waste (HLW), consisting of commercial and military spent nuclear fuel, HLW derived from reprocessing of uranium and plutonium, surplus plutonium, and other nuclear-weapons materials. Yucca Mountain straddles the western boundary of the Nevada Test Site, where the United States has tested nuclear devices since the 1950s, and is situated in an arid, remote, and thinly populated region of Nevada, ~100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Yucca Mountain was originally considered as a potential underground repository of HLW because of its thick units of unsaturated rocks, with the repository horizon being not only ~300 m above the water table but also ~300 m below the Yucca Mountain crest. The fundamental rationale for a geologic (underground) repository for HLW is to securely isolate these materials from the environment and its inhabitants to the greatest extent possible and for very long periods of time. Given the present climate conditions and what is known about the current hydrologic system and conditions around and in the mountain itself, one would anticipate that the rates of infiltration, corrosion, and transport would be very low—except for the possibility that repository integrity might be compromised by low-probability disruptive events, which include earthquakes, strong ground motion, and (or) a repository-piercing volcanic intrusion/eruption. Extreme ground motions (ExGM), as we use the phrase in this report, refer to the extremely large amplitudes of earthquake ground motion that arise at extremely low probabilities of exceedance (hazard). They first came to our attention when the 1998 probabilistic seismic hazard analysis for Yucca Mountain was extended to a hazard level of 10-8/yr (a 10-4/yr probability for a 104-year repository “lifetime”). The primary purpose of this report is to summarize the principal results of the ExGM research program

  10. Angiography of the upper extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janevski, B.K.

    1982-01-01

    This thesis provides a description of the technical and medical aspects of arteriography of the upper extremity and an extensive analysis of the angiographic anatomy and pathology of 750 selective studies performed in more than 500 patients. A short historical review is provided of angiography as a whole and of arteriography of the hand in particular. The method of percutaneous transfemoral catheterization of the arteries of the upper extremity and particularly the arteries of the hand is considered, discussing the problems the angiographer encounters frequently, describing the angiographic complications which may occur and emphasizing the measures to keep them to a minimum. The use of vasodilators in hand angiography is discussed. A short description of the embryological patterns persisting in the arteries of the arm is included in order to understand the congenital variations of the arteries of the upper extremity. The angiographic patterns and clinical aspects of the most common pathological processes involving the arteries of the upper extremities are presented. Special attention is paid to the correlation between angiography and pathology. (Auth.)

  11. Extreme events in total ozone over Arosa – Part 1: Application of extreme value theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. E. Rieder

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available In this study ideas from extreme value theory are for the first time applied in the field of stratospheric ozone research, because statistical analysis showed that previously used concepts assuming a Gaussian distribution (e.g. fixed deviations from mean values of total ozone data do not adequately address the structure of the extremes. We show that statistical extreme value methods are appropriate to identify ozone extremes and to describe the tails of the Arosa (Switzerland total ozone time series. In order to accommodate the seasonal cycle in total ozone, a daily moving threshold was determined and used, with tools from extreme value theory, to analyse the frequency of days with extreme low (termed ELOs and high (termed EHOs total ozone at Arosa. The analysis shows that the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD provides an appropriate model for the frequency distribution of total ozone above or below a mathematically well-defined threshold, thus providing a statistical description of ELOs and EHOs. The results show an increase in ELOs and a decrease in EHOs during the last decades. The fitted model represents the tails of the total ozone data set with high accuracy over the entire range (including absolute monthly minima and maxima, and enables a precise computation of the frequency distribution of ozone mini-holes (using constant thresholds. Analyzing the tails instead of a small fraction of days below constant thresholds provides deeper insight into the time series properties. Fingerprints of dynamical (e.g. ENSO, NAO and chemical features (e.g. strong polar vortex ozone loss, and major volcanic eruptions, can be identified in the observed frequency of extreme events throughout the time series. Overall the new approach to analysis of extremes provides more information on time series properties and variability than previous approaches that use only monthly averages and/or mini-holes and mini-highs.

  12. Extreme Weather and Climate: Workshop Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sobel, Adam; Camargo, Suzana; Debucquoy, Wim; Deodatis, George; Gerrard, Michael; Hall, Timothy; Hallman, Robert; Keenan, Jesse; Lall, Upmanu; Levy, Marc; hide

    2016-01-01

    Extreme events are the aspects of climate to which human society is most sensitive. Due to both their severity and their rarity, extreme events can challenge the capacity of physical, social, economic and political infrastructures, turning natural events into human disasters. Yet, because they are low frequency events, the science of extreme events is very challenging. Among the challenges is the difficulty of connecting extreme events to longer-term, large-scale variability and trends in the climate system, including anthropogenic climate change. How can we best quantify the risks posed by extreme weather events, both in the current climate and in the warmer and different climates to come? How can we better predict them? What can we do to reduce the harm done by such events? In response to these questions, the Initiative on Extreme Weather and Climate has been created at Columbia University in New York City (extreme weather.columbia.edu). This Initiative is a University-wide activity focused on understanding the risks to human life, property, infrastructure, communities, institutions, ecosystems, and landscapes from extreme weather events, both in the present and future climates, and on developing solutions to mitigate those risks. In May 2015,the Initiative held its first science workshop, entitled Extreme Weather and Climate: Hazards, Impacts, Actions. The purpose of the workshop was to define the scope of the Initiative and tremendously broad intellectual footprint of the topic indicated by the titles of the presentations (see Table 1). The intent of the workshop was to stimulate thought across disciplinary lines by juxtaposing talks whose subjects differed dramatically. Each session concluded with question and answer panel sessions. Approximately, 150 people were in attendance throughout the day. Below is a brief synopsis of each presentation. The synopses collectively reflect the variety and richness of the emerging extreme event research agenda.

  13. Silicified virus-like nanoparticles in an extreme thermal environment: implications for the preservation of viruses in the geological record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, X; Xu, H; Jones, B; Chen, S; Zhou, H

    2013-11-01

    Biofilms that grow around Gumingquan hot spring (T = 71 °C, pH = 9.2) in the Rehai geothermal area, Tengchong, China, are formed of various cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Aquificae, Thermodesulfobacteria, Desulfurococcales, and Thermoproteales. Silicified virus-like nanoparticles, 40-200 nm in diameter, are common inside the microbial cells and the extracellular polymeric substances around the cells. These nanoparticles, which are formed of a core encased by a silica cortex, are morphologically akin to known viruses and directly comparable to silicified virus-like particles that were produced in biofilms cultured in the laboratory. The information obtained from examination of the natural and laboratory-produced samples suggests that viruses can be preserved by silicification, especially while they are still encased in their host cells. These results expand our views of virus-host mineral interaction in extreme thermal environments and imply that viruses can be potentially preserved and identified in the geological record. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Examine Precipitation Extremes in Terms of Storm Properties

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, P.; Yu, Z.; Chen, L.; Gautam, M. R.; Acharya, K.

    2017-12-01

    The increasing potential of the extreme precipitation is of significant societal concern. Changes in precipitation extremes have been mostly examined using extreme precipitation indices or Intensity-Duration-Frequency (IDF) analyses, which often fail to reveal the characteristics of an integrated precipitation event. In this study, we will examine the precipitation extremes in terms of storm properties including storm duration, storm intensity, total storm precipitation, and within storm pattern. Single storm event will be identified and storm properties will be determined based on the hourly precipitation time series in the selected locations in southwest United States. Three types of extreme precipitation event will be recognized using the criteria as (1) longest storm duration; (2) Highest storm intensity; and (3) largest total precipitation over a storm. The trend and variation of extreme precipitation events will be discussed for each criterion. Based on the comparisons of the characteristics of extreme precipitation events identified using different criteria, we will provide guidelines for choosing proper criteria for extreme precipitation analysis in specific location.

  15. Performance testing of personnel extremity dosimeters by Korean LiF: Mg, Cu, Na, Si TLD(KLT-300)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, J.L.; Lee, J.I.; Chang, S.Y.; Choi, H.S.; Lee, D.H.; Han, S.J.

    2005-01-01

    Full text: As the needs and opportunities for utilization of atomic energy and radiation are increasing, the related industries, medicines, environments are developing and the relevant organizations and companies are also becoming diverse. In result, the types and kinds of the radiation related to occupational environments are becoming diversified. For the whole body dosimeters, the methodology and criteria for the performance evaluation and safety regulations and laws have been prepared in some detail, but for the extremity dosimeters, those are not prepared yet in Korea. The extremity dosimeters are required when the extremity part of our body, such as hand, elbow, and arm below the elbow, the foot, knee, and leg below the knee are exposed to the radiation in specific work environments. The dosimeter irradiation conditions are clearly discriminated between the whole body exposure condition and the extremity exposure condition. By the investigation and analysis of the management status and dose evaluation methods of the extremity dosimeters for the local absorbed dose, the personnel monitoring system of the extremity dosimeter services in Korea can be diagnosed, and the performance testing criteria and procedures can be established. Therefore, this study presents the performance testing results of extremity dosimeters on the finger and arm/leg phantoms by the procedures recommended in the ANSI (American National Standard) N13.32 using KLT-300 TL materials (LiF:Mg,Cu,Nas,Si) which were developed in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The results show that the performance index for the two types of phantoms are sufficiently satisfied with the prescribed tolerance level in the all of the test categories listed in the ANSI N13.32. These results and procedures used in this study can be applicable for regulatory body to establish the standard criteria for acceptable performance and testing conditions for personnel extremity dosimeters services in the

  16. Performance testing of extremity dosimeters, Study 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harty, R.; Reece, W.D.; Hooker, C.D.

    1990-04-01

    The Health Physics Society Standards Committee (HPSSC) Working Group on Performance Testing of Extremity Dosimeters has issued a draft of a proposed standard for extremity dosimeters. The draft standard proposes methods to be used for testing dosimetry systems that determine occupational radiation dose to the extremities and the performance criterion used to determine compliance with the standard. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has conducted two separate evaluations of the performance of extremity dosimeter processors to determine the appropriateness of the draft standard, as well as to obtain information regarding the performance of extremity dosimeters. Based on the information obtained during the facility visits and the results obtained from the performance testing, it was recommended that changes be made to ensure that the draft standard is appropriate for extremity dosimeters. The changes include: subdividing the mixture category and the beta particle category; eliminating the neutron category until appropriate flux-to-dose equivalent conversion factors are derived; and changing the tolerance level for the performance criterion to provide consistency with the performance criterion for whole body dosimeters, and to avoid making the draft standard overly difficult for processors of extremity dosimeters to pass. 20 refs., 10 figs., 6 tabs

  17. Biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in hypersaline environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Fernando Martins

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Literature on hydrocarbon degradation in extreme hypersaline media presents studies that point to a negative effect of salinity increase on hydrocarbonoclastic activity, while several others report an opposite tendency. Based on information available in the literature, we present a discussion on the reasons that justify these contrary results. Despite the fact that microbial ability to metabolize hydrocarbons is found in extreme hypersaline media, indeed some factors are critical for the occurrence of hydrocarbon degradation in such environments. How these factors affect hydrocarbon degradation and their implications for the assessment of hydrocarbon biodegradation in hypersaline environments are presented in this review.

  18. Evaluation of COTS Electronic Parts for Extreme Temperature Use in NASA Missions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, Richard L.; Hammoud, Ahmad; Elbuluk, Malik

    2008-01-01

    Electronic systems capable of extreme temperature operation are required for many future NASA space exploration missions where it is desirable to have smaller, lighter, and less expensive spacecraft and probes. Presently, spacecraft on-board electronics are maintained at about room temperature by use of thermal control systems. An Extreme Temperature Electronics Program at the NASA Glenn Research Center focuses on development of electronics suitable for space exploration missions. The effects of exposure to extreme temperatures and thermal cycling are being investigated for commercial-off-the-shelf components as well as for components specially developed for harsh environments. An overview of this program along with selected data is presented.

  19. Including the Consumer and Environment in Occupational Therapy Treatment Planning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Catana; Bowen, Robin E.

    1998-01-01

    Occupational therapists (n=29) completed treatment plans based on case study data. Analysis indicated they often identified goals not addressed by the consumer/client. They significantly selected more simulated than real activities and more activities designed to change the person rather than the environment. (SK)

  20. Imaging of neuro-cognitive performance in extreme Environments—A (p)review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Stefan; Bubeev, Juri A.; Choukèr, Alexander; Morukov, Boris; Johannes, Bernd; Strüder, Heiko K.

    2012-12-01

    Living in extreme environments is accompanied by a number of stressors, which can be classified either as physiological stressors (e.g. microgravity, missing sunlight) or psychological stressors (e.g. confinement). From earth bound studies a negative impact of stress on mental health and cognitive performance is well known and both factors might impair mission success and mission safety during longer inhabitation of space. Accordingly there is the need to identify adequate countermeasures. Nevertheless causal research of neuro-cognitive impairments in space remains speculative due to missing possibilities of brain imaging. Furthermore the reliability of current psychological tests used to assess and monitor cognitive performance in extreme environments seems to be vulnerable due to a lack of compliance. With on-going plans of international space agencies to send people to moon and/or mars, this manuscript aims to summarize and review research attempts of the past two decades and to identify methodological shortcomings. Finally, following the guideline that research has no legacy for its own but must serve the self-concept and well-being of man, this manuscript presents a number of recommendations to enhance future neuro-cognitive research in extreme environments. A deeper insight into neuro-cognitive coherence is not only desirable to understand the effects of stress on mental health, which seems to be a major issue for our current society, and to develop adequate countermeasures but will also help to maintain and improve mission success and mission safety in manned space flight.

  1. Mandelbrot's Extremism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beirlant, J.; Schoutens, W.; Segers, J.J.J.

    2004-01-01

    In the sixties Mandelbrot already showed that extreme price swings are more likely than some of us think or incorporate in our models.A modern toolbox for analyzing such rare events can be found in the field of extreme value theory.At the core of extreme value theory lies the modelling of maxima

  2. Prevention through policy : Urban macroplastic leakages to the marine environment during extreme rainfall events

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Axelsson, Charles; van Sebille, Erik

    2017-01-01

    The leakage of large plastic litter (macroplastics) into the ocean is a major environmental problem. A significant fraction of this leakage originates from coastal cities, particularly during extreme rainfall events. As coastal cities continue to grow, finding ways to reduce this macroplastic

  3. Defining Extreme Events: A Cross-Disciplinary Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    McPhillips, Lauren E.; Chang, Heejun; Chester, Mikhail V.; Depietri, Yaella; Friedman, Erin; Grimm, Nancy B.; Kominoski, John S.; McPhearson, Timon; Méndez-Lázaro, Pablo; Rosi, Emma J.; Shafiei Shiva, Javad

    2018-03-01

    Extreme events are of interest worldwide given their potential for substantial impacts on social, ecological, and technical systems. Many climate-related extreme events are increasing in frequency and/or magnitude due to anthropogenic climate change, and there is increased potential for impacts due to the location of urbanization and the expansion of urban centers and infrastructures. Many disciplines are engaged in research and management of these events. However, a lack of coherence exists in what constitutes and defines an extreme event across these fields, which impedes our ability to holistically understand and manage these events. Here, we review 10 years of academic literature and use text analysis to elucidate how six major disciplines—climatology, earth sciences, ecology, engineering, hydrology, and social sciences—define and communicate extreme events. Our results highlight critical disciplinary differences in the language used to communicate extreme events. Additionally, we found a wide range in definitions and thresholds, with more than half of examined papers not providing an explicit definition, and disagreement over whether impacts are included in the definition. We urge distinction between extreme events and their impacts, so that we can better assess when responses to extreme events have actually enhanced resilience. Additionally, we suggest that all researchers and managers of extreme events be more explicit in their definition of such events as well as be more cognizant of how they are communicating extreme events. We believe clearer and more consistent definitions and communication can support transdisciplinary understanding and management of extreme events.

  4. Environmental Sustainability of Agriculture Stressed by Changing Extremes of Drought and Excess Moisture: A Conceptual Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elaine Wheaton

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available As the climate changes, the effects of agriculture on the environment may change. In the future, an increasing frequency of climate extremes, such as droughts, heat waves, and excess moisture, is expected. Past research on the interaction between environment and resources has focused on climate change effects on various sectors, including agricultural production (especially crop production, but research on the effects of climate change using agri-environmental indicators (AEI of environmental sustainability of agriculture is limited. The aim of this paper was to begin to address this knowledge gap by exploring the effects of future drought and excess moisture on environmental sustainability of agriculture. Methods included the use of a conceptual framework, literature reviews, and an examination of the climate sensitivities of the AEI models. The AEIs assessed were those for the themes of soil and water quality, and farmland management as developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Additional indicators included one for desertification and another for water supply and demand. The study area was the agricultural region of the Canadian Prairie Provinces. We found that the performance of several indicators would likely decrease in a warming climate with more extremes. These indicators with declining performances included risks for soil erosion, soil salinization, desertification, water quality and quantity, and soil contamination. Preliminary trends of other indicators such as farmland management were not clear. AEIs are important tools for measuring climate impacts on the environmental sustainability of agriculture. They also indicate the success of adaptation measures and suggest areas of operational and policy development. Therefore, continued reporting and enhancement of these indicators is recommended.

  5. Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health. Chapter 4

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Jesse E.; Herring, Stephanie C.; Jantarasami, Lesley; Adrianopoli, Carl; Benedict, Kaitlin; Conlon, Kathryn; Escobar, Vanessa; Hess, Jeremy; Luvall, Jeffrey; Garcia-Pando, Carlos Perez; hide

    2016-01-01

    Increased Exposure to Extreme Events Key Finding 1: Health impacts associated with climate-related changes in exposure to extreme events include death, injury, or illness; exacerbation of underlying medical conditions; and adverse effects on mental health[High Confidence]. Climate change will increase exposure risk in some regions of the United States due to projected increases in the frequency and/or intensity of drought, wildfires, and flooding related to extreme precipitation and hurricanes [Medium Confidence].Disruption of Essential Infrastructure Key Finding 2: Many types of extreme events related to climate change cause disruption of infrastructure, including power, water, transportation, and communication systems, that are essential to maintaining access to health care and emergency response services and safeguarding human health [High Confidence].Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding Key Finding 3: Coastal populations with greater vulnerability to health impacts from coastal flooding include persons with disabilities or other access and functional needs, certain populations of color, older adults, pregnant women and children, low-income populations, and some occupational groups [High Confidence].Climate change will increase exposure risk to coastal flooding due to increases in extreme precipitation and in hurricane intensity and rainfall rates, as well as sea level rise and the resulting increases in storm surge.

  6. Investigating extreme event loading on coastal bridges using wireless sensor technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelineau, Douglas A.; Davis, Justin R.; Rice, Jennifer A.

    2017-04-01

    Coastal infrastructure, such as bridges, are susceptible to many forms of coastal hazards: particularly hurricane surge and wave loading. These two forms of loading can cause catastrophic damage to aging highway infrastructure. It is estimated that storm damage costs the United States about $50 Billion per year. In light of this, it is crucial that we understand the damaging forces placed on infrastructure during storm events so that we can develop safer and more resilient coastal structures. This paper presents the ongoing research to enable the efficient collection of extreme event loads acting on both the substructure and superstructure of low clearance, simple span, reinforced concrete bridges. Bridges of this type were commonly constructed during the 1950's and 60's and are particularly susceptible to deck unseating caused by hurricane surge and wave loading. The sensing technology used to capture this data must be ruggedized to survive in an extremely challenging environment, be designed to allow for redundancy in the event of sensors or other network components being lost in the storm, and be relatively low cost to allow for more bridges to be instrumented per storm event. The prototype system described in this paper includes wireless technology, rapid data transmission, and, for the sensors, self-contained power. While this specific application focuses on hurricane hazards, the framework can be extended to include other natural hazards.

  7. How extreme is extreme hourly precipitation?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papalexiou, Simon Michael; Dialynas, Yannis G.; Pappas, Christoforos

    2016-04-01

    The importance of accurate representation of precipitation at fine time scales (e.g., hourly), directly associated with flash flood events, is crucial in hydrological design and prediction. The upper part of a probability distribution, known as the distribution tail, determines the behavior of extreme events. In general, and loosely speaking, tails can be categorized in two families: the subexponential and the hyperexponential family, with the first generating more intense and more frequent extremes compared to the latter. In past studies, the focus has been mainly on daily precipitation, with the Gamma distribution being the most popular model. Here, we investigate the behaviour of tails of hourly precipitation by comparing the upper part of empirical distributions of thousands of records with three general types of tails corresponding to the Pareto, Lognormal, and Weibull distributions. Specifically, we use thousands of hourly rainfall records from all over the USA. The analysis indicates that heavier-tailed distributions describe better the observed hourly rainfall extremes in comparison to lighter tails. Traditional representations of the marginal distribution of hourly rainfall may significantly deviate from observed behaviours of extremes, with direct implications on hydroclimatic variables modelling and engineering design.

  8. Extreme Environment Circuit Blocks for Spacecraft Power & Propulsion System & Other High Reliability Applications, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Chronos Technology (DIv of FMI, Inc.) proposes to design, fabricate, and deliver a performance proven, and commercially available set of extreme high operating...

  9. How does public opinion become extreme?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Marlon; Shao, Jia; Reis, Saulo D S; Anteneodo, Celia; Andrade, José S; Havlin, Shlomo; Makse, Hernán A

    2015-05-19

    We investigate the emergence of extreme opinion trends in society by employing statistical physics modeling and analysis on polls that inquire about a wide range of issues such as religion, economics, politics, abortion, extramarital sex, books, movies, and electoral vote. The surveys lay out a clear indicator of the rise of extreme views. The precursor is a nonlinear relation between the fraction of individuals holding a certain extreme view and the fraction of individuals that includes also moderates, e.g., in politics, those who are "very conservative" versus "moderate to very conservative" ones. We propose an activation model of opinion dynamics with interaction rules based on the existence of individual "stubbornness" that mimics empirical observations. According to our modeling, the onset of nonlinearity can be associated to an abrupt bootstrap-percolation transition with cascades of extreme views through society. Therefore, it represents an early-warning signal to forecast the transition from moderate to extreme views. Moreover, by means of a phase diagram we can classify societies according to the percolative regime they belong to, in terms of critical fractions of extremists and people's ties.

  10. How does public opinion become extreme?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Marlon; Shao, Jia; Reis, Saulo D. S.; Anteneodo, Celia; Andrade, José S.; Havlin, Shlomo; Makse, Hernán A.

    2015-05-01

    We investigate the emergence of extreme opinion trends in society by employing statistical physics modeling and analysis on polls that inquire about a wide range of issues such as religion, economics, politics, abortion, extramarital sex, books, movies, and electoral vote. The surveys lay out a clear indicator of the rise of extreme views. The precursor is a nonlinear relation between the fraction of individuals holding a certain extreme view and the fraction of individuals that includes also moderates, e.g., in politics, those who are “very conservative” versus “moderate to very conservative” ones. We propose an activation model of opinion dynamics with interaction rules based on the existence of individual “stubbornness” that mimics empirical observations. According to our modeling, the onset of nonlinearity can be associated to an abrupt bootstrap-percolation transition with cascades of extreme views through society. Therefore, it represents an early-warning signal to forecast the transition from moderate to extreme views. Moreover, by means of a phase diagram we can classify societies according to the percolative regime they belong to, in terms of critical fractions of extremists and people’s ties.

  11. Friction behavior of glass and metals in contact with glass in various environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, D. H.

    1973-01-01

    Sliding friction experiments have been conducted for heat-resistant glass and metals in contact with glass. These experiments were conducted in various environments including vacuum, moist air, dry air, octane, and stearic acid in hexadecane. Glass exhibited a higher friction force in moist air than it did in vacuum when in sliding contact with itself. The metals, aluminum, iron, and gold, all exhibited the same friction coefficient when sliding on glass in vacuum as glass sliding on glass. Gold-to-glass contacts were extremely sensitive to the environment despite the relative chemical inertness of gold.

  12. Clinical application of lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT as a method of diagnostic for lower extremity atherosclerotic obliterans

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moon, Il Bong; Dong, Kyung Rae [Dept. Radiological Technology, Gwangju Health University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Eun Hoe [Dept. Radiological Science, Cheongju University, Cheongju (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    The purpose of this study was to assess clinical application of lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT as a method of diagnostic for lower extremity atherosclerotic obliterans. From January to July 2016, 30 patients (mean age, 68) were studied with lower extremity CTA and lower extremity perfusion CT. 128 channel multi-detector row CT scans were acquired with a CT scanner (SOMATOM Definition Flash, Siemens medical solution, Germany) of lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA. Acquired images were reconstructed with 3D workstation (Leonardo, Siemens, Germany). Site of lower extremity arterial occlusive and stenosis lesions were detected superficial femoral artery 36.6%, popliteal artery 23.4%, external iliac artery 16.7%, common femoral artery 13.3%, peroneal artery 10%. The mean total DLP comparison of lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA, 650 mGy-cm and 675 mGy-cm, respectively. Lower extremity perfusion CT and lower extremity CTA were realized that were never be two examination that were exactly the same legions. Future through the development of lower extremity perfusion CT soft ware programs suggest possible clinical applications.

  13. Thermodynamics of extremal rotating thin shells in an extremal BTZ spacetime and the extremal black hole entropy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemos, José P. S.; Minamitsuji, Masato; Zaslavskii, Oleg B.

    2017-02-01

    In a (2 +1 )-dimensional spacetime with a negative cosmological constant, the thermodynamics and the entropy of an extremal rotating thin shell, i.e., an extremal rotating ring, are investigated. The outer and inner regions with respect to the shell are taken to be the Bañados-Teitelbom-Zanelli (BTZ) spacetime and the vacuum ground state anti-de Sitter spacetime, respectively. By applying the first law of thermodynamics to the extremal thin shell, one shows that the entropy of the shell is an arbitrary well-behaved function of the gravitational area A+ alone, S =S (A+). When the thin shell approaches its own gravitational radius r+ and turns into an extremal rotating BTZ black hole, it is found that the entropy of the spacetime remains such a function of A+, both when the local temperature of the shell at the gravitational radius is zero and nonzero. It is thus vindicated by this analysis that extremal black holes, here extremal BTZ black holes, have different properties from the corresponding nonextremal black holes, which have a definite entropy, the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy S (A+)=A/+4G , where G is the gravitational constant. It is argued that for extremal black holes, in particular for extremal BTZ black holes, one should set 0 ≤S (A+)≤A/+4G;i.e., the extremal black hole entropy has values in between zero and the maximum Bekenstein-Hawking entropy A/+4 G . Thus, rather than having just two entropies for extremal black holes, as previous results have debated, namely, 0 and A/+4 G , it is shown here that extremal black holes, in particular extremal BTZ black holes, may have a continuous range of entropies, limited by precisely those two entropies. Surely, the entropy that a particular extremal black hole picks must depend on past processes, notably on how it was formed. A remarkable relation between the third law of thermodynamics and the impossibility for a massive body to reach the velocity of light is also found. In addition, in the procedure, it

  14. CD-Based Microfluidics for Primary Care in Extreme Point-of-Care Settings

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suzanne Smith

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We review the utility of centrifugal microfluidic technologies applied to point-of-care diagnosis in extremely under-resourced environments. The various challenges faced in these settings are showcased, using areas in India and Africa as examples. Measures for the ability of integrated devices to effectively address point-of-care challenges are highlighted, and centrifugal, often termed CD-based microfluidic technologies, technologies are presented as a promising platform to address these challenges. We describe the advantages of centrifugal liquid handling, as well as the ability of a standard CD player to perform a number of common laboratory tests, fulfilling the role of an integrated lab-on-a-CD. Innovative centrifugal approaches for point-of-care in extremely resource-poor settings are highlighted, including sensing and detection strategies, smart power sources and biomimetic inspiration for environmental control. The evolution of centrifugal microfluidics, along with examples of commercial and advanced prototype centrifugal microfluidic systems, is presented, illustrating the success of deployment at the point-of-care. A close fit of emerging centrifugal systems to address a critical panel of tests for under-resourced clinic settings, formulated by medical experts, is demonstrated. This emphasizes the potential of centrifugal microfluidic technologies to be applied effectively to extremely challenging point-of-care scenarios and in playing a role in improving primary care in resource-limited settings across the developing world.

  15. Extreme climate, not extreme weather: the summer of 1816 in Geneva, Switzerland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Auchmann

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available We analyze weather and climate during the "Year without Summer" 1816 using sub-daily data from Geneva, Switzerland, representing one of the climatically most severely affected regions. The record includes twice daily measurements and observations of air temperature, pressure, cloud cover, wind speed, and wind direction as well as daily measurements of precipitation. Comparing 1816 to a contemporary reference period (1799–1821 reveals that the coldness of the summer of 1816 was most prominent in the afternoon, with a shift of the entire distribution function of temperature anomalies by 3–4 °C. Early morning temperature anomalies show a smaller change for the mean, a significant decrease in the variability, and no changes in negative extremes. Analyzing cloudy and cloud-free conditions separately suggests that an increase in the number of cloudy days was to a significant extent responsible for these features. A daily weather type classification based on pressure, pressure tendency, and wind direction shows extremely anomalous frequencies in summer 1816, with only one day (compared to 20 in an average summer classified as high-pressure situation but a tripling of low-pressure situations. The afternoon temperature anomalies expected from only a change in weather types was much stronger negative in summer 1816 than in any other year. For precipitation, our analysis shows that the 80% increase in summer precipitation compared to the reference period can be explained by 80% increase in the frequency of precipitation, while no change could be found neither in the average intensity of precipitation nor in the frequency distribution of extreme precipitation. In all, the analysis shows that the regional circulation and local cloud cover played a dominant role. It also shows that the summer of 1816 was an example of extreme climate, not extreme weather.

  16. Extreme value distributions

    CERN Document Server

    Ahsanullah, Mohammad

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the book is to give a through account of the basic theory of extreme value distributions. The book cover a wide range of materials available to date. The central ideas and results of extreme value distributions are presented. The book rwill be useful o applied statisticians as well statisticians interrested to work in the area of extreme value distributions.vmonograph presents the central ideas and results of extreme value distributions.The monograph gives self-contained of theory and applications of extreme value distributions.

  17. Characterizing stellar and exoplanetary environments

    CERN Document Server

    Khodachenko, Maxim

    2015-01-01

    In this book an international group of specialists discusses studies of exoplanets subjected to extreme stellar radiation and plasma conditions. It is shown that such studies will help us to understand how terrestrial planets and their atmospheres, including the early Venus, Earth and Mars, evolved during the host star’s active early phase. The book presents an analysis of findings from Hubble Space Telescope observations of transiting exoplanets, as well as applications of advanced numerical models for characterizing the upper atmosphere structure and stellar environments of exoplanets. The authors also address detections of atoms and molecules in the atmosphere of “hot Jupiters” by NASA’s Spitzer telescope. The observational and theoretical investigations and discoveries presented are both timely and important in the context of the next generation of space telescopes. 
 The book is divided into four main parts, grouping chapters on exoplanet host star radiation and plasma environments, exoplanet u...

  18. An Overview of Materials Structures for Extreme Environments Efforts for 2015 SBIR Phases I and II

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Hung D.; Steele, Gynelle C.

    2017-01-01

    Technological innovation is the overall focus of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The program invests in the development of innovative concepts and technologies to help NASA's mission directorates address critical research and development needs for Agency projects. This report highlights innovative SBIR 2015 Phase I and II projects that specifically address areas in Materials and Structures for Extreme Environments, one of six core competencies at NASA Glenn Research Center. Each article describes an innovation, defines its technical objective, and highlights NASA applications as well as commercial and industrial applications. Ten technologies are featured: metamaterials-inspired aerospace structures, metallic joining to advanced ceramic composites, multifunctional polyolefin matrix composite structures, integrated reacting fluid dynamics and predictive materials degradation models for propulsion system conditions, lightweight inflatable structural airlock (LISA), copolymer materials for fused deposition modeling 3-D printing of nonstandard plastics, Type II strained layer superlattice materials development for space-based focal plane array applications, hydrogenous polymer-regolith composites for radiation-shielding materials, a ceramic matrix composite environmental barrier coating durability model, and advanced composite truss printing for large solar array structures. This report serves as an opportunity for NASA engineers, researchers, program managers, and other personnel to learn about innovations in this technology area as well as possibilities for collaboration with innovative small businesses that could benefit NASA programs and projects.

  19. Pavement-Watering for Cooling the Built Environment: A Review

    OpenAIRE

    Hendel , Martin

    2016-01-01

    Pavement-watering is being considered by decision-makers in many cities as a means of cooling the built environment and of adapting to rising extreme heat events due to climate change. In this article we review the existing literature on the topic of pavement-watering. We first focus on the methodological choices made in the literature, including study approach and scale, watering methods used as well as how results are analyzed. We then discuss the cooling effects reported, separating micro-...

  20. Rehabilitation Trends After Lower Extremity Amputations in Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kayssi, Ahmed; Dilkas, Steven; Dance, Derry L; de Mestral, Charles; Forbes, Thomas L; Roche-Nagle, Graham

    2017-05-01

    The heterogeneity of medical complications that lead to amputation has resulted in a diverse patient population with differing rehabilitation needs; however, the rehabilitation trends for patients with lower extremity amputations across Canada have not been studied previously. To describe trends in rehabilitation after lower extremity amputations and the factors affecting rehabilitation length of stay in Canada. Retrospective cohort analysis. Canadian inpatient rehabilitation facilities that received persons with lower extremity amputations discharged from academic or community hospitals. Patients underwent lower extremity amputations between 2006 and 2009 for nontraumatic indications and were then discharged to a rehabilitation facility. Patients were identified from the Canadian Institute for Health Information's Discharge Abstract Database that includes hospital admissions across Canada except Quebec. Inpatient rehabilitation after lower extremity amputations. Length of stay, discharge destination, and change in total and motor function scores. The analysis included 5342 persons who underwent lower extremity amputations, 1904 of whom were transferred to a rehabilitation facility (36%). Patients most commonly underwent single below-knee (74%) and above-knee (17%) amputations. The duration of rehabilitation varied by whether the amputation was performed by a vascular (median = 36 days), orthopedic (median = 38 days), or general surgeon (median = 35 days). The overall median length of stay was 36 days. Most patients (72%) subsequently were discharged home and 9% were readmitted to hospital. Predictors of longer rehabilitation included amputation by an orthopedic surgeon (beta = 5.0, P ≤ .01), older age (beta = 0.2, P ≤ .01), and a history of ischemic heart disease (beta = 3.8, P = .03) or congestive heart failure (beta = 5, P = .04). Patients who spent Canada after lower extremity amputation varies by the type of surgeon performing the amputation. Advanced age

  1. Structural extremes in a cretaceous dinosaur.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul C Sereno

    Full Text Available Fossils of the Early Cretaceous dinosaur, Nigersaurus taqueti, document for the first time the cranial anatomy of a rebbachisaurid sauropod. Its extreme adaptations for herbivory at ground-level challenge current hypotheses regarding feeding function and feeding strategy among diplodocoids, the larger clade of sauropods that includes Nigersaurus. We used high resolution computed tomography, stereolithography, and standard molding and casting techniques to reassemble the extremely fragile skull. Computed tomography also allowed us to render the first endocast for a sauropod preserving portions of the olfactory bulbs, cerebrum and inner ear, the latter permitting us to establish habitual head posture. To elucidate evidence of tooth wear and tooth replacement rate, we used photographic-casting techniques and crown thin sections, respectively. To reconstruct its 9-meter postcranial skeleton, we combined and size-adjusted multiple partial skeletons. Finally, we used maximum parsimony algorithms on character data to obtain the best estimate of phylogenetic relationships among diplodocoid sauropods. Nigersaurus taqueti shows extreme adaptations for a dinosaurian herbivore including a skull of extremely light construction, tooth batteries located at the distal end of the jaws, tooth replacement as fast as one per month, an expanded muzzle that faces directly toward the ground, and hollow presacral vertebral centra with more air sac space than bone by volume. A cranial endocast provides the first reasonably complete view of a sauropod brain including its small olfactory bulbs and cerebrum. Skeletal and dental evidence suggests that Nigersaurus was a ground-level herbivore that gathered and sliced relatively soft vegetation, the culmination of a low-browsing feeding strategy first established among diplodocoids during the Jurassic.

  2. Time-varying Concurrent Risk of Extreme Droughts and Heatwaves in California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarhadi, A.; Diffenbaugh, N. S.; Ausin, M. C.

    2016-12-01

    Anthropogenic global warming has changed the nature and the risk of extreme climate phenomena such as droughts and heatwaves. The concurrent of these nature-changing climatic extremes may result in intensifying undesirable consequences in terms of human health and destructive effects in water resources. The present study assesses the risk of concurrent extreme droughts and heatwaves under dynamic nonstationary conditions arising from climate change in California. For doing so, a generalized fully Bayesian time-varying multivariate risk framework is proposed evolving through time under dynamic human-induced environment. In this methodology, an extreme, Bayesian, dynamic copula (Gumbel) is developed to model the time-varying dependence structure between the two different climate extremes. The time-varying extreme marginals are previously modeled using a Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inference is integrated to estimate parameters of the nonstationary marginals and copula using a Gibbs sampling method. Modelled marginals and copula are then used to develop a fully Bayesian, time-varying joint return period concept for the estimation of concurrent risk. Here we argue that climate change has increased the chance of concurrent droughts and heatwaves over decades in California. It is also demonstrated that a time-varying multivariate perspective should be incorporated to assess realistic concurrent risk of the extremes for water resources planning and management in a changing climate in this area. The proposed generalized methodology can be applied for other stochastic nature-changing compound climate extremes that are under the influence of climate change.

  3. Efficient Time-Domain Ray-Tracing Technique for the Analysis of Ultra-Wideband Indoor Environments including Lossy Materials and Multiple Effects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Saez de Adana

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient application of the Time-Domain Uniform Theory of Diffraction (TD-UTD for the analysis of Ultra-Wideband (UWB mobile communications for indoor environments. The classical TD-UTD formulation is modified to include the contribution of lossy materials and multiple-ray interactions with the environment. The electromagnetic analysis is combined with a ray-tracing acceleration technique to treat realistic and complex environments. The validity of this method is tested with measurements performed inside the Polytechnic building of the University of Alcala and shows good performance of the model for the analysis of UWB propagation.

  4. Near-horizon symmetries of extremal black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kunduri, Hari K; Lucietti, James; Reall, Harvey S

    2007-01-01

    Recent work has demonstrated an attractor mechanism for extremal rotating black holes subject to the assumption of a near-horizon SO(2, 1) symmetry. We prove the existence of this symmetry for any extremal black hole with the same number of rotational symmetries as known four- and five-dimensional solutions (including black rings). The result is valid for a general two-derivative theory of gravity coupled to Abelian vectors and uncharged scalars, allowing for a non-trivial scalar potential. We prove that it remains valid in the presence of higher-derivative corrections. We show that SO(2, 1)-symmetric near-horizon solutions can be analytically continued to give SU(2)-symmetric black hole solutions. For example, the near-horizon limit of an extremal 5D Myers-Perry black hole is related by analytic continuation to a non-extremal cohomogeneity-1 Myers-Perry solution

  5. Utmost requirements in an extreme situation; 'Hoechste Anforderungen in einer Extremsituation'

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aeberli, O. E.

    2009-07-01

    In this interview with the architect Ueli Lehmann, the planning and realisation of the highest restaurant in Europe - the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise near Zermatt in Switzerland - is discussed. Lehmann is the architect responsible for the building and discusses the special challenges placed on the restaurant in this high-alpine environment. Topics discussed also include the specific criteria valid for high-alpine building, the realisation of the building to meet the stringent 'Minergie-P' extremely low energy consumption standard, the building's indirect contributions to environmental protection, drinking water supplies, choice of materials, the building technical services and the photovoltaic installation, as well as snow and ice factors.

  6. Extremely Low Mass: The Circumstellar Envelope of a Potential Proto-Brown Dwarf

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wiseman, Jennifer

    2011-01-01

    What is the environment for planet formation around extremely low mass stars? Is the environment around brown dwarfs and extremely low mass stars conducive and sufficiently massive for planet production? The determining conditions may be set very early in the process of the host object's formation. IRAS 16253-2429, the source of the Wasp-Waist Nebula seen in Spitzer IRAC images, is an isolated, very low luminosity ("VeLLO") Class 0 protostar in the nearby rho Ophiuchi cloud. We present VLA ammonia mapping observations of the dense gas envelope feeding the central core accreting system. We find a flattened envelope perpendicular to the outflow axis, and gas cavities that appear to cradle the outflow lobes as though carved out by the flow and associated (apparently precessing) jet, indicating environmental disruption. Based on the NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) emission distribution, we derive the mass, velocity fields and temperature distribution for the envelope. We discuss the combined evidence for this source to be one of the youngest and lowest mass sources in formation yet known, and discuss the ramifications for planet formation potential in this extremely low mass system.

  7. Changes in the probability of co-occurring extreme climate events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diffenbaugh, N. S.

    2017-12-01

    Extreme climate events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and severe storms exert acute stresses on natural and human systems. When multiple extreme events co-occur, either in space or time, the impacts can be substantially compounded. A diverse set of human interests - including supply chains, agricultural commodities markets, reinsurance, and deployment of humanitarian aid - have historically relied on the rarity of extreme events to provide a geographic hedge against the compounded impacts of co-occuring extremes. However, changes in the frequency of extreme events in recent decades imply that the probability of co-occuring extremes is also changing, and is likely to continue to change in the future in response to additional global warming. This presentation will review the evidence for historical changes in extreme climate events and the response of extreme events to continued global warming, and will provide some perspective on methods for quantifying changes in the probability of co-occurring extremes in the past and future.

  8. Lymphoscintigraphy of the lower extremity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abbasi, N.Z.

    1990-01-01

    Fifty one lower extremities of 26 normal healthy volunteers and 26 extremities of 13 patients with oedema have been studied. Dynamic quantitative lymphoscintigraphy using 99Tc-m antimony sulphide colloid during passive exercise as well as before and after active exercise was performed. parameters of lymphatic function including percentage of radioactivity cleared from the injection site, the percentage uptake by the inguinal lymph nodes, the time of arrival of activity at the regional lymph nodes and the lymphatic reserve index have been evaluated. The percentage clearance of activity from the injection site was found technically difficult to standardize and proved to be an unreliable parameter of lymphatic function. However, the quantitation of nodal uptake, the lymphatic transit time and the lymphatic reserve capacity accurately depicted the lymphatic functional status of an individual. The physiologic parameters of lymphatic function of the contralateral lower extremities were compared and a physiologic difference in the lymphatic capacity of the two limbs was scintigraphically documented. (author)

  9. Factors affecting the thermal environment of Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) cover sites in the Central Mojave Desert during periods of temperature extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mack, Jeremy S.; Berry, Kristin H.; Miller, David; Carlson, Andrea S.

    2015-01-01

    Agassiz's Desert Tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) spend >95% of their lives underground in cover sites that serve as thermal buffers from temperatures, which can fluctuate >40°C on a daily and seasonal basis. We monitored temperatures at 30 active tortoise cover sites within the Soda Mountains, San Bernardino County, California, from February 2004 to September 2006. Cover sites varied in type and structural characteristics, including opening height and width, soil cover depth over the opening, aspect, tunnel length, and surficial geology. We focused our analyses on periods of extreme temperature: in summer, between July 1 and September 1, and winter, between November 1 and February 15. With the use of multivariate regression tree analyses, we found cover-site temperatures were influenced largely by tunnel length and subsequently opening width and soil cover. Linear regression models further showed that increasing tunnel length increased temperature stability and dampened seasonal temperature extremes. Climate change models predict increased warming for southwestern North America. Cover sites that buffer temperature extremes and fluctuations will become increasingly important for survival of tortoises. In planning future translocation projects and conservation efforts, decision makers should consider habitats with terrain and underlying substrate that sustain cover sites with long tunnels and expanded openings for tortoises living under temperature extremes similar to those described here or as projected in the future.

  10. Perception, Action, and Cognition of Football Referees in Extreme Temperatures: Impact on Decision Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaoua, Nadia; de Oliveira, Rita F.; Hunter, Steve

    2017-01-01

    Different professional domains require high levels of physical performance alongside fast and accurate decision-making. Construction workers, police officers, firefighters, elite sports men and women, the military and emergency medical professionals are often exposed to hostile environments with limited options for behavioral coping strategies. In this (mini) review we use football refereeing as an example to discuss the combined effect of intense physical activity and extreme temperatures on decision-making and suggest an explicative model. In professional football competitions can be played in temperatures ranging from -5°C in Norway to 30°C in Spain for example. Despite these conditions, the referee’s responsibility is to consistently apply the laws fairly and uniformly, and to ensure the rules are followed without waning or adversely influencing the competitiveness of the play. However, strenuous exercise in extreme environments imposes increased physiological and psychological stress that can affect decision-making. Therefore, the physical exertion required to follow the game and the thermal strain from the extreme temperatures may hinder the ability of referees to make fast and accurate decisions. Here, we review literature on the physical and cognitive requirements of football refereeing and how extreme temperatures may affect referees’ decisions. Research suggests that both hot and cold environments have a negative impact on decision-making but data specific to decision-making is still lacking. A theoretical model of decision-making under the constraint of intense physical activity and thermal stress is suggested. Future naturalistic studies are needed to validate this model and provide clear recommendations for mitigating strategies. PMID:28912742

  11. Perception, Action, and Cognition of Football Referees in Extreme Temperatures: Impact on Decision Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Gaoua

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Different professional domains require high levels of physical performance alongside fast and accurate decision-making. Construction workers, police officers, firefighters, elite sports men and women, the military and emergency medical professionals are often exposed to hostile environments with limited options for behavioral coping strategies. In this (mini review we use football refereeing as an example to discuss the combined effect of intense physical activity and extreme temperatures on decision-making and suggest an explicative model. In professional football competitions can be played in temperatures ranging from -5°C in Norway to 30°C in Spain for example. Despite these conditions, the referee’s responsibility is to consistently apply the laws fairly and uniformly, and to ensure the rules are followed without waning or adversely influencing the competitiveness of the play. However, strenuous exercise in extreme environments imposes increased physiological and psychological stress that can affect decision-making. Therefore, the physical exertion required to follow the game and the thermal strain from the extreme temperatures may hinder the ability of referees to make fast and accurate decisions. Here, we review literature on the physical and cognitive requirements of football refereeing and how extreme temperatures may affect referees’ decisions. Research suggests that both hot and cold environments have a negative impact on decision-making but data specific to decision-making is still lacking. A theoretical model of decision-making under the constraint of intense physical activity and thermal stress is suggested. Future naturalistic studies are needed to validate this model and provide clear recommendations for mitigating strategies.

  12. Perception, Action, and Cognition of Football Referees in Extreme Temperatures: Impact on Decision Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaoua, Nadia; de Oliveira, Rita F; Hunter, Steve

    2017-01-01

    Different professional domains require high levels of physical performance alongside fast and accurate decision-making. Construction workers, police officers, firefighters, elite sports men and women, the military and emergency medical professionals are often exposed to hostile environments with limited options for behavioral coping strategies. In this (mini) review we use football refereeing as an example to discuss the combined effect of intense physical activity and extreme temperatures on decision-making and suggest an explicative model. In professional football competitions can be played in temperatures ranging from -5°C in Norway to 30°C in Spain for example. Despite these conditions, the referee's responsibility is to consistently apply the laws fairly and uniformly, and to ensure the rules are followed without waning or adversely influencing the competitiveness of the play. However, strenuous exercise in extreme environments imposes increased physiological and psychological stress that can affect decision-making. Therefore, the physical exertion required to follow the game and the thermal strain from the extreme temperatures may hinder the ability of referees to make fast and accurate decisions. Here, we review literature on the physical and cognitive requirements of football refereeing and how extreme temperatures may affect referees' decisions. Research suggests that both hot and cold environments have a negative impact on decision-making but data specific to decision-making is still lacking. A theoretical model of decision-making under the constraint of intense physical activity and thermal stress is suggested. Future naturalistic studies are needed to validate this model and provide clear recommendations for mitigating strategies.

  13. Extremely Preterm Birth

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Events Advocacy For Patients About ACOG Extremely Preterm Birth Home For Patients Search FAQs Extremely Preterm Birth ... Spanish FAQ173, June 2016 PDF Format Extremely Preterm Birth Pregnancy When is a baby considered “preterm” or “ ...

  14. CFT duals for extreme black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hartman, Thomas; Strominger, Andrew; Murata, Keiju; Nishioka, Tatsuma

    2009-01-01

    It is argued that the general four-dimensional extremal Kerr-Newman-AdS-dS black hole is holographically dual to a (chiral half of a) two-dimensional CFT, generalizing an argument given recently for the special case of extremal Kerr. Specifically, the asymptotic symmetries of the near-horizon region of the general extremal black hole are shown to be generated by a Virasoro algebra. Semiclassical formulae are derived for the central charge and temperature of the dual CFT as functions of the cosmological constant, Newton's constant and the black hole charges and spin. We then show, assuming the Cardy formula, that the microscopic entropy of the dual CFT precisely reproduces the macroscopic Bekenstein-Hawking area law. This CFT description becomes singular in the extreme Reissner-Nordstrom limit where the black hole has no spin. At this point a second dual CFT description is proposed in which the global part of the U(1) gauge symmetry is promoted to a Virasoro algebra. This second description is also found to reproduce the area law. Various further generalizations including higher dimensions are discussed.

  15. Critical care at extremes of temperature: effects on patients, staff and equipment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindle, Elise M; Henning, J D

    2014-12-01

    Modern travel and military operations have led to a significant increase in the need to provide medical care in extreme climates. Presently, there are few data on what happens to the doctor, their drugs and equipment when exposed to these extremes. A review was undertaken to find out the effects of 'extreme heat or cold' on anaesthesia and critical care; in addition, subject matter experts were contacted directly. Both extreme heat and extreme cold can cause a marked physiological response in a critically ill patient and the doctor treating these patients may also suffer a decrement in both physical and mental functioning. Equipment can malfunction when exposed to extremes of temperature and should ideally be stored and operated in a climatically controlled environment. Many drugs have a narrow range of temperatures in which they remain useable though some have been shown to remain effective if exposed to extremes of temperature for a short period of time. All personnel embarking on an expedition to an extreme temperature zone should be of sufficient physical robustness and ideally should have a period of acclimatisation which may help mitigate against some of the physiological effects of exposure to extreme heat or extreme cold. Expedition planners should aim to provide climatic control for drugs and equipment and should have logistical plans for replenishment of drugs and medical evacuation of casualties. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  16. Extreme rainfall events in karst environments: the case study of September 2014 in the Gargano area (southern Italy)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martinotti, Maria Elena; Pisano, Luca; Trabace, Maria; Marchesini, Ivan; Peruccacci, Silvia; Rossi, Mauro; Amoruso, Giuseppe; Loiacono, Pierluigi; Vennari, Carmela; Vessia, Giovanna; Parise, Mario; Brunetti, Maria Teresa

    2015-04-01

    In the first week of September 2014, the Gargano Promontory (Apulia, SE Italy) was hit by an extreme rainfall event that caused several landslides, floods and sinkholes. As a consequence of the floods, two people lost their lives and severe socio-economic damages were reported. The highest peaks of rainfall were recorded between September 3rd and 6th at the Cagnano Varano and San Marco in Lamis rain gauges with a maximum daily rainfall (over 230 mm) that is about 30% the mean annual rainfall. The Gargano Promontory is characterized by complex orographic conditions, with the highest elevation of about 1000 m a.s.l. The geological setting consists of different types of carbonate deposits affected by intensive development of karst processes. The morphological and climatic settings of the area, associated with frequent extreme rainfall events can cause various types of geohazards (e.g., landslides, floods, sinkholes). A further element enhancing the natural predisposition of the area to the occurrence of landslides, floods and sinkholes is an intense human activity, characterized by an inappropriate land use and management. In order to obtain consistent and reliable data on the effects produced by the storm, a systematic collection of information through field observations, a critical analysis of newspaper articles and web-news, and a co-operation with the Regional Civil Protection and local geologists started immediately after the event. The information collected has been organized in a database including the location, the occurrence time and the type of geohazard documented with photographs. The September 2014 extreme rainfall event in the Gargano Promontory was also analyzed to validate the forecasts issued by the Italian national early-warning system for rainfall-induced landslides (SANF), developed by the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI) for the Italian national Department for Civil Protection (DPC). SANF compares rainfall measurements and

  17. Extreme learning machines 2013 algorithms and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Toh, Kar-Ann; Romay, Manuel; Mao, Kezhi

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, ELM has emerged as a revolutionary technique of computational intelligence, and has attracted considerable attentions. An extreme learning machine (ELM) is a single layer feed-forward neural network alike learning system, whose connections from the input layer to the hidden layer are randomly generated, while the connections from the hidden layer to the output layer are learned through linear learning methods. The outstanding merits of extreme learning machine (ELM) are its fast learning speed, trivial human intervene and high scalability.   This book contains some selected papers from the International Conference on Extreme Learning Machine 2013, which was held in Beijing China, October 15-17, 2013. This conference aims to bring together the researchers and practitioners of extreme learning machine from a variety of fields including artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering and bioinformatics, system modelling and control, and signal and image processing, to promote research and discu...

  18. Hidden conformal symmetry of extremal black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Bin; Long Jiang; Zhang Jiaju

    2010-01-01

    We study the hidden conformal symmetry of extremal black holes. We introduce a new set of conformal coordinates to write the SL(2,R) generators. We find that the Laplacian of the scalar field in many extremal black holes, including Kerr(-Newman), Reissner-Nordstrom, warped AdS 3 , and null warped black holes, could be written in terms of the SL(2,R) quadratic Casimir. This suggests that there exist dual conformal field theory (CFT) descriptions of these black holes. From the conformal coordinates, the temperatures of the dual CFTs could be read directly. For the extremal black hole, the Hawking temperature is vanishing. Correspondingly, only the left (right) temperature of the dual CFT is nonvanishing, and the excitations of the other sector are suppressed. In the probe limit, we compute the scattering amplitudes of the scalar off the extremal black holes and find perfect agreement with the CFT prediction.

  19. Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seth Stake

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses.

  20. Upper Extremity Deep Vein Thromboses: The Bowler and the Barista.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stake, Seth; du Breuil, Anne L; Close, Jeremy

    2016-01-01

    Effort thrombosis of the upper extremity refers to a deep venous thrombosis of the upper extremity resulting from repetitive activity of the upper limb. Most cases of effort thrombosis occur in young elite athletes with strenuous upper extremity activity. This article reports two cases who both developed upper extremity deep vein thromboses, the first being a 67-year-old bowler and the second a 25-year-old barista, and illustrates that effort thrombosis should be included in the differential diagnosis in any patient with symptoms concerning DVT associated with repetitive activity. A literature review explores the recommended therapies for upper extremity deep vein thromboses.

  1. SiC Sensors in Extreme Environments: Real-time Hydrogen Monitoring for Energy Plant Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Ruby

    2008-03-01

    Clean, efficient energy production, such as the gasification of coal (syngas), requires physical and chemical sensors for exhaust gas monitoring as well as real-time control of the combustion process. Wide-bandgap semiconducting materials systems can meet the sensing demands in these extreme environments consisting of chemically corrosive gases at high temperature and pressure. We have developed a SiC based micro-sensor for detection of hydrogen containing species with millisecond response at 600 C. The sensor is a Pt-SiO2-SiC device with a dense Pt catalytic sensing film, capable of withstanding months of continuous high temperature operation. The device was characterized in robust sensing module that is compatible with an industrial reactor. We report on the performance of the SiC sensor in a simulated syngas ambient at 370 C containing the common interferants CO2, CH4 and CO [1]. In addition we demonstrate that hours of exposure to >=1000 ppm H2S and 15% water vapor does not degrade the sensor performance. To elucidate the mechanisms responsible for the hydrogen response of the sensor we have modeled the hydrogen adsorptions kinetics at the internal Pt-SiO2 interface, using both the Tempkin and Langmuir isotherms. Under the conditions appropriate for energy plant applications, the response of our sensor is significantly larger than that obtained from ultra-high vacuum electrochemical sensor measurements at high temperatures. We will discuss the role of morphology, at the nano to micro scale, on the enhanced catalytic activity observed for our Pt sensing films in response to a heated hydrogen gas stream at atmospheric pressure. [1] R. Loloee, B. Chorpening, S. Beers & R. Ghosh, Hydrogen monitoring for power plant applications using SiC sensors, Sens. Actuators B:Chem. (2007), doi:10.1016/j.snb.2007.07.118

  2. Feeding habits of Molina's hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus chinga (Carnivora: Mephitidae in the extreme south of Brazil

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felipe Bortolotto Peters

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Feeding habits of the Molina's hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus chinga (Molina, 1782 in the extreme south of Brazil. We analyzed 60 stomachs of road-kills of C. chinga in the extreme south of Brazil. The contents revealed 808 prey parts, including invertebrates (frequency of occurrence - FO = 96.7% and relative abundance - RA = 94.7%, vertebrates (FO = 18.3% and RA = 2.8% and plants (FO = 31.7% and RA = 2.3%. We identified 18 kinds of food, including the invertebrate order Coleoptera which showed the highest FO (86.7% and RA (75.2%. Other important orders were Orthoptera (FO = 35% and RA = 10.4% and Araneae (FO = 41.7% and RA = 4%. The combination of occurrence and abundance of the preys consumed allowed classifying C. chinga as an omnivorous with a predominance of insects, especially Coleoptera, consuming other invertebrates, vertebrates and plants in smaller numbers. Behavioral and morphological adaptations of C. chinga favor the predation of insects, which are preys that offer low physical resistance and are available in all terrestrial environments.

  3. Portable upper extremity robotics is as efficacious as upper extremity rehabilitative therapy: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page, Stephen J; Hill, Valerie; White, Susan

    2013-06-01

    To compare the efficacy of a repetitive task-specific practice regimen integrating a portable, electromyography-controlled brace called the 'Myomo' versus usual care repetitive task-specific practice in subjects with chronic, moderate upper extremity impairment. Sixteen subjects (7 males; mean age 57.0 ± 11.02 years; mean time post stroke 75.0 ± 87.63 months; 5 left-sided strokes) exhibiting chronic, stable, moderate upper extremity impairment. Subjects were administered repetitive task-specific practice in which they participated in valued, functional tasks using their paretic upper extremities. Both groups were supervised by a therapist and were administered therapy targeting their paretic upper extremities that was 30 minutes in duration, occurring 3 days/week for eight weeks. One group participated in repetitive task-specific practice entirely while wearing the portable robotic, while the other performed the same activity regimen manually. The upper extremity Fugl-Meyer, Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and Stroke Impact Scale were administered on two occasions before intervention and once after intervention. After intervention, groups exhibited nearly identical Fugl-Meyer score increases of ≈2.1 points; the group using robotics exhibited larger score changes on all but one of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure and Stroke Impact Scale subscales, including a 12.5-point increase on the Stroke Impact Scale recovery subscale. Findings suggest that therapist-supervised repetitive task-specific practice integrating robotics is as efficacious as manual practice in subjects with moderate upper extremity impairment.

  4. Music for All: Including young people with intellectual disability in a university environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rickson, Daphne; Warren, Penny

    2017-01-01

    We investigated a continuing education course in creative music making, initiated to promote the inclusion of young people with intellectual disability in a university setting. Despite organizers' attempts to foster diversity within the student cohort, enrolments were almost exclusively from students who had intellectual disability. Being in the university environment, and in a place of higher learning, seemed to be valued by some. However, students' main focus was on group musicking in a dedicated music room rather than interacting with the wider university community. Those who did not identify as disabled believed it was important to continue to address the barriers to wider inclusion. While acknowledging the risks around mediating the social interactions of young people with intellectual disability, we argue that future courses should include activities specifically designed to bring them to classes with typical students and to the wider activities of the university.

  5. Investigations of Methane Production in Hypersaline Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bebout, Brad M.

    2015-01-01

    The recent reports of methane in the atmosphere of Mars, as well as the findings of hypersaline paleo-environments on that planet, have underscored the need to evaluate the importance of biological (as opposed to geological) trace gas production and consumption. Methane in the atmosphere of Mars may be an indication of life but might also be a consequence of geologic activity and/or the thermal alteration of ancient organic matter. Hypersaline environments have now been reported to be extremely likely in several locations in our solar system, including: Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. Modern hypersaline microbial mat communities, (thought to be analogous to those present on the early Earth at a period of time when Mars was experiencing very similar environmental conditions), have been shown to produce methane. However, very little is known about the physical and/or biological controls imposed upon the rates at which methane, and other important trace gases, are produced and consumed in these environments. We describe here the results of our investigations of methane production in hypersaline environments, including field sites in Chile, Baja California Mexico, California, USA and the United Arab Emirates. We have measured high concentrations of methane in bubbles of gas produced both in the sediments underlying microbial mats, as well as in areas not colonized by microbial mats in the Guerrero Negro hypersaline ecosystem, Baja California Mexico, in Chile, and in salt ponds on the San Francisco Bay. The carbon isotopic (d13C) composition of the methane in the bubbles exhibited an extremely wide range of values, (ca. -75 per mille ca. -25 per mille). The hydrogen isotopic composition of the methane (d2H) ranged from -60 to -30per mille and -450 to -350per mille. These isotopic values are outside of the range of values normally considered to be biogenic, however incubations of the sediments in contact with these gas bubbles reveals that the methane is indeed being

  6. Bioprospecting Archaea: Focus on Extreme Halophiles

    KAUST Repository

    Antunes, André

    2016-12-12

    In 1990, Woese et al. divided the Tree of Life into three separate domains: Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea. Archaea were originally perceived as little more than “odd bacteria” restricted to extreme environmental niches, but later discoveries challenged this assumption. Members of this domain populate a variety of unexpected environments (e.g. soils, seawater, and human bodies), and we currently witness ongoing massive expansions of the archaeal branch of the Tree of Life. Archaea are now recognized as major players in the biosphere and constitute a significant fraction of the earth’s biomass, yet they remain underexplored. An ongoing surge in exploration efforts is leading to an increase in the (a) number of isolated strains, (b) associated knowledge, and (c) utilization of Archaea in biotechnology. They are increasingly employed in fields as diverse as biocatalysis, biocomputing, bioplastic production, bioremediation, bioengineering, food, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. This chapter provides a general overview on bioprospecting Archaea, with a particular focus on extreme halophiles. We explore aspects such as diversity, ecology, screening techniques and biotechnology. Current and future trends in mining for applications are discussed.

  7. An overview on extremity dosimetry in medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vanhavere, F.; Carinou, E.; Donadille, L.; Ginjaume, M.; Jankowski, J.; Rimpler, A.; Sans Merce, M.

    2008-01-01

    Some activities of EURADOS Working Group 9 (WG9) are presently funded by the European Commission (CONRAD project). The objective of WG9 is to promote and co-ordinate research activities for the assessment of occupational exposures to staff at workplaces in interventional radiology (IR) and nuclear medicine. For some of these applications, the skin of the fingers is the limiting organ for individual monitoring of external radiation. Therefore, sub-group 1 of WG9 deals with the use of extremity dosemeters in medical radiation fields. The wide variety of radiation field characteristics present in a medical environment together with the difficulties in measuring a local dose that is representative for the maximum skin dose, usually with one single detector, makes it difficult to perform accurate extremity dosimetry. Sub-group 1 worked out a thorough literature review on extremity dosimetry issues in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine and positron emission tomography, interventional radiology and interventional cardiology and brachytherapy. Some studies showed that the annual dose limits could be exceeded if the required protection measures are not taken, especially in nuclear medicine. The continuous progress in new applications and techniques requires an important effort in radiation protection and training. (authors)

  8. Cardiovascular consequences of extreme prematurity: the EPICure study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McEniery, Carmel M; Bolton, Charlotte E; Fawke, Joseph; Hennessy, Enid; Stocks, Janet; Wilkinson, Ian B; Cockcroft, John R; Marlow, Neil

    2011-07-01

    The long-term consequences of extreme prematurity are becoming increasingly important, given recent improvements in neonatal intensive care. The aim of the current study was to examine the cardiovascular consequences of extreme prematurity in 11-year-olds born at or before 25 completed weeks of gestation. Age and sex-matched classmates were recruited as controls. Information concerning perinatal and maternal history was collected, and current anthropometric characteristics were measured in 219 children born extremely preterm and 153 classmates. A subset of the extremely preterm children (n = 68) and classmates (n = 90) then underwent detailed haemodynamic investigations, including measurement of supine blood pressure (BP), aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV, a measure of aortic stiffness) and augmentation index (AIx, a measure of arterial pressure wave reflections). Seated brachial systolic and diastolic BP were not different between extremely preterm children and classmates (P = 0.3 for both), although there was a small, significant elevation in supine mean and diastolic BP in the extremely preterm children (P prematurity is associated with altered arterial haemodynamics in children, not evident from the examination of brachial BP alone. Moreover, the smaller, preresistance and resistance vessels rather than large elastic arteries appear to be most affected. Children born extremely preterm may be at increased future cardiovascular risk.

  9. Using Upper Extremity Skin Temperatures to Assess Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings in Changsha, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Zhibin; Li, Nianping; Cui, Haijiao; Peng, Jinqing; Chen, Haowen; Liu, Penglong

    2017-09-21

    Existing thermal comfort field studies are mainly focused on the relationship between the indoor physical environment and the thermal comfort. In numerous chamber experiments, physiological parameters were adopted to assess thermal comfort, but the experiments' conclusions may not represent a realistic thermal environment due to the highly controlled thermal environment and few occupants. This paper focuses on determining the relationships between upper extremity skin temperatures (i.e., finger, wrist, hand and forearm) and the indoor thermal comfort. Also, the applicability of predicting thermal comfort by using upper extremity skin temperatures was explored. Field studies were performed in office buildings equipped with split air-conditioning (SAC) located in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) climate zone of China during the summer of 2016. Psychological responses of occupants were recorded and physical and physiological factors were measured simultaneously. Standard effective temperature (SET*) was used to incorporate the effect of humidity and air velocity on thermal comfort. The results indicate that upper extremity skin temperatures are good indicators for predicting thermal sensation, and could be used to assess the thermal comfort in terms of physiological mechanism. In addition, the neutral temperature was 24.7 °C and the upper limit for 80% acceptability was 28.2 °C in SET*.

  10. Using Upper Extremity Skin Temperatures to Assess Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings in Changsha, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhibin Wu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Existing thermal comfort field studies are mainly focused on the relationship between the indoor physical environment and the thermal comfort. In numerous chamber experiments, physiological parameters were adopted to assess thermal comfort, but the experiments’ conclusions may not represent a realistic thermal environment due to the highly controlled thermal environment and few occupants. This paper focuses on determining the relationships between upper extremity skin temperatures (i.e., finger, wrist, hand and forearm and the indoor thermal comfort. Also, the applicability of predicting thermal comfort by using upper extremity skin temperatures was explored. Field studies were performed in office buildings equipped with split air-conditioning (SAC located in the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW climate zone of China during the summer of 2016. Psychological responses of occupants were recorded and physical and physiological factors were measured simultaneously. Standard effective temperature (SET* was used to incorporate the effect of humidity and air velocity on thermal comfort. The results indicate that upper extremity skin temperatures are good indicators for predicting thermal sensation, and could be used to assess the thermal comfort in terms of physiological mechanism. In addition, the neutral temperature was 24.7 °C and the upper limit for 80% acceptability was 28.2 °C in SET*.

  11. Effects of service environments on aluminum-brazed titanium (ABTi)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotton, W. L.

    1978-01-01

    Aluminum brazed titanium (ABTi) structures were evaluated during prolonged exposure to extreme environments: elevated temperature exposure to airline service fluids, hydraulic fluid, and seawater, followed by laboratory corrosion tests. Solid-face and perforated face honeycomb sandwich panel specimens, stressed panel assemblies, and faying surface brazed joints were tested. The corrosion resistance of ABTi is satisfactory for commercial airline service. Unprotected ABTi proved inherently resistant to attack by all of the extreme service aircraft environments except: seawater at 700 K (800 F) and above, dripping phosphate ester hydraulic fluid at 505 K (450 F), and a marine environment at ambient temperature. The natural oxides and deposits present on titanium surfaces in airline service provide protection against hot salt corrosion pitting. Coatings are required to protect titanium dripping phosphate ester fluid at elevated temperatures and to protect exposed acoustic honeycomb parts against corrosion in a marine environment.

  12. Attribution of climate extreme events

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trenberth, Kevin E.; Fasullo, John T.; Shepherd, Theodore G.

    2015-08-01

    There is a tremendous desire to attribute causes to weather and climate events that is often challenging from a physical standpoint. Headlines attributing an event solely to either human-induced climate change or natural variability can be misleading when both are invariably in play. The conventional attribution framework struggles with dynamically driven extremes because of the small signal-to-noise ratios and often uncertain nature of the forced changes. Here, we suggest that a different framing is desirable, which asks why such extremes unfold the way they do. Specifically, we suggest that it is more useful to regard the extreme circulation regime or weather event as being largely unaffected by climate change, and question whether known changes in the climate system's thermodynamic state affected the impact of the particular event. Some examples briefly illustrated include 'snowmaggedon' in February 2010, superstorm Sandy in October 2012 and supertyphoon Haiyan in November 2013, and, in more detail, the Boulder floods of September 2013, all of which were influenced by high sea surface temperatures that had a discernible human component.

  13. Sialyte(TM)-Based Composite Pressure Vessels for Extreme Environments, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — While traveling to Venus, electronics and instruments go through enormous pressure, temperature, and atmospheric environment changes. In the past, this has caused...

  14. Heavy Tail Behavior of Rainfall Extremes across Germany

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castellarin, A.; Kreibich, H.; Vorogushyn, S.; Merz, B.

    2017-12-01

    Distributions are termed heavy-tailed if extreme values are more likely than would be predicted by probability distributions that have exponential asymptotic behavior. Heavy-tail behavior often leads to surprise, because historical observations can be a poor guide for the future. Heavy-tail behavior seems to be widespread for hydro-meteorological extremes, such as extreme rainfall and flood events. To date there have been only vague hints to explain under which conditions these extremes show heavy-tail behavior. We use an observational data set consisting of 11 climate variables at 1440 stations across Germany. This homogenized, gap-free data set covers 110 years (1901-2010) at daily resolution. We estimate the upper tail behavior, including its uncertainty interval, of daily precipitation extremes for the 1,440 stations at the annual and seasonal time scales. Different tail indicators are tested, including the shape parameter of the Generalized Extreme Value distribution, the upper tail ratio and the obesity index. In a further step, we explore to which extent the tail behavior can be explained by geographical and climate factors. A large number of characteristics is derived, such as station elevation, degree of continentality, aridity, measures for quantifying the variability of humidity and wind velocity, or event-triggering large-scale atmospheric situation. The link between the upper tail behavior and these characteristics is investigated via data mining methods capable of detecting non-linear relationships in large data sets. This exceptionally rich observational data set, in terms of number of stations, length of time series and number of explaining variables, allows insights into the upper tail behavior which is rarely possible given the typical observational data sets available.

  15. Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model With Mappings to ACE Requirements for the General Availability User Environment Capabilities Release Version 1.1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vigil,Benny Manuel [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Ballance, Robert [SNL; Haskell, Karen [SNL

    2012-08-09

    Cielo is a massively parallel supercomputer funded by the DOE/NNSA Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, and operated by the Alliance for Computing at Extreme Scale (ACES), a partnership between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The primary Cielo compute platform is physically located at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model documents the capabilities and the environment to be provided for the Q1 FY12 Level 2 Cielo Capability Computing (CCC) Platform Production Readiness Milestone. This document describes specific capabilities, tools, and procedures to support both local and remote users. The model is focused on the needs of the ASC user working in the secure computing environments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory, or Sandia National Laboratories, but also addresses the needs of users working in the unclassified environment. The Cielo Computational Environment Usage Model maps the provided capabilities to the tri-Lab ASC Computing Environment (ACE) Version 8.0 requirements. The ACE requirements reflect the high performance computing requirements for the Production Readiness Milestone user environment capabilities of the ASC community. A description of ACE requirements met, and those requirements that are not met, are included in each section of this document. The Cielo Computing Environment, along with the ACE mappings, has been issued and reviewed throughout the tri-Lab community.

  16. Properties of Extreme Precipitation and Their Uncertainties in 3-year GPM Precipitation Radar Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, N.; Liu, C.

    2017-12-01

    Extreme high precipitation rates are often related to flash floods and have devastating impacts on human society and the environments. To better understand these rare events, 3-year Precipitation Features (PFs) are defined by grouping the contiguous areas with nonzero near-surface precipitation derived using Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Ku band Precipitation Radar (KuPR). The properties of PFs with extreme precipitation rates greater than 20, 50, 100 mm/hr, such as the geographical distribution, volumetric precipitation contribution, seasonal and diurnal variations, are examined. In addition to the large seasonal and regional variations, the rare extreme precipitation rates often have a larger contribution to the local total precipitation. Extreme precipitation rates occur more often over land than over ocean. The challenges in the retrieval of extreme precipitation might be from the attenuation correction and large uncertainties in the Z-R relationships from near-surface radar reflectivity to precipitation rates. These potential uncertainties are examined by using collocated ground based radar reflectivity and precipitation retrievals.

  17. Are extreme hydro-meteorological events a prerequisite for extreme water quality impacts? Exploring climate impacts on inland and coastal waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Michalak, A. M.; Balaji, V.; Del Giudice, D.; Sinha, E.; Zhou, Y.; Ho, J. C.

    2017-12-01

    Questions surrounding water sustainability, climate change, and extreme events are often framed around water quantity - whether too much or too little. The massive impacts of extreme water quality impairments are equally compelling, however. Recent years have provided a host of compelling examples, with unprecedented harmful algal blooms developing along the West coast, in Utah Lake, in Lake Erie, and off the Florida coast, and huge hypoxic dead zones continuing to form in regions such as Lake Erie, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico. Linkages between climate change, extreme events, and water quality impacts are not well understood, however. Several factors explain this lack of understanding, including the relative complexity of underlying processes, the spatial and temporal scale mismatch between hydrologists and climatologists, and observational uncertainty leading to ambiguities in the historical record. Here, we draw on a number of recent studies that aim to quantitatively link meteorological variability and water quality impacts to test the hypothesis that extreme water quality impairments are the result of extreme hydro-meteorological events. We find that extreme hydro-meteorological events are neither always a necessary nor a sufficient condition for the occurrence of extreme water quality impacts. Rather, extreme water quality impairments often occur in situations where multiple contributing factors compound, which complicates both attribution of historical events and the ability to predict the future incidence of such events. Given the critical societal importance of water quality projections, a concerted program of uncertainty reduction encompassing observational and modeling components will be needed to examine situations where extreme weather plays an important, but not solitary, role in the chain of cause and effect.

  18. Effects of virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training on brain activity in post-stroke patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Su-Hyun; Kim, Yu-Mi; Lee, Byoung-Hee

    2015-07-01

    [Purpose] This study investigated the therapeutic effects of virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training on brain activity in patients with stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Eighteen chronic stroke patients were divided into two groups: the virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training group (n = 10) and the bilateral upper-limb training group (n = 8). The virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training group performed bilateral upper-extremity exercises in a virtual reality environment, while the bilateral upper-limb training group performed only bilateral upper-extremity exercise. All training was conducted 30 minutes per day, three times per week for six weeks, followed by brain activity evaluation. [Results] Electroencephalography showed significant increases in concentration in the frontopolar 2 and frontal 4 areas, and significant increases in brain activity in the frontopolar 1 and frontal 3 areas in the virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training group. [Conclusion] Virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training can improve the brain activity of stroke patients. Thus, virtual reality-based bilateral upper-extremity training is feasible and beneficial for improving brain activation in stroke patients.

  19. Extreme cosmos

    CERN Document Server

    Gaensler, Bryan

    2011-01-01

    The universe is all about extremes. Space has a temperature 270°C below freezing. Stars die in catastrophic supernova explosions a billion times brighter than the Sun. A black hole can generate 10 million trillion volts of electricity. And hypergiants are stars 2 billion kilometres across, larger than the orbit of Jupiter. Extreme Cosmos provides a stunning new view of the way the Universe works, seen through the lens of extremes: the fastest, hottest, heaviest, brightest, oldest, densest and even the loudest. This is an astronomy book that not only offers amazing facts and figures but also re

  20. Regional estimation of extreme suspended sediment concentrations using watershed characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tramblay, Yves; Ouarda, Taha B. M. J.; St-Hilaire, André; Poulin, Jimmy

    2010-01-01

    SummaryThe number of stations monitoring daily suspended sediment concentration (SSC) has been decreasing since the 1980s in North America while suspended sediment is considered as a key variable for water quality. The objective of this study is to test the feasibility of regionalising extreme SSC, i.e. estimating SSC extremes values for ungauged basins. Annual maximum SSC for 72 rivers in Canada and USA were modelled with probability distributions in order to estimate quantiles corresponding to different return periods. Regionalisation techniques, originally developed for flood prediction in ungauged basins, were tested using the climatic, topographic, land cover and soils attributes of the watersheds. Two approaches were compared, using either physiographic characteristics or seasonality of extreme SSC to delineate the regions. Multiple regression models to estimate SSC quantiles as a function of watershed characteristics were built in each region, and compared to a global model including all sites. Regional estimates of SSC quantiles were compared with the local values. Results show that regional estimation of extreme SSC is more efficient than a global regression model including all sites. Groups/regions of stations have been identified, using either the watershed characteristics or the seasonality of occurrence for extreme SSC values providing a method to better describe the extreme events of SSC. The most important variables for predicting extreme SSC are the percentage of clay in the soils, precipitation intensity and forest cover.

  1. The hovercraft environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lovesey, E J

    1970-06-01

    In just over a decade the hovercraft has progressed from first prototype to a successful commercial form of transport which also has the ability to penetrate many environments hitherto virtually inaccessible to manned vehicles. Comparison with rival short range vehicles such as the helicopter and hydrofoil show that the hovercraft has become one of the most versatile forms of transport available. This versatility and ability to operate in unusual or extreme environments has been accompanied by the problems of control and of protection of the occupants of the hovercraft from the hazards associated with these environments. Several of these problems are discussed, together with their possible solutions. This article is based on a paper given to the Nederlands Vereniging Voor Ergonomie/Ergonomics Research Society joint conference at Noordwijk in Holland, 11-13 June, 1969.

  2. Extreme Temperature Performance of Automotive-Grade Small Signal Bipolar Junction Transistors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boomer, Kristen; Damron, Benny; Gray, Josh; Hammoud, Ahmad

    2018-01-01

    Electronics designed for space exploration missions must display efficient and reliable operation under extreme temperature conditions. For example, lunar outposts, Mars rovers and landers, James Webb Space Telescope, Europa orbiter, and deep space probes represent examples of missions where extreme temperatures and thermal cycling are encountered. Switching transistors, small signal as well as power level devices, are widely used in electronic controllers, data instrumentation, and power management and distribution systems. Little is known, however, about their performance in extreme temperature environments beyond their specified operating range; in particular under cryogenic conditions. This report summarizes preliminary results obtained on the evaluation of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) automotive-grade NPN small signal transistors over a wide temperature range and thermal cycling. The investigations were carried out to establish a baseline on functionality of these transistors and to determine suitability for use outside their recommended temperature limits.

  3. Modeling of Complex Material Systems in Extreme Environments for Space Technology

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Among the many enabling technologies of space research is the design of materials which are stable in the environments of interest for a given application. At the...

  4. Further outlooks: extremely uncomfortable; Die weiteren Aussichten: extrem ungemuetlich

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Resenhoeft, T.

    2006-07-01

    Climate is changing extremely in the last decades. Scientists dealing with extreme weather, should not only stare at computer simulations. They have also to turn towards psyche, seriously personal experiences, knowing statistics, relativise supposed sensational reports and last not least collecting more data. (GL)

  5. Tail-like Congenital Duplication of Lower Extremity (Extra Leg or ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2018-01-01

    Jan 1, 2018 ... ABSTRACT. BACKGROUND: Congenital duplication of lower extremity, either complete or incomplete is extremely rare. Only 26 cases had been reported till 2010, of which only 5 cases had feature of complete duplication. Theories have been proposed that the cause of this abnormality includes maternal ...

  6. Manipulating the fidelity of lower extremity visual feedback to identify obstacle negotiation strategies in immersive virtual reality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Aram; Zhou, Zixuan; Kretch, Kari S; Finley, James M

    2017-07-01

    The ability to successfully navigate obstacles in our environment requires integration of visual information about the environment with estimates of our body's state. Previous studies have used partial occlusion of the visual field to explore how information about the body and impending obstacles are integrated to mediate a successful clearance strategy. However, because these manipulations often remove information about both the body and obstacle, it remains to be seen how information about the lower extremities alone is utilized during obstacle crossing. Here, we used an immersive virtual reality (VR) interface to explore how visual feedback of the lower extremities influences obstacle crossing performance. Participants wore a head-mounted display while walking on treadmill and were instructed to step over obstacles in a virtual corridor in four different feedback trials. The trials involved: (1) No visual feedback of the lower extremities, (2) an endpoint-only model, (3) a link-segment model, and (4) a volumetric multi-segment model. We found that the volumetric model improved success rate, placed their trailing foot before crossing and leading foot after crossing more consistently, and placed their leading foot closer to the obstacle after crossing compared to no model. This knowledge is critical for the design of obstacle negotiation tasks in immersive virtual environments as it may provide information about the fidelity necessary to reproduce ecologically valid practice environments.

  7. Instrument developments for chemical and physical characterization, mapping and sampling of extreme environments (Antarctic sub ice environment)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vogel, S. W.; Powell, R. D.; Griffith, I.; Lawson, T.; Schiraga, S.; Ludlam, G.; Oen, J.

    2009-12-01

    A number of instrumentation is currently under development designed to enable the study of subglacial environments in Antarctica through narrow kilometer long boreholes. Instrumentation includes: - slim line Sub-Ice ROV (SIR), - Geochemical Instrumentation Package for Sub Ice Environments (GIPSIE) to study geochemical fluxes in water and across the sediment water interface (CO2, CH4, dO, NH4, NO3, Si, PO4, pH, redox, T, H2, HS, O2, N2O, CTD, particle size, turbidity, color camera, current meter and automated water sampler) with real-time telemetry for targeted sampling, - long term energy-balance mooring system, - active source slide hammer sediment corer, and - integration of a current sensor into the ITP profiler. The instrumentation design is modular and suitable for remote operated as well as autonomous long-term deployment. Of interest to the broader science community is the development of the GIPSIE and efforts to document the effect of sample recovery from depth on the sample chemistry. The GIPSIE is a geochemical instrumentation package with life stream telemetry, allowing for user controlled targeted sampling of water column and the water sediment interphase for chemical and biological work based on actual measurements and not a preprogrammed automated system. The porewater profiler (pH, redox, T, H2, HS, O2, N2O) can penetrate the upper 50 cm of sediment and penetration is documented with real time video. Associated with GIPSIE is an on-site lab set-up, utilizing a set of identical sensors. Comparison between the insitu measurements and measurements taken onsite directly after samples are recovered from depth permits assessing the effect of sample recovery on water and sediment core chemistry. Sample recovery related changes are mainly caused by changes in the pressure temperature field and exposure of samples to atmospheric conditions. Exposure of anaerobic samples to oxygen is here a specific concern. Recovery from depth effects in generally p

  8. Computational discovery of extremal microstructure families

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Desai; Skouras, Mélina; Zhu, Bo; Matusik, Wojciech

    2018-01-01

    Modern fabrication techniques, such as additive manufacturing, can be used to create materials with complex custom internal structures. These engineered materials exhibit a much broader range of bulk properties than their base materials and are typically referred to as metamaterials or microstructures. Although metamaterials with extraordinary properties have many applications, designing them is very difficult and is generally done by hand. We propose a computational approach to discover families of microstructures with extremal macroscale properties automatically. Using efficient simulation and sampling techniques, we compute the space of mechanical properties covered by physically realizable microstructures. Our system then clusters microstructures with common topologies into families. Parameterized templates are eventually extracted from families to generate new microstructure designs. We demonstrate these capabilities on the computational design of mechanical metamaterials and present five auxetic microstructure families with extremal elastic material properties. Our study opens the way for the completely automated discovery of extremal microstructures across multiple domains of physics, including applications reliant on thermal, electrical, and magnetic properties. PMID:29376124

  9. Robust representation and recognition of facial emotions using extreme sparse learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shojaeilangari, Seyedehsamaneh; Yau, Wei-Yun; Nandakumar, Karthik; Li, Jun; Teoh, Eam Khwang

    2015-07-01

    Recognition of natural emotions from human faces is an interesting topic with a wide range of potential applications, such as human-computer interaction, automated tutoring systems, image and video retrieval, smart environments, and driver warning systems. Traditionally, facial emotion recognition systems have been evaluated on laboratory controlled data, which is not representative of the environment faced in real-world applications. To robustly recognize the facial emotions in real-world natural situations, this paper proposes an approach called extreme sparse learning, which has the ability to jointly learn a dictionary (set of basis) and a nonlinear classification model. The proposed approach combines the discriminative power of extreme learning machine with the reconstruction property of sparse representation to enable accurate classification when presented with noisy signals and imperfect data recorded in natural settings. In addition, this paper presents a new local spatio-temporal descriptor that is distinctive and pose-invariant. The proposed framework is able to achieve the state-of-the-art recognition accuracy on both acted and spontaneous facial emotion databases.

  10. Legacies from extreme drought increase ecosystem sensitivity to future extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, M. D.; Knapp, A.; Hoover, D. L.; Avolio, M. L.; Felton, A. J.; Wilcox, K. R.

    2016-12-01

    Climate extremes, such as drought, are increasing in frequency and intensity, and the ecological consequences of these extreme events can be substantial and widespread. Although there is still much to be learned about how ecosystems will respond to an intensification of drought, even less is known about the factors that determine post-drought recovery of ecosystem function. Such knowledge is particularly important because post-drought recovery periods can be protracted depending on the extent to which key plant populations, community structure and biogeochemical processes are affected. These drought legacies may alter ecosystem function for many years post-drought and may impact future sensitivity to climate extremes. We experimentally imposed two extreme growing season droughts in a central US grassland to assess the impacts of repeated droughts on ecosystem resistance (response) and resilience (recovery). We found that this grassland was not resistant to the first extreme drought due to reduced productivity and differential sensitivity of the co-dominant C4 grass (Andropogon gerardii) and C3 forb (Solidago canadensis) species. This differential sensitivity led to a reordering of species abundances within the plant community. Yet, despite this large shift in plant community composition, which persisted post-drought, the grassland was highly resilient post-drought, due to increased abundance of the dominant C4 grass. Because of this shift to increased C4 grass dominance, we expected that previously-droughted grassland would be more resistant to a second extreme drought. However, contrary to these expectations, previously droughted grassland was more sensitive to drought than grassland that had not experienced drought. Thus, our result suggest that legacies of drought (shift in community composition) may increase ecosystem sensitivity to future extreme events.

  11. Past and future changes in extreme sea levels and waves

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Lawe, J.A.; Woodworth, P.L.; Knutson, T.; McDonald, R.E.; Mclnnes, K.L.; Woth, K.; Von Storch, H.; Wolf, J.; Swail, V.; Bernier, N.B.; Gulev, S.; Horsburgh, K.J.; Unnikrishnan, A.S.; Hunter, J.R.; Weisse, R.

    of Extreme Sea Level 11.3.1 An Introduction to Storms Both mid-latitude and tropical storms are associated with extremes of sea level. Storm surges are generated by low atmospheric pressure and intense winds over the ocean. The latter also cause high wave... timescales, extremes and mean-sea-level change are both major factors in determining coastal evolution including the development of coastal ecosystems. It will be seen below that, although it is difficult to determine how mean sea level has changed...

  12. Cardio-respiratory Physiology of the European Eel (em>Agunilla anguilla)em> in Extreme Environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Methling, Caroline

    The main objective of this PhD thesis was to study the cardio-respiratory capabilities of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) under extreme conditions. Three environmental conditions were studied i.e. temperature, dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, while a fourth condition was physiological an......), body wave speed (v) and Strouhal number (St). The results demonstrate that energy expenditure, swimming performance and efficiency all are significantly affected in migrating eels fitted with external tags....

  13. Reconstruction of the Lower Extremity Using Free Flaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Jo Kang

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThe aim of lower-extremity reconstruction has focused on wound coverage and functional recovery. However, there are limitations in the use of a local flap in cases of extensive defects of the lower-extremities. Therefore, free flap is a useful option in lower-extremity reconstruction.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of 49 patients (52 cases who underwent lower-extremity reconstruction at our institution during a 10-year period. In these patients, we evaluated causes and sites of defects, types of flaps, recipient vessels, types of anastomosis, survival rate, and complications.ResultsThere were 42 men and 10 women with a mean age of 32.7 years (range, 3-72 years. The sites of defects included the dorsum of the foot (19, pretibial area (17, ankle (7, heel (5 and other sites (4. The types of free flap included latissimus dorsi muscle flap (10, scapular fascial flap (6, anterolateral thigh flap (6, and other flaps (30. There were four cases of vascular complications, out of which two flaps survived after intervention. The overall survival of the flaps was 96.2% (50/52. There were 19 cases of other complications at recipient sites such as partial graft loss (8, partial flap necrosis (6 and infection (5. However, these complications were not notable and were resolved with skin grafts.ConclusionsThe free flap is an effective method of lower-extremity reconstruction. Good outcomes can be achieved with complete debridement and the selection of appropriate recipient vessels and flaps according to the recipient site.

  14. Enhancing the Extreme Climate Index (ECI) to monitor climate extremes for an index-based insurance scheme across Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Helmschrot, J.; Malherbe, J.; Chamunorwa, M.; Muthige, M.; Petitta, M.; Calmanti, S.; Cucchi, M.; Syroka, J.; Iyahen, E.; Engelbrecht, F.

    2017-12-01

    Climate services are a key component of National Adaptation Plan (NAP) processes, which require the analysis of current climate conditions, future climate change scenarios and the identification of adaptation strategies, including the capacity to finance and implement effective adaptation options. The Extreme Climate Facility (XCF) proposed by the African Risk Capacity (ARC) developed a climate index insurance scheme, which is based on the Extreme Climate Index (ECI): an objective, multi-hazard index capable of tracking changes in the frequency or magnitude of extreme weather events, thus indicating possible shifts to a new climate regime in various regions. The main hazards covered by ECI are extreme dry, wet and heat events, with the possibility of adding other region-specific risk events. The ECI is standardized across broad geographical regions, so that extreme events occurring under different climatic regimes in Africa can be compared. Initially developed by an Italian company specialized in Climate Services, research is now conducted at the CSIR and SASSCAL, to verify and further develop the ECI for application in southern African countries, through a project initiated by the World Food Programme (WFP) and ARC. The paper will present findings on the most appropriate definitions of extremely wet and dry conditions in Africa, in terms of their impact across a multitude of sub-regional climates of the African continent. Findings of a verification analysis of the ECI, as determined through vegetation monitoring data and the SASSCAL weather station network will be discussed. Changes in the ECI under climate change will subsequently be projected, using detailed regional projections generated by the CSIR and through the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX). This work will be concluded by the development of a web-based climate service informing African Stakeholders on climate extremes.

  15. Using mobile, internet connected deep sea crawlers for spatial and temporal analysis of cold seep ecosystems and the collection of real-time classroom data for extreme environment education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purser, Autun; Kwasnitschka, Tom; Duda, Alexander; Schwendner, Jakob; Bamberg, Marlene; Sohl, Frank; Doya, Carol; Aguzzi, Jacopo; Best, Mairi; Llovet, Neus Campanya I.; Scherwath, Martin; Thomsen, Laurenz

    2015-04-01

    Cabled internet and power connectivity with the deep sea allow instruments to operate in the deep sea at higher temporal resolutions than was possible historically, with the reliance on battery life and data storage capacities. In addition to the increase in sensor temporal frequency, cabled infrastructures now allow remote access to and control of mobile platforms on the seafloor. Jacobs University Bremen, in combination with collaborators from the Robotic Exploration of Extreme Environments (ROBEX) project, CSIC Barcelona and Ocean Networks Canada have been operating tracked deep sea crawler vehicles at ~890 m depth at the dynamic Barkley Canyon methane seep site, Pacific Canada during the last ~4 years. The vehicle has been able to explore an area of ~50 m radius, allowing repeated visits to numerous microhabitats. Mounting a range of sensors, including temperature, pressure, conductivity, fluorescence, turbidity, flow and methane concentration sensors, as well as various camera systems a large dataset has been compiled. Several methane pockmarks are present in the survey area, and geological, biological and oceanographic changes have been monitored over a range of timescales. Several publications have been produced, and in this presentation we introduce further data currently under analysis. Cabled internet connectivity further allows mobile platforms to be used directly in education. As part of the ROBEX project, researchers and students from both terrestrial and planetary sciences are using the crawler in an ongoing study project. Students are introduced to statistical methods from both fields during the course and in later stages they can plan their own research using the in-situ crawler, and follow the progress of their investigations live, then analyse the collected data using the techniques introduced during the course. Cabled infrastructures offer a unique facility for spatial investigation of extreme ecosystems over time, and for the 'hands on

  16. Gas Adsorption in Novel Environments, Including Effects of Pore Relaxation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cole, Milton W; Gatica, Silvina M; Kim, Hye-Young; Lueking, Angela D; Sircar, Sarmishtha

    2012-01-01

    Adsorption experiments have been interpreted frequently with simplified model geometries, such as ideally flat surfaces and slit or cylindrical pores. Recent explorations of unusual environments, such as fullerenes and metal-organic-framework materials, have led to a broadened scope of experimental, theoretical and simulation investigations. This paper reviews a number of such studies undertaken by our group. Among the topics receiving emphasis are these: universality of gas uptake in pores, relaxation of a porous absorbent due to gas uptake and the novel phases of gases on a single nanotube, all of which studies have been motivated by recent experiments.

  17. Design and performance of capping layers for extreme-ultraviolet multilayer mirrors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bajt, Sasa; Chapman, Henry N.; Nguyen, Nhan; Alameda, Jennifer; Robinson, Jeffrey C.; Malinowski, Michael; Gullikson, Eric; Aquila, Andrew; Tarrio, Charles; Grantham, Steven

    2003-01-01

    Multilayer lifetime has emerged as one of the major issues for the commercialization of extreme-ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). We describe the performance of an oxidation-resistant capping layer of Ru atop multilayers that results in a reflectivity above 69% at 13.2 nm, which is suitable for EUVL projection optics and has been tested with accelerated electron-beam and extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light in a water-vapor environment. Based on accelerated exposure results, we calculated multilayer lifetimes for all reflective mirrors in a typical commercial EUVL tool and concluded that Ru-capped multilayers have ∼40x longer lifetimes than Si-capped multilayers, which translates to 3 months to many years, depending on the mirror dose

  18. The influence of included minerals on the intrinsic reactivity of chars prepared under N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2} environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Hong; Li, Huan; Chen, Jiabao; Zhao, Bo; Hu, Guangzhou [China Univ. of Mining and Technology, Jiangsu (China). School of Chemical Engineering

    2013-07-01

    Oxy-fuel technology could be successfully used to retrofit existing coal-fired power plants or alternatively be used to design and build new coal-fired power plants with almost zero emissions. Char reactivity under oxy-fuel conditions will have a significant impact on the coal burnout. In this paper, two fractions, representing organic-rich particles and organic particles with included minerals, were separated from each of three Chinese coals of different rank. They were then devolatilized at 1,450 C in a drop tube furnace (DTF) under N{sub 2} and CO{sub 2} environment, respectively. The chars were subjected to nitrogen adsorption study, thermogravimetric analysis and XRD analysis. It was found that char reactivity of all three pairs of chars were increased under CO{sub 2} environment as compared with that under N{sub 2} environment, but with differing trend. For the organic-rich samples the reactivity difference is increased with decreasing rank. On the contrary, for the samples of organic particles with included minerals, the reactivity difference is decreased with decreasing rank. Mechanism analysis showed that they are resulted not from gasification, but from a combination of changes in surface area and in the orderness of carbon structure in the chars, both of which, in turn, are resulted from the higher heat capacity of CO{sub 2} and the interaction between metastable liquid phase and the included minerals.

  19. [New population curves in spanish extremely preterm neonates].

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Muñoz Rodrigo, F; García-Alix Pérez, A; Figueras Aloy, J; Saavedra Santana, P

    2014-08-01

    Most anthropometric reference data for extremely preterm infants used in Spain are outdated and based on non-Spanish populations, or are derived from small hospital-based samples that failed to include neonates of borderline viability. To develop gender-specific, population-based curves for birth weight, length, and head circumference in extremely preterm Caucasian infants, using a large contemporary sample size of Spanish singletons. Anthropometric data from neonates ≤ 28 weeks of gestational age were collected between January 2002 and December 2010 using the Spanish database SEN1500. Gestational age was estimated according to obstetric data (early pregnancy ultrasound). The data were analyzed with the SPSS.20 package, and centile tables were created for males and females using the Cole and Green LMS method. This study presents the first population-based growth curves for extremely preterm infants, including those of borderline viability, in Spain. A sexual dimorphism is evident for all of the studied parameters, starting at early gestation. These new gender-specific and population-based data could be useful for the improvement of growth assessments of extremely preterm infants in our country, for the development of epidemiological studies, for the evaluation of temporal trends, and for clinical or public health interventions seeking to optimize fetal growth. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  20. The NASA Energy and Water Cycle Extreme (NEWSE) Integration Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    House, P. R.; Lapenta, W.; Schiffer, R.

    2008-01-01

    Skillful predictions of water and energy cycle extremes (flood and drought) are elusive. To better understand the mechanisms responsible for water and energy extremes, and to make decisive progress in predicting these extremes, the collaborative NASA Energy and Water cycle Extremes (NEWSE) Integration Project, is studying these extremes in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP) during 2006-2007, including their relationships with continental and global scale processes, and assessment of their predictability on multiple space and time scales. It is our hypothesis that an integrative analysis of observed extremes which reflects the current understanding of the role of SST and soil moisture variability influences on atmospheric heating and forcing of planetary waves, incorporating recently available global and regional hydro- meteorological datasets (i.e., precipitation, water vapor, clouds, etc.) in conjunction with advances in data assimilation, can lead to new insights into the factors that lead to persistent drought and flooding. We will show initial results of this project, whose goals are to provide an improved definition, attribution and prediction on sub-seasonal to interannual time scales, improved understanding of the mechanisms of decadal drought and its predictability, including the impacts of SST variability and deep soil moisture variability, and improved monitoring/attributions, with transition to applications; a bridging of the gap between hydrological forecasts and stakeholders (utilization of probabilistic forecasts, education, forecast interpretation for different sectors, assessment of uncertainties for different sectors, etc.).

  1. Self-healing cable for extreme environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huston, Dryver R. (Inventor); Tolmie, Bernard R. (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    Self-healing cable apparatus and methods disclosed. The self-healing cable has a central core surrounded by an adaptive cover that can extend over the entire length of the self-healing cable or just one or more portions of the self-healing cable. The adaptive cover includes an axially and/or radially compressible-expandable (C/E) foam layer that maintains its properties over a wide range of environmental conditions. A tape layer surrounds the C/E layer and is applied so that it surrounds and axially and/or radially compresses the C/E layer. When the self-healing cable is subjected to a damaging force that causes a breach in the outer jacket and the tape layer, the corresponding localized axially and/or radially compressed portion of the C/E foam layer expands into the breach to form a corresponding localized self-healed region. The self-healing cable is manufacturable with present-day commercial self-healing cable manufacturing tools.

  2. Evaluation of precipitation extremes over the Asian domain: observation and modelling studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, In-Won; Oh, Jaiho; Woo, Sumin; Kripalani, R. H.

    2018-04-01

    In this study, a comparison in the precipitation extremes as exhibited by the seven reference datasets is made to ascertain whether the inferences based on these datasets agree or they differ. These seven datasets, roughly grouped in three categories i.e. rain-gauge based (APHRODITE, CPC-UNI), satellite-based (TRMM, GPCP1DD) and reanalysis based (ERA-Interim, MERRA, and JRA55), having a common data period 1998-2007 are considered. Focus is to examine precipitation extremes in the summer monsoon rainfall over South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia. Measures of extreme precipitation include the percentile thresholds, frequency of extreme precipitation events and other quantities. Results reveal that the differences in displaying extremes among the datasets are small over South Asia and East Asia but large differences among the datasets are displayed over the Southeast Asian region including the maritime continent. Furthermore, precipitation data appear to be more consistent over East Asia among the seven datasets. Decadal trends in extreme precipitation are consistent with known results over South and East Asia. No trends in extreme precipitation events are exhibited over Southeast Asia. Outputs of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) simulation data are categorized as high, medium and low-resolution models. The regions displaying maximum intensity of extreme precipitation appear to be dependent on model resolution. High-resolution models simulate maximum intensity of extreme precipitation over the Indian sub-continent, medium-resolution models over northeast India and South China and the low-resolution models over Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand. In summary, there are differences in displaying extreme precipitation statistics among the seven datasets considered here and among the 29 CMIP5 model data outputs.

  3. A compliant mechanism for inspecting extremely confined spaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mascareñas, David; Moreu, Fernando; Cantu, Precious; Shields, Daniel; Wadden, Jack; El Hadedy, Mohamed; Farrar, Charles

    2017-11-01

    We present a novel, compliant mechanism that provides the capability to navigate extremely confined spaces for the purpose of infrastructure inspection. Extremely confined spaces are commonly encountered during infrastructure inspection. Examples of such spaces can include pipes, conduits, and ventilation ducts. Often these infrastructure features go uninspected simply because there is no viable way to access their interior. In addition, it is not uncommon for extremely confined spaces to possess a maze-like architecture that must be selectively navigated in order to properly perform an inspection. Efforts by the imaging sensor community have resulted in the development of imaging sensors on the millimeter length scale. Due to their compact size, they are able to inspect many extremely confined spaces of interest, however, the means to deliver these sensors to the proper location to obtain the desired images are lacking. To address this problem, we draw inspiration from the field of endoscopic surgery. Specifically we consider the work that has already been done to create long flexible needles that are capable of being steered through the human body. These devices are typically referred to as ‘steerable needles.’ Steerable needle technology is not directly applicable to the problem of navigating maze-like arrangements of extremely confined spaces, but it does provide guidance on how this problem should be approached. Specifically, the super-elastic nitinol tubing material that allows steerable needles to operate is also appropriate for the problem of navigating maze-like arrangements of extremely confined spaces. Furthermore, the portion of the mechanism that enters the extremely confined space is completely mechanical in nature. The mechanical nature of the device is an advantage when the extremely confined space features environmental hazards such as radiation that could degrade an electromechanically operated mechanism. Here, we present a compliant mechanism

  4. Magnetic resonance imaging features of extremity sarcomas of uncertain differentiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stacy, G.S.; Nair, L.

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this review is to illustrate the pertinent clinical and imaging features of extremity sarcomas of uncertain differentiation, including synovial sarcoma, epithelioid sarcoma, clear-cell sarcoma, and alveolar soft part sarcoma. These tumours should be considered in the differential diagnosis when a soft-tissue mass is encountered in the extremity of an adolescent or young adult

  5. The interaction of Plutonium with Bacteria in the Repository Environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gillow, J. B.; Francis, A. J.; Lucero, D. A.; Papenguth, H. W.

    2000-01-01

    Microorganisms in the nuclear waste repository environment may interact with plutonium through (1) sorption, (2) intracellular accumulation, and (3) transformation speciation. These interactions may retard or enhance the mobility of Pu by precipitation reactions, biocolloid formation, or production of more soluble species. Current and planned radioactive waste repository environments, such as deep subsurface halite and granite formations, are considered extreme relative to life processes in the near-surface terrestrial environment. There is a paucity of information on the biotransformation of radionuclides by microorganisms present in such extreme environments. In order to gain a better understanding of the interaction of plutonium with microorganisms present in the waste repository sites we investigated a pure culture (Halomonas sp.) and a mixed culture of bacteria (Haloarcula sinaiiensis, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, Altermonas sp., and a γ-proteobacterium) isolated from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site and an Acetobacterium sp. from alkaline groundwater at the Grimsel Test Site in Switzerland

  6. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    OpenAIRE

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic stations (airports) of North Germany (Bremen, Hamburg and Hannover) were considered for the construction of time series of daily maximum wind speeds. All daily wind extremes were found to be linked...

  7. Facility of Laboratories for Sustainable Habitation - an Initial Design of a Closed-Loop Environment

    OpenAIRE

    Quantius, Dominik; Schubert, Daniel; Maiwald, Volker; Parìs Lopéz, Rosa; Hauslage, Jens; Seboldt, Wolfgang; Doule, Ondrej; Schlacht, Irene Lia; Ransom, Stephen

    2012-01-01

    An effective and self-sustainable artificial habitat design is essential for human spaceflight and expansion of mankind into orbit or towards other celestial bodies. Besides the necessity to create an artificial habitat for the extreme environments of space, development of a self-sustainable habitat can also enable more effective exploration of extreme environments on Earth. One major application of the habitat’s closed-loop capabilities can also be in enabling ecological habitation of human ...

  8. Early neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely preterm infants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Elizabeth E; Hintz, Susan R

    2016-12-01

    Infants born at extreme preterm gestation are at risk for both death and disability. Although rates of survival have improved for this population, and some evidence suggests a trend toward decreased neuromotor impairment over the past decades, a significant improvement in overall early neurodevelopmental outcome has not yet been realized. This review will examine the rates and types of neurodevelopmental impairment seen after extremely preterm birth, including neurosensory, motor, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes. We focus on early outcomes in the first 18-36 months of life, as the majority of large neonatal studies examining neurodevelopmental outcomes stop at this age. However, this early age is clearly just a first glimpse into lifetime outcomes; the neurodevelopmental effects of extreme prematurity may last through school age, adolescence, and beyond. Importantly, prematurity appears to be an independent risk factor for adverse development, but this population demonstrates considerable variability in the types and severity of impairments. Understanding both the nature and prevalence of neurodevelopmental impairment among extremely preterm infants is important because it can lead to targeted interventions that in turn may lead to improved outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Multidecadal oscillations in rainfall and hydrological extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willems, Patrick

    2013-04-01

    Many studies have anticipated a worldwide increase in the frequency and intensity of precipitation extremes and floods since the last decade(s). Natural variability by climate oscillations partly determines the observed evolution of precipitation extremes. Based on a technique for the identification and analysis of changes in extreme quantiles, it is shown that hydrological extremes have oscillatory behaviour at multidecadal time scales. Results are based on nearly independent extremes extracted from long-term historical time series of precipitation intensities and river flows. Study regions include Belgium - The Netherlands (Meuse basin), Ethiopia (Blue Nile basin) and Ecuador (Paute basin). For Belgium - The Netherlands, the past 100 years showed larger and more hydrological extremes around the 1910s, 1950-1960s, and more recently during the 1990-2000s. Interestingly, the oscillations for southwestern Europe are anti-correlated with these of northwestern Europe, thus with oscillation highs in the 1930-1940s and 1970s. The precipitation oscillation peaks are explained by persistence in atmospheric circulation patterns over the North Atlantic during periods of 10 to 15 years. References: Ntegeka V., Willems P. (2008), 'Trends and multidecadal oscillations in rainfall extremes, based on a more than 100 years time series of 10 minutes rainfall intensities at Uccle, Belgium', Water Resources Research, 44, W07402, doi:10.1029/2007WR006471 Mora, D., Willems, P. (2012), 'Decadal oscillations in rainfall and air temperature in the Paute River Basin - Southern Andes of Ecuador', Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 108(1), 267-282, doi:0.1007/s00704-011-0527-4 Taye, M.T., Willems, P. (2011). 'Influence of climate variability on representative QDF predictions of the upper Blue Nile Basin', Journal of Hydrology, 411, 355-365, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2011.10.019 Taye, M.T., Willems, P. (2012). 'Temporal variability of hydro-climatic extremes in the Blue Nile basin', Water

  10. Extreme value theory in emerging markets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anđelić Goran

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the performance of extreme value theory (EVT with the daily stock index returns of four different emerging markets. The research covers the sample representing the Serbian (BELEXline, Croatian (CROBEX, Slovenian (SBI20, and Hungarian (BUX stock indexes using the data from January 2006 - September 2009. In the paper a performance test was carried out for the success of application of the extreme value theory in estimating and forecasting of the tails of daily return distribution of the analyzed stock indexes. Therefore the main goal is to determine whether EVT adequately estimates and forecasts the tails (2.5% and 5% at the tail of daily stock index return distribution in the emerging markets of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary. The applied methodology during the research includes analysis, synthesis and statistical/mathematical methods. Research results according to estimated Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD parameters indicate the necessity of applying market risk estimation methods, i.e. extreme value theory (EVT in the framework of a broader analysis of investment processes in emerging markets.

  11. Projections of West African summer monsoon rainfall extremes from two CORDEX models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akinsanola, A. A.; Zhou, Wen

    2018-05-01

    Global warming has a profound impact on the vulnerable environment of West Africa; hence, robust climate projection, especially of rainfall extremes, is quite important. Based on two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios, projected changes in extreme summer rainfall events over West Africa were investigated using data from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment models. Eight (8) extreme rainfall indices (CDD, CWD, r10mm, r20mm, PRCPTOT, R95pTOT, rx5day, and sdii) defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices were used in the study. The performance of the regional climate model (RCM) simulations was validated by comparing with GPCP and TRMM observation data sets. Results show that the RCMs reasonably reproduced the observed pattern of extreme rainfall over the region and further added significant value to the driven GCMs over some grids. Compared to the baseline period 1976-2005, future changes (2070-2099) in summer rainfall extremes under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios show statistically significant decreasing total rainfall (PRCPTOT), while consecutive dry days and extreme rainfall events (R95pTOT) are projected to increase significantly. There are obvious indications that simple rainfall intensity (sdii) will increase in the future. This does not amount to an increase in total rainfall but suggests a likelihood of greater intensity of rainfall events. Overall, our results project that West Africa may suffer more natural disasters such as droughts and floods in the future.

  12. Reliability-based design methods to determine the extreme response distribution of offshore wind turbines

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cheng, P.W.; Bussel, van G.J.W.; Kuik, van G.A.M.; Vugts, J.H.

    2003-01-01

    In this article a reliability-based approach to determine the extreme response distribution of offshore wind turbines is presented. Based on hindcast data, the statistical description of the offshore environment is formulated. The contour lines of different return periods can be determined.

  13. The great outdoors: how a green exercise environment can benefit all

    OpenAIRE

    Gladwell, Valerie F; Brown, Daniel K; Wood, Carly; Sandercock, Gavin R; Barton, Jo L

    2013-01-01

    The studies of human and environment interactions usually consider the extremes of environment on individuals or how humans affect the environment. It is well known that physical activity improves both physiological and psychological well-being, but further evidence is required to ascertain how different environments influence and shape health. This review considers the declining levels of physical activity, particularly in the Western world, and how the environment may help motivate and faci...

  14. effect of extreme seasonal variations and environments on some stress hormones and clotting factors of type 2 diabetics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed, A.I.

    2006-01-01

    the present study aimed to to investigate the effect of seasons (summer and winter) and environments (Cairo and Assiut) on some serum components including fasting and postprandial blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin cholesterol and triglycerides in type Il diabetic patients . measure also included prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, plasma fibrinogen, factor Vlll and plasminogen . the study also aimed to investigate the effect of season and environments on serum insulin, glucagon, cortisol and prolactin. twenty male diabetics and ten normal control have shared from each governorate during summer and winter. data from this study showed: 1- during summer, there was an increase in postprandial glucose of normal volunteers and in fasting and postprandial glucose in cairo diabetics. 2- normal assiut volunteers experienced increased FBG in summer while diabetics experienced lower postprandial glucose during summer. 3- during winter, cairo diabetics had significantly lower fasting and postprandial glucose than assiut diabetics.4- during summer, cairo diabetics had increased postprandial serum glucose in comparison to assiut. 5-the more the level of glucose the less the effect of seasons on blood glucose. 6- serum triglycerides were higher in cairo during summer, while serum cholesterol was higher in assiut in summer than in winter

  15. The opposite end of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder continuum: genetic and environmental aetiologies of extremely low ADHD traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greven, Corina U; Merwood, Andrew; van der Meer, Jolanda M J; Haworth, Claire M A; Rommelse, Nanda; Buitelaar, Jan K

    2016-04-01

    Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought to reflect a continuously distributed quantitative trait, it is assessed through binary diagnosis or skewed measures biased towards its high, symptomatic extreme. A growing trend is to study the positive tail of normally distributed traits, a promising avenue, for example, to study high intelligence to increase power for gene-hunting for intelligence. However, the emergence of such a 'positive genetics' model has been tempered for ADHD due to poor phenotypic resolution at the low extreme. Overcoming this methodological limitation, we conduct the first study to assess the aetiologies of low extreme ADHD traits. In a population-representative sample of 2,143 twins, the Strength and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal behaviour (SWAN) questionnaire was used to assess ADHD traits on a continuum from low to high. Aetiological influences on extreme ADHD traits were estimated using DeFries-Fulker extremes analysis. ADHD traits were related to behavioural, cognitive and home environmental outcomes using regression. Low extreme ADHD traits were significantly influenced by shared environmental factors (23-35%) but were not significantly heritable. In contrast, high-extreme ADHD traits showed significant heritability (39-51%) but no shared environmental influences. Compared to individuals with high extreme or with average levels of ADHD traits, individuals with low extreme ADHD traits showed fewer internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems, better cognitive performance and more positive behaviours and positive home environmental outcomes. Shared environmental influences on low extreme ADHD traits may reflect passive gene-environment correlation, which arises because parents provide environments as well as passing on genes. Studying the low extreme opens new avenues to study mechanisms underlying previously neglected positive behaviours. This is different from the current deficit-based model of

  16. Changes in extreme events and the potential impacts on human health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bell, Jesse E; Brown, Claudia Langford; Conlon, Kathryn; Herring, Stephanie; Kunkel, Kenneth E; Lawrimore, Jay; Luber, George; Schreck, Carl; Smith, Adam; Uejio, Christopher

    2018-04-01

    Extreme weather and climate-related events affect human health by causing death, injury, and illness, as well as having large socioeconomic impacts. Climate change has caused changes in extreme event frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution, and will continue to be a driver for change in the future. Some of these events include heat waves, droughts, wildfires, dust storms, flooding rains, coastal flooding, storm surges, and hurricanes. The pathways connecting extreme events to health outcomes and economic losses can be diverse and complex. The difficulty in predicting these relationships comes from the local societal and environmental factors that affect disease burden. More information is needed about the impacts of climate change on public health and economies to effectively plan for and adapt to climate change. This paper describes some of the ways extreme events are changing and provides examples of the potential impacts on human health and infrastructure. It also identifies key research gaps to be addressed to improve the resilience of public health to extreme events in the future. Extreme weather and climate events affect human health by causing death, injury, and illness, as well as having large socioeconomic impacts. Climate change has caused changes in extreme event frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution, and will continue to be a driver for change in the future. Some of these events include heat waves, droughts, wildfires, flooding rains, coastal flooding, surges, and hurricanes. The pathways connecting extreme events to health outcomes and economic losses can be diverse and complex. The difficulty in predicting these relationships comes from the local societal and environmental factors that affect disease burden.

  17. Surgical timing of treating injured extremities: an evolving concept of urgency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crist, Brett D; Ferguson, Tania; Murtha, Yvonne M; Lee, Mark A

    2013-01-01

    The management of some orthopaedic extremity injuries has changed over the past decade because of changing resource availability and the risks of complications. It is helpful to review the current literature regarding orthopaedic extremity emergencies and urgencies. The effects of the techniques of damage control orthopaedic techniques and the concept of the orthopaedic trauma room have also affected the management of these injuries. The available literature indicates that the remaining true orthopaedic extremity emergencies include compartment syndrome and vascular injuries associated with fractures and dislocations. Orthopaedic urgencies include open fracture management, femoral neck fractures in young patients treated with open reduction and internal fixation, and talus fractures that are open or those with impending skin compromise. Deciding when the definitive management of orthopaedic extremity injuries will occur has evolved as the concept of damage control orthopaedics has become more commonly accepted. Patient survival rates have improved with current resuscitative protocols. Definitive fixation of extremity injuries should be delayed until the patient's physiologic and extremity soft-tissue status allows for appropriate definitive management while minimizing the risks of complications. In patients with semiurgent orthopaedic injuries, the use of an orthopaedic trauma room has led to more efficient care of patients, fewer complications, and better time management for surgeons who perform on-call service for patients with traumatic orthopaedic injuries.

  18. Numerical implementation of time-dependent density functional theory for extended systems in extreme environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baczewski, Andrew David; Shulenburger, Luke; Desjarlais, Michael Paul; Magyar, Rudolph J.

    2014-02-01

    In recent years, DFT-MD has been shown to be a useful computational tool for exploring the properties of WDM. These calculations achieve excellent agreement with shock compression experiments, which probe the thermodynamic parameters of the Hugoniot state. New X-ray Thomson Scattering diagnostics promise to deliver independent measurements of electronic density and temperature, as well as structural information in shocked systems. However, they require the development of new levels of theory for computing the associated observables within a DFT framework. The experimentally observable x-ray scattering cross section is related to the electronic density-density response function, which is obtainable using TDDFT - a formally exact extension of conventional DFT that describes electron dynamics and excited states. In order to develop a capability for modeling XRTS data and, more generally, to establish a predictive capability for rst principles simulations of matter in extreme conditions, real-time TDDFT with Ehrenfest dynamics has been implemented in an existing PAW code for DFT-MD calculations. The purpose of this report is to record implementation details and benchmarks as the project advances from software development to delivering novel scienti c results. Results range from tests that establish the accuracy, e ciency, and scalability of our implementation, to calculations that are veri ed against accepted results in the literature. Aside from the primary XRTS goal, we identify other more general areas where this new capability will be useful, including stopping power calculations and electron-ion equilibration.

  19. Metagenomic Analysis of Hot Springs in Central India Reveals Hydrocarbon Degrading Thermophiles and Pathways Essential for Survival in Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saxena, Rituja; Dhakan, Darshan B.; Mittal, Parul; Waiker, Prashant; Chowdhury, Anirban; Ghatak, Arundhuti; Sharma, Vineet K.

    2017-01-01

    Extreme ecosystems such as hot springs are of great interest as a source of novel extremophilic species, enzymes, metabolic functions for survival and biotechnological products. India harbors hundreds of hot springs, the majority of which are not yet explored and require comprehensive studies to unravel their unknown and untapped phylogenetic and functional diversity. The aim of this study was to perform a large-scale metagenomic analysis of three major hot springs located in central India namely, Badi Anhoni, Chhoti Anhoni, and Tattapani at two geographically distinct regions (Anhoni and Tattapani), to uncover the resident microbial community and their metabolic traits. Samples were collected from seven distinct sites of the three hot spring locations with temperature ranging from 43.5 to 98°C. The 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing of V3 hypervariable region and shotgun metagenome sequencing uncovered a unique taxonomic and metabolic diversity of the resident thermophilic microbial community in these hot springs. Genes associated with hydrocarbon degradation pathways, such as benzoate, xylene, toluene, and benzene were observed to be abundant in the Anhoni hot springs (43.5–55°C), dominated by Pseudomonas stutzeri and Acidovorax sp., suggesting the presence of chemoorganotrophic thermophilic community with the ability to utilize complex hydrocarbons as a source of energy. A high abundance of genes belonging to methane metabolism pathway was observed at Chhoti Anhoni hot spring, where methane is reported to constitute >80% of all the emitted gases, which was marked by the high abundance of Methylococcus capsulatus. The Tattapani hot spring, with a high-temperature range (61.5–98°C), displayed a lower microbial diversity and was primarily dominated by a nitrate-reducing archaeal species Pyrobaculum aerophilum. A higher abundance of cell metabolism pathways essential for the microbial survival in extreme conditions was observed at Tattapani. Taken together

  20. Simulating extreme environments: Ergonomic evaluation of Chinese pilot performance and heat stress tolerance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Jing; Tian, Yinsheng; Ding, Li; Zou, Huijuan; Ren, Zhaosheng; Shi, Liyong; Feathers, David; Wang, Ning

    2015-06-05

    High-temperatures in the cockpit environment can adversely influence pilot behavior and performance. To investigate the impact of high thermal environments on Chinese pilot performance in a simulated cockpit environment. Ten subjects volunteered to participate in the tests under 40°C and 45°C high-temperature simulations in an environmentally controlled chamber. Measures such as grip strength, perception, dexterity, somatic sense reaction, and analytical reasoning were taken. The results were compared to the Combined Index of Heat Stress (CIHS). CIHS exceeded the heat stress safety limit after 45 min under 40°C, grip strength decreased by 12% and somatic perception became 2.89 times larger than the initial value. In the case of 45°C, CIHS exceeded the safety limit after only 20 min, while the grip strength decreased just by 3.2% and somatic perception increased to 4.36 times larger than the initial value. Reaction and finger dexterity were not statistically different from baseline measurements, but the error rate of analytical reasoning test rose remarkably. Somatic perception was the most sensitive index to high-temperature, followed by grip strength. Results of this paper may help to improve environmental control design of new fighter cockpit and for pilot physiology and cockpit environment ergonomics research for Chinese pilots.

  1. Visualizing Complex Environments in the Geo- and BioSciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhu, A.; Fox, P. A.; Zhong, H.; Eleish, A.; Ma, X.; Zednik, S.; Morrison, S. M.; Moore, E. K.; Muscente, D.; Meyer, M.; Hazen, R. M.

    2017-12-01

    Earth's living and non-living components have co-evolved for 4 billion years through numerous positive and negative feedbacks. Earth and life scientists have amassed vast amounts of data in diverse fields related to planetary evolution through deep time-mineralogy and petrology, paleobiology and paleontology, paleotectonics and paleomagnetism, geochemistry and geochrononology, genomics and proteomics, and more. Integrating the data from these complimentary disciplines is very useful in gaining an understanding of the evolution of our planet's environment. The integrated data however, represent many extremely complex environments. In order to gain insights and make discoveries using this data, it is important for us to model and visualize these complex environments. As part of work in understanding the "Co-Evolution of Geo and Biospheres using Data Driven Methodologies," we have developed several visualizations to help represent the information stored in the datasets from complimentary disciplines. These visualizations include 2D and 3D force directed Networks, Chord Diagrams, 3D Klee Diagrams. Evolving Network Diagrams, Skyline Diagrams and Tree Diagrams. Combining these visualizations with the results of machine learning and data analysis methods leads to a powerful way to discover patterns and relationships about the Earth's past and today's changing environment.

  2. Extreme meteorological conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altinger de Schwarzkopf, M.L.

    1983-01-01

    Different meteorological variables which may reach significant extreme values, such as the windspeed and, in particular, its occurrence through tornadoes and hurricanes that necesarily incide and wich must be taken into account at the time of nuclear power plants' installation, are analyzed. For this kind of study, it is necessary to determine the basic phenomenum of design. Two criteria are applied to define the basic values of design for extreme meteorological variables. The first one determines the expected extreme value: it is obtained from analyzing the recurence of the phenomenum in a convened period of time, wich may be generally of 50 years. The second one determines the extreme value of low probability, taking into account the nuclear power plant's operating life -f.ex. 25 years- and considering, during said lapse, the occurrence probabilities of extreme meteorological phenomena. The values may be determined either by the deterministic method, which is based on the acknowledgement of the fundamental physical characteristics of the phenomena or by the probabilistic method, that aims to the analysis of historical statistical data. Brief comments are made on the subject in relation to the Argentine Republic area. (R.J.S.) [es

  3. Moderate and extreme maternal obesity.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Abdelmaboud, M O

    2012-05-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of moderate and extreme obesity among an Irish obstetric population over a 10-year period, and to evaluate the obstetric features of such pregnancies. Of 31,869 women delivered during the years 2000-2009, there were 306 women in the study group, including 173 in the moderate or Class 2 obese category (BMI 35-39.9) and 133 in the extreme or Class 3 obese category (BMI > or = 40).The prevalence of obese women with BMI > or = 35 was 9.6 per 1000 (0.96%), with an upward trend observed from 2.1 per 1000 in the year 2000, to 11.8 per 1000 in the year 2009 (P = 0.001). There was an increase in emergency caesarean section (EMCS) risk for primigravida versus multigravid women, within both obese categories (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in EMCS rates observed between Class 2 and Class 3 obese women, when matched for parity. The prevalence of moderate and extreme obesity reported in this population is high, and appears to be increasing. The increased rates of abdominal delivery, and the levels of associated morbidity observed, have serious implications for such women embarking on pregnancy.

  4. Current concepts in repair of extremity venous injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Timothy K; Clouse, W Darrin

    2016-04-01

    Extremity venous injury management remains controversial. The purpose of this communication is to offer perspective as well as experiential and technical insight into extremity venous injury repair. Available literature is reviewed and discussed. Historical context is provided. Indication, the decision process for repair, including technical conduct, is delineated. In particular, the authors' experiences in both civilian and wartime injury are used for perspective. Extremity venous injury repair was championed within data from the Vietnam Vascular Registry. However, patterns of extremity venous injury differ between combat and civilian settings. Since Vietnam, civilian descriptive series opine the benefits and potential complications associated with both venous injury repair and ligation. These surround extremity edema, chronic venous insufficiency, thromboembolism, and limb loss. Whereas no clear superiority in either approach has been identified to date, there appears to be no increased risk of pulmonary embolism or chronic venous changes with repair. Newer data from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and meta-analysis have reinforced this and also have suggested limb salvage benefit for extremity venous repair in combined arterial and venous injuries in modern settings. The patient's physiologic state and associated injury drive five triage categories suggesting vein injury management. Vein repair thrombosis occurs in a significant proportion, yet many recanalize and possibly have a positive impact on limb venous return. Further, early decompression favors reduced blood loss, acute edema, and inflammation, supporting collateral development. Large soft tissue injury minimizing collateral capacity increases the importance of repair. Constructs of repair are varied with modest differences in patency. Venous shunting is feasible, but specific roles remain nebulous. An aggressive posture toward extremity venous injury repair seems justified today because of the likely

  5. Extreme meteorological events in nuclear power plant siting, excluding tropical cyclones

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1981-01-01

    This Safety Guide deals with the extremes of meteorological variables and the extreme meteorological phenomena in accordance with the general criteria of the Code. The Guide outlines a procedure based on the following steps: (1) The meteorological phenomena and variables are described and classified, according to their effects on safety. (2) Data sources are identified, and data are collected. (3) Meteorological variables such as air temperature are analysed to determine their design bases; and the design basis event in case of phenomena such as the design basis tornado is identified. (4) As appropriate, the design basis value for the variable, or the design basis for the phenomena (such as pressure drop and maximum wind speed of the design basis tornado), is defined. In the following sections, the general procedure for evaluating the design bases of extreme meteorological variables and phenomena is outlined. The procedure is then presented in detail for each variable or phenomenon considered. The variables characterizing the meteorological environment dealt with in this Guide are wind speed, atmospheric precipitation, and temperature. The extreme meteorological phenomena discussed here are the tornado and, briefly, the tropical cyclone, which is discussed more extensively in the Safety Guide on Design Basis Tropical Cyclone for Nuclear Power Plants (IAEA Safety Series No. 50-SG-S11B)

  6. Reconstruction of the Lower Extremity Using Free Flaps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min Jo Kang

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Background The aim of lower-extremity reconstruction has focused on wound coverage andfunctional recovery. However, there are limitations in the use of a local flap in cases of extensivedefects of the lower-extremities. Therefore, free flap is a useful option in lower-extremityreconstruction.Methods We performed a retrospective review of 49 patients (52 cases who underwentlower-extremity reconstruction at our institution during a 10-year period. In these patients,we evaluated causes and sites of defects, types of flaps, recipient vessels, types of anastomosis,survival rate, and complications.Results There were 42 men and 10 women with a mean age of 32.7 years (range, 3-72years. The sites of defects included the dorsum of the foot (19, pretibial area (17, ankle(7, heel (5 and other sites (4. The types of free flap included latissimus dorsi muscle flap(10, scapular fascial flap (6, anterolateral thigh flap (6, and other flaps (30. There werefour cases of vascular complications, out of which two flaps survived after intervention. Theoverall survival of the flaps was 96.2% (50/52. There were 19 cases of other complications atrecipient sites such as partial graft loss (8, partial flap necrosis (6 and infection (5. However,these complications were not notable and were resolved with skin grafts.Conclusions The free flap is an effective method of lower-extremity reconstruction. Goodoutcomes can be achieved with complete debridement and the selection of appropriaterecipient vessels and flaps according to the recipient site.

  7. Defining Political Extremism in the Balkans. The Case of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Babić Marko

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Political extremism (and particularly right wing political extremism remains relatively insufficiently explored due to the fact that the phenomenon is controversial and hard to define. Its ambiguity and variability depending on time and spatial point of view further complicates its definition. Its structure is amorphous and eclectic as it often includes elements from different ideologies and connects incompatible ideas. A multidimensional conceptualization and an interdisciplinary approach - sociological, social, psychological and historical, are the Author’s tools in explaining the phenomenon of political extremism in Serbia, hopefully contributing to its clarification and laying a foundation for its further explanatory theoretical studies.

  8. Early warnings of extreme winds using the ECMWF Extreme Forecast Index

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petroliagis, Thomas I.; Pinson, Pierre

    2014-01-01

    The European FP7 SafeWind Project aims at developing research towards a European vision of wind power forecasting, which requires advanced meteorological support concerning extreme wind events. This study is focused mainly on early warnings of extreme winds in the early medium-range. Three synoptic...... regimes. Overall, it becomes clear that the first indications of an extreme wind event might come from the ECMWF deterministic and/or probabilistic components capturing very intense weather systems (possible windstorms) in the medium term. For early warnings, all available EPS Extreme Forecast Index (EFI......) formulations were used, by linking daily maximum wind speeds to EFI values for different forecast horizons. From all possible EFI schemes deployed for issuing early warnings, the highest skill was found for the Gust Factor formulation (EFI-10FGI). Using EFI-10FGI, the corresponding 99% threshold could provide...

  9. Prospect for extreme field science

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tajima, T. [Ludwig Maximilian Univ. and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching (Germany); Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto and KEK, Tsukuba (Japan)

    2009-11-15

    The kind of laser extreme light infrastructure (ELI) provides will usher in a class of experiments we have only dreamed of for years. The characteristics that ELI brings in include: the highest intensity ever, large fluence, and relatively high repetition rate. A personal view of the author on the prospect of harnessing this unprecedented opportunity for advancing science of extreme fields is presented. The first characteristic of ELI, its intensity, will allow us to access, as many have stressed already, extreme fields that hover around the Schwinger field or at the very least the neighboring fields in which vacuum begins to behave as a nonlinear medium. In this sense, we are seriously probing the 'material' property of vacuum and thus the property that theory of relativity itself described and will entail. We will probe both special theory and general theory of relativity in regimes that have been never tested so far. We may see a glimpse into the reach of relativity or even its breakdown in some extreme regimes. We will learn Einstein and may even go beyond Einstein, if our journey is led. Laser-driven acceleration both by the laser field itself and by the wakefield that is triggered in a plasma is huge. Energies, if not luminosity, we can access, may be unprecedented going far beyond TeV. The nice thing about ELI is that it has relatively high repetition rate and average fluence as compared with other extreme lasers. This high fluence can be a key element that leads to applications to high energy physics, such as gamma-gamma collider driver experiment, and some gamma ray experiments that may be relevant in the frontier of photo-nuclear physics, and atomic energy applications. Needless to say, high fluence is one of most important features that industrial and medical applications may need. If we are lucky, we may see a door opens at the frontier of novel physics that may not be available by any other means. (authors)

  10. Rubber tire leachates in the aquatic environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, J J

    1997-01-01

    Tires have a deleterious effect on the environment. This review discusses the background of scrap tires discarded in the environment, including tire composition, adverse environmental effects, threats to public health and safety, and solid waste management. Despite the widespread use of scrap tires in environmental applications, both land-based and aquatic, data on the indicators of environmental degradation are extremely scarce. Indicators of environmental degradation include analysis of chemicals within the water and sediment, analysis of contaminants within organisms, and analysis of the biological effects of these compounds on plants, animals, microbes, and organelles. Although these indicators are most useful when used in parallel, a review of the available information on chemical characterization of tire leachate from tire storage facilities, manufacturing, usage in recycling applications, and toxicity exposure studies, of vegetation surveys from waste tire areas and reviews of mammalian tire product toxicity, and of toxicity, mutagenicity, and carcinogenicity of tire exposure in experimental aquatic animals, microbes, and organelles is presented. The major characteristics of these studies are discussed in specific sections. The "Discussion and Conclusions" section discusses and summarizes the biological effects and chemical characterization of tire leachates. A global environmental perspective is included to improve our understanding of the deficiency of the current knowledge of tire leachate toxicity from various sources and to encourage interdisciplinary studies to establish the pattern of pollution associated with waste tire management.

  11. Autonomous Mission Design in Extreme Orbit Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surovik, David Allen

    An algorithm for autonomous online mission design at asteroids, comets, and small moons is developed to meet the novel challenges of their complex non-Keplerian orbit environments, which render traditional methods inapplicable. The core concept of abstract reachability analysis, in which a set of impulsive maneuvering options is mapped onto a space of high-level mission outcomes, is applied to enable goal-oriented decision-making with robustness to uncertainty. These nuanced analyses are efficiently computed by utilizing a heuristic-based adaptive sampling scheme that either maximizes an objective function for autonomous planning or resolves details of interest for preliminary analysis and general study. Illustrative examples reveal the chaotic nature of small body systems through the structure of various families of reachable orbits, such as those that facilitate close-range observation of targeted surface locations or achieve soft impact upon them. In order to fulfill extensive sets of observation tasks, the single-maneuver design method is implemented in a receding-horizon framework such that a complete mission is constructed on-the-fly one piece at a time. Long-term performance and convergence are assured by augmenting the objective function with a prospect heuristic, which approximates the likelihood that a reachable end-state will benefit the subsequent planning horizon. When state and model uncertainty produce larger trajectory deviations than were anticipated, the next control horizon is advanced to allow for corrective action -- a low-frequency form of feedback control. Through Monte Carlo analysis, the planning algorithm is ultimately demonstrated to produce mission profiles that vary drastically in their physical paths but nonetheless consistently complete all goals, suggesting a high degree of flexibility. It is further shown that the objective function can be tuned to preferentially minimize fuel cost or mission duration, as well as to optimize

  12. A Motor Drive Electronics Assembly for Mars Curiosity Rover: An Example of Assembly Qualification for Extreme Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolawa, Elizabeth; Chen, Yuan; Mojarradi, Mohammad M.; Tudryn Weber, Carissa

    2013-01-01

    In this paper, the technology development and infusion of the motor drive electronics assembly, along with the technology qualification and space qualification, is described and detailed. The process is an example of the qualification methodology for extreme environmen

  13. Optimization with Extremal Dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boettcher, Stefan; Percus, Allon G.

    2001-01-01

    We explore a new general-purpose heuristic for finding high-quality solutions to hard discrete optimization problems. The method, called extremal optimization, is inspired by self-organized criticality, a concept introduced to describe emergent complexity in physical systems. Extremal optimization successively updates extremely undesirable variables of a single suboptimal solution, assigning them new, random values. Large fluctuations ensue, efficiently exploring many local optima. We use extremal optimization to elucidate the phase transition in the 3-coloring problem, and we provide independent confirmation of previously reported extrapolations for the ground-state energy of ±J spin glasses in d=3 and 4

  14. Can Concentration - Discharge Relationships Diagnose Material Source During Extreme Events?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karwan, D. L.; Godsey, S.; Rose, L.

    2017-12-01

    Floods can carry >90% of the basin material exported in a given year as well as alter flow pathways and material sources. In turn, sediment and solute fluxes can increase flood damages and negatively impact water quality and integrate physical and chemical weathering of landscapes and channels. Concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships are used to both describe export patterns as well as compute them. Metrics for describing C-Q patterns and inferring their controls are vulnerable to infrequent sampling that affects how C-Q relationships are interpolated and interpreted. C-Q relationships are typically evaluated from multiple samples, but because hydrological extremes are rare, data are often unavailable for extreme events. Because solute and sediment C-Q relationships likely respond to changes in hydrologic extremes in different ways, there is a pressing need to define their behavior under extreme conditions, including how to properly sample to capture these patterns. In the absence of such knowledge, improving load estimates in extreme floods will likely remain difficult. Here we explore the use of C-Q relationships to determine when an event alters a watershed system such that it enters a new material source/transport regime. We focus on watersheds with sediment and discharge time series include low-frequency and/or extreme events. For example, we compare solute and sediment patterns in White Clay Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania across a range of flows inclusive of multiple hurricanes for which we have ample ancillary hydrochemical data. TSS is consistently mobilized during high flow events, even during extreme floods associated with hurricanes, and sediment fingerprinting indicates different sediment sources, including in-channel remobilization and landscape erosion, are active at different times. In other words, TSS mobilization in C-Q space is not sensitive to the source of material being mobilized. Unlike sediments, weathering solutes in this watershed

  15. The scaling of population persistence with carrying capacity does not asymptote in populations of a fish experiencing extreme climate variability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Richard S A; Wintle, Brendan A; McHugh, Peter A; Booker, Douglas J; McIntosh, Angus R

    2017-06-14

    Despite growing concerns regarding increasing frequency of extreme climate events and declining population sizes, the influence of environmental stochasticity on the relationship between population carrying capacity and time-to-extinction has received little empirical attention. While time-to-extinction increases exponentially with carrying capacity in constant environments, theoretical models suggest increasing environmental stochasticity causes asymptotic scaling, thus making minimum viable carrying capacity vastly uncertain in variable environments. Using empirical estimates of environmental stochasticity in fish metapopulations, we showed that increasing environmental stochasticity resulting from extreme droughts was insufficient to create asymptotic scaling of time-to-extinction with carrying capacity in local populations as predicted by theory. Local time-to-extinction increased with carrying capacity due to declining sensitivity to demographic stochasticity, and the slope of this relationship declined significantly as environmental stochasticity increased. However, recent 1 in 25 yr extreme droughts were insufficient to extirpate populations with large carrying capacity. Consequently, large populations may be more resilient to environmental stochasticity than previously thought. The lack of carrying capacity-related asymptotes in persistence under extreme climate variability reveals how small populations affected by habitat loss or overharvesting, may be disproportionately threatened by increases in extreme climate events with global warming. © 2017 The Author(s).

  16. Northern peatland Collembola communities unaffected by three summers of simulated extreme precipitation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krab, E.J.; Aerts, R.; Berg, M.P.; van Hal, J.R.; Keuper, F.

    2014-01-01

    Extreme climate events are observed and predicted to increase in frequency and duration in high-latitude ecosystems as a result of global climate change. This includes extreme precipitation events, which may directly impact on belowground food webs and ecosystem functioning by their physical impacts

  17. Doppler Sonographic Evaluation of Venogenic Extremity Swellings ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    2017-09-14

    Sep 14, 2017 ... potentially lead to many complications including life-threatening pulmonary arterial thrombosis. Screening and confirmation ... and exclusion of acute lower extremity DVT. Duplex ultrasound is considered as the ... this study evaluates the role of Doppler sonography in the clinical management of suspected.

  18. Software challenges in extreme scale systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarkar, Vivek; Harrod, William; Snavely, Allan E

    2009-01-01

    Computer systems anticipated in the 2015 - 2020 timeframe are referred to as Extreme Scale because they will be built using massive multi-core processors with 100's of cores per chip. The largest capability Extreme Scale system is expected to deliver Exascale performance of the order of 10 18 operations per second. These systems pose new critical challenges for software in the areas of concurrency, energy efficiency and resiliency. In this paper, we discuss the implications of the concurrency and energy efficiency challenges on future software for Extreme Scale Systems. From an application viewpoint, the concurrency and energy challenges boil down to the ability to express and manage parallelism and locality by exploring a range of strong scaling and new-era weak scaling techniques. For expressing parallelism and locality, the key challenges are the ability to expose all of the intrinsic parallelism and locality in a programming model, while ensuring that this expression of parallelism and locality is portable across a range of systems. For managing parallelism and locality, the OS-related challenges include parallel scalability, spatial partitioning of OS and application functionality, direct hardware access for inter-processor communication, and asynchronous rather than interrupt-driven events, which are accompanied by runtime system challenges for scheduling, synchronization, memory management, communication, performance monitoring, and power management. We conclude by discussing the importance of software-hardware co-design in addressing the fundamental challenges for application enablement on Extreme Scale systems.

  19. Dual Axis Controller for Extreme Environments, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA's Exploration road map contains an expanded portfolio of destinations including asteroids, comets, Phobos and Deimos, Titan, Ganymede, Mars and the Moon. The...

  20. Radiography Capabilities for Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Walstrom, Peter Lowell [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Garnett, Robert William [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Chapman, Catherine A. B [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Salazar, Harry Richard [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Otoole, Joseph Alfred [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Barber, Ronald L. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Gomez, Tony Simon [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-04-28

    The Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes (MaRIE) experimental facility will be used to discover and design the advanced materials needed to meet 21st century national security and energy security challenges. This new facility will provide the new tools scientists need to develop next-generation materials that will perform predictably and on-demand for currently unattainable lifetimes in extreme environments. The MaRIE facility is based on upgrades to the existing LANSCE 800-MeV proton linac and a new 12-GeV electron linac and associated X-ray FEL to provide simultaneous multiple probe beams, and new experimental areas. In addition to the high-energy photon probe beam, both electron and proton radiography capabilities will be available at the MaRIE facility. Recently, detailed radiography system studies have been performed to develop conceptual layouts of high-magnification electron and proton radiography systems that can meet the experimental requirements for the expected first experiments to be performed at the facility. A description of the radiography systems, their performance requirements, and a proposed facility layout are presented.

  1. Expanding Health Technology Assessments to Include Effects on the Environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marsh, Kevin; Ganz, Michael Lee; Hsu, John

    2016-01-01

    decision makers. Health care is an important and sizable sector of the economy that could warrant closer policy attention to its impact on the environment. Considerable work is needed to track decision makers' demands, augment the environmental evidence base, and develop robust methods for capturing......There is growing awareness of the impact of human activity on the climate and the need to stem this impact. Public health care decision makers from Sweden and the United Kingdom have started examining environmental impacts when assessing new technologies. This article considers the case...... and objectives extending beyond health care. Two types of challenges hinder this process. First, the nascent evidence base is insufficient to support the accurate comparison of technologies' environmental impacts. Second, cost-utility analysis, which is favored by many HTA agencies, could capture some...

  2. Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Curtis, Sarah; Fair, Alistair; Wistow, Jonathan; Val, Dimitri V; Oven, Katie

    2017-12-05

    This review, commissioned by the Research Councils UK Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) programme, concerns research on the impacts on health and social care systems in the United Kingdom of extreme weather events, under conditions of climate change. Extreme weather events considered include heatwaves, coldwaves and flooding. Using a structured review method, we consider evidence regarding the currently observed and anticipated future impacts of extreme weather on health and social care systems and the potential of preparedness and adaptation measures that may enhance resilience. We highlight a number of general conclusions which are likely to be of international relevance, although the review focussed on the situation in the UK. Extreme weather events impact the operation of health services through the effects on built, social and institutional infrastructures which support health and health care, and also because of changes in service demand as extreme weather impacts on human health. Strategic planning for extreme weather and impacts on the care system should be sensitive to within country variations. Adaptation will require changes to built infrastructure systems (including transport and utilities as well as individual care facilities) and also to institutional and social infrastructure supporting the health care system. Care sector organisations, communities and individuals need to adapt their practices to improve resilience of health and health care to extreme weather. Preparedness and emergency response strategies call for action extending beyond the emergency response services, to include health and social care providers more generally.

  3. Ideologies and Discourses: Extreme Narratives in Extreme Metal Music

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bojana Radovanović

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Historically speaking, metal music has always been about provoking a strong reaction. Depending on the characteristics of different sub-genres, one can focus on the sound, technique, visual appearance, and furthermore, the ideologies and ideas that are the foundation for each of the sub-genres. Although the majority of the metal community rejects accusations of being racially intolerant, some ideologies of extreme sub-genres (such as black metal are in fact formed around the ideas of self-conscious elitism expressed through interest in pagan mythology, racism, Nazism and fascism. There has been much interest in the Nazi era within the extreme metal scene thus influencing other sub-genres and artists. The aim of this paper is to examine various appearances of extreme narratives such as Nazism and racism in  different sub-genres of metal, bearing in mind variations dependent on geographical, political, and other factors.

  4. Extremal surface barriers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engelhardt, Netta; Wall, Aron C.

    2014-01-01

    We present a generic condition for Lorentzian manifolds to have a barrier that limits the reach of boundary-anchored extremal surfaces of arbitrary dimension. We show that any surface with nonpositive extrinsic curvature is a barrier, in the sense that extremal surfaces cannot be continuously deformed past it. Furthermore, the outermost barrier surface has nonnegative extrinsic curvature. Under certain conditions, we show that the existence of trapped surfaces implies a barrier, and conversely. In the context of AdS/CFT, these barriers imply that it is impossible to reconstruct the entire bulk using extremal surfaces. We comment on the implications for the firewall controversy

  5. Structure of personality and motivation of extreme sports athletes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jana Mahnič

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of research was to define the eventual differences between personal and motivational structure among extreme sports athletes and non-athletes. Beside personal and motivational structure of both mentioned groups, we also examined state and trait anxiety as significant factors of success. We used a medium lengthy version of FPI inventory, Costell's questionnaire of achievement motivation and Spielberg's questionnaire STAI – X1 and STAI – X2. The pattern included 66 extreme sports athletes. We concluded that extreme sports athletes are significantly less suppressed and sincere, whereas they are more extrovert and masculine in comparison with the group of non-athletes. A trend that individuals, who reach for extreme sports, are more sociable, and less neurotic is pointed out, but it is not of significant importance. We found out that there is also a tendency that extreme sports athletes express more positive achievement motivation than non-athletes, who on the other hand express significantly higher negative achievement motivation. The analysis of anxiety differences on the other hand showed that extreme sports athletes have significantly lower state of anxiety and the anxiety itself as atrait is far less visible, but the difference did not appear as significant. The results however did not confirme previous studies' findings. Nevertheless they serve as a contribution to some earlier findings and suggest that extreme sports athletes are a special group, which differs from non-athlete population in both personal and motivational structure and relatively well suits to the profile of a top athlete. At the same time, the present research offers a possibility of shaping an extreme sports athlete's profile.

  6. Football goal distributions and extremal statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenhough, J.; Birch, P. C.; Chapman, S. C.; Rowlands, G.

    2002-12-01

    We analyse the distributions of the number of goals scored by home teams, away teams, and the total scored in the match, in domestic football games from 169 countries between 1999 and 2001. The probability density functions (PDFs) of goals scored are too heavy-tailed to be fitted over their entire ranges by Poisson or negative binomial distributions which would be expected for uncorrelated processes. Log-normal distributions cannot include zero scores and here we find that the PDFs are consistent with those arising from extremal statistics. In addition, we show that it is sufficient to model English top division and FA Cup matches in the seasons of 1970/71-2000/01 on Poisson or negative binomial distributions, as reported in analyses of earlier seasons, and that these are not consistent with extremal statistics.

  7. Lower extremity finite element model for crash simulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schauer, D.A.; Perfect, S.A.

    1996-03-01

    A lower extremity model has been developed to study occupant injury mechanisms of the major bones and ligamentous soft tissues resulting from vehicle collisions. The model is based on anatomically correct digitized bone surfaces of the pelvis, femur, patella and the tibia. Many muscles, tendons and ligaments were incrementally added to the basic bone model. We have simulated two types of occupant loading that occur in a crash environment using a non-linear large deformation finite element code. The modeling approach assumed that the leg was passive during its response to the excitation, that is, no active muscular contraction and therefore no active change in limb stiffness. The approach recognized that the most important contributions of the muscles to the lower extremity response are their ability to define and modify the impedance of the limb. When nonlinear material behavior in a component of the leg model was deemed important to response, a nonlinear constitutive model was incorporated. The accuracy of these assumptions can be verified only through a review of analysis results and careful comparison with test data. As currently defined, the model meets the objective for which it was created. Much work remains to be done, both from modeling and analysis perspectives, before the model can be considered complete. The model implements a modeling philosophy that can accurately capture both kinematic and kinetic response of the lower limb. We have demonstrated that the lower extremity model is a valuable tool for understanding the injury processes and mechanisms. We are now in a position to extend the computer simulation to investigate the clinical fracture patterns observed in actual crashes. Additional experience with this model will enable us to make a statement on what measures are needed to significantly reduce lower extremity injuries in vehicle crashes. 6 refs.

  8. (When and where) Do extreme climate events trigger extreme ecosystem responses? - Development and initial results of a holistic analysis framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hauber, Eva K.; Donner, Reik V.

    2015-04-01

    In the context of ongoing climate change, extremes are likely to increase in magnitude and frequency. One of the most important consequences of these changes is that the associated ecological risks and impacts are potentially rising as well. In order to better anticipate and understand these impacts, it therefore becomes more and more crucial to understand the general connection between climate extremes and the response and functionality of ecosystems. Among other region of the world, Europe presents an excellent test case for studies concerning the interaction between climate and biosphere, since it lies in the transition region between cold polar and warm tropical air masses and thus covers a great variety of different climatic zones and associated terrestrial ecosystems. The large temperature differences across the continent make this region particularly interesting for investigating the effects of climate change on biosphere-climate interactions. However, previously used methods for defining an extreme event typically disregard the necessity of taking seasonality as well as seasonal variance appropriately into account. Furthermore, most studies have focused on the impacts of individual extreme events instead of considering a whole inventory of extremes with their respective spatio-temporal extents. In order to overcome the aforementioned research gaps, this work introduces a new approach to studying climate-biosphere interactions associated with extreme events, which comprises three consecutive steps: (1) Since Europe exhibits climatic conditions characterized by marked seasonality, a novel method is developed to define extreme events taking into account the seasonality in all quantiles of the probability distribution of the respective variable of interest. This is achieved by considering kernel density estimates individually for each observation date during the year, including the properly weighted information from adjacent dates. By this procedure, we obtain

  9. Progress Towards an LES Wall Model Including Unresolved Roughness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Craft, Kyle; Redman, Andrew; Aikens, Kurt

    2015-11-01

    Wall models used in large eddy simulations (LES) are often based on theories for hydraulically smooth walls. While this is reasonable for many applications, there are also many where the impact of surface roughness is important. A previously developed wall model has been used primarily for jet engine aeroacoustics. However, jet simulations have not accurately captured thick initial shear layers found in some experimental data. This may partly be due to nozzle wall roughness used in the experiments to promote turbulent boundary layers. As a result, the wall model is extended to include the effects of unresolved wall roughness through appropriate alterations to the log-law. The methodology is tested for incompressible flat plate boundary layers with different surface roughness. Correct trends are noted for the impact of surface roughness on the velocity profile. However, velocity deficit profiles and the Reynolds stresses do not collapse as well as expected. Possible reasons for the discrepancies as well as future work will be presented. This work used the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), which is supported by National Science Foundation grant number ACI-1053575. Computational resources on TACC Stampede were provided under XSEDE allocation ENG150001.

  10. Suitability of Hydraulic Disk Brakes for Passive Actuation of Upper-Extremity Rehabilitation Exoskeleton

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arno H. A. Stienen

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Passive, energy-dissipating actuators are promising for force-coordination training in stroke rehabilitation, as they are inherently safe and have a high torque-to-weight ratio. The goal of this study is to determine if hydraulic disk brakes are suitable to actuate an upper-extremity exoskeleton, for application in rehabilitation settings. Passive actuation with friction brakes has direct implications for joint control. Braking is always opposite to the movement direction. During standstill, the measured torque is equal to the torque applied by the human. During rotations, it is equal to the brake torque. Actively assisting movement is not possible, nor are energy-requiring virtual environments. The evaluated disk brake has a 20 Nm bandwidth (flat-spectrum, multi-sine of 10 Hz; sufficient for torques required for conventional therapy and simple, passive virtual environments. The maximum static output torque is 120 Nm, sufficient for isometric training of the upper extremity. The minimal impedance is close zero, with only the inertia of the device felt. In conclusion, hydraulic disk brakes are suitable for rehabilitation devices.

  11. Black breast cancer survivors experience greater upper extremity disability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dean, Lorraine T; DeMichele, Angela; LeBlanc, Mously; Stephens-Shields, Alisa; Li, Susan Q; Colameco, Chris; Coursey, Morgan; Mao, Jun J

    2015-11-01

    Over one-third of breast cancer survivors experience upper extremity disability. Black women present with factors associated with greater upper extremity disability, including: increased body mass index (BMI), more advanced disease stage at diagnosis, and varying treatment type compared with Whites. No prior research has evaluated the relationship between race and upper extremity disability using validated tools and controlling for these factors. Data were drawn from a survey study among 610 women with stage I-III hormone receptor positive breast cancer. The disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (QuickDASH) is an 11-item self-administered questionnaire that has been validated for breast cancer survivors to assess global upper extremity function over the past 7 days. Linear regression and mediation analysis estimated the relationships between race, BMI and QuickDASH score, adjusting for demographics and treatment types. Black women (n = 98) had 7.3 points higher average QuickDASH scores than White (n = 512) women (p disability by 40 %. Even several years post-treatment, Black breast cancer survivors had greater upper extremity disability, which was partially mediated by higher BMIs. Close monitoring of high BMI Black women may be an important step in reducing disparities in cancer survivorship. More research is needed on the relationship between race, BMI, and upper extremity disability.

  12. Polygenic determinants in extremes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Jacqueline S; Wang, Jian; Low-Kam, Cécile; Khetarpal, Sumeet A; Robinson, John F; McIntyre, Adam D; Ban, Matthew R; Cao, Henian; Rhainds, David; Dubé, Marie-Pierre; Rader, Daniel J; Lettre, Guillaume; Tardif, Jean-Claude; Hegele, Robert A

    2017-11-01

    HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) remains a superior biochemical predictor of CVD risk, but its genetic basis is incompletely defined. In patients with extreme HDL-C concentrations, we concurrently evaluated the contributions of multiple large- and small-effect genetic variants. In a discovery cohort of 255 unrelated lipid clinic patients with extreme HDL-C levels, we used a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to evaluate rare variants in known HDL metabolism genes, simultaneously with common variants bundled into a polygenic trait score. Two additional cohorts were used for validation and included 1,746 individuals from the Montréal Heart Institute Biobank and 1,048 individuals from the University of Pennsylvania. Findings were consistent between cohorts: we found rare heterozygous large-effect variants in 18.7% and 10.9% of low- and high-HDL-C patients, respectively. We also found common variant accumulation, indicated by extreme polygenic trait scores, in an additional 12.8% and 19.3% of overall cases of low- and high-HDL-C extremes, respectively. Thus, the genetic basis of extreme HDL-C concentrations encountered clinically is frequently polygenic, with contributions from both rare large-effect and common small-effect variants. Multiple types of genetic variants should be considered as contributing factors in patients with extreme dyslipidemia. Copyright © 2017 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  13. Life at extreme conditions: neutron scattering studies of biological molecules suggest that evolution selected dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zaccai, Joseph Giuseppe

    2008-01-01

    The short review concentrates on recent work performed at the neutrons in biology laboratories of the Institut Laue Langevin and Institut de Biologie Structurale in Grenoble. Extremophile organisms have been discovered that require extreme conditions of temperature, pressure or solvent environment for survival. The existence of such organisms poses a significant challenge in understanding the physical chemistry of their proteins, in view of the great sensitivity of protein structure and stability to the aqueous environment and to external conditions in general. Results of neutron scattering measurements on the dynamics of proteins from extremophile organisms, in vitro as well as in vivo, indicated remarkably how adaptation to extreme conditions involves forces and fluctuation amplitudes that have been selected specifically, suggesting that evolutionary macromolecular selection proceeded via dynamics. The experiments were performed on a halophilic protein, and membrane adapted to high salt, a thermophilic enzyme adapted to high temperature and its mesophilic (adapted to 37 degC) homologue; and in vivo for psychrophilic, mesophilic, thermophilic and hyperthermophilic bacteria, adapted respectively to temperatures of 4 degC, 37 degC, 75 degC and 85 degC. Further work demonstrated the existence of a water component of exceptionally low mobility in an extreme halophile from the Dead Sea, which is not present in mesophile bacterial cells. (author)

  14. Extreme Maximum Land Surface Temperatures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garratt, J. R.

    1992-09-01

    There are numerous reports in the literature of observations of land surface temperatures. Some of these, almost all made in situ, reveal maximum values in the 50°-70°C range, with a few, made in desert regions, near 80°C. Consideration of a simplified form of the surface energy balance equation, utilizing likely upper values of absorbed shortwave flux (1000 W m2) and screen air temperature (55°C), that surface temperatures in the vicinity of 90°-100°C may occur for dry, darkish soils of low thermal conductivity (0.1-0.2 W m1 K1). Numerical simulations confirm this and suggest that temperature gradients in the first few centimeters of soil may reach 0.5°-1°C mm1 under these extreme conditions. The study bears upon the intrinsic interest of identifying extreme maximum temperatures and yields interesting information regarding the comfort zone of animals (including man).

  15. Comparison between extreme learning machine and wavelet neural networks in data classification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yahia, Siwar; Said, Salwa; Jemai, Olfa; Zaied, Mourad; Ben Amar, Chokri

    2017-03-01

    Extreme learning Machine is a well known learning algorithm in the field of machine learning. It's about a feed forward neural network with a single-hidden layer. It is an extremely fast learning algorithm with good generalization performance. In this paper, we aim to compare the Extreme learning Machine with wavelet neural networks, which is a very used algorithm. We have used six benchmark data sets to evaluate each technique. These datasets Including Wisconsin Breast Cancer, Glass Identification, Ionosphere, Pima Indians Diabetes, Wine Recognition and Iris Plant. Experimental results have shown that both extreme learning machine and wavelet neural networks have reached good results.

  16. A Non-Stationary Approach for Estimating Future Hydroclimatic Extremes Using Monte-Carlo Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, K.; Hamlet, A. F.

    2017-12-01

    There is substantial evidence that observed hydrologic extremes (e.g. floods, extreme stormwater events, and low flows) are changing and that climate change will continue to alter the probability distributions of hydrologic extremes over time. These non-stationary risks imply that conventional approaches for designing hydrologic infrastructure (or making other climate-sensitive decisions) based on retrospective analysis and stationary statistics will become increasingly problematic through time. To develop a framework for assessing risks in a non-stationary environment our study develops a new approach using a super ensemble of simulated hydrologic extremes based on Monte Carlo (MC) methods. Specifically, using statistically downscaled future GCM projections from the CMIP5 archive (using the Hybrid Delta (HD) method), we extract daily precipitation (P) and temperature (T) at 1/16 degree resolution based on a group of moving 30-yr windows within a given design lifespan (e.g. 10, 25, 50-yr). Using these T and P scenarios we simulate daily streamflow using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model for each year of the design lifespan and fit a Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) probability distribution to the simulated annual extremes. MC experiments are then used to construct a random series of 10,000 realizations of the design lifespan, estimating annual extremes using the estimated unique GEV parameters for each individual year of the design lifespan. Our preliminary results for two watersheds in Midwest show that there are considerable differences in the extreme values for a given percentile between conventional MC and non-stationary MC approach. Design standards based on our non-stationary approach are also directly dependent on the design lifespan of infrastructure, a sensitivity which is notably absent from conventional approaches based on retrospective analysis. The experimental approach can be applied to a wide range of hydroclimatic variables of interest.

  17. PROTONEGOCIATIONS - SALES FORECAST AND COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS METHOD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lupu Adrian Gelu

    2009-05-01

    Full Text Available Protonegotiation management, as part of successful negotiations of the organizations, is an issue for analysis extremely important for today’s managers in the confrontations generated by the changes of the environments in the period of transition to marke

  18. Soft tissue masses of extremities: MR findings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Son, Seok Hyun; Yang, Seoung Oh; Choi, Jong Chul; Park, Byeong Ho; Lee, Ki Nam; Choi, Sun Seob; Chung, Duck Hwan [Dong-A University College of Medicine, Pusan (Korea, Republic of)

    1993-11-15

    To evaluate MR findings of soft tissue masses in extremities and to find the helpful findings of distinguish benignity from malignancy, 28 soft tissue masses (22 benign and 6 malignant) in extremities were reviewed. TI-weighted, proton density, T2-weighted and Gd-DTPA enhanced images were obtained. MR images allowed a specific diagnosis in large number of benign masses, such as hemangioma(8/9), lipoma(2/2), angiolipoma(1/1), epidermoid cyst(2/2), myositis ossificans(1/1), synovial chondromatosis(1/1) and pigmented villonodular synovitis(1/2). Specific diagnosis was difficult in the rest of the masses including malignancy. However, inhomogeneous signal intensities with necrosis and inhomogeneous enhancement may suggest malignant masses.

  19. A Systematic Approach for Engagement Analysis Under Multitasking Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Guangfan; Leddo, John; Xu, Roger; Richey, Carl; Schnell, Tom; McKenzie, Frederick; Li, Jiang

    2011-01-01

    An overload condition can lead to high stress for an operator and further cause substantial drops in performance. On the other extreme, in automated systems, an operator may become underloaded; in which case, it is difficult for the operator to maintain sustained attention. When an unexpected event occurs, either internal or external to the automated system, a disengaged operation may neglect, misunderstand, or respond slowly/inappropriately to the situation. In this paper, we discuss a systematic approach monitor for extremes of cognitive workload and engagement in multitasking environments. Inferences of cognitive workload ar engagement are based on subjective evaluations, objective performance measures, physiological signals, and task analysis results. The systematic approach developed In this paper aggregates these types of information collected under the multitasking environment and can provide a real-time assessment or engagement.

  20. Regional tendencies of extreme wind characteristics in Hungary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Radics, Dr.; Bartholy, Dr.; Péliné

    2009-09-01

    Human activities have substantial effects on climate system. It has already accepted that change in the long-term climatic mean state will have significant consequences in the global economy and society, but the most important effects of climate change may come from changes in the intensity and frequency of climatic extremes. It is therefore of great interest to document the extremes of surface wind that could assist in estimating the regional effects of climate change. The research presented is based on 34-year-long (1975-2008) wind (speed, direction, and wind gust) data sets of 36 Hungarian synoptic meteorological stations. After processing (including digitalisation of old instrumental records, quality control and homogenisation of wind time series) the measured wind data sets, time series and complex wind climate analysis were carried out. Spatial and temporal distributions of mean and extreme wind climate characteristics were estimated, wind extremes and trends were interpolated and mapped over the country. Finally, measured and reanalysed (ERA40) wind data were compared over Hungary, in order to verify not only the validity of ERA40 reanalysed data sets, but the adaptability of climate simulation results in estimation of regional climate change effects.

  1. Cryogenic Fiber Optic Assemblies for Spaceflight Environments: Design, Manufacturing, Testing, and Integration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomes, W. Joe; Ott, Melanie N.; Chuska, Richard; Switzer, Robert; Onuma, Eleanya; Blair, Diana; Frese, Erich; Matyseck, Marc

    2016-01-01

    Fiber optic assemblies have been used on spaceflight missions for many years as an enabling technology for routing, transmitting, and detecting optical signals. Due to the overwhelming success of NASA in implementing fiber optic assemblies on spaceflight science-based instruments, system scientists increasingly request fibers that perform in extreme environments while still maintaining very high optical transmission, stability, and reliability. Many new applications require fiber optic assemblies that will operate down to cryogenic temperatures as low as 20 Kelvin. In order for the fiber assemblies to operate with little loss in optical throughput at these extreme temperatures requires a system level approach all the way from how the fiber assembly is manufactured to how it is held, routed, and integrated. The NASA Goddard Code 562 Photonics Group has been designing, manufacturing, testing, and integrating fiber optics for spaceflight and other high reliability applications for nearly 20 years. Design techniques and lessons learned over the years are consistently applied to developing new fiber optic assemblies that meet these demanding environments. System level trades, fiber assembly design methods, manufacturing, testing, and integration will be discussed. Specific recent examples of ground support equipment for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST); the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2); and others will be included.

  2. Crenarchaeal biofilm formation under extreme conditions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Koerdt

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Biofilm formation has been studied in much detail for a variety of bacterial species, as it plays a major role in the pathogenicity of bacteria. However, only limited information is available for the development of archaeal communities that are frequently found in many natural environments. METHODOLOGY: We have analyzed biofilm formation in three closely related hyperthermophilic crenarchaeotes: Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, S. solfataricus and S. tokodaii. We established a microtitre plate assay adapted to high temperatures to determine how pH and temperature influence biofilm formation in these organisms. Biofilm analysis by confocal laser scanning microscopy demonstrated that the three strains form very different communities ranging from simple carpet-like structures in S. solfataricus to high density tower-like structures in S. acidocaldarius in static systems. Lectin staining indicated that all three strains produced extracellular polysaccharides containing glucose, galactose, mannose and N-acetylglucosamine once biofilm formation was initiated. While flagella mutants had no phenotype in two days old static biofilms of S. solfataricus, a UV-induced pili deletion mutant showed decreased attachment of cells. CONCLUSION: The study gives first insights into formation and development of crenarchaeal biofilms in extreme environments.

  3. Youth Smoking in Stressed Environments : Determinants and ...

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    This grant will support three case studies of young people in extremely stressful environments in Medellin (Colombia), the West Bank (Palestine) and northern Argentina, respectively. In the last case, the young people in question will be displaced aboriginal youth. Researchers will examine the role of both classical and ...

  4. Landscape sensitivity in a dynamic environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Jiun-Chuan; Jen, Chia-Horn

    2010-05-01

    Landscape sensitivity at different scales and topics is presented in this study. Methodological approach composed most of this paper. According to the environmental records in the south eastern Asia, the environment change is highly related with five factors, such as scale of influence area, background of environment characters, magnitude and frequency of events, thresholds of occurring hazards and influence by time factor. This paper tries to demonstrate above five points from historical and present data. It is found that landscape sensitivity is highly related to the degree of vulnerability of the land and the processes which put on the ground including human activities. The scale of sensitivity and evaluation of sensitivities is demonstrated in this paper by the data around east Asia. The methods of classification are mainly from the analysis of environmental data and the records of hazards. From the trend of rainfall records, rainfall intensity and change of temperature, the magnitude and frequency of earthquake, dust storm, days of draught, number of hazards, there are many coincidence on these factors with landscape sensitivities. In conclusion, the landscape sensitivities could be classified as four groups: physical stable, physical unstable, unstable, extremely unstable. This paper explain the difference.

  5. Flood protection diversification to reduce probabilities of extreme losses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Qian; Lambert, James H; Karvetski, Christopher W; Keisler, Jeffrey M; Linkov, Igor

    2012-11-01

    Recent catastrophic losses because of floods require developing resilient approaches to flood risk protection. This article assesses how diversification of a system of coastal protections might decrease the probabilities of extreme flood losses. The study compares the performance of portfolios each consisting of four types of flood protection assets in a large region of dike rings. A parametric analysis suggests conditions in which diversifications of the types of included flood protection assets decrease extreme flood losses. Increased return periods of extreme losses are associated with portfolios where the asset types have low correlations of economic risk. The effort highlights the importance of understanding correlations across asset types in planning for large-scale flood protection. It allows explicit integration of climate change scenarios in developing flood mitigation strategy. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

  6. Investigating the Effects of Simulated Space conditions on Novel Extremely Halophilic Archaea: Halovarius Luteus gen. nov., sp. nov.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feshangsaz, Niloofar; Van Loon, ing.. Jack J. W. A.; Nazmi, Kamran; Semsarha, Farid

    2016-07-01

    Studying halophiles from different environments of Earth provide new insights into our search for life in the universe. Haloarchaea show some unique characteristics and physiological adaptations like acidic proteins against harsh environments such as natural brine with salt concentration approaching saturation (5 M) and regions with low active water. These properties make haloarchaea interesting candidate for astrobiological studies. Halovarius luteus gen. nov., sp. nov. a novel extremely halophilic archaeon from Urmia salt lake, in Iran has been chosen to explore its resistance against a series of extreme conditions. The aim of this study is to assess the resistance of strain DA50T under the effects of simulated space conditions like simulated microgravity, hypergravity, and desiccation. In this paper we will discuss the results of these studies where we specifically focus on changes in carotenoid pigments production and whole cell proteome. This is the first report of very novel Iranian archaea in response to extreme space conditions. The pigments were extracted by acetone and methanol. Pigments were analyzed by scanning the absorbance spectrum in the UV-VIS spectrophotometer. And they were separated by TLC. Whole protein from cell lysate supernatant was extracted after lysis with Bacterial Protein Extraction Reagent and fractionated by RP-HPLC using C18 column. Proteome analyzed by electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and MALDI-TOF. Carotenoid pigments are formed under different extreme conditions such as dry environment and gravitational changes. Also the protein composition exhibits alterations after exposure to the same conditions. Our conclusion is that pigments and proteins formation depend on the growth circumstances. Halophiles use this as an adaptation to survive under different environmental conditions.

  7. Variability of morphometric parameters of feet in various forms of lower extremities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konnova O.V.

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: to identify the various forms of lower extremities variability of linear and angular parameters of feet in girls aged 17-19 years. Material and Methods. The object of the study included 242 students from Saratov State Medical University, 17—19 years. Foot digital plantography photometric device-software complex «Plantvizor» and measuring distances between sibling points of lower extremities to highlight their forms have been used as a method of research. Results. 8 forms of lower extremities, among which half per cent occurs in isolated form, valgus-direct from the mil-lennim clearance opening and a trapezoidal shape of lower extremities varus. In all forms of lower extremities morphometric parameters of feet and ratio of statistically significant differences in various forms of lower extremities have been studied. Conclusion. Anatomical basis for operational adjustment of axial disorders of tibiae and its influence on morphofunctional state of foot can be resulted from the study.

  8. Polygenic determinants in extremes of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol[S

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dron, Jacqueline S.; Wang, Jian; Low-Kam, Cécile; Khetarpal, Sumeet A.; Robinson, John F.; McIntyre, Adam D.; Ban, Matthew R.; Cao, Henian; Rhainds, David; Dubé, Marie-Pierre; Rader, Daniel J.; Lettre, Guillaume; Tardif, Jean-Claude

    2017-01-01

    HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) remains a superior biochemical predictor of CVD risk, but its genetic basis is incompletely defined. In patients with extreme HDL-C concentrations, we concurrently evaluated the contributions of multiple large- and small-effect genetic variants. In a discovery cohort of 255 unrelated lipid clinic patients with extreme HDL-C levels, we used a targeted next-generation sequencing panel to evaluate rare variants in known HDL metabolism genes, simultaneously with common variants bundled into a polygenic trait score. Two additional cohorts were used for validation and included 1,746 individuals from the Montréal Heart Institute Biobank and 1,048 individuals from the University of Pennsylvania. Findings were consistent between cohorts: we found rare heterozygous large-effect variants in 18.7% and 10.9% of low- and high-HDL-C patients, respectively. We also found common variant accumulation, indicated by extreme polygenic trait scores, in an additional 12.8% and 19.3% of overall cases of low- and high-HDL-C extremes, respectively. Thus, the genetic basis of extreme HDL-C concentrations encountered clinically is frequently polygenic, with contributions from both rare large-effect and common small-effect variants. Multiple types of genetic variants should be considered as contributing factors in patients with extreme dyslipidemia. PMID:28870971

  9. Detection and attribution of extreme weather disasters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huggel, Christian; Stone, Dáithí; Hansen, Gerrit

    2014-05-01

    , with consequences being a function of the intensity of the physical weather event, the exposure and value of assets, and vulnerabilities. We have examined selected major extreme events and disasters, including superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Pakistan floods and the heat wave in Russia in 2010, the 2010 floods in Colombia and the 2011 floods in Australia. We systematically analyzed to what extent (anthropogenic) climate change may have contributed to intensity and frequency of the event, along with changes in the other risk variables, to eventually reach a more comprehensive understanding of the relative role of climate change in recent loss and damage of extreme weather events.

  10. A Large-Scale Multi-Hop Localization Algorithm Based on Regularized Extreme Learning for Wireless Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Wei; Yan, Xiaoyong; Zhao, Wei; Qian, Chengshan

    2017-12-20

    A novel large-scale multi-hop localization algorithm based on regularized extreme learning is proposed in this paper. The large-scale multi-hop localization problem is formulated as a learning problem. Unlike other similar localization algorithms, the proposed algorithm overcomes the shortcoming of the traditional algorithms which are only applicable to an isotropic network, therefore has a strong adaptability to the complex deployment environment. The proposed algorithm is composed of three stages: data acquisition, modeling and location estimation. In data acquisition stage, the training information between nodes of the given network is collected. In modeling stage, the model among the hop-counts and the physical distances between nodes is constructed using regularized extreme learning. In location estimation stage, each node finds its specific location in a distributed manner. Theoretical analysis and several experiments show that the proposed algorithm can adapt to the different topological environments with low computational cost. Furthermore, high accuracy can be achieved by this method without setting complex parameters.

  11. Use of a remote infrared thermography in experimental medicine at extreme influences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Datsenko A.V.

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The study presents an analysis of published data on the use of remote infrared thermography in medicine and veterinary science and evaluated the main opportunities, methods and ways of thermovision registration in experimental medical studies on biological objects, including at extreme influences. The following resources of the bibliographic electronic databases had been used: eLibrary, PubMed, Clinical Key, Science. Now methods of infrared thermography in insufficient degree are used in experimental medicine, including when studying adverse biological effect of various harmful and dangerous extreme factors, which main manifestation, especially in the early period after exposure, are systemic microvascular disorders, determining the state of capacity of human biomodels. These dynamic remote ther-mographic studies of experimental biological objects can be used to evaluate disorders of the peripheral circulation, working capacity and an emotional condition of the biomodels exposed to extreme factors, including early after experimental studies in laboratory and field work.

  12. Morphological selection in an extreme flow environment: body shape and waterfall-climbing success in the Hawaiian stream fish Sicyopterus stimpsoni.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blob, Richard W; Bridges, William C; Ptacek, Margaret B; Maie, Takashi; Cediel, Roberto A; Bertolas, Morgan M; Julius, Matthew L; Schoenfuss, Heiko L

    2008-12-01

    Flow characteristics are a prominent factor determining body shapes in aquatic organisms, and correlations between body shape and ambient flow regimes have been established for many fish species. In this study, we investigated the potential for a brief period of extreme flow to exert selection on the body shape of juvenile climbing Hawaiian gobiid fishes. Because of an amphidromous life history, juvenile gobies that complete an oceanic larval phase return to freshwater habitats, where they become adults. Returning juveniles often must scale waterfalls (typically with the use of a ventral sucker) in order to reach the habitats they will use as adults, thereby exposing these animals to brief periods of extreme velocities of flow. Hydrodynamic theory predicts that bodies with larger suckers and with lower heights that reduce drag would have improved climbing success and, thus, be well suited to meet the demands of the flows in waterfalls. To test the potential for the flow environment of waterfalls to impose selection that could contribute to differences in body shape between islands, we subjected juvenile Sicyopterus stimpsoni to climbing trials up artificial waterfalls (∼100 body lengths) and measured differences in body shape between successful and unsuccessful climbers. Waterfalls appear to represent a significant selective barrier to these fishes, as nearly 30% failed our climbing test. However, the effects of selection on morphology were not straightforward, as significant differences in shape between successful and unsuccessful climbers did not always match hydrodynamic predictions. In both selection experiments and in adult fish collected from habitats with different prevailing conditions of flow (the islands of Hawai'i versus Kaua'i), lower head heights were associated with exposure to high-flow regimes, as predicted by hydrodynamic theory. Thus, a premium appears to be placed on the reduction of drag via head morphology throughout the ontogeny of this

  13. Statistics of Extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Davison, Anthony C.

    2015-04-10

    Statistics of extremes concerns inference for rare events. Often the events have never yet been observed, and their probabilities must therefore be estimated by extrapolation of tail models fitted to available data. Because data concerning the event of interest may be very limited, efficient methods of inference play an important role. This article reviews this domain, emphasizing current research topics. We first sketch the classical theory of extremes for maxima and threshold exceedances of stationary series. We then review multivariate theory, distinguishing asymptotic independence and dependence models, followed by a description of models for spatial and spatiotemporal extreme events. Finally, we discuss inference and describe two applications. Animations illustrate some of the main ideas. © 2015 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.

  14. Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xuying; Li, Guoxing; Liu, Liqun; Westerdahl, Dane; Jin, Xiaobin; Pan, Xiaochuan

    2015-12-21

    Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007-2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0-27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0-14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34) to extremely low temperature. People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

  15. Climate extremes drive changes in functional community structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boucek, Ross E; Rehage, Jennifer S

    2014-06-01

    The response of communities to climate extremes can be quite variable. Much of this variation has been attributed to differences in community-specific functional trait diversity, as well as community composition. Yet, few if any studies have explicitly tested the response of the functional trait structure of communities following climate extremes (CEs). Recently in South Florida, two independent, but sequential potential CEs took place, a 2010 cold front, followed by a 2011 drought, both of which had profound impacts on a subtropical estuarine fish community. These CEs provided an opportunity to test whether the structure of South Florida fish communities following each extreme was a result of species-specific differences in functional traits. From historical temperature (1927-2012) and freshwater inflows records into the estuary (1955-2012), we determined that the cold front was a statistically extreme disturbance, while the drought was not, but rather a decadal rare disturbance. The two disturbances predictably affected different parts of functional community structure and thus different component species. The cold front virtually eliminated tropical species, including large-bodied snook, mojarra species, nonnative cichlids, and striped mullet, while having little affect on temperate fishes. Likewise, the drought severely impacted freshwater fishes including Florida gar, bowfin, and two centrarchids, with little effect on euryhaline species. Our findings illustrate the ability of this approach to predict and detect both the filtering effects of different types of disturbances and the implications of the resulting changes in community structure. Further, we highlight the value of this approach to developing predictive frameworks for better understanding community responses to global change. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Increasing your HCAHPS scores with Extreme Customer Service.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clouarte, Joe

    2016-10-01

    Providing great customer service is extremely critical in the healthcare setting, especially when it comes to HCAHBPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health care Providers and Systems) scores, the author says. While there are several service training programs within healthcare, they often require six to eight minutes of interaction with patients or guests. This works well for clinical staff, he says, but when it comes to non-clinical staff, including security officers, many times they only have fifteen or thirty seconds to create positive patient or guest experience. In this article he describes Extreme Customer Service © a program he has developed to fill that customer gap for non-clinical staff.

  17. Entanglement reactivation in separable environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pirandola, Stefano

    2013-01-01

    Combining two entanglement-breaking channels into a correlated-noise environment restores the distribution of entanglement. Surprisingly, this reactivation can be induced by the injection of separable correlations from the composite environment. In any dimension (finite or infinite), we can construct classically correlated ‘twirling’ environments which are entanglement-breaking in the transmission of single systems but entanglement-preserving when two systems are transmitted. Here entanglement is simply preserved by the existence of decoherence-free subspaces. Remarkably, even when such subspaces do not exist, a fraction of the input entanglement can still be distributed. This is found in separable Gaussian environments, where distillable entanglement is able to survive the two-mode transmission, despite being broken in any single-mode transmission by the strong thermal noise. In the Gaussian setting, entanglement restoration is a threshold process, occurring only after a critical amount of correlations has been injected. Such findings suggest new perspectives for distributing entanglement in realistic environments with extreme decoherence, identifying separable correlations and classical memory effects as physical resources for ‘breaking entanglement-breaking’. (paper)

  18. Possible alternatives to critical elements in coatings for extreme applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grilli, Maria Luisa; Valerini, Daniele; Piticescu, Radu Robert; Bellezze, Tiziano; Yilmaz, Mehmet; Rinaldi, Antonio; Cuesta-López, Santiago; Rizzo, Antonella

    2018-03-01

    Surface functionalisation and protection have been used since a long time for improving specific properties of materials such as lubrication, water repellence, brightness, and for increasing durability of objects and tools. Among the different kinds of surface treatments used to achieve the required properties, the use of coatings is fundamental to guarantee substrate durability in harsh environments. Extreme working conditions of temperature, pressure, irradiation, wear and corrosion occur in several applications, thus very often requiring bulk material protection by means of coatings. In this study, three main classes of coatings used in extreme conditions are considered: i) hard and superhard coatings for application in machining tools, ii) coatings for high temperatures (thermal barrier coatings), and iii) coatings against corrosion. The presence of critical elements in such coatings (Cr, Y, W, Co, etc.) is analysed and the possibility to use CRMs-free substitutes is reviewed. The role of multilayers and nanocomposites in tailoring coating performances is also discussed for thermal barrier and superhard coatings.

  19. Danish extreme wind atlas: Background and methods for a WAsP engineering option

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rathmann, O; Kristensen, L; Mann, J [Risoe National Lab., Wind Energy and Atmospheric Physics Dept., Roskilde (Denmark); Hansen, S O [Svend Ole Hansen ApS, Copenhagen (Denmark)

    1999-03-01

    Extreme wind statistics is necessary design information when establishing wind farms and erecting bridges, buildings and other structures in the open air. Normal mean wind statistics in terms of directional and speed distribution may be estimated by wind atlas methods and are used to estimate e.g. annual energy output for wind turbines. It is the purpose of the present work to extend the wind atlas method to also include the local extreme wind statistics so that an extreme value as e.g. the 50-year wind can be estimated at locations of interest. Together with turbulence estimates such information is important regarding the necessary strength of wind turbines or structures to withstand high wind loads. In the `WAsP Engineering` computer program a flow model, which includes a model for the dynamic roughness of water surfaces, is used to realise such an extended wind atlas method. With basis in an extended wind atlas, also containing extreme wind statistics, this allows the program to estimate extreme winds in addition to mean winds and turbulence intensities at specified positions and heights. (au) EFP-97. 15 refs.

  20. Climatic extremes improve predictions of spatial patterns of tree species

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, N.E.; Yoccoz, N.G.; Edwards, T.C.; Meier, E.S.; Thuiller, W.; Guisan, Antoine; Schmatz, D.R.; Pearman, P.B.

    2009-01-01

    Understanding niche evolution, dynamics, and the response of species to climate change requires knowledge of the determinants of the environmental niche and species range limits. Mean values of climatic variables are often used in such analyses. In contrast, the increasing frequency of climate extremes suggests the importance of understanding their additional influence on range limits. Here, we assess how measures representing climate extremes (i.e., interannual variability in climate parameters) explain and predict spatial patterns of 11 tree species in Switzerland. We find clear, although comparably small, improvement (+20% in adjusted D2, +8% and +3% in cross-validated True Skill Statistic and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve values) in models that use measures of extremes in addition to means. The primary effect of including information on climate extremes is a correction of local overprediction and underprediction. Our results demonstrate that measures of climate extremes are important for understanding the climatic limits of tree species and assessing species niche characteristics. The inclusion of climate variability likely will improve models of species range limits under future conditions, where changes in mean climate and increased variability are expected.

  1. Report from the 6th Workshop on Extremely Large Databases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Liwei Wang

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Petascale data management and analysis remain one of the main unresolved challenges in today's computing. The 6th Extremely Large Databases workshop was convened alongside the XLDB conference to discuss the challenges in the health care, biology, and natural resources communities. The role of cloud computing, the dominance of file-based solutions in science applications, in-situ and predictive analysis, and commercial software use in academic environments were discussed in depth as well. This paper summarizes the discussions of this workshop.

  2. A Fault Oblivious Extreme-Scale Execution Environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McKie, Jim

    2014-11-20

    The FOX project, funded under the ASCR X-stack I program, developed systems software and runtime libraries for a new approach to the data and work distribution for massively parallel, fault oblivious application execution. Our work was motivated by the premise that exascale computing systems will provide a thousand-fold increase in parallelism and a proportional increase in failure rate relative to today’s machines. To deliver the capability of exascale hardware, the systems software must provide the infrastructure to support existing applications while simultaneously enabling efficient execution of new programming models that naturally express dynamic, adaptive, irregular computation; coupled simulations; and massive data analysis in a highly unreliable hardware environment with billions of threads of execution. Our OS research has prototyped new methods to provide efficient resource sharing, synchronization, and protection in a many-core compute node. We have experimented with alternative task/dataflow programming models and shown scalability in some cases to hundreds of thousands of cores. Much of our software is in active development through open source projects. Concepts from FOX are being pursued in next generation exascale operating systems. Our OS work focused on adaptive, application tailored OS services optimized for multi → many core processors. We developed a new operating system NIX that supports role-based allocation of cores to processes which was released to open source. We contributed to the IBM FusedOS project, which promoted the concept of latency-optimized and throughput-optimized cores. We built a task queue library based on distributed, fault tolerant key-value store and identified scaling issues. A second fault tolerant task parallel library was developed, based on the Linda tuple space model, that used low level interconnect primitives for optimized communication. We designed fault tolerance mechanisms for task parallel computations

  3. Extreme climate in China. Facts, simulation and projection

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Hui-Jun; Sun, Jian-Qi; Chen, Huo-Po; Zhu, Ya-Li; Zhang, Ying; Jiang, Da-Bang; Lang, Xian-Mei; Fan, Ke; Yu, En-Tao [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). Inst. of Atmospheric Physics; Yang, Song [NOAA Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD (United States)

    2012-06-15

    In this paper, studies on extreme climate in China including extreme temperature and precipitation, dust weather activity, tropical cyclone activity, intense snowfall and cold surge activity, floods, and droughts are reviewed based on the peer-reviewed publications in recent decades. The review is focused first on the climatological features, variability, and trends in the past half century and then on simulations and projections based on global and regional climate models. As the annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) increased throughout China, heat wave intensity and frequency overall increased in the past half century, with a large rate after the 1980s. The daily or yearly minimum SAT increased more significantly than the mean or maximum SAT. The long-term change in precipitation is predominantly characterized by the so-called southern flood and northern drought pattern in eastern China and by the overall increase over Northwest China. The interdecadal variation of monsoon, represented by the monsoon weakening in the end of 1970s, is largely responsible for this change in mean precipitation. Precipitation-related extreme events (e.g., heavy rainfall and intense snowfall) have become more frequent and intense generally over China in the recent years, with large spatial features. Dust weather activity, however, has become less frequent over northern China in the recent years, as result of weakened cold surge activity, reinforced precipitation, and improved vegetation condition. State-of-the-art climate models are capable of reproducing some features of the mean climate and extreme climate events. However, discrepancies among models in simulating and projecting the mean and extreme climate are also demonstrated by many recent studies. Regional models with higher resolutions often perform better than global models. To predict and project climate variations and extremes, many new approaches and schemes based on dynamical models, statistical methods, or their

  4. Effects of aquatic PNF lower extremity patterns on balance and ADL of stroke patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eun-Kyung; Lee, Dong-Kyu; Kim, Young-Mi

    2015-01-01

    [Purpose] This study investigated the effect of aquatic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) patterns in the lower extremity on balance and activities of daily living (ADL) in stroke patients. [Subjects] Twenty poststroke participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). The experimental group performed lower extremity patterns in an aquatic environment, and the control group performed lower extremity patterns on the ground. Both exercises were conducted for 30 minutes/day, 5 days/week for 6 weeks. Balance was measured with the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), Functional Reach Test (FRT), and One Leg Stand Test (OLST). Activities of daily living were measured with the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). A paired t-test was used to measure pre- and post-experiment differences, and an independent t-test was used to measure between-group differences. [Results] The experimental and control groups showed significant differences for all pre- and post-experiment variables. In the between-group comparison, the experimental group was significantly difference from the control group. [Conclusion] These results indicate that performing aquatic proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation patterns in the lower extremity enhances balance and ADL in stroke patients.

  5. Statistical analysis of extreme values from insurance, finance, hydrology and other fields

    CERN Document Server

    Reiss, Rolf-Dieter

    1997-01-01

    The statistical analysis of extreme data is important for various disciplines, including hydrology, insurance, finance, engineering and environmental sciences. This book provides a self-contained introduction to the parametric modeling, exploratory analysis and statistical interference for extreme values. The entire text of this third edition has been thoroughly updated and rearranged to meet the new requirements. Additional sections and chapters, elaborated on more than 100 pages, are particularly concerned with topics like dependencies, the conditional analysis and the multivariate modeling of extreme data. Parts I–III about the basic extreme value methodology remain unchanged to some larger extent, yet notable are, e.g., the new sections about "An Overview of Reduced-Bias Estimation" (co-authored by M.I. Gomes), "The Spectral Decomposition Methodology", and "About Tail Independence" (co-authored by M. Frick), and the new chapter about "Extreme Value Statistics of Dependent Random Variables" (co-authored ...

  6. Reinforced Feedback in Virtual Environment for Rehabilitation of Upper Extremity Dysfunction after Stroke: Preliminary Data from a Randomized Controlled Trial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paweł Kiper

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Objectives. To study whether the reinforced feedback in virtual environment (RFVE is more effective than traditional rehabilitation (TR for the treatment of upper limb motor function after stroke, regardless of stroke etiology (i.e., ischemic, hemorrhagic. Design. Randomized controlled trial. Participants. Forty-four patients affected by stroke. Intervention. The patients were randomized into two groups: RFVE (N=23 and TR (N=21, and stratified according to stroke etiology. The RFVE treatment consisted of multidirectional exercises providing augmented feedback provided by virtual reality, while in the TR treatment the same exercises were provided without augmented feedbacks. Outcome Measures. Fugl-Meyer upper extremity scale (F-M UE, Functional Independence Measure scale (FIM, and kinematics parameters (speed, time, and peak. Results. The F-M UE (P=0.030, FIM (P=0.021, time (P=0.008, and peak (P=0.018, were significantly higher in the RFVE group after treatment, but not speed (P=0.140. The patients affected by hemorrhagic stroke significantly improved FIM (P=0.031, time (P=0.011, and peak (P=0.020 after treatment, whereas the patients affected by ischemic stroke improved significantly only speed (P=0.005 when treated by RFVE. Conclusion. These results indicated that some poststroke patients may benefit from RFVE program for the recovery of upper limb motor function. This trial is registered with NCT01955291.

  7. United States Temperature and Precipitation Extremes: Phenomenology, Large-Scale Organization, Physical Mechanisms and Model Representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, R. X.

    2017-12-01

    We summarize results from a project focusing on regional temperature and precipitation extremes over the continental United States. Our project introduces a new framework for evaluating these extremes emphasizing their (a) large-scale organization, (b) underlying physical sources (including remote-excitation and scale-interaction) and (c) representation in climate models. Results to be reported include the synoptic-dynamic behavior, seasonality and secular variability of cold waves, dry spells and heavy rainfall events in the observational record. We also study how the characteristics of such extremes are systematically related to Northern Hemisphere planetary wave structures and thus planetary- and hemispheric-scale forcing (e.g., those associated with major El Nino events and Arctic sea ice change). The underlying physics of event onset are diagnostically quantified for different categories of events. Finally, the representation of these extremes in historical coupled climate model simulations is studied and the origins of model biases are traced using new metrics designed to assess the large-scale atmospheric forcing of local extremes.

  8. Early retirement among Danish female cleaners and shop assistants according to work environment characteristics and upper extremity complaints

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Lone Donbæk; Bonde, Jens Peter Ellekilde; Christensen, Michael Victor

    2016-01-01

    -year cohort study with registry-based follow-up of 1430 female cleaners and 579 shop assistants. In subsequent analyses of female cleaners, disability pension and voluntary early retirement were modeled according to work characteristics and upper extremity complaints. RESULTS: The adjusted hazard rate...

  9. Extreme Events and Energy Providers: Science and Innovation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yiou, P.; Vautard, R.

    2012-04-01

    Most socio-economic regulations related to the resilience to climate extremes, from infrastructure or network design to insurance premiums, are based on a present-day climate with an assumption of stationarity. Climate extremes (heat waves, cold spells, droughts, storms and wind stilling) affect in particular energy production, supply, demand and security in several ways. While national, European or international projects have generated vast amounts of climate projections for the 21st century, their practical use in long-term planning remains limited. Estimating probabilistic diagnostics of energy user relevant variables from those multi-model projections will help the energy sector to elaborate medium to long-term plans, and will allow the assessment of climate risks associated to those plans. The project "Extreme Events for Energy Providers" (E3P) aims at filling a gap between climate science and its practical use in the energy sector and creating in turn favourable conditions for new business opportunities. The value chain ranges from addressing research questions directly related to energy-significant climate extremes to providing innovative tools of information and decision making (including methodologies, best practices and software) and climate science training for the energy sector, with a focus on extreme events. Those tools will integrate the scientific knowledge that is developed by scientific communities, and translate it into a usable probabilistic framework. The project will deliver projection tools assessing the probabilities of future energy-relevant climate extremes at a range of spatial scales varying from pan-European to local scales. The E3P project is funded by the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC Climate). We will present the mechanisms of interactions between academic partners, SMEs and industrial partners for this project. Those mechanisms are elementary bricks of a climate service.

  10. Response of Simple, Model Systems to Extreme Conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ewing, Rodney C. [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Lang, Maik [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

    2015-07-30

    The focus of the research was on the application of high-pressure/high-temperature techniques, together with intense energetic ion beams, to the study of the behavior of simple oxide systems (e.g., SiO2, GeO2, CeO2, TiO2, HfO2, SnO2, ZnO and ZrO2) under extreme conditions. These simple stoichiometries provide unique model systems for the analysis of structural responses to pressure up to and above 1 Mbar, temperatures of up to several thousands of kelvin, and the extreme energy density generated by energetic heavy ions (tens of keV/atom). The investigations included systematic studies of radiation- and pressure-induced amorphization of high P-T polymorphs. By studying the response of simple stoichiometries that have multiple structural “outcomes”, we have established the basic knowledge required for the prediction of the response of more complex structures to extreme conditions. We especially focused on the amorphous state and characterized the different non-crystalline structure-types that result from the interplay of radiation and pressure. For such experiments, we made use of recent technological developments, such as the perforated diamond-anvil cell and in situ investigation using synchrotron x-ray sources. We have been particularly interested in using extreme pressures to alter the electronic structure of a solid prior to irradiation. We expected that the effects of modified band structure would be evident in the track structure and morphology, information which is much needed to describe theoretically the fundamental physics of track-formation. Finally, we investigated the behavior of different simple-oxide, composite nanomaterials (e.g., uncoated nanoparticles vs. core/shell systems) under coupled, extreme conditions. This provided insight into surface and boundary effects on phase stability under extreme conditions.

  11. An influence of extremal edges on boundary extension.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Ralph G; Brown, James M; McDunn, Benjamin A; Siddiqui, Aisha P

    2015-08-01

    Studies have shown that people consistently remember seeing more of a studied scene than was physically present (e.g., Intraub & Richardson Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15, 179-187, 1989). This scene memory error, known as boundary extension, has been suggested to occur due to an observer's failure to differentiate between the contributing sources of information, including the sensory input, amodal continuation beyond the view boundaries, and contextual associations with the main objects and depicted scene locations (Intraub, 2010). Here, "scenes" made of abstract shapes on random-dot backgrounds, previously shown to elicit boundary extension (McDunn, Siddiqui, & Brown Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 21, 370-375, 2014), were compared with versions made with extremal edges (Palmer & Ghose Psychological Science, 19, 77-84, 2008) added to their borders, in order to examine how boundary extension is influenced when amodal continuation at the borders' view boundaries is manipulated in this way. Extremal edges were expected to reduce boundary extension as compared to the same scenes without them, because extremal edge boundaries explicitly indicate an image's end (i.e., they do not continue past the view boundary). A large and a small difference (16 % and 40 %) between the close and wide-angle views shown during the experiment were tested to examine the effects of both boundary extension and normalization with and without extremal edges. Images without extremal edges elicited typical boundary extension for the 16 % size change condition, whereas the 40 % condition showed signs of normalization. With extremal edges, a reduced amount of boundary extension occurred for the 16 % condition, and only normalization was found for the 40 % condition. Our findings support and highlight the importance of amodal continuation at the view boundaries as a component of boundary extension.

  12. Likelihood estimators for multivariate extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Huser, Raphaë l; Davison, Anthony C.; Genton, Marc G.

    2015-01-01

    The main approach to inference for multivariate extremes consists in approximating the joint upper tail of the observations by a parametric family arising in the limit for extreme events. The latter may be expressed in terms of componentwise maxima, high threshold exceedances or point processes, yielding different but related asymptotic characterizations and estimators. The present paper clarifies the connections between the main likelihood estimators, and assesses their practical performance. We investigate their ability to estimate the extremal dependence structure and to predict future extremes, using exact calculations and simulation, in the case of the logistic model.

  13. Likelihood estimators for multivariate extremes

    KAUST Repository

    Huser, Raphaël

    2015-11-17

    The main approach to inference for multivariate extremes consists in approximating the joint upper tail of the observations by a parametric family arising in the limit for extreme events. The latter may be expressed in terms of componentwise maxima, high threshold exceedances or point processes, yielding different but related asymptotic characterizations and estimators. The present paper clarifies the connections between the main likelihood estimators, and assesses their practical performance. We investigate their ability to estimate the extremal dependence structure and to predict future extremes, using exact calculations and simulation, in the case of the logistic model.

  14. CRUX: A compliant robotic upper-extremity exosuit for lightweight, portable, multi-joint muscular augmentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lessard, Steven; Pansodtee, Pattawong; Robbins, Ash; Baltaxe-Admony, Leya Breanna; Trombadore, James M; Teodorescu, Mircea; Agogino, Adrian; Kurniawan, Sri

    2017-07-01

    Wearable robots can potentially offer their users enhanced stability and strength. These augmentations are ideally designed to actuate harmoniously with the user's movements and provide extra force as needed. The creation of such robots, however, is particularly challenging due to the underlying complexity of the human body. In this paper, we present a compliant, robotic exosuit for upper extremities called CRUX. This exosuit, inspired by tensegrity models of the human arm, features a lightweight (1.3 kg), flexible multi-joint design for portable augmentation. We also illustrate how CRUX maintains the full range of motion of the upper-extremities for its users while providing multi-DoF strength amplification to the major muscles of the arm, as evident by tracking the heart rate of an individual exercising said arm. Exosuits such as CRUX may be useful in physical therapy and in extreme environments where users are expected to exert their bodies to the fullest extent.

  15. Classifying Returns as Extreme

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Charlotte

    2014-01-01

    I consider extreme returns for the stock and bond markets of 14 EU countries using two classification schemes: One, the univariate classification scheme from the previous literature that classifies extreme returns for each market separately, and two, a novel multivariate classification scheme tha...

  16. Sediment Dynamics Within Buffer Zone and Sinkhole Splay Areas Under Extreme Soil Disturbance Conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schoonover, Jon E; Crim, Jackie F; Williard, Karl W J; Groninger, John W; Zaczek, James J; Pattumma, Klairoong

    2015-09-01

    Sedimentation dynamics were assessed in sinkholes within training areas at Ft. Knox Military Installation, a karst landscape subjected to decades of tracked vehicle use and extreme soil disturbance. Sinkholes sampled were sediment-laden and behaved as intermittent ponds. Dendrogeomorphic analyses were conducted using willow trees (Salix spp.) located around the edge of 18 sinkholes to estimate historical sedimentation rates, and buried bottles were installed in 20 sinkholes at the center, outer edge, and at the midpoint between the center and edge to estimate annual sedimentation rates. Sedimentation data were coupled with vegetation characteristics of sinkhole buffers to determine relationships among these variables. The dendrogeomorphic method estimated an average accumulation rate of 1.27 cm year(-1) translating to a sediment loss rate of 46.1 metric ton year(-1) from the training areas. However, sediment export to sinkholes was estimated to be much greater (118.6 metric ton year(-1)) via the bottle method. These data suggest that the latter method provided a more accurate estimate since accumulation was greater in the center of sinkholes compared to the periphery where dendrogeomorphic data were collected. Vegetation data were not tightly correlated with sedimentation rates, suggesting that further research is needed to identify a viable proxy for direct measures of sediment accumulation in this extreme deposition environment. Mitigation activities for the sinkholes at Ft. Knox's tank training area, and other heavily disturbed karst environments where extreme sedimentation exists, should consider focusing on flow path and splay area management.

  17. The identification of plankton tropical status in the Wonokromo, Dadapan and Juanda extreme water estuary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sari, L. A.; Satyantini, W. H.; Manan, A.; Pursetyo, K. T.; Dewi, N. N.

    2018-04-01

    Wonokromo, Dadapan and Juanda estuaries are extreme waters located around Surabaya environment. This is because of a lot of organic material intake, which provided nutrients for plankton growth. In addition, the waters is also dynamic in reason of physico-chemical, geological and biological processes controlled by the tides and freshwater run-off from the river that empties into it. The objective of this study was to identify the presentation of plankton in extreme waters based on brightness and ammonia level. The study was conducted in January 2017. Three sampling locations were Wonokromo, Dadapan and Juanda estuaries. Each station consists of three points based on distances, which were 400, 700, and 1000 meters from the coastline. The brightness in Wonokromo, Dadapan, and Juanda environment was 60, 40, and 100 cm, respectively. The result of ammonia in Wonokromo, Dadapan, and Juanda estuary was 0.837, 0.626, and 0.396 mg/L, correspondingly. Nine classes of phytoplankton’s were found in three locations (bacillariophyceae, dynophyceae, chlorophyceae, cyanophyceae, crysophyceae, euglenoidea, trebouxlophyceae, mediophyceae, and nitachiaceae) and five classes of zooplanktons (maxillopoda, hexanuplia, copepoda, malacostraca, and oligotrichea). The density of plankton in Wonokromo, Dadapan and Juanda environments, was 37.64, 63.80, and 352.85 cells/L, respectively.

  18. Spacecraft Rendezvous Guidance in Cluttered Dynamical Environments via Extreme Learning Machines, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — DeepAnalytX, Inc. proposes to investigate a new approach to perform real-time, closed-loop optimal and robust rendezvous guidance in space environments comprising a...

  19. In-the-wild facial expression recognition in extreme poses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Fei; Zhang, Qian; Zheng, Chi; Qiu, Guoping

    2018-04-01

    In the computer research area, facial expression recognition is a hot research problem. Recent years, the research has moved from the lab environment to in-the-wild circumstances. It is challenging, especially under extreme poses. But current expression detection systems are trying to avoid the pose effects and gain the general applicable ability. In this work, we solve the problem in the opposite approach. We consider the head poses and detect the expressions within special head poses. Our work includes two parts: detect the head pose and group it into one pre-defined head pose class; do facial expression recognize within each pose class. Our experiments show that the recognition results with pose class grouping are much better than that of direct recognition without considering poses. We combine the hand-crafted features, SIFT, LBP and geometric feature, with deep learning feature as the representation of the expressions. The handcrafted features are added into the deep learning framework along with the high level deep learning features. As a comparison, we implement SVM and random forest to as the prediction models. To train and test our methodology, we labeled the face dataset with 6 basic expressions.

  20. Extreme Winds from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsén, Xiaoli Guo; Mann, Jakob

    2009-01-01

    wind. We examined extreme winds in different places where the strongest wind events are weather phenomena of different scales, including the mid-latitude lows in Denmark, channelling winds in the Gulf of Suez, typhoons in the western North Pacific, cyclones in the Caribbean Sea, local strong winds...

  1. Perfluorooctanesulfonate and related fluorochemicals in several organisms including humans from Italy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corsolini, S. [Siena Univ. (Italy); Kannan, K. [New York State Univ., Albany, NY (United States)

    2004-09-15

    Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant, extremely resistant to environmental degradation and is ubiquitous in the environment. Traditional monitoring studies for persistent chemicals failed to identify this contaminant for a long time because of its unique physicochemical properties and its tendency to bind to proteins instead of accumulating in fatty tissues. PFOS is known to be toxic in laboratory animals (rats, mice, monkeys) at levels close to the range already found in organisms and people. PFOS has been commercially produced by an electrochemical fluorination process for over 40 years. Perfluorooctane sulfonylfluoride (POSF; C{sub 8}F{sub 17}SO{sub 2}F) is used as a building block for further reactions that produce several other sulfonated fluorinated compounds, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (C{sub 8}F{sub 17}SO{sub 3}{sup -}) and other precursor molecules such as n-ethyl or n-methyl perfluorooctanesulfonamidoethanol. POSF-based fluorochemicals have been used in a wide variety of industrial and consumer products, including protective coatings for carpets and apparel, paper coatings, insecticide formulations, and surfactants. These compounds repel water and oil, reduce surface tension, catalyze oligomerization and polymerization, and maintain their properties under extreme conditions. Depending upon the specific functional derivatization or the degree of polymerization, POSF-based chemicals may degrade or metabolize to PFOS, which is known to be the final metabolite of POSF-based fluorochemicals. PFOS is stable, chemically inert, and non-reactive and has the potential to bioaccumulate. It has been found in polar bears from the Arctic, albatross and other fish-eating water birds in the mid-Pacific, and aquatic organisms11 and people world-wide. PFOS and other perfluorinated chemicals such as perfluorooctanesulfonamide (PFOSA), perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) have been detected in human blood. In

  2. Variations in morphological and life-history traits under extreme ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Madhsudhan

    Using half-sib analysis, we analysed the consequences of extreme rearing temperatures on ..... regression analysis and includes, in addition to an additive ..... suggestions during the course of this study. Financial assistance in the form of Fast ...

  3. Liquid Water Restricts Habitability in Extreme Deserts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cockell, Charles S.; Brown, Sarah; Landenmark, Hanna; Samuels, Toby; Siddall, Rebecca; Wadsworth, Jennifer

    2017-04-01

    Liquid water is a requirement for biochemistry, yet under some circumstances it is deleterious to life. Here, we show that liquid water reduces the upper temperature survival limit for two extremophilic photosynthetic microorganisms (Gloeocapsa and Chroococcidiopsis spp.) by greater than 40°C under hydrated conditions compared to desiccated conditions. Under hydrated conditions, thermal stress causes protein inactivation as shown by the fluorescein diacetate assay. The presence of water was also found to enhance the deleterious effects of freeze-thaw in Chroococcidiopsis sp. In the presence of water, short-wavelength UV radiation more effectively kills Gloeocapsa sp. colonies, which we hypothesize is caused by factors including the greater penetration of UV radiation into hydrated colonies compared to desiccated colonies. The data predict that deserts where maximum thermal stress or irradiation occurs in conjunction with the presence of liquid water may be less habitable to some organisms than more extreme arid deserts where organisms can dehydrate prior to being exposed to these extremes, thus minimizing thermal and radiation damage. Life in extreme deserts is poised between the deleterious effects of the presence and the lack of liquid water.

  4. Radiation-Induced Damage and Recovery of Ultra-Nanocrystalline Diamond: Toward Applications in Harsh Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Aiden A; Filevich, Jorge; Straw, Marcus; Randolph, Steven; Botman, Aurélien; Aharonovich, Igor; Toth, Milos

    2017-11-15

    Ultra-nanocrystalline diamond (UNCD) is increasingly being used in the fabrication of devices and coatings due to its excellent tribological properties, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. Here, we study its response to irradiation with kiloelectronvolt electrons as a controlled model for extreme ionizing environments. Real time Raman spectroscopy reveals that the radiation-damage mechanism entails dehydrogenation of UNCD grain boundaries, and we show that the damage can be recovered by annealing at 883 K. Our results have significant practical implications for the implementation of UNCD in extreme environment applications, and indicate that the films can be used as radiation sensors.

  5. Effects of Extreme Temperatures on Cause-Specific Cardiovascular Mortality in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuying Wang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Limited evidence is available for the effects of extreme temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality in China. Methods: We collected data from Beijing and Shanghai, China, during 2007–2009, including the daily mortality of cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and hypertensive disease, as well as air pollution concentrations and weather conditions. We used Poisson regression with a distributed lag non-linear model to examine the effects of extremely high and low ambient temperatures on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality. Results: For all cause-specific cardiovascular mortality, Beijing had stronger cold and hot effects than those in Shanghai. The cold effects on cause-specific cardiovascular mortality reached the strongest at lag 0–27, while the hot effects reached the strongest at lag 0–14. The effects of extremely low and high temperatures differed by mortality types in the two cities. Hypertensive disease in Beijing was particularly susceptible to both extremely high and low temperatures; while for Shanghai, people with ischemic heart disease showed the greatest relative risk (RRs = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.34 to extremely low temperature. Conclusion: People with hypertensive disease were particularly susceptible to extremely low and high temperatures in Beijing. People with ischemic heart disease in Shanghai showed greater susceptibility to extremely cold days.

  6. In-situ transmission electron microscopy growth of nanoparticles under extreme conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luce, F. P.; Azevedo, G. de M.; Baptista, D. L.; Zawislak, F. C.; Oliviero, E.; Fichtner, P. F. P.

    2016-01-01

    The formation and time resolved behavior of individual Pb nanoparticles embedded in silica have been studied by in-situ transmission electron microscopy observations at high temperatures (400–1100 °C) and under 200 keV electron irradiation. It is shown that under such extreme conditions, nanoparticles can migrate at long distances presenting a Brownian-like behavior and eventually coalesce. The particle migration phenomenon is discussed considering the influence of the thermal energy and the electron irradiation effects on the atomic diffusion process which is shown to control particle migration. These results and comparison with ex-situ experiments tackle the stability and the microstructure evolution of nanoparticles systems under extreme conditions. It elucidates on the effects of energetic particle irradiation-annealing treatments either as a tool or as a detrimental issue that could hamper their long-term applications in radiation-harsh environments such as in space or nuclear sectors

  7. Probabilistic analysis of extreme wind events

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chaviaropoulos, P.K. [Center for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES), Pikermi Attikis (Greece)

    1997-12-31

    A vital task in wind engineering and meterology is to understand, measure, analyse and forecast extreme wind conditions, due to their significant effects on human activities and installations like buildings, bridges or wind turbines. The latest version of the IEC standard (1996) pays particular attention to the extreme wind events that have to be taken into account when designing or certifying a wind generator. Actually, the extreme wind events within a 50 year period are those which determine the ``static`` design of most of the wind turbine components. The extremes which are important for the safety of wind generators are those associated with the so-called ``survival wind speed``, the extreme operating gusts and the extreme wind direction changes. A probabilistic approach for the analysis of these events is proposed in this paper. Emphasis is put on establishing the relation between extreme values and physically meaningful ``site calibration`` parameters, like probability distribution of the annual wind speed, turbulence intensity and power spectra properties. (Author)

  8. Gene expression changes governing extreme dehydration tolerance in an Antarctic insect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teets, Nicholas M.; Peyton, Justin T.; Colinet, Herve; Renault, David; Kelley, Joanna L.; Kawarasaki, Yuta; Lee, Richard E.; Denlinger, David L.

    2012-01-01

    Among terrestrial organisms, arthropods are especially susceptible to dehydration, given their small body size and high surface area to volume ratio. This challenge is particularly acute for polar arthropods that face near-constant desiccating conditions, as water is frozen and thus unavailable for much of the year. The molecular mechanisms that govern extreme dehydration tolerance in insects remain largely undefined. In this study, we used RNA sequencing to quantify transcriptional mechanisms of extreme dehydration tolerance in the Antarctic midge, Belgica antarctica, the world’s southernmost insect and only insect endemic to Antarctica. Larvae of B. antarctica are remarkably tolerant of dehydration, surviving losses up to 70% of their body water. Gene expression changes in response to dehydration indicated up-regulation of cellular recycling pathways including the ubiquitin-mediated proteasome and autophagy, with concurrent down-regulation of genes involved in general metabolism and ATP production. Metabolomics results revealed shifts in metabolite pools that correlated closely with changes in gene expression, indicating that coordinated changes in gene expression and metabolism are a critical component of the dehydration response. Finally, using comparative genomics, we compared our gene expression results with a transcriptomic dataset for the Arctic collembolan, Megaphorura arctica. Although B. antarctica and M. arctica are adapted to similar environments, our analysis indicated very little overlap in expression profiles between these two arthropods. Whereas several orthologous genes showed similar expression patterns, transcriptional changes were largely species specific, indicating these polar arthropods have developed distinct transcriptional mechanisms to cope with similar desiccating conditions. PMID:23197828

  9. Archaeal Viruses from High-Temperature Environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munson-McGee, Jacob H; Snyder, Jamie C; Young, Mark J

    2018-02-27

    Archaeal viruses are some of the most enigmatic viruses known, due to the small number that have been characterized to date. The number of known archaeal viruses lags behind known bacteriophages by over an order of magnitude. Despite this, the high levels of genetic and morphological diversity that archaeal viruses display has attracted researchers for over 45 years. Extreme natural environments, such as acidic hot springs, are almost exclusively populated by Archaea and their viruses, making these attractive environments for the discovery and characterization of new viruses. The archaeal viruses from these environments have provided insights into archaeal biology, gene function, and viral evolution. This review focuses on advances from over four decades of archaeal virology, with a particular focus on archaeal viruses from high temperature environments, the existing challenges in understanding archaeal virus gene function, and approaches being taken to overcome these limitations.

  10. Archaeal Viruses from High-Temperature Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jacob H. Munson-McGee

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Archaeal viruses are some of the most enigmatic viruses known, due to the small number that have been characterized to date. The number of known archaeal viruses lags behind known bacteriophages by over an order of magnitude. Despite this, the high levels of genetic and morphological diversity that archaeal viruses display has attracted researchers for over 45 years. Extreme natural environments, such as acidic hot springs, are almost exclusively populated by Archaea and their viruses, making these attractive environments for the discovery and characterization of new viruses. The archaeal viruses from these environments have provided insights into archaeal biology, gene function, and viral evolution. This review focuses on advances from over four decades of archaeal virology, with a particular focus on archaeal viruses from high temperature environments, the existing challenges in understanding archaeal virus gene function, and approaches being taken to overcome these limitations.

  11. Stoichiometric and kinetic analysis of extreme halophilic Archaea on various substrates in a corrosion resistant bioreactor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lorantfy, Bettina; Seyer, Bernhard; Herwig, Christoph

    2014-01-25

    Extreme halophilic Archaea are extremophile species which can thrive in hypersaline environments of up to 3-5 M sodium chloride concentration. Although their ecology and physiology are widely identified on the microbiological level, little emphasis has been laid on quantitative bioprocess development with extreme halophiles. The goal of this study was to establish, on the one hand, a methodological basis for quantitative bioprocess analysis of extreme halophilic Archaea with an extreme halophilic strain as an example. Firstly, as a novel usage, a corrosion resistant bioreactor setup for extreme halophiles has been implemented. Then, paying special attention to total bioprocess quantification approaches, an indirect method for biomass quantification using on-line process signals was introduced. Subsequently, robust quantitative data evaluation methods for halophiles could be developed, providing defined and controlled cultivation conditions in the bioreactor and therefore obtaining suitable quality of on-line as well as off-line datasets. On the other hand, new physiological results of extreme halophiles in bioreactor have also been obtained based on the quantitative methodological tools. For the first time, quantitative data on stoichiometry and kinetics were collected and evaluated on different carbon sources. The results on various substrates were interpreted, with proposed metabolic mechanisms, by linking to the reported primary carbon metabolism of extreme halophilic Archaea. Moreover, results of chemostat cultures demonstrated that extreme halophilic organisms show Monod-kinetics on different sole carbon sources. A diauxic growth pattern was described on a mixture of substrates in batch cultivations. In addition, the methodologies presented here enable one to characterize the utilized strain Haloferax mediterranei (HFX) as a potential new host organism. Thus, this study offers a strong methodological basis as well as a fundamental physiological assessment for

  12. Stationary and non-stationary extreme value modeling of extreme temperature in Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasan, Husna; Salleh, Nur Hanim Mohd; Kassim, Suraiya

    2014-09-01

    Extreme annual temperature of eighteen stations in Malaysia is fitted to the Generalized Extreme Value distribution. Stationary and non-stationary models with trend are considered for each station and the Likelihood Ratio test is used to determine the best-fitting model. Results show that three out of eighteen stations i.e. Bayan Lepas, Labuan and Subang favor a model which is linear in the location parameter. A hierarchical cluster analysis is employed to investigate the existence of similar behavior among the stations. Three distinct clusters are found in which one of them consists of the stations that favor the non-stationary model. T-year estimated return levels of the extreme temperature are provided based on the chosen models.

  13. Ecosystem services and livelihoods in deltaic environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicholls, R. J.; Rahman, M. M.; Salehin, M.; Hutton, C.

    2015-12-01

    While overall, deltas account for only 1% of global land area, they are home to more than a half billion people or ca. 7% of the world's population. In many deltas, livelihoods and food security are strongly dependent on ecosystem services, which in turn are affected by various environmental change factors, including climate variability and change, modifications to upstream river, sediment and nutrient fluxes, evolving nearshore ecosystems, and delta-level change factors such as subsidence, changing land use and management interventions such as polders. Key limits include scarcity of fresh water, saline water intrusion and the impacts of extreme events (e.g. river floods, cyclones and storm surges), which constrain land use choices and livelihood opportunities for the deltaic populations. The ESPA Deltas project takes a systemic perspective of the interaction between the coupled bio-physical environment and the livelihoods of rural delta residents. The methods emphasise poverty reduction and use coastal Bangladesh as an example. This includes a set of consistent biophysical analyses of the delta and the upstream catchments and the downstream Bay of Bengal, as well as governance and policy analysis and socio-demographic analysis, including an innovative household survey on ecosystem utilization. These results are encapsulated in an integrated model that analyses ecosystem services and livelihood implications. This integrated approach is designed to support delta-level policy formulation. It allows the exploration of contrasting development trajectories, including issues such as robustness of different governance options on ecosystem services and livelihoods. The method is strongly participatory including an ongoing series of stakeholder workshops addressing issue identification, scenario development and consideration of policy responses. The methods presented are generic and transferable to other deltas. The paper will consider the overall ESPA Deltas project and

  14. Extremal dynamics: A unifying physical explanation of fractals, 1/f noise, and activated processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, S.L.; Miller, W.M.; McWhorter, P.J.

    1993-01-01

    The properties of physical systems whose observable properties depend upon random exceedances of critical parameters are quantitatively examined. Using extreme value theory, the dynamical behavior of this broad class of systems is derived. This class of systems can exhibit two characteristic signatures: generalized activation when far from equilibrium and noise with a characteristic power spectrum (including 1/f ) when in quasiequilibrium. Fractal structures can also arise from these systems. It is thus demonstrated that generalized activation, noise, and fractals, in some cases, are simply different manifestations of a single common dynamical principle, which is termed ''extremal dynamics.'' Examples of physical processes governed by extremal dynamics are discussed, including data loss of nonvolatile memories and dielectric breakdown

  15. Localized corrosion of high performance metal alloys in an acid/salt environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macdowell, L. G.; Ontiveros, C.

    1991-01-01

    Various vacuum jacketed cryogenic supply lines at the Space Shuttle launch site at Kennedy Space Center use convoluted flexible expansion joints. The atmosphere at the launch site has a very high salt content, and during a launch, fuel combustion products include hydrochloric acid. This extremely corrosive environment has caused pitting corrosion failure in the thin walled 304L stainless steel flex hoses. A search was done to find a more corrosion resistant replacement material. The study focussed on 19 metal alloys. Tests which were performed include electrochemical corrosion testing, accelerated corrosion testing in a salt fog chamber, and long term exposure at a beach corrosion testing site. Based on the results of these tests, several nickel based alloys were found to have very high resistance to this corrosive environment. Also, there was excellent agreement between the electrochemical tests and the actual beach exposure tests. This suggests that electrochemical testing may be useful for narrowing the field of potential candidate alloys before subjecting samples to long term beach exposure.

  16. A note on extreme sets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radosław Cymer

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In decomposition theory, extreme sets have been studied extensively due to its connection to perfect matchings in a graph. In this paper, we first define extreme sets with respect to degree-matchings and next investigate some of their properties. In particular, we prove the generalized Decomposition Theorem and give a characterization for the set of all extreme vertices in a graph.

  17. Detecting Climate Signals in Precipitation Extremes from TRMM (1998-2013) - Increasing Contrast Between Wet and Dry Extremes During the "Global Warming Hiatus"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Huey-Tzu Jenny; Lau, William K.-M.

    2016-01-01

    We investigate changes in daily precipitation extremes using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) data (1998-2013), which coincides with the "global warming hiatus." Results show a change in probability distribution functions of local precipitation events (LPEs) during this period consistent with previous global warming studies, indicating increasing contrast between wet and dry extremes, with more intense LPE, less moderate LPE, and more dry (no rain) days globally. Analyses for land and ocean separately reveal more complex and nuanced changes over land, characterized by a strong positive trend (+12.0% per decade, 99% confidence level (c.l.)) in frequency of extreme LPEs over the Northern Hemisphere extratropics during the wet season but a negative global trend (-6.6% per decade, 95% c.l.) during the dry season. A significant global drying trend (3.2% per decade, 99% c.l.) over land is also found during the dry season. Regions of pronounced increased dry events include western and central U.S., northeastern Asia, and Southern Europe/Mediterranean.

  18. Mean annual precipitation predicts primary production resistance and resilience to extreme drought.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuart-Haëntjens, Ellen; De Boeck, Hans J; Lemoine, Nathan P; Mänd, Pille; Kröel-Dulay, György; Schmidt, Inger K; Jentsch, Anke; Stampfli, Andreas; Anderegg, William R L; Bahn, Michael; Kreyling, Juergen; Wohlgemuth, Thomas; Lloret, Francisco; Classen, Aimée T; Gough, Christopher M; Smith, Melinda D

    2018-04-27

    Extreme drought is increasing in frequency and intensity in many regions globally, with uncertain consequences for the resistance and resilience of ecosystem functions, including primary production. Primary production resistance, the capacity to withstand change during extreme drought, and resilience, the degree to which production recovers, vary among and within ecosystem types, obscuring generalized patterns of ecological stability. Theory and many observations suggest forest production is more resistant but less resilient than grassland production to extreme drought; however, studies of production sensitivity to precipitation variability indicate that the processes controlling resistance and resilience may be influenced more by mean annual precipitation (MAP) than ecosystem type. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis to investigate primary production resistance and resilience to extreme drought in 64 forests and grasslands across a broad MAP gradient. We found resistance to extreme drought was predicted by MAP; however, grasslands (positive) and forests (negative) exhibited opposing resilience relationships with MAP. Our findings indicate that common plant physiological mechanisms may determine grassland and forest resistance to extreme drought, whereas differences among plant residents in turnover time, plant architecture, and drought adaptive strategies likely underlie divergent resilience patterns. The low resistance and resilience of dry grasslands suggests that these ecosystems are the most vulnerable to extreme drought - a vulnerability that is expected to compound as extreme drought frequency increases in the future. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  19. Extreme value modeling for the analysis and prediction of time series of extreme tropospheric ozone levels: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Escarela, Gabriel

    2012-06-01

    The occurrence of high concentrations of tropospheric ozone is considered as one of the most important issues of air management programs. The prediction of dangerous ozone levels for the public health and the environment, along with the assessment of air quality control programs aimed at reducing their severity, is of considerable interest to the scientific community and to policy makers. The chemical mechanisms of tropospheric ozone formation are complex, and highly variable meteorological conditions contribute additionally to difficulties in accurate study and prediction of high levels of ozone. Statistical methods offer an effective approach to understand the problem and eventually improve the ability to predict maximum levels of ozone. In this paper an extreme value model is developed to study data sets that consist of periodically collected maxima of tropospheric ozone concentrations and meteorological variables. The methods are applied to daily tropospheric ozone maxima in Guadalajara City, Mexico, for the period January 1997 to December 2006. The model adjusts the daily rate of change in ozone for concurrent impacts of seasonality and present and past meteorological conditions, which include surface temperature, wind speed, wind direction, relative humidity, and ozone. The results indicate that trend, annual effects, and key meteorological variables along with some interactions explain the variation in daily ozone maxima. Prediction performance assessments yield reasonably good results.

  20. The Importance of Studying Past Extreme Floods to Prepare for Uncertain Future Extremes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burges, S. J.

    2016-12-01

    Hoyt and Langbein, 1955 in their book `Floods' wrote: " ..meteorologic and hydrologic conditions will combine to produce superfloods of unprecedented magnitude. We have every reason to believe that in most rivers past floods may not be an accurate measure of ultimate flood potentialities. It is this superflood with which we are always most concerned". I provide several examples to offer some historical perspective on assessing extreme floods. In one example, flooding in the Miami Valley, OH in 1913 claimed 350 lives. The engineering and socio-economic challenges facing the Morgan Engineering Co in how to mitigate against future flood damage and loss of life when limited information was available provide guidance about ways to face an uncertain hydroclimate future, particularly one of a changed climate. A second example forces us to examine mixed flood populations and illustrates the huge uncertainty in assigning flood magnitude and exceedance probability to extreme floods in such cases. There is large uncertainty in flood frequency estimates; knowledge of the total flood hydrograph, not the peak flood flow rate alone, is what is needed for hazard mitigation assessment or design. Some challenges in estimating the complete flood hydrograph in an uncertain future climate, including demands on hydrologic models and their inputs, are addressed.

  1. LiDAR in extreme environment: surveying in Antarctica

    OpenAIRE

    Abate, D.; Pierattini, S.; Bianchi Fasani, G.

    2013-01-01

    This study was performed under the patronage of the Italian National Research Programme in Antarctica (PNRA) with the aim to realize a high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the moraine named "Boulder Clay" which insists approximately 7 km far from the Italian Research Base "Mario Zucchelli Station" in the Terra Nova Bay area. The DEM will be included in the project for the construction of two runways to be used as support facilities for the scientific research campaigns wh...

  2. Assessing Climate Variability using Extreme Rainfall and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user1

    extreme frequency); the average intensity of rainfall from extreme events ... frequency and extreme intensity indices, suggesting that extreme events are more frequent and intense during years with high rainfall. The proportion of total rainfall from ...

  3. Insertion sequences enrichment in extreme Red sea brine pool vent

    KAUST Repository

    Elbehery, Ali H. A.; Aziz, Ramy K.; Siam, Rania

    2016-01-01

    Mobile genetic elements are major agents of genome diversification and evolution. Limited studies addressed their characteristics, including abundance, and role in extreme habitats. One of the rare natural habitats exposed to multiple

  4. Infection in the ischemic lower extremity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fry, D E; Marek, J M; Langsfeld, M

    1998-06-01

    Infections in the lower extremity of the patient with ischemia can cover a broad spectrum of different diseases. An understanding of the particular pathophysiologic circumstances in the ischemic extremity can be of great value in understanding the natural history of the disease and the potential complications that may occur. Optimizing blood flow to the extremity by using revascularization techniques is important for any patient with an ischemic lower extremity complicated by infection or ulceration. Infections in the ischemic lower extremity require local débridement and systemic antibiotics. For severe infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis or the fetid foot, more extensive local débridement and even amputation may be required. Fundamentals of managing prosthetic graft infection require removing the infected prosthesis, local wound débridement, and systemic antibiotics while attempting to preserve viability of the lower extremity using autogenous graft reconstruction.

  5. Spatial analysis of extreme precipitation deficit as an index for atmospheric drought in Belgium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamani, Sepideh; Van De Vyver, Hans; Gobin, Anne

    2014-05-01

    observations from isolated sites and using a common regression model based on climatological/geographical covariates. The behaviour of the fitted spatial GEV-distribution is heavy-tailed with γ ≡ 0.3 over Belgium. A comparison between the RL-maps using GEV model and the ones obtained from Universal Kriging (UK) confirms the reliability of the spatial GEV model in explaining atmospheric drought in Belgium. References [1] Beniston, M., Stephenson, D. B., Christensen, O. B., Ferro, C. A. T., Frei, C., Goyette, S., Halsnaes, K., Holt, T., Jylhü, K., Koffi, B., Palutikoff, J., Schöll, R., Semmler, T., and Woth, K. (2007), Future extreme events in European climate; an exploration of Regional Climate Model projections. Climatic Change, 81, 71-95. [2] Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, M. Tignor and H.L. Miller (Eds.)] (2007), king Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 996 pp. [3] Coles, S. (2001), An Introduction to Statistical Modeling of Extreme Values, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, Germany. [4] Embrechts, P., C. Klüppelberg, and T. Mikosch (1997), Modelling Extremal Events for Insurance and Finance, Springer-Verlag, Berlin. [5] Smith, R., (2004), Statistics of extremes, with application in environment, insurance and finance, in : Extreme Values in Finance, Telecommunications and the Environment, edited by: Finkenstadt, B. and Rootzen, H., 373-388, Chapman and Hall CRC Press, London.

  6. An Autonomous Mobile Robotic System for Surveillance of Indoor Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donato Di Paola

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available The development of intelligent surveillance systems is an active research area. In this context, mobile and multi-functional robots are generally adopted as means to reduce the environment structuring and the number of devices needed to cover a given area. Nevertheless, the number of different sensors mounted on the robot, and the number of complex tasks related to exploration, monitoring, and surveillance make the design of the overall system extremely challenging. In this paper, we present our autonomous mobile robot for surveillance of indoor environments. We propose a system able to handle autonomously general-purpose tasks and complex surveillance issues simultaneously. It is shown that the proposed robotic surveillance scheme successfully addresses a number of basic problems related to environment mapping, localization and autonomous navigation, as well as surveillance tasks, like scene processing to detect abandoned or removed objects and people detection and following. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through experimental tests using a multisensor platform equipped with a monocular camera, a laser scanner, and an RFID device. Real world applications of the proposed system include surveillance of wide areas (e.g. airports and museums and buildings, and monitoring of safety equipment.

  7. An Autonomous Mobile Robotic System for Surveillance of Indoor Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Donato Di Paola

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The development of intelligent surveillance systems is an active research area. In this context, mobile and multi-functional robots are generally adopted as means to reduce the environment structuring and the number of devices needed to cover a given area. Nevertheless, the number of different sensors mounted on the robot, and the number of complex tasks related to exploration, monitoring, and surveillance make the design of the overall system extremely challenging. In this paper, we present our autonomous mobile robot for surveillance of indoor environments. We propose a system able to handle autonomously general-purpose tasks and complex surveillance issues simultaneously. It is shown that the proposed robotic surveillance scheme successfully addresses a number of basic problems related to environment mapping, localization and autonomous navigation, as well as surveillance tasks, like scene processing to detect abandoned or removed objects and people detection and following. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated through experimental tests using a multisensor platform equipped with a monocular camera, a laser scanner, and an RFID device. Real world applications of the proposed system include surveillance of wide areas (e.g. airports and museums and buildings, and monitoring of safety equipment.

  8. Continuous Spatial Process Models for Spatial Extreme Values

    KAUST Repository

    Sang, Huiyan

    2010-01-28

    We propose a hierarchical modeling approach for explaining a collection of point-referenced extreme values. In particular, annual maxima over space and time are assumed to follow generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions, with parameters μ, σ, and ξ specified in the latent stage to reflect underlying spatio-temporal structure. The novelty here is that we relax the conditionally independence assumption in the first stage of the hierarchial model, an assumption which has been adopted in previous work. This assumption implies that realizations of the the surface of spatial maxima will be everywhere discontinuous. For many phenomena including, e. g., temperature and precipitation, this behavior is inappropriate. Instead, we offer a spatial process model for extreme values that provides mean square continuous realizations, where the behavior of the surface is driven by the spatial dependence which is unexplained under the latent spatio-temporal specification for the GEV parameters. In this sense, the first stage smoothing is viewed as fine scale or short range smoothing while the larger scale smoothing will be captured in the second stage of the modeling. In addition, as would be desired, we are able to implement spatial interpolation for extreme values based on this model. A simulation study and a study on actual annual maximum rainfall for a region in South Africa are used to illustrate the performance of the model. © 2009 International Biometric Society.

  9. Weather extremes could affect agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balcerak, Ernie

    2012-05-01

    As Earth's climate warms, agricultural producers will need to adapt. Changes, especially increases in extreme events, are already having an impact on food production, according to speakers at a 1 May session on agriculture and food security at the AGU Science Policy Conference. Christopher Field, director of the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science of Washington, D. C., pointed out the complex factors that come into play in understanding food security, including spatially varying controls and stresses, incomplete models, and the potential for threshold responses. Factors that are likely to cause problems include increasing population; increasing preference for meat, which needs more land and energy inputs to produce; climate change; and increasing use of agricultural lands for biomass energy.

  10. Species-Specific Coral Calcification Responses to the Extreme Environment of the Southern Persian Gulf

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emily J. Howells

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Sustained accretion of calcium carbonate (mostly by scleractinian corals is fundamental for maintaining the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems, but may be greatly constrained by extreme and rapidly changing environmental conditions. Corals in the southern Persian Gulf already experience extreme temperature ranges (<20 to >34°C, chronic hypersalinity (>43 psu and frequent light limitation (<100 μmol photons m−2 s−1. We compared annual rates of calcification for two of the most common coral species in the region (Platygyra daedalea and Cyphastrea microphthalma along marked gradients in environmental conditions in the southern Persian Gulf and into the Oman Sea. Overall calcification rates were 32% higher in P. daedalea colonies (x = 1.103 g cm−2 y−1, n = 46 than in C. microphthalma (x = 0.835 g cm−2 y−1, n = 37, probably reflecting inter-specific differences in energy allocation and skeletal density. There was also considerable variation in calcification rates among individual colonies from the same locations that was unrelated to depth or photosymbiont type. However, most interestingly, P. daedalea and C. microphthalma exhibited contrasting trends in mean annual calcification rates across locations. For P. daedalea, calcification rates were lowest at Delma, where the minimum temperatures were lowest and salinity was highest, and increased across the southern Persian Gulf with increases in minimum temperatures and decreases in salinity. These data suggest that calcification rates of P. daedalea are most constrained by minimum temperatures, which is consistent with the strong relationship between annual calcification rates and minimum local temperatures recorded across the Indo-Pacific. Conversely, linear extension and calcification of C. microphthalma in the southern Persian Gulf was lowest at Ras Ghanada, where there was lowest light and highest maximum temperatures. These data reveal striking taxonomic differences in

  11. New options for vascularized bone reconstruction in the upper extremity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houdek, Matthew T; Wagner, Eric R; Wyles, Cody C; Nanos, George P; Moran, Steven L

    2015-02-01

    Originally described in the 1970s, vascularized bone grafting has become a critical component in the treatment of bony defects and non-unions. Although well established in the lower extremity, recent years have seen many novel techniques described to treat a variety of challenging upper extremity pathologies. Here the authors review the use of different techniques of vascularized bone grafts for the upper extremity bone pathologies. The vascularized fibula remains the gold standard for the treatment of large bone defects of the humerus and forearm, while also playing a role in carpal reconstruction; however, two other important options for larger defects include the vascularized scapula graft and the Capanna technique. Smaller upper extremity bone defects and non-unions can be treated with the medial femoral condyle (MFC) free flap or a vascularized rib transfer. In carpal non-unions, both pedicled distal radius flaps and free MFC flaps are viable options. Finally, in skeletally immature patients, vascularized fibular head epiphyseal transfer can provide growth potential in addition to skeletal reconstruction.

  12. Force Myography for Monitoring Grasping in Individuals with Stroke with Mild to Moderate Upper-Extremity Impairments: A Preliminary Investigation in a Controlled Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gautam P. Sadarangani

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available There is increasing research interest in technologies that can detect grasping, to encourage functional use of the hand as part of daily living, and thus promote upper-extremity motor recovery in individuals with stroke. Force myography (FMG has been shown to be effective for providing biofeedback to improve fine motor function in structured rehabilitation settings, involving isolated repetitions of a single grasp type, elicited at a predictable time, without upper-extremity movements. The use of FMG, with machine learning techniques, to detect and distinguish between grasping and no grasping, continues to be an active area of research, in healthy individuals. The feasibility of classifying FMG for grasp detection in populations with upper-extremity impairments, in the presence of upper-extremity movements, as would be expected in daily living, has yet to be established. We explore the feasibility of FMG for this application by establishing and comparing (1 FMG-based grasp detection accuracy and (2 the amount of training data necessary for accurate grasp classification, in individuals with stroke and healthy individuals. FMG data were collected using a flexible forearm band, embedded with six force-sensitive resistors (FSRs. Eight participants with stroke, with mild to moderate upper-extremity impairments, and eight healthy participants performed 20 repetitions of three tasks that involved reaching, grasping, and moving an object in different planes of movement. A validation sensor was placed on the object to label data as corresponding to a grasp or no grasp. Grasp detection performance was evaluated using linear and non-linear classifiers. The effect of training set size on classification accuracy was also determined. FMG-based grasp detection demonstrated high accuracy of 92.2% (σ = 3.5% for participants with stroke and 96.0% (σ = 1.6% for healthy volunteers using a support vector machine (SVM. The use of a training set that was 50

  13. Moving in extreme environments

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lucas, Samuel J E; Helge, Jørn W; Schütz, Uwe H W

    2016-01-01

    they are set; present the pros and cons for self versus prescribed acute and chronic exposure; describe humans' (mal)adaptations; and finally suggest future directions for practice and research. In summary, we describe adaptation patterns that are often U or J shaped and that over time minimal or no load...... be studied in this perspective. With improved access to insightful and portable technologies, there are some exciting possibilities to explore these questions in this context....

  14. Playing by the rules? Phenotypic adaptation to temperate environments in an American marsupial

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrigan, Ryan J.; Wayne, Robert K.

    2018-01-01

    Phenotypic variation along environmental gradients can provide evidence suggesting local adaptation has shaped observed morphological disparities. These differences, in traits such as body and extremity size, as well as skin and coat pigmentation, may affect the overall fitness of individuals in their environments. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) is a marsupial that shows phenotypic variation across its range, one that has recently expanded into temperate environments. It is unknown, however, whether the variation observed in the species fits adaptive ecogeographic patterns, or if phenotypic change is associated with any environmental factors. Using phenotypic measurements of over 300 museum specimens of Virginia opossum, collected throughout its distribution range, we applied regression analysis to determine if phenotypes change along a latitudinal gradient. Then, using predictors from remote-sensing databases and a random forest algorithm, we tested environmental models to find the most important variables driving the phenotypic variation. We found that despite the recent expansion into temperate environments, the phenotypic variation in the Virginia opossum follows a latitudinal gradient fitting three adaptive ecogeographic patterns codified under Bergmann’s, Allen’s and Gloger’s rules. Temperature seasonality was an important predictor of body size variation, with larger opossums occurring at high latitudes with more seasonal environments. Annual mean temperature predicted important variation in extremity size, with smaller extremities found in northern populations. Finally, we found that precipitation and temperature seasonality as well as low temperatures were strong environmental predictors of skin and coat pigmentation variation; darker opossums are distributed at low latitudes in warmer environments with higher precipitation seasonality. These results indicate that the adaptive mechanisms underlying the variation in body size, extremity

  15. Playing by the rules? Phenotypic adaptation to temperate environments in an American marsupial

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio F. Nigenda-Morales

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Phenotypic variation along environmental gradients can provide evidence suggesting local adaptation has shaped observed morphological disparities. These differences, in traits such as body and extremity size, as well as skin and coat pigmentation, may affect the overall fitness of individuals in their environments. The Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana is a marsupial that shows phenotypic variation across its range, one that has recently expanded into temperate environments. It is unknown, however, whether the variation observed in the species fits adaptive ecogeographic patterns, or if phenotypic change is associated with any environmental factors. Using phenotypic measurements of over 300 museum specimens of Virginia opossum, collected throughout its distribution range, we applied regression analysis to determine if phenotypes change along a latitudinal gradient. Then, using predictors from remote-sensing databases and a random forest algorithm, we tested environmental models to find the most important variables driving the phenotypic variation. We found that despite the recent expansion into temperate environments, the phenotypic variation in the Virginia opossum follows a latitudinal gradient fitting three adaptive ecogeographic patterns codified under Bergmann’s, Allen’s and Gloger’s rules. Temperature seasonality was an important predictor of body size variation, with larger opossums occurring at high latitudes with more seasonal environments. Annual mean temperature predicted important variation in extremity size, with smaller extremities found in northern populations. Finally, we found that precipitation and temperature seasonality as well as low temperatures were strong environmental predictors of skin and coat pigmentation variation; darker opossums are distributed at low latitudes in warmer environments with higher precipitation seasonality. These results indicate that the adaptive mechanisms underlying the variation in

  16. Association Between Concussion and Lower Extremity Injuries in Collegiate Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Frances C; Burdette, G Trey; Joyner, A Barry; Llewellyn, Tracy A; Buckley, Thomas A

    Concussions have been associated with elevated musculoskeletal injury risk; however, the influence of unreported and unrecognized concussions has not been investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between concussion and lower extremity musculoskeletal injury rates across a diverse array of sports among collegiate student-athletes at the conclusion of their athletic career. The hypothesis was that there will be a positive association between athletes who reported a history of concussions and higher rates of lower extremity injuries. Cross-sectional study. Level 3. Student-athletes (N = 335; 62.1% women; mean age, 21.2 ± 1.4 years) from 13 sports completed a reliable injury history questionnaire. Respondents indicated the total number of reported, unreported, and potentially unrecognized concussions as well as lower extremity injuries including ankle sprains, knee injuries, and muscle strains. Chi-square analyses were performed to identify the association between concussion and lower extremity injuries. There were significant associations between concussion and lateral ankle sprain ( P = 0.012), knee injury ( P = 0.002), and lower extremity muscle strain ( P = 0.031). There were also significant associations between reported concussions and knee injury ( P = 0.003), unreported concussions and knee injury ( P = 0.002), and unrecognized concussions and lateral ankle sprain ( P = 0.001) and lower extremity muscle strains ( P = 0.006), with odds ratios ranging from 1.6 to 2.9. There was a positive association between concussion history and lower extremity injuries (odds ratios, 1.6-2.9 elevated risk) among student-athletes at the conclusion of their intercollegiate athletic careers. Clinicians should be aware of these elevated risks when making return-to-participation decisions and should incorporate injury prevention protocols.

  17. Fiber Bragg Grating Dilatometry in Extreme Magnetic Field and Cryogenic Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo Jaime

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In this work, we review single mode SiO2 fiber Bragg grating techniques for dilatometry studies of small single-crystalline samples in the extreme environments of very high, continuous, and pulsed magnetic fields of up to 150 T and at cryogenic temperatures down to <1 K. Distinct millimeter-long materials are measured as part of the technique development, including metallic, insulating, and radioactive compounds. Experimental strategies are discussed for the observation and analysis of the related thermal expansion and magnetostriction of materials, which can achieve a strain sensitivity (ΔL/L as low as a few parts in one hundred million (≈10−8. The impact of experimental artifacts, such as those originating in the temperature dependence of the fiber’s index of diffraction, light polarization rotation in magnetic fields, and reduced strain transfer from millimeter-long specimens, is analyzed quantitatively using analytic models available in the literature. We compare the experimental results with model predictions in the small-sample limit, and discuss the uncovered discrepancies.

  18. Israeli nurse practice environment characteristics, retention, and job satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dekeyser Ganz, Freda; Toren, Orly

    2014-02-24

    hospital size and geographic region. This study supports the international nature of the vicious cycle that includes a poor quality practice environment, decreased job satisfaction and low nurse retention. Despite the extreme nursing shortage in Israel, perceptions of the practice environment were similar to other countries. Policy makers and hospital managers should address the practice environment, in order to improve job satisfaction and increase retention.

  19. Transcriptome and network changes in climbers at extreme altitudes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang Chen

    Full Text Available Extreme altitude can induce a range of cellular and systemic responses. Although it is known that hypoxia underlies the major changes and that the physiological responses include hemodynamic changes and erythropoiesis, the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways mediating such changes are largely unknown. To obtain a more complete picture of the transcriptional regulatory landscape and networks involved in extreme altitude response, we followed four climbers on an expedition up Mount Xixiabangma (8,012 m, and collected blood samples at four stages during the climb for mRNA and miRNA expression assays. By analyzing dynamic changes of gene networks in response to extreme altitudes, we uncovered a highly modular network with 7 modules of various functions that changed in response to extreme altitudes. The erythrocyte differentiation module is the most prominently up-regulated, reflecting increased erythrocyte differentiation from hematopoietic stem cells, probably at the expense of differentiation into other cell lineages. These changes are accompanied by coordinated down-regulation of general translation. Network topology and flow analyses also uncovered regulators known to modulate hypoxia responses and erythrocyte development, as well as unknown regulators, such as the OCT4 gene, an important regulator in stem cells and assumed to only function in stem cells. We predicted computationally and validated experimentally that increased OCT4 expression at extreme altitude can directly elevate the expression of hemoglobin genes. Our approach established a new framework for analyzing the transcriptional regulatory network from a very limited number of samples.

  20. Transcriptome and network changes in climbers at extreme altitudes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Chen, Fang; Zhang, Wei; Liang, Yu

    2012-01-01

    Extreme altitude can induce a range of cellular and systemic responses. Although it is known that hypoxia underlies the major changes and that the physiological responses include hemodynamic changes and erythropoiesis, the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways mediating such changes are lar...

  1. An Empirical Study on Human Performance according to the Physical Environment (Potential Human Error Hazard) in Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Ar Ryum; Jang, In Seok; Seong, Proong Hyun

    2014-01-01

    The management of the physical environment for safety is more effective than a nuclear industry. Despite the physical environment such as lighting, noise satisfy with management standards, it can be background factors may cause human error and affect human performance. Because the consequence of extremely human error and human performance is high according to the physical environment, requirement standard could be covered with specific criteria. Particularly, in order to avoid human errors caused by an extremely low or rapidly-changing intensity illumination and masking effect such as power disconnection, plans for better visual environment and better function performances should be made as a careful study on efficient ways to manage and continue the better conditions is conducted

  2. Extremity individual monitoring: 30 years of experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seda, Rosangela Pinto Guimaraes; Mauricio, Claudia Lucia de Pinho; Moura Junior, Jose; Martins, Marcelo Marques; Meira, Nilton Ferreira; Diz, Ricardo; Goncalves, Sergio Alves

    2002-01-01

    The Thermoluminescent Dosimetry Laboratory of the Departamento de Monitoracao Individual of the Instituto de Radioprotecao e Dosimetria (LDT/DEMIN/IRD) is one of the first extremity individual monitoring service in Brazil. In its 30 years of activities, the laboratory has ever made a great effort to be continuously updated. Equipment and procedures have been updated and optimized in order to guarantee the quality of all measurements. Nowadays, the extremity individual monitoring service evaluates monthly around 300 occupational doses in worker's hands of several Brazilian facilities in the fields of health, industry (including power reactor) and research. It is used a dosimetric ring with LiF:Mg,Ti thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) from Harshaw/Bicron, named TLD-100. The Service helps the effective occupational control of the Brazilian works, which handle radioactive material or has their hands more exposed than the body. (author)

  3. ARkStorm@Tahoe: Stakeholder perspectives on vulnerabilities and preparedness for an extreme storm event in the greater Lake Tahoe, Reno, and Carson City region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albano, Christine M.; Cox, Dale A.; Dettinger, Michael; Shaller, Kevin; Welborn, Toby L.; McCarthy, Maureen

    2014-01-01

    Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are strongly linked to extreme winter precipitation events in the Western U.S., accounting for 80 percent of extreme floods in the Sierra Nevada and surrounding lowlands. In 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey developed the ARkStorm extreme storm scenario for California to quantify risks from extreme winter storms and to allow stakeholders to better explore and mitigate potential impacts. To explore impacts on natural resources and communities in montane and adjacent environments, we downscaled the scenario to the greater Lake Tahoe, Reno and Carson City region of northern Nevada and California. This ArkStorm@Tahoe scenario was presented at six stakeholder meetings, each with a different geographic and subject matter focus. Discussions were facilitated by the ARkStorm@Tahoe team to identify social and ecological vulnerabilities to extreme winter storms, science and information needs, and proactive measures that might minimize impacts from this type of event. Information collected in these meetings was used to develop a tabletop emergency response exercise and set of recommendations for increasing resilience to extreme winter storm events in both Tahoe and the downstream communities of Northern Nevada.Over 300 individuals participated in ARkStorm@Tahoe stakeholder meetings and the emergency response exercise, including representatives from emergency response, natural resource and ecosystem management, health and human services, public utilities, and businesses. Interruption of transportation, communications, and lack of power and backup fuel supplies were identified as the most likely and primary points of failure across multiple sectors and geographies, as these interruptions have cascading effects on natural and human systems by impeding emergency response efforts. Other key issues that arose in discussions included contamination risks to water supplies and aquatic ecosystems, especially in the Tahoe Basin and Pyramid Lake, interagency

  4. Assessment of lower extremity ischemia using smartphone thermographic imaging

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter H. Lin, MD

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Conventional diagnostic modalities for assessing arterial circulation or tissue perfusion include blood pressure measurement, ultrasound evaluation, and contrast-based angiographic assessment. An infrared thermal camera can detect infrared radiation energy from the human body, which generates a thermographic image to allow tissue perfusion analysis. We describe a smartphone-based miniature thermal imaging system that can be used as an adjunctive imaging modality to assess tissue perfusion. This smartphone-based camera device is noninvasive, simple to use, and cost-effective in assessing patients with lower extremity tissue perfusion. Assessment of patients with lower extremity arterial ischemia can be performed by a variety of diagnostic modalities, including ankle-brachial index, absolute systolic ankle or toe pressure, transcutaneous oximetry, arterial Doppler waveform, arterial duplex ultrasound, computed tomography scan, arterial angiography, and thermal imaging. We herein describe a noninvasive imaging modality using smartphone-based infrared thermography.

  5. Hacking the hospital environment: young adults designing youth-friendly hospital rooms together with young people with cancer experiences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boisen, Kirsten A; Boisen, Anne; Thomsen, Stine Legarth; Matthiesen, Simon Meggers; Hjerming, Maiken; Hertz, Pernille Grarup

    2015-12-09

    There is a need for youth-friendly hospital environments as the ward environment may affect both patient satisfaction and health outcomes. To involve young people in designing youth-friendly ward environment. We arranged a design competition lasting 42 h (Hackathon). Students in architecture, design, engineering, communication and anthropology participated (27 young adults) - forming eight groups. Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with current or former cancer experience participated as sparring partners. We provided workspace and food during the weekend. The groups presented their products to a jury and relevant stakeholders. The groups created eight unique design concepts. The young designers were extremely flexible listening to ideas and experiences from the young patients, which led to common features including individual and flexible design, privacy in two-bed wardrooms and social contact with other hospitalized AYA. The winning project included an integrated concept for both wardrooms and the AYA day room, including logos and names for the rooms and an 'energy wall' in the day room. A hackathon event was an effective mode of youth participation. The design concepts and ideas were in line with current evidence regarding pleasing hospital environment and youth-friendly inpatient facilities and may be applicable to other young patients.

  6. Risk factors for breast cancer-related upper extremity lymphedema: a meta-analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xie Yuhuan; Guo Qi; Liu Fenghua; Zhu Yaqun; Tian Ye

    2014-01-01

    Objective: To systematically evaluate the risk factors for upper extremity lymphedema after breast cancer treatment and the strength of their associations. Methods: PubMed, Ovid, EMbase, and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify clinical trials published up to December 2012. The quality of included studies was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale;data analysis was performed by Stata 10.0 and RevMan 5.2; the strength of associations between risk factors and breast cancer-related upper extremity lymphedema was described as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Twenty-two studies involving 10106 patients were included in the meta-analysis. The risk factors for upper extremity lymphedema after breast cancer treatment mainly included axillary lymph node dissection (OR=2.72, 95% CI=1.06-6.99, P=0.038), hypertension (OR=1.84, 95% CI=1.38-2.44, P=0.000), body mass index (OR=1.68, 95% CI=1.22-2.32, P=0.001), and radiotherapy (OR=1.65, 95% CI=1.20-2.25, P=0.002), while no significant associations were found for such factors as chemotherapy, age, number of positive lymph nodes, and number of dissected lymph nodes. Conclusions: The incidence of upper extremity lymphedema is high among patients with breast cancer after treatment, and axillary lymph node dissection, hypertension,body mass index, and radiotherapy are the main risk factors for lymphedema after breast cancer treatment. (authors)

  7. Classification of Near-Horizon Geometries of Extremal Black Holes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hari K. Kunduri

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Any spacetime containing a degenerate Killing horizon, such as an extremal black hole, possesses a well-defined notion of a near-horizon geometry. We review such near-horizon geometry solutions in a variety of dimensions and theories in a unified manner. We discuss various general results including horizon topology and near-horizon symmetry enhancement. We also discuss the status of the classification of near-horizon geometries in theories ranging from vacuum gravity to Einstein–Maxwell theory and supergravity theories. Finally, we discuss applications to the classification of extremal black holes and various related topics. Several new results are presented and open problems are highlighted throughout.

  8. Classification of Near-Horizon Geometries of Extremal Black Holes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunduri, Hari K; Lucietti, James

    2013-01-01

    Any spacetime containing a degenerate Killing horizon, such as an extremal black hole, possesses a well-defined notion of a near-horizon geometry. We review such near-horizon geometry solutions in a variety of dimensions and theories in a unified manner. We discuss various general results including horizon topology and near-horizon symmetry enhancement. We also discuss the status of the classification of near-horizon geometries in theories ranging from vacuum gravity to Einstein-Maxwell theory and supergravity theories. Finally, we discuss applications to the classification of extremal black holes and various related topics. Several new results are presented and open problems are highlighted throughout.

  9. Cognitive Demands Influence Lower Extremity Mechanics During a Drop Vertical Jump Task in Female Athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almonroeder, Thomas Gus; Kernozek, Thomas; Cobb, Stephen; Slavens, Brooke; Wang, Jinsung; Huddleston, Wendy

    2018-05-01

    Study Design Cross-sectional study. Background The drop vertical jump task is commonly used to screen for anterior cruciate ligament injury risk; however, its predictive validity is limited. The limited predictive validity of the drop vertical jump task may be due to not imposing the cognitive demands that reflect sports participation. Objectives To investigate the influence of additional cognitive demands on lower extremity mechanics during execution of the drop vertical jump task. Methods Twenty uninjured women (age range, 18-25 years) were required to perform the standard drop vertical jump task, as well as drop vertical jumps that included additional cognitive demands. The additional cognitive demands were related to attending to an overhead goal (ball suspended overhead) and/or temporal constraints on movement selection (decision making). Three-dimensional ground reaction forces and lower extremity mechanics were compared between conditions. Results The inclusion of the overhead goal resulted in higher peak vertical ground reaction forces and lower peak knee flexion angles in comparison to the standard drop vertical jump task. In addition, participants demonstrated greater peak knee abduction angles when trials incorporated temporal constraints on decision making and/or required participants to attend to an overhead goal, in comparison to the standard drop vertical jump task. Conclusion Imposing additional cognitive demands during execution of the drop vertical jump task influenced lower extremity mechanics in a manner that suggested increased loading of the anterior cruciate ligament. Tasks utilized in anterior cruciate ligament injury risk screening may benefit from more closely reflecting the cognitive demands of the sports environment. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2018;48(5):381-387. Epub 10 Jan 2018. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018.7739.

  10. A single origin of extreme matrotrophy in African mabuyine skinks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metallinou, Margarita; Karin, Benjamin R.; Conradie, Werner; Wagner, Philipp; Schmitz, Andreas; Jackman, Todd R.; Bauer, Aaron M.

    2016-01-01

    Most mammals and approximately 20% of squamates (lizards and snakes) are viviparous, whereas all crocodilians, birds and turtles are oviparous. Viviparity evolved greater than 100 times in squamates, including multiple times in Mabuyinae (Reptilia: Scincidae), making this group ideal for studying the evolution of nutritional patterns associated with viviparity. Previous studies suggest that extreme matrotrophy, the support of virtually all of embryonic development by maternal nutrients, evolved as many as three times in Mabuyinae: in Neotropical Mabuyinae (63 species), Eumecia (2 species; Africa) and Trachylepis ivensii (Africa). However, no explicit phylogenetic hypotheses exist for understanding the evolution of extreme matrotrophy. Using multilocus DNA data, we inferred a species tree for Mabuyinae that implies that T. ivensii (here assigned to the resurrected genus Lubuya) is sister to Eumecia, suggesting that extreme matrotrophy evolved only once in African mabuyine skinks. PMID:27555650

  11. Virtual Reality Training for Upper Extremity in Subacute Stroke (VIRTUES)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brunner, Iris; Skouen, Jan Sture; Hofstad, Håkon

    2017-01-01

    Objective: To compare the effectiveness of upper extremity virtual reality rehabilitation training (VR) to time-matched conventional training (CT) in the subacute phase after stroke. Methods: In this randomized, controlled, single-blind phase III multicenter trial, 120 participants with upper...... extremity motor impairment within 12 weeks after stroke were consecutively included at 5 rehabilitation institutions. Participants were randomized to either VR or CT as an adjunct to standard rehabilitation and stratified according to mild to moderate or severe hand paresis, defined as $20 degrees wrist...... were assessed at baseline, after intervention, and at the 3-month follow-up. Results: Mean time from stroke onset for the VR group was 35 (SD 21) days and for the CT group was 34 (SD 19) days. There were no between-group differences for any of the outcome measures. Improvement of upper extremity motor...

  12. Liquid Water Restricts Habitability in Extreme Deserts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cockell, Charles S; Brown, Sarah; Landenmark, Hanna; Samuels, Toby; Siddall, Rebecca; Wadsworth, Jennifer

    2017-04-01

    Liquid water is a requirement for biochemistry, yet under some circumstances it is deleterious to life. Here, we show that liquid water reduces the upper temperature survival limit for two extremophilic photosynthetic microorganisms (Gloeocapsa and Chroococcidiopsis spp.) by greater than 40°C under hydrated conditions compared to desiccated conditions. Under hydrated conditions, thermal stress causes protein inactivation as shown by the fluorescein diacetate assay. The presence of water was also found to enhance the deleterious effects of freeze-thaw in Chroococcidiopsis sp. In the presence of water, short-wavelength UV radiation more effectively kills Gloeocapsa sp. colonies, which we hypothesize is caused by factors including the greater penetration of UV radiation into hydrated colonies compared to desiccated colonies. The data predict that deserts where maximum thermal stress or irradiation occurs in conjunction with the presence of liquid water may be less habitable to some organisms than more extreme arid deserts where organisms can dehydrate prior to being exposed to these extremes, thus minimizing thermal and radiation damage. Life in extreme deserts is poised between the deleterious effects of the presence and the lack of liquid water. Key Words: Deserts-Extremophiles-Stress-High temperatures-UV radiation-Desiccation. Astrobiology 17, 309-318.

  13. Extreme Radiation Hardness and Space Qualification of AlGaN Optoelectronic Devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Ke-Xun; MacNeil, Lawrence; Balakrishnan, Kathik; Hultgren, Eric; Goebel, John; Bilenko, Yuri; Yang, Jinwei; Sun, Wenhong; Shatalov, Max; Hu, Xuhong; Gaska, Remis

    2010-01-01

    Unprecedented radiation hardness and environment robustness are required in the new generation of high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments and deep space exploration. National Ignition Facility (NIF) break-even shots will have a neutron yield of 10 15 or higher. The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) mission instruments will be irradiated with a total fluence of 10 12 protons/cm 2 during the space journey. In addition, large temperature variations and mechanical shocks are expected in these applications under extreme conditions. Hefty radiation and thermal shields are required for Si and GaAs based electronics and optoelectronics devices. However, for direct illumination and imaging applications, shielding is not a viable option. It is an urgent task to search for new semiconductor technologies and to develop radiation hard and environmentally robust optoelectronic devices. We will report on our latest systematic experimental studies on radiation hardness and space qualifications of AlGaN optoelectronic devices: Deep UV Light Emitting Diodes (DUV LEDs) and solarblind UV Photodiodes (PDs). For custom designed AlGaN DUV LEDs with a central emission wavelength of 255 nm, we have demonstrated its extreme radiation hardness up to 2 x 10 12 protons/cm 2 with 63.9 MeV proton beams. We have demonstrated an operation lifetime of over 26,000 hours in a nitrogen rich environment, and 23,000 hours of operation in vacuum without significant power drop and spectral shift. The DUV LEDs with multiple packaging styles have passed stringent space qualifications with 14 g random vibrations, and 21 cycles of 100K temperature cycles. The driving voltage, current, emission spectra and optical power (V-I-P) operation characteristics exhibited no significant changes after the space environmental tests. The DUV LEDs will be used for photoelectric charge management in space flights. For custom designed AlGaN UV photodiodes with a central response wavelength of 255 nm, we have

  14. Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapadia, Mubbasir; Thrash, Tyler; Sumner, Robert W.; Gross, Markus; Helbing, Dirk; Hölscher, Christoph

    2016-01-01

    Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared three-dimensional virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive three-dimensional virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioural mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects. PMID:27605166

  15. Crowd behaviour during high-stress evacuations in an immersive virtual environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moussaïd, Mehdi; Kapadia, Mubbasir; Thrash, Tyler; Sumner, Robert W; Gross, Markus; Helbing, Dirk; Hölscher, Christoph

    2016-09-01

    Understanding the collective dynamics of crowd movements during stressful emergency situations is central to reducing the risk of deadly crowd disasters. Yet, their systematic experimental study remains a challenging open problem due to ethical and methodological constraints. In this paper, we demonstrate the viability of shared three-dimensional virtual environments as an experimental platform for conducting crowd experiments with real people. In particular, we show that crowds of real human subjects moving and interacting in an immersive three-dimensional virtual environment exhibit typical patterns of real crowds as observed in real-life crowded situations. These include the manifestation of social conventions and the emergence of self-organized patterns during egress scenarios. High-stress evacuation experiments conducted in this virtual environment reveal movements characterized by mass herding and dangerous overcrowding as they occur in crowd disasters. We describe the behavioural mechanisms at play under such extreme conditions and identify critical zones where overcrowding may occur. Furthermore, we show that herding spontaneously emerges from a density effect without the need to assume an increase of the individual tendency to imitate peers. Our experiments reveal the promise of immersive virtual environments as an ethical, cost-efficient, yet accurate platform for exploring crowd behaviour in high-risk situations with real human subjects. © 2016 The Authors.

  16. Quantum Chromodynamics and Nuclear Physics at Extreme Energy Density

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mueller, B.; Bass, S.A.; Chandrasekharan, S.; Mehen, T.; Springer, R.P.

    2005-11-07

    The report describes research in theoretical quantum chromodynamics, including effective field theories of hadronic interactions, properties of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy density, phenomenology of relativistic heavy ion collisions, and algorithms and numerical simulations of lattice gauge theory and other many-body systems.

  17. Quantum Chromodynamics and Nuclear Physics at Extreme Energy Density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, B.; Bass, S.A.; Chandrasekharan, S.; Mehen, T.; Springer, R.P.

    2005-01-01

    The report describes research in theoretical quantum chromodynamics, including effective field theories of hadronic interactions, properties of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy density, phenomenology of relativistic heavy ion collisions, and algorithms and numerical simulations of lattice gauge theory and other many-body systems.

  18. Chemical form of transuranic elements in underground environment and its effect on adsorption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanaka, Tomo

    1990-01-01

    Many of the transuranic elements such as Np, Pu and Am contained in high-level radioactive wastes are highly dangerous to humans and have extremely long lives. Therefore, safety evaluation of them is highly important after their disposal into the ground. Particularly important processes include the migration of these transuranic elements in near and far fields. The migration of a nuclide depends largely on its chemical form in the underground environment. The present report first describes various chemical forms of transuranic elements in underground environments and outlines their migration behaviors. Techniques that have recently become available for determining their chemical forms include photo-acoustic spectroscopy, thermal lensing spectroscopy, laser induced fluorescence, photo-acoustic detection of light scattering, auto-correlation photon spectroscopy, and laser-induced time-resolved spectrofluorometry. Chemical forms of these elements are then discussed focusing on underground environmental conditions, pH-Eh diagram, deposition/dissolution, formation of complex, formation of colloid, and organic complexes. Migration is discussed in relation to ions, insoluble matters, and colloids. (N.K.)

  19. Predictability of summer extreme precipitation days over eastern China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Juan; Wang, Bin

    2017-08-01

    Extreme precipitation events have severe impacts on human activity and natural environment, but prediction of extreme precipitation events remains a considerable challenge. The present study aims to explore the sources of predictability and to estimate the predictability of the summer extreme precipitation days (EPDs) over eastern China. Based on the region- and season-dependent variability of EPDs, all stations over eastern China are divided into two domains: South China (SC) and northern China (NC). Two domain-averaged EPDs indices during their local high EPDs seasons (May-June for SC and July-August for NC) are therefore defined. The simultaneous lower boundary anomalies associated with each EPDs index are examined, and we find: (a) the increased EPDs over SC are related to a rapid decaying El Nino and controlled by Philippine Sea anticyclone anomalies in May-June; (b) the increased EPDs over NC are accompanied by a developing La Nina and anomalous zonal sea level pressure contrast between the western North Pacific subtropical high and East Asian low in July-August. Tracking back the origins of these boundary anomalies, one or two physically meaningful predictors are detected for each regional EPDs index. The causative relationships between the predictors and the corresponding EPDs over each region are discussed using lead-lag correlation analyses. Using these selected predictors, a set of Physics-based Empirical models is derived. The 13-year (2001-2013) independent forecast shows significant temporal correlation skills of 0.60 and 0.74 for the EPDs index of SC and NC, respectively, providing an estimation of the predictability for summer EPDs over eastern China.

  20. Climate Variability and Weather Extremes: Model-Simulated and Historical Data. Chapter 9

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schubert, Siegfried D.; Lim, Young-Kwon

    2012-01-01

    Extremes in weather and climate encompass a wide array of phenomena including tropical storms, mesoscale convective systems, snowstorms, floods, heat waves, and drought. Understanding how such extremes might change in the future requires an understanding of their past behavior including their connections to large-scale climate variability and trends. Previous studies suggest that the most robust findings concerning changes in short-term extremes are those that can be most directly (though not completely) tied to the increase in the global mean temperatures. These include the findings that (IPCC 2007): There has been a widespread reduction in the number of frost days in mid-latitude regions in recent decades, an increase in the number of warm extremes, particularly warm nights, and a reduction in the number of cold extremes, particularly cold nights. For North America in particular (CCSP SAP 3.3, 2008): There are fewer unusually cold days during the last few decades. The last 10 years have seen a lower number of severe cold waves than for any other 10-year period in the historical record that dates back to 1895. There has been a decrease in the number of frost days and a lengthening of the frost-free season, particularly in the western part of North America. Other aspects of extremes such as the changes in storminess have a less clear signature of long term change, with considerable interannual, and decadal variability that can obscure any climate change signal. Nevertheless, regarding extratropical storms (CCSP SAP 3.3, 2008): The balance of evidence suggests that there has been a northward shift in the tracks of strong low pressure systems (storms) in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins. For North America: Regional analyses suggest that there has been a decrease in snowstorms in the South and lower Midwest of the United States, and an increase in snowstorms in the upper Midwest and Northeast. Despite the progress already made, our understanding of the

  1. Monitoring system including an electronic sensor platform and an interrogation transceiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kinzel, Robert L.; Sheets, Larry R.

    2003-09-23

    A wireless monitoring system suitable for a wide range of remote data collection applications. The system includes at least one Electronic Sensor Platform (ESP), an Interrogator Transceiver (IT) and a general purpose host computer. The ESP functions as a remote data collector from a number of digital and analog sensors located therein. The host computer provides for data logging, testing, demonstration, installation checkout, and troubleshooting of the system. The IT transmits signals from one or more ESP's to the host computer to the ESP's. The IT host computer may be powered by a common power supply, and each ESP is individually powered by a battery. This monitoring system has an extremely low power consumption which allows remote operation of the ESP for long periods; provides authenticated message traffic over a wireless network; utilizes state-of-health and tamper sensors to ensure that the ESP is secure and undamaged; has robust housing of the ESP suitable for use in radiation environments; and is low in cost. With one base station (host computer and interrogator transceiver), multiple ESP's may be controlled at a single monitoring site.

  2. Modified Inverse First Order Reliability Method (I-FORM) for Predicting Extreme Sea States.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eckert-Gallup, Aubrey Celia; Sallaberry, Cedric Jean-Marie; Dallman, Ann Renee; Neary, Vincent Sinclair

    2014-09-01

    Environmental contours describing extreme sea states are generated as the input for numerical or physical model simulation s as a part of the stand ard current practice for designing marine structure s to survive extreme sea states. Such environmental contours are characterized by combinations of significant wave height ( ) and energy period ( ) values calculated for a given recurrence interval using a set of data based on hindcast simulations or buoy observations over a sufficient period of record. The use of the inverse first - order reliability method (IFORM) i s standard design practice for generating environmental contours. In this paper, the traditional appli cation of the IFORM to generating environmental contours representing extreme sea states is described in detail and its merits and drawbacks are assessed. The application of additional methods for analyzing sea state data including the use of principal component analysis (PCA) to create an uncorrelated representation of the data under consideration is proposed. A reexamination of the components of the IFORM application to the problem at hand including the use of new distribution fitting techniques are shown to contribute to the development of more accurate a nd reasonable representations of extreme sea states for use in survivability analysis for marine struc tures. Keywords: In verse FORM, Principal Component Analysis , Environmental Contours, Extreme Sea State Characteri zation, Wave Energy Converters

  3. Sandy berm and beach-ridge formation in relation to extreme sea-levels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bendixen, Mette; Clemmensen, Lars B; Kroon, Aart

    2013-01-01

    The formation of berms and their transformation into beach ridges in a micro-tidal environment is coupled to wave run-up and overtopping during extreme sea levels. A straight-forward comparison between extreme sea levels due to storm-surges and active berm levels is impossible in the semi...... prograding spit on the south-eastern Baltic shores of Zealand, Denmark. The modern, sandy beach at this location consists of a beachface with a shallow incipient berm, a mature berm, and a dune-covered beach ridge. It borders a beach-ridge plain to the west, where more than 20 N–S oriented beach ridges...... and swales are present. Measured water-level data from 1991 to 2012 and topographical observations, carried out during fair weather period and during a storm event, provided the basis for a conceptual model exhibiting berm formation and transformation into the local beach-ridge system. The character...

  4. VOICES AGAINST EXTREMISM: A CASE STUDY OF A COMMUNITY-BASED CVE COUNTER-NARRATIVE CAMPAIGN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Logan Macnair

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available This article presents a case study of the recently conceived and ongoing counter-extremism campaign, Voices Against Extremism, a campaign designed and implemented by university students from Vancouver, Canada. Through a multifaceted approach that includes extensive use of social media, academic research, and grassroots community activities and involvement, Voices Against Extremism operates under the mission statement of countering and preventing violent extremism and radicalization through the humanization of minority groups and through the education and engagement of the silent majority. This article examines the effectiveness of this campaign as a proactive counter-radicalization strategy by outlining its specific components and activities. Based on the results of this campaign, suggestions are then offered regarding specific counter-extremism and counter-radicalizations policies that may be adopted by law enforcement, policymakers – or any other organizations concerned with countering and preventing radicalization and violent extremism – with a specific focus on the potential benefits of proactive and long-term social and community engagement.

  5. Statistical Model of Extreme Shear

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Gunner Chr.; Hansen, Kurt Schaldemose

    2004-01-01

    In order to continue cost-optimisation of modern large wind turbines, it is important to continously increase the knowledge on wind field parameters relevant to design loads. This paper presents a general statistical model that offers site-specific prediction of the probability density function...... by a model that, on a statistically consistent basis, describe the most likely spatial shape of an extreme wind shear event. Predictions from the model have been compared with results from an extreme value data analysis, based on a large number of high-sampled full-scale time series measurements...... are consistent, given the inevitabel uncertainties associated with model as well as with the extreme value data analysis. Keywords: Statistical model, extreme wind conditions, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, statistical analysis, turbulence, wind loading, wind shear, wind turbines....

  6. FOX: A Fault-Oblivious Extreme-Scale Execution Environment Boston University Final Report Project Number: DE-SC0005365

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Appavoo, Jonathan [Boston Univ., MA (United States)

    2013-03-17

    Exascale computing systems will provide a thousand-fold increase in parallelism and a proportional increase in failure rate relative to today's machines. Systems software for exascale machines must provide the infrastructure to support existing applications while simultaneously enabling efficient execution of new programming models that naturally express dynamic, adaptive, irregular computation; coupled simulations; and massive data analysis in a highly unreliable hardware environment with billions of threads of execution. The FOX project explored systems software and runtime support for a new approach to the data and work distribution for fault oblivious application execution. Our major OS work at Boston University focused on developing a new light-weight operating systems model that provides an appropriate context for both multi-core and multi-node application development. This work is discussed in section 1. Early on in the FOX project BU developed infrastructure for prototyping dynamic HPC environments in which the sets of nodes that an application is run on can be dynamically grown or shrunk. This work was an extension of the Kittyhawk project and is discussed in section 2. Section 3 documents the publications and software repositories that we have produced. To put our work in context of the complete FOX project contribution we include in section 4 an extended version of a paper that documents the complete work of the FOX team.

  7. Extremely Selective Attention: Eye-Tracking Studies of the Dynamic Allocation of Attention to Stimulus Features in Categorization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blair, Mark R.; Watson, Marcus R.; Walshe, R. Calen; Maj, Fillip

    2009-01-01

    Humans have an extremely flexible ability to categorize regularities in their environment, in part because of attentional systems that allow them to focus on important perceptual information. In formal theories of categorization, attention is typically modeled with weights that selectively bias the processing of stimulus features. These theories…

  8. Genomic selection improves response to selection in resilience by exploiting genotype by environment interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Han Mulder

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Genotype by environment interactions (GxE are very common in livestock and hamper genetic improvement. On the other hand, GxE is a source of genetic variation: genetic variation in response to environment, e.g. environmental perturbations such as heat stress or disease. In livestock breeding, there is tendency to ignore GxE because of increased complexity of models for genetic evaluations and lack of accuracy in extreme environments. GxE, however, creates opportunities to increase resilience of animals towards environmental perturbations. The main aim of the paper is to investigate to which extent GxE can be exploited with traditional and genomic selection methods. Furthermore, we investigated the benefit of reaction norm models compared to conventional methods ignoring GxE. The questions were addressed with selection index theory. GxE was modelled according to a linear reaction norm model in which the environmental gradient is the contemporary group mean. Economic values were based on linear and non-linear profit equations.Accuracies of environment-specific (GEBV were highest in intermediate environments and lowest in extreme environments. Reaction norm models had higher accuracies of (GEBV in extreme environments than conventional models ignoring GxE. Genomic selection always resulted in higher response to selection in all environments than sib or progeny testing schemes. The increase in response was with genomic selection between 9% and 140% compared to sib testing and between 11% and 114% compared to progeny testing when the reference population consisted of 1 million animals across all environments. When the aim was to decrease environmental sensitivity, the response in slope of the reaction norm model with genomic selection was between 1.09 and 319 times larger than with sib or progeny testing and in the right direction in contrast to sib and progeny testing that still increased environmental sensitivity. This shows that genomic selection

  9. A lesson from science in polar extreme environments: ethics and social values for primary school

    Science.gov (United States)

    La Longa, Federica; Crescimbene, Massimo; Alfonsi, Lucilla; Romano, Vincenzo; Cesaroni, Claudio

    2015-04-01

    experiences (doing); to develop civics path linked to "sense of belonging and citizenship", that will make the children aware that Antarctica does not belong to anyone but it belongs to everybody: it is a common and unique good (being). The proposed work is an example of how it is possible, by means of educational paths, promote and support integration values between human beings and nature also in extreme environments as the Antarctic continent.

  10. Neurodevelopmental problems and extremes in BMI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nóra Kerekes

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Background. Over the last few decades, an increasing number of studies have suggested a connection between neurodevelopmental problems (NDPs and body mass index (BMI. Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD and autism spectrum disorders (ASD both seem to carry an increased risk for developing extreme BMI. However, the results are inconsistent, and there have been only a few studies of the general population of children.Aims. We had three aims with the present study: (1 to define the prevalence of extreme (low or high BMI in the group of children with ADHD and/or ASDs compared to the group of children without these NDPs; (2 to analyze whether extreme BMI is associated with the subdomains within the diagnostic categories of ADHD or ASD; and (3 to investigate the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to BMI in boys and girls at ages 9 and 12.Method. Parents of 9- or 12-year-old twins (n = 12,496 were interviewed using the Autism—Tics, ADHD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC inventory as part of the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS. Univariate and multivariate generalized estimated equation models were used to analyze associations between extremes in BMI and NDPs.Results. ADHD screen-positive cases followed BMI distributions similar to those of children without ADHD or ASD. Significant association was found between ADHD and BMI only among 12-year-old girls, where the inattention subdomain of ADHD was significantly associated with the high extreme BMI. ASD scores were associated with both the low and the high extremes of BMI. Compared to children without ADHD or ASD, the prevalence of ASD screen-positive cases was three times greater in the high extreme BMI group and double as much in the low extreme BMI group. Stereotyped and repetitive behaviors were significantly associated with high extreme BMIs.Conclusion. Children with ASD, with or without coexisting ADHD, are more prone to have low or high extreme BMIs than

  11. Effect of pressurized water reactor environment on fatigue crack propagation, including hole times

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bamford, W.H.

    1976-01-01

    Results are presented from an experimental program being conducted to investigate the effects of pressurized water reactor environment on the fatigue crack growth rate of pressure vessel steels. Tests were conducted on precracked WOL type specimens under load controlled conditions. The effects of R ratio, loading rates, and loading wave form are evaluated, and the results are compared for both forging and plate material, as well as weldments

  12. The Relation Between Visual Impairment and Extremity Fractures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Berrak Şekeryapan

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: To evaluate the association between the development of extremity fracture and visual impairment in adults. Material and Method: This study included 56 patients (patient group aged 18 years or older who had extremity fractures due to a fall. The control group (n=42 was selected from visitors who had regular medical check-ups at our hospital. Each participant underwent a full ophthalmologic examination. Mean age was compared by Student’s t test. The other variables were compared by chi-square test. Results: The prevalence of subjects with visual impairment was significantly higher in the patients group (78.6% than in the control group (38.1% (p<0.05. The prevalence of treatable eye diseases such as cataract and refractive errors were significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p<0.05 for both. Twenty-eight patients (50% in the patient group and 8 subjects in the control group had visual acuities lower than 0.5 (p<0.05. Discussion: We have found that the prevalence of visual impairment was significantly higher in adults with extremity fractures due to falls than in the control group. Hence, we believe that regular ophthalmological examination in adults, providing regular use of eyeglasses in patients with refractive errors, and timely treatment of treatable eye diseases such as cataract could decrease the extremity fractures from falls in adults. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2013; 43: 250-2

  13. Large-scale visualization system for grid environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, Yoshio

    2007-01-01

    Center for Computational Science and E-systems of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (CCSE/JAEA) has been conducting R and Ds of distributed computing (grid computing) environments: Seamless Thinking Aid (STA), Information Technology Based Laboratory (ITBL) and Atomic Energy Grid InfraStructure (AEGIS). In these R and Ds, we have developed the visualization technology suitable for the distributed computing environment. As one of the visualization tools, we have developed the Parallel Support Toolkit (PST) which can execute the visualization process parallely on a computer. Now, we improve PST to be executable simultaneously on multiple heterogeneous computers using Seamless Thinking Aid Message Passing Interface (STAMPI). STAMPI, we have developed in these R and Ds, is the MPI library executable on a heterogeneous computing environment. The improvement realizes the visualization of extremely large-scale data and enables more efficient visualization processes in a distributed computing environment. (author)

  14. Organizing of medical ensurance of human population under extreme conditions. Summaries of reports of scientific-practical conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    Summary of reports are presented of Scientific-Practical conference on the organizing of medical ensurance of human population under extreme conditions including radiation accidents. The conference held in Moscow in October, 1994. It covered problems of organizing medical ensurance of population, medical surveillance problems, sanitary-hygienic and epidemiological problems (including radiation protection), and medical provision problems under extreme conditions

  15. Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-01-01

    The Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX mission will be the first mission to catalogue the X-ray polarisation of many astrophysical objects including black-holes and pulsars. This first of its kind mission is enabled by the novel use of a time projection chamber as an X-ray polarimeter. The detector has been developed over the last 5 years, with the current effort charged toward a demonstration of it's technical readiness to be at level 6 prior to the preliminary design review. This talk will describe the design GEMS polarimeter and the results to date from the engineering test unit.

  16. Global resistance and resilience of primary production following extreme drought are predicted by mean annual precipitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stuart-Haëntjens, E. J.; De Boeck, H. J.; Lemoine, N. P.; Gough, C. M.; Kröel-Dulay, G.; Mänd, P.; Jentsch, A.; Schmidt, I. K.; Bahn, M.; Lloret, F.; Kreyling, J.; Wohlgemuth, T.; Stampfli, A.; Anderegg, W.; Classen, A. T.; Smith, M. D.

    2017-12-01

    Extreme drought is increasing globally in frequency and intensity, with uncertain consequences for the resistance and resilience of key ecosystem functions, including primary production. Primary production resistance, the capacity of an ecosystem to withstand change in primary production following extreme climate, and resilience, the degree to which primary production recovers, vary among and within ecosystem types, obscuring global patterns of resistance and resilience to extreme drought. Past syntheses on resistance have focused climatic gradients or individual ecosystem types, without assessing interactions between the two. Theory and many empirical studies suggest that forest production is more resistant but less resilient than grassland production to extreme drought, though some empirical studies reveal that these trends are not universal. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis of sixty-four grassland and forest sites, finding that primary production resistance to extreme drought is predicted by a common continuum of mean annual precipitation (MAP). However, grasslands and forests exhibit divergent production resilience relationships with MAP. We discuss the likely mechanisms underlying the mixed production resistance and resilience patterns of forests and grasslands, including different plant species turnover times and drought adaptive strategies. These findings demonstrate the primary production responses of forests and grasslands to extreme drought are mixed, with far-reaching implications for Earth System Models, ecosystem management, and future studies of extreme drought resistance and resilience.

  17. Numerical simulation of floating bodies in extreme free surface waves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Z. Hu

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we use the in-house Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD flow code AMAZON-SC as a numerical wave tank (NWT to study wave loading on a wave energy converter (WEC device in heave motion. This is a surface-capturing method for two fluid flows that treats the free surface as contact surface in the density field that is captured automatically without special provision. A time-accurate artificial compressibility method and high resolution Godunov-type scheme are employed in both fluid regions (air/water. The Cartesian cut cell method can provide a boundary-fitted mesh for a complex geometry with no requirement to re-mesh globally or even locally for moving geometry, requiring only changes to cut cell data at the body contour. Extreme wave boundary conditions are prescribed in an empty NWT and compared with physical experiments prior to calculations of extreme waves acting on a floating Bobber-type device. The validation work also includes the wave force on a fixed cylinder compared with theoretical and experimental data under regular waves. Results include free surface elevations, vertical displacement of the float, induced vertical velocity and heave force for a typical Bobber geometry with a hemispherical base under extreme wave conditions.

  18. Extreme poverty and affluence, the two sides of our world. Energy, raw materials, environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bischoff, G

    1987-07-01

    The author discusses the different economic situtions in the industrialized and in the developing parts of the world, and the resulting fears of the populations. These feelings of fear and apprehension are traced back to their manifold causes, discussing among others unsecure raw material supply and the damage to the environment, hostile attitudes towards industrial exploitation or technical sciences, the role of the press and other media in the 'making' of fear of life, the fear of becoming slave of the machines. The problems' solution lies in the supply and utilisation of energy, and any efforts towards maintaining our natural environment so that life may go on will have to be based, the author says, on the technological development from nuclear power to thermonuclear fusion. (HSCH).

  19. Long-term effects of peer victimization on social outcomes through the fourth decade of life in individuals born at normal or extremely low birthweight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, Kimberly L; Van Lieshout, Ryan J; Vaillancourt, Tracy; Saigal, Saroj; Boyle, Michael H; Schmidt, Louis A

    2017-09-01

    Exposure to early adversity is known to have deleterious effects on brain-behaviour relations across the lifespan and across a range of domains. Here, we tested a cumulative risk hypothesis of adult social functioning and health outcomes in the fourth decade of life, using the oldest known longitudinally followed cohort of survivors of extremely low birthweight (ELBW; 2,500 g) participants. In the combined sample, peer victimization was associated with lower likelihood of having children and household income, poorer family functioning and self-esteem, more loneliness and chronic health conditions, less social support, and increased likelihood for contact with police. Moderation analyses indicated that among ELBW survivors, compared to their NBW counterparts, victimization was more strongly associated with being convicted of a crime and with having chronic health conditions. These findings highlight the negative long-term impact of peer victimization on all children and that some outcomes may be differentially affected by prenatal and early post-natal environments. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject Exposure to early adversity has deleterious effects on brain-behaviour relations across the lifespan. Extremely premature children have higher rates of exposure to adversities, including peer victimization. Peer victimization is associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood in those born at term. What does this study add? Victimization negatively impacts the social outcomes of those born extremely premature and at term into adulthood. Associations appear to be affected by individual differences in prenatal and early post-natal environments. Intervention is crucial when peer victimization occurs in children at risk, as well as those typically developing. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

  20. Les milieux extrêmes. Journées d'études du CESTA, Paris, 4-5 octobre 1983 Extreme Environments. Cesta Conference, Paris, 4-5 October 1983

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bertrand A. R. V.

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Ces journées d'études étaient consacrées aux problèmes impliqués par l'exploration et l'exploitation des milieux extrêmes. On n'a pas cherché à approfondir la notion de milieu extrême mais à en étudier trois principaux : l'espace, les grands fonds marins, les enceintes soumises à de forts rayonnements nucléaires, à travers quatre thèmes de problèmes communs : la robotique, la sécurité, les matériaux et l'intervention humaine. Cette réunion a mis en évidence : - le dilemme constitué par la nécessité d'assurer d'une part la sécurité de la population par l'emploi de techniques fiables donc éprouvées et d'autre part le progrès scientifique dont les techniques nouvelles peuvent être fiables sans être encore éprouvées ; - l'emploi généralisé de la robotique (soudage sous-marin profond, engin submersible non habité à intelligence artificielle. . . ; - la création de matériaux nouveaux (composites à matrice métallique, fibres optique en verre chloré, lubrifiant opérant sous vide. . . - la mise au point de méthodes nouvelles pour l'analyse probabiliste des risques. This conference concentrated on the problems raised by the exploration and productive use of extreme environments. No effort was made to define the concept of an extreme environnent, but three specific ones were considered: space, great sea depths, enclosures subjected Io intense nuclear radiation. There were four topics covering problems encountered in such environments: robotics, safety, materials and human intervention. This meeting brought out the following points: - The dilemma brought on by the need to ensure part of the safety of the population by using reliable, hence proven, techniques at the saure time as scientific progress in which new techniques may be reliable without yet being proven. - The generalized use of robotics (deep subsea welding, unmanned submersible with artificial intelligence, etc. . - The creation of new materials