WorldWideScience

Sample records for learning trough structured

  1. Solar photovoltaic reflective trough collection structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Benjamin J.; Sweatt, William C.; Okandan, Murat; Nielson, Gregory N.

    2015-11-19

    A photovoltaic (PV) solar concentration structure having at least two troughs encapsulated in a rectangular parallelepiped optical plastic structure, with the troughs filled with an optical plastic material, the troughs each having a reflective internal surface and approximately parabolic geometry, and the troughs each including photovoltaic cells situated so that light impinging on the optical plastic material will be concentrated onto the photovoltaic cells. Multiple structures can be connected to provide a solar photovoltaic collection system that provides portable, efficient, low-cost electrical power.

  2. Basinal Structure Of Yola Arm Of The Upper Benue Trough Nigeria ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Aeromagnetic data interpretation of the Yola arm of the Upper Benue Trough has previously been carried out. However, no detail modeling of the Crustal Structures has been undertaken. Two composite reduced Aeromagnetic maps on a scale of 1:250,000 were digitized and processed using computer techniques.

  3. Structural control of the Gagua "Wedge" Zone east of Taiwan Island on the southern Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHENG; Yanpeng; LIU; Baohua; WU; Jinlong; LIANG; Ruicai; L

    2005-01-01

    Based on compositive analysis and interpretation of the observed and historical data, the geophysical field characters and structural properties of the Gagua "Wedge" Zone of the sea area east of Taiwan Island and the primary tectonic stress direction and its variabilities of backarc spreading in the southern Okinawa Trough are studied. It is concluded from the study results that the Gagua "Wedge" Zone is structurally consistent with the Gagua ridge and two fault basins on both sides of the Gagua ridge, and adjusts the moving direction and distance of the western Philippine Sea plate to make the northwestward motion of the plate on its east side change to the northward subduction of the plate on its west side so that the primary tectonic stress direction of the Okinawa Trough changed from NW-SE to nearly N-S, which provided the stress source for the Okinawa Trough to enter the second spreading stage.

  4. 241-AZ-101 pump removal trough analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Coverdell, B.L.

    1995-01-01

    As part of the current Hanford mission of environmental cleanup, various long length equipment must be removed from highly radioactive waste tanks. The removal of equipment will utilize portions of the Equipment Removal System for Project W320 (ERS-W320), specifically the 50 ton hydraulic trailer system. Because the ERS-W320 system was designed to accommodate much heavier equipment it is adequate to support the dead weight of the trough, carriage and related equipment for 241AZ101 pump removal project. However, the ERS-W320 components when combined with the trough and its' related components must also be analyzed for overturning due to wind loads. Two troughs were designed, one for the 20 in. diameter carriage and one for the 36 in. diameter carriage. A proposed 52 in. trough was not designed and, therefore is not included in this document. In order to fit in the ERS-W320 strongback the troughs were design with the same widths. Structurally, the only difference between the two troughs is that more material was removed from the stiffener plates on the 36 in trough. The reduction in stiffener plate material reduces the allowable load. Therefore, only the 36 in. trough was analyzed

  5. Heat Flow Variation along the Nankai Trough Floor Correlated with the Structure of the Shikoku Basin Oceanic Crust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamano, M.; Kawada, Y.; Gao, X.

    2016-12-01

    Surface heat flow observed on the floor of the Nankai Trough, near the trench axis, is highly variable and does not well correspond to the seafloor age of the incoming Philippine Sea plate (Shikoku Basin). Recent detailed measurements between 133.5°E and 137°E revealed that heat flow on the trough floor significantly varies along the trough. The most conspicuous variation is found around 136°E. Heat flow is extremely high and variable between 135°E and 136°E, much higher than the value estimated from the age. On the east of 136°E, heat flow gradually decreases eastward over 50 km to the value nearly consistent with the age with no appreciable scatter. Elevated heat flow on the trough floor can be attributed to vigorous fluid circulation in a permeable layer (aquifer) in the subducted oceanic crust, which efficiently transports heat upward along the plate interface (Spinelli and Wang, 2008). The heat flow variation around 136°E may therefore arise from variation in the permeability structure of the crustal aquifer. A probable cause of the heterogeneity in the aquifer permeability is a structure boundary in the incoming Shikoku Basin, the boundary between the younger part on the west formed by spreading in NE-SW direction and the older part on the east formed by E-W spreading. It is located around 136°E, about the same place as the heat flow distribution boundary. A possible additional source of variation in the permeability structure is the geometry of the subducted Philippine Sea plate. A prominent bend in the subducted plate between 135°E and 136°E, which corresponds to the high heat flow area on the trough floor, may have fractured the oceanic crust and enhanced the aquifer permeability. We evaluated the influence of variations in the aquifer permeability on the thermal structure through 3D numerical modelling using a high thermal-conductivity proxy for heat transport by fluid flow. A sharp along-strike change in the permeability of the subducted

  6. Trough for piglets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2006-01-01

    A trough is disclosed for supplying piglets with mineral supplements in the suckling period. The trough is designed to awaken the piglets' curiosity and thus make them root in the bottom of the trough, where the mineral supplements are dispensed in form of a dry powder mixture, and thus reduce...

  7. Crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of the Salton Trough, southeast California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsons, T.; McCarthy, J.

    1996-01-01

    This paper presents data and modelling results from a crustal and upper mantle wide-angle seismic transect across the Salton Trough region in southeast California. The Salton Trough is a unique part of the Basin and Range province where mid-ocean ridge/transform spreading in the Gulf of California has evolved northward into the continent. In 1992, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted the final leg of the Pacific to Arizona Crustal Experiment (PACE). Two perpendicular models of the crust and upper mantle were fit to wide-angle reflection and refraction travel times, seismic amplitudes, and Bouguer gravity anomalies. The first profile crossed the Salton Trough from the southwest to the northeast, and the second was a strike line that paralleled the Salton Sea along its western edge. We found thin crust (???21-22 km thick) beneath the axis of the Salton Trough (Imperial Valley) and locally thicker crust (???27 km) beneath the Chocolate Mountains to the northeast. We modelled a slight thinning of the crust further to the northeast beneath the Colorado River (???24 km) and subsequent thickening beneath the metamorphic core complex belt northeast of the Colorado River. There is a deep, apparently young basin (???5-6 km unmetamorphosed sediments) beneath the Imperial Valley and a shallower (???2-3 km) basin beneath the Colorado River. A regional 6.9-km/s layer (between ???15-km depth and the Moho) underlies the Salton Trough as well as the Chocolate Mountains where it pinches out at the Moho. This lower crustal layer is spatially associated with a low-velocity (7.6-7.7 km/s) upper mantle. We found that our crustal model is locally compatible with the previously suggested notion that the crust of the Salton Trough has formed almost entirely from magmatism in the lower crust and sedimentation in the upper crust. However, we observe an apparently magmatically emplaced lower crust to the northeast, outside of the Salton Trough, and propose that this layer in part

  8. Movements of the mid-latitude ionospheric trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodger, A.S.; Pinnock, M.

    1982-01-01

    A new method for monitoring the position and movement of large ionospheric structures is described. The technique uses data from an ionosonde nominally operating at vertical incidence, but relies on there being present a significant gradient in electron concentration. The position and dynamics of the poleward edge of the mid-latitude trough over Halley Bay, Antarctica (L = 4.2) is investigated using this method. Analyses show that the trough moves rapidly equatorward over Halley Bay in the early evening hours, during geomagnetically active periods. For magnetically quiet periods, the trough is not observed till after midnight, when its equatorward motion is comparatively slow. These results showed marked differences from those predicted from published empirical relationships describing variations in trough position with time, particularly before midnight. Changes in the position of the plasma pause with time, determined from two theoretical models and from observations are compared with these results for the trough. Also, one case study is presented in which there is determination of the positions of both the trough and the plasmapause over a 7 h period. Similarities and differences in their relative positions and movements of the two features are identified and their possible causes are briefly discussed. (author)

  9. Characterizing structures on borehole images and logging data of the Nankai trough accretionary prism: new insights

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurado, Maria Jose

    2016-04-01

    IODP has extensively used the D/V Chikyu to drill the Kumano portion of the Nankai Trough, including two well sites within the Kumano Basin. IODP Expeditions 338 and 348 drilled deep into the inner accretionary prism south of the Kii Peninsula collecting a suite of LWD data, including natural gamma ray, electrical resistivity logs and borehole images, suitable to characterize structures (fractures and faults) inside the accretionary prism. Structural interpretation and analysis of logging-while-drilling data in the deep inner prism revealed intense deformation of a generally homogenous lithology characterized by bedding that dips steeply (60-90°) to the NW, intersected by faults and fractures. Multiple phases of deformation are characterized. IODP Expedition borehole images and LWD data acquired in the last decade in previous and results of NantroSEIZE IODP Expeditions (314, 319) were also analyzed to investigate the internal geometries and structures of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism. This study focused mainly on the characterization of the different types of structures and their specific position within the accretionary prism structures. New structural constraints and methodologies as well as a new approach to the characterization of study of active structures inside the prism will be presented.

  10. Paleocene Pacific Plate reorganization mirrored in formation of the Suvarov Trough, Manihiki Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietsch, Ricarda; Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele

    2016-10-01

    The Suvarov Trough is a graben structure that deviates from the Danger Islands Troughs within the Manihiki Plateau, a Large Igneous Province (LIP) located in the Central Pacific. New high-resolution seismic reflection data provide evidence that the graben formed in two phases during the Paleocene (65-45 Ma). In a first phase extension occurred in southwestward direction, pulling apart the northern part of the Suvarov Trough and a parallel trending unnamed trough. In a second phase a change of extensional force direction occurred from southwest to west-northwest, forming the southern part of the Suvarov Trough that extends onto the High Plateau. The formation of the Suvarov Trough is accompanied by a series of normal fault systems that apparently formed simultaneously. Comparing the seismic results to existing Pacific paleo strain reconstructions, the timing of increased strain and local deformation direction fits well to our findings. We thus suggest that the multiple strike directions of the Suvarov Trough represent an extensional structure that was caused by the major, stepwise Pacific Plate reorganization during the Paleocene.

  11. Structural characteristics around the frontal thrust along the Nankai Trough revealed by bathymetric and seismic reflection survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, M.; Nakanishi, A.; Moore, G. F.; Kodaira, S.; Nakamura, Y.; Miura, S.; Kaneda, Y.

    2016-12-01

    Great earthquakes with tsunamis with recurrence intervals of 100-200 years have occurred along the Nankai Trough near central Japan where the Shikoku Basin is subducting with thick sediments on the Philippine Sea plate. To predict the exact height of the tsunami on the coast region generated by these large ruptures, it is important to estimate the vertical deformation that occurs on the seaward end of the rupture area. Recent drilling results have also yielded evidence not only of splay faults that generate tsunamigenic rupture, but also new evidence of tsunamigenic rupture along the frontal thrust at the trench axis in the Nankai Trough. In order to understand the deformation around the frontal thrust at the trench axis, we conducted a dense high-resolution seismic reflection survey with 10-20 km spacing over 1500 km of line length during 2013 and 2014. Clear seismic reflection images of frontal thrusts in the accretionary prism and subducting Shikoku Basin, image deformation along the trench axis between off Muroto Cape and off Ashizuri Cape. The cumulative displacement along the frontal thrust and second thrust are measured from picked distinct reflectors in depth-converted profiles. The average value of cumulative displacement of the frontal thrust is more than 100 m within 2 km depth beneath the seafloor. The location of highest displacement of 300 m displacement agree with the seaward end of slip distribution of the 1946 Nankai event calculated by numerical simulations. We also evaluate the seaward structure for understanding the future rupture distribution. The protothrust zone (PTZ) consisting of many incipient thrusts is identifiable in the portion of trough-fill sediments seaward of the frontal thrust. In order to emphasize the characteristics of frontal thrust and PTZ, we construct the detailed relief image for focusing on the lineated slope of the PTZ at the trough axis. Although our surveys covered a part of Nankai seismogenic zone, it is important to

  12. ON TECTONIC PROBLEMS OF THE OKINAWA TROUGH

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    The Okinawa Trough is a very active tectonic zone at the margin of the Northwest Pacific and is typical of back-arc rifting at the young stage of tectonic evolution. Many scientists from Japan, China, Germany, France, the U.S.A. and Russia have done a lot of geologic and geophysical investigations there. It is well known that the Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc rift with extremely high heat flow, very strong hydrothermal circulation, strong volcanic and magmatic activity, frequent earthquakes, rapid subsidence and rifting, well-developed fault and central graben. But up to now, there are still some important tectonic problems about the Okinawa Trough that require clarification on some aspects such as the type of its crust, its forming time, its tectonic evolution, the distribution of its central grabens, the relationship between its high heat flow and tectonic activity. Based on the data obtained from seismic survey, geomagnetic and gravity measurements, submarine sampling and heat flow measurements in the last 15 years, the author discusses the following tectonic problems about the Okinawa Trough: (1) If the Okinawa Trough develops oceanic crust or not. (2) Is the South Okinawa Trough tectonically more active than the North Okinawa Trough with shallower water and few investigation data on it. (3) The formation time of the Okinawa Trough and its tectonic evolution. The Okinawa Trough has a very thin continental crust. Up to now, there is no evidence of oceanic crust in the Okinawa Trough. The North, Middle and South Okinawa Trough are all very strongly active areas. From 6 Ma B.P., the Okinawa Trough began to form. Since 2 Ma, the Okinawa Trough has been very active.

  13. ON TECTONIC PROBLEMS OF THE OKINAWA TROUGH

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李乃胜

    2001-01-01

    The Okinawa Trough is a very active tectonic zone at the margin of the Northwest Pacific and is typical of back-arc rifting at the young stage of tectonic evolution. Many scientists from Japan,China, Germany, France, the U. S.A. and Russia have done a lot of geologic and geophysical investigations there. It is well known that the Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc rift with extremely high heat flow, very strong hydrothermal circulation, strong volcanic and magmatic activity, frequent earthquakes,rapid subsidence and rifting, well-developed fault and central graben. But up to now, there are still some important tectonic problems about the Okinawa Trough that require clarification on some aspects such as the type of its crust, its forming time, its tectonic evolution, the distribution of its central grabens, the relationship between its high heat flow and tectonic activity. Based on the data obtained from seismic sur-vey, geomagnetic and gravity measurements, submarine sampling and heat flow measurements in the last 15 years, the author discusses the following tectonic problems about the Okinawa Trough: (1) If the Okinawa Trough develops oceanic crust or not. (2) Is the South Okinawa Trough tectonically more active than the North Okinawa Trough with shallower water and few investigation data on it. (3) The formation time of the Okinawa Trough and its tectonic evolution. The Okinawa Trough has a very thin continental crust. Up to now, there is no evidence of oceanic crust in the Okinawa Trough. The North, Middle and South Okinawa Trough are all very strongly active areas. From 6 Ma B.P. , the Okinawa Trough began to form. Since 2 Ma, the Okinawa Trough has been very active.

  14. The crustal structure along the Mbere trough in South Adamawa ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The Mbere Cretaceous trough is located in the southern part of the Adamawa province. A gravity interpretation based on data obtained from three NW-SE profiles on the residual anomaly map has been carried out using a 2.5D modelling program. Spectral analysis has been used to estimate the depth of geological ...

  15. Use of deep seismic shooting to study graben-like troughs. [Urals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Makalovskiy, V.V.; Silayev, V.A.

    1983-01-01

    In the Southeast Perm Oblast, in the zone of articulation of the Russian platform and the Cisural trough, in order to study the structure of the graben-like troughs together with deep drilling, well seismic exploration is used by the method of deep seismic shooting (DSS). The DSS method developed by the Kamskiy department of the VNIGNI consists of blasting in the well shaft and recording of the elastic fluctuations on the Earth's surface. The use of the DSS made it possible to pinpoint structural details of the graben-like trough, and to clarify that this is in essence a zone of fracturing, where the lowered blocks alternated with elevated, and to establish the location and amplitude of the tectonic disorders. High geological information content, low labor intensity and rapidity of obtaining the results make it possible to recommend the DSS together with prospecting and exploratory drilling to study complexly constructed objects in order to reduce the number of unproductive wells.

  16. Analysis of Earthquake Source Spectra in Salton Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, X.; Shearer, P. M.

    2009-12-01

    Previous studies of the source spectra of small earthquakes in southern California show that average Brune-type stress drops vary among different regions, with particularly low stress drops observed in the Salton Trough (Shearer et al., 2006). The Salton Trough marks the southern end of the San Andreas Fault and is prone to earthquake swarms, some of which are driven by aseismic creep events (Lohman and McGuire, 2007). In order to learn the stress state and understand the physical mechanisms of swarms and slow slip events, we analyze the source spectra of earthquakes in this region. We obtain Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) waveforms for earthquakes from 1977 to 2009 archived at the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) data center, which includes over 17,000 events. After resampling the data to a uniform 100 Hz sample rate, we compute spectra for both signal and noise windows for each seismogram, and select traces with a P-wave signal-to-noise ratio greater than 5 between 5 Hz and 15 Hz. Using selected displacement spectra, we isolate the source spectra from station terms and path effects using an empirical Green’s function approach. From the corrected source spectra, we compute corner frequencies and estimate moments and stress drops. Finally we analyze spatial and temporal variations in stress drop in the Salton Trough and compare them with studies of swarms and creep events to assess the evolution of faulting and stress in the region. References: Lohman, R. B., and J. J. McGuire (2007), Earthquake swarms driven by aseismic creep in the Salton Trough, California, J. Geophys. Res., 112, B04405, doi:10.1029/2006JB004596 Shearer, P. M., G. A. Prieto, and E. Hauksson (2006), Comprehensive analysis of earthquake source spectra in southern California, J. Geophys. Res., 111, B06303, doi:10.1029/2005JB003979.

  17. Fabrication of trough-shaped solar collectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schertz, William W.

    1978-01-01

    There is provided a radiant energy concentration and collection device formed of a one-piece thin-walled plastic substrate including a plurality of nonimaging troughs with certain metallized surfaces of the substrate serving as reflective side walls for each trough. The one-piece plastic substrate is provided with a seating surface at the bottom of each trough which conforms to the shape of an energy receiver to be seated therein.

  18. New sidescan sonar and gravity evidence that the Nova-Canton Trough is a fracture zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Devorah; Taylor, Brian; Shor, Alexander N.

    1992-05-01

    A 1990 sidescan sonar survey in the eastern region of the Nova-Canton Trough mapped 138°-striking abyssal-hill fabric trending into 70°-striking trough structures. The location and angle of intersection of the abyssal hills with the eastern Nova-Canton Trough effectively disprove a spreading-center origin of this feature. Free-air gravity anomalies derived from satellite altimetry data show continuity, across the Line Islands, of the Nova-Canton Trough with the Clipperton Fracture Zone. The Canton-Clipperton trend is copolar, about a pole at 30°S, 152°W, with other coeval Pacific-Farallon fracture-zone segments, from the Pau to Marquesas fracture zones. This copolarity leads us to postulate a Pacific-Farallon spreading pattern for the magnetic quiet zone region north and east of the Manihiki Plateau, with the Nova-Canton Trough originating as a transform fault in this system.

  19. The Neo-Tectonic Structure of the South western Tip of the Okinawa Trough

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chia-Yen Ku

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The Ilan Plain is located at the south western tip of the Okinawa Trough backarc basin, which prop a gates west ward into the Taiwan orogen. From three moderate earthquakes which occurred near the coast line of the Ilan Plain, one of magnitude 6.2 on 15 May 2002 and the other two of magnitudes 5.51 and 5.49 on 5 March 2005, we at tempted to understand the relation ship between the earthquake mechanisms and the geological context. Seven seismic reflection pro files collected roughly parallel to the coast line of the Ilan Plain were used in this work. A structural fault, with a significant normal faulting component trending approximately ENE-WSW, is identified to the east of the doublet earth quakes of 5 March 2005. Be cause this fault follows the ENE-WSW trend of the after shock seismicity, we named it the Ilan Shelf Fault, which might ex tend to the east be yond the Ilan continental shelf spur. How ever, the centroid seismic moment ten sorsolutions for the doublet earth quakes of 5 March 2005 are of a left-lateral strike-slip faulting type which are consistent with onland GPS observations. Hence, the Ilan Shelf Fault may have a left-lateral strike-slip component. Based on GPS data, we suggest that the northern Central Range block, bounded in the west by the Lishan Fault and in the north by the Ilan Shelf Fault, rotates clock wise. This rotation is ascribed to the northwestward collision of the Luzon Arc against Tai wan. Thus, there is a left-lateral strike-slip and an extensional motion along the Ilan Shelf Fault. The northern Central Range block is tilting north ward which may also in duce the normal faulting component of the Ilan Shelf Fault. In short, the Ilan Shelf Fault could be a major tectonic and structural feature bounding the southern end of the Okinawa Trough backarc basin.

  20. The role of meltwater in high-latitude trough-mouth fan development : the Disko Trough-Mouth Fan, West Greenland.

    OpenAIRE

    Cofaigh, Colm Ó.; Hogan, Kelly A.; Jennings, Anne E.; Callard, S. Louise; Dowdeswell, Julian A.; Noormets, Riko; Evans, Jeff

    2018-01-01

    The Disko Trough-Mouth Fan (TMF) is a major submarine sediment fan located along the central west Greenland continental margin offshore of Disko Trough. The location of the TMF at the mouth of a prominent cross-shelf trough indicates that it is a product of repeated glacigenic sediment delivery from former fast-flowing outlets of the Greenland Ice Sheet, including an ancestral Jakobshavn Isbrae, which expanded to the shelf edge during successive glacial cycles. This study focuses on the upper...

  1. Parabolic-trough technology roadmap: A pathway for sustained commercial development and deployment of parabolic-trough technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    David Kearney; Hank Price

    1999-01-01

    Technology roadmapping is a needs-driven technology planning process to help identify, select, and develop technology alternatives to satisfy a set of market needs. The DOE's Office of Power Technologies' Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Program recently sponsored a technology roadmapping workshop for parabolic trough technology. The workshop was attended by an impressive cross section of industry and research experts. The goals of the workshop were to evaluate the market potential for trough power projects, develop a better understanding of the current state of the technology, and to develop a conceptual plan for advancing the state of parabolic trough technology. This report documents and extends the roadmap that was conceptually developed during the workshop

  2. Shallow Crustal Structure in the Northern Salton Trough, California: Insights from a Detailed 3-D Velocity Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ajala, R.; Persaud, P.; Stock, J. M.; Fuis, G. S.; Hole, J. A.; Goldman, M.; Scheirer, D. S.

    2017-12-01

    The Coachella Valley is the northern extent of the Gulf of California-Salton Trough. It contains the southernmost segment of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) for which a magnitude 7.8 earthquake rupture was modeled to help produce earthquake planning scenarios. However, discrepancies in ground motion and travel-time estimates from the current Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) velocity model of the Salton Trough highlight inaccuracies in its shallow velocity structure. An improved 3-D velocity model that better defines the shallow basin structure and enables the more accurate location of earthquakes and identification of faults is therefore essential for seismic hazard studies in this area. We used recordings of 126 explosive shots from the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) to SSIP receivers and Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN) stations. A set of 48,105 P-wave travel time picks constituted the highest-quality input to a 3-D tomographic velocity inversion. To improve the ray coverage, we added network-determined first arrivals at SCSN stations from 39,998 recently relocated local earthquakes, selected to a maximum focal depth of 10 km, to develop a detailed 3-D P-wave velocity model for the Coachella Valley with 1-km grid spacing. Our velocity model shows good resolution ( 50 rays/cubic km) down to a minimum depth of 7 km. Depth slices from the velocity model reveal several interesting features. At shallow depths ( 3 km), we observe an elongated trough of low velocity, attributed to sediments, located subparallel to and a few km SW of the SAF, and a general velocity structure that mimics the surface geology of the area. The persistence of the low-velocity sediments to 5-km depth just north of the Salton Sea suggests that the underlying basement surface, shallower to the NW, dips SE, consistent with interpretation from gravity studies (Langenheim et al., 2005). On the western side of the Coachella Valley, we detect depth-restricted regions of

  3. Three-dimensional model of plate geometry and velocity model for Nankai Trough seismogenic zone based on results from structural studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakanishi, A.; Shimomura, N.; Kodaira, S.; Obana, K.; Takahashi, T.; Yamamoto, Y.; Yamashita, M.; Takahashi, N.; Kaneda, Y.

    2012-12-01

    In the Nankai Trough subduction seismogenic zone, the Nankai and Tonankai earthquakes had often occurred simultaneously, and caused a great event. In order to reduce a great deal of damage to coastal area from both strong ground motion and tsunami generation, it is necessary to understand rupture synchronization and segmentation of the Nankai megathrust earthquake. For a precise estimate of the rupture zone of the Nankai megathrust event based on the knowledge of realistic earthquake cycle and variation of magnitude, it is important to know the geometry and property of the plate boundary of the subduction seismogenic zone. To improve a physical model of the Nankai Trough seismogenic zone, the large-scale high-resolution wide-angle and reflection (MCS) seismic study, and long-term observation has been conducted since 2008. Marine active source seismic data have been acquired along grid two-dimensional profiles having the total length of ~800km every year. A three-dimensional seismic tomography using active and passive seismic data observed both land and ocean bottom stations have been also performed. From those data, we found that several strong lateral variations of the subducting Philippine Sea plate and overriding plate corresponding to margins of coseismic rupture zone of historical large event occurred along the Nankai Trough. Particularly a possible prominent reflector for the forearc Moho is recently imaged in the offshore side in the Kii channel at the depth of ~18km which is shallower than those of other area along the Nankai Trough. Such a drastic variation of the overriding plate might be related to the existence of the segmentation of the Nankai megathrust earthquake. Based on our results derived from seismic studies, we have tried to make a geometrical model of the Philippine Sea plate and a three-dimensional velocity structure model of the Nankai Trough seismogenic zone. In this presentation, we will summarize major results of out seismic studies, and

  4. Wind Tunnel Tests of Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors: March 2001--August 2003

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hosoya, N.; Peterka, J. A.; Gee, R. C.; Kearney, D.

    2008-05-01

    Conducted extensive wind-tunnel tests on parabolic trough solar collectors to determine practical wind loads applicable to structural design for stress and deformation, and local component design for concentrator reflectors.

  5. The study of the focal trough in panoramic radiograph

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, C. S.; Kim, H. P.

    1982-01-01

    In the study of the focal trough of panoramic radiograph, using the Moritta company Panex EC a series of 48 exposures were taken with the 6-18 brass pins placed in the holes of the plastic model plate, then evaluated by 4 observers. The author analyzed the focal trough defined by the sharpness criteria and calculated the vertical and horizontal magnification range in the corrected focal trough. The results were as follows; 1. Continuous focal trough was not defined in the anterior region using a very high degree of sharpness. 2. As degree of sharpness used in the analysis became less, focal trough was continuous in the anterior and posterior regions, symmetrized bilaterally, and the widths of the focal trough increased more in the posterior region. 3. As sharpness criteria were reduced, the percentage range of image magnification increased in both vertical and horizontal magnification, and especially the percentage range of horizontal magnification was greater than that of vertical magnification.

  6. Gravity Anomalies Over The Gongola Arm, Upper Benue Trough ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A regional gravity survey of the Gongola Arm of the Benue trough was carried out with the aim of determining structures of interest. The results of the gravity interpretation showed that the area of study is characterized by negative Bouguer anomalies that trend in the NE-SW direction and range in value from -75 to -15 mGal ...

  7. The sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough during the Late Quaternary

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2005-01-01

    On the basis of accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating, sedimentation rates of 11 cores collected from the northern to southern Okinawa Trough are discussed. The sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough roughly range from 11 to 39 cm/ka, and the average is 23.0 cm/ka. China's continental matter is the main sediment source of the middle Okinawa Trough and has important contribution to the northern and southern Okinawa Trough. The sedimentation rates during the marine oxygen isotope (MIS)2 are uniformly higher than those during MIS 1 in the northern and middle Okinawa Trough while they are on the contrary in the southern Okinawa Trough. Sedimentation rates in the Okinawa Trough can be one of the proxies of sediment source and an indicator of cooling events.

  8. Linear magnetic anomalies and tectonic development of the middle Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    -By analyzing the magnetic anomalies, the linear magnetic anomalies in the middle Okinawa Trough are identified. It means that the crust along the spreading axis is broken, and new oceanic crust is formed. Geophysical data have revealed that a model of three extensive episodes occurs in the Okinawa Trough, which can be named as "doming episode" from the Middle to Late Miocene (Phase I), the episode from the Pliocence to Early Pleistocene (Phase Ⅱ ), and the recent "spreading episode" (Phase Ⅲ ). The magnetic anomalies in the middle Okinawa Trough are very similar to those found in the middle Red Sea, indicating that the Okinawa Trough is developing towards the "Red Sea stage". Similar to the Red Sea, there are a "main trough" and a "axial trough" in the Okinawa Trough.

  9. Aeolian sand transport over complex intertidal bar-trough beach topography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anthony, Edward J.; Ruz, Marie-Hélène; Vanhée, Stéphane

    2009-04-01

    Aeolian sand transport on macrotidal beaches with complex intertidal bar-trough topography (ridge-and-runnel beaches) was assessed from experiments in northern France that involved measurements of wind speed, saltation, surface moisture contents, and rates of sand trapping across surveyed portions of the upper beach profile. Beaches exhibiting intertidal bars and troughs are much more complex, topographically, than simple reflective or dissipative beaches. Furthermore, the intertidal bar-trough morphology commonly exhibits strong cross-shore variations in the moisture contents of the beach surface and in patterns of bedform development. The results of four 30-minute experiments, conducted along topographically surveyed portions of the upper beach-dune toe profile, show that troughs act as extremely efficient sand interceptors, because of their permanently saturated state, which also inhibits sand mobilisation. Troughs, thus, limit or segment the dry fetch during conditions of intermittent saltation. Flow lines, inferred from the wind profiles, suggest that complex interactions at the boundary layer are generated by the bar-trough topography. Troughs systematically appear to be characterised by air expansion, while bar faces generate ramp wind acceleration for onshore winds, and sometimes immediate downwind deceleration for offshore winds. These effects may also contribute to cross-shore variations in the rates of sand trapping. Finally, a simple conceptual model of effective fetch development, integrating the effects of the spring-neap tidal range and of gross bar-trough morphological variability over time, is proposed for bar-trough beaches. The model highlights the key theme of fetch segmentation induced by cross-shore differentiation in the moisture contents of the beach surface hinged on the complex topography of multiple bars and troughs.

  10. Technical Manual for the SAM Physical Trough Model

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wagner, M. J.; Gilman, P.

    2011-06-01

    NREL, in conjunction with Sandia National Lab and the U.S Department of Energy, developed the System Advisor Model (SAM) analysis tool for renewable energy system performance and economic analysis. This paper documents the technical background and engineering formulation for one of SAM's two parabolic trough system models in SAM. The Physical Trough model calculates performance relationships based on physical first principles where possible, allowing the modeler to predict electricity production for a wider range of component geometries than is possible in the Empirical Trough model. This document describes the major parabolic trough plant subsystems in detail including the solar field, power block, thermal storage, piping, auxiliary heating, and control systems. This model makes use of both existing subsystem performance modeling approaches, and new approaches developed specifically for SAM.

  11. Vancomycin AUC/MIC and Corresponding Troughs in a Pediatric Population.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kishk, Omayma A; Lardieri, Allison B; Heil, Emily L; Morgan, Jill A

    2017-01-01

    Adult guidelines suggest an area under the curve/minimum inhibitory concentration (AUC/MIC) > 400 corresponds to a vancomycin trough serum concentration of 15 to 20 mg/L for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections, but obtaining these troughs in children are difficult. The primary objective of this study was to assess the likelihood that 15 mg/kg of vancomycin every 6 hours in a child achieves an AUC/MIC > 400. This retrospective chart review included pediatric patients >2 months to AUCs were calculated four times using three pharmacokinetic methods. A total of 36 patients with 99 vancomycin trough serum concentrations were assessed. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. For troughs in group 1 (n = 55), the probability of achieving an AUC/MIC > 400 ranged from 16.4% to 90.9% with a median trough concentration of 11.4 mg/L, while in group 2 (n = 44) the probability of achieving AUC/MIC > 400 ranged from 15.9% to 54.5% with mean trough concentration of 9.2 mg/L. The AUC/MICs were not similar between the different pharmacokinetic methods used; however, a trapezoidal equation (Method A) yielded the highest correlation coefficient (r 2 = 0.59). When dosing every 6 hours, an AUC/MIC of 400 correlated to a trough serum concentration of 11 mg/L. The probability of achieving an AUC/MIC > 400 using only a trough serum concentration and an MIC with patients receiving 15 mg/kg every 6 hours is variable based on the method used to calculate the AUC. An AUC/MIC of 400 in children correlated to a trough concentration of 11 mg/L using a trapezoidal Method to calculate AUC.

  12. The F-region trough: seasonal morphology and relation to interplanetary magnetic field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Voiculescu

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available We present here the results of a statistical study of the ionospheric trough observed in 2003 by means of satellite tomography. We focus on the seasonal morphology of the trough occurrence and investigate the trough latitude, width and the horizontal gradients at the edges, at different magnetic local times, as well as their relations to geomagnetic activity and the interplanetary magnetic field. A seasonal effect is noticed in the diurnal variation of the trough latitude, indicating that summer clearly differs from the other seasons. In winter the troughs seem to follow the solar terminator. The width of the trough has a diurnal variation and it depends on the season, as well. The broadest troughs are observed in winter and the narrowest ones in summer. A discontinuity in the diurnal variation of the trough latitude is observed before noon. It is suggested that this is an indication of a difference between the generation mechanisms of morningside and eveningside troughs. The density gradients at the edges have a complex dependence on the latitude of the trough and on geomagnetic activity. The photoionization and the auroral precipitation are competing in the formation of the trough walls at different magnetic local times. An important finding is that the interplanetary magnetic field plays a role in the occurrence of the trough at different levels of geomagnetic activity. This is probably associated with the topology of the polar cap convection pattern, which depends on the directions of the IMF components By and Bz.

  13. The F-region trough: seasonal morphology and relation to interplanetary magnetic field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Voiculescu

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available We present here the results of a statistical study of the ionospheric trough observed in 2003 by means of satellite tomography. We focus on the seasonal morphology of the trough occurrence and investigate the trough latitude, width and the horizontal gradients at the edges, at different magnetic local times, as well as their relations to geomagnetic activity and the interplanetary magnetic field. A seasonal effect is noticed in the diurnal variation of the trough latitude, indicating that summer clearly differs from the other seasons. In winter the troughs seem to follow the solar terminator. The width of the trough has a diurnal variation and it depends on the season, as well. The broadest troughs are observed in winter and the narrowest ones in summer. A discontinuity in the diurnal variation of the trough latitude is observed before noon. It is suggested that this is an indication of a difference between the generation mechanisms of morningside and eveningside troughs. The density gradients at the edges have a complex dependence on the latitude of the trough and on geomagnetic activity. The photoionization and the auroral precipitation are competing in the formation of the trough walls at different magnetic local times. An important finding is that the interplanetary magnetic field plays a role in the occurrence of the trough at different levels of geomagnetic activity. This is probably associated with the topology of the polar cap convection pattern, which depends on the directions of the IMF components By and Bz.

  14. Morphotectonics of the central Muertos thrust belt and Muertos Trough (northeastern Caribbean)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granja, Bruna J.L.; ten Brink, Uri S.; Carbó-Gorosabel, Andrés; Muñoz-Martín, A.; Gomez, Ballesteros M.

    2009-01-01

    Multibeam bathymetry data acquired during the 2005 Spanish R/V Hesp??rides cruise and reprocessed multichannel seismic profiles provide the basis for the analysis of the morphology and deformation in the central Muertos Trough and Muertos thrust belt. The Muertos Trough is an elongated basin developed where the Venezuelan Basin crust is thrusted under the Muertos fold-and-thrust belt. Structural variations along the Muertos Trough are suggested to be a consequence of the overburden of the asymmetrical thrust belt and by the variable nature of the Venezuelan Basin crust along the margin. The insular slope can be divided into three east-west trending slope provinces with high lateral variability which correspond to different accretion stages: 1) The lower slope is composed of an active sequence of imbricate thrust slices and closed fold axes, which form short and narrow accretionary ridges and elongated slope basins; 2) The middle slope shows a less active imbricate structure resulting in lower superficial deformation and bigger slope basins; 3) The upper slope comprises the talus region and extended terraces burying an island arc basement and an inactive imbricate structure. The talus region is characterized by a dense drainage network that transports turbidite flows from the islands and their surrounding carbonate platform areas to the slope basins and sometimes to the trough. In the survey area the accommodation of the ongoing east-west differential motion between the Hispaniola and the Puerto Rico-Virgin Islands blocks takes place by means of diffuse deformation. The asymmetrical development of the thrust belt is not related to the geological conditions in the foreland, but rather may be caused by variations in the geometry and movement of the backstop. The map-view curves of the thrust belt and the symmetry of the recesses suggest a main north-south convergence along the Muertos margin. The western end of the Investigator Fault Zone comprises a broad band of

  15. Federal technology alert. Parabolic-trough solar water heating

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-04-01

    Parabolic-trough solar water heating is a well-proven renewable energy technology with considerable potential for application at Federal facilities. For the US, parabolic-trough water-heating systems are most cost effective in the Southwest where direct solar radiation is high. Jails, hospitals, barracks, and other facilities that consistently use large volumes of hot water are particularly good candidates, as are facilities with central plants for district heating. As with any renewable energy or energy efficiency technology requiring significant initial capital investment, the primary condition that will make a parabolic-trough system economically viable is if it is replacing expensive conventional water heating. In combination with absorption cooling systems, parabolic-trough collectors can also be used for air-conditioning. Industrial Solar Technology (IST) of Golden, Colorado, is the sole current manufacturer of parabolic-trough solar water heating systems. IST has an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) to finance and install parabolic-trough solar water heating on an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) basis for any Federal facility that requests it and for which it proves viable. For an ESPC project, the facility does not pay for design, capital equipment, or installation. Instead, it pays only for guaranteed energy savings. Preparing and implementing delivery or task orders against the IDIQ is much simpler than the standard procurement process. This Federal Technology Alert (FTA) of the New Technology Demonstration Program is one of a series of guides to renewable energy and new energy-efficient technologies.

  16. Acoustically damped metal oil trough for internal combustion engines. Schallgedaempfte Blech-Oelwanne fuer Brennkraftmaschinen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubis, H.

    1991-03-28

    The invention refers to an acoustically damped oil trough. As there are strict requirements for reducing the noise emission from internal combustion engines, according to the invention it is proposed that the oil trough should be surrounded by an outer trough, where the outer trough is made of plastic or sheet steel in one or more layers. To avoid noise bridges, the oil trough and outer trough are separated by elastomer elements. The outer trough achieves a reasonably priced increase in sound insulation. It is also possible to backfit an outer trough on engines.

  17. The Nova-Canton Trough and the Late Cretaceous evolution of the central Pacific

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Devorah; Taylor, Brain; Shor, Alexander N.; Yamazaki, Toshitsugu

    Free-air gravity anomalies derived from satellite altimetry data show that the major Pacific fracture zones, from the Pau to Marquesas, are co-polar about an Euler pole located at 150.5°W, 34.6°S for the period preceding chron 33 and including a large portion of the Cretaceous Normal Superchron. They also show continuity of the Clipperton Fracture Zone through the Line Islands to the Nova-Canton ridge and trough; this Canton-Clipperton trend is co-polar to the same pole. Sidescan-sonar and bathymetry data in the Nova-Canton Trough region reveal N140°E-striking abyssal hill topography south of the N70°E-striking structures of the Nova-Canton Trough and crustal fabric striking normal to the trough (N160°E) to the north. We conclude that the Nova-Canton Trough is the Middle Cretaceous extension of the Clipperton Fracture Zone. We propose that the anomalous depths (7000-8400 m) of the trough between 167°30'-168°30'W are the result of a complex plate reorganization. Conjugate magnetic anomaly lineations M1-M3 in the Phoenix lineations between the Central Pacific Fracture Zone and the Phoenix Fracture Zone and the absence of lineations younger than anomaly M3 west of the Phoenix Fracture Zone suggest that spreading may have gradually ceased along the Pacific-Phoenix system from west to east. We infer that the remaining active segment of the Pacific-Phoenix spreading system after anomaly M1 time was the easternmost section of the Phoenix lineations. At ˜M0 time, the Pacific-Phoenix spreading axis stretched from lineated bathymetric depressions lying between 180°W and the Phoenix Islands to ˜168°W and included the western deep of the Nova-Canton Trough. We hypothesize that accretion terminated on the Pacific-Phoenix spreading axis shortly after M0 time and that the absence of an M0 isochron in the region between the eastern Phoenix lineations and the Nova-Canton Trough, or along the Nova-Canton Trough itself, may be due to a decrease in spreading rate prior to

  18. The sharp peak-flat trough pattern and critical speculation

    OpenAIRE

    Roehner, B. M.; Sornette, D.

    1998-01-01

    We find empirically a characteristic sharp peak-flat trough pattern in a large set of commodity prices. We argue that the sharp peak structure reflects an endogenous inter-market organization, and that peaks may be seen as local ``singularities'' resulting from imitation and herding. These findings impose a novel stringent constraint on the construction of models. Intermittent amplification is not sufficient and nonlinear effects seem necessary to account for the observations.

  19. Interaction of Structure and Physical Properties in Accretionary Wedges: Examples from the Cascadia and Nankai Trough Subduction Zones

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Susanna I.

    Subduction zones are capable of producing large, megathrust earthquakes that are sometimes tsunamigenic. Structure and physical properties in the accretionary wedge play a role in how far rupture can propagate and how the wedge deforms coseismically. In this dissertation, I use seismic reflection data and velocity models from the Cascadia subduction zone and logging data from the Nankai Trough, Japan, to interpret structure, link structure to the broader wedge deformation history, and investigate the material properties at depth. I present a full structural interpretation of newly acquired seismic reflection data in the central Cascadia margin, which is characterized by dominantly landward vergent faulting in the outer wedge, a very low wedge taper angle, and a broad, lightly deformed lower slope terrace. Two decollements are active: an upper decollement within the sedimentary section, and a basal decollement at the sediment-basement interface. These interpretations help delineate the spatial extent of decollements and suggest that supra-wedge sedimentation may influence the development of the wedge, including the formation of the lower slope terrace and out of sequence fault activity. I use velocity models from central Cascadia to estimate excess pore fluid pressure and overpressure ratio at depth, which do not exceed 5 MPa and 0.15, respectively. No excess pore pressure is documented in the underthrust sediment section, but modest overpressure is likely present in the incoming sediment section and the footwalls of thrust sheets. The analysis of pore pressure shows that (1) if the base of the wedge is weak, it is due to mechanical properties of the sediments or a relatively thin underthrust layer and (2) the Cascadia wedge is relatively well-drained, and thus potentially strong, which can lead to a low wedge taper angle. In the Nankai Trough, Japan, I reprocessed sonic log data to obtain P-wave and S-wave velocity values and estimate elastic moduli. The logs

  20. Ionospheric trough Model used for Telecommunication Purposes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothkaehl, H.; Stanislawska, I.

    1999-01-01

    The mid-latitude trough is dynamical phenomena influenced the COST 251 area. Modelled parameters in COST 251 project are critically dependent on its location and magnitude. The particular importance to HF propagation assessments involving off-great-circle modes of incorporating a representation of the position of the trough is noted. ITU-R prediction maps (ITU-R, 1997) which are currently used in most international propagation assessments do not include this fact. (author)

  1. Tectonics of the southern Bleckenstedt trough in the mining area of the oolitic iron ore deposit (midle coral oolithe) of Konrad mine near Salzgitter, Lower Saxony

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schloenbach, R.

    1985-01-01

    The regional tectonic development of the Bleckenstedt trough and the large-scale faults in Konrad mine (N-S, trough fault, NW-SE, Sauingen trough, E-W, Bleckenstedt fault), which date from a different period, were evaluated, and a tectogenetic analysis of the small-scale tectonic structure was related to halokinetic movements. (DG) [de

  2. Petroleum resources assessment of the Okinawa Trough

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, Jae Ho; Kwak, Young Hoon; Bong, Pil Yoon; Son, Jin Dam; Cheong, Tae Jin; Lee, Ho Young; Ryu, Byung Jae; Son, Byeong Kook; Hwang, In Gul; Kwon, Young Ihn; Lee, Yong Joo; Kim, Hag Ju; Yi, Sung Soog; Park, Kwan Soon; Park, Keun Pil; Shin, Chang Soo; Sunwoo, Don [Korea Inst. of Geology Mining and Materials, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1995-12-01

    The hydrocarbon potential has been evaluated for the Tertiary strata in the northwestern margin of the Okinawa Trough on the basis of the pale-ontological, petrological, geochemical data from two wells (Nikkan 8-9 and JDZ 7-3), and geophysical data. Abundant marine micro-fossils such as foraminifera, calcareous nannofossils and dinocysts were yielded in the sedimentary section of the above wells. Abundant palynomorphs originated from nearby onshore are also encountered. Based on nannofossils, the bio-stratigraphic zones from NN12 (Amaurolithus tricorniculatus Zone) to NN19 (Pseudoemiliania lacunosa Zone) are established. The sedimentary sequences are divided by local unconformity into Lower and Upper Groups, the ages of which are Late Miocene and Pliocene to Pleistocene, respectively. According to the geochemical analysis results, it is hard to expect a source rock that can generate enough hydrocarbons necessary for migration in the drilled intervals. Even though the thermal maturity reached the oil generation zone in the penetrated intervals, the calculation by the program GENEX of BEICIP shows that the amount of the generated hydrocarbons is not enough for the migration. A good source rock may be expected in the depth deeper than 4300 m horizon. Analysis of over 3300 Line-km of multichannel seismic data integrated with 2 well data serves to detail the structural and stratigraphic evolution of the western margin of the Okinawa Trough, offshore southern part of Korea peninsula. The overall tectonic style is characterized by a series of half-Graben and tilted fault blocks bounded by listric faults. Tectonics of the rift phase have been established on the basis of structural and stratigraphic analyses of depositional sequences and their seismic expressions. The potential hydrocarbon traps associated with titled fault block, fault and roll-over structure exist. (author). 44 refs.

  3. Parabolic Trough Collector Cost Update for the System Advisor Model (SAM)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurup, Parthiv [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Turchi, Craig S. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2015-11-01

    This report updates the baseline cost for parabolic trough solar fields in the United States within NREL's System Advisor Model (SAM). SAM, available at no cost at https://sam.nrel.gov/, is a performance and financial model designed to facilitate decision making for people involved in the renewable energy industry. SAM is the primary tool used by NREL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for estimating the performance and cost of concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies and projects. The study performed a bottom-up build and cost estimate for two state-of-the-art parabolic trough designs -- the SkyTrough and the Ultimate Trough. The SkyTrough analysis estimated the potential installed cost for a solar field of 1500 SCAs as $170/m2 +/- $6/m2. The investigation found that SkyTrough installed costs were sensitive to factors such as raw aluminum alloy cost and production volume. For example, in the case of the SkyTrough, the installed cost would rise to nearly $210/m2 if the aluminum alloy cost was $1.70/lb instead of $1.03/lb. Accordingly, one must be aware of fluctuations in the relevant commodities markets to track system cost over time. The estimated installed cost for the Ultimate Trough was only slightly higher at $178/m2, which includes an assembly facility of $11.6 million amortized over the required production volume. Considering the size and overall cost of a 700 SCA Ultimate Trough solar field, two parallel production lines in a fully covered assembly facility, each with the specific torque box, module and mirror jigs, would be justified for a full CSP plant.

  4. Isotopic feature and uranium dating of the volcanic rocks in the Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    Volcanic rocks from the northern and middle Okinawa Trough were dated by uranium-series dating method. Differential fractions using magnetic procedure were designed to separate samples. New report on the ages and isotopic data of rocks in the northern trough (especially black pumice) was discussed. Based on the uranium dates and Sr-Nd isotopic ratio, magmatic evolution process of the Okinawa Trough was noted. Firstly, there have been wide silicic volcanic activities in the Okinawa Trough from late Pleistocene to present, and the volcanic rocks can be divided into three subgroups. Secondly, magma generally came from PREMA source area under the Okinawa Trough. Magmatic evolution in the northern trough was similar to the middle, but different to the south. Finally, volcanic activities indicated that opening of the southern Okinawa Trough did not happen due to the collision between Luson Arc and Eurasian Plate until the early Pleistocene.

  5. Radiometric evidence of Middle Devonian inversion of the Hill End Trough, northeast Lachlan Fold Belt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pakham, G.H.

    1999-01-01

    The publication of a new geological time-scale by the Australian Geological Survey Organisation and radiometric dates from the Hill End goldfield have prompted the re-examination of the timing of deformation of the Hill End Trough to determine whether it occurred in Middle Devonian or Early Carboniferous time. Palaeontological evidence from the western trough margin and the Capertee High dates the end of deposition in the trough as late Emsian or early Eifelian (385-382 Ma). After a mid-Devonian hiatus of at least 15 million years, paralic sedimentation commenced on the Molong and Capertee Highs in late Frasnian or early Famennian time (367-363 Ma). No Upper Devonian sedimentary formations occur in the Hill End Trough. Structural relationships indicate that the oldest mineral veins at Hill End preceded cleavage formation in the deformed trough sedimentary rocks. Early vein muscovites have Middle Devonian 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates of 380-370 Ma. Regional metamorphic biotites from Hill End have well constrained 40 Ar/ 39 Ar closing ages of 360-358 Ma (mid-Famennian). The metamorphic (thermal) maximum which outlasted penetrative deformation. is estimated here by modelling to have been about 370 Ma (latest Givetian). This clearly places the earlier main deformation in the Middle Devonian. Deformation probably began by terminating trough deposition in latest Emsian to early Eifelian time and ended in early Givetian time at about 375 Ma ago. Published pressure and temperature data from the Hill End goldfield suggest that deformation thickened the 6 km sediment column to around 11 km. The thermal model suggests there was post-deformation erosion of about 4km and little if any further erosion occurred during Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous time. The shortening accompanying the inversion of the northern Hill End Trough may have been taken up in the region to the south, both east and west of the Copperhannia Thrust, and east of the southern termination of the Capertee High

  6. Structure of the surface of the Paleozoic basement of the cis-Kopetdag trough in connection with the oil and gas content of the sedimentary cover

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Odekov, O.A.; Mel' nik, N.M.; Tulaeva, S.V.

    1981-01-01

    Use of a complex of different methods permitted a new approach to the study of the nature of the surface of the Paleozoic basement. As a result of constructing models of the deep structure of the cis-Kopetdag trough and the Bakhardok monocline a new map of the major tectonic elements of the region has been developed and a map of the surface structure of the Paleozoic basement and a map of the Moho discontinuity have been compiled. The former gives a major new solution to many problems of the dep structure of the region: 1) in the zone of juncture of the cis-Kopetdag trough and the Bakhardok monocline a new positive structural element has been identified, called the Bakhardok-Kumbet buried superarch; 2) a completely new morphology of the western part of the Serakh connector has been given, within which two independent buried arches are identified, the Shatlyk and Tedzhenskii; 3) it has been established that the Izgantskii arch of the sedimentary cover corresponds to the Izgant uplifted block of the basement. These structural elements are described, methods for identifying them are outlined, and some principles of the variatin of the parameters of the geophysical fields are described. The prospects for the juncture zone are estimated as fairly high from the viewpoint of discovering different types of oil and gas deposits in the widest stratigraphic interval, from the Lower Jurassic to the Neokomian.

  7. Weak Lensing by Galaxy Troughs in DES Science Verification Data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gruen, D. [Ludwig Maximilian Univ., Munich (Germany); Max Planck Inst. for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching (Germany). et al.

    2015-09-29

    We measure the weak lensing shear around galaxy troughs, i.e. the radial alignment of background galaxies relative to underdensities in projections of the foreground galaxy field over a wide range of redshift in Science Verification data from the Dark Energy Survey. Our detection of the shear signal is highly significant (10σ–15σ for the smallest angular scales) for troughs with the redshift range z ϵ [0.2, 0.5] of the projected galaxy field and angular diameters of 10 arcmin…1°. These measurements probe the connection between the galaxy, matter density, and convergence fields. By assuming galaxies are biased tracers of the matter density with Poissonian noise, we find agreement of our measurements with predictions in a fiducial Λ cold dark matter model. Furthermore, the prediction for the lensing signal on large trough scales is virtually independent of the details of the underlying model for the connection of galaxies and matter. Our comparison of the shear around troughs with that around cylinders with large galaxy counts is consistent with a symmetry between galaxy and matter over- and underdensities. In addition, we measure the two-point angular correlation of troughs with galaxies which, in contrast to the lensing signal, is sensitive to galaxy bias on all scales. Finally, the lensing signal of troughs and their clustering with galaxies is therefore a promising probe of the statistical properties of matter underdensities and their connection to the galaxy field.

  8. Patient-reported non-adherence and immunosuppressant trough levels are associated with rejection after renal transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheel, Jennifer; Reber, Sandra; Stoessel, Lisa; Waldmann, Elisabeth; Jank, Sabine; Eckardt, Kai-Uwe; Grundmann, Franziska; Vitinius, Frank; de Zwaan, Martina; Bertram, Anna; Erim, Yesim

    2017-03-29

    Different measures of non-adherence to immunosuppressant (IS) medication have been found to be associated with rejection episodes after successful transplantation. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether graft rejection after renal transplantation is associated with patient-reported IS medication non-adherence and IS trough level variables (IS trough level variability and percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels). Patient-reported non-adherence, IS trough level variability, percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels, and acute biopsy-proven late allograft rejections were assessed in 267 adult renal transplant recipients who were ≥12 months post-transplantation. The rate of rejection was 13.5%. IS trough level variability, percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels as well as patient-reported non-adherence were all significantly and positively associated with rejection, but not with each other. Logistic regression analyses revealed that only the percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels and age at transplantation remained significantly associated with rejection. Particularly, the percentage of sub-therapeutic IS trough levels is associated with acute rejections after kidney transplantation whereas IS trough level variability and patient-reported non-adherence seem to be of subordinate importance. Patient-reported non-adherence and IS trough level variables were not correlated; thus, non-adherence should always be measured in a multi-methodological approach. Further research concerning the best combination of non-adherence measures is needed.

  9. Seasonal variation and solar activity dependence of the quiet-time ionospheric trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishida, T.; Ogawa, Y.; Kadokura, A.; Hiraki, Y.; Häggström, I.

    2014-08-01

    We have conducted a statistical analysis of the ionospheric F region trough, focusing on its seasonal variation and solar activity dependence under geomagnetically quiet and moderate conditions, using plasma parameter data obtained via Common Program 3 observations performed by the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar between 1982 and 2011. We have confirmed that there is a major difference in frictional heating between the high- and low-latitude sides of the EISCAT field of view (FOV) at ~73°0'N-60°5'N (geomagnetic latitude) at an altitude of 325 km, which is associated with trough formation. Our statistical results show that the high-latitude and midlatitude troughs occur on the high- and low-latitude sides of the FOV, respectively. Seasonal variations indicate that dissociative recombination accompanied by frictional heating is a main cause of trough formation in sunlit regions. During summer, therefore, the occurrence rate is maintained at 80-90% in the postmidnight high-latitude region owing to frictional heating by eastward return flow. Solar activity dependence on trough formation indicates that field-aligned currents modulate the occurrence rate of the trough during the winter and equinox seasons. In addition, the trough becomes deeper via dissociative recombination caused by an increased ion temperature with F10.7, at least in the equinox and summer seasons but not in winter.

  10. Probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment considering time-lag of seismic event on Nankai trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugino, Hideharu; Sakagami, Masaharu; Ebisawa, Katsumi; Korenaga, Mariko

    2011-01-01

    In the area in front of Nankai trough, tsunami wave height may increase if tsunamis attacking from some wave sources overlap because of time-lag of seismic event on Nankai trough. To evaluation tsunami risk of the important facilities located in front of Nankai trough, we proposed the probabilistic tsunami hazard assessment considering uncertainty on time-lag of seismic event on Nankai trough and we evaluated the influence that the time-lag gave to tsunami hazard at the some representative points. (author)

  11. Main ionospheric trough in the daytime sector studied on the basis of vertical sounding data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Benkova, N.P.; Kozlov, E.F.; Mozhaev, A.M.; Osipov, N.K.; Samorokin, N.I.

    1980-09-01

    Data for 1969-1973 are used to study the displacement of the main ionospheric trough during daytime magnetic storms. The depth of the trough and electron density gradients on the sides of the trough are determined. The trough is found to move in a southeasterly direction during daytime storms. The results agree with theoretical conclusions that explain the formation of the trough by the collective transport of ionospheric plasma in a sunward direction.

  12. Gas Turbine/Solar Parabolic Trough Hybrid Designs: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turchi, C. S.; Ma, Z.; Erbes, M.

    2011-03-01

    A strength of parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plants is the ability to provide reliable power by incorporating either thermal energy storage or backup heat from fossil fuels. Yet these benefits have not been fully realized because thermal energy storage remains expensive at trough operating temperatures and gas usage in CSP plants is less efficient than in dedicated combined cycle plants. For example, while a modern combined cycle plant can achieve an overall efficiency in excess of 55%; auxiliary heaters in a parabolic trough plant convert gas to electricity at below 40%. Thus, one can argue the more effective use of natural gas is in a combined cycle plant, not as backup to a CSP plant. Integrated solar combined cycle (ISCC) systems avoid this pitfall by injecting solar steam into the fossil power cycle; however, these designs are limited to about 10% total solar enhancement. Without reliable, cost-effective energy storage or backup power, renewable sources will struggle to achieve a high penetration in the electric grid. This paper describes a novel gas turbine / parabolic trough hybrid design that combines solar contribution of 57% and higher with gas heat rates that rival that for combined cycle natural gas plants. The design integrates proven solar and fossil technologies, thereby offering high reliability and low financial risk while promoting deployment of solar thermal power.

  13. Performance comparison of solar parabolic trough system with glass and film reflector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu, Qian; Li, Longlong; Li, Huairui; Huang, Weidong; Li, Yongping

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Solar trough model should consider refractive surface error with glass reflector. • Solar trough system with glass mirror has less efficiency than that with film mirror. • Solar trough system has very low efficiency in a winter day at high latitude. - Abstract: This paper considers the refractive surface error transfer process to present an optical performance model of solar trough system as well as the reflective surface error. We validate the optical model through comparing the calculation results with the experimental data. The optimized design parameters are presented based on the maximization of the annual average net heat efficiency. The results show that maximum relative error of 20% for the optical efficiency may produce if the refractive surface error transfer process is ignored. It indicates that the refractive surface error should be considered in predicting the performance of the solar trough system especially for the glass reflector as well as the reflective surface error. We apply the model to compare the performance of solar parabolic trough system with vacuum tube receiver under two kinds of reflectors, which are glass mirror and film mirror. The results indicate that both parabolic trough systems with a vacuum tube receiver and a north–south axis tracking system are relatively inefficient in winter days, and the net energy output in the winter solstice is less than one sixth of the summer. The net heat efficiency of solar trough system with film mirror is 50% less than that of the system with the glass mirror at noon of the winter solstice and latitude 40 if the design and parameter of the two systems are the same. The results indicate that film reflector is more preferable than glass reflector especially in high latitude if they have the same optical property

  14. Cascade system using both trough system and dish system for power generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Cheng; Zhang, Yanping; Arauzo, Inmaculada; Gao, Wei; Zou, Chongzhe

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A novel solar cascade system using both trough and dish collectors is proposed. • Heat rejected by the Stirling engines is collected by the condensed water. • The directions to increase the efficiency improvement has been pointed out • Influence of flow type of heating/cooling fluids of Stirling engines is considered. - Abstract: This paper represents a novel solar thermal cascade system using both trough and dish systems for power generation. An effective structure using the condensed fluid of Rankine cycle to cool the Stirling engines to use the heat released by Stirling engines was proposed. The cascade system model with different fluid circuits was developed. The models of some important components of the system, such as dish collector, trough collector and Stirling engine array, are presented with detail explanation in this paper. Corresponding stand-alone systems were also developed for comparison. Simulations were conducted with the models to find out efficiency difference between cascade system and corresponding stand-alone systems. The directions to increase the efficiency difference were also considered. Results show that the cascade system can achieve a higher efficiency with a high solar irradiance (>550 W/m"2). The flow type of fluids between heating and cooling Stirling engine array is also required to concern on designing a cascade system with Stirling engine array.

  15. Exploring Unconventional Hydrocarbons in the Makó Trough, Pannonian basin, Hungary: Results and Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horvath, Anita; Bada, Gabor; Szafian, Peter; Sztano, Orsolya; Law, Ben; Wallis, Rod

    2010-05-01

    The latest phase exploration in the Makó Trough, which commenced a few years ago, has focused on the utilization of unconventional hydrocarbons. Accumulations are regarded as "unconventional" when they cannot be produced economically except by means of some sort of stimulation, usually hydraulic fracturing. The model we have developed for the evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential indicates a significant gas accumulation in the area of the Makó Trough. The tally of the distinctive attributes of the hydrocarbon system and the combined analysis of the available geological data led to the conclusion that the Makó Trough represents an area of active basin-centered gas accumulation (BCGA), with very significant perspective reserves. In a BCGA, hydrocarbons do not accumulate conventionally, in structural or stratigraphic traps, but rather in cells. Due to the geological setting of the Makó Trough, the hydrocarbon cell here forms a relatively continuous zone marked by considerable internal lithological and petrophysical variability. The most prolific parts, called sweet spots, possess a reservoir potential higher than the average. The identification of these sweet spots constitutes one of the most important, and quite possibly the most challenging task of the entire exploration project. The hemipelagic Endrőd Formation, which acts as the source rock, contains organic-rich marls in a depth delimited by the 170-230 °C isotherms. These marls constitute the still active hydrocarbon "kitchen" of the BCGA in the Makó Trough. The top and bottom boundaries of the cell essentially coincide with the turbidites of the Szolnok Formation and the top of the pre-Neogene basement, respectively. In light of the fact that pressure, temperature, and maturity tests have produced rather similar results in a number of wells in the area, we have reason to believe that the extension of the Makó Trough's BCGA is of regional dimensions (>1000 km2). The thickness and lateral extension of

  16. Concurrent immunomodulator therapy is associated with higher adalimumab trough levels during scheduled maintenance therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bond, Ashley; Dodd, Susanna; Fisher, Gareth; Skouras, Thomas; Subramanian, Sreedhar

    2017-02-01

    Combination therapy with infliximab and immunomodulators is superior to monotherapy, resulting in better outcomes and higher trough levels of infliximab. The role of concurrent immunomodulatory therapy on adalimumab trough levels has not been adequately investigated. We evaluated the impact of concomitant immunomodulation on adalimumab trough levels in patients on scheduled maintenance therapy. We conducted a prospective observational, cross-sectional study of all inflammatory bowel disease patients on maintenance therapy who had adalimumab trough levels measured between January 2013 and January 2016. Drug level and anti-drug antibody measurements were performed on sera using a solid phase assay. Pairwise comparison of means was used to compare trough levels in patients with and without concomitant immune modulator therapy. In total, 79 patients were included. Twenty-three patients (29.1%) were on weekly dosing whereas 56 (70.9%) were on alternate weeks. Median adalimumab trough levels were comparable in patients with and without clinical remission (6.8 μg/ml (IQR 5.6-8.1) versus 6.7 μg/ml (IQR 3.9-8.1), respectively. Patients with an elevated faecal calprotectin >250 μg/g had lower adalimumab trough levels (median 6.7, IQR 3.9-8) compared to patients with faecal calprotectin <250 μg/g (median 7.7, IQR 6.1-8.1) though this did not achieve statistical significance (p = .062). Median adalimumab trough levels among patients on concurrent immunomodulators was 7.2 μg/ml (IQR 5.7-8.1) compared to those not on concurrent immunomodulator, 6.1 μg/ml (IQR 2.7-7.7, p = .0297). Adalimumab trough levels were significantly higher in patients on concurrent immunomodulators during maintenance therapy. There was a trend towards a lower adalimumab trough level in patients with elevated calprotectin.

  17. Parabolic Trough Solar Power for Competitive U.S. Markets

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Price, Henry W.

    1998-01-01

    Nine parabolic trough power plants located in the California Mojave Desert represent the only commercial development of large-scale solar power plants to date. Although all nine plants continue to operate today, no new solar power plants have been completed since 1990. Over the last several years, the parabolic trough industry has focused much of its efforts on international market opportunities. Although the power market in developing countries appears to offer a number of opportunities for parabolic trough technologies due to high growth and the availability of special financial incentives for renewables, these markets are also plagued with many difficulties for developers. In recent years, there has been some renewed interest in the U.S. domestic power market as a result of an emerging green market and green pricing incentives. Unfortunately, many of these market opportunities and incentives focus on smaller, more modular technologies (such as photovoltaics or wind power), and as a result they tend to exclude or are of minimum long-term benefit to large-scale concentrating solar power technologies. This paper looks at what is necessary for large-scale parabolic trough solar power plants to compete with state-of-the-art fossil power technology in a competitive U.S. power market

  18. Tracking local control of a parabolic trough collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ajona, J.I.; Alberdi, J.; Gamero, E.; Blanco, J.

    1992-01-01

    In the local control, the sun position related to the trough collector is measured by two photo-resistors. The provided electronic signal is then compared with reference levels in order to get a set of B logical signals which form a byte. This byte and the commands issued by a programmable controller are connected to the inputs of o P.R.O.M. memory which is programmed with the logical equations of the control system. The memory output lines give the control command of the parabolic trough collector motor. (Author)

  19. First Comparative Analysis of the Community Structures and Carbon Metabolic Pathways of the Bacteria Associated with Alvinocaris longirostris in a Hydrothermal Vent of Okinawa Trough.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Qing-Lei; Zeng, Zhi-Gang; Chen, Shuai; Sun, Li

    2016-01-01

    Alvinocaris longirostris is a species of shrimp existing in the hydrothermal fields of Okinawa Trough. To date the structure and function of the microbial community associated with A. longirostris are essentially unknown. In this study, by employment of the techniques of high through-put sequencing and clone library construction and analysis, we compared for the first time the community structures and metabolic profiles of microbes associated with the gill and gut of A. longirostris in a hydrothermal field of Okinawa Trough. Fourteen phyla were detected in the gill and gut communities, of which 11 phyla were shared by both tissues. Proteobacteria made up a substantial proportion in both tissues, while Firmicutes was abundant only in gut. Although gill and gut communities were similar in bacterial diversities, the bacterial community structures in these two tissues were significantly different. Further, we discovered for the first time the existence in the gill and gut communities of A. longirostris the genes (cbbM and aclB) encoding the key enzymes of Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle and the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA) cycle, and that both cbbM and aclB were significantly more abundant in gill than in gut. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence that at least two carbon fixation pathways are present in both the gill and the gut communities of A. longirostris, and that the communities in different tissues likely differ in autotrophic productivity.

  20. First Comparative Analysis of the Community Structures and Carbon Metabolic Pathways of the Bacteria Associated with Alvinocaris longirostris in a Hydrothermal Vent of Okinawa Trough.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing-Lei Sun

    Full Text Available Alvinocaris longirostris is a species of shrimp existing in the hydrothermal fields of Okinawa Trough. To date the structure and function of the microbial community associated with A. longirostris are essentially unknown. In this study, by employment of the techniques of high through-put sequencing and clone library construction and analysis, we compared for the first time the community structures and metabolic profiles of microbes associated with the gill and gut of A. longirostris in a hydrothermal field of Okinawa Trough. Fourteen phyla were detected in the gill and gut communities, of which 11 phyla were shared by both tissues. Proteobacteria made up a substantial proportion in both tissues, while Firmicutes was abundant only in gut. Although gill and gut communities were similar in bacterial diversities, the bacterial community structures in these two tissues were significantly different. Further, we discovered for the first time the existence in the gill and gut communities of A. longirostris the genes (cbbM and aclB encoding the key enzymes of Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB cycle and the reductive tricarboxylic acid (rTCA cycle, and that both cbbM and aclB were significantly more abundant in gill than in gut. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence that at least two carbon fixation pathways are present in both the gill and the gut communities of A. longirostris, and that the communities in different tissues likely differ in autotrophic productivity.

  1. Mineralogy and geological significance of hydrothermal deposits from the Okinawa Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xia; Zhai, Shikui; Yu, Zenghui; Wang, Shujie; Cai, Zongwei

    2018-04-01

    The study of hydrothermal deposits in the Okinawa Trough can help us to uncover the hydrothermal mineralization characteristics in the back-arc basin during the early expanding stage. Mineralogy and geological significance of hydrothermal deposits from both the middle and southern trough are studied in this paper. First of all, using optical microscope to confirm the mineral compositions, characteristics of crystal shape, paragenetic relationship and minerals crystallization order. Then the minerals chemical composition were analyzed in virtue of electron microprobe. On these basis, the paragenetic sequence and the mineralization characteristics of the hydrothermal deposits were discussed. The results show that the hydrothermal deposit from the mid-Okinawa Trough belongs to Zn-Cu-rich type, consisting dominantly of sulfide minerals such as sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, etc. The minerals crystallization order is first generation pyrite(PyI)-sphalerite-chalcopyrite-galena-second generation pyrite(PyII)-amorphous silica. While the deposit from the southern Okinawa Trough is Ba-Zn-Pb-rich type mainly composing of barite, sphalerite, galena, etc. The minerals crystallization order is barite-pyrite-sphalerite-tetrahedrite-galena-chalcopyrite-amorphous silica. Hydrothermal fluid temperature in the mid-Okinawa Trough undergoes a process from high to low, which is high up to 350 °C in the early stage, but decreasing gradually with the evolution of hydrothermal fluid. On the contrary, the hydrothermal activity in the southern Okinawa Trough is low temperature dominated, but the mineralization environment is unstable and the fluid temperature changes drastically during the period of hydrothermal activity.

  2. A trough for improved SFG spectroscopy of lipid monolayers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franz, Johannes; van Zadel, Marc-Jan; Weidner, Tobias

    2017-05-01

    Lipid monolayers are indispensable model systems for biological membranes. The main advantage over bilayer model systems is that the surface pressure within the layer can be directly and reliably controlled. The sensitive interplay between surface pressure and temperature determines the molecular order within a model membrane and consequently determines the membrane phase behavior. The lipid phase is of crucial importance for a range of membrane functions such as protein interactions and membrane permeability. A very reliable method to probe the structure of lipid monolayers is sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. Not only is SFG extremely surface sensitive but it can also directly access critical parameters such as lipid order and orientation, and it can provide valuable information about protein interactions along with interfacial hydration. However, recent studies have shown that temperature gradients caused by high power laser beams perturb the lipid layers and potentially obscure the spectroscopic results. Here we demonstrate how the local heating problem can be effectively reduced by spatially distributing the laser pulses on the sample surface using a translating Langmuir trough for SFG experiments at lipid monolayers. The efficiency of the trough is illustrated by the detection of enhanced molecular order due to reduced heat load.

  3. Floor cooler for floor trough of a nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Friedrich, H.J.

    1985-01-01

    Cooling pipes are situated below the floor trough of a BWR, which are connected to the annular distribution or collection pipes. The distribution and collection pipes are connected by parallel hairpin pipes with involute shape to the centre of the floor trough. These hairpin pipes are situated in a lower plane than the annular distribution pipe to the centre and in a higher plane from the centre to the outer annular collector pipe. (orig./HP) [de

  4. Chronostratigraphy and deposition rates in the Okinawa Trough region

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    李培英; 王永吉; 刘振夏

    1999-01-01

    Six representative cores from Okinawa Trough have been dated using AMS 14C, Standard 14C and ESR methods, and comparatively analysed. Systematic measurements of the oriented samples taken from the cores were conducted for obtaining their remnant magnetic polarity. With the aid of the dates obtained, particularly the AMS 14C ages of planktonic foraminiferal tests, two polarity events and two polar wanderings of the earth magnetic field have been defined. Calculations of the deposition rates for all the six core sites indicate rather high values in the trough plain, at least equivalent to those rates reported for the region of the East China Sea. They commonly range from 10 to 30 cm/ka, and even greater than 40 cm/ka in some localities. The deposition rate varied widely with topography and periods of time. In general, it is greater during the postglacial period than during the last glaciation. The chronostratigraphy in the Okinawa Trough region established through this study argues against the pr

  5. Tear trough – Anatomy and treatment by autologous fat grafting

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chang Yung Chia

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Tear trough is the main irregularity at midface, of which treatment is difficult. There is no agreement in literature about its anatomy and best treatment. The author presented an anatomical study and personal autologous fat grafting technique for tear trough treatment. Anatomical dissections were done on two fresh cadavers to examine the skin, subcutaneous, muscle and bone layers, spaces, and attachments. Safety and efficacy were evaluated via retrospective analysis of the last 200 consecutive procedures performed by the author. Tear trough is caused by the abrupt transition of the palpebral orbicular oculi muscle (OOM (i.e., thin skin without subcutaneous fat compartment to the orbital OOM (i.e., thicker skin with malar fat compartment. The tear trough region is located at the OOM bony origin at the medial canthus where no specific ligament was found. The grafted fat volume stabilized at two or three months after the procedure, instead of six months as stated in literature, with excellent results and no severe complications. Tear trough is a personal characteristic, a natural anatomical depression caused by subcutaneous irregularity and can worsen with age. The lack of volume is not effectively corrected by surgeries and thus it must be filled. Fat grafting has several advantages over alloplastic fillers, although it may be more difficult. Fat graft is autologous and abundant, and tissue transplantation could enhance skin quality. Fat grafting is a simple, safe, and effective solution for adding extra volume to correct the deflation phenomenon of the midface aging process. There is no specific anatomical plane for volume injection; the fat graft must be evenly distributed in the deep and superficial plane for uniformity.

  6. Optimized molten salt receivers for ultimate trough solar fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riffelmann, Klaus-J.; Richert, Timo; Kuckelkorn, Thomas

    2016-05-01

    Today parabolic trough collectors are the most successful concentrating solar power (CSP) technology. For the next development step new systems with increased operation temperature and new heat transfer fluids (HTF) are currently developed. Although the first power tower projects have successfully been realized, up to now there is no evidence of an all-dominant economic or technical advantage of power tower or parabolic trough. The development of parabolic trough technology towards higher performance and significant cost reduction have led to significant improvements in competitiveness. The use of molten salt instead of synthetic oil as heat transfer fluid will bring down the levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) even further while providing dispatchable energy with high capacity factors. FLABEG has developed the Ultimate TroughTM (UT) collector, jointly with sbp Sonne GmbH and supported by public funds. Due to its validated high optical accuracy, the collector is very suitable to operate efficiently at elevated temperatures up to 550 °C. SCHOTT will drive the key-innovations by introducing the 4th generation solar receiver that addresses the most significant performance and cost improvement measures. The new receivers have been completely redesigned to provide a product platform that is ready for high temperature operation up to 550 °C. Moreover distinct product features have been introduced to reduce costs and risks in solar field assembly and installation. The increased material and design challenges incurred with the high temperature operation have been reflected in sophisticated qualification and validation procedures.

  7. Gravimetric model of the Gastre trough, province of Chubut, Argentina; Modelo gravimetrico en la fosa de Gastre, provincia de Chubut, Argentina

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lince Klinger, F.; Nacif, S.; Martinez, M. P.; Gimenez, M. E.; Ruiz, F.; Alvarez, O.

    2011-07-01

    A gravimetric study of the Gastre trough in the Province of Chubut, to the southwest of the Canadon Asfalto basin, has allowed us to determine the geometry of its crystalline basement. Using filtering techniques we were able to map residual Bouguer anomalies, which show the heterogeneities situated within the upper crust, some of which are linked to recognised geological structures. The gravimetric minima in the residual Bouguer anomaly map are associated with graben-type basins, flanked by positive gravity values associated with alignments identified on the surface and with the overall topographic relief of the Gastre trough. After suitable treatment of the density values of the outcrops and seismic data we were able to construct a 2D density model, perpendicular to the trough, which indicated a depth of 3600 m. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it has been possible to arrive at a gravimetric characterization of the Gastre trough in the Canadon Asfalto basin sector, a potentially hydrocarbon-bearing area hitherto lacking in reliable data concerning its subsoil. (Author)

  8. Morphological evolution of Jinshan Trough in Hangzhou Bay (China) from 1960 to 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yifei; Xia, Xiaoming; Chen, Shenliang; Jia, Jianjun; Cai, Tinglu

    2017-11-01

    An extensive system of tidal channels, starting with Jinshan Trough in the east, is located along the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, China. This contribution investigates the morphological evolution of Jinshan Trough by using 17 bathymetric charts from a series covering a period of 51 years from 1960 to 2011. Three stages of evolution during this period are distinguishable based on the morphology and annual mean volume data. The first stage (1960-1987) is characterized by extension of the trough; the second stage (1987-1996) is a relatively stable period with some adjustments in the trough morphology; the third stage (1996-2011) is marked by the processes of erosion and deposition in the beginning of the period and a subsequent slow erosion process. Spatio-temporal variability of the trough was evaluated by using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The first eigenfunction indicates that erosion is the main evolution process and there exists three stages similar to those distinguished from volume variations. The second eigenfunction mainly reflects erosion and deposition in the northwest part of the trough located in the flood tidal current shadow area of the artificial headland in Jinshan. The third eigenfunction mainly reflects annual fluctuations of erosion and deposition in the side slope at the artificial headland in Jinshan. A particularly intense erosion process occurred between 1996 and 1998. The major effects on morphological evolution in Jinshan Trough from 1960 to 2011 were investigated and tentative conclusions were presented. Continuous coastal reclamations in Jinshan had the most pronounced effect on the morphological evolution during the first and the second stages. The storm surge had a pronounced effect on the evolution at the beginning of the third stage.

  9. Optical properties of V-trough concentrators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fraidenraich, N. [Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE Brasil (Brazil); Almeida, G. J.

    1991-07-01

    A new approach to study the optical behavior of V-trough concentrators is developed, based on the use of three characteristic angles defining the appearance, disappearance and return to the outside space of the cavity of a reflection mode. The probability of occurrence of a given number of reflections for beam radiation is determined as a function of these angles and the optical efficiency calculated. It is shown that the optical efficiency can be approximated by a function of two parameters, the angular acceptance function, T, and the mean number of reflections, n, as T * p{sup n/T}. Deviations between exact and approximate optical efficiency increase as n increases or as p decreases. For troughs with C ≤ 2.5 the maximal error for beam radiation is 3.4% for p ≥ 0.8 (8.3% for p ≥ 0.7). For diffuse radiation the maximal error is less than 2% for configurations whose optical efficiency is above 0.6. A further simplification was introduced to obtain the optical efficiency for diffuse radiation, approximating T by an analytical expression and n by an empirical linear function of the inverse of the vertex angle. Results accurate up to 5% for p = 0.8, were obtained. Increasing the concentration ratio, C, from 1.5 to 2.5 for a vertex angle being one third of the acceptance angle, decreased the optical efficiency from 0.74 to 0.59, for p = 0.8. For a given C, the dependence of the optical efficiency on the vertex angle is rather weak, suggesting that large trough angles might be favoured by cost-benefit analysis. (author)

  10. Petrologic perspectives on tectonic evolution of a nascent basin (Okinawa Trough) behind Ryukyu Arc:A review

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    YAN Quanshu; SHI Xuefa

    2014-01-01

    Okinawa Trough is a back-arc, initial marginal sea basin, located behind the Ryukyu Arc-Trench System. The formation and evolution of the Okinawa Trough is intimately related to the subduction process of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate since the late Miocene. The tectonic evolution of the trough is similar to other active back-arcs, such as the Mariana Trough and southern Lau Basin, all of which are experiencing the initial rifting and subsequent spreading process. This study reviews all petrologic and geochemical data of mafic volcanic lavas from the Okinawa Trough, Ryukyu Arc, and Philippine Sea Plate, combined with geophysical data to indicate the relationship between the subduction sources (input) and arc or back-arc magmas (output) in the Philippine Sea Plate-Ryukyu Arc-Okinawa Trough system (PROS). The results obtained showed that several components were variably involved in the petrogenesis of the Oki-nawa Trough lavas:sub-continental lithospheric mantle underlying the Eurasian Plate, Indian mid-oceanic ridge basalt (MORB)-type mantle, and Pacific MORB-type mantle. The addition of shallow aqueous fluids and deep hydrous melts from subducted components with the characteristics of Indian MORB-type mantle into the mantle source of lavas variably modifies the primitive mantle wedge beneath the Ryukyu and sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) beneath the Okinawa Trough. In the northeastern end of the trough and arc, instead of Indian MORB-type mantle, Pacific MORB-type mantle dominates the magma source. Along the strike of the Ryukyu Arc and Okinawa Trough, the systematic variations in trace element ratios and isotopic compositions reflect the first-order effect of variable subduction input on the magma source. In general, petrologic data, combined with geophysical data, imply that the Okinawa Trough is experiencing the“seafloor spreading”process in the southwest segment,“rift propagation”process in the middle seg-ment, and

  11. Advanced photovoltaic-trough development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spencer, R.; Yasuda, K.; Merson, B.

    1982-04-01

    The scope of the work on photvoltaic troughs includes analytical studies, hardware development, and component testing. Various aspects of the system have been optimized and improvements have been realized, particularly in the receiver and reflecting surface designs. An empirical system performance model has been developed that closely agrees with measured system performance. This in-depth study of single-axis reflecting linear focus photovoltaic concentrators will be very beneficial in the development of improved models for similar systems as well as other phtovoltaic concentrator designs.

  12. Holocene tephra deposits in the northern Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2006-01-01

    The mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of sediments of Core CSH1, which was collected from the northern Okinawa Trough, indicate that large amounts of volcanic materials have deposited in the northern Okinawa Trough during the Holocene. On the basis of down-core variations in mineral and element contents of sediments, two layers in the uppermost section of Core CSH1 characterized by high quartz, Na2O, MnO, K2O, uranium contents and low contents of clay minerals, volatiles, Fe2O3, MgO, CaO and strontium, have been identified as the tephra deposits. Systematic grain-size measurements also suggest that sediments from the northern Okinawa Trough are made up of terrigenous materials and volcanic ashes with different proportion during the Holocene. The sediments of tephra layers in Core CSH1 show bi-modal patterns in grain-size distribution with modal grain-sizes of 74.3 and 7.81 μm,respectively. According to the radiocarbon dating on shells of zooplankton foraminifera, two tephra layers in Core CSH1, formed at 7 250 and 10 870 a BP (cal), approximately correspond to the K-Ah tephra [7 300 a BP (cal)] and the eruption of Kuju Volcano (12~10 ka BP), respectively.

  13. Wave and plasma measurements and GPS diagnostics of the main ionospheric trough as a hybrid method used for Space Weather purposes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Rothkaehl

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available The region of the main ionospheric trough is a unique region of the ionosphere, where different types of waves and instabilities can be generated. This region of the ionosphere acts like a lens, focusing a variety of indicators from the equator of plasmapause and local ionospheric plasma. This paper reports the results of monitoring the mid-latitude trough structure, dynamics and wave activity. For these purposes, the data gathered by the currently-operating DEMETER satellite and past diagnostics located on IK-19, Apex, and MAGION-3 spacecraft, as well as TEC measurements were used. A global-time varying picture of the ionospheric trough was reconstructed using the sequence of wave spectra registered and plasma measurements in the top-side ionosphere. The authors present the wave activity from ULF frequency band to the HF frequency detected inside the trough region and discuss its properties during geomagnetic disturbances. It is thought that broadband emissions are correlated with low frequency radiation, which is excited by the wave-particle interaction in the equatorial plasmapause and moves to the ionosphere along the geomagnetic field line. In the ionosphere, the suprathermal electrons can interact with these electrostatic waves and excite electron acoustic waves or HF longitudinal plasma waves. Furthermore, the electron density trough can provide useful data on the magnetosphere ionosphere dynamics and morphology and, in consequence, can be used for Space Weather purposes.

  14. Self regulated learning trough project base learning on the prospective math teacher

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laelasari

    2018-03-01

    Development of planning, strategy, and learning activities is strongly influenced by metacognition ability, knowledge of learning strategy, and understanding of context is the most important thing to be mastered by a prospective teacher. Self-regulation owned by the individual can control behavior, and manipulate a behavior by using the ability of his mind so that individuals can react to their environment. Self-regulation is the basis of the socialization process as it relates to the entire domain of physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development. This research is a qualitative research with research subject of the fourth-semester student of class A, at one of a university in Cirebon City, West Java. In this research, the lecture material discussed is The Development of Teaching Materials, which is the subject matter that must be mastered by prospective teachers, especially teachers of mathematics education. The instrument used is the questionnaire. The results showed that through project based learning, can grow student’s self-regulated learning especially the prospective math teacher, and can be used as an alternative to the delivery of lecture materials.

  15. Post-early cretaceous landform evolution along the western margin of the banca~nnia trough, western nsw

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, D.L.

    2000-01-01

    Previously undated post-Devonian sediments outcropping north of Fowlers Gap station near the western margin of the Bancannia Trough are shown by plant macro- and microfossil determinations to be of Early Cretaceous (most likely Neocomian and/or Aptian) age, and thus part of the Eromanga Basin. They are assigned to the previously defined Telephone Creek Formation. Study of the structural configuration of this unit and the unconformably underlying Devonian rocks suggests that the gross landscape architecture of the area results from post-Early Cretaceous monoclinal folding along blind faults at the western margin of the trough, combined with the effects of differential erosion. This study shows that, while landscape evolution in the area has been dynamic, the major changes that have occurred are on a geological rather than human timescale.

  16. High-resolution records of thermocline in the Okinawa Trough since about 10000 aBP

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    The present paper uses planktonic foraminifera and their stableisotopes to study the changes in the depth of thermocline (DOT) in the Okinawa Trough since the last 10000 a based on the analysis of Core B-3GC in the northern Okinawa Trough, together with that of the core in the southern Okinawa Trough. As results show, the thermocline was shallow before 6400 aBP, and deepened afterward, then became shallow again from 4000 to 2000 aBP. The DOT fluctuations display a positive correlation with those of sea surface temperature (SST). In addition, the changes in the northern Okinawa Trough are similar to those in the southern trough, implying a possible connection with the variation of the Kuroshio Current. The changes of SST and DOT suggest that the Kuroshio Current changed its intensity or main axis from 4000 to 2000 aBP and around about 6400 aBP respectively. Moreover, the changes of DOT from 8200 to 6400 aBP may indicate a gradual intensification of the Kuroshio Current.

  17. Improvement Design of Parabolic Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ihsan, S. I.; Safian, M. A. I. M.; Taufek, M. A. M.; Mohiuddin, A. K. M.

    2017-03-01

    The performance of parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) has been evaluated using different heat transfer working fluids; namely water and SAE20 W50 engine oil. New and slightly improved PTSC was developed to run the experimental study. Under the meteorological conditions of Malaysia, authors found that PTSC can operate at a higher temperature than water collector but the performance efficiency of collector using engine oil is much lower than the water collector.

  18. O+ trough zones in the polar cap ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horwitz, James; Zeng, Wen; Jaafari, Fajer

    Regions of low-density troughs in O+ have been observed at 1 RE altitude in the polar cap ionosphere-magnetosphere region by the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment(TIDE) on the POLAR spacecraft. In this presentation, the UT Arlington Dynamic Fluid-Kinetic (DyFK) code is employed to investigate the formation of such O+ density troughs. We utilize convection paths of flux tubes in the high-latitude region as prescribed by an empirical convection model with solar wind inputs to track the evolution of ionospheric plasma transport and in particular O+ densities along these tubes with time/space. The flux tubes are subjected to auroral processes of precipitation and wave-driven ion heating when they pass through the auroral oval, which tends to elevate the plasma densities in these tubes. When the F-regions of such tubes traverse locations where the F-region is in darkness, recombination there causes the higher-altitude regions to drain and the densities to decline throughout. Owing to the varying effects of these processes, significant and low trough-like densities at higher altitudes developed along these flux tubes. The modeled densities near 6000 km altitudes will be compared with multiple POLAR passes featuring POLAR/TIDE-measured O+ densities for inside and outside of such trough regions.

  19. Oceanic Sub-Moho Reflectors in and Around the Segmentation Boundary Between the Tonankai-Nankai Earthquake Area, the Central Nankai Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakanishi, A.; Kodaira, S.; Miura, S.; Ito, A.; Sato, T.; Park, J.; Obana, K.; Kaneda, Y.

    2006-12-01

    The Nankai Trough is a unique subduction zone because the recurrence intervals of M8 class earthquakes and the segmentation of rupture zones are well documented on the basis of geophysical, geological and historic data. In 2004, large intraslab earthquake (Mw7.5) occurred southeast off the Kii Peninsula, the central Nankai Trough. Recent ocean bottom seismograph observation off the Kii Peninsula shows seismicity concentrated in the oceanic crust and the uppermost mantle. To understand the genesis of such intraslab earthquakes and its relation to large interplate earthquakes as well as to obtain an entire structural image of Nankai Trough subduction seismogenic zone, a wide-angle reflection/refraction survey across the coseismic rupture zone of the Tonankai earthquake was conducted in 2004. This research is part of "Structure research on plate dynamics of the presumed rupture zone of the Tonankai-Nankai Earthquakes" funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The result of structural image shows a bit thicker oceanic crust (>8km) subducting landward, and the existence of oceanic sub-Moho reflectors in the uppermost mantle. The aftershocks of the 2004 off Kii Peninsula earthquake are distributed within the oceanic crust and the uppermantle, which is not consistent with the estimated fault plane of main shock. Comparing the structural image with this aftershock distribution and usual seismicity in the uppermost mantle, the depth of the oceanic sub-Moho reflectors and the intraslab events within the uppermantle are both distributed around 20km. We consider that such sub-Moho reflectors may become a seismic fault of intraslab earthquakes.

  20. Processes influencing differences in Arctic and Antarctic Trough Mouth Fan sedimentology

    OpenAIRE

    Gales, J; Hillenbrand, C-D; Larter, R; Laberg, J-S; Melles, M; Benetti, S; Passchier, S

    2018-01-01

    Trough Mouth Fans (TMFs) are sediment depocentres that form along high-latitude continental margins at the mouths of some cross-shelf troughs. They reflect the dynamics of past ice sheets over multiple glacial cycles and processes operating on (formerly) glaciated continental shelves and slopes, such as erosion, reworking, transport and deposition. The similarities and differences in TMF morphology and formation processes of the Arctic and Antarctic regions remain poorly constrained. Here, we...

  1. Wave and plasma measurements and GPS diagnostics of the main ionospheric trough as a hybrid method used for Space Weather purposes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Rothkaehl

    2008-02-01

    Full Text Available The region of the main ionospheric trough is a unique region of the ionosphere, where different types of waves and instabilities can be generated. This region of the ionosphere acts like a lens, focusing a variety of indicators from the equator of plasmapause and local ionospheric plasma. This paper reports the results of monitoring the mid-latitude trough structure, dynamics and wave activity. For these purposes, the data gathered by the currently-operating DEMETER satellite and past diagnostics located on IK-19, Apex, and MAGION-3 spacecraft, as well as TEC measurements were used. A global-time varying picture of the ionospheric trough was reconstructed using the sequence of wave spectra registered and plasma measurements in the top-side ionosphere. The authors present the wave activity from ULF frequency band to the HF frequency detected inside the trough region and discuss its properties during geomagnetic disturbances. It is thought that broadband emissions are correlated with low frequency radiation, which is excited by the wave-particle interaction in the equatorial plasmapause and moves to the ionosphere along the geomagnetic field line. In the ionosphere, the suprathermal electrons can interact with these electrostatic waves and excite electron acoustic waves or HF longitudinal plasma waves.

    Furthermore, the electron density trough can provide useful data on the magnetosphere ionosphere dynamics and morphology and, in consequence, can be used for Space Weather purposes.

  2. Structure Mapping for Social Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christie, Stella

    2017-07-01

    Analogical reasoning is a foundational tool for human learning, allowing learners to recognize relational structures in new events and domains. Here I sketch some grounds for understanding and applying analogical reasoning in social learning. The social world is fundamentally characterized by relations between people, with common relational structures-such as kinships and social hierarchies-forming social units that dictate social behaviors. Just as young learners use analogical reasoning for learning relational structures in other domains-spatial relations, verbs, relational categories-analogical reasoning ought to be a useful cognitive tool for acquiring social relations and structures. Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  3. Gas Turbine/Solar Parabolic Trough Hybrid Design Using Molten Salt Heat Transfer Fluid: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turchi, C. S.; Ma, Z.

    2011-08-01

    Parabolic trough power plants can provide reliable power by incorporating either thermal energy storage (TES) or backup heat from fossil fuels. This paper describes a gas turbine / parabolic trough hybrid design that combines a solar contribution greater than 50% with gas heat rates that rival those of natural gas combined-cycle plants. Previous work illustrated benefits of integrating gas turbines with conventional oil heat-transfer-fluid (HTF) troughs running at 390?C. This work extends that analysis to examine the integration of gas turbines with salt-HTF troughs running at 450 degrees C and including TES. Using gas turbine waste heat to supplement the TES system provides greater operating flexibility while enhancing the efficiency of gas utilization. The analysis indicates that the hybrid plant design produces solar-derived electricity and gas-derived electricity at lower cost than either system operating alone.

  4. OUT Success Stories: Solar Trough Power Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, J.

    2000-08-01

    The Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) plants use parabolic-trough solar collectors to capture the sun's energy and convert it to heat. The SEGS plants range in capacity from 13.8 to 80 MW, and they were constructed to meet Southern California Edison Company's periods of peak power demand.

  5. Structure of the San Andreas Fault Zone in the Salton Trough Region of Southern California: A Comparison with San Andreas Fault Structure in the Loma Prieta Area of Central California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuis, G. S.; Catchings, R.; Scheirer, D. S.; Goldman, M.; Zhang, E.; Bauer, K.

    2016-12-01

    The San Andreas fault (SAF) in the northern Salton Trough, or Coachella Valley, in southern California, appears non-vertical and non-planar. In cross section, it consists of a steeply dipping segment (75 deg dip NE) from the surface to 6- to 9-km depth, and a moderately dipping segment below 6- to 9-km depth (50-55 deg dip NE). It also appears to branch upward into a flower-like structure beginning below about 10-km depth. Images of the SAF zone in the Coachella Valley have been obtained from analysis of steep reflections, earthquakes, modeling of potential-field data, and P-wave tomography. Review of seismological and geodetic research on the 1989 M 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquake, in central California (e.g., U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1550), shows several features of SAF zone structure similar to those seen in the northern Salton Trough. Aftershocks in the Loma Prieta epicentral area form two chief clusters, a tabular zone extending from 18- to 9-km depth and a complex cluster above 5-km depth. The deeper cluster has been interpreted to surround the chief rupture plane, which dips 65-70 deg SW. When double-difference earthquake locations are plotted, the shallower cluster contains tabular subclusters that appear to connect the main rupture with the surface traces of the Sargent and Berrocal faults. In addition, a diffuse cluster may surround a steep to vertical fault connecting the main rupture to the surface trace of the SAF. These interpreted fault connections from the main rupture to surface fault traces appear to define a flower-like structure, not unlike that seen above the moderately dipping segment of the SAF in the Coachella Valley. But importantly, the SAF, interpreted here to include the main rupture plane, appears segmented, as in the Coachella Valley, with a moderately dipping segment below 9-km depth and a steep to vertical segment above that depth. We hope to clarify fault-zone structure in the Loma Prieta area by reanalyzing active

  6. Analysis of fine ELF wave structures observed poleward from the ionospheric trough by the low-altitude satellite DEMETER

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Parrot, M.; Nĕmec, F.; Santolík, Ondřej

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 119, č. 3 (2014), s. 2052-2060 ISSN 2169-9380 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP205/10/2279; GA MŠk LH12231 Institutional support: RVO:68378289 Keywords : trough * EMIC * substorm Subject RIV: BL - Plasma and Gas Discharge Physics Impact factor: 3.426, year: 2014 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2013JA019557/abstract

  7. The Relationship Between Vancomycin Trough Concentrations and AUC/MIC Ratios in Pediatric Patients: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tkachuk, Stacey; Collins, Kyle; Ensom, Mary H H

    2018-04-01

    In adults, the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) divided by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is associated with better clinical and bacteriological response to vancomycin in patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus who achieve target AUC/MIC ≥ 400. This target is often extrapolated to pediatric patients despite the lack of similar evidence. The impracticalities of calculating the AUC in practice means vancomycin trough concentrations are used to predict the AUC/MIC. This review aimed to determine the relationship between vancomycin trough concentrations and AUC/MIC in pediatric patients. We searched the MEDLINE and Embase databases, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials using the medical subject heading (MeSH) terms vancomycin and AUC and pediatric* or paediatric*. Articles were included if they were published in English and reported a relationship between vancomycin trough concentrations and AUC/MIC. Of 122 articles retrieved, 11 met the inclusion criteria. One trial reported a relationship between vancomycin trough concentrations, AUC/MIC, and clinical outcomes but was likely underpowered. Five studies found troughs 6-10 mg/l were sufficient to attain an AUC/MIC > 400 in most general hospitalized pediatric patients. One study in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery found a trough of 18.4 mg/l achieved an AUC/MIC > 400. Two oncology studies reported troughs ≥ 15 mg/l likely attained an AUC/MIC ≥ 400. In critical care patients: one study found a trough of 9 mg/l did not attain the AUC/MIC target; another found 7 mg/l corresponded to an AUC/MIC of 400. Potential vancomycin targets varied based on the population studied but, for general hospitalized pediatric patients, troughs of 6-10 mg/l are likely sufficient to achieve AUC/MIC ≥ 400. For MIC ≥ 2 mg/l, higher troughs are likely necessary to achieve an AUC/MIC ≥ 400. More

  8. Full parabolic trough qualification from prototype to demonstration loop

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janotte, Nicole; Lüpfert, Eckhard; Pottler, Klaus; Schmitz, Mark

    2017-06-01

    On the example of the HelioTrough® collector development the full accompanying and supporting qualification program for large-scale parabolic trough collectors for solar thermal power plants is described from prototype to demonstration loop scale. In the evaluation process the actual state and the optimization potential are assessed. This includes the optical and geometrical performance determined by concentrator shape, deformation, assembly quality and local intercept factor values. Furthermore, its mechanical performance in terms of tracking accuracy and torsional stiffness and its thermal system performance on the basis of the overall thermal output and heat loss are evaluated. Demonstration loop tests deliver results of collector modules statistical slope deviation of 1.9 to 2.6 mrad, intercept factor above 98%, peak optical performance of 81.6% and heat loss coefficients from field tests. The benefit of such a closely monitored development lies in prompt feedback on strengths, weaknesses and potential improvements on the new product at any development stage from first module tests until demonstration loop evaluation. The product developer takes advantage of the achieved technical maturity, already before the implementation in a commercial power plant. The well-understood performance characteristics allow the reduction of safety margins making the new HelioTrough collector competitive from the start.

  9. Evidence and mechanism of Hurricane Fran-Induced ocean cooling in the Charleston Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Lian; Pietrafesa, L. J.; Bohm, E.; Zhang, C.; Li, X.

    Evidence of enhanced sea surface cooling during and following the passage of Hurricane Fran in September 1996 over an oceanic depression located on the ocean margin offshore of Charleston, South Carolina (referred to as the Charleston Trough), [Pietrafesa, 1983] is documented. Approximately 4C° of sea surface temperature (SST) reduction within the Charleston Trough following the passage of Hurricane Fran was estimated based on SST imagery from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-14 polar orbiting satellite. Simulations using a three-dimensional coastal ocean model indicate that the largest SST reduction occurred within the Charleston Trough. This SST reduction can be explained by oceanic mixing due to storm-induced internal inertia-gravity waves.

  10. Balanced Cross Section for Restoration of Tectonic Evolution in the Southwest Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Wu Shiguo; Ni Xianglong; Guo Junhua

    2007-01-01

    On the basis of the multi-channel seismic data and the other data, using 2DMove software,the tectonic evolution in three seismic profiles was restored since Pliocene. The tectonic restoration results show that: (1) the initial active center lay in the west slope and then was transferred to east and south via trough center during the evolution process; (2) several main normal faults controlled the evolution of the southern Okinawa Trough; (3) since Late Pliocene, the southern Okinawa Trough has experienced two spreading stages. The early is depression in Early-Middle Pleistocene and the late is back-arc spreading in Late Pleistocene and Holocene, which is in primary oceanic crust spreading stage.

  11. Second Generation Novel High Temperature Commercial Receiver & Low Cost High Performance Mirror Collector for Parabolic Solar Trough

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stettenheim, Joel [Norwich Technologies, White River Junction, VT (United States)

    2016-02-29

    Norwich Technologies (NT) is developing a disruptively superior solar field for trough concentrating solar power (CSP). Troughs are the leading CSP technology (85% of installed capacity), being highly deployable and similar to photovoltaic (PV) systems for siting. NT has developed the SunTrap receiver, a disruptive alternative to vacuum-tube concentrating solar power (CSP) receivers, a market currently dominated by the Schott PTR-70. The SunTrap receiver will (1) operate at higher temperature (T) by using an insulated, recessed radiation-collection system to overcome the energy losses that plague vacuum-tube receivers at high T, (2) decrease acquisition costs via simpler structure, and (3) dramatically increase reliability by eliminating vacuum. It offers comparable optical efficiency with thermal loss reduction from ≥ 26% (at presently standard T) to ≥ 55% (at high T), lower acquisition costs, and near-zero O&M costs.

  12. Deep drivers of mesoscale circulation in the central Rockall Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherwin, T. J.; Alyenik, D.; Dumont, E.; Inall, M.

    2014-11-01

    Mesoscale variability in the central Rockall Trough between about 56 and 58° N has been investigated using a combination of ship-borne, underwater glider and gridded satellite altimeter measurements. Altimeter observations show that mesoscale features such as eddies and large scale circulation cells are ubiquitous phenomena. They have horizontal length scales of order 100 km with vertical scales of over 1000 m and are associated with mean current speeds (over the upper 1000 m) of 15 ± 7 cm s-1. Monthly area averaged surface Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) has substantial inter-annual variability, which at times can dominate a mean seasonal signal that varies from a maximum in May (74 cm2 s-2) to a minimum in October (52 cm2 s-2) and has increased gradually since 1992 at about 1.1 cm2 s-2 per year. A five month glider mission in the Trough showed that much of this energy comes from features that are located over 1000 m below the surface in the deep cold waters of the Trough (possibly from eddies associated the North Atlantic Current). The surface currents from altimeters had similar magnitude to the drift currents averaged over 1000 m from the glider in the stratified autumn, but were half the deep water speed during late winter. Although the mesoscale features move in an apparent random manner they may also be quasi-trapped by submarine topography such as seamounts. Occasionally anti-cyclonic and cyclonic cells combine to cause a coherent westward deflection of the European slope current that warms the Rockall side of the Trough. Such deflections contribute to the inter-annual variability in the observed temperature and salinity that are monitored in the upper 800 m of the Trough. By combining glider and altimeter measurements it is shown that altimeter measurements fail to observe a 15 cm s-1 northward flowing slope current on the eastern side and a small persistent southward current on the western side. There is much to be gained from the synergy between satellite

  13. Optical and mechanical tolerances in hybrid concentrated thermal-PV solar trough.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diaz, Liliana Ruiz; Cocilovo, Byron; Miles, Alexander; Pan, Wei; Blanche, Pierre-Alexandre; Norwood, Robert A

    2018-05-14

    Hybrid thermal-PV solar trough collectors combine concentrated photovoltaics and concentrated solar power technology to harvest and store solar energy. In this work, the optical and mechanical requirements for optimal efficiency are analyzed using non-sequential ray tracing techniques. The results are used to generate opto-mechanical tolerances that can be compared to those of traditional solar collectors. We also explore ideas on how to relieve tracking tolerances for single-axis solar collectors. The objective is to establish a basis for tolerances required for the fabrication and manufacturing of hybrid solar trough collectors.

  14. Paleoceanographic records in the sedimentary cores from the middle Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2003-01-01

    Two gravity piston cores (Cores 155 and 180) involved in this study were collected from the middle Okinawa Trough. Stratigraphy of the two cores was divided and classified based on the features of planktonic foraminifera oxygen isotope changes together with depositional sequence, millennium-scale climatic event comparison, carbonate cycles and AMS14C dating. Some paleoclimatic information contained in sediments of these cores was extracted to discuss the paleoclimatic change rules and the short-time scale events presented in interglacial period. Analysis on the variation of oxygen isotope values in stage two shows that the middle part of the Okinawa Trough may have been affected by fresh water from the Yellow River and the Yangtze River during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The oxygen isotope value oscillating ranges of the cores have verified that the marginal sea has an amplifying effect on climate changes. The Δ13c of benthic foraminifera Uvigerina was lighter in the glacial period than that in the interglacial period, which indicates that the Paleo-Kuroshio's main stream moved eastward and its influence area decreased. According to the temperature difference during the "YD" period existing in Core 180 and other data, we can reach the conclusion that the climatic changes in the middle Okinawa Trough area were controlled by global climatic changes, but some regional factors had also considerable influence on the climate changes. Some results in this paper support Fairbanks's point that the "YD" event was a brief stagnation of sea level rising during the global warming up procession. Moreover, the falling of sea level in the glacial period weakened the exchange between the bottom water of the Okinawa Trough and the deep water of the northwestern Pacific Ocean and resulted in low oxygen state of bottom water in this area. These procedures are the reasons for carbonate cycle in the Okinawa Trough area being consistent with the "Atlantic type " carbonate cycle.

  15. Paleoceanographic records in the sedimentary cores from the middle Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LIUYanguang; FUYunxia; DUDewen; MENGXianwei; LIANGRuicai; LITiegang; WUShiying

    2003-01-01

    Two gravity piston cores (Cores 155 and 180) involved in this study were collected from the middle Okinawa Trough. Stratigraphy of the two cores was divided and classified based on the features of planktonic foraminifera oxygen isotope changes together with depositional sequence,millennium-scale climatic event comparison, carbonate cycles and AMS14C dating. Some paleoclimatic information contained in sediments of these cores was extracted to discuss the paleoclimatic change rules and the short-time scale events presented in interglacial period. Analysis on the variation of oxygen isotope values in stage two shows that the middle part of the Okinawa Trough may have been affected by fresh water from the Yellow River and the Yangtze River during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The oxygen isotope value oscillating ranges of the cores have verified that the marginal sea has an amplifying effect on climate changes.The δ13C of benthic foraminifera Uvigerina was lighter in the glacial period than that in the interglacial period, which indicates that the Paleo-Kuroshio's main stream moved eastward and its influence area decreased. According to the temperature difference during the “YD” period existing in Core 180 and other data, we can reach the conclusion that the climatic changes in the middle Okinawa Trough area were controlled by global climatic changes, but some regional factors had also considerable influence on the climatechanges. Some results in this paper support Fairbanks's point that the “YD” event was a brief stagnation of sea level rising during the global warming up procession. Moreover,the falling of sea level in the glacial period weakened the exchange between the bottom water of the Okinawa Trough and the deep water of the northwestern Pacific Ocean and resulted in low oxygen state of bottom water in this area.These procedures are the reasons for carbonate cycle in the Okinawa Trough area being consistent with the “Atlantic type”carbonate cycle.

  16. Modeling, Simulation and Performance Evaluation of Parabolic Trough

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mekuannint

    Mekuannint Mesfin and Abebayehu Assefa. Department of Mechanical Engineering. Addis Ababa University ... off design weather conditions as well. Keywords: Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC);. Heat Transfer ... of a conventional Rankine cycle power plant with solar fields that are used to increase the temperature of heat ...

  17. Modeling, Simulation and Performance Evaluation of Parabolic Trough

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Mekuannint

    Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF); TRNSYS power plant model; STEC library; Solar Advisor Model (SAM);. TRNSYS solar field model; Solar Electric. Generation System (SEGS). INTRODUCTION. Parabolic troughs are currently most used means of power generation option of solar sources. Solar electric generation systems (SEGs) ...

  18. Optical analysis of a photovoltaic V-trough system installed in western India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maiti, Subarna; Sarmah, Nabin; Bapat, Pratap; Mallick, Tapas K

    2012-12-20

    The low concentrating photovoltaic (PV) system such as a 2× V-trough system can be a promising choice for enhancing the power output from conventional PV panels with the inclusion of thermal management. This system is more attractive when the reflectors are retrofitted to the stationary PV panels installed in a high aspect ratio in the north-south direction and are tracked 12 times a year manually according to preset angles, thus eliminating the need of diurnal expensive tracking. In the present analysis, a V-trough system facing exactly the south direction is considered, where the tilt angle of the PV panels' row is kept constant at 18.34°. The system is installed on the terrace of CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India (21.47 N, 71.15 E). The dimension of the entire PV system is 9.64 m×0.55 m. The V-troughs made of anodized aluminum reflectors (70% specular reflectivity) had the same dimensions. An in-house developed; experimentally validated Monte Carlo ray-trace model was used to study the effect of the angular variation of the reflectors throughout a year for the present assembly. Results of the ray trace for the optimized angles showed the maximum simulated optical efficiency to be 85.9%. The spatial distribution of solar intensity over the 0.55 m dimension of the PV panel due to the V-trough reflectors was also studied for the optimized days in periods that included solstices and equinoxes. The measured solar intensity profiles with and without the V-trough system were used to calculate the actual optical efficiencies for several sunny days in the year, and results were validated with the simulated efficiencies within an average error limit of 10%.

  19. Prospecting for a Blind Geothermal System Utilizing Geologic and Geophysical Data, Seven Troughs Range, Northwestern Nevada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forson, Corina

    To aid in the discovery and evaluation of blind resources, it is important to utilize geologic, geophysical, and geochemical techniques to find the required elements (e.g., heat source, fluid to transport the heat, and permeability in a reservoir) for geothermal energy production. Based on a regional low resistivity anomaly discovered through a reconnaissance magnetotelluric (MT) survey, detailed geologic mapping, structural analysis, and a 2 m temperature survey were conducted to delineate the most likely areas for blind geothermal activity in the Seven Troughs Range, Nevada. The Seven Troughs Range resides in the northwestern Basin and Range province 190 km northeast of Reno and 50 km northwest of Lovelock in western Nevada. There is no known geothermal system in the area. Mesozoic metasedimentary strata and intrusions dominate the northern and southern parts of the range but are nonconformably overlain by a thick sequence (~ 1.5 km) of Oligocene to Miocene volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and Quaternary sediments in the central part of the range. The southern part of the range consists of a basement horst block bounded by two major range-front faults, with Holocene fault scarps marking the more prominent fault on the east side of the range. In contrast, several gently to moderately west-tilted fault blocks, with good exposures of the Tertiary volcanic strata and bounded by a series of steeply east-dipping normal faults, characterize the central part of the range. Kinematic analysis of faults in the range and regional relations indicate a west-northwest-trending extension direction. Accordingly, slip and dilation tendency analyses suggest that north-northeast striking faults are the most favorably oriented for reactivation and fluid flow under the current stress field. Two areas in the Seven Troughs Range have a favorable structural setting for generating permeability and channeling geothermal fluids to the near surface: 1) A major right step in the range

  20. The De Long Trough: a newly discovered glacial trough on the East Siberian continental margin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. O'Regan

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Ice sheets extending over parts of the East Siberian continental shelf have been proposed for the last glacial period and during the larger Pleistocene glaciations. The sparse data available over this sector of the Arctic Ocean have left the timing, extent and even existence of these ice sheets largely unresolved. Here we present new geophysical mapping and sediment coring data from the East Siberian shelf and slope collected during the 2014 SWERUS-C3 expedition (SWERUS-C3: Swedish – Russian – US Arctic Ocean Investigation of Climate-Cryosphere-Carbon Interactions. The multibeam bathymetry and chirp sub-bottom profiles reveal a set of glacial landforms that include grounding zone formations along the outer continental shelf, seaward of which lies a  >  65 m thick sequence of glacio-genic debris flows. The glacial landforms are interpreted to lie at the seaward end of a glacial trough – the first to be reported on the East Siberian margin, here referred to as the De Long Trough because of its location due north of the De Long Islands. Stratigraphy and dating of sediment cores show that a drape of acoustically laminated sediments covering the glacial deposits is older than ∼ 50 cal kyr BP. This provides direct evidence for extensive glacial activity on the Siberian shelf that predates the Last Glacial Maximum and most likely occurred during the Saalian (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS 6.

  1. Seismic stratigraphic architecture of the Disko Bay trough-mouth fan system, West Greenland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, Julia C.; Knutz, Paul C.

    2015-04-01

    Spatial and temporal changes of the Greenland Ice Sheet on the continental shelf bordering Baffin Bay remain poorly constrained. Then as now, fast-flowing ice streams and outlet glaciers have played a key role for the mass balance and stability of polar ice sheets. Despite their significance for Greenland Ice Sheet dynamics and evolution, our understanding of their long-term behaviour is limited. The central West Greenland margin is characterized by a broad continental shelf where a series of troughs extend from fjords to the shelf margin, acting as focal points for trough-mouth fan (TMF) accummulations. The sea-ward bulging morphology and abrupt shelf-break of these major depositional systems is generated by prograding depocentres that formed during glacial maxima when ice streams reached the shelf edge, delivering large amounts of subglacial sediment onto the continental slope (Ó Cofaigh et al., 2013). The aim of this study is to unravel the seismic stratigraphic architecture and depositional processes of the Disko Bay TMF, aerially the largest single sedimentary system in West Greenland, using 2D and 3D seismic reflection data, seabed bathymetry and stratigraphic information from exploration well Hellefisk-1. The south-west Disko Bay is intersected by a deep, narrow trough, Egedesminde Dyb, which extends towards the southwest and links to the shallower and broader cross-shelf Disko Trough (maximum water depths of > 1000 m and a trough length of c. 370 km). Another trough-like depression (trough length of c. 120 km) in the northern part of the TMF, indicating a previous position of the ice stream, can be distinguished on the seabed topographic map and the seismic images. The Disko Bay TMF itself extends from the shelf edge down to the abyssal plain (abyssal floor depths of 2000 m) of the southern Baffin Bay. Based on seismic stratigraphic configurations relating to reflection terminations, erosive patterns and seismic facies (Mitchum et al., 1977), the TMF

  2. Lithospheric Structure and Active Deformation in the Salton Trough from Coseismic and Postseismic Models of the 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fielding, E. J.; Huang, M. H.; Dickinson, H.; Freed, A. M.; Burgmann, R.; Gonzalez-Ortega, J. A.; Andronicos, C.

    2016-12-01

    The 4 April 2010 Mw 7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah (EMC) Earthquake ruptured about 120 km along several NW-striking faults to the west of the Cerro Prieto Fault in the Salton Trough of Baja California, Mexico. We analyzed interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR), SAR and optical pixel offsets, and continuous and campaign GPS data to optimize an EMC coseismic rupture model with 9 fault segments, which fits the complex structure of the faults. Coseismic slip inversion with a layered elastic model shows that largely right-lateral slip is confined to upper 10 km with strong variations along strike. Near-field GPS measures slip on a north-striking normal fault that ruptured at the beginning of the earthquake, previously inferred from seismic waveforms. EMC Earthquake postseismic deformation shows the Earth's response to the large coseismic stress changes. InSAR shows rapid shallow afterslip at the north and south ends of the main ruptures. Continuous GPS from the Plate Boundary Observatory operated by UNAVCO measures the first six years of postseismic deformation, extremely rapid near the rupture. Afterslip on faults beneath the coseismic rupture cannot explain far-field displacements that are best explained by viscoelastic relaxation of the lower crust and upper mantle. We built a viscoelastic 3D finite element model of the lithosphere and asthenosphere based on available data for the region with the EMC coseismic faults embedded inside. Coseismic slip was imposed on the model, allowed to relax for 5 years, and then compared to the observed surface deformation. Systematic exploration of the viscoelastic parameters shows that horizontal and vertical heterogeneity is required to fit the postseismic deformation. Our preferred viscoelastic model has weaker viscosity layers beneath the Salton Trough than adjacent blocks that are consistent with the inferred differences in the geotherms. Defining mechanical lithosphere as rocks that have viscosities greater than 10^19 Pa s (able

  3. Rate-Agnostic (Causal) Structure Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plis, Sergey; Danks, David; Freeman, Cynthia; Calhoun, Vince

    2015-12-01

    Causal structure learning from time series data is a major scientific challenge. Extant algorithms assume that measurements occur sufficiently quickly; more precisely, they assume approximately equal system and measurement timescales. In many domains, however, measurements occur at a significantly slower rate than the underlying system changes, but the size of the timescale mismatch is often unknown. This paper develops three causal structure learning algorithms, each of which discovers all dynamic causal graphs that explain the observed measurement data, perhaps given undersampling. That is, these algorithms all learn causal structure in a "rate-agnostic" manner: they do not assume any particular relation between the measurement and system timescales. We apply these algorithms to data from simulations to gain insight into the challenge of undersampling.

  4. Sr, Nd isotope geochemistry of volcanic rock series and its geological significance in the middle Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    There exists extensive basic-acidic volcanic rock series in the middle section of the Okinawa Trough. Different types of these volcanic rocks have their own average strontium ratios of 0.704 749, 0.705 062, 0.708 771, 0.704 840 and 0.720 301 with average 143Nd/144Nd ratios of 0.512 820, 0.512 673, 0.512 413, 0.512 729 and 0.512 034. These ratios of Sr and Nd isotopes all fall on a theoretic hyperbolic curve of mixing between two end-members of MORB and rhyolitic magma. So we infer that these different kinds of volcanic rocks in the middle Okinawa Trough are the erupted product in different stages of formation and evolution of the trough crust. MORB magma, which had suffered assimilation, mixed with the early-formed crust-derived rhyolitic partial melt mass at different ratios; then, these mixed magma erupted and formed volcanic rock types of the trough. This study indicates that the Okinawa Trough is coming into a stage of submarine spreading from the stage of continental rift.

  5. Sr, Nd isotope geochemistry of volcanic rock series and its geological significance in the middle Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    孟宪伟; 陈志华; 杜德文; 吴金龙

    2000-01-01

    There exists extensive basic-acidic volcanic rock series in the middle section of the Okinawa Trough. Different types of these volcanic rocks have their own average strontium ratios of 0.704749, 0.705062, 0.708771, 0.704840 and 0.720301 with average 143Nd/144Nd ratios of 0.512 820, 0.512 673, 0.512 413, 0.512 729 and 0.512 034. These ratios of Sr and Nd isotopes all fall on a theoretic hyperbolic curve of mixing between two end-members of MORE and rhyolitic magma. So we infer that these different kinds of volcanic rocks in the middle Okinawa Trough are the erupted product in different stages of formation and evolution of the trough crust. MORE magma, which had suffered assimilation, mixed with the early-formed crust-derived rhyolitic partial melt mass at different ratios; then, these mixed magma erupted and formed volcanic rock types of the trough. This study indicates that the Okinawa Trough is coming into a stage of submarine spreading from the stage of continental rift.

  6. Benthic foraminiferal distribution in surface sediments along continental slope of the southern Okinawa Trough:dependance on water masses and food supply

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    向荣; 李铁刚; 杨作升; 阎军; 曹奇原

    2003-01-01

    Benthic foraminiferal analysis of 29 samples in surface sediments from the southern Oki-nawa Trough is carried out. The results indicate that benthic foraminiferal abundance decreases rapidlywith increasing water depth. Percentage frequencies of agglutinated foraminifera further confirm themodem shallow carbonate lysocline in the southern Okinawa Trough. From continental shelf edge to thebottom of Okinawa Trough, benthic foraminiferal fauna in the surface sediments can be divided into 5assemblages: (1) Continental shelf break assemblage, dominated by Cibicides pseudoungerianus, corre-sponds to subsurface water mass of the Kuroshio Current; (2) upper continental slope assemblage, domi-nated by Cassidulina carinata, Globocassidulina subglobosa, corresponds to intermediate water mass of the Kuroshio Current; (3) intermediate continental slope assemblage, dominated by Uvigerina hispi-da, corresponds to the Okinawa Trough deep water mass above the carbonate lysocline; (4) lower con-tinental slope- trough bottom assemblage, dominated by Pullenia bulloides, Epistominella exigua andCibicidoides hyalinus, corresponds to deep water mass of the Okinawa Trough; and (5) trough bottomagglutinated assemblage, dominated by Rhabdammina spp., Bathysiphon flavidus, corresponds tostrongly dissolved environment of the trough bottom. The benthic foraminiferal fauna in the southemOkinawa Trough are controlled jointly by water masses and food supply. Water temperature, oxygenconcentration and carbonate dissolution of the water masses are important controlling factors especiallyfor the continental shelf break and trough bottom assemblages. The food supply also plays an importantrole in these benthic foraminiferal assemblages along the westem slope of the Okinawa Trough. Both theabundance and the 5 assemblages of benthic foraminifera correspond well to the organic matter supplyalong the continental slope and a lateral transport of TSM (total suspended matter) and POC (particulateorganic

  7. Geological records of marine environmental changes in the southern Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2003-01-01

    Indexes of sediment grain size, sedimentation rates, geochemical composition, heavy minerals, benthic foraminiferal fauna, indicator species of the Kuroshio Current, paleo-SST and carbonate dissolution of core E017 conformably suggest a great marine environmental change occurring at about 10.1-9.2 cal. kaBP in the southern Okinawa Trough, which may correspond to the strengthening of the Kuroshio Warm Current and re-entering the Okinawa Trough through the sea area off northeast Taiwan. The invasion of Kuroshio current has experienced a process of gradual strengthening and then weakening, and its intensity became more fluctuation during the last 5000 years. Compared to the transition of sediment grain size, geochemical composition and heavy minerals, the foraminiferal faunas show a 900-year lag, which may indicate that the invasion of Kuroshio Current and the consequent sea surface and deep-water environmental changes is a gradual process, and fauna has an obvious lag compared to environment altering. The carbonate dissolution of the Okinawa Trough has had an apparent strengthening since 9.2 cal. kaBP, and reached a maximum in the late 3000 years, which may be caused by the deep-water environmental changes due to the invasion of Kuroshio Current.

  8. Organic geochemical characterization of potential hydrocarbon source rocks in the upper Benue Trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obaje, N. G.; Pearson, M. J.; Suh, C. E.; Dada, S. S.

    1999-01-01

    The Upper Benue Trough of Nigeria is the northeastern most portion of the Benue rift structure that extends from the northern limit of the Niger Delta in the south to the southern limit of the Chad basin int he northeast. this portion of the trough is made up of two arms: the Gongola Arm and the Yola Arm. Stratigraphic sequence in the Gongola Arm comprises the continental Albian Bima Sandstone, the transitional Cenomanian Yolde Formation and the marine Turonian - Santonian Gongila, Pindiga, and Fika Formations. Overlying these are the continental Campane - Maastrichtian Gombe Sandstone and the Tertiary Kerri - Kerri Formation. In the Yola Arm, the Turonian - Santonian sequence is replaced by the equally marine Dukul, Jessu, Sekuliye Formations, Numanha Shale, and the Lamja Sandstone. Organic geochemical studies have been carried on outcrop sample form the Gongila, Pindiga, Dukul Formations, the Fika shale and the shaly units of the Gombe Sandstone, with the aim of assessing their source rock potential. Gas Chromatography (GC), Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry (C - MS), and Rock Eval Pyrolysis were the major organic geochemical tools employed. Biomaker hydrocarbon signatures obtained from the GC - MS and the Rock Eval Pyrolysis results indicate that all he formations studied, except the Dukul formation, are immature and are all lean in organic matter

  9. Structuring mobile and contextual learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Glahn, Christian; Specht, Marcus

    2011-01-01

    Glahn, C., & Specht, M. (2011). Structuring mobile and contextual learning. In Proceedings of the 10th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (pp. 188-195). October, 18-21, 2011, Beijing, China.

  10. Humidification dehumidification desalination system using parabolic trough solar air collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Sulaiman, Fahad A.; Zubair, M. Ifras; Atif, Maimoon; Gandhidasan, Palanichamy; Al-Dini, Salem A.; Antar, Mohamed A.

    2015-01-01

    This paper deals with a detailed thermodynamic analysis to assess the performance of an HDH system with an integrated parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC). The HDH system considered is an open air, open water, air heated system that uses a PTSC as an air heater. Two different configurations were considered of the HDH system. In the first configuration, the solar air heater was placed before the humidifier whereas in the second configuration the solar air heater was placed between the humidifier and the dehumidifier. The current study revealed that PTSCs are well suited for air heated HDH systems for high radiation location, such as Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The comparison between the two HDH configurations demonstrates that the gained output ratio (GOR) of the first configuration is, on average, about 1.5 whereas for the second configuration the GOR increases up to an average value of 4.7. The study demonstrates that the HDH configuration with the air heater placed between the humidifier and the dehumidifier has a better performance and a higher productivity. - Highlights: • Thermodynamic analysis of an HDH system driven by a parabolic trough solar collector was conducted. • The first configuration reveals a GOR of 1.5 while the second configuration reveals a GOR of 4.7. • Effective heating of the HDH system was obtained through parabolic trough solar collector

  11. Early to middle Jurassic salt in Baltimore Canyon trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKinney, B. Ann; Lee, Myung W.; Agena, Warren F.; Poag, C. Wylie

    2005-01-01

    A pervasive, moderately deep (5-6 s two-way traveltime), high-amplitude reflection is traced on multichannel seismic sections over an approximately 7500 km² area of Baltimore Canyon Trough. The layer associated with the reflection is about 25 km wide, about 60 m thick in the center, and thins monotonically laterally, though asymmetrically, at the edges. Geophysical characteristics are compatible with an interpretation of this negative-polarity reflector as a salt lens deposited on the top of a synrift evaporite sequence. However, alternative interpretations of the layer as gas-saturated sediments, an overpressured shale, or a weathered igneous intrusion are also worthy of consideration.Geophysical analyses were made on three wavelet- and true-amplitude processed multichannel seismic dip lines. The lens-shaped layer demarked by the reflection has a velocity of 4.4 km/s; the lens lies within strata having velocities of 5.3 to 5.7 km/s. A trough marking the onset of the lens has an amplitude that is 10 to 20 db greater than reflections from the encasing layers and an apparent reflection coefficient of -0.24. Using amplitude versus offset analysis methods, we determined that observed reflection coefficients, though variable, decrease consistently with respect to increasing offset. Linear inversion yields a low density, about 2.2 g/cc. Integration of one of the true-amplitude-processed lines and one-dimensional modeling of the layer provide data on the impedance contrast and interference patterns that further reinforce the salt lens interpretation.The thin, horizontal salt lens was probably deposited or precipitated during the Jurassic in a shallow, narrow (peripheral) rift basin, as rifting progressed down the North Atlantic margin. Unlike thicker deposits in other areas that deformed and flowed, often into diapir structures, this thin lens has remained relatively undisturbed since deposition.

  12. Understanding the Compositional Variability of the Major Components of Hydrothermal Plumes in the Okinawa Trough

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhigang Zeng

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Studies of the major components of hydrothermal plumes in seafloor hydrothermal fields are critical for an improved understanding of biogeochemical cycles and the large-scale distribution of elements in the submarine environment. The composition of major components in hydrothermal plume water column samples from 25 stations has been investigated in the middle and southern Okinawa Trough. The physical and chemical properties of hydrothermal plume water in the Okinawa Trough have been affected by input of the Kuroshio current, and its influence on hydrothermal plume water from the southern Okinawa Trough to the middle Okinawa Trough is reduced. The anomalous layers of seawater in the hydrothermal plume water columns have higher K+, Ca2+, Mn2+, B3+, Ca2+/SO42-, and Mn2+/Mg2+ ratios and higher optical anomalies than other layers. The Mg2+, SO42-, Mg2+/Ca2+, and SO42-/Mn2+ ratios of the anomalous layers are lower than other layers in the hydrothermal plume water columns and are consistent with concentrations in hydrothermal vent fluids in the Okinawa Trough. This suggests that the chemical variations of hydrothermal plumes in the Tangyin hydrothermal field, like other hydrothermal fields, result in the discharge of high K+, Ca2+, and B3+ and low Mg2+ and SO42- fluid. Furthermore, element ratios (e.g., Sr2+/Ca2+, Ca2+/Cl− in hydrothermal plume water columns were found to be similar to those in average seawater, indicating that Sr2+/Ca2+ and Ca2+/Cl− ratios of hydrothermal plumes might be useful proxies for chemical properties of seawater. The hydrothermal K+, Ca2+, Mn2+, and B3+ flux to seawater in the Okinawa Trough is about 2.62–873, 1.04–326, 1.30–76.4, and 0.293–34.7 × 106 kg per year, respectively. The heat flux is about 0.159–1,973 × 105 W, which means that roughly 0.0006% of ocean heat is supplied by seafloor hydrothermal plumes in the Okinawa Trough.

  13. 9 CFR 82.21 - Vehicles, cages, coops, containers, troughs, and other equipment used for infected poultry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ..., troughs, and other equipment used for infected poultry. 82.21 Section 82.21 Animals and Animal Products... ANIMALS (INCLUDING POULTRY) AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS EXOTIC NEWCASTLE DIS- EASE (END) AND CHLAMYDIOSIS Chlamydiosis in Poultry § 82.21 Vehicles, cages, coops, containers, troughs, and other equipment used for...

  14. Absorber Alignment Measurement Tool for Solar Parabolic Trough Collectors: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stynes, J. K.; Ihas, B.

    2012-04-01

    As we pursue efforts to lower the capital and installation costs of parabolic trough solar collectors, it is essential to maintain high optical performance. While there are many optical tools available to measure the reflector slope errors of parabolic trough solar collectors, there are few tools to measure the absorber alignment. A new method is presented here to measure the absorber alignment in two dimensions to within 0.5 cm. The absorber alignment is measured using a digital camera and four photogrammetric targets. Physical contact with the receiver absorber or glass is not necessary. The alignment of the absorber is measured along its full length so that sagging of the absorber can be quantified with this technique. The resulting absorber alignment measurement provides critical information required to accurately determine the intercept factor of a collector.

  15. Bringing Context and Structure Back into Situated Learning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hotho, Jasper J.; Saka-Helmhout, Ayse; Becker-Ritterspach, Florian

    2014-01-01

    Practice-based studies have progressed thinking in the knowledge, learning and innovation fields by emphasizing the continual negotiation of social structures and meaning through participation. Yet, only a few contributions discuss how participation and learning are affected by broader structures....... This is an inconsistency in the understanding of ‘situated’ learning where learning through participation is restricted to the immediate community involved in a social activity. We aim to address this inconsistency by investigating the effects of the interplay between institutional and organizational structures...... institutional systems.In contrast to older views, our case findings suggest that while the interplay between institutional context and organizational structure indeed matters, it does not determine collective participation and situated learning as actors can actively create solutions when structural conditions...

  16. Comparative analyses of the bacterial community of hydrothermal deposits and seafloor sediments across Okinawa Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Long; Yu, Min; Liu, Yan; Liu, Jiwen; Wu, Yonghua; Li, Li; Liu, Jihua; Wang, Min; Zhang, Xiao-Hua

    2018-04-01

    As an ideal place to study back-arc basins and hydrothermal eco-system, Okinawa Trough has attracted the interests of scientists for decades. However, there are still no in-depth studies targeting the bacterial community of the seafloor sediments and hydrothermal deposits in Okinawa Trough. In the present study, we reported the bacterial community of the surface deposits of a newly found hydrothermal field in the southern Okinawa Trough, and the horizontal and vertical variation of bacterial communities in the sediments of the northern Okinawa Trough. The hydrothermal deposits had a relatively high 16S rRNA gene abundance but low bacterial richness and diversity. Epsilonproteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were predominant in hydrothermal deposits whereas Deltaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Chloroflexi were abundant across all samples. The bacterial distribution in the seafloor of Okinawa Trough was significantly correlated to the content of total nitrogen, and had consistent relationship with total carbon. Gradual changes of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were found with the distance away from hydrothermal fields, while the hydrothermal activity did not influence the distribution of the major clades of sulfate-reducing bacteria. Higher abundance of the sulfur cycle related genes (aprA and dsrB), and lower abundance of the bacterial ammonia-oxidizing related gene (amoA) were quantified in hydrothermal deposits. In addition, the present study also compared the inter-field variation of Epsilonproteobacteria among multi-types of hydrothermal vents, revealing that the proportion and diversity of this clade were quite various.

  17. A modelling study of the post-sunset formation of plasma temperature troughs in the equatorial topside ionosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, G.J.; Moffett, R.J.; Simmons, P.A.; Footitt, R.J.

    1986-01-01

    Results of model calculations are used to study the post-sunset development of plasma temperature troughs along tubes of plasma at equatorial latitudes. The calculations show that for about 90 minutes after sunset the ion field-aligned velocities are directed poleward in both hemispheres even though the meridional neutral air wind blows from the summer hemisphere to the winter hemisphere. After about 90 minutes the ion field-aligned velocities become directed from the summer hemisphere to the winter hemisphere in both hemispheres. As time advances plasma temperature troughs are formed along the tubes of plasma. Initially the plasma temperature troughs increase in depth, but because in the calculations the tubes of plasma are taken to be moving towards the Earth, the plasma temperature troughs then decrease in depth. At sunspot maximum the plasma temperature troughs are deep and narrow in dip latitude; at sunspot minimum they are shallow and wide. It is shown that the ion field-aligned velocities and the depth of the plasma temperature troughs are extremely sensitive to the neutral atomic hydrogen concentration, especially when the topside ionosphere is dominated by O + . Indications are that the MSIS-83 sunspot maximum concentrations of neutral atomic hydrogen in the topside ionosphere at equatorial latitudes are too low by a factor of about 2. The neutral atomic hydrogen concentration determines whether the transequatorial O + flow is a subsonic ''breeze'' or a supersonic ''wind''

  18. Strawberry Production in Soilless Substrate Troughs – Plant Growth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soilless substrates made of peat moss, coconut coir, perlite, rockwool or bark are pathogen free and they have been used in strawberry production in Europe in troughs or containers. Open field strawberry production in soilless substrate is new to California growers. The objective of this study was t...

  19. Noble gas and carbon isotopes in Mariana Trough basalt glasses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard, M.; Jambon, A.; Gamo, T.; Nishio, Y.; Sano, Y.

    1998-01-01

    Noble gas elemental and isotopic compositions have been measured as well as the abundance of C and its isotopic ratios in 11 glasses from submarine pillow basalts collected from the Mariana Trough. The 3 He/ 4 He ratios of 8.22 and 8.51 R atm of samples dredged from the central Mariana Trough (similar18N) agree well with that of the Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB) glasses (8.4±0.3 R atm ), whereas a mean ratio of 8.06±0.35 R atm in samples from the northern Mariana Trough (similar20N) is slightly lower than those of MORB. One sample shows apparent excess of 20 Ne and 21 Ne relative to atmospheric Ne, suggesting incorporation of solar-type Ne in the magma source. There is a positive correlation between 3 He/ 4 He and 40 Ar/ 36 Ar ratios, which may be explained by mixing between MORB-type and atmospheric noble gases. Excess 129 Xe is observed in the sample which also shows 20 Ne and 21 Ne excesses. Observed δ 13 C values of similar20N samples vary from -3.76 per thousand to -2.80 per thousand, and appear higher than those of MORB, and the corresponding CO 2 / 3 He ratios are higher than those of MARA samples at similar18N, suggesting C contribution from the subducted slab. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

  20. Non-Gaussian Methods for Causal Structure Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimizu, Shohei

    2018-05-22

    Causal structure learning is one of the most exciting new topics in the fields of machine learning and statistics. In many empirical sciences including prevention science, the causal mechanisms underlying various phenomena need to be studied. Nevertheless, in many cases, classical methods for causal structure learning are not capable of estimating the causal structure of variables. This is because it explicitly or implicitly assumes Gaussianity of data and typically utilizes only the covariance structure. In many applications, however, non-Gaussian data are often obtained, which means that more information may be contained in the data distribution than the covariance matrix is capable of containing. Thus, many new methods have recently been proposed for using the non-Gaussian structure of data and inferring the causal structure of variables. This paper introduces prevention scientists to such causal structure learning methods, particularly those based on the linear, non-Gaussian, acyclic model known as LiNGAM. These non-Gaussian data analysis tools can fully estimate the underlying causal structures of variables under assumptions even in the presence of unobserved common causes. This feature is in contrast to other approaches. A simulated example is also provided.

  1. Structural Plasticity Denoises Responses and Improves Learning Speed

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robin Spiess

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Despite an abundance of computational models for learning of synaptic weights, there has been relatively little research on structural plasticity, i.e. the creation and elimination of synapses. Especially, it is not clear how structural plasticity works in concert with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP and what advantages their combination offers.Here we present a fairly large-scale functional model that uses leaky integrate-and-fire neurons, STDP, homeostasis, recurrent connections, and structural plasticity to learn the input encoding, the relation between inputs, and to infer missing inputs. Using this model, we compare the error and the amount of noise in the network's responses with and without structural plasticity and the influence of structural plasticity on the learning speed of the network.Using structural plasticity during learning shows good results for learning the representation of input values, i.e. structural plasticity strongly reduces the noise of the response by preventing spikes with a high error.For inferring missing inputs we see similar results, with responses having less noise if the network was trained using structural plasticity.Additionally, using structural plasticity with pruning significantly decreased the time to learn weights suitable for inference.Presumably, this is due to the clearer signal containing less spikes that misrepresent the desired value. Therefore, this work shows that structural plasticity is not only able to improve upon the performance using STDP without structural plasticity but also speeds up learning.Additionally, it addresses the practical problem of limited resources for connectivity that is not only apparent in the mammalian neocortex but also in computer hardware or neuromorphic (brain-inspired hardware by efficiently pruning synapses without losing performance.

  2. Detailed Physical Trough Model for NREL's Solar Advisor Model: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wagner, M. J.; Blair, N.; Dobos, A.

    2010-10-01

    Solar Advisor Model (SAM) is a free software package made available by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Sandia National Laboratory, and the US Department of Energy. SAM contains hourly system performance and economic models for concentrating solar power (CSP) systems, photovoltaic, solar hot-water, and generic fuel-use technologies. Versions of SAM prior to 2010 included only the parabolic trough model based on Excelergy. This model uses top-level empirical performance curves to characterize plant behavior, and thus is limited in predictive capability for new technologies or component configurations. To address this and other functionality challenges, a new trough model; derived from physical first principles was commissioned to supplement the Excelergy-based empirical model. This new 'physical model' approaches the task of characterizing the performance of the whole parabolic trough plant by replacing empirical curve-fit relationships with more detailed calculations where practical. The resulting model matches the annual performance of the SAM empirical model (which has been previously verified with plant data) while maintaining run-times compatible with parametric analysis, adding additional flexibility in modeled system configurations, and providing more detailed performance calculations in the solar field, power block, piping, and storage subsystems.

  3. Balancing vancomycin efficacy and nephrotoxicity: should we be aiming for trough or AUC/MIC?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Karisma; Crumby, Ashley S; Maples, Holly D

    2015-04-01

    Sixty years later, the question that still remains is how to appropriately utilize vancomycin in the pediatric population. The Infectious Diseases Society of America published guidelines in 2011 that provide guidance for dosing and monitoring of vancomycin in adults and pediatrics. However, goal vancomycin trough concentrations of 15-20 μg/mL for invasive infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were based primarily on adult pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data that achieved an area under the curve to minimum inhibitory concentration ratio (AUC/MIC) of ≥400. Recent pediatric literature shows that vancomycin trough concentrations needed to achieve the target AUC/MIC are different than the adult goal troughs cited in the guidelines. This paper addresses several thoughts, including the role of vancomycin AUC/MIC in dosing strategies and safety monitoring, consistency in laboratory reporting, and future directions for calculating AUC/MIC in pediatrics.

  4. Structural equations in language learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Moortgat, M.J.

    In categorial systems with a fixed structural component, the learning problem comes down to finding the solution for a set of typeassignment equations. A hard-wired structural component is problematic if one want to address issues of structural variation. Our starting point is a type-logical

  5. What we learned from Darvin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poklopova, L.; Frouz, J.

    2009-04-01

    Charles Darwin published 1881 his famous book Creation of vegetable mould trough action of worms. Books was published in 3,500 copies, which were sold almost instantly but how much we learn from the book, how much of the ideas were used by other researches and how much forgotten and re discovered again.

  6. Impact of convection over the equatorial trough on the summer monsoon activity over India

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    RameshKumar, M.R.; Shenoi, S.S.C.; Schulz, J.

    . There have been studies (Cadet and Olory Togbe, 1981; Sadhuram and Sastry, 1987) on the role of Equatorial Trough (ET) as well as Southern Hemispheric Equatorial Trough (SHET) on the rainfall over central India. Most of these studies are related... the ET, WET and EET behave in a similar fashion during different monsoon and El Nino conditions ? c) What role do the synoptic systems play during the BM over the Indian subcontinent? 2. Data and Methodology The pentad precipitation data used...

  7. A comparison of the relative locations of the mid-latitude electron density trough and the scintillation boundary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tulunay, Y.K.; Demir, O.; Tauriainen, A.

    1976-01-01

    The mid-latitude electron density trough position and the scintillation boundary have been compared for magnetically quiet periods by using the data returned by Ariel 3 and Explorer 22 satellites. The scintillation boundary is found southward of the trough during daytime, but at night the positions are reversed. (author)

  8. Initial dose of vancomycin based on body weight and creatinine clearance to minimize inadequate trough levels in Japanese adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maki, N; Ohkuchi, A; Tashiro, Y; Kim, M R; Le, M; Sakamoto, T; Matsubara, S; Hakamata, Y

    2012-10-01

    Our aims were to elucidate the factors that affected vancomycin (VCM) serum trough levels and to find the optimal initial dose based on creatinine clearance (CrCl) and body weight (BW) to minimize inadequate trough levels in a retrospective observational study among Japanese adults. One hundred and six inpatients, in whom VCM trough levels were measured after completing the third dosing, were consecutively recruited into our study in a tertiary hospital. We considered the frequency of initial VCM total daily dose, CrCl, and BW were independent risk factors of VCM trough levels. In patients with CrCl ≥30 and level of ≥20 mcg/mL, regardless of BW. In patients with CrCl ≥50 mL/min, 2 g/day yielded low frequencies of a trough level of initial total daily dose may be 1 g/day in patients with CrCl ≥30 and <50 mL/min regardless of BW and 2 g/day in patients weighing <55 kg with CrCl ≥50 mL/min among Japanese adults.

  9. Investigation on the dynamic behaviour of a parabolic trough power plant during strongly cloudy days

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Maliki, Wisam Abed Kattea; Alobaid, Falah; Starkloff, Ralf; Kez, Vitali; Epple, Bernd

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A detailed dynamic model of a parabolic trough solar thermal power plant is done. • Simulated results are compared to the experimental data from the real power plant. • Discrepancy between model result and real data is caused by operation strategy. • The model strategy increased the operating hours of power plant by around 2.5–3 h. - Abstract: The objective of this study is the development of a full scale dynamic model of a parabolic trough power plant with a thermal storage system, operated by the Actividades de Construcción y Servicios Group in Spain. The model includes solar field, thermal storage system and the power block and describes the heat transfer fluid and steam/water paths in detail. The parabolic trough power plant is modelled using Advanced Process Simulation Software (APROS). To validate the model, the numerical results are compared to the measured data, obtained from “Andasol II” during strongly cloudy periods in the summer days. The comparisons show a qualitative agreement between the dynamic simulation model and the measurements. The results confirm that the thermal storage enables the parabolic trough power plant to provide a constant power rate when the storage energy discharge is available, despite significant oscillations in the solar radiation.

  10. Many play concepts seen over wide area in Erris, Slyne troughs off Ireland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murphy, N.J.; Croker, P.F.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports that the Erris and Slyne troughs are underexplored Mesozoic sedimentary basins off Ireland's northwest coast. The Irish Minister for Energy announced on Apr. 19, 1991, a frontier acreage licensing round of 128 blocks covering 29,000 sq km in these basins and the adjacent Rockall trough. Closing date for the round is June 30, 1993, set to allow two seasons for the acquisition of new geophysical and geological data over the area. Ireland has recently announced a new petroleum taxation regime. Revised licensing terms, which will acknowledge the specific circumstances of frontier acreage, will be announced

  11. Spatial and temporal distribution of pore gas concentrations during mainstream large-scale trough composting in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Jianfei; Shen, Xiuli; Sun, Xiaoxi; Liu, Ning; Han, Lujia; Huang, Guangqun

    2018-05-01

    With the advantages of high treatment capacity and low operational cost, large-scale trough composting has become one of the mainstream composting patterns in composting plants in China. This study measured concentrations of O 2 , CO 2 , CH 4 and NH 3 on-site to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of pore gas concentrations during mainstream large-scale trough composting in China. The results showed that the temperature in the center of the pile was obviously higher than that in the side of the pile. Pore O 2 concentration rapidly decreased and maintained composting process during large-scale trough composting when the pile was naturally aerated, which will contribute to improving the current undesirable atmosphere environment in China. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of volcanic rocks from the northern East China Sea shelf margin and the Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZENG Zhigang; YU Shaoxiong; WANG Xiaoyuan; FU Yongtao; YIN Xuebo; ZHANG Guoliang; WANG Xiaomei; CHEN Shuai

    2010-01-01

    Volcanic rocks both from the northern East China Sea (NECS) shelf margin and the northern Okinawa Trough are subalkaline less aluminous,and lower in High Field Strength Elements (HFSE).These rocks are higher in Large Ion Lithophile Elements (LILE),thorium and uranium contents,positive lead anomalies,negative Nb-Ta anomalies,and enrichment in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE).Basalts from the NECS shelf margin are akin to Indian Ocean Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB),and rhyolites from the northern Okinawa Trough have the highest 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb ratios.The NECS shelf margin basalts have lower 87Sr/86Sr ratios,εNd and σ18O than the northern Okinawa Trough silicic rocks.According to 40K-40Ar isotopic ages of basalts from the NECS shelf margin,rifting of the Okinawa Trough may have been active since at least 3.65-3.86 Ma.The origin of the NECS shelf margin basalt can be explained by the interaction of melt derived from Indian Ocean MORB-like mantle with enriched subcontinental lithosphere.The basalts from both sides of the Okinawa Trough may have a similar origin during the initial rifting of the Okinawa Trough,and the formation of basaltic magmas closely relates to the thinning of continental crust.The source of the formation of the northern Okinawa Trough silicic rocks was different from that of the middle Okinawa Trough,which could have been generated by the interaction of basaltic melt with an enriched crustal component.From the Ryukyu island arc to East China,the Cenozoic basalts have apparently increasing trends of MgO contents and ratios of LREE to Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE),suggesting that the trace element variabilities of basalts may have been influenced by the subduction of the Philippine Sea plate,and that the effects of subduction of the Philippine Sea plate on the chemical composition of basaltic melts have had a decreasing effect from the Ryukyu island arc to East China.

  13. Study on a Mid-Temperature Trough Solar Collector with Multisurface Concentration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhengliang Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available A new trough solar concentrator which is composed of multiple reflection surfaces is developed in this paper. The concentrator was analyzed firstly by using optical software. The variation curves of the collecting efficiency affected by tracking error and the deviation angle were given out. It is found that the deviation tolerance for the collector tracking system is about 8 degrees when the receiver is a 90 mm flat. The trough solar concentrators were tested under real weather conditions. The experiment results indicate that, the new solar concentrator was validated to have relative good collecting efficiency, which can be more than 45 percent when it operated in more 145°C. It also has the characteristics of rdust, wind, and snow resistance and low tracking precision requirements.

  14. Studies of sporadic E (Es) associated with the main ionospheric trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodger, A.S.; Morrell, C.; Dudeney, J.R.

    1983-01-01

    Sporadic E, or E(s) events under the main F region trough have been confirmed on the basis of ionograms from a vertical incidence ionosonde at Halley Bay, Antarctica. Analyses indicate that E(s) is frequently observable under both the equatorward and the poleward edges of the trough, as well as poleward of it. Before magnetic midnight, E(s) layers whose semithickness resembles those of the normal E layer are common, in contrast to layers seen after magnetic midnight which show the characteristics of thin E(s) layers. A possible explanation of the observed change in the E(s) layer characteristics at magnetic midnight is related to differences in the type and spectra of the precipitating particles. It is shown that the redistribution of ionization by the convection electric field may be important. 40 references

  15. Effects of External Learning Aids on Learning with Ill-Structured Hypertext.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Astleitner, Hermann

    1997-01-01

    Describes three experiments with high school and college students concerning learning with ill-structured hypertext; in each study, one different kind of external learning aid (memo pads, learning time, and teaching objectives) was manipulated and examined for its effect on intentional and incidental knowledge acquisition. Findings are discussed…

  16. Regional circulation around Heard and McDonald Islands and through the Fawn Trough, central Kerguelen Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Wijk, Esmee M.; Rintoul, Stephen R.; Ronai, Belinda M.; Williams, Guy D.

    2010-05-01

    The fine-scale circulation around the Heard and McDonald Islands and through the Fawn Trough, Kerguelen Plateau, is described using data from three high-resolution CTD sections, Argo floats and satellite maps of chlorophyll a, sea surface temperature (SST) and absolute sea surface height (SSH). We confirm that the Polar Front (PF) is split into two branches over the Kerguelen Plateau, with the NPF crossing the north-eastern limits of our survey carrying 25 Sv to the southeast. The SPF was associated with a strong eastward-flowing jet carrying 12 Sv of baroclinic transport through the deepest part of Fawn Trough (relative to the bottom). As the section was terminated midway through the trough this estimate is very likely to be a lower bound for the total transport. We demonstrate that the SPF contributes to the Fawn Trough Current identified by previous studies. After exiting the Fawn Trough, the SPF crossed Chun Spur and continued as a strong north-westward flowing jet along the eastern flank of the Kerguelen Plateau before turning offshore between 50°S and 51.5°S. Measured bottom water temperatures suggest a deep water connection between the northern and southern parts of the eastern Kerguelen Plateau indicating that the deep western boundary current continues at least as far north as 50.5°S. Analysis of satellite altimetry derived SSH streamlines demonstrates a southward shift of both the northern and southern branches of the Polar Front from 1994 to 2004. In the direct vicinity of the Heard and McDonald islands, cool waters of southern origin flow along the Heard Island slope and through the Eastern Trough bringing cold Winter Water (WW) onto the plateau. Complex topography funnels flow through canyons, deepens the mixed layer and increases productivity, resulting in this area being the preferred foraging region for a number of satellite-tracked land-based predators.

  17. Motivated Learning with Digital Learning Tasks: What about Autonomy and Structure?

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Loon, Anne-Marieke; Ros, Anje; Martens, Rob

    2012-01-01

    In the present study, the ways in which digital learning tasks contribute to students' intrinsic motivation and learning outcomes were examined. In particular, this study explored the relative contributions of autonomy support and the provision of structure in digital learning tasks. Participants were 320 fifth- and sixth-grade students from eight…

  18. Model and control scheme for recirculation mode direct steam generation parabolic trough solar power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Su; Liu, Deyou; Chen, Xingying; Chu, Yinghao; Xu, Chang; Liu, Qunming; Zhou, Ling

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: •A nonlinear dynamic model of recirculation DSG parabolic trough is developed. •Collector row, water separator and spray attemperator are modeled, respectively. •The dynamic behaviors of the collector field are simulated and analyzed. •Transfer functions of water level and outlet fluid temperature are derived. •Multi-model switching generalized predictive control strategy is developed. -- Abstract: This work describes and evaluates a new nonlinear dynamic model, and a new generalized predictive control scheme for a collector field of direct steam generation parabolic troughs in recirculation mode. Modeling the dynamic behaviors of collector fields is essential to design, testing and validation of automatic control systems for direct steam generation parabolic troughs. However, the behaviors of two-phase heat transfer fluids impose challenges to simulating and developing process control schemes. In this work, a new nonlinear dynamic model is proposed, based on the nonlinear distributed parameter and the nonlinear lumped parameter methods. The proposed model is used to simulate and analyze the dynamic behaviors of the entire collector field for recirculation mode direct steam generation parabolic troughs under different weather conditions, without excessive computational costs. Based on the proposed model, transfer functions for both the water level of the separator and outlet steam temperatures are derived, and a new multi-model switching generalized predictive control scheme is developed for simulated control of the plant behaviors for a wide region of operational conditions. The proposed control scheme achieves excellent control performance and robustness for systems with long delay, large inertia and time-varying parameters, and efficiently solves the model mismatching problem in direct steam generation parabolic troughs. The performances of the model and control scheme are validated with design data from the project of Integration of Direct

  19. Modeling of a Parabolic Trough Solar Field for Acceptance Testing: A Case Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wagner, M. J.; Mehos, M. S.; Kearney, D. W.; McMahan, A. C.

    2011-01-01

    As deployment of parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) systems ramps up, the need for reliable and robust performance acceptance test guidelines for the solar field is also amplified. Project owners and/or EPC contractors often require extensive solar field performance testing as part of the plant commissioning process in order to ensure that actual solar field performance satisfies both technical specifications and performance guaranties between the involved parties. Performance test code work is currently underway at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in collaboration with the SolarPACES Task-I activity, and within the ASME PTC-52 committee. One important aspect of acceptance testing is the selection of a robust technology performance model. NREL1 has developed a detailed parabolic trough performance model within the SAM software tool. This model is capable of predicting solar field, sub-system, and component performance. It has further been modified for this work to support calculation at subhourly time steps. This paper presents the methodology and results of a case study comparing actual performance data for a parabolic trough solar field to the predicted results using the modified SAM trough model. Due to data limitations, the methodology is applied to a single collector loop, though it applies to larger subfields and entire solar fields. Special consideration is provided for the model formulation, improvements to the model formulation based on comparison with the collected data, and uncertainty associated with the measured data. Additionally, this paper identifies modeling considerations that are of particular importance in the solar field acceptance testing process and uses the model to provide preliminary recommendations regarding acceptable steady-state testing conditions at the single-loop level.

  20. Benthic foraminifera and bottom water evolution in the middle-southern Okinawa Trough during the last 18 ka

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Tiegang; XIANG Rong; SUN Rongtao; CAO Qiyuan

    2005-01-01

    A piston sediment core E017 from the middle-southern Okinawa Trough was investigated. A preliminary study of the deep-water evolution since 18 cal. ka BP was performed based on the quantitative census data of benthic foraminiferal fauna, together with planktonic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon isotope, AMS14C dating, and the previous results achieved in the southern Okinawa Trough. The result shows that the benthic fauna was dominated by Bulimina aculeata (d'Orbigny), Uvigerina peregrina (Cushman), Hispid Uvigerina and Uvigerina dirupta (Todd) during the glaciation-deglaciation before 9.2 cal. ka BP, while Epistominella exigua (Brady), Pullenia bulloides (d'Orbigny), Cibicidoides hyalina (Hofker), Sphaeroidina bulloides (d'Orbigny) and Globocassidulina subglobosa (Brady) predominated the fauna in the post-glacial period after 9.2 cal. ka BP. The benthic foraminifera accumulation rate (BFAR), paleoproductivity estimates and benthic foraminiferal assemblage conformably indicate that surface water paleoproductivity and organic matter flux during the glaciation-deglaciation were higher than those of the post-glacial period in the middle-southern Okinawa Trough, and gradually enhanced from the southern to the central Okinawa Trough during the glaciation-deglaciation, which could be caused by the discrepancy of the terrigenous nutrients supply. High abundances of E. exigua, an indicator of pulsed organic matter input, after 9.2 cal. ka BP may indicate that the intensity of seasonally riverine pulsed flux during the post-glacial period was stronger than that of the glaciation-deglaciation period, and the seasonal influx in the central trough might be stronger than in the south. The temporal distributions of the typical species indicating bottom water oxygen content and ventilation condition show that the ventilation of the bottom water during the post-glacial period is more active than the glaciation-deglaciation, which reflects that the evolution of the intermediate and

  1. Real-time dynamic analysis for complete loop of direct steam generation solar trough collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Su; Liu, Deyou; Chu, Yinghao; Chen, Xingying; Shen, Bingbing; Xu, Chang; Zhou, Ling; Wang, Pei

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • A nonlinear distribution parameter dynamic model has been developed. • Real-time local heat transfer coefficient and friction coefficient are adopted. • The dynamic behavior of the solar trough collector loop are simulated. • High-frequency chattering of outlet fluid flow are analyzed and modeled. • Irradiance disturbance at subcooled water region generates larger influence. - Abstract: Direct steam generation is a potential approach to further reduce the levelized electricity cost of solar trough. Dynamic modeling of the collector loop is essential for operation and control of direct steam generation solar trough. However, the dynamic behavior of fluid based on direct steam generation is complex because of the two-phase flow in the pipeline. In this work, a nonlinear distribution parameter model has been developed to model the dynamic behaviors of direct steam generation parabolic trough collector loops under either full or partial solar irradiance disturbance. Compared with available dynamic model, the proposed model possesses two advantages: (1) real-time local values of heat transfer coefficient and friction resistance coefficient, and (2) considering of the complete loop of collectors, including subcooled water region, two-phase flow region and superheated steam region. The proposed model has shown superior performance, particularly in case of sensitivity study of fluid parameters when the pipe is partially shaded. The proposed model has been validated using experimental data from Solar Thermal Energy Laboratory of University of New South Wales, with an outlet fluid temperature relative error of only 1.91%. The validation results show that: (1) The proposed model successfully outperforms two reference models in predicting the behavior of direct steam generation solar trough. (2) The model theoretically predicts that, during solar irradiance disturbance, the discontinuities of fluid physical property parameters and the moving back and

  2. Inversion tectonics of the benue trough | Mamah | Global Journal of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Spreading was, however, arrested by the rotation of the hot spot plumes onto the shoulders of the trough such as unto the Cameroom volcanic line by a sequence of events including crustal thinning and doming, rifting and faulting, grabens and horst formation, volcanism and subsidence, imbricate sedimentation and ...

  3. Modular Trough Power Plant Cycle and Systems Analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Price, H.; Hassani, V.

    2002-01-01

    This report summarizes an analysis to reduce the cost of power production from modular concentrating solar power plants through a relatively new and exciting concept that merges two mature technologies to produce distributed modular electric power in the range of 500 to 1,500 kWe. These are the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power plant and the concentrating solar parabolic (CSP) trough technologies that have been developed independent of each other over many years.

  4. Are Vancomycin Trough Concentrations of 15 to 20 mg/L Associated With Increased Attainment of an AUC/MIC ≥ 400 in Patients With Presumed MRSA Infection?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, Cory M; Seabury, Robert W; Steele, Jeffrey M; Darko, William; Miller, Christopher D

    2017-06-01

    To determine whether there is an association between higher vancomycin trough concentrations and attainment of a calculated area under the concentration-time curve (AUC)/minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ≥400. A retrospective analysis was conducted among vancomycin-treated adult patients with a positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) culture. Attainment of a calculated AUC/MIC ≥400 was compared between patients with troughs in the reference range of 15 to 20 mg/L and those with troughs in the following ranges: 20 mg/L. Nephrotoxicity was assessed as a secondary outcome based on corrected average vancomycin troughs over 10 days of treatment. Overall, 226 patients were reviewed and 100 included. Relative to troughs ≥10, patients with vancomycin troughs AUC/MIC ≥400 (odds ratio [OR] 0.27, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.01-0.75). No difference was found in the attainment of an AUC/MIC ≥400 in patients with troughs of 10 to 14.9 mg/L and >20 mg/L when compared to patients with troughs of 15 to 20 mg/L. The mean corrected average vancomycin trough was higher in patients developing nephrotoxicity compared to those who did not (19.5 vs 14.5 mg/L, P AUC/MIC target relative to troughs of 10 to 14.9 mg/L but may increase nephrotoxicity risk.

  5. Calprotectin and TNF trough serum levels identify power Doppler ultrasound synovitis in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis patients in remission or with low disease activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inciarte-Mundo, José; Ramirez, Julio; Hernández, Maria Victoria; Ruiz-Esquide, Virginia; Cuervo, Andrea; Cabrera-Villalba, Sonia Raquel; Pascal, Mariona; Yagüe, Jordi; Cañete, Juan D; Sanmarti, Raimon

    2016-07-08

    Serum levels of calprotectin, a major S100 leucocyte protein, are associated with disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients. Higher drug trough serum levels are associated with good response in patients treated with tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi). Power Doppler ultrasound (PDUS) synovitis is predictive of flare and progression of structural damage in patients in clinical remission. The purpose of this study was to analyse the accuracy of calprotectin and TNFi trough serum levels in detecting PDUS synovitis in RA and PsA patients in clinical remission or with low disease activity who were receiving TNFi. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 92 patients (42 with RA, 50 with PsA) receiving adalimumab (ADA), etanercept (ETN) or infliximab who were in remission or had low disease activity (28-joint Disease Activity Score based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate ultrasound scores (all r coefficients >0.50 in RA). Calprotectin correlated with the PDUS synovitis score in patients treated with ADA and ETN. Using PDUS synovitis (yes or no) as the reference variable, calprotectin had an AUC of 0.826. The best cut-off was ≥1.66 μg/ml, with a likelihood ratio of 2.77. C-reactive protein (AUC 0.673) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (AUC 0.731) had a lower discriminatory capacity. TNFi trough serum levels were significantly associated with PDUS synovitis (OR 0.67, 95 % CI 0.52-0.85, p < 0.001) but their accuracy (AUC <0.5) was less than that of calprotectin. TNFi trough serum levels were inversely correlated with calprotectin and PDUS synovitis in RA and PsA patients receiving ADA and ETN. Calprotectin and TNFi trough serum levels may help identify PDUS synovitis in RA and PsA patients in clinical remission or with low disease activity.

  6. Structure identification in fuzzy inference using reinforcement learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berenji, Hamid R.; Khedkar, Pratap

    1993-01-01

    In our previous work on the GARIC architecture, we have shown that the system can start with surface structure of the knowledge base (i.e., the linguistic expression of the rules) and learn the deep structure (i.e., the fuzzy membership functions of the labels used in the rules) by using reinforcement learning. Assuming the surface structure, GARIC refines the fuzzy membership functions used in the consequents of the rules using a gradient descent procedure. This hybrid fuzzy logic and reinforcement learning approach can learn to balance a cart-pole system and to backup a truck to its docking location after a few trials. In this paper, we discuss how to do structure identification using reinforcement learning in fuzzy inference systems. This involves identifying both surface as well as deep structure of the knowledge base. The term set of fuzzy linguistic labels used in describing the values of each control variable must be derived. In this process, splitting a label refers to creating new labels which are more granular than the original label and merging two labels creates a more general label. Splitting and merging of labels directly transform the structure of the action selection network used in GARIC by increasing or decreasing the number of hidden layer nodes.

  7. A Combined Optical, Thermal and Electrical Performance Study of a V-Trough PV System—Experimental and Analytical Investigations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haitham M. Bahaidarah

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to achieve higher efficiency of a PV system while reducing of the cost of energy generation. Concentration photovoltaics was employed in the present case as it uses low cost reflectors to enhance the efficiency of the PV system and simultaneously reduces the cost of electricity generation. For this purpose a V-trough integrated with the PV system was employed for low concentration photovoltaic (LCPV. Since the electrical output of the concentrating PV system is significantly affected by the temperature of the PV cells, the motivation of the research also included studying the ability to actively cool PV cells to achieve the maximum benefit. The optical, thermal and electrical performance of the V-trough PV system was theoretically modeled and validated with experimental results. Optical modeling of V-trough was carried out to estimate the amount of enhanced absorbed radiation. Due to increase in the absorbed radiation the module temperature was also increased which was predicted by thermal model. Active cooling techniques were studied and the effect of cooling was analyzed on the performance of V-trough PV system. With absorbed radiation and module temperature as input parameters, electrical modeling was carried out and the maximum power was estimated. For the V-trough PV system, experiments were performed for validating the numerical models and very good agreement was found between the two.

  8. Tracking influence between naive Bayes models using score-based structure learning

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Ajoodha, R

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Current structure learning practices in Bayesian networks have been developed to learn the structure between observable variables and learning latent parameters independently. One exception establishes a variant of EM for learning the structure...

  9. Practicality and Performance of Daylight Trough in The Tropics: A Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gene-Harn Lim

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The field of office daylighting is vital for both energy efficiency practice and occupants’ visual comfort. With the emergence of green building in Malaysia, building designers are exploring avenues for energy efficiency design; one common strategy is daylighting. The majority literature reviews on daylighting are skewed towards temperate or developed countries, where sky luminous condition is different from that of the Tropics. Conventional daylighting system designs redirect daylight from the envelope or atrium openings, such as light shelves. Presumed to be the pioneer daylight trough in the Tropics, this paper presents the simulated and in-situ lighting level measurements prior to occupancy. This case study presents an as-built daylight trough design which is able to daylight the office space as deep as 6 meters sufficiently. It achieves a lighting power density 1.90W/m2 and saves 39.2% of lighting energy over conventional office lighting energy. Discussed further is the practicality of working with such a system, including cost implication, return on investment and contractual challenges in reaching a consensus on the design. The results reinforce that the effectiveness of daylighting design is very dependable on the sun path and obstacles surrounding the office tower. The RADIANCE simulation correlates well to field measurement results. Further investigation into the light trough, its lighting energy savings, users’ interaction, visual comfort, and glare is still ongoing.

  10. The impact of the structural features of the rock mass on seismicity in Polish coal mines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patyńska, Renata

    2017-11-01

    The article presents seismic activity induced in the coal mines of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (GZW) in relation to the locations of the occurrence of rockbursts. The comparison of these measurements with the structural features of the rock mass of coal mines indicates the possibility of estimating the so-called Unitary Energy Expenditure (UEE) in a specific time. The obtained values of UEE were compared with the distribution of seismic activity in GZW mines. The level of seismic activity in the analysed period changed and depended on the intensity of mining works and diverse mining and geological conditions. Five regions, where tremors occurred (Bytom Trough, Main Saddle, Main Trough, Kazimierz Trough, and Jejkowice and Chwałowice Trough) which belong to various structural units of the Upper Silesia were analyzed. It was found out that rock bursts were recorded only in three regions: Main Saddle, Bytom Trough, and Jejkowice and Chwałowice Trough.

  11. Simulation of the parabolic trough solar energy generation system with Organic Rankine Cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    He, Ya-Ling; Mei, Dan-Hua; Tao, Wen-Quan; Yang, Wei-Wei; Liu, Huai-Liang

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► A parabolic trough solar power generation system with ORC is numerically simulated. ► The effects of key parameters on collector field and system performance are studied. ► Collector heat loss increases with small absorber and glass tube interlayer pressure. ► Heat collecting efficiency increases with initial increase of absorber HTO flow rate. ► Recommended thermal storage system volumes are different in year four typical days. -- Abstract: A model for a typical parabolic trough solar thermal power generation system with Organic Rankine Cycle (PT-SEGS–ORC) was built within the transient energy simulation package TRNSYS, which is formed by integrating several submodels for the trough collector system, the single-tank thermal storage system, the auxiliary power system and the heat-electricity conversion system. With this model, the effects of several key parameters, including the interlayer pressure between the absorber tube and the glass tube (p inter ), the flow rate of high temperature oil in the absorber tube (v), solar radiation intensity (I dn ) and incidence angle (θ), on the performance of the parabolic trough collector field based on the meteorological data of Xi’an city were examined. The study shows that the heat loss of the solar collector (q loss ) increases sharply with the increase in p inter at beginning and then reaches to an approximately constant value. The variation of heat collecting efficiency (η hc ) with v is quite similar to the variation of q loss with p inter . However, I dn and θ exhibit opposite effect on η hc . In addition, it is found that the optimal volume of the thermal storage system is sensitively dependent on the solar radiation intensity. The optimal volumes are 100, 150, 50, and 0 m 3 for spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox and winter solstice, respectively.

  12. Isotopic Characteristics and Age Dating of the Pumice in Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    陈丽蓉; 翟世奎; 申顺喜

    1994-01-01

    The data on the isotope compositions of rubidium,strontium and oxygen in the pumice ofOkinawa Trough are reported for the first time.The ages of the pumice were successfully dated with themethod of U-series disequilibrium.Then,the material source,crystallization evolution of magma and activi-ty cycles of volcanos are explored.Isotopic data show that pumice magma was originally from the mantle,but had undergone a full crystal-lization differentiation and had been contaminated to a fair extent by crust-derived materials before the mag-ma was erupted out of the sea floor.According to the dating results available so far,the earliest volcaniceruption in Okinawa Trough occurred about 70,000 a ago and the latest eruption was about 10,000 a B.P.During this period,there were three volcanic eruption cycles which were respectively corresponding to themiddle Late Pleistocene,the late Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene.

  13. Dermal fillers for the treatment of tear trough deformity: A review of anatomy, treatment techniques, and their outcomes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaishree Sharad

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Tear trough deformity is a major concern in a lot of individuals seeking periorbital rejuvenation. A prominent tear trough deformity is characterised by a sunken appearance of the eye that results in the casting of a dark shadow over the lower eyelid, giving the patient a fatigued appearance despite adequate rest, and is refractory to attempts at cosmetic concealment. The tear trough deformity is a natural consequence of the anatomic attachments of the periorbital tissues. A variety of techniques have evolved to address this cosmetic issue. Traditional techniques relied on surgical excision of skin, muscle, and fat as well as chemical peels. Treatment is now tailored towards specific anatomic abnormalities and often employs multiple modalities including surgery, botulinum toxin, and replacement of volume. Various original research articles, text book publications and review articles were studied. Data specific to the historical aspect and anatomy of tear trough have been enumerated. Techniques of different authors were analysed and their results and complications have been summarised. The technique of the author has also been described here.

  14. Geochemistry of trace elements and Sr- Nd isotopes of foraminifera shell from the Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    Trace elemental associations and Sr - Nd isotopic compositions are of important to recognition of biogenic material from mixed marine sediments. The foraminifera shell from the Okinawa Trough strongly enrichesSr, P, Mn andBa, enriches Li, U, Th, Sc, Co, Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Rb, Y, Sb and light rare earth elements, slightly enriches V, Ga, Zr, Nb, Cd and middle rare earth elements,is short of Mo, In, Sn, Cs, Hf, Ta, W, Ti, Bi and heavy rare earth elements. The mechanism of elemental enrichment in forminifera is the concentrations of trace elements in sea water and selective absorption of trace elements during foraminifera living, as well as the geochemical affinity between major elements and trace elements. The REE (rare earth elements) partition pattern of foraminifera shell of the Okinawa Trough shows enrichment of middle rare earth elements with slightly negative Ce anomaly,which are different from those of foraminifera of the Pacific Ocean. The Sr, Nd isotopic ratios of the Okinawa Trough foraminifera are 0.709 769 and 0.512 162, respectively, which are different not only from those of oceanic water, but also from those of river water of China's Mainland, the former is slightly higher than those of oceanic water, but much lower than those of river water; the latter is slightly lower than those of oceanic water, but higher than those of river water, demonstrating that the Okinawa Trough sea water has been influenced by river water of China's Mainland.

  15. On purpose simulation model for molten salt CSP parabolic trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caranese, Carlo; Matino, Francesca; Maccari, Augusto

    2017-06-01

    The utilization of computer codes and simulation software is one of the fundamental aspects for the development of any kind of technology and, in particular, in CSP sector for researchers, energy institutions, EPC and others stakeholders. In that extent, several models for the simulation of CSP plant have been developed with different main objectives (dynamic simulation, productivity analysis, techno economic optimization, etc.), each of which has shown its own validity and suitability. Some of those models have been designed to study several plant configurations taking into account different CSP plant technologies (Parabolic trough, Linear Fresnel, Solar Tower or Dish) and different settings for the heat transfer fluid, the thermal storage systems and for the overall plant operating logic. Due to a lack of direct experience of Molten Salt Parabolic Trough (MSPT) commercial plant operation, most of the simulation tools do not foresee a suitable management of the thermal energy storage logic and of the solar field freeze protection system, but follow standard schemes. ASSALT, Ase Software for SALT csp plants, has been developed to improve MSPT plant's simulations, by exploiting the most correct operational strategies in order to provide more accurate technical and economical results. In particular, ASSALT applies MSPT specific control logics for the electric energy production and delivery strategy as well as the operation modes of the Solar Field in off-normal sunshine condition. With this approach, the estimated plant efficiency is increased and the electricity consumptions required for the plant operation and management is drastically reduced. Here we present a first comparative study on a real case 55 MWe Molten Salt Parabolic Trough CSP plant placed in the Tibetan highlands, using ASSALT and SAM (System Advisor Model), which is a commercially available simulation tool.

  16. Structural Equation Modeling towards Online Learning Readiness, Academic Motivations, and Perceived Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horzum, Mehmet Baris; Kaymak, Zeliha Demir; Gungoren, Ozlem Canan

    2015-01-01

    The relationship between online learning readiness, academic motivations, and perceived learning was investigated via structural equation modeling in the research. The population of the research consisted of 750 students who studied using the online learning programs of Sakarya University. 420 of the students who volunteered for the research and…

  17. Numerical simulation of solar parabolic trough collector performance in the Algeria Saharan region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marif, Yacine; Benmoussa, Hocine; Bouguettaia, Hamza; Belhadj, Mohamed M.; Zerrouki, Moussa

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • The parabolic trough collector performance is examined. • The finite difference method is proposed and validated. • Two fluids are considered water and TherminolVP-1™. - Abstract: In order to determine the optical and thermal performance of a solar parabolic trough collector under the climate conditions of Algerian Sahara, a computer program based on one dimensional implicit finite difference method with energy balance approach has been developed. The absorber pipe, glass envelope and fluid were divided into several segments and the partial derivation in the differential equations was replaced by the backward finite difference terms in each segment. Two fluids were considered, liquid water and TherminolVP-1™ synthetic oil. Furthermore, the intensity of the direct solar radiation was estimated by monthly average values of the atmospheric Linke turbidity factor for different tracking systems. According to the simulation findings, the one axis polar East–West and horizontal East–West tracking systems were most desirable for a parabolic trough collector throughout the whole year. In addition, it is found that the thermal efficiency was about 69.73–72.24%, which decreases with the high synthetic oil fluid temperatures and increases in the lower water temperature by 2%

  18. Depositional evolution of the Melville Bay trough-mouth fan, NW Greenland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knutz, Paul; Gregersen, Ulrik

    2015-04-01

    The continental margin of NW Greenland bordering northern Baffin Bay is characterized by major sediment accumulations, known as Trough-Mouth Fans (TMF). The fan depocentres represent intense sediment dispersal at the terminus of ice streams that during cold climate periods provided major drainage routes of the northern Greenland Ice Sheet into Baffin Bay. The imprint of paleo-icestreams is seen by erosional troughs crossing a >250 km broad shelf region, which caps a series of sedimentary basins containing thick Mesozoic-Tertiary strata packages. This presentation provides an overview of the seismic stratigraphic division, depositional architecture and examples of seismic facies of the Melville Bay TMF using a 5-10 km grid of industry-quality 2D seismic data (TGS). The focus will primarily be on the inception and early stage of glacial fan development. Comparing the present-day topography with the regional geology shows that the paleo-icestreams exploited the Cenozoic infill of former rift basins that are more conducive to erosion than the adjoining ridges and structural highs. The TMF sequence is constructed by a series of progradational seismic units that represent successive steps in location of ice stream terminus and associated depocenters. The slope fronts of the prograding units show abundant signatures of sediment instability and mass-wasting but evidence of along-slope current-driven processes is also recognized presumably linked to interglacial sea level high-stands. The topset of each unit is characterized by planar erosion that merges landward into hummocky positive geometries with low internal reflectivity. These features are generally interpreted as subglacial landforms, e.g. terminal moraines and ice-contact deposits, associated with grounding zone wedges. Unlike the most recent TMF units deposited in front of the present trough, the oldest glacigenic units have built out from a Neogene sediment prism that forms the core of modern shallow-water banks

  19. Overland conveyors. Cable or trough belt for 100 km transport haulage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maton, A.E. [Maton Engineering Pty. Ltd., Orange Grove, WA (Australia)

    2009-07-01

    With the advances in belt conveyor technology today systems of 100 kilometres length are increasingly being considered. This article provides a comparison of two concepts for a 100 kilometre system of five 20 kilometre flights based on trough belt and cable belt technology. (orig.)

  20. Alignment method for parabolic trough solar concentrators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diver, Richard B [Albuquerque, NM

    2010-02-23

    A Theoretical Overlay Photographic (TOP) alignment method uses the overlay of a theoretical projected image of a perfectly aligned concentrator on a photographic image of the concentrator to align the mirror facets of a parabolic trough solar concentrator. The alignment method is practical and straightforward, and inherently aligns the mirror facets to the receiver. When integrated with clinometer measurements for which gravity and mechanical drag effects have been accounted for and which are made in a manner and location consistent with the alignment method, all of the mirrors on a common drive can be aligned and optimized for any concentrator orientation.

  1. Distance Learning Plan Development: Initiating Organizational Structures

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Poole, Clifton

    1998-01-01

    .... Army distance learning plan managers to examine the DLPs they were directing. The analysis showed that neither army nor civilian distance learning plan managers used formalized requirements for organizational structure development (OSD...

  2. Structural Learning Theory: Current Status and New Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scandura, Joseph M.

    2001-01-01

    Presents the current status and new perspectives on the Structured Learning Theory (SLT), with special consideration given to how SLT has been influenced by recent research in software engineering. Topics include theoretical constructs; content domains; structural analysis; cognition; assessing behavior potential; and teaching and learning issues,…

  3. Mercury Anomaly in the Okinawa Trough Sediments—An Indicator of Modern Seafloor Hydrothermal Activity

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    赵一阳; 鄢明才

    1995-01-01

    The Okinawa Trough is located between the shelf-sea area of the East China Sea and the deep-sea area of western Pacific Ocean.More than 60 chemical elements in the sediments from the shelf area of the East China Sea,the Okinawa Trough and western Pacific Ocean were determined by advanced techniques including neutron acti-vation analysis,X-ray fluorescence spectrometry,atomic fluorescence spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry.Quantitative comparisons of the element abundances of the sediments were made in terms of the enrichment coefficients(K) of the elements.K>1.5 indicates enrichment (K=1.5-2, weak enrichment;K=2-4,strong enrichment) and K>4,anomalous enrichment.The results show that the Okinawa Trough sediments are characterized by Hg anomaly and the enrichment of such elements as Au,Ag,Se,Te,Sb,Cd,Mn,Mo,etc.Detailed studies show that the excess Hg comes from hydrothermal solutions rather than from the continent,sea water ,marine organisms,cosmic dust or vol-canic rocks.Attributed to modern hydrothermal activities on the sea floor ,Hg anomaly can be used as a geochemical indicator of modern seafloor hydrothermal activity.

  4. MONTI as continent catheterized stoma using serosal-lined trough "Ghoneim Abolenin" technique in ileocystoplasty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammed T Sammour

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available It is a great challenge to select and perform continent mechanism in a stoma for urinary reservoir. A new technique by combining MONTI ileal conduit with the serosal lined trough in order to achieve continent catheterizable stoma to the umbilicus as a part of augmentation ileocystoplasty. We applied serosal-lined trough as a continent mechanism with MONTI ileal tube in 12 years smart girl underwent ileocystoplasty for neuropathic bladder due to meylomeningocele in whom continence failed to be achieved by using Mitrofanoff with submucosal tunnel of the bladder as continent mechanism before, also the previous operation included left to right transuretero-ureterostomy, ureterocystoplasty and reimplantation of the right ureter. The patient became completely continent; she was able to do self-catheterization easily through the umbilical stoma using 16-French catheter and was able to wash the mucous easily. The capacity of the augmented bladder was 300ccs. She became independent from her mother and stopped using diapers, anticholinergic and antibiotics. Combining MONTI conduit with serosal-lined extramural valve trough (The Ghoneim technique is an effective continent technique and gives wider channel for catheterization and washing out the mucous.

  5. The cost of integration of parabolic trough CSP plants in isolated Mediterranean power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poullikkas, Andreas; Hadjipaschalis, Ioannis; Kourtis, George

    2010-01-01

    In this work, a technical and economic analysis concerning the integration of parabolic trough concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies, with or without thermal storage capability, in an existing typical small isolated Mediterranean power generation system, in the absence of a feed-in tariff scheme, is carried out. In addition to the business as usual (BAU) scenario, five more scenarios are examined in the analysis in order to assess the electricity unit cost with the penetration of parabolic trough CSP plants of 50 MWe or 100 MWe, with or without thermal storage capability. Based on the input data and assumptions made, the simulations indicated that the scenario with the utilization of a single parabolic trough CSP plant (either 50 MWe or 100 MWe and with or without thermal storage capability) in combination with BAU will effect an insignificant change in the electricity unit cost of the generation system compared to the BAU scenario. In addition, a sensitivity analysis on natural gas price, showed that increasing fuel prices and the existence of thermal storage capability in the CSP plant make this scenario marginally more economically attractive compared to the BAU scenario. (author)

  6. Altitude variation of the plasmapause signature in the main ionospheric trough

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Grebowsky, J. M.; Benson, R. F.; Webb, P. A.; Truhlík, Vladimír; Bilitza, D.

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 71, č. 16 (2009), s. 1669-1676 ISSN 1364-6826 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA300420603 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30420517 Keywords : Plasmapause * Ionosphere * Midlatitude Trough Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 1.643, year: 2009

  7. DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY TESTING OF A PARABOLIC TROUGH SOLAR WATER HEATER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. A. Lasode

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Solar energy is a high-temperature, high-energy radiant energy source, with tremendous advantages over other alternative energy sources. It is a reliable, robust renewable resource which is largely undeveloped. The design and fabrication of parabolic trough solar water heater for water heating was executed. The procedure employed includes the design, construction and testing stages. The equipment which is made up of the reflector surface (curved mirror, reflector support, absorber pipe and a stand was fabricated using locally sourced materials. The results obtained. compared favourably with other research works in the literature. It depicts that employing a suitable design, selection of time of heating and proper focusing of the reflected rays to the focal spot region, solar radiation can efficiently be utilized for water heating in a tropical environment. This work presents a parabolic trough solar water heater as a suitable renewable energy technology for reducing water-heating costs.

  8. Interseismic Coupling-Based Earthquake and Tsunami Scenarios for the Nankai Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranes, H.; Woodruff, J. D.; Loveless, J. P.; Hyodo, M.

    2018-04-01

    Theoretical modeling and investigations of recent subduction zone earthquakes show that geodetic estimates of interseismic coupling and the spatial distribution of coseismic rupture are correlated. However, the utility of contemporary coupling in guiding construction of rupture scenarios has not been evaluated on the world's most hazardous faults. Here we demonstrate methods for scaling coupling to slip to create rupture models for southwestern Japan's Nankai Trough. Results show that coupling-based models produce distributions of ground surface deformation and tsunami inundation that are similar to historical and geologic records of the largest known Nankai earthquake in CE 1707 and to an independent, quasi-dynamic rupture model. Notably, these models and records all support focused subsidence around western Shikoku that makes the region particularly vulnerable to flooding. Results imply that contemporary coupling mirrors the slip distribution of a full-margin, 1707-type rupture, and Global Positioning System measurements of surface motion are connected with the trough's physical characteristics.

  9. Investigating the reasons of variability in Si IV and C IV broad absorption line troughs of quasars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stathopoulos, Dimitrios; Lyratzi, Evangelia; Danezis, Emmanuel; Antoniou, Antonios; Tzimeas, Dimitrios

    2017-09-01

    In this paper we analyze the C IV and Si IV broad absorption troughs of two BALQSOs (J101056.69+355833.3, J114548.38+393746.6) to the individual components they consist of. By analyzing a BAL trough to its components we have the advantage to study the variations of the individual absorbing systems in the line of sight and not just the variations of the whole absorption trough or the variations of selected portions of BAL troughs exhibiting changes. We find that the velocity shifts and FWHMs (Full Width at Half Maximum) of the individual components do not vary between an interval of six years. All variable components show changes in the optical depths at line centers which are manifested as variations in the EW (Equivalent Width) of the components. In both BALQSOs, over corresponding velocities, Si IV has higher incidence of variability than C IV. From our analysis, evidence is in favour of different covering fractions between C IV and Si IV. Finally, although most of our results favour the crossing cloud scenario as the cause of variability, there is also strong piece of evidence indicating changing ionization as the source of variability. Thus, a mixed situation where both physical mechanisms contribute to BAL variability is the most possible scenario.

  10. Learning Latent Structure in Complex Networks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mørup, Morten; Hansen, Lars Kai

    such as the Modularity, it has recently been shown that latent structure in complex networks is learnable by Bayesian generative link distribution models (Airoldi et al., 2008, Hofman and Wiggins, 2008). In this paper we propose a new generative model that allows representation of latent community structure......Latent structure in complex networks, e.g., in the form of community structure, can help understand network dynamics, identify heterogeneities in network properties, and predict ‘missing’ links. While most community detection algorithms are based on optimizing heuristic clustering objectives...... as in the previous Bayesian approaches and in addition allows learning of node specific link properties similar to that in the modularity objective. We employ a new relaxation method for efficient inference in these generative models that allows us to learn the behavior of very large networks. We compare the link...

  11. Multi-parameter optimization design of parabolic trough solar receiver

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Jiangfeng; Huai, Xiulan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The optimal condition can be obtained by multi-parameter optimization. • Exergy and thermal efficiencies are employed as objective function. • Exergy efficiency increases at the expense of heat losses. • The heat obtained by working fluid increases as thermal efficiency grows. - Abstract: The design parameters of parabolic trough solar receiver are interrelated and interact with one another, so the optimal performance of solar receiver cannot be obtained by the convectional single-parameter optimization. To overcome the shortcoming of single-parameter optimization, a multi-parameter optimization of parabolic trough solar receiver is employed based on genetic algorithm in the present work. When the thermal efficiency is taken as the objective function, the heat obtained by working fluid increases while the average temperature of working fluid and wall temperatures of solar receiver decrease. The average temperature of working fluid and the wall temperatures of solar receiver increase while the heat obtained by working fluid decreases generally by taking the exergy efficiency as an objective function. Assuming that the solar radiation intensity remains constant, the exergy obtained by working fluid increases by taking exergy efficiency as the objective function, which comes at the expense of heat losses of solar receiver.

  12. E-learning and the Educational Organizations Structure Reengineering (EOSR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Osama Alshara

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available There are many calls for innovative learning methods that utilize advanced technologies. However, we will raise fundamental questions that look deep into the future of the educational organization. Can the educational institute survive without adapting learning technologies? Would the educational institute succeed in adapting new learning technologies without changing its organizational structure and processes? We claim that the answer to both questions is no. Our research will present the need for edu-cational institutes to incorporate learning technologies and focuses on the demand for the educational organization structure reengineering as a basic requirement for the suc-cess of incorporating learning technologies. Our study ex-plores the faculty requirements and policies and procedures of educational institutes in the UAE.The paper concludes with some discussions on findings from a case study of the need of educational organization struc-ture reengineering as a basic requirement for incorporating learning technologies.

  13. Towards to Resilience Science -Research on the Nankai trough seismogenic zone-

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaneda, Yoshiyuki; Shiraki, Wataru; Fujisawa, Kazuhito; Tokozakura, Eiji

    2017-04-01

    For the last few decades, many destructive earthquakes and tsunamis occurred in the world. Based on lessons learnt from 2004 Sumatra Earthquake/Tsunamis, 2010 Chilean Earthquake/Tsunami and 2011 East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami, we recognized the importance of real time monitoring on Earthquakes and Tsunamis for disaster mitigation. Recently, Kumamoto Earthquake occurred in 2006. This destructive Earthquake indicated that multi strong motions including pre shock and main shock generated severe earthquake damages buildings. Furthermore, we recognize recovers/ revivals are very important and difficult. In Tohoku area damaged by large tsunamis, recovers/revivals have been under progressing after over 5 years passed after the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Therefore, we have to prepare the pre plan before next destructive disasters such as the Nankai trough mega thrust earthquake. As one of disaster countermeasures, we would like to propose that Disaster Mitigation Science. This disaster mitigation science is including engineering, science, medicine and social science such as sociology, informatics, law, literature, art, psychology etc. For Urgent evacuations, there are some kinds of real time monitoring system such as Dart buoy and ocean floor network. Especially, the real time monitoring system using multi kinds of sensors such as the accelerometer, broadband seismometer, pressure gauge, difference pressure gauge, hydrophone and thermometer is indispensable for Earthquakes/ Tsunamis monitoring. Furthermore, using multi kind of sensors, we can analyze and estimate broadband crustal activities around mega thrust earthquake seismogenic zones. Therefore, we deployed DONET1 and DONET2 which are dense ocean floor networks around the Nankai trough Southwestern Japan. We will explain about Resilience Science and real time monitoring systems around the Nankai trough seismogenic zone.

  14. Influence of the monsoon trough on air-sea interaction in the head of the Bay of Bengal during the southwest monsoon of 1990 (monsoon trough boundary layer experiment - 90)

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Sarma, Y.V.B.; Seetaramayya, P.; Murty, V.S.N.; Rao, D.P.

    programme reveals considerable temporal variability in sea-level pressure, sea-surface temperature (SST) and the fluxes of heat and momentum at the air-sea interface. This variability is related closely to the north-south movement of the monsoon trough...

  15. Increased water contamination and grow-out Pekin duck mortality when raised with water troughs compared to pin-metered water lines using a United States management system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schenk, A.; Porter, A. L.; Alenciks, E.; Frazier, K.; Best, A. A.; Fraley, S. M.; Fraley, G. S.

    2016-01-01

    Controversy has developed as to whether or not pin-metered water lines or water troughs are more appropriate for Pekin ducks. We hypothesized that water troughs would show improved duck body conditions and environmental quality compared to pin-metered water lines. To test this hypothesis, we housed ducks in 2 barns, one with water lines and one with water troughs. Water troughs were constructed to meet RSPCA guidelines for number and density of ducks and with recently described verandas. Ducks were divided into 4 pens per barn (n = 1,000 ducks/pen). The study was then repeated (n = 8 pens per water source) in a cross-over design so the barns each contained the opposite water source to the first experiment. We scored the ducks’ body condition using an established scoring rubric and analyzed using SAS Proc GLM-Mix as binomial data. Ducks housed with water troughs showed higher (thus worse condition; P duck mortality using a Student t test for both water sources each week. We found that the water troughs showed higher iron (P Ducks housed with water troughs used greater (P = 0.001) volumes of water compared to ducks housed with water lines. Ducks with water troughs also showed a greater percent (P = 0.008) mortality at all ages compared to ducks with water lines. These data suggest that water troughs may not be beneficial for duck welfare and could adversely impact both environment and duck or human health. PMID:26769272

  16. Upstream sediment input effects on experimental dune trough scour in sediment mixtures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kleinhans, M.G.

    2005-01-01

    Understanding causes of dune irregularity, especially dune trough scour, is important for the modeling of vertical sorting of sediment mixtures in morphological models of rivers with sediment mixtures. Sediment in dunes is generally sorted in a fining-upward manner, which affects the sediment

  17. Structured Learning Teams: Reimagining Student Group Work

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lendvay, Gregory C.

    2014-01-01

    Even in a standards-based curriculum, teachers can apply constructivist practices such as structured learning teams. In this environment, students become invested in the learning aims, triggering the desire in students to awaken, get information, interpret, remix, share, and design scenarios.

  18. NanTroSEIZE: The IODP Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Harold J. Tobin

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available The IODP Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment (NanTroSEIZE will, for the fi rst time ever, attempt to drill into, sample, and instrument the seismogenic portion of a plate-boundary fault or megathrust within a subduction zone. Access to the interior of active faults where in situ processes can be monitored and fresh fault zone materials can be sampled is of fundamental importance to the understanding of earthquake mechanics. As the December 2004 Sumatraearthquake and Indian Ocean tsunami so tragically demonstrated,large subduction earthquakes represent one of the greatest natural hazards on the planet. Accordingly, drilling into and instrumenting an active interplate seismogenic zone is a very high priority in the IODP Initial Science Plan (2001. Through a decade-long series of national and international workshops, a consensus emerged that the Nankai Trough is an ideal place to attempt drilling and monitoring of the seismogenic plate interface. The fi rst phase of NanTroSEIZE drilling operations has now been scheduled for the late summer of 2007. It involves parallel deployment of both the new U.S. Scientifi c Ocean Drilling Vessel (SODV, this volume and the riser drilling vessel Chikyu.

  19. Tracking local control of a parabolic trough collector. Control local de Seguimiento cilindro parabolico ACE 20

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ajona Maeztu, J.I.; Alberdi Primicia, J.; Gamero Aranda, E.; Blanco, J.

    1991-01-01

    In the local control, the sun position related to the trough collector is measured by two photo-resistors. the provided electronic signal is then compared with reference levels in order to get a set of 8 logical signals which form a byte. This byte and the commands issued by a programmable controller are connected to the inputs of a P.R.O.M. memory which is programmed with the logical ecuations of the control system. the memory output lines give the control commands of the parabolic trough collector motor. (author)

  20. Tracking local control of a parabolic trough collector; Control local de Seguimiento cilindro parabolico ACE 20

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ajona Maeztu, J.I.; Alberdi Primicia, J.; Gamero Aranda, E.; Blanco, J.

    1991-12-31

    In the local control, the sun position related to the trough collector is measured by two photo-resistors. the provided electronic signal is then compared with reference levels in order to get a set of 8 logical signals which form a byte. This byte and the commands issued by a programmable controller are connected to the inputs of a P.R.O.M. memory which is programmed with the logical ecuations of the control system. the memory output lines give the control commands of the parabolic trough collector motor. (author)

  1. Tracking local control of a parabolic trough collector; Control local de seguimiento cilindro parabolico ACE20

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ajona, J I; Alberdi, J; Gamero, E; Blanco, J

    1992-07-01

    In the local control, the sun position related to the trough collector is measured by two photo-resistors. The provided electronic signal is then compared with reference levels in order to get a set of B logical signals which form a byte. This byte and the commands issued by a programmable controller are connected to the inputs of o P.R.O.M. memory which is programmed with the logical equations of the control system. The memory output lines give the control command of the parabolic trough collector motor. (Author)

  2. A numerical analysis of the energy behavior of a parabolic trough ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The solar power is a clean and a durable energy; there are several techniques for using them. When necessary to elevated temperatures of heat transfer fluid, this energy must concentration. This paper presents the efficiencies study of a linear solar concentrator of a parabolic trough type. This study was conducted on the ...

  3. The effects of thick sediment upon continental breakup: seismic imaging and thermal modeling of the Salton Trough, southern California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, L.; Hole, J. A.; Lowell, R. P.; Stock, J. M.; Fuis, G. S.; Driscoll, N. W.; Kell, A. M.; Kent, G. M.; Harding, A. J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, A.; Lázaro-Mancilla, O.

    2015-12-01

    Continental rifting ultimately creates a deep accommodation space for sediment. When a major river flows into a late-stage rift, thick deltaic sediment can change the thermal regime and alter the mechanisms of extension and continental breakup. The Salton Trough, the northernmost rift segment of the Gulf of California plate boundary, has experienced the same extension as the rest of the Gulf, but is filled to sea level by sediment from the Colorado River. Unlike the southern Gulf, seafloor spreading has not initiated. Instead, seismicity, high heat flow, and minor volcanoes attest to ongoing rifting of thin, transitional crust. Recently acquired controlled-source seismic refraction and wide-angle reflection data in the Salton Trough provide constraints upon crustal architecture and active rift processes. The crust in the central Salton Trough is only 17-18 km thick, with a strongly layered but relatively one-dimensional structure for ~100 km in the direction of plate motion. The upper crust includes 2-4 km of Colorado River sediment. Crystalline rock below the sediment is interpreted to be similar sediment metamorphosed by the high heat flow and geothermal activity. Meta-sediment extends to at least 9 km depth. A 4-5 km thick layer in the middle crust is either additional meta-sediment or stretched pre-existing continental crust. The lowermost 4-5 km of the crust is rift-related mafic magmatic intrusion or underplating from partial melting in the hot upper mantle. North American lithosphere in the Salton Trough has been almost or completely rifted apart. The gap has been filled by ~100 km of new transitional crust created by magmatism from below and sedimentation from above. These processes create strong lithologic, thermal, and rheologic layering. While heat flow in the rift is very high, rapid sedimentation cools the upper crust as compared to a linear geotherm. Brittle extension occurs within new meta-sedimentary rock. The lower crust, in comparison, is

  4. Relationship between Online Learning Readiness and Structure and Interaction of Online Learning Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demir Kaymak, Zeliha; Horzum, Mehmet Baris

    2013-01-01

    Current study tried to determine whether a relationship exists between readiness levels of the online learning students for online learning and the perceived structure and interaction in online learning environments. In the study, cross sectional survey model was used. The study was conducted with 320 voluntary students studying online learning…

  5. Theoretical Study of the Compound Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

    OpenAIRE

    Dr. Subhi S. Mahammed; Dr. Hameed J. Khalaf; Tadahmun A. Yassen

    2012-01-01

    Theoretical design of compound parabolic trough solar collector (CPC) without tracking is presented in this work. The thermal efficiency is obtained by using FORTRAN 90 program. The thermal efficiency is between (60-67)% at mass flow rate between (0.02-0.03) kg/s at concentration ratio of (3.8) without need to tracking system.The total and diffused radiation is calculated for Tikrit city by using theoretical equations. Good agreement between present work and the previous work.

  6. Trough Concentrations of Vancomycin in Patients Undergoing Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    So Jin Park

    Full Text Available To investigate the appropriateness of the current vancomycin dosing strategy in adult patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO, between March 2013 and November 2013, patients who were treated with vancomycin while on ECMO were enrolled. Control group consisted of 60 patients on vancomycin without ECMO, stayed in medical intensive care unit during the same study period and with the same exclusion criteria. Early trough levels were obtained within the fourth dosing, and maintenance levels were measured at steady state. A total of 20 patients were included in the analysis in ECMO group. Sixteen patients received an initial intravenous dose of 1.0 g vancomycin followed by 1.0 g every 12 hours. The non-steady state trough level of vancomycin after starting administration was subtherapeutic in 19 patients (95.00% in ECMO group as compared with 40 patients (66.67% in the control group (p = 0.013. Vancomycin clearance was 1.27±0.51 mL/min/kg, vancomycin clearance/creatinine clearance ratio was 0.90 ± 0.37, and elimination rate constant was 0.12 ± 0.04 h-1. Vancomycin dosingfrequency and total daily dose were significantly increased after clinical pharmacokinetic services of the pharmacist based on calculated pharmacokinetic parameters (from 2.10 ± 0.72 to 2.90 ± 0.97 times/day, p = 0.002 and from 32.54 ± 8.43 to 42.24 ± 14.62mg/kg, p = 0.014 in ECMO group in contrast with those (from 2.11 ± 0.69 to 2.37 ± 0.86 times/day, p = 0.071 and from 33.91 ± 11.85 to 31.61 ± 17.50 mg/kg, p = 0.350 in the control group.Although the elimination rate for vancomycin was similar with population parameter of non ECMO patients, the current dosing strategy of our institution for vancomycinin our ICU was not sufficient to achieve the target trough in the initial period in most patients receiving ECMO.

  7. A Decomposition Algorithm for Learning Bayesian Network Structures from Data

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zeng, Yifeng; Cordero Hernandez, Jorge

    2008-01-01

    It is a challenging task of learning a large Bayesian network from a small data set. Most conventional structural learning approaches run into the computational as well as the statistical problems. We propose a decomposition algorithm for the structure construction without having to learn...... the complete network. The new learning algorithm firstly finds local components from the data, and then recover the complete network by joining the learned components. We show the empirical performance of the decomposition algorithm in several benchmark networks....

  8. Influence of Learning Styles on Social Structures in Online Learning Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cela, Karina; Sicilia, Miguel-Ángel; Sánchez-Alonso, Salvador

    2016-01-01

    In e-learning settings, the interactions of students with one another, with the course content and with the instructors generate a considerable amount of information that may be useful for understanding how people learn online. The objective of the present research was to use social network analysis to explore the social structure of an e-learning…

  9. A twin study of the trough plasma steady-state concentration of metformin

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stage, Tore B; Damkier, Per; Pedersen, Rasmus S

    2015-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the intrapair similarity in trough steady-state plasma concentrations of metformin in monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. METHODS: We included 16 twin pairs (eight monozygotic and eight dizygotic twin pairs) for this study after contacting 524 t...

  10. Parabolic trough solar concentrators: a technology which can contribute towards pakistan's energy future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masood, R.

    2013-01-01

    The utilization of solar thermal energy has got prime importance in Pakistan due to the current energy scarcity and escalating cost scenario in the country. Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrator is one of the most reliable technologies for utilization of solar thermal energy. In solar thermal power generation, Parabolic Trough Solar Concentrators are most successful as almost 96 percent of total solar thermal power is generated across the world by utilizing this technology. Its high reliability, operational compatibility, comparative low cost and high efficiency adds to its high value among other resources. Fortunately, Pakistan lies in the high Solar Insolation Zone; thus, a huge potential exists to benefit from this technology. This technology may cater to the Pakistan's seasonal increased electricity demand. Apart from electric power generation, this technology may also have cost-effective solutions for Pakistan's other industries, like steam generation, preheating of boiler make-up water, air-conditioning, and hot water production for food, textile, dairy and leather industries. However, economic justification of such projects would be possible only on accomplishing an indigenous technology base. Globally, this is a proven technology, but in Pakistan there is hardly any development in this field. In this study, an effort has been made by designing and fabricating an experimental Parabolic Trough Solar Water Heater by utilizing locally available materials and manufacturing capabilities. On achieving encouraging results, a solar boiler (steam generator) is proposed to be manufactured locally. (author)

  11. Learning of pitch and time structures in an artificial grammar setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prince, Jon B; Stevens, Catherine J; Jones, Mari Riess; Tillmann, Barbara

    2018-04-12

    Despite the empirical evidence for the power of the cognitive capacity of implicit learning of structures and regularities in several modalities and materials, it remains controversial whether implicit learning extends to the learning of temporal structures and regularities. We investigated whether (a) an artificial grammar can be learned equally well when expressed in duration sequences as when expressed in pitch sequences, (b) learning of the artificial grammar in either duration or pitch (as the primary dimension) sequences can be influenced by the properties of the secondary dimension (invariant vs. randomized), and (c) learning can be boosted when the artificial grammar is expressed in both pitch and duration. After an exposure phase with grammatical sequences, learning in a subsequent test phase was assessed in a grammaticality judgment task. Participants in both the pitch and duration conditions showed incidental (not fully implicit) learning of the artificial grammar when the secondary dimension was invariant, but randomizing the pitch sequence prevented learning of the artificial grammar in duration sequences. Expressing the artificial grammar in both pitch and duration resulted in disproportionately better performance, suggesting an interaction between the learning of pitch and temporal structure. The findings are relevant to research investigating the learning of temporal structures and the learning of structures presented simultaneously in 2 dimensions (e.g., space and time, space and objects). By investigating learning, the findings provide further insight into the potential specificity of pitch and time processing, and their integrated versus independent processing, as previously debated in music cognition research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Influence of pen area and trough space on feedlot performance of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    performance. There was no advantage in allowing more than 170 mm trough space or more than 5,5 m2 floor area per animal with the conditions and climate under which these trials were conducted ... pen area on feed intake and feedlot performance. A total of 196 dehorned ... Standard deviation (kg). 0,19. 0,18. 0,19. 0,15.

  13. Learning Unknown Structure in CRFs via Adaptive Gradient Projection Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Xue

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available We study the problem of fitting probabilistic graphical models to the given data when the structure is not known. More specifically, we focus on learning unknown structure in conditional random fields, especially learning both the structure and parameters of a conditional random field model simultaneously. To do this, we first formulate the learning problem as a convex minimization problem by adding an l_2-regularization to the node parameters and a group l_1-regularization to the edge parameters, and then a gradient-based projection method is proposed to solve it which combines an adaptive stepsize selection strategy with a nonmonotone line search. Extensive simulation experiments are presented to show the performance of our approach in solving unknown structure learning problems.

  14. Heat Loss Testing of Schott's 2008 PTR70 Parabolic Trough Receiver

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burkholder, Frank [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kutscher, Chuck [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2009-05-01

    Two Schott 2008 model year PTR70 HCEs were tested on NREL's heat loss test stand from 100 - 500 deg C in 50 deg C increments. Absorber emittance was determined from the laboratory testing so that the performance of the HCEs could be modeled in a parabolic trough collector. Collector/HCE simulation results for many different field operation conditions were used to create heat loss correlationcoefficients for Excelergy and SAM. SAM estimates that the decreased emittance of the 2008 PTR70 will decrease the LCOE for parabolic trough power plants by 0.5 cents/kWh and increase the electricity generated by 5% relative to previous PTR70s. These conclusions assume that the 2008 PTR70 is supplied at the same cost and with the same optical performance as earlier PTR70 models.

  15. Theoretical Study of the Compound Parabolic Trough Solar Collector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Subhi S. Mahammed

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available Theoretical design of compound parabolic trough solar collector (CPC without tracking is presented in this work. The thermal efficiency is obtained by using FORTRAN 90 program. The thermal efficiency is between (60-67% at mass flow rate between (0.02-0.03 kg/s at concentration ratio of (3.8 without need to tracking system.The total and diffused radiation is calculated for Tikrit city by using theoretical equations. Good agreement between present work and the previous work.

  16. Robust Learning of Fixed-Structure Bayesian Networks

    OpenAIRE

    Diakonikolas, Ilias; Kane, Daniel; Stewart, Alistair

    2016-01-01

    We investigate the problem of learning Bayesian networks in an agnostic model where an $\\epsilon$-fraction of the samples are adversarially corrupted. Our agnostic learning model is similar to -- in fact, stronger than -- Huber's contamination model in robust statistics. In this work, we study the fully observable Bernoulli case where the structure of the network is given. Even in this basic setting, previous learning algorithms either run in exponential time or lose dimension-dependent facto...

  17. Loading regimen required to rapidly achieve therapeutic trough plasma concentration of teicoplanin and evaluation of clinical features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seki M

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Masafumi Seki,1,* Kaori Yabuno,1,2,* Koji Miyawaki,1,2 Yoshihiro Miwa,2 Kazunori Tomono11Division of Infection Control and Prevention, 2Department of Pharmacy, Osaka University Hospital, Suita, Osaka, Japan*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: A trough concentration of >20 mg/L is considered the optimal dosage of teicoplanin required to ensure early therapeutic effects against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA infections including those in patients who develop febrile neutropenia after chemotherapy. This study determines appropriate initial doses during the first 2 days of administration and evaluates the therapeutic target teicoplanin trough concentration.Method: A 2-day regimen was evaluated in patients treated with 600 mg and 1200 mg or 1200 mg and 600 mg (total 1800 mg, Group 1, 800 mg and 800 mg (total 1600 mg, Group 2, and 800 mg and 400 mg (total 1200 mg, Group 3 of teicoplanin on Days 1 and 2, respectively. We also compared the efficiency and adverse effects at trough concentrations of 15–20 mg/L (Group A, n = 28 with >20 mg/L (Group B, n = 27 of teicoplanin, and also compared them with those on the similar concentrations of vancomycin (Groups C and D, n = 50 and 34, respectively.Results: The mean trough concentrations of teicoplanin on Days 4 or 5 were 22.2, 17.5, and 16.2 mg/L in Groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The clinical efficiency was 85.7%, 81.5%, 92.0%, and 91.5%, in Groups A, B, C, and D, respectively. The rates of adverse effects were not high in teicoplanin (nephrotoxicity, 7.1% and 3.7%, and hepatotoxicity, 14.3% and 11.1% in Groups A and B, respectively. However, more adverse effects tended to arise in patients who received vancomycin in nephrotoxicity (14.0% and 11.8%, in Groups C and D, respectively.Conclusion: These results suggest that the 2-day regimens with total 1800 mg achieved the most effective therapeutic trough plasma concentration of teicoplanin (20 mg/L. However, 15–20

  18. Evaluating the Relationship between Vancomycin Trough Concentration and 24-Hour Area under the Concentration-Time Curve in Neonates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tseng, Sheng-Hsuan; Lim, Chuan Poh; Chen, Qi; Tang, Cheng Cai; Kong, Sing Teang; Ho, Paul Chi-Lui

    2018-04-01

    Bacterial sepsis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonates, especially those involving methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America recommend the vancomycin 24-h area under the concentration-time curve to MIC ratio (AUC 24 /MIC) of >400 as the best predictor of successful treatment against MRSA infections when the MIC is ≤1 mg/liter. The relationship between steady-state vancomycin trough concentrations and AUC 24 values (mg·h/liter) has not been studied in an Asian neonatal population. We conducted a retrospective chart review in Singapore hospitals and collected patient characteristics and therapeutic drug monitoring data from neonates on vancomycin therapy over a 5-year period. A one-compartment population pharmacokinetic model was built from the collected data, internally validated, and then used to assess the relationship between steady-state trough concentrations and AUC 24 A Monte Carlo simulation sensitivity analysis was also conducted. A total of 76 neonates with 429 vancomycin concentrations were included for analysis. Median (interquartile range) was 30 weeks (28 to 36 weeks) for postmenstrual age (PMA) and 1,043 g (811 to 1,919 g) for weight at the initiation of treatment. Vancomycin clearance was predicted by weight, PMA, and serum creatinine. For MRSA isolates with a vancomycin MIC of ≤1, our major finding was that the minimum steady-state trough concentration range predictive of achieving an AUC 24 /MIC of >400 was 8 to 8.9 mg/liter. Steady-state troughs within 15 to 20 mg/liter are unlikely to be necessary to achieve an AUC 24 /MIC of >400, whereas troughs within 10 to 14.9 mg/liter may be more appropriate. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  19. Influence of syllable structure on L2 auditory word learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamada, Megumi; Goya, Hideki

    2015-04-01

    This study investigated the role of syllable structure in L2 auditory word learning. Based on research on cross-linguistic variation of speech perception and lexical memory, it was hypothesized that Japanese L1 learners of English would learn English words with an open-syllable structure without consonant clusters better than words with a closed-syllable structure and consonant clusters. Two groups of college students (Japanese group, N = 22; and native speakers of English, N = 21) learned paired English pseudowords and pictures. The pseudoword types differed in terms of the syllable structure and consonant clusters (congruent vs. incongruent) and the position of consonant clusters (coda vs. onset). Recall accuracy was higher for the pseudowords in the congruent type and the pseudowords with the coda-consonant clusters. The syllable structure effect was obtained from both participant groups, disconfirming the hypothesized cross-linguistic influence on L2 auditory word learning.

  20. Effects of structured versus non-structured learning on achievement and attitudes of fifth graders in a public aquarium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kafka, Merryl Audrey

    The investigator analyzed the main effect of a structured-learning experience in an informal setting, as well as interactions between the students' learning-style variations toward the element of structure and the imposed instructional conditions. The subjects consisted of 170 students enrolled in two public schools located in Brooklyn, New York. The students were predominantly a White multi-ethnic population consisting of 118 Caucasians, 25 Hispanics, 24 Asians, and 3 African-Americans. Three randomly assigned classes (n = 81) were provided trip sheets, which directed students on how to learn new information with written questions and directives. Three randomly assigned non-structured classes (n = 89) experienced the same exhibit in a free-form manner. Science-based criterion-referenced pre- and posttests were administered, in addition to Learning Style Inventories (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 1996) and a modified Semantic Differential Scale (Pizzo, 1981), which was used to measure attitudinal levels. The non-structured group had access to similar content information in the form of exhibit graphics, but apparently they chose not to read it as carefully or engage in the information-seeking process as intensely as the students equipped with trip sheets. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that a structured-learning experience produced significantly higher science-achievement test scores than in a non-structured-learning experience (p = .0001). In addition, there was no single learning-style variation (preference, aversion, or no preference) to structure that produced significantly higher gains than another. Furthermore, attitudinal scores were not significantly different between structured and non-structured groups, as well as among homogeneous subsets of students with learning-style variations that matched, mismatched, or indicated no-preferenced positions on the element of structure. Hence, a moderate amount of structure resulted in academic gains without

  1. C2 (2-h) levels are not superior to trough levels as estimates of the area under the curve in tacrolimus-treated renal-transplant patients

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jørgensen, Kaj; Povlsen, Johan; Madsen, Søren

    2002-01-01

    and AUC by Pearson's correlation coefficient, and pairs of correlation coefficients were compared by an asymptotic Wald-type test. RESULTS: AUC varied five-fold despite near-equal dosing. Pearson's correlation coefficient for trough level, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 h were 0.84, 0.60, 0.81, 0.95, 0.95, and 0.......94 on day 3 and 0.94, 0.69, 0.92, 0.96, 0.94, 0.92 on day 14. Three-, 4- and 6-h levels had significantly higher correlation coefficients compared to trough, 1- and 2-h levels. One-hour samples had significantly lower correlation coefficients compared to all other sampling times on day 14. The patient...... with the highest AUC developed nephrotoxicity despite trough levels in the desired range. CONCLUSIONS: Two-hour levels are not superior to trough levels in tacrolimus-treated renal transplant patients. Despite good correlation between trough level and AUC, some patients may still receive nephrotoxic doses despite...

  2. Detectability of Middle Mesial Root Canal Orifices by Troughing Technique in Mandibular Molars: A Micro-computed Tomographic Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keleş, Ali; Keskin, Cangül

    2017-08-01

    The objective of the present study was to measure the orifice depth of middle mesial canals (MMCs) and evaluate the detectability of orifices using troughing preparation. For this study, 85 mandibular molar teeth with MMCs were selected from the scanned micro-computed tomographic images. The MMCs were categorized, and the distances between the MMC orifices and the cementoenamel junctions (CEJ) were recorded as the depth of the orifice. Data were evaluated with frequency analysis and a chi-square test using SPSS (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL), and the results indicated a 5% significance level. It was found that 77.41% of the MMC orifices were at the CEJ level, whereas 5.38% and 9.69% of the MMC orifices were detectable within 1-mm and 2-mm depths from the CEJ, respectively. Of the specimens, 7.52% had MMC orifices deeper than 2 mm from the CEJ. Confluent anatomy was the most frequent configuration. No significant relation was detected between the orifice depth and MMC configuration (P > .05). It was concluded that 77.41% of the specimens did not require troughing preparation, the remaining 15.07% would require troughing, and 7.52% could not be accessed even with the troughing preparation. Copyright © 2017 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Geohydrology of the stratified-drift aquifer system in the lower Sixmile Creek and Willseyville Creek trough, Tompkins County, New York

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Todd S.; Karig, Daniel E.

    2010-01-01

    In 2002, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Tompkins County Planning Department began a series of studies of the stratified-drift aquifers in Tompkins County to provide geohydrologic data for planners to develop a strategy to manage and protect their water resources. This aquifer study in lower Sixmile Creek and Willseyville Creek trough is the second in a series of aquifer studies in Tompkins County. The study area is within the northern area of the Appalachian Plateau and extends about 9 miles from the boundary between Tompkins County and Tioga County in the south to just south of the City of Ithaca in the north. In lower Sixmile Creek and Willseyville Creek trough, confined sand and gravel aquifers comprise the major water-bearing units while less extensive unconfined units form minor aquifers. About 600 people who live in lower Sixmile Creek and Willseyville Creek trough rely on groundwater from the stratified-drift aquifer system. In addition, water is used by non-permanent residents such as staff at commercial facilities. The estimated total groundwater withdrawn for domestic use is about 45,000 gallons per day (gal/d) or 0.07 cubic foot per second (ft3/s) based on an average water use of 75 gal/d per person for self-supplied water systems in New York. Scouring of bedrock in the preglacial lower Sixmile Creek and Willseyville Creek valleys by glaciers and subglacial meltwaters truncated hillside spurs, formed U-shaped, transverse valley profiles, smoothed valley walls, and deepened the valleys by as much as 300 feet (ft), forming a continuous trough. The unconsolidated deposits in the study area consist mostly of glacial drift, both unstratified drift (till) and stratified drift (laminated lake, deltaic, and glaciofluvial sediments), as well as some post-glacial stratified sediments (lake-bottom sediments that were deposited in reservoirs, peat and muck that were deposited in wetlands, and alluvium deposited by streams). Multiple advances and

  4. Linezolid Trough Concentrations Correlate with Mitochondrial Toxicity-Related Adverse Events in the Treatment of Chronic Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Taeksun; Lee, Myungsun; Jeon, Han-Seung; Park, Yumi; Dodd, Lori E; Dartois, Véronique; Follman, Dean; Wang, Jing; Cai, Ying; Goldfeder, Lisa C; Olivier, Kenneth N; Xie, Yingda; Via, Laura E; Cho, Sang Nae; Barry, Clifton E; Chen, Ray Y

    2015-11-01

    Long-term linezolid use is limited by mitochondrial toxicity-associated adverse events (AEs). Within a prospective, randomized controlled trial of linezolid to treat chronic extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, we serially monitored the translational competence of mitochondria isolated from peripheral blood of participants by determining the cytochrome c oxidase/citrate synthase activity ratio. We compared this ratio with AEs associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Linezolid trough concentrations were determined for 38 participants at both 600 mg and 300 mg doses. Those on 600 mg had a significantly higher risk of AE than those on 300 mg (HR 3·10, 95% CI 1·23-7 · 86). Mean mitochondrial function levels were significantly higher in patients before starting linezolid compared to their concentrations on 300 mg (P = 0·004) or 600 mg (P linezolid trough concentrations were associated with lower mitochondrial function levels (Spearman's ρ = - 0.48; P = 0.005). Mitochondrial toxicity risk increased with increasing linezolid trough concentrations, with all patients with mean linezolid trough > 2 μg/ml developing an AE related to mitochondrial toxicity, whether on 300 mg or 600 mg. Therapeutic drug monitoring may be useful to prevent the development of mitochondrial toxicity associated with long-term linezolid use.

  5. Experimental test of a novel multi-surface trough solar concentrator for air heating

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zheng Hongfei; Tao Tao; Ma Ming; Kang Huifang; Su Yuehong

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We made a prototype novel multi-surface trough solar concentrator for air heating. ► Circular and rectangular types of receiver were chosen for air heating in the test. ► The changes of instantaneous system efficiency with different air flow were obtained. ► The system has the advantage of high collection temperature, which can be over 140 °C. ► The average efficiency can exceed 45% at the outlet temperature of above 60 °C. - Abstract: This study presents the experimental test of a novel multi-surface trough solar concentrator for air heating. Three receivers of different air flow channels are individually combined with the solar concentrator. The air outlet temperature and solar irradiance were recorded for different air flow rates under the real weather condition and used to determine the collection efficiency and time constant of the air heater system. The characteristics of the solar air heater with different airflow channels are compared, and the variation of the daily efficiency with the normalized temperature change is also presented. The testing results indicates that the highest temperature of the air heater with a circular glass receiver can be over 140 °C. When the collection temperature is around 60 °C, the collection efficiency can be over 45%. For the rectangular receivers, the system also has a considerable daily efficiency at a larger air flow rate. The air heater based on the novel trough solar concentrator would be suitable for space heating and drying applications.

  6. Glass inclusions in volcanic rocks in the Okinawa Trough back-arc basin: constraints on magma genesis and evolution

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    The major elemnt compositions of glass inclusions in plagioclase and pyroxene phenocrysts of basalt and pumice in the Okinawa Trough back-arc basin are determined by electron microprobe. The results indicate that basalt and pumice are cognate and respectively represent the proluots at early stages of mgmtism and at late stage of crystal fractionation. The initial magrma in the trough is rich in H2O. The variation of H2O content in magma may play an important role in the magma evolution. Plagioclase is the mineral crystallized throughout the whole magrmatic process and accumulates in the zoned magma chamber. From these features it can he inferred that the initial magma in the Okinawa Trough, whose opening began in recent years, is serious ly affected by fluid or other materials carried by subducting slab and the geocbemical feature of volcanic rocks is in some degree similar to that of lavas in island-arc environments.

  7. Annual measured and simulated thermal performance analysis of a hybrid solar district heating plant with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in series

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tian, Zhiyong; Perers, Bengt; Furbo, Simon

    2017-01-01

    Flat plate collectors have relatively low efficiency at the typical supply temperatures of district heating networks (70–95 °C). Parabolic trough collectors retain their high efficiency at these temperatures. To maximize the advantages of flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in l...... for this type of hybrid solar district heating plants with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in the Nordic region, but also introduce a novel design concept of solar district heating plants to other high solar radiation areas....... in large solar heating plants for a district heating network, a hybrid solar collector field with 5960 m2 flat plate collectors and 4039 m2 parabolic trough collectors in series was constructed in Taars, Denmark. The design principle is that the flat plate collectors preheat the return water from...

  8. Alleviate Cellular Congestion Through Opportunistic Trough Filling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yichuan Wang

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The demand for cellular data service has been skyrocketing since the debut of data-intensive smart phones and touchpads. However, not all data are created equal. Many popular applications on mobile devices, such as email synchronization and social network updates, are delay tolerant. In addition, cellular load varies significantly in both large and small time scales. To alleviate network congestion and improve network performance, we present a set of opportunistic trough filling schemes that leverage the time-variation of network congestion and delay-tolerance of certain traffic in this paper. We consider average delay, deadline, and clearance time as the performance metrics. Simulation results show promising performance improvement over the standard schemes. The work shed lights on addressing the pressing issue of cellular overload.

  9. Three-dimensional distribution of random velocity inhomogeneities at the Nankai trough seismogenic zone

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, T.; Obana, K.; Yamamoto, Y.; Nakanishi, A.; Kaiho, Y.; Kodaira, S.; Kaneda, Y.

    2012-12-01

    The Nankai trough in southwestern Japan is a convergent margin where the Philippine sea plate is subducted beneath the Eurasian plate. There are major faults segments of huge earthquakes that are called Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai earthquakes. According to the earthquake occurrence history over the past hundreds years, we must expect various rupture patters such as simultaneous or nearly continuous ruptures of plural fault segments. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) conducted seismic surveys at Nankai trough in order to clarify mutual relations between seismic structures and fault segments, as a part of "Research concerning Interaction Between the Tokai, Tonankai and Nankai Earthquakes" funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan. This study evaluated the spatial distribution of random velocity inhomogeneities from Hyuga-nada to Kii-channel by using velocity seismograms of small and moderate sized earthquakes. Random velocity inhomogeneities are estimated by the peak delay time analysis of S-wave envelopes (e.g., Takahashi et al. 2009). Peak delay time is defined as the time lag from the S-wave onset to its maximal amplitude arrival. This quantity mainly reflects the accumulated multiple forward scattering effect due to random inhomogeneities, and is quite insensitive to the inelastic attenuation. Peak delay times are measured from the rms envelopes of horizontal components at 4-8Hz, 8-16Hz and 16-32Hz. This study used the velocity seismograms that are recorded by 495 ocean bottom seismographs and 378 onshore seismic stations. Onshore stations are composed of the F-net and Hi-net stations that are maintained by National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED) of Japan. It is assumed that the random inhomogeneities are represented by the von Karman type PSDF. Preliminary result of inversion analysis shows that spectral gradient of PSDF (i.e., scale dependence of

  10. Plutonium activities and 240Pu/ 239Pu atom ratios in sediment cores from the east China sea and Okinawa Trough: Sources and inventories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhong-liang; Yamada, Masatoshi

    2005-05-01

    Plutonium concentrations and 240Pu/ 239Pu atom ratios in the East China Sea and Okinawa Trough sediment cores were determined by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after separation using ion-exchange chromatography. The results showed that 240Pu/ 239Pu atom ratios in the East China Sea and Okinawa Trough sediments, ranging from 0.21 to 0.33, were much higher than the reported value of global fallout (0.18). The highest 240Pu/ 239Pu ratios (0.32-0.33) were observed in the deepest Okinawa Trough sediment samples. These ratios suggested the US nuclear weapons tests in the early 1950s at the Pacific Proving Grounds in the Marshall Islands were a major source of plutonium in the East China Sea and Okinawa Trough sediments, in addition to the global fallout source. It was proposed that close-in fallout plutonium was delivered from the Pacific Proving Grounds test sites via early direct tropospheric fallout and transportation by the North Pacific Equatorial Circulation system and Kuroshio Current into the Okinawa Trough and East China Sea. The total 239 + 240 Pu inventories in the cores were about 150-200% of that expected from direct global fallout; about 46-67% of the total inventories were delivered from the Pacific Proving Grounds. Much higher 239 + 240 Pu inventories were observed in the East China Sea sediments than in sediments of the Okinawa Trough, because in the open oceans, part of the 239 + 240 Pu was still retained in the water column, and continued Pu scavenging was higher over the margin than the trough. According to the vertical distributions of 239 + 240 Pu activities and 240Pu/ 239Pu atom ratios in these cores, it was concluded that sediment mixing was the dominant process in controlling profiles of plutonium in this area. Faster mixing in the coastal samples has homogenized the entire 240Pu/ 239Pu ratio record today; slightly slower mixing and less scavenging in the Okinawa Trough have left the surface sediment ratios closer

  11. Chemical composition of hydrothermal ores from Mid-Okinawa trough and Suiyo Seamount determined by neutron activation analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noguchi, Takuroh; Taira, Naoto; Oomori, Tamotsu; Taira, Hatsuo; Tanahara, Akira; Takada, Jitsuya

    2007-01-01

    Neutron activation analysis of 13 hydrothermal ore samples (70 subsamples) collected from the Mid-Okinawa Trough and Suiyo Seamount revealed higher contents of precious metal such as Au and Ag, and those of As, Sb, Ga, and Hg than those from mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal systems. In addition, the Mid-Okinawa Trough samples were richer in Ag and Sb than those from the Suiyo Seamount. The geochemical differences among these hydrothermal ore deposits are regarded as reflecting both differences in the chemical composition of the hosted magma of hydrothermal system and the abundance of sediments that is reacted with hydrothermal fluids. (author)

  12. Learning Orthographic Structure With Sequential Generative Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Testolin, Alberto; Stoianov, Ivilin; Sperduti, Alessandro; Zorzi, Marco

    2016-04-01

    Learning the structure of event sequences is a ubiquitous problem in cognition and particularly in language. One possible solution is to learn a probabilistic generative model of sequences that allows making predictions about upcoming events. Though appealing from a neurobiological standpoint, this approach is typically not pursued in connectionist modeling. Here, we investigated a sequential version of the restricted Boltzmann machine (RBM), a stochastic recurrent neural network that extracts high-order structure from sensory data through unsupervised generative learning and can encode contextual information in the form of internal, distributed representations. We assessed whether this type of network can extract the orthographic structure of English monosyllables by learning a generative model of the letter sequences forming a word training corpus. We show that the network learned an accurate probabilistic model of English graphotactics, which can be used to make predictions about the letter following a given context as well as to autonomously generate high-quality pseudowords. The model was compared to an extended version of simple recurrent networks, augmented with a stochastic process that allows autonomous generation of sequences, and to non-connectionist probabilistic models (n-grams and hidden Markov models). We conclude that sequential RBMs and stochastic simple recurrent networks are promising candidates for modeling cognition in the temporal domain. Copyright © 2015 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  13. Elemental geochemical records of seafloor hydrothermal activities in the sediments from the Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHAI Shikui; YU Zenghui; DU Tongjun

    2007-01-01

    The major and minor element contents in the sediment core H9 from the hydrothermal fields of the Okinawa Trough show a sharp change at the depth of 80 cm. The elements enriched in the upper 80 cm core are those enriched in the hydrothermal deposits and in the surface sediments recovered from the hydrothermal fields in the trough, which indicates the input of hydrothermal materials. Comparing with other hydrothermal sediments from Mid-ocean Ridges or the Lau Basin, the degree of the enrichment of elements iron, copper, cobalt, and nickel is relatively low. However, the enrichment of elements manganese, lead, arsenic, antimony and mercury is remarkable. The average contents of these elements in the upper 80 cm core sediments are three to six times those in the lower section, and 3 ~ 12 times those in the surface sediments which are not influenced by hydrothermal activities. Hydrothermal activities have contributed significant manganese, lead, arsenic, antimony and mercury to the sediments, and these elements are distinct indicators for the hydrothermal activity in the Okinawa Trough. The significant enrichment of these elements in Core H9 upward from the depth 80 cm indicates the start or the significant enhancing of the hydrothermal activity in this area at about 5 740 aB. P. The average accumulation rate of manganese during this period is about 40 461 μg/( cm2 · ka), which is similar to the hydrothermal sediments in the Lau Basin or the East Pacific Rise.

  14. The Structural Underpinnings of Policy Learning: A Classroom Policy Simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bird, Stephen

    This paper investigates the relationship between the centrality of individual actors in a social network structure and their policy learning performance. In a dynamic comparable to real-world policy networks, results from a classroom simulation demonstrate a strong relationship between centrality in social learning networks and grade performance. Previous research indicates that social network centrality should have a positive effect on learning in other contexts and this link is tested in a policy learning context. Second, the distinction between collaborative learning versus information diffusion processes in policy learning is examined. Third, frequency of interaction is analyzed to determine whether consistent, frequent tics have a greater impact on the learning process. Finally, the data arc analyzed to determine if the benefits of centrality have limitations or thresholds when benefits no longer accrue. These results demonstrate the importance of network structure, and support a collaborative conceptualization of the policy learning process.

  15. Two new methods used to simulate the circumferential solar flux density concentrated on the absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Minghuan; Wang, Zhifeng; Sun, Feihu

    2016-05-01

    The optical efficiencies of a solar trough concentrator are important to the whole thermal performance of the solar collector, and the outer surface of the tube absorber is a key interface of energy flux. So it is necessary to simulate and analyze the concentrated solar flux density distributions on the tube absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector for various sun beam incident angles, with main optical errors considered. Since the solar trough concentrators are linear focusing, it is much of interest to investigate the solar flux density distribution on the cross-section profile of the tube absorber, rather than the flux density distribution along the focal line direction. Although a few integral approaches based on the "solar cone" concept were developed to compute the concentrated flux density for some simple trough concentrator geometries, all those integral approaches needed special integration routines, meanwhile, the optical parameters and geometrical properties of collectors also couldn't be changed conveniently. Flexible Monte Carlo ray trace (MCRT) methods are widely used to simulate the more accurate concentrated flux density distribution for compound parabolic solar trough concentrators, while generally they are quite time consuming. In this paper, we first mainly introduce a new backward ray tracing (BRT) method combined with the lumped effective solar cone, to simulate the cross-section flux density on the region of interest of the tube absorber. For BRT, bundles of rays are launched at absorber-surface points of interest, directly go through the glass cover of the absorber, strike on the uniformly sampled mirror segment centers in the close-related surface region of the parabolic reflector, and then direct to the effective solar cone around the incident sun beam direction after the virtual backward reflection. All the optical errors are convoluted into the effective solar cone. The brightness distribution of the effective solar cone is supposed

  16. Withdrawal of immunomodulators after co-treatment does not reduce trough level of infliximab in patients with Crohn's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drobne, David; Bossuyt, Peter; Breynaert, Christine; Cattaert, Tom; Vande Casteele, Niels; Compernolle, Griet; Jürgens, Matthias; Ferrante, Marc; Ballet, Vera; Wollants, Willem-Jan; Cleynen, Isabelle; Van Steen, Kristel; Gils, Ann; Rutgeerts, Paul; Vermeire, Severine; Van Assche, Gert

    2015-03-01

    The addition of immunomodulators increases the efficacy of maintenance therapy with infliximab for up to 1 year in patients with Crohn's disease who have not been previously treated with immunomodulators. However, there are questions about the effect of withdrawing immunomodulator therapy from these patients. We studied the effects of treatment with infliximab and immunomodulators (co-treatment) and then immunomodulator withdrawal on long-term outcomes of patients, as well as trough levels of infliximab and formation of anti-infliximab antibodies (ATI). In a retrospective study with the median follow-up period of 34 months (interquartile range, 19-58 months), we analyzed data from 223 patients treated for Crohn's disease between May 1999 and December 2010 at the University Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium (65 received infliximab monotherapy, 158 received infliximab and an immunomodulator). Trough levels of infliximab and levels of ATI were measured in blood samples collected from 117 patients throughout co-treatment, as well as the time of immunomodulator withdrawal and after withdrawal. Patients receiving co-treatment had higher trough levels of infliximab (adjusted mean increase, 1.44-fold) than those receiving infliximab monotherapy (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.07-1.92; P = .02). A smaller percentage of patients receiving co-treatment developed ATI (35 of 158, 22%) than those receiving infliximab monotherapy (25 of 65, 38%; P = .01). Among co-treated patients, levels of infliximab remained stable after immunomodulators were withdrawn (before: 3.2 μg/mL; 95% CI, 1.6-5.8 μg/mL and after: 3.7 μg/mL; 95% CI, 1.3-6.3 μg/mL; P = .70). After withdrawal of immunomodulators, 45 of 117 patients (38%) required increasing doses of infliximab, and 21 of 117 (18%) discontinued infliximab. At the time of immunomodulator withdrawal, trough levels of infliximab and C-reactive protein were most strongly associated with response to infliximab thereafter. In a retrospective

  17. Implicit Structured Sequence Learning: An FMRI Study of the Structural Mere-Exposure Effect

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vasiliki eFolia

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available In this event-related FMRI study we investigated the effect of five days of implicit acquisition on preference classification by means of an artificial grammar learning (AGL paradigm based on the structural mere-exposure effect and preference classification using a simple right-linear unification grammar. This allowed us to investigate implicit AGL in a proper learning design by including baseline measurements prior to grammar exposure. After 5 days of implicit acquisition, the FMRI results showed activations in a network of brain regions including the inferior frontal (centered on BA 44/45 and the medial prefrontal regions (centered on BA 8/32. Importantly, and central to this study, the inclusion of a naive preference FMRI baseline measurement allowed us to conclude that these FMRI findings were the intrinsic outcomes of the learning process itself and not a reflection of a preexisting functionality recruited during classification, independent of acquisition. Support for the implicit nature of the knowledge utilized during preference classification on day 5 come from the fact that the basal ganglia, associated with implicit procedural learning, were activated during classification, while the medial temporal lobe system, associated with explicit declarative memory, was consistently deactivated. Thus, preference classification in combination with structural mere-exposure can be used to investigate structural sequence processing (syntax in unsupervised AGL paradigms with proper learning designs.

  18. Performance and Simulation of a Stand-alone Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal Power Plant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammad, S. T.; Al-Kayiem, H. H.; Assadi, M. K.; Gilani, S. I. U. H.; Khlief, A. K.

    2018-05-01

    In this paper, a Simulink® Thermolib Model has been established for simulation performance evaluation of Stand-alone Parabolic Trough Solar Thermal Power Plant in Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia. This paper proposes a design of 1.2 kW parabolic trough power plant. The model is capable to predict temperatures at any system outlet in the plant, as well as the power output produced. The conditions that are taken into account as input to the model are: local solar radiation and ambient temperatures, which have been measured during the year. Other parameters that have been input to the model are the collector’s sizes, location in terms of latitude and altitude. Lastly, the results are presented in graphical manner to describe the analysed variations of various outputs of the solar fields obtained, and help to predict the performance of the plant. The developed model allows an initial evaluation of the viability and technical feasibility of any similar solar thermal power plant.

  19. Shielded serpentine traveling wave tube deflection structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, C.L.; Spector, J.

    1994-12-27

    A shielded serpentine slow wave deflection structure is disclosed having a serpentine signal conductor within a channel groove. The channel groove is formed by a serpentine channel in a trough plate and a ground plane. The serpentine signal conductor is supported at its ends by coaxial feed through connectors. A beam interaction trough intersects the channel groove to form a plurality of beam interaction regions wherein an electron beam may be deflected relative to the serpentine signal conductor. 4 figures.

  20. Economic analysis of power generation from parabolic trough solar thermal plants for the Mediterranean region. A case study for the island of Cyprus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poullikkas, Andreas

    2009-01-01

    In this work a feasibility study is carried out in order to investigate whether the installation of a parabolic trough solar thermal technology for power generation in the Mediterranean region is economically feasible. The case study takes into account the available solar potential for Cyprus, as well as all available data concerning current renewable energy sources policy of the Cyprus Government, including the relevant feed-in tariff. In order to identify the least cost feasible option for the installation of the parabolic trough solar thermal plant a parametric cost-benefit analysis is carried out by varying parameters, such as, parabolic trough solar thermal plant capacity, parabolic trough solar thermal capital investment, operating hours, carbon dioxide emission trading system price, etc. For all above cases the electricity unit cost or benefit before tax, as well as after tax cash flow, net present value, internal rate of return and payback period are calculated. The results indicate that under certain conditions such projects can be profitable. (author)

  1. Influence of Perceptual Saliency Hierarchy on Learning of Language Structures: An Artificial Language Learning Experiment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Tao; Lam, Yau W; Shuai, Lan

    2016-01-01

    Psychological experiments have revealed that in normal visual perception of humans, color cues are more salient than shape cues, which are more salient than textural patterns. We carried out an artificial language learning experiment to study whether such perceptual saliency hierarchy (color > shape > texture) influences the learning of orders regulating adjectives of involved visual features in a manner either congruent (expressing a salient feature in a salient part of the form) or incongruent (expressing a salient feature in a less salient part of the form) with that hierarchy. Results showed that within a few rounds of learning participants could learn the compositional segments encoding the visual features and the order between them, generalize the learned knowledge to unseen instances with the same or different orders, and show learning biases for orders that are congruent with the perceptual saliency hierarchy. Although the learning performances for both the biased and unbiased orders became similar given more learning trials, our study confirms that this type of individual perceptual constraint could contribute to the structural configuration of language, and points out that such constraint, as well as other factors, could collectively affect the structural diversity in languages.

  2. Influence of Perceptual Saliency Hierarchy on Learning of Language Structures: An Artificial Language Learning Experiment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Tao; Lam, Yau W.; Shuai, Lan

    2016-01-01

    Psychological experiments have revealed that in normal visual perception of humans, color cues are more salient than shape cues, which are more salient than textural patterns. We carried out an artificial language learning experiment to study whether such perceptual saliency hierarchy (color > shape > texture) influences the learning of orders regulating adjectives of involved visual features in a manner either congruent (expressing a salient feature in a salient part of the form) or incongruent (expressing a salient feature in a less salient part of the form) with that hierarchy. Results showed that within a few rounds of learning participants could learn the compositional segments encoding the visual features and the order between them, generalize the learned knowledge to unseen instances with the same or different orders, and show learning biases for orders that are congruent with the perceptual saliency hierarchy. Although the learning performances for both the biased and unbiased orders became similar given more learning trials, our study confirms that this type of individual perceptual constraint could contribute to the structural configuration of language, and points out that such constraint, as well as other factors, could collectively affect the structural diversity in languages. PMID:28066281

  3. [Successful cyclosporine treatment in 2 patients with refractory CIDP, involving monitoring of both AUC(0-4h) and trough levels].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeuchi, Akiko; Shirai, Shinichi; Horiuchi, Kazuhiro; Takahashi, Ikuko; Matsushima, Masaaki; Hirotani, Makoto; Kano, Takahiro; Yabe, Ichiro; Matumoto, Akihisa; Sasaki, Hidenao

    2012-01-01

    Cyclosporine A (CYA) treatment has been reported to be probably useful for patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) that is resistant to conventional treatment. Although several studies have shown that appropriate area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) monitoring of CYA levels results in improved outcomes for refractory nephrotic syndrome patients, the importance of using AUC analysis for CIDP remains unclear. In this study, we measured both trough and AUC from 0 to 4 h (AUC(0-4 h)) levels of CYA in 2 patients with CIDP and compared the findings for the clinical parameters. On the basis of the CYA dosing recommendations for patients with nephrotic syndrome, we used a CYA concentration of 150 ng/ml for the trough level and an AUC(0-4 h) value of 2,500 ng/(ml·h). Patient 1 showed a significant increase in grip strength and a prolonged remission period. Patient 2 showed improvement in the modified Rankin scale and manual muscle test (MMT) scores. Monitoring both AUC(0-4 h) and trough levels of CYA seems to be a better option than monitoring the trough level alone because it leads to improved estimation of the efficacy and safety of CYA treatment in the case of CIDP patients.

  4. Perceptual learning is specific to the trained structure of information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Yamit; Daikhin, Luba; Ahissar, Merav

    2013-12-01

    What do we learn when we practice a simple perceptual task? Many studies have suggested that we learn to refine or better select the sensory representations of the task-relevant dimension. Here we show that learning is specific to the trained structural regularities. Specifically, when this structure is modified after training with a fixed temporal structure, performance regresses to pretraining levels, even when the trained stimuli and task are retained. This specificity raises key questions as to the importance of low-level sensory modifications in the learning process. We trained two groups of participants on a two-tone frequency discrimination task for several days. In one group, a fixed reference tone was consistently presented in the first interval (the second tone was higher or lower), and in the other group the same reference tone was consistently presented in the second interval. When following training, these temporal protocols were switched between groups, performance of both groups regressed to pretraining levels, and further training was needed to attain postlearning performance. ERP measures, taken before and after training, indicated that participants implicitly learned the temporal regularity of the protocol and formed an attentional template that matched the trained structure of information. These results are consistent with Reverse Hierarchy Theory, which posits that even the learning of simple perceptual tasks progresses in a top-down manner, hence can benefit from temporal regularities at the trial level, albeit at the potential cost that learning may be specific to these regularities.

  5. Main Ionospheric Trough and Equatorial Ionization Anomaly During Substorms With the Different UT Onset Moments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klimenko, M. V.; Klimenko, V. V.; Bryukhanov, V. V.

    2007-05-01

    In the given work the numerical calculation results of ionospheric effects of four modeling substorms which have begun in 00, 06, 12 and 18 UT are presented. Calculations are executed on the basis of Global Self-consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP), developed in WD IZMIRAN, added by the new block of calculation of electric fields in the ionosphere of the Earth for vernal equinox conditions in the minimum of solar activity. In calculations we considered superposition of magnetospheric convection electric field (at set potential differences through polar caps and field aligned currents of the second zone with taking into account of particle precipitation) and dynamo field generated by thermospheric winds without taking into account the tides. It is shown, that in the given statement of problem the substorms cause strong positive disturbances in F-region of ionosphere in night sector. Negative disturbances are much less and arise, mainly, at night in the middle and low latitudes. During substorms longitudinal extent of main ionospheric trough increases. The substorm beginning in 18 UT, causes negative disturbances in high latitudes except for a southern polar cap. Besides there is "stratification" of the main ionospheric trough. As a result in southern hemisphere the additional high-latitude trough which is absent in quiet conditions is formed. "Stratification" of the main ionospheric trough occurs in northern hemisphere at 6 hours after the beginning of the substorm. These "stratifications" are consequence non-stationary magnetospheric convection. Distinction between these events consists that "stratification" in a southern hemisphere occurs in active phase of substorm, and in northern hemisphere in recovery phase. During a substorm beginning in 00 UT, foF2 increases in all northern polar cap. Positive disturbances of foF2 in the equatorial anomaly region cause all presented substorms, except for a substorm beginning in 18 UT

  6. A new desalination system using a combination of heat pipe, evacuated tube and parabolic trough collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jafari Mosleh, H.; Jahangiri Mamouri, S.; Shafii, M.B.; Hakim Sima, A.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • A new desalination uses a combination of heat pipe and parabolic trough collector. • A twin-glass evacuated tube is used to decrease the thermal losses from heat pipe. • Adding oil into the space between heat pipe and tube collector enhances the yield. • The yield and efficiency reach up to 0.933 kg/(m 2 h) and 65.2%, respectively. - Abstract: The solar collectors have been commonly used in desalination systems. Recent investigations show that the use of a linear parabolic trough collector in solar stills can improve the efficiency of a desalination system. In this work, a combination of a heat pipe and a twin-glass evacuated tube collector is utilized with a parabolic trough collector. Results show that the rate of production and efficiency can reach to 0.27 kg/(m 2 h) and 22.1% when aluminum conducting foils are used in the space between the heat pipe and the twin-glass evacuated tube collector to transfer heat from the tube collector to the heat pipe. When oil is used as a medium for the transfer of heat, filling the space between heat pipe and twin-glass evacuated tube collector, the production and efficiency can increase to 0.933 kg/(m 2 h) and 65.2%, respectively

  7. The Effect of Changing Focal Trough in a Panoramic Device on the Accuracy of Distance Measurements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehrdad Abdinian

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available >Introduction: Magnification and distortion are the most important limitations of panoramic radiography. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of changing focal trough option of Planmeca SCARA 3 on the accuracy of linear distance measurements.Materials and Methods: In this in-vitro study, 28 pieces of gutta-percha were attached to the assumptive place of each lost root of an adult dry skull with average size and normal shape. The actual measurements were obtained by a digital caliper. The panoramic images of the skull were taken in six different sizes and shapes of focal trough. This procedure was repeated ten times with new gutta-percha. Paired t-test was used to compare the values of different actual and radiographic images of gutta-percha dimensions.Results: The mean difference [standard deviation (SD] between actual measurement and panoramic radiography in the different groups was from 0.37 (1.1 to 0.58 (2.87 mm. The mean (SD difference of linear measurements between real and radiographic images was 0.52 (0.43 mm in average size, V-shaped group, which was statistically and clinically significant (P = 0.00.Conclusion: Changing the focal trough option of Planmeca SCARA 3 has minimal effects on the accuracy of linear measurements in panoramic radiographs.

  8. ParaTrough v1.0: Librería en Modelica para Simulación de Plantas Termosolares

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juan A. Romera Cabrerizo

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Resumen: El presente trabajo describe una librería desarrollada en Modelica que utiliza el entorno Dymola 6.1 para modelar y simular plantas termosolares de tecnología de colector cilindro-parabólico. El actual software de modelado y simulación es cada vez más potente gracias a los avances en computación y programación, pudiendo conseguir estimaciones muy precisas del comportamiento de estas plantas térmicas. Como mejora a otras propuestas actuales, la librería ParaTrough se ofrece como una herramienta pública, gratuita bajo licencia Modelica License 2, de código libre, flexible, modular, y por lo tanto fácilmente ampliable y modificable para los requerimientos específicos de cada planta y proceso en particular. En la versión 1.0 contemplada en este artículo, esta librería se puede usar para el modelado y simulación del recurso solar y del sistema de fluido de transferencia calorífica sin cambio de fase. Los modelos han sido validados con datos reales de una planta en operación, Andasol 3, en los términos municipales de Aldeire y La Calahorra (Granada. El objetivo de ParaTrough es poder ser utilizada gratuitamente y de forma amigable por analistas de procesos para uno o varios de los siguientes casos: evaluación del rendimiento, detección de fallos, exploración de nuevos modos de operación y optimización de la planta. Aunque en futuras versiones se puedan añadir otros elementos, esta aportación cubre una nueva área de aplicación específica para el software de Modelica y en su estado actual facilita la operación y mantenimiento de estas plantas. Abstract: This paper describes a Modelica-based library developed to the modeling and simulation of solar thermal plants with parabolic trough collectors. The Dymola 6.1 environment has been used. Unlike other commercial tools, the ParaTrough library is offered as a free open source tool, under Modelica License 2. Its modular code makes it easily extensible and modifiable to

  9. Parabolic Trough Solar Collector Initial Trials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ghalya Pikra

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper discusses initial trials of parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC in Bandung. PTSC model consists of concentrator, absorber and tracking system. Concentrator designs are made with 2m aperture width, 6m length and 0.75m focal distance. The design is equipped with an automatic tracking system which is driven using 12V and 24Watt DC motor with 0.0125rpm rotational speed. Absorber/receiver is designed with evacuated tube type, with 1 inch core diameter and tube made of AISI304 and coated with black oxide, the outer tube is borosilicate glass with a 70 mm diameter and 1.5 m length. Working fluid stored in single type of thermal storage tank, a single phase with 37.7 liter volume. PTSC model testing carried out for 2 hours and 10 minutes produces heat output and input of 11.5 kW and 0.64 kW respectively. 

  10. Learning Orthographic Structure with Sequential Generative Neural Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Testolin, Alberto; Stoianov, Ivilin; Sperduti, Alessandro; Zorzi, Marco

    2016-01-01

    Learning the structure of event sequences is a ubiquitous problem in cognition and particularly in language. One possible solution is to learn a probabilistic generative model of sequences that allows making predictions about upcoming events. Though appealing from a neurobiological standpoint, this approach is typically not pursued in…

  11. Numerical simulation of tropical-temperate troughs over Southern Africa using the CSU RAMS model

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Van den Heever, SC

    1997-08-01

    Full Text Available ) and the wet (1981) late summer case studies has been examined. Model simulations reveal that the tropical-temperate troughs form when an upper westerly wave coincides with an easterly, wave or depression in lower levels. These systems occur preferentially over...

  12. Adaptive structured dictionary learning for image fusion based on group-sparse-representation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jiajie; Sun, Bin; Luo, Chengwei; Wu, Yuzhong; Xu, Limei

    2018-04-01

    Dictionary learning is the key process of sparse representation which is one of the most widely used image representation theories in image fusion. The existing dictionary learning method does not use the group structure information and the sparse coefficients well. In this paper, we propose a new adaptive structured dictionary learning algorithm and a l1-norm maximum fusion rule that innovatively utilizes grouped sparse coefficients to merge the images. In the dictionary learning algorithm, we do not need prior knowledge about any group structure of the dictionary. By using the characteristics of the dictionary in expressing the signal, our algorithm can automatically find the desired potential structure information that hidden in the dictionary. The fusion rule takes the physical meaning of the group structure dictionary, and makes activity-level judgement on the structure information when the images are being merged. Therefore, the fused image can retain more significant information. Comparisons have been made with several state-of-the-art dictionary learning methods and fusion rules. The experimental results demonstrate that, the dictionary learning algorithm and the fusion rule both outperform others in terms of several objective evaluation metrics.

  13. A New Model of Lithosphere Deformation Beneath the Okinawa Trough Based on Gravity Data

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    ZHAO Lihong; JIANG Xiaodian; ZHANG Weigang

    2002-01-01

    The Ryukyu trench-arc system can be divided into two types according to its subduction model. The normal sub-duction in the northern part of the Philippine Sea plate creates a hinge sedimentary wedge with large deformation at the col-lision front, while the oblique subduction in the southern part gives rise to a smaller accretion with small deformation thanthat in the northern part. The mechanisms that cause the distinction between these two types have been analysed and calcu-lated by using gravity data based on the lithosphere rheology and the stress state of the lithosphere in the subduction bound-ary. The two types of subduction model are associated with the internal extension in the southern Okinawa Trough and thesmall extension in the northern part. The difference of the stress state between the two types of subduction model is alsomanifested in other tectonic features, such as topography, volcanic activity and crust movement. Modeling bathymetric andgravity data from this area suggests that the oblique subduction of low angle, together with smooth geometry of the overlyingplate crust, results in small stress released on the south of the trench by the subduction plate. The intraplate faults in thesouthern Okinawa Trough behind the trench stand in surplus intensive stress. On the other hand, the normal subduction ofhigh angle, together with strong undulation geometry of the overlying crust, results in more intensive stress released in thenorthern Ryukyu Trench than that in the south. The intraplate faults in the northern Okinawa Trough behind the northernRyukyu Trench stand in small stress.

  14. A Bayesian Approach for Structural Learning with Hidden Markov Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cen Li

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available Hidden Markov Models(HMM have proved to be a successful modeling paradigm for dynamic and spatial processes in many domains, such as speech recognition, genomics, and general sequence alignment. Typically, in these applications, the model structures are predefined by domain experts. Therefore, the HMM learning problem focuses on the learning of the parameter values of the model to fit the given data sequences. However, when one considers other domains, such as, economics and physiology, model structure capturing the system dynamic behavior is not available. In order to successfully apply the HMM methodology in these domains, it is important that a mechanism is available for automatically deriving the model structure from the data. This paper presents a HMM learning procedure that simultaneously learns the model structure and the maximum likelihood parameter values of a HMM from data. The HMM model structures are derived based on the Bayesian model selection methodology. In addition, we introduce a new initialization procedure for HMM parameter value estimation based on the K-means clustering method. Experimental results with artificially generated data show the effectiveness of the approach.

  15. E-LEARNING TOOLS: STRUCTURE, CONTENT, CLASSIFICATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuliya H. Loboda

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available The article analyses the problems of organization of educational process with use of electronic means of education. Specifies the definition of "electronic learning", their structure and content. Didactic principles are considered, which are the basis of their creation and use. Given the detailed characteristics of e-learning tools for methodological purposes. On the basis of the allocated pedagogical problems of the use of electronic means of education presented and complemented by their classification, namely the means of theoretical and technological training, means of practical training, support tools, and comprehensive facilities.

  16. Low-dose factor VIII infusion in Chinese adult haemophilia A patients: pharmacokinetics evidence that daily infusion results in higher trough level than with every-other-day infusion with similar factor VIII consumption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hua, B; Lee, A; Fan, L; Li, K; Zhang, Y; Poon, M-C; Zhao, Y

    2017-05-01

    Pharmacokinetics (PK) modelling suggests improvement of trough levels are achieved by using more frequent infusion strategy. However, no clinical study data exists to confirm or quantify improvement in trough level, particularly for low-dose prophylaxis in patients with haemophilia A. To provide evidence that low dose daily (ED) prophylaxis can increase trough levels without increasing FVIII consumption compared to every-other-day (EOD) infusion. A cross-over study on 5 IU kg -1 FVIII daily vs. 10 IU kg -1 EOD infusions, each for 14 days was conducted at the PUMCH-HTC. On the ED schedule, trough (immediate prior to infusion), and peak FVIII:C levels (30 min after infusion) were measured on days 1-5; and trough levels alone on days 7, 9, 11 and 13. For the EOD schedule, troughs, peaks and 4-h postinfusion were measured on day 1; troughs and peaks on days 3, 5, and 7; troughs alone on days 9, 11 and 13 and 24-h postinfusion on days 2, 4 and 6. FVIII inhibitors were assessed on days 0 and 14 during both infusion schedules. Six patients were enrolled. PK evidence showed that daily prophylaxis achieved higher (~2 times) steady-state FVIII trough levels compared to EOD with the same total factor consumption. The daily prophylaxis had good acceptability among patients and reduced chronic pain in the joints in some patients. Our PK study shows low-dose factor VIII daily infusion results in higher trough level than with EOD infusion with similar factor VIII consumption in Chinese adult haemophilia A patients. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. An Analysis of the Relationship between the Learning Process and Learning Motivation Profiles of Japanese Pharmacy Students Using Structural Equation Modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamura, Shigeo; Takehira, Rieko

    2018-04-23

    Pharmacy students in Japan have to maintain strong motivation to learn for six years during their education. The authors explored the students’ learning structure. All pharmacy students in their 4th through to 6th year at Josai International University participated in the survey. The revised two factor study process questionnaire and science motivation questionnaire II were used to assess their learning process and learning motivation profiles, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine a causal relationship between the latent variables in the learning process and those in the learning motivation profile. The learning structure was modeled on the idea that the learning process affects the learning motivation profile of respondents. In the multi-group SEM, the estimated mean of the deep learning to learning motivation profile increased just after their clinical clerkship for 6th year students. This indicated that the clinical experience benefited students’ deep learning, which is probably because the experience of meeting with real patients encourages meaningful learning in pharmacy studies.

  18. A New Look at the Bathymetric and Potential-Field Structure of the Cayman Trough via CaySEIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayman, N. W.; Harding, J.; Van Avendonk, H. J.; Peirce, C.; Grevemeyer, I.; Dannowski, A.; Papenberg, C. A.

    2015-12-01

    The Cayman Trough (CT) has one of the world's deepest axial valleys, thinnest crust, end-member basalt composition, and slowest spreading rate. Accommodating motion between the North American and Caribbean plates, and the Gonave microplate, marine magnetic anomalies show that the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) has been spreading at ~15 mm/yr (F.R.) since 20 Ma, if not 49 Ma. At a little over 100 km in length, the MCSC is now recognized to host oceanic core complexes (OCCs), hydrothermal vents, and a seafloor of variably distributed lower crustal gabbros, upper mantle peridotite/serpentinite, and basaltic lavas. Though spreading rate appears to be relatively symmetric over geologic time, the structure of the CT is quite asymmetric, with a broad region of low gravity and somewhat lineated magnetic anomalies to the east, and gravity highs and irregular magnetic anomalies to the west. Until now it has been difficult to further assess the nature of the CT because of the sparse and generally old data from the region; the CT's claim on thinnest crust, for example, stems primarily from pre-1960's seismic data and inferences from satellite gravity. The CaySEIS active-source OBS-experiment on the R/V Meteor thus set out in April of 2015 to provide a more complete, deeper view of the CT. A serendipitous discovery during the expedition is that the off-axis seafloor is characterized by curvilinear ridges preserving what appear to be dismembered OCCs. Thus, a previously proposed model based on the oblique volcanic ridge to the south of the axial OCC, Mt. Dent, could also apply to the geologic history of the CT. This model, which we call "the magmatic cleaver", envisions how intrusions cut the OCC surfaces and raft the hanging-wall-dominated portion of the OCC to the east, and the footwall-dominated portion to the west. The "cleaver" appears to have been operating over at least the last 20 Ma, illustrating how melt flow in ultraslow-spread crust can create distinctive

  19. Exploring fungal diversity in deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiao-Yong; Wang, Guang-Hua; Xu, Xin-Ya; Nong, Xu-Hua; Wang, Jie; Amin, Muhammad; Qi, Shu-Hua

    2016-10-01

    The present study investigated the fungal diversity in four different deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer-1 (ITS1). A total of 40,297 fungal ITS1 sequences clustered into 420 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with 97% sequence similarity and 170 taxa were recovered from these sediments. Most ITS1 sequences (78%) belonged to the phylum Ascomycota, followed by Basidiomycota (17.3%), Zygomycota (1.5%) and Chytridiomycota (0.8%), and a small proportion (2.4%) belonged to unassigned fungal phyla. Compared with previous studies on fungal diversity of sediments from deep-sea environments by culture-dependent approach and clone library analysis, the present result suggested that Illumina sequencing had been dramatically accelerating the discovery of fungal community of deep-sea sediments. Furthermore, our results revealed that Sordariomycetes was the most diverse and abundant fungal class in this study, challenging the traditional view that the diversity of Sordariomycetes phylotypes was low in the deep-sea environments. In addition, more than 12 taxa accounted for 21.5% sequences were found to be rarely reported as deep-sea fungi, suggesting the deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough harbored a plethora of different fungal communities compared with other deep-sea environments. To our knowledge, this study is the first exploration of the fungal diversity in deep-sea sediments from Okinawa Trough using high-throughput Illumina sequencing.

  20. Implicit structured sequence learning: an fMRI study of the structural mere-exposure effect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Folia, Vasiliki; Petersson, Karl Magnus

    2014-01-01

    In this event-related fMRI study we investigated the effect of 5 days of implicit acquisition on preference classification by means of an artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigm based on the structural mere-exposure effect and preference classification using a simple right-linear unification grammar. This allowed us to investigate implicit AGL in a proper learning design by including baseline measurements prior to grammar exposure. After 5 days of implicit acquisition, the fMRI results showed activations in a network of brain regions including the inferior frontal (centered on BA 44/45) and the medial prefrontal regions (centered on BA 8/32). Importantly, and central to this study, the inclusion of a naive preference fMRI baseline measurement allowed us to conclude that these fMRI findings were the intrinsic outcomes of the learning process itself and not a reflection of a preexisting functionality recruited during classification, independent of acquisition. Support for the implicit nature of the knowledge utilized during preference classification on day 5 come from the fact that the basal ganglia, associated with implicit procedural learning, were activated during classification, while the medial temporal lobe system, associated with explicit declarative memory, was consistently deactivated. Thus, preference classification in combination with structural mere-exposure can be used to investigate structural sequence processing (syntax) in unsupervised AGL paradigms with proper learning designs.

  1. LCOE reduction potential of parabolic trough and solar tower CSP technology until 2025

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dieckmann, Simon; Dersch, Jürgen; Giuliano, Stefano; Puppe, Michael; Lüpfert, Eckhard; Hennecke, Klaus; Pitz-Paal, Robert; Taylor, Michael; Ralon, Pablo

    2017-06-01

    Concentrating Solar Power (CSP), with an installed capacity of 4.9 GW by 2015, is a young technology compared to other renewable power generation technologies. A limited number of plants and installed capacity in a small challenging market environment make reliable and transparent cost data for CSP difficult to obtain. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the DLR German Aerospace Center gathered and evaluated available cost data from various sources for this publication in order to yield transparent, reliable and up-to-date cost data for a set of reference parabolic trough and solar tower plants in the year 2015 [1]. Each component of the power plant is analyzed for future technical innovations and cost reduction potential based on current R&D activities, ongoing commercial developments and growth in market scale. The derived levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for 2015 and 2025 are finally contrasted with published power purchase agreements (PPA) of the NOOR II+III power plants in Morocco. At 7.5% weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and 25 years economic life time, the levelized costs of electricity for plants with 7.5 (trough) respectively 9 (tower) full-load hours thermal storage capacity decrease from 14-15 -ct/kWh today to 9-10 -ct/kWh by 2025 for both technologies at direct normal irradiation of 2500 kWh/(m².a). The capacity factor increases from 41.1% to 44.6% for troughs and from 45.5% to 49.0% for towers. Financing conditions are a major cost driver and offer potential for further cost reduction with the maturity of the technology and low interest rates (6-7 - ct/kWh for 2% WACC at 2500 kWh/(m2.a) in 2025).

  2. Geochemical and Sr-Nd-Pb-Li isotopic characteristics of volcanic rocks from the Okinawa Trough: Implications for the influence of subduction components and the contamination of crustal materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Kun; Zhai, Shikui; Yu, Zenghui; Wang, Shujie; Zhang, Xia; Wang, Xiaoyuan

    2018-04-01

    The Okinawa Trough is an infant back-arc basin developed along the Ryukyu arc. This paper provides new major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb-Li isotope data of volcanic rocks in the Okinawa Trough and combines the published geochemical data to discuss the composition of magma source, the influence of subduction component, and the contamination of crustal materials, and calculate the contribution between subduction sediment and altered oceanic crust in the subduction component. The results showed that there are 97% DM and 3% EMI component in the mantle source in middle trough (MS), which have been influenced by subduction sediment. The Li-Nd isotopes indicate that the contribution of subduction sediment and altered oceanic crust in subduction component are 4 and 96%, respectively. The intermediate-acidic rocks suffer from contamination of continental crust material in shallow magma chamber during fractional crystallization. The acidic rocks in south trough have experienced more contamination of crustal material than those from the middle and north trough segments.

  3. The paleoclimatic events and cause in the Okinawa Trough during 50 kaBP

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    Planktonic foraminiferal d18O record for core DGKS9603 from the Okinawa Trough shows a series of climatic fluctuations and sudden cooling events in short time scale during 50 kaBP, which appear to correlate closely to the Younger Dryas and Heinrich events H1-5 recorded in Chine-se loess, the South China Sea, the North Atlantic cores and the Greenland ice cores. Three polarity reversal events, cor-relating to Gothenburg, Mungo and Laschamp events, ap-proximately correspond to Heinrich events H1, H3 and H5 respectively, which could be a cause of global climate changes. The d18O curve of the Okinawa Trough is well asso-ciated with the grain size record of the Lijiayuan loess profile in northwestern China and is somewhat different from the climate fluctuations documented in the Greenland ice cores. These correlation results indicate that regional factors play an important role in controlling the climate changes in the East Asia, and the East Asian Monsoon could be the promi-nent regional controlling factor.

  4. Constraints on mantle melt geometries from body wave attenuation in the Salton Trough and Snake River Plain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byrnes, J. S.; Bezada, M.

    2017-12-01

    Melt can be retained in the mantle at triple junctions between grain boundaries, be spread in thin films along two-grain boundaries, or be organized by shear into elongate melt-rich bands. Which of these geometries is most prevalent is unknown. This ambiguity makes the interpretation of anomalous seismic velocities and quality factors difficult, since different geometries would result in different mechanical effects. Here, we compare observations of seismic attenuation beneath the Salton Trough and the Snake River Plain; two regions where the presence of melt has been inferred. The results suggest that seismic attenuation is diagnostic of melt geometry. We measure the relative attenuation of P waves from deep focus earthquakes using a time-domain method. Even though the two regions are underlain by comparably strong low-velocity anomalies, their attenuation signature is very different. The upper mantle beneath the Salton Trough is sufficiently attenuating that the presence of melt must lower Qp, while attenuation beneath the Snake River Plain is not anomalous with respect to surrounding regions. These seemingly contradictory results can be reconciled if different melt geometries characterize each region. SKS splitting from the Salton Trough suggests that melt is organized into melt-rich bands, while this is not the case for the Snake River Plain. We infer that beneath the Snake River Plain melt is retained at triple junctions between grain boundaries, a geometry that is not predicted to cause seismic attenuation. More elongate geometries beneath the Salton Trough may cause seismic attenuation via the melt-squirt mechanism. In light of these results, we conclude that prior observations of low seismic velocities with somewhat high quality factors beneath the East Pacific Rise and Southern California suggest that melt does not organize into elongate bands across much of the asthenosphere.

  5. Impact of Serum Vancomycin Trough Levels in the Treatment of Central Nervous System Shunt Infections Caused by Coagulase-Negative Staphylococci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Ashley; Kaplan, Sheldon L; Vallejo, Jesus G

    2018-04-26

    Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are a common cause of pediatric ventricular shunt infections. The Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends vancomycin serum troughs of 15-20 µg/mL when treating CoNS shunt infections in adult patients. We report a series of pediatric cases of CoNS shunt infections in which clinical cure was obtained with troughs < 15 µg/mL. These findings question the relevance of this recommendation in pediatric patients. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  6. Structure of Small World Innovation Network and Learning Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuang Song

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the differences of learning performance of 5 MNCs (multinational corporations that filed the largest number of patents in China. We establish the innovation network with the patent coauthorship data by these 5 MNCs and classify the networks by the tail of distribution curve of connections. To make a comparison of the learning performance of these 5 MNCs with differing network structures, we develop an organization learning model by regarding the reality as having m dimensions, which denotes the heterogeneous knowledge about the reality. We further set n innovative individuals that are mutually interactive and own unique knowledge about the reality. A longer (shorter distance between the knowledge of the individual and the reality denotes a lower (higher knowledge level of that individual. Individuals interact with and learn from each other within the small-world network. By making 1,000 numerical simulations and averaging the simulated results, we find that the differing structure of the small-world network leads to the differences of learning performance between these 5 MNCs. The network monopolization negatively impacts and network connectivity positively impacts learning performance. Policy implications in the conclusion section suggest that to improve firm learning performance, it is necessary to establish a flat and connective network.

  7. Report on Radiocarbon Analysis of Surface Sediments from the Fore-Arc Basin of Nankai Trough

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Pohlman, John

    2004-01-01

    .... Radiocarbon analysis of the total organic carbon (TOC) and total inorganic carbon (TIC) on 30 sediment samples from two multicores and six piston cores was performed to investigate the fate of methane carbon in sediment of the Nankal Trough...

  8. Petrology of the axial ridge of the Mariana Trough backarc spreading center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hawkins, J.W.; Lonsdale, P.F.; Macdougall, J.D.; Volpe, A.M.

    1990-01-01

    The axial ridge of the Mariana Trough backarc basin, between 17deg40'N and 18deg30'N rises as much as 1 km above the floor of a 10-15 km wide rift valley. Physiographic segmentation, with minor ridge offsets and overlaps, coincides with a petrologic segmentation seen in trace element and isotope chemistry. Analyses of 239 glass and 40 aphyric basalt samples, collected with ALVIN and by dredging, show that the axial ridge is formed largely of (olivine) hypersthene-normative tholeiitic basalt. About half of these are enriched in both LIL elements and volatiles, but are depleted in HFS elements like other rocks found throughout much of the Mariana Trough. The LIL enrichments distinguish these rocks from N-MORB even though Nd and Sr isotope ratios indicate that much of the crust formed from a source similar to that for N-MORB. In addition to LIL-enriched basalt there is LIL depleted basalts even more closely resembling N-MORB in major and trace elements as well as Sr, Nd and Pb isotopes. Both basalt varieties have higher Al and lower total Fe than MORB at equivalent Mg level. Mg ranges from relatively ''primitive'' (e.g. Mg 65-70) to more highly fractionated (e.g. Mg 45-50). Highest parts of the axial ridge are capped by pinnacles with elongated pillows of basaltic andesite (e.g. 52-56%) SiO 2 . These are due to extreme fractional crystallization of basalts forming the axial ridge. Active hydrothermal vents with chimneys and mats of opaline silica, barite, sphalerite and lesser amounts of pyrite, chalcopyrite and galena formed near these silicic rocks. The vents are surrounded by distinctive vent animals, polychaete worms, crabs and barnacles. Isotope data indicate that the Mariana Trough crust was derived from a heterogeneous source including mantle resembling the MORB-source and an ''arc-source'' component. The latter was depleted in HFS elements in previous melting events and later modified by addition of H 2 O and LIL elements. (orig.)

  9. An Analysis of the Relationship between the Learning Process and Learning Motivation Profiles of Japanese Pharmacy Students Using Structural Equation Modeling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shigeo Yamamura

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Pharmacy students in Japan have to maintain strong motivation to learn for six years during their education. The authors explored the students’ learning structure. All pharmacy students in their 4th through to 6th year at Josai International University participated in the survey. The revised two factor study process questionnaire and science motivation questionnaire II were used to assess their learning process and learning motivation profiles, respectively. Structural equation modeling (SEM was used to examine a causal relationship between the latent variables in the learning process and those in the learning motivation profile. The learning structure was modeled on the idea that the learning process affects the learning motivation profile of respondents. In the multi-group SEM, the estimated mean of the deep learning to learning motivation profile increased just after their clinical clerkship for 6th year students. This indicated that the clinical experience benefited students’ deep learning, which is probably because the experience of meeting with real patients encourages meaningful learning in pharmacy studies.

  10. Influence of trough versus pasture feeding on average daily gain and carcass characteristics in ruminants: a meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agastin, A; Sauvant, D; Naves, M; Boval, M

    2014-03-01

    Quantitative meta-analysis was run on 108 publications featuring 116 experiments and 399 treatments dealing with the effect of trough or pasture feeding environment (FE) on ruminant performances. The objective was to compare the effect of trough or pasture FE on ADG, diet OM digestibility (OMD), various carcass characteristics, and the interaction between FE and complementation modalities. Live weight was adjusted to compare results between species. Results showed that trough-fed animals had higher ADG (+17.89%; P carcass yield (HYield; + 2.47%; P carcass fat content (+ 24.87%; P animals but lower carcass muscle and bone percentages (-1.60% [P = 0.010] and -7.63% [P = 0.003], respectively). Feeding environment had no effect on diet OMD (P = 0.818), but the number of observations was low. After considering the addition or not of concentrate in the diet (addiCO), FE effect persisted on ADG (P = 0.024) and carcass fat content (P = 0.027) but not on HYield (P = 0.078) or muscle and bone percentages (P = 0.119 and P = 0.581, respectively). After considering the nature of the concentrate (natCO), FE effect persisted on ADG (P carcass fat and muscle contents (P = 0.040 and P = 0.040, respectively) although the FE effect on carcass bone content persisted (P = 0.550). Animal species and physiological stage had no effect on any of the variables studied (P > 0.05) but experiment did (P ≤ 0.001). The increase in ADG was positively correlated to HYield in cattle (P = 0.002) and small ruminants (P = 0.003) and positively linked to carcass fat content (P = 0.007) but not carcass muscle content, which actually decreased (P = 0.001). Overall, this meta-analysis confirmed previous reports of FE effects and revealed how the differences generally reported result from a confounding effect of FE and nature of the diet. Indeed, in most of the studies used, trough-fed animals were supplemented with concentrate whereas pasture-fed animals were not. This research also highlighted the fact

  11. Magnetic properties of different grain-sized particles of sediments from the Okinawa Trough and their relationships to sedimentary environment

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    LI Ping; LI Peiying; ZHANG Xiaolong; CAO Chengxiao; XU Xingyong; DU Jun; LIU Lejun

    2005-01-01

    Multiple magnetic parameters were measured for nine different grain-sized fractions separated from the sediment samples that are representatives of four different sedimentary environments of the Okinawa Trough. Based on the measured results, the contributions of different grain-sized particles to total magnetic susceptibility of bulk sediments, the magnetic mineral assemblage and magnetic domain state as well as their relationships to sedimentary environment were discussed. Our research shows that the magnetic mineral is dominated by magnetite with a small amount of hematite and is primarily in pseudo-single-domain state. That indicates that the different sedimentary environments in the Okinawa Trough have certain correlation in material provenance. The magnetic minerals enrich in different grain-sized particles in response to different sedimentary environments. The contribution of the grain sizes from coarse to fine to coarse and fine to the magnetic susceptibility from the west to the east is in accordance with terrigenous material transportation from continental shelf of the East China Sea to the Okinawa Trough. It also shows difference in magnetic properties as a result of some environmental factors.

  12. Learning about the internal structure of categories through classification and feature inference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jee, Benjamin D; Wiley, Jennifer

    2014-01-01

    Previous research on category learning has found that classification tasks produce representations that are skewed toward diagnostic feature dimensions, whereas feature inference tasks lead to richer representations of within-category structure. Yet, prior studies often measure category knowledge through tasks that involve identifying only the typical features of a category. This neglects an important aspect of a category's internal structure: how typical and atypical features are distributed within a category. The present experiments tested the hypothesis that inference learning results in richer knowledge of internal category structure than classification learning. We introduced several new measures to probe learners' representations of within-category structure. Experiment 1 found that participants in the inference condition learned and used a wider range of feature dimensions than classification learners. Classification learners, however, were more sensitive to the presence of atypical features within categories. Experiment 2 provided converging evidence that classification learners were more likely to incorporate atypical features into their representations. Inference learners were less likely to encode atypical category features, even in a "partial inference" condition that focused learners' attention on the feature dimensions relevant to classification. Overall, these results are contrary to the hypothesis that inference learning produces superior knowledge of within-category structure. Although inference learning promoted representations that included a broad range of category-typical features, classification learning promoted greater sensitivity to the distribution of typical and atypical features within categories.

  13. Developing an approach for teaching and learning about Lewis structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaufmann, Ilana; Hamza, Karim M.; Rundgren, Carl-Johan; Eriksson, Lars

    2017-08-01

    This study explores first-year university students' reasoning as they learn to draw Lewis structures. We also present a theoretical account of the formal procedure commonly taught for drawing these structures. Students' discussions during problem-solving activities were video recorded and detailed analyses of the discussions were made through the use of practical epistemology analysis (PEA). Our results show that the formal procedure was central for drawing Lewis structures, but its use varied depending on situational aspects. Commonly, the use of individual steps of the formal procedure was contingent on experiences of chemical structures, and other information such as the characteristics of the problem given. The analysis revealed a number of patterns in how students constructed, checked and modified the structure in relation to the formal procedure and the situational aspects. We suggest that explicitly teaching the formal procedure as a process of constructing, checking and modifying might be helpful for students learning to draw Lewis structures. By doing so, the students may learn to check the accuracy of the generated structure not only in relation to the octet rule and formal charge, but also to other experiences that are not explicitly included in the formal procedure.

  14. Relationship between Organizational Learning and Organizational Agility in Teaching Hospitals of Yazd

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Amin Bahrami

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: In organizational learning theory, organization is defined as an open system that has the ability to anticipate, identify, define, design, and solve its problems. This study was aimed to examine the relationship between organizational learning and organizational agility in the teaching hospitals of the city of Yazd. Methods: This analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 in four teaching hospitals of the city of Yazd. A total of 370 administrative and medical staff contributed in the study. We used stratified-random method for sampling. The required data were gathered using two valid questionnaires including organizational learning questionnaire (Neefe 2001 and organizational agility questionnaire according to the theory of Sharifi & Zhang (1999 being analyzed trough statistical softwares of R and lavaan package, semPlot and semtool for structural equation model and SPSS18 for descriptive statistics. Results: Our results showed a positive significant relationship between organizational learning and organizational agility (0.521. Conclusion: Based on the findings it can be concluded that the implementation of appropriate strategies for improving the organizational capacity to direct its employees’ mental abilities, can improve the ability of organization’s rapid response to surrounding issues which is crucial for its survival and dynamics in today’s changing world.

  15. Thermal and chemical variations of the Nigerian Benue trough lead-zinc-barite-fluorite deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogundipe, Ibukun Emmanuel

    2017-08-01

    The Benue trough is an intra-continental rift initiated in the Cretaceous during the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. Lead-zinc-barite-fluorite mineralization occurs along the 600 km axis of the trough in three discrete sub-basins which coincide with the lower, middle and upper mineral districts of the Benue Valley. Lithologically these sub-basins are dominated by black carbonaceous shale in the Lower Benue, platform carbonates in the Middle Benue and sandstones in the Upper Benue. Micro-thermometric analysis of fluid inclusions in sphalerite, fluorite, barite and quartz have shown that each mineral district has its own unique thermal and chemical imprint. For example, the temperature can be bracketed between 109 °C and 160 °C for lower Benue, 89 °C-144 °C for the Middle Benue and 176 °C-254 °C for the Upper Benue. Chemical differentiation also exists between each mineral district with the Lower Benue having 22 wt % equivalent NaCl while the Middle and Upper Benue have 18 and 16 wt % equivalent NaCl respectively. This study shows that inter-district thermal and chemical variations exist between the ore-stage sulfide and post-sulfide gangue minerals of the entire Benue Valley. Similarly, intra-district thermal and chemical variations have also been observed among all the paragenetic minerals of each district. The thermal variations may be as a result of variations in the geothermal gradient accompanying continental rifting from one district to the other. The variations in the chemistry between the Lower Benue and the Upper Benue paragenic minerals may be as a result of the distinct lithological differences across the Benue Trough.

  16. The role of training structure in perceptual learning of accented speech.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzeng, Christina Y; Alexander, Jessica E D; Sidaras, Sabrina K; Nygaard, Lynne C

    2016-11-01

    Foreign-accented speech contains multiple sources of variation that listeners learn to accommodate. Extending previous findings showing that exposure to high-variation training facilitates perceptual learning of accented speech, the current study examines to what extent the structure of training materials affects learning. During training, native adult speakers of American English transcribed sentences spoken in English by native Spanish-speaking adults. In Experiment 1, training stimuli were blocked by speaker, sentence, or randomized with respect to speaker and sentence (Variable training). At test, listeners transcribed novel English sentences produced by unfamiliar Spanish-accented speakers. Listeners' transcription accuracy was highest in the Variable condition, suggesting that varying both speaker identity and sentence across training trials enabled listeners to generalize their learning to novel speakers and linguistic content. Experiment 2 assessed the extent to which ordering of training tokens by a single factor, speaker intelligibility, would facilitate speaker-independent accent learning, finding that listeners' test performance did not reliably differ from that in the no-training control condition. Overall, these results suggest that the structure of training exposure, specifically trial-to-trial variation on both speaker's voice and linguistic content, facilitates learning of the systematic properties of accented speech. The current findings suggest a crucial role of training structure in optimizing perceptual learning. Beyond characterizing the types of variation listeners encode in their representations of spoken utterances, theories of spoken language processing should incorporate the role of training structure in learning lawful variation in speech. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Bifurcation of learning and structure formation in neuronal maps

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Marschler, Christian; Faust-Ellsässer, Carmen; Starke, Jens

    2014-01-01

    to map formation in the laminar nucleus of the barn owl's auditory system. Using equation-free methods, we perform a bifurcation analysis of spatio-temporal structure formation in the associated synaptic-weight matrix. This enables us to analyze learning as a bifurcation process and follow the unstable...... states as well. A simple time translation of the learning window function shifts the bifurcation point of structure formation and goes along with traveling waves in the map, without changing the animal's sound localization performance....

  18. Geophysical identification and geological Implications of the Southern Alaska Magnetic Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saltus, R.W.; Hudson, T.L.; Wilson, Frederic H.

    2003-01-01

    The southern Alaska magnetic trough (SAMT) is one of the fundamental, crustal-scale, magnetic features of Alaska. It is readily recognized on 10 km upward-continued aeromagnetic maps of the state. The arcuate SAMT ranges from 30 to 100 km wide and extends in two separate segments along the southern Alaska margin for about 1200 km onshore (from near the Alaska/Canada border at about 60 degrees north latitude to the Bering Sea) and may continue an additional 500 km or more offshore (in the southern Bering Sea). The SAMT is bordered to the south by the southern Alaska magnetic high (SAMH) produced by strongly magnetic crust and to the north by a magnetically quiet zone that reflects weakly magnetic interior Alaska crust. Geophysically, the SAMT is more than just the north-side dipole low associated with the SAMH. Several modes of analysis, including examination of magnetic potential (pseudogravity) and profile modeling, indicate that the source of this magnetic trough is a discrete, crustal-scale body. Geologically, the western portion of the SAMT coincides to a large degree with collapsed Mesozoic Kahiltna flysch basin. This poster presents our geophysical evidence for the extent and geometry of this magnetic feature as well as initial geological synthesis and combined geologic/geophysical modeling to examine the implications of this feature for the broad scale tectonic framework of southern Alaska.

  19. Structure Learning and Statistical Estimation in Distribution Networks - Part II

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deka, Deepjyoti [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Backhaus, Scott N. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Chertkov, Michael [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-02-13

    Limited placement of real-time monitoring devices in the distribution grid, recent trends notwithstanding, has prevented the easy implementation of demand-response and other smart grid applications. Part I of this paper discusses the problem of learning the operational structure of the grid from nodal voltage measurements. In this work (Part II), the learning of the operational radial structure is coupled with the problem of estimating nodal consumption statistics and inferring the line parameters in the grid. Based on a Linear-Coupled(LC) approximation of AC power flows equations, polynomial time algorithms are designed to identify the structure and estimate nodal load characteristics and/or line parameters in the grid using the available nodal voltage measurements. Then the structure learning algorithm is extended to cases with missing data, where available observations are limited to a fraction of the grid nodes. The efficacy of the presented algorithms are demonstrated through simulations on several distribution test cases.

  20. Thermodynamic analysis of a new design of temperature controlled parabolic trough collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ceylan, İlhan; Ergun, Alper

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • This new design parabolic trough collector has been made as temperature control. • The TCPTC system is very appropriate for the industrial systems which require high temperatures. • With TCPTC can provide hot water with low solar radiation. • TCPTC system costs are cheaper than other systems (thermo siphon systems, pomp systems, etc.). - Abstract: Numerous types of solar water heater are used throughout the world. These heaters can be classified into two groups as pumped systems and thermo siphon systems. However, water temperature cannot be controlled by these systems. In this study, a new temperature-controlled parabolic trough collector (TCPTC) was designed and analyzed experimentally. The analysis was made at a temperature range of 40–100 °C, with at intervals of 10 °C. A detailed analysis was performed by calculating energy efficiencies, exergy efficiencies, water temperatures and water amounts. The highest energy efficiency of TCPTC was calculated as 61.2 for 100 °C. As the set temperature increased, the energy efficiency increased as well. The highest exergy efficiency was calculated as 63 for 70 °C. However, as the set temperature increased, the exergy efficiency did not increase. Optimum exergy efficiency was obtained for 70 °C

  1. A Novel Parabolic Trough Concentrating Solar Heating for Cut Tobacco Drying System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiang Tao Liu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel parabolic trough concentrating solar heating for cut tobacco drying system was established. The opening width effect of V type metal cavity absorber was investigated. A cut tobacco drying mathematical model calculated by fourth-order Runge-Kutta numerical solution method was used to simulate the cut tobacco drying process. And finally the orthogonal test method was used to optimize the parameters of cut tobacco drying process. The result shows that the heating rate, acquisition factor, and collector system efficiency increase with increasing the opening width of the absorber. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental data for cut tobacco drying process. The relative errors between simulated and experimental values are less than 8%, indicating that this mathematical model is accurate for the cut tobacco airflow drying process. The optimum preparation conditions are an inlet airflow velocity of 15 m/s, an initial cut tobacco moisture content of 26%, and an inlet airflow temperature of 200°C. The thermal efficiency of the dryer and the final cut tobacco moisture content are 66.32% and 14.15%, respectively. The result shows that this parabolic trough concentrating solar heating will be one of the heat recourse candidates for cut tobacco drying system.

  2. Structured Kernel Subspace Learning for Autonomous Robot Navigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Eunwoo; Choi, Sungjoon; Oh, Songhwai

    2018-02-14

    This paper considers two important problems for autonomous robot navigation in a dynamic environment, where the goal is to predict pedestrian motion and control a robot with the prediction for safe navigation. While there are several methods for predicting the motion of a pedestrian and controlling a robot to avoid incoming pedestrians, it is still difficult to safely navigate in a dynamic environment due to challenges, such as the varying quality and complexity of training data with unwanted noises. This paper addresses these challenges simultaneously by proposing a robust kernel subspace learning algorithm based on the recent advances in nuclear-norm and l 1 -norm minimization. We model the motion of a pedestrian and the robot controller using Gaussian processes. The proposed method efficiently approximates a kernel matrix used in Gaussian process regression by learning low-rank structured matrix (with symmetric positive semi-definiteness) to find an orthogonal basis, which eliminates the effects of erroneous and inconsistent data. Based on structured kernel subspace learning, we propose a robust motion model and motion controller for safe navigation in dynamic environments. We evaluate the proposed robust kernel learning in various tasks, including regression, motion prediction, and motion control problems, and demonstrate that the proposed learning-based systems are robust against outliers and outperform existing regression and navigation methods.

  3. Bottom water oxygenation changes in the northern Okinawa Trough since the last 88ka: Controlled by local hydrology and climate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Jianjun; Shi, Xuefa; Zhu, Aimei; Bai, Yazhi; Selvaraj, Kandasamy

    2014-05-01

    Dissolved oxygen content in oceanic bottom water is closely related to the surface organic carbon export and subsurface water stratification, regulating the biogeochemical cycles of some key nutrients and trace elements in intermediate and deep water columns. Further, the rate of organic carbon flux to sediments and bottom water oxygen concentration together determine the intensity of reducing conditions in sediments. In this study, we obtain high-resolution geochemical elements (TOC, TN, TS, CaCO3, Cd, U, Mn and Mo) in a radiocarbon (14C) and δ18O dated, sediment core CSH1 collected from the northern Okinawa Trough to reconstruct the history of bottom water redox conditions over 88 ka. Our data revealed the presence of hypoxic bottom water in the northern Okinawa Trough during late MIS5a-early MIS4, Last Glacial Maximum, and the early Last Deglacial intervals. During the Holocene and the early MIS5a, the dissolved oxygen content in bottom water has increased with decreasing water stratification, which was probably caused by the increased upwelling from the bottom in tandem with the climbing of Kuroshio Current and subdued freshwater effect in the northern Okinawa Trough. The reasons that caused the change of dissolved oxygen content in bottom water in the northern Okinawa Trough varied during different periods. The main factors are related to sea level, strengths of East Asian monsoon and the Kuroshio Current, and the shift of Westerly Jet Axis. The semi-closed topography in the northern Okinawa Trough provides a space framework for the presence of anoxia, while the sea level together with the Kuroshio Current, the East Asian monsoon and the Westerly Jet Axis seems to affect the strength of water stratification and the nutrient supply; thereby, regulating the dissolved oxygen exchange between surface and bottom waters. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.:40906035,40710069004) and by basic scientific fund for

  4. Core Description and a Preliminarily Sedimentology Study of Site 1202D, Leg 195, in the Southern Okinawa Trough

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chi-Yue Huang

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available ODP Site 1202 of Leg 195 was designed primarily for a high-resolution study of the paleoceanography of the Kuroshio Current in the southern Okinawa Trough off NE Taiwan. Four holes were drilled in which Hole 1202D is described in detail in this study for an assessment of core quality for paleoceanography study and understanding of sedimentological features, especially turbidite sedimentation and the sediment provenances during the Late Quaternary in the southern Okinawa Trough. Pelagic mud with insignificant silt or sand layers is observed from the core top down to 133 m (mbsf; Marine Isotope Stages 1-3, but the silt-sand layer ratio (SLR: total thickness of silt and sand layers / 1.5 m of core increases gradually from a value of 50 % between 223 and 279 m, followed by decreases to values 250 _ Slate fragments are commonly found in fine-grained turbidite dominant intervals (160 - 280 m, while mica flakes can be observed in the muds throughout the core. The major detrital components were derived primarily from the Miocene slate belt of the pre-collision accretionary prism of the Central Range in northern Taiwan. The occurrence of volcanics could represent submarine volcanic activity in the active-opening Okinawa Trough back-arc basin off NE Taiwan. Shallow-marine fossils including benthic foraminifers, echinoids, bryozoans and mollusks are also found in the fine-grained turbidite dominant intervals. These fossil assemblages could have been deposited in the shallow shelf and then transported to the depositional site along with voluminous terrigenous materials derived from Taiwan, via submarine channels or by slope failures due to frequent earthquakes induced by plate convergence/collision and extension in the southwestern Okinawa Trough off NE Taiwan. It is concluded that the top 133 m of the core is better suited for paleoceanographic reconstruction.

  5. Sensitivity analysis on the effect of key parameters on the performance of parabolic trough solar collectors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muhlen, Luis S. W.; Najafi, Behzad; Rinaldi, Fabio; Marchesi, Renzo

    2014-04-01

    Solar troughs are amongst the most commonly used technologies for collecting solar thermal energy and any attempt to increase the performance of these systems is welcomed. In the present study a parabolic solar trough is simulated using a one dimensional finite element model in which the energy balances for the fluid, the absorber and the envelope in each element are performed. The developed model is then validated using the available experimental data . A sensitivity analysis is performed in the next step in order to study the effect of changing the type of the working fluid and the corresponding Reynolds number on the overall performance of the system. The potential improvement due to the addition of a shield on the upper half of the annulus and enhancing the convection coefficient of the heat transfer fluid is also studied.

  6. Sensitivity analysis on the effect of key parameters on the performance of parabolic trough solar collectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Muhlen, Luis S W; Najafi, Behzad; Rinaldi, Fabio; Marchesi, Renzo

    2014-01-01

    Solar troughs are amongst the most commonly used technologies for collecting solar thermal energy and any attempt to increase the performance of these systems is welcomed. In the present study a parabolic solar trough is simulated using a one dimensional finite element model in which the energy balances for the fluid, the absorber and the envelope in each element are performed. The developed model is then validated using the available experimental data . A sensitivity analysis is performed in the next step in order to study the effect of changing the type of the working fluid and the corresponding Reynolds number on the overall performance of the system. The potential improvement due to the addition of a shield on the upper half of the annulus and enhancing the convection coefficient of the heat transfer fluid is also studied.

  7. Multi-Scale Peak and Trough Detection Optimised for Periodic and Quasi-Periodic Neuroscience Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Steven M; Ercole, Ari

    2018-01-01

    The reliable detection of peaks and troughs in physiological signals is essential to many investigative techniques in medicine and computational biology. Analysis of the intracranial pressure (ICP) waveform is a particular challenge due to multi-scale features, a changing morphology over time and signal-to-noise limitations. Here we present an efficient peak and trough detection algorithm that extends the scalogram approach of Scholkmann et al., and results in greatly improved algorithm runtime performance. Our improved algorithm (modified Scholkmann) was developed and analysed in MATLAB R2015b. Synthesised waveforms (periodic, quasi-periodic and chirp sinusoids) were degraded with white Gaussian noise to achieve signal-to-noise ratios down to 5 dB and were used to compare the performance of the original Scholkmann and modified Scholkmann algorithms. The modified Scholkmann algorithm has false-positive (0%) and false-negative (0%) detection rates identical to the original Scholkmann when applied to our test suite. Actual compute time for a 200-run Monte Carlo simulation over a multicomponent noisy test signal was 40.96 ± 0.020 s (mean ± 95%CI) for the original Scholkmann and 1.81 ± 0.003 s (mean ± 95%CI) for the modified Scholkmann, demonstrating the expected improvement in runtime complexity from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. The accurate interpretation of waveform data to identify peaks and troughs is crucial in signal parameterisation, feature extraction and waveform identification tasks. Modification of a standard scalogram technique has produced a robust algorithm with linear computational complexity that is particularly suited to the challenges presented by large, noisy physiological datasets. The algorithm is optimised through a single parameter and can identify sub-waveform features with minimal additional overhead, and is easily adapted to run in real time on commodity hardware.

  8. Trough and pot crop systems with leaching recirculation and defoliation levels for mini tomatoes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lais Perin

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The use of raw rice husk as substrate allows the use of crop systems that promote the recirculation of leachate in long crop cycles. Mini tomatoes present relatively low demand for photoassimilates. Thus, partial defoliation of the sympodium could benefit the crop without damage to the production or quality of the fruits. The objective of this work was to evaluate the plant growth, fruit yield and fruit quality of Cherry Hybrid Wanda and Grape Hybrid Dolcetto mini tomatoes cultivated in two recirculation crop systems (pots and troughs, using raw rice husk as substrate, under three defoliation conditions (without defoliation, removal of one and two leaves of the sympodium. The Cherry cultivar showed higher plant growth, fruit yield and mean fruit size. The Grape cultivar produced fruits with higher sugar concentration. For the Grape cultivar, the removal of one sympodium leaf did not affect the plant responses. However, for the Cherry cultivar, it was necessary to maintain the complete sympodium. The trough cultivation system improved plant growth and yield, whereas the pot system increased fruit sugar concentration.

  9. Paradoxes of Social Networking in a Structured Web 2.0 Language Learning Community

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loiseau, Mathieu; Zourou, Katerina

    2012-01-01

    This paper critically inquires into social networking as a set of mechanisms and associated practices developed in a structured Web 2.0 language learning community. This type of community can be roughly described as learning spaces featuring (more or less) structured language learning resources displaying at least some notions of language learning…

  10. The structure of observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy: a model to promote dental students' learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucander, H; Bondemark, L; Brown, G; Knutsson, K

    2010-08-01

    Selective memorising of isolated facts or reproducing what is thought to be required - the surface approach to learning - is not the desired outcome for a dental student or a dentist in practice. The preferred outcome is a deep approach as defined by an intention to seek understanding, develop expertise and relate information and knowledge into a coherent whole. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the structure of observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy could be used as a model to assist and promote the dental students to develop a deep approach to learning assessed as learning outcomes in a summative assessment. Thirty-two students, participating in course eight in 2007 at the Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University, were introduced to the SOLO taxonomy and constituted the test group. The control group consisted of 35 students participating in course eight in 2006. The effect of the introduction was measured by evaluating responses to a question in the summative assessment by using the SOLO taxonomy. The evaluators consisted of two teachers who performed the assessment of learning outcomes independently and separately on the coded material. The SOLO taxonomy as a model for learning was found to improve the quality of learning. Compared to the control group significantly more strings and structured relations between these strings were present in the test group after the SOLO taxonomy had been introduced (P SOLO taxonomy is recommended as a model for promoting and developing a deeper approach to learning in dentistry.

  11. Thermo-economic design optimization of parabolic trough solar plants for industrial process heat applications with memetic algorithms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, R.; Berenguel, M.; Pérez, M.; Fernández-Garcia, A.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A thermo-economic optimization of a parabolic-trough solar plant for industrial process heat applications is developed. • An analysis of the influence of economic cost functions on optimal design point location is presented. • A multi-objective optimization approach to the design routine is proposed. • A sensitivity analysis of the optimal point location to economic, operational, and ambient conditions is developed. • Design optimization of a parabolic trough plant for a reference industrial application is developed. - Abstract: A thermo-economic design optimization of a parabolic trough solar plant for industrial processes with memetic algorithms is developed. The design domain variables considered in the optimization routine are the number of collectors in series, number of collector rows, row spacing, and storage volume. Life cycle savings, levelized cost of energy, and payback time objective functions are compared to study the influence on optimal design point location. Furthermore a multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to analyze the design problem from a multi-economic criteria point of view. An extensive set of optimization cases are performed to estimate the influence of fuel price trend, plant location, demand profile, operation conditions, solar field orientation, and radiation uncertainty on optimal design. The results allow quantifying as thermo-economic design optimization based on short term criteria as the payback time leads to smaller plants with higher solar field efficiencies and smaller solar fractions, while the consideration of optimization criteria based on long term performance of the plants, as life cycle savings based optimization, leads to the reverse conclusion. The role of plant location and future evolution of gas prices in the thermo-economic performance of the solar plant has been also analyzed. Thermo-economic optimization of a parabolic trough solar plant design for the reference industrial

  12. Robust visual tracking via structured multi-task sparse learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Liu, Si; Ahuja, Narendra

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a structured multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Structured Multi-Task Tracking (S-MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary

  13. A framework for adaptive e-learning for continuum mechanics and structural analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Mosquera Feijoo, Juan Carlos; Plaza Beltrán, Luis Francisco; González Rodrigo, Beatriz

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents a project for providing the students of Structural Engineering with the flexibility to learn outside classroom schedules. The goal is a framework for adaptive E-learning based on a repository of open educational courseware with a set of basic Structural Engineering concepts and fundamentals. These are paramount for students to expand their technical knowledge and skills in structural analysis and design of tall buildings, arch-type structures as well as bridges. Thus, conc...

  14. The trochlear cleft: the ''black line'' of the trochlear trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wissman, Robert D.; Nepute, Joshua; Fischer, Nathaniel von; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Hendry, Daniel; Ingalls, Jerrell; Kenter, Keith

    2012-01-01

    The ''cartilage black line sign'' is a recently described T2 dark cartilage lesion that we have identified appearing as a cleft in the trochlear trough. The purpose of our study was to define the MR imaging characteristics of a trochlear cleft, determine its incidence, and correlate the MR findings with arthroscopy. A total of 1,300 consecutive MR examinations of the knee were retrospectively reviewed by consensus of two fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists. The MR imaging characteristics and location of a trochlear cleft were determined. Imaging results were compared to arthroscopy when available. Patient age and gender were compared to 25 randomly selected control patients without trochlear clefts. A total of 25 (1.9%) individuals (11 females and 14 males; age range 19-45 years; mean age 28 years) were diagnosed with a trochlear cleft. The control group consisted of 11 females and 14 males; age range 19-83 years; mean age 46 years. Mean cleft length was 7 mm (range 6-12 mm); cleft location was consistently in the lower trochlear trough. No full-thickness cartilage defects were identified in the eight individuals in whom arthroscopic correlation was available. A grade 2 cartilage lesion was identified in a single individual; another progressed from grade 0 to a full-thickness trochlear lesion over an 8-month interval. Eight individuals were athletes. No significant difference in gender was noted between the two groups, however, the study group was significantly younger p < 0.0001. A trochlear cleft is a rare finding in young active individuals. It most likely indicates an incomplete cartilage fissure which may rarely progress to a full-thickness defect. (orig.)

  15. Implicit Structured Sequence Learning: An FMRI Study of the Structural Mere-Exposure Effect

    OpenAIRE

    Vasiliki eFolia; Vasiliki eFolia; Karl Magnus ePetersson; Karl Magnus ePetersson; Karl Magnus ePetersson

    2014-01-01

    In this event-related FMRI study we investigated the effect of five days of implicit acquisition on preference classification by means of an artificial grammar learning (AGL) paradigm based on the structural mere-exposure effect and preference classification using a simple right-linear unification grammar. This allowed us to investigate implicit AGL in a proper learning design by including baseline measurements prior to grammar exposure. After 5 days of implicit acquisition, the FMRI results ...

  16. A {approx}180,000 years sedimentation history of a perialpine overdeepened glacial trough (Wehntal, N-Switzerland)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anselmetti, F. S. [Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Duebendorf (Switzerland); Drescher-Schneider, R. [Institut fuer Pflanzenwissenschaften, Karl-Fanzen-Universitaet Graz, Graz (Austria); Furrer, H. [Palaeontologisches Institut und Museum, Universitaet Zuerich, Zuerich (Switzerland); Graf, H. R. [Matousek, Baumann und Niggli AG, Baden (Switzerland); Lowick, S. E.; Preusser, F. [Institut fuer Geologie, Universitaet Bern, Bern (Switzerland); Riedi, M. A. [Marc A. Riedi, Susenbuehlstrasse 41, Chur (Switzerland)

    2010-11-15

    A 30 m-deep drill core from a glacially overdeepened trough in Northern Switzerland recovered a {approx} 180 ka old sedimentary succession that provides new insights into the timing and nature of erosion-sedimentation processes in the Swiss lowlands. The luminescence-dated stratigraphic succession starts at the bottom of the core with laminated carbonate-rich lake sediments reflecting deposition in a proglacial lake between {approx} 180 and 130 ka ago (Marine Isotope Stage MIS 6). Anomalies in geotechnical properties and the occurrence of deformation structures suggest temporary ice contact around 140 ka. Up-core, organic content increases in the lake deposits indicating a warming of climate. These sediments are overlain by a peat deposit characterised by pollen assemblages typical of the late Eemian (MIS 5e). An abrupt transition following this interglacial encompasses a likely hiatus and probably marks a sudden lowering of the water level. The peat unit is overlain by deposits of a cold unproductive lake dated to late MIS 5 and MIS 4, which do not show any direct influence from glaciers. An upper peat unit, the so-called {sup M}ammoth peat{sup ,} previously encountered in construction pits, interrupts this cold lacustrine phase and marks more temperate climatic conditions between 60 and 45 ka (MIS 3). In the upper part of the core, a succession of fluvial and alluvial deposits documents the Late Glacial and Holocene sedimentation in the basin. The sedimentary succession at Wehntal confirms that the glaciation during MIS 6 did not apparently cause the overdeepening of the valley, as the lacustrine basin fill covering most of MIS 6 is still preserved. Consequently, erosion of the basin is most likely linked to an older glaciation. This study shows that new dating techniques combined with paleoenvironmental interpretations of sediments from such overdeepened troughs provide valuable insights into the past glacial history. (authors)

  17. A ∼180,000 years sedimentation history of a perialpine overdeepened glacial trough (Wehntal, N-Switzerland)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anselmetti, F. S.; Drescher-Schneider, R.; Furrer, H.; Graf, H. R.; Lowick, S. E.; Preusser, F.; Riedi, M. A.

    2010-01-01

    A 30 m-deep drill core from a glacially overdeepened trough in Northern Switzerland recovered a ∼ 180 ka old sedimentary succession that provides new insights into the timing and nature of erosion-sedimentation processes in the Swiss lowlands. The luminescence-dated stratigraphic succession starts at the bottom of the core with laminated carbonate-rich lake sediments reflecting deposition in a proglacial lake between ∼ 180 and 130 ka ago (Marine Isotope Stage MIS 6). Anomalies in geotechnical properties and the occurrence of deformation structures suggest temporary ice contact around 140 ka. Up-core, organic content increases in the lake deposits indicating a warming of climate. These sediments are overlain by a peat deposit characterised by pollen assemblages typical of the late Eemian (MIS 5e). An abrupt transition following this interglacial encompasses a likely hiatus and probably marks a sudden lowering of the water level. The peat unit is overlain by deposits of a cold unproductive lake dated to late MIS 5 and MIS 4, which do not show any direct influence from glaciers. An upper peat unit, the so-called M ammoth peat , previously encountered in construction pits, interrupts this cold lacustrine phase and marks more temperate climatic conditions between 60 and 45 ka (MIS 3). In the upper part of the core, a succession of fluvial and alluvial deposits documents the Late Glacial and Holocene sedimentation in the basin. The sedimentary succession at Wehntal confirms that the glaciation during MIS 6 did not apparently cause the overdeepening of the valley, as the lacustrine basin fill covering most of MIS 6 is still preserved. Consequently, erosion of the basin is most likely linked to an older glaciation. This study shows that new dating techniques combined with paleoenvironmental interpretations of sediments from such overdeepened troughs provide valuable insights into the past glacial history. (authors)

  18. [Perceptions of classroom goal structures, personal achievement goal orientations, and learning strategies].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miki, Kaori; Yamauchi, Hirotsugu

    2005-08-01

    We examined the relations among students' perceptions of classroom goal structures (mastery and performance goal structures), students' achievement goal orientations (mastery, performance, and work-avoidance goals), and learning strategies (deep processing, surface processing and self-handicapping strategies). Participants were 323 5th and 6th grade students in elementary schools. The results from structural equation modeling indicated that perceptions of classroom mastery goal structures were associated with students' mastery goal orientations, which were in turn related positively to the deep processing strategies and academic achievement. Perceptions of classroom performance goal stractures proved associated with work avoidance-goal orientations, which were positively related to the surface processing and self-handicapping strategies. Two types of goal structures had a positive relation with students' performance goal orientations, which had significant positive effects on academic achievement. The results of this study suggest that elementary school students' perceptions of mastery goal structures are related to adaptive patterns of learning more than perceptions of performance goal structures are. The role of perceptions of classroom goal structure in promoting students' goal orientations and learning strategies is discussed.

  19. Large-Scale Unsupervised Hashing with Shared Structure Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xianglong; Mu, Yadong; Zhang, Danchen; Lang, Bo; Li, Xuelong

    2015-09-01

    Hashing methods are effective in generating compact binary signatures for images and videos. This paper addresses an important open issue in the literature, i.e., how to learn compact hash codes by enhancing the complementarity among different hash functions. Most of prior studies solve this problem either by adopting time-consuming sequential learning algorithms or by generating the hash functions which are subject to some deliberately-designed constraints (e.g., enforcing hash functions orthogonal to one another). We analyze the drawbacks of past works and propose a new solution to this problem. Our idea is to decompose the feature space into a subspace shared by all hash functions and its complementary subspace. On one hand, the shared subspace, corresponding to the common structure across different hash functions, conveys most relevant information for the hashing task. Similar to data de-noising, irrelevant information is explicitly suppressed during hash function generation. On the other hand, in case that the complementary subspace also contains useful information for specific hash functions, the final form of our proposed hashing scheme is a compromise between these two kinds of subspaces. To make hash functions not only preserve the local neighborhood structure but also capture the global cluster distribution of the whole data, an objective function incorporating spectral embedding loss, binary quantization loss, and shared subspace contribution is introduced to guide the hash function learning. We propose an efficient alternating optimization method to simultaneously learn both the shared structure and the hash functions. Experimental results on three well-known benchmarks CIFAR-10, NUS-WIDE, and a-TRECVID demonstrate that our approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art hashing methods.

  20. Applying Adaptive Swarm Intelligence Technology with Structuration in Web-Based Collaborative Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yueh-Min; Liu, Chien-Hung

    2009-01-01

    One of the key challenges in the promotion of web-based learning is the development of effective collaborative learning environments. We posit that the structuration process strongly influences the effectiveness of technology used in web-based collaborative learning activities. In this paper, we propose an ant swarm collaborative learning (ASCL)…

  1. Human infants' learning of social structures: the case of dominance hierarchy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mascaro, Olivier; Csibra, Gergely

    2014-01-01

    We tested 15-month-olds' capacity to represent social-dominance hierarchies with more than two agents. Our results showed that infants found it harder to memorize dominance relations that were presented in an order that hindered the incremental formation of a single structure (Study 1). These results suggest that infants attempt to build structures incrementally, relation by relation, thereby simplifying the complex problem of recognizing a social structure. Infants also found circular dominance structures harder to process than linear dominance structures (Study 2). These expectations about the shape of structures may facilitate learning. Our results suggest that infants attempt to represent social structures composed of social relations. They indicate that human infants go beyond learning about individual social partners and their respective relations and form hypotheses about how social groups are organized.

  2. A hierarchical model for structure learning based on the physiological characteristics of neurons

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    WEI Hui

    2007-01-01

    Almost all applications of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) depend mainly on their memory ability.The characteristics of typical ANN models are fixed connections,with evolved weights,globalized representations,and globalized optimizations,all based on a mathematical approach.This makes those models to be deficient in robustness,efficiency of learning,capacity,anti-jamming between training sets,and correlativity of samples,etc.In this paper,we attempt to address these problems by adopting the characteristics of biological neurons in morphology and signal processing.A hierarchical neural network was designed and realized to implement structure learning and representations based on connected structures.The basic characteristics of this model are localized and random connections,field limitations of neuron fan-in and fan-out,dynamic behavior of neurons,and samples represented through different sub-circuits of neurons specialized into different response patterns.At the end of this paper,some important aspects of error correction,capacity,learning efficiency,and soundness of structural representation are analyzed theoretically.This paper has demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of structure learning and representation.This model can serve as a fundamental element of cognitive systems such as perception and associative memory.Key-words structure learning,representation,associative memory,computational neuroscience

  3. Optical and thermal performance of large-size parabolic-trough solar collectors from outdoor experiments: A test method and a case study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valenzuela, Loreto; López-Martín, Rafael; Zarza, Eduardo

    2014-01-01

    This article presents an outdoor test method to evaluate the optical and thermal performance of parabolic-trough collectors of large size (length ≥ 100 m), similar to those currently installed in solar thermal power plants. Optical performance in line-focus collectors is defined by three parameters, peak-optical efficiency and longitudinal and transversal incidence angle modifiers. In parabolic-troughs, the transversal incidence angle modifier is usually assumed equal to 1, and the incidence angle modifier is referred to the longitudinal incidence angle modifier, which is a factor less than or equal to 1 and must be quantified. These measurements are performed by operating the collector at low fluid temperatures for reducing heat losses. Thermal performance is measured during tests at various operating temperatures, which are defined within the working temperature range of the solar field, and for the condition of maximum optical response. Heat losses are measured from both the experiments performed to measure the overall efficiency and the experiments done by operating the collector to ensure that absorber pipes are not exposed to concentrated solar radiation. The set of parameters describing the performance of a parabolic-trough collector of large size has been measured following the test procedures proposed and explained in the article. - Highlights: • Outdoor test procedures of parabolic-trough solar collector (PTC) of large size working at high temperature are described. • Optical performance measured with cold fluid temperature and thermal performance measured in the complete temperature range. • Experimental data obtained in the testing of a PTC prototype are explained

  4. Airport Flight Departure Delay Model on Improved BN Structure Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Weidong; Fang, Xiangnong

    An high score prior genetic simulated annealing Bayesian network structure learning algorithm (HSPGSA) by combining genetic algorithm(GA) with simulated annealing algorithm(SAA) is developed. The new algorithm provides not only with strong global search capability of GA, but also with strong local hill climb search capability of SAA. The structure with the highest score is prior selected. In the mean time, structures with lower score are also could be choice. It can avoid efficiently prematurity problem by higher score individual wrong direct growing population. Algorithm is applied to flight departure delays analysis in a large hub airport. Based on the flight data a BN model is created. Experiments show that parameters learning can reflect departure delay.

  5. A semi-supervised learning approach for RNA secondary structure prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yonemoto, Haruka; Asai, Kiyoshi; Hamada, Michiaki

    2015-08-01

    RNA secondary structure prediction is a key technology in RNA bioinformatics. Most algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction use probabilistic models, in which the model parameters are trained with reliable RNA secondary structures. Because of the difficulty of determining RNA secondary structures by experimental procedures, such as NMR or X-ray crystal structural analyses, there are still many RNA sequences that could be useful for training whose secondary structures have not been experimentally determined. In this paper, we introduce a novel semi-supervised learning approach for training parameters in a probabilistic model of RNA secondary structures in which we employ not only RNA sequences with annotated secondary structures but also ones with unknown secondary structures. Our model is based on a hybrid of generative (stochastic context-free grammars) and discriminative models (conditional random fields) that has been successfully applied to natural language processing. Computational experiments indicate that the accuracy of secondary structure prediction is improved by incorporating RNA sequences with unknown secondary structures into training. To our knowledge, this is the first study of a semi-supervised learning approach for RNA secondary structure prediction. This technique will be useful when the number of reliable structures is limited. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. An experimental study of thermal characterization of parabolic trough receivers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei, Dongqiang; Li, Qiang; Wang, Zhifeng; Li, Jian; Li, Jianbin

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► A new test stand of heat loss has been developed at IEECAS. ► A correlation between heat loss and absorber temperature is presented, 270 W/m 400 °C. ► The ratio of end loss in total heat loss increases with decreasing the temperature. ► The emittance test stand using a high vacuum system and vacuum gauge is built. ► Emittance first decreases, then rapidly increases with increasing the temperature. - Abstract: The receiver is a key component of the parabolic trough solar station. The receiver requires the most challenging technology and has a decisive influence on the thermal and economic performance of a power plant. The Institute of Electrical Engineering Chinese Academy Sciences (IEECAS) and Himin Solar Co., Ltd. (HSC) cooperated to develop solar receivers for the first 50 MW parabolic trough project in Inner Mongolia, China. This paper examines overall heat loss, end loss and thermal emittance of the coating of a newly designed receiver in order to evaluate its thermal characterization. A series of heat loss tests are conducted in a newly developed test stand following the steady state equilibrium method. The tests provide a correlation between heat loss and the absorber temperature. This paper presents a new testing method to accurately test the coating emittance. The method uses a receiver with a high vacuum system and a vacuum gauge to maintain continuous exhaust and high vacuum throughout the heat loss testing. A heat loss comparison between the receiver and other existing receivers provides a reference that enabled further optimization. Theoretical and experimental analysis examines the effects of end loss both with and without a heat insulator and a coil heater. The emittance curves of different coatings are acquired and the reasons for initial emittance decrease and then remarkable increase versus temperature are analyzed

  7. Developing Structured-Learning Exercises for a Community Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience

    OpenAIRE

    Thomas, Renee Ahrens

    2006-01-01

    The recent growth in the number of pharmacy schools across the nation has resulted in the need for high-quality community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sites. A vital part of a student's education, these APPEs should be structured and formalized to provide an environment conducive to student learning. This paper discusses how to use a calendar, structured-learning activities, and scheduled evaluations to develop students' knowledge, skills, and abilities in a community pharmacy...

  8. Developing structured-learning exercises for a community advanced pharmacy practice experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Renee Ahrens

    2006-02-15

    The recent growth in the number of pharmacy schools across the nation has resulted in the need for high-quality community advanced pharmacy practice experience (APPE) sites. A vital part of a student's education, these APPEs should be structured and formalized to provide an environment conducive to student learning. This paper discusses how to use a calendar, structured-learning activities, and scheduled evaluations to develop students' knowledge, skills, and abilities in a community pharmacy setting.

  9. The Evidence from Inclusions in Pumices for the Direct Degassing of Volatiles from the Magma to the Hydrothermal Fluids in the Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    YU Zenghui; ZHAI Shikui; ZHAO Guangtao

    2002-01-01

    This article presents the evidence in support of the direct magma degassing as the principal mechanism of volatilesreleasing into the hydrothermal fluids in the Okinawa Trough, as contrasted to the argument for the hydrothermal strippingof volatiles from the volcanic rocks.Laser Raman microprobe and stepped-heating techniques are employed to determine the compositions and contents of thevolatiles in pumices in the middle Okinawa Trough. The results show that the volatiles are similar to the gases in the hy-drothermal fluids and hydrothermal minerals in composition, the mean percent content of each component and variationtrend. This indicates the direct influence of magma degassing on the hydrothermal fluids. In addition, the contents ofvolatiles in pumices are rather low and do not support the hydrothermal stripping as the main mechanism to enrich the fluidswith gases. The results are consistent with the idea that the direct magma degassing is more important than hydrothermalstripping in supplying gases to the hydrothermal fluids in the Okinawa Trough.

  10. Structural Identification and Comparison of Intelligent Mobile Learning Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Upadhyay, Nitin; Agarwal, Vishnu Prakash

    2007-01-01

    This paper proposes a methodology using graph theory, matrix algebra and permanent function to compare different architecture (structure) design of intelligent mobile learning environment. The current work deals with the development/selection of optimum architecture (structural) model of iMLE. This can be done using the criterion as discussed in…

  11. Learning the Structure of Bayesian Network from Small Amount of Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdan COCU

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Many areas of artificial intelligence must handling with imperfection ofinformation. One of the ways to do this is using representation and reasoning withBayesian networks. Creation of a Bayesian network consists in two stages. First stage isto design the node structure and directed links between them. Choosing of a structurefor network can be done either through empirical developing by human experts orthrough machine learning algorithm. The second stage is completion of probabilitytables for each node. Using a machine learning method is useful, especially when wehave a big amount of leaning data. But in many fields the amount of data is small,incomplete and inconsistent. In this paper, we make a case study for choosing the bestlearning method for small amount of learning data. Means more experiments we dropconclusion of using existent methods for learning a network structure.

  12. The Role of Structure in Learning Non-Euclidean Geometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asmuth, Jennifer A.

    2009-01-01

    How do people learn novel mathematical information that contradicts prior knowledge? The focus of this thesis is the role of structure in the acquisition of knowledge about hyperbolic geometry, a non-Euclidean geometry. In a series of three experiments, I contrast a more holistic structure--training based on closed figures--with a mathematically…

  13. Sedimentary response to volcanic activity in the Okinawa Trough since the last deglaciation

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    蒋富清; 李安春; 李铁刚

    2010-01-01

    To investigate the relationship between volcanic activity and sediment record on regional and temporal scales,158 surface sediment samples were collected from the East China Sea Shelf to the northern Okinawa Trough (OT),and two cores recovered in the northern and southern OT,respectively.Mineralogy,grain-size,and geochemical analyses of those samples show that:1) volcanic glass,volcanic-type pyroxene,hypersthenes,and magnetite increase in sediment influenced by volcanic activity;2) sediment grain sizes (and...

  14. Mechanical and thermal behavior of a prototype support structure for a large silicon vertex detector (BCD)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mulderink, H.; Michels, N.; Joestlein, H.

    1989-01-01

    The Bottom Collider Detector (BCD) has been proposed as a device to study large numbers of events containing B mesons. To identify secondary vertices in hadronic events it will employ the most ambitious silicon strip tracking detector proposed to-date. This report will discuss results from measurements on a first mechanical/thermal model of the vertex detector support structure. The model that was built and used for the studies described here is made of brass. Brass was used because it is readily available and easily assembled by soft soldering, and, for appropriate thicknesses, it will behave similarly to the beryllium that will be used in the actual detector. The trough was built to full scale with the reinforcement webbing and the cooling channels in place. There were no detector modules in place. We plan, however, to install modules in the trough in the future. The purpose of the model was to address two concerns that have arisen about the proposed structure of the detector. The first is whether or not the trough will be stable enough. The trough must be very light in weight yet have a high degree of rigidity. Because of the 3m length of the detector there is question as to the stiffness of the proposed trough. The main concern is that there will sagging or movement of the trough in the middle region. The second problem is the heat load. There will be a great deal of heat generated by the electronics attached to the detector modules. So the question arises as to whether or not the silicon detectors can be kept cool enough so that when the actual experiment is run the readings will be valid. The heat may also induce motion by differential expansion of support components. 26 figs

  15. Nonimaging secondary concentrators for large rim angle parabolic troughs with tubular absorbers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ries, H; Spirkl, W

    1996-05-01

    For parabolic trough solar collectors with tubular absorbers, we design new tailored secondary concentrators. The design is applicable for any rim angle of a parabolic reflector. With the secondary, the concentration can be increased by a factor of more than 2 with a compact secondary reflector consisting of a single piece, even for the important case of a rim angle of 90 deg. The parabolic reflector can be used without changes; the reduced absorber is still tubular but smaller than the original absorber and slightly displaced toward the primary.

  16. Theoretical and Experimental Optical Evaluation and Comparison of Symmetric 2D CPC and V-Trough Collector for Photovoltaic Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damasen Ikwaba Paul

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents theoretical and experimental optical evaluation and comparison of symmetric Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC and V-trough collector. For direct optical properties comparison, both concentrators were deliberately designed to have the same geometrical concentration ratio (1.96, aperture area, absorber area, and maximum concentrator length. The theoretical optical evaluation of the CPC and V-trough collector was carried out using a ray-trace technique while the experimental optical efficiency and solar energy flux distributions were analysed using an isolated cell PV module method. Results by simulation analysis showed that for the CPC, the highest optical efficiency was 95% achieved in the interval range of 0° to ±20° whereas the highest outdoor experimental optical efficiency was 94% in the interval range of 0° to ±20°. For the V-tough collector, the highest optical efficiency for simulation and outdoor experiments was about 96% and 93%, respectively, both in the interval range of 0° to ±5°. Simulation results also showed that the CPC and V-trough exhibit higher variation in non-illumination intensity distributions over the PV module surface for larger incidence angles than lower incidence angles. On the other hand, the maximum power output for the cells with concentrators varied depending on the location of the cell in the PV module.

  17. BDgraph: An R Package for Bayesian Structure Learning in Graphical Models

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mohammadi, A.; Wit, E.C.

    2017-01-01

    Graphical models provide powerful tools to uncover complicated patterns in multivariate data and are commonly used in Bayesian statistics and machine learning. In this paper, we introduce an R package BDgraph which performs Bayesian structure learning for general undirected graphical models with

  18. Continental rupture and the creation of new crust in the Salton Trough rift, Southern California and northern Mexico: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Liang; Hole, John A.; Stock, Joann M.; Fuis, Gary S.; Kell, Annie; Driscoll, Neal W.; Kent, Graham M.; Harding, Alistair J.; Rymer, Michael J.; González-Fernández, Antonio; Lázaro-Mancilla, Octavio

    2016-10-01

    A refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile along the axis of the Salton Trough, California and Mexico, was analyzed to constrain crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity structure during active continental rifting. From the northern Salton Sea to the southern Imperial Valley, the crust is 17-18 km thick and approximately one-dimensional. The transition at depth from Colorado River sediment to underlying crystalline rock is gradual and is not a depositional surface. The crystalline rock from 3 to 8 km depth is interpreted as sediment metamorphosed by high heat flow. Deeper felsic crystalline rock could be stretched preexisting crust or higher-grade metamorphosed sediment. The lower crust below 12 km depth is interpreted to be gabbro emplaced by rift-related magmatic intrusion by underplating. Low upper mantle velocity indicates high temperature and partial melting. Under the Coachella Valley, sediment thins to the north and the underlying crystalline rock is interpreted as granitic basement. Mafic rock does not exist at 12-18 km depth as it does to the south, and a weak reflection suggests Moho at 28 km depth. Structure in adjacent Mexico has slower midcrustal velocity, and rocks with mantle velocity must be much deeper than in the Imperial Valley. Slower velocity and thicker crust in the Coachella and Mexicali valleys define the rift zone between them to be >100 km wide in the direction of plate motion. North American lithosphere in the central Salton Trough has been rifted apart and is being replaced by new crust created by magmatism, sedimentation, and metamorphism.

  19. Continental rupture and the creation of new crust in the Salton Trough rift, southern California and northern Mexico: Results from the Salton Seismic Imaging Project

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Liang; Hole, John A.; Stock, Joann M.; Fuis, Gary S.; Kell, Annie; Driscoll, Neal W.; Kent, Graham M.; Rymer, Michael J.; Gonzalez-Fernandez, Antonio; Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio

    2016-01-01

    A refraction and wide-angle reflection seismic profile along the axis of the Salton Trough, California and Mexico, was analyzed to constrain crustal and upper mantle seismic velocity structure during active continental rifting. From the northern Salton Sea to the southern Imperial Valley, the crust is 17-18 km thick and approximately one-dimensional. The transition at depth from Colorado River sediment to underlying crystalline rock is gradual and is not a depositional surface. The crystalline rock from ~3 to ~8 km depth is interpreted as sediment metamorphosed by high heat flow. Deeper felsic crystalline rock could be stretched pre-existing crust or higher grade metamorphosed sediment. The lower crust below ~12 km depth is interpreted to be gabbro emplaced by rift-related magmatic intrusion by underplating. Low upper-mantle velocity indicates high temperature and partial melting. Under the Coachella Valley, sediment thins to the north and the underlying crystalline rock is interpreted as granitic basement. Mafic rock does not exist at 12-18 depth as it does to the south, and a weak reflection suggests Moho at ~28 km depth. Structure in adjacent Mexico has slower mid-crustal velocity and rocks with mantle velocity must be much deeper than in the Imperial Valley. Slower velocity and thicker crust in the Coachella and Mexicali valleys define the rift zone between them to be >100 km wide in the direction of plate motion. North American lithosphere in the central Salton Trough has been rifted apart and is being replaced by new crust created by magmatism, sedimentation, and metamorphism.

  20. Formation and entrainment of fluid mud layers in troughs of subtidal dunes in an estuarine turbidity zone

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Becker, Marius; Schrottke, Kerstin; Bartholomä, Alexander

    2013-01-01

    25 g/L below the lutocline to 70 g/L at the river bed, whereas the gelling concentration was below 70 g/L. Sites of fluid mud formation coincided with the location of the estuarine turbidity zone during slack water. On average, near-bed density gradients were initially observed in dune troughs 1.2 h...... before slack water, and all fluid mud layers were entrained 2.3 h after slack water. No shear instabilities occurred until 1.8 h after slack water. While the flow was oriented in the dune direction, rapid entrainment was related to the development of the turbulent flow field behind dunes and is explained...... to be induced by advection of strong turbulence during accelerating currents. Fluid mud layers in dune troughs were entrained at an earlier point in time after slack water, compared to adjacent layers formed on a comparatively flat bed, where dune crests did not protrude from the lutocline....

  1. Performance Evaluation of a Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector with Parabolic Trough Concentrator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guoying Xu

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Application of solar collectors for hot water supply, space heating, and cooling plays a significant role in reducing building energy consumption. For conventional solar collectors, solar radiation is absorbed by spectral selective coating on the collectors’ tube/plate wall. The poor durability of the coating can lead to an increased manufacturing cost and unreliability for a solar collector operated at a higher temperature. Therefore, a novel nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector (NDASC employing uncoated collector tubes has been proposed, and its operating characteristics for medium-temperature solar collection were theoretically and experimentally studied in this paper. CuO/oil nanofluid was prepared and used as working fluid of the NDASC. The heat-transfer mechanism of the NDASC with parabolic trough concentrator was theoretically evaluated and compared with a conventional indirect absorption solar collector (IASC. The theoretical analysis results suggested that the fluid’s temperature distribution in the NDASC was much more uniform than that in the IASC, and an enhanced collection efficiency could be achieved for the NDASC operated within a preferred working temperature range. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed NDASC, experimental performances of an NDASC and an IASC with the same parabolic trough concentrator were furthermore evaluated and comparatively discussed.

  2. Performance Evaluation of a Nanofluid-Based Direct Absorption Solar Collector with Parabolic Trough Concentrator

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Guoying; Chen, Wei; Deng, Shiming; Zhang, Xiaosong; Zhao, Sainan

    2015-01-01

    Application of solar collectors for hot water supply, space heating, and cooling plays a significant role in reducing building energy consumption. For conventional solar collectors, solar radiation is absorbed by spectral selective coating on the collectors’ tube/plate wall. The poor durability of the coating can lead to an increased manufacturing cost and unreliability for a solar collector operated at a higher temperature. Therefore, a novel nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector (NDASC) employing uncoated collector tubes has been proposed, and its operating characteristics for medium-temperature solar collection were theoretically and experimentally studied in this paper. CuO/oil nanofluid was prepared and used as working fluid of the NDASC. The heat-transfer mechanism of the NDASC with parabolic trough concentrator was theoretically evaluated and compared with a conventional indirect absorption solar collector (IASC). The theoretical analysis results suggested that the fluid’s temperature distribution in the NDASC was much more uniform than that in the IASC, and an enhanced collection efficiency could be achieved for the NDASC operated within a preferred working temperature range. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed NDASC, experimental performances of an NDASC and an IASC with the same parabolic trough concentrator were furthermore evaluated and comparatively discussed. PMID:28347112

  3. Water Use in Parabolic Trough Power Plants: Summary Results from WorleyParsons' Analyses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turchi, C. S.; Wagner, M. J.; Kutscher, C. F.

    2010-12-01

    The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) contracted with WorleyParsons Group, Inc. to examine the effect of switching from evaporative cooling to alternative cooling systems on a nominal 100-MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) plant. WorleyParsons analyzed 13 different cases spanning three different geographic locations (Daggett, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Alamosa, Colorado) to assess the performance, cost, and water use impacts of switching from wet to dry or hybrid cooling systems. NREL developed matching cases in its Solar Advisor Model (SAM) for each scenario to allow for hourly modeling and provide a comparison to the WorleyParsons results.Our findings indicate that switching from 100% wet to 100% dry cooling will result in levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) increases of approximately 3% to 8% for parabolic trough plants throughout most of the southwestern United States. In cooler, high-altitude areas like Colorado's San Luis Valley, WorleyParsons estimated the increase at only 2.5%, while SAM predicted a 4.4% difference. In all cases, the transition to dry cooling will reduce water consumption by over 90%. Utility time-of-delivery (TOD) schedules had similar impacts for wet- and dry-cooled plants, suggesting that TOD schedules have a relatively minor effect on the dry-cooling penalty.

  4. Test results, Industrial Solar Technology parabolic trough solar collector

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudley, V.E. [EG and G MSI, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Evans, L.R.; Matthews, C.W. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)

    1995-11-01

    Sandia National Laboratories and Industrial Solar Technology are cost-sharing development of advanced parabolic trough technology. As part of this effort, several configurations of an IST solar collector were tested to determine the collector efficiency and thermal losses with black chrome and black nickel receiver selective coatings, combined with aluminized film and silver film reflectors, using standard Pyrex{reg_sign} and anti-reflective coated Pyrex{reg_sign} glass receiver envelopes. The development effort has been successful, producing an advanced collector with 77% optical efficiency, using silver-film reflectors, a black nickel receiver coating, and a solgel anti-reflective glass receiver envelope. For each receiver configuration, performance equations were empirically derived relating collector efficiency and thermal losses to the operating temperature. Finally, equations were derived showing collector performance as a function of input insolation value, incident angle, and operating temperature.

  5. Paleoenvironmental informa-tion recorded by pollen in B-3GC gravity core in Okinawa Trough

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2001-01-01

    Based on pollen records in B-3GC gravity core, environmental change since 9500 aBP of Okinawa Trough and its adjacent islands was derived. The result showed that the most time during this period was in a warm temperate climate except in middle Holocene (6800-4400 aBP) that was under subtropical climate control. During 9500-8300 aBP and 3100-2000 aBP periods, it appeared colder and drier than the rest time. The original area of pollen sources surrounding Okinawa Trough was covered by evergreen and deciduous broadleaf forest alternatively with mixed broad-leaf-conifer forest distributed in high mountainous areas. Usually, these three kinds of forests existed at the same time with difference in altitude. Pollen from subtropical and tropical plants increased obviously in about 5000-6000 aBP, reflecting a great lifting of vegetation zone and expansion of evergreen broad-leaf forest in the study area. However, there was a slight descending of plant zone and shrinking of evergreen broadleaf forest during 9500-8300 aBP and 3000-2000 aBP. During the remaining periods vegetation zone was higher than the present but in a limited range.

  6. A uranium-based UO_2"+-Mn"2"+ single-chain magnet assembled trough cation-cation interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mougel, Victor; Chatelain, Lucile; Hermle, Johannes; Pecaut, Jacques; Mazzanti, Marinella; Caciuffo, Roberto; Colineau, Eric; Tuna, Floriana; Magnani, Nicola; Geyer, Arnaud de

    2014-01-01

    Single-chain magnets (SCMs) are materials composed of magnetically isolated one-dimensional (1D) units exhibiting slow relaxation of magnetization. The occurrence of SCM behavior requires the fulfillment of stringent conditions for exchange and anisotropy interactions. Herein, we report the synthesis, the structure, and the magnetic characterization of the first actinide-containing SCM. The 5f-3d heterometallic 1D chains [{[UO_2(salen)(py)][M(py)_4](NO_3)}]_n, (M=Cd (1) and M=Mn (2); py=pyridine) are assembled trough cation-cation interaction from the reaction of the uranyl(V) complex [UO_2(salen)py][Cp"*_2Co] (Cp"*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) with Cd(NO_3)_2 or Mn(NO_3)_2 in pyridine. The infinite UMn chain displays a high relaxation barrier of 134±0.8 K (93±0.5 cm"-"1), probably as a result of strong intra-chain magnetic interactions combined with the high Ising anisotropy of the uranyl(V) dioxo group. It also exhibits an open magnetic hysteresis loop at T<6 K, with an impressive coercive field of 3.4 T at 2 K.

  7. High School Students' Epistemological Beliefs, Conceptions of Learning, and Self-Efficacy for Learning Biology: A Study of Their Structural Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadi, Özlem; Dagyar, Miray

    2015-01-01

    The current work reveals the data of the study which examines the relationships among epistemological beliefs, conceptions of learning, and self-efficacy for biology learning with the help of the Structural Equation Modeling. Three questionnaires, the Epistemological Beliefs, the Conceptions of Learning Biology and the Self-efficacy for Learning…

  8. Structured Kernel Dictionary Learning with Correlation Constraint for Object Recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhengjue; Wang, Yinghua; Liu, Hongwei; Zhang, Hao

    2017-06-21

    In this paper, we propose a new discriminative non-linear dictionary learning approach, called correlation constrained structured kernel KSVD, for object recognition. The objective function for dictionary learning contains a reconstructive term and a discriminative term. In the reconstructive term, signals are implicitly non-linearly mapped into a space, where a structured kernel dictionary, each sub-dictionary of which lies in the span of the mapped signals from the corresponding class, is established. In the discriminative term, by analyzing the classification mechanism, the correlation constraint is proposed in kernel form, constraining the correlations between different discriminative codes, and restricting the coefficient vectors to be transformed into a feature space, where the features are highly correlated inner-class and nearly independent between-classes. The objective function is optimized by the proposed structured kernel KSVD. During the classification stage, the specific form of the discriminative feature is needless to be known, while the inner product of the discriminative feature with kernel matrix embedded is available, and is suitable for a linear SVM classifier. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms many state-of-the-art dictionary learning approaches for face, scene and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) vehicle target recognition.

  9. SUITABILITY ANALYSIS OF WASTE ROCK APPLICATION IN HYDRIC RECLAMATION IN THE NATURAL WATER-BEARING SUBSIDENCE TROUGHS IN KARVINSKO, CZECH REPUBLIC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eva Pertile

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with a suitability analysis of waste rock application in hydric reclamation on the basis of studying its impact on water quality in the natural water-bearing subsidence troughs. The evaluation was carried out in sixteen localities where waste rock had been used in the past for the purposes of bank system improvement. Within the evaluation of waste rock impact on the hydrochemical character of water in the subsidence troughs the values of geochemical background were identified. In order to compare the impact of waste rock on the quality of water, changes in the hydrochemical parameters were monitored in the localities without waste rock banking, with partial (maximum ½ circumference and complete waste rock banking.

  10. Felder-Soloman's Index of Learning Styles: internal consistency, temporal stability, and factor structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hosford, Charles C; Siders, William A

    2010-10-01

    Strategies to facilitate learning include using knowledge of students' learning style preferences to inform students and their teachers. Aims of this study were to evaluate the factor structure, internal consistency, and temporal stability of medical student responses to the Index of Learning Styles (ILS) and determine its appropriateness as an instrument for medical education. The ILS assesses preferences on four dimensions: sensing/intuitive information perceiving, visual/verbal information receiving, active/reflective information processing, and sequential/global information understanding. Students entering the 2002-2007 classes completed the ILS; some completed the ILS again after 2 and 4 years. Analyses of responses supported the ILS's intended structure and moderate reliability. Students had moderate preferences for sensing and visual learning. This study provides evidence supporting the appropriateness of the ILS for assessing learning style preferences in medical students.

  11. A point focusing double parabolic trough concentrator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murphree, Quincy C. [Kentucky Mountain Bible College, Vancleve, KY (United States)

    2001-07-01

    This article shows that a point focusing solar concentrator can be made from two reflective parabolic troughs, a primary and a secondary, by orienting their longitudinal axes in perpendicular directions and separating them by the difference of their focal lengths along the optical axis. This offers a new alternative to the conventional 3-D paraboloidal concentrator permitting more flexibility in designs for applications requiring high concentrations. Both advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The intensity concentration ratio distribution is calculated in the focal plane and has elliptically shaped contours due to the inherent compensation of errant rays by the concave secondary. The ratio of the major to minor axes was 2.61 for the case considered, resulting in a concentration {approx}2.61 times that of a comparable concentrator without the compensation afforded by a concave secondary. Still, geometrical constraints limit the concentration to about 2000 suns for mirror quality errors of 5 mr. Optimisation of the compensation effect holds potential for improved performance for other concentrator designs. Finally, the functional dependence of the peak concentration and shading factor upon design parameters are presented. (Author)

  12. Accurate relocation of seismicity along the North Aegean Trough and its relation to active tectonics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konstantinou, K. I.

    2017-10-01

    The tectonics of northern Aegean are affected by the westward push of Anatolia and the gravitational spreading of the Aegean lithosphere that promote transtensional deformation in the area. This regime is also responsible for the creation of a series of pull-apart basins, collectively known as the North Aegean Trough. This work accurately relocates a total of 2300 earthquakes that were recorded along the North Aegean Trough during 2011-2016 by stations of the Hellenic Unified Seismic Network (HUSN) and strong-motion sensors. Absolute locations for these events were obtained using a nonlinear probabilistic algorithm and utilizing a minimum 1D velocity model with station corrections. The hypocentral depth distribution of these events shows a peak at 8 km diminishing gradually down to 20 km. A systematic overestimation of hypocentral depths is observed in the routine locations provided by the National Observatory of Athens where the majority of events appear to be deeper than 15 km. In order to obtain more accurate relative locations these events were relocated using the double-difference method. A total of 1693 events were finally relocated with horizontal and vertical uncertainties that do not exceed 0.11 km and 0.22 km respectively. Well-defined clusters of seismicity can be observed along the Saros and Sporades basins as well as the Kassandra and Sithonia peninsulas. These clusters either occur along the well-known NE-SW strike-slip faults bounding the basins, or along normal faults whose strike is perpendicular to the regional minimum stress axis. Locking depth along the North Aegean Trough is found to be remarkably stable between 13 and 17 km. This is likely a consequence of simultaneous reduction along the SW direction of heat flow (from 89 to 51 mW/m2) and strain rate (from 600 to 50 nstrain/yr) whose opposite effects are canceled out, precluding any sharp changes in locking depth.

  13. All together now: concurrent learning of multiple structures in an artificial language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romberg, Alexa R; Saffran, Jenny R

    2013-01-01

    Natural languages contain many layers of sequential structure, from the distribution of phonemes within words to the distribution of phrases within utterances. However, most research modeling language acquisition using artificial languages has focused on only one type of distributional structure at a time. In two experiments, we investigated adult learning of an artificial language that contains dependencies between both adjacent and non-adjacent words. We found that learners rapidly acquired both types of regularities and that the strength of the adjacent statistics influenced learning of both adjacent and non-adjacent dependencies. Additionally, though accuracy was similar for both types of structure, participants' knowledge of the deterministic non-adjacent dependencies was more explicit than their knowledge of the probabilistic adjacent dependencies. The results are discussed in the context of current theories of statistical learning and language acquisition. © 2013 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  14. Upper-Lower Bounds Candidate Sets Searching Algorithm for Bayesian Network Structure Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangyi Liu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Bayesian network is an important theoretical model in artificial intelligence field and also a powerful tool for processing uncertainty issues. Considering the slow convergence speed of current Bayesian network structure learning algorithms, a fast hybrid learning method is proposed in this paper. We start with further analysis of information provided by low-order conditional independence testing, and then two methods are given for constructing graph model of network, which is theoretically proved to be upper and lower bounds of the structure space of target network, so that candidate sets are given as a result; after that a search and scoring algorithm is operated based on the candidate sets to find the final structure of the network. Simulation results show that the algorithm proposed in this paper is more efficient than similar algorithms with the same learning precision.

  15. Object tracking by occlusion detection via structured sparse learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Xu, Changsheng; Ahuja, Narendra

    2013-01-01

    occlusion through structured sparse learning. We test our tracker on challenging benchmark sequences, such as sports videos, which involve heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Experimental results show that our tracker

  16. Teaching and Learning Structural Geology Using SketchUp

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rey, Patrice

    2017-04-01

    The books and maps we read, the posters we pin on our walls, the TV sets and computer monitors we spend hours watching, the white (or black) boards we use to teach, all reduce our world into planar images. As a result, and through years of oblivious practice, our brain is conditioned to understand the world in two dimensions (2D) only. As structural geologists, we know that the most challenging aspect of teaching and learning structural geology is that we need to be able to mentally manipulate 2D and three-dimensional (3D) objects. Although anyone can learn through practice the art of spatial visualisation, the fact remains that the initial stages of learning structural geology are for many students very challenging, as we naively use 2D images to teach 3D concepts. While interactive 3D holography is not far away, some inexpensive tools already exist allowing us to generate interactive computer images, the free rotation, scaling and manipulation of which can help students to quickly grasp the geometry and internal architecture of 3D objects. Recently, I have experimented with SketchUp (works on Mac and Windows). SketchUp was initially released in 2000 by @Last Software, as a 3D modelling tool for architects, designers and filmmakers. It was acquired by Google in 2006 to further the development of GoogleEarth. Google released SketchUp for free, and provided a portal named 3D Warehouse for users to share their models. Google sold SketchUp to Trimble Navigation in 2012, which added Extension Warehouse for users to distribute add-ons. SketchUp models can be exported in a number of formats including .dae (digital asset exchange) useful to embed interactive 3D models into iBooks and html5 documents, and .kmz (keyhole markup language zipped) to embed interactive 3D models and cross-sections into GoogleEarth. SketchUp models can be exported into 3D pdf through the add-on SimLab, and .stl for 3D printing through the add-on SketchUp STL. A free licence is available for

  17. Collaborative Education Practice in a Data Structure E-Learning Course

    OpenAIRE

    Gang Chen; Ruimin Shen

    2009-01-01

    This paper presented a collaborative education model, which consists four parts: collaborative teaching, collaborative working, collaborative training and interaction. Supported by an e-learning platform, collaborative education was practiced in a data structure e-learning course. Data collected shows that most of students accept collaborative education. This paper goes one step attempting to determine which aspects appear to be most important or helpful in collaborative ...

  18. Performance study on evacuated tube solar collector using therminol D-12 as heat transfer fluid coupled with parabolic trough

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Selvakumar, P.; Somasundaram, P.; Thangavel, P.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Instant hot water at temperatures between 40 °C and 68 °C in the low solar radiation range of 240–540 W/m 2 . • Usage of therminol D-12 and parabolic trough in low temperature application. • Stability of thermal and flow properties of therminol D-12 are studied. - Abstract: Fossil fuels and electrical energy are widely used for instant hot water generation in rural and urban areas. Also, conventional solar water heaters do not support instant hot water generation because of various problems. A new system with evacuated tube collector using synthetic oil as heat transfer fluid coupled with parabolic trough is developed and studied experimentally for instant hot water generation in the presence of low solar irradiance. Among the different grades of therminol, therminol D-12 is chosen for the study because of its thermal stability. Parabolic trough is coupled to evacuated tube to enhance the flow as well as heating characteristics of therminol. Heating efficiency and temperature characteristics are determined for the newly developed system under low solar irradiance conditions. Instant hot water can be produced by the new system at a temperature of 60 °C in the presence of low solar radiation. This newly developed system has the ability to check the fossil fuel consumption and electrical energy consumption for instant hot water generation in household applications. The stability of the heat transfer fluid is also ensured by repeated experiments

  19. Differently Structured Advance Organizers Lead to Different Initial Schemata and Learning Outcomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurlitt, Johannes; Dummel, Sebastian; Schuster, Silvia; Nuckles, Matthias

    2012-01-01

    Does the specific structure of advance organizers influence learning outcomes? In the first experiment, 48 psychology students were randomly assigned to three differently structured advance organizers: a well-structured, a well-structured and key-concept emphasizing, and a less structured advance organizer. These were followed by a sorting task, a…

  20. Hydrocarbon test in lower-layer atmosphere to predict deep-sea petroleum or hydrate in the Okinawa Trough: an example

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Gong Jianming; Chen Jianwen; Li Gang; Zhang Xunhua; Li Jipeng; Huang Fulin

    2003-01-01

    Light hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, propane, butane and CO2) test and C isotopic analysis of CO2 are conducted for over 100 lower-layer atmospheric samples from the East China Sea slope and the Okinawa Trough. The results show that the lower-layer atmosphere mainly consists of CO2 and then of CH4, and the CO2 concentrations are calculated to have a high average value of 0.87 ω/10-2 ,about three times that of the regional background (0.3 ω/10-2). The result also shows that the average value of C isotope - 20.8 × 10 -3 is given to the CO2, inferring that it is inorganic gas.Thus, for the future ' s work in the Okinawa Trough, special attention should be paid to CO2 hydrate,which is very possibly an important hydrate type.

  1. Facies analysis, depositional environments and paleoclimate of the Cretaceous Bima Formation in the Gongola Sub - Basin, Northern Benue Trough, NE Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shettima, B.; Abubakar, M. B.; Kuku, A.; Haruna, A. I.

    2018-01-01

    Facies analysis of the Cretaceous Bima Formation in the Gongola Sub -basin of the Northern Benue Trough northeastern Nigeria indicated that the Lower Bima Member is composed of alluvial fan and braided river facies associations. The alluvial fan depositional environment dominantly consists of debris flow facies that commonly occur as matrix supported conglomerate. This facies is locally associated with grain supported conglomerate and mudstone facies, representing sieve channel and mud flow deposits respectively, and these deposits may account for the proximal alluvial fan region of the Lower Bima Member. The distal fan facies were represented by gravel-bed braided river system of probably Scot - type model. This grade into sandy braided river systems with well developed floodplains facies, forming probably at the lowermost portion of the alluvial fan depositional gradient, where it inter-fingers with basinal facies. In the Middle Bima Member, the facies architecture is dominantly suggestive of deep perennial sand-bed braided river system with thickly developed amalgamated trough crossbedded sandstone facies fining to mudstone. Couplets of shallow channels are also locally common, attesting to the varying topography of the basin. The Upper Bima Member is characterized by shallow perennial sand-bed braided river system composed of successive succession of planar and trough crossbedded sandstone facies associations, and shallower channels of the flashy ephemeral sheetflood sand - bed river systems defined by interbedded succession of small scale trough crossbedded sandstone facies and parallel laminated sandstone facies. The overall stacking pattern of the facies succession of the Bima Formation in the Gongola Sub - basin is generally thinning and fining upwards cycles, indicating scarp retreat and deposition in a relatively passive margin setting. Dominance of kaolinite in the clay mineral fraction of the Bima Formation points to predominance of humid sub - tropical

  2. Social Structures for Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Bogenrieder, I.M.; Nooteboom, B.

    2001-01-01

    textabstractThis article investigates what learning groups there are in organizations, other than the familiar 'communities of practice'. It first develops an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for identifying, categorizing and understanding learning groups. For this, it employs a constructivist, interactionist theory of knowledge and learning. It employs elements of transaction cost theory and of social theory of trust. Transaction cost economics neglects learning and trust, but element...

  3. Air-borne shape measurement of parabolic trough collector fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prahl, Christoph; Röger, Marc; Hilgert, Christoph

    2017-06-01

    The optical and thermal efficiency of parabolic trough collector solar fields is dependent on the performance and assembly accuracy of its components such as the concentrator and absorber. For the purpose of optical inspection/approval, yield analysis, localization of low performing areas, and optimization of the solar field, it is essential to create a complete view of the optical properties of the field. Existing optical measurement tools are based on ground based cameras, facing restriction concerning speed, volume and automation. QFly is an airborne qualification system which provides holistic and accurate information on geometrical, optical, and thermal properties of the entire solar field. It consists of an unmanned aerial vehicle, cameras and related software for flight path planning, data acquisition and evaluation. This article presents recent advances of the QFly measurement system and proposes a methodology on holistic qualification of the complete solar field with minimum impact on plant operation.

  4. Modularization and Structured Markup for Learning Content in an Academic Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schluep, Samuel; Bettoni, Marco; Schar, Sissel Guttormsen

    2006-01-01

    This article aims to present a flexible component model for modular, web-based learning content, and a simple structured markup schema for the separation of content and presentation. The article will also contain an overview of the dynamic Learning Content Management System (dLCMS) project, which implements these concepts. Content authors are a…

  5. Robust visual tracking via structured multi-task sparse learning

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu

    2012-11-09

    In this paper, we formulate object tracking in a particle filter framework as a structured multi-task sparse learning problem, which we denote as Structured Multi-Task Tracking (S-MTT). Since we model particles as linear combinations of dictionary templates that are updated dynamically, learning the representation of each particle is considered a single task in Multi-Task Tracking (MTT). By employing popular sparsity-inducing lp,q mixed norms (specifically p∈2,∞ and q=1), we regularize the representation problem to enforce joint sparsity and learn the particle representations together. As compared to previous methods that handle particles independently, our results demonstrate that mining the interdependencies between particles improves tracking performance and overall computational complexity. Interestingly, we show that the popular L1 tracker (Mei and Ling, IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intel 33(11):2259-2272, 2011) is a special case of our MTT formulation (denoted as the L11 tracker) when p=q=1. Under the MTT framework, some of the tasks (particle representations) are often more closely related and more likely to share common relevant covariates than other tasks. Therefore, we extend the MTT framework to take into account pairwise structural correlations between particles (e.g. spatial smoothness of representation) and denote the novel framework as S-MTT. The problem of learning the regularized sparse representation in MTT and S-MTT can be solved efficiently using an Accelerated Proximal Gradient (APG) method that yields a sequence of closed form updates. As such, S-MTT and MTT are computationally attractive. We test our proposed approach on challenging sequences involving heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Experimental results show that S-MTT is much better than MTT, and both methods consistently outperform state-of-the-art trackers. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

  6. Characterization of structures of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism from integrated analyses of LWD log response, resistivity images and clay mineralogy of cuttings: Expedition 338 Site C0002

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jurado, Maria Jose; Schleicher, Anja

    2014-05-01

    The objective of our research is a detailed characterization of structures on the basis of LWD oriented images and logs,and clay mineralogy of cuttings from Hole C0002F of the Nankai Trough accretionary prism. Our results show an integrated interpretation of structures derived from borehole images, petrophysical characterization on LWD logs and cuttings mineralogy. The geometry of the structure intersected at Hole C0002F has been characterized by the interpretation of oriented borehole resistivity images acquired during IODP Expedition 338. The characterization of structural features, faults and fracture zones is based on a detailed post-cruise interpretation of bedding and fractures on borehole images and also on the analysis of Logging While Drilling (LWD) log response (gamma radioactivity, resistivity and sonic logs). The interpretation and complete characterization of structures (fractures, fracture zones, fault zones, folds) was achieved after detailed shorebased reprocessing of resistivity images, which allowed to enhance bedding and fracture's imaging for geometry and orientation interpretation. In order to characterize distinctive petrophysical properties based on LWD log response, it could be compared with compositional changes derived from cuttings analyses. Cuttings analyses were used to calibrate and to characterize log response and to verify interpretations in terms of changes in composition and texture at fractures and fault zones defined on borehole images. Cuttings were taken routinely every 5 m during Expedition 338, indicating a clay-dominated lithology of silty claystone with interbeds of weakly consolidated, fine sandstones. The main mineralogical components are clay minerals, quartz, feldspar and calcite. Selected cuttings were taken from areas of interest as defined on LWD logs and images. The clay mineralogy was investigated on the LWD) data allowed us to characterize structural, petrophysical and mineralogical properties at fracture and

  7. A deterministic and stochastic velocity model for the Salton Trough/Basin and Range transition zone and constraints on magmatism during rifting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larkin, Steven P.; Levander, Alan; Okaya, David; Goff, John A.

    1996-12-01

    As a high resolution addition to the 1992 Pacific to Arizona Crustal Experiment (PACE), a 45-km-long deep crustal seismic reflection profile was acquired across the Chocolate Mountains in southeastern California to illuminate crustal structure in the transition between the Salton Trough and the Basin and Range province. The complex seismic data are analyzed for both large-scale (deterministic) and fine-scale (stochastic) crustal features. A low-fold near-offset common-midpoint (CMP) stacked section shows the northeastward lateral extent of a high-velocity lower crustal body which is centered beneath the Salton Trough. Off-end shots record a high-amplitude diffraction from the point where the high velocity lower crust pinches out at the Moho. Above the high-velocity lower crust, moderate-amplitude reflections occur at midcrustal levels. These reflections display the coherency and frequency characteristics of reflections backscattered from a heterogeneous velocity field, which we model as horizontal intrusions with a von Kármán (fractal) distribution. The effects of upper crustal scattering are included by combining the mapped surface geology and laboratory measurements of exposed rocks within the Chocolate Mountains to reproduce the upper crustal velocity heterogeneity in our crustal velocity model. Viscoelastic finite difference simulations indicate that the volume of mafic material within the reflective zone necessary to produce the observed backscatter is about 5%. The presence of wavelength-scale heterogeneity within the near-surface, upper, and middle crust also produces a 0.5-s-thick zone of discontinuous reflections from a crust-mantle interface which is actually a first-order discontinuity.

  8. Survey of Thermal Storage for Parabolic Trough Power Plants; Period of Performance: September 13, 1999 - June 12, 2000

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pilkington Solar International GmbH

    2000-09-29

    The purpose of this report is to identify and selectively review previous work done on the evaluation and use of thermal energy storage systems applied to parabolic trough power plants. Appropriate storage concepts and technical options are first discussed, followed by a review of previous work.

  9. Different effects of lansoprazole and rabeprazole on the plasma voriconazole trough levels in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yasu, Takeo; Konuma, Takaaki; Kato, Seiko; Kurokawa, Yosuke; Takahashi, Satoshi; Tojo, Arinobu

    2016-10-01

    Voriconazole (VRC) is widely used as prophylaxis and in the treatment of invasive fungal disease (IFD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). We retrospectively examined the results of VRC therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in allogeneic HCT recipients. A total of 474 samples were obtained from 59 adult patients who received VRC during the first 100 days following HCT between 2009 and 2014 in our institute. Seventeen patients received VRC for prophylaxis of IFD, and 42 received VRC for the empirical or preemptive therapy for IFD. A total of 299 samples (63 %) were obtained during the administration of the intravenous form of VRC. The median VRC daily dose based on the actual body weight was 6.68 mg/kg/day (range, 1.92-10.41 mg/kg/day). The median VRC trough level was 0.99 mg/l (range, lansoprazole as compared to rabeprazole (P lansoprazole and rabeprazole have different effects on the plasma VRC trough levels in the allogeneic HCT recipients.

  10. The Domains of Organizational Learning Practices: An Agency-Structure Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nancy Beauregard

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Organizational learning theory has retained considerable attention in the past decades from a wide array of academic disciplines in social sciences. Yet few integrative efforts have satisfactorily offered a comprehensive and systematic articulation of the concept of organizational learning with regards to: (a its core constitutive dimensions and associated mechanisms; (b the analytical levels from such mechanisms operate (e.g., workers, teams, organizations; as well as (c their interplay. Methods: This article builds on a critical synthesis of predominant approaches in organizational learning theory (i.e., structural functionalist, social constructivist and middle range approaches, highlighting the contributions of each approach on the key analytical elements guiding our inquiry (i.e., core dimensions and associated mechanisms, analytical levels, interplay. Drawing from the work of sociologists Anthony Giddens and Margaret Archer on agency-structure theory, we develop a series of theoretical propositions supporting the Organizational Learning Practices (OLP concept as a unifying heuristic tool. Results: OLP are defined as a set of collectively shared practices held by members of a given organization embedded in normative, political, and semantic dynamics. At the heart of such dynamics lies organizational knowledge as a power resource pivotal to the sustainable development of organizations, as well as that of their members. Conclusion: OLP offer promising answers to on-going debates in organizational learning theory, and we conclude by discussing concrete guidelines to advance research and practice on OLP.

  11. A review of Andasol 3 and perspective for parabolic trough CSP plants in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dinter, Frank; Möller, Lucas

    2016-05-01

    Andasol 3 is a 50 MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power plant with thermal energy storage in Andalusia, southern Spain. Having started operating in 2011 as one of the first plants of its kind in Spain it has been followed by more than 50 in the country since. For the reason that CSP plants with storage have the potential to compete against fossil fuel fired plants much better than any other renewable energy source a long-term review of such a plant operating on a commercial scale is needed. With data at hand documenting Andasol 3's operation over the course of one year between July 2013 and June 2014 we intend to provide such a review. We calculated the plants overall efficiency, its capacity factor, the gross energy generation as well as auxiliary powers on a monthly basis to reflect upon its overall performance. It was also looked at the benefits caused by the thermal energy storage and especially how steadily and reliably the plant was able to operate. With basic background information about physical, geographical and meteorological aspects influencing the solar resource, its variation and a CSP plant's performance a qualitative estimation for a parabolic trough plant located in South Africa was made.

  12. Monitoring of Students' Interaction in Online Learning Settings by Structural Network Analysis and Indicators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ammenwerth, Elske; Hackl, Werner O

    2017-01-01

    Learning as a constructive process works best in interaction with other learners. Support of social interaction processes is a particular challenge within online learning settings due to the spatial and temporal distribution of participants. It should thus be carefully monitored. We present structural network analysis and related indicators to analyse and visualize interaction patterns of participants in online learning settings. We validate this approach in two online courses and show how the visualization helps to monitor interaction and to identify activity profiles of learners. Structural network analysis is a feasible approach for an analysis of the intensity and direction of interaction in online learning settings.

  13. Thermodynamic optimisation of the performance of a parabolic trough receiver using synthetic oil–Al2O3 nanofluid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mwesigye, Aggrey; Huan, Zhongjie; Meyer, Josua P.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Thermodynamic analysis of a parabolic trough receiver with nanofluids is presented. • Syltherm800–Al 2 O 3 nanofluid is used as the heat transfer fluid in the receiver. • Influence of nanoparticle volume fraction on receiver performance is investigated. • There is an optimal Reynolds number at each temperature and volume fraction. • Receiver thermal and thermodynamic performance improves below some Reynolds number. - Abstract: In this paper, results of a thermodynamic analysis using the entropy generation minimisation method for a parabolic trough receiver tube making use of a synthetic oil–Al 2 O 3 nanofluid as a heat transfer fluid are presented. A parabolic trough collector system with a rim angle of 80° and a concentration ratio of 86 was used. The temperature of the nanofluid considered was in the range of 350–600 K. The nanofluid thermal physical properties are temperature dependent. The Reynolds number varies from 3,560 to 1,151,000, depending on the temperature considered and volume fraction of nanoparticles in the base fluid. Nanoparticle volume fractions in the range 0 ⩽ ϕ ⩽ 8% were used. The local entropy generation rates due to fluid flow and heat transfer were determined numerically and used for the thermodynamic analysis. The study shows that using nanofluids improves the thermal efficiency of the receiver by up to 7.6%. There is an optimal Reynolds number at each inlet temperature and volume fraction for which the entropy generated is a minimum. The optimal Reynolds number decreases as the volume fraction increases. There is also a Reynolds number at every inlet temperature and volume fraction beyond which use of nanofluids is thermodynamically undesirable

  14. Deep-sea benthic foraminiferal record of the paleoceanography in the southern Okinawa Trough over the last 20 000 years

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    翦知湣; 陈荣华; 李保华

    1996-01-01

    Quantitative analyses have been carried out on benthic foraminifera from 66 samples of Core 255 in the southern Okinawa Trough, in combination with the stable isotopic analyses of planktonic and benthic foraminifera and AMS 14C dating, in order to reconstruct the history of change under deep water conditions and surface paleoproduclivity over the last 20 000 years. The variations in the ratio of agglutinants in benthic foraminiferal fauna and the ratio of fragments in planktonic foraminifera] fauna indicate higher carbonate dissolution during the postglacial stage than during the glacial stage. The distribution of species and the results of Q-mode factor analysis show that there are three distinctly different benthic foraminiferal assemblages during the glacial, deglacial and postglacial stages in the Okinawa Trough over the last 20000 years: the glacial Bulimina aculeata assemblage (especially the dominant species Uvigerina pereyrina) is associated with high surface primary productivity and organic mat

  15. The Relative Effects of Alternative Learning Structures on Attitudes and Achievements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carifio, James

    This study compared two learning structures for an introductory course in tests and measurements in terms of their relative effects on attitudes and achievement. The first structure represented a functionally arranged instructional sequence (FAIS). The second represented a psychologically arranged instructional sequence (PAIS). The instructional…

  16. Control concepts for direct steam generation in parabolic troughs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valenzuela, Loreto; Zarza, Eduardo [CIEMAT, Plataforma Solar de Almeria, Tabernas (Almeria) (Spain); Berenguel, Manuel [Universidad de Almeria, Dept. de Lenguajes y Computacion, Almeria (Spain); Camacho, Eduardo F. [Universidad de Sevilla, Dept. de Ingenieria de Sistemas y Automatica, Sevilla (Spain)

    2005-02-01

    A new prototype parabolic-trough collector system was erected at the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA) (1996-1998) to investigate direct steam generation (DSG) in a solar thermal power plant under real solar conditions. The system has been under evaluation for efficiency, cost, control and other parameters since 1999. The main objective of the control system is to obtain steam at constant temperature and pressure at the solar field outlet, so that changes in inlet water conditions and/or in solar radiation affect the amount of steam, but not its quality or the nominal plant efficiency. This paper presents control schemes designed and tested for two operating modes, 'Recirculation', for which a proportional-integral-derivative (PI/PID) control functions scheme has been implemented, and 'Once-through', requiring more complex control strategies, for which the scheme is based on proportional-integral (PI), feedforward and cascade control. Experimental results of both operation modes are discussed. (Author)

  17. Learning Spatiotemporally Encoded Pattern Transformations in Structured Spiking Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Brian; Sporea, Ioana; Grüning, André

    2015-12-01

    Information encoding in the nervous system is supported through the precise spike timings of neurons; however, an understanding of the underlying processes by which such representations are formed in the first place remains an open question. Here we examine how multilayered networks of spiking neurons can learn to encode for input patterns using a fully temporal coding scheme. To this end, we introduce a new supervised learning rule, MultilayerSpiker, that can train spiking networks containing hidden layer neurons to perform transformations between spatiotemporal input and output spike patterns. The performance of the proposed learning rule is demonstrated in terms of the number of pattern mappings it can learn, the complexity of network structures it can be used on, and its classification accuracy when using multispike-based encodings. In particular, the learning rule displays robustness against input noise and can generalize well on an example data set. Our approach contributes to both a systematic understanding of how computations might take place in the nervous system and a learning rule that displays strong technical capability.

  18. Anomaly-sensitive dictionary learning for structural diagnostics from ultrasonic wavefields.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Druce, Jeffrey M; Haupt, Jarvis D; Gonella, Stefano

    2015-07-01

    This paper proposes a strategy for the detection and triangulation of localized anomalies, such as defects, inclusions, or damage zones, in solid and structural media. The method revolves around the construction of sparse representations of the structure's ultrasonic wavefield response, which are obtained by learning instructive dictionaries that form a suitable basis for the response data. The resulting sparse coding problem is cast as a modified dictionary learning task with additional spatial sparsity constraints enforced on the atoms of the learned dictionaries, which provide them with the ability to unveil anomalous regions in the physical domain. The proposed methodology is model-agnostic, i.e., it forsakes the need for a physical model and requires virtually no a priori knowledge of the material properties. This characteristic makes the approach especially powerful for anomaly identification in systems with unknown or highly heterogeneous property distribution, for which a material model is unsuitable or unreliable. The method is tested against synthetically generated data as well as experimental data acquired using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer.

  19. DuSK: A Dual Structure-preserving Kernel for Supervised Tensor Learning with Applications to Neuroimages.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Lifang; Kong, Xiangnan; Yu, Philip S; Ragin, Ann B; Hao, Zhifeng; Yang, Xiaowei

    With advances in data collection technologies, tensor data is assuming increasing prominence in many applications and the problem of supervised tensor learning has emerged as a topic of critical significance in the data mining and machine learning community. Conventional methods for supervised tensor learning mainly focus on learning kernels by flattening the tensor into vectors or matrices, however structural information within the tensors will be lost. In this paper, we introduce a new scheme to design structure-preserving kernels for supervised tensor learning. Specifically, we demonstrate how to leverage the naturally available structure within the tensorial representation to encode prior knowledge in the kernel. We proposed a tensor kernel that can preserve tensor structures based upon dual-tensorial mapping. The dual-tensorial mapping function can map each tensor instance in the input space to another tensor in the feature space while preserving the tensorial structure. Theoretically, our approach is an extension of the conventional kernels in the vector space to tensor space. We applied our novel kernel in conjunction with SVM to real-world tensor classification problems including brain fMRI classification for three different diseases ( i.e ., Alzheimer's disease, ADHD and brain damage by HIV). Extensive empirical studies demonstrate that our proposed approach can effectively boost tensor classification performances, particularly with small sample sizes.

  20. The fabrication and visible-near-infrared optical modulation of vanadium dioxide/silicon dioxide composite photonic crystal structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Jiran; Li, Peng; Song, Xiaolong; Zhou, Liwei

    2017-12-01

    We demonstrated a visible and near-infrared light tunable photonic nanostructure, which is composed of vanadium dioxide (VO2) thin film and silicon dioxide (SiO2) ordered nanosphere arrays. The vanadium films were sputtered on two-dimensional (2D) SiO2 sphere arrays. VO2 thin films were prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) method with different oxygen flow rates. The close-packed VO2 shell formed a continuous surface, the composition of VO2 films in the structure changed when the oxygen flow rates increased. The 2D VO2/SiO2 composite photonic crystal structure exhibited transmittance trough tunability and near-infrared (NIR) transmittance modulation. When the oxygen flow rate increased from 3 slpm to 4 slpm, the largest transmittance trough can be regulated from 904 to 929 nm at low temperature, the transmittance troughs also appear blue shift when the VO2 phase changes from insulator to metal. The composite nanostructure based on VO2 films showed visible transmittance tunability, which would provide insights into the glass color changing in smart windows.

  1. Field test of thermoelectric generator using parabolic trough solar concentrator for power generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viña, Rommel R.; Alagao, Feliciano B.

    2018-03-01

    A 2.4587 square meter effective area cylindrical parabolic solar concentrator was fabricated. The trough concentrator is a 4-ft by 8-ft metal sheet with solar mirror film adhered on it and it is laid on a frame with steel tubes bent in a shape of a parabola. On the focal region of the parabolic trough is the 1.22-m by 0.10-m absorber plate made of copper and coated flat black. This plate served as high temperature reservoir of the eight equally spaced TEC1-12710T125 thermoelectric modules. On the cold side of the modules is a 2.5-in. by 1-in. rectangular aluminum tube with coolant flowing inside. The coolant loop included a direct contact cooling tower which maintained the module cold side assembly inlet temperature of about 28°C. Collector temperature was also kept below the 125°C module maximum operating temperature by controlling the effective area. This was accomplished by adjusting the reflector covering. Using a dummy load and with 8 modules in series, tests results indicated current readings up to 179.4 mA with a voltage of 10.6 VDC and 27% of reflector area or voltage reading up to 12.7 VDC with a current of 165 mA. A steady voltage of 12 VDC was achieved with the use of a voltage regulator. A voltage above 12 VDC will be required to charge a storage battery. Overall results showed the potential of thermoelectric generator (TEG) in combination with solar energy in power generation.

  2. Salton Trough regional deformation estimated from combined trilateration and survey-mode GPS data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, G.; Agnew, D.C.; Johnson, H.O.

    2003-01-01

    The Salton Trough in southeastern California, United States, has one of the highest seismicity and deformation rates in southern California, including 20 earthquakes M 6 or larger since 1892. From 1972 through 1987, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured a 41-station trilateration network in this region. We remeasured 37 of the USGS baselines using survey-mode Global Positioning System methods from 1995 through 1999. We estimate the Salton Trough deformation field over a nearly 30-year period through combined analysis of baseline length time series from these two datasets. Our primary result is that strain accumulation has been steady over our observation span, at a resolution of about 0.05 ??strain/yr at 95% confidence, with no evidence for significant long-term strain transients despite the occurrence of seven large regional earthquakes during our observation period. Similar to earlier studies, we find that the regional strain field is consistent with 0.5 ?? 0.03 ??strain/yr total engineering shear strain along an axis oriented 311.6?? ?? 23?? east of north, approximately parallel to the strike of the major regional faults, the San Andreas and San Jacinto (all uncertainties in the text and tables are standard deviations unless otherwise noted). We also find that (1) the shear strain rate near the San Jacinto fault is at least as high as it is near the San Andreas fault, (2) the areal dilatation near the southeastern Salton Sea is significant, and (3) one station near the southeastern Salton Sea moved anomalously during the period 1987.95-1995.11.

  3. Characteristic imsets for learning Bayesian network structure

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Hemmecke, R.; Lindner, S.; Studený, Milan

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 53, č. 9 (2012), s. 1336-1349 ISSN 0888-613X R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 1M0572; GA ČR GA201/08/0539 Institutional support: RVO:67985556 Keywords : learning Bayesian network structure * essential graph * standard imset * characteristic imset * LP relaxation of a polytope Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 1.729, year: 2012 http://library.utia.cas.cz/separaty/2012/MTR/studeny-0382596.pdf

  4. A uranium-based UO_2"+-Mn"2"+ single-chain magnet assembled trough cation-cation interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mougel, Victor; Chatelain, Lucile; Hermle, Johannes; Pecaut, Jacques; Mazzanti, Marinella; Caciuffo, Roberto; Colineau, Eric; Tuna, Floriana; Magnani, Nicola; Geyer, Arnaud de

    2014-01-01

    Single-chain magnets (SCMs) are materials composed of magnetically isolated one-dimensional (1D) units exhibiting slow relaxation of magnetization. The occurrence of SCM behavior requires the fulfillment of stringent conditions for exchange and anisotropy interactions. Herein, we report the synthesis, the structure, and the magnetic characterization of the first actinide-containing SCM. The 5f-3d heterometallic 1D chains [{[UO_2(salen)(py)][M(py)_4](NO_3)}]_n, (M=Cd (1) and M=Mn (2); py=pyridine) are assembled trough cation-cation interaction from the reaction of the uranyl(V) complex [UO_2(salen)py][Cp*_2Co] (Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) with Cd(NO_3)_2 or Mn(NO_3)_2 in pyridine. The infinite UMn chain displays a high relaxation barrier of 134 ±0.8 K (93 ±0.5 cm"-"1), probably as a result of strong intra-chain magnetic interactions combined with the high Ising anisotropy of the uranyl(V) dioxo group. It also exhibits an open magnetic hysteresis loop at T <6 K, with an impressive coercive field of 3.4 T at 2 K. (Copyright copyright 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  5. Building Knowledge Structures by Testing Helps Children With Mathematical Learning Difficulty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yiyun; Zhou, Xinlin

    2016-01-01

    Mathematical learning difficulty (MLD) is prevalent in the development of mathematical abilities. Previous interventions for children with MLD have focused on number sense or basic mathematical skills. This study investigated whether mathematical performance of fifth grade children with MLD could be improved by developing knowledge structures by testing using a web-based curriculum learning system. A total of 142 children with MLD were recruited; half of the children were in the experimental group (using the system), and the other half were in the control group (not using the system). The children were encouraged to use the web-based learning system at home for at least a 15-min session, at least once a week, for one and a half months. The mean accumulated time of testing on the system for children in the experimental group was 56.2 min. Children in the experimental group had significantly higher scores on their final mathematical examination compared to the control group. The results suggest that web-based curriculum learning through testing that promotes the building of knowledge structures for a mathematical course was helpful for children with MLD. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

  6. Comparison of three optical models and analysis of geometric parameters for parabolic trough solar collectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liang, Hongbo; You, Shijun; Zhang, Huan

    2016-01-01

    A PTC (parabolic trough solar collector) focuses direct solar radiation reflected by the reflector onto a receiver located on its focal line. The solar flux distribution on the absorber is non-uniform generally, thus it needs to carry out optical simulation to analyze the concentrated flux density and optical performance. In this paper, three different optical models based on ray tracing for a PTC were proposed and compared in detail. They were proved to be feasible and reliable in comparison with other literature. Model 1 was based on MCM (Monte Carlo Method). Model 2 initialized photon distribution with FVM (Finite Volume Method), and calculated reflection, transmission, and absorption by means of MCM. Model 3 utilized FVM to determine ray positions initially, while it changed the photon energy by multiplying reflectivity, transmissivity and absorptivity. The runtime and computation effort of Model 3 were approximately 40% and 60% of that of Model 1 in the present work. Moreover, the simulation result of Model 3 was not affected by the algorithm for generating random numbers, however, it needed to take account of suitable grid configurations for different sections of the system. Additionally, effects of varying the geometric parameters for a PTC on optical efficiency were estimated. Effect of offsetting the absorber in width direction of aperture was greater than that in its normal direction at the same offset distance, which was more obvious with offset distance increasing. Furthermore, absorber offset at the opposite direction of tracking error was beneficial for improving optical performance. The larger rim angle (≤90°) was, the less sensitive optical efficiency was to tracking error for the same aperture width of a PTC. In contrast, a larger aperture width was more sensitive to tracking error for a certain rim angle. - Highlights: • Three different optical models for parabolic trough solar collectors were derived. • Their running time, computation

  7. The factor structure of the self-directed learning readiness scale | de ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The factor structure of the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS) was investigated for Afrikaans and English-speaking first-year university students. Five factors were extracted and rotated to oblique simple structure for both groups. Four of the five factors were satisfactorily replicated. The fifth factor appeared to ...

  8. STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL MODEL OF CLOUD ORIENTED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR BACHELORS OF INFORMATICS TRAINING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetiana A. Vakaliuk

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes the essence of the category "model". There are presented the main types of models used in educational research: structural, functional, structural and functional model as well as basic requirements for building these types of models. The national experience in building models and designing cloud-based learning environment of educational institutions (both higher and secondary is analyzed. It is presented structural and functional model of cloud-based learning environment for Bachelor of Informatics. Also we describe each component of cloud-based learning environment model for bachelors of informatics training: target, managerial, organizational, content and methodical, communication, technological and productive. It is summarized, that COLE should solve all major tasks that relate to higher education institutions.

  9. Occlusion detection via structured sparse learning for robust object tracking

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Tianzhu; Ghanem, Bernard; Xu, Changsheng; Ahuja, Narendra

    2014-01-01

    occlusion through structured sparse learning. We test our tracker on challenging benchmark sequences, such as sports videos, which involve heavy occlusion, drastic illumination changes, and large pose variations. Extensive experimental results show that our

  10. Impact of pressure losses in small-sized parabolic-trough collectors for direct steam generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lobón, David H.; Valenzuela, Loreto

    2013-01-01

    Using PTC (parabolic-trough solar collectors) for industrial thermal processes in the temperature range up to 300 °C is not new, but in recent years there is a boosted interest in this type of concentrating solar technology. One of the problems that arise when designing PTC solar fields is how to deal with the pressure losses which are critical when producing saturated steam directly in the collectors. Depending on the characteristics of the collector, mainly on the receiver diameter, and on the nominal process conditions defined, a solar field configuration can be feasible or not. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis done using a software tool developed to study the thermo-hydraulic behaviour of PTC systems using water-steam as heat transfer fluid. In the case study presented, a small-sized PTC designed for industrial process heat applications is considered, which has a focal length of 0.2 m, an aperture area of 2 m 2 , and its receiver pipe has an inner diameter of 15 mm. Varied process conditions are inlet water pressure, temperature, and mass flow rate, solar irradiance and incidence angle of solar radiation. Results show that working pressure definition is particularly critical to make feasible or not the direct steam generation in solar collectors. - Highlights: • DSG (Direct steam generation) in small-sized parabolic-trough collectors. • Thermo-hydraulic sensitivity analysis. • Influence of working pressure and receiver geometry in DSG process

  11. Theoretical investigation of solar humidification-dehumidification desalination system using parabolic trough concentrators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed, A.M.I.; El-Minshawy, N.A.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → We evaluated the performance of sea water HDD system powered by solar PTC. → The proposed design to the expected desalination plant performance was introduced. → The collector thermal efficiency was a function of solar radiation value. → The highest fresh water productivity is found to be in the summer season. → The production time reaches 42% of the day time in the summer season. - Abstract: This paper deals with the status of solar energy as a clean and renewable energy applications in desalination. The object of this research is to theoretically investigate the principal operating parameters of a proposed desalination system based on air humidification-dehumidification principles. A parabolic trough solar collector is adapted to drive and optimize the considered desalination system. A test set-up of the desalination system was designed and a theoretical simulation model was constructed to evaluate the performance and productivity of the proposed solar humidification-dehumidification desalination system. The theoretical simulation model was developed in which the thermodynamic models of each component of the considered were set up respectively. The study showed that, parabolic trough solar collector is the suitable to drive the proposed desalination system. A comparison study had been presented to show the effect of the different parameters on the performance and the productivity of the system. The productivity of the proposed system showed also an increase with the increase of the day time till an optimum value and then decreased. The highest fresh water productivity is found to be in the summer season, when high direct solar radiation and long solar time are always expected. The production time reaches a maximum value in the summer season, which is 42% of the day.

  12. A Novel Volume CT With X-Ray on a Trough-Like Surface and Point Detectors on Circle-Plus-Arc Curve

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Xu, H

    2001-01-01

    A novel imaging mode of cone-beam volume CT is proposed in this paper. It adopts a raster scanning x-ray source on a trough-like surface, and a group of point detectors distributing on a large circle plus an orthogonal arc...

  13. DuSK: A Dual Structure-preserving Kernel for Supervised Tensor Learning with Applications to Neuroimages

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Lifang; Kong, Xiangnan; Yu, Philip S.; Ragin, Ann B.; Hao, Zhifeng; Yang, Xiaowei

    2015-01-01

    With advances in data collection technologies, tensor data is assuming increasing prominence in many applications and the problem of supervised tensor learning has emerged as a topic of critical significance in the data mining and machine learning community. Conventional methods for supervised tensor learning mainly focus on learning kernels by flattening the tensor into vectors or matrices, however structural information within the tensors will be lost. In this paper, we introduce a new scheme to design structure-preserving kernels for supervised tensor learning. Specifically, we demonstrate how to leverage the naturally available structure within the tensorial representation to encode prior knowledge in the kernel. We proposed a tensor kernel that can preserve tensor structures based upon dual-tensorial mapping. The dual-tensorial mapping function can map each tensor instance in the input space to another tensor in the feature space while preserving the tensorial structure. Theoretically, our approach is an extension of the conventional kernels in the vector space to tensor space. We applied our novel kernel in conjunction with SVM to real-world tensor classification problems including brain fMRI classification for three different diseases (i.e., Alzheimer's disease, ADHD and brain damage by HIV). Extensive empirical studies demonstrate that our proposed approach can effectively boost tensor classification performances, particularly with small sample sizes. PMID:25927014

  14. Object-oriented simulation model of a parabolic trough solar collector: Static and dynamic validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ubieta, Eduardo; Hoyo, Itzal del; Valenzuela, Loreto; Lopez-Martín, Rafael; Peña, Víctor de la; López, Susana

    2017-06-01

    A simulation model of a parabolic-trough solar collector developed in Modelica® language is calibrated and validated. The calibration is performed in order to approximate the behavior of the solar collector model to a real one due to the uncertainty in some of the system parameters, i.e. measured data is used during the calibration process. Afterwards, the validation of this calibrated model is done. During the validation, the results obtained from the model are compared to the ones obtained during real operation in a collector from the Plataforma Solar de Almeria (PSA).

  15. COGNITIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES OF NON-ENGLISH DEPARTMENT STUDENTS ON NOUN STRUCTURE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shierly Novalita Yappy

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Learning English for non-English department students is not as easy as it seems. Besides, as much as it is necessary to know how successful learners learn, not less important is to know how less successful learners learn. Using think aloud method, this study aims at finding out the cognitive strategies used by the engineering department students in answering incorrectly problems on TOEFL noun structure-the grammar point in which students made the most errors. Findings uncover the students' strategies and reasoning upon which pedagogical implications can be put forth so that more effective and fruitful instruction can be tailored.

  16. The day-night variation of cosmic rays intensity at sea level under the influence of meteorological fronts and troughs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mok, H.M.; Cheng, K.M.

    2000-01-01

    The day-night variation of cosmic rays (CR) intensity at sea level has been observed by a simple G-M counter telescope. We perform two 5 hours counting during the day and the night and find that the pattern of variation is closely related to the atmospheric disturbance. The normal pattern shows that the day counts is a few percents lower than that of the night counts. This can be simply explained by the temperature effect. But when our observation station is being affected by a meteorological front or trough, a reversal occurs. At times the reversal pattern occurs even up to a few days ahead the formation of the troughs at a few hundred kilometers away. Such a reversal may lasts for a few days until the influence of the front or trough has significantly weakened. This effect also overrides the barometric effect, except when there is a sharp change of air pressure, such as during the approach of a tropical cyclone. Our further investigation shows that the pattern of variation may be negatively correlated to the altitude of the 0degC level in the atmosphere. A 150 m upward shift of the 0degC level reduces the CR intensity by about 3-4%. Our postulation is that this variation of CR intensity is related to the relativistic effect of the muon decay, and is an indication of the height of the mid-level pressure distribution. The phenomenon should be further investigated for possible application in weather forecasting and better understanding of the phenomenon could be of use in differentiating the atmospheric effect and the solar effects in CR data. (author)

  17. The impact of category structure and training methodology on learning and generalizing within-category representations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ell, Shawn W; Smith, David B; Peralta, Gabriela; Hélie, Sébastien

    2017-08-01

    When interacting with categories, representations focused on within-category relationships are often learned, but the conditions promoting within-category representations and their generalizability are unclear. We report the results of three experiments investigating the impact of category structure and training methodology on the learning and generalization of within-category representations (i.e., correlational structure). Participants were trained on either rule-based or information-integration structures using classification (Is the stimulus a member of Category A or Category B?), concept (e.g., Is the stimulus a member of Category A, Yes or No?), or inference (infer the missing component of the stimulus from a given category) and then tested on either an inference task (Experiments 1 and 2) or a classification task (Experiment 3). For the information-integration structure, within-category representations were consistently learned, could be generalized to novel stimuli, and could be generalized to support inference at test. For the rule-based structure, extended inference training resulted in generalization to novel stimuli (Experiment 2) and inference training resulted in generalization to classification (Experiment 3). These data help to clarify the conditions under which within-category representations can be learned. Moreover, these results make an important contribution in highlighting the impact of category structure and training methodology on the generalization of categorical knowledge.

  18. An air-based corrugated cavity-receiver for solar parabolic trough concentrators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bader, Roman; Pedretti, Andrea; Barbato, Maurizio; Steinfeld, Aldo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We analyze a novel tubular cavity-receiver for solar parabolic trough collectors. • Four-fold solar concentration ratio is reached compared to conventional receivers. • Efficient operation at up to 500 °C is possible. • The pumping power requirement is found to be acceptably low. - Abstract: A tubular cavity-receiver that uses air as the heat transfer fluid is evaluated numerically using a validated heat transfer model. The receiver is designed for use on a large-span (9 m net concentrator aperture width) solar parabolic trough concentrator. Through the combination of a parabolic primary concentrator with a nonimaging secondary concentrator, the collector reaches a solar concentration ratio of 97.5. Four different receiver configurations are considered, with smooth or V-corrugated absorber tube and single- or double-glazed aperture window. The collector’s performance is characterized by its optical efficiency and heat loss. The optical efficiency is determined with the Monte Carlo ray-tracing method. Radiative heat exchange inside the receiver is calculated with the net radiation method. The 2D steady-state energy equation, which couples conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer, is solved for the solid domains of the receiver cross-section, using finite-volume techniques. Simulations for Sevilla/Spain at the summer solstice at solar noon (direct normal solar irradiance: 847 W m −2 , solar incidence angle: 13.9°) yield collector efficiencies between 60% and 65% at a heat transfer fluid temperature of 125 °C and between 37% and 42% at 500 °C, depending on the receiver configuration. The optical losses amount to more than 30% of the incident solar radiation and constitute the largest source of energy loss. For a 200 m long collector module operated between 300 and 500 °C, the isentropic pumping power required to pump the HTF through the receiver is between 11 and 17 kW

  19. Study on the Instability of Two-Phase Flow in the Heat-Absorbing Tube of Trough Solar Collector

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ying Zhang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The Marangoni effect and Rayleigh-Benard effect in the two-phase region of solar trough heat-absorbing tube are simulated by FTM (front tracking method. Considering the Marangoni effect alone, although surface tension gradient and surface tension affect the interface wave, the two effects have different characteristics. The surface tension gradient caused by the temperature gradient is one of the factors that swing the interface. The amplitude attenuation of the interface wave decreases with the increase of the Marangoni number (Ma. In general, the surface tension gradient enhances the convection opposite to the temperature gradient. Under the gravity field, the Rayleigh-Benard effect influences the development of the vortex structure in the flow field, which in turn affects the velocity gradient near the interface to influence the evolution of the interface fluctuation. In a small Rayleigh number (Ra, the buoyancy convection reduces the velocity gradient, thus suppressing the evolution of the interfacial wave. In the range of Ra  4.0E4, the situation is just the opposite. The larger the Ra is, the stronger the promoting effect is.

  20. Filopodia: A Rapid Structural Plasticity Substrate for Fast Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmet S. Ozcan

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Formation of new synapses between neurons is an essential mechanism for learning and encoding memories. The vast majority of excitatory synapses occur on dendritic spines, therefore, the growth dynamics of spines is strongly related to the plasticity timescales. Especially in the early stages of the developing brain, there is an abundant number of long, thin and motile protrusions (i.e., filopodia, which develop in timescales of seconds and minutes. Because of their unique morphology and motility, it has been suggested that filopodia can have a dual role in both spinogenesis and environmental sampling of potential axonal partners. I propose that filopodia can lower the threshold and reduce the time to form new dendritic spines and synapses, providing a substrate for fast learning. Based on this proposition, the functional role of filopodia during brain development is discussed in relation to learning and memory. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the postnatal brain starts with a single-stage memory system with filopodia playing a significant role in rapid structural plasticity along with the stability provided by the mushroom-shaped spines. Following the maturation of the hippocampus, this highly-plastic unitary system transitions to a two-stage memory system, which consists of a plastic temporary store and a long-term stable store. In alignment with these architectural changes, it is posited that after brain maturation, filopodia-based structural plasticity will be preserved in specific areas, which are involved in fast learning (e.g., hippocampus in relation to episodic memory. These propositions aim to introduce a unifying framework for a diversity of phenomena in the brain such as synaptogenesis, pruning and memory consolidation.

  1. Imaging of Upper-Mantle Upwelling Beneath the Salton Trough, Southern California, by Joint Inversion of Ambient Noise Dispersion Curves and Receiver Functions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klemperer, S. L.; Barak, S.

    2016-12-01

    We present a new 2D shear-wave velocity model of the crust and upper-mantle across the Salton Trough, southern California, obtained by jointly inverting our new dataset of receiver functions and our previously published Rayleigh-wave group-velocity model (Barak et al., G-cubed, 2015), obtained from ambient-noise tomography. Our results show an upper-mantle low-velocity zone (LVZ) with Vs ≤4.2 km/s extending from the Elsinore Fault to the Sand Hills Fault, that together bracket the full width of major San Andreas dextral motion since its inception 6 Ma b.p., and underlying the full width of low topography of the Imperial Valley and Salton Trough. The lateral extent of the LVZ is coincident with the lateral extent of an upper-mantle anisotropic region interpreted as a zone of SAF-parallel melt pockets (Barak & Klemperer, Geology, 2016). The shallowest part of the LVZ is 40 km depth, coincident with S-receiver function images. The western part of the LVZ, between the Elsinore and San Jacinto faults (the region of greatest modern dextral slip), appears to continue to significantly greater depth; but a puzzling feature of our preliminary models is that the eastern part of the LVZ, from the San Jacinto Fault to the Sand Hills Fault, appears to be underlain by more-normalvelocity upper mantle (Vs ≥ 4.5 km/s) below 75 km depth. We compare our model to the current SCEC community models CVM-H and CVM-S, and to P-wave velocity models obtained by the active-source Salton Sea Imaging Project (SSIP). The hypothesized lower-crustal low-velocity zone beneath the Salton Trough in our previous model (Barak et al., G-cubed, 2015), there interpreted as a region of partial melt, is not supported by our new modeling. Melt may be largely absent from the lower crust of the Salton trough; but appears required in the upper mantle at depths as shallow as 40 km.

  2. Topography and distribution of central graben in Okinawa Trough Miyoko Section

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luan, X.; Qin, Y.

    2006-05-01

    Based on geophysical data obtained by R/V "Science 1¡± of Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS) and R/V "Xiangyanghong 9¡± of State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in a 200 km long area of Okinawa Trough Miyoko Section recent years, we show the topography and distribution of central graben in great detail for the first time. Central graben within Miyoko Section is separated into 9 discontinuous segments by strike slip faults, from north to south namely Laoshan, Huangdao, Jiaonan, Jiaozhou, Pingdu, Jimo, Laixi, Chengyang and Licang Segment respectively, and shows a dextral echelon pattern in general. By cross shapes, three types of central graben can be distinguished, namely U type, V type and half graben. U type is the most common central graben among those found in our study area. The depth of central graben is from 40 m to 250 m, wide from 6 km to 14 km, length from 17 km to 33 km. The largest water depth of Miyoko Section is 2244.4 m, found at the east side of north end bottom of Chengyang Segment (125°19.3'E, 25°49.8'N). Within the dextral echelon pattern, Huangdao, Chengyang, Licang Segment moves to the west relatively to Laoshan, Laixi and Chengyang Segment respectively, showing a local sinistral echelon pattern. The striking direction of central graben is N60°E roughly, that is 15° more to the east comparing to the striking of the Okinawa Trough. There is 6 km long overlap distance between Laixi Segment and Chengyang Segments, simile with an overlap spreading center in the Mid-Ocean Ridge. Two volcanic chains, the central axis volcanic chain which located within the central graben and the island arc volcanic chain which located at the west side of Ryukyu Island Arc are clearly found in this section. The island volcanic chain has a good continuity, but the axis volcanic chain is sporadic comparatively. From seismic profile, we understand that the development of central axis volcanic chain is after the development of central graben

  3. Development of Molten-Salt Heat Transfer Fluid Technology for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants - Public Final Technical Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grogan, Dylan C. P.

    2013-08-15

    Executive Summary This Final Report for the "Development of Molten-Salt Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF) Technology for Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants” describes the overall project accomplishments, results and conclusions. Phase 1 analyzed the feasibility, cost and performance of a parabolic trough solar power plant with a molten salt heat transfer fluid (HTF); researched and/or developed feasible component options, detailed cost estimates and workable operating procedures; and developed hourly performance models. As a result, a molten salt plant with 6 hours of storage was shown to reduce Thermal Energy Storage (TES) cost by 43.2%, solar field cost by 14.8%, and levelized cost of energy (LCOE) by 9.8% - 14.5% relative to a similar state-of-the-art baseline plant. The LCOE savings range met the project’s Go/No Go criteria of 10% LCOE reduction. Another primary focus of Phase 1 and 2 was risk mitigation. The large risk areas associated with a molten salt parabolic trough plant were addressed in both Phases, such as; HTF freeze prevention and recovery, collector components and piping connections, and complex component interactions. Phase 2 analyzed in more detail the technical and economic feasibility of a 140 MWe,gross molten-salt CSP plant with 6 hours of TES. Phase 2 accomplishments included developing technical solutions to the above mentioned risk areas, such as freeze protection/recovery, corrosion effects of applicable molten salts, collector design improvements for molten salt, and developing plant operating strategies for maximized plant performance and freeze risk mitigation. Phase 2 accomplishments also included developing and thoroughly analyzing a molten salt, Parabolic Trough power plant performance model, in order to achieve the project cost and performance targets. The plant performance model and an extensive basic Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) quote were used to calculate a real levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of 11.50

  4. Risk factors associated with high linezolid trough plasma concentrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morata, L; De la Calle, C; Gómez-Cerquera, J M; Manzanedo, L; Casals, G; Brunet, M; Cobos-Trigueros, N; Martínez, J A; Mensa, J; Soriano, A

    2016-06-01

    The major concern of linezolid is the adverse events. High linezolid trough serum concentration (Cmin) has been associated with toxicity. The aim of this study was to analyze factors associated with high Cmin. Main clinical characteristics of 104 patients treated with 600 mg/12 hours of linezolid were retrospectively reviewed. Samples were obtained just before the next dose after at least three doses and within the first 8 days of treatment. High Cmin was considered when it was >8 mg/L. Univariate and multivariate analysis were performed. 34.6% patients had a Cmin >8 mg/L, and they were older and had more frequently an estimated glomerular filtration by MDRD 8 was the renal function. Patients with an eGF 80 mL/min (OR: 4.273) and there was a trend towards a high Cmin in patients with eGF between 40-80 mL/min (OR: 2.109). High Cmin were frequent, especially in patients with MDRD <40 mL/min. Therapeutic drug monitoring could be useful to avoid toxicity in patients with renal dysfunction.

  5. White matter structure changes as adults learn a second language.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlegel, Alexander A; Rudelson, Justin J; Tse, Peter U

    2012-08-01

    Traditional models hold that the plastic reorganization of brain structures occurs mainly during childhood and adolescence, leaving adults with limited means to learn new knowledge and skills. Research within the last decade has begun to overturn this belief, documenting changes in the brain's gray and white matter as healthy adults learn simple motor and cognitive skills [Lövdén, M., Bodammer, N. C., Kühn, S., Kaufmann, J., Schütze, H., Tempelmann, C., et al. Experience-dependent plasticity of white-matter microstructure extends into old age. Neuropsychologia, 48, 3878-3883, 2010; Taubert, M., Draganski, B., Anwander, A., Müller, K., Horstmann, A., Villringer, A., et al. Dynamic properties of human brain structure: Learning-related changes in cortical areas and associated fiber connections. The Journal of Neuroscience, 30, 11670-11677, 2010; Scholz, J., Klein, M. C., Behrens, T. E. J., & Johansen-Berg, H. Training induces changes in white-matter architecture. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 1370-1371, 2009; Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V., Schuirer, G., Bogdahn, U., & May, A. Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature, 427, 311-312, 2004]. Although the significance of these changes is not fully understood, they reveal a brain that remains plastic well beyond early developmental periods. Here we investigate the role of adult structural plasticity in the complex, long-term learning process of foreign language acquisition. We collected monthly diffusion tensor imaging scans of 11 English speakers who took a 9-month intensive course in written and spoken Modern Standard Chinese as well as from 16 control participants who did not study a language. We show that white matter reorganizes progressively across multiple sites as adults study a new language. Language learners exhibited progressive changes in white matter tracts associated with traditional left hemisphere language areas and their right hemisphere analogs. Surprisingly, the most significant changes

  6. Social Structures for Learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    I.M. Bogenrieder (Irma); B. Nooteboom (Bart)

    2001-01-01

    textabstractThis article investigates what learning groups there are in organizations, other than the familiar 'communities of practice'. It first develops an interdisciplinary theoretical framework for identifying, categorizing and understanding learning groups. For this, it employs a

  7. Numerical tsunami simulations in the western Pacific Ocean and East China Sea from hypothetical M 9 earthquakes along the Nankai trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harada, Tomoya; Satake, Kenji; Furumura, Takashi

    2017-04-01

    We carried out tsunami numerical simulations in the western Pacific Ocean and East China Sea in order to examine the behavior of massive tsunami outside Japan from the hypothetical M 9 tsunami source models along the Nankai Trough proposed by the Cabinet Office of Japanese government (2012). The distribution of MTHs (maximum tsunami heights for 24 h after the earthquakes) on the east coast of China, the east coast of the Philippine Islands, and north coast of the New Guinea Island show peaks with approximately 1.0-1.7 m,4.0-7.0 m,4.0-5.0 m, respectively. They are significantly higher than that from the 1707 Ho'ei earthquake (M 8.7), the largest earthquake along the Nankai trough in recent Japanese history. Moreover, the MTH distributions vary with the location of the huge slip(s) in the tsunami source models although the three coasts are far from the Nankai trough. Huge slip(s) in the Nankai segment mainly contributes to the MTHs, while huge slip(s) or splay faulting in the Tokai segment hardly affects the MTHs. The tsunami source model was developed for responding to the unexpected occurrence of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, with 11 models along the Nanakai trough, and simulated MTHs along the Pacific coasts of the western Japan from these models exceed 10 m, with a maximum height of 34.4 m. Tsunami propagation was computed by the finite-difference method of the non-liner long-wave equations with the Corioli's force and bottom friction (Satake, 1995) in the area of 115-155 ° E and 8° S-40° N. Because water depth of the East China Sea is shallower than 200 m, the tsunami propagation is likely to be affected by the ocean bottom fiction. The 30 arc-seconds gridded bathymetry data provided by the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO-2014) are used. For long propagation of tsunami we simulated tsunamis for 24 hours after the earthquakes. This study was supported by the"New disaster mitigation research project on Mega thrust earthquakes around Nankai

  8. Organizational structure and continuous improvement and learning: Moderating effects of cultural endorsement of participative leadership

    OpenAIRE

    Xiaowen Huang; Joseph C Rode; Roger G Schroeder

    2011-01-01

    Building upon the culturally endorsed implicit theory of leadership, we investigated the moderating effects of national culture on the relationship between organizational structure and continuous improvement and learning. We propose that the relationship between organic organizations (characterized by flat, decentralized structures with a wide use of multifunctional employees) and continuous improvement and learning will be stronger when national cultural endorsement for participative leaders...

  9. The fabrication and visible-near-infrared optical modulation of vanadium dioxide/silicon dioxide composite photonic crystal structure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liang, Jiran; Li, Peng; Song, Xiaolong; Zhou, Liwei [Tianjin University, School of Microelectronics, Tianjin (China)

    2017-12-15

    We demonstrated a visible and near-infrared light tunable photonic nanostructure, which is composed of vanadium dioxide (VO{sub 2}) thin film and silicon dioxide (SiO{sub 2}) ordered nanosphere arrays. The vanadium films were sputtered on two-dimensional (2D) SiO{sub 2} sphere arrays. VO{sub 2} thin films were prepared by rapid thermal annealing (RTA) method with different oxygen flow rates. The close-packed VO{sub 2} shell formed a continuous surface, the composition of VO{sub 2} films in the structure changed when the oxygen flow rates increased. The 2D VO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} composite photonic crystal structure exhibited transmittance trough tunability and near-infrared (NIR) transmittance modulation. When the oxygen flow rate increased from 3 slpm to 4 slpm, the largest transmittance trough can be regulated from 904 to 929 nm at low temperature, the transmittance troughs also appear blue shift when the VO{sub 2} phase changes from insulator to metal. The composite nanostructure based on VO{sub 2} films showed visible transmittance tunability, which would provide insights into the glass color changing in smart windows. (orig.)

  10. Structural factors controlling inter-plate coupling and earthquake rupture process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kodaira, S.

    2007-05-01

    Recent availability of a large number of ocean bottom seismographs (OBSs), a large volume of air-gun array and a long streamer cable for academics provide several new findings of lithospheric scale structures in subduction seismogenic zones. JAMSTEC has acquired long-offset seismic data using a super-densely deploy OBS (i.e. 1 - 5 km spacing OBSs along 100 - 500 km long profiles) in the Nankai seismogeinc zone, SW. Japan, since 1999. Long-offset multichannel seismic (MCS) data by a two-ship experiment, as well as conventional 2D MCS data, have been also acquired at a part of the profiles. Some of those profiles have been designed as combined onshore - offshore profiles for imaging a land-ocean transition zone. One of the most striking findings is an image of several scales of subducted seamounts/ridges in the Nankai trough seismogenic zone. We detected the subducted seamount/ridges, which are 50 - 100 km wide, distributing from near trough axis to ~ 40 km deep beneath the Japanese island. From a point of seismogenic process, an important aspect is that those structures are strongly correlated with slip zones of magnitude 8-class earthquakes, i.e.; subducted seamounts/ridge control the rupture propagations. Moreover, the most recent seismic study crossing the segmentation boundary between M=8 class earthquakes detected a high seismic velocity body forming a strongly coupled patch at the segmentation boundary. The numerical simulation incorporating all those structures explained the historic rupture patterns, and shows the occurrence of a giant earthquake along the entire Nankai trough, a distance of over 600 km long (Mw=8.7). The growth processes of a rupture revealed from the simulation are; 1) prior to the giant earthquake, a small slow event (or earthquake) occurs near the segmentation boundary, 2) this accelerates a very slow slip (slower than the plate convergent rate), at the strong patch, which reduces a degree of coupling, 3) then a rupture easily propagates

  11. Norwich Technologies' Advanced Low-Cost Receivers for Parabolic Troughs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stettenheim, Joel [Norwich Technologies, White River Junction, VT (United States); McBride, Troy O. [Norwich Technologies, White River Junction, VT (United States); Brambles, Oliver J. [Norwich Technologies, White River Junction, VT (United States); Cashin, Emil A. [Norwich Technologies, White River Junction, VT (United States)

    2013-12-31

    This report summarizes the successful results of our SunShot project, Advanced Low-Cost Receivers for Parabolic Troughs. With a limited budget of $252K and in only 12 months, we have (1) developed validated optical and thermal models and completed rigorous optimization analysis to identify key performance characteristics as part of developing first-generation laboratory prototype designs, (2) built optical and thermal laboratory prototypes and test systems with associated innovative testing protocols, and (3) performed extensive statistically relevant testing. We have produced fully functioning optical and thermal prototypes and accurate, validated models shown to capture important underlying physical mechanisms. The test results from the first-generation prototype establish performance exceeding the FOA requirement of thermal efficiency >90% for a CSP receiver while delivering an exit fluid temperature of > 650 °C and a cost < $150/kWth. Our vacuum-free SunTrap receiver design provides improvements over conventional vacuum-tube collectors, allowing dramatic reductions in thermal losses at high operating temperature.

  12. Structuring Cooperative Learning for Motivation and Conceptual Change in the Concepts of Mixtures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belge Can, Hatice; Boz, Yezdan

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the effect of structuring cooperative learning based on conceptual change approach on grade 9 students' understanding the concepts of mixtures and their motivation, compared with traditional instruction. Among six classes of a high school, two of them were randomly assigned to cooperative learning group where students were…

  13. Robust Online Multi-Task Learning with Correlative and Personalized Structures

    KAUST Repository

    Yang, Peng

    2017-06-29

    Multi-Task Learning (MTL) can enhance a classifier\\'s generalization performance by learning multiple related tasks simultaneously. Conventional MTL works under the offline setting and suffers from expensive training cost and poor scalability. To address such issues, online learning techniques have been applied to solve MTL problems. However, most existing algorithms of online MTL constrain task relatedness into a presumed structure via a single weight matrix, which is a strict restriction that does not always hold in practice. In this paper, we propose a robust online MTL framework that overcomes this restriction by decomposing the weight matrix into two components: the first one captures the low-rank common structure among tasks via a nuclear norm; the second one identifies the personalized patterns of outlier tasks via a group lasso. Theoretical analysis shows the proposed algorithm can achieve a sub-linear regret with respect to the best linear model in hindsight. However, the nuclear norm that simply adds all nonzero singular values together may not be a good low-rank approximation. To improve the results, we use a log-determinant function as a non-convex rank approximation. Experimental results on a number of real-world applications also verify the efficacy of our approaches.

  14. Robust Online Multi-Task Learning with Correlative and Personalized Structures

    KAUST Repository

    Yang, Peng; Zhao, Peilin; Gao, Xin

    2017-01-01

    Multi-Task Learning (MTL) can enhance a classifier's generalization performance by learning multiple related tasks simultaneously. Conventional MTL works under the offline setting and suffers from expensive training cost and poor scalability. To address such issues, online learning techniques have been applied to solve MTL problems. However, most existing algorithms of online MTL constrain task relatedness into a presumed structure via a single weight matrix, which is a strict restriction that does not always hold in practice. In this paper, we propose a robust online MTL framework that overcomes this restriction by decomposing the weight matrix into two components: the first one captures the low-rank common structure among tasks via a nuclear norm; the second one identifies the personalized patterns of outlier tasks via a group lasso. Theoretical analysis shows the proposed algorithm can achieve a sub-linear regret with respect to the best linear model in hindsight. However, the nuclear norm that simply adds all nonzero singular values together may not be a good low-rank approximation. To improve the results, we use a log-determinant function as a non-convex rank approximation. Experimental results on a number of real-world applications also verify the efficacy of our approaches.

  15. Older Australians: Structural barriers to learning in later life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulton-Lewis, Gillian; Aird, Rosemary; Buys, Laurie

    2016-01-01

    Learning in older age is associated with benefits including increases in skills, social interactions, self-satisfaction, coping ability, enjoyment, and resilience to age-related changes in the brain. It is also a fundamental component of active ageing and if active ageing objectives are to be met for the growing ageing population, barriers to learning need to be understood and addressed. This study aimed at determining the degree that structural factors deter people aged 55 years and older from engaging in learning activities. The data were obtained from survey (n=421) with a purposive sample of Australian Seniors aged 55 to 75+, and open ended follow up interviews (n=40). The survey responses to the 22 barriers to learning questions were ranked and quantified. The issues identified in the interviews shed further light on the survey data. The analyses revealed that factors related to educational institutions as well as infrastructure were commonly cited as barriers to participation in learning. In particular expense of educational programmes (55.1%), long travelling time (45.6%) other transportation difficulties (38.9%), lack of interest in offered programmes ((36.4) and lack of information about courses (31.1%) were seen as barriers. The interviews revealed and confirmed five main barriers; money, offerings of interest/availability, travel/transport, information, computer skills and being employed. The findings should provide policy makers, institutions, organizations and government with a list of areas where changes might be made so as to improve older people's opportunities for learning as they proceed through older age.

  16. Human capital and human resource management to achieve ambidextrous learning: A structural perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mirta Diaz-Fernandez

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Organisational learning has become increasingly important for strategic renewal. Ambidextrous organisations are especially successful in the current environment, where firms are required to be efficient and adapt to change. Using a structural approach, this study discusses arguments about the nature of ambidexterity and identifies the kinds of human capital that better support specific learning types and HRM practices suited to these components of human capital. Results highlight learning differences between marketing and production units, as well as different HRM practices and human capital orientations. This study points out that human capital mediates between HRM practices and learning.

  17. Learning Practice and Technology: Extending the Structurational Practice Lens to Educational Technology Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halperin, Ruth

    2017-01-01

    Scholars in the field of educational technology have been calling for robust use of social theory within learning technology research. In view of that, interest has been noted in applying Giddens' structuration theory to the understanding of human interaction with technology in learning settings. However, only few such attempts have been published…

  18. Structure Learning and Statistical Estimation in Distribution Networks - Part I

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deka, Deepjyoti [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Backhaus, Scott N. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Chertkov, Michael [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-02-13

    Traditionally power distribution networks are either not observable or only partially observable. This complicates development and implementation of new smart grid technologies, such as those related to demand response, outage detection and management, and improved load-monitoring. In this two part paper, inspired by proliferation of the metering technology, we discuss estimation problems in structurally loopy but operationally radial distribution grids from measurements, e.g. voltage data, which are either already available or can be made available with a relatively minor investment. In Part I, the objective is to learn the operational layout of the grid. Part II of this paper presents algorithms that estimate load statistics or line parameters in addition to learning the grid structure. Further, Part II discusses the problem of structure estimation for systems with incomplete measurement sets. Our newly suggested algorithms apply to a wide range of realistic scenarios. The algorithms are also computationally efficient – polynomial in time– which is proven theoretically and illustrated computationally on a number of test cases. The technique developed can be applied to detect line failures in real time as well as to understand the scope of possible adversarial attacks on the grid.

  19. Optimized Structure of the Traffic Flow Forecasting Model With a Deep Learning Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Hao-Fan; Dillon, Tharam S; Chen, Yi-Ping Phoebe

    2017-10-01

    Forecasting accuracy is an important issue for successful intelligent traffic management, especially in the domain of traffic efficiency and congestion reduction. The dawning of the big data era brings opportunities to greatly improve prediction accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel model, stacked autoencoder Levenberg-Marquardt model, which is a type of deep architecture of neural network approach aiming to improve forecasting accuracy. The proposed model is designed using the Taguchi method to develop an optimized structure and to learn traffic flow features through layer-by-layer feature granulation with a greedy layerwise unsupervised learning algorithm. It is applied to real-world data collected from the M6 freeway in the U.K. and is compared with three existing traffic predictors. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that an optimized structure of the traffic flow forecasting model with a deep learning approach is presented. The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed model with an optimized structure has superior performance in traffic flow forecasting.

  20. Manic-Like Psychosis Associated with Elevated Trough Tacrolimus Blood Concentrations 17 Years after Kidney Transplant

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Bersani

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Several neurological side effects induced by tacrolimus are described in the scientific literature, ranging from mild neurological symptoms to delirium and psychosis. We report the case of a 46-year-old man with no prior psychiatric history who suddenly manifested manic-like psychosis associated with elevated trough tacrolimus blood concentrations 17 years after kidney transplant. The use of antipsychotics may improve the severity of symptoms; but in order to obtain a complete remission, the reduction in the dose of tacrolimus, or its replacement with alternative immunosuppressant therapies, is recommended.

  1. Do sophisticated epistemic beliefs predict meaningful learning? Findings from a structural equation model of undergraduate biology learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Silvia Wen-Yu; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2016-10-01

    This study investigated the relationships among college students' epistemic beliefs in biology (EBB), conceptions of learning biology (COLB), and strategies of learning biology (SLB). EBB includes four dimensions, namely 'multiple-source,' 'uncertainty,' 'development,' and 'justification.' COLB is further divided into 'constructivist' and 'reproductive' conceptions, while SLB represents deep strategies and surface learning strategies. Questionnaire responses were gathered from 303 college students. The results of the confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling showed acceptable model fits. Mediation testing further revealed two paths with complete mediation. In sum, students' epistemic beliefs of 'uncertainty' and 'justification' in biology were statistically significant in explaining the constructivist and reproductive COLB, respectively; and 'uncertainty' was statistically significant in explaining the deep SLB as well. The results of mediation testing further revealed that 'uncertainty' predicted surface strategies through the mediation of 'reproductive' conceptions; and the relationship between 'justification' and deep strategies was mediated by 'constructivist' COLB. This study provides evidence for the essential roles some epistemic beliefs play in predicting students' learning.

  2. New Geological Evidence of Past Earthquakes and Tsunami Along the Nankai Trough, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Batist, M. A. O.; Heyvaert, V.; Hubert-Ferrari, A.; Fujiwara, O.; Shishikura, M.; Yokoyama, Y.; Brückner, H.; Garrett, E.; Boes, E.; Lamair, L.; Nakamura, A.; Miyairi, Y.; Yamamoto, S.

    2015-12-01

    The east coast of Japan is prone to tsunamigenic megathrust earthquakes, as tragically demonstrated in 2011 by the Tōhoku earthquake (Mw 9.0) and tsunami. The Nankai Trough subduction zone, to the southwest of the area affected by the Tōhoku disaster and facing the densely populated and heavily industrialized southern coastline of central and west Japan, is expected to generate another megathrust earthquake and tsunami in the near future. This subduction zone is, however, segmented and appears to be characterized by a variable rupture mode, involving single- as well as multi-segment ruptures, which has immediate implications for their tsunamigenic potential, and also renders the collection of sufficiently long time records of past earthquakes and tsunami in this region fundamental for an adequate hazard and risk assessment. Over the past three decades, Japanese researchers have acquired a large amount of geological evidence of past earthquakes and tsunami, in many cases extending back in time for several thousands of years. This evidence includes uplifted marine terraces, turbidites, liquefaction features, subsided marshes and tsunami deposits in coastal lakes and lowlands. Despite these efforts, current understanding of the behaviour of the subduction zone still remains limited, due to site-specific evidence creation and preservation thresholds and issues over alternative hypotheses for proposed palaeoseismic evidence and insufficiently precise chronological control. Within the QuakeRecNankai project we are generating a long and coherent time series of megathrust earthquake and tsunami recurrences along the Nankai Trough subduction zone by integrating all existing evidence with new geological records of paleo-tsunami in the Lake Hamana region and of paleo-earthquakes from selected lakes in the Mount Fuji area. We combine extensive fieldwork in coastal plain areas and lakes, with advanced sedimentological and geochemical analyses and innovative dating techniques.

  3. Structured feedback on students' concept maps: the proverbial path to learning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph, Conran; Conradsson, David; Nilsson Wikmar, Lena; Rowe, Michael

    2017-05-25

    Good conceptual knowledge is an essential requirement for health professions students, in that they are required to apply concepts learned in the classroom to a variety of different contexts. However, the use of traditional methods of assessment limits the educator's ability to correct students' conceptual knowledge prior to altering the educational context. Concept mapping (CM) is an educational tool for evaluating conceptual knowledge, but little is known about its use in facilitating the development of richer knowledge frameworks. In addition, structured feedback has the potential to develop good conceptual knowledge. The purpose of this study was to use Kinchin's criteria to assess the impact of structured feedback on the graphical complexity of CM's by observing the development of richer knowledge frameworks. Fifty-eight physiotherapy students created CM's targeting the integration of two knowledge domains within a case-based teaching paradigm. Each student received one round of structured feedback that addressed correction, reinforcement, forensic diagnosis, benchmarking, and longitudinal development on their CM's prior to the final submission. The concept maps were categorized according to Kinchin's criteria as either Spoke, Chain or Net representations, and then evaluated against defined traits of meaningful learning. The inter-rater reliability of categorizing CM's was good. Pre-feedback CM's were predominantly Chain structures (57%), with Net structures appearing least often. There was a significant reduction of the basic Spoke- structured CMs (P = 0.002) and a significant increase of Net-structured maps (P student development.

  4. Structures and shear response of lipid monolayers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dutta, P.; Ketterson, J.B.

    1993-02-01

    This report discusses our work during the last 3 years using x-ray diffraction and shear measurements to study lipid monolayers (membranes). The report is divided into: (1) structure: phase diagram of saturated fatty acid Langmuir monolayers, effect of head group interactions, studies of transferred monolayers (LB films); (2) mechanical properties: fiber=optic capillary wave probe and centrosymmetric trough, mechanical behavior of heneicosanoic acid monolayer phases

  5. Sizing optimization of skeletal structures using teaching-learning based optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vedat Toğan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO is one of the non-traditional techniques to simulate natural phenomena into a numerical algorithm. TLBO mimics teaching learning process occurring between a teacher and students in a classroom. A parameter named as teaching factor, TF, seems to be the only tuning parameter in TLBO. Although the value of the teaching factor, TF, is determined by an equation, the value of 1 or 2 has been used by the researchers for TF. This study intends to explore the effect of the variation of teaching factor TF on the performances of TLBO. This effect is demonstrated in solving structural optimization problems including truss and frame structures under the stress and displacement constraints. The results indicate that the variation of TF in the TLBO process does not change the results obtained at the end of the optimization procedure when the computational cost of TLBO is ignored.

  6. Parabolic Trough Reference Plant for Cost Modeling with the Solar Advisor Model (SAM)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Turchi, C.

    2010-07-01

    This report describes a component-based cost model developed for parabolic trough solar power plants. The cost model was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), assisted by WorleyParsons Group Inc., for use with NREL's Solar Advisor Model (SAM). This report includes an overview and explanation of the model, two summary contract reports from WorleyParsons, and an Excel spreadsheet for use with SAM. The cost study uses a reference plant with a 100-MWe capacity and six hours of thermal energy storage. Wet-cooling and dry-cooling configurations are considered. The spreadsheet includes capital and operating cost by component to allow users to estimate the impact of changes in component costs.

  7. Millennial-Scale Planktic Foraminifer Faunal Variability in the East China Sea during the Past 40000 Years (IMAGES MD012404 from the Okinawa Trough

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuan-Pin Chang

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available High resolution planktic foraminifer fauna assemblage data are used to reconstruct the millennial-scale sea surface temperature (SST variability of the past 40000 years at an IMAGES core site (MD012404 in the Okinawa Trough in the East China Sea (ECS. The fauna assemblages in core MD012404 are dominated by five species - Globigerinoides ruber, Globigerina bulloides, Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Pulleniatina obliquiloculata, and Globigerinita glutinata, which account for > 70% in relative abundance. Our Q-mode factor analysis decomposed the fauna abundance data into three factors, which indicate cold water mass, warm water mass, and possibly coastal water flow with low salinity in the ECS. The MD012404 fauna data show abrupt changes at ~16 kya, suggesting a return to a warmer climate or warm water intrusion of the Kuroshio into the Okinawa Trough since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM. SST estimates based on the fauna assemblages of planktic foraminifers indicate a LGM cooling of 1 - 2°C. Amaximum cooling by 3 - 4°C is observed in episodic, millennial-scale events in the glacial stages of the record. The SST record displays variability that closely tracks the structure of oxygen isotopes of stalagmites from Hulu Cave and ice cores from GISP 2 Dansgaard/Oeschger cycles and Heinrich events. Low salinity in the ECS is inferred based on MD012404 fauna SST and planktic foraminifer oxygen isotope records for the cold millennial-scale intervals, pointing to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ and/or East Asian monsoon as important factors driving SST and salinity in the subtropical western Pacific, both on orbital and suborbital time scales.

  8. Movement and effects of spilled oil over the outer continental shelf; inadequacy of existent data for the Baltimore Canyon Trough area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knebel, Harley J.

    1974-01-01

    A deductive approach to the problem of determining the movement and effects of spilled oil over the Outer Continental Shelf requires that the potential paths of oil be determined first, in order that critical subareas may be defined for later studies. The paths of spilled oil, in turn, depend primarily on the temporal and spatial variability of four factors: the thermohaline structure of the waters, the circulation of the water, the winds, and the distribution of suspended matter. A review of the existent data concerning these factors for the Baltimore Canyon Trough area (a relatively well studied segment of the Continental Shelf) reveals that the movement and dispersal of potential oil spills cannot be reliably predicted. Variations in the thermohaline structure of waters and in the distribution of suspended matter are adequately known; the uncertainty is due to insufficient wind and storm statistics and to the lack of quantitative understanding of the relationship between the nontidal drift and its basic driving mechanisms. Similar inadequacies should be anticipated for other potentially leasable areas of the shelf because an understanding of the movement of spilled oil has not been the underlying aim of most previous studies.

  9. Plate boundary deformation at the latitude of the Salton Trough - northern Gulf of California (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, J. M.

    2013-12-01

    Along the Pacific-North America plate boundary zone, the segment including the southern San Andreas fault to Salton Trough and northern Gulf of California basins has been transtensional throughout its evolution, based on Pacific-North America displacement vectors calculated from the global plate circuit (900 × 20 km at N54°W since 20 Ma; 460 × 20 km at N48°W since 11 Ma). Nevertheless, active seismicity and focal mechanisms show a broad zone of plate boundary deformation within which the inferred stress regime varies locally (Yang & Hauksson 2013 GJI), and fault patterns in some regions suggest ongoing tectonic rotation. Similar behavior is inferred to have occurred in this zone over most of its history. Crustal structure in this region is constrained by surface geology, geophysical experiments (e.g., the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP), USGS Imperial Valley 1979, PACE), and interdisciplinary marine and onland studies in Mexico (e.g., NARS-Baja, Cortes, and surveys by PEMEX). Magnetic data (e.g., EMAG-2) aids in the recognition of large-scale crustal provinces and fault boundaries in regions lacking detailed geophysical surveys. Consideration of existing constraints on crustal thickness and architecture, and fault and basin evolution suggests that to reconcile geological deformation with plate motion history, the following additional factors need to be taken into account. 1) Plate boundary displacement via interacting systems of rotating blocks, coeval with slip on steep strike slip faults, and possibly related to slip on low angle extensional faults (e.g, Axen & Fletcher 1998 IGR) may be typical prior to the onset of seafloor spreading. This fault style may have accommodated up to 150 km of plate motion in the Mexican Continental Borderland and north of the Vizcaino Peninsula, likely between 12 and 15 Ma, as well as explaining younger rotations adjacent to the Gulf of California and current deformation southwest of the Salton Sea. 2) Geophysical

  10. Chronological age and its impact on associative learning proficiency and brain structure in middle adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diwadkar, Vaibhav A; Bellani, Marcella; Ahmed, Rizwan; Dusi, Nicola; Rambaldelli, Gianluca; Perlini, Cinzia; Marinelli, Veronica; Ramaseshan, Karthik; Ruggeri, Mirella; Bambilla, Paolo

    2016-01-15

    The rate of biological change in middle-adulthood is relatively under-studied. Here, we used behavioral testing in conjunction with structural magnetic resonance imaging to examine the effects of chronological age on associative learning proficiency and on brain regions that previous functional MRI studies have closely related to the domain of associative learning. Participants (n=66) completed a previously established associative learning paradigm, and consented to be scanned using structural magnetic resonance imaging. Age-related effects were investigated both across sub-groups in the sample (younger vs. older) and across the entire sample (using regression approaches). Chronological age had substantial effects on learning proficiency (independent of IQ and Education Level), with older adults showing a decrement compared to younger adults. In addition, decreases in estimated gray matter volume were observed in multiple brain regions including the hippocampus and the dorsal prefrontal cortex, both of which are strongly implicated in associative learning. The results suggest that middle adulthood may be a more dynamic period of life-span change than previously believed. The conjunctive application of narrowly focused tasks, with conjointly acquired structural MRI data may allow us to enrich the search for, and the interpretation of, age-related changes in cross-sectional samples. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. The trochlear cleft: the ''black line'' of the trochlear trough

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wissman, Robert D.; Nepute, Joshua; Fischer, Nathaniel von; Radhakrishnan, Rupa; Hendry, Daniel [University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Cincinnati, OH (United States); Ingalls, Jerrell [Desert Radiologists, Las Vegas, NV (United States); Kenter, Keith [University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Cincinnati, OH (United States)

    2012-09-15

    The ''cartilage black line sign'' is a recently described T2 dark cartilage lesion that we have identified appearing as a cleft in the trochlear trough. The purpose of our study was to define the MR imaging characteristics of a trochlear cleft, determine its incidence, and correlate the MR findings with arthroscopy. A total of 1,300 consecutive MR examinations of the knee were retrospectively reviewed by consensus of two fellowship-trained musculoskeletal radiologists. The MR imaging characteristics and location of a trochlear cleft were determined. Imaging results were compared to arthroscopy when available. Patient age and gender were compared to 25 randomly selected control patients without trochlear clefts. A total of 25 (1.9%) individuals (11 females and 14 males; age range 19-45 years; mean age 28 years) were diagnosed with a trochlear cleft. The control group consisted of 11 females and 14 males; age range 19-83 years; mean age 46 years. Mean cleft length was 7 mm (range 6-12 mm); cleft location was consistently in the lower trochlear trough. No full-thickness cartilage defects were identified in the eight individuals in whom arthroscopic correlation was available. A grade 2 cartilage lesion was identified in a single individual; another progressed from grade 0 to a full-thickness trochlear lesion over an 8-month interval. Eight individuals were athletes. No significant difference in gender was noted between the two groups, however, the study group was significantly younger p < 0.0001. A trochlear cleft is a rare finding in young active individuals. It most likely indicates an incomplete cartilage fissure which may rarely progress to a full-thickness defect. (orig.)

  12. Self-learning health monitoring algorithm in composite structures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grassia, Luigi; Iannone, Michele; Califano, America; D'Amore, Alberto

    2018-02-01

    The paper describes a system that it is able of monitoring the health state of a composite structure in real time. The hardware of the system consists of a wire of strain sensors connected to a control unit. The software of the system elaborates the strain data and in real time is able to detect the presence of an eventual damage of the structures monitored with the strain sensors. The algorithm requires as input only the strains of the monitored structured measured on real time, i.e. those strains coming from the deformations of the composite structure due to the working loads. The health monitoring system does not require any additional device to interrogate the structure as often used in the literature, instead it is based on a self-learning procedure. The strain data acquired when the structure is healthy are used to set up the correlations between the strain in different positions of structure by means of neural network. Once the correlations between the strains in different position have been set up, these correlations act as a fingerprint of the healthy structure. In case of damage the correlation between the strains in the position of the structure near the damage will change due to the change of the stiffness of the structure caused by the damage. The developed software is able to recognize the change of the transfer function between the strains and consequently is able to detect the damage.

  13. A Deep Learning Network Approach to ab initio Protein Secondary Structure Prediction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Matt; Eickholt, Jesse; Jianlin Cheng

    2015-01-01

    Ab initio protein secondary structure (SS) predictions are utilized to generate tertiary structure predictions, which are increasingly demanded due to the rapid discovery of proteins. Although recent developments have slightly exceeded previous methods of SS prediction, accuracy has stagnated around 80 percent and many wonder if prediction cannot be advanced beyond this ceiling. Disciplines that have traditionally employed neural networks are experimenting with novel deep learning techniques in attempts to stimulate progress. Since neural networks have historically played an important role in SS prediction, we wanted to determine whether deep learning could contribute to the advancement of this field as well. We developed an SS predictor that makes use of the position-specific scoring matrix generated by PSI-BLAST and deep learning network architectures, which we call DNSS. Graphical processing units and CUDA software optimize the deep network architecture and efficiently train the deep networks. Optimal parameters for the training process were determined, and a workflow comprising three separately trained deep networks was constructed in order to make refined predictions. This deep learning network approach was used to predict SS for a fully independent test dataset of 198 proteins, achieving a Q3 accuracy of 80.7 percent and a Sov accuracy of 74.2 percent.

  14. New insights into the origin of the bimodal volcanism in the middle Okinawa Trough: not a basalt-rhyolite differentiation process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yuxiang; Zeng, Zhigang; Chen, Shuai; Wang, Xiaoyuan; Yin, Xuebo

    2018-06-01

    In the middle Okinawa Trough (MOT), rhyolites have been typically considered as products of crystallization differentiation of basaltic magma as a feature of bimodal volcanism. However, the evidence is insufficient. This paper compared chemical trends of volcanic rocks from the MOT with fractional crystallization simulation models and experimental results and utilized trace element modeling combined with Rayleigh fractionation calculations to re-examine fractional crystallization processes in generating rhyolites. Both qualitative and quantitative studies indicate that andesites, rather than rhyolites, originate by fractional crystallization from basalts in the MOT. Furthermore, we established two batch-melting models for the MOT rhyolites and proposed that type 1 rhyolites are produced by remelting of andesites with amphiboles in the residue, while type 2 rhyolites are derived from remelting of andesites without residual amphiboles. It is difficult to produce melts with a SiO2 content ranging from 62% to 68% either by magmatic differentiation from basalts or by remelting of andesites, and this difficulty might help account for the compositional gap (Daly gap) for bimodal volcanism in the Okinawa Trough.

  15. Shifting sources and transport paths for the late Quaternary Escanaba Trough sediment fill (northeast Pacific)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zuffa, G.G.; De Rosa, R.; Normark, W.R.

    1997-01-01

    Escanaba Trough, which forms the southernmost part of the axial valley of the actively spreading Gorda Ridge, is filled with several hundred meters of sediment of presumed late Quaternary age. Surficial sediment samples from gravity cores, deeper samples (as much as 390 m) from Site 35 of the Deep Sea Drilling Program (Leg 5), and the acoustic character of the sediment fill observed on seismic-reflection profiles indicate that much of the sediment fill is of turbidite origin. Gross composition and heavy- mineral analyses of sand samples show that two distinct petrofacies comprise the sediment fill. The lower part of the fill was derived primarily from the Klamath River source of northern California while the younger fill, including the surficial sand beds, are from the Columbia River drainage much farther north. The Escanaba Trough sediment provides an opportunity to evaluate concepts for paleogeographic and paleotectonic reconstructions that are based on facies analysis and compositional and textural data for the volcanic components because both intrabasinal and extrabasinal sources are present as well as coeval (neovolcanic) and non coeval (paleovolcanic) sourcre This study of a modern basin shows, that although the sediment sources could be identified, it was useful to have some knowledge of the sediment pathway(s), the effects of diagenesis, and the possible effects of sediment sorting as a result of long transport distances from the source area for some components. Application of these same techniques to ancient deposits without benefit of the additional parameters will face limitations.

  16. A qualitative inquiry into the effects of visualization on high school chemistry students' learning process of molecular structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deratzou, Susan

    This research studies the process of high school chemistry students visualizing chemical structures and its role in learning chemical bonding and molecular structure. Minimal research exists with high school chemistry students and more research is necessary (Gabel & Sherwood, 1980; Seddon & Moore, 1986; Seddon, Tariq, & Dos Santos Veiga, 1984). Using visualization tests (Ekstrom, French, Harman, & Dermen, 1990a), a learning style inventory (Brown & Cooper, 1999), and observations through a case study design, this study found visual learners performed better, but needed more practice and training. Statistically, all five pre- and post-test visualization test comparisons were highly significant in the two-tailed t-test (p > .01). The research findings are: (1) Students who tested high in the Visual (Language and/or Numerical) and Tactile Learning Styles (and Social Learning) had an advantage. Students who learned the chemistry concepts more effectively were better at visualizing structures and using molecular models to enhance their knowledge. (2) Students showed improvement in learning after visualization practice. Training in visualization would improve students' visualization abilities and provide them with a way to think about these concepts. (3) Conceptualization of concepts indicated that visualizing ability was critical and that it could be acquired. Support for this finding was provided by pre- and post-Visualization Test data with a highly significant t-test. (4) Various molecular animation programs and websites were found to be effective. (5) Visualization and modeling of structures encompassed both two- and three-dimensional space. The Visualization Test findings suggested that the students performed better with basic rotation of structures as compared to two- and three-dimensional objects. (6) Data from observations suggest that teaching style was an important factor in student learning of molecular structure. (7) Students did learn the chemistry concepts

  17. Bayesian Network Constraint-Based Structure Learning Algorithms: Parallel and Optimized Implementations in the bnlearn R Package

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Scutari

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available It is well known in the literature that the problem of learning the structure of Bayesian networks is very hard to tackle: Its computational complexity is super-exponential in the number of nodes in the worst case and polynomial in most real-world scenarios. Efficient implementations of score-based structure learning benefit from past and current research in optimization theory, which can be adapted to the task by using the network score as the objective function to maximize. This is not true for approaches based on conditional independence tests, called constraint-based learning algorithms. The only optimization in widespread use, backtracking, leverages the symmetries implied by the definitions of neighborhood and Markov blanket. In this paper we illustrate how backtracking is implemented in recent versions of the bnlearn R package, and how it degrades the stability of Bayesian network structure learning for little gain in terms of speed. As an alternative, we describe a software architecture and framework that can be used to parallelize constraint-based structure learning algorithms (also implemented in bnlearn and we demonstrate its performance using four reference networks and two real-world data sets from genetics and systems biology. We show that on modern multi-core or multiprocessor hardware parallel implementations are preferable over backtracking, which was developed when single-processor machines were the norm.

  18. Tsunami Scenarios Based on Interseismic Models Along the Nankai Trough, Japan, From Seafloor and Onshore Geodesy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Shun-ichi; Bock, Yehuda; Melgar, Diego; Tadokoro, Keiichi

    2018-03-01

    The recent availability of Global Positioning System-Acoustic seafloor geodetic observations enables us to resolve the spatial distribution of the slip deficit rate near the Nankai trough, southwestern Japan. Considering a tectonic block model and the transient deformation due to the major earthquakes in this area, the slip deficit rate between the two relevant blocks can be estimated. In this study, we remove the time-dependent postseismic deformation of the 2004 southeastern off the Kii Peninsula earthquakes (MJMA 7.1, 7.4), which had led to the underestimation of the slip deficit rate in earlier studies. We model the postearthquake viscoelastic relaxation using the 3D finite element model with bi-viscous Burgers rheology, as well as the afterslip on the finite faults. The corrected Global Positioning System-Acoustic and land-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems data are aligned to the existing tectonic model and used to estimate the slip deficit rate on the plate boundary. We then calculate the coseismic displacements and tsunami wave propagation with the simple assumption that a hundred years of constant slip deficit accumulation was released instantaneously. To evaluate the influence of uncertainties in the plate interface geometry on a tsunami model for the Nankai trough, we investigated two different geometries and performed checkerboard inversion simulations. Although the two models indicate roughly similar results, the peak height of the tsunami wave and its arrival time at several points are significantly different in terms of the expected hazard.

  19. Reconstructing sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in atmosphere in the Okinawa Trough during the Holocene and their paleoclimatic implications

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    MENGXianwei; LIUYanguang; LlUZhenxia; DUDewen; HUANGQiyu; Y.Saito

    2003-01-01

    The sediment core DGKS9603 collected from the Okinawa Trough was used as research target. By use of unsaturated index U37k of long-chain alkenone, δ13C of POC and of planktonic foraminifera (G sacculifer), the evolutions of sea surface temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the Holocene were reconstructed in the Okinawa Trough. And in combination of δ18O of planktonic foraminifera, the relative difference of sea surface salinity during the Holocene was also reconstructed.Consequently, three cooling events (E1-E3) were identified,each of which occurred at 1.7-1.6, 5.1-4.8 and 8.1-7.4kaBP (cal), respectively. Of the three events, E2 and E3 are globally comparable, their occurrence mechanism would be that the main stream of the Kuroshio Current shifted eastward due to the enhanced circulation of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, which was driven in turn by amplified intensity of sunshine and subsequent enhancement of subtropical high pressure; E1 corresponds to the Small Ice-Age Event occurring between 1550 and 1850AD in China. In the Okinawa Trough, E1 might be also related to the eastward shift of main stream of the Kuroshio current driven by powerful Asia winter monsoon.

  20. PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY TROUGH EQUAL LIFE STANDARD IN EU COUNTRIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aleksandar Dashtevski

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available After the World War II, especially in the early fifties there is an expansion of gender rights. Women are massively employed all over the world in all sectors of social life, contributing to an increase in both their own standard of living and the standard in their own countries. As the importance and role of women grows, this is achieved with increasing respect for its rights. Gender means elimination of inequality and promote equality between women and men in all areas of social life. If we want to achieve gender equality as a whole, it is inevitable to achieve an economic consolidation of the two sexes. Economic strengthening is possible trough equal pay. Experience shows that payments are not equal when it comes to wages for men and women. Therefore, the EU is constantly working to regulate this area, with special regulations, which are mandatory for the member states, but should also be respected by countries that would like to join the union. This led to the promotion of gender equality through an equal life.

  1. Weak lensing by galaxy troughs with modified gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Barreira, Alexandre [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, 85741 Garching (Germany); Bose, Sownak; Li, Baojiu; Llinares, Claudio, E-mail: barreira@mpa-garching.mpg.de, E-mail: sownak.bose@durham.ac.uk, E-mail: baojiu.li@durham.ac.uk, E-mail: claudio.llinares@durham.ac.uk [Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, South Road DH1 3LE, Durham (United Kingdom)

    2017-02-01

    We study the imprints that theories of gravity beyond GR can leave on the lensing signal around line of sight directions that are predominantly halo-underdense (called troughs) and halo-overdense. To carry out our investigations, we consider the normal branch of DGP gravity, as well as a phenomenological variant thereof that directly modifies the lensing potential. The predictions of these models are obtained with N-body simulation and ray-tracing methods using the ECOSMOG and Ray-Ramses codes. We analyse the stacked lensing convergence profiles around the underdense and overdense lines of sight, which exhibit, respectively, a suppression and a boost w.r.t. the mean in the field of view. The modifications to gravity in these models strengthen the signal w.r.t. ΛCDM in a scale-independent way. We find that the size of this effect is the same for both underdense and overdense lines of sight, which implies that the density field along the overdense directions on the sky is not sufficiently evolved to trigger the suppression effects of the screening mechanism. These results are robust to variations in the minimum halo mass and redshift ranges used to identify the lines of sight, as well as to different line of sight aperture sizes and criteria for their underdensity and overdensity thresholds.

  2. Using enterprise architecture to analyse how organisational structure impact motivation and learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Närman, Pia; Johnson, Pontus; Gingnell, Liv

    2016-06-01

    When technology, environment, or strategies change, organisations need to adjust their structures accordingly. These structural changes do not always enhance the organisational performance as intended partly because organisational developers do not understand the consequences of structural changes in performance. This article presents a model-based analysis framework for quantitative analysis of the effect of organisational structure on organisation performance in terms of employee motivation and learning. The model is based on Mintzberg's work on organisational structure. The quantitative analysis is formalised using the Object Constraint Language (OCL) and the Unified Modelling Language (UML) and implemented in an enterprise architecture tool.

  3. Climatology of the autumn Red Sea trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Awad, Adel M.; Mashat, Abdul-Wahab S.

    2018-03-01

    In this study, the Sudan low and the associated Red Sea trough (RST) are objectively identified using the mean sea level pressure (SLP) data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis dataset covering the period 1955-2015. The Sudan low was detected in approximately 60.6% of the autumn periods, and approximately 83% of the detected low-pressure systems extended into RSTs, with most generated at night and during cold months. The distribution of the RSTs demonstrated that Sudan, South Sudan and Red Sea are the primary development areas of the RSTs, generating 97% of the RSTs in the study period. In addition, the outermost areas affected by RSTs, which include the southern, central and northern Red Sea areas, received approximately 91% of the RSTs originating from the primary generation areas. The synoptic features indicated that a Sudan low developed into an RST when the Sudan low deepened in the atmosphere, while the low pressures over the southern Arabian Peninsula are shallow and the anticyclonic systems are weakened over the northern Red Sea. Moreover, stabile areas over Africa and Arabian Peninsula form a high stability gradient around the Red Sea and the upper maximum winds weaken. The results of the case studies indicate that RSTs extend northward when the upper cyclonic and anticyclonic systems form a high geopotential gradient over Arabian Peninsula. Furthermore, the RST is oriented from the west to the east when the Azores high extends eastward and the Siberian high shrinks eastward or shifts northward.

  4. Face-name association learning and brain structural substrates in alcoholism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pitel, Anne-Lise; Chanraud, Sandra; Rohlfing, Torsten; Pfefferbaum, Adolf; Sullivan, Edith V

    2012-07-01

    Associative learning is required for face-name association and is impaired in alcoholism, but the cognitive processes and brain structural components underlying this deficit remain unclear. It is also unknown whether prompting alcoholics to implement a deep level of processing during face-name encoding would enhance performance. Abstinent alcoholics and controls performed a levels-of-processing face-name learning task. Participants indicated whether the face was that of an honest person (deep encoding) or that of a man (shallow encoding). Retrieval was examined using an associative (face-name) recognition task and a single-item (face or name only) recognition task. Participants also underwent 3T structural MRI. Compared with controls, alcoholics had poorer associative and single-item learning and performed at similar levels. Level of processing at encoding had little effect on recognition performance but affected reaction time (RT). Correlations with brain volumes were generally modest and based primarily on RT in alcoholics, where the deeper the processing at encoding, the more restricted the correlations with brain volumes. In alcoholics, longer control task RTs correlated modestly with smaller tissue volumes across several anterior to posterior brain regions; shallow encoding correlated with calcarine and striatal volumes; deep encoding correlated with precuneus and parietal volumes; and associative recognition RT correlated with cerebellar volumes. In controls, poorer associative recognition with deep encoding correlated significantly with smaller volumes of frontal and striatal structures. Despite prompting, alcoholics did not take advantage of encoding memoranda at a deep level to enhance face-name recognition accuracy. Nonetheless, conditions of deeper encoding resulted in faster RTs and more specific relations with regional brain volumes than did shallow encoding. The normal relation between associative recognition and corticostriatal volumes was not

  5. Perceptual Learning in Early Mathematics: Interacting with Problem Structure Improves Mapping, Solving and Fluency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thai, Khanh-Phuong; Son, Ji Y.; Hoffman, Jessica; Devers, Christopher; Kellman, Philip J.

    2014-01-01

    Mathematics is the study of structure but students think of math as solving problems according to rules. Students can learn procedures, but they often have trouble knowing when to apply learned procedures, especially to problems unlike those they trained with. In this study, the authors rely on the psychological mechanism of perceptual learning…

  6. Social Learning Theory, Gender, and Intimate Partner Violent Victimization: A Structural Equations Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Powers, Ráchael A; Cochran, John K; Maskaly, Jon; Sellers, Christine S

    2017-05-01

    The purpose of this study is to examine the applicability of Akers's Social Learning Theory (SLT) to explain intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization. In doing so, we draw on the Intergenerational Transmission of Violence Theory (IGT) to extend the scope of SLT to the explanation of victimization and for a consideration of uniquely gendered pathways in its causal structure. Using a structural equation modeling approach with self-report data from a sample of college students, the present study tests the extent to which SLT can effectively explain and predict IPV victimization and the degree, if any, to which the social learning model is gender invariant. Although our findings are largely supportive of SLT and, thus, affirm its extension to victimization as well as perpetration, the findings are also somewhat mixed. More significantly, in line with IGT literature, we find that the social learning process is not gender invariant. The implications of the latter are discussed.

  7. Structured learning and self-reflection: strategies to decrease anxiety in the psychiatric mental health clinical nursing experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganzer, Christine Anne; Zauderer, Cheryl

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this qualitative study was to test a teaching-learning strategy to help nursing students decrease stress and anxiety that may be brought about by the psychiatric mental health clinical experience. Undergraduate nursing students are known to experience affective stress prior to their first psychiatric mental health clinical practicum. A stressful learning environment can affect the success of the student's clinical performance. Thirty nursing students participated in this study. A structured preclinical workshop combined with self-reflection provided insight into students' perceptions of the psychiatric mental health clinical experience. Overall, students reported that participating in the teaching-learning strategy and self-reflection helped mitigate Combining structured learning with self-reflection is a useful tool for helping nursing students increase self-awareness and ease anxiety that may interfere with learning.

  8. Back-flow ripples in troughs downstream of unit bars: Formation, preservation and value for interpreting flow conditions

    OpenAIRE

    Herbert, Christopher; Alexander, Jan; Martinez De Alvaro, Maria

    2015-01-01

    Back-flow ripples are bedforms created within the lee-side eddy of a larger bedform with migration directions opposed or oblique to that of the host bedform. In the flume experiments described in this article, back-flow ripples formed in the trough downstream of a unit bar and changed with mean flow velocity; varying from small incipient back-flow ripples at low velocities, to well-formed back-flow ripples with greater velocity, to rapidly migrating transient back-flow ripples formed at the g...

  9. Seismic Reflectivity of the Crust in the Northern Salton Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauer, K.; Fuis, G. S.; Goldman, M.; Persaud, P.; Ryberg, T.; Langenheim, V. E.; Scheirer, D. S.; Rymer, M. J.; Hole, J. A.; Stock, J. M.; Catchings, R.

    2015-12-01

    The Salton Trough in southern California is a tectonically active pull-apart basin that was formed by migrating step-overs between strike-slip faults, of which the San Andreas Fault (SAF) and the Imperial Fault are the current, northernmost examples. The Salton Seismic Imaging Project (SSIP) was undertaken to improve our knowledge of fault geometry and seismic velocities within the sedimentary basins and underlying crystalline crust around the SAF. Such data are useful as input for modeling scenarios of strong ground shaking in the surrounding high-population areas. We used pre-stack depth migration of line segments from shot gathers in several seismic profiles that were acquired in the northern part of the SSIP study area (Lines 4 - 7). Our migration approach can be considered as an infinite-frequency approximation of the Fresnel volume pre-stack depth migration method. We use line segments instead of the original waveform data. We demonstrate the method using synthetic data and analyze real data from Lines 4 - 7 to illustrate the relationship between distinct phases in the time domain and their resulting image at depth. We show both normal-moveout reflections from sub-horizontal interfaces and reverse-moveout reflections from steep interfaces, such as faults. Migrated images of dipping faults, such as the SAF and the Pinto Mountain Fault, are presented in this way. The SAF is imaged along Line 4, through the Mecca Hills, as a number of steeply dipping fault segments that collectively form a flower structure, above 5 km depth, that sole into a moderately NE-dipping fault below that depth. The individual migrated reflection packages correlate with mapped surface fault traces in the Mecca Hills. A similar geometry is seen on Line 6, from Palm Springs through Yucca Valley, where fault splays sole or project into a moderately dipping SAF below 10-km depth. We also show and discuss the reflectivity pattern of the middle and lower crust for Lines 4 - 7.

  10. General asymmetric neutral networks and structure design by genetic algorithms: A learning rule for temporal patterns

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bornholdt, S. [Heidelberg Univ., (Germany). Inst., fuer Theoretische Physik; Graudenz, D. [Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (United States)

    1993-07-01

    A learning algorithm based on genetic algorithms for asymmetric neural networks with an arbitrary structure is presented. It is suited for the learning of temporal patterns and leads to stable neural networks with feedback.

  11. General asymmetric neutral networks and structure design by genetic algorithms: A learning rule for temporal patterns

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bornholdt, S.

    1993-07-01

    A learning algorithm based on genetic algorithms for asymmetric neural networks with an arbitrary structure is presented. It is suited for the learning of temporal patterns and leads to stable neural networks with feedback

  12. Hippocampal Structure Predicts Statistical Learning and Associative Inference Abilities during Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schlichting, Margaret L; Guarino, Katharine F; Schapiro, Anna C; Turk-Browne, Nicholas B; Preston, Alison R

    2017-01-01

    Despite the importance of learning and remembering across the lifespan, little is known about how the episodic memory system develops to support the extraction of associative structure from the environment. Here, we relate individual differences in volumes along the hippocampal long axis to performance on statistical learning and associative inference tasks-both of which require encoding associations that span multiple episodes-in a developmental sample ranging from ages 6 to 30 years. Relating age to volume, we found dissociable patterns across the hippocampal long axis, with opposite nonlinear volume changes in the head and body. These structural differences were paralleled by performance gains across the age range on both tasks, suggesting improvements in the cross-episode binding ability from childhood to adulthood. Controlling for age, we also found that smaller hippocampal heads were associated with superior behavioral performance on both tasks, consistent with this region's hypothesized role in forming generalized codes spanning events. Collectively, these results highlight the importance of examining hippocampal development as a function of position along the hippocampal axis and suggest that the hippocampal head is particularly important in encoding associative structure across development.

  13. Empirical investigation of e-learning acceptance and assimilation: A structural equation model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Said S. Al-Gahtani

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available E-learning has become progressively more vital for academia and corporate training and has potentially become one of the most significant developments and applications in Information Technologies (ITs. This study used a quantitative approach seeking a causative explanation of the decision behavior of individuals toward the acceptance and assimilation of e-learning in academic settings. A survey of 286 participants (students was conducted to collect the research data. Our study framework was based on the third version of the Technology Acceptance Model (i.e., TAM3 and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in order to determine the factors that influence the learners’ intention to use e-learning. Results show the predicting (promoting/inhibiting factors of e-learning technology acceptance, while also examining some related post-implementation interventions expected to contribute to the acceptance and assimilation of e-learning systems. Our results also indicate that TAM3 holds well in the Arabian culture and also outline valuable outcomes such as: managerial interventions and controls for better organizational e-learning management that can lead to greater acceptance and effective utilization. Hopefully, this study provides a roadmap to more understanding of the success factors and post-implementation interventions contributing to the acceptance and assimilation of e-learning systems in developing countries.

  14. Structure prediction of boron-doped graphene by machine learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    M. Dieb, Thaer; Hou, Zhufeng; Tsuda, Koji

    2018-06-01

    Heteroatom doping has endowed graphene with manifold aspects of material properties and boosted its applications. The atomic structure determination of doped graphene is vital to understand its material properties. Motivated by the recently synthesized boron-doped graphene with relatively high concentration, here we employ machine learning methods to search the most stable structures of doped boron atoms in graphene, in conjunction with the atomistic simulations. From the determined stable structures, we find that in the free-standing pristine graphene, the doped boron atoms energetically prefer to substitute for the carbon atoms at different sublattice sites and that the para configuration of boron-boron pair is dominant in the cases of high boron concentrations. The boron doping can increase the work function of graphene by 0.7 eV for a boron content higher than 3.1%.

  15. Structural Validity of the WISC-IV for Students with Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Styck, Kara M.; Watkins, Marley W.

    2016-01-01

    The structural validity of the "Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition" (WISC-IV) was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis for a clinical sample of 1,537 students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) by school psychologists in two large southwestern school districts. Results indicated that a…

  16. Signature of rapid subauroral ion drifts in the high-latitude ionosphere structure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galperin, Y.I.; Khalipov, V.L.; Filippov, V.M.

    1986-01-01

    Characteristics of fast subauroral ion drifts were studied for several cases where synchronous satellite measurements and ground-based ionospheric data from vertical and oblique-incidence sounding were available. Also some relevant data were analyzed concerning apparent irregularities drift velocity measurements by the multipoint spaced receiver at HF range (DI method). Changes of high-latitude ionosphere structure were investigated to identify the signature on the ionograms, and to provide a semiquantitative description of this phenomenon. It is shown that, above a particular station, the time development of the rapid subauroral ion drift band, or the ''polarization jet'' according to Galperin et al., 1973, 1974 in about 5-30 minutes leads to the formation of a trough which is narrow in latitude (approximately 100-200 km) but extended in longitude (several hours of MLT) and rather deep (N sub(emin)approximately 2.10 4 cm -3 in the electron density distribution in the F-region. Such narrow troughs can be observed in the evening sector superimposed on the undisturbed ionization density level, while in the near-midnight sector they contribute to the deepening of the preexisting, and much wider, main ionospheric through A qualitative scenario for the formation of the ''trough in the trough'' on the nightside, as a result of the increase of the loss processes related to rapid drift speed, is supported by ''synthetic'' ionograms deduced from numerical ray-tracing calculations for a model electron density distribution that is in reasonable accord with the observed vertical and oblique sounding ionograms and from satellite data

  17. A uranium-based UO{sub 2}{sup +}-Mn{sup 2+} single-chain magnet assembled trough cation-cation interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mougel, Victor; Chatelain, Lucile; Hermle, Johannes; Pecaut, Jacques; Mazzanti, Marinella [CEA-Grenoble (France). Lab. de Reconnaissance Ionique et Chimie de Coordination; Caciuffo, Roberto; Colineau, Eric [European Commission, Karlsruhe (Germany). Inst. for Transuranium Elements; Tuna, Floriana [Manchester Univ. (United Kingdom). School of Chemistry; Magnani, Nicola [KIT Karlsruhe (Germany). Inst. of Nanotechnology; Geyer, Arnaud de [CEA-Grenoble (France). Service General des Rayons X

    2014-01-13

    Single-chain magnets (SCMs) are materials composed of magnetically isolated one-dimensional (1D) units exhibiting slow relaxation of magnetization. The occurrence of SCM behavior requires the fulfillment of stringent conditions for exchange and anisotropy interactions. Herein, we report the synthesis, the structure, and the magnetic characterization of the first actinide-containing SCM. The 5f-3d heterometallic 1D chains [{[UO_2(salen)(py)][M(py)_4](NO_3)}]{sub n}, (M=Cd (1) and M=Mn (2); py=pyridine) are assembled trough cation-cation interaction from the reaction of the uranyl(V) complex [UO{sub 2}(salen)py][Cp{sup *}{sub 2}Co] (Cp{sup *}=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) with Cd(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} or Mn(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} in pyridine. The infinite UMn chain displays a high relaxation barrier of 134±0.8 K (93±0.5 cm{sup -1}), probably as a result of strong intra-chain magnetic interactions combined with the high Ising anisotropy of the uranyl(V) dioxo group. It also exhibits an open magnetic hysteresis loop at T<6 K, with an impressive coercive field of 3.4 T at 2 K.

  18. Evaluation of creative problem-solving abilities in undergraduate structural engineers through interdisciplinary problem-based learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCrum, Daniel Patrick

    2017-11-01

    For a structural engineer, effective communication and interaction with architects cannot be underestimated as a key skill to success throughout their professional career. Structural engineers and architects have to share a common language and understanding of each other in order to achieve the most desirable architectural and structural designs. This interaction and engagement develops during their professional career but needs to be nurtured during their undergraduate studies. The objective of this paper is to present the strategies employed to engage higher order thinking in structural engineering students in order to help them solve complex problem-based learning (PBL) design scenarios presented by architecture students. The strategies employed were applied in the experimental setting of an undergraduate module in structural engineering at Queen's University Belfast in the UK. The strategies employed were active learning to engage with content knowledge, the use of physical conceptual structural models to reinforce key concepts and finally, reinforcing the need for hand sketching of ideas to promote higher order problem-solving. The strategies employed were evaluated through student survey, student feedback and module facilitator (this author) reflection. The strategies were qualitatively perceived by the tutor and quantitatively evaluated by students in a cross-sectional study to help interaction with the architecture students, aid interdisciplinary learning and help students creatively solve problems (through higher order thinking). The students clearly enjoyed this module and in particular interacting with structural engineering tutors and students from another discipline.

  19. Reconstructing sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in atmos- phere in the Okinawa Trough during the Holocene and their paleoclimatic implications

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2003-01-01

    The sediment core DGKS9603 collected from the Okinawa Trough was used as research target. By use of unsaturated index of long-chain alkenone, δ13C of POC and of planktonic foraminifera (G. Sacculifer), the evolutions of sea surface temperature and partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere during the Holocene were reconstructed in the Okinawa Trough. And in combination of δ18O of planktonic foraminifera, the relative difference of sea surface salinity during the Holocene was also reconstructed. Consequently, three cooling events (E1-E3) were identified, each of which occurred at 1.7-1.6, 5.1-4.8 and 8.1-7.4 kaBP (cal), respectively. Of the three events, E2 and E3 are globally comparable, their occurrence mechanism would be that the main stream of the Kuroshio Current shifted eastward due to the enhanced circulation of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, which was driven in turn by amplified intensity of sunshine and subsequent enhancement of subtropical high pressure; E1 corresponds to the Small Ice-Age Event occurring between 1550 and 1850AD in China. In the Okinawa Trough, E1 might be also related to the eastward shift of main stream of the Kuroshio current driven by powerful Asia winter monsoon.

  20. Structure Learning of Linear Bayesian Networks in High-Dimensions

    OpenAIRE

    Aragam, Nikhyl Bryon

    2015-01-01

    Research into graphical models is a rapidly developing enterprise, garnering significant interest from both the statistics and machine learning communities. A parallel thread in both communities has been the study of low-dimensional structures in high-dimensional models where $p\\gg n$. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in connecting these threads in order to understand the behaviour of graphical models in high-dimensions. Due to their relative simplicity, undirected models such as ...

  1. Testing students' e-learning via Facebook through Bayesian structural equation modeling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salarzadeh Jenatabadi, Hashem; Moghavvemi, Sedigheh; Wan Mohamed Radzi, Che Wan Jasimah Bt; Babashamsi, Parastoo; Arashi, Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    Learning is an intentional activity, with several factors affecting students' intention to use new learning technology. Researchers have investigated technology acceptance in different contexts by developing various theories/models and testing them by a number of means. Although most theories/models developed have been examined through regression or structural equation modeling, Bayesian analysis offers more accurate data analysis results. To address this gap, the unified theory of acceptance and technology use in the context of e-learning via Facebook are re-examined in this study using Bayesian analysis. The data (S1 Data) were collected from 170 students enrolled in a business statistics course at University of Malaya, Malaysia, and tested with the maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The difference between the two methods' results indicates that performance expectancy and hedonic motivation are the strongest factors influencing the intention to use e-learning via Facebook. The Bayesian estimation model exhibited better data fit than the maximum likelihood estimator model. The results of the Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimator approaches are compared and the reasons for the result discrepancy are deliberated.

  2. Testing students' e-learning via Facebook through Bayesian structural equation modeling.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hashem Salarzadeh Jenatabadi

    Full Text Available Learning is an intentional activity, with several factors affecting students' intention to use new learning technology. Researchers have investigated technology acceptance in different contexts by developing various theories/models and testing them by a number of means. Although most theories/models developed have been examined through regression or structural equation modeling, Bayesian analysis offers more accurate data analysis results. To address this gap, the unified theory of acceptance and technology use in the context of e-learning via Facebook are re-examined in this study using Bayesian analysis. The data (S1 Data were collected from 170 students enrolled in a business statistics course at University of Malaya, Malaysia, and tested with the maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches. The difference between the two methods' results indicates that performance expectancy and hedonic motivation are the strongest factors influencing the intention to use e-learning via Facebook. The Bayesian estimation model exhibited better data fit than the maximum likelihood estimator model. The results of the Bayesian and maximum likelihood estimator approaches are compared and the reasons for the result discrepancy are deliberated.

  3. Real-Time Probabilistic Structural Health Management Using Machine Learning and GPU Computing Project

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The proposed project seeks to deliver an ultra-efficient, high-fidelity structural health management (SHM) framework using machine learning and graphics processing...

  4. Using Cooperative Structures to Promote Deep Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millis, Barbara J.

    2014-01-01

    The author explores concrete ways to help students learn more and have fun doing it while they support each other's learning. The article specifically shows the relationships between cooperative learning and deep learning. Readers will become familiar with the tenets of cooperative learning and its power to enhance learning--even more so when…

  5. The performance analysis of the Trough Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, M., E-mail: liming@ynnu.edu.c [Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, 650092 Kunming (China); Li, G.L. [School of Physics and Electronic Information, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650092 (China); Ji, X.; Yin, F.; Xu, L. [Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, 650092 Kunming (China)

    2011-06-15

    Research highlights: {yields} A 2 m{sup 2} Trough Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal (TCPV/T) system is built, a single crystalline silicon solar cell array, a polycrystalline silicon cell array, a Super cell array and a GaAs cell array are respectively used in the experiments. {yields} Another 10 m{sup 2} TCPV/T system using the GaAs cell array and a concentrating silicon cell array are also constructed and characterized. {yields} The economic performance analysis show the electricity generating cost of the TCPV/T system with the concentrating silicon cell array can catch up with flat-plate PV system. -- Abstract: The electrical and thermal performance of a 2 m{sup 2} Trough Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal (TCPV/T) system with an energy flux ratio 10.27 are characterized by experiments. A single crystalline silicon solar cell array, a polycrystalline silicon cell array, a Super cell array and a GaAs cell array are respectively used in the experiments. The experimental results show that the electrical performance of the system with the GaAs cell array is better than that of crystal silicon solar cell arrays. The superior output performance of the GaAs cell array mainly benefits from its lower series resistance. But the thermal performances of the system using the single crystal silicon solar cell array and the polycrystalline silicon solar cell array are better. It results from the widths of the two types of cells in the system close to that of the focal line. Another 10 m{sup 2} TCPV/T system with an energy flux ratio of 20 using the GaAs cell array and a concentrating silicon cell array are also constructed and characterized. The experimental results indicate that the photoelectric efficiency of the GaAs cell array is 23.83%, and the instantaneous electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of the system are 9.88% and 49.84% respectively. While the instantaneous electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of the system using the low-cost concentrating

  6. The performance analysis of the Trough Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, M.; Li, G.L.; Ji, X.; Yin, F.; Xu, L.

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → A 2 m 2 Trough Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal (TCPV/T) system is built, a single crystalline silicon solar cell array, a polycrystalline silicon cell array, a Super cell array and a GaAs cell array are respectively used in the experiments. → Another 10 m 2 TCPV/T system using the GaAs cell array and a concentrating silicon cell array are also constructed and characterized. → The economic performance analysis show the electricity generating cost of the TCPV/T system with the concentrating silicon cell array can catch up with flat-plate PV system. -- Abstract: The electrical and thermal performance of a 2 m 2 Trough Concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal (TCPV/T) system with an energy flux ratio 10.27 are characterized by experiments. A single crystalline silicon solar cell array, a polycrystalline silicon cell array, a Super cell array and a GaAs cell array are respectively used in the experiments. The experimental results show that the electrical performance of the system with the GaAs cell array is better than that of crystal silicon solar cell arrays. The superior output performance of the GaAs cell array mainly benefits from its lower series resistance. But the thermal performances of the system using the single crystal silicon solar cell array and the polycrystalline silicon solar cell array are better. It results from the widths of the two types of cells in the system close to that of the focal line. Another 10 m 2 TCPV/T system with an energy flux ratio of 20 using the GaAs cell array and a concentrating silicon cell array are also constructed and characterized. The experimental results indicate that the photoelectric efficiency of the GaAs cell array is 23.83%, and the instantaneous electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of the system are 9.88% and 49.84% respectively. While the instantaneous electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency of the system using the low-cost concentrating silicon cell array are 7.51% and 42

  7. Field occurrence and geochemical characteristics of the baryte mineralization in Lessel and Ihugh areas, Lower Benue Trough, Nigeria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Labe, Ngukposu A.; Ogunleye, Paul O.; Ibrahim, Aliyu A.

    2018-06-01

    The Lessel and Ihugh areas are underlain by Precambrian rocks comprising of banded gneiss, medium-grained muscovite granite, coarse-grained biotite muscovite granite, and Turonian arenaceous Lessel Sandstone in the Lower Benue Trough, southeastern Nigeria. Baryte mineralization occurs at Lessel-Mbagwa, Ihugh and Bunde commonly as vein and cavity type deposits within NE-SW and NW-SE trending fracture zones. Major oxides and trace element analysis of baryte and the host rocks was undertaken using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), in order to establish the geochemical characteristics and to constrain the origin of the baryte mineralization. The data revealed enrichment in Ba and Sr and depletion in SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, LILEs, HFSEs relative to background values obtained from sandstones and granitic rocks in the area. Baryte mineralization from Lessel-Mbagwa, Bunde and Ihugh is marked by positive Gd (17.1-21.4) and negative Eu (0.02-0.05) anomalies. Negative Ce anomaly (0.06) is evident in barytes from Lessel-Mbagwa and Bunde whereas baryte from Ihugh is characterized by positive Ce anomaly (1.3). The structurally controlled nature of the mineralization, depleted major and trace elements concentration in the barytes in addition to REE anomalies indicate that mixing of a strongly differentiated residual Ba-bearing fluid and sulphur-rich seawater occurred under low temperature and oxidizing-reducing conditions. The tectonic event which occurred during the Santonian to Early Campanian reactivated the NE-SW, NW-SE structural pathways in the basement gneiss and also created similar structures in the Turonian Lessel Sandstone.

  8. Study of a new solar adsorption refrigerator powered by a parabolic trough collector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El Fadar, A.; Mimet, A.; Azzabakh, A.; Perez-Garcia, M.; Castaing, J.

    2009-01-01

    This paper presents the study of solar adsorption cooling machine, where the reactor is heated by a parabolic trough collector (PTC) and is coupled with a heat pipe (HP). This reactor contains a porous medium constituted of activated carbon, reacting by adsorption with ammonia. We have developed a model, based on the equilibrium equations of the refrigerant, adsorption isotherms, heat and mass transfer within the adsorbent bed and energy balance in the hybrid system components. From real climatic data, the model computes the performances of the machine. In comparison with other systems powered by flat plate or evacuated tube collectors, the predicted results, have illustrated the ability of the proposed system to achieve a high performance due to high efficiency of PTC, and high flux density of heat pipe

  9. Alchemical and structural distribution based representation for universal quantum machine learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faber, Felix A.; Christensen, Anders S.; Huang, Bing; von Lilienfeld, O. Anatole

    2018-06-01

    We introduce a representation of any atom in any chemical environment for the automatized generation of universal kernel ridge regression-based quantum machine learning (QML) models of electronic properties, trained throughout chemical compound space. The representation is based on Gaussian distribution functions, scaled by power laws and explicitly accounting for structural as well as elemental degrees of freedom. The elemental components help us to lower the QML model's learning curve, and, through interpolation across the periodic table, even enable "alchemical extrapolation" to covalent bonding between elements not part of training. This point is demonstrated for the prediction of covalent binding in single, double, and triple bonds among main-group elements as well as for atomization energies in organic molecules. We present numerical evidence that resulting QML energy models, after training on a few thousand random training instances, reach chemical accuracy for out-of-sample compounds. Compound datasets studied include thousands of structurally and compositionally diverse organic molecules, non-covalently bonded protein side-chains, (H2O)40-clusters, and crystalline solids. Learning curves for QML models also indicate competitive predictive power for various other electronic ground state properties of organic molecules, calculated with hybrid density functional theory, including polarizability, heat-capacity, HOMO-LUMO eigenvalues and gap, zero point vibrational energy, dipole moment, and highest vibrational fundamental frequency.

  10. The Influence of the Organizational Structures of Colleges and Universities on College Student Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Joseph B.

    2002-01-01

    Reports the findings of a study conducted to determine the influence of various dimensions of organizational structure (bureaucratic, collegial, political, symbolic, and systemic) on college student learning. Findings indicate that dimensions of the structure of the colleges and universities as organizations exert both positive and negative…

  11. Structural analysis of factors that influence professional learning communities in Korean elementary schools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyoung-Oh Song

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Professional Learning Communities(PLCs arean important strategy for innovation in schools, and they arereceiving considerable attention from scholars and educators alike. The present study aimed to examine the effect of PLCson schools’ effectiveness and to investigate the social, organizational, and structural factors that can promote these learning communities. The survey for this study was completed by 375 teachers from 40 elementary schools in the Seoul Metropolitan Area of South Korea, and their responses were analyzed to test the hypothesized model. The results of the structural equationmodeling indicated that PLCswere strongly and directly related to elementary schools’ effectivenessand that principals’ leadership and supportive relationshipsamong teachers were the important factors that influenced PLCs. Based on the results of this study, several implications are discussed.

  12. Detailed magnetic and gravity surveys around the hydrothermal area off Kumejima Island in the Mid-Okinawa Trough, southwestern Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitada, K.; Kasaya, T.; Iwamoto, H.; Nogi, Y.

    2017-12-01

    The Okinawa Trough is an active back-arc basin formed by the rifting associated with extension of the continental margin behind the Ryukyu trench. New hydrothermal sites were recently discovered off Kumejima Island in the Mid-Okinawa Trough and the hydrothermal mineral deposits were identified by seafloor surveys and rock samplings by ROV (e.g., JOGMEC, 2015). In order to characterize the sub-seafloor structures and the spatial distribution of the magmatic activity around the sites, we conducted the dense magnetic, gravity and bathymetric surveys with a line spacing of 0.5 nmi aboard the R/Vs Yokosuka and Kairei, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) in 2016. The geophysical data collected during the previous cruises in the area by JAMSTEC were additionally used for this study. Magnetic anomaly was calculated by subtracting the IGRF model and the magnetization intensity was estimated by the method of Parker and Huestis (1974). Free-air gravity anomaly was calculated with subtracting the normal gravity field and with corrections of the drift and of the Eötvös effect. Bouguer gravity anomaly was calculated based on the method of Parker (1972). The magnetization intensity and the Bouguer gravity anomaly reveal three characteristics of the hydrothermal area off Kumejima Island: 1) The distribution of magnetization around the hydrothermal sites shows two different types of sub-seafloor magnetic features. One is corresponded to the submarine knolls with a relatively high magnetization of 4 A/M. The other is an ENE-WSW trending magnetization distribution with relatively high and low intensities, which is consistent with the trend of the bathymetric lineament. These features are considered to be formed by magmatism associated with submarine volcanoes and back-arc rifting. 2) The reduced magnetization zone corresponding to the hydrothermal area probably attributes to hydrothermal alteration of the host rock. 3) The hydrothermal

  13. The structuration of organizational learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berends, J.J.; Boersma, F.K.; Weggeman, M.C.D.P.

    2003-01-01

    Although it is currently common to speak of organizational learning, this notion is still surrounded by conceptual confusion. It is unclear how notions like learning, knowledge and cognitive activities can be applied to organizations. Some authors have tried to unravel the conceptual and ontological

  14. The structuration of organizational learning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berends, J.J.; Boersma, F.K.; Weggeman, M.C.D.P.

    2001-01-01

    Although it is currently common to speak of organizational learning, this notion is still surrounded by conceptual confusion. It is unclear how notions like learning, knowledge and cognitive activities can be applied to organizations. Some authors have tried to unravel the conceptual and ontological

  15. Managerial instrument for didactic staff structure optimization for Distance Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gavrus Cristina

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Distance learning is a modern system for providing educational services and is relatively new in Romania, if related to the date of its emergence in Europe. More and more active working people are interested in this form of education, paying of course a special attention to its quality. It is quite difficult to appraise the quality of educational programs but several instruments and criteria have been developed over time. The present paper proposes an original mathematical instrument that is aiming at human resources, this type of resources being considered extremely important in case of providing educational service. The number of teachers is crucial for a distance learning program study, because the didactic staff must cover a number of didactic classes that take place on weekends. Concretely, this paper is focused on finding an algorithm that allows the didactic staff structure optimization. For accomplishing this objective, two managerial instruments were use. One of them is mathematical linear programing technique, that develops a mathematical model for didactic staff structure and the other one is WinQSB software package that tests the mathematical model.

  16. Assessing the Relative Mobility of Submarine Landslides from Deposit Morphology and Physical Properties: an Example from Nankai Trough, Offshore Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sawyer, D.; Moore, Z. T.

    2014-12-01

    A prominent landslide deposit in the Slope Basin seaward of the Megasplay Fault in the Nankai Trough was emplaced by a high-mobility landslide based on analysis of physical properties and seismic geomorphology. Slide acceleration is a critical variable that determines amplitude of slide-generated tsunami but is many times a variable with large uncertainty. In controlled laboratory experiments, the ratio of the shear stress to yield strength, defined as the Flow Factor, controls a wide spectrum of mass movement styles from slow, retrogressive failure to rapid, liquefied flows. We apply the laboratory Flow Factor approach to a natural landslide in the Nankai Trough by constraining pre-failure particle size analysis and porosity. Several mass transport deposits (MTDs), were drilled and cored at Site C0021 in the Nankai Trough during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 338. The largest, MTD-6, occurs at 133-176 meters below seafloor and occurred approximately 0.87 Mya. Slide volume is 2 km3, transport distance is 5 km, and average deposit thickness is 50 m (maximum 180 m). Pre-failure water content was estimated from shallow sediments at Site C0018 (porosity = 72%). The average grain size distribution is 39% clay-sized, 58% silt-sized, and 3% sand-size particles as determined by hydrometer analyses of the MTD. Together, the porosity and clay fraction predict a Flow Factor of approximately 4, which corresponds to a relatively high mobility slide. We interpret this result to indicate the landslide that created MTD-6 was a single event that transported the slide mass relatively rapidly as opposed to a slow, episodic landslide event. This is supported by the observation of a completely evacuated source area with no remnant blocks or retrogressive headscarp and the internally chaotic seismic facies with large entrained blocks. Future works will focus on the tsunamigenic potential of this high mobility slide. This approach can be extended to other field

  17. Crustal structure of the Murray Ridge, northwest Indian Ocean, from wide-angle seismic data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minshull, T. A.; Edwards, R. A.; Flueh, E. R.

    2015-07-01

    The Murray Ridge/Dalrymple Trough system forms the boundary between the Indian and Arabian plates in the northern Arabian Sea. Geodetic constraints from the surrounding continents suggest that this plate boundary is undergoing oblique extension at a rate of a few millimetres per year. We present wide-angle seismic data that constrains the composition of the Ridge and of adjacent lithosphere beneath the Indus Fan. We infer that Murray Ridge, like the adjacent Dalrymple Trough, is underlain by continental crust, while a thin crustal section beneath the Indus Fan represents thinned continental crust or exhumed serpentinized mantle that forms part of a magma-poor rifted margin. Changes in crustal structure across the Murray Ridge and Dalrymple Trough can explain short-wavelength gravity anomalies, but a long-wavelength anomaly must be attributed to deeper density contrasts that may result from a large age contrast across the plate boundary. The origin of this fragment of continental crust remains enigmatic, but the presence of basement fabrics to the south that are roughly parallel to Murray Ridge suggests that it separated from the India/Seychelles/Madagascar block by extension during early breakup of Gondwana.

  18. Cross-cultural comparisons of university students' science learning self-efficacy: structural relationships among factors within science learning self-efficacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ya-Ling; Liang, Jyh-Chong; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2018-04-01

    Science learning self-efficacy could be regarded as a multi-factor belief which comprises different aspects such as cognitive skills, practical work, and everyday application. However, few studies have investigated the relationships among these factors that compose science learning self-efficacy. Also, culture may play an important role in explaining the relationships among these factors. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate cultural differences in science learning self-efficacy and examine the relationships within factors constituting science learning self-efficacy by adopting a survey instrument for administration to students in the U.S. and Taiwan. A total of 218 university students (62.40% females) were surveyed in the U.S.A, and 224 university students (49.10% females) in Taiwan were also invited to take part in the study. The results of the structural equation modelling revealed cultural differences in the relationships among the factors of science learning self-efficacy. It was found that U.S. students' confidence in their ability to employ higher-order cognitive skills tended to promote their confidence in their ability to accomplish practical work, strengthening their academic self-efficacy. However, the aforementioned mediation was not found for the Taiwanese participants.

  19. Tectonic and volcanic history of Rhea as inferred from studies of scarps, ridges, troughs, and other lineaments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomas, P.G.

    1988-01-01

    The 13 geomorphic feature types presently defined through the analysis of landforms on Rhea are with only one exception interpretable as of tectonic or volcanic-tectonic origin. The troughs, grabens, grooves, pit chains, scarps, and other lineaments are purely extensional in nature, while the ridges are volcanic features formed in an extensional stress field; this extension was followed by a global compression era generating megaridges and megascarps. The extensional landforms seem to form a global grid pattern that is directionally similar to the theoretically projected pattern of a tidally distorted planet. 17 references

  20. Numerical experiment on tsunami deposit distribution process by using tsunami sediment transport model in historical tsunami event of megathrust Nankai trough earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Imai, K.; Sugawara, D.; Takahashi, T.

    2017-12-01

    A large flow caused by tsunami transports sediments from beach and forms tsunami deposits in land and coastal lakes. A tsunami deposit has been found in their undisturbed on coastal lakes especially. Okamura & Matsuoka (2012) found some tsunami deposits in the field survey of coastal lakes facing to the Nankai trough, and tsunami deposits due to the past eight Nankai Trough megathrust earthquakes they identified. The environment in coastal lakes is stably calm and suitable for tsunami deposits preservation compared to other topographical conditions such as plains. Therefore, there is a possibility that the recurrence interval of megathrust earthquakes and tsunamis will be discussed with high resolution. In addition, it has been pointed out that small events that cannot be detected in plains could be separated finely (Sawai, 2012). Various aspects of past tsunami is expected to be elucidated, in consideration of topographical conditions of coastal lakes by using the relationship between the erosion-and-sedimentation process of the lake bottom and the external force of tsunami. In this research, numerical examination based on tsunami sediment transport model (Takahashi et al., 1999) was carried out on the site Ryujin-ike pond of Ohita, Japan where tsunami deposit was identified, and deposit migration analysis was conducted on the tsunami deposit distribution process of historical Nankai Trough earthquakes. Furthermore, examination of tsunami source conditions is possibly investigated by comparison studies of the observed data and the computation of tsunami deposit distribution. It is difficult to clarify details of tsunami source from indistinct information of paleogeographical conditions. However, this result shows that it can be used as a constraint condition of the tsunami source scale by combining tsunami deposit distribution in lakes with computation data.

  1. An Analysis of Density and Degree-Centrality According to the Social Networking Structure Formed in an Online Learning Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ergün, Esin; Usluel, Yasemin Koçak

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we assessed the communication structure in an educational online learning environment using social network analysis (SNA). The communication structure was examined with respect to time, and instructor's participation. The course was implemented using ELGG, a network learning environment, blended with face-to-face sessions over a…

  2. Cooperation-Controlled Learning for Explicit Class Structure in Self-Organizing Maps

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamimura, Ryotaro

    2014-01-01

    We attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of multiple points of view toward neural networks. By restricting ourselves to two points of view of a neuron, we propose a new type of information-theoretic method called “cooperation-controlled learning.” In this method, individual and collective neurons are distinguished from one another, and we suppose that the characteristics of individual and collective neurons are different. To implement individual and collective neurons, we prepare two networks, namely, cooperative and uncooperative networks. The roles of these networks and the roles of individual and collective neurons are controlled by the cooperation parameter. As the parameter is increased, the role of cooperative networks becomes more important in learning, and the characteristics of collective neurons become more dominant. On the other hand, when the parameter is small, individual neurons play a more important role. We applied the method to the automobile and housing data from the machine learning database and examined whether explicit class boundaries could be obtained. Experimental results showed that cooperation-controlled learning, in particular taking into account information on input units, could be used to produce clearer class structure than conventional self-organizing maps. PMID:25309950

  3. Cooperation-Controlled Learning for Explicit Class Structure in Self-Organizing Maps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryotaro Kamimura

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We attempt to demonstrate the effectiveness of multiple points of view toward neural networks. By restricting ourselves to two points of view of a neuron, we propose a new type of information-theoretic method called “cooperation-controlled learning.” In this method, individual and collective neurons are distinguished from one another, and we suppose that the characteristics of individual and collective neurons are different. To implement individual and collective neurons, we prepare two networks, namely, cooperative and uncooperative networks. The roles of these networks and the roles of individual and collective neurons are controlled by the cooperation parameter. As the parameter is increased, the role of cooperative networks becomes more important in learning, and the characteristics of collective neurons become more dominant. On the other hand, when the parameter is small, individual neurons play a more important role. We applied the method to the automobile and housing data from the machine learning database and examined whether explicit class boundaries could be obtained. Experimental results showed that cooperation-controlled learning, in particular taking into account information on input units, could be used to produce clearer class structure than conventional self-organizing maps.

  4. Incremental Structured Dictionary Learning for Video Sensor-Based Object Tracking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Ming; Yang, Hua; Zheng, Shibao; Zhou, Yi; Yu, Zhenghua

    2014-01-01

    To tackle robust object tracking for video sensor-based applications, an online discriminative algorithm based on incremental discriminative structured dictionary learning (IDSDL-VT) is presented. In our framework, a discriminative dictionary combining both positive, negative and trivial patches is designed to sparsely represent the overlapped target patches. Then, a local update (LU) strategy is proposed for sparse coefficient learning. To formulate the training and classification process, a multiple linear classifier group based on a K-combined voting (KCV) function is proposed. As the dictionary evolves, the models are also trained to timely adapt the target appearance variation. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on challenging image sequences compared with state-of-the-art algorithms demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm achieves a more favorable performance. We also illustrate its relay application in visual sensor networks. PMID:24549252

  5. The experimental study of a two-stage photovoltaic thermal system based on solar trough concentration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, Lijun; Ji, Xu; Li, Ming; Leng, Congbin; Luo, Xi; Li, Haili

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • A two-stage photovoltaic thermal system based on solar trough concentration. • Maximum cell efficiency of 5.21% with the mirror opening width of 57 cm. • With single cycle, maximum temperatures rise in the heating stage is 12.06 °C. • With 30 min multiple cycles, working medium temperature 62.8 °C, increased 28.7 °C. - Abstract: A two-stage photovoltaic thermal system based on solar trough concentration is proposed, in which the metal cavity heating stage is added on the basis of the PV/T stage, and thermal energy with higher temperature is output while electric energy is output. With the 1.8 m 2 mirror PV/T system, the characteristic parameters of the space solar cell under non-concentrating solar radiation and concentrating solar radiation are respectively tested experimentally, and the solar cell output characteristics at different opening widths of concentrating mirror of the PV/T stage under condensation are also tested experimentally. When the mirror opening width was 57 cm, the solar cell efficiency reached maximum value of 5.21%. The experimental platform of the two-stage photovoltaic thermal system was established, with a 1.8 m 2 mirror PV/T stage and a 15 m 2 mirror heating stage, or a 1.8 m 2 mirror PV/T stage and a 30 m 2 mirror heating stage. The results showed that with single cycle, the long metal cavity heating stage would bring lower thermal efficiency, but temperature rise of the working medium is higher, up to 12.06 °C with only single cycle. With 30 min closed multiple cycles, the temperature of the working medium in the water tank was 62.8 °C, with an increase of 28.7 °C, and thermal energy with higher temperature could be output

  6. Iron-based microbial ecosystem on and below the seafloor: a case study of hydrothermal fields of the southern mariana trough.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Shingo; Nakamura, Kentaro; Toki, Tomohiro; Ishibashi, Jun-Ichiro; Tsunogai, Urumu; Hirota, Akinori; Ohkuma, Moriya; Yamagishi, Akihiko

    2012-01-01

    Microbial community structures in deep-sea hydrothermal vents fields are constrained by available energy yields provided by inorganic redox reactions, which are in turn controlled by chemical composition of hydrothermal fluids. In the past two decades, geochemical and microbiological studies have been conducted in deep-sea hydrothermal vents at three geographically different areas of the Southern Mariana Trough (SMT). A variety of geochemical data of hydrothermal fluids and an unparalleled microbiological dataset of various samples (i.e., sulfide structures of active vents, iron-rich mats, borehole fluids, and ambient seawater) are available for comparative analyses. Here, we summarize the geochemical and microbiological characteristics in the SMT and assess the relationship between the microbial community structures and the fluid geochemistry in the SMT by thermodynamic modeling. In the high temperature vent fluids, aerobic sulfide-oxidation has the potential to yield large amounts of bioavailable energy in the vent fluids, which is consistent with the detection of species related to sulfide-oxidizing bacteria (such as Thiomicrospira in the Gammaproteobacteria and Sulfurimonas in the Epsilonproteobacteria). Conversely, the bioavailable energy yield from aerobic iron-oxidation reactions in the low-temperature fluids collected from man-made boreholes and several natural vents were comparable to or higher than those from sulfide-oxidation. This is also consistent with the detection of species related to iron-oxidizing bacteria (Mariprofundus in the Zetaproteobacteria) in such low-temperature samples. The results of combination of microbiological, geochemical, and thermodynamic analyses in the SMT provide novel insights into the presence and significance of iron-based microbial ecosystems in deep-sea hydrothermal fields.

  7. A structured multi-stakeholder learning process for Sustainable Land Management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwilch, Gudrun; Bachmann, Felicitas; Valente, Sandra; Coelho, Celeste; Moreira, Jorge; Laouina, Abdellah; Chaker, Miloud; Aderghal, Mohamed; Santos, Patricia; Reed, Mark S

    2012-09-30

    There are many, often competing, options for Sustainable Land Management (SLM). Each must be assessed - and sometimes negotiated - prior to implementation. Participatory, multi-stakeholder approaches to identification and selection of SLM options are increasingly popular, often motivated by social learning and empowerment goals. Yet there are few practical tools for facilitating processes in which land managers may share, select, and decide on the most appropriate SLM options. The research presented here aims to close the gap between the theory and the practice of stakeholder participation/learning in SLM decision-making processes. The paper describes a three-part participatory methodology for selecting SLM options that was tested in 14 desertification-prone study sites within the EU-DESIRE project. Cross-site analysis and in-depth evaluation of the Moroccan and Portuguese sites were used to evaluate how well the proposed process facilitated stakeholder learning and selection of appropriate SLM options for local implementation. The structured nature of the process - starting with SLM goal setting - was found to facilitate mutual understanding and collaboration between stakeholders. The deliberation process led to a high degree of consensus over the outcome and, though not an initial aim, it fostered social learning in many cases. This solution-oriented methodology is applicable in a wide range of contexts and may be implemented with limited time and resources. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. "Information in Context": Co-Designing Workplace Structures and Systems for Organizational Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somerville, Mary M.; Howard, Zaana

    2010-01-01

    Introduction: This paper discusses an "information in context" design project at Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado which aims to collaboratively create organizational structures and communication systems with and for library employees. Method: This action research project is founded within shared leadership, informed learning and…

  9. Neural-Fitted TD-Leaf Learning for Playing Othello With Structured Neural Networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Dries, Sjoerd; Wiering, Marco A.

    This paper describes a methodology for quickly learning to play games at a strong level. The methodology consists of a novel combination of three techniques, and a variety of experiments on the game of Othello demonstrates their usefulness. First, structures or topologies in neural network

  10. Integrating Model-Based Learning and Animations for Enhancing Students' Understanding of Proteins Structure and Function

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barak, Miri; Hussein-Farraj, Rania

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a study conducted in the context of chemistry education reforms in Israel. The study examined a new biochemistry learning unit that was developed to promote in-depth understanding of 3D structures and functions of proteins and nucleic acids. Our goal was to examine whether, and to what extent teaching and learning via…

  11. Estimating the complexity of 3D structural models using machine learning methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mejía-Herrera, Pablo; Kakurina, Maria; Royer, Jean-Jacques

    2016-04-01

    Quantifying the complexity of 3D geological structural models can play a major role in natural resources exploration surveys, for predicting environmental hazards or for forecasting fossil resources. This paper proposes a structural complexity index which can be used to help in defining the degree of effort necessary to build a 3D model for a given degree of confidence, and also to identify locations where addition efforts are required to meet a given acceptable risk of uncertainty. In this work, it is considered that the structural complexity index can be estimated using machine learning methods on raw geo-data. More precisely, the metrics for measuring the complexity can be approximated as the difficulty degree associated to the prediction of the geological objects distribution calculated based on partial information on the actual structural distribution of materials. The proposed methodology is tested on a set of 3D synthetic structural models for which the degree of effort during their building is assessed using various parameters (such as number of faults, number of part in a surface object, number of borders, ...), the rank of geological elements contained in each model, and, finally, their level of deformation (folding and faulting). The results show how the estimated complexity in a 3D model can be approximated by the quantity of partial data necessaries to simulated at a given precision the actual 3D model without error using machine learning algorithms.

  12. Lipid Composition of methane-derived Carbonate Crusts and Sediments from Mud Volcanoes in the Sorokin Trough, NE Black Sea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stadnitskaia, A.; Baas, M.; Hopmans, E.; van Weering, T.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.

    2003-04-01

    We investigated the distributions and d13C values of bacterial and archaeal lipids in four carbonate crusts and hosting sediments collected from three mud volcanoes in the Sorokin Trough during the 11th Training Through Research expedition in 2001. The lipid extract from carbonate crusts contains abundant archaeal and bacterial biomarkers such as pentamethylicosane (PMI), unsaturated PMIs, archaeol, hydroxyarchaeols (sn-2 and sn-3 isomers), diphytanyl glycerol diethers (DGDs). Hosting sediments also contain a diversity of bacterial and archaeal lipids, but their concentrations are significantly lower then those observed in the crusts. The stable isotopic signature of these compounds have established their biosynthesis by consortia of microorganisms performing anaerobic methanotrophy. Quantitatively, the most predominant group of archaeal core membrane lipids in the crusts and in the sediments is the glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). Besides, two carbonate crusts contained two archaeal core membrane macrocyclic diether lipids which have not been reported previously. These macrocyclic diethers are structurally related to GDGTs with one and two cyclopentane rings. Cyclopentane-bearing GDGTs are well known for different archaeal species thriving in different environments, while a macrocyclic diether was found only in the thermophilic methanogen Methanococcus jannaschi. Therefore, the molecular structure of novel macrocyclic DGDs unites ecologically contrasting archaeal groups. Strongly depleted carbon isotopic values of these diethers indicate that these diethers derived from archaea acting within anaerobic methane-oxidizing consortia in cold-water environments.

  13. Mapping of tecto-lineaments and their influence on sedimentological processes in a GIS environment: a case study of the Iberian trough, Spain

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Herrero-Hernández Antonio

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The subsurface sedimentary succession of the Iberian Trough, Spain was examined using geophysical techniques (analogue seismic profiles and inverse distance weighted (IDW interpolation algorithm implemented in a gvGIS open source software. The results showed that the Late Cretaceous succession is divided into two depositional sequences: DS-1 (Late Albian-Middle Turonian and DS-2 (Late Turonian-Campanian. From the analogical seismic sections, digital data and quantitative isopach maps for DS-1 and DS-2 were obtained. The new isopach maps obtained for the DS-1 sequence showed that the deeper sectors of the basin were located to the northeast and the proximal ones to the southwest. The palaeoshoreline was inferred to be situated in the N 150 direction. Across and parallel to this direction several blocks were delimited by faults, with a direction between 30 N and N 65. The thickness of the sediments in these blocks varied in direction NW-SE, with subsidence and depocentres in hangingwall and uplift in the footwall. These variations may have been related to active synsedimentary faults (e.g., Boñar and Yugueros Faults. In the DS-2 sequence, a lineament separated the smaller thicknesses to the southwest from the larger thicknesses (up to 1400 m to the northeast. This lineament had an N170 orientation and it indicated the position of the palaeoshoreline. In the isopach map for DS-2 there were two groups of lineaments. The first showed a block structure that was limited by N100-120, they were foundering toward the S and had large thicknesses (depocentres, and rose towards the N, where there were smaller thicknesses. The second group of lineaments had a N 50-65 direction and, in this case, they had a similar interpretation as the one in DS-1. The maps obtained are of great help for geologists and permit better understanding of the geological setting and stratigraphic succession of the Late Cretaceous of the Iberian Trough.

  14. Structure Learning in Power Distribution Networks

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deka, Deepjyoti [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Chertkov, Michael [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Backhaus, Scott N. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2015-01-13

    Traditionally power distribution networks are either not observable or only partially observable. This complicates development and implementation of new smart grid technologies, such as these related to demand response, outage detection and management, and improved load-monitoring. Here, inspired by proliferation of the metering technology, we discuss statistical estimation problems in structurally loopy but operationally radial distribution grids consisting in learning operational layout of the network from measurements, e.g. voltage data, which are either already available or can be made available with a relatively minor investment. Our newly suggested algorithms apply to a wide range of realistic scenarios. The algorithms are also computationally efficient – polynomial in time – which is proven theoretically and illustrated computationally on a number of test cases. The technique developed can be applied to detect line failures in real time as well as to understand the scope of possible adversarial attacks on the grid.

  15. Classifying Structures in the ISM with Machine Learning Techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaumont, Christopher; Goodman, A. A.; Williams, J. P.

    2011-01-01

    The processes which govern molecular cloud evolution and star formation often sculpt structures in the ISM: filaments, pillars, shells, outflows, etc. Because of their morphological complexity, these objects are often identified manually. Manual classification has several disadvantages; the process is subjective, not easily reproducible, and does not scale well to handle increasingly large datasets. We have explored to what extent machine learning algorithms can be trained to autonomously identify specific morphological features in molecular cloud datasets. We show that the Support Vector Machine algorithm can successfully locate filaments and outflows blended with other emission structures. When the objects of interest are morphologically distinct from the surrounding emission, this autonomous classification achieves >90% accuracy. We have developed a set of IDL-based tools to apply this technique to other datasets.

  16. Analysis and validation of a quasi-dynamic model for a solar collector field with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in series for district heating

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tian, Zhiyong; Perers, Bengt; Furbo, Simon

    2018-01-01

    performance of the hybrid solar district heating plants is also presented. The measured and simulated results show that the integration of parabolic trough collectors in solar district heating plants can guarantee that the system produces hot water with relatively constant outlet temperature. The daily energy......A quasi-dynamic TRNSYS simulation model for a solar collector field with flat plate collectors and parabolic trough collectors in series was described and validated. A simplified method was implemented in TRNSYS in order to carry out long-term energy production analyses of the whole solar heating...... plant. The advantages of the model include faster computation with fewer resources, flexibility of different collector types in solar heating plant configuration and satisfactory accuracy in both dynamic and long-term analyses. In situ measurements were taken from a pilot solar heating plant with 5960 m...

  17. THE MEDIATING ROLE OF SCIENCE MUSEUM IN STRUCTURING AND SYNTHESIS OF LEARNING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fanny Angulo Delgado

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the mediating role of science museum in learning scientific content in school, it involves reflecting on the contributions of research to the question of what and how people learn in non-conventional educational settings. It has been shown that most people spend less than 3% of their lives learning in school, which emphasizes the importance of conceptualizing what they are and how much of their learning take place. While that question is resolved, it speaks at this bioassay on the complementary relationship between the museum and the school, as both institutions share the same educational purpose, but differ in the ways of achieving it. The science museum joins the class as a mediator that facilitates student learning as part of an education that promotes understanding of the phenomena of the world through models, which means that school learning goes in stages, one of which is that students have opportunity to structure new knowledge and synthesize on its own model. For this it is necessary that students speak, read, listen and write in science class, while the thought is expressed in language to attest to the facts. These communication skills arise in science class as indicators of mediation exercised by the museum and allow us to understand that it takes place in at least two dimensions: museographic and didactics.

  18. An evaluation of UK foundation trainee doctors' learning behaviours in a technology-enhanced learning environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Hannah L; Pontefract, Sarah K; Hodson, James; Blackwell, Nicholas; Hughes, Elizabeth; Marriott, John F; Coleman, Jamie J

    2016-05-03

    Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) can be used to educate Foundation Programme trainee (F1 and F2) doctors. Despite the advantages of TEL, learning behaviours may be exhibited that are not desired by system developers or educators. The aim of this evaluation was to investigate how learner behaviours (e.g. time spent on task) were affected by temporal (e.g. time of year), module (e.g. word count), and individual (e.g. knowledge) factors for 16 mandatory TEL modules related to prescribing and therapeutics. Data were extracted from the SCRIPT e-Learning platform for first year Foundation trainee (F1) doctors in the Health Education England's West Midland region from 1(st) August 2013 to 5(th) August 2014. Generalised Estimating Equation models were used to examine the relationship between time taken to complete modules, date modules were completed, pre- and post-test scores, and module factors. Over the time period examined, 688 F1 doctors interacted with the 16 compulsory modules 10,255 times. The geometric mean time taken to complete a module was 28.9 min (95% Confidence Interval: 28.4-29.5) and 1,075 (10.5%) modules were completed in less than 10 min. In February and June (prior to F1 progression reviews) peaks occurred in the number of modules completed and troughs in the time taken. Most modules were completed, and the greatest amount of time was spent on the learning on a Sunday. More time was taken by those doctors with greater pre-test scores and those with larger improvements in test scores. Foundation trainees are exhibiting unintended learning behaviours in this TEL environment, which may be attributed to several factors. These findings can help guide future developments of this TEL programme and the integration of other TEL programmes into curricula by raising awareness of potential behavioural issues that may arise.

  19. Preparing for the Future Nankai Trough Tsunami: A Data Assimilation and Inversion Analysis From Various Observational Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulia, Iyan E.; Inazu, Daisuke; Waseda, Takuji; Gusman, Aditya Riadi

    2017-10-01

    The future Nankai Trough tsunami is one of the imminent threats to the Japanese coastal communities that could potentially cause a catastrophic event. As a part of the countermeasure efforts for such an occurrence, this study analyzes the efficacy of combining tsunami data assimilation (DA) and waveform inversion (WI). The DA is used to continuously refine a wavefield model whereas the WI is used to estimate the tsunami source. We consider a future scenario of the Nankai Trough tsunami recorded at various observational systems, including ocean bottom pressure (OBP) gauges, global positioning system (GPS) buoys, and ship height positioning data. Since most of the OBP gauges are located inside the source region, the recorded tsunami signals exhibit significant offsets from surface measurements due to coseismic seafloor deformation effects. Such biased data are not applicable to the standard DA, but can be taken into account in the WI. On the other hand, the use of WI for the ship data may not be practical because a considerably large precomputed tsunami database is needed to cope with the spontaneous ship locations. The DA is more suitable for such an observational system as it can be executed sequentially in time and does not require precomputed scenarios. Therefore, the combined approach of DA and WI allows us to concurrently make use of all observational resources. Additionally, we introduce a bias correction scheme for the OBP data to improve the accuracy, and an adaptive thinning of observations to determine the efficient number of observations.

  20. Lower and Middle Ordovician conodonts of Laurentian affinity from blocks of limestone in the Rosroe Formation, South Mayo Trough, western Ireland and their palaeogeographic implication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Stouge, Svend; Harper, David A. T.; Sevastopulo, George D.

    2016-01-01

    The Middle Ordovician Rosroe Formation consists of some 1350m of coarse, mainly siliciclastic to volcaniclastic sedimentary rocks, deposited in a submarine fan environment, and is restricted to the southern limb of the South Mayo Trough, western Ireland. Discrete allochthonous blocks, reaching 5m...

  1. Incremental Structured Dictionary Learning for Video Sensor-Based Object Tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Xue

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available To tackle robust object tracking for video sensor-based applications, an online discriminative algorithm based on incremental discriminative structured dictionary learning (IDSDL-VT is presented. In our framework, a discriminative dictionary combining both positive, negative and trivial patches is designed to sparsely represent the overlapped target patches. Then, a local update (LU strategy is proposed for sparse coefficient learning. To formulate the training and classification process, a multiple linear classifier group based on a K-combined voting (KCV function is proposed. As the dictionary evolves, the models are also trained to timely adapt the target appearance variation. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on challenging image sequences compared with state-of-the-art algorithms demonstrate that the proposed tracking algorithm achieves a more favorable performance. We also illustrate its relay application in visual sensor networks.

  2. An Evaluation of Subsurface Plumbing of a Hydrothermal Seep Field and Possible Influence from Local Seismicity from New Time-Series Data Collected at the Davis-Schrimpf Seep Field, Salton Trough, California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, A.; Onderdonk, N.

    2016-12-01

    The Davis­-Schrimpf Seep Field (DSSF) is a group of approximately 50 geothermal mud seeps (gryphons) in the Salton Trough of southeastern California. Its location puts it in line with the mapped San Andreas Fault, if extended further south, as well as within the poorly-understood Brawley Seismic Zone. Much of the geomorphology, geochemistry, and other characteristics of the DSSF have been analyzed, but its subsurface structure remains unknown. Here we present data and interpretations from five new temperature time­series from four separate gryphons at the DSSF, and compare them both amongst themselves, and within the context of all previously collected data to identify possible patterns constraining the subsurface dynamics. Simultaneously collected time-series from different seeps were cross-correlated to quantify similarity. All years' time-series were checked against the record of local seismicity to identify any seismic influence on temperature excursions. Time-series captured from the same feature in different years were statistically summarized and the results plotted to examine their evolution over time. We found that adjacent vents often alternate in temperature, suggesting a switching of flow path of the erupted mud at the scale of a few meters or less. Noticeable warming over time was observed in most of the features with time-series covering multiple years. No synchronicity was observed between DSSF features' temperature excursions, and seismic events within a 24 kilometer radius covering most of the width of the surrounding Salton Trough.

  3. A uranium-based UO{sub 2}{sup +}-Mn{sup 2+} single-chain magnet assembled trough cation-cation interactions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mougel, Victor; Chatelain, Lucile; Hermle, Johannes; Pecaut, Jacques; Mazzanti, Marinella [Laboratoire de Reconnaissance Ionique et Chimie de Coordination, SCIB, UMR-E3 CEA-UJF, INAC, CEA-Grenoble (France); Caciuffo, Roberto; Colineau, Eric [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Transuranium Elements, Karlsruhe (Germany); Tuna, Floriana [EPSRC UK EPR Facility, School of Chemistry and Photon Science Institute, The University of Manchester (United Kingdom); Magnani, Nicola [Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Geyer, Arnaud de [Service General des Rayons X, SP2M, INAC, CEA-Grenoble (France)

    2014-01-13

    Single-chain magnets (SCMs) are materials composed of magnetically isolated one-dimensional (1D) units exhibiting slow relaxation of magnetization. The occurrence of SCM behavior requires the fulfillment of stringent conditions for exchange and anisotropy interactions. Herein, we report the synthesis, the structure, and the magnetic characterization of the first actinide-containing SCM. The 5f-3d heterometallic 1D chains [{[UO_2(salen)(py)][M(py)_4](NO_3)}]{sub n}, (M=Cd (1) and M=Mn (2); py=pyridine) are assembled trough cation-cation interaction from the reaction of the uranyl(V) complex [UO{sub 2}(salen)py][Cp*{sub 2}Co] (Cp*=pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) with Cd(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} or Mn(NO{sub 3}){sub 2} in pyridine. The infinite UMn chain displays a high relaxation barrier of 134 ±0.8 K (93 ±0.5 cm{sup -1}), probably as a result of strong intra-chain magnetic interactions combined with the high Ising anisotropy of the uranyl(V) dioxo group. It also exhibits an open magnetic hysteresis loop at T <6 K, with an impressive coercive field of 3.4 T at 2 K. (Copyright copyright 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  4. Identifying Structural Flow Defects in Disordered Solids Using Machine-Learning Methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cubuk, E. D.; Schoenholz, S. S.; Rieser, J. M.; Malone, B. D.; Rottler, J.; Durian, D. J.; Kaxiras, E.; Liu, A. J.

    2015-03-01

    We use machine-learning methods on local structure to identify flow defects—or particles susceptible to rearrangement—in jammed and glassy systems. We apply this method successfully to two very different systems: a two-dimensional experimental realization of a granular pillar under compression and a Lennard-Jones glass in both two and three dimensions above and below its glass transition temperature. We also identify characteristics of flow defects that differentiate them from the rest of the sample. Our results show it is possible to discern subtle structural features responsible for heterogeneous dynamics observed across a broad range of disordered materials.

  5. Team Leader Structuring for Team Effectiveness and Team Learning in Command-and-Control Teams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Haar, Selma; Koeslag-Kreunen, Mieke; Euwe, Eline; Segers, Mien

    2017-04-01

    Due to their crucial and highly consequential task, it is of utmost importance to understand the levers leading to effectiveness of multidisciplinary emergency management command-and-control (EMCC) teams. We argue that the formal EMCC team leader needs to initiate structure in the team meetings to support organizing the work as well as facilitate team learning, especially the team learning process of constructive conflict. In a sample of 17 EMCC teams performing a realistic EMCC exercise, including one or two team meetings (28 in sum), we coded the team leader's verbal structuring behaviors (1,704 events), rated constructive conflict by external experts, and rated team effectiveness by field experts. Results show that leaders of effective teams use structuring behaviors more often (except asking procedural questions) but decreasingly over time. They support constructive conflict by clarifying and by making summaries that conclude in a command or decision in a decreasing frequency over time.

  6. Team Leader Structuring for Team Effectiveness and Team Learning in Command-and-Control Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Haar, Selma; Koeslag-Kreunen, Mieke; Euwe, Eline; Segers, Mien

    2017-01-01

    Due to their crucial and highly consequential task, it is of utmost importance to understand the levers leading to effectiveness of multidisciplinary emergency management command-and-control (EMCC) teams. We argue that the formal EMCC team leader needs to initiate structure in the team meetings to support organizing the work as well as facilitate team learning, especially the team learning process of constructive conflict. In a sample of 17 EMCC teams performing a realistic EMCC exercise, including one or two team meetings (28 in sum), we coded the team leader’s verbal structuring behaviors (1,704 events), rated constructive conflict by external experts, and rated team effectiveness by field experts. Results show that leaders of effective teams use structuring behaviors more often (except asking procedural questions) but decreasingly over time. They support constructive conflict by clarifying and by making summaries that conclude in a command or decision in a decreasing frequency over time. PMID:28490856

  7. Sedimentological Properties of Natural Gas Hydrates-Bearing Sands in the Nankai Trough and Mallik Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uchida, T.; Tsuji, T.; Waseda, A.

    2009-12-01

    The Nankai Trough parallels the Japanese Island, where extensive BSRs have been interpreted from seismic reflection records. High resolution seismic surveys have definitely indicated gas hydrate distributions, and drilling the MITI Nankai Trough wells in 2000 and the METI Tokai-oki to Kumano-nada wells in 2004 have revealed subsurface gas hydrate in the eastern part of Nankai Trough. In 1998 and 2002 Mallik wells were drilled at Mackenzie Delta in the Canadian Arctic that also clarified the characteristics of gas hydrate-dominant sandy layers at depths from 890 to 1110 m beneath the permafrost zone. During the field operations, the LWD and wire-line well log data were continuously obtained and plenty of gas hydrate-bearing sand cores were recovered. Subsequence sedimentological and geochemical analyses performed on those core samples revealed the crucial geologic controls on the formation and preservation of natural gas hydrate in sediments. Pore-space gas hydrates reside in sandy sediments mostly filling intergranular porosity. Pore waters chloride anomalies, core temperature depression and core observations on visible gas hydrates confirm the presence of pore-space gas hydrates within moderate to thick sandy layers, typically 10 cm to a meter thick. Sediment porosities and pore-size distributions were obtained by mercury porosimetry, which indicate that porosities of gas hydrate-bearing sandy strata are approximately 45 %. According to grain size distribution curves, gas hydrate is dominant in fine- to very fine-grained sandy strata. Gas hydrate saturations are typically up to 80 % in pore volume throughout most of the hydrate-dominant sandy layers, which are estimated by well log analyses as well as pore water chloride anomalies. It is necessary for investigating subsurface fluid flow behaviors to evaluate both porosity and permeability of gas hydrate-bearing sandy sediments, and the measurements of water permeability for them indicated that highly saturated

  8. The upper Cenomanian-lower Turonian of the Preafrican Trough (Morocco): Platform configuration and palaeoenvironmental conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebedel, V.; Lézin, C.; Andreu, B.; Ettachfini, El M.; Grosheny, D.

    2015-06-01

    A synthetic study was carried out based on sedimentological, palaeontological, geochemical and mineralogical data of the upper Cenomanian-lower Turonian carbonate platform of the Preafrican Trough (eastern Morocco) in order to (1) propose a 3D representation of the platform and constrain the temporal framework of the dysoxic/anoxic episodes recorded during the OAE2, (2) define and discuss the prevailing climate on the platform during this period, and (3) make comparisons with other Cenomanian-Turonian platforms. During the late Cenomanian, both before and during the CCIE (Cenomanian Carbon Isotope Excursion), the platform displayed an east-west polarity. Three third-order sequences of transgression-regression can be defined. Dysoxic conditions were developed in the sediments and the bottom waters of the deepest environment (mid- to outer-ramp setting), in the western part of the platform. Well-oxygenated waters were present in the eastern part of the platform (peritidal zone to mid-ramp environment). The climate was arid before the CCIE, becoming warm with contrasted seasons during the CCIE. This climate is associated with a low palaeoproductivity over the entire platform, along with the presence of photozoan followed by heterozoan carbonate-producers, as found also in other parts of the Saharan platform. However, such conditions are not in accordance with many studies which suggest a wet climate during the CCIE, leading to intense chemical weathering of the continent favouring the appearance of high palaeoproductivity at a global scale and the establishment of dysoxic/anoxic conditions. In the Preafrican Trough, poorly-oxygenated waters spread outwards from the deep basins and covered the platform in response to sea-level rise. Many disturbances are recorded in the platform succession during the early Turonian, after the CCIE. Indeed, just after the C/T boundary, the development of an outer-ramp environment over the entire Preafrican Trough reflects flooding of

  9. WISC-R Factor Structures for Diagnosed Learning Disabled Navajo and Papago Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zarske, John A.; And Others

    1981-01-01

    Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) (WISC-R) factor structures were compared for learning disabled Navajo and Papago children. Results support the validity of the WISC-R as a measure of general intellectual functioning, and verbal and performance aspects for both groups, indicating its appropriateness for diverse groups of children.…

  10. Overview of the Kinematics of the Salton Trough and Northern Gulf of California

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, J. M.

    2016-12-01

    In the Salton Trough and Northern Gulf of California, transtensional rifting is leading to full continental plate breakup, as a major continental block is being transferred to an oceanic plate. Since at least 6 Ma this region has taken up most of the plate boundary slip between the Pacific and North America plates at this latitude. We review the structural history of plate separation, as constrained by many recent studies of present and past fault configurations, seismicity, and basin development as seen from geology and geophysics. Modern activity in the USA is dominated by NW-striking strike-slip faults (San Andreas, San Jacinto, Elsinore), and subsidiary NE-striking faults. There is an equally broad zone in Mexico (faults from the Mexicali Valley to the Colorado River Delta and bounding the Laguna Salada basin), including active low-angle detachment faults. In both areas, shifts in fault activity are indicated by buried faults and exhumed or buried earlier basin strata. Seismicity defines 3 basin segments in the N Gulf: Consag-Wagner, Upper Delfin, and Lower Delfin, but localization is incomplete. These basins occupy a broad zone of modern deformation, lacking single transform faults, although major strike-slip faults formed in the surrounding continental area. The off-boundary deformation on the western side of the plate boundary has changed with time, as seen by Holocene and Quaternary faults controlling modern basins in the Gulf Extensional Province of NE Baja California, and stranded Pliocene continental and marine basin strata in subaerial fault blocks. The eastern side of the plate boundary, in the shallow northeastern Gulf, contains major NW-striking faults that may have dominated the earlier (latest Miocene-early Pliocene) kinematics. The Sonoran coastal plain likely buries additional older faults and basin sequences; further studies here are needed to refine models of the earlier structural development of this sector. Despite > 250 km of plate

  11. Understanding ill-structured engineering ethics problems through a collaborative learning and argument visualization approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, Michael; Borenstein, Jason

    2014-03-01

    As a committee of the National Academy of Engineering recognized, ethics education should foster the ability of students to analyze complex decision situations and ill-structured problems. Building on the NAE's insights, we report about an innovative teaching approach that has two main features: first, it places the emphasis on deliberation and on self-directed, problem-based learning in small groups of students; and second, it focuses on understanding ill-structured problems. The first innovation is motivated by an abundance of scholarly research that supports the value of deliberative learning practices. The second results from a critique of the traditional case-study approach in engineering ethics. A key problem with standard cases is that they are usually described in such a fashion that renders the ethical problem as being too obvious and simplistic. The practitioner, by contrast, may face problems that are ill-structured. In the collaborative learning environment described here, groups of students use interactive and web-based argument visualization software called "AGORA-net: Participate - Deliberate!". The function of the software is to structure communication and problem solving in small groups. Students are confronted with the task of identifying possible stakeholder positions and reconstructing their legitimacy by constructing justifications for these positions in the form of graphically represented argument maps. The argument maps are then presented in class so that these stakeholder positions and their respective justifications become visible and can be brought into a reasoned dialogue. Argument mapping provides an opportunity for students to collaborate in teams and to develop critical thinking and argumentation skills.

  12. Marginal space learning for medical image analysis efficient detection and segmentation of anatomical structures

    CERN Document Server

    Zheng, Yefeng

    2014-01-01

    Presents an award winning image analysis technology (Thomas Edison Patent Award, MICCAI Young Investigator Award) that achieves object detection and segmentation with state-of-the-art accuracy and efficiency Flexible, machine learning-based framework, applicable across multiple anatomical structures and imaging modalities Thirty five clinical applications on detecting and segmenting anatomical structures such as heart chambers and valves, blood vessels, liver, kidney, prostate, lymph nodes, and sub-cortical brain structures, in CT, MRI, X-Ray and Ultrasound.

  13. Geophysical characterization of the Chicxulub impact structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gulick, S. P.; Christeson, G. L.; Barton, P. J.; Grieve, R. A.; Morgan, J. V.; Fucugauchi, J. U.

    2013-05-01

    The Chicxulub impact structure, conclusively linked to the 65.5 Ma mass extinction, includes three sets of inward dipping, ring faults, between 70 and 130 km radially with a topographically elevated inner rim, at the inner edge of these faults except in the northeast where such a rim is absent. Slump blocks offset by large faults result in a terrace zone, that steps down from the inner rim into the annular trough. The inner blocks underlie the peak ring --an internal topographic ring of topography that exhibits variable relief due to target asymmetries and bounds the coherent melt sheet within the central basin. Impact breccias lie within the annular trough above the slump blocks and proximal ejecta and within the central basin above the melt sheet. Beneath the melt sheet is the top of the central uplift, displaced by >10 km vertically, and an upwarped Moho, displaced by 1-2 km. These interpretations and hydrocode models support the following working hypothesis for the formation of Chicxulub: a 50 km radius transient cavity, lined with melt and impact breccia, formed within 10s of seconds of the 65.5 Ma impact and within minutes, weakened rebounding crust rose above kilometers above the surface, the transient crater rim underwent localized, brittle deformation and collapsed into large slump blocks resulting in a inner rim being preserved 70-85 km from crater center, and ring faults forming farther outwards. The overheightened central uplift of weakened crust collapsed outwards forming the peak ring, and buried the inner slump blocks. Most impact melt that lined the transient cavity was transported on top of the central uplift, ultimately emplaced as a coherent <3-km thick melt sheet that shallows within the inner regions of the peak ring. Smaller pockets of melt flowed into the annular trough. During and likely for sometime after these events, slope collapse, proximal ejecta, ground surge, and tsunami waves infilled the annular trough with sediments up to 3 km

  14. System Characteristics, Satisfaction and E-Learning Usage: A Structural Equation Model (SEM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramayah, T.; Lee, Jason Wai Chow

    2012-01-01

    With the advent of the Internet, more and more public universities in Malaysia are putting in effort to introduce e-learning in their respective universities. Using a structured questionnaire derived from the literature, data was collected from 250 undergraduate students from a public university in Penang, Malaysia. Data was analyzed using AMOS…

  15. Performance Analysis and Optimization of a Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plant in the Middle East Region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Praveen R. P.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The Middle East is one among the areas of the world that receive high amounts of direct solar radiation. As such, the region holds a promising potential to leverage clean energy. Owing to rapid urbanization, energy demands in the region are on the rise. Along with the global push to curb undesirable outcomes such as air pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases, and climate change, an urgent need has arisen to explore and exploit the abundant renewable energy sources. This paper presents the design, performance analysis and optimization of a 100 MWe parabolic trough collector Solar Power Plant with thermal energy storage intended for use in the Middle Eastern regions. Two representative sites in the Middle East which offer an annual average direct normal irradiance (DNI of more than 5.5 kWh/m2/day has been chosen for the analysis. The thermodynamic aspect and annual performance of the proposed plant design is also analyzed using the System Advisor Model (SAM version 2017.9.5. Based on the analysis carried out on the initial design, annual power generated from the proposed concentrating solar power (CSP plant design in Abu Dhabi amounts to 333.15 GWh whereas that in Aswan recorded a value of 369.26 GWh, with capacity factors of 38.1% and 42.19% respectively. The mean efficiency of the plants in Abu Dhabi and Aswan are found to be 14.35% and 14.98% respectively. The optimization of the initial plant design is also carried out by varying two main design parameters, namely the solar multiple and full load hours of thermal energy storage (TES. Based on the findings of the study, the proposed 100 MW parabolic trough collector solar power plant with thermal energy storage can contribute to the sustainable energy future of the Middle East with reduced dependency on fossil fuels.

  16. Heat transfer analysis of parabolic trough solar receiver

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Padilla, Ricardo Vasquez; Demirkaya, Gokmen; Goswami, D. Yogi; Stefanakos, Elias; Rahman, Muhammad M.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → In this paper a detailed one dimensional numerical heat transfer analysis of a PTC is performed. → The receiver and envelope were divided into several segments and mass and energy balance were applied in each segment. → Improvements either in the heat transfer correlations or radiative heat transfer analysis are presented. → The proposed heat transfer model was validated with experimental data obtained from Sandia National Laboratory. → Our results showed a better agreement with experimental data compared to other models. -- Abstract: Solar Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTCs) are currently used for the production of electricity and applications with relatively higher temperatures. A heat transfer fluid circulates through a metal tube (receiver) with an external selective surface that absorbs solar radiation reflected from the mirror surfaces of the PTC. In order to reduce the heat losses, the receiver is covered by an envelope and the enclosure is usually kept under vacuum pressure. The heat transfer and optical analysis of the PTC is essential to optimize and understand its performance under different operating conditions. In this paper a detailed one dimensional numerical heat transfer analysis of a PTC is performed. The receiver and envelope were divided into several segments and mass and energy balance were applied in each segment. Improvements either in the heat transfer correlations or radiative heat transfer analysis are presented as well. The partial differential equations were discretized and the nonlinear algebraic equations were solved simultaneously. Finally, to validate the numerical results, the model was compared with experimental data obtained from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) and other one dimensional heat transfer models. Our results showed a better agreement with experimental data compared to other models.

  17. Troughs in Ice Sheets and Other Icy Deposits on Mars: Analysis of Their Radiative Balance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fountain, A.; Kargel, J.; Lewis, K.; MacAyeal, D.; Pfeffer, T.; Zwally, H. J.

    2000-01-01

    It has long been known that groove-like structures in glaciers and ice sheets can trap more incoming solar radiation than is the case for a 'normal' flat, smooth surface. In this presentation, we shall describe the radiative regimes of typical scarps and troughs on icy surfaces of Mars, and suggest how these features originate and evolve through time. The basis of our analysis is the radiation balance model presented by Pfeffer and Bretherton. Their model considers the visible band radiation regime of a V-shaped groove on a terrestrial ice surface, and shows that absorbed energy can be enhanced by up to 50 percent for grooves with small opening angles and with typical polar values of the solar zenith angle. Our work extends this model by considering: (a) departures from V-shaped geometry, (b) both englacial and surficial dust and debris, and (c) the infrared spectrum. We apply the extended model to various features on the Martian surface, including the spiral-like scarps on the Northern and Southern ice sheets, the large-scale chasms (e.g., Chasm Borealis), and groove-like lineations on valley floors thought to be filled with mixtures of dust and icy substances. In conjunction with study of valley-closure experiments, we suggest that spiral-like scarps and chasms are stable features of the Martian climate regime. We also suggest that further study of scarps and chasms may shed light on the composition (i.e., relative proportions of water ice, carbon-dioxide ice and dust) of the Martian ice sheets and valley fills.

  18. Evidence for chaotic fault interactions in the seismicity of the San Andreas fault and Nankai trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Jie; Turcotte, D. L.

    1990-01-01

    The dynamical behavior introduced by fault interactions is examined here using a simple spring-loaded, slider-block model with velocity-weakening friction. The model consists of two slider blocks coupled to each other and to a constant-velocity driver by elastic springs. For an asymmetric system in which the frictional forces on the two blocks are not equal, the solutions exhibit chaotic behavior. The system's behavior over a range of parameter values seems to be generally analogous to that of weakly coupled segments of an active fault. Similarities between the model simulations and observed patterns of seismicity on the south central San Andreas fault in California and in the Nankai trough along the coast of southwestern Japan.

  19. Economic optimization of a Kalina cycle for a parabolic trough solar thermal power plant

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Modi, Anish; Kærn, Martin Ryhl; Andreasen, J. G.

    2015-01-01

    -water mixture evaporates and condenses with a temperature glide, thus providing a better match with the heat source/sink temperature profile. This better match results in reduced thermal irreversibility, but at the cost of relatively larger heat exchanger areas. The parabolic trough collector is the most mature...... heat transfer correlations, and appropriate cost functions were used to estimate the costs for the various plant components. The optimal capital investment costs were determined for several values of the turbine inlet ammonia mass fraction and among the compared cases, the Kalina cycle has the minimum......The Kalina cycle has recently seen increased interest as a replacement for the more traditional steam Rankine cycle for geothermal, solar, ocean thermal energy conversion and waste heat recovery applications. The Kalina cycle uses a mixture of ammonia and water as the working fluid. The ammonia...

  20. Using the Properties of Broad Absorption Line Quasars to Illuminate Quasar Structure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yong, Suk Yee; King, Anthea L.; Webster, Rachel L.; Bate, Nicholas F.; O'Dowd, Matthew J.; Labrie, Kathleen

    2018-06-01

    A key to understanding quasar unification paradigms is the emission properties of broad absorption line quasars (BALQs). The fact that only a small fraction of quasar spectra exhibit deep absorption troughs blueward of the broad permitted emission lines provides a crucial clue to the structure of quasar emitting regions. To learn whether it is possible to discriminate between the BALQ and non-BALQ populations given the observed spectral properties of a quasar, we employ two approaches: one based on statistical methods and the other supervised machine learning classification, applied to quasar samples from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The features explored include continuum and emission line properties, in particular the absolute magnitude, redshift, spectral index, line width, asymmetry, strength, and relative velocity offsets of high-ionisation C IV λ1549 and low-ionisation Mg II λ2798 lines. We consider a complete population of quasars, and assume that the statistical distributions of properties represent all angles where the quasar is viewed without obscuration. The distributions of the BALQ and non-BALQ sample properties show few significant differences. None of the observed continuum and emission line features are capable of differentiating between the two samples. Most published narrow disk-wind models are inconsistent with these observations, and an alternative disk-wind model is proposed. The key feature of the proposed model is a disk-wind filling a wide opening angle with multiple radial streams of dense clumps.

  1. Learning Opportunities for Group Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gil, Alfonso J.; Mataveli, Mara

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the impact of organizational learning culture and learning facilitators in group learning. Design/methodology/approach: This study was conducted using a survey method applied to a statistically representative sample of employees from Rioja wine companies in Spain. A model was tested using a structural equation…

  2. Machine-learning approach for local classification of crystalline structures in multiphase systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dietz, C.; Kretz, T.; Thoma, M. H.

    2017-07-01

    Machine learning is one of the most popular fields in computer science and has a vast number of applications. In this work we will propose a method that will use a neural network to locally identify crystal structures in a mixed phase Yukawa system consisting of fcc, hcp, and bcc clusters and disordered particles similar to plasma crystals. We compare our approach to already used methods and show that the quality of identification increases significantly. The technique works very well for highly disturbed lattices and shows a flexible and robust way to classify crystalline structures that can be used by only providing particle positions. This leads to insights into highly disturbed crystalline structures.

  3. The Factor Structure of Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale Scores in Peruvian Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahn, Kathryn R.; Schaefer, Barbara A.; Merino, Cesar; Worrell, Frank C.

    2009-01-01

    The factor structure of the Escala de Conductas de Aprendizaje Preescolar (ECAP), a Spanish translation of the Preschool Learning Behaviors Scale (PLBS), was examined in this study. Children aged 2 to 6 years (N = 328) enrolled in public and private preschools in the Republic of Peru were rated by classroom teachers on the frequency of observable,…

  4. Facilitating peer based learning through summative assessment - An adaptation of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment tool for the blended learning environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wikander, Lolita; Bouchoucha, Stéphane L

    2018-01-01

    Adapting a course from face to face to blended delivery necessitates that assessments are modified accordingly. In Australia the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment tool, as a derivative from the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, has been used in the face-to-face delivery mode as a formative or summative assessment tool in medicine and nursing since 1990. The Objective Structured Clinical Assessment has been used at Charles Darwin University to assess nursing students' simulated clinical skills prior to the commencement of their clinical placements since 2008. Although the majority of the course is delivered online, students attend a one-week intensive clinical simulation block yearly, prior to attending clinical placements. Initially, the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment was introduced as a lecturer assessed summative assessment, over time it was adapted to better suit the blended learning environment. The modification of the tool from an academic to peer assessed assessment tool, was based on the empirical literature, student feedback and a cross-sectional, qualitative study exploring academics' perceptions of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment (Bouchoucha et al., 2013a, b). This paper presents an overview of the process leading to the successful adaptation of the Objective Structured Clinical Assessment to suit the requirements of a preregistration nursing course delivered through blended learning. This is significant as many universities are moving their curriculum to fully online or blended delivery, yet little attention has been paid to adapting the assessment of simulated clinical skills. The aim is to identify the benefits and drawbacks of using the peer assessed Objective Structured Clinical Assessment and share recommendations for successful implementation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Bayesian structure learning for Markov Random Fields with a spike and slab prior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chen, Y.; Welling, M.; de Freitas, N.; Murphy, K.

    2012-01-01

    In recent years a number of methods have been developed for automatically learning the (sparse) connectivity structure of Markov Random Fields. These methods are mostly based on L1-regularized optimization which has a number of disadvantages such as the inability to assess model uncertainty and

  6. Equilibrium vortex structures of type-II/1 superconducting films with washboard pinning landscapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, C. A.; Xu, X. B.; Xu, X. N.; Wang, Z. H.; Gu, M.

    2018-05-01

    We numerically study the equilibrium vortex structures of type-II/1 superconducting films with a periodic quasi-one-dimensional corrugated substrate. We show as a function of substrate period and pinning strength that, the vortex system displays a variety of vortex phases including arrays consisted of vortex clumps with different morphologies, ordered vortex stripes parallel and perpendicular to pinning troughs, and ordered one-dimensional vortex chains. Our simulations are helpful in understanding the structural modulations for extensive systems with both competing interactions and competing periodicities.

  7. AUC versus peak-trough dosing of vancomycin: applying new pharmacokinetic paradigms to an old drug.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Daniel L; Lalla, Christina D; Masselink, Andrew J

    2013-08-01

    To compare and contrast the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic foundations of traditional "peak-trough" vancomycin dosing methods versus newer "area under the curve" (AUC) strategies. To propose a new AUC-based dosing chart for empirically determining an initial vancomycin dosing regimen designed to achieve a desired AUC24 using the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), creatinine clearance (CrCl), and vancomycin clearance (ClVanco). Peak-trough vancomycin dosing is designed to achieve a Cpeak of 20-40 mg/L and a Ctrough of 10-15 or 15-20 mg/L, depending on the severity of the infection and the nature of the pathogen. New treatment guidelines for vancomycin suggest that therapy should achieve an AUC24/MIC of ≥400. AUC-based vancomycin dosing derives the daily dose from ClVanco, MIC, and the desired AUC24/MIC, without consideration of the patient's weight. A vancomycin dosing chart is proposed that estimates ClVanco using the following formula developed by Matzke et al: ClVanco in L/h = [(CrClmL/min × 0.689) + 3.66] × 0.06, which simplifies to (CrClmL/min × 0.41) + 0.22. Two levels of dosing are included-high dose (Ctrough: 15-20 mg/L) and moderate dose (Ctrough: 10-15 mg/L). Although the chart has not been validated clinically, it represents the product of standard dosing equations that are used to determine a starting dosing regimen based on well-established vancomycin pharmacokinetic parameters. An understanding of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles, including the relevance of AUC in relation to MIC, enables clinicians to make the best use of vancomycin dosing options. The proposed dosing chart is pharmacokinetically valid but has yet to be applied clinically. It provides a foundation for further study of how clinicians can determine an optimal AUC-based starting vancomycin dosing regimen without having to derive ClVanco or AUC24.

  8. Tsunami Scenario in the Nankai Trough, Japan, Based on the GPS-A and GNSS Velocities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bock, Y.; Watanabe, S. I.; Melgar, D.; Tadokoro, K.

    2017-12-01

    We present two local tsunami scenarios for the Nankai trough, Japan, an area of significant seismic risk, using GPS-A and GNSS velocities and two different plate interface geometries to better assess the slip deficit rate. We expand on the work of Yokota et al. [2016, Nature] by: (1) Adding seafloor data collected by Nagoya University [Tadokoro et al., 2012 GRL] at the Kumano basin, (2) Aligning the geodetic data to the Nankai block (forearc sliver) to the tectonic model of Loveless and Meade [2010 JGR] - the earlier work ignored block boundaries such as the Median Tectonic Line (MTL) and may have overestimated the slip deficit rate, (3) Considering two different plate interface geometries - it is essential to use the accurate depth of the plate interface, especially for the offshore region where the faults are located near the observation sites, (4) Estimating and correcting for the postseismic displacements of the 2004 southeastern off the Kii Peninsula earthquakes (MJMA 7.1, 7.4). Based upon the refined model, we calculate the coseismic displacements and tsunami wave propagation assuming that a hundred years of constant slip deficit accumulation is released instantaneously. We used the open source software GeoClaw v5.3.1, which solves the two-dimensional shallow water equations with the finite volume technique [LeVeque, 2002 Cambridge University Press], for the local tsunami scenarios. We present the expected tsunami propagation models and wave profiles based on the geodetically-derived distribution of slip, stressing the importance of identifying fault locations and geometries. The location of the downdip edge of the coseismic rupture is essential to assess whether the coastal area would subside or not. The sensitivity to the plate interface geometries is increased in the near-trough region. From the point of view of disaster prevention, subsidence at the southern coast would heighten the tsunami runup distance (e.g., at gauges in Shimotsu and Irago). Further

  9. A Cultural Psychological Approach to Analyze Intercultural Learning: Potential and Limits of the Structure Formation Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Doris Weidemann

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Despite the huge interest in sojourner adjustment, there is still a lack of qualitative as well as of longitudinal research that would offer more detailed insights into intercultural learning processes during overseas stays. The present study aims to partly fill that gap by documenting changes in knowledge structures and general living experiences of fifteen German sojourners in Taiwan in a longitudinal, cultural-psychological study. As part of a multimethod design a structure formation technique was used to document subjective theories on giving/losing face and their changes over time. In a second step results from this study are compared to knowledge-structures of seven long-term German residents in Taiwan, and implications for the conceptualization of intercultural learning will be proposed. Finally, results from both studies serve to discuss the potential and limits of structure formation techniques in the field of intercultural communication research. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0901435

  10. Structure, Content, Delivery, Service, and Outcomes: Quality e-Learning in higher education

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colla J. MacDonald

    2005-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper addresses the need for quality e-Learning experiences. We used the Demand-Driven Learning Model (MacDonald, Stodel, Farres, Breithaupt, and Gabriel, 2001 to evaluate an online Masters in Education course. Multiple data collection methods were used to understand the experiences of stakeholders in this case study: the learners, design team, and facilitators. We found that all five dimensions of the model (structure, content, delivery, service, and outcomes must work in concert to implement a quality e-Learning course. Key themes include evolving learner needs, the search for connection, becoming an able e-participant, valued interactions, social construction of content, integration of delivery partners, and mindful weighing of benefits and trade-offs. By sharing insights into what is needed to design and deliver an e-Learning experience, our findings add to the growing knowledge of online learning. Using this model to evaluate perceptions of quality by key stakeholders has led to insights and recommendations on the Demand Driven Learning Model itself which may be useful for researchers in this area and strengthen the model. Quality has been defined in terms of the design of the e-Learning experience, the contextualized experience of learners, and evidence of learning outcomes (Carr and Carr, 2000; Jung 2000; Salmon, 2000. Quality and design of e-Learning courses, however, are sometimes compromised in an “ . . . effort to simply get something up and running��� in response to pressing consumer demands (Dick, 1996, p. 59. Educators and researchers have voiced concern over the lack of rigorous evaluation studies of e-Learning programs (e.g., Arbaugh, 2000; Howell, Saba, Lindsay, and Williams, 2004; Lockyer, Patterson, and Harper, 1999; Robinson, 2001. McGorry (2003 adds, “although the number of courses being delivered via the Internet is increasing rapidly, our knowledge of what makes these courses effective learning experiences

  11. Elusive Learning—Using Learning Analytics to Support Reflective Sensemaking of Ill-Structured Ethical Problems: A Learner-Managed Dashboard Solution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yianna Vovides

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Since the turn of the 21st century, we have seen a surge of studies on the state of U.S. education addressing issues such as cost, graduation rates, retention, achievement, engagement, and curricular outcomes. There is an expectation that graduates should be able to enter the workplace equipped to take on complex and “messy” or ill-structured problems as part of their professional and everyday life. In the context of online learning, we have identified two key issues that are elusive (hard to capture and make visible: learning with ill-structured problems and the interaction of social and individual learning. We believe that the intersection between learning and analytics has the potential, in the long-term, to minimize the elusiveness of deep learning. A proposed analytics model is described in this article that is meant to capture and also support further development of a learner’s reflective sensemaking.

  12. Synthetic seismograms in laterrally heterogeneous anelastic media: Modal summation for the case of offshore seismic sources (deep-sea trough)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez, Leonardo; Romanelli, Fabio; Panza, Giuliano F.

    2001-12-01

    While waiting for the increment of strong motion data, especially for earthquake prone areas outside the United States and Japan, a very useful approach to perform immediate site specific seismic hazard assessment is the development and use of modelling tools. They are based, on one hand, on the theoretical knowledge of the physics of the seismic source and of wave propagation and, on the other hand, on the exploitation of the relatively rich database, already available, that can be used for the definition of the source and structural models. With these input data we model the ground motion using the mode-coupling approach for sharply varying laterally heterogeneous anelastic media, i.e. computing the coupling coefficients for the modes transmitted and reflected at the vertical interface, between two quarter spaces in welded contact. The formalism can be readily applied to any laterally heterogeneous structure by using a custom series of layered anelastic structures in welded contact at vertical interfaces. The case of seismic wave propagation in smooth varying laterally heterogeneous layered media, is solved with an approximation, equivalent to WKBJ method. The theoretical formulation that combines both WKBJ and the coupling coefficients approaches, is implemented in a computer program package. The computer code we have developed allows us to calculate synthetic seismograms for a wide range of laterally inhomogeneous layered anelastic media. As a case study we use an earthquake which occurred on December 16, 1999 (m b =4.8) beneath the Bartlett sea trough, south of Santiago de Cuba city, that was recorded by an accelerometer (SMA-100) placed in Rio Carpintero (RCC) station, at an epicentral distance of about 30 Km. The path travelled by the waves corresponds to a complex structure from undersea source to inland seismic station. A good fit between the observed transverse component (SH-waves) of acceleration and the corresponding synthetic signal is obtained for a

  13. First results from the in-situ temperature measurements by the newly developed downhole tool during the drilling cruise in the hydrothermal fields of the mid-Okinawa Trough

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitada, K.; Wu, H. Y.; Miyazaki, J.; Akiyama, K.; Nozaki, T.; Ishibashi, J. I.; Kumagai, H.; Maeda, L.

    2016-12-01

    The Okinawa trough is an active backarc basin behind the Ryukyu subduction zone and exhibits active rifting associated with extension of the continental margin. The temperature measurement in this area is essential for understanding hydrothermal system and hydraulic structure. During the CK16-01 cruise this March, we have conducted the in-situ temperature measurements by the newly developed downhole tool, TRDT (Thermo-Resistant Downhole Thermometer) in hydrothermal fields of the mid-Okinawa Trough. The purpose of this measurement is to investigate the in-situ temperature structure in deep-hot zones and its variation after coring and/or drilling. TRDT was designed by JAMSTEC as a memory downhole tool to measure in-situ borehole temperature under the extreme high temperature environment. First trial was conducted in the CK14-04 cruise by the free fall deployment to reduce the operation time. However, there was no temperature data recorded due to the strong vibration during the operation. After CK14-04 cruise, TRDT was modified to improve the function against vibration and shock. The improved TRDT passed the high temperature, vibration and shock tests to ensure the data acquisition of borehole logging. During the CK16-01 cruise, we have first successfully collected the in-situ temperature data from hydrothermal borehole in the Iheya North Knoll with wireline system. The temperature at depth of 187mbsf continued to increase almost linearly from 220 to 245°C during the 20 minute measurements time. This suggests that the inside borehole was cooled down by pumping seawater through drill pipes during the coring and lowering down the TRDT tool to the bottom hole. The in-situ temperature were extrapolated with exponential curve using nonlinear least squares fitting and the estimated equilibrium temperature was 278°C. To recover the in-situ temperature more precisely, the measurement time should kept as long as possible by considering the temperature rating. The operational

  14. Learning and structure of neuronal networks

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We study the effect of learning dynamics on network topology. Firstly, a network of discrete dynamical systems is considered for this purpose and the coupling strengths are made to evolve according to a temporal learning rule that is based on the paradigm of spike-time-dependent plasticity (STDP). This incorporates ...

  15. Morphing Wing Structural Optimization Using Opposite-Based Population-Based Incremental Learning and Multigrid Ground Elements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Sleesongsom

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper has twin aims. Firstly, a multigrid design approach for optimization of an unconventional morphing wing is proposed. The structural design problem is assigned to optimize wing mass, lift effectiveness, and buckling factor subject to structural safety requirements. Design variables consist of partial topology, nodal positions, and component sizes of a wing internal structure. Such a design process can be accomplished by using multiple resolutions of ground elements, which is called a multigrid approach. Secondly, an opposite-based multiobjective population-based incremental learning (OMPBIL is proposed for comparison with the original multiobjective population-based incremental learning (MPBIL. Multiobjective design problems with single-grid and multigrid design variables are then posed and tackled by OMPBIL and MPBIL. The results show that using OMPBIL in combination with a multigrid design approach is the best design strategy. OMPBIL is superior to MPBIL since the former provides better population diversity. Aeroelastic trim for an elastic morphing wing is also presented.

  16. Designing learning apparatus to promote twelfth grade students’ understanding of digital technology concept: A preliminary studies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marlius; Kaniawati, I.; Feranie, S.

    2018-05-01

    A preliminary learning design using relay to promote twelfth grade student’s understanding of logic gates concept is implemented to see how well it’s to adopted by six high school students, three male students and three female students of twelfth grade. This learning design is considered for next learning of digital technology concept i.e. data digital transmition and analog. This work is a preliminary study to design the learning for large class. So far just a few researches designing learning design related to digital technology with relay. It may due to this concept inserted in Indonesian twelfth grade curriculum recently. This analysis is focus on student difficulties trough video analysis to learn the concept. Based on our analysis, the recommended thing for redesigning learning is: students understand first about symbols and electrical circuits; the Student Worksheet is made in more detail on the assembly steps to the project board; mark with symbols at points in certain places in the circuit for easy assembly; assembly using relays by students is enough until is the NOT’s logic gates and the others that have been assembled so that effective time. The design of learning using relays can make the relay a liaison between the abstract on the digital with the real thing of it, especially in the circuit of symbols and real circuits. Besides it is expected to also enrich the ability of teachers in classroom learning about digital technology.

  17. Fine structure of the mineralized teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wealthall, Rosamund J; Brooker, Lesley R; Macey, David J; Griffin, Brendan J

    2005-08-01

    The major lateral teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata are composite structures composed of three distinct mineral zones: a posterior layer of magnetite; a thin band of lepidocrocite just anterior to this; and apatite throughout the core and anterior regions of the cusp. Biomineralization in these teeth is a matrix-mediated process, in which the minerals are deposited around fibers, with the different biominerals described as occupying architecturally discrete compartments. In this study, a range of scanning electron microscopes was utilized to undertake a detailed in situ investigation of the fine structure of the major lateral teeth. The arrangement of the organic and biomineral components of the tooth is similar throughout the three zones, having no discrete borders between them, and with crystallites of each mineral phase extending into the adjacent mineral zone. Along the posterior surface of the tooth, the organic fibers are arranged in a series of fine parallel lines, but just within the periphery their appearance takes on a "fish scale"-like pattern, reflective of the cross section of a series of units that are overlaid, and offset from each other, in adjacent rows. The units are approximately 2 microm wide and 0.6 microm thick and comprise biomineral plates separated by organic fibers. Two types of subunits make up each "fish scale": one is elongate and curved and forms a trough, in which the other, rod-like unit, is nestled. Adjacent rod and trough units are aligned into large sheets that define the fracture plane of the tooth. The alignment of the plates of rod-trough units is complex and exhibits extreme spatial variation within the tooth cusp. Close to the posterior surface the plates are essentially horizontal and lie in a lateromedial plane, while anteriorly they are almost vertical and lie in the posteroanterior plane. An understanding of the fine structure of the mineralized teeth of chitons, and of the relationship between the organic and

  18. Biomarker and 16S rDNA evidence for anaerobic oxidation of methane and related carbonate precipitation in deep-sea mud volcanoes of the Sorokin Trough, Black Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stadnitskaia, A.; Muyzer, G.; Abbas, B.; Coolen, M.J.L.; Hopmans, E.C.; Baas, M.; Weering, T.C.E. van; Ivanov, M.K.; Poludetkina, E.; Sinninghe Damsté, J.S.

    2005-01-01

    Many mud volcanoes were recently discovered in the euxinic bottom waters of the Sorokin Trough (NE Black Sea). Three of them, i.e., NIOZ, Odessa, and Kazakov, were selected for a detailed biogeochemical investigation. Four methane-related carbonate crusts covered with microbial mats, and sediments

  19. A possible structural correlate of learning performance on a colour discrimination task in the brain of the bumblebee

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Li; MaBouDi, HaDi; Egertová, Michaela; Elphick, Maurice R.

    2017-01-01

    Synaptic plasticity is considered to be a basis for learning and memory. However, the relationship between synaptic arrangements and individual differences in learning and memory is poorly understood. Here, we explored how the density of microglomeruli (synaptic complexes) within specific regions of the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) brain relates to both visual learning and inter-individual differences in learning and memory performance on a visual discrimination task. Using whole-brain immunolabelling, we measured the density of microglomeruli in the collar region (visual association areas) of the mushroom bodies of the bumblebee brain. We found that bumblebees which made fewer errors during training in a visual discrimination task had higher microglomerular density. Similarly, bumblebees that had better retention of the learned colour-reward associations two days after training had higher microglomerular density. Further experiments indicated experience-dependent changes in neural circuitry: learning a colour-reward contingency with 10 colours (but not two colours) does result, and exposure to many different colours may result, in changes to microglomerular density in the collar region of the mushroom bodies. These results reveal the varying roles that visual experience, visual learning and foraging activity have on neural structure. Although our study does not provide a causal link between microglomerular density and performance, the observed positive correlations provide new insights for future studies into how neural structure may relate to inter-individual differences in learning and memory. PMID:28978727

  20. A possible structural correlate of learning performance on a colour discrimination task in the brain of the bumblebee.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Li; MaBouDi, HaDi; Egertová, Michaela; Elphick, Maurice R; Chittka, Lars; Perry, Clint J

    2017-10-11

    Synaptic plasticity is considered to be a basis for learning and memory. However, the relationship between synaptic arrangements and individual differences in learning and memory is poorly understood. Here, we explored how the density of microglomeruli (synaptic complexes) within specific regions of the bumblebee ( Bombus terrestris ) brain relates to both visual learning and inter-individual differences in learning and memory performance on a visual discrimination task. Using whole-brain immunolabelling, we measured the density of microglomeruli in the collar region (visual association areas) of the mushroom bodies of the bumblebee brain. We found that bumblebees which made fewer errors during training in a visual discrimination task had higher microglomerular density. Similarly, bumblebees that had better retention of the learned colour-reward associations two days after training had higher microglomerular density. Further experiments indicated experience-dependent changes in neural circuitry: learning a colour-reward contingency with 10 colours (but not two colours) does result, and exposure to many different colours may result, in changes to microglomerular density in the collar region of the mushroom bodies. These results reveal the varying roles that visual experience, visual learning and foraging activity have on neural structure. Although our study does not provide a causal link between microglomerular density and performance, the observed positive correlations provide new insights for future studies into how neural structure may relate to inter-individual differences in learning and memory. © 2017 The Authors.