Exploring in integrated quality evaluation of Chinese herbal medicines: the integrated quality index (IQI) for aconite.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ding-kun; Wang, Jia-bo; Yang, Ming; Peng, Cheng; Xiao, Xiao-he

2015-07-01

Good medicinal herbs, good drugs. Good evaluation method and indices are the prerequisite of good medicinal herbs. However, there exist numerous indices for quality evaluation and control in Chinese medicinal materials. However, most of these indices are non-interrelated each other, as well as having little relationship with efficiency and safety. The results of different evaluatior methods may not be consistent, even contradictory. Considering the complex material properties of Chinese medicinal materials, single method and index is difficult to objectively and comprehensively reflect the quality. Therefore, it is essential to explore the integrated evaluation methods. In this paper, oriented by the integrated evaluation strategies for traditional Chinese medicine quality, a new method called integrated quality index (IQI) by the integration of empirical evaluation, chemical evaluation, and biological evaluation was proposed. In addition, a study case of hypertoxic herb Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. was provided to explain this method in detail. The results suggested that in the view of specifications, the average weight of Jiangyou aconite was the greatest, followed by Weishan aconite, Butuo aconite, Hanzhong aconite, and Anxian aconite; from the point of chemical components, Jiangyou aconite had the characteristic with strong efficacy and weak toxicity, next was Hanzhong aconite, Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite; taking toxicity price as the index, Hanzhong aconite and Jiangyou aconite have the lower toxicity, while Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite have the relatively higher one. After the normalization and integration of evaluation results, we calculated the IQI value of Jiangyou aconite, Hanzhong aconite, Butuo aconite, Weishan aconite, and Anxian aconite were 0.842 +/- 0.091, 0.597 +/- 0.047, 0.442 +/- 0.033, 0.454 +/- 0.038, 0.170 +/- 0.021, respectively. The quality of Jiangyou aconite is significantly better than the

The System for Assessment of the Effectiveness of Personnel Stimulation on the Basis of Integral Index

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O. K.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article’s objective is to construct the system for assessment ofpersonnel manage­ ment performance and its testing on a sample o f Ukrainian companies. Problems o f person­ nel stimulation at company level are highlighted. It is proposed to build the mechanism for company personnel stimulation by functional approach. Indicators to be used for assess­ ing the means o f personnel stimulation (material stimulation, organizational stimulation, social and psychological stimulation and personnel management modeling are given. The algorithm for estimating the integral index o f the personnel stimulation effectiveness is recommended. Estimation o f the index o f social and psychological stimulation of company personnel by the proposed method is illustrated. By use o f the proposed algorithm it is demonstrated that the material stimulation (salary rate is the most important determinant o f the highly effective personnel stimulation. The integral index o f the personnel stimulation effectiveness is estimated by correlation and regression analysis for a sample of Ukrainian companies over 2011-2015. On its basis, the companies under study are grouped by level of personnel stimulation. Corrective measures to increase the integral index o f the personnel stimulation effectiveness in each company under study are proposed. The matrix o f correc­ tive measures on personnel stimulation at these companies is constructed and used to find the range o f estimates o f the integral index o f the personnel stimulation effectiveness. The quality o f personnel stimulation mechanism at company level is assessed on the basis o f the estimated integral index o f the personnel stimulation effectiveness.

A multiple index integrating different levels of organization.

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Cortes, Rui; Hughes, Samantha; Coimbra, Ana; Monteiro, Sandra; Pereira, Vítor; Lopes, Marisa; Pereira, Sandra; Pinto, Ana; Sampaio, Ana; Santos, Cátia; Carrola, João; de Jesus, Joaquim; Varandas, Simone

2016-10-01

Many methods in freshwater biomonitoring tend to be restricted to a few levels of biological organization, limiting the potential spectrum of measurable of cause-effect responses to different anthropogenic impacts. We combined distinct organisational levels, covering biological biomarkers (histopathological and biochemical reactions in liver and fish gills), community based bioindicators (fish guilds, invertebrate metrics/traits and chironomid pupal exuviae) and ecosystem functional indicators (decomposition rates) to assess ecological status at designated Water Framework Directive monitoring sites, covering a gradient of human impact across several rivers in northern Portugal. We used Random Forest to rank the variables that contributed more significantly to successfully predict the different classes of ecological status and also to provide specific cut levels to discriminate each WFD class based on reference condition. A total of 59 Biological Quality Elements and functional indicators were determined using this procedure and subsequently applied to develop the integrated Multiple Ecological Level Index (MELI Index), a potentially powerful bioassessment tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ecological assessment of integrated bioenergy systems using the Sustainable Process Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krotscheck, C.; Konig, F.; Obernberger, I.

2000-01-01

Biomass utilisation for energy production presently faces an uphill battle against fossil fuels. The use of biomass must offer additional benefits to compensate for higher prices: on the basis of a life cycle assessment (using BEAM to evaluate a variety of integrated bioenergy systems in connection with the Sustainable Process Index as a highly aggregated environmental pressure index) it is shown that integrated bioenergy systems are superior to fossil fuel systems in terms of environmental compatibility. The implementation of sustainability measures provides additional valuable information that might help in constructing and optimising integrated bioenergy systems. For a set of reference processes, among them fast pyrolysis, atmospheric gasification, integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC), combustion and steam cycle (CS) and conventional hydrolysis, a detailed impact assessment is shown. Sensitivity analyses of the most important ecological parameters are calculated, giving an overview of the impacts of various stages in the total life cycle and showing 'what really matters'. Much of the ecological impact of integrated bioenergy systems is induced by feedstock production. It is mainly the use of fossil fuels in cultivation, harvesting and transportation as well as the use of fertilisers in short-rotation coppice production that impose considerable ecological pressure. Concerning electricity generation the most problematic pressures are due to gaseous emissions, most notably the release of NO x . Moreover, a rather complicated process (high amount of grey energy) and the use of fossil pilot fuel (co-combustion) leads to a rather weak ecological performance in contrast to other 100% biomass-based systems. (author)

Wetland habitat disturbance best predicts metrics of an amphibian index of biotic integrity

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Stapanian, Martin A.; Micacchion, Mick; Adams, Jean V.

2015-01-01

Regression and classification trees were used to identify the best predictors of the five component metrics of the Ohio Amphibian Index of Biotic Integrity (AmphIBI) in 54 wetlands in Ohio, USA. Of the 17 wetland- and surrounding landscape-scale variables considered, the best predictor for all AmphIBI metrics was habitat alteration and development within the wetland. The results were qualitatively similar to the best predictors for a wetland vegetation index of biotic integrity, suggesting that similar management practices (e.g., reducing or eliminating nutrient enrichment from agriculture, mowing, grazing, logging, and removing down woody debris) within the boundaries of the wetland can be applied to effectively increase the quality of wetland vegetation and amphibian communities.

Development of a seaweed species-selection index for successful culture in a seaweed-based integrated aquaculture system

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Yun Hee; Hwang, Jae Ran; Chung, Ik Kyo; Park, Sang Rul

2013-03-01

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) has been proposed as a concept that combines the cultivation of fed aquaculture species ( e.g., finfish/shrimp) with extractive aquaculture species ( e.g., shellfish/seaweed). In seaweed-based integrated aquaculture, seaweeds have the capacity to reduce the environmental impact of nitrogen-rich effluents on coastal ecosystems. Thus, selection of optimal species for such aquaculture is of great importance. The present study aimed to develop a seaweed species-selection index for selecting suitable species in seaweed-based integrated aquaculture system. The index was synthesized using available literature-based information, reference data, and physiological seaweed experiments to identify and prioritize the desired species. Undaria pinnatifida, Porphyra yezoensis and Ulva compressa scored the highest according to a seaweed-based integrated aquaculture suitability index (SASI). Seaweed species with the highest scores were adjudged to fit the integrated aquaculture systems. Despite the application of this model limited by local aquaculture environment, it is considered to be a useful tool for selecting seaweed species in IMTA.

Lysosomal enlargement and lysosomal membrane destabilisation in mussel digestive cells measured by an integrative index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Izagirre, Urtzi; Marigomez, Ionan

2009-01-01

Lysosomal responses (enlargement and membrane destabilisation) in mussel digestive cells are well-known environmental stress biomarkers in pollution effects monitoring in marine ecosystems. Presently, in laboratory and field studies, both responses were measured separately (in terms of lysosomal volume density - Vv - and labilisation period -LP) and combined (lysosomal response index - LRI) in order to contribute to their understanding and to develop an index useful for decisions makers. LRI integrates Vv and LP, which are not necessarily dependent lysosomal responses. It is unbiased and more sensitive than Vv and LP alone and diminishes background due to confounding factors. LRI provides a simple numerical index (consensus reference = 0; critical threshold = 1) directly related to the pollution impact degree. Moreover, LRI can be represented in a way that allows the interpretation of lysosomal responses, which is useful for environmental scientists. - Lysosomal responses to pollutants measured by an integrative index.

Definition and GIS-based characterization of an integral risk index applied to a chemical/petrochemical area.

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Nadal, Martí; Kumar, Vikas; Schuhmacher, Marta; Domingo, José L

2006-08-01

A risk map of the chemical/petrochemical industrial area of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain) was designed following a two-stage procedure. The first step was the creation of a ranking system (Hazard Index) for a number of different inorganic and organic pollutants: heavy metals, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by applying self-organizing maps (SOM) to persistence, bioaccumulation and toxicity properties of the chemicals. PCBs seemed to be the most hazardous compounds, while the light PAHs showed the minimum values. Subsequently, an Integral Risk Index was developed taking into account the Hazard Index and the concentrations of all pollutants in soil samples collected in the assessed area of Tarragona. Finally, a risk map was elaborated by representing the spatial distribution of the Integral Risk Index with a geographic information system (GIS). The results of the present study seem to indicate that the development of an integral risk map might be useful to help in making-decision processes concerning environmental pollutants.

A Multimetric Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index for the Assessment of Stream Biotic Integrity in Korea

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Soon-Jin Hwang

2012-10-01

Full Text Available At a time when anthropogenic activities are increasingly disturbing the overall ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems, monitoring of biological communities is central to assessing the health and function of streams. This study aimed to use a large nation-wide database to develop a multimetric index (the Korean Benthic macroinvertebrate Index of Biological Integrity—KB-IBI applicable to the biological assessment of Korean streams. Reference and impaired conditions were determined based on watershed, chemical and physical criteria. Eight of an initial 34 candidate metrics were selected using a stepwise procedure that evaluated metric variability, redundancy, sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental gradients. The selected metrics were number of taxa, percent Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera (EPT individuals, percent of a dominant taxon, percent taxa abundance without Chironomidae, Shannon’s diversity index, percent gatherer individuals, ratio of filterers and scrapers, and the Korean saprobic index. Our multimetric index successfully distinguished reference from impaired conditions. A scoring system was established for each core metric using its quartile range and response to anthropogenic disturbances. The multimetric index was classified by aggregating the individual metric ..scores and the value range was quadrisected to provide a narrative criterion (Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent to describe the biological integrity of the streams in the study. A validation procedure showed that the index is an effective method for evaluating stream conditions, and thus is appropriate for use in future studies measuring the long-term status of streams, and the effectiveness of restoration methods.

A Multimetric Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index for the Assessment of Stream Biotic Integrity in Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Yung-Chul; Won, Doo-Hee; Lee, Soo-Hyung; Kong, Dong-Soo; Hwang, Soon-Jin

2012-01-01

At a time when anthropogenic activities are increasingly disturbing the overall ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems, monitoring of biological communities is central to assessing the health and function of streams. This study aimed to use a large nation-wide database to develop a multimetric index (the Korean Benthic macroinvertebrate Index of Biological Integrity—KB-IBI) applicable to the biological assessment of Korean streams. Reference and impaired conditions were determined based on watershed, chemical and physical criteria. Eight of an initial 34 candidate metrics were selected using a stepwise procedure that evaluated metric variability, redundancy, sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental gradients. The selected metrics were number of taxa, percent Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera (EPT) individuals, percent of a dominant taxon, percent taxa abundance without Chironomidae, Shannon’s diversity index, percent gatherer individuals, ratio of filterers and scrapers, and the Korean saprobic index. Our multimetric index successfully distinguished reference from impaired conditions. A scoring system was established for each core metric using its quartile range and response to anthropogenic disturbances. The multimetric index was classified by aggregating the individual metric ..scores and the value range was quadrisected to provide a narrative criterion (Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent) to describe the biological integrity of the streams in the study. A validation procedure showed that the index is an effective method for evaluating stream conditions, and thus is appropriate for use in future studies measuring the long-term status of streams, and the effectiveness of restoration methods. PMID:23202765

Proposal of a service delivery integration index of home care for older persons: application in several European cities

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Jean-Claude Henrard

2006-07-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To propose an integration index of home care delivery to older persons, to study its validity and to apply it to home care services of European cities. Theory: Home care delivery integration was based on two dimensions referring to process-centred integration and organisational structure approach. Method: Items considered as part of both dimensions according to an expert consensus (face validity were extracted from a standardised questionnaire used in “Aged in Home care” (AdHoc study to capture basic characteristics of home care services. Their summation leads to a services' delivery integration index. This index was applied to AdHoc services. A factor analysis was computed in order to empirically test the validity of the theoretical constructs. The plot of the settings was performed. Results: Application of the index ranks home care services in four groups according to their score. Factor analysis identifies a first factor which opposes working arrangement within service to organisational structure bringing together provisions for social care. A second factor corresponds to basic nursing care and therapies. Internal consistency for those three domains ranges from 0.78 to 0.93. When plotting the different settings different models of service delivery appear. Conclusion: The proposed index shows that behind a total score several models of care delivery are hidden. Comparison of service delivery integration should take into account this heterogeneity.

Development of a macrophyte-based index of biotic integrity for Minnesota lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Beck, M.W.; Hatch, L.K.; Vondracek, B.; Valley, R.D.

2010-01-01

Traditional approaches for managing aquatic resources have often failed to account for effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biota that are not directly reflected by chemical and physical proxies of environmental condition. The index of biotic integrity (IBI) is a potentially effective assessment method to integrate ecological, functional, and structural aspects of aquatic systems. A macrophyte-based IBI was developed for Minnesota lakes to assess the ability of aquatic plant communities to indicate environmental condition. The index was developed using quantitative point intercept vegetation surveys for 97 lakes that represent a range of limnological and watershed characteristics. We followed an approach similar to that used in Wisconsin to develop the aquatic macrophyte community index (AMCI). Regional adaptation of the AMCI required the identification of species representative of macrophyte communities in Minnesota. Metrics and scaling methods were also substantially modified to produce a more empirically robust index. Regression analyses indicated that IBI scores reflected statewide differences in lake trophic state (R2 = 0.57, F = 130.3, df = 1, 95, p indicated a unique response of the IBI to human-induced stress separate from a response to natural lake characteristics. The IBI was minimally affected by differences in sample point density as indicated by Monte Carlo analyses of reduced sampling effort. Our analysis indicates that a macrophyte IBI calibrated for Minnesota lakes could be useful for identifying differences in environmental condition attributed to human-induced stress gradients. ?? 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Gauging a Firm's Innovative Performance Using an Integrated Structural Index for Patents

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Xiaojun Hu

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: In this contribution we try to find new indicators to measure characteristics of a firm's patents and their influence on a company's profits. Design/methodology/approach: We realize that patent evaluation and influence on a company's profits is a complicated issue requiring different perspectives. For this reason we design two types of structural h-indices, derived from the International Patent Classification (IPC. In a case study we apply not only basic statistics but also a nested case-control methodology. Findings: The resulting indicator values based on a large dataset (19,080 patents in total from the pharmaceutical industry show that the new structural indices are significantly correlated with a firm's profits. Research limitations: The new structural index and the synthetic structural index have just been applied in one case study in the pharmaceutical industry. Practical implications: Our study suggests useful implications for patentometric studies and leads to suggestions for different sized firms to include a healthy research and development (R&D policy management. The structural h-index can be used to gauge the profits resulting from the innovative performance of a firm's patent portfolio. Originality/value: Traditionally, the breadth and depth of patents of a firm and their citations are considered separately. This approach, however, does not provide an integrated insight in the major characteristics of a firm's patents. The Sh(Y index, proposed in our investigation, can reflect a firm's innovation activities, its technological breadth, and its influence in an integrated way.

Using the index of biotic integrity (IBI) to measure environmental quality in warmwater streams of Wisconsin.

Science.gov (United States)

John Lyons

1992-01-01

Describes an index based on attributes of fish assemblages that has proven effective in assessing biotic integrity and environmental health in intermediate-sized, warmwater (i.e., too warm for salmonids) streams and rivers of Wisconsin. Provides detailed guidelines for applying this index.

Weak convergence of the function-indexed integrated periodogram for infinite variance processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Can, Umut; Mikosch, Thomas Valentin; Samorodnitsky, Gennady

2010-01-01

constitute α-stable processes which have representations as infinite Fourier series with i.i.d. α-stable coefficients. The cases α ∈ (0, 1) and α ∈ [1, 2) are dealt with by rather different methods and under different assumptions on the classes of functions. For example, in contrast to the case α ∈ (0, 1......In this paper, we study the weak convergence of the integrated periodogram indexed by classes of functions for linear processes with symmetric α-stable innovations. Under suitable summability conditions on the series of the Fourier coefficients of the index functions, we show that the weak limits...

Beta, but not gamma, band oscillations index visual form-motion integration.

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Charles Aissani

Full Text Available Electrophysiological oscillations in different frequency bands co-occur with perceptual, motor and cognitive processes but their function and respective contributions to these processes need further investigations. Here, we recorded MEG signals and seek for percept related modulations of alpha, beta and gamma band activity during a perceptual form/motion integration task. Participants reported their bound or unbound perception of ambiguously moving displays that could either be seen as a whole square-like shape moving along a Lissajou's figure (bound percept or as pairs of bars oscillating independently along cardinal axes (unbound percept. We found that beta (15-25 Hz, but not gamma (55-85 Hz oscillations, index perceptual states at the individual and group level. The gamma band activity found in the occipital lobe, although significantly higher during visual stimulation than during base line, is similar in all perceptual states. Similarly, decreased alpha activity during visual stimulation is not different for the different percepts. Trial-by-trial classification of perceptual reports based on beta band oscillations was significant in most observers, further supporting the view that modulation of beta power reliably index perceptual integration of form/motion stimuli, even at the individual level.

An Index of Biotic Integrity for shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmitter-Soto, Juan J.; Ruiz-Cauich, Lissie E.; Herrera, Roberto L.; Gonzalez-Solis, David

2011-01-01

An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is proposed, based on the fish communities and populations in streams of the Hondo River basin, Mexico-Belize. Freshwater environments in this area are threatened by exotic fishes, eutrophication, and pesticide pollution, among other problems. This IBI should allow to identify the most vulnerable sites and eventually guide rehabilitation efforts. Data on composition, structure, and function of fish communities were evaluated. Twenty-three sites in the Mexican part of the basin were explored; a stratified sample of 13 sites was used to design the IBI, and the rest were used to test and refine the index. Thirty-four candidate indicator metrics were scanned for their correlation with an index of water and habitat quality (IWHQ), as well as for the possible influence of stream width and altitude or distance to the Hondo River mainstem. Twelve variables were selected to constitute the IBI: relative abundances of Astyanax aeneus, 'Cichlasoma' urophthalmus, Poecilia mexicana, Poecilia sp. (a new species, probably endemic to the upper Hondo River basin), Xiphophorus hellerii, and X. maculatus; relative abundances of bentholimnetic, herbivore, and sensitive species; percentage of native and tolerant species; and Pielou's evenness index. Most of the sites have a low-medium quality and integrity, showing impact due to partial channelization or to suboptimal water quality, reflected in scarcity or absence of sensitive species, frequent excess of tolerant species, occasional presence of exotics, dominance of herbivores (perhaps due to proliferation of filamentous algae), or dominance of the opportunistic species P. mexicana. The streams with better water and habitat quality are those farthest away from the river mainstem, probably because of lower human population and economical production. - Research Highlights: → An Index of Biotic Integrity based on fishes is proposed for streams of the Hondo River basin. → Twelve variables were

Application of Nemerow Index Method and Integrated Water Quality Index Method in Water Quality Assessment of Zhangze Reservoir

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qian; Feng, Minquan; Hao, Xiaoyan

2018-03-01

[Objective] Based on the water quality historical data from the Zhangze Reservoir from the last five years, the water quality was assessed by the integrated water quality identification index method and the Nemerow pollution index method. The results of different evaluation methods were analyzed and compared and the characteristics of each method were identified.[Methods] The suitability of the water quality assessment methods were compared and analyzed, based on these results.[Results] the water quality tended to decrease over time with 2016 being the year with the worst water quality. The sections with the worst water quality were the southern and northern sections.[Conclusion] The results produced by the traditional Nemerow index method fluctuated greatly in each section of water quality monitoring and therefore could not effectively reveal the trend of water quality at each section. The combination of qualitative and quantitative measures of the comprehensive pollution index identification method meant it could evaluate the degree of water pollution as well as determine that the river water was black and odorous. However, the evaluation results showed that the water pollution was relatively low.The results from the improved Nemerow index evaluation were better as the single indicators and evaluation results are in strong agreement; therefore the method is able to objectively reflect the water quality of each water quality monitoring section and is more suitable for the water quality evaluation of the reservoir.

DEVELOPMENT OF A STREAM BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATE INTEGRITY INDEX (SBMII) FOR WADEABLE STREAMS IN THE MID-ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS REGION

Science.gov (United States)

The Stream Benthic Macroinvertebrate Integrity Index (SBMII), a multimetric biotic index for assessing biological conditions of wadeable streams, was developed using seven macroinvertebrate metrics (Ephemeroptera richness, Plecoptera richness, Trichoptera richness, Collector-Filt...

Proposal of a service delivery integration index of home care for older persons: application in several European cities.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Henrard, J.C.; Ankri, J.; Frijters, D.; Carpenter, I.; Topinkova, E.; Garms-Homolova, V.; Finne-Soveri, H.; Wergeland Sorbye, L.; Jonsson, P.V.; Ljunggren, G.; Schroll, M.; Wagner, C.; Bernabei, R.

2006-01-01

PURPOSE: To propose an integration index of home care delivery to older persons, to study its validity and to apply it to home care services of European cities. THEORY: Home care delivery integration was based on two dimensions referring to process-centred integration and organisational structure

Evaluation of implementation an Integrated Safety and Preventive Maintenance System for Improving of Safety Indexes

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I mohammadfam

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Accident analysis shows that one of the main reasons for accidents is non-integration of maintenance units with safety. Merging these two processes through an integrated system can reduce and or eliminate accidents, diseases, and environmental pollution. These issues lead to improvement in organizational performance, as well. The aim of this study is to design and establish an integrated system for obtaining the aforementioned goal. Integration was carried out at Nirou Moharreke Machine Tools Company via Structured System Analysis & Design Method (SSADM. In order to measure the effectiveness of the system, selected indexes were compared using statistical methods prior and after system establishment. Results show that the accident severity index reduced from 135.46 in 2010, to 43.85 in 2012. Moreover, system effectiveness improved equipment reliability and availability (e.g. reliability of the Pfeiffer Milling machine (P (t>50 increased from 0.89 in 2010, to 0.9 in 2012. This system by forecasting various failures, and planning and designing the required operations for preventing occurrence of these failures, plays an important role in improving safety conditions of equipment, and increasing organizational performance, and is capable of presenting an excellent accident prevention program.

INTEGRAL INDEX OF OPERATION QUALITY FOR EVALUATION OF IMPACT OF DISTRIBUTIVE GENERATION SOURCES ON ELECTRIC NETWORK MODES

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Petro D. Lezhniuk

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Method of operation quality evaluation of electric network, comprising renewable sources of energy (RSE is considered. Integral index that enables to evaluate the impact of RSE on energy losses and its quality as well as balance reliability in electric network is suggested. Mathematical model is constructed, taking into account the assumption that electric network with RSE may be in various operation modes, characterized by different technical economic indices. To determine the integral index of operation quality of electric network with RSE in all possible states tools of Markov processes theory and criterial method are used.

Forecasting Construction Tender Price Index in Ghana using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Variables Model

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Ernest Kissi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Prices of construction resources keep on fluctuating due to unstable economic situations that have been experienced over the years. Clients knowledge of their financial commitments toward their intended project remains the basis for their final decision. The use of construction tender price index provides a realistic estimate at the early stage of the project. Tender price index (TPI is influenced by various economic factors, hence there are several statistical techniques that have been employed in forecasting. Some of these include regression, time series, vector error correction among others. However, in recent times the integrated modelling approach is gaining popularity due to its ability to give powerful predictive accuracy. Thus, in line with this assumption, the aim of this study is to apply autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variables (ARIMAX in modelling TPI. The results showed that ARIMAX model has a better predictive ability than the use of the single approach. The study further confirms the earlier position of previous research of the need to use the integrated model technique in forecasting TPI. This model will assist practitioners to forecast the future values of tender price index. Although the study focuses on the Ghanaian economy, the findings can be broadly applicable to other developing countries which share similar economic characteristics.

Environmental clustering of lakes to evaluate performance of a macrophyte index of biotic integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Vondracek, Bruce C.; Vondracek, Bruce; Hatch, Lorin K.

2013-01-01

Proper classification of sites is critical for the use of biological indices that can distinguish between natural and human-induced variation in biological response. The macrophyte-based index of biotic integrity was developed to assess the condition of Minnesota lakes in relation to anthropogenic stressors, but macrophyte community composition varies naturally across the state. The goal of the study was to identify environmental characteristics that naturally influence macrophyte index response and establish a preliminary lake classification scheme for biological assessment (bioassessment). Using a comprehensive set of environmental variables, we identified similar groups of lakes by clustering using flexible beta classification. Variance partitioning analysis of IBI response indicated that evaluating similar lake clusters could improve the ability of the macrophyte index to identify community change to anthropogenic stressors, although lake groups did not fully account for the natural variation in macrophyte composition. Diagnostic capabilities of the index could be improved when evaluating lakes with similar environmental characteristics, suggesting the index has potential for accurate bioassessment provided comparable groups of lakes are evaluated.

Integrated NDVI images for Niger 1986-1987. [Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Science.gov (United States)

Harrington, John A., Jr.; Wylie, Bruce K.; Tucker, Compton J.

1988-01-01

Two NOAA AVHRR images are presented which provide a comparison of the geographic distribution of an integration of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) for the Sahel zone in Niger for the growing seasons of 1986 and 1987. The production of the images and the application of the images for resource management are discussed. Daily large area coverage with a spatial resolution of 1.1 km at nadir were transformed to the NDVI and geographically registered to produce the images.

The Impact of an Academic Integrity Module and Turnitin® on Similarity Index Scores of Undergraduate Student Papers

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Iva B.

2013-01-01

In this quasi-experimental 2 x 2 factorial design study, the impact of an academic integrity module and Turnitin® on undergraduate student similarity index scores was investigated. Similarity index scores were used to measure suggested plagiarism rates of student papers. A purposive sample consisting of 96 undergraduate education students enrolled…

A GIS-derived integrated moisture index to predict forest composition and productivity of Ohio forests (U.S.A.)

Science.gov (United States)

Louis R. Iverson; Martin E. Dale; Charles T. Scott; Anantha Prasad; Anantha Prasad

1997-01-01

A geographic information system (GIS) approach was used in conjunction with forest-plot data to develop an integrated moisture index (IMI), which was then used to predict forest productivity (site index) and species composition for forests in Ohio. In this region, typical of eastern hardwoods across the Midwest and southern Appalachians, topographic aspect and position...

Construction and validation of a measure of integrative well-being in seven languages: The Pemberton Happiness Index

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Purpose We introduce the Pemberton Happiness Index (PHI), a new integrative measure of well-being in seven languages, detailing the validation process and presenting psychometric data. The scale includes eleven items related to different domains of remembered well-being (general, hedonic, eudaimonic, and social well-being) and ten items related to experienced well-being (i.e., positive and negative emotional events that possibly happened the day before); the sum of these items produces a combined well-being index. Methods A distinctive characteristic of this study is that to construct the scale, an initial pool of items, covering the remembered and experienced well-being domains, were subjected to a complete selection and validation process. These items were based on widely used scales (e.g., PANAS, Satisfaction With Life Scale, Subjective Happiness Scale, and Psychological Well-Being Scales). Both the initial items and reference scales were translated into seven languages and completed via Internet by participants (N = 4,052) aged 16 to 60 years from nine countries (Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and USA). Results Results from this initial validation study provided very good support for the psychometric properties of the PHI (i.e., internal consistency, a single-factor structure, and convergent and incremental validity). Conclusions Given the PHI’s good psychometric properties, this simple and integrative index could be used as an instrument to monitor changes in well-being. We discuss the utility of this integrative index to explore well-being in individuals and communities. PMID:23607679

Disturbance metrics predict a wetland Vegetation Index of Biotic Integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Stapanian, Martin A.; Mack, John; Adams, Jean V.; Gara, Brian; Micacchion, Mick

2013-01-01

Indices of biological integrity of wetlands based on vascular plants (VIBIs) have been developed in many areas in the USA. Knowledge of the best predictors of VIBIs would enable management agencies to make better decisions regarding mitigation site selection and performance monitoring criteria. We use a novel statistical technique to develop predictive models for an established index of wetland vegetation integrity (Ohio VIBI), using as independent variables 20 indices and metrics of habitat quality, wetland disturbance, and buffer area land use from 149 wetlands in Ohio, USA. For emergent and forest wetlands, predictive models explained 61% and 54% of the variability, respectively, in Ohio VIBI scores. In both cases the most important predictor of Ohio VIBI score was a metric that assessed habitat alteration and development in the wetland. Of secondary importance as a predictor was a metric that assessed microtopography, interspersion, and quality of vegetation communities in the wetland. Metrics and indices assessing disturbance and land use of the buffer area were generally poor predictors of Ohio VIBI scores. Our results suggest that vegetation integrity of emergent and forest wetlands could be most directly enhanced by minimizing substrate and habitat disturbance within the wetland. Such efforts could include reducing or eliminating any practices that disturb the soil profile, such as nutrient enrichment from adjacent farm land, mowing, grazing, or cutting or removing woody plants.

A Candidate Vegetation Index of Biological Integrity Based on Species Dominance and Habitat Fidelity

Science.gov (United States)

Gara, Brian D; Stapanian, Martin A.

2015-01-01

Indices of biological integrity of wetlands based on vascular plants (VIBIs) have been developed in many areas of the USA and are used in some states to make critical management decisions. An underlying concept of all VIBIs is that they respond negatively to disturbance. The Ohio VIBI (OVIBI) is calculated from 10 metrics, which are different for each wetland vegetation class. We present a candidate vegetation index of biotic integrity based on floristic quality (VIBI-FQ) that requires only two metrics to calculate an overall score regardless of vegetation class. These metrics focus equally on the critical ecosystem elements of diversity and dominance as related to a species’ degree of fidelity to habitat requirements. The indices were highly correlated but varied among vegetation classes. Both indices responded negatively with a published index of wetland disturbance in 261 Ohio wetlands. Unlike VIBI-FQ, however, errors in classifying wetland vegetation may lead to errors in calculating OVIBI scores. This is especially critical when assessing the ecological condition of rapidly developing ecosystems typically associated with wetland restoration and creation projects. Compared to OVIBI, the VIBI-FQ requires less field work, is much simpler to calculate and interpret, and can potentially be applied to all habitat types. This candidate index, which has been “standardized” across habitats, would make it easier to prioritize funding because it would score the “best” and “worst” of all habitats appropriately and allow for objective comparison across different vegetation classes.

Blended Drought Index: Integrated Drought Hazard Assessment in the Cuvelai-Basin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Luetkemeier

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Drought is one of the major threats to societies in Sub-Saharan Africa, as the majority of the population highly depends on rain-fed subsistence agriculture and traditional water supply systems. Hot-spot areas of potential drought impact need to be identified to reduce risk and adapt a growing population to a changing environment. This paper presents the Blended Drought Index (BDI, an integrated tool for estimating the impact of drought as a climate-induced hazard in the semi-arid Cuvelai-Basin of Angola and Namibia. It incorporates meteorological and agricultural drought characteristics that impair the population’s ability to ensure food and water security. The BDI uses a copula function to combine common standardized drought indicators that describe precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture and vegetation conditions. Satellite remote sensing products were processed to analyze drought frequency, severity and duration. As the primary result, an integrated drought hazard map was built to spatially depict drought hot-spots. Temporally, the BDI correlates well with millet/sorghum yield (r = 0.51 and local water consumption (r = −0.45 and outperforms conventional indicators. In the light of a drought’s multifaceted impact on society, the BDI is a simple and transferable tool to identify areas highly threatened by drought in an integrated manner.

Arima and integrated arfima models for forecasting air pollution index in Shah Alam, Selangor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Ying Siew; Lim, Ying Chin; Pauline, Mah Jin Wee

2008-01-01

Air pollution is one of the major issues that has been affecting human health, agricultural crops, forest species and ecosystems. Since 1980, Malaysia has had a series of haze episodes and the worst ever was reported in 1997. As a result, the government has established the Malaysia Air Quality Guidelines, the Air Pollution Index (API) and Haze Action Plan, to improve the air quality. The API was introduced as an index system for classifying and reporting the ambient air quality in Malaysia. The API for a given period is calculated based on the sub-index value (sub-API) for all the five air pollutants, namely sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter below 10 micron size (PM 10 ). The forecast of air pollution can be used for air pollution assessment and management. It can serve as information and warning to the public in cases of high air pollution levels and for policy management of many different chemical compounds. Hence, the objective of this project is to fit and illustrate the use of time series models in forecasting the API in Shah Alam, Selangor. The data used in this study consists of 70 monthly observations of API (from March 1998 to December 2003) published in the Annual Reports of the Department of Environment, Selangor. The time series models that were being considered were the Integrated Autoregressive Moving Average (ARIMA) and the Integrated Long Memory Model (ARFIMA) models. The lowest MAE, RMSE and MAPE values were used as the model selection criteria. Between these two models considered, the integrated ARFIMA model appears to be the better model as it has the lowest MAPE value. However, the actual value of May 2003 falls outside the 95% forecast interval, probably due to emissions from mobile sources (i.e., motor vehicles), industrial emissions, burning of solid wastes and forest fires. (author)

An Index of Biotic Integrity for shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitter-Soto, Juan J; Ruiz-Cauich, Lissie E; Herrera, Roberto L; González-Solís, David

2011-01-15

An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is proposed, based on the fish communities and populations in streams of the Hondo River basin, Mexico-Belize. Freshwater environments in this area are threatened by exotic fishes, eutrophication, and pesticide pollution, among other problems. This IBI should allow to identify the most vulnerable sites and eventually guide rehabilitation efforts. Data on composition, structure, and function of fish communities were evaluated. Twenty-three sites in the Mexican part of the basin were explored; a stratified sample of 13 sites was used to design the IBI, and the rest were used to test and refine the index. Thirty-four candidate indicator metrics were scanned for their correlation with an index of water and habitat quality (IWHQ), as well as for the possible influence of stream width and altitude or distance to the Hondo River mainstem. Twelve variables were selected to constitute the IBI: relative abundances of Astyanax aeneus, 'Cichlasoma' urophthalmus, Poecilia mexicana, Poecilia sp. (a new species, probably endemic to the upper Hondo River basin), Xiphophorus hellerii, and X. maculatus; relative abundances of bentholimnetic, herbivore, and sensitive species; percentage of native and tolerant species; and Pielou's evenness index. Most of the sites have a low-medium quality and integrity, showing impact due to partial channelization or to suboptimal water quality, reflected in scarcity or absence of sensitive species, frequent excess of tolerant species, occasional presence of exotics, dominance of herbivores (perhaps due to proliferation of filamentous algae), or dominance of the opportunistic species P. mexicana. The streams with better water and habitat quality are those farthest away from the river mainstem, probably because of lower human population and economical production. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new supersymmetric index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cecotti, S.; Fendley, P.; Intriligator, K.; Vafa, C.

1992-01-01

We show that Tr(-1) F F e -βH is an index for N = 2 supersymmetric theories in two dimensions, in the sense that it is independent of almost all deformations of the theory. This index is related to the geometry of the vacua (Berry's curvature) and satisfies an exact differential equation as a function of β. For integrable theories we can also compute the index thermodynamically, using the exact S-matrix. The equivalence of these two results implies a highly non-trivial equivalence of a set of coupled integral equations with these differential equations, among them Painleve III and the affine Toda equations. (orig.)

Browse Title Index

African Journals Online (AJOL)

weighted Index of Biotic Integrity (SIBI) for use in the assessment of biotic integrity in the Klip River, Gauteng, South Africa, Abstract. P J Kotze, G J Steyn, H H du Preez, C J Kleynhans. Vol 40, No 4 (2015), Diatoms as water ...

Development and evaluation of the Lake Multi-biotic Integrity Index for Dongting Lake, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Wang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A Lake Multi-biotic Integrity Index (LMII for the China’s second largest interior lake (Dongting Lake was developed to assess the water quality status using algal and macroinvertebrate metrics. Algae and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were sampled at 10 sections across 3 subregions of Dongting Lake. We used a stepwise process to evaluate properties of candidate metrics and selected ten for the LMII: Pampean diatom index, diatom quotient, trophic diatom index, relative abundance diatoms, Margalef index of algae, percent sensitive diatoms, % facultative individuals, % Chironomidae individuals, % predators individuals, and total number of macroinvertebrate taxa. We then tested the accuracy and feasibility of the LMII by comparing the correlation with physical-chemical parameters. Evaluation of the LMII showed that it discriminated well between reference and impaired sections and was strongly related to the major chemical and physical stressors (r = 0.766, P<0.001. The re-scored results from the 10 sections showed that the water quality of western Dongting Lake was good, while that of southern Dongting Lake was relatively good and whereas that of eastern Dongting Lake was poor. The discriminatory biocriteria of the LMII are suitable for the assessment of the water quality of Dongting Lake. Additionally, more metrics belonging to habitat, hydrology, physics and chemistry should be considered into the LMII, so as to establish comprehensive assessment system which can reflect the community structure of aquatic organisms, physical and chemical characteristics of water environment, human activities, and so on.

Global Ecosystem Restoration Index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernandez, Miguel; Garcia, Monica; Fernandez, Nestor

2015-01-01

The Global ecosystem restoration index (GERI) is a composite index that integrates structural and functional aspects of the ecosystem restoration process. These elements are evaluated through a window that looks into a baseline for degraded ecosystems with the objective to assess restoration...

The gravimetric coefficient of indexes of integral estimation of readiness of future officers to the management physical preparation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ol'khoviy O.M.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available A purpose of work is determination of degree of importance and priority of indexes of integral estimation of readiness of graduating student to guidance, organization and leadthrough of physical preparation in subdivision. Combination of elements of the expert questioning is utillized on the method of Del'fi and method of modern theory of the hierarchical systems of T.Saati. The author automated informative system is created. The system is intended for collection, quantitative comparison of measure of advantage of one constituent above other and treatment of results of expert estimation. The coefficients of ponderability are certain practical (0,184, cognitive (0,113, personality (0,438 and activity (0,265 indexes of integral estimation of readiness of students to the management physical preparation. Possibilities of correction of model of preparation of future officers are rotined to the management in subdivisions of military powers and executable code of educational discipline "Physical education, special physical preparation and sport".

A Benthic Macroinvertebrate Multimetric Index for Assessment of the Ecological Integrity of Northeast Streams, Thailand

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Nantiya Rattanachan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study aims to develop a benthic macroinvertebrate multimetric index for assessing the ecological quality of streams in Northeastern Thailand. ANOSIM indicated that the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage in both of each basin and each season were not significantly different (R = 0.09, p = 0.24 and R = 0.07, p = 0.35, respectively. The efficacy metrics of each basin consisting of the Mekong II, the Chi, and the Mun basins were integrated and calibrated. A total of 255 data sets of water physico-chemical and benthic macroinvertebrates during the dry period (cool and hot seasons were obtained. The stream classification could be divided into three groups: the reference group (48 stations, the stressed group (42 stations, and the intermediate group (165 stations. Twelve out of 56 metrics have been considered as a core metric for the development of a biological index for quality streams in the Northeast, including Total taxa, EPT taxa, Ephemeroptera taxa, Coleoptera taxa, % EPT, % Chironomidae, % Tolerant individuals, % Intolerant individuals, Beck's index, HBI, Predator taxa, and Clinger taxa. Moreover, this metric set covered the structure and function of organisms including the diversity of species, community structure, tolerance/intolerance measures, functional feeding group, and habit. From the efficacy validation of the biological index, the results of stream assessment corresponded to the classification sites with the physico-chemical characteristics.

Integrated refractive index optical ring resonator detector for capillary electrophoresis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hongying; White, Ian M; Suter, Jonathan D; Zourob, Mohammed; Fan, Xudong

2007-02-01

We developed a novel miniaturized and multiplexed, on-capillary, refractive index (RI) detector using liquid core optical ring resonators (LCORRs) for future development of capillary electrophoresis (CE) devices. The LCORR employs a glass capillary with a diameter of approximately 100 mum and a wall thickness of a few micrometers. The circular cross section of the capillary forms a ring resonator along which the light circulates in the form of the whispering gallery modes (WGMs). The WGM has an evanescent field extending into the capillary core and responds to the RI change due to the analyte conducted in the capillary, thus permitting label-free measurement. The resonating nature of the WGM enables repetitive light-analyte interaction, significantly enhancing the LCORR sensitivity. This LCORR architecture achieves dual use of the capillary as a sensor head and a CE fluidic channel, allowing for integrated, multiplexed, and noninvasive on-capillary detection at any location along the capillary. In this work, we used electro-osmotic flow and glycerol as a model system to demonstrate the fluid transport capability of the LCORRs. In addition, we performed flow speed measurement on the LCORR to demonstrate its flow analysis capability. Finally, using the LCORR's label-free sensing mechanism, we accurately deduced the analyte concentration in real time at a given point on the capillary. A sensitivity of 20 nm/RIU (refractive index units) was observed, leading to an RI detection limit of 10-6 RIU. The LCORR marries photonic technology with microfluidics and enables rapid on-capillary sample analysis and flow profile monitoring. The investigation in this regard will open a door to novel high-throughput CE devices and lab-on-a-chip sensors in the future.

Some composition formulae for the M-S-M fractional integral operator with the multi-index Mittag-Leffler functions

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Shilpi; Agarwal, Praveen; Kıymaz, I. Onur; ćetinkaya, Ayá¹£egül

2018-01-01

Authors presented some composition formulae for the Marichev-Saigo-Maeda (M-S-M) fractional integral operator with the multi-index Mittag-Leffler functions. Our results are generalizes the results obtained by Choi and Agarwal [3]. Here, we record some particular cases of our main result. Finally, we obtain Laplace transforms of the composition formulae.

Using a novel "Integrated Biomarker Proteomic" index to assess the effects of freshwater pollutants in European eel peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Roland, Kathleen; Kestemont, Patrick; Dieu, Marc; Raes, Martine; Silvestre, Frédéric

2016-03-30

Using proteomic data as biomarkers of environmental pollution has the potential to be of a great interest in ecological risk assessment as they constitute early warning indicators of ecologically relevant effects on biological systems. To develop such specific and sensitive biomarkers, the use of a set of proteins is required and the identification of protein expression signatures (PES) may reflect the exposure to specific classes of pollutants. Using 2D-DIGE (Differential in Gel Electrophoresis) methodology, this study aimed at identifying specific PES on European eel (Anguilla anguilla) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) after 48 h in vitro exposure to two sublethal concentrations of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT) (10 μg/L and 1mg/L) or cadmium (Cd) (1 μg/L and 100 μg/L). The present results have been supplemented with data of a first in vitro study on cells exposed to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) (10 μg/L and 1mg/L). A total of thirty-four protein spots, belonging to 18 different identified proteins found in all conditions, have been selected as possible biomarkers to develop a synthetic Integrated Biomarker Proteomic (IBP) index. IBP follows a dose-response relationship with higher values at the highest tested concentration for each pollutant (Cd: 9.96; DDT: 7.44; PFOS: 7.94) compared to the lowest tested concentration (Cd: 3.81; DDT: 2.91; PFOS: 2.06). In a second step, star plot graphs have been applied to proteomic data in order to allow visual integration of a set of early warning responses measured with protein biomarkers. Such star plots permit to discriminate the type of pollutant inducing a proteomic response. We conclude that using IBP is relevant in environmental risk assessment, giving to this index the potential to be applied as a global index of proteome alteration in endangered species such as the European eel. In this study, 34 protein spots have been selected as possible biomarkers to develop a synthetic Integrated

An Index of Biotic Integrity for shallow streams of the Hondo River basin, Yucatan Peninsula

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmitter-Soto, Juan J., E-mail: jschmitt@ecosur.mx; Ruiz-Cauich, Lissie E.; Herrera, Roberto L.; Gonzalez-Solis, David

2011-01-15

An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is proposed, based on the fish communities and populations in streams of the Hondo River basin, Mexico-Belize. Freshwater environments in this area are threatened by exotic fishes, eutrophication, and pesticide pollution, among other problems. This IBI should allow to identify the most vulnerable sites and eventually guide rehabilitation efforts. Data on composition, structure, and function of fish communities were evaluated. Twenty-three sites in the Mexican part of the basin were explored; a stratified sample of 13 sites was used to design the IBI, and the rest were used to test and refine the index. Thirty-four candidate indicator metrics were scanned for their correlation with an index of water and habitat quality (IWHQ), as well as for the possible influence of stream width and altitude or distance to the Hondo River mainstem. Twelve variables were selected to constitute the IBI: relative abundances of Astyanax aeneus, 'Cichlasoma' urophthalmus, Poecilia mexicana, Poecilia sp. (a new species, probably endemic to the upper Hondo River basin), Xiphophorus hellerii, and X. maculatus; relative abundances of bentholimnetic, herbivore, and sensitive species; percentage of native and tolerant species; and Pielou's evenness index. Most of the sites have a low-medium quality and integrity, showing impact due to partial channelization or to suboptimal water quality, reflected in scarcity or absence of sensitive species, frequent excess of tolerant species, occasional presence of exotics, dominance of herbivores (perhaps due to proliferation of filamentous algae), or dominance of the opportunistic species P. mexicana. The streams with better water and habitat quality are those farthest away from the river mainstem, probably because of lower human population and economical production. - Research Highlights: {yields} An Index of Biotic Integrity based on fishes is proposed for streams of the Hondo River basin. {yields

Measurement of the Ecological Integrity of Cerrado Streams Using Biological Metrics and the Index of Habitat Integrity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deusiano Florêncio dos Reis

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Generally, aquatic communities reflect the effects of anthropogenic changes such as deforestation or organic pollution. The Cerrado stands among the most threatened ecosystems by human activities in Brazil. In order to evaluate the ecological integrity of the streams in a preserved watershed in the Northern Cerrado biome corresponding to a mosaic of ecosystems in transition to the Amazonia biome in Brazil, biological metrics related to diversity, structure, and sensitivity of aquatic macroinvertebrates were calculated. Sampling included collections along stretches of 200 m of nine streams and measurements of abiotic variables (temperature, electrical conductivity, pH, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, and discharge and the Index of Habitat Integrity (HII. The values of the abiotic variables and the HII indicated that most of the streams have good ecological integrity, due to high oxygen levels and low concentrations of dissolved solids and electric conductivity. Two streams showed altered HII scores mainly related to small dams for recreational and domestic use, use of Cerrado natural pasture for cattle raising, and spot deforestation in bathing areas. However, this finding is not reflected in the biological metrics that were used. Considering all nine streams, only two showed satisfactory ecological quality (measured by Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP, total richness, and EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera richness, only one of which had a low HII score. These results indicate that punctual measures of abiotic parameters do not reveal the long-term impacts of anthropic activities in these streams, including related fire management of pasture that annually alters the vegetation matrix and may act as a disturbance for the macroinvertebrate communities. Due to this, biomonitoring of low order streams in Cerrado ecosystems of the Northern Central Brazil by different biotic metrics and also physical attributes of the

Shading effect on microclimate and thermal comfort indexes in integrated crop-livestock-forest systems in the Brazilian Midwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Karvatte, Nivaldo; Klosowski, Elcio Silvério; de Almeida, Roberto Giolo; Mesquita, Eduardo Eustáquio; de Oliveira, Caroline Carvalho; Alves, Fabiana Villa

2016-12-01

The objective of this paper was to perform a microclimate evaluation and determine the indexes of thermal comfort indexes, in sun and shade, in integrated crop-livestock-forest systems with different arrangements of eucalyptus and native trees, in the Brazilian Midwest. The experiment was conducted at Embrapa Beef Cattle in Campo Grande, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, from July to September 2013. The evaluations were conducted on four consecutive days, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., local time (GMT -4:00), with 1 hour intervals, recording the microclimate parameters: air temperature (°C), black globe temperature (°C), wet bulb temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), and wind speed (m.s -1 ), for the subsequent calculation of the Temperature and Humidity Index, the Black Globe Temperature and Humidity Index, and the Radiant Thermal Load. The largest changes in microclimate parameters were found in the full sun, between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m., in less dense eucalyptus system, followed by the scattered native trees system, resulting in a maximum Temperature and Humidity Index of 81, Black Globe Temperature and Humidity Index of 88 and Radiant Thermal Load of 794 W m -2 . Therefore, it is observed that with the presence of trees in pastures were possible reductions of up to 3.7 % in Temperature and Humidity Index, 10.2 % in the Black Globe Temperature and Humidity Index, and 28.3 % of the Radiant Thermal Load in the shade. Thus, one can conclude that the presence of trees and their arrangement in the systems provide better microclimate conditions and animal thermal comfort in pastures.

AUTHOR INDEX

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

automorphic solutions to fractional order abstract integro-differential equations. 323. Afrouzi G A see Ala Samira ... 521. Agarwal Praveen. Certain fractional integral operators and the generalized multi-index Mittag- ... of positive solutions for sys- tems of second order multi-point bound- ary value problems on time scales 353.

In vitro application of integrated selection index for screening drought tolerant genotypes in common wheat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ezatollah FARSHADFAR

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This experiment was conducted on 20 wheat genotypes during 2010-2011 growing season at the Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. A completely randomized design with six replications was used for callus induction and a 20 × 2 factorial experiment with three replications was used for response of genotypes to in vitro drought stress. ANOVA exhibited highly significant differences among the genotypes for callus growth rate, relative fresh mass growth, relative growth rate, callus water content, percent of callus chlorosis and proline content under stress condition (15 % PEG. PCA showed that the integrated selection index was correlated with callus growth index, relative fresh mass growth, relative growth rate and proline content indicating that these screening techniques can be useful for selecting drought tolerant genotypes. Screening drought tolerant genotypes and in vitro indicators of drought tolerance using mean rank, standard deviation of ranks and biplot analysis, discriminated genotypes 2, 18 and 10 as the most drought tolerant. Therefore they are recommended to be used as parents for genetic analysis, gene mapping and improvement of drought tolerance.

Comparative analysis of methods for integrating various environmental impacts as a single index in life cycle assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Changyoon; Hong, Taehoon

2016-01-01

Previous studies have proposed several methods for integrating characterized environmental impacts as a single index in life cycle assessment. Each of them, however, may lead to different results. This study presents internal and external normalization methods, weighting factors proposed by panel methods, and a monetary valuation based on an endpoint life cycle impact assessment method as the integration methods. Furthermore, this study investigates the differences among the integration methods and identifies the causes of the differences through a case study in which five elementary school buildings were used. As a result, when using internal normalization with weighting factors, the weighting factors had a significant influence on the total environmental impacts whereas the normalization had little influence on the total environmental impacts. When using external normalization with weighting factors, the normalization had more significant influence on the total environmental impacts than weighing factors. Due to such differences, the ranking of the five buildings varied depending on the integration methods. The ranking calculated by the monetary valuation method was significantly different from that calculated by the normalization and weighting process. The results aid decision makers in understanding the differences among these integration methods, and, finally, help them select the method most appropriate for the goal at hand.

Comparative analysis of methods for integrating various environmental impacts as a single index in life cycle assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Changyoon, E-mail: changyoon@yonsei.ac.kr; Hong, Taehoon, E-mail: hong7@yonsei.ac.kr

2016-02-15

Previous studies have proposed several methods for integrating characterized environmental impacts as a single index in life cycle assessment. Each of them, however, may lead to different results. This study presents internal and external normalization methods, weighting factors proposed by panel methods, and a monetary valuation based on an endpoint life cycle impact assessment method as the integration methods. Furthermore, this study investigates the differences among the integration methods and identifies the causes of the differences through a case study in which five elementary school buildings were used. As a result, when using internal normalization with weighting factors, the weighting factors had a significant influence on the total environmental impacts whereas the normalization had little influence on the total environmental impacts. When using external normalization with weighting factors, the normalization had more significant influence on the total environmental impacts than weighing factors. Due to such differences, the ranking of the five buildings varied depending on the integration methods. The ranking calculated by the monetary valuation method was significantly different from that calculated by the normalization and weighting process. The results aid decision makers in understanding the differences among these integration methods, and, finally, help them select the method most appropriate for the goal at hand.

Low-index discontinuity terahertz waveguides

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, Michael; Marchewka, Astrid; Kurz, Heinrich

2006-10-01

A new type of dielectric THz waveguide based on recent approaches in the field of integrated optics is presented with theoretical and experimental results. Although the guiding mechanism of the low-index discontinuity (LID) THz waveguide is total internal reflection, the THz wave is predominantly confined in the virtually lossless low-index air gap within a high-index dielectric waveguide due to the continuity of electric flux density at the dielectric interface. Attenuation, dispersion and single-mode confinement properties of two LID structures are discussed and compared with other THz waveguide solutions. The new approach provides an outstanding combination of high mode confinement and low transmission losses currently not realizable with any other metal-based or photonic crystal approach. These exceptional properties might enable the breakthrough of novel integrated THz systems or endoscopy applications with sub-wavelength resolution.

A Fish-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of Streams Located in a Sugarcane-Dominated Landscape in Southeastern Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos, Fernanda Bastos; Esteves, Katharina Eichbaum

2015-08-01

A multimetric, fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) was developed and tested to assess the ecological status of streams with different riparian conditions in the Piracicaba River Basin. Nine streams with three categories of riparian zone preservation were selected: native forest (NF) with preserved forest, secondary forest (SF) with forest in an advanced state of regeneration and surrounded by sugarcane plantations, and sugarcane (SC) without riparian vegetation and surrounded by SC crops. A continuous scoring system was employed, and candidate metrics were tested for range, responsiveness, and redundancy, resulting in the selection of eight metrics to compose the index. The final IBI score was positively correlated with an Environmental Index both in the dry (Spearman's rho = 0.76; P = 0.01) and rainy seasons (Spearman's rho = 0.66; P = 0.04), suggesting that this IBI is a suitable tool for the assessment of the biological conditions of these streams. The highest IBI values were observed in the rainy season at the NF and SF sites, with significant differences between the NF and SC sites (Kruskal-Wallis test: P = 0.03). The results indicated some variability in the biological integrity at SF and SC sites, suggesting a relationship with the intensity of the management of this crop. Patterns were consistent with other studies that have shown the effects of agriculture on the environmental quality of streams, which indicate the importance of the riparian zone to the maintenance of ecosystem integrity and supports the use of the IBI for biological monitoring in similar regions.

A Fish-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for the Assessment of Streams Located in a Sugarcane-Dominated Landscape in Southeastern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

dos Santos, Fernanda Bastos; Esteves, Katharina Eichbaum

2015-08-01

A multimetric, fish-based Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) was developed and tested to assess the ecological status of streams with different riparian conditions in the Piracicaba River Basin. Nine streams with three categories of riparian zone preservation were selected: native forest (NF) with preserved forest, secondary forest (SF) with forest in an advanced state of regeneration and surrounded by sugarcane plantations, and sugarcane (SC) without riparian vegetation and surrounded by SC crops. A continuous scoring system was employed, and candidate metrics were tested for range, responsiveness, and redundancy, resulting in the selection of eight metrics to compose the index. The final IBI score was positively correlated with an Environmental Index both in the dry (Spearman's rho = 0.76; P = 0.01) and rainy seasons (Spearman's rho = 0.66; P = 0.04), suggesting that this IBI is a suitable tool for the assessment of the biological conditions of these streams. The highest IBI values were observed in the rainy season at the NF and SF sites, with significant differences between the NF and SC sites (Kruskal-Wallis test: P = 0.03). The results indicated some variability in the biological integrity at SF and SC sites, suggesting a relationship with the intensity of the management of this crop. Patterns were consistent with other studies that have shown the effects of agriculture on the environmental quality of streams, which indicate the importance of the riparian zone to the maintenance of ecosystem integrity and supports the use of the IBI for biological monitoring in similar regions.

2d index and surface operators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gadde, Abhijit; Gukov, Sergei

2014-01-01

In this paper we compute the superconformal index of 2d (2,2) supersymmetric gauge theories. The 2d superconformal index, a.k.a. flavored elliptic genus, is computed by a unitary matrix integral much like the matrix integral that computes the 4d superconformal index. We compute the 2d index explicitly for a number of examples. In the case of abelian gauge theories we see that the index is invariant under flop transition and under CY-LG correspondence. The index also provides a powerful check of the Seiberg-type duality for non-abelian gauge theories discovered by Hori and Tong. In the later half of the paper, we study half-BPS surface operators in N=2 superconformal gauge theories. They are engineered by coupling the 2d (2,2) supersymmetric gauge theory living on the support of the surface operator to the 4d N=2 theory, so that different realizations of the same surface operator with a given Levi type are related by a 2d analogue of the Seiberg duality. The index of this coupled system is computed by using the tools developed in the first half of the paper. The superconformal index in the presence of surface defect is expected to be invariant under generalized S-duality. We demonstrate that it is indeed the case. In doing so the Seiberg-type duality of the 2d theory plays an important role

Integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer on the end facet of multicore fiber for refractive index sensing application

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Yanwen; Zhang, Siyao; Feng, Shengfei; Wang, Xinke; Sun, Wenfeng; Ye, Jiasheng; Han, Peng; Zhang, Yan

2018-01-01

A sensitive, real-time seven core optical fiber based Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor for liquid refractive index detection is proposed, fabricated and characterized. A trapezoid body with an inverted wedge shape groove in the center is used to design the MZI. The two ends of the trapezoid body play the roles of micro-prisms, and the middle parts of the trapezoid body and the groove play the roles of reference and sensing arms. A series of performance tests were carried out by immersing the sensor in different kinds of solutions to verify the universal applicability of the sensor. The MZI sensor is as small as only 43 μm × 8 μm, and at the same time with sensitivity of 1616 nm/RIU. Nominally, we realized a completely integrated optical sensing system. And, this system actually could be the building block of more powerful integrated chemical sensing chip for health, security and industry application.

Measuring cross-border regional STI integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Makkonen, T

2016-07-01

Earlier quantitative studies on cross-border regional integration processes have commonly neglected science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators: even the most notable example of a composite indicator approach to measuring cross-border regional integration, i.e. the Oresund index, lacks a sub-category for STI. Consequently, by ignoring cross-border innovation and knowledge flows, the Oresund integration index fails to take into account one of the most important drivers of economic growth in cross-border regions. Therefore, a new composite STI indicator (sub-category) was introduced to strengthen the Oresund integration index. This was compiled from patent, publication and collaborative R&D project data. The findings show that this index performs reasonably well in depicting STI integration, while at the same time remaining simple and straightforward enough to be adopted in other crossborder regions. (Author)

Measures of School Integration: Comparing Coleman's Index to Measures of Species Diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Mercil, Steven Bray; Williams, John Delane

This study used species diversity indices developed in ecology as a measure of socioethnic diversity, and compared them to Coleman's Index of Segregation. The twelve indices were Simpson's Concentration Index ("ell"), Simpson's Index of Diversity, Hurlbert's Probability of Interspecific Encounter (PIE), Simpson's Probability of…

Afghanistan Index

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linnet, Poul Martin

2007-01-01

basis. The data are divided into different indicators such as security, polls, drug, social, economic, refugees etc. This represents a practical division and does not indicate that a picture as to for instance security can be obtained by solely looking at the data under security. In order to obtain...... a more valid picture on security this must incorporate an integrated look on all data meaning that for instance the economic data provides an element as to the whole picture of security.......The Afghanistan index is a compilation of quantitative and qualitative data on the reconstruction and security effort in Afghanistan. The index aims at providing data for benchmarking of the international performance and thus provides the reader with a quick possibility to retrieve valid...

Integrated study of biomass index in La Herreria (Sierra de Guadarrama)

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez Díaz-Ambrona, Carlos G.

2016-04-01

Drought severity has many implications for society, including its impacts on the water supply, water pollution, reservoir management and ecosystem. There have been many attempts to characterize its severity, resulting in the numerous drought indices that have been developed (Niemeyer 2008). The'biomass index', based on satellite image derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) has been used in several countries for pasture and forage crops for some years (Rao, 2010; Escribano-Rodriguez et al., 2014). NDVI generally provides a broad overview of the vegetation condition and spatial vegetation distribution in a region. Vegetative drought is closely related with weather impacts. However, in NDVI, the weather component gets subdued by the strong ecological component. Another vegetation index is Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) that separates the short-term weather-related NDVI fluctuations from the long-term ecosystem changes (Kogan, 1990). Therefore, while NDVI shows seasonal vegetation dynamics, VCI rescales vegetation dynamics between 0 and 100 to reflect relative changes in the vegetation condition from extremely bad to optimal (Kogan et al., 2003). In this work a pasture area at La Herreria (Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain) has been delimited. Then, NDVI historical data are reconstructed based on remote sensing imaging MODIS, with 500x500m2 resolution. From the closest meteorological station (Santolaria-Canales, 2015) records of weekly precipitation, temperature and evapotranspiration from 2001 till 2012 were obtained. Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), Crop Moisture Index (CMI) (Palmer, 1968) and Evapotranspiration-Precipitation Ratio (EPR) are calculated in an attempt to relate them to several vegetation indexes: NDVI, VCI and NDVI Change Ratio to Median (RMNDVI). The results are discussed in the context of pasture index insurance. References Escribano Rodriguez, J.Agustín, Carlos Gregorio Hernández Díaz-Ambrona and Ana María Tarquis Alfonso

Comparison of IMRT Treatment Plans Between Linac and Helical Tomotherapy Based on Integral Dose and Inhomogeneity Index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Chengyu; Penagaricano, Jose; Papanikolaou, Niko

2008-01-01

Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is an advanced treatment technology for radiation therapy. There are several treatment planning systems (TPS) that can generate IMRT plans. These plans may show different inhomogeneity indices to the planning target volume (PTV) and integral dose to organs at risk (OAR). In this study, we compared clinical cases covering different anatomical treatment sites, including head and neck, brain, lung, prostate, pelvis, and cranio-spinal axis. Two treatment plans were developed for each case using Pinnacle 3 and helical tomotherapy (HT) TPS. The inhomogeneity index of the PTV and the non-tumor integral dose (NTID) were calculated and compared for each case. Despite the difference in the number of effective beams, in several cases, NTID did not increase from HT as compared to the step-and-shoot delivery method. Six helical tomotherapy treatment plans for different treatment sites have been analyzed and compared against corresponding step-and-shoot plans generated with the Pinnacle 3 planning system. Results show that HT may produce plans with smaller integral doses to healthy organs, and fairly homogeneous doses to the target as compared to linac-based step-and-shoot IMRT planning in special treatment site such as cranio-spinal

Functional region prediction with a set of appropriate homologous sequences-an index for sequence selection by integrating structure and sequence information with spatial statistics

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background The detection of conserved residue clusters on a protein structure is one of the effective strategies for the prediction of functional protein regions. Various methods, such as Evolutionary Trace, have been developed based on this strategy. In such approaches, the conserved residues are identified through comparisons of homologous amino acid sequences. Therefore, the selection of homologous sequences is a critical step. It is empirically known that a certain degree of sequence divergence in the set of homologous sequences is required for the identification of conserved residues. However, the development of a method to select homologous sequences appropriate for the identification of conserved residues has not been sufficiently addressed. An objective and general method to select appropriate homologous sequences is desired for the efficient prediction of functional regions. Results We have developed a novel index to select the sequences appropriate for the identification of conserved residues, and implemented the index within our method to predict the functional regions of a protein. The implementation of the index improved the performance of the functional region prediction. The index represents the degree of conserved residue clustering on the tertiary structure of the protein. For this purpose, the structure and sequence information were integrated within the index by the application of spatial statistics. Spatial statistics is a field of statistics in which not only the attributes but also the geometrical coordinates of the data are considered simultaneously. Higher degrees of clustering generate larger index scores. We adopted the set of homologous sequences with the highest index score, under the assumption that the best prediction accuracy is obtained when the degree of clustering is the maximum. The set of sequences selected by the index led to higher functional region prediction performance than the sets of sequences selected by other sequence

Integration of biological responses from a suite of bioassays for the Venice Lagoon (Italy) through sediment toxicity index - Part A: Development and comparison of two methodological approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Losso, Chiara; Novelli, Alessandra Arizzi; De Salvador, Davide; Ghetti, Pier Francesco; Ghirardini, Annamaria Volpi

2010-01-01

Marine and coastal quality assessment, based on test batteries involving a wide array of endpoints, organisms and test matrices, needs for setting up toxicity indices that integrate multiple toxicological measures for decision-making processes and that classify the continuous toxicity response into discrete categories according to the European Water Framework Directive. Two toxicity indices were developed for the lagoon environment such as the Venice Lagoon. Stepwise procedure included: the construction of a database that identified test-matrix pairs (indicators); the selection of a minimum number of ecotoxicological indicators, called toxicological core metrics (CMs-tox) on the basis of specific criteria; the development of toxicity scores for each CM-tox; the integration of the CMs-tox into two indices, the Toxicity Effect Index (TEI), based on the transformation of Toxic Unit (TU) data that were integrated as logarithmic sum, and the Weighted Average Toxicity Index (WATI), starting from toxicity classes integrated as weighted mean. Results from the indices are compared; advantages and drawbacks of both approaches are discussed. - Two toxicity indices were set up and compared to integrate toxicity data from a battery of bioassays for the Venice lagoon.

Integration of biological responses from a suite of bioassays for the Venice Lagoon (Italy) through sediment toxicity index - Part A: Development and comparison of two methodological approaches

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Losso, Chiara, E-mail: closso@unive.i [Environmental Sciences Department, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Campo della Celestia 2737/b, I-30122 Venice (Italy); Novelli, Alessandra Arizzi [Environmental Sciences Department, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Campo della Celestia 2737/b, I-30122 Venice (Italy); De Salvador, Davide [Physics Department, Padova University, via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova (Italy); Ghetti, Pier Francesco; Ghirardini, Annamaria Volpi [Environmental Sciences Department, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Campo della Celestia 2737/b, I-30122 Venice (Italy)

2010-12-15

Marine and coastal quality assessment, based on test batteries involving a wide array of endpoints, organisms and test matrices, needs for setting up toxicity indices that integrate multiple toxicological measures for decision-making processes and that classify the continuous toxicity response into discrete categories according to the European Water Framework Directive. Two toxicity indices were developed for the lagoon environment such as the Venice Lagoon. Stepwise procedure included: the construction of a database that identified test-matrix pairs (indicators); the selection of a minimum number of ecotoxicological indicators, called toxicological core metrics (CMs-tox) on the basis of specific criteria; the development of toxicity scores for each CM-tox; the integration of the CMs-tox into two indices, the Toxicity Effect Index (TEI), based on the transformation of Toxic Unit (TU) data that were integrated as logarithmic sum, and the Weighted Average Toxicity Index (WATI), starting from toxicity classes integrated as weighted mean. Results from the indices are compared; advantages and drawbacks of both approaches are discussed. - Two toxicity indices were set up and compared to integrate toxicity data from a battery of bioassays for the Venice lagoon.

Applying Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity in a soft bottom ecosystem in North of the Persian Gulf.

Science.gov (United States)

Doustshenas, B; Savari, A; Nabavi, S M B; Kochanian, P; Sadrinasab, M

2009-06-15

In this study, the Chesapeake Bay Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) was selected in an attempt to describe ecological health of soft bottom channels (Khowr-e Musa) in North of the Persian Gulf. Most of study area was found to be in degraded or severely degraded conditions. B-IBI scores were ranged between 1 and 3.86. Comparison ofmacrobenthos abundance and organic content between two developmental periods showed significant difference (p dredging. Choice of suitable management plans and metric controls could help to the salvage of the largest tidal channel complex in Persian Gulf.

Integration of biological responses from a suite of bioassays for the Venice Lagoon (Italy) through sediment toxicity index - part A: development and comparison of two methodological approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Losso, Chiara; Novelli, Alessandra Arizzi; De Salvador, Davide; Ghetti, Pier Francesco; Ghirardini, Annamaria Volpi

2010-12-01

Marine and coastal quality assessment, based on test batteries involving a wide array of endpoints, organisms and test matrices, needs for setting up toxicity indices that integrate multiple toxicological measures for decision-making processes and that classify the continuous toxicity response into discrete categories according to the European Water Framework Directive. Two toxicity indices were developed for the lagoon environment such as the Venice Lagoon. Stepwise procedure included: the construction of a database that identified test-matrix pairs (indicators); the selection of a minimum number of ecotoxicological indicators, called toxicological core metrics (CMs-tox) on the basis of specific criteria; the development of toxicity scores for each CM-tox; the integration of the CMs-tox into two indices, the Toxicity Effect Index (TEI), based on the transformation of Toxic Unit (TU) data that were integrated as logarithmic sum, and the Weighted Average Toxicity Index (WATI), starting from toxicity classes integrated as weighted mean. Results from the indices are compared; advantages and drawbacks of both approaches are discussed. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Fuzzy-TLX: using fuzzy integrals for evaluating human mental workload with NASA-Task Load indeX in laboratory and field studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Mouzé-Amady, Marc; Raufaste, Eric; Prade, Henri; Meyer, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess mental workload in which various load sources must be integrated to derive reliable workload estimates. We report a new algorithm for computing weights from qualitative fuzzy integrals and apply it to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration -Task Load indeX (NASA-TLX) subscales in order to replace the standard pair-wise weighting technique (PWT). In this paper, two empirical studies were reported: (1) In a laboratory experiment, age- and task-related variables were investigated in 53 male volunteers and (2) In a field study, task- and job-related variables were studied on aircrews during 48 commercial flights. The results found in this study were as follows: (i) in the experimental setting, fuzzy estimates were highly correlated with classical (using PWT) estimates; (ii) in real work conditions, replacing PWT by automated fuzzy treatments simplified the NASA-TLX completion; (iii) the algorithm for computing fuzzy estimates provides a new classification procedure sensitive to various variables of work environments and (iv) subjective and objective measures can be used for the fuzzy aggregation of NASA-TLX subscales. NASA-TLX, a classical tool for mental workload assessment, is based on a weighted sum of ratings from six subscales. A new algorithm, which impacts on input data collection and computes weights and indexes from qualitative fuzzy integrals, is evaluated through laboratory and field studies. Pros and cons are discussed.

A Survey in Indexing and Searching XML Documents.

Science.gov (United States)

Luk, Robert W. P.; Leong, H. V.; Dillon, Tharam S.; Chan, Alvin T. S.; Croft, W. Bruce; Allan, James

2002-01-01

Discussion of XML focuses on indexing techniques for XML documents, grouping them into flat-file, semistructured, and structured indexing paradigms. Highlights include searching techniques, including full text search and multistage search; search result presentations; database and information retrieval system integration; XML query languages; and…

Development of a Macroinvertebrate - based Index of Biotic Integrity (M-IBI for Colombo-Sri Jayawardhanapura Canal System (A new approach to assess stream/ wetland health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Nilakarawasam

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Macroinvertebrates have been identified as excellent indicators of stream (wetland health as they respond rapidly to environmental changers and provide short to medium term pollution history records. Current study was aimed to develop a Macroinvertebrate-based Index of Biotic Integrity (M-IBI to monitor stream health of Colombo-Sri Jayawardhanapura canal system. Macroinvertebrates were sampled using a D-framed kick net from ten stations during the period of Nov 2008 to June 2009. Habitat characteristics and some water quality parameters also recorded. For the index development, those ten stations were grouped into two as ’Reference’ and ‘Degraded’ based on their habitat characteristics and some water quality parameters. Then 41vcandidate metrics were nominated for statistical analysis process. After considering their sensitivity to stream impairment, ability of showing exceptionally strong discrimination between reference and degraded sites and less redundancy, ten candidate metrics were selected for M-IBI development. Validity of the index was tested with a new independent data set. Scores acquired for these data set were positively correlated with DO values (r = 0.578. That concluded the potential of using M-IBI developed for biological monitoring and improving biotic integrity of streams and wetlands.

Ge-rich graded-index Si1-xGex devices for MID-IR integrated photonics

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, J. M.; Vakarin, V.; Liu, Q.; Frigerio, J.; Ballabio, A.; Le Roux, X.; Benedikovic, D.; Alonso-Ramos, C.; Isella, G.; Vivien, L.; Marris-Morini, D.

2018-02-01

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) silicon photonics is becoming a prominent research with remarkable potential in several applications such as in early medical diagnosis, safe communications, imaging, food safety and many more. In the quest for the best material platform to develop new photonic systems, Si and Ge depart with a notable advantage over other materials due to the high processing maturity accomplished during the last part of the 20th century through the deployment of the CMOS technology. From an optical viewpoint, combining Si with Ge to obtain SiGe alloys with controlled stoichiometry is also of interest for the photonic community since permits to increase the effective refractive index and the nonlinear parameter, providing a fascinating playground to exploit nonlinear effects. Furthermore, using Ge-rich SiGe gives access to a range of deep mid-IR wavelengths otherwise inaccessible (λ 2-20 μm). In this paper, we explore for the first time the limits of this approach by measuring the spectral loss characteristic over a broadband wavelength range spanning from λ = 5.5 μm to 8.5 μm. Three different SiGe waveguide platforms are compared, each one showing higher compactness than the preceding through the engineering of the vertical Ge profile, giving rise to different confinement characteristics to the propagating modes. A flat propagation loss characteristic of 2-3 dB/cm over the entire wavelength span is demonstrated in Ge-rich graded-index SiGe waveguides of only 6 μm thick. Also, the role of the overlap fraction of the confined optical mode with the Si-rich area at the bottom side of the epitaxial SiGe waveguide is put in perspective, revealing a lossy characteristic compared to the other designs were the optical mode is located in the Ge-rich area at the top of the waveguide uniquely. These Ge-rich graded-index SiGe waveguides may pave the way towards a new generation of photonic integrated circuits operating at deep mid-IR wavelengths.

Controlling graphene plasmons with a zero-index metasurface.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Lihui; Lu, Yanxin; Yuan, Mengmeng; Shi, Fenghua; Xu, Haixia; Chen, Yihang

2017-11-30

Graphene plasmons, owing to their diverse applications including electro-optical modulation, optical sensing, spectral photometry and tunable lighting at the nanoscale, have recently attracted much attention. One key challenge in advancing this field is to precisely control the propagation of graphene plasmons. Here, we propose an on-chip integrated platform to engineer the wave front of the graphene plasmons through a metasurface with a refractive index of zero. We demonstrate that a well-designed graphene/photonic-crystal metasurface can possess conical plasmonic dispersion at the Brillouin zone center with a triply degenerate state at the Dirac frequency, giving rise to the zero-effective-index of graphene plasmons. Plane-wave-emission and focusing effects of the graphene plasmons are achieved by tailoring such a zero-index metasurface. In addition to the tunable Dirac point frequency enabled by the electrical tuning of the graphene Fermi level, our highly integrated system also provides stable performance even when defects exist. This actively controllable on-chip platform can potentially be useful for integrated photonic circuits and devices.

The Predictive Value of Integrated Pulmonary Index after Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Prospective Observational Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evgenia V. Fot

2017-08-01

Full Text Available BackgroundThe early warning scores may increase the safety of perioperative period. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic and predictive role of Integrated Pulmonary Index (IPI after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB.Materials and MethodsForty adult patients undergoing elective OPCAB were enrolled into a single-center prospective observational study. We assessed respiratory function using IPI that includes oxygen saturation, end-tidal CO2, respiratory rate, and pulse rate. In addition, we evaluated blood gas analyses and hemodynamics, including ECG, invasive arterial pressure, and cardiac index. The measurements were performed after transfer to the intensive care unit, after spontaneous breathing trial and at 2, 6, 12, and 18 h after extubation.Results and DiscussionThe value of IPI registered during respiratory support correlated weakly with cardiac index (rho = 0.4; p = 0.04 and ScvO2 (rho = 0.4, p = 0.02. After extubation, IPI values decreased significantly, achieving a minimum by 18 h. The IPI value ≤9 at 6 h after extubation was a predictor of complicated early postoperative period (AUC = 0.71; p = 0.04 observed in 13 patients.ConclusionIn off-pump coronary surgery, the IPI decreases significantly after tracheal extubation and may predict postoperative complications.

Novel adiponectin-resistin (AR and insulin resistance (IRAR indexes are useful integrated diagnostic biomarkers for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome: a case control study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muniandy Sekaran

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Adiponectin and resistin are adipokines which modulate insulin action, energy, glucose and lipid homeostasis. Meta-analyses showed that hypoadiponectinemia and hyperresistinemia are strongly associated with increased risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes (T2DM, metabolic syndrome (MS and cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to propose a novel adiponectin-resistin (AR index by taking into account both adiponectin and resistin levels to povide a better indicator of the metabolic homeostasis and metabolic disorders. In addition, a novel insulin resistance (IRAR index was proposed by integration of the AR index into an existing insulin resistance index to provide an improved diagnostic biomarker of insulin sensitivity. Methods In this case control study, anthropometric clinical and metabolic parameters including fasting serum total adiponectin and resistin levels were determined in 809 Malaysian men (208 controls, 174 MS without T2DM, 171 T2DM without MS, 256 T2DM with MS whose ages ranged between 40-70 years old. Significant differences in continuous variables among subject groups were confirmed by ANCOVA or MANCOVA test using 1,000 stratified bootstrap samples with bias corrected and accelerated (BCa 95% CI. Spearman's rho rank correlation test was used to test the correlation between two variables. Results The AR index was formulated as 1+log10(R0-log10(A0. The AR index was more strongly associated with increased risk of T2DM and MS than hypoadiponectinemia and hyperresistinemia alone. The AR index was more strongly correlated with the insulin resistance indexes and key metabolic endpoints of T2DM and MS than adiponectin and resistin levels alone. The AR index was also correlated with a higher number of MS components than adiponectin and resistin levels alone. The IRAR index was formulated as log10(I0G0+log10(I0G0log10(R0/A0. The normal reference range of the IRAR index for insulin sensitive individuals was

Automatic inference of indexing rules for MEDLINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shooshan Sonya E

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Indexing is a crucial step in any information retrieval system. In MEDLINE, a widely used database of the biomedical literature, the indexing process involves the selection of Medical Subject Headings in order to describe the subject matter of articles. The need for automatic tools to assist MEDLINE indexers in this task is growing with the increasing number of publications being added to MEDLINE. Methods: In this paper, we describe the use and the customization of Inductive Logic Programming (ILP to infer indexing rules that may be used to produce automatic indexing recommendations for MEDLINE indexers. Results: Our results show that this original ILP-based approach outperforms manual rules when they exist. In addition, the use of ILP rules also improves the overall performance of the Medical Text Indexer (MTI, a system producing automatic indexing recommendations for MEDLINE. Conclusion: We expect the sets of ILP rules obtained in this experiment to be integrated into MTI.

Refractive index engineering of high performance coupler for compact photonic integrated circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lu; Zhou, Zhiping

2017-04-01

High performance couplers are highly desired in many applications, but the design is limited by nearly unchangeable material refractive index. To tackle this issue, refractive index engineering method is investigated, which can be realized by subwavelength grating. Subwavelength gratings are periodical structures with pitches small enough to locally synthesize the refractive index of photonic waveguides, which allows direct control of optical profile as well as easier fabrication process. This review provides an introduction to the basics of subwavelength structures and pay special attention to the design strategies of some representative examples of subwavelength grating devices, including: edge couplers, fiber-chip grating couplers, directional couplers and multimode interference couplers. Benefited from the subwavelength grating which can engineer the refractive index as well as birefringence and dispersion, these devices show better performance when compared to their conventional counterparts.

Towards Effective Network Intrusion Detection: A Hybrid Model Integrating Gini Index and GBDT with PSO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Longjie Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In order to protect computing systems from malicious attacks, network intrusion detection systems have become an important part in the security infrastructure. Recently, hybrid models that integrating several machine learning techniques have captured more attention of researchers. In this paper, a novel hybrid model was proposed with the purpose of detecting network intrusion effectively. In the proposed model, Gini index is used to select the optimal subset of features, the gradient boosted decision tree (GBDT algorithm is adopted to detect network attacks, and the particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm is utilized to optimize the parameters of GBDT. The performance of the proposed model is experimentally evaluated in terms of accuracy, detection rate, precision, F1-score, and false alarm rate using the NSL-KDD dataset. Experimental results show that the proposed model is superior to the compared methods.

Single-mode optical waveguides on native high-refractive-index substrates

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Richard R. Grote

2016-10-01

Full Text Available High-refractive-index semiconductor optical waveguides form the basis for modern photonic integrated circuits (PICs. However, conventional methods for achieving optical confinement require a thick lower-refractive-index support layer that impedes large-scale co-integration with electronics and limits the materials on which PICs can be fabricated. To address this challenge, we present a general architecture for single-mode waveguides that confine light in a high-refractive-index material on a native substrate. The waveguide consists of a high-aspect-ratio fin of the guiding material surrounded by lower-refractive-index dielectrics and is compatible with standard top-down fabrication techniques. This letter describes a physically intuitive, semi-analytical, effective index model for designing fin waveguides, which is confirmed with fully vectorial numerical simulations. Design examples are presented for diamond and silicon at visible and telecommunications wavelengths, respectively, along with calculations of propagation loss due to bending, scattering, and substrate leakage. Potential methods of fabrication are also discussed. The proposed waveguide geometry allows PICs to be fabricated alongside silicon CMOS electronics on the same wafer, removes the need for heteroepitaxy in III-V PICs, and will enable wafer-scale photonic integration on emerging material platforms such as diamond and SiC.

Construction of an integrated social vulnerability index in urban areas prone to flash flooding

Science.gov (United States)

Aroca-Jimenez, Estefania; Bodoque, Jose Maria; Garcia, Juan Antonio; Diez-Herrero, Andres

2017-09-01

Among the natural hazards, flash flooding is the leading cause of weather-related deaths. Flood risk management (FRM) in this context requires a comprehensive assessment of the social risk component. In this regard, integrated social vulnerability (ISV) can incorporate spatial distribution and contribution and the combined effect of exposure, sensitivity and resilience to total vulnerability, although these components are often disregarded. ISV is defined by the demographic and socio-economic characteristics that condition a population's capacity to cope with, resist and recover from risk and can be expressed as the integrated social vulnerability index (ISVI). This study describes a methodological approach towards constructing the ISVI in urban areas prone to flash flooding in Castilla y León (Castile and León, northern central Spain, 94 223 km2, 2 478 376 inhabitants). A hierarchical segmentation analysis (HSA) was performed prior to the principal components analysis (PCA), which helped to overcome the sample size limitation inherent in PCA. ISVI was obtained from weighting vulnerability factors based on the tolerance statistic. In addition, latent class cluster analysis (LCCA) was carried out to identify spatial patterns of vulnerability within the study area. Our results show that the ISVI has high spatial variability. Moreover, the source of vulnerability in each urban area cluster can be identified from LCCA. These findings make it possible to design tailor-made strategies for FRM, thereby increasing the efficiency of plans and policies and helping to reduce the cost of mitigation measures.

Guam, 2006 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Development of index of biotic integrity expectations for the ecoregions of Indiana. I. Central corn belt plain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1991-11-01

The Clean Water Act Amendments of 1987 mandate the development of biological criteria for evaluating the nation's surface waters. The requirements of Section 304(a) was implemented in Indiana to determine water resource degradation. A total of 197 headwater and wading stream sites were sampled in the Central Corn Belt Plain ecoregion in order to develop and calibrate an Index of Biotic Integrity for use in Indiana. Based on inherent variance within the ecoregion, sub-basins were established based on the concept of natural areas as recognized by Homoya et al. (1985). Site specific data; locality information; and species specific scoring criteria for tolerance classification, trophic guilds, and reproductive guilds are included in the appendix

The Assessment of Sustainability Indexes and Climate Change Impacts on Integrated Water Resource Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joel Hernández-Bedolla

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Integrated water resource management (IWRM is facing great challenges due to growing uncertainties caused by climate change (CC, rapid socio-economic and technological changes, and population growth. In the present study, we have developed different indices to assess the availability of water using an IWRM approach. These indices evaluate supply to demands, surface availability, groundwater availability, reservoirs, and environmental flow. Moreover, reliability, resilience, and vulnerability were determined. Sustainability index (SI and sustainability index by groups (SG were determined based on the five indices (all indices vary from 0 to 1. The impacts of climate change affect surface and groundwater availability, as do the agricultural, urban, and industrial requirements on the different supplies. We used the generalized AQUATOOL Decision Support System Shell (DSSS to evaluate the IWRM in the Rio Grande Basin (Morelia, México. Various emission scenarios from representative concentration pathways (RCPs were applied to the basin for the years 2015–2039 and 2075–2099. The results indicate increases in agricultural and urban demand, and decreases in surface runoff, as well as groundwater recharge. The proposed indices are useful for different approaches (decision-makers, water policy, and drought risks, among others. CC significantly affects the different proposed indices and indicates a decrease of the SI, SG1, and SG2 (i.e., less availability. For example, we found that SG2 decreased from 0.812 to 0.195 under the RCP 8.5 2075–2099 scenario, and SG2 equal to 0.252 and 0.326 for the RCP 6.0 2075–2099 and RCP 4.5 2070–2099 scenarios, respectively (values close to 0 indicate worst drought conditions.

NH AND Mg INDEX TRENDS IN ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serven, Jedidiah; Worthey, Guy; Toloba, Elisa; Sanchez-Blazquez, Patricia

2011-01-01

We examine the spectrum in the vicinity of the NH3360 index of Davidge and Clark, which was defined to measure the NH absorption around 3360 A and shows almost no trend with velocity dispersion, unlike other N-sensitive indices, which show a strong trend. Computing the effect of individual elements on the integrated spectrum with synthetic stellar population integrated spectra, we find that, while being well correlated with nitrogen abundance, NH3360 is almost equally well anti-correlated with Mg abundance. This prompts the definition of two new indices, Mg3334, which is mostly sensitive to magnesium, and NH3375, which is mostly sensitive to nitrogen. Rather surprisingly, we find that the new NH3375 index shows a trend versus optical absorption feature indices that is as shallow as the NH3360 index. We hypothesize that the lack of a strong index trend in these near-UV indices is due to the presence of an old metal-poor component of the galactic population. Comparison of observed index trends and those predicted by models shows that a modest fraction of an old, metal-poor stellar population could easily account for the observed flat trend in these near-UV indices while still allowing substantial N abundance increase in the larger galaxies.

Implementing the enterprise master patient index.

Science.gov (United States)

Adragna, L

1998-10-01

In implementing a cross-facility initiative, the importance of planning and understanding the implications for all facilities can't be overlooked. Here's how one integrated delivery network navigated the challenges of implementing a cross-facility enterprise master patient index.

Solving differential–algebraic equation systems by means of index reduction methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Kim; Houbak, Niels; Condra, Thomas

2006-01-01

of a number of differential equations and algebraic equations — a so called DAE system. Two of the DAE systems are of index 1 and they can be solved by means of standard DAE-solvers. For the actual application, the equation systems are integrated by means of MATLAB’s solver: ode23t, that solves moderately...... stiff ODEs and index 1 DAEs by means of the trapezoidal rule. The last sub-model that models the boilers steam drum consist of two differential and three algebraic equations. The index of this model is greater than 1, which means that ode23t cannot integrate this equation system. In this paper......, it is shown how the equation system, by means of an index reduction methodology, can be reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations — ODEs....

Energy saving analysis and management modeling based on index decomposition analysis integrated energy saving potential method: Application to complex chemical processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng, Zhiqiang; Gao, Huachao; Wang, Yanqing; Han, Yongming; Zhu, Qunxiong

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The integrated framework that combines IDA with energy-saving potential method is proposed. • Energy saving analysis and management framework of complex chemical processes is obtained. • This proposed method is efficient in energy optimization and carbon emissions of complex chemical processes. - Abstract: Energy saving and management of complex chemical processes play a crucial role in the sustainable development procedure. In order to analyze the effect of the technology, management level, and production structure having on energy efficiency and energy saving potential, this paper proposed a novel integrated framework that combines index decomposition analysis (IDA) with energy saving potential method. The IDA method can obtain the level of energy activity, energy hierarchy and energy intensity effectively based on data-drive to reflect the impact of energy usage. The energy saving potential method can verify the correctness of the improvement direction proposed by the IDA method. Meanwhile, energy efficiency improvement, energy consumption reduction and energy savings can be visually discovered by the proposed framework. The demonstration analysis of ethylene production has verified the practicality of the proposed method. Moreover, we can obtain the corresponding improvement for the ethylene production based on the demonstration analysis. The energy efficiency index and the energy saving potential of these worst months can be increased by 6.7% and 7.4%, respectively. And the carbon emissions can be reduced by 7.4–8.2%.

Comparison of Behavior Between Islamic and Composite Index in Indonesia and Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Huda, Stevani Adinda Nurul

2015-01-01

This study aims to analyze whether there is difference of behavior between Islamic index (Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) and Kuala Lumpur Shariah Index (KLSI)) as well as conventional index (Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) and Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI)) in Indonesia and Malaysia. This study use Vector Auto regression (VAR) or Vector Correction Model (VECM) to respectively as certain if co integration exists. Based on the results, it shows that there is no difference of behavior between I...

Effect of environmental quality and mesohabitat structure on a Biotic Integrity Index based on fish assemblages of cerrado streams from Rio Cuiabá basin, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NG Machado

Full Text Available Over the last 30 years, the Cerrado has been experiencing various antropic impacts that have brought about alterations to species composition, structure and functioning of aquatic habitats. Therefore, studies on negative impacts are useful to prevent future damage and restore environmental quality. The objectives of our study were: i to adapt an index of biotic integrity of streams in the Rio Cuiabá Basin and ii to analyze if the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI correlated with the environmental quality measured by the Index of Environmental Quality (IEQ and with the mesohabitat structure. We sampled 26 streams in sub-basins of the Cuiabá River. In each stream, we closed a stretch of 50 m with blockage nets and used electrofishing to capture fish. To obtain a measure of environmental quality in sampled units, we characterized the stream and its micro basin. For the analyses, we used the Spearman Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test and Analysis of Multiple Regression. We collected 697 individuals distributed into 6 orders, 15 families and 49 species. The IBI followed changes on environmental quality measured by IEQ when we removed streams that present natural barriers from the analysis (r² = 0.4; r² = 0.58. Types of land use did not affect the biotic integrity (n = 26; df = 4; H = 4,860; p = 0.302, but natural and artificial barriers affected it (n = 26; df = 4; H = 11,027; p = 0.026. The IBI was not sensitive to variations in mesohabitat structure (F2,23 = 0.373; r² = 0.031; Axe 1 p = 0.620; Axe 2 p = 0.490. The IBI is certainly a reasonable instrument for evaluating changes in the environment, but we cannot ignore the fact that we were able to obtain the same result with any combinations of metrics. This makes its analysis and interpretation difficult.

Solving differential-algebraic equation systems by means of index reduction methodology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Kim; Houbak, Niels; Condra, Thomas Joseph

2006-01-01

of a number of differential equations and algebraic equations - a so called DAE system. Two of the DAE systems are of index 1 and they can be solved by means of standard DAE-solvers. For the actual application, the equation systems are integrated by means of MATLAB’s solver: ode23t, that solves moderately...... stiff ODE’s and index 1 DAE’s by means of the trapezoidal rule. The last sub-model that models the boilers steam drum consist of two differential and three algebraic equations. The index of this model is greater than 1, which means that ode23t cannot integrate this equation system. In this paper......, it is shown how the equation system, by means of an index reduction methodology, can be reduced to a system of Ordinary- Differential-Equations - ODE’s....

Geometrical-optics approximation of forward scattering by gradient-index spheres.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiangzhen; Han, Xiang'e; Li, Renxian; Jiang, Huifen

2007-08-01

By means of geometrical optics we present an approximation method for acceleration of the computation of the scattering intensity distribution within a forward angular range (0-60 degrees ) for gradient-index spheres illuminated by a plane wave. The incident angle of reflected light is determined by the scattering angle, thus improving the approximation accuracy. The scattering angle and the optical path length are numerically integrated by a general-purpose integrator. With some special index models, the scattering angle and the optical path length can be expressed by a unique function and the calculation is faster. This method is proved effective for transparent particles with size parameters greater than 50. It fails to give good approximation results at scattering angles whose refractive rays are in the backward direction. For different index models, the geometrical-optics approximation is effective only for forward angles, typically those less than 60 degrees or when the refractive-index difference of a particle is less than a certain value.

Integrated Ecological River Health Assessments, Based on Water Chemistry, Physical Habitat Quality and Biological Integrity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ji Yoon Kim

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study evaluated integrative river ecosystem health using stressor-based models of physical habitat health, chemical water health, and biological health of fish and identified multiple-stressor indicators influencing the ecosystem health. Integrated health responses (IHRs, based on star-plot approach, were calculated from qualitative habitat evaluation index (QHEI, nutrient pollution index (NPI, and index of biological integrity (IBI in four different longitudinal regions (Groups I–IV. For the calculations of IHRs values, multi-metric QHEI, NPI, and IBI models were developed and their criteria for the diagnosis of the health were determined. The longitudinal patterns of the river were analyzed by a self-organizing map (SOM model and the key major stressors in the river were identified by principal component analysis (PCA. Our model scores of integrated health responses (IHRs suggested that mid-stream and downstream regions were impaired, and the key stressors were closely associated with nutrient enrichment (N and P and organic matter pollutions from domestic wastewater disposal plants and urban sewage. This modeling approach of IHRs may be used as an effective tool for evaluations of integrative ecological river health..

Development of multiple strain competitive index assays for Listeria monocytogenes using pIMC; a new site-specific integrative vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cronin Michael

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The foodborne, gram-positive pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, is capable of causing lethal infections in compromised individuals. In the post genomic era of L. monocytogenes research, techniques are required to identify and validate genes involved in the pathogenicity and environmental biology of the organism. The aim here was to develop a widely applicable method to tag L. monocytogenes strains, with a particular emphasis on the development of multiple strain competitive index assays. Results We have constructed a new site-specific integrative vector, pIMC, based on pPL2, for the selection of L. monocytogenes from complex samples. The pIMC vector was further modified through the incorporation of IPTG inducible markers (antibiotic and phenotypic to produce a suite of four vectors which allowed the discrimination of multiple strains from a single sample. We were able to perform murine infection studies with up to four EGDe isolates within a single mouse and showed that the tags did not impact upon growth rate or virulence. The system also allowed the identification of subtle differences in virulence between strains of L. monocytogenes commonly used in laboratory studies. Conclusion This study has developed a competitive index assay that can be broadly applied to all L. monocytogenes strains. Improved statistical robustness of the data was observed, resulting in fewer mice being required for virulence assays. The competitive index assays provide a powerful method to analyse the virulence or fitness of L. monocytogenes in complex biological samples.

A carbon emissions reduction index: Integrating the volume and allocation of regional emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Jiandong; Cheng, Shulei; Song, Malin; Wu, Yinyin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We build a carbon emissions reduction index (CERI). • The aim is to quantify the pressure on policymakers to reduce emissions. • Scale-related effects and carbon emissions allocations are included in the CERI. • Different standards of carbon emissions allocations are also considered. • We decompose the Gini coefficient to evaluate the effects of three factors. - Abstract: Given the acceleration of global warming and rising greenhouse gas emissions, all countries are facing the harsh reality of the need to reduce carbon emissions. In this study, we propose an index to quantify the pressure faced by policymakers to reduce such emissions, termed the carbon emissions reduction index. This index allows us to observe the effect of carbon emissions volume on the pressure faced by policymakers and study the impact of optimizing interregional carbon emissions on reducing this pressure. In addition, we account for several carbon emissions standards in constructing the index. We conclude that the variation in the index is likely to be attributable to carbon emissions volume, regional ranking, and population (population can also be replaced by GDP, resource endowment, or other factors). In addition, based on empirical data on the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide (China), this study analyzes the evolution of pressure to reduce emissions on a country’s policymakers. The results show that the growing volume and unsuitable allocation of carbon emissions from 1997 to 2012 imposed increasing pressure on the Chinese government in this regard. In addition, reductions in carbon emissions volume and regional ranking are primary factors that impact pressure on policymakers.

Effect of integrated surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy treatment on survival status and serum indexes in patients with gallbladder carcinoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhi-Li Wei

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To study the effect of integrated surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy treatment on the survival status and serum indexes in patients with gallbladder carcinoma. Methods: A total of 68 patients with gallbladder carcinoma were divided into observation group (received integrated surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy treatment and control group (received surgery + radiotherapy according to different treatments. Differences in the content of tumor markers, growth factors and adhesion molecules in serum as well as the median survival time and survival rate in 5 years of follow-up were compared between the two groups 1 month after treatment. Results: Tumor markers β2-MG, CA19-9, CA242, CA125, CA724, CEA and AFP content in serum of observation group after treatment were significantly lower than those of control group; growth factors VEGF, FGF, EGFR and HER2 content in serum were significantly lower than those of control group while IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3 content were significantly higher than those of control group; adhesion molecules E-selectin, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and sE-Cd content in serum were significantly lower than those of control group; the median survival time of 5-year follow-up as well as 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rate were significantly greater than those of control group. Conclusions: Integrated treatment of surgery + radiotherapy + chemotherapy can optimize the short-term and long-term curative effect in patients with gallbladder carcinoma.

Vortex Shedding from Finned Circular Cylinders

Science.gov (United States)

1980-11-01

FINNED CIRCULAR CYLINDERSo ,rm"" 1..UTNOI .)R*., r. *.040, 111SPOR- / T NuMBII f.John G. elute asOHans J.’/, ugt -. . . , ,<-. -. ,:. =., .. Siil P3RPIO...fins and other sharp protuberances. These purely two-dimensional flows then may be used in a strip theory to include at least some aspects of three...boundary- layer theory . Such a prediction method, together with a technique to provide for a vortex sheet at the separation point, will be included in

East Florida, 1993 - 1995 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

West Florida, 1993-1995 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

South Florida, 1993-1995 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Vertical integration of dual wavelength index guided lasers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Karouta, F.; Tan, H.H.; Jagadish, C.; Roy, van B.H.

1999-01-01

The vertical integration of two GaAs-based lasers operating at different wavelengths has been achieved with the use of re-growth technology. A V-channel substrate inner stripe structure was used for the bottom laser and a ridge waveguide for the top laser. Both lasers shared a common electrode and

PENGEMBANGAN ACADEMIC INFORMATION DASHBOARD EXECUTIVE (A-INDEX DENGAN PENTAHO DATA INTEGRATION DAN QLIKVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herry Sofyan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Information Dashboard Executive (INDEX is a visual representation of data in the form of dashboards that are used to get a snapshot of performance in every business process so as to facilitate the executives took a quick response. Pentaho is a BI application is free open source software (FOSS and runs on top of the Java platform. QlikView is focused on simplifying decision making for business users across the organization. Processing needs to be able to optimize data analysis functions of PDPT is developing an interactive dashboard visualization data. The dashboard will be built using the data pentaho integration as a gateway connecting between database applications with Data PDPT and data visualization are developed by using QlikView. Software development methodologies in application development work is incremental method which is a combination of linear and iterative method with parallel modifications in the process the iterative process so that the project done faster.The results of this study are is the data representation of the modeling query is constructed able to describe the activity / student profiles in a certain semester. The data representations constructed include active distribution per class, per student graduation force distribution, distribution of student status, distribution provinces of origin of students per class, the distribution of the number of class participants, distribution of credits lecturers and distribution of subject.

Engineering of refractive index in sulfide chalcogenide glass by direct laser writing

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Yaping

2010-01-01

Arsenic trisulfide (As2S3) glass is an interesting material for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) as infrared (IR) or nonlinear optical components. In this paper, direct laser writing was applied to engineer the refractive index of As2S3 thin film. Film samples were exposed to focused above bandgap light with wavelength at 405 nm using different fluence adjusted by laser power and exposure time. The index of refraction before and after laser irradiation was calculated by fitting the experimental data obtained from Spectroscopic Ellipsometer (SE) measurement to Tauc-Lorenz dispersion formula. A positive change in refractive index (Δn = 0.19 at 1.55 μm) as well as an enhancement in anisotropy was achieved in As2S3 film by using 10 mW, 0.3 μs laser irradiation. With further increasing the fluence, refractive index increased while anisotropic property weakened. Due to the rapid and large photo-induced modification of refractive index obtainable with high spatial resolution, this process is promising for integrated optic device fabrication.

INDEXING AND INDEX FUNDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

HAKAN SARITAŞ

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Proponents of the efficient market hypothesis believe that active portfolio management is largely wasted effort and unlikely to justify the expenses incurred. Therefore, they advocate a passive investment strategy that makes no attempt to outsmart the market. One common strategy for passive management is indexing where a fund is designed to replicate the performance of a broad-based index of stocks and bonds. Traditionally, indexing was used by institutional investors, but today, the use of index funds proliferated among individual investors. Over the years, both international and domestic index funds have disproportionately outperformed the market more than the actively managed funds have.

Heuristic Model Of The Composite Quality Index Of Environmental Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Khabarov, A. N.; Knyaginin, A. A.; Bondarenko, D. V.; Shepet, I. P.; Korolkova, L. N.

2017-01-01

The goal of the paper is to present the heuristic model of the composite environmental quality index based on the integrated application of the elements of utility theory, multidimensional scaling, expert evaluation and decision-making. The composite index is synthesized in linear-quadratic form, it provides higher adequacy of the results of the assessment preferences of experts and decision-makers.

New methods for indexing multi-lattice diffraction data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gildea, Richard J.; Waterman, David G.; Parkhurst, James M.; Axford, Danny; Sutton, Geoff; Stuart, David I.; Sauter, Nicholas K.; Evans, Gwyndaf; Winter, Graeme

2014-01-01

A new indexing method is presented which is capable of indexing multiple crystal lattices from narrow wedges of data. The efficacy of this method is demonstrated with both semi-synthetic multi-lattice data and real multi-lattice data recorded from microcrystals of ∼1 µm in size. A new indexing method is presented which is capable of indexing multiple crystal lattices from narrow wedges of diffraction data. The method takes advantage of a simplification of Fourier transform-based methods that is applicable when the unit-cell dimensions are known a priori. The efficacy of this method is demonstrated with both semi-synthetic multi-lattice data and real multi-lattice data recorded from crystals of ∼1 µm in size, where it is shown that up to six lattices can be successfully indexed and subsequently integrated from a 1° wedge of data. Analysis is presented which shows that improvements in data-quality indicators can be obtained through accurate identification and rejection of overlapping reflections prior to scaling

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Seung-Joo [Department of Physics, Robeson Hall, Virginia Tech,Robeson Hall, 0435, 850 West Campus Drive, Blacksburg, VA 24061 (United States); Yi, Piljin [School of Physics and Quantum Universe Center, Korea Institute for Advanced Study,85 Hoegi-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02455 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-16

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L{sup 2}, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L{sup 2} Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d=1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L{sup 2} Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of N=4,8,16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU(N).

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Seung-Joo; Yi, Piljin

2016-06-01

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L 2, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L 2 Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d = 1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L 2 Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of mathcal{N} = 4 , 8 , 16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU( N ).

Witten index for noncompact dynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung-Joo; Yi, Piljin

2016-01-01

Among gauged dynamics motivated by string theory, we find many with gapless asymptotic directions. Although the natural boundary condition for ground states is L"2, one often turns on chemical potentials or supersymmetric mass terms to regulate the infrared issues, instead, and computes the twisted partition function. We point out how this procedure generically fails to capture physical L"2 Witten index with often misleading results. We also explore how, nevertheless, the Witten index is sometimes intricately embedded in such twisted partition functions. For d=1 theories with gapless continuum sector from gauge multiplets, such as non-primitive quivers and pure Yang-Mills, a further subtlety exists, leading to fractional expressions. Quite unexpectedly, however, the integral L"2 Witten index can be extracted directly and easily from the twisted partition function of such theories. This phenomenon is tied to the notion of the rational invariant that appears naturally in the wall-crossing formulae, and offers a general mechanism of reading off Witten index directly from the twisted partition function. Along the way, we correct early numerical results for some of N=4,8,16 pure Yang-Mills quantum mechanics, and count threshold bound states for general gauge groups beyond SU(N).

West Peninsular Florida I 1996 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Measuring cross-border regional integration with composite indicators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Makkonen, Teemu

2016-01-01

Earlier quantitative studies on cross-border regional integration processes have commonly neglected science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators: even the most notable example of a composite indicator approach to measuring cross-border regional integration, i.e. the Oresund index, lacks...... a sub-category for STI. Consequently, by ignoring cross-border innovation and knowledge flows, the Oresund integration index fails to take into account one of the most important drivers of economic growth in cross-border regions. Therefore, a new composite STI indicator (sub-category) was introduced......-border regions....

Integrated dual-tomography for refractive index analysis of free-floating single living cell with isotropic superresolution.

Science.gov (United States)

B, Vinoth; Lai, Xin-Ji; Lin, Yu-Chih; Tu, Han-Yen; Cheng, Chau-Jern

2018-04-13

Digital holographic microtomography is a promising technique for three-dimensional (3D) measurement of the refractive index (RI) profiles of biological specimens. Measurement of the RI distribution of a free-floating single living cell with an isotropic superresolution had not previously been accomplished. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the development of an integrated dual-tomographic (IDT) imaging system for RI measurement of an unlabelled free-floating single living cell with an isotropic superresolution by combining the spatial frequencies of full-angle specimen rotation with those of beam rotation. A novel 'UFO' (unidentified flying object) like shaped coherent transfer function is obtained. The IDT imaging system does not require any complex image-processing algorithm for 3D reconstruction. The working principle was successfully demonstrated and a 3D RI profile of a single living cell, Candida rugosa, was obtained with an isotropic superresolution. This technology is expected to set a benchmark for free-floating single live sample measurements without labeling or any special sample preparations for the experiments.

Implications of adopting a biodiversity-based vulnerability index versus a shoreline environmental sensitivity index on management and policy planning along coastal areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Harik, G; Alameddine, I; Maroun, R; Rachid, G; Bruschi, D; Astiaso Garcia, D; El-Fadel, M

2017-02-01

In this study, a multi-criteria index was developed to assess anthropogenic stressors along the Mediterranean coastline. The index aimed at geo-locating pollution hotspots for informed decision making related to coastal zone management. The index was integrated in a Geographical Information System based geodatabase implemented at several pilot areas along the Northern (Italy and France), Eastern (Lebanon), and Southern (Tunisia) Mediterranean coastlines. The generated stressor maps were coupled with a biodiversity richness index and an environmental sensitivity index to produce vulnerability maps that can form the basis for prioritizing management and mitigation interventions towards the identification of pollution hotspots and the promotion of sustainable coastal zone management. The results identified significant differences between the two assessment methods, which can bias prioritization in decision making and policy planning depending on stakeholders' interests. The discrepancies emphasize the need for transparency and understanding of the underlying foundations behind vulnerability indices and mapping development. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The formulation of financial, governance and social index of Malaysian Islamic banks: An integrative approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asri Marsidi

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The study proposes and discusses the development of an index of Islamic Financial and Social Reporting (IFSR for Islamic banks. The index of IFSR is carefully developed based on the relevant and applicable standards, guidelines and literature from an Islamic perspective such as the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB, Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM and Islamic social reporting literature. The index is developed in three parts, namely, financial, social, and auditing and governance. The items within the finance section are developed to ensure that the Islamic banks disclose relevant financial information. The items for the social part aim to ensure that the Islamic banks provide the relevant information regarding social and environment. The items within the auditing and governance part are developed to ensure that the Islamic banks provide relevant information regarding the monitoring and supervising activities that the Islamic banks have undertaken. The IFSR index may be lacking in terms of its usage generalisability as it is specifically developed for IFIs. The developed index of IFSR aims to promote a more appropriate level of disclosure among the Islamic banks. The need for the index is motivated by the growing importance of Islamic banks, not only from the economic perspective but also from the social perspective

Rock index properties for geoengineering in underground development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

O'Rourke, J.E.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the use of index testing to obtain rock properties that are useful in the design and construction planning of an underground development for civil engineering or mining projects. The index properties discussed include: point load; Schmidt hammer hardness; abrasion hardness; and total hardness. The first two index properties correlate to uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and Young's modulus. Discussions are given on empirical, normalized relationships of UCS to rock mass properties and the integrated use with semi-empirical, geotechnical design methods. The hardness property indices correlate to construction performance parameters and some relevant experience is cited. Examples of data are presented from an index testing program carried out primarily on siltstone, sandstone and limestone rock core samples retrieved from depths up to 1005 m (3300 ft) in a borehole drilled in the Paradox Basin in eastern Utah. The borehole coring was done for a nuclear waste repository site investigation

The European Financial Market Stress Index

OpenAIRE

Shaen Corbet

2014-01-01

This research constructs and develops a financial stress index based on European financial markets. The integration of numerous sovereign states has created difficulty identifying stress in any one single financial component, but incorporating twenty-three headline European stress indicators across equities, bonds and currencies, in terms of both spreads and levels offer substantial explanatory benefits. The incorporation of a logistical framework specifically analysing the levels, volatility...

The Composite Strain Index (COSI) and Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI): methodologies for quantifying biomechanical stressors for complex tasks and job rotation using the Revised Strain Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, Arun; Moore, J Steven; Kapellusch, Jay M

2017-08-01

The Composite Strain Index (COSI) quantifies biomechanical stressors for complex tasks consisting of exertions at different force levels and/or with different exertion times. The Cumulative Strain Index (CUSI) further integrates biomechanical stressors from different tasks to quantify exposure for the entire work shift. The paper provides methodologies to compute COSI and CUSI along with examples. Complex task simulation produced 169,214 distinct tasks. Use of average, time-weighted average (TWA) and peak force and COSI classified 66.9, 28.2, 100 and 38.9% of tasks as hazardous, respectively. For job rotation the simulation produced 10,920 distinct jobs. TWA COSI, peak task COSI and CUSI classified 36.5, 78.1 and 66.6% jobs as hazardous, respectively. The results suggest that the TWA approach systematically underestimates the biomechanical stressors and peak approach overestimates biomechanical stressors, both at the task and job level. It is believed that the COSI and CUSI partially address these underestimations and overestimations of biomechanical stressors. Practitioner Summary: COSI quantifies exposure when applied hand force and/or duration of that force changes during a task cycle. CUSI integrates physical exposures from job rotation. These should be valuable tools for designing and analysing tasks and job rotation to determine risk of musculoskeletal injuries.

Integrated photometry of globular star clusters in the Vilnius system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zdanavichyus, K.V.

1983-01-01

Integrated colour indices in the Vilnius photometric system and newly determined colour excesses Esub(B-V) for 39 globular clusters are presented. It is shown that the coincidence of integrated spectral types are not a sufficient criterion for the identity of intrinsic colour indices of globular clusters. Relation of integrated colour indices with the slope of the giant branch S and with the horizontal branch morphological type D is investigated. Integrated colour indices of clusters with a blue horizontal branch show no correlation with either D or S. The increase of colour indices of the clusters of types D >= 4 correlates with the distribution of stars along the horizontal branch. Integrated photometry of globular star clusters in the Vilnius multicoloured photometric system permits to determine their colour excesses from some Q diagrams and normal colour index. Integral normal colour indexes and Q parameters for I globular star clusters of the Mironov group display small changes as compared to clusters of group 2. Colour indexes among star clusters having only red horizontal branches (D=7) change most considerably

Evaluating public participation in Chinese EIA. An integrated Public Participation Index and its application to the case of the New Beijing Airport

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brombal, Daniele [Department of Asian and North African Studies, University Ca' Foscari Venice (Italy); Moriggi, Angela [Department of Asian and North African Studies, University Ca' Foscari Venice (Italy); Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice (Italy); Marcomini, Antonio, E-mail: marcom@unive.it [Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University Ca' Foscari Venice (Italy)

2017-01-15

In recent years, China's government authorities have devoted increasing attention to the role of public participation processes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The capacity of these processes to influence decision-making remains widely debated. This paper aims at appraising the institutional rationale informing the implementation of public participation in China's EIA, benchmarking it against three conceptualisations: (1) Normative, based on objectives of empowerment and democratisation; (2) Substantive, where participation is pursued mainly to improve quality of decisions; (3) Instrumental, seeking participation as an instrument to legitimise decision-making processes. The appraisal is carried out by means of a new integrated index (Public Participation Index, PPI), which is applied to a case study representative of latest advancements in EIA public participation practices in China, namely the “New Beijing Airport Project”. Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the project was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Results of the PPI application to this case study indicate that, despite progress made in recent years, the implementation of public participation in Chinese EIA still largely responds to an instrumental rationale, with limited capacity for the public to affect decisions. - Highlights: • In recent years China has strengthened EIA public participation (PP) legislation. • Despite progress, implementation of PP remains informed by an instrumental rationale. • A large gap exists between principles enunciated in regulations and implementation. • The Public Participation Index can be used to monitor China's EIA PP development.

Evaluating public participation in Chinese EIA. An integrated Public Participation Index and its application to the case of the New Beijing Airport

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brombal, Daniele; Moriggi, Angela; Marcomini, Antonio

2017-01-01

In recent years, China's government authorities have devoted increasing attention to the role of public participation processes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The capacity of these processes to influence decision-making remains widely debated. This paper aims at appraising the institutional rationale informing the implementation of public participation in China's EIA, benchmarking it against three conceptualisations: (1) Normative, based on objectives of empowerment and democratisation; (2) Substantive, where participation is pursued mainly to improve quality of decisions; (3) Instrumental, seeking participation as an instrument to legitimise decision-making processes. The appraisal is carried out by means of a new integrated index (Public Participation Index, PPI), which is applied to a case study representative of latest advancements in EIA public participation practices in China, namely the “New Beijing Airport Project”. Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the project was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Results of the PPI application to this case study indicate that, despite progress made in recent years, the implementation of public participation in Chinese EIA still largely responds to an instrumental rationale, with limited capacity for the public to affect decisions. - Highlights: • In recent years China has strengthened EIA public participation (PP) legislation. • Despite progress, implementation of PP remains informed by an instrumental rationale. • A large gap exists between principles enunciated in regulations and implementation. • The Public Participation Index can be used to monitor China's EIA PP development.

Gradient index metamaterials realized by drilling hole arrays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mei Zhonglei; Cui Tiejun; Bai Jing

2010-01-01

Gradient index metamaterials have wide applications in the microwave and optical fields. Based on the quasi-static theory, such materials at the microwave band have been realized by drilling hole arrays on ordinary dielectric materials. As applications of the gradient index metamaterials, novel devices including a 45 0 dielectric wave-bending structure, a 16 0 wave-steering lens and a microwave focusing lens are designed and fabricated. Field mapping measurements validate the proposed gradient index metamaterials and the device designs. The method can be directly and easily extended to the design of cloaks, various lenses, beam shifters and beam-steering devices. It can also be applied in the optical band as long as quasi-static conditions are satisfied. The method and the devices may find applications in integrated circuit systems.

Repeat Assessed Values Model for Housing Price Index

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carini Manuela

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study proposes an innovative methodology, named Repeat Appraised Price Model (RAV, useful for determining the price index numbers for real estate markets and the corresponding index numbers of hedonic prices of main real estate characteristics in the case of a lack of data. The methodological approach proposed in this paper aims to appraise the time series of price index numbers. It integrates the principles of the method of repeat sales with the peculiarities of the Hedonic Price Method, overcoming the problem of an almost total absence of repeat sales for the same property in a given time range; on the other hand, the technique aims to overcome the limitation of the repeat sales technique concerning the inability to take into account the characteristics of individual properties.

Influence of national culture on the adoption of integrated medical curricula.

Science.gov (United States)

Jippes, Mariëlle; Majoor, Gerard D

2011-03-01

Integrated curricula have been implemented in medical schools all over the world. However, among countries different relative numbers of schools with integrated curricula are found. This study aims to explore the possible correlation between the percentage of medical schools with integrated curricula in a country and that country's cultural characteristics. Curricula were defined as not integrated if in the first 2 years of the program at least two out of the three monodisciplinary courses Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry were identified. Culture was defined using Hofstede's dimensions Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity/Femininity, and Individualism/Collectivism. Consequently, this study had to be restricted to the 63 countries included in Hofstede's studies which harbored 1,195 medical schools. From each country we randomly sampled a maximum of 15 schools yielding 484 schools to be investigated. In total 91% (446) of the curricula were found. Correlation of percent integrated curricula and each dimension of culture was determined by calculating Spearman's Rho. A high score on the Power distance index and a high score on the Uncertainty avoidance index correlated with a low percent integrated curricula; a high score on the Individualism index correlated with a high percent integrated curricula. The percentage integrated curricula in a country did not correlate with its score on the Masculinity index. National culture is associated with the propensity of medical schools to adopt integrated medical curricula. Consequently, medical schools considering introduction of integrated and problem-based medical curricula should take into account dimensions of national culture which may hinder the innovation process.

The Trapping Index: How to integrate the Eulerian and the Lagrangian approach for the computation of the transport time scales of semi-enclosed basins.

Science.gov (United States)

Cucco, Andrea; Umgiesser, Georg

2015-09-15

In this work, we investigated if the Eulerian and the Lagrangian approaches for the computation of the Transport Time Scales (TTS) of semi-enclosed water bodies can be used univocally to define the spatial variability of basin flushing features. The Eulerian and Lagrangian TTS were computed for both simplified test cases and a realistic domain: the Venice Lagoon. The results confirmed the two approaches cannot be adopted univocally and that the spatial variability of the water renewal capacity can be investigated only through the computation of both the TTS. A specific analysis, based on the computation of a so-called Trapping Index, was then suggested to integrate the information provided by the two different approaches. The obtained results proved the Trapping Index to be useful to avoid any misleading interpretation due to the evaluation of the basin renewal features just from an Eulerian only or from a Lagrangian only perspective. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental integrated impact assessment for waste treatment activity: methodology and case-study application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lonati, G.; Panzeri, A.

2008-01-01

A literature method for the environmental integrated impact assessment, according to the IPPC Directive, has been critically analysed and adjusted in order to be used for the environmental performance assessment of waste treatment activities. The assessment parameters, sorted in eight treatment and combined pollution categories, have been partly redefined and re balanced. The adjusted methodology has been applied to a real case-study, a chemical- physical waste treatment plant, in order to calculate the current performance (Actual Integrated Index) and the ideal performance (Actual Integrated Index) achievable by technical and operational improvements. The adjusted methodology has also been used as a decision support system, in order to estimate the value of the expected environmental performances improvement after the execution achievable from the introduction of a single one or a set of improvement actions. The valuation of the Integrated Index percentage reduction, along with the action achievable, made the best actions able to be identified, both in comparative way and in the cost-effective one. The results, 50 as Effective Integrated Index and 42 as Ideal Integrated Index, in a 10-100 scale, show a medium impact level and point out an appreciable improvement margin on all the environmental performances, especially in air emission control and water consumption [it

[HYGIENIC JUSTIFICATION OF OPTIMIZATION OF THE INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF DRINKING WATER ACCORDING TO THE WATER QUALITY INDEX].

Science.gov (United States)

Krasovskiy, G N; Rakhmanin, Yu; Egorova, N

2015-01-01

The present study is devoted to theoretical questions of optimization of integrated assessment of the composition and properties of drinking water with the use of the Water Quality Index (WQI) and considering in it all 4 criteria for its hygienic quality-sanitary-toxicological, microbiological, radiation and organoleptic. There is presented a sequence of the analysis of benchmark data of the laboratory study of drinking water, including the selection of priority indices, their distribution into 4 groups according to hygienic criteria, calculations the ratios of real values (C) of indices to their hygiene MPC and the final calculation of the WQI. There is emphasized the importance of classes of hazard of substances, and the need for the special attention to the substances-carcinogens in the integrated assessment of water quality. To overcome the non-equivalence of contributions to the assessment of water quality factors, measured in different units, often disparated in their effect on human health, there are used the principles of combined action at levels below the MCL:C/MPC indices of performance of the unidirectional action are summed (e.g. carcinogenic substances), from indices of the independent action there are selected the most significant ones with the highest values of C/MPC, besides that there are also used counterbalancing factors K determined accordingly to Delphi method, with a maximum values of 5 for carcinogens and the minimum value of 1 for the substances affecting the organoleptic properties ofwater. There is presented the scheme of the final calculation of the value of WQI.

No increased sperm DNA fragmentation index in semen containing human papillomavirus or herpesvirus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaspersen, Maja Døvling; Bungum, Mona; Fedder, Jens

2013-01-01

It remains unknown whether human papillomaviruses (HPVs) or human herpesviruses (HHVs) in semen affect sperm DNA integrity. We investigated whether the presence of these viruses in semen was associated with an elevated sperm DNA fragmentation index. Semen from 76 sperm donors was examined by a PCR......-based hybridization array that identifies all HHVs and 35 of the most common HPVs. Sperm DNA integrity was determined by the sperm chromatin structure assay. HPVs or HHVs, or both, were found in 57% of semen samples; however, sperm DNA fragmentation index was not increased in semen containing these viruses....

Management model of productive capacity: integrating theory of constraints and the global operational efficiency index (IROG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Augusto Pacheco

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a model of management capacity in productive systems integrating the concepts of the Theory of Constraints and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM. The main objective of this study is to discuss and propose a model of management capacity, able to answer the following key questions: i capacity indicators which should be considered and how to measure them to measure the productive capacity of manufacturing systems? ii what is the real productive capacity of the system analyzed under a determined relationship between capacity and demand? The discussion of the proposed model is relevant because the definition of productive capacity system enables better management of resources and capabilities, improve production scheduling on the factory floor and meeting the demands imposed by the market. This paper presents the proposition of using the Operating Income Index Global (IROG with a different approach from traditional literature dealing with the theme, presented by Nakajima (1988. The results of this paper enable to develop a model to determine the capacity of the production system and the impact on the productive capacity of the entire system, not to consider the quality conformances that occur after the bottleneck resource of the production flow.

The Ultraviolet Index: a useful tool.

Science.gov (United States)

Kinney, J P; Long, C S

2000-09-01

The Ultraviolet Index was developed in the United States in 1994 following successful use of ultraviolet (UV) alerts in other countries. This daily National Weather Service prediction is a calculation which integrates five data elements to yield the amount of UV radiation impacting the surface (1m2) at solar noon in 58 of the largest US population centers. This simple numeric prediction is then categorized by the Environmental Protection Agency into five "exposure levels" with protective actions recommended for each level. This information is disseminated through the media. Daily reminders seem to affect awareness and behavior in Canada, but US surveys indicate the need for better understanding through educational graphics. Comparing the UV Index to a precipitation prediction has merit in that it links a familiar daily prediction with implied appropriate protective measures. Graphics link the ideas that "when it rains it pours and when it shines it radiates." Beginning in schools, camps, and dermatology meetings, using the rain/shine analogy, a wider exposure to the Ultraviolet Index is proposed.

Reconstruction of fiber grating refractive-index profiles from complex bragg reflection spectra.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, D W; Yang, C C

1999-07-20

Reconstruction of the refractive-index profiles of fiber gratings from their complex Bragg reflection spectra is experimentally demonstrated. The amplitude and phase of the complex reflection spectrum were measured with a balanced Michelson interferometer. By integrating the coupled-mode equations, we built the relationship between the complex coupling coefficient and the complex reflection spectrum as an iterative algorithm for reconstructing the index profile. This method is expected to be useful for reconstructing the index profiles of fiber gratings with any apodization, chirp, or dc structures. An apodized chirped grating and a uniform grating with a depression of index modulation were used to demonstrate the technique.

A new plan quality index for nasopharyngeal cancer SIB IMRT.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, X; Yi, J; Zhou, Y; Yan, H; Han, C; Xie, C

2014-02-01

A new plan quality index integrating dosimetric and radiobiological indices was proposed to facilitate the evaluation and comparison of simultaneous integrated boost (SIB) intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) plans for nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) patients. Ten NPC patients treated by SIB-IMRT were enrolled in the study. Custom software was developed to read dose-volume histogram (DVH) curves from the treatment planning system (TPS). A plan filtering matrix was introduced to filter plans that fail to satisfy treatment protocol. Target plan quality indices and organ at risk (OAR) plan quality indices were calculated for qualified plans. A unique composite plan quality index (CPQI) was proposed based on the relative weight of these indices to evaluate and compare competing plans. Plan ranking results were compared with detailed statistical analysis, radiation oncology quality system (ROQS) scoring results and physician's evaluation results to verify the accuracy of this new plan quality index. The average CPQI values for plans with OAR priority of low, normal, high, and PTV only were 0.22 ± 0.08, 0.49 ± 0.077, 0.71 ± 0.062, and -0.21 ± 0.16, respectively. There were significant differences among these plan quality indices (One-way ANOVA test, p plans were selected. Plan filtering matrix was able to speed up the plan evaluation process. The new matrix plan quality index CPQI showed good consistence with physician ranking results. It is a promising index for NPC SIB-IMRT plan evaluation. Copyright © 2013 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forcasting Philippine daily stock exchange index | Urrutia | Journal ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The purpose of the study is to produce a model that can estimate a three-year forecast of the Philippine Daily Stock Exchange Index. Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model is applied ona total of 4,927 daily data observations from 1995 to 2014. By then, actual and predicted values was ...

Development and validation of a bacteria-based index of biotic integrity for assessing the ecological status of urban rivers: A case study of Qinhuai River basin in Nanjing, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jie; Li, Yi; Qian, Bao; Niu, Lihua; Zhang, Wenlong; Cai, Wei; Wu, Hainan; Wang, Peifang; Wang, Chao

2017-07-01

With the increasing human disturbance to urban rivers, the extinction and biodiversity losses of some macroorganism species decreased the accuracy of bioassessment. In this study, a novel index of biotic integrity based on bacteria (Ba-IBI) was first developed for Qinhuai River in Nanjing city, China. Thirty-two biofilm samples were collected along the river bank and the bacterial communities were identified by high-throughput sequencing. By the range, responsive, and redundancy tests, four core metrics were selected from the dataset of 78 candidate metrics, including Pielou's evenness index, proportion of Paenibacillus, proportion of OTUs tolerant to organic pollution and proportion of Nitrosomonas. The results showed that the Ba-IBI was able to effectively discriminate different impaired site groups, and had a good correlation with the index of water quality (r = 0.79, p river. Our study revealed that the Ba-IBI is an effective and reliable approach for assessing the ecological status of Qinhuai River basin, which can complement the existing ecological assessment approaches for urban rivers. Meanwhile, repeted surveys and field validations are still needed to further improve the applicability of the index in future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Functional Integration

Science.gov (United States)

Cartier, Pierre; DeWitt-Morette, Cecile

2010-06-01

Acknowledgements; List symbols, conventions, and formulary; Part I. The Physical and Mathematical Environment: 1. The physical and mathematical environment; Part II. Quantum Mechanics: 2. First lesson: gaussian integrals; 3. Selected examples; 4. Semiclassical expansion: WKB; 5. Semiclassical expansion: beyond WKB; 6. Quantum dynamics: path integrals and operator formalism; Part III. Methods from Differential Geometry: 7. Symmetries; 8. Homotopy; 9. Grassmann analysis: basics; 10. Grassmann analysis: applications; 11. Volume elements, divergences, gradients; Part IV. Non-Gaussian Applications: 12. Poisson processes in physics; 13. A mathematical theory of Poisson processes; 14. First exit time: energy problems; Part V. Problems in Quantum Field Theory: 15. Renormalization 1: an introduction; 16. Renormalization 2: scaling; 17. Renormalization 3: combinatorics; 18. Volume elements in quantum field theory Bryce DeWitt; Part VI. Projects: 19. Projects; Appendix A. Forward and backward integrals: spaces of pointed paths; Appendix B. Product integrals; Appendix C. A compendium of gaussian integrals; Appendix D. Wick calculus Alexander Wurm; Appendix E. The Jacobi operator; Appendix F. Change of variables of integration; Appendix G. Analytic properties of covariances; Appendix H. Feynman's checkerboard; Bibliography; Index.

PENGUJIAN VARIABEL MAKRO EKONOMI TERHADAP JAKARTA ISLAMIC INDEX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farida Titik Kristanti

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Stock price behavior patterns determined the pattern of return received. Stock price was not only determined bycompany profits but also influenced by economic factors, political, and financial of state. The objective of thisresearch was to examine the effect of macro economy variables, namely inflation, Interest rate, and foreignexchange to Jakarta Islamic Index in the long term and short term in 2008-2012 periods. This study usedsecondary data, while the methods of analysis used were the data stationary test (Augmented Dickey Fuller,co-integration test and error correction model. The results of this study indicated that all the variables had beenstationary. Co-integration test showed that there was a long-term relationship among the variables. There wasa long term relationship among inflation, interest rates and foreign exchange rates to the Jakarta Islamic Indexfor 2008-2009 periods, while the Error Correction Model test showed that there was a short-term relationshipamong inflation, interest rates and foreign exchange rates to the Jakarta Islamic Index for 2008-2009 periods.

A direct-gradient multivariate index of biotic condition

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, Leandro E.; Aycock, J.N.; Killgore, K. J.

2012-01-01

Multimetric indexes constructed by summing metric scores have been criticized despite many of their merits. A leading criticism is the potential for investigator bias involved in metric selection and scoring. Often there is a large number of competing metrics equally well correlated with environmental stressors, requiring a judgment call by the investigator to select the most suitable metrics to include in the index and how to score them. Data-driven procedures for multimetric index formulation published during the last decade have reduced this limitation, yet apprehension remains. Multivariate approaches that select metrics with statistical algorithms may reduce the level of investigator bias and alleviate a weakness of multimetric indexes. We investigated the suitability of a direct-gradient multivariate procedure to derive an index of biotic condition for fish assemblages in oxbow lakes in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Although this multivariate procedure also requires that the investigator identify a set of suitable metrics potentially associated with a set of environmental stressors, it is different from multimetric procedures because it limits investigator judgment in selecting a subset of biotic metrics to include in the index and because it produces metric weights suitable for computation of index scores. The procedure, applied to a sample of 35 competing biotic metrics measured at 50 oxbow lakes distributed over a wide geographical region in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, selected 11 metrics that adequately indexed the biotic condition of five test lakes. Because the multivariate index includes only metrics that explain the maximum variability in the stressor variables rather than a balanced set of metrics chosen to reflect various fish assemblage attributes, it is fundamentally different from multimetric indexes of biotic integrity with advantages and disadvantages. As such, it provides an alternative to multimetric procedures.

Influence of national culture on the adoption of integrated and problem-based curricula in Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Jippes, Mariëlle; Majoor, Gerard D

2008-03-01

There is an evident misbalance in the frequency of medical schools with problem-based learning (PBL) curricula in northern versus southern Europe. This study explores the hypothesis that national culture influences the flexibility of (medical) schools in terms of their propensity to adopt integrated and PBL curricula. National culture was defined by a country's scores on indexes for 4 dimensions of culture as described by Hofstede, defined as: power distance; individualism/collectivism; masculinity/femininity, and uncertainty avoidance. Non-integrated medical curricula were defined as those that included courses in 2 of the 3 basic sciences (anatomy, biochemistry and physiology) in the first 2 years; otherwise, by exclusion, curricula were assumed to be integrated. The medical curricula of 134 of the 263 schools in the 17 European countries included in Hofstede's study were examined. Correlations were calculated between the percentage of integrated medical curricula in a country and that country's scores on indexes for each of the 4 dimensions of culture. Significant negative correlations were found between the percentage of integrated curricula and scores on the power distance index (correlation coefficient [CC]: - 0.692; P = 0.002) and the uncertainty avoidance index (CC: - 0.704; P = 0.002). No significant correlations were found between the percentage of integrated curricula and scores on the indexes for individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity. A (medical) school which is considering adopting an integrated or PBL curriculum and which is based in a country with a high score on Hofstede's power distance index and/or uncertainty avoidance index must a priori design strategies to reduce or overcome the obstructive effects of these dimensions of culture on the school's organisation.

ESI-07 Rose Atoll, American Samoa 2003 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR21, Ciales, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR22, Corozal, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR64, Guayama, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR41 Naguabo, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR29, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR30, Rosario, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR20, Florida, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR09, Manati, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR46, Yauco, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR11, Bayamon, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR18 Bayaney, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR56, Parguera, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR07, Arecibo, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-08,Swains Island, American Samoa 2003 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR13, Carolina, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR39 Juncos, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR35, Orocovis, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR06, Camuy, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR02, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Dynamic monitoring of blood-brain barrier integrity using water exchange index (WEI) during mannitol and CO2 challenges in mouse brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shuning; Farrar, Christian T; Dai, Guangping; Kwon, Seon Joo; Bogdanov, Alexei A; Rosen, Bruce R; Kim, Young R

2013-04-01

The integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is critical to normal brain function. Traditional techniques for the assessment of BBB disruption rely heavily on the spatiotemporal analysis of extravasating contrast agents. However, such methods based on the leakage of relatively large molecules are not suitable for the detection of subtle BBB impairment or for the performance of repeated measurements in a short time frame. Quantification of the water exchange rate constant (WER) across the BBB using strictly intravascular contrast agents could provide a much more sensitive method for the quantification of the BBB integrity. To estimate WER, we have recently devised a powerful new method using a water exchange index (WEI) biomarker and demonstrated BBB disruption in an acute stroke model. Here, we confirm that WEI is sensitive to even very subtle changes in the integrity of the BBB caused by: (i) systemic hypercapnia and (ii) low doses of a hyperosmolar solution. In addition, we have examined the sensitivity and accuracy of WEI as a biomarker of WER using computer simulation. In particular, the dependence of the WEI-WER relation on changes in vascular blood volume, T1 relaxation of cellular magnetization and transcytolemmal water exchange was explored. Simulated WEI was found to vary linearly with WER for typically encountered exchange rate constants (1-4 Hz), regardless of the blood volume. However, for very high WER (>5 Hz), WEI became progressively more insensitive to increasing WER. The incorporation of transcytolemmal water exchange, using a three-compartment tissue model, helped to extend the linear WEI regime to slightly higher WER, but had no significant effect for most physiologically important WERs (WER < 4 Hz). Variation in cellular T1 had no effect on WEI. Using both theoretical and experimental approaches, our study validates the utility of the WEI biomarker for the monitoring of BBB integrity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Determination of the refractive index of dehydrated cells by means of digital holographic microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Belashov, A. V.; Zhikhoreva, A. A.; Bespalov, V. G.; Vasyutinskii, O. S.; Zhilinskaya, N. T.; Novik, V. I.; Semenova, I. V.

2017-10-01

Spatial distributions of the integral refractive index in dehydrated cells of human oral cavity epithelium are obtained by means of digital holographic microscopy, and mean refractive index of the cells is determined. The statistical analysis of the data obtained is carried out, and absolute errors of the method are estimated for different experimental conditions.

The formulation of financial, governance and social index of Malaysian Islamic banks: An integrative approach

OpenAIRE

Asri Marsidi; Hairul Azlan Annuar; Abdul Rahim Abdul Rahman

2016-01-01

The study proposes and discusses the development of an index of Islamic Financial and Social Reporting (IFSR) for Islamic banks. The index of IFSR is carefully developed based on the relevant and applicable standards, guidelines and literature from an Islamic perspective such as the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB), Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Islamic social...

An integrated modeling approach to estimating Gunnison Sage-Grouse population dynamics: combining index and demographic data.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Amy J.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Phillips, Michael L.; Doherty, Paul F.

2014-01-01

Evaluation of population dynamics for rare and declining species is often limited to data that are sparse and/or of poor quality. Frequently, the best data available for rare bird species are based on large-scale, population count data. These data are commonly based on sampling methods that lack consistent sampling effort, do not account for detectability, and are complicated by observer bias. For some species, short-term studies of demographic rates have been conducted as well, but the data from such studies are typically analyzed separately. To utilize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of these two data types, we developed a novel Bayesian integrated model that links population count data and population demographic data through population growth rate (λ) for Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus). The long-term population index data available for Gunnison sage-grouse are annual (years 1953–2012) male lek counts. An intensive demographic study was also conducted from years 2005 to 2010. We were able to reduce the variability in expected population growth rates across time, while correcting for potential small sample size bias in the demographic data. We found the population of Gunnison sage-grouse to be variable and slightly declining over the past 16 years.

Public Service Integrity Perception: Case Study In Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Indonesia

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Dyah Mutiarin

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper was aimed to measure the integrity of public service at Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Borneo Province, Indonesia. The public service integrity can be seen from many perspective such as how the citizens satisfied with the public services provided by the government, how the public perception on combating corruption, and how success the government providing minimum service standard to the public at large. This three forms of public service integrity was the main focuses of this research in Kutai Kartanegara regency. The phenomenon of public service in Kutai Kartanegara Regency shown out of the tracks and missing to convey the importance of public service values, characterized by uncertainty of charges, time, and procedures. The research used the quantitative methods by scoring 3 indexes, which are the Citizen Satisfaction Index, Corruption Perception Index, and Minimum Service Standard Index. This research used Non-probability Sampling method, also Judgment Sampling procedure, in the development and compilation of the citizens satisfaction index. There were 57 local government agencies that served as the samples. The results of this research were the public service integrity perceptions in Kutai Kartanegara regency was need to be improved on the quantity and quality of public service delivery, commitment and efforts to create a clean government, transparency and accountability especially on e-procurement and to implement minimum service standards in every government offices.

Application of direct-injection detector integrated with the multi-pumping flow system to chemiluminescence determination of the total polyphenol index.

Science.gov (United States)

Nalewajko-Sieliwoniuk, Edyta; Iwanowicz, Magdalena; Kalinowski, Sławomir; Kojło, Anatol

2016-03-10

In this work, we present a novel chemiluminescence (CL) method based on direct-injection detector (DID) integrated with the multi-pumping flow system (MPFS) to chemiluminescence determination of the total polyphenol index. In this flow system, the sample and the reagents are injected directly into the cone-shaped detection cell placed in front of the photomultiplier window. Such construction of the detection chamber allows for fast measurement of the CL signal in stopped-flow conditions immediately after mixing the reagents. The proposed DID-CL-MPFS method is based on the chemiluminescence of nanocolloidal manganese(IV)-hexametaphosphate-ethanol system. The application of ethanol as a sensitizer, eliminated the use of carcinogenic formaldehyde. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the chemiluminescence intensities are proportional to the concentration of gallic acid in the range from 5 to 350 ng mL(-1). The DID-CL-MPFS method offers a number of advantages, including low limit of detection (0.80 ng mL(-1)), high precision (RSD = 3.3%) and high sample throughput (144 samples h(-1)) as well as low consumption of reagents, energy and low waste generation. The proposed method has been successfully applied to determine the total polyphenol index (expressed as gallic acid equivalent) in a variety of plant-derived food samples (wine, tea, coffee, fruit and vegetable juices, herbs, spices). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cryogenic refractive index of Heraeus homosil glass

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Kevin H.; Quijada, Manuel A.; Leviton, Douglas B.

2017-08-01

This paper reports measurements of the refractive index of Homosil (Heraeus) over the wavelength range of 0.34—3.16 μm and temperature range of 120—335 K. These measurements were performed by using the Cryogenic High Accuracy Refraction Measuring System (CHARMS) facility at the NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. These measurements were in support of an integrated Structural-Thermal-Optical-Performance (STOP) model that was developed for a fieldwidened Michelson interferometer that is being built and tested for the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) project at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). The cryogenic refractive index measurements were required in order to account for the highly sensitive performance of the HSRL instrument to changes in refractive index with temperature, temperature gradients, thermal expansion, and deformation due to mounting stresses. A dense coverage of the absolute refractive index over the aforementioned wavelength and temperature ranges was used to determine the thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) and dispersion relation (dn/dλ) as a function of wavelength and temperature. Our measurements of Homosil will be compared with measurements of other glasses from the fused silica family studied in CHARMS as well as measurements reported elsewhere in the literature.

IHE, Solution for integration of information systems and PACS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milad Janghorban Lariche

2014-10-01

Full Text Available PACS is used as a way to store images and matches well with the workflow in the radiology department and can spread to other parts of hospital. Integration with other PACS and other hospital systems like radiology information system (RIS, hospital information system (HIS, and electronic patient records has been completely done, but there are still problems. PACS also provide good conditions for setting up Tele-radiology. The next step for PACS is where hospitals and health care organizations share photos in integrated electronic patient record. Among the different ways for sharing photos between different hospitals, IHE (integrating the health care enterprise standard indexes the cross-enterprise document sharing profile (XDS and allows sharing photos from various hospitals even if their PACS has different brands and different vendors. Application of XDS is useful for sharing images between health care organizations without duplicating them in a central archive. Images need to be indexed in a central registry. In the XDS profile, IHE defines an indexing mechanism for printing and indexing images in the central document registry. IHE also defines mechanisms to be used by each hospital to retrieve images, regardless of storing them in hospital PACS.

Performing derivative and integral operations for optical waves with optical metamaterials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dai, Cun-Li [College of Engineering, Nanjing Agriculture University, Nanjing Jiangsu, 210031 (China); College of Science, Nanjing Agriculture University, Nanjing Jiangsu, 210095 (China); Zhao, Zhi-Gang; Li, Xiao-Lin [College of Engineering, Nanjing Agriculture University, Nanjing Jiangsu, 210031 (China); Yang, Hong-Wei, E-mail: phd_hwyang@njau.edu.cn [College of Science, Nanjing Agriculture University, Nanjing Jiangsu, 210095 (China)

2016-12-01

The graded refractive index waveguides can perform Fourier transform for an optical wave. According to this characteristic, simpler optical metamaterials with three waveguides are theoretically proposed, in which all of the waveguides are materials with a positive refractive index. By selecting the appropriate refractive index and structure size, the theory and simulations demonstrated that these metamaterials can perform mathematical operations for the outline of incident optical waves, including the first-order derivative, second-order derivative and the integral. - Highlights: • The derivative and integral operations of optical waves are achieved with a simpler model. • Both negative and positive refractive index boast the same functions. • The mathematical operations can be implemented only by changing the refractive index of the intermediate material. • The results will greatly expand the possible applications, including photon computers, picture processing, video displays and data storage.

ESI-05, Ofu & Olosega Islands, American Samoa 2003 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR61, Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR26, El Yunque, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI95 Midway Islands, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR12, San Juan, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR65, Punta Tuna, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI90 Gardner Pinnacles, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI92 Laysan Island, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI91 Maro Reef, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-03, Tutuila Island - South, American Samoa 2003 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Tinian, Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands, 2006 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR43, Puerto Real, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR59, Punta Cuchara , Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI93 Lisianski Island, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR24, Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR55, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR49, Rio Descalabrado, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Rota, Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands, 2006 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Aguijan, Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands, 2006 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Saipan, Commonwealth of the Nothern Mariana Islands, 2006 Environmental Sensitivity Index Map

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Closed loop control of sedation for colonoscopy using the Bispectral Index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leslie, K.; Absalom, A.; Kenny, G. N. C.

Sixteen patients undergoing colonoscopy were sedated with propofol using a closed-loop control system guided by the Bispectral Index (BIS). Propofol administration, via a target-controlled infusion, was controlled by a proportional-integral-differential control algorithm. The median (range) propofol

Polytropic index of ions in the Earth magnetosheath

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, X.; Cao, J.; Deng, Z.

2017-12-01

Useing the data of Cluster from 2001 to 2009, the polytropic index of the magnetosheath ions are calculated by the method of homogeneous MHD Bernoulli integral (MBI). The spatial distribution of ion polytropic index and modulation by low frequency MHD disturbances (4-18 mHz) are studied. The main results are as follows: The magnetosheath is a turbulent system in which the polytropic index of ions ranges from -2 to 3. The distribution of ion polytropic index is dependent on the electromagnetic energy flux perpendicular to the streamline. The median polytropic index of ions in the magnetosheath is 0.960, 0.965, and 0.974 for perpendicular electromagnetic energy ratio δE×Belectromagnetic energy between neighboring streamflow tubes, the magnetosheath ions are isothermal. However, when δE×B increases, the isobaric polytropic process starts to emerge. The median polytropic indexes of ions in the GSE X-Y plane of the equatorial magnetosheath decreases from the magnetopause to the bow shock. The magnetosheath ions are basically between isothermal and adiabatic in the inner magnetosheath (near the magnetopause), around isothermal in the middle magnetosheath, and between isothermal and isobaric in the outer magnetosheath. The spatial distributions of the correlation coefficient between the perturbed ion number density and parallel magnetic field CC_δnδB|| have a good correlation with the distribution of polytropic index. The quasi-perpendicular disturbances are basically mirror-like modes (DrEarth line. The polytropic indexes in the inner and middle magnetosheath modulated by mirror-like mode disturbances (CC_δnδB||<0) are between 0.9 and 1.2. The quasi-parallel propagating low frequency disturbances are predominantly slow modes in the inner magnetosheath and Alfvén modes in the middle and outer magnetosheath. For the samples with quasi-perpendicular propagating disturbances, the polytropic process is basically between isothermal and isobaric except near the

Interpretation of Gamma Index for Quality Assurance of Simultaneously Integrated Boost (SIB) IMRT Plans for Head and Neck Carcinoma

Science.gov (United States)

Atiq, Maria; Atiq, Atia; Iqbal, Khalid; Shamsi, Quratul ain; Andleeb, Farah; Buzdar, Saeed Ahmad

2017-12-01

Objective: The Gamma Index is prerequisite to estimate point-by-point difference between measured and calculated dose distribution in terms of both Distance to Agreement (DTA) and Dose Difference (DD). This study aims to inquire what percentage of pixels passing a certain criteria assure a good quality plan and suggest gamma index as efficient mechanism for dose verification of Simultaneous Integrated Boost Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy plans. Method: In this study, dose was calculated for 14 head and neck patients and IMRT Quality Assurance was performed with portal dosimetry using the Eclipse treatment planning system. Eclipse software has a Gamma analysis function to compare measured and calculated dose distribution. Plans of this study were deemed acceptable when passing rate was 95% using tolerance for Distance to agreement (DTA) as 3mm and Dose Difference (DD) as 5%. Result and Conclusion: Thirteen cases pass tolerance criteria of 95% set by our institution. Confidence Limit for DD is 9.3% and for gamma criteria our local CL came out to be 2.0% (i.e., 98.0% passing). Lack of correlation was found between DD and γ passing rate with R2 of 0.0509. Our findings underline the importance of gamma analysis method to predict the quality of dose calculation. Passing rate of 95% is achieved in 93% of cases which is adequate level of accuracy for analyzed plans thus assuring the robustness of SIB IMRT treatment technique. This study can be extended to investigate gamma criteria of 5%/3mm for different tumor localities and to explore confidence limit on target volumes of small extent and simple geometry.

The manuscript of Kartoteka (Card Index

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Zbigniew Władysław Solski

2009-01-01

Full Text Available At the beginning of the 70s Tadeusz Różewicz presented the manuscript of Card Index to Professor Józef Kelera. It might have stayed a secret of friendship of the dramatist and the critic, however, Różewicz revealed the initials of his friend when in a commenatry to the play, he posed a question, whether there was a full stop after the last word in the manuscript or not? Posing this question, the author claimed the integrality of his masterpiece which was threatened by the widespread interpretations of Card Index as a play of a loose and dispersed structure. Appreciating the value of this question, I turned to Professor Kelera. This way I have had an access to the autograph of the play. In this manuscript has been preserved the play from before its final editing, which its author must surely have made during typing the text. Handwritten notes contain two unknown versions of the play with fragments which would not have been passed by the censors in the then Polish People’s Republic. In the reading of the manuscript the functions of the word and its graphic shape appeared of equal importance, so this version of Card Index can be recognised as a masterpiece of literature.

Using fish communities to assess streams in Romania: Initial development of an index of biotic integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Angermeier, P.L.; Davideanu, G.

2004-01-01

Multimetric biotic indices increasingly are used to complement physicochemical data in assessments of stream quality. We initiated development of multimetric indices, based on fish communities, to assess biotic integrity of streams in two physiographic regions of central Romania. Unlike previous efforts to develop such indices for European streams, our metrics and scoring criteria were selected largely on the basis of empirical relations in the regions of interest. We categorised 54 fish species with respect to ten natural-history attributes, then used this information to compute 32 candidate metrics of five types (taxonomic, tolerance, abundance, reproductive, and feeding) for each of 35 sites. We assessed the utility of candidate metrics for detecting anthropogenic impact based on three criteria: (a) range of values taken, (b) relation to a site-quality index (SQI), which incorporated information on hydrologic alteration, channel alteration, land-use intensity, and water chemistry, and (c) metric redundancy. We chose seven metrics from each region to include in preliminary multimetric indices (PMIs). Both PMIs included taxonomic, tolerance, and feeding metrics, but only two metrics were common to both PMIs. Although we could not validate our PMIs, their strong association with the SQI in each region suggests that such indices would be valuable tools for assessing stream quality and could provide more comprehensive assessments than the traditional approaches based solely on water chemistry.

Analyzing fractal property of species abundance distribution and diversity indexes.

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Qiang

2016-03-07

Community diversity is usually characterized by numerical indexes; however it indeed depends on the species abundance distribution (SAD). Diversity indexes and SAD are based on the same information but treating as separate themes. Ranking species abundance from largest to smallest, the decreasing pattern can give the information about the SAD. Frontier proposed such SAD might be a fractal structure, and first applied the Zipf-Mandelbrot model to the SAD study. However, this model fails to include the Zipf model, and also fails to ensure an integer rank. In this study, a fractal model of SAD was reconstructed, and tested with 104 community samples from 8 taxonomic groups. The results show that there was a good fit of the presented model. Fractal parameter (p) determines the SAD of a community. The ecological significance of p relates to the "dominance" of a community. The correlation between p and classical diversity indexes show that Shannon index decreases and Simpson index increases as p increases. The main purpose of this paper is not to compare with other SADs models; it simply provides a new interpretation of SAD model construction, and preliminarily integrates diversity indexes and SAD model into a broader perspective of community diversity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Islamic and conventional equity index co-movement and volatility transmission: Evidence from Pakistan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khalil Jebran

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the Islamic and conventional Index integration over the period 3rd September, 2008 to 30th September, 2015. This study uses Johansen and Juselius cointegration method for exploring the long run association. The short run association is explored using VECM model. The volatility spillover dynamics is examined using the GARCH and EGARCH models. The robustness of the results is analyzed by using Granger causality method, Variance Decomposition method, and Impulse Response Function. The estimation results show significant long run and short run association between Islamic and Conventional index. Furthermore, this study finds asymmetric bidirectional volatility spillovers between Islamic and conventional index. The findings suggest that domestic investors have low diversification opportunities by adding both Islamic and conventional index in their portfolios. However, international investors can add one of the indices in their portfolios, in order to benefit from portfolio diversification. Keywords: Islamic index, Conventional index, EGARCH, GARCH, Pakistan

Amorphous silicon as high index photonic material

Science.gov (United States)

Lipka, T.; Harke, A.; Horn, O.; Amthor, J.; Müller, J.

2009-05-01

Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) photonics has become an attractive research topic within the area of integrated optics. This paper aims to fabricate SOI-structures for optical communication applications with lower costs compared to standard fabrication processes as well as to provide a higher flexibility with respect to waveguide and substrate material choice. Amorphous silicon is deposited on thermal oxidized silicon wafers with plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). The material is optimized in terms of optical light transmission and refractive index. Different a-Si:H waveguides with low propagation losses are presented. The waveguides were processed with CMOS-compatible fabrication technologies and standard DUV-lithography enabling high volume production. To overcome the large mode-field diameter mismatch between incoupling fiber and sub-μm waveguides three dimensional, amorphous silicon tapers were fabricated with a KOH etched shadow mask for patterning. Using ellipsometric and Raman spectroscopic measurements the material properties as refractive index, layer thickness, crystallinity and material composition were analyzed. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) experiments of amorphous thin films and rib waveguides were performed aiming to tune the refractive index of the deposited a-Si:H waveguide core layer after deposition.

ESI-HI27 Kawaihae, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI23 Makalawena, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI49 Paia, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI45 Lahaina, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR67, Isla De Vieques, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI65 Ewa, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI73 Kaneohe, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI69 Waimea, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI01 Hilo, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI33 Honokaa, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI71 Hauula, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI82 Hanalei, Island of Kauai, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI10 Pahala, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI14, Anegada U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI11, Tortola, U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI63 Waipahu, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI29 Mahukona, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI11 Punaluu, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI21 Kailua, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI74 Mokapu, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI46 Napili, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI17 Milolii, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI38 Kipahulu, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI67 Kaena, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI43 Maalaea, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI76 Lihue, Island of Kauai, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI72 Kahana, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI06 Kalapana, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI44 Olowalu, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI19 Honaunau, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR16, Central La Plata, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI66 Waianae, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI37 Hana, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI47 Kahakuloa, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI48 Wailuku, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI68 Haleiwa, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Joint Textual And Visual Cues For Retrieving Images Using Latent Semantic Indexing

OpenAIRE

Pecenovic, Zoran; Ayer, Serge; Vetterli, Martin

2001-01-01

In this article we present a novel approach of integrating textual and visual descriptors of images in a unified retrieval structure. The methodology, inspired from text retrieval and information filtering is based on Latent Semantic Indexing (LS1).

Ecotoxicological assessment of flocculant modified soil for lake restoration using an integrated biotic toxicity index.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhibin; Zhang, Honggang; Pan, Gang

2016-06-15

Flocculant modified soils/clays are being increasingly studied as geo-engineering materials for lake restoration and harmful algal bloom control. However, the potential impacts of adding these materials in aquatic ecological systems remain unclear. This study investigated the potential effects of chitosan, cationic starch, chitosan modified soils (MS-C) and cationic starch modified soils (MS-S) on the aquatic organisms by using a bioassay battery. The toxicity potential of these four flocculants was quantitatively assessed using an integrated biotic toxicity index (BTI). The test system includes four aquatic species, namely Chlorella vulgaris, Daphnia magna, Cyprinus carpio and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, which represent four trophic levels in the freshwater ecosystem. Results showed that median effect concentrations (EC50) of the MS-C and MS-S were 31-124 times higher than chitosan and cationic starch, respectively. D. magna was the most sensitive species to the four flocculants. Histological examination of C. carpio showed that significant pathological changes were found in gills. Different from chitosan and cationic starch, MS-C and MS-S significantly alleviated the acute toxicities of chitosan and cationic starch. The toxicity order of the four flocculants based on BTI were cationic starch > chitosan > MS-S > MS-C. The results suggested that BTI can be used as a quantitative and comparable indicator to assess biotic toxicity for aquatic geo-engineering materials. Chitosan or cationic starch modified soil/clay materials can be used at their optimal dosage without causing substantial adverse effects to the bioassay battery in aquatic ecosystem. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: implementing inherent safety perspective. Part 2-Domino Hazard Index and case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

2008-12-15

The design of layout plans requires adequate assessment tools for the quantification of safety performance. The general focus of the present work is to introduce an inherent safety perspective at different points of the layout design process. In particular, index approaches for safety assessment and decision-making in the early stages of layout design are developed and discussed in this two-part contribution. Part 1 (accompanying paper) of the current work presents an integrated index approach for safety assessment of early plant layout. In the present paper (Part 2), an index for evaluation of the hazard related to the potential of domino effects is developed. The index considers the actual consequences of possible escalation scenarios and scores or ranks the subsequent accident propagation potential. The effects of inherent and passive protection measures are also assessed. The result is a rapid quantification of domino hazard potential that can provide substantial support for choices in the early stages of layout design. Additionally, a case study concerning selection among various layout options is presented and analyzed. The case study demonstrates the use and applicability of the indices developed in both parts of the current work and highlights the value of introducing inherent safety features early in layout design.

Interferometer for Measuring Fast Changes of Refractive Index and Temperature in Transparent Liquids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, Arne; Hussmann, E. K.; McLaughlin, W. L.

1975-01-01

A double‐beam interferometer has been designed for detecting changes of refractive index in transparent liquids associated with the absorption of ionizing radiation energy, due to short electron beam pulses from an accelerator. The response time of the interferometer is less than 0.2 μsec......, and refractive index changes of the order of 10−7 can be measured, corresponding to a temperature change of ∼10−3  °C and an absorbed dose in water of ∼350 rad. The interferometer can be used as either a real‐time or integrating radiation dosimeter, if the temperature coefficient of the refractive index (dn...

Planning of continuity of service: The nuisance index, a measurement of the impact of interruptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naggar, R.

1992-01-01

An improved approach has been developed by Hydro-Quebec to integrate its customers' needs into the planning for service continuity. A nuisance index has been developed to measure the impact of service interruptions and is currently being tested with a pilot project in the Richelieu service area. The analytic framework used differentiates three categories of customers for which a normative cost of interrptions is calculated. The classification of networks according to load density and use characteristics allows the utility to define appropriate service continuity objectives. Service continuity is measured using an indicator which is directly deduced from the cost of interruptions. The index takes into account the circumstances surrounding each interruption and an individual nuisance index is calculated for each customer. Then an average individual nuisance index is computed for customers within each category. Finally, an aggregated nuisance index is calculated for all categories as a whole. The cost of interruptions may then be derived through multiplying the nuisance indexes by the energy consumption of the corresponding set of customers and by a constant. It is possible to check whether a customer is receiving acceptable service continuity. An indicator determines the share of energy consumption for which a tolerance threshold has been exceeded. Once integrated into the planning process, these concepts enable optimal distribution network design and operation. Adjustments of network classes that match both the evolution of customers and load contribute to the permanent improvement of networks and their operation. 4 figs

FORECASTING KUALA LUMPUR COMPOSITE INDEX: EVIDENCE OF THE ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK AND ARIMA

OpenAIRE

Sukmana, Raditya; Solihin, Mahmud Iwan

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use, compare, and analyze two forecasting technique: namelyAuto Regressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) and Artificial NeuralNetwork(ANN) using Kuala Lumpur Composite Index(KLCI) in Malaysia. ArtificialNeural Network is used because of its popularity of capturing the volatility patterns innonlinear time series while ARIMA used since it is a standard method in the forecastingtool. Daily data of Kuala Lumpur Composite Index from 4 January 1999 to 26 September2005...

Forecasting Kuala Lumpur Composite Index: Evidence of the Artificial Neural Network and Arima

OpenAIRE

Mahmud Iwan, Raditya Sukmana,

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to use, compare, and analyze two forecasting technique: namely Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) and Artificial Neural Network(ANN) using Kuala Lumpur Composite Index(KLCI) in Malaysia. Artificial Neural Network is used because of its popularity of capturing the volatility patterns in nonlinear time series while ARIMA used since it is a standard method in the forecasting tool. Daily data of Kuala Lumpur Composite Index from 4 January 1999 to 26 Septembe...

Leaf area index uncertainty estimates for model-data fusion applications

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew D. Richardson; D. Bryan Dail; D.Y. Hollinger

2011-01-01

Estimates of data uncertainties are required to integrate different observational data streams as model constraints using model-data fusion. We describe an approach with which random and systematic uncertainties in optical measurements of leaf area index [LAI] can be quantified. We use data from a measurement campaign at the spruce-dominated Howland Forest AmeriFlux...

Using Bitmap Indexing Technology for Combined Numerical and TextQueries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stockinger, Kurt; Cieslewicz, John; Wu, Kesheng; Rotem, Doron; Shoshani, Arie

2006-10-16

In this paper, we describe a strategy of using compressedbitmap indices to speed up queries on both numerical data and textdocuments. By using an efficient compression algorithm, these compressedbitmap indices are compact even for indices with millions of distinctterms. Moreover, bitmap indices can be used very efficiently to answerBoolean queries over text documents involving multiple query terms.Existing inverted indices for text searches are usually inefficient forcorpora with a very large number of terms as well as for queriesinvolving a large number of hits. We demonstrate that our compressedbitmap index technology overcomes both of those short-comings. In aperformance comparison against a commonly used database system, ourindices answer queries 30 times faster on average. To provide full SQLsupport, we integrated our indexing software, called FastBit, withMonetDB. The integrated system MonetDB/FastBit provides not onlyefficient searches on a single table as FastBit does, but also answersjoin queries efficiently. Furthermore, MonetDB/FastBit also provides avery efficient retrieval mechanism of result records.

Integrated reporting and board features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rares HURGHIS

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In the last two decades the concept of sustainability reporting gained more importance in the companies’ annual reports, a trend which is embedded also in integrated reporting. Issuing an integrated report became a necessity, because the report explains to the investors how the organization creates value over time. The governance structure, more exactly the board of directors, decides whether or not the company will issue an integrated report. Thus, are there certain features of the board that might influence the issue of an integrated report? Do the companies which issue an integrated report have certain features of the governance structure? Looking for an answer to these questions, we seek for any possible correlations between a disclosure index and the corporate governance structure characteristics, on a sample from the companies participating at the International Integrated Reporting Council Examples Database. The results highlight that only the size of the board influences the extent to which the issued integrated report is in accordance with the International Framework.

Engineering of refractive index in sulfide chalcogenide glass by direct laser writing

KAUST Repository

Zhang, Yaping; Gao, Yangqin; Ng, Tien Khee; Ooi, Boon S.; Chew, Basil; Hedhili, Mohamed N.; Zhao, Donghui; Jain, Himanshu

2010-01-01

Arsenic trisulfide (As2S3) glass is an interesting material for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) as infrared (IR) or nonlinear optical components. In this paper, direct laser writing was applied to engineer the refractive index of As2S3 thin film

The computer integrated documentation project: A merge of hypermedia and AI techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Mathe, Nathalie; Boy, Guy

1993-01-01

To generate intelligent indexing that allows context-sensitive information retrieval, a system must be able to acquire knowledge directly through interaction with users. In this paper, we present the architecture for CID (Computer Integrated Documentation). CID is a system that enables integration of various technical documents in a hypertext framework and includes an intelligent browsing system that incorporates indexing in context. CID's knowledge-based indexing mechanism allows case based knowledge acquisition by experimentation. It utilizes on-line user information requirements and suggestions either to reinforce current indexing in case of success or to generate new knowledge in case of failure. This allows CID's intelligent interface system to provide helpful responses, based on previous experience (user feedback). We describe CID's current capabilities and provide an overview of our plans for extending the system.

An index of financial safety of China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaojun Jia

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This paper combines a synthetic index system by the variables and evaluates China’s financial safety through the change of indexes in a comprehensive way. First of all, it builds the financial industry evaluation index system composed of 25indicators in terms of the operation of the financial industry and external economic environment and particularly takes into consideration factors which might trigger liquidity risks such as off-balance-sheet business, interbank business and shadow banking; then it selects 10 indicators to conduct empirical analysis and identifies the indicator weight through principal component analysis; finally it combines the financial safety indexes through the linear weighted comprehensive evaluation model.Design/methodology/approach: Synthesis of indexes is made by constructing a proper comprehensive evaluation mathematical model, integrating a number of evaluation indexes into one comprehensive evaluation index and then obtaining corresponding comprehensive evaluation results. In this paper, it selects 10 indexes to conduct empirical analysis and identifies the index weight through principal component analysis; finally it combines the financial safety indexes through the linear weighted comprehensive evaluation model. Principal component analysis (PCA is a statistical procedure that uses an orthogonal transformation to convert a set of observations of possibly correlated variables into a set of values of linearly uncorrelated variables called principal components. PCA was invented in 1901 and was later independently developed (and named by Harold Hotelling in the 1930s.Findings: From 2003 to 2013 China’s financial safety indexes fluctuated. From 2003 to 2007 indexes rose, which indicates China’s financial safety status gradually improved; from 2007 to 2009 indexes declined, which indicates due to the impact of subprime crisis, China’s financial safety status took a turn for the worse; from 2009 to 2012

On line ultrasonic integrated backscatter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landini, L.; Picano, E.; Mazzarisi, A.; Santarelli, F.; Benassi, A.; De Pieri, G.

1988-01-01

A new equipment for on-line evaluation of index based on two-dimensional integrated backscatter from ultrasonic images is described. The new equipment is fully integrated into a B-mode ultrasonic apparatus which provides a simultaneous display of conventional information together with parameters of tissue characterization. The system has been tested with a backscattering model of microbubbles in polysaccharide solution, characterized by a physiological exponential time decay. An exponential fitting to the experimental data was performed which yielded r=0.95

Therapeutic whole-body hypothermia reduces mortality in severe traumatic brain injury if the cooling index is sufficiently high: meta-analyses of the effect of single cooling parameters and their integrated measure.

Science.gov (United States)

Olah, Emoke; Poto, Laszlo; Hegyi, Peter; Szabo, Imre; Hartmann, Petra; Solymar, Margit; Petervari, Erika; Balasko, Marta; Habon, Tamas; Rumbus, Zoltan; Tenk, Judit; Rostas, Ildiko; Weinberg, Jordan; Romanovsky, Andrej A; Garami, Andras

2018-04-21

Therapeutic hypothermia was investigated repeatedly as a tool to improve the outcome of severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), but previous clinical trials and meta-analyses found contradictory results. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of therapeutic whole-body hypothermia on the mortality of adult patients with severe TBI by using a novel approach of meta-analysis. We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases from inception to February 2017. The identified human studies were evaluated regarding statistical, clinical, and methodological designs to ensure inter-study homogeneity. We extracted data on TBI severity, body temperature, mortality, and cooling parameters; then we calculated the cooling index, an integrated measure of therapeutic hypothermia. Forest plot of all identified studies showed no difference in the outcome of TBI between cooled and not cooled patients, but inter-study heterogeneity was high. On the contrary, by meta-analysis of RCTs which were homogenous with regards to statistical, clinical designs and precisely reported the cooling protocol, we showed decreased odds ratio for mortality in therapeutic hypothermia compared to no cooling. As independent factors, milder and longer cooling, and rewarming at < 0.25°C/h were associated with better outcome. Therapeutic hypothermia was beneficial only if the cooling index (measure of combination of cooling parameters) was sufficiently high. We conclude that high methodological and statistical inter-study heterogeneity could underlie the contradictory results obtained in previous studies. By analyzing methodologically homogenous studies, we show that cooling improves the outcome of severe TBI and this beneficial effect depends on certain cooling parameters and on their integrated measure, the cooling index.

Ecological assessment of integrated bioenergy systems using the Sustainable Process Index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Krotscheck, C.; König, F.; Obernberger, I.

2002-01-01

Biomass utilisation for energy production presently faces an uphill battle against fossil fuels. The use of biomass must offer additional benefits to compensate for higher prices: on the basis of a life cycle assessment (using BEAM to evaluate a variety of integrated bioenergy systems in connection

Diffraction tomography for plasma refractive index measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, J.; Nazikian, R.; Sharp, L.E.

1989-01-01

Measurement of the properties of probing beams of coherent electromagnetic radiation yields essential information about the line of sight integrated plasma refractive index. Presented is a scalar diffraction treatment of forward angle scattering plasma diagnostics based on the diffraction projection theorem first presented by E. Wolf in 1969. New results are obtained for near field scattering from probing Gaussian beams and it is demonstrated that the effects of diffraction need to be addressed for tomographic inversion of near field scattering and interferometry data. 33 refs., 10 figs

A novel evaluation method for building construction project based on integrated information entropy with reliability theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Xiao-ping; Zhang, Xi-wei

2013-01-01

Selecting construction schemes of the building engineering project is a complex multiobjective optimization decision process, in which many indexes need to be selected to find the optimum scheme. Aiming at this problem, this paper selects cost, progress, quality, and safety as the four first-order evaluation indexes, uses the quantitative method for the cost index, uses integrated qualitative and quantitative methodologies for progress, quality, and safety indexes, and integrates engineering economics, reliability theories, and information entropy theory to present a new evaluation method for building construction project. Combined with a practical case, this paper also presents detailed computing processes and steps, including selecting all order indexes, establishing the index matrix, computing score values of all order indexes, computing the synthesis score, sorting all selected schemes, and making analysis and decision. Presented method can offer valuable references for risk computing of building construction projects.

Instruments Measuring Integrated Care: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Bautista, Mary Ann C; Nurjono, Milawaty; Lim, Yee Wei; Dessers, Ezra; Vrijhoef, Hubertus Jm

2016-12-01

Policy Points: Investigations on systematic methodologies for measuring integrated care should coincide with the growing interest in this field of research. A systematic review of instruments provides insights into integrated care measurement, including setting the research agenda for validating available instruments and informing the decision to develop new ones. This study is the first systematic review of instruments measuring integrated care with an evidence synthesis of the measurement properties. We found 209 index instruments measuring different constructs related to integrated care; the strength of evidence on the adequacy of the majority of their measurement properties remained largely unassessed. Integrated care is an important strategy for increasing health system performance. Despite its growing significance, detailed evidence on the measurement properties of integrated care instruments remains vague and limited. Our systematic review aims to provide evidence on the state of the art in measuring integrated care. Our comprehensive systematic review framework builds on the Rainbow Model for Integrated Care (RMIC). We searched MEDLINE/PubMed for published articles on the measurement properties of instruments measuring integrated care and identified eligible articles using a standard set of selection criteria. We assessed the methodological quality of every validation study reported using the COSMIN checklist and extracted data on study and instrument characteristics. We also evaluated the measurement properties of each examined instrument per validation study and provided a best evidence synthesis on the adequacy of measurement properties of the index instruments. From the 300 eligible articles, we assessed the methodological quality of 379 validation studies from which we identified 209 index instruments measuring integrated care constructs. The majority of studies reported on instruments measuring constructs related to care integration (33%) and patient

Instruments Measuring Integrated Care: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties

Science.gov (United States)

BAUTISTA, MARY ANN C.; NURJONO, MILAWATY; DESSERS, EZRA; VRIJHOEF, HUBERTUS JM

2016-01-01

Policy Points: Investigations on systematic methodologies for measuring integrated care should coincide with the growing interest in this field of research.A systematic review of instruments provides insights into integrated care measurement, including setting the research agenda for validating available instruments and informing the decision to develop new ones.This study is the first systematic review of instruments measuring integrated care with an evidence synthesis of the measurement properties.We found 209 index instruments measuring different constructs related to integrated care; the strength of evidence on the adequacy of the majority of their measurement properties remained largely unassessed. Context Integrated care is an important strategy for increasing health system performance. Despite its growing significance, detailed evidence on the measurement properties of integrated care instruments remains vague and limited. Our systematic review aims to provide evidence on the state of the art in measuring integrated care. Methods Our comprehensive systematic review framework builds on the Rainbow Model for Integrated Care (RMIC). We searched MEDLINE/PubMed for published articles on the measurement properties of instruments measuring integrated care and identified eligible articles using a standard set of selection criteria. We assessed the methodological quality of every validation study reported using the COSMIN checklist and extracted data on study and instrument characteristics. We also evaluated the measurement properties of each examined instrument per validation study and provided a best evidence synthesis on the adequacy of measurement properties of the index instruments. Findings From the 300 eligible articles, we assessed the methodological quality of 379 validation studies from which we identified 209 index instruments measuring integrated care constructs. The majority of studies reported on instruments measuring constructs related to care

Indexing Linked Bibliographic Data with JSON-LD, BibJSON and Elasticsearch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Johnson

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Linked Data is a powerful tool for sharing bibliographic metadata. By combining the decentralization of the web with the use of globally defined metadata vocabularies, data from many sources can be treated as a single, aggregated graph. Supporting search across these distributed data sources within the same application, however, requires considerable work in vocabulary alignment and data transformation. Aggregate systems must convert data into a unified model which must (almost inevitably be generic at the expense of the structure and granularity of the original data. This paper presents a novel solution for representing and indexing bibliographic resources that retains the data integrity and extensibility of Linked Data while supporting fast, customizable indexes in an application-friendly data format. The methodology makes use of JSON-LD to represent RDF graphs in JSON suitable for indexing with Elasticsearch. BibJSON is used as a common index format capable of handling a wide range of library resources. Since all three technologies (RDF/JSON-LD, BibJSON and Elasticsearch share an emphasis on extensibility, it is possible to create an index of bibliographic data that is both generalized and flexible enough to handle Linked Data from multiple sources.

Are societies with a high value on the Active Ageing Index more age-integrated?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.A. Dykstra (Pearl); M. Fleischmann (Maria)

2017-01-01

textabstractCombining round four data from the European Social Survey (ESS) with indicators of Active Ageing, Dykstra and Fleischmann examine conditions conducive to age integration. It uses both a behavioural and an attitudinal measure of age integration: the prevalence of cross-age friendships

The Smart Ring Experience in l’Aquila (Italy: Integrating Smart Mobility Public Services with Air Quality Indexes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria-Gabriella Villani

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This work presents the “City Dynamics and Smart Environment” activities of the Smart Ring project, a model for the smart city, based on the integration of sustainable urban transport services and environmental monitoring over a 4–5-km circular path, the “Smart Ring”, around the historical center of l’Aquila (Italy. We describe our pilot experience performed during an experimental on-demand public service electric bus, “SmartBus”, which was equipped with a multi-parametric air quality low-cost gas electrochemical sensor platform, “NASUS IV”. For five days (28–29 August 2014 and 1–3 September 2014, the sensor platform was installed inside the SmartBus and measured air quality gas compounds (nitrogen dioxide, carbon oxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide during the service. Data were collected and analyzed on the bases of an air quality index, which provided qualitative insights on the air status potentially experienced by the users. The results obtained are in agreement with the synoptic meteorological conditions, the urban background air quality reference measurements and the potential traffic flow variations. Furthermore, they indicated that the air quality status was influenced by the gas component NO 2 , followed by H 2 S, SO 2 and CO. We discuss the features of our campaign, and we highlight the potential, limitations and key factors to consider for future project designs.

ESI-HI54 Lanai South, Island of Lanai, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI26 Puu Hinai, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI57 Molokai Airport, Island of Molokai, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI02 Keaau Ranch, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI28 Keawanui Bay, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI09 Naliikakani Point, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI60 Molokai East, Island of Molokai, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI75 Koko head, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI62 Pearl Harbor, Island of Oahu, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI94 Pearl and Hermes Atoll, NWHI, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI12 Beef Island, U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI08 Kau Desert, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 ( Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI9, Peter Island, U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI13, Virgin Gorda, U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-HI07 Makaopuhi Crater, Island of Hawaii, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Walkability Index

Science.gov (United States)

The Walkability Index dataset characterizes every Census 2010 block group in the U.S. based on its relative walkability. Walkability depends upon characteristics of the built environment that influence the likelihood of walking being used as a mode of travel. The Walkability Index is based on the EPA's previous data product, the Smart Location Database (SLD). Block group data from the SLD was the only input into the Walkability Index, and consisted of four variables from the SLD weighted in a formula to create the new Walkability Index. This dataset shares the SLD's block group boundary definitions from Census 2010. The methodology describing the process of creating the Walkability Index can be found in the documents located at ftp://newftp.epa.gov/EPADataCommons/OP/WalkabilityIndex.zip. You can also learn more about the Smart Location Database at https://edg.epa.gov/data/Public/OP/Smart_Location_DB_v02b.zip.

Modification of Low Refractive Index Polycarbonate for High Refractive Index Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gunjan Suri

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Polycarbonates and polythiourethanes are the most popular materials in use today, for optical applications. Polycarbonates are of two types which fall in the category of low refractive index and medium refractive index. The present paper describes the conversion of low refractive index polycarbonates into high refractive index material by the use of a high refractive index monomer, polythiol, as an additive. Novel polycarbonates, where the properties of refractive index and Abbe number can be tailor made, have been obtained. Thermal studies and refractive index determination indicate the formation of a new polymer with improved properties and suitable for optical applications.

Are societies with a high value on the Active Ageing Index more age-integrated?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

P.A. Dykstra (Pearl); M. Fleischmann (Maria)

2016-01-01

textabstractCombining round four data from the European Social Survey (ESS) with indicators of Active Ageing, we examine conditions conducive to age integration. We use both a behavioural and an attitudinal measure of age integration: the prevalence of cross-age friendships and low levels of ageism.

Integration with respect to the Euler characteristic and its applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gusein-Zade, Sabir M [M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2010-09-16

The notion of integration with respect to the Euler characteristic and its generalizations are discussed: integration over the infinite-dimensional spaces of arcs and functions, motivic integration. The author describes applications of these notions to the computation of monodromy zeta functions, Poincare series of multi-index filtrations, generating series of classes of certain moduli spaces, and so on. Bibliography: 70 titles.

[Evaluation of thermal comfort in a student population: predictive value of an integrated index (Fanger's predicted mean value].

Science.gov (United States)

Catenacci, G; Terzi, R; Marcaletti, G; Tringali, S

1989-01-01

Practical applications and predictive values of a thermal comfort index (Fanger's PRV) were verified on a sample school population (1236 subjects) by studying the relationships between thermal sensations (subjective analysis), determined by means of an individual questionnaire, and the values of thermal comfort index (objective analysis) obtained by calculating the PMV index individually in the subjects under study. In homogeneous conditions of metabolic expenditure rate and thermal impedence from clothing, significant differences were found between the two kinds of analyses. At 22 degrees C mean radiant and operative temperature, the PMV values averaged 0 and the percentage of subjects who experienced thermal comfort did not exceed 60%. The high level of subjects who were dissatisfied with their environmental thermal conditions confirms the doubts regarding the use of the PMV index as a predictive indicator of thermal comfort, especially considering that the negative answers were not homogeneous nor attributable to the small thermal fluctuations (less than 0.5 degree C) measured in the classrooms.

A Novel Evaluation Method for Building Construction Project Based on Integrated Information Entropy with Reliability Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-ping Bai

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Selecting construction schemes of the building engineering project is a complex multiobjective optimization decision process, in which many indexes need to be selected to find the optimum scheme. Aiming at this problem, this paper selects cost, progress, quality, and safety as the four first-order evaluation indexes, uses the quantitative method for the cost index, uses integrated qualitative and quantitative methodologies for progress, quality, and safety indexes, and integrates engineering economics, reliability theories, and information entropy theory to present a new evaluation method for building construction project. Combined with a practical case, this paper also presents detailed computing processes and steps, including selecting all order indexes, establishing the index matrix, computing score values of all order indexes, computing the synthesis score, sorting all selected schemes, and making analysis and decision. Presented method can offer valuable references for risk computing of building construction projects.

Novel Threat-risk Index Using Probabilistic Risk Assessment and Human Reliability Analysis - Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

George A. Beitel

2004-02-01

In support of a national need to improve the current state-of-the-art in alerting decision makers to the risk of terrorist attack, a quantitative approach employing scientific and engineering concepts to develop a threat-risk index was undertaken at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). As a result of this effort, a set of models has been successfully integrated into a single comprehensive model known as Quantitative Threat-Risk Index Model (QTRIM), with the capability of computing a quantitative threat-risk index on a system level, as well as for the major components of the system. Such a threat-risk index could provide a quantitative variant or basis for either prioritizing security upgrades or updating the current qualitative national color-coded terrorist threat alert.

Indexed Captioned Searchable Videos: A Learning Companion for STEM Coursework

Science.gov (United States)

Tuna, Tayfun; Subhlok, Jaspal; Barker, Lecia; Shah, Shishir; Johnson, Olin; Hovey, Christopher

2017-02-01

Videos of classroom lectures have proven to be a popular and versatile learning resource. A key shortcoming of the lecture video format is accessing the content of interest hidden in a video. This work meets this challenge with an advanced video framework featuring topical indexing, search, and captioning (ICS videos). Standard optical character recognition (OCR) technology was enhanced with image transformations for extraction of text from video frames to support indexing and search. The images and text on video frames is analyzed to divide lecture videos into topical segments. The ICS video player integrates indexing, search, and captioning in video playback providing instant access to the content of interest. This video framework has been used by more than 70 courses in a variety of STEM disciplines and assessed by more than 4000 students. Results presented from the surveys demonstrate the value of the videos as a learning resource and the role played by videos in a students learning process. Survey results also establish the value of indexing and search features in a video platform for education. This paper reports on the development and evaluation of ICS videos framework and over 5 years of usage experience in several STEM courses.

Evaluation of stream ecological integrity using litter decomposition and benthic invertebrates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Castela, Jose [Departamento de Zoologia and IMAR-CIC, Universidade de Coimbra, Largo Marques de Pombal, 3004-517 Coimbra (Portugal)], E-mail: jcccastela@gmail.com; Ferreira, Veronica [Departamento de Zoologia and IMAR-CIC, Universidade de Coimbra, Largo Marques de Pombal, 3004-517 Coimbra (Portugal)], E-mail: veronica@ci.uc.pt; Graca, Manuel A.S. [Departamento de Zoologia and IMAR-CIC, Universidade de Coimbra, Largo Marques de Pombal, 3004-517 Coimbra (Portugal)], E-mail: mgraca@ci.uc.pt

2008-05-15

Biomonitoring programs to access the ecological integrity of freshwaters tend to rely exclusively on structural parameters. Here we evaluated stream ecological integrity using (a) benthic macroinvertebrate derived metrics and a biotic index as measures of structural integrity and (b) oak litter decomposition and associated fungal sporulation rates as measures of functional integrity. The study was done at four sites (S1, S2, S3 and S4) along a downstream increasing phosphorus and habitat degradation gradient in a small stream. The biotic index, invertebrate metrics, invertebrate and fungal communities' structure and sporulation rates discriminated upstream and downstream sites. Decomposition rates classified sites S4 and S2 as having a compromised ecosystem functioning. Although both functional and structural approaches gave the same results for the most impacted site (S4), they were complementary for moderately impacted sites (S2 and S3), and we therefore support the need for incorporating functional measures in evaluations of stream ecological integrity. - This study supports the need for incorporating functional measures in evaluations of stream ecological integrity.

Evaluation of stream ecological integrity using litter decomposition and benthic invertebrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castela, Jose; Ferreira, Veronica; Graca, Manuel A.S.

2008-01-01

Biomonitoring programs to access the ecological integrity of freshwaters tend to rely exclusively on structural parameters. Here we evaluated stream ecological integrity using (a) benthic macroinvertebrate derived metrics and a biotic index as measures of structural integrity and (b) oak litter decomposition and associated fungal sporulation rates as measures of functional integrity. The study was done at four sites (S1, S2, S3 and S4) along a downstream increasing phosphorus and habitat degradation gradient in a small stream. The biotic index, invertebrate metrics, invertebrate and fungal communities' structure and sporulation rates discriminated upstream and downstream sites. Decomposition rates classified sites S4 and S2 as having a compromised ecosystem functioning. Although both functional and structural approaches gave the same results for the most impacted site (S4), they were complementary for moderately impacted sites (S2 and S3), and we therefore support the need for incorporating functional measures in evaluations of stream ecological integrity. - This study supports the need for incorporating functional measures in evaluations of stream ecological integrity

Atomic-batched tensor decomposed two-electron repulsion integrals

Science.gov (United States)

Schmitz, Gunnar; Madsen, Niels Kristian; Christiansen, Ove

2017-04-01

We present a new integral format for 4-index electron repulsion integrals, in which several strategies like the Resolution-of-the-Identity (RI) approximation and other more general tensor-decomposition techniques are combined with an atomic batching scheme. The 3-index RI integral tensor is divided into sub-tensors defined by atom pairs on which we perform an accelerated decomposition to the canonical product (CP) format. In a first step, the RI integrals are decomposed to a high-rank CP-like format by repeated singular value decompositions followed by a rank reduction, which uses a Tucker decomposition as an intermediate step to lower the prefactor of the algorithm. After decomposing the RI sub-tensors (within the Coulomb metric), they can be reassembled to the full decomposed tensor (RC approach) or the atomic batched format can be maintained (ABC approach). In the first case, the integrals are very similar to the well-known tensor hypercontraction integral format, which gained some attraction in recent years since it allows for quartic scaling implementations of MP2 and some coupled cluster methods. On the MP2 level, the RC and ABC approaches are compared concerning efficiency and storage requirements. Furthermore, the overall accuracy of this approach is assessed. Initial test calculations show a good accuracy and that it is not limited to small systems.

The e-index, complementing the h-index for excess citations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Ting Zhang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The h-index has already been used by major citation databases to evaluate the academic performance of individual scientists. Although effective and simple, the h-index suffers from some drawbacks that limit its use in accurately and fairly comparing the scientific output of different researchers. These drawbacks include information loss and low resolution: the former refers to the fact that in addition to h(2 citations for papers in the h-core, excess citations are completely ignored, whereas the latter means that it is common for a group of researchers to have an identical h-index. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To solve these problems, I here propose the e-index, where e(2 represents the ignored excess citations, in addition to the h(2 citations for h-core papers. Citation information can be completely depicted by using the h-index together with the e-index, which are independent of each other. Some other h-type indices, such as a and R, are h-dependent, have information redundancy with h, and therefore, when used together with h, mask the real differences in excess citations of different researchers. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Although simple, the e-index is a necessary h-index complement, especially for evaluating highly cited scientists or for precisely comparing the scientific output of a group of scientists having an identical h-index.

"Peak-tracking chip" (PTC) for bulk refractive index sensing and bioarray sensing

KAUST Repository

Bougot-Robin, Kristelle; Austin, H. Robert; Benisty, Henri; Hsing, I-Ming; Kodzius, Rimantas; Li, Shunbo; Wen, Weijia; Zhang, Yinghua

2013-01-01

Resonant techniques are of wide interest to detect variation of effective refractive index at a chip surface. Both Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and dielectric resonant waveguide (RWGs) can be exploited. Through their design, RWGs allow more flexibility (size of the biomolecule to detect, detection angle…). Using specially designed RWG “Peak-tracking chip”, we propose to use spatial information from a simple monochromatic picture as a new label-free bioarray technique. We discuss robustness, sensitivity, multiplex detection, fluidic integration of the technique and illustrate it through bulk refractive index sensing as well as specific recognition of DNA fragment from gyrase A.

"Peak-tracking chip" (PTC) for bulk refractive index sensing and bioarray sensing

KAUST Repository

Bougot-Robin, Kristelle

2013-10-20

Resonant techniques are of wide interest to detect variation of effective refractive index at a chip surface. Both Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and dielectric resonant waveguide (RWGs) can be exploited. Through their design, RWGs allow more flexibility (size of the biomolecule to detect, detection angle…). Using specially designed RWG “Peak-tracking chip”, we propose to use spatial information from a simple monochromatic picture as a new label-free bioarray technique. We discuss robustness, sensitivity, multiplex detection, fluidic integration of the technique and illustrate it through bulk refractive index sensing as well as specific recognition of DNA fragment from gyrase A.

Ultra-compact air-mode photonic crystal nanobeam cavity integrated with bandstop filter for refractive index sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Fujun; Fu, Zhongyuan; Wang, Chunhong; Ding, Zhaoxiang; Wang, Chao; Tian, Huiping

2017-05-20

We propose and investigate an ultra-compact air-mode photonic crystal nanobeam cavity (PCNC) with an ultra-high quality factor-to-mode volume ratio (Q/V) by quadratically tapering the lattice space of the rectangular holes from the center to both ends while other parameters remain unchanged. By using the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method, an optimized geometry yields a Q of 7.2×10 6 and a V∼1.095(λ/n Si ) 3 in simulations, resulting in an ultra-high Q/V ratio of about 6.5×10 6 (λ/n Si ) -3 . When the number of holes on either side is 8, the cavity possesses a high sensitivity of 252 nm/RIU (refractive index unit), a high calculated Q-factor of 1.27×10 5 , and an ultra-small effective V of ∼0.758(λ/n Si ) 3 at the fundamental resonant wavelength of 1521.74 nm. Particularly, the footprint is only about 8×0.7  μm 2 . However, inevitably our proposed PCNC has several higher-order resonant modes in the transmission spectrum, which makes the PCNC difficult to be used for multiplexed sensing. Thus, a well-designed bandstop filter with weak sidelobes and broad bandwidth based on a photonic crystal nanobeam waveguide is created to connect with the PCNC to filter out the high-order modes. Therefore, the integrated structure presented in this work is promising for building ultra-compact lab-on-chip sensor arrays with high density and parallel-multiplexing capability.

ESI-HI42 Puu O Kali, Island of Maui, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI6, Eastern St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-PR1 Isla Mona and Isla Desecheo, Puerto Rico 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI10 Jost Van Dyke, U.K. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI5, Central St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI4 Western St.Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI7, Western St John, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-VI2, Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

ESI-V1 Frederiksted, St. Croix., U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

An Integrated Risk Index Model Based on Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic for Underground Risk Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Fayaz

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Available space in congested cities is getting scarce due to growing urbanization in the recent past. The utilization of underground space is considered as a solution to the limited space in smart cities. The numbers of underground facilities are growing day by day in the developing world. Typical underground facilities include the transit subway, parking lots, electric lines, water supply and sewer lines. The likelihood of the occurrence of accidents due to underground facilities is a random phenomenon. To avoid any accidental loss, a risk assessment method is required to conduct the continuous risk assessment and report any abnormality before it happens. In this paper, we have proposed a hierarchical fuzzy inference based model for under-ground risk assessment. The proposed hierarchical fuzzy inference architecture reduces the total number of rules from the rule base. Rule reduction is important because the curse of dimensionality damages the transparency and interpretation as it is very tough to understand and justify hundreds or thousands of fuzzy rules. The computation time also increases as rules increase. The proposed model takes 175 rules having eight input parameters to compute the risk index, and the conventional fuzzy logic requires 390,625 rules, having the same number of input parameters to compute risk index. Hence, the proposed model significantly reduces the curse of dimensionality. Rule design for fuzzy logic is also a tedious task. In this paper, we have also introduced new rule schemes, namely maximum rule-based and average rule-based; both schemes can be used interchangeably according to the logic needed for rule design. The experimental results show that the proposed method is a virtuous choice for risk index calculation where the numbers of variables are greater.

Ecosilient Index to assess the greenness and resilience of the upstream automotive supply chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Azevedo, S.G.; Govindan, Kannan; Carvalho, H.

2013-01-01

This paper suggests an Ecosilient Index to assess the greenness and resilience of automotive companies and the corresponding supply chain. An integrated assessment model is proposed based on green and resilient practices. The Delphi technique is used to obtain the weights of the supply chain para...... sector; this constitutes an initial effort to close the gap between theory and practice. Future research is needed to investigate the index applicability in different industry contexts........ to the greenness of this industry is to reduce energy consumption. The significant contributions to resilience are sourcing strategies that allow switching of suppliers, flexible supply base/flexible sourcing and creating total supply chain visibility. The proposed index was developed in the context of automotive...

A Diagnosis Method for Rotation Machinery Faults Based on Dimensionless Indexes Combined with K-Nearest Neighbor Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianbin Xiong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available It is difficult to well distinguish the dimensionless indexes between normal petrochemical rotating machinery equipment and those with complex faults. When the conflict of evidence is too big, it will result in uncertainty of diagnosis. This paper presents a diagnosis method for rotation machinery fault based on dimensionless indexes combined with K-nearest neighbor (KNN algorithm. This method uses a KNN algorithm and an evidence fusion theoretical formula to process fuzzy data, incomplete data, and accurate data. This method can transfer the signals from the petrochemical rotating machinery sensors to the reliability manners using dimensionless indexes and KNN algorithm. The input information is further integrated by an evidence synthesis formula to get the final data. The type of fault will be decided based on these data. The experimental results show that the proposed method can integrate data to provide a more reliable and reasonable result, thereby reducing the decision risk.

Bounds and inequalities relating h-index, g-index, e-index and generalized impact factor: an improvement over existing models.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbas, Ash Mohammad

2012-01-01

In this paper, we describe some bounds and inequalities relating h-index, g-index, e-index, and generalized impact factor. We derive the bounds and inequalities relating these indexing parameters from their basic definitions and without assuming any continuous model to be followed by any of them. We verify the theorems using citation data for five Price Medalists. We observe that the lower bound for h-index given by Theorem 2, [formula: see text], g ≥ 1, comes out to be more accurate as compared to Schubert-Glanzel relation h is proportional to C(2/3)P(-1/3) for a proportionality constant of 1, where C is the number of citations and P is the number of papers referenced. Also, the values of h-index obtained using Theorem 2 outperform those obtained using Egghe-Liang-Rousseau power law model for the given citation data of Price Medalists. Further, we computed the values of upper bound on g-index given by Theorem 3, g ≤ (h + e), where e denotes the value of e-index. We observe that the upper bound on g-index given by Theorem 3 is reasonably tight for the given citation record of Price Medalists.

Integrated two-section discrete mode laser

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anandarajah, P.M.; Latkowski, S.; Browning, C.; Zhou, R.; O'Carroll, J.; Phelan, R.; Kelly, B.; O'Gorman, J.; Barry, L.P.

2012-01-01

The authors present the design and characterization of a novel integrated two-section discrete mode index patterned diode laser source. The two slotted regions etched into the laser ridge waveguide are formed in the same fabrication step as the ridge, thus avoiding the requirement for complex

Integrated assessment of river health based on the conditions of water quality,aquatic life and physical habitat

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

MENG Wei; ZHANG Nan; ZHANG Yuan; ZHENG Binghui

2009-01-01

The health conditions of Liao River were assessed using 25 sampling sites in April 2005, with water quality index, biotic index and physical habitat quality index.Based on the method of cluster analysis (CA) for water quality indices, it reveals that heavily polluted sites of Liao River are located at estuary and mainstream.The aquatic species surveyed were attached algae and benthic invertebrates.The result shows that the diversity and biomass of attached algae and benthic index of biotic integrity (B-IBI) are degrading as the chemical and physical quality of water bodies deteriorating.Physiochemical parameters, BOD5, CODCr, TN, TP, NH3-N, DO, petroleum hydrocarbon and conductivity, were statistically analyzed with principal component analysis and correlation analysis.The statistical results were incorporated into the integrated assessing water quality index, combining fecal coliform count, attached algae diversity, B-IBI and physical habitat quality score, a comprehensive integrated assessing system of river ecological health was established.Based on the systimetic assesment, the assessed sites are categorized into 9 "healthy" and "sub-healthy" sites and 8 "sub-sick" and "sick" sites.

Development of a coastal drought index using salinity data

Science.gov (United States)

Conrads, Paul; Darby, Lisa S.

2017-01-01

A critical aspect of the uniqueness of coastal drought is the effects on the salinity dynamics of creeks, rivers, and estuaries. The location of the freshwater–saltwater interface along the coast is an important factor in the ecological and socioeconomic dynamics of coastal communities. Salinity is a critical response variable that integrates hydrologic and coastal dynamics including sea level, tides, winds, precipitation, streamflow, and tropical storms. The position of the interface determines the composition of freshwater and saltwater aquatic communities as well as the freshwater availability for water intakes. Many definitions of drought have been proposed, with most describing a decline in precipitation having negative impacts on the water supply. Indices have been developed incorporating data such as rainfall, streamflow, soil moisture, and groundwater levels. These water-availability drought indices were developed for upland areas and may not be ideal for characterizing coastal drought. The availability of real-time and historical salinity datasets provides an opportunity for the development of a salinity-based coastal drought index. An approach similar to the standardized precipitation index (SPI) was modified and applied to salinity data obtained from sites in South Carolina and Georgia. Using the SPI approach, the index becomes a coastal salinity index (CSI) that characterizes coastal salinity conditions with respect to drought periods of higher-saline conditions and wet periods of higher-freshwater conditions. Evaluation of the CSI indicates that it provides additional coastal response information as compared to the SPI and the Palmer hydrologic drought index, and the CSI can be used for different estuary types and for comparison of conditions along coastlines.

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics and the index theorem for arbitrary Lorentz irreps

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jarvis, P.D.; Twisk, S.

1987-05-01

A new formalism is presented for the derivation of index theorems from the supersymmetric quantum mechanics of the Dirac operator, based on a discrete approximation to the path integral. Operator ordering in H (i..gamma..sup(..mu..)Dsub(..mu..))/sup 2/ dictates the form of the action, and the N ..-->.. infinity limit yields the correct form of the index theorem for the U(1) anomaly. It is established that internal degrees of freedom may be represented by fermions and/or bosons. In the purely gravitational case, the bosonic formulation yields a generating function for the contribution to the anomaly for spinor fields carrying arbitrary irreps (1/2A,1/2B) of the local SO(4) group.

Supersymmetric quantum mechanics and the index theorem for arbitrary Lorentz irreps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jarvis, P.D.; Twisk, S.

1987-01-01

A new formalism is presented for the derivation of index theorems from the supersymmetric quantum mechanics of the Dirac operator, based on a discrete approximation to the path integral. Operator ordering in H (iγsup(μ)Dsub(μ)) 2 dictates the form of the action, and the N → infinity limit yields the correct form of the index theorem for the U(1) anomaly. It is established that internal degrees of freedom may be represented by fermions and/or bosons. In the purely gravitational case, the bosonic formulation yields a generating function for the contribution to the anomaly for spinor fields carrying arbitrary irreps (1/2A,1/2B) of the local SO(4) group. (author)

Developing a Climate-Induced Social Vulnerability Index for Urban Areas: A Case Study of East Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Omitaomu, Olufemi A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Carvalhaes, Thomaz M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-09-01

Census American Community Survey 2008-2012 data are used to construct a spatially explicit Climate-Induced Social Vulnerability Index (CSVI) for the East Tennessee area. This CSVI is a combination of a Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and a Climate Index. A method is replicated and adapted to derive a custom SVI by Census tract for the counties participating in the East Tennessee Index, and a Climate Index is developed for the same area based on indicators for climate hazards. The resulting datasets are exported as a raster to be integrated and combined within the Urban Climate Adaptation Tool (Urban-CAT) to act as an indicator for communities which may be differentially vulnerable to changes in climate. Results for the SVI are mapped separately from the complete CSVI in this document as results for the latter are in development.

Seqcrawler: biological data indexing and browsing platform.

Science.gov (United States)

Sallou, Olivier; Bretaudeau, Anthony; Roult, Aurelien

2012-07-24

Seqcrawler takes its roots in software like SRS or Lucegene. It provides an indexing platform to ease the search of data and meta-data in biological banks and it can scale to face the current flow of data. While many biological bank search tools are available on the Internet, mainly provided by large organizations to search their data, there is a lack of free and open source solutions to browse one's own set of data with a flexible query system and able to scale from a single computer to a cloud system. A personal index platform will help labs and bioinformaticians to search their meta-data but also to build a larger information system with custom subsets of data. The software is scalable from a single computer to a cloud-based infrastructure. It has been successfully tested in a private cloud with 3 index shards (pieces of index) hosting ~400 millions of sequence information (whole GenBank, UniProt, PDB and others) for a total size of 600 GB in a fault tolerant architecture (high-availability). It has also been successfully integrated with software to add extra meta-data from blast results to enhance users' result analysis. Seqcrawler provides a complete open source search and store solution for labs or platforms needing to manage large amount of data/meta-data with a flexible and customizable web interface. All components (search engine, visualization and data storage), though independent, share a common and coherent data system that can be queried with a simple HTTP interface. The solution scales easily and can also provide a high availability infrastructure.

Seqcrawler: biological data indexing and browsing platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sallou Olivier

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Seqcrawler takes its roots in software like SRS or Lucegene. It provides an indexing platform to ease the search of data and meta-data in biological banks and it can scale to face the current flow of data. While many biological bank search tools are available on the Internet, mainly provided by large organizations to search their data, there is a lack of free and open source solutions to browse one’s own set of data with a flexible query system and able to scale from a single computer to a cloud system. A personal index platform will help labs and bioinformaticians to search their meta-data but also to build a larger information system with custom subsets of data. Results The software is scalable from a single computer to a cloud-based infrastructure. It has been successfully tested in a private cloud with 3 index shards (pieces of index hosting ~400 millions of sequence information (whole GenBank, UniProt, PDB and others for a total size of 600 GB in a fault tolerant architecture (high-availability. It has also been successfully integrated with software to add extra meta-data from blast results to enhance users’ result analysis. Conclusions Seqcrawler provides a complete open source search and store solution for labs or platforms needing to manage large amount of data/meta-data with a flexible and customizable web interface. All components (search engine, visualization and data storage, though independent, share a common and coherent data system that can be queried with a simple HTTP interface. The solution scales easily and can also provide a high availability infrastructure.

Spatial Indexing for Data Searching in Mobile Sensing Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuchao; De, Suparna; Wang, Wei; Moessner, Klaus; Palaniswami, Marimuthu S

2017-06-18

Data searching and retrieval is one of the fundamental functionalities in many Web of Things applications, which need to collect, process and analyze huge amounts of sensor stream data. The problem in fact has been well studied for data generated by sensors that are installed at fixed locations; however, challenges emerge along with the popularity of opportunistic sensing applications in which mobile sensors keep reporting observation and measurement data at variable intervals and changing geographical locations. To address these challenges, we develop the Geohash-Grid Tree, a spatial indexing technique specially designed for searching data integrated from heterogeneous sources in a mobile sensing environment. Results of the experiments on a real-world dataset collected from the SmartSantander smart city testbed show that the index structure allows efficient search based on spatial distance, range and time windows in a large time series database.

New architectures for integrated optics: low-loss tight bends and on-chip high-index-contrast potassium double Tungstate waveguides

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sefünç, Mustafa

2016-01-01

This thesis concentrates on improving the performance of low-index-contrast waveguides in terms of reducing the bend losses and increasing the index contrast of waveguides by heterogeneous adhesive bonding and thinning. In the first part of this thesis, we have demonstrated that introducing a thin

Optimizing UV Index determination from broadband irradiances

Science.gov (United States)

Tereszchuk, Keith A.; Rochon, Yves J.; McLinden, Chris A.; Vaillancourt, Paul A.

2018-03-01

A study was undertaken to improve upon the prognosticative capability of Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) UV Index forecast model. An aspect of that work, and the topic of this communication, was to investigate the use of the four UV broadband surface irradiance fields generated by ECCC's Global Environmental Multiscale (GEM) numerical prediction model to determine the UV Index. The basis of the investigation involves the creation of a suite of routines which employ high-spectral-resolution radiative transfer code developed to calculate UV Index fields from GEM forecasts. These routines employ a modified version of the Cloud-J v7.4 radiative transfer model, which integrates GEM output to produce high-spectral-resolution surface irradiance fields. The output generated using the high-resolution radiative transfer code served to verify and calibrate GEM broadband surface irradiances under clear-sky conditions and their use in providing the UV Index. A subsequent comparison of irradiances and UV Index under cloudy conditions was also performed. Linear correlation agreement of surface irradiances from the two models for each of the two higher UV bands covering 310.70-330.0 and 330.03-400.00 nm is typically greater than 95 % for clear-sky conditions with associated root-mean-square relative errors of 6.4 and 4.0 %. However, underestimations of clear-sky GEM irradiances were found on the order of ˜ 30-50 % for the 294.12-310.70 nm band and by a factor of ˜ 30 for the 280.11-294.12 nm band. This underestimation can be significant for UV Index determination but would not impact weather forecasting. Corresponding empirical adjustments were applied to the broadband irradiances now giving a correlation coefficient of unity. From these, a least-squares fitting was derived for the calculation of the UV Index. The resultant differences in UV indices from the high-spectral-resolution irradiances and the resultant GEM broadband irradiances are typically within 0

Integrating Chlorophyll fapar and Nadir Photochemical Reflectance Index from EO-1/Hyperion to Predict Cornfield Daily Gross Primary Production

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qingyuan; Middleton, Elizabeth M.; Cheng, Yen-Ben; Huemmrich, K. Fred; Cook, Bruce D.; Corp, Lawrence A.; Kustas, William P.; Russ, Andrew L.; Prueger, John H.; Yao, Tian

2016-01-01

The concept of light use efficiency (Epsilon) and the concept of fraction of photosynthetically active ration (PAR) absorbed for vegetation photosynthesis (PSN), i.e., fAPAR (sub PSN), have been widely utilized to estimate vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP). It has been demonstrated that the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) is empirically related to e. An experimental US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cornfield in Maryland was selected as our study field. We explored the potential of integrating fAPAR(sub chl) (defined as the fraction of PAR absorbed by chlorophyll) and nadir PRI (PRI(sub nadir)) to predict cornfield daily GPP. We acquired nadir or near-nadir EO-1/Hyperion satellite images that covered the cornfield and took nadir in-situ field spectral measurements. Those data were used to derive the PRI(sub nadir) and fAPAR (sub chl). The fAPAR (sub chl) is retrieved with the advanced radiative transfer model PROSAIL2 and the Metropolis approach, a type of Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation procedure. We define chlorophyll light use efficiency Epsilon (sub chl) as the ratio of vegetation GPP as measured by eddy covariance techniques to PAR absorbed by chlorophyll (Epsilon(sub chl) = GPP/APAR (sub chl). Daily Epsilon (sub chl) retrieved with the EO-1 Hyperion images was regressed with a linear equation of PRI (sub nadir) Epsilon (sub chl) = Alpha × PRI (sub nadir) + Beta). The satellite Epsilon(sub chl- PRI (sub nadir) linear relationship for the cornfield was implemented to develop an integrated daily GPP model [GPP = (Alpha × PRI(sub nadir) + Beta) × fAPAR (sub chl) × PAR], which was evaluated with fAPAR (sub chl) and PRI (sub nadir) retrieved from field measurements. Daily GPP estimated with this fAPAR (sub chl-) PRI (nadir) integration model was strongly correlated with the observed tower in-situ daily GPP (R(sup 2) = 0.93); with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.71 g C mol-(sup -1) PPFD and coefficient of variation (CV) of 16

GEOINFORMATION ANALYSIS OF THE INDEX OF BIOLOGICAL EFFICIENCY OF CLIMATE AS CRITERION FOR EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL STABILITY OF THE LANDSCAPE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Ogurtsov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article considers indicator approach to assessment of potential stability of landscapes. As an example of integrated criterion the index of climate biological efficiency (TK has been used. Calculations of TK index for assessment of stability of landscapes have been executed for the territory of Tver Region. Cartograms of TK index and its components have been made. Geospatial analysis has been carried out and estimates of potential stability of landscapes are given. The example of mapping and calculation of the TK index serves as a starting point for using it in multi-criteria assessment of the state and emergent properties of geosystems built on the principles of ASPID-methodology. This example reflects the possibility of using the indicator approach in the first stage of the study of resistance to changes in the parameters of natural regime for the subsequent multicriteria and integral assessment of resistance to changes in the parameters of natural and anthropogenic regimes of geosystems functioning. The use of the index of climate biological efficiency as an indicator of sustainability will make it possible to actively use it in future in geoecological research.

Low-loss curved subwavelength grating waveguide based on index engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zheng; Xu, Xiaochuan; Fan, D. L.; Wang, Yaoguo; Chen, Ray T.

2016-03-01

Subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide is an intriguing alternative to conventional optical waveguides due to its freedom to tune a few important waveguide properties such as dispersion and refractive index. Devices based on SWG waveguide have demonstrated impressive performances compared to those of conventional waveguides. However, the large loss of SWG waveguide bends jeopardizes their applications in integrated photonics circuits. In this work, we propose that a predistorted refractive index distribution in SWG waveguide bends can effectively decrease the mode mismatch noise and radiation loss simultaneously, and thus significantly reduce the bend loss. Here, we achieved the pre-distortion refractive index distribution by using trapezoidal silicon pillars. This geometry tuning approach is numerically optimized and experimentally demonstrated. The average insertion loss of a 5 μm SWG waveguide bend can be reduced drastically from 5.58 dB to 1.37 dB per 90° bend for quasi-TE polarization. In the future, the proposed approach can be readily adopted to enhance performance of an array of SWG waveguide-based photonics devices.

Integrating institutional bribery and behavioral measures of bribery

OpenAIRE

Rose, Richard; Peiffer, Caryn

2016-01-01

Bribery involves individuals exchanging material benefits for a service of a public institution. To understand the process of bribery we need to integrate measures of individual behaviour and institutional attributes rather than rely exclusively on surveys of individual perceptions and experience or macro-level corruption indexes of national institutions. This paper integrates institutional and behavioural measures to show that where you live and who you are have independent influence on whet...

Complete cumulative index (1963-1983)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

This complete cumulative index covers all regular and special issues and supplements published by Atomic Energy Review (AER) during its lifetime (1963-1983). The complete cumulative index consists of six Indexes: the Index of Abstracts, the Subject Index, the Title Index, the Author Index, the Country Index and the Table of Elements Index. The complete cumulative index supersedes the Cumulative Indexes for Volumes 1-7: 1963-1969 (1970), and for Volumes 1-10: 1963-1972 (1972); this Index also finalizes Atomic Energy Review, the publication of which has recently been terminated by the IAEA

ESI-VI3 East Point, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Negative index effects from a homogeneous positive index prism

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Sherman W.; Epstein, Ariel

2017-12-01

Cellular structured negative index metamaterials in the form of a right triangular prism have often been tested by observing the refraction of a beam across the prism hypotenuse which is serrated in order to conform to the cell walls. We show that not only can this negative index effect be obtained from a homogeneous dielectric prism having a positive index of refraction, but in addition, for sampling at the walls of the cellular structure, the phase in the material has the illusory appearance of moving in a negative direction. Although many previous reports relied on refraction direction and phase velocity of prism structures to verify negative index design, our investigation indicates that to unambiguously demonstrate material negativity additional empirical evidence is required.

On the multi-index (3 m-parametric) Mittag-Leffler functions, fractional calculus relations and series convergence

Science.gov (United States)

Paneva-Konovska, Jordanka

2013-10-01

In this paper we consider a family of 3 m-indices generalizations of the classical Mittag-Leffler function, called multi-index (3 m-parametric) Mittag-Leffler functions. We survey the basic properties of these entire functions, find their order and type, and new representations by means of Mellin-Barnes type contour integrals, Wright p Ψ q -functions and Fox H-functions, asymptotic estimates. Formulas for integer and fractional order integration and differentiations are found, and these are extended also for the operators of the generalized fractional calculus (multiple Erdélyi-Kober operators). Some interesting particular cases of the multi-index Mittag-Leffler functions are discussed. The convergence of series of such type functions in the complex plane is considered, and analogues of the Cauchy-Hadamard, Abel, Tauber and Littlewood theorems are provided.

Capacities and overlap indexes with an application in fuzzy rule-based classification systems

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Paternain, D.; Bustince, H.; Pagola, M.; Sussner, P.; Kolesárová, A.; Mesiar, Radko

2016-01-01

Roč. 305, č. 1 (2016), s. 70-94 ISSN 0165-0114 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : Capacity * Overlap index * Overlap function * Choquet integral * Fuzzy rule-based classification systems Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 2.718, year: 2016 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2016/E/mesiar-0465739.pdf

Note: Optical fiber milled by focused ion beam and its application for Fabry-Pérot refractive index sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuan, Scott Wu; Wang, Fei; Savenko, Alexey

2011-01-01

We introduce a highly compact fiber-optic Fabry-Pérot refractive index sensor integrated with a fluid channel that is fabricated directly near the tip of a 32 μm in diameter single-mode fiber taper. The focused ion beam technique is used to efficiently mill the microcavity from the fiber side...... and finely polish the end facets of the cavity with a high spatial resolution. It is found that a fringe visibility of over 15 dB can be achieved and that the sensor has a sensitivity of ∼1731 nm/RIU (refractive index units) and a detection limit of ∼5.78 × 10−6 RIU. This miniature integrated all-in-fiber...

Integrating SERVQUAL with national customer satisfaction indices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Kai; Eskildsen, Jacob Kjær

2008-01-01

The focus of this study is to integrate SERVQUAL with a national customer satisfaction index in this context the EPSI Rating framework. The data for this study comes from the Danish Customer Satisfaction Index 2007. Here app. 1700 customers have evaluated there preferred bank. The questionnaire...... consists of two parts: the basic EPSI statement as well as 15 statements covering the 5 dimension from SERVQUAL. The results show that the importance of the 5 dimensions differs substantially among the different companies and that there is a clear link to overall satisfaction....

IndexCat

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — IndexCat provides access to the digitized version of the printed Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office; eTK for medieval Latin texts; and...

Unlocking Index Animalium: From paper slips to bytes and bits.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilsk, Suzanne C; Kalfatovic, Martin R; Richard, Joel M

2016-01-01

difficult. Coinciding with the development of the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) in 2005, it became obvious there was a need to integrate the database converted Index Animalium, BHL's scanned taxonomic literature, and taxonomic intelligence (the algorithmic identification of binomial, Latinate name-strings). The challenges of working with legacy taxonomic citation, computer matching algorithms, and making connections have brought us to today's goal of making Sherborn available and linked to other datasets. Partnering with others to allow machine-to-machine communications the data is being examined for possible transformation into RDF markup and meeting the standards of Linked Open Data. SIL staff have partnered with Thomson Reuters and the Global Names Initiative to further enhance the Index Animalium data set. Thomson Reuters' staff is now working on integrating the species microcitation and species name in the ION: Index to Organism Names project; Richard Pyle (The Bishop Museum) is also working on further parsing of the text. The Index Animalium collaborative project's ultimate goal is to successful have researchers go seamlessly from the species name in either ION or the scanned pages of Index Animalium to the digitized original description in BHL - connecting taxonomic researchers to original authored species descriptions with just a click.

Integrated approach to assess ecosystem health in harbor areas.

Science.gov (United States)

Bebianno, M J; Pereira, C G; Rey, F; Cravo, A; Duarte, D; D'Errico, G; Regoli, F

2015-05-01

Harbors are critical environments with strategic economic importance but with potential environmental impact: health assessment criteria are a key issue. An ecosystem health status approach was carried out in Portimão harbor as a case-study. Priority and specific chemical levels in sediments along with their bioavailability in mussels, bioassays and a wide array of biomarkers were integrated in a biomarker index (IBR index) and the overall data in a weight of evidence (WOE) model. Metals, PAHs, PCBs and HCB were not particularly high compared with sediment guidelines and standards for dredging. Bioavailability was evident for Cd, Cu and Zn. Biomarkers proved more sensitive namely changes of antioxidant responses, metallothioneins and vittellogenin-like proteins. IBR index indicated that site 4 was the most impacted area. Assessment of the health status by WOE approach highlighted the importance of integrating sediment chemistry, bioaccumulation, biomarkers and bioassays and revealed that despite some disturbance in the harbor area, there was also an impact of urban effluents from upstream. Environmental quality assessment in harbors. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microstructured gradient-index lenses for THz photoconductive antennas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mads Brincker

2016-02-01

Full Text Available A new type of substrate lens for photoconductive antennas (PCA’s based on sub-wavelength microstructuring is presented and studied theoretically by the use of Greens function integral equation methods (GFIEM’s. By etching sub-wavelength trenches into a flat substrate, the effective dielectric constant can be designed to function like a gradient index (GRIN lens. The proposed GRIN substrate lenses have sub-mm dimension, which is smaller than the dimensions of a typical hyper-hemispherical substrate lens (HSL, and could enable fabrication of arrays of closely packed PCA’s with individual lenses integrated directly into the PCA substrate. The performance of different GRIN lenses is compared to a HSL and shown to be comparable with regards to the terahertz radiation extraction efficiency, and it is shown that the collimating properties of these GRIN lenses can be tailored by changing the parameters used for microstructuring.

On the spaces of Dotsenko-Fateev integrals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvotti, R.

1994-01-01

In two seminal papers Dotsenko and Fateev produced explicit integral formulas for some conformal blocks of conformal field theory. The structure of such integrals is illustrated by the following model. Let w 1 ,hor-ellipsis, wk-1 be given distinct points on C,μ,hor-ellipsis, μ1,hor-ellipsis,μk-1 and μ be complex parameters. Here and in what follows we shall use the index k to label the point at infinity and write w k = ∞

AP Index

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Planetary Amplitude index - Bartels 1951. The a-index ranges from 0 to 400 and represents a K-value converted to a linear scale in gammas (nanoTeslas)--a scale that...

Spatial Indexing for Data Searching in Mobile Sensing Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuchao Zhou

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Data searching and retrieval is one of the fundamental functionalities in many Web of Things applications, which need to collect, process and analyze huge amounts of sensor stream data. The problem in fact has been well studied for data generated by sensors that are installed at fixed locations; however, challenges emerge along with the popularity of opportunistic sensing applications in which mobile sensors keep reporting observation and measurement data at variable intervals and changing geographical locations. To address these challenges, we develop the Geohash-Grid Tree, a spatial indexing technique specially designed for searching data integrated from heterogeneous sources in a mobile sensing environment. Results of the experiments on a real-world dataset collected from the SmartSantander smart city testbed show that the index structure allows efficient search based on spatial distance, range and time windows in a large time series database.

An index for the assessment of degraded Mediterranean forest ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Modica

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aim of study: Diagnosing the degradation degree of forest ecosystems is the basis for restoration strategies. However, there is no literature documenting how to quantify the forest degradation degree by using synthetic indicators, also because there is not a widely accepted definition for "forest degradation" and "degraded forest". Although there are many definitions of forest degradation that converge on the loss of ecosystem services, still today there are no largely accepted methods that give operational guidance to help in defining it. In the present research, with the aim to assess the degree of forest degradation, an integrated index - FDI, Forest Degradation Index - was developed.Area of study: In this first application, the FDI was applied and validated at stand level in two different Mediterranean forest types in two different case studies: Madonie and Nedrodi regional Parks (Sicily, Italy. The first dominated by sessile oak [Quercus petraea (Matt. Liebl. subsp. austrotyrrhenica Brullo, Guarino & Siracusa], the second dominated by cork oak (Quercus suber L..Material and methods: FDI is a synthetic index structured starting from representative and relatively easily detectable parameters. Here, we propose a set of six indicators that should be assessed to determine the forest degradation: Structural Index (SI, Canopy Cover (CC, Natural Regeneration Density (NRD, Focal Species of Degradation (FSD, Coarse Woody Debris (CWD, and Soil Depth (SD. FDI, here proposed and discussed, has been based on a MCDA (Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis approach using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP technique, and implemented in order to contribute in finding simple indicators useful for forest restoration purposes that have an eco-functional basis.Main results: An integrated index of forest degradation has been defined. FDI values are comprised in the closed interval [0, 10], ranging from class I (Higher ecological functionality to class IV (Lower

7 CFR 5.1 - Parity index and index of prices received by farmers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Parity index and index of prices received by farmers... § 5.1 Parity index and index of prices received by farmers. (a) The parity index and related indices... farmers, interest, taxes, and farm wage rates, as revised May 1976 and published in the May 28, 1976, and...

Novel Radiobiological Gamma Index for Evaluation of 3-Dimensional Predicted Dose Distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sumida, Iori, E-mail: sumida@radonc.med.osaka-u.ac.jp [Department of Radiation Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Yamaguchi, Hajime; Kizaki, Hisao; Aboshi, Keiko; Tsujii, Mari; Yoshikawa, Nobuhiko; Yamada, Yuji [Department of Radiation Oncology, NTT West Osaka Hospital, Osaka (Japan); Suzuki, Osamu; Seo, Yuji [Department of Radiation Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Isohashi, Fumiaki [Department of Radiation Oncology, NTT West Osaka Hospital, Osaka (Japan); Yoshioka, Yasuo [Department of Radiation Oncology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka (Japan); Ogawa, Kazuhiko [Department of Radiation Oncology, NTT West Osaka Hospital, Osaka (Japan)

2015-07-15

Purpose: To propose a gamma index-based dose evaluation index that integrates the radiobiological parameters of tumor control (TCP) and normal tissue complication probabilities (NTCP). Methods and Materials: Fifteen prostate and head and neck (H&N) cancer patients received intensity modulated radiation therapy. Before treatment, patient-specific quality assurance was conducted via beam-by-beam analysis, and beam-specific dose error distributions were generated. The predicted 3-dimensional (3D) dose distribution was calculated by back-projection of relative dose error distribution per beam. A 3D gamma analysis of different organs (prostate: clinical [CTV] and planned target volumes [PTV], rectum, bladder, femoral heads; H&N: gross tumor volume [GTV], CTV, spinal cord, brain stem, both parotids) was performed using predicted and planned dose distributions under 2%/2 mm tolerance and physical gamma passing rate was calculated. TCP and NTCP values were calculated for voxels with physical gamma indices (PGI) >1. We propose a new radiobiological gamma index (RGI) to quantify the radiobiological effects of TCP and NTCP and calculate radiobiological gamma passing rates. Results: The mean RGI gamma passing rates for prostate cases were significantly different compared with those of PGI (P<.03–.001). The mean RGI gamma passing rates for H&N cases (except for GTV) were significantly different compared with those of PGI (P<.001). Differences in gamma passing rates between PGI and RGI were due to dose differences between the planned and predicted dose distributions. Radiobiological gamma distribution was visualized to identify areas where the dose was radiobiologically important. Conclusions: RGI was proposed to integrate radiobiological effects into PGI. This index would assist physicians and medical physicists not only in physical evaluations of treatment delivery accuracy, but also in clinical evaluations of predicted dose distribution.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January--June 1995. Volume 41, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-09-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the directors' Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case name index; digests and headers; legal citations index; subject index; and facility index

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-March 1984. Volume 19, Index 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-01-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, the Administrative Law Judge, the Directors' Decisions, and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. Information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats: Case Name Index, Digests and Headers, Legal Citations Index, Subject Index, and Facility Index

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances, July--December 1993. Volume 38, Index 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1994-04-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the Directors` Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for Rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. These information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case Name Index; Digests and Headers; Legal Citations Index; Subject Index, and Facility Index.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January--June 1995. Volume 41, Index 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ), the directors` Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions for rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case name index; digests and headers; legal citations index; subject index; and facility index.

The Nature Index: A General Framework for Synthesizing Knowledge on the State of Biodiversity

Science.gov (United States)

Certain, Grégoire; Skarpaas, Olav; Bjerke, Jarle-Werner; Framstad, Erik; Lindholm, Markus; Nilsen, Jan-Erik; Norderhaug, Ann; Oug, Eivind; Pedersen, Hans-Christian; Schartau, Ann-Kristin; van der Meeren, Gro I.; Aslaksen, Iulie; Engen, Steinar; Garnåsjordet, Per-Arild; Kvaløy, Pål; Lillegård, Magnar; Yoccoz, Nigel G.; Nybø, Signe

2011-01-01

The magnitude and urgency of the biodiversity crisis is widely recognized within scientific and political organizations. However, a lack of integrated measures for biodiversity has greatly constrained the national and international response to the biodiversity crisis. Thus, integrated biodiversity indexes will greatly facilitate information transfer from science toward other areas of human society. The Nature Index framework samples scientific information on biodiversity from a variety of sources, synthesizes this information, and then transmits it in a simplified form to environmental managers, policymakers, and the public. The Nature Index optimizes information use by incorporating expert judgment, monitoring-based estimates, and model-based estimates. The index relies on a network of scientific experts, each of whom is responsible for one or more biodiversity indicators. The resulting set of indicators is supposed to represent the best available knowledge on the state of biodiversity and ecosystems in any given area. The value of each indicator is scaled relative to a reference state, i.e., a predicted value assessed by each expert for a hypothetical undisturbed or sustainably managed ecosystem. Scaled indicator values can be aggregated or disaggregated over different axes representing spatiotemporal dimensions or thematic groups. A range of scaling models can be applied to allow for different ways of interpreting the reference states, e.g., optimal situations or minimum sustainable levels. Statistical testing for differences in space or time can be implemented using Monte-Carlo simulations. This study presents the Nature Index framework and details its implementation in Norway. The results suggest that the framework is a functional, efficient, and pragmatic approach for gathering and synthesizing scientific knowledge on the state of biodiversity in any marine or terrestrial ecosystem and has general applicability worldwide. PMID:21526118

The noncommutative index theorem and the periodic table for disordered topological insulators and superconductors

Science.gov (United States)

Katsura, Hosho; Koma, Tohru

2018-03-01

We study a wide class of topological free-fermion systems on a hypercubic lattice in spatial dimensions d ≥ 1. When the Fermi level lies in a spectral gap or a mobility gap, the topological properties, e.g., the integral quantization of the topological invariant, are protected by certain symmetries of the Hamiltonian against disorder. This generic feature is characterized by a generalized index theorem which is a noncommutative analog of the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. The noncommutative index defined in terms of a pair of projections gives a precise formula for the topological invariant in each symmetry class in any dimension (d ≥ 1). Under the assumption on the nonvanishing spectral or mobility gap, we prove that the index formula reproduces Bott periodicity and all of the possible values of topological invariants in the classification table of topological insulators and superconductors. We also prove that the indices are robust against perturbations that do not break the symmetry of the unperturbed Hamiltonian.

Factorising the 3D topologically twisted index

Science.gov (United States)

Cabo-Bizet, Alejandro

2017-04-01

We explore the path integration — upon the contour of hermitian (non-auxliary) field configurations — of topologically twisted N=2 Chern-Simons-matter theory (TTCSM) on {S}_2 times a segment. In this way, we obtain the formula for the 3D topologically twisted index, first as a convolution of TTCSM on {S}_2 times halves of {S}_1 , second as TTCSM on {S}_2 times {S}_1 — with a puncture, — and third as TTCSM on {S}_2× {S}_1 . In contradistinction to the first two cases, in the third case, the vector multiplet auxiliary field D is constrained to be anti-hermitian.

Size-selective detection in integrated optical interferometric biosensors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mulder, Harmen K P; Ymeti, Aurel; Subramaniam, Vinod; Kanger, Johannes S

2012-01-01

We present a new size-selective detection method for integrated optical interferometric biosensors that can strongly enhance their performance. We demonstrate that by launching multiple wavelengths into a Young interferometer waveguide sensor it is feasible to derive refractive index changes from

Suspended silica beam splitters on silicon with large core-clad index deference

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaomin; Armani, Andrea M.

2012-03-01

Optical beam splitters form a fundamental component in integrated optical systems, performing as modulators, interferometers and (de)multiplexers. While silica is a desirable material, because of its low non-linear susceptibility, it is extremely challenging to achieve the requisite core-clad refractive index contrast. In this work, silica splitters with an effective refractive index difference of 25% between the core and clad is demonstrated. The splitter can divide power evenly with low crosstalk from 1520 to 1630nm. In addition, the splitting ratio doesn't change and the output power increases linearly with the input power, which indicates a low susceptibility to thermal effects. The splitter's polarization independent behavior is also verified.

21 CFR 516.157 - Publication of the index and content of an index listing.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Publication of the index and content of an index... MINOR SPECIES Index of Legally Marketed Unapproved New Animal Drugs for Minor Species § 516.157 Publication of the index and content of an index listing. (a) FDA will make the list of indexed drugs...

Modelling efficient innovative work: integration of economic and social psychological approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babanova Yulia

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the relevance of integration of economic and social psychological approaches to the solution of enhancing the efficiency of innovation management. The content, features and specifics of the modelling methods within each of approaches are unfolded and options of integration are considered. The economic approach lies in the generation of the integrated matrix concept of management of innovative development of an enterprise in line with the stages of innovative work and the use of the integrated vector method for the evaluation of the innovative enterprise development level. The social psychological approach lies in the development of a system of psychodiagnostic indexes of activity resources within the scope of psychological innovative audit of enterprise management and development of modelling methods for the balance of activity trends. Modelling the activity resources is based on the system of equations accounting for the interaction type of psychodiagnostic indexes. Integration of two approaches includes a methodological level, a level of empirical studies and modelling methods. There are suggested options of integrating the economic and psychological approaches to analyze available material and non-material resources of the enterprises’ innovative work and to forecast an optimal option of development based on the implemented modelling methods.

Extraction of diffuse correlation spectroscopy flow index by integration of Nth-order linear model with Monte Carlo simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Shang, Yu; Li, Ting; Chen, Lei; Lin, Yu; Toborek, Michal; Yu, Guoqiang

2014-05-01

Conventional semi-infinite solution for extracting blood flow index (BFI) from diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) measurements may cause errors in estimation of BFI (αDB) in tissues with small volume and large curvature. We proposed an algorithm integrating Nth-order linear model of autocorrelation function with the Monte Carlo simulation of photon migrations in tissue for the extraction of αDB. The volume and geometry of the measured tissue were incorporated in the Monte Carlo simulation, which overcome the semi-infinite restrictions. The algorithm was tested using computer simulations on four tissue models with varied volumes/geometries and applied on an in vivo stroke model of mouse. Computer simulations shows that the high-order (N ≥ 5) linear algorithm was more accurate in extracting αDB (errors values of errors in extracting αDB were similar to those reconstructed from the noise-free DCS data. In addition, the errors in extracting the relative changes of αDB using both linear algorithm and semi-infinite solution were fairly small (errors < ±2.0%) and did not rely on the tissue volume/geometry. The experimental results from the in vivo stroke mice agreed with those in simulations, demonstrating the robustness of the linear algorithm. DCS with the high-order linear algorithm shows the potential for the inter-subject comparison and longitudinal monitoring of absolute BFI in a variety of tissues/organs with different volumes/geometries.

Beyond the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI): Developing a Natural Space Index for population-level health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Rugel, Emily J; Henderson, Sarah B; Carpiano, Richard M; Brauer, Michael

2017-11-01

Natural spaces can provide psychological benefits to individuals, but population-level epidemiologic studies have produced conflicting results. Refining current exposure-assessment methods is necessary to advance our understanding of population health and to guide the design of health-promoting urban forms. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive Natural Space Index that robustly models potential exposure based on the presence, form, accessibility, and quality of multiple forms of greenspace (e.g., parks and street trees) and bluespace (e.g., oceans and lakes). The index was developed for greater Vancouver, Canada. Greenness presence was derived from remote sensing (NDVI/EVI); forms were extracted from municipal and private databases; and accessibility was based on restrictions such as private ownership. Quality appraisals were conducted for 200 randomly sampled parks using the Public Open Space Desktop Appraisal Tool (POSDAT). Integrating these measures in GIS, exposure was assessed for 60,242 postal codes using 100- to 1,600-m buffers based on hypothesized pathways to mental health. A single index was then derived using principal component analysis (PCA). Comparing NDVI with alternate approaches for assessing natural space resulted in widely divergent results, with quintile rankings shifting for 22-88% of postal codes, depending on the measure. Overall park quality was fairly low (mean of 15 on a scale of 0-45), with no significant difference seen by neighborhood-level household income. The final PCA identified three main sets of variables, with the first two components explaining 68% of the total variance. The first component was dominated by the percentages of public and private greenspace and bluespace and public greenspace within 250m, while the second component was driven by lack of access to bluespace within 1 km. Many current approaches to modeling natural space may misclassify exposures and have limited specificity. The Natural Space Index

How indexes have changed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrar, G.L.

1993-01-01

The accompanying table compares refinery construction and operating wages monthly for the years 1990 and 1991. The Nelson-Farrar refinery construction cost indexes are inflation indexes, while the operating indexes incorporate a productivity which shows improvement with experience and the increasing size of operations. The refinery construction wage indexes in the table show a steady advance over the 2-year period. Common labor indexes moved up faster than skilled indexes. Refinery operating wages showed a steady increase, while productivities averaged higher near the end of the period. Net result is that labor costs remained steady for the period

Improvement of the photometric sunspot index and changes of the disk-integrated sunspot contrast with time

Science.gov (United States)

Froehlich, Claus; Pap, Judit M.; Hudson, Hugh S.

1994-06-01

The photometric sunspot index (PSI) was developed to study the effects of sunspots on solar irradiance. It is calculated from the sunspot data published in the Solar-Geophysical Data catalog. It has been shown that the former PSI models overestimate the effect of dark sunspots on solar irradiance; furthermore results of direct sunspot photometry indicate that the contrast of spots depends on their area. An improved PSI calculation is presented; it takes into account the area dependence of the contrast and calculates `true' daily means for each observation using the differential rotation of the spots. Moreover, the observations are screened for outliers which improves the homogeneity of the data set substantially, at least for the period after December 1981 when NOAA started to report data from a few instead of one to two stations. A detailed description of the method is provided. The correlation between the newly calculated PSI and total solar irradiance is studied for different phases of the solar cycles 21 and 22 using bi-variate spectral analysis. The results can be used as a `calibration' of PSI in terms of gain, the factor by which PSI has to be multiplied to yield the observed irradiance change. The factor changes with time from about 0.6 in 1980 to 1.1 in 1990. This unexpected result cannot be interpreted by a change of the contrast relative to the quiet Sun (as it is normally defined and determined by direct photometry) but rather as a change of the contrast between the spots and their surrounding as seen in total irradiance (integrated over the solar disk). This may partly be explained by a change in the ratio between the areas of the spots and the surrounding faculae.

Child-OIDP index in Brazil: Cross-cultural adaptation and validation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsakos Georgios

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL measures are being increasingly used to introduce dimensions excluded by normative measures. Consequently, there is a need for an index which evaluates children's OHRQoL validated for Brazilian population, useful for oral health needs assessments and for the evaluation of oral health programs, services and technologies. The aim of this study was to do a cross-cultural adaptation of the Child Oral Impacts on Daily Performances (Child-OIDP index, and assess its reliability and validity for application among Brazilian children between the ages of eleven and fourteen. Methods For cross-cultural adaptation, a translation/back-translation method integrated with expert panel reviews was applied. A total of 342 students from four public schools took part of the study. Results Overall, 80.7% of the sample reported at least one oral impact in the last three months. Cronbach's alpha was 0.63, the weighted kappa 0.76, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 0.79. The index had a significant association with self-reported health measurements (self-rated oral health, satisfaction with oral health, perceived dental treatment needs, self-rated general health; all p Conclusion It was concluded that the Child-OIDP index is a measure of oral health-related quality of life that can be applied to Brazilian children.

ESI-HI85 Niihau South and Kaula Island, Island of Niihau, Hawaii 2001 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

INTEGRATION POLICY TOWARDS IMMIGRANTS: CURRENT EXPERIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadiia Bureiko

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In the contemporary world the intensity of the immigration movements is constantly increasing. Countries which experience great immigrant flows are facing numerous problems which should be solved. The article studies the current immigration flows in EU countries, the United States of America and Canada and presents three main models of integration policy towards immigrants – political assimilation, functional integration and multicultural model. Separate models are distinguished for the Muslims’ integration. The author examines the peculiarities of every model and examines the conclusions provided by the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX concerning the situation of the immigrants’ integration in 31 countries in 2011. Among all the policy indicators the first that are defined are as follows: political participation, education, labour market mobility and anti-discrimination. The situation with immigrants’ integration in Ukraine is also studied as it is gaining a great attention of the authorities and the public. The measures and practical steps done regarding this situation in Ukraine in recent years are analyzed using the information offered by the State Migration Service of Ukraine.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-June 1986. Volume 23, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, the Administrative Law Judge, the Directors' Decisions, and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats. These formats are case name index, digests and headers, legal citations index, subject index, and facility index

Virginia ESI: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

BIOTIC INTEGRITY OF STREAMS IN THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE INTEGRATOR OPERABLE UNITS, 1996 TO 2003

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paller, M; Susan Dyer, S

2004-11-08

The Savannah River Site (SRS) has been divided into six Integrator Operable Units (IOUs) that correspond to the watersheds of the five major streams on the SRS (Upper Three Runs, Fourmile Branch, Pen Branch, Steel Creek, and Lower Three Runs) and the portions of the Savannah River and Savannah River Swamp associated with the SRS. The streams are the primary integrators within each IOU because they potentially receive, through surface or subsurface drainage, soluble contaminants from all waste sites within their watersheds. If these contaminants reach biologically significant levels, they would be expected to effect the numbers, types, and health of stream organisms. In this study, biological sampling was conducted within each IOU as a measure of the cumulative ecological effects of the waste sites within the IOUs. The use of information from biological sampling to assess environmental quality is often termed bioassessment. The IOU bioassessment program included 38 sites in SRS streams and nine sites in the Savannah River. Sampling was conducted in 1996 to 1998, 2000, and 2003. Four bioassessment methods were used to evaluate ecological conditions in the IOU streams: the Index of Biotic Integrity, the Fish Health Assessment Index, measurement of fish tissue contaminant levels, and two benthic macroinvertebrate indices. The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is an EPA supported method based on comparison of ecologically important and sensitive fish assemblage variables between potentially disturbed and reference (i.e., undisturbed) sites. It is designed to assess the ability of a stream to support a self-sustaining biological community and ecological processes typical of undisturbed, natural conditions. Since many types of contaminants can bioaccumulate, fish tissue contaminant data were used to determine the types of chemicals fish were exposed to and their relative magnitudes among IOUs. The Fish Health Assessment Index (HAI) is an EPA supported method for assessing

Friends With Health Benefits: The Long-Term Benefits of Early Peer Social Integration for Blood Pressure and Obesity in Midlife.

Science.gov (United States)

Cundiff, Jenny M; Matthews, Karen A

2018-05-01

In adults, greater social integration is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. Social integration earlier in life may be similarly associated with cardiovascular risk. Using a longitudinal sample of 267 Black and White men, we examined whether greater social integration with peers during childhood and adolescence, assessed by parent report, prospectively predicts lower blood pressure and body mass index two decades later in adulthood and whether these effects differ by race, given well-documented racial disparities in hypertension. Boys who were reported by their parents to be more socially integrated with peers evidenced lower blood pressure and body mass index in adulthood, and this effect was not accounted for by body mass index in childhood, childhood socioeconomic status, childhood hostility, childhood physical health, extraversion measured in adolescence, or concurrent adult self-reports of social integration. Results did not differ by race, but analyses were not powered to detect interactions of small effect size.

Index of Alien Impact: A method for evaluating potential ecological impact of alien plant species

Science.gov (United States)

Alien plant species are stressors to ecosystems and indicators of reduced ecosystem integrity. The magnitude of the stress reflects not only the quantity of aliens present, but also the quality of their interactions with native ecosystems. We develop an Index of Alien Impact (IAI...

An integrated biomarker response index for the mussel Mytilus edulis based on laboratory exposure to anthracene and field transplantation experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Mengqi; Wang, You; Zhou, Bin; Jian, Xiaoyang; Dong, Wenlong; Tang, Xuexi

2017-09-01

Organic pollution is a serious environmental problem in coastal areas and it is important to establish quantitative methods for monitoring this pollution. This study screened a series of sensitive biomarkers to construct an integrated biomarker response (IBR) index using Mytilus edulis. Mussels were exposed to the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon anthracene under controlled laboratory conditions and the activities of components of the glutathione antioxidant system, and the concentrations of oxidative-damage markers, were measured in the gills and digestive glands. Anthracene exposure resulted in increased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide radicals (O 2 • ), indicating that oxidative damage had occurred. Correspondingly, anthracene exposure induced increased activities of glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in digestive glands, and GPx and glutathione reductase (GR) in gills, consistent with stimulation of the antioxidant system. A field experiment was set up, in which mussels from a relatively clean area were transplanted to a contaminated site. One month later, the activities of GST, GPx and GR had increased in several tissues, particularly in the digestive glands. Based on the laboratory experiment, an IBR, which showed a positive relationship with anthracene exposure, was constructed. The IBR is suggested to be a potentially useful tool for assessing anthracene pollution.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission issuances, January-June 1984. Vol. 19, Index 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-11-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel (ALAB), the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), the Directors' Decisions (DD), and the Denials of Petitions of Rulemaking are presented in this document. The information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats: case name index, digests and headers, legal citations index, subject index, and facility index

f-divergence cutoff index to simultaneously identify differential expression in the integrated transcriptome and proteome

OpenAIRE

Tang, Shaojun; Hemberg, Martin; Cansizoglu, Ertugrul; Belin, Stephane; Kosik, Kenneth; Kreiman, Gabriel; Steen, Hanno; Steen, Judith

2016-01-01

The ability to integrate 'omics' (i.e., transcriptomics and proteomics) is becoming increasingly important to the understanding of regulatory mechanisms. There are currently no tools available to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs)across different 'omics'data types or multi-dimensional data including time courses. We present a model capable of simultaneously identifying DEGs from continuous and discrete transcriptomic, proteomic and integrated proteogenomic data. We show that...

Oil spill vulnerability assessment integrating physical, biological and socio-economical aspects: application to the Cantabrian coast (Bay of Biscay, Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Castanedo, S; Juanes, J A; Medina, R; Puente, A; Fernandez, F; Olabarrieta, M; Pombo, C

2009-10-01

A methodology has been developed to carry out an integrated oil spill vulnerability index, V, for coastal environments. This index takes into account the main physical, biological and socio-economical characteristics by means of three intermediate indexes. Three different integration methods (worst-case, average and survey-based) along with ESI-based vulnerability scores, V(ESI), proposed for the Cantabrian coast during the Prestige oil spill, have been analyzed and compared in terms of agreement between the classifications obtained with each one for this coastal area. Results of this study indicate that the use of the worst-case index, V(R), leads to a conservative ranking, with a very poor discrimination which is not helpful in coastal oil spill risk management. Due to the homogeneity of this coastal stretch, the rest of the methods, V(I), V(M) and V(ESI), provide similar classifications. However, V(M) and V(I) give more flexibility allowing three indexes for each coastal segment and including socio-economic aspects. Finally, the V(I) procedure is proposed here as the more advisable as using this index promotes the public participation that is a key element in the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (IZCM).

Flood Victims Quality of Life Index 2017 (FVQoL-Index'17: scale ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Flood Victims Quality of Life Index 2017 (FVQoL-Index'17: scale development ... constructed (adapted and modified) based on the previous standardized instruments. The findings from this study reveal that FVQoL-Index'17 allowed to measure ...

Path integral for gauge theories with fermions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujikawa, K.

1980-01-01

The Atiyah-Singer index theorem indicates that a naive unitary transformation of basis vectors for fermions interacting with gauge fields is not allowed in general. On the basis of this observation, it was previously shown that the path-integral measure of a gauge-invariant fermion theory is transformed nontrivially under the chiral transformation, and thus leads to a simple derivation of ''anomalous'' chiral Ward-Takahashi identities. We here clarify some of the technical aspects associated with the discussion. It is shown that the Jacobian factor in the path-integral measure, which corresponds to the Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly, is independent of any smooth regularization procedure of large eigenvalues of D in Euclidean theory; this property holds in any even-dimensional space-time and also for the gravitational anomaly. The appearance of the anomaly and its connection with the index theorem are thus related to the fact that the primary importance is attached to the Lorentz-covariant ''energy'' operator D and that D and γ 5 do not commute. The abnormal behavior of the path-integral measure at the zero-frequency sector in the presence of instantons and its connection with spontaneous symmetry breaking is also clarified. We comment on several other problems associated with the anomaly and on the Pauli-Villars regularization method

Predicting fiber refractive index from a measured preform index profile

Science.gov (United States)

Kiiveri, P.; Koponen, J.; Harra, J.; Novotny, S.; Husu, H.; Ihalainen, H.; Kokki, T.; Aallos, V.; Kimmelma, O.; Paul, J.

2018-02-01

When producing fiber lasers and amplifiers, silica glass compositions consisting of three to six different materials are needed. Due to the varying needs of different applications, substantial number of different glass compositions are used in the active fiber structures. Often it is not possible to find material parameters for theoretical models to estimate thermal and mechanical properties of those glass compositions. This makes it challenging to predict accurately fiber core refractive index values, even if the preform index profile is measured. Usually the desired fiber refractive index value is achieved experimentally, which is expensive. To overcome this problem, we analyzed statistically the changes between the measured preform and fiber index values. We searched for correlations that would help to predict the Δn-value change from preform to fiber in a situation where we don't know the values of the glass material parameters that define the change. Our index change models were built using the data collected from preforms and fibers made by the Direct Nanoparticle Deposition (DND) technology.

Stock market development and integration in SADC (Southern African Development Community

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunil K. Bundoo

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the extent of stock market integration in SADC by first analyzing beta and sigma convergence and then using cointegration analysis. The US market and the SSA index were used as benchmarks. The sample period was from January 1999 to December 2011 using daily market index data. We observe beta convergence but not sigma convergence; though the sigma values are falling for most of the SADC countries. Under normal conditions, no cointegrating vector was identified when using the US market as benchmark. When using the SSA index as benchmark one cointegrating vector was identified. The paper also takes stock of the extent of software and hardware stock market integration in SADC. The SADC stock exchanges must work towards greater integration so that they can attract more sustained portfolio flows rather than volatile portfolio flows and also greater FDI flows which are much needed for the financial and economic development of the SADC countries. We also need to consolidate and reduce the number of exchanges with the view to improve market capitalization, liquidity, market infrastructure, governance amongst others but most importantly to increase the visibility, robustness and reputation of SADC stock markets at the international level.

Selective Collection Quality Index for Municipal Solid Waste Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Cristina Rada

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Trentino (an Italian Province located in the northern part of the country is equipped with a management system of municipal solid waste collection at the forefront. Among the most positive aspects, there is a great ability for waste separation at the source and a consequent low production of residual municipal solid waste for disposal. Latest data show a gross efficiency of selective collection that has recently reached 80%, one of the highest values in Italy. This study analyzed the “Trentino system” to identify the main elements that have been at the base of the current efficient model. This provided an opportunity to propose a selective collection quality index (SCQI, including collection efficiency for each fraction, method of collection, quality of the collected materials, presence of the punctual tariff and tourist incidence. A period relevant for the transition of the collection system to the recent one was chosen for the demonstrative adoption of the proposed indicators in order to determine the potential of the index adoption. Results of the analysis of this case study were obtained in a quantitative form thanks to the sub-parameters that characterize the proposed index. This allowed selected collection decision makers to focus intently on a territory to find criticalities to be solved. For instance, the use of the index and its sub-indicators in the case of Trentino identified and comparatively quantified the local problems resulting from the presence of a large museum in a small town, tourism peaks in some valleys, and a delay in the punctual tariff adoption. The index has been proposed with the aim to make available an integrated tool to analyze other areas in Italy and abroad.

Generation of J_0-Bessel-Gauss beam by a heterogeneous refractive index map

KAUST Repository

San Roman Alerigi, Damian

2012-07-01

In this paper, we present the theoretical studies of a refractive index map to implement a Gauss to a J0-Bessel-Gauss convertor. We theoretically demonstrate the viability of a device that could be fabricated on a Si/Si1-yOy/Si1-x-yGexCy platform or by photo-refractive media. The proposed device is 200 ?m in length and 25 ?m in width, and its refractive index varies in controllable steps across the light propagation and transversal directions. The computed conversion efficiency and loss are 90%, and -0.457 dB, respectively. The theoretical results, obtained from the beam conversion efficiency, self-regeneration, and propagation through an opaque obstruction, demonstrate that a two-dimensional (2D) graded index map of the refractive index can be used to transform a Gauss beam into a J0-Bessel-Gauss beam. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such beam transformation by means of a 2D index-mapping that is fully integrable in silicon photonics based planar lightwave circuits (PLCs). The concept device is significant for the eventual development of a new array of technologies, such as micro optical tweezers, optical traps, beam reshaping and nonlinear beam diode lasers. © 2012 Optical Society of America.

Generation of J_0-Bessel-Gauss beam by a heterogeneous refractive index map

KAUST Repository

San Roman Alerigi, Damian; Alsunaidi, Mohammad; Ben Slimane, Ahmed; Ng, Tien Khee; Ooi, Boon S.; Zhang, Yaping

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present the theoretical studies of a refractive index map to implement a Gauss to a J0-Bessel-Gauss convertor. We theoretically demonstrate the viability of a device that could be fabricated on a Si/Si1-yOy/Si1-x-yGexCy platform or by photo-refractive media. The proposed device is 200 ?m in length and 25 ?m in width, and its refractive index varies in controllable steps across the light propagation and transversal directions. The computed conversion efficiency and loss are 90%, and -0.457 dB, respectively. The theoretical results, obtained from the beam conversion efficiency, self-regeneration, and propagation through an opaque obstruction, demonstrate that a two-dimensional (2D) graded index map of the refractive index can be used to transform a Gauss beam into a J0-Bessel-Gauss beam. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such beam transformation by means of a 2D index-mapping that is fully integrable in silicon photonics based planar lightwave circuits (PLCs). The concept device is significant for the eventual development of a new array of technologies, such as micro optical tweezers, optical traps, beam reshaping and nonlinear beam diode lasers. © 2012 Optical Society of America.

Viva the h-index

OpenAIRE

Waaijers, Leo

2011-01-01

In their article 'The inconsistency of the h-index' Ludo Waltman and Nees Jan van Neck give three examples to demonstrate the inconsistency of the h-index. As will be explained, a little extension of their examples just illustrate the opposite, a stable feature of the h-index. For starting authors it, the h-index that is, focusses on the number of articles; for experienced authors its focus shifts towards the citation scores. This feature may be liked or not but does not make the h-index an i...

Sprache und Sozio-Oekonomischer Index (Speech and Socioeconomic Index)

Science.gov (United States)

Bluhme, Hermann

1976-01-01

A comparison of the socioeconomic index of 77 speakers of Dutch, recorded in 40 places, revealed certain correlations between index and individual linguistic behavior, particularly in regard to the speed of articulation, quantity quotient (low vowels/short vowels), pitch modulation, number of relative clauses and passive construction. (Text is in…

Cuvette and method for measuring refractive index in a spectrophotometer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

Embodiments of the present invention include a cuvette (100) for use in determining a refractive index of a sample matter in a spectrophotometer (600), the cuvette comprising a container (102) for holding the sample matter, the container (102) having an entry window (121) that allows input...... or integrally formed in the container and arranged in the radiation path, the photonic crystal having a grating part (111) causing a reflectance spectrum of the photonic crystal to exhibit a resonance. A spectrophotometer is also provided....

EJSCREEN Indexes 2015 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There is an EJ Index for each environmental indicator. There are eight EJ Indexes in EJSCREEN reflecting the 8 environmental indicators. The EJ Index names are:...

EJSCREEN Indexes 2016 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There is an EJ Index for each environmental indicator. There are eleven EJ Indexes in EJSCREEN reflecting the 11 environmental indicators. The EJ Index names are:...

Factorising the 3D topologically twisted index

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cabo-Bizet, Alejandro [Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (CONICET-UBA),Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 1428, Buenos Aires (Argentina)

2017-04-20

We explore the path integration — upon the contour of hermitian (non-auxliary) field configurations — of topologically twisted N=2 Chern-Simons-matter theory (TTCSM) on S{sub 2} times a segment. In this way, we obtain the formula for the 3D topologically twisted index, first as a convolution of TTCSM on S{sub 2} times halves of S{sub 1}, second as TTCSM on S{sub 2} times S{sub 1} — with a puncture, — and third as TTCSM on S{sub 2}×S{sub 1}. In contradistinction to the first two cases, in the third case, the vector multiplet auxiliary field D is constrained to be anti-hermitian.

Developing a Phytoplankton Biotic Index as an Indicator of Freshwater Inflow within a Subtropical Estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Steichen, J. L.; Quigg, A.; Lucchese, A.; Preischel, H.

2016-02-01

Freshwater inflows drive the water and sediment quality in coastal bays and estuaries influencing the ecosystem and health of the biological community. Phytoplankton accessory pigments (used as a proxy for major taxonomic groups) have been utilized to develop a biotic index of physical, chemical and biotic disturbances in Chesapeake Bay (USA) and other estuarine systems. In this study we have used the Chesapeake Bay - Phytoplankton Index of Biotic Integrity model as a guide in developing an index for Galveston Bay, TX (USA) as an indicator of sufficient freshwater inflow to a subtropical estuary. Multivariate statistical analyses were run using PRIMER-E+PERMANOVA to determine the correlations between phytoplankton accessory pigment concentrations and a suite of abiotic factors associated with freshwater inflow (salinity, DIN, PO4, secchi). Phytoplankton pigment concentrations and water quality parameters were collected across Galveston Bay on a monthly basis from 2008-2013. In the upper region of the bay nearest the river source Dinophyceae, Cryptophyceae (winter (Dec-Feb)) and Chlorophyceae (winter and spring (Mar-May)) were significantly correlated to freshwater inflow and nutrient concentrations PO4 (p<0.05). Increased concentrations of Bacillariophyceae and Cyanophyceae (summer (Jun-Aug)) were significantly correlated to lower concentrations of DIN (p<0.05). Near the mouth of the estuary there was a significant correlation between the increase in Bacillariophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Cryptophyceae and Dinophyceae with decreasing PO4 (p<0.05). Within the dynamic system of Galveston Bay we are working to apply a Phytoplankton Index of Biotic Integrity as a means of monitoring the biological health of this ecologically and economically important estuarine ecosystem.

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Chao; Wang, Zhen; Li, Xianghua; Zhang, Zili; Zeng, Wei

2016-01-01

Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award) show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

Fiber optic based multiparametric spectroscopy in vivo: Toward a new quantitative tissue vitality index

Science.gov (United States)

Kutai-Asis, Hofit; Barbiro-Michaely, Efrat; Deutsch, Assaf; Mayevsky, Avraham

2006-02-01

In our previous publication (Mayevsky et al SPIE 5326: 98-105, 2004) we described a multiparametric fiber optic system enabling the evaluation of 4 physiological parameters as indicators of tissue vitality. Since the correlation between the various parameters may differ in various pathophysiological conditions there is a need for an objective quantitative index that will integrate the relative changes measured in real time by the multiparametric monitoring system into a single number-vitality index. Such an approach to calculate tissue vitality index is critical for the possibility to use such an instrument in clinical environments. In the current presentation we are reporting our preliminary results indicating that calculation of an objective tissue vitality index is feasible. We used an intuitive empirical approach based on the comparison between the calculated index by the computer and the subjective evaluation made by an expert in the field of physiological monitoring. We used the in vivo brain of rats as an animal model in our current studies. The rats were exposed to anoxia, ischemia and cortical spreading depression and the responses were recorded in real time. At the end of the monitoring session the results were analyzed and the tissue vitality index was calculated offline. Mitochondrial NADH, tissue blood flow and oxy-hemoglobin were used to calculate the vitality index of the brain in vivo, where each parameter received a different weight, in each experiment type based on their significance. It was found that the mitochondrial NADH response was the main factor affected the calculated vitality index.

A second generation climate index for tourism (CIT): specification and verification.

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas, C R; Scott, Daniel; McBoyle, Geoff

2008-05-01

Climate is a key resource for many types of tourism and as such can be measured and evaluated. An index approach is required for this task because of the multifaceted nature of weather and the complex ways that weather variables come together to give meaning to climate for tourism. Here we address the deficiencies of past indices by devising a theoretically sound and empirically tested method that integrates the various facets of climate and weather into a single index called the Climate Index for Tourism (CIT). CIT rates the climate resource for activities that are highly climate/weather sensitive, specifically, beach "sun, sea and sand" (3S) holidays. CIT integrates thermal (T), aesthetic (A) and physical (P) facets of weather, which are combined in a weather typology matrix to determine a climate satisfaction rating that ranges from very poor (1=unacceptable) to very good (7=optimal). Parameter A refers to sky condition and P to rain or high wind. T is the body-atmosphere energy balance that integrates the environmental and physiological thermal variables, such as solar heat load, heat loss by convection (wind) and by evaporation (sweating), longwave radiation exchange and metabolic heat (activity level). Rather than use T as a net energy (calorific) value, CIT requires that it be expressed as thermal sensation using the standard nine-point ASHRAE scale ("very hot" to "very cold"). In this way, any of the several body-atmosphere energy balance schemes available may be used, maximizing the flexibility of the index. A survey (N=331) was used to validate the initial CIT. Respondents were asked to rate nine thermal states (T) with different sky conditions (A). They were also asked to assess the impact of high winds or prolonged rain on the perceived quality of the overall weather condition. The data was analysed statistically to complete the weather typology matrix, which covered every possible combination of T, A and P. Conditions considered to be optimal (CIT

A second generation climate index for tourism (CIT): specification and verification

Science.gov (United States)

de Freitas, C. R.; Scott, Daniel; McBoyle, Geoff

2008-05-01

Climate is a key resource for many types of tourism and as such can be measured and evaluated. An index approach is required for this task because of the multifaceted nature of weather and the complex ways that weather variables come together to give meaning to climate for tourism. Here we address the deficiencies of past indices by devising a theoretically sound and empirically tested method that integrates the various facets of climate and weather into a single index called the Climate Index for Tourism (CIT). CIT rates the climate resource for activities that are highly climate/weather sensitive, specifically, beach “sun, sea and sand” (3S) holidays. CIT integrates thermal (T), aesthetic (A) and physical (P) facets of weather, which are combined in a weather typology matrix to determine a climate satisfaction rating that ranges from very poor (1 = unacceptable) to very good (7 = optimal). Parameter A refers to sky condition and P to rain or high wind. T is the body-atmosphere energy balance that integrates the environmental and physiological thermal variables, such as solar heat load, heat loss by convection (wind) and by evaporation (sweating), longwave radiation exchange and metabolic heat (activity level). Rather than use T as a net energy (calorific) value, CIT requires that it be expressed as thermal sensation using the standard nine-point ASHRAE scale (“very hot” to “very cold”). In this way, any of the several body-atmosphere energy balance schemes available may be used, maximizing the flexibility of the index. A survey ( N = 331) was used to validate the initial CIT. Respondents were asked to rate nine thermal states (T) with different sky conditions (A). They were also asked to assess the impact of high winds or prolonged rain on the perceived quality of the overall weather condition. The data was analysed statistically to complete the weather typology matrix, which covered every possible combination of T, A and P. Conditions considered to

Grated waveguide-based optical cavities as compact sensors for sub-nanometre cantilever deflections, and small refractive-index changes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kauppinen, L.J.; Hoekstra, Hugo; Dijkstra, Mindert; de Ridder, R.M.; Krijnen, Gijsbertus J.M.; MacCraith, B; McDonagh, C.

2008-01-01

The paper reports on theoretical and experimental results of integrated optical (IO) cavities defined by grated waveguides in $Si_3N_4$ and Si, for the accurate detection of cantilever deflection and bulk index changes.

THE INTEGRATION AND INVESTMENT POTENTIAL OF BRICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sidorova E. A.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the modern global economy international integration associations are full subjects of it. However, the changing world is changing the integration inquiry: there is the transformation of the integration processes because of globalization. A key principle of the integration process is to accelerate the economic development of the system and its individual composes through the implementation of the integration potential. In this regard, the article researches the integration potential of BRICS (an informal association consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as a significant subject of the world economy, including it analyzes trade flows of these countries using the index method. Moreover, it researches the investment potential of BRICS as the part of the integration potential. Finally, it focuses on the association institutionalization in the monetary sphere. Research has shown that the integration potential of BRICS opens new prospects for cooperation and development of the member countries. At the same time the creation of new financial institutions in the framework of the association (in particular, the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement can help to strengthen the cooperation among the countries and to promote more representative global governance.

Perceptions, realities, concession-What is driving the integration of European energy policies?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pointvogl, Andreas

2009-01-01

Today's European energy policy is characterised by national approaches portraying it as one of the least successful areas of integration despite its importance for our everyday life. This exploratory study presents a new way in analysing the approaches and processes operative in this area. It introduces a new dimension of policy evaluation, the role of national energy majors, and proposes its utilisation in the increasingly important method of using indexes for energy supply security. By doing so, the relevance of perceptions of energy supply security for energy policy integration is highlighted, pointing at the concessions necessary to overcome the integratory deadlock. The indexes proposed in this paper can provide insights for policy-makers and researchers into the ongoing integration process and the crucial importance energy business plays therein. Finally, the exploratory methodology developed in this essay can be employed in various other policy areas to classify, discover and analyse policy directions.

EJSCREEN Supplementary Indexes 2015 Public

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — There are 40 supplementary EJSCREEN indexes that are divided into 5 categories: EJ Index with supplementary demographic index, Supplementary EJ Index 1 with...

The Bird Community Resilience Index: a novel remote sensing-based biodiversity variable for quantifying ecological integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Michel, N. L.; Wilsey, C.; Burkhalter, C.; Trusty, B.; Langham, G.

2017-12-01

Scalable indicators of biodiversity change are critical to reporting overall progress towards national and global targets for biodiversity conservation (e.g. Aichi Targets) and sustainable development (SDGs). These essential biodiversity variables capitalize on new remote sensing technologies and growth of community science participation. Here we present a novel biodiversity metric quantifying resilience of bird communities and, by extension, of their associated ecological communities. This metric adds breadth to the community composition class of essential biodiversity variables that track trends in condition and vulnerability of ecological communities. We developed this index for use with North American grassland birds, a guild that has experienced stronger population declines than any other avian guild, in order to evaluate gains from the implementation of best management practices on private lands. The Bird Community Resilience Index was designed to incorporate the full suite of species-specific responses to management actions, and be flexible enough to work across broad climatic, land cover, and bird community gradients (i.e., grasslands from northern Mexico through Canada). The Bird Community Resilience Index consists of four components: density estimates of grassland and arid land birds; weighting based on conservation need; a functional diversity metric to incorporate resiliency of bird communities and their ecosystems; and a standardized scoring system to control for interannual variation caused by extrinsic factors (e.g., climate). We present an analysis of bird community resilience across ranches in the Northern Great Plains region of the United States. As predicted, Bird Community Resilience was higher in lands implementing best management practices than elsewhere. While developed for grassland birds, this metric holds great potential for use as an Essential Biodiversity Variable for community composition in a variety of habitat.

Integrated system for production of neutronics and photonics calculational constants. Neutron-induced interactions: index of experimental data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacGregor, M.H.; Cullen, D.E.; Howerton, R.J.; Perkins, S.T.

1976-01-01

Indexes to the neutron-induced interaction data in the Experimental Cross Section Information Library (ECSIL) as of July 4, 1976 are tabulated. The tabulation has two arrangements: isotope (ZA) order and reaction-number order

Integrated system for production of neutronics and photonics calculational constants. Neutron-induced interactions: index of experimental data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

MacGregor, M.H.; Cullen, D.E.; Howerton, R.J.; Perkins, S.T.

1976-07-04

Indexes to the neutron-induced interaction data in the Experimental Cross Section Information Library (ECSIL) as of July 4, 1976 are tabulated. The tabulation has two arrangements: isotope (ZA) order and reaction-number order.

A unified approach to stochastic integration on the real line

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Basse-O'Connor, Andreas; Graversen, Svend-Erik; Pedersen, Jan

Stochastic integration on the predictable σ-field with respect to σ-finite L0-valued measures, also known as formal semimartingales, is studied. In particular, the triplet of such measures is introduced and used to characterize the set of integrable processes. Special attention is given to Lévy...... processes indexed by the real line. Surprisingly, many of the basic properties break down in this situation compared to the usual R+ case....

Calculation of beam paths in optical systems containing inhomogeneous isotropic media with cylindrical distribution of the refractive index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grammatin, A.P.; Degen, A.B.; Katranova, N.A.

1995-01-01

A system of differential equations convenient for numerical computer integrating is proposed to calculate beam paths, elementary astigmatic beams, and the optical path in isotropic media with cylindrical distribution of the refractive index. A method for selecting the step of this integration is proposed. This technique is implemented in the program package for computers of the VAX series meant for the computer-aided design of optical systems. 4 refs

Bibliography of integral charged particle nuclear data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holden, N.E.; Burrows, T.W.

1982-03-01

This publication is the second supplement to the archival edition of the National Nuclear Data Center's charged-particle bibliography. This supplement contains citations to all references scanned since March 15, 1981, and all corrections and additions to previous citations, and indexes all data received in the international exchanged format (EXFOR). The primary goal of the bibliography has been to satisfy the need expressed by the Nuclear Reaction Data Center Network for a concise and comprehensive bibliography of integral charged-particle cross section data and to provide an index of data exchanged among the members. In 1980, coverage was expanded to include differential data relevant to charged-particle-induced neutron-source reactions

Glophymed: an index to establish the ecological status for the Water Framework Directive based on phytoplankton in coastal waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, I; Pachés, M; Martínez-Guijarro, R; Ferrer, J

2013-10-15

Phytoplankton and its attributes (biomass, abundance, composition, and frequency and intensity of phytoplankton blooms) are essential to establish the ecological status in the Water Frame Directive. The aim of this study is to develop an index "Glophymed" based on all phytoplankton attributes for coastal water bodies according to the directive requirements. It is also developed an anthropogenic pressure index that takes into account population density, tourism, urbanization, industry, agriculture, fisheries and maritime transport for Comunitat Valenciana (Spain). Both indexes (Glophymed and human pressure index) based on a multisampling dataset collected monthly during several years, show a significant statistical correlation (r2 0.75 α<0.01) for typology IIA and (r2 0.93 α<0.01) for typology III-W. The relation between these indexes provides suitable information about the integrated management plans and protection measures of water resources since the Glophymed index is very sensitive to human pressures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High index glass thin film processing for photonics and photovoltaic (PV) applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ogbuu, Okechukwu Anthony

To favorably compete with fossil-fuel technology, the greatest challenge for thin film solar-cells is to improve efficiency and reduce material cost. Thickness scaling to thin film reduces material cost but affects the light absorption in the cells; therefore a concept that traps incident photons and increases its optical path length is needed to boost absorption in thin film solar cells. One approach is the integration of low symmetric gratings (LSG), using high index material, on either the front-side or backside of 30 um thin c-Si cells. In this study, Multicomponent TeO2--Bi2O 3--ZnO (TBZ) glass thin films were prepared using RF magnetron sputtering under different oxygen flow rates. The influences of oxygen flow rate on the structural and optical properties of the resulting thin films were investigated. The structural origin of the optical property variation was studied using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that TBZ glass thin film is a suitable material for front side LSG material photovoltaic and photonics applications due to their amorphous nature, high refractive index (n > 2), broad band optical transparency window, low processing temperature. We developed a simple maskless method to pattern sputtered tellurite based glass thin films using unconventional agarose hydrogel mediated wet etching. Conventional wet etching process, while claiming low cost and high throughput, suffers from reproducibility and pattern fidelity issues due to the isotropic nature of wet chemical etching when applied to glasses and polymers. This method overcomes these challenges by using an agarose hydrogel stamp to mediate a conformal etching process. In our maskless method, agarose hydrogel stamps are patterned following a standard soft lithography and replica molding process from micropatterned masters and soaked in a chemical etchant. The micro-scale features on the stamp are

Human Use Index

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Human land uses may have major impacts on ecosystems, affecting biodiversity, habitat, air and water quality. The human use index (also known as U-index) is the...

Integrating interannual climate variability forecasts into weather-indexed crop insurance. The case of Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Vicarelli, M.; Giannini, A.; Osgood, D.

2009-12-01

In this study we explore the potential for re-insurance schemes built on regional climatic forecasts. We focus on micro-insurance contracts indexed on precipitation in 9 villages in Kenya, Tanzania (Eastern Africa) and Malawi (Southern Africa), and analyze the precipitation patterns and payouts resulting from El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The inability to manage future climate risk represents a “poverty trap” for several African regions. Weather shocks can potentially destabilize not only household, but also entire countries. Governments in drought-prone countries, donors and relief agencies are becoming aware of the importance to develop an ex-ante risk management framework for weather risk. Joint efforts to develop innovative mechanisms to spread and pool risk such as microinsurance and microcredit are currently being designed in several developing countries. While ENSO is an important component in modulating the rainfall regime in tropical Africa, the micro-insurance experiments currently under development to address drought risk among smallholder farmers in this region do not take into account ENSO monitoring or forecasting yet. ENSO forecasts could be integrated in the contracts and reinsurance schemes could be designed at the continental scale taking advantage of the different impact of ENSO on different regions. ENSO is associated to a bipolar precipitation pattern in Southern and Eastern Africa. La Niña years (i.e. Cold ENSO Episodes) are characterized by dry climate in Eastern Africa and wet climate in Southern Africa. During El Niño (or Warm Episode) the precipitation dipole is inverted, and Eastern Africa experiences increased probability for above normal rainfall (Halpert and Ropelewski, 1992, Journal of Climate). Our study represents the first exercise in trying to include ENSO forecasts in micro weather index insurance contract design. We analyzed the contracts payouts with respect to climate variability. In particular (i) we simulated

Integration of length and curvature in haptic perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Panday, V.; Bergmann Tiest, W.M.; Kappers, A.M.L.

2014-01-01

We investigated if and how length and curvature information are integrated when an object is explored in one hand. Subjects were asked to explore four types of objects between thumb and index finger. Objects differed in either length, curvature, both length and curvature correlated as in a circle,

A novel structural risk index for primary spontaneous pneumothorax: Ankara Numune Risk Index.

Science.gov (United States)

Akkas, Yucel; Peri, Neslihan Gulay; Kocer, Bulent; Kaplan, Tevfik; Alhan, Aslihan

2017-07-01

In this study, we aimed to reveal a novel risk index as a structural risk marker for primary spontanoeus pneumothorax using body mass index and chest height, structural risk factors for pneumothorax development. Records of 86 cases admitted between February 2014 and January 2015 with or without primary spontaneous pneumothorax were analysed retrospectively. The patients were allocated to two groups as Group I and Group II. The patients were evaluated with regard to age, gender, pneumothorax side, duration of hospital stay, treatment type, recurrence, chest height and transverse diameter on posteroanterior chest graphy and body mass index. Body mass index ratio per cm of chest height was calculated by dividing body mass index with chest height. We named this risk index ratio which is defined first as 'Ankara Numune Risk Index'. Diagnostic value of Ankara Numune Risk Index value for prediction of primary spontaneous pneumothorax development was analysed with Receiver Operating Characteristics curver. Of 86 patients, 69 (80.2%) were male and 17 (19.8%) were female. Each group was composed of 43 (50%) patients. When Receiver Operating Characteristics curve analysis was done for optimal limit value 0.74 of Ankara Numune Risk Index determined for prediction of pneumothorax development risk, area under the curve was 0.925 (95% Cl, 0.872-0.977, p pneumothorax development however it is insufficient for determining recurrence. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Taiwan.

PR-Index: Using the h-Index and PageRank for Determining True Impact.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Gao

Full Text Available Several technical indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of authors and institutions. Here, we combine the h-index and the PageRank algorithm to do away with some of the individual limitations of these two indices. Most importantly, we aim to take into account value differences between citations-evaluating the citation sources by defining the h-index using the PageRank score rather than with citations. The resulting PR-index is then constructed by evaluating source popularity as well as the source publication authority. Extensive tests on available collections data (i.e., Microsoft Academic Search and benchmarks on the SIGKDD innovation award show that the PR-index provides a more balanced impact measure than many existing indices. Due to its simplicity and similarity to the popular h-index, the PR-index may thus become a welcome addition to the technical indices already in use. Moreover, growth dynamics prior to the SIGKDD innovation award indicate that the PR-index might have notable predictive power.

INDEXABILITY AND OPTIMAL INDEX POLICIES FOR A CLASS OF REINITIALISING RESTLESS BANDITS.

Science.gov (United States)

Villar, Sofía S

2016-01-01

Motivated by a class of Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes with application in surveillance systems in which a set of imperfectly observed state processes is to be inferred from a subset of available observations through a Bayesian approach, we formulate and analyze a special family of multi-armed restless bandit problems. We consider the problem of finding an optimal policy for observing the processes that maximizes the total expected net rewards over an infinite time horizon subject to the resource availability. From the Lagrangian relaxation of the original problem, an index policy can be derived, as long as the existence of the Whittle index is ensured. We demonstrate that such a class of reinitializing bandits in which the projects' state deteriorates while active and resets to its initial state when passive until its completion possesses the structural property of indexability and we further show how to compute the index in closed form. In general, the Whittle index rule for restless bandit problems does not achieve optimality. However, we show that the proposed Whittle index rule is optimal for the problem under study in the case of stochastically heterogenous arms under the expected total criterion, and it is further recovered by a simple tractable rule referred to as the 1-limited Round Robin rule. Moreover, we illustrate the significant suboptimality of other widely used heuristic: the Myopic index rule, by computing in closed form its suboptimality gap. We present numerical studies which illustrate for the more general instances the performance advantages of the Whittle index rule over other simple heuristics.

Indexing mergers and acquisitions

OpenAIRE

Gang, Jianhua; Guo, Jie (Michael); Hu, Nan; Li, Xi

2017-01-01

We measure the efficiency of mergers and acquisitions by putting forward an index (the ‘M&A Index’) based on stochastic frontier analysis. The M&A Index is calculated for each takeover deal and is standardized between 0 and 1. An acquisition with a higher index encompasses higher efficiency. We find that takeover bids with higher M&A Indices are more likely to succeed. Moreover, the M&A Index shows a strong and positive relation with the acquirers’ post-acquisition stock perfo...

Deep web query interface understanding and integration

CERN Document Server

Dragut, Eduard C; Yu, Clement T

2012-01-01

There are millions of searchable data sources on the Web and to a large extent their contents can only be reached through their own query interfaces. There is an enormous interest in making the data in these sources easily accessible. There are primarily two general approaches to achieve this objective. The first is to surface the contents of these sources from the deep Web and add the contents to the index of regular search engines. The second is to integrate the searching capabilities of these sources and support integrated access to them. In this book, we introduce the state-of-the-art tech

Western Alaska ESI: INDEX (Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all the hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

Bibliography of integral charged particle nuclear data. Archival edition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burrows, T.W.; Dempsey, P.

1980-03-01

This is the fourth annual edition of the National Nuclear Data Center charged-particle bibliography. This edition is cumulative and supersedes the previous editions. The bibliography's primary aims are to satisfy the need for a concise and comprehensive index of integral charged-particle cross section data and to provide an index of charged-particle data compiled in the international exchange format. References in this Part are by target for the various incident charged particles (in order of increasing A). The present publication is an archival volume; future publications will be cumulative supplements to this edition

Fuzzy bicriteria multi-index transportation problems for coal allocation planning of Taipower

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tzeng, G.-H.; Teodorvic, D.; Hwang, M.-J.

1996-01-01

Taipower, the official electricity authority of Taiwan, encounters several difficulties in planning annual coal purchase and allocation schedule, e.g. with multiple sources, multiple destinations, multiple coal types, different shipping vessels, and even an uncertain demand and supply. In this study, these concerns are formulated as a fuzzy bicriteria multi-index transportation problem. Furthermore, an effective and interactive algorithm is proposed which combines reducing index method and interactive fuzzy multi-objective linear programming technique to cope with a complicated problem which may be prevalent in other industries. Results obtained in this study clearly demonstrate that this model can not only satisfy more of the actual requirements of the integral system but also offer more information to the decision makers (DMs) for reference in favor of exalting decision making quality. 34 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs

ESI PDF Maps: Environmental Sensitivity Index PDF Maps (for the U.S. Shorelines, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Developing an Index of Deprivation Which Integrates Objective and Subjective Dimensions: Extending the Work of Townsend, Mack and Lansley, and Hallerod

Science.gov (United States)

Eroglu, Sebnem

2007-01-01

This article presents a new approach to index development, extending the methods used by Townsend, Mack and Lansley and Hallerod to measure deprivation in the developed world. The index combines three "objective" dimensions of deprivation (i.e. monetary, consumption and work-related), and weighs them according to subjective perceptions…

Sediment acoustic index method for computing continuous suspended-sediment concentrations

Science.gov (United States)

Landers, Mark N.; Straub, Timothy D.; Wood, Molly S.; Domanski, Marian M.

2016-07-11

Suspended-sediment characteristics can be computed using acoustic indices derived from acoustic Doppler velocity meter (ADVM) backscatter data. The sediment acoustic index method applied in these types of studies can be used to more accurately and cost-effectively provide time-series estimates of suspended-sediment concentration and load, which is essential for informed solutions to many sediment-related environmental, engineering, and agricultural concerns. Advantages of this approach over other sediment surrogate methods include: (1) better representation of cross-sectional conditions from large measurement volumes, compared to other surrogate instruments that measure data at a single point; (2) high temporal resolution of collected data; (3) data integrity when biofouling is present; and (4) less rating curve hysteresis compared to streamflow as a surrogate. An additional advantage of this technique is the potential expansion of monitoring suspended-sediment concentrations at sites with existing ADVMs used in streamflow velocity monitoring. This report provides much-needed standard techniques for sediment acoustic index methods to help ensure accurate and comparable documented results.

Cerebral state index during propofol anesthesia : A Comparison with the Bispectral Index and the A-Line ARX Index

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jensen, EW; Litvan, H; Revuelta, M; Rodriguez, BE; Caminal, P; Martinez, P; Vereecke, H; Struys, Michel MRF

Background: The objective of this study was to prospectively test the Cerebral State Index designed for measuring the depth of anesthesia. The Cerebral State Index is calculated using a fuzzy logic combination of four subparameters of the electroencephalographic signal. The performance of the

Prediction of massive bleeding. Shock index and modified shock index.

Science.gov (United States)

Terceros-Almanza, L J; García-Fuentes, C; Bermejo-Aznárez, S; Prieto-Del Portillo, I J; Mudarra-Reche, C; Sáez-de la Fuente, I; Chico-Fernández, M

2017-12-01

To determine the predictive value of the Shock Index and Modified Shock Index in patients with massive bleeding due to severe trauma. Retrospective cohort. Severe trauma patient's initial attention at the intensive care unit of a tertiary hospital. Patients older than 14 years that were admitted to the hospital with severe trauma (Injury Severity Score >15) form January 2014 to December 2015. We studied the sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), positive and negative predictive value (PV+ and PV-), positive and negative likelihood ratio (LR+ and LR-), ROC curves (Receiver Operating Characteristics) and the area under the same (AUROC) for prediction of massive hemorrhage. 287 patients were included, 76.31% (219) were male, mean age was 43,36 (±17.71) years and ISS was 26 (interquartile range [IQR]: 21-34). The overall frequency of massive bleeding was 8.71% (25). For Shock Index: AUROC was 0.89 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.84 to 0.94), with an optimal cutoff at 1.11, Se was 91.3% (95% CI: 73.2 to 97.58) and Sp was 79.69% (95% CI: 74.34 to 84.16). For the Modified Shock Index: AUROC was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86 to 0.95), with an optimal cutoff at 1.46, Se was 95.65% (95% CI: 79.01 to 99.23) and Sp was 75.78% (95% CI: 70.18 to 80.62). Shock Index and Modified Shock Index are good predictors of massive bleeding and could be easily incorporated to the initial workup of patients with severe trauma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. y SEMICYUC. All rights reserved.

A study on the spatial characteristics and correlation of migrant workers' urban integration and well-being: A case study of Xi’an (China)

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, D. H.; Yang, X. J.; Hao, F. J.

2017-07-01

This paper used SPSS and ARCGIS to measure the urban integration degree and well-being index, spatial features, and their correlation. This results show: (1) The space differentiation of migrant workers’ urban integration degree in Xi’an distinct: The northern great site protection zone area is low, eastern military area is peak and the western electronic district and southwest high-tech zone are second peak areas. (2) Migrant workers’ well-being index has differentiation spatial distribution: eastern military area is significantly higher than other regions, northern economic zone shows low-lying shape, southern cultural and educational area is higher than northern economic development zone, and central business district is higher than the surrounding. (3) As the result of correlation analysis in SPSS 19.0, it is shown that there is certain positive correlation between urban integration degree and well-being index of migrant workers in main urban districts of Xi’an. Economic integration and social integration have positive prediction to well-being.

ULF wave index and its possible applications in space physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romanova, N.; Pilipenko, V.; Khabarova, O.; Crosby, N.

2007-01-01

The solar wind-magnetosphere interaction has a turbulent character, which is not accounted for by commonly used geomagnetic indices and OMNI parameters. To quantify the level of low-frequency turbulence/variability of the geomagnetic field, IMP, and solar wind plasma, we have introduced ULP wave power indices. These simple hourly indices are based on the integrated spectral power in the band 2-7 mHz or wavelet power with time scales∼10-100 min. The ground wave index has been produced from the data of global magnetometer arrays in the Northern Hemisphere. The interplanetary and geostationary wave indices have been calculated using magnetometer and plasma data from interplanetary and geosynchronous satellites. These indices have turned out to be useful for statistical analysis of various space weather problems. These indices enable one to examine easily the statistical correspondence between the ULP activity and interplanetary conditions. For example, the enhancements of relativistic electrons at the geosynchronous orbit were not directly related to the intensity of magnetic storms, but they correlated well with intervals of elevated ground ULP wave index. This fact confirmed the importance of magnetospheric ULP turbulence in energising electrons up to relativistic energies. The interplanetary index has revealed statistically the role of the interplanetary turbulence in driving the magnetosphere by the IMP/solar wind. The application of this index to the analysis of conditions in the solar wind before magnetic storm onsets has shown that a weak irregular increase of the solar wind density is observed on average 2 days prior to storm commencement. The ULP index database for the period since 1991 is freely available via anonymous FTP for all interested researchers for further validation and statistical studies. (authors)

Malaysian Education Index (MEI): An Online Indexing and Repository System

Science.gov (United States)

Kabilan, Muhammad Kamarul; Ismail, Hairul Nizam; Yaakub, Rohizani; Yusof, Najeemah Mohd; Idros, Sharifah Noraidah Syed; Umar, Irfan Naufal; Arshad, Muhammad Rafie Mohd.; Idrus, Rosnah; Rahman, Habsah Abdul

2010-01-01

This "Project Sheet" describes an on-going project that is being carried out by a group of educational researchers, computer science researchers and librarians from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. The Malaysian Education Index (MEI) has two main functions--(1) Online Indexing System, and (2) Online Repository System. In this brief…

Predicting pavement condition index using international roughness index in Washington DC.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

A number of pavement condition indices are used to conduct pavement management assessments, two of which are the : International Roughness Index (IRI) and Pavement Condition Index (PCI). The IRI is typically measured using specialized : equipment tha...

Intelligent indexing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farkas, J.

1992-01-01

In this paper we discuss the relevance of artificial intelligence to the automatic indexing of natural language text. We describe the use of domain-specific semantically-based thesauruses and address the problem of creating adequate knowledge bases for intelligent indexing systems. We also discuss the relevance of the Hilbert space ι 2 to the compact representation of documents and to the definition of the similarity of natural language texts. (author). 17 refs., 2 figs

Intelligent indexing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farkas, J

1993-12-31

In this paper we discuss the relevance of artificial intelligence to the automatic indexing of natural language text. We describe the use of domain-specific semantically-based thesauruses and address the problem of creating adequate knowledge bases for intelligent indexing systems. We also discuss the relevance of the Hilbert space {iota}{sup 2} to the compact representation of documents and to the definition of the similarity of natural language texts. (author). 17 refs., 2 figs.

A quantitative integrated assessment of pollution prevention achieved by integrated pollution prevention control licensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Styles, David; O'Brien, Kieran; Jones, Michael B

2009-11-01

This paper presents an innovative, quantitative assessment of pollution avoidance attributable to environmental regulation enforced through integrated licensing, using Ireland's pharmaceutical-manufacturing sector as a case study. Emissions data reported by pharmaceutical installations were aggregated into a pollution trend using an Environmental Emissions Index (EEI) based on Lifecycle Assessment methodologies. Complete sectoral emissions data from 2001 to 2007 were extrapolated back to 1995, based on available data. Production volume data were used to derive a sectoral production index, and determine 'no-improvement' emission trends, whilst questionnaire responses from 20 industry representatives were used to quantify the contribution of integrated licensing to emission avoidance relative to these trends. Between 2001 and 2007, there was a 40% absolute reduction in direct pollution from 27 core installations, and 45% pollution avoidance relative to hypothetical 'no-improvement' pollution. It was estimated that environmental regulation avoided 20% of 'no-improvement' pollution, in addition to 25% avoidance under business-as-usual. For specific emissions, avoidance ranged from 14% and 30 kt a(-1) for CO(2) to 88% and 598 t a(-1) for SO(x). Between 1995 and 2007, there was a 59% absolute reduction in direct pollution, and 76% pollution avoidance. Pollution avoidance was dominated by reductions in emissions of VOCs, SO(x) and NO(x) to air, and emissions of heavy metals to water. Pollution avoidance of 35% was attributed to integrated licensing, ranging from between 8% and 2.9 t a(-1) for phosphorus emissions to water to 49% and 3143 t a(-1) for SO(x) emissions to air. Environmental regulation enforced through integrated licensing has been the major driver of substantial pollution avoidance achieved by Ireland's pharmaceutical sector - through emission limit values associated with Best Available Techniques, emissions monitoring and reporting requirements, and

Influence of the refractive index core profile on modal scattering of terminated two-dimensional waveguides.

Science.gov (United States)

Koukoutsaki, Panagiota A; Dasyras, Nikolaos F; Tigelis, Ioannis G; Manenkov, Alexander B; Amditis, Angelos J

2007-06-01

We examine the influence of the refractive index core profile on the modal scattering of abruptly terminated slab waveguides. The analysis is based on the integral equation method with accelerating parameters, while for the field description in the waveguide core, an appropriate Lanczos-Fourier expansion is employed. The electric-field distribution on the terminal plane, the reflection and transformation coefficient of the TE guided modes, and the far-field radiation pattern are computed. Numerical results are presented for slab waveguides with step, linear, and parabolic refractive index profiles of the core. Finally, several approximate analytical solutions are derived to study the problem in question and to explain the results obtained.

Land Capability Potential Index (LCPI) and geodatabase for the Lower Missouri River Valley

Science.gov (United States)

Chojnacki, Kimberly A.; Struckhoff, Matthew A.; Jacobson, Robert B.

2012-01-01

The Land Capacity Potential Index (LCPI) is a coarse-scale index intended to delineate broad land-capability classes in the Lower Missouri River valley bottom from the Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota to the mouth of the Missouri River near St. Louis, Missouri (river miles 811–0). The LCPI provides a systematic index of wetness potential and soil moisture-retention potential of the valley-bottom lands by combining the interactions among water-surface elevations, land-surface elevations, and the inherent moisture-retention capability of soils. A nine-class wetness index was generated by intersecting a digital elevation model for the valley bottom with sloping water-surface elevation planes derived from eight modeled discharges. The flow-recurrence index was then intersected with eight soil-drainage classes assigned to soils units in the digital Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database (Soil Survey Staff, 2010) to create a 72-class index of potential flow-recurrence and moisture-retention capability of Missouri River valley-bottom lands. The LCPI integrates the fundamental abiotic factors that determine long-term suitability of land for various uses, particularly those relating to vegetative communities and their associated values. Therefore, the LCPI provides a mechanism allowing planners, land managers, landowners, and other stakeholders to assess land-use capability based on the physical properties of the land, in order to guide future land-management decisions. This report documents data compilation for the LCPI in a revised and expanded, 72-class version for the Lower Missouri River valley bottom, and inclusion of additional soil attributes to allow users flexibility in exploring land capabilities.

IOTA: integration optimization, triage and analysis tool for the processing of XFEL diffraction images.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyubimov, Artem Y; Uervirojnangkoorn, Monarin; Zeldin, Oliver B; Brewster, Aaron S; Murray, Thomas D; Sauter, Nicholas K; Berger, James M; Weis, William I; Brunger, Axel T

2016-06-01

Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) uses an X-ray free-electron laser to extract diffraction data from crystals not amenable to conventional X-ray light sources owing to their small size or radiation sensitivity. However, a limitation of SFX is the high variability of the diffraction images that are obtained. As a result, it is often difficult to determine optimal indexing and integration parameters for the individual diffraction images. Presented here is a software package, called IOTA , which uses a grid-search technique to determine optimal spot-finding parameters that can in turn affect the success of indexing and the quality of integration on an image-by-image basis. Integration results can be filtered using a priori information about the Bravais lattice and unit-cell dimensions and analyzed for unit-cell isomorphism, facilitating an improvement in subsequent data-processing steps.

Developing a Forest Health Index for public engagement and decision support using local climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic data

Science.gov (United States)

Arnott, J. C.; Katzenberger, J.; Cundiff, J.

2013-12-01

Forest health is an oft-used term without a generally accepted definition. Nonetheless, the concept of forest health continues to permeate scientific, resource management, and public discourse, and it is viewed as a helpful communication device for engagement on issues of concern to forests and their surrounding communities. Notwithstanding the challenges associated with defining the concept of 'forest health,' we present a model for assessing forest health at a watershed scale. Utilizing the Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado--a mountain watershed of 640,000 forested acres--as a case study, we have created a Forest Health Index that integrates a range of climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic data into an assessment organized along a series of public goals including, 1) Ecosystem Services, 2) Public Health & Safety, 3) Sustainable Use & Management, and 4) Ecological Integrity. Methods for this index were adopted from an earlier effort called the Ocean Health Index by Halpern et al, 2012. Indicators that represent drivers of change, such as temperature and precipitation, as well as effects of change, such as primary productivity and phenology, were selected. Each indicator is assessed by comparing a current status of that indicator to a reference scenario obtained through one of the following methods: a) statistical analysis of baseline data from the indicator record, b) commonly accepted normals, thresholds, limits, concentrations, etc., and c) subjective expert judgment. The result of this assessment is a presentation of graphical data and accompanying ratings that combine to form an index of health for the watershed forest ecosystem. We find this product to have potential merit for communities working to assess the range of conditions affecting forest health as well as making sense of the outcomes of those affects. Here, we present a description of the index methodology, data results from engagement with forest watershed stakeholders, example results of data

A Study of the Time–Space Evolution Characteristics of Urban–Rural Integration Development in a Mountainous Area Based on ESDA-GIS: The Case of the Qinling-Daba Mountains in China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Wu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The multi-index comprehensive evaluation method is used in this paper to estimate the urban–rural integration development level of the Qinling-Daba Mountains in China and build an evaluation index system that is composed by five subsystems and 18 basic indexes. The integration of the indexes is conducted through linear weight sum method and the weight of each index is determined through analytic network process to get the urban–rural integration development coordination indexes of each county in the Qinling-Daba Mountains. Meanwhile, the time–space evolution characteristic of urban–rural integration development in the Qinling-Daba Mountains in the past 10 years is studied through exploratory spatial data analysis and GIS technology. The results indicate that urban–rural integration displays a spatial imbalance, with a situation of polarization, i.e., high–level counties gathering with each other; the spatial aggregation rule of west–high, east–low is coupled with land conditions, industrial activity, and the transportation situation to affect the urban–rural development. Finally, we propose that development priorities should be circular industry, eco-agriculture, and tourism to accelerate urban–rural development and work towards a comprehensive modern transportation system and other infrastructure in the Qinling-Daba Mountains.

A new miniaturized negative-index meta-atom for tri-band applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hossain Mohammad Jakir

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a miniature negative index meta-atom was designed; simulated, fabricated and measured based on parallel incidence of electromagnetic wave that can maintain a tri-band applications in microwave spectra. Compare to the other multi-band conventional metamaterial, the proposed meta-atom structure allows miniaturization factor and follows better effective medium ratio (EMR. Finite-integration technique (FIT based computer simulation technology (CST electromagnetic simulator was adopted to examine the design of the meta-atom. It exhibits tri-band response in conjunction with backward wave property over a certain frequency band in the microwave regime. Furthermore, the effective medium ratio is considerably improved compared to previously reported metamaterial. Moreover, few parametric analyses were done with the meta-atom. The size, scattering parameters and effective medium parameters of the proposed negative index miniaturized meta-atom is appropriate for tri-band applications.

Estimating the risk of cyanobacterial occurrence using an index integrating meteorological factors: application to drinking water production.

Science.gov (United States)

Ndong, Mouhamed; Bird, David; Nguyen-Quang, Tri; de Boutray, Marie-Laure; Zamyadi, Arash; Vinçon-Leite, Brigitte; Lemaire, Bruno J; Prévost, Michèle; Dorner, Sarah

2014-06-01

The sudden appearance of toxic cyanobacteria (CB) blooms is still largely unpredictable in waters worldwide. Many post-hoc explanations for CB bloom occurrence relating to physical and biochemical conditions in lakes have been developed. As potentially toxic CB can accumulate in drinking water treatment plants and disrupt water treatment, there is a need for water treatment operators to determine whether conditions are favourable for the proliferation and accumulation of CB in source waters in order to adjust drinking water treatment accordingly. Thus, a new methodology with locally adaptable variables is proposed in order to have a single index, f(p), related to various environmental factors such as temperature, wind speed and direction. The index is used in conjunction with real time monitoring data to determine the probability of CB occurrence in relation to meteorological factors, and was tested at a drinking water intake in Missisquoi Bay, a shallow transboundary bay in Lake Champlain, Québec, Canada. These environmental factors alone were able to explain a maximum probability of 68% that a CB bloom would occur at the drinking water treatment plant. Nutrient limitation also influences CB blooms and intense blooms only occurred when the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to total phosphorus (TP) mass ratio was below 3. Additional monitoring of DIN and TP could be considered for these source waters prone to cyanobacterial blooms to determine periods of favourable growth. Real time monitoring and the use of the index could permit an adequate and timely response to CB blooms in drinking water sources. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CLUSTERING OF THE COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDEX AND EVALUATING WITH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seda BAĞDATLI KALKAN

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Consumer confidence index is a national indicator that suggest about current and future expectations of the economic conditions. With consumer confidence index, it is aimed to determine the trends and expectations of consumers according to their general economic situation, employment opportunities, their financial situations and developments in the markets. Another parameter is also the Human Development Index (HDI. This index is an indicator that examines the development of countries both economically and socially. Countries are sorted by these two indices and are considered as basic parameters in international platforms. The purpose of this study is to group the selected countries according to the consumer confidence index and reveal the features of the groups and then determine the position of the grouped countries with the Human Development Index. According to the results of cluster analysis, it is shown that India, China, Sweden and USA have the highest total consumer confidence index, employment, expectation and investment index

An integrated approach to aquatic health assessment: water quality index and multibiomarker response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sedeno-Diaz, J. E.; Lopez-Lopez, E.; Jimenez-Trujillo, P.; Tejeda-Vera, R.; Espainal Carrion, T.

2009-01-01

The pollution of water bodies reduces their quality and is stressful to their biota. In a river, water usually is of the high-est quality in its headwaters reaches, becoming dirtier along its length as it passes through different land uses. Therefore, the aquatic environment should be assessed using physicochemical and biological features in order to provide a full spectrum of aquatic ecosystem health. Water Quality Indexes can be used to aggregate data on water quality parameters and to translate this information into a single value. The use of bio markers as indicators of toxicity delineates the effects of xenobiotics before the appearance of diseases in aquatic organism. The use of a battery bio markers may be useful to evaluate the various response to mixtures of pollutants. (Author)

Safety assessment in plant layout design using indexing approach: Implementing inherent safety perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tugnoli, Alessandro; Khan, Faisal; Amyotte, Paul; Cozzani, Valerio

2008-01-01

The design of layout plans requires adequate assessment tools for the quantification of safety performance. The general focus of the present work is to introduce an inherent safety perspective at different points of the layout design process. In particular, index approaches for safety assessment and decision-making in the early stages of layout design are developed and discussed in this two-part contribution. Part 1 (accompanying paper) of the current work presents an integrated index approach for safety assessment of early plant layout. In the present paper (Part 2), an index for evaluation of the hazard related to the potential of domino effects is developed. The index considers the actual consequences of possible escalation scenarios and scores or ranks the subsequent accident propagation potential. The effects of inherent and passive protection measures are also assessed. The result is a rapid quantification of domino hazard potential that can provide substantial support for choices in the early stages of layout design. Additionally, a case study concerning selection among various layout options is presented and analyzed. The case study demonstrates the use and applicability of the indices developed in both parts of the current work and highlights the value of introducing inherent safety features early in layout design

ESI-VI8, Peter Island, U. K. and Eastern St John, U. S. Virgin Islands 2000 (Environmental Sensitivity Index Map)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps are an integral component in oil-spill contingency planning and assessment. They serve as a source of information in the...

Indexed

CERN Document Server

Hagy, Jessica

2008-01-01

Jessica Hagy is a different kind of thinker. She has an astonishing talent for visualizing relationships, capturing in pictures what is difficult for most of us to express in words. At indexed.blogspot.com, she posts charts, graphs, and Venn diagrams drawn on index cards that reveal in a simple and intuitive way the large and small truths of modern life. Praised throughout the blogosphere as “brilliant,” “incredibly creative,” and “comic genius,” Jessica turns her incisive, deadpan sense of humor on everything from office politics to relationships to religion. With new material along with some of Jessica’s greatest hits, this utterly unique book will thrill readers who demand humor that makes them both laugh and think.

The Relationship of the Post-reflux Swallow-induced Peristaltic Wave Index and Esophageal Baseline Impedance with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Young Kyu; Lee, Joon Seong; Lee, Tae Hee; Hong, Su Jin; Park, Sang Joon; Jeon, Seong Ran; Kim, Hyun Gun; Kim, Jin-Oh

2017-01-01

Background/Aims The post-reflux swallow-induced peristaltic wave (PSPW) index and esophageal baseline impedance (BI) are novel impedance parameters used to evaluate esophageal chemical clearance and mucosal integrity. However, their relationship with reflux symptoms is not known. We aim to evaluate the correlations of PSPW index and esophageal BI with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms. Methods We performed a retrospective review of multichannel intraluminal impedance and pH (MII-pH) tracings in patients with suspected GERD. Reflux symptoms were also analyzed from checklists using ordinal scales. The PSPW index and esophageal BIs in 6 spots (z1–z6) were measured. Bivariate (Spearman) correlation was used to analyze the relationship between the PSPW index or esophageal BI, and the degree of GERD symptoms measured. Results The MII-pH records of 143 patients were analyzed. The PSPW index was significantly lower in patients who had heartburn and negatively correlated with the degree of heartburn (r = −0.186, P < 0.05). On the contrary, the PSPW index was not significantly correlated with the degree of dysphagia (r = −0.013, P = 0.874). Distal esophageal BI was not significantly correlated with heartburn, but negatively correlated with the degree of dysphagia (z3: r = −0.328, z4: r = −0.361, z5: r = −0.316, z6: r = −0.273; P < 0.05). Conclusions These findings suggest that delayed chemical clearance of the esophagus may induce heartburn, but that it is not related to dysphagia. However, a lack of esophageal mucosal integrity may be related to dysphagia. PMID:28044052

PUBLIC INTEGRITY AND THE DIVERGENCE FROM IT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simona‐Roxana ULMAN

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Public Integrity is one of the public sector’s essential objectives to attain. In contradiction, as a divergence from it, corruption is one of the persistent problems of the societies over years and it affects the credibility of public institutions and its ambassadors in front of the citizens and of the other related countries. All nations complain of corruption and, as it is observed in the Corruption Perception Index 2012, no country has a maximum score which shows that a country is totally clean. In this context, the study of the most important elements of the public integrity concept, the identification of what causes the divergence from it and the solutions detection become a relevant option for economic literature. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to emphasize the public integrity concept and its main aspects and to make a comparison between countries to achieve a large perspective of the world’s public integrity juncture.

Inferring community properties of benthic macroinvertebrates in streams using Shannon index and exergy

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Tuyen Van; Cho, Woon-Seok; Kim, Hungsoo; Jung, Il Hyo; Kim, YongKuk; Chon, Tae-Soo

2014-03-01

Definition of ecological integrity based on community analysis has long been a critical issue in risk assessment for sustainable ecosystem management. In this work, two indices (i.e., Shannon index and exergy) were selected for the analysis of community properties of benthic macroinvertebrate community in streams in Korea. For this purpose, the means and variances of both indices were analyzed. The results found an extra scope of structural and functional properties in communities in response to environmental variabilities and anthropogenic disturbances. The combination of these two parameters (four indices) was feasible in identification of disturbance agents (e.g., industrial pollution or organic pollution) and specifying states of communities. The four-aforementioned parameters (means and variances of Shannon index and exergy) were further used as input data in a self-organizing map for the characterization of water quality. Our results suggested that Shannon index and exergy in combination could be utilized as a suitable reference system and would be an efficient tool for assessment of the health of aquatic ecosystems exposed to environmental disturbances.

The lead-lag relationship between stock index and stock index futures: A thermal optimal path method

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Chen-Chen; Ji, Shen-Dan; Su, Li-Ling; Li, Sai-Ping; Ren, Fei

2016-02-01

The study of lead-lag relationship between stock index and stock index futures is of great importance for its wide application in hedging and portfolio investments. Previous works mainly use conventional methods like Granger causality test, GARCH model and error correction model, and focus on the causality relation between the index and futures in a certain period. By using a non-parametric approach-thermal optimal path (TOP) method, we study the lead-lag relationship between China Securities Index 300 (CSI 300), Hang Seng Index (HSI), Standard and Poor 500 (S&P 500) Index and their associated futures to reveal the variance of their relationship over time. Our finding shows evidence of pronounced futures leadership for well established index futures, namely HSI and S&P 500 index futures, while index of developing market like CSI 300 has pronounced leadership. We offer an explanation based on the measure of an indicator which quantifies the differences between spot and futures prices for the surge of lead-lag function. Our results provide new perspectives for the understanding of the dynamical evolution of lead-lag relationship between stock index and stock index futures, which is valuable for the study of market efficiency and its applications.

Index Bioclimatic "Wind-Chill"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teodoreanu Elena

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an important bioclimatic index which shows the influence of wind on the human body thermoregulation. When the air temperature is high, the wind increases thermal comfort. But more important for the body is the wind when the air temperature is low. When the air temperature is lower and wind speed higher, the human body is threatening to freeze faster. Cold wind index is used in Canada, USA, Russia (temperature "equivalent" to the facial skin etc., in the weather forecast every day in the cold season. The index can be used and for bioclimatic regionalization, in the form of skin temperature index.

12 CFR 34.22 - Index.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... an index or combination of indices to which changes in the interest rate will be linked. This index... 12 Banks and Banking 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Index. 34.22 Section 34.22 Banks and Banking... Mortgages § 34.22 Index. (a) In general. If a national bank makes an ARM loan to which 12 CFR 226.19(b...

An Analytical Study on an Orthodontic Index: Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON)

Science.gov (United States)

Torkan, Sepide; Pakshir, Hamid Reza; Fattahi, Hamid Reza; Oshagh, Morteza; Momeni Danaei, Shahla; Salehi, Parisa; Hedayati, Zohreh

2015-01-01

Statement of the Problem The validity of the Index of Complexity, Outcome and Need (ICON) which is an orthodontic index developed and introduced in 2000 should be studied in different ethnic groups. Purpose The aim of this study was to perform an analysis on the ICON and to verify whether this index is valid for assessing both the need and complexity of orthodontic treatment in Iran. Materials and Method Five orthodontists were asked to score pre-treatment diagnostic records of 100 patients with a uniform distribution of different types of malocclusions determined by Dental Health Component of the Index of Treatment Need. A calibrated examiner also assessed the need for orthodontic treatment and complexity of the cases based on the ICON index as well as the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). 10 days later, 25% of the cases were re-scored by the panel of experts and the calibrated orthodontist. Results The weighted kappa revealed the inter-examiner reliability of the experts to be 0.63 and 0.51 for the need and complexity components, respectively. ROC curve was used to assess the validity of the index. A new cut-off point was adjusted at 35 in lieu of 43 as the suggested cut-off point. This cut-off point showed the highest level of sensitivity and specificity in our society for orthodontic treatment need (0.77 and 0.78, respectively), but it failed to define definite ranges for the complexity of treatment. Conclusion ICON is a valid index in assessing the need for treatment in Iran when the cut-off point is adjusted to 35. As for complexity of treatment, the index is not validated for our society. It seems that ICON is a well-suited substitute for the IOTN index. PMID:26331142

Rethinking image indexing?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Hans Dam

2017-01-01

Hans Dam Christensen, ”Rethinking image indexing?”, in: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, vol. 68, no. 7, 2017, 1782-1785......Hans Dam Christensen, ”Rethinking image indexing?”, in: Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, vol. 68, no. 7, 2017, 1782-1785...

Bibliography of integral charged particle nuclear data. Archival edition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burrows, T.W.; Dempsey, P.

1980-03-01

This is the fourth annual edition of the National Nuclear Data Center charged-particle bibliography. This edition is cumulative and supersedes the previous editions. The bibliography's primary aims are to satisfy the need for a concise and comprehensive index of integral charged-particle cross section data and to provide an index of charged-particle data compiled in the international exchange format, EXFOR. This part of the publication deals with isotope production; references are ordered by mass of the nuclide produced. The present publication is an archival volume; future publications will be cumulative supplements to this edition

Registering, indexing and digitally preserving RDBCI: Production indicators of 2003 to 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gildenir Carolino Santos

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The question of explosion and digital preservation issues are totally in vogue today. In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze bibliographically the typeset production and published the “RDBCI: Revista Digital de Biblioteconomia e Ciência da Informação” in these its thirteen years of existence, in order to disclose the analysis of published scientific production, featuring the themes of articles and the most representative authors, contributing to the community area in question as well as enhance the importance of the magazine to the field of Library and Information Science. The journal is entirely digital, born and incubated on free platform OJS/SEER, provided by IBICT since 2004. Moreover, in these years of experience the magazine is effective information vehicle of the area and its existence confirms that electronic publications born in this format, survive in the digital world. From 2013, the RDBCI began to integrate Cariniana Network (IBICT, digitally preserving your entire collection through the LOCKSS software, and other institutions aggregated to the network, and in March 2016 began to integrate The Keepers Registry, making If the first Brazilian publication to be part of this international digital preservation network. The methodology adopted was through a survey of articles published from 2003 to 2016, collecting data such as access numbers, downloads, and other statistical and qualitative indicators, making use of tools such as Google Analytics, Altmetrics, Index h and alternative metrics as well as databases, directories, portals and indexes where the journal is indexed. We believe the result of this work serves as a qualitative analysis model for other periodicals and promotes growth of more national and international scientific publications with open access.

The ZJU index is a powerful index for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese population.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Linman; You, Wenyi; Ren, Wei

2017-10-01

The ZJU index is a novel model for detecting non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) that it is calculated based on combination of the body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and the serum alanine aminotransferase-to-aspartate transaminase ratio. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the ZJU index in detecting NAFLD in the Chinese population. This was a cross-sectional study. Anthropometric measurements, laboratory data, and ultrasonography features were collected through a standard protocol. The ZJU index, fatty liver index, hepatic steatosis index, lipid accumulation product, and visceral adiposity index were calculated. Then the predictive values of the five indices were compared according to the area under receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUROC) values. A total of 19,804 participants were recruited, of whom 7324 participants were diagnosed with NFALD and 12,480 subjects were regarded as controls. The AUROC value for NAFLD identification by the ZJU index was 0.925 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.919-0.931), which was significantly higher than the values for the other four models (P 60 years, the AUROC for the ZJU increased from 87.1 to 95.4%, values which were also greater than those for the other four indices. Analysis by sex also showed that the performance of the ZJU index in males and females was better than that of the other four indices. The ZJU index is an accurate and easy to employ tool for identifying NAFLD in the general Chinese population.

The split cube in a cage: bulk negative-index material for infrared applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andryieuski, Andrei; Menzel, C.; Rockstuhl, C.

2009-01-01

We propose the split cube in a cage (SCiC) design for application in producing a bulk metamaterial. Applying realistic material data for thin silver films, we observe an immediate convergence of the effective parameters obtained with a number of layers towards the bulk properties. Results...... are obtained by two different numerical techniques: the Fourier modal method and the finite integrals method, thus ensuring their validity. The SCiC exhibits a refractive index of −0.6 for frequencies close to the telecommunication bands. The fast convergence of effective parameters allows consideration...... of the SCiC as a bulk (effectively homogeneous) negative-index metamaterial even for a single layer. The bulk-like nature together with the cubic symmetry of the unit cell make the SCiC a promising candidate for potential applications at telecommunication frequencies....

Author Index, From > 1988-1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

In 1988-1992, 824 papers were published in >. The papers were contributed by 1497 authors. The author index of the papers is annexed. The author index is divided into contained two parts: the first part is chinese author index, and the second part is foreign author index. The former is arranged according to the chinese phonetic alphabet. The latter is arranged according to the English alphabet

Analysis in indexing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mai, Jens Erik

2005-01-01

is presented as an alternative and the paper discusses how this approach includes a broader range of analyses and how it requires a new set of actions from using this approach; analysis of the domain, users and indexers. The paper concludes that the two-step procedure to indexing is insufficient to explain...

2016 GRI Index

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2016-01-01

This 2016 World Bank Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index provides an overview of sustainability considerations within the World Bank’s lending and analytical services as well as its corporate activities. This index of sustainability indicators has been prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting GRI guidelines (https://www.globalrepo...

An integrated approach to evaluate food antioxidant capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, T; Tanumihardjo, S A

2007-11-01

Many methods are available for determining food antioxidant capacity, which is an important topic in food and nutrition research and marketing. However, the results and inferences from different methods may vary substantially because each complex chemical reaction generates unique values. To get a complete and dynamic picture of the ranking of food antioxidant capacity, relative antioxidant capacity index (RACI), a hypothetical concept, is created from the perspective of statistics by integrating the antioxidant capacity values generated from different in vitro methods. RACI is the mean value of standard scores transformed from the initial data generated with different methods for each food item. By comparing the antioxidant capacity of 20 commonly consumed vegetables in the U.S. market that were measured with 7 chemical methods, we demonstrated that the RACI correlated strongly with each method. The significant correlation of RACI with an independent data set further confirmed that RACI is a valid tool to assess food antioxidant capacity. The key advantage of this integrated approach is that RACI is in a numerical scale with no units and has consistent agreement with chemical methods. Although it is a relative index and may not represent a specific antioxidant property of different food items, RACI provides a reasonably accurate rank of antioxidant capacity among foods. Therefore, it can be used as an integrated approach to evaluate food antioxidant capacity.

Methods of formation of efficiency indexes of electric power sources integration in regional electric power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marder, L.I.; Myzin, A.I.

1993-01-01

A methodic approach to the grounding of the integration process efficiency within the Unified electric power system is given together with the selection of a rational areal structure and concentration of power-generating source capacities. Formation of an economic functional according to alternative scenavies including the cost components taking account of the regional interests is considered. A method for estimation and distribution of the effect from electric power production integration in the power systems under new economic conditions is proposed

Development of a multimetric index for integrated assessment of salt marsh ecosystem condition

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, Jessica L.; Neckles, Hilary A.; Guntenspergen, Glenn R.; Rocks, Erika N.; Schoolmaster, Donald; Grace, James B.; Skidds, Dennis; Stevens, Sara

2018-01-01

Tools for assessing and communicating salt marsh condition are essential to guide decisions aimed at maintaining or restoring ecosystem integrity and services. Multimetric indices (MMIs) are increasingly used to provide integrated assessments of ecosystem condition. We employed a theory-based approach that considers the multivariate relationship of metrics with human disturbance to construct a salt marsh MMI for five National Parks in the northeastern USA. We quantified the degree of human disturbance for each marsh using the first principal component score from a principal components analysis of physical, chemical, and land use stressors. We then applied a metric selection algorithm to different combinations of about 45 vegetation and nekton metrics (e.g., species abundance, species richness, and ecological and functional classifications) derived from multi-year monitoring data. While MMIs derived from nekton or vegetation metrics alone were strongly correlated with human disturbance (r values from −0.80 to −0.93), an MMI derived from both vegetation and nekton metrics yielded an exceptionally strong correlation with disturbance (r = −0.96). Individual MMIs included from one to five metrics. The metric-assembly algorithm yielded parsimonious MMIs that exhibit the greatest possible correlations with disturbance in a way that is objective, efficient, and reproducible.

Development of the multiwavelength monolithic integrated fiber optics terminal

Science.gov (United States)

Chubb, C. R.; Bryan, D. A.; Powers, J. K.; Rice, R. R.; Nettle, V. H.; Dalke, E. A.; Reed, W. R.

1982-01-01

This paper describes the development of the Multiwavelength Monolithic Integrated Fiber Optic Terminal (MMIFOT) for the NASA Johnson Space Center. The program objective is to utilize guided wave optical technology to develop wavelength-multiplexing and -demultiplexing units, using a single mode optical fiber for transmission between terminals. Intensity modulated injection laser diodes, chirped diffraction gratings and thin film lenses are used to achieve the wavelength-multiplexing and -demultiplexing. The video and audio data transmission test of an integrated optical unit with a Luneburg collimation lens, waveguide diffraction grating and step index condensing lens is described.

Louisiana ESI: LG_INDEX (Large Index Polygons)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data set contains vector polygons representing the boundaries of all the hardcopy cartographic products produced as part of the Environmental Sensitivity Index...

GRI Index 2017

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2017-01-01

This World Bank GRI Index 2017 provides an overview of sustainability considerations within the World Bank’s lending and analytical services as well as its corporate activities. This index of sustainability indicators has been prepared in accordance with the internationally recognized standard for sustainability reporting, the GRI Standards: Core option (https://www.globalreporting.org). T...

In Search of a Smile: SMIL Indexing System for Multimedia Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Bosnić

2007-09-01

Full Text Available In today's world of education, new methods and services are appearing every day. This paper proposes the usage of educational material "mashup", created in SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language format. A multi-user Web application for indexing and sharing SMIL presentations is described. Presentations, located on remote servers, are fetched using different protocols, analyzed and indexed using a full-text search method. Each result gives not only "the place" but also "the time" of spoken word or phrase in the course. Afterwards, the lectures can be grouped based on their content, shared and combined together into personalized Search boxes for specific courses. The placement of Search boxes on any course Web page or LMS is done by client-side technologies, which eliminates tweaking of learning systems and usage of server-side programming. An example of usage at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing is described, together with the research results obtained.

Fabrication of Refractive Index Tunable Polydimethylsiloxane Photonic Crystal for Biosensor Application

Science.gov (United States)

Raman, Karthik; Murthy, T. R. Srinivasa; Hegde, G. M.

Photonic crystal based nanostructures are expected to play a significant role in next generation nanophotonic devices. Recent developments in two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal based devices have created widespread interest as such planar photonic structures are compatible with conventional microelectronic and photonic devices. Various optical components such as waveguides, resonators, modulators and demultiplexers have been designed and fabricated based on 2D photonic crystal geometry. This paper presents the fabrication of refractive index tunable Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) polymer based photonic crystals. The advantages of using PDMS are mainly its chemical stability, bio-compatibility and the stack reduces sidewall roughness scattering. The PDMS structure with square lattice was fabricated by using silicon substrate patterned with SU8-2002 resist. The 600 nm period grating of PDMS is then fabricated using Nano-imprinting. In addition, the refractive index of PDMS is modified using certain additive materials. The resulting photonic crystals are suitable for application in photonic integrated circuits and biological applications such as filters, cavities or microlaser waveguides.

Photonuclear data index 1986-1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varlamov, V A; Stepanov, M E; Sapunenko, V V [Moscow State University, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Centre for Photonuclear Experimental Data, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1992-07-01

This issue presents a bibliographic index to experimental photonuclear data published in periodical scientific literature during the years 1986-1990. The main tabulation is sorted by nucleus and reaction. It is supplemented by a reference index, an author index, explanatory tables of terms and abbreviations used, and a table of isotopic abundances and nucleon separation energies. The index is in English with an introduction in Russian and English. (author)

Comparing the Global and Merged with the Local and Separate: On a Downside to the Integration of Regions and Nations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oded Stark

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper looks at the integration of regions and nations through the prism of the merger of populations (societies. The paper employs a particular index of social stress. Stylized examples of the merging of two populations suggest that with integration, the social stress index will increase. The examples form the basis for the development of new formulas for calculating the social stress of an integrated population as a function of the levels of social stress of the constituent populations when apart. The formulas reveal that the social stress of an integrated population is higher than the sum of the levels of social stress of the constituent populations when apart. This raises the distinct possibility that the merging of populations may be a social liability: integration may fail to give the populace a sense of improved wellbeing.

Calculate Your Body Mass Index

Science.gov (United States)

... Can! ) Health Professional Resources Calculate Your Body Mass Index Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based ... Health Information Email Alerts Jobs and Careers Site Index About NHLBI National Institute of Health Department of ...

Ergonomic Analysis of Garment Industry using Posture Evaluation Index (PEI) in Virtual Environment

OpenAIRE

Erlinda Muslim; Boy Nurtjahyo; Romadhani Ardi

2011-01-01

This research tried to study, in a virtual environment, the ergonomics of four divisions in garment industry: cutting division, sewing division, button division, and finishing division. Variables that influence the working conditions in each division are different; depend on the real situations that happened. The purpose is to assess the real working conditions based on ergonomics  study  using Posture Evaluation Index (PEI). PEI integrates  the scores of  low back analysi...

A new integrated evaluation method of heavy metals pollution control during melting and sintering of MSWI fly ash.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rundong; Li, Yanlong; Yang, Tianhua; Wang, Lei; Wang, Weiyun

2015-05-30

Evaluations of technologies for heavy metal control mainly examine the residual and leaching rates of a single heavy metal, such that developed evaluation method have no coordination or uniqueness and are therefore unsuitable for hazard control effect evaluation. An overall pollution toxicity index (OPTI) was established in this paper, based on the developed index, an integrated evaluation method of heavy metal pollution control was established. Application of this method in the melting and sintering of fly ash revealed the following results: The integrated control efficiency of the melting process was higher in all instances than that of the sintering process. The lowest integrated control efficiency of melting was 56.2%, and the highest integrated control efficiency of sintering was 46.6%. Using the same technology, higher integrated control efficiency conditions were all achieved with lower temperatures and shorter times. This study demonstrated the unification and consistency of this method. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impact on enzyme activity as a new quality index of wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Balestri, Francesco; Moschini, Roberta; Cappiello, Mario; Del-Corso, Antonella; Mura, Umberto

2013-03-15

The aim of this study was to define a new indicator for the quality of wastewaters that are released into the environment. A quality index is proposed for wastewater samples in terms of the inertness of wastewater samples toward enzyme activity. This involves taking advantage of the sensitivity of enzymes to pollutants that may be present in the waste samples. The effect of wastewater samples on the rate of a number of different enzyme-catalyzed reactions was measured, and the results for all the selected enzymes were analyzed in an integrated fashion (multi-enzymatic sensor). This approach enabled us to define an overall quality index, the "Impact on Enzyme Function" (IEF-index), which is composed of three indicators: i) the Synoptic parameter, related to the average effect of the waste sample on each component of the enzymatic sensor; ii) the Peak parameter, related to the maximum effect observed among all the effects exerted by the sample on the sensor components; and, iii) the Interference parameter, related to the number of sensor components that are affected less than a fixed threshold value. A number of water based samples including public potable tap water, fluids from urban sewage systems, wastewater disposal from leather, paper and dye industries were analyzed and the IEF-index was then determined. Although the IEF-index cannot discriminate between different types of wastewater samples, it could be a useful parameter in monitoring the improvement of the quality of a specific sample. However, by analyzing an adequate number of waste samples of the same type, even from different local contexts, the profile of the impact of each component of the multi-enzymatic sensor could be typical for specific types of waste. The IEF-index is proposed as a supplementary qualification score for wastewaters, in addition to the certification of the waste's conformity to legal requirements. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Turning the Big Mac Index into the Medical MAC Index | Wilson ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to create a global medical earnings index, called the Medical MAC Index, to enable a comparison of what medical specialists earn in the countries included in the study. Design: The study gathered data on the earnings of specialist anaesthetists employed in state hospitals with five ...

On the refractive index of sodium iodide solutions for index matching in PIV

Science.gov (United States)

Bai, Kunlun; Katz, Joseph

2014-04-01

Refractive index matching has become a popular technique for facilitating applications of modern optical diagnostic techniques, such as particle image velocimetry, in complex systems. By matching the refractive index of solid boundaries with that of the liquid, unobstructed optical paths can be achieved for illumination and image acquisition. In this research note, we extend previously provided data for the refractive index of aqueous solutions of sodium iodide (NaI) for concentrations reaching the temperature-dependent solubility limit. Results are fitted onto a quadratic empirical expression relating the concentration to the refractive index. Temperature effects are also measured. The present range of indices, 1.333-1.51, covers that of typical transparent solids, from silicone elastomers to several recently introduced materials that could be manufactured using rapid prototyping. We also review briefly previous measurements of the refractive index, viscosity, and density of NaI solutions, as well as prior research that has utilized this fluid.

Integrating statistical and process-based models to produce probabilistic landslide hazard at regional scale

Science.gov (United States)

Strauch, R. L.; Istanbulluoglu, E.

2017-12-01

We develop a landslide hazard modeling approach that integrates a data-driven statistical model and a probabilistic process-based shallow landslide model for mapping probability of landslide initiation, transport, and deposition at regional scales. The empirical model integrates the influence of seven site attribute (SA) classes: elevation, slope, curvature, aspect, land use-land cover, lithology, and topographic wetness index, on over 1,600 observed landslides using a frequency ratio (FR) approach. A susceptibility index is calculated by adding FRs for each SA on a grid-cell basis. Using landslide observations we relate susceptibility index to an empirically-derived probability of landslide impact. This probability is combined with results from a physically-based model to produce an integrated probabilistic map. Slope was key in landslide initiation while deposition was linked to lithology and elevation. Vegetation transition from forest to alpine vegetation and barren land cover with lower root cohesion leads to higher frequency of initiation. Aspect effects are likely linked to differences in root cohesion and moisture controlled by solar insulation and snow. We demonstrate the model in the North Cascades of Washington, USA and identify locations of high and low probability of landslide impacts that can be used by land managers in their design, planning, and maintenance.

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) the Directors' Decisions (DD), and the Decisions on Petitions for Rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. Information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case Name Index; Headers and Digests; Legal Citations Index; Subject Index; and Facility Index

Indexes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issuances

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-12-31

Digests and indexes for issuances of the Commission (CLI), the Atomic Safety and licensing Board Panel (LBP), the Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) the Directors` Decisions (DD), and the Decisions on Petitions for Rulemaking (DPRM) are presented in this document. These digests and indexes are intended to serve as a guide to the issuances. Information elements are displayed in one or more of five separate formats arranged as follows: Case Name Index; Headers and Digests; Legal Citations Index; Subject Index; and Facility Index.

Information and analytical support of integrated reporting: evaluation of the stakeholders’ influence on the change of the created value

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu. V. Novozhilova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Information and analytical support of integrated reporting needs constant improvement, depending on the growing needs of the stakeholders. The main objective of integrated reporting is to explain how the organization creates value over time. The stakeholders play a key role in the process of value creation. Firms accumulate stakeholders’ resources and transform them, thereby meeting the needs of the parties and achieving their own goals. Building relationships with their stakeholders, organization establishes impact leverage to create value. Thus, the created value depends on the successful interaction with stakeholders. Therefore, the article is devoted to problem of information and analytical support of integrated reporting to the evaluation of created value, which is influenced by the stakeholders. The article emphasizes that an integrated quantitative measurement of value change is a complex and unresolved currently task. Integrated evaluation - a systematic analytical study, in the course of which is given summarizing evaluation of the effectiveness company. Such assessment activity is important and has a multi-purpose orientation under market conditions. The annual reports of companies are practically no integrated indicators characterizing created value. The author believes that integrated reporting should become a platform for the realization of the possibility of an integrated assessment of the created value. The results of the study are the development the methods of computation the “integrated index overall impact by the stakeholders on the company’s created value” and its testing on the example of the annual reports of the organization, which discloses information on the level of international best practice. The methodology of the research bases on such methods as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, simulation, comprehensive approach to knowledge, logical methods of research. Private indicators for the computation the

A bacterial community-based index to assess the ecological status of estuarine and coastal environments

KAUST Repository

Aylagas, Eva

2016-10-23

Biotic indices for monitoring marine ecosystems are mostly based on the analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Due to their high sensitivity to pollution and fast response to environmental changes, bacterial assemblages could complement the information provided by benthic metazoan communities as indicators of human-induced impacts, but so far, this biological component has not been well explored for this purpose. Here we performed 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to analyze the bacterial assemblage composition of 51 estuarine and coastal stations characterized by different environmental conditions and human-derived pressures. Using the relative abundance of putative indicator bacterial taxa, we developed a biotic index that is significantly correlated with a sediment quality index calculated on the basis of organic and inorganic compound concentrations. This new index based on bacterial assemblage composition can be a sensitive tool for providing a fast environmental assessment and allow a more comprehensive integrative ecosystem approach for environmental management. © 2016.

European Integration, Labour Market Dynamics and Migration Flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martinoia, Michela

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The paper has two objectives. Firstly, we wish to evaluate whether a greater economic integration has effects, and of what type, on migration flows from Central and Eastern Europe (New Member States of the EU, NMS towards the fifteen countries of the European Union (EU-15. Secondly, we wish to understand what effect the migration flows from the NMS have on the labour market of the receiving countries in the EU-15. The most suitable theoretical context that seems to summarise European labour market characteristics is that of the insider/outsider model by Layard, Nickell and Jackman (Layard et al., 1991. We have modified the above mentioned model by introducing two innovations. Firstly, we constructed three measures that act as a proxy for economic integration: the Intra Regional Trade Index (IRTI, Global Trade Index (GTI and Financial Market Integration (FMI. Then we placed the three indicators into the insider/outsider model to arrive at a modified version of Layard, Nickell and Jackman (Layard et al., 1991. The second innovative contribution was the introduction of an equation modelling migration flows. The creation of this equation is inspired by the neo-classical approach to migration theory (Harris-Todaro, 1970. The theoretical model, based on rational expectations, has been solved to find the equilibrium solution and the impact multipliers. We then carried out an empirical analysis, which involved estimating a Structural Vector Autoregression Model (SVAR. The aim of this estimation was to evaluate, on the one hand, the effect that greater European integration (a positive shock to the integration indicators has on migration flows, and, on the other, to measure the type of effect that migration flows could have on the labour market of the EU-15 countries, considered as a single entity. The results of our empirical evidence show that economic integration does generate significant effects on migration flows from the enlargement countries

Safety Performance Index Industri Batik Tulis Berdasarkan Kriteria Majemuk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nachnul Ansori

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Accident generally occurs due to the activities which is done in unsafe conditions or even unsafe behavior. These conditions can influence workers productivity. In batik industries, those workers use toxic material and work in non ergonomic atmosphere. Moreover, they also do not take care of the environment and do not use personal protective equipments (PPE. Workers at Madura batik SMEs have not fully realized the significance of occupational health and safety (OHS in their working areas. The aims of this research is to evaluate OHS performance based on the indicators of safety performance index (SPI, which is multicriteria, in that industri. The safety performance attributes were obtained from factor analysis from the previous study. The index is calculated based on the weighted evaluation results of critical behavior checklist (CBC, integrated with analytical hierarchy process (AHP. As the results, we should give priority to improve the knowledge and experience toward OHS of the workers and also improve the working environment of the Madura’s batik industries. Additionally, the performance of OHS in coloring process is also on the threshold of unsafe condition, further development on the coloring process is needed.

Is the Carli index flawed?: assessing the case for the new retail price index RPIJ.

Science.gov (United States)

Levell, Peter

2015-02-01

The paper discusses the recent decision of the UK's Office for National Statistics to replace the controversial Carli index with the Jevons index in a new version of the retail price index-RPIJ. In doing so we make three contributions to the way that price indices should be selected for measures of consumer price inflation when quantity information is not available (i.e. at the 'elementary' level). Firstly, we introduce a new price bouncing test under the test approach for choosing index numbers. Secondly, we provide empirical evidence on the performance of the Carli and Jevons indices in different contexts under the statistical approach. Thirdly, applying something analogous to the principle of insufficient reason, we argue contrary to received wisdom in the literature, that the economic approach can be used to choose indices at the elementary level, and moreover that it favours the use of the Jevons index. Overall, we conclude that there is a case against the Carli index and that the Jevons index is to be preferred.

Experimental comparison between speech transmission index, rapid speech transmission index, and speech intelligibility index.

Science.gov (United States)

Larm, Petra; Hongisto, Valtteri

2006-02-01

During the acoustical design of, e.g., auditoria or open-plan offices, it is important to know how speech can be perceived in various parts of the room. Different objective methods have been developed to measure and predict speech intelligibility, and these have been extensively used in various spaces. In this study, two such methods were compared, the speech transmission index (STI) and the speech intelligibility index (SII). Also the simplification of the STI, the room acoustics speech transmission index (RASTI), was considered. These quantities are all based on determining an apparent speech-to-noise ratio on selected frequency bands and summing them using a specific weighting. For comparison, some data were needed on the possible differences of these methods resulting from the calculation scheme and also measuring equipment. Their prediction accuracy was also of interest. Measurements were made in a laboratory having adjustable noise level and absorption, and in a real auditorium. It was found that the measurement equipment, especially the selection of the loudspeaker, can greatly affect the accuracy of the results. The prediction accuracy of the RASTI was found acceptable, if the input values for the prediction are accurately known, even though the studied space was not ideally diffuse.

Master Veteran Index (MVI)

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — As of June 28, 2010, the Master Veteran Index (MVI) database based on the enhanced Master Patient Index (MPI) is the authoritative identity service within the VA,...

The use of aquatic macrophytes in monitoring and in assessment of biological integrity

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, P.M.; Scribailo, R.W.; Simon, T.P.; Gerhardt, A.

1999-01-01

Aquatic plant species, populations, and communities should be used as indicators of the aquatic environment, allowing detection of ecosystem response to different stressors. Plant tissues bioaccumulate and concentrate toxin levels higher than what is present in the sediments; and this appears to be related to organic matter content, acidification, and buffering capacity. The majority of toxicity studies, most of these with heavy metals, have been done with several Lemna species and Vallisneria americana. Organic chemicals reviewed include pesticides and herbicides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other industrial contaminants. The use of aquatic plant communities as bioindicators of environmental quality was evaluated for specific characteristics and indices that may assess biological integrity. Indices such as the floristic quality index (FQI) and coefficient of conservatism (C) are pioneering efforts to describe the quality of natural areas and protect native biodiversity. Our case study in the Grand Calumet Lagoons found that 'least-impacted' sites had the greatest aquatic plant species richness, highest FQI and C values, and highest relative abundance. Lastly, we introduce the concepts necessary for the development of a plant index of biotic integrity. Development of reference conditions is essential to understanding aquatic plant community structure, function, individual health, condition, and abundance. Information on guild development and tolerance definition are also integral to the development of a multi-metric index.

Trade Integration Effects in ASEAN Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yana Valeryevna Dyomina

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper examines evolution of trade integration process in ASEAN. The author employs three methods in order to evaluate the degree of ASEAN‘s trade integration that has been achieved over two decades since the signing of the Association of South-East Asian Nations Free Trade Area Agreement (AFTA in 1992. The high degree of trade integration among member states allows moving to the next stage of international economic integration (ASEAN countries are going to form ASEAN Community (the Common Market by the 1st of January 2016. So the study assesses the ASEAN’s preparedness to the Common Market by determining the share of mutual (intraregional trade, regional trade intensity index (RTII and trade integration effects (trade creation and trade diversion effects for each member state, 2 groups of ASEAN countries (ASEAN-6 and ASEAN-4 and the Association as a whole. The paper shows that despite the increase in the share of intraregional trade during the years of the AFTA functioning, the member states of ASEAN still demonstrate low levels of trade integration: a 75% of the Association’s external trade focuses on extra regional partners; b ASEAN as a whole has the low volume of RTII and among its member states only Singapore has the high one; c trade diversion effect prevails over trade creation one

Human Use Index (Future)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Human land uses may have major impacts on ecosystems, affecting biodiversity, habitat, air and water quality. The human use index (also known as U-index) is the...

Self-assembly as a design tool for the integration of photonic structures into excitonic solar cells

KAUST Repository

Guldin, S.

2011-09-20

One way to successfully enhance light harvesting of excitonic solar cells is the integration of optical elements that increase the photon path length in the light absorbing layer. Device architectures which incorporate structural order in form of one- or three-dimensional refractive index lattices can lead to the localization of light in specific parts of the spectrum, while retaining the cell\\'s transparency in others. Herein, we present two routes for the integration of photonic crystals (PCs) into dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). In both cases, the self-assembly of soft matter plays a key role in the fabrication process of the TiO2 electrode. One approach relies on a combination of colloidal self-assembly and the self-assembly of block copolymers, resulting in a double layer dye-sensitized solar cell with increased light absorption from the 3D PC element. An alternative route is based on the fact that the refractive index of the mesoporous layer can be finely tuned by the interplay between block copolymer self-assembly and hydrolytic TiO2 sol-gel chemistry. Alternating deposition of high and low refractive index layers enables the integration of a 1D PC into a DSC.