Estimation of Leaf Area Index (LAI) Through the Acquisition of Ground Truth Data in Yosemite National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Basson, G.; Hawk, A.; Lue, E.; Ottman, D.; Schiffman, B.; Ghosh, M.; Melton, F.; Schmidt, C.; Skiles, J.

2007-12-01

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important indicator of ecosystem health. Remote sensing offers the only feasible method of estimating LAI at global and regional scales. Land managers can efficiently monitor changes in vegetation by using NASA data products such as the MODIS LAI 1km product. To increase confidence in use of the MODIS LAI product in Yosemite National Park, we investigated the accuracy of remotely sensed LAI data and created LAI maps using three optical in-situ instruments: the LAI-2000 instrument, digital hemispheric photography (DHP), and the Tracing Radiation and Architecture of Canopies (TRAC) instrument. We compared our in-situ data with three spectral vegetation indices derived from Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery: Reduced Simple Ratio (RSR), Simple Ratio (SR), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to produce models which created LAI maps at 30m and 1km resolution. The strongest correlations occurred between DHP LAI values and RSR. Pixel values from the 1km LAI map were then compared to pixel values from a MODIS LAI map. A strong correlation exists between our in-situ data and MODIS LAI values which confirms its accuracy for use by the National Park Service as a decision support tool in Yosemite. The MODIS LAI product is particularly useful because of its high temporal resolution of 1-2 days and can be used to monitor current and future vegetation changes. The model created using the in-situ data can also be applied to Landsat data to provide thirty years of historical LAI values.

Advanced loose parts detection system for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Por, G.; Szappanos, G.

2000-01-01

The importance of loose part detection is discussed. The consequences of a relatively big (7.7 kg) loose part found in a WWER-440 NPP are discussed. A portable loose part monitoring system is presented, which is based on sequential probability ratio test. (author)

Meniscal root entrapment of an osteochondritis dissecans loose body.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Christopher R; McMonagle, Joseph S; Garrett, William E

2014-09-01

Loose bodies are relatively common in the knee. On radiographs they can often be seen in the medial and lateral gutters, intercondylar notch, and the posterior compartment. At times an apparent loose body is not free to move in the knee because it has been covered by synovium and is no longer mobile. It is uncommon for an osteochondral loose body to become incorporated into meniscal tissue. We report a case of an apparent loose body becoming incorporated into the posterior horn and root of the medial meniscus. We are not aware that this condition has been previously reported. Because removing the entire loose body would have destabilized the posterior root of the medial meniscus, it is important to be aware of this potential occurrence.

77 FR 3123 - Special Regulations, Areas of the National Park System, Cape Hatteras National Seashore-Off-Road...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-23

..., Areas of the National Park System, Cape Hatteras National Seashore--Off-Road Vehicle Management AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This rule designates off-road vehicle (ORV... operation of motor vehicles off of roads within areas [[Page 3124

Estimating leaf functional traits by inversion of PROSPECT: Assessing leaf dry matter content and specific leaf area in mixed mountainous forest

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Abebe Mohammed; Darvishzadeh, Roshanak; Skidmore, Andrew K.; Duren, Iris van; Heiden, Uta; Heurich, Marco

2016-03-01

Assessments of ecosystem functioning rely heavily on quantification of vegetation properties. The search is on for methods that produce reliable and accurate baseline information on plant functional traits. In this study, the inversion of the PROSPECT radiative transfer model was used to estimate two functional leaf traits: leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and specific leaf area (SLA). Inversion of PROSPECT usually aims at quantifying its direct input parameters. This is the first time the technique has been used to indirectly model LDMC and SLA. Biophysical parameters of 137 leaf samples were measured in July 2013 in the Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany. Spectra of the leaf samples were measured using an ASD FieldSpec3 equipped with an integrating sphere. PROSPECT was inverted using a look-up table (LUT) approach. The LUTs were generated with and without using prior information. The effect of incorporating prior information on the retrieval accuracy was studied before and after stratifying the samples into broadleaf and conifer categories. The estimated values were evaluated using R2 and normalized root mean square error (nRMSE). Among the retrieved variables the lowest nRMSE (0.0899) was observed for LDMC. For both traits higher R2 values (0.83 for LDMC and 0.89 for SLA) were discovered in the pooled samples. The use of prior information improved accuracy of the retrieved traits. The strong correlation between the estimated traits and the NIR/SWIR region of the electromagnetic spectrum suggests that these leaf traits could be assessed at canopy level by using remotely sensed data.

Separation and identification of Musa acuminate Colla (banana) leaf proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Y; Qi, Y X; Zhang, H; Zhang, H Q; Pu, J J; Xie, Y X

2013-12-19

To establish a proteomic reference map of Musa acuminate Colla (banana) leaf, we separated and identified leaf proteins using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) and mass spectrometry (MS). Tryptic digests of 44 spots were subjected to peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) MS. Three spots that were not identified by MALDI-TOF MS analysis were identified by searching against the NCBInr, SwissProt, and expressed sequence tag (EST) databases. We identified 41 unique proteins. The majority of the identified leaf proteins were found to be involved in energy metabolism. The results indicate that 2D-PAGE is a sensitive and powerful technique for the separation and identification of Musa leaf proteins. A summary of the identified proteins and their putative functions is discussed.

Loose parts monitoring system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakasa, Kohji; Nishida, Eiichi; Ishii, Kazuo; Yamanaka, Hiroto.

1987-01-01

In the loose parts monitoring system (LPMS), installed for integrity monitoring of the nuclear power plants; when there occur foreign metallic objects in the reactor primary system, including a steam generator and the piping, the sounds caused by them moving with the cooling water and thereby getting in contact with various structures are detected. Its purpose is, therefore, to detect any abnormality in the reactor plant system through such abnormal sounds due to loose or fallen supports etc., and so provide this information to the reactor operators. In principle, accelerometers are distributed in such as reactor vessel, steam generator, coolant pumps, etc., so that various sounds are collected and converted into electrical signals, followed by analysis of the data. Described are the LPMS configuration/functions, the course taken in LPMS development, future problems, etc. (Mori, K.)

Arthroscopic treatment of bony loose bodies in the subacromial space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Li

2015-01-01

Conclusion: The mechanism of formation of bony loose bodies is not clear, may be associated with synovial cartilage metaplasia. Arthroscopic removal of loose bodies and bursa debridement is a good option for treatment of the loose body in the subacromial space, which can receive good function.

Differences between tight and loose cultures : A 33-nation study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gelfand, M.J.; Raver, R.L.; Nishii, L.; Leslie, L.M.; Lun, J.; Lim, B.C.; Van de Vliert, E.

2011-01-01

With data from 33 nations, we illustrate the differences between cultures that are tight (have many strong norms and a low tolerance of deviant behavior) versus loose (have weak social norms and a high tolerance of deviant behavior). Tightness-looseness is part of a complex, loosely integrated

The Story of Closely and Loosely Coupled Organisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Plowman, Travis S.

1998-01-01

Examines five types of collegiate organizations (collegial, bureaucratic, political, anarchical, cybernetic) in terms of their interactiveness within closely and loosely coupled organizations. The terminology of closely and loosely coupled organizations is examined and existing definitions are refined. Examples are drawn from contemporary…

Factors Associated with Prosthetic Looseness in Lower Limb Amputees.

Science.gov (United States)

Phonghanyudh, Thong; Sutpasanon, Taweesak; Hathaiareerug, Chanasak; Devakula, M L Buddhibongsa; Kumnerddee, Wipoo

2015-12-01

To determine the factors associated with prosthetic looseness in lower limb amputees in Sisaket province. The present was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Subjects were lower limb amputees who previously obtained prostheses and required prosthetic replacements at the mobile prosthetic laboratory unit under the Prostheses Foundation of H.R.H. the Princess Mother at Khun Han Hospital, Sisaket province, in February 2013. Data including participant characteristics, prosthetic looseness data, and various variables were collected by direct semi-structured interview. Energy expenditures in physical activities were measured using the Thai version of the short format international physical activity questionnaire. Data between participants with and without prosthetic looseness were compared to determine prosthetic loosening associated factors. Among 101 participants enrolled, 33 (32.7%) had prosthetic looseness with average onset of 1.76 ± 1.67 years. Diabetes mellitus was the only significant factor associated with prosthetic looseness from both univariate and multivariate analyses (HR = 7.05, p = 0.002 and HR = 5.93, p = 0.007 respectively). Among the lower limb amputees in Sisaket province, diabetes mellitus was the only factor associated with prosthetic looseness. Therefore, diabetic screening should be supplemented in lower limb amputee assessment protocol. In addition, we recommend that amputees with diabetes mellitus should receive prosthesis check out at approximately

Giant peritoneal loose bodies

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2015-03-27

Mar 27, 2015 ... not be familiar with the entity, can potentially be confused with malignant or parasitic lesions. Familiarity with their characteristic computed tomographic ... preventing unnecessary surgical intervention in an asymptomatic patient.3,4 It is important to differentiate giant peritoneal loose bodies from lesions such ...

Creep of granulated loose-fill insulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn

This report presents a proposal for a standardised method for creep tests and the necessary theoretical framework that can be used to describe creep of a granulated loose-fill material. Furthermore results from a round robin test are shown. The round robin test was carried out in collaboration...... with SP-Building Physics in Sweden and VTT Building Technology in Finland. For the round robin test a cellulosic fibre insulation material was used. The proposed standardised method for creep tests and theories are limited to cases when the granulated loose-fill material is exposed to a constant...

Trade partners UK in Europe Leaf lands 2.5 million pound CERN deal

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

"Leaf Technologies of Newtownabbey, County Antrim, has won a 2.5 million pound contract to supply electronic modules to CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) in Geneva, one of the world's most advanced scientific research projects, which is funded by the UK and 19 other European governments. Leaf will develop sophisticated circuit boards for the high precision controls of the Large Hadron Collider" (1 page)

Structure of a forested urban park: implications for strategic management.

Science.gov (United States)

Millward, Andrew A; Sabir, Senna

2010-11-01

Informed management of urban parks can provide optimal conditions for tree establishment and growth and thus maximize the ecological and aesthetic benefits that trees provide. This study assesses the structure, and its implications for function, of the urban forest in Allan Gardens, a 6.1 ha downtown park in the City of Toronto, Canada, using the Street Tree Resource Analysis Tool for Urban Forest Managers (STRATUM). Our goal is to present a framework for collection and analysis of baseline data that can inform a management strategy that would serve to protect and enhance this significant natural asset. We found that Allan Garden's tree population, while species rich (43), is dominated by maple (Acer spp.) (48% of all park trees), making it reliant on very few species for the majority of its ecological and aesthetic benefits and raising disease and pest-related concerns. Age profiles (using size as a proxy) showed a dominance of older trees with an inadequate number of individuals in the young to early middle age cohort necessary for short- to medium-term replacement. Because leaf area represents the single-most important contributor to urban tree benefits modelling, we calculated it separately for every park tree, using hemispheric photography, to document current canopy condition. These empirical measurements were lower than estimates produced by STRATUM, especially when trees were in decline and lacked full canopies, highlighting the importance of individual tree condition in determining leaf area and hence overall forest benefits. Stewardship of natural spaces within cities demands access to accurate and timely resource-specific data. Our work provides an uncomplicated approach to the acquisition and interpretation of these data in the context of a forested urban park. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Forest insects and diseases in Fundy National Park in 1992. Technical note No. 276. Annual publication

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cormier, J.R.; McPhee, D.A.

1993-01-01

Personnel of the Forest Insect and Disease Survey regularly survey national parks for forest insect and disease conditions. This document discusses briefly some of the conditions encountered in Fundy National Park in 1992, including insects and diseases found throughout the Park that are likely to recur: Balsam gall midge, balsam twig aphid, birch casebearer, gypsy moth, porcupines, sirococcus shoot blight, white pine weevil, whitespotted sawyer beetle, yellowheaded spruce sawfly, leaf blister of yellow birch, snow damage, yellow witches' broom of balsam fir, and fall webworm.

Software support for irregular and loosely synchronous problems

Science.gov (United States)

Choudhary, A.; Fox, G.; Hiranandani, S.; Kennedy, K.; Koelbel, C.; Ranka, S.; Saltz, J.

1992-01-01

A large class of scientific and engineering applications may be classified as irregular and loosely synchronous from the perspective of parallel processing. We present a partial classification of such problems. This classification has motivated us to enhance FORTRAN D to provide language support for irregular, loosely synchronous problems. We present techniques for parallelization of such problems in the context of FORTRAN D.

Infrared thermography of loose hangingwalls

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kononov, VA

2002-09-01

Full Text Available This project is the continuation of GAP706 “Pre-feasibility investigation of infrared thermography for the identification of loose hangingwall and impending falls of ground”. The main concept behind the infrared thermography method...

Loose parts monitoring in light water reactor cooling systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santos, A.; Alma, B.J.

1982-01-01

The work related to loose monitoring system for light water reactor, developed at GRS - Munique, are described. The basic problems due to the exact localization and detection of the loose part as well the research activities and development necessary aiming to obtain the best techniques in this field. (E.G.) [pt

76 FR 22444 - Privacy Act; System of Records: State-52, Parking Permit and Car Pool Records

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-21

...; bureau; office telephone number and e-mail address; and type of parking permit and desired [[Page 22445... authentication and time out function. All Department of State employees and contractors with authorized access...

Leaf Litterfall and Decomposition of Polylepis reticulata in the Treeline of the Ecuadorian Andes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Pinos

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Leaf litterfall contributes significantly to carbon fluxes in forests. A crucial open question for the sustainability of mountain forests is how climate change will affect this and other carbon fluxes (eg photosynthesis and respiration. Leaf litterfall and decomposition of Polylepis reticulata, an endemic species of the Andes, were analyzed during a period of 1 year at 6 experimental plots located in the Andean páramo between 3700 and 3900 m above sea level in Cajas National Park, Ecuador. Litterfall was collected in each plot using 5 randomly distributed traps. Every trap had a 40-cm diameter (0.125 m2 and was suspended 0.8 to 1.0 m above the ground. The decomposition rate of the leaf litter was analyzed using litter bags. Eighteen bags with approximately 20 g of dry litter were placed in the litter layer in each experimental plot and collected 30, 60, 90, 150, 210, 300, and 365 days after they were installed. The mean annual litterfall recorded was 3.77 Mg ha−1, representing 51% of the leaf biomass present in the canopy, so the leaf life span of P. reticulata in Cajas National Park is 1.98 years. Litterfall occurred all year, with no significant seasonal pattern. The mean decomposition rate (k obtained for this study period was 0.38 year−1. This study contributes to the information gap on litterfall and decomposition in natural forests located at the highest elevations in the world.

Young Nearby Loose Associations

Science.gov (United States)

Torres, C. A. O.; Quast, G. R.; Melo, C. H. F.; Sterzik, M. F.

2008-12-01

A significant population of stars with ages younger than the Pleiades exists in the solar neighborhood. They are grouped in loose young associations, sharing similar kinematical and physical properties, but, due to their vicinity to the Sun, they are dispersed in the sky, and hard to identify. Their strong stellar coronal activity, causing enhanced X-ray emission, allows them to be identified as counterparts of X-ray sources. The analysis presented here is based mainly on the SACY project, aimed to survey in a systematic way counterparts of ROSAT all-sky X-ray sources in the Southern Hemisphere for which proper motions are known. We give the definition, main properties, and lists of high-probability members of nine confirmed loose young associations that do not belong directly to the well-known Oph-Sco-Cen complex. The youth and vicinity of many members of these new associations make them ideal targets for follow-up studies, specifically geared towards the understanding of planetary system formation. Searches for very low-mass and brown dwarf companions are ongoing, and it will be promising to search for planetary companions with next generation instruments.

Development of an enhanced loose parts monitoring system (LPMS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Y. C.; Park, J. H.; Yoon, D. B.; Choi, K. S.; Sohn, C. H.

2006-01-01

LPMS (loose parts monitoring system) is one of the most important structural integrity monitoring systems. It is operated for a early detection of the impacts by loosened or detached metallic, objects on the primary pressure boundary in a nuclear power plant. The impacted parts might cause flow blockage in the fuel channel, prevent the control rod from moving properly, damage the pump impeller, and give rise to cracks on the steam generator tube sheet, etc. In Korea, The LPMS is currently operating in all of the nuclear power plants as a subsystem in the NIMS (NSSS Integrity Monitoring System), However the performances are being deteriorated in both the hardware and software since it was designed in 1980's. In particular the system is not capable of promptly responding to the continuously triggered impacts in a short period failing to monitor the real loose parts. Also the diagnostic tools to estimate the location and the mass or energy of the impact source have not been reflected. Therefore, a new loose parts monitoring system has been developed to improve the capabilities of the current one and ultimately to replace it. An enhanced Loose Parts Monitoring System(LPMS) has been developed by KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst.), not only to improve the performance of an on-line signal processing for a monitoring system but also to enhance the evaluation technique of the true impact signals by loose parts. This new system has taken into account the state-of-the-art technology to cover the problems with the conventional system. (authors)

Effects of groundwater abstraction on two keystone tree species in an arid savanna national park.

Science.gov (United States)

Shadwell, Eleanor; February, Edmund

2017-01-01

In arid systems with no surface water, deep boreholes in ephemeral river beds provide for humans and animals. With continually increasing infrastructure development for tourism in arid wildlife parks such as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in southern Africa, we ask what effects increased abstraction may have on large trees. Large trees in arid savannas perform essential ecosystem services by providing food, shade, nesting sites and increased nutrients for many other plant and animal species and for this are regarded as keystone species. We determine seasonal fluctuations in the water table while also determining the water source for the dominant large tree species in the Auob and Nossob rivers in the Park. We also determine the extent to which these trees are physiologically stressed using leaf δ 13 C, xylem pressure potentials, specific leaf area and an estimate of canopy death. We do this both upstream and downstream of a low water use borehole in the Auob River and a high water use borehole in the Nossob River. Our results show that the trees are indeed using deep groundwater in the wet season and that this is the same water used by people. In the dry season, trees in the Auob downstream of the active borehole become detached from the aquifer and use more isotopically enriched soil water. In the Nossob in the dry season, all trees use isotopically enriched soil water, and downstream of the active borehole use stomatal regulation to maintain leaf water potentials. These results suggest that trees in the more heavily utilised Nossob are under more water stress than those trees in the Auob but that trees in both rivers demonstrate physiological adaptation to the changes in available water with smaller heavier leaves, no significant canopy dieback and in the dry season in the Nossob stomatal regulation of leaf water potentials. An increase in abstraction of groundwater particularly at the Nossob borehole may cause an additional draw down of the water table adding

Geologic Map of the Shenandoah National Park Region, Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

Southworth, Scott; Aleinikoff, John N.; Bailey, Christopher M.; Burton, William C.; Crider, E.A.; Hackley, Paul C.; Smoot, Joseph P.; Tollo, Richard P.

2009-01-01

The geology of the Shenandoah National Park region of Virginia was studied from 1995 to 2008. The focus of the study was the park and surrounding areas to provide the National Park Service with modern geologic data for resource management. Additional geologic data of the adjacent areas are included to provide regional context. The geologic map can be used to support activities such as ecosystem delineation, land-use planning, soil mapping, groundwater availability and quality studies, aggregate resources assessment, and engineering and environmental studies. The study area is centered on the Shenandoah National Park, which is mostly situated in the western part of the Blue Ridge province. The map covers the central section and western limb of the Blue Ridge-South Mountain anticlinorium. The Skyline Drive and Appalachian National Scenic Trail straddle the drainage divide of the Blue Ridge highlands. Water drains northwestward to the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and southeastward to the James and Rappahannock Rivers. East of the park, the Blue Ridge is an area of low relief similar to the physiography of the Piedmont province. The Great Valley section of the Valley and Ridge province is west of Blue Ridge and consists of Page Valley and Massanutten Mountain. The distribution and types of surficial deposits and landforms closely correspond to the different physiographic provinces and their respective bedrock. The Shenandoah National Park is underlain by three general groups of rock units: (1) Mesoproterozoic granitic gneisses and granitoids, (2) Neoproterozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Swift Run Formation and metabasalt of the Catoctin Formation, and (3) siliciclastic rocks of the Lower Cambrian Chilhowee Group. The gneisses and granitoids mostly underlie the lowlands east of Blue Ridge but also rugged peaks like Old Rag Mountain (996 meter). Metabasalt underlies much of the highlands, like Stony Man (1,200 meters). The siliciclastic rocks underlie linear

Investigation of CT picture in so-called loose shoulder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuroda, Shigehito; Sakamaki, Hiroshi; Matsuoka, Akira; Moriishi, Takeji; Takada, Keiichi.

1985-01-01

CT picture of the shoulder joint was analyzed in 124 shoulders (114 patients). A line perpendicular to a given line between the precornu of acetabular tegmen (A) and the postcornu of acetabular tegmen (B) was drawn and the intersection where the line and the caput humeri meet (C) was obtained. The angle of CAB was defined as the backward angular aperture of the acetabular tegmen. The angular aperture was 26.2 0 +-1.9 in 16 so-called loose shoulders, 17.3 0 +-1.0 in 28 loose shoulders restricted to the inward rotation, and 12.2 0 +-0.4 in 80 normal shoulders, showing a distinct correlation between the angular aperture and the degree of loose shoulder. An increased backward angular aperture of the acetabular tegmen was considered greatly attributable to the forward glenohumeral movement resulting from malformation of the acetabular tegmen and flaccidity of the joint. Glenoid osteotomy was thus performed in 9 patients, 6 of whom underwent CT scanning before and after osteotomy. Coronal and transverse CT images of the shoulder joint disclosed a noticeable improvement of the glenohumeral alignment. The angular aperture shown on CT seems to be of major importance not only in the diagnosis of so-called loose shoulder but also in surgical choice. (Namekawa, K.)

The Influence on Modal Parameters of Thin Cylindrical Shell under Bolt Looseness Boundary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hui Li

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The influence on modal parameters of thin cylindrical shell (TCS under bolt looseness boundary is investigated. Firstly, bolt looseness boundary of the shell is divided into two types, that is, different bolt looseness numbers and different bolt looseness levels, and natural frequencies and mode shapes are calculated by finite element method to roughly master vibration characteristics of TCS under these conditions. Then, the following measurements and identification techniques are used to get precise frequency, damping, and shape results; for example, noncontact laser Doppler vibrometer and vibration shaker with excitation level being precisely controlled are used in the test system; “preexperiment” is adopted to determine the required tightening torque and verify fixed constraint boundary; the small-segment FFT processing technique is employed to accurately measure nature frequency and laser rotating scanning technique is used to get shape results with high efficiency. Finally, based on the measured results obtained by the above techniques, the influence on modal parameters of TCS under two types of bolt looseness boundaries is analyzed and discussed. It can be found that bolt looseness boundary can significantly affect frequency and damping results which might be caused by changes of nonlinear stiffness and damping and in bolt looseness positions.

Heterogeneous Parking Market Subject to Parking Rationing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Asadi Bagloee

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Different types of drivers and parking spaces delineate a heterogeneous parking market for which the literature has yet to provide a model applicable to the real world. The main obstacle is computational complexities of considering various parking restrictions along with traffic congestion on the road network. In this study, the heterogeneity aspects are considered within a Logit parking choice model. A mathematical programming problem was introduced to explicitly consider parking capacities and parking rationing constraints. The parking rationing is defined as any arrangement to reserve parking space for some specific demand such as parking permit, private parking, VIP parking, and different parking durations. Introduction of parking rationing in the presence of other constraints is a unique factor in this study which makes the model more realistic. The algorithm was tested on a central business district case study. The results prove that the algorithm is able to converge rapidly. Among the algorithm’s output are shadow prices of the parking capacity and parking rationing constraints. The shadow prices contain important information which is key to addressing a variety of parking issues, such as the location of parking shortages, identification of fair parking charges, viability of parking permits, and the size of reserved parking.

Density of loose-fill insulation material exposed to cyclic humidity conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Torben Valdbjørn

the granulated loose-fill material is exposed to a climate that is characterised as cyclic humidity conditions (a constant temperature and a relative humidity alternating between two predetermined constant relative humidity levels). A better understanding of the behaviour of granulated loose-fill material...

Assessment of risks of loose landslide deposits formed by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, S.; Zhang, L. M.; Peng, M.; Zhang, L. L.; Zhao, H. F.; Chen, H. X.

2012-05-01

A Geographic Information System (GIS)-based quantitative risk assessment methodology was adopted to evaluate the risks of loose deposits formed by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake along a highway near the epicenter. A total of 305 loose deposits with a total volume of 4.0 × 107 m3 has been identified. A physical model was used to determine the failure probability of these loose deposits under six rainfall scenarios, assuming the loose deposits as infinite slopes. The calculated probability of rain-induced slope failures is verified by the recorded landslides at the same site during a storm in 2010. Seventy-nine out of the 112 rain-induced loose deposit failures are predicted by the reliability analysis, with an accuracy of 71%. The results of reliability analysis and information on the consequence of these rain-induced landslides enable the estimation of the annual societal and individual risks of the loose deposits. Under the rainfall scenarios of 30 mm/12 h and 70 mm/12 h, the estimated annual societal risks reach 8.8 and 7.5, respectively, and the individual risks reach 0.05 and 0.04, respectively, which are very high compared with present risk acceptance criteria. The preliminary assessment provides a benchmark for studying the long-term risks of these loose deposits and engineering decision.

Seasonal development of ozone-induced foliar injury on tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, Lara; Neufeld, Howard S.; Chappelka, Arthur H.; Burkey, Kent O.; Davison, Alan W.

2006-01-01

The goals of this study were to document the development of ozone-induced foliar injury, on a leaf-by-leaf basis, and to develop ozone exposure relationships for leaf cohorts and individual tall milkweeds (Asclepias exaltata L.) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plants were classified as either ozone-sensitive or insensitive based on the amount of foliar injury. Sensitive plants developed injury earlier in the season and to a greater extent than insensitive plants. Older leaf cohorts were more likely to belong to high injury classes by the end of each of the two growing seasons. In addition, leaf loss was more likely for older cohorts (2000) and lower leaf positions (2001) than younger cohorts and upper leaves, respectively. Most leaves abscised without prior ozone-like stippling or chlorosis. Failure to take this into account can result in underestimation of the effects of ozone on these plants. - Leaf loss was not necessarily accompanied by symptoms of foliar ozone injury

Seasonal development of ozone-induced foliar injury on tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Souza, Lara [Department of Biology, 572 Rivers Street, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 (United States)]. E-mail: lsouza@utk.edu; Neufeld, Howard S. [Department of Biology, 572 Rivers Street, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608 (United States); Chappelka, Arthur H. [School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, 108 M White-Smith Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 (United States); Burkey, Kent O. [US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Plant Science Research Unit and Department of Crop Science, North Carolina State University, 3908 Inwood Road, Raleigh, NC 26703 (United States); Davison, Alan W. [School of Biology, Ridley Building, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU (United Kingdom)

2006-05-15

The goals of this study were to document the development of ozone-induced foliar injury, on a leaf-by-leaf basis, and to develop ozone exposure relationships for leaf cohorts and individual tall milkweeds (Asclepias exaltata L.) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plants were classified as either ozone-sensitive or insensitive based on the amount of foliar injury. Sensitive plants developed injury earlier in the season and to a greater extent than insensitive plants. Older leaf cohorts were more likely to belong to high injury classes by the end of each of the two growing seasons. In addition, leaf loss was more likely for older cohorts (2000) and lower leaf positions (2001) than younger cohorts and upper leaves, respectively. Most leaves abscised without prior ozone-like stippling or chlorosis. Failure to take this into account can result in underestimation of the effects of ozone on these plants. - Leaf loss was not necessarily accompanied by symptoms of foliar ozone injury.

Seasonal development of ozone-induced foliar injury on tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

Souza, Lara; Neufeld, Howard S; Chappelka, Arthur H; Burkey, Kent O; Davison, Alan W

2006-05-01

The goals of this study were to document the development of ozone-induced foliar injury, on a leaf-by-leaf basis, and to develop ozone exposure relationships for leaf cohorts and individual tall milkweeds (Asclepias exaltata L.) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Plants were classified as either ozone-sensitive or insensitive based on the amount of foliar injury. Sensitive plants developed injury earlier in the season and to a greater extent than insensitive plants. Older leaf cohorts were more likely to belong to high injury classes by the end of each of the two growing seasons. In addition, leaf loss was more likely for older cohorts (2000) and lower leaf positions (2001) than younger cohorts and upper leaves, respectively. Most leaves abscised without prior ozone-like stippling or chlorosis. Failure to take this into account can result in underestimation of the effects of ozone on these plants.

Microseismic Event Relocation and Focal Mechanism Estimation Based on PageRank Linkage

Science.gov (United States)

Aguiar, A. C.; Myers, S. C.

2017-12-01

Microseismicity associated with enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) is key in understanding how subsurface stimulation can modify stress, fracture rock, and increase permeability. Large numbers of microseismic events are commonly associated with hydroshearing an EGS, making data mining methods useful in their analysis. We focus on PageRank, originally developed as Google's search engine, and subsequently adapted for use in seismology to detect low-frequency earthquakes by linking events directly and indirectly through cross-correlation (Aguiar and Beroza, 2014). We expand on this application by using PageRank to define signal-correlation topology for micro-earthquakes from the Newberry Volcano EGS in Central Oregon, which has been stimulated two times using high-pressure fluid injection. We create PageRank signal families from both data sets and compare these to the spatial and temporal proximity of associated earthquakes. PageRank families are relocated using differential travel times measured by waveform cross-correlation (CC) and the Bayesloc approach (Myers et al., 2007). Prior to relocation events are loosely clustered with events at a distance from the cluster. After relocation, event families are found to be tightly clustered. Indirect linkage of signals using PageRank is a reliable way to increase the number of events confidently determined to be similar, suggesting an efficient and effective grouping of earthquakes with similar physical characteristics (ie. location, focal mechanism, stress drop). We further explore the possibility of using PageRank families to identify events with similar relative phase polarities and estimate focal mechanisms following Shelly et al. (2016) method, where CC measurements are used to determine individual polarities within event clusters. Given a positive result, PageRank might be a useful tool in adaptive approaches to enhance production at well-instrumented geothermal sites. Prepared by LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344

Noise analysis and mimic experiments for loose part accident in the primary coolant loop of PWR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Xiuzhou; Cheng Tingxiang; Zhang Bin

1994-01-01

The basic principle of loose part monitoring is to detect and measure the structure transfer sound generated by impacting of metal loose part with accelerators and to identify and diagnose by the micro-processor. This paper introduces the theoretical base of loose part monitoring, the location and mass estimation of loose part, and three mimic experiment applying noise analysis techniques. It provides some useful preparations for the development of loose part monitoring system

Effects of groundwater abstraction on two keystone tree species in an arid savanna national park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleanor Shadwell

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background In arid systems with no surface water, deep boreholes in ephemeral river beds provide for humans and animals. With continually increasing infrastructure development for tourism in arid wildlife parks such as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in southern Africa, we ask what effects increased abstraction may have on large trees. Large trees in arid savannas perform essential ecosystem services by providing food, shade, nesting sites and increased nutrients for many other plant and animal species and for this are regarded as keystone species. Methods We determine seasonal fluctuations in the water table while also determining the water source for the dominant large tree species in the Auob and Nossob rivers in the Park. We also determine the extent to which these trees are physiologically stressed using leaf δ13C, xylem pressure potentials, specific leaf area and an estimate of canopy death. We do this both upstream and downstream of a low water use borehole in the Auob River and a high water use borehole in the Nossob River. Results Our results show that the trees are indeed using deep groundwater in the wet season and that this is the same water used by people. In the dry season, trees in the Auob downstream of the active borehole become detached from the aquifer and use more isotopically enriched soil water. In the Nossob in the dry season, all trees use isotopically enriched soil water, and downstream of the active borehole use stomatal regulation to maintain leaf water potentials. These results suggest that trees in the more heavily utilised Nossob are under more water stress than those trees in the Auob but that trees in both rivers demonstrate physiological adaptation to the changes in available water with smaller heavier leaves, no significant canopy dieback and in the dry season in the Nossob stomatal regulation of leaf water potentials. Discussion An increase in abstraction of groundwater particularly at the Nossob borehole may

Certain Type Turbofan Engine Whole Vibration Model with Support Looseness Fault and Casing Response Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. F. Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Support looseness fault is a type of common fault in aeroengine. Serious looseness fault would emerge under larger unbalanced force, which would cause excessive vibration and even lead to rubbing fault, so it is important to analyze and recognize looseness fault effectively. In this paper, based on certain type turbofan engine structural features, a rotor-support-casing whole model for certain type turbofan aeroengine is established. The rotor and casing systems are modeled by means of the finite element beam method; the support systems are modeled by lumped-mass model; the support looseness fault model is also introduced. The coupled system response is obtained by numerical integral method. In this paper, based on the casing acceleration signals, the impact characteristics of symmetrical stiffness and asymmetric stiffness models are analyzed, finding that the looseness fault would lead to the longitudinal asymmetrical characteristics of acceleration time domain wave and the multiple frequency characteristics, which is consistent with the real trial running vibration signals. Asymmetric stiffness looseness model is verified to be fit for aeroengine looseness fault model.

Evaluation of ozone injury on foliage of black cherry (Prunus serotina) and tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

Chappelka, A; Renfro, J; Somers, G; Nash, B

1997-01-01

The incidence and severity of visible foliar ozone injury on black cherry (Prunus serotina) seedlings and saplings and tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata) plants in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) were determined by surveys along selected trails conducted during late summer 1992. The incidence (% injured plants) of ozone injury on black cherry was 47% and the percent injured leaves/injured plant and average leaf area injured were 43 and 6%, respectively. Maximum severity (avg. leaf area of the most severely injured leaf) was 12%. Black cherry seedlings and saplings exhibiting ozone injury were taller than non-injured plants. When insect feeding was present, it occurred 96% of the time on plants with ozone injury. Significantly more injury (p=0.007) on black cherry (% injured leaves/injured black cherry) occurred in the NW section of GRSM compared with the other Park sections. Regression analyses showed no relationships in ozone injury with respect to aspect, slope or elevation. Tall milkweed was evaluated twice during August for ozone injury. The incidence (% injured plants) of ozone injury was 74 and 79% for the first and second survey, respectively. The percentage of injured leaves per plant from the first to second survey was 63 to 79%, respectively. Tall milkweeds showing ozone injury were taller than the non-injured plants. The percentage of insect-damaged plants was 50% among plants without ozone injury and 60% among ozone-injured plants. Non-injured tall milkweed had fewer flowers and/or pods than the injured plants. Mean leaf area injured increased over time, and mean maximum leaf area injured increased from 8 to 11% during the same period. Regression analyses showed no differences in ozone injury regarding aspect, slope or elevation. Our findings indicate that ozone injury is widespread throughout the Park on sensitive vegetation.

Mass estimation of loose parts in nuclear power plant based on multiple regression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Yuanfeng; Cao, Yanlong; Yang, Jiangxin; Gan, Chunbiao

2012-01-01

According to the application of the Hilbert–Huang transform to the non-stationary signal and the relation between the mass of loose parts in nuclear power plant and corresponding frequency content, a new method for loose part mass estimation based on the marginal Hilbert–Huang spectrum (MHS) and multiple regression is proposed in this paper. The frequency spectrum of a loose part in a nuclear power plant can be expressed by the MHS. The multiple regression model that is constructed by the MHS feature of the impact signals for mass estimation is used to predict the unknown masses of a loose part. A simulated experiment verified that the method is feasible and the errors of the results are acceptable. (paper)

ParkIndex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaczynski, Andrew T; Schipperijn, Jasper; Hipp, J Aaron

2016-01-01

using ArcGIS 9.3 and the Community Park Audit Tool. Four park summary variables - distance to nearest park, and the number of parks, amount of park space, and average park quality index within 1 mile were analyzed in relation to park use using logistic regression. Coefficients for significant park......, planners, and citizens to evaluate the potential for park use for a given area. Data used for developing ParkIndex were collected in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO). Adult study participants (n=891) reported whether they used a park within the past month, and all parks in KCMO were mapped and audited...

Pahoa geothermal industrial park. Engineering and economic analysis for direct applications of geothermal energy in an industrial park at Pahoa, Hawaii

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moreau, J.W.

1980-12-01

This engineering and economic study evaluated the potential for developing a geothermal industrial park in the Puna District near Pahoa on the Island of Hawaii. Direct heat industrial applications were analyzed from a marketing, engineering, economic, environmental, and sociological standpoint to determine the most viable industries for the park. An extensive literature search produced 31 existing processes currently using geothermal heat. An additional list was compiled indicating industrial processes that require heat that could be provided by geothermal energy. From this information, 17 possible processes were selected for consideration. Careful scrutiny and analysis of these 17 processes revealed three that justified detailed economic workups. The three processes chosen for detailed analysis were: an ethanol plant using bagasse and wood as feedstock; a cattle feed mill using sugar cane leaf trash as feedstock; and a papaya processing facility providing both fresh and processed fruit. In addition, a research facility to assess and develop other processes was treated as a concept. Consideration was given to the impediments to development, the engineering process requirements and the governmental support for each process. The study describes the geothermal well site chosen, the pipeline to transmit the hydrothermal fluid, and the infrastructure required for the industrial park. A conceptual development plan for the ethanol plant, the feedmill and the papaya processing facility was prepared. The study concluded that a direct heat industrial park in Pahoa, Hawaii, involves considerable risks.

Development of loose part signal location estimating technique in high pressured structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rhee, Ill Keun; Choi, Jae Won; Kim, Yong Up; Kim, Taek Hwan; Song, Young Joong [Hannam University, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1997-07-01

The main purpose of this project is to develop the metallic loose parts monitoring and diagnosis technology. This will contribute to the development of the domestic technology, and, at the some time, to the development of related domestic industries. This study has been performed as 3-year-project,= to provide to basic requirements in developing the integrated and intelligent loose part monitoring and diagnosis system for Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV). The results from this project is expected to be applied to the development of the integrated and intelligent loose part monitoring and diagnosis system which can be used to analyze the main cause of the malfunctioning of the system under the worst circumstance - high temperature, high pressure and high speed of the flow of reactor coolant, with the efficient software package that could classify the characteristics of the metallic loose parts occurred inside the RPV of the nuclear steam supply system. (Author) 39 refs., 7 tabs., 74 figs.

Temperature of loose coated particles in irradiation tests

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conlin, J.A.

1975-04-01

An analysis is presented of the temperature of a monolayer bed of loose High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) type fissioning fuel particles in an annular cavity. Both conduction and radiant heat transfer are taken into account, and the effect of particle contact with the annular cavity surfaces is evaluated. Charts are included for the determination of the maximum surface temperature of the particle coating for any size particle or power generation rate in a fuel bed of this type. The charts are intended for the design and evaluation of irradiation experiments on loose beds of coated fuel particles of the type used in HTGRs. Included in an Appendix is a method for estimating the temperature of a particle in circular hole. (U.S.)

ALPS, Advanced Loose Parts System for Paks NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Por, G.; Szappanos, G.

2001-01-01

Advanced Loose Parts System has two unique features to improve the missed alarm and false alarm rates, which are the major drawbacks of all existing loose parts system. Event selection is based on sequential probability ratio test of whitened signal by auto-regressive modelling, and the classification (as well as localisation) of the events is based on a selflearning artificial intelligence method. Examples of rather good sensitivity of events detection are presented in case of very weak signals, for bursts half-buried in background. Burst found in recorded signals were partly identified having origin in motor operated valve (MOV) vibration. The new feature of the system, namely, automatic recording during start up of main coolant pumps had been successfully tested in this year.(author)

Modern diagnostic systems for loose parts, vibration and leakage monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunze, U.

1997-01-01

The modern diagnostic systems for loose parts, vibration and leakage monitoring of Siemens marked improvements in signal detection, ease of operation, and the display of information. The paper gives an overview on: Loose parts monitoring system KUeS '95 - a computer-based system. The knowledge and experience about loose parts detection incorporated into this system can be characterized as ''intelligence''. Vibration monitoring system SUeS '95 - a fully automated system for early detection of changes in the vibration patterns of the reactor coolant system components and reactor pressure vessel internals. Leak detection system FLUeS - a system that detects even small leaks in steam-carrying components and very accurately determines their location. Leaks are detected on the moisture distribution in a sample air column into which the escaping steam locally diffuses. All systems described represent the latest state of technology. Nevertheless a considerable amount of operational experience can be reported. (author). 5 refs, 10 figs

Ethanol emission from loose corn silage and exposed silage particles

Science.gov (United States)

Hafner, Sasha D.; Montes, Felipe; Rotz, C. Alan; Mitloehner, Frank

2010-11-01

Silage on dairy farms has been identified as a major source of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. However, rates of VOC emission from silage are not accurately known. In this work, we measured ethanol (a dominant silage VOC) emission from loose corn silage and exposed corn silage particles using wind tunnel systems. Flux of ethanol was highest immediately after exposing loose silage samples to moving air (as high as 220 g m -2 h -1) and declined by as much as 76-fold over 12 h as ethanol was depleted from samples. Emission rate and cumulative 12 h emission increased with temperature, silage permeability, exposed surface area, and air velocity over silage samples. These responses suggest that VOC emission from silage on farms is sensitive to climate and management practices. Ethanol emission rates from loose silage were generally higher than previous estimates of total VOC emission rates from silage and mixed feed. For 15 cm deep loose samples, mean cumulative emission was as high as 170 g m -2 (80% of initial ethanol mass) after 12 h of exposure to an air velocity of 5 m s -1. Emission rates measured with an emission isolation flux chamber were lower than rates measured in a wind tunnel and in an open setting. Results show that the US EPA emission isolation flux chamber method is not appropriate for estimating VOC emission rates from silage in the field.

Pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur L. survey in the Ticino Regional Park (Italy by remote sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rossini M

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Pedunculate oak forests (Quercus robur L. in the Ticino Regional Park (Italy show sensible damage conditions due to different environmental stresses: insect attacks, summer drought and air pollution. Knowing whether oaks are healthy or stressed can provide useful information in order to conserve the forest ecosystems and avoid the lost of valuable natural resources. Environmental stresses can affect tree biochemical and structural variables, such as the concentration, composition and efficiency in light harvesting of foliar pigments, and the Leaf Area Index (LAI. Interest in the use of these variables for forest condition assessment has recently increased because they can be indirectly estimated from remote observations at leaf and canopy level. In particular, in this research we found that total chlorophyll (Chl concentration, a biochemical variable related to crown discoloration rate, was the most suitable variable for the detection of pedunculate oak decline in the Ticino Park. A regression analysis between Chl concentration and optical indices computed from hyperspectral MIVIS data was performed in order to estimate Chl concentration from remote observations. The good correlation between field measurements of Chl concentration and MIVIS optical indices allowed the development of a model to map Chl concentration across the Ticino Park forested area. Promising results demonstrated that remotely sensed data can provide an accurate estimation of Chl concentration and indicated the potential of this technique for forest condition monitoring.

Experimental analysis and simulation calculation of the inductances of loosely coupled transformer

Science.gov (United States)

Kerui, Chen; Yang, Han; Yan, Zhang; Nannan, Gao; Ying, Pei; Hongbo, Li; Pei, Li; Liangfeng, Guo

2017-11-01

The experimental design of iron-core wireless power transmission system is designed, and an experimental model of loosely coupled transformer is built. Measuring the air gap on both sides of the transformer 15mm inductor under the parameters. The feasibility and feasibility of using the finite element method to calculate the coil inductance parameters of the loosely coupled transformer are analyzed. The system was modeled by ANSYS, and the magnetic field was calculated by finite element method, and the inductance parameters were calculated. The finite element method is used to calculate the inductive parameters of the loosely coupled transformer, and the basis for the accurate compensation of the capacitance of the wireless power transmission system is established.

Development of estimation algorithm of loose parts and analysis of impact test data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jung Soo; Ham, Chang Sik; Jung, Chul Hwan; Hwang, In Koo; Kim, Tak Hwane; Kim, Tae Hwane; Park, Jin Ho

1999-11-01

Loose parts are produced by being parted from the structure of the reactor coolant system or by coming into RCS from the outside during test operation, refueling, and overhaul time. These loose parts are mixed with reactor coolant fluid and collide with RCS components. When loose parts are occurred within RCS, it is necessary to estimate the impact point and the mass of loose parts. In this report an analysis algorithm for the estimation of the impact point and mass of loose part is developed. The developed algorithm was tested with the impact test data of Yonggwang-3. The estimated impact point using the proposed algorithm in this report had 5 percent error to the real test data. The estimated mass was analyzed within 28 percent error bound using the same unit's data. We analyzed the characteristic frequency of each sensor because this frequency effected the estimation of impact point and mass. The characteristic frequency of the background noise during normal operation was compared with that of the impact test data. The result of the comparison illustrated that the characteristic frequency bandwidth of the impact test data was lower than that of the background noise during normal operation. by the comparison, the integrity of sensor and monitoring system could be checked, too. (author)

The media of sociology: tight or loose translations?

Science.gov (United States)

Guggenheim, Michael

2015-06-01

Sociologists have increasingly come to recognize that the discipline has unduly privileged textual representations, but efforts to incorporate visual and other media are still only in their beginning. This paper develops an analysis of the ways objects of knowledge are translated into other media, in order to understand the visual practices of sociology and to point out unused possibilities. I argue that the discourse on visual sociology, by assuming that photographs are less objective than text, is based on an asymmetric media-determinism and on a misleading notion of objectivity. Instead, I suggest to analyse media with the concept of translations. I introduce several kinds of translations, most centrally the distinction between tight and loose ones. I show that many sciences, such as biology, focus on tight translations, using a variety of media and manipulating both research objects and representations. Sociology, in contrast, uses both tight and loose translations, but uses the latter only for texts. For visuals, sociology restricts itself to what I call 'the documentary': focusing on mechanical recording technologies without manipulating either the object of research or the representation. I conclude by discussing three rare examples of what is largely excluded in sociology: visual loose translations, visual tight translations based on non-mechanical recording technologies, and visual tight translations based on mechanical recording technologies that include the manipulation of both object and representation. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2015.

Generalized Skyrme model with the loosely bound potential

Science.gov (United States)

Gudnason, Sven Bjarke; Zhang, Baiyang; Ma, Nana

2016-12-01

We study a generalization of the loosely bound Skyrme model which consists of the Skyrme model with a sixth-order derivative term—motivated by its fluidlike properties—and the second-order loosely bound potential—motivated by lowering the classical binding energies of higher-charged Skyrmions. We use the rational map approximation for the Skyrmion of topological charge B =4 , calculate the binding energy of the latter, and estimate the systematic error in using this approximation. In the parameter space that we can explore within the rational map approximation, we find classical binding energies as low as 1.8%, and once taking into account the contribution from spin-isospin quantization, we obtain binding energies as low as 5.3%. We also calculate the contribution from the sixth-order derivative term to the electric charge density and axial coupling.

Subsidence estimation of breakwater built on loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation: Elastic model or elasto-plastic model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianhua Shen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available In offshore area, newly deposited Quaternary loose seabed soils are widely distributed. There are a great number of offshore structures has been built on them in the past, or will be built on them in the future due to the fact that there would be no very dense seabed soil foundation could be chosen at planed sites sometimes. However, loosely deposited seabed foundation would bring great risk to the service ability of offshore structures after construction. Currently, the understanding on wave-induced liquefaction mechanism in loose seabed foundation has been greatly improved; however, the recognition on the consolidation characteristics and settlement estimation of loose seabed foundation under offshore structures is still limited. In this study, taking a semi-coupled numerical model FSSI-CAS 2D as the tool, the consolidation and settlement of loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation under an offshore breakwater is investigated. The advanced soil constitutive model Pastor-Zienkiewics Mark III (PZIII is used to describe the quasi-static behavior of loose sandy seabed soil. The computational results show that PZIII model is capable of being used for settlement estimation problem of loosely deposited sandy seabed foundation. For loose sandy seabed foundation, elastic deformation is the dominant component in consolidation process. It is suggested that general elastic model is acceptable for subsidence estimation of offshore structures on loose seabed foundation; however, Young's modulus E must be dependent on the confining effective stress, rather than a constant in computation.

Automatic characterization of loose parts impact damage risk parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glass, S.W.; Phillips, J.M.

1985-01-01

Loose parts caught in the high-velocity flows of the reactor coolant fluid strike against nuclear steam supply system (NSSS) components and can cause significant damage. Loose parts monitor systems (LPMS) have been available for years to detect metal-to-metal impacts. Once detected, however, an assessment of the damage risk potential for leaving the part in the system versus shutting it down and removing the part must be made. The principal parameters used in the damage risk assessment are time delays between the first and subsequent sensor indications (used to assess the impact location) and a correlation between the waveform and the impact energy of the part (how hard the part impacted). These parameters are not well suited to simple automatic techniques. The task has historically been performed by loose parts diagnostic experts who base much of their evaluation on experience and subjective interpretation of impact data waveforms. Three of the principal goals in developing the Babcock and Wilcox (B and W) LPMS-III were (a) to develop an accurate automatic assessment for the time delays, (b) to develop an automatic estimate of the impact energy, and (c) to present the data in a meaningful manner to the operator

Parking Navigation for Alleviating Congestion in Multilevel Parking Facility

OpenAIRE

Kenmotsu, Masahiro; Sun, Weihua; Shibata, Naoki; Yasumoto, Keiichi; Ito, Minoru

2012-01-01

Finding a vacant parking space in a large crowded parking facility takes long time. In this paper, we propose a navigation method that minimizes the parking time based on collected real-time positional information of cars. In the proposed method, a central server in the parking facility collects the information and estimates the occupancy of each parking zone. Then, the server broadcasts the occupancy data to the cars in the parking facility. Each car then computes a parking route with the sh...

Moyamoya syndrome in a patient with Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jin-Ho; Oh, Moon-Yeon; Yum, Mi-Sun; Lee, Beom Hee; Kim, Gu-Hwan; Yoo, Han-Wook

2015-03-01

Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair is one of the RASopathies characterized by Noonan syndrome-like features with unique ectodermal abnormalities. This syndrome is caused by mutations in the SHOC2 gene. We encountered a patient with moyamoya syndrome associated with Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair presenting with transient ischemic attacks. A 6-year-old girl was diagnosed with Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair because of profound short stature and ectodermal anomalies such as sparse and easily pluckable hair. A heterozygous mutation of c.4A>G (p.S2G) in the SHOC2 gene was identified, and recombinant human growth hormone therapy was initiated at 8 years of age. At age 10, she manifested recurrent left hemiplegia. Moreover, cerebrovascular imaging revealed occlusion or narrowing of both internal carotid arteries and both middle cerebral arteries with distal moyamoya-like vessels. She is treated with aspirin and calcium channel blocker. We describe the first case of Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair associated with moyamoya syndrome, although it has been reported to be associated with a few cases of other RASopathies, including Noonan, cardiofaciocutaneous, and Costello syndromes. This report emphasizes the associations between cerebrovascular anomalies and Noonan-like syndrome with loose anagen hair. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

More loosely bound hadron molecules at CDF?

CERN Document Server

Bignamini, C; Piccinini, F; Polosa, A D; Riquer, V; Sabelli, C

2010-01-01

In a recent paper we have proposed a method to estimate the prompt production cross section of X(3872) at the Tevatron assuming that this particle is a loosely bound molecule of a D and a D*bar meson. Under this hypothesis we find that it is impossible to explain the high prompt production cross section found by CDF at sigma(X(3872)) \\sim 30-70 nb as our theoretical prediction is about 300 times smaller than the measured one. Following our work, Artoisenet and Braaten, have suggested that final state interactions in the DD*bar system might be so strong to push the result we obtained for the cross section up to the experimental value. Relying on their conclusions we show that the production of another very narrow loosely bound molecule, the X_s=D_s D_s*bar, could be similarly enhanced. X_s should then be detectable at CDF with a mass of 4080 MeV and a prompt production cross section of sigma(X_s) \\sim 1-3 nb.

Genetic Variability among Lucerne Cultivars Based on Biochemical (SDS-PAGE) and Morphological Markers

Science.gov (United States)

Farshadfar, M.; Farshadfar, E.

The present research was conducted to determine the genetic variability of 18 Lucerne cultivars, based on morphological and biochemical markers. The traits studied were plant height, tiller number, biomass, dry yield, dry yield/biomass, dry leaf/dry yield, macro and micro elements, crude protein, dry matter, crude fiber and ash percentage and SDS- PAGE in seed and leaf samples. Field experiments included 18 plots of two meter rows. Data based on morphological, chemical and SDS-PAGE markers were analyzed using SPSSWIN soft ware and the multivariate statistical procedures: cluster analysis (UPGMA), principal component. Analysis of analysis of variance and mean comparison for morphological traits reflected significant differences among genotypes. Genotype 13 and 15 had the greatest values for most traits. The Genotypic Coefficient of Variation (GCV), Phenotypic Coefficient of Variation (PCV) and Heritability (Hb) parameters for different characters raged from 12.49 to 26.58% for PCV, hence the GCV ranged from 6.84 to 18.84%. The greatest value of Hb was 0.94 for stem number. Lucerne genotypes could be classified, based on morphological traits, into four clusters and 94% of the variance among the genotypes was explained by two PCAs: Based on chemical traits they were classified into five groups and 73.492% of variance was explained by four principal components: Dry matter, protein, fiber, P, K, Na, Mg and Zn had higher variance. Genotypes based on the SDS-PAGE patterns all genotypes were classified into three clusters. The greatest genetic distance was between cultivar 10 and others, therefore they would be suitable parent in a breeding program.

Distributed Interior-point Method for Loosely Coupled Problems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pakazad, Sina Khoshfetrat; Hansson, Anders; Andersen, Martin Skovgaard

2014-01-01

In this paper, we put forth distributed algorithms for solving loosely coupled unconstrained and constrained optimization problems. Such problems are usually solved using algorithms that are based on a combination of decomposition and first order methods. These algorithms are commonly very slow a...

Species Composition and Ecological Aspects of Immature Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae in Bromeliads in Urban Parks in the City of São Paulo, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Walter Ceretti-Junior

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Bromeliads can be epiphytic, terrestrial or saxicolous and use strategies to allow water to be re­tained in their leaf axils, where various arthropods can be found. These include mosquitoes, whose larvae are the most abundant and commonly found organisms in the leaf axils. The objective of this study was to look for im­mature forms of mosquitoes (the larval and pupal stages in bromeliads in municipal parks in São Paulo and to discuss the ecological and epidemiological importance of these insects.Methods: From October 2010 to July 2013, immature mosquitoes were collected from bromeliads in 65 munici­pal parks in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, using suction samplers. The immature forms were maintained until adult forms emerged, and these were then identified morphologically.Results: Two thousand forty-two immature-stage specimens belonging to the genera Aedes, Culex, Trichoprosopon, Toxorhynchites, Limatus and Wyeomyia were found in bromeliads in 15 of the 65 parks visited. Aedes albopictus was the most abundant species (660 specimens collected, followed by Culex quinquefasciatus (548 specimens and Cx. (Microculex imitator (444. The taxa with the most widespread distribution were Ae. aegypti and Toxorhynchites spp, followed by Ae. albopictus and Cx. quinquefasciatus.Conclusion: Bromeliads in urban parks are refuges for populations of native species of Culicidae and breeding sites for exotic species that are generally of epidemiological interest. Hence, administrators and surveillance and mosquito-control agencies must constantly monitor these microenvironments as the presence of these species endangers the health of park users and employees as well as people living near the parks. 

Fuzzy logic utilization for the diagnosis of metallic loose part impact in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Y.-G.; Hong, H.-P.; Han, S.-J.; Chun, C.S.; Kim, B.-K.

1996-01-01

In consideration of the fuzzy nature of impact signals detected from the complex mechanical structures in a nuclear power plant under operation. Loose Part Monitoring System with a signal processing technique utilizing fuzzy logic is proposed. In the proposed Fuzzy Loose Part Monitoring System design, comprehensive relations among the impact signal features are taken into account in the fuzzy rule bases for the alarm discrimination and impact event diagnosis. Through the performance test with a mock-up facility, the proposed approach for the loose parts monitoring and diagnosis has been revealed to be effective not only in suppressing the false alarm generation but also in characterizing the metallic loose-part impact event, from the points of Possible Impacted-Area and Degree of Impact Magnitude

Smart parking barrier

KAUST Repository

Alharbi, Abdulrazaq M.

2016-05-06

Various methods and systems are provided for smart parking barriers. In one example, among others, a smart parking barrier system includes a movable parking barrier located at one end of a parking space, a barrier drive configured to control positioning of the movable parking barrier, and a parking controller configured to initiate movement of the parking barrier, via the barrier drive. The movable parking barrier can be positioned between a first position that restricts access to the parking space and a second position that allows access to the parking space. The parking controller can initiate movement of the movable parking barrier in response to a positive identification of an individual allowed to use the parking space. The parking controller can identify the individual through, e.g., a RFID tag, a mobile device (e.g., a remote control, smartphone, tablet, etc.), an access card, biometric information, or other appropriate identifier.

Hydraulic mechanism and time-dependent characteristics of loose gully deposits failure induced by rainfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong Wu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Failure of loose gully deposits under the effect of rainfall contributes to the potential risk of debris flow. In the past decades, researches on hydraulic mechanism and time-dependent characteristics of loose deposits failure are frequently reported, however adequate measures for reducing debris flow are not available practically. In this context, a time-dependent model was established to determine the changes of water table of loose deposits using hydraulic and topographic theories. In addition, the variation in water table with elapsed time was analyzed. The formulas for calculating hydrodynamic and hydrostatic pressures on each strip and block unit of deposit were proposed, and the slope stability and failure risk of the loose deposits were assessed based on the time-dependent hydraulic characteristics of established model. Finally, the failure mechanism of deposits based on infinite slope theory was illustrated, with an example, to calculate sliding force, anti-sliding force and residual sliding force applied to each slice. The results indicate that failure of gully deposits under the effect of rainfall is the result of continuously increasing hydraulic pressure and water table. The time-dependent characteristics of loose deposit failure are determined by the factors of hydraulic properties, drainage area of interest, rainfall pattern, rainfall duration and intensity.

Determination of the thermophysical properties of loose rocks; Bestimmung der thermophysikalischen Kennwerte von Lockergesteinen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stegner, Johannes; Seehaus, Rainer; Sass, Ingo [Technische Univ. Darmstadt (Germany). Fachgebiet Angewandte Geothermie

2012-10-16

The heat conductivity as well as the temperature conductivity of loose rocks are the most important properties for the quantification of the yields of near-surface geothermal power plants. The more details on the heat conductivity are available, the more economical and sustainable is the dimensioning of a plant. The heat conductivity of loose rocks depends on the heat conductivity of the individual grain size fractions, water content, air pore volume, dry density, pressure conditions and temperature. Actually, a standardized procedure for the determination of geothermal parameters is missing. Thus, a measurement device for the investigation of the heat conductivity and thermal conductivity is developed. This measurement device enables a reproducible investigation of loose rocks optionally at a pressure consistency of up to 7.6 MPa, or at a volume consistency in the temperature range from -10 to +80 Celsius. The functionality of this measurement device can be validated by means of a comparison of measurements and finite element method simulations using loose rock standards. Additionally, the results of the field tests were correlated with in-situ values. In addition to validation of measurement devices, the measurement results are used to create calculation models for the geothermal parameters of loose rocks based on soil mechanical properties.

Modelling the Drying Characteristics and Kinetics of Hot Air-Drying of Unblanched Whole Red Pepper and Blanched Bitter Leaf Slices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel Enahoro Agarry

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the drying characteristics and kinetics of red pepper and bitter leaf under the influence of different drying temperatures. The drying experiments were carried out at dry bulb temperature of 35, 45, 55 and 75oC, respectively in an oven dryer. The results showed that as drying temperature increased, drying rate also increased and the drying time decreased. It was observed that un-sliced red pepper and sliced bitter leaf would dry within 2.5-12 h and 1.67-7 h, respectively at temperature ranging from 75 to 35oC. The drying of red pepper and bitter leaf was both in the constant and falling rate period. Four semi-empirical mathematical drying models (Newton, Page, Henderson and Pabis, and Logarithmic models were fitted to the experimental drying curves. The models were compared using the coefficient of determination (R^2 and the root mean square error (RMSE. The Page model has shown a better fit to the experimental drying data of red pepper and bitter leaf, respectively as relatively compared to other tested models. Moisture transport during drying was described by the application of Fick’s diffusion model and the effective moisture diffusivity was estimated. The value ranges from 15.69 to 84.79 × 10-9 m2/s and 0.294 to 1.263 × 10-9 m2/s for red pepper and bitter leaf, respectively. The Arrhenius-type relationship describes the temperature dependence of effective moisture diffusivity and was determined to be 37.11 kJ/mol and 32.86 kJ/mol for red pepper and bitter leaf, respectively. A correlation between the drying time and the heat transfer area was also developed.

parkITsmart: minimization of cruising for parking

OpenAIRE

Tsiaras, Christos; Hobi, Livio; Hofstetter, Fabian; Liniger, Samuel; Stiller, Burkhard

2015-01-01

Finding a parking space in urban areas is a daily challenge for drivers across the world, due to the increasing amount of vehicles and the limited amount of parking spaces. Drivers who are looking for a parking space in peak hours are often forced to drive around city blocks until they spot a free parking space. This process is termed in literature “cruising for parking” and is proven to (a) cost a lot of time and gas for drivers, (b) generate unnecessary traffic load, and (c) affect the envi...

Exploring en-route parking type and parking-search route choice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kaplan, Sigal; Bekhor, Sholomo

2011-01-01

This paper describes the first phase of an on-going research investigating the joint choice of parking type, parking facility and cruising-for-parking route. The importance of this issue derives from the significant share of cruising-for-parking traffic in urban areas, the relevance of parking po...

Loose Coupling of Wearable-Based INSs with Automatic Heading Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dina Bousdar Ahmed

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Position tracking of pedestrians by means of inertial sensors is a highly explored field of research. In fact, there are already many approaches to implement inertial navigation systems (INSs. However, most of them use a single inertial measurement unit (IMU attached to the pedestrian’s body. Since wearable-devices will be given items in the future, this work explores the implementation of an INS using two wearable-based IMUs. A loosely coupled approach is proposed to combine the outputs of wearable-based INSs. The latter are based on a pocket-mounted IMU and a foot-mounted IMU. The loosely coupled fusion combines the output of the two INSs not only when these outputs are least erroneous, but also automatically favoring the best output. This approach is named smart update. The main challenge is determining the quality of the heading estimation of each INS, which changes every time. In order to address this, a novel concept to determine the quality of the heading estimation is presented. This concept is subject to a patent application. The results show that the position error rate of the loosely coupled fusion is 10 cm/s better than either the foot INS’s or pocket INS’s error rate in 95% of the cases.

Loose Coupling of Wearable-Based INSs with Automatic Heading Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bousdar Ahmed, Dina; Munoz Diaz, Estefania

2017-11-03

Position tracking of pedestrians by means of inertial sensors is a highly explored field of research. In fact, there are already many approaches to implement inertial navigation systems (INSs). However, most of them use a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) attached to the pedestrian's body. Since wearable-devices will be given items in the future, this work explores the implementation of an INS using two wearable-based IMUs. A loosely coupled approach is proposed to combine the outputs of wearable-based INSs. The latter are based on a pocket-mounted IMU and a foot-mounted IMU. The loosely coupled fusion combines the output of the two INSs not only when these outputs are least erroneous, but also automatically favoring the best output. This approach is named smart update. The main challenge is determining the quality of the heading estimation of each INS, which changes every time. In order to address this, a novel concept to determine the quality of the heading estimation is presented. This concept is subject to a patent application. The results show that the position error rate of the loosely coupled fusion is 10 cm/s better than either the foot INS's or pocket INS's error rate in 95% of the cases.

Structural looseness investigation in slow rotating permanent magnet generators

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skrimpas, Georgios Alexandros; Mijatovic, Nenad; Sweeney, Christian Walsted

2016-01-01

Structural looseness in electric machines is a condition influencing the alignment of the machine and thus the overall bearing health. In this work, assessment of the above mentioned failure mode is tested on a slow rotating (running speed equal to 0.7Hz) permanent magnet generator (PMG), while...... collecting vibration and current data in order to cross-reference the indications from the two monitoring techniques. It is found that electric signature analysis shows no response even when two hold down bolts are untightened, whereas the analysis results from the vibration data exhibit superior performance....... The vibration-based condition indicators with the best response are the stator slot pass frequency, which can be directly related to the cogging torque in PMGs, and the 4th electric frequency harmonic, whose amplitudes increase due to the overall lower structure damping coefficient under looseness...

iParking: an intelligent indoor location-based smartphone parking service.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-10-31

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution.

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Chen

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution.

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-01-01

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service providers are connected through Internet in a distributed architecture. The client software is a light-weight application running on a smartphone, and it works essentially based on a precise indoor positioning solution, which fuses Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) signals and the measurements of the built-in sensors of the smartphones. The positioning accuracy, availability and reliability of the proposed positioning solution are adequate for facilitating the novel parking service. An iParking prototype has been developed and demonstrated in a real parking environment at a shopping mall. The demonstration showed how the iParking service could improve the parking experience and increase the efficiency of parking facilities. The iParking is a novel service in terms of cost- and energy-efficient solution. PMID:23202179

National Parks

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — National Park Service unit boundaries (NTAD). These park boundaries signify legislative boundary definitions and local park names have been consolidated according to...

Smart parking barrier

KAUST Repository

Alharbi, Abdulrazaq M.

2016-01-01

positioning of the movable parking barrier, and a parking controller configured to initiate movement of the parking barrier, via the barrier drive. The movable parking barrier can be positioned between a first position that restricts access to the parking

Rural Latino youth park use: characteristics, park amenities, and physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, Cynthia K; Saelens, Brain E; Thompson, Beti

2011-06-01

Less than half of youth engage in sufficient physical activity to achieve health benefits. Key environmental factors of park and recreation spaces may influence youth physical activity. We sought to ascertain youth characteristics and behaviors that attract youth to parks with specific amenities and encourage physical activity while at the parks in a rural, predominantly Latino community. We examined the quality of amenities in the 13 parks and recreation spaces that middle school aged youth have access to in their community using the Environmental Assessment of Parks and Recreation Spaces (EAPRS) tool. Middle school students completed surveys in the school classroom (n = 1,102) regarding park use, physical activity, and intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., motivators). We used logistic regression to identify correlates of any park use, use of higher quality field and court parks, and active and sedentary park use. Younger age, participation in an after school activity, and identification of a team as a motivator were positively associated with any park use. Use of higher quality court and field parks was associated with participation in an after school activity and being Latino. The odds of being active in the parks were greater for boys and Latinos. Older age and alcohol use are correlated with being sedentary at the park, while odds of being sedentary at the park were lower for boys and youth who met physical activity guidelines. Organized team activities may encourage active use of higher quality fields and courts parks by Latino youth; thereby, increasing their level of physical activity.

Tapping and listening: a new approach to bolt looseness monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Qingzhao; Zhu, Junxiao; Ho, Siu Chun Michael; Song, Gangbing

2018-07-01

Bolted joints are among the most common building blocks used across different types of structures, and are often the key components that sew all other structural parts together. Monitoring and assessment of looseness in bolted structures is one of the most attractive topics in mechanical, aerospace, and civil engineering. This paper presents a new percussion-based non-destructive approach to determine the health condition of bolted joints with the help of machine learning. The proposed method is very similar to the percussive diagnostic techniques used in clinical examinations to diagnose the health of patients. Due to the different interfacial properties among the bolts, nuts and the host structure, bolted joints can generate unique sounds when it is excited by impacts, such as from tapping. Power spectrum density, as a signal feature, was used to recognize and classify recorded tapping data. A machine learning model using the decision tree method was employed to identify the bolt looseness level. Experiments demonstrated that the newly proposed method for bolt looseness detection is very easy to implement by ‘listening to tapping’ and the monitoring accuracy is very high. With the rapid in robotics, the proposed approach has great potential to be implemented with intimately weaving robotics and machine learning to produce a cyber-physical system that can automatically inspect and determine the health of a structure.

The milk quality and feasebility analysis of loose housing dairy cows - a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marjan Janžekovič

2006-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the study was technological and economical analysis of free range cow breeding. The case study analyzed two different systems of holstein-friesian dairy cows breeding. The model total costs enterprise budget was developed for evaluation of economic feasibility of loose housing dairy cows in comparison with tied cow breeding system. Computer supported calculation enabled estimation of the most important economical parameters (net return, total cost, and coefficient of economics. Results obtained show that (at observed input parameters loose housing system is economically feasible, if there is a minimum of 41 dairy cows with an average milk production of 8610 kg per cow. It was also established that cows need approximately 6 months to fully adapt to the loose housing system.

Absence of arabinan in the side chains of the pectic polysaccharides strongly associated with cell walls of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia non-organogenic callus with loosely attached constituent cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Iwai, H; Ishii, T; Satoh, S

2001-10-01

When leaf disks from haploid plants of Nicotiana plumbaginifolia Viv. were transformed with T-DNA and cultured on shoot-inducing medium, nonorganogenic callus. designated nolac (for non-organogenic callus with loosely attached cells), appeared on approximately 7% of leaf disks. In contrast, normal callus was generated on T-DNA-transformed leaf disks from diploid plants and on non-transformed leaf disks from haploid and diploid plants. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the middle lamellae and the cell walls of one line of mutant callus (nolac-H14) were barely stained by ruthenium red. even after demethylesterification with NaOH, whereas the entire cell wall and the middle lamella were strongly stained in normal callus. In cultures of nolac-H14 callus, the level of sugar components of pectic polysaccharides in the hemicellulose fraction was reduced and that in the culture medium was elevated, as compared with cultures of normal callus. These results indicate that pectic polysaccharides are not retained in the cell walls and middle lamellae of nolac-H14 callus. In nolac-H14, the ratio of arabinose to galactose was low in the pectic polysaccharides purified from all cell wall fractions and from the medium, in particular, in the hemicellulose fractions. The low levels of arabinofuranosyl (T-Araf, 5-Araf, 2,5-Araf, and 3,5-Araf) residues in the pectic polysaccharides of the hemicellulosic fraction of nolac-H,14 indicated that no neutral-sugar side chains, composed mainly of linear arabinan. were present in nolac-H14. Arabinose-rich pectins. which are strongly associated with cellulose-hemicellulose complexes, might play an important role in intercellular attachment in the architecture of the cell wall.

Analysis of Parking Reliability Guidance of Urban Parking Variable Message Sign System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhenyu Mei

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Operators of parking guidance and information systems (PGIS often encounter difficulty in determining when and how to provide reliable car park availability information to drivers. Reliability has become a key factor to ensure the benefits of urban PGIS. The present paper is the first to define the guiding parking reliability of urban parking variable message signs (VMSs. By analyzing the parking choice under guiding and optional parking lots, a guiding parking reliability model was constructed. A mathematical program was formulated to determine the guiding parking reliability of VMS. The procedures were applied to a numerical example, and the factors that affect guiding reliability were analyzed. The quantitative changes of the parking berths and the display conditions of VMS were found to be the most important factors influencing guiding reliability. The parking guiding VMS achieved the best benefit when the parking supply was close to or was less than the demand. The combination of a guiding parking reliability model and parking choice behavior offers potential for PGIS operators to reduce traffic congestion in central city areas.

Effectivity of Betel Leaf (Piper betle L. Gel Extract in Shortening Bleeding Time After Deciduous Tooth Extraction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Regina Tedjasulaksana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: As an Indonesian traditional medicine, betel leafis often used to stop nosebleed. Effective substances in betel leaves which serves to stop the bleeding is tannin. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the betel leaf ethanol extract gel shortened bleeding time after the revocation of deciduous teeth. Method: This research was conducted at the Department of Dental Nursing Clinic, Health Polytechnic Denpasar.This study is pure experimental research design with Completely Randomized Post Test Only Control Group Design. The total sample of 27 respondents were divided into a treatment group and two control groups. Anterior deciduous teeth on the physiological loose grade 3 or 4 is extracted, then the tooth socket is put pure gel for group 1 to group 2, epinephrine gel and gel ethanol extract of betel leaf for group 3. The bleeding time is calculated from the first moment the blood out until there is blood on filter paper that is placed on the tooth socket. Data were statistically analyzed with descriptive test and comparability test with One Way Anova. Result: The results showed bleeding time pure gel groups differ significantly with epinephrine group and the group of ethanol extract of betel leaf gel (p< 0.05. Bleeding time of epinephrine group did not differ significantly with betel leaf ethanol extract group (p>0.05. Conclusion: This means ethanol gel betel leaf extract can shorten bleeding after deciduous tooth extraction and it is suggested that the use of gel ethanol extract of betel leaves to cope with bleeding after tooth extraction.

Relationships of leaf dark respiration to leaf nitrogen, specific leaf area and leaf life-span: a test across biomes and functional groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Reich, Peter B; Walters, Michael B; Ellsworth, David S; Vose, James M; Volin, John C; Gresham, Charles; Bowman, William D

1998-05-01

Based on prior evidence of coordinated multiple leaf trait scaling, we hypothesized that variation among species in leaf dark respiration rate (R d ) should scale with variation in traits such as leaf nitrogen (N), leaf life-span, specific leaf area (SLA), and net photosynthetic capacity (A max ). However, it is not known whether such scaling, if it exists, is similar among disparate biomes and plant functional types. We tested this idea by examining the interspecific relationships between R d measured at a standard temperature and leaf life-span, N, SLA and A max for 69 species from four functional groups (forbs, broad-leafed trees and shrubs, and needle-leafed conifers) in six biomes traversing the Americas: alpine tundra/subalpine forest, Colorado; cold temperate forest/grassland, Wisconsin; cool temperate forest, North Carolina; desert/shrubland, New Mexico; subtropical forest, South Carolina; and tropical rain forest, Amazonas, Venezuela. Area-based R d was positively related to area-based leaf N within functional groups and for all species pooled, but not when comparing among species within any site. At all sites, mass-based R d (R d-mass ) decreased sharply with increasing leaf life-span and was positively related to SLA and mass-based A max and leaf N (leaf N mass ). These intra-biome relationships were similar in shape and slope among sites, where in each case we compared species belonging to different plant functional groups. Significant R d-mass -N mass relationships were observed in all functional groups (pooled across sites), but the relationships differed, with higher R d at any given leaf N in functional groups (such as forbs) with higher SLA and shorter leaf life-span. Regardless of biome or functional group, R d-mass was well predicted by all combinations of leaf life-span, N mass and/or SLA (r 2 ≥ 0.79, P morphological, chemical and metabolic traits.

Plantar pressure distribution of ostrich during locomotion on loose sand and solid ground

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Zhang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Background The ostrich is a cursorial bird with extraordinary speed and endurance, especially in the desert, and thus is an ideal large-scale animal model for mechanic study of locomotion on granular substrate. Methods The plantar pressure distributions of ostriches walking/running on loose sand/solid ground were recorded using a dynamic pressure plate. Results The center of pressure (COP on loose sand mostly originated from the middle of the 3rd toe, which differed from the J-shaped COP trajectory on solid ground. At mid-stance, a high-pressure region was observed in the middle of the 3rd toe on loose sand, but three high-pressure regions were found on solid ground. The gait mode significantly affected the peak pressures of the 3rd and 4th toes (p = 1.5 × 10−6 and 2.39 × 10−8, respectively, but not that of the claw (p = 0.041. The effects of substrate were similar to those of the gait mode. Discussion Ground reaction force trials of each functional part showed the 3rd toe bore more body loads and the 4th toe undertook less loads. The pressure distributions suggest balance maintenance on loose sand was provided by the 3rd and 4th toes and the angle between their length axes. On loose sand, the middle of the 3rd toe was the first to touch the sand with a smaller attack angle to maximize the ground reaction force, but on solid ground, the lateral part was the first to touch the ground to minimize the transient loading. At push-off, the ostrich used solidification properties of granular sand under the compression of the 3rd toe to generate sufficient traction.

WIMS calculations for a model CAGR skip containing clusters and loose pins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halsall, M.J.

1982-12-01

Calculations using WIMSD4 and MONK5.3 assess the reactivity consequences of distributing loose fuel pins around a CAGR skip already loaded with 20 fuel clusters, indicated uncertainties in the accuracy of the WIMSD4 multicell option for establishing the worst distribution of loose pins. The present study was undertaken in an attempt to resolve this uncertainty by comparing WIMSD4 single cell and multicell calculations for a representative model problem with results derived from LWRWIMS using discrete ordinates transport theory TWOTRAN to give a more reliable estimate of inter-cell couplings. The study concludes that WIMSD4 is systematic in its treatment of single cells with loose pins added but that somewhat unpredictable discrepancies of the order of 1 per cent in k can arise in calculations of different arrangements of cell types in a multicell situation. This is, nevertheless, of comparable accuracy to the Monte Carlo calculations normally made for studies of this type and hence the relatively rapid WIMSD4 calculations should serve a useful function in deciding which situations to analyse in more detail. (U.K.)

Leaf-IT: An Android application for measuring leaf area.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrader, Julian; Pillar, Giso; Kreft, Holger

2017-11-01

The use of plant functional traits has become increasingly popular in ecological studies because plant functional traits help to understand key ecological processes in plant species and communities. This also includes changes in diversity, inter- and intraspecific interactions, and relationships of species at different spatiotemporal scales. Leaf traits are among the most important traits as they describe key dimensions of a plant's life history strategy. Further, leaf area is a key parameter with relevance for other traits such as specific leaf area, which in turn correlates with leaf chemical composition, photosynthetic rate, leaf longevity, and carbon investment. Measuring leaf area usually involves the use of scanners and commercial software and can be difficult under field conditions. We present Leaf-IT, a new smartphone application for measuring leaf area and other trait-related areas. Leaf-IT is free, designed for scientific purposes, and runs on Android 4 or higher. We tested the precision and accuracy using objects with standardized area and compared the area measurements of real leaves with the well-established, commercial software WinFOLIA using the Altman-Bland method. Area measurements of standardized objects show that Leaf-IT measures area with high accuracy and precision. Area measurements with Leaf-IT of real leaves are comparable to those of WinFOLIA. Leaf-IT is an easy-to-use application running on a wide range of smartphones. That increases the portability and use of Leaf-IT and makes it possible to measure leaf area under field conditions typical for remote locations. Its high accuracy and precision are similar to WinFOLIA. Currently, its main limitation is margin detection of damaged leaves or complex leaf morphologies.

Analysis of Parking Reliability Guidance of Urban Parking Variable Message Sign System

OpenAIRE

Zhenyu Mei; Ye Tian; Dongping Li

2012-01-01

Operators of parking guidance and information systems (PGIS) often encounter difficulty in determining when and how to provide reliable car park availability information to drivers. Reliability has become a key factor to ensure the benefits of urban PGIS. The present paper is the first to define the guiding parking reliability of urban parking variable message signs (VMSs). By analyzing the parking choice under guiding and optional parking lots, a guiding parking reliability model was constru...

Assessment of heavy metals in loose deposits in drinking water distribution system.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Quanli; Han, Weiqiang; Han, Bingjun; Shu, Min; Shi, Baoyou

2018-06-09

Heavy metal accumulation and potential releases from loose deposits in drinking water distribution system (DWDS) can have critical impacts on drinking water safety, but the associated risks have not been sufficiently evaluated. In this work, the potential biological toxicity of heavy metals in loose deposits was calculated based on consensus-based sediment quality guidelines, and the effects of some of the main water quality parameters, such as the pH and bicarbonate and phosphate content, on the release behaviors of pre-accumulated heavy metals were investigated. The results showed that heavy metals (Cu, As, Cr, Pb, and Cd) significantly accumulated in all the samples, but the contents of the heavy metals were multiple magnitudes lower than the Fe and Mn contents. The potential biotoxicity of As and Cu was relatively high, but the biotoxicity of Cd was negligible. The water quality can significantly influence the release of heavy metals from loose deposits. As the pH increased from 7.0 to 9.0, the release of As and Cr obviously increased. The release of As, Cu, Pb, and Cr also accelerated with the addition of phosphate (from 1 to 5 mg/L). In contrast to the trends for the pH and phosphate, variations in the bicarbonate content did not have a significant influence on the release of As and Cr. The release ratios of heavy metals in the samples were very low, and there was not a correlation between the release rate of the heavy metals in the loose deposits and their potential biotoxicity.

On-line acoustic monitoring of EDF nuclear plants in operation and loose-part diagnosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, J.L.; Puyal, C.

1991-05-01

In order to detect incipient failures in nuclear power plant components, EDF has now put into operation more than 50 loose-part monitoring systems, on its 900 MW and 1 300 MW units. This paper first reviews the experience gained on the 900 MW reactors in recent years. It then focuses on the 1 300 MW loose part monitoring system (IDEAL) and to the tools developed for the diagnosis off site within a specific Expertise Laboratory at the Research and Development Division. New studies have been undertaken within the Monitoring and Aid to Diagnosis Station (PSAD) in order to extend the capabilities of loose part diagnosis on site. The new tools here presented integrate the recent progress in acquisition technology (SMART system) and in artificial intelligence (MIGRE expert system)

PENCITRAAN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE MELALUI PENGGUNAAN ARCHETYPEDAN LOOSE SENTENCE STRUCTUREDALAM “THE GREAT GATSBY” KARYA F. SCOTT. FIZGERALD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tintin Susilowati

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Penelitian ini adalah penelitian stilistika yang mengkaji tentang penggunaan archetype dan loose sentence structure dalam membangun kesan mental pembaca tentang American Nightmare. Melalui penelitian ini, peneliti peneliti menggali pola-pola penggunaan archetype, loose sentence structure, serta konsep mental pembaca dalam memahami bacaan.Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui efektifitas gaya penulisan Fizgerald dengan menggunakan ornamen berupa archetype, loose sentence structure guna membangun kesan mental pembaca tentang America Nightmare. Pendekatan penelitian ini adalah deskriptive kualitatif sedangkan desainnya adalah library research. Data yang digunakan adalah data primer berupa kutipankutipan yang dicari dari novel, selain itu juga data sekunder berupa referensireferensi pendukung. Peneliti juga menggunakan coding dalam proses koleksi data. Teknik ini digunakan untuk membantu peneliti dalam mengklasifikasikan data. Lebih lanjut, penelitian ini merupakan penelitian dokumentasi maka dalam analisis peneliti menggunakan pendekatan content analysis selain itu interactive analysis juga digunakan peneliti dalam tahap analisis data. Dalam penelitian ini diperoleh data sebagai berikut, 1.ditemukan data tentang penggunaan archetype sejumlah 851 data/ 70.79%; 2. ditemukan data tentang penggunaan loose sentence structure sejumlah 351 data/ 29.20 %; 3. ditemukan data tentang penggunaan archetype dan loose sentence structure secara bersamaan sejumlah 1202 data/ 100%. Sedangkan kesimpulan dari penelitian ini adalah:penggunaan kedua ornamen khususnya berupa archetype didukung juga oleh penggunaan loose sentence structure membuat kontek dari sebuah teks mudah dipahami, Kedua ornamen tersebut meminimalis kesulitan pembaca dalam berinteraksi dengan teks.

Spontaneous resolution of posterior ankle joint loose bodies after total ankle replacement: A case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Raymond P; Cheng, Sally H S

2017-06-01

Late stage ankle osteoarthritis often presents with debilitating pain. It is common to find osteophytes and loose body formation around the joint. Total ankle arthroplasty can preserve joint mobility and pain relieve for such patient. However, when trying to remove the osteophytes and loose bodies at the posterior ankle joint, there is risk of damaging posterior structures such as the neurovascular bundle during the procedure. We are presenting a case where the posterior loose bodies remained untouched during the operation, and patient showed spontaneous resolution of the lesions with time. Patient enjoyed good function outcome after the surgery. Copyright © 2016 European Foot and Ankle Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Seasonal profiles of leaf ascorbic acid content and redox state in ozone-sensitive wildflowers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burkey, Kent O.; Neufeld, Howard S.; Souza, Lara; Chappelka, Arthur H.; Davison, Alan W.

2006-01-01

Cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata L.), crown-beard (Verbesina occidentalis Walt.), and tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata L.) are wildflower species native to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S.A.). Natural populations of each species were analyzed for leaf ascorbic acid (AA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) to assess the role of ascorbate in protecting the plants from ozone stress. Tall milkweed contained greater quantities of AA (7-10 μmol g -1 fresh weight) than crown-beard (2-4 μmol g -1 fresh weight) or cutleaf coneflower (0.5-2 μmol g -1 fresh weight). DHA was elevated in crown-beard and cutleaf coneflower relative to tall milkweed suggesting a diminished capacity for converting DHA into AA. Tall milkweed accumulated AA in the leaf apoplast (30-100 nmol g -1 fresh weight) with individuals expressing ozone foliar injury symptoms late in the season having less apoplast AA. In contrast, AA was not present in the leaf apoplast of either crown-beard or cutleaf coneflower. Unidentified antioxidant compounds were present in the leaf apoplast of all three species. Overall, distinct differences in antioxidant metabolism were found in the wildflower species that corresponded with differences in ozone sensitivity. - Wildflower species exhibit differences in ascorbic acid content and redox status that affect ozone sensitivity

Markov chain-based mass estimation method for loose part monitoring system and its performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Hwan Shin

2017-10-01

Full Text Available A loose part monitoring system is used to identify unexpected loose parts in a nuclear reactor vessel or steam generator. It is still necessary for the mass estimation of loose parts, one function of a loose part monitoring system, to develop a new method due to the high estimation error of conventional methods such as Hertz's impact theory and the frequency ratio method. The purpose of this study is to propose a mass estimation method using a Markov decision process and compare its performance with a method using an artificial neural network model proposed in a previous study. First, how to extract feature vectors using discrete cosine transform was explained. Second, Markov chains were designed with codebooks obtained from the feature vector. A 1/8-scaled mockup of the reactor vessel for OPR1000 was employed, and all used signals were obtained by impacting its surface with several solid spherical masses. Next, the performance of mass estimation by the proposed Markov model was compared with that of the artificial neural network model. Finally, it was investigated that the proposed Markov model had matching error below 20% in mass estimation. That was a similar performance to the method using an artificial neural network model and considerably improved in comparison with the conventional methods.

Wilderness experience in Rocky Mountain National Park 2002; report to respondents

Science.gov (United States)

Schuster, Elke; Johnson, S. Shea; Taylor, Jonathan G.

2003-01-01

A substantial amount of backcountry (about 250,000 acres) in Rocky Mountain National Park [RMNP of the Park] may be designated as wilderness areas in the coming years. Currently, over 3 million visitors drives through the park on Trail Ridge Road, camp in designated campgrounds, day hike, etc. each year. Many of those visitors also report using the backcountry-wilderness areas that are not easily accessible by roads or trails. Use of the backcountry is growing at RMNP and is accompanied by changing visitor expectations and preferences for wilderness management. For these reasons it is of great importance for the Park to periodically assess what types of environments and conditions wilderness users seek to facilitate a quality experience. To assist in this effort, the Political Analysis and Science Assistance [PSAS] program / Fort Collins Center / U.S. Geological Survey, in close collaboration with personnel and volunteers from RMNP, as well as the Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism [NRRT] Department at Colorado State University, launched a research effort in the summer of 2002 to investigate visitorsa?? wilderness experiences in the Park. Specifically, the purpose of this research was: (1) To determine what constitutes a wilderness experience; (2) To identify important places, visual features, and sounds essential to a quality wilderness experience and; (3) To determine what aspects may detract from wilderness experience. Thus, answers to these questions should provide insight for Park managers about visitorsa?? expectation for wilderness recreation and the conditions they seek for quality wilderness experiences. Ultimately, this information can be used to support wilderness management decisions within RMNP. The social science technique of Visitor Employed Photography [VEP] was used to obtain information from visitors about wilderness experiences. Visitors were selected at random from Park-designated wilderness trails, in proportion to their use, and asked to

Historical changes in caribou distribution and land cover in and around Prince Albert National Park: land management implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria L. Arlt

2011-09-01

Full Text Available In central Saskatchewan, boreal woodland caribou population declines have been documented in the 1940s and again in the 1980s. Although both declines led to a ban in sport hunting, a recovery was only seen in the 1950s and was attributed to wolf control and hunting closure. Recent studies suggest that this time, the population may not be increasing. In order to contribute to the conservation efforts, historical changes in caribou distribution and land cover types in the Prince Albert Greater Ecosystem (PAGE, Saskatchewan, were documented for the period of 1960s to the present. To examine changes in caribou distribution, survey observations, incidental sightings and telemetry data were collated. To quantify landscape changes, land cover maps were created for 1966 and 2006 using current and historic forest resources inventories, fire, logging, and roads data. Results indicate that woodland caribou are still found throughout the study area although their distribution has changed and their use of the National Park is greatly limited. Results of transition prob¬abilities and landscape composition analyses on the 1966 and 2006 land cover maps revealed an aging landscape for both the National Park and provincial crown land portions of the PAGE. In addition, increased logging and the development of extensive road and trail networks on provincial crown land produced significant landscape fragmentation for woodland caribou and reduced functional attributes of habitat patches. Understanding historical landscape changes will assist with ongoing provincial and federal recovery efforts for boreal caribou, forest management planning activities, and landscape restoration efforts within and beyond the Park boundaries.

Final report on the safety assessment of AloeAndongensis Extract, Aloe Andongensis Leaf Juice,aloe Arborescens Leaf Extract, Aloe Arborescens Leaf Juice, Aloe Arborescens Leaf Protoplasts, Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice,aloe Barbadensis Leaf Polysaccharides, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Aloe Ferox Leaf Juice, and Aloe Ferox Leaf Juice Extract.

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

Plant materials derived from the Aloe plant are used as cosmetic ingredients, including Aloe Andongensis Extract, Aloe Andongensis Leaf Juice, Aloe Arborescens Leaf Extract, Aloe Arborescens Leaf Juice, Aloe Arborescens Leaf Protoplasts, Aloe Barbadensis Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Polysaccharides, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Aloe Ferox Leaf Juice, and Aloe Ferox Leaf Juice Extract. These ingredients function primarily as skin-conditioning agents and are included in cosmetics only at low concentrations. The Aloe leaf consists of the pericyclic cells, found just below the plant's skin, and the inner central area of the leaf, i.e., the gel, which is used for cosmetic products. The pericyclic cells produce a bitter, yellow latex containing a number of anthraquinones, phototoxic compounds that are also gastrointestinal irritants responsible for cathartic effects. The gel contains polysaccharides, which can be acetylated, partially acetylated, or not acetylated. An industry established limit for anthraquinones in aloe-derived material for nonmedicinal use is 50 ppm or lower. Aloe-derived ingredients are used in a wide variety of cosmetic product types at concentrations of raw material that are 0.1% or less, although can be as high as 20%. The concentration of Aloe in the raw material also may vary from 100% to a low of 0.0005%. Oral administration of various anthraquinone components results in a rise in their blood concentrations, wide systemic distribution, accumulation in the liver and kidneys, and excretion in urine and feces; polysaccharide components are distributed systemically and metabolized into smaller molecules. aloe-derived material has fungicidal, antimicrobial, and antiviral activities, and has been effective in wound healing and infection treatment in animals. Aloe barbadensis (also known as Aloe vera)-derived ingredients were not toxic

Implementation of ergonomics in the management of parking increasing the quality of living parking park in mall Robinson Denpasar city

Science.gov (United States)

Sutapa, I. K.; Sudiarsa, I. M.

2018-01-01

The problems that often arise in the area of Denpasar City mostly caused by parking problems at the centers of activities such as shopping centers. The problems that occur not only because of the large number of vehicles that parked but also the result of the condition of parking officers who have not received attention, there is no concern about the physical condition of parking attendants because doing night guard duty. To improve the quality of parking officer, ergonomic parking lot is improved through the application of appropriate technology with systemic, holistic, interdisciplinary and participatory approach. The general objective of the research is to know the implementation of ergonomics in parking management on the improvement of the quality of parking officer in Robinson shopping center. The indicator of the quality of the parking officer work is the decrease of musculoskeletal complaints, fatigue, workload, boredom and increasing work motivation. The study was conducted using the same subject design, involving 10 subjects as a simple random sample. Intervention is done by arrangement of ergonomic basement motorcycle parking. Measurements done before and after repair. Washing out (WO) for 14 days. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively, tested normality (shapirowilk) and homogeneity (Levene Test). For normal and homogeneous distribution data, different test with One Way Anova, different test between Period with Post Hoc. Normally distributed and non-homogeneous data, different test with Friedman Test, different test between periods using Wilcoxon test. Data were analyzed with significance level of 5%. The results showed that the implementation of ergonomic in the management of parking area of the court decreased musculoskeletal complaints by 15.10% (p management of the parking lot improves the quality of the parking officer work from: (1) decrease of musculoskeletal complaints, (2) decrease of melting rate, (3) decrease of parking workload

Parks & benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Christensen, Andreas Aagaard; Holmes, Esbern

2011-01-01

conservation. Increasing visitor flows and cuts in staff resources has put focus on the management of visitor carrying capacities and their relation to landscape structure and zoning. At the same time park authorities face falling public appropriations and receding focus on their conservation functions...... compared to recreation and settlement. The constant priority of the balancing of nature protection and economic utilization gives rise to various experience with land use and visitor management relevant for sustainable development also outside the parks. In European nature parks the handling of visitor...... carrying capacities related to Natura2000-sites and their included habitat type areas is a priority theme for the sustainable management of nature parks. A comparative analysis of conditions and initiatives related to visitor carrying capacities in 8 nature parks in the Baltic region has been carried out...

iParking: An Intelligent Indoor Location-Based Smartphone Parking Service

OpenAIRE

Liu, Jingbin; Chen, Ruizhi; Chen, Yuwei; Pei, Ling; Chen, Liang

2012-01-01

Indoor positioning technologies have been widely studied with a number of solutions being proposed, yet substantial applications and services are still fairly primitive. Taking advantage of the emerging concept of the connected car, the popularity of smartphones and mobile Internet, and precise indoor locations, this study presents the development of a novel intelligent parking service called iParking. With the iParking service, multiple parties such as users, parking facilities and service p...

Realizing Loose Communication with Tangible Avatar to Facilitate Recipient’s Imagination

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shinichi Endo

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Social network services (SNSs allow users to share their daily experiences and significant life events with family, friends, and colleagues. However, excessive use of SNSs or dependence upon them can cause a problem known as “SNS fatigue” that is associated with feelings of anxiety and loneliness. In other words, the tighter and stronger the social bonds are through SNSs, the more users feel anxiety and loneliness. We propose a method for providing users with a sense of security and connectedness with others by facilitating loose communication. Loose communication is defined by the presentation of abstract information and passive (one-way communication. By focusing on the physicality and anthropomorphic characteristics of tangible avatars, we investigated a communication support system, Palco, that displays three types of contextual information with respect to the communication partner—emotional state, activity, and location—in a loose manner. Our approach contrasts with typical SNS interaction methods characterized by tight communication with interactivity and concrete information. This paper describes the design and implementation of Palco, as well as its usefulness as a communication tool. The emotional effects on the users are evaluated through a user study with 10 participants over four days. The results imply that Palco can effectively communicate the context of the communication partner, and provide a sense of security.

Leaf gas exchange characteristics of three neotropical mangrove species in response to varying hydroperiod

Science.gov (United States)

Krauss, Ken W.; Twilley, Robert R.; Doyle, Thomas W.; Gardiner, Emile S.

2006-01-01

We determined how different hydroperiods affected leaf gas exchange characteristics of greenhouse-grown seedlings (2002) and saplings (2003) of the mangrove species Avicennia germinans (L.) Stearn., Laguncularia racemosa (L.) Gaertn. f., and Rhizophora mangle L. Hydroperiod treatments included no flooding (unflooded), intermittent flooding (intermittent), and permanent flooding (flooded). Plants in the intermittent treatment were measured under both flooded and drained states and compared separately. In the greenhouse study, plants of all species maintained different leaf areas in the contrasting hydroperiods during both years. Assimilation–light response curves indicated that the different hydroperiods had little effect on leaf gas exchange characteristics in either seedlings or saplings. However, short-term intermittent flooding for between 6 and 22 days caused a 20% reduction in maximum leaf-level carbon assimilation rate, a 51% lower light requirement to attain 50% of maximum assimilation, and a 38% higher demand from dark respiration. Although interspecific differences were evident for nearly all measured parameters in both years, there was little consistency in ranking of the interspecific responses. Species by hydroperiod interactions were significant only for sapling leaf area. In a field study, R. mangle saplings along the Shark River in the Everglades National Park either demonstrated no significant effect or slight enhancement of carbon assimilation and water-use efficiency while flooded. We obtained little evidence that contrasting hydroperiods affect leaf gas exchange characteristics of mangrove seedlings or saplings over long time intervals; however, intermittent flooding may cause short-term depressions in leaf gas exchange. The resilience of mangrove systems to flooding, as demonstrated in the permanently flooded treatments, will likely promote photosynthetic and morphological adjustment to slight hydroperiod shifts in many settings..

Giant Peritoneal Loose Bodies | van Zyl | SA Journal of Radiology

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Giant peritoneal loose bodies are rare lesions, originating from auto-amputated appendices epiploicae. They may cause urinary or gastrointestinal obstruction and, should the radiologist not be familiar with the entity, can potentially be confused with malignant or parasitic lesions. Familiarity with their characteristic computed ...

INTEGRATION OF NPP SEMI MECHANISTIC - MODELLING, REMOTE SENSING AND CIS IN ESTIMATING CO 2 ABSORPTION OF FOREST VEGETATION IN LORE LINDU NATIONAL PARK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GODE GRAVENHORsr

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Net Primary Production, NPP, is one of the most important variables characterizing the performance of an ecosystem. It is the difference between the total carbon uptake from the air through photosynthesis and the carbon loss due to respiration by living plants. However, field measurements of NPP are time-consuming and expensive. Current techniques are therefore not useful for obtaining NPP estimates over large areas. By combining the remote sensing and GIS technology and modelling, we can estimate NPP of a large ecosystem with a little ease. This paper discusses the use of a process based physiological sunshade canopy models in estimating NPP of Lore Lindu National Park (LLNP. The discussion includes on how to parameterize the models and how to scale up from leaf to the canopy. The version documented in this manuscript is called NetPro Model, which is a potential NPP model where water effect is not included yet. The model integrates CIS and the use of Remote Sensing, and written in Visual Basic 6.0 programming language and Map Objects 2.1. NetPro has the capability of estimating NPP of Cs vegetation under present environmental condition and under future scenarios (increasing [CO2], increasing temperature and increasing or decreasing leaf nitrogen level. Based on site-measured parameterisation of VaM* (Photosynthetic capacity, /Jj (Respiration and leaf nitrogen ONi, the model was run under increasing CO2 level and temperature and varied leaf nitrogen. The output of the semi-mechanistic modelling is radiation use efficiency (?. Analysis of remote sensing data give Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI and related Leaf Area Index (LAI and traction of absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (/M > AK. Climate data are obtained from 12 meteorological stations around die parks, which includes global radiations, minimum and maximum temperature. CO2 absorbed by vegetation (Gross Primary Production, GPP is then calculated using the above

Setting of loose-fill insulation materials in walls; Saetningsfri indblaesning af loesfyldsisolering i vaegge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rasmussen, T.V.

2001-07-01

The report describes material behaviour, which significantly influences the settling of loose-fill insulation materials. The specific application presented here is loose-fill insulation material injected in walls as thermal insulation. The physical formulation of the issue to be discussed is that the mass is kept in position in the cavity by frictional forces, which counteracts the settling but complicates injection. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a possibility that decreased friction will be able to release settling. Cellulose loose-fill material injected in a 0.1 m thick and 1 m wide gypsum wall with a minimum density of 48 kg/m3 was found not to settle if kept at a constant relative humidity, RH 50 %. A minimum density of 53 kg/m3 is necessary if the thickness of the wall is increased from 0.1 m to 0.3 m. If changing the constant environment from RH 50 % to RH 80 % a minimum density of 63 kg/m3 is necessary. Furthermore, results so far show that cellulose loose-fill material spread on the attic floor will have a density after settling of 48 kg /M3 for a constant RH 50 %, corresponding to 43 kg/m3 dry material. The results were found by using a model and tests. (au)

Parks, Place and Pedagogy - Education Partnerships with the National Park Service

Science.gov (United States)

Vye, E. C.; Rose, W. I.; Nash, B.; Klawiter, M.; Huntoon, J. E.; Engelmann, C. A.; Gochis, E. E.; MiTEP

2011-12-01

The Michigan Teaching Excellence Program (MITEP) is a multi-year program of teacher leadership development that empowers science teachers in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Jackson to lead their schools and districts through the process of improving science teaching and learning. A component of this program is facilitated through partnership between academia, K-12 educators, and the National Park Service (NPS) that aims to develop place-based education strategies that improve diversity and Earth Science literacy. This tangible education method draws upon both the sense of place that National Parks offer and the art of interpretation employed by the park service. Combined, these deepen cognitive process and provide a more diverse reflection of what place means and the processes behind shaping what we see. Our partnerships present participants the opportunity to intern in a Midwest national park for 3-8 weeks during their third year in the program. In summer 2011, eleven teachers from the Grand Rapids school district participated in this innovative way of learning and teaching Earth Science. One goal was to develop geological interpretive materials desired and needed for the parks. Secondly, and important to place-based educational methodologies, these deliverables will be used as a way of bringing the parks to urban classrooms. Participants lived in the parks and worked directly with both national park and Michigan Tech staff to create lesson plans, podcasts, media clips, video, and photographic documentation of their experiences. These lesson plans will be hosted in the Views of the National Park website in an effort to provide innovative teaching resources nationally for teachers or free-choice learners wishing to access information on Midwest national parks. To the benefit of park staff, working with teachers from urban areas offered an opportunity for park staff to access diverse learners in urban settings unable to visit the park. The foundation has been laid for

PAGING IN COMMUNICATIONS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2016-01-01

A method and an apparatus are disclosed for managing paging in a communications system. The method may include, based on a received set of physical resources, determining, in a terminal apparatus, an original paging pattern defining potential time instants for paging, wherein the potential time...... instants for paging include a subset of a total amount of resources available at a network node for paging....

Composite bulk Heat Insulation Made of loose Mineral and Organic Aggregate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Namsone Eva

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The task of building energy-efficiency is getting more important. Every house owner wishes to save up exploitation costs of heating, cooling, hot water production, ventilation, etc. and find cost-effective investments. One of the ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE is to minimize the heat transfer through the building by insulating it. Loose heat insulation is a good alternative to traditional board insulation, it is simple in use and cost-effective. Main drawback of this insulation is tendency to compact during exploitation. In the frame of this research composite loose heat insulation is elaborated, consisting on porous mineral foamed glass aggregate and local organic fiber materials (hemp and flaxen shives. Composite bulk insulation is an alternative solution which combines heat insulating properties and mechanical stability.

Macrosolen bidoupensis (Loranthaceae, a new species from Bidoup Nui Ba National Park, southern Vietnam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shuichiro Tagane

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Macrosolen bidoupensis Tagane & V.S.Dang, sp. nov. (Loranthaceae is newly described from Bidoup Nui Ba National Park in Lam Dong Province, southern Vietnam. The new species is characterized by small broadly elliptic to circular leaves, sessile to short petioles, slightly cordate to rounded leaf bases, 4–5 pairs of lateral veins and a basally green corolla tube. An illustration, a summary of DNA barcoding of the plastid genes rbcL and matK, and a key to the species of Macrosolen in Vietnam are provided.

Influence of Parking Price on Parking Garage Users’ Behaviour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jelena Simićević

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Parking charge is a powerful tool for solving parking and traffic congestion problems. In order to achieve the expected effects without any adverse impact it is necessary to understand well the users’ responses to this policy. This paper, based on a sample of interviewed parking garage users, has developed binary logit model for identification and quantification of characteristics of users and trips, on which the acceptance of parking price is dependent. In addition, multinomial logit model has been made in order to predict what the users will opt for when faced with an increase in parking price. For the first time the parameter “shorten duration” has been introduced which has shown to be the most significant in making behaviour-related decisions. The results show that the users with the purpose work are the most sensitive to an increase in parking charge, what can be deemed positive for policy makers. However, great sensitivity of the users with the purpose shopping should cause their concern. The results of the multinomial model show that they would not discontinue coming into the area after all.

Loose anagen hair syndrome associated with colobomas and dysmorphic features

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Lars Kjaersgård; Brandrup, Flemming; Clemmensen, Ole

2004-01-01

Loose anagen hair syndrome is an uncommon congenital disorder. It may occur in association with other syndromes and dysmorphic features. We report a girl who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for this syndrome as proposed by Tosti (Arch Dermatol 2002, 138: 521-522). She also had several other...

Mathematical model of parking space unit for triangular parking area

Science.gov (United States)

Syahrini, Intan; Sundari, Teti; Iskandar, Taufiq; Halfiani, Vera; Munzir, Said; Ramli, Marwan

2018-01-01

Parking space unit (PSU) is an effective measure for the area size of a vehicle, including the free space and the width of the door opening of the vehicle (car). This article discusses a mathematical model for parking space of vehicles in triangular shape area. An optimization model for triangular parking lot is developed. Integer Linear Programming (ILP) method is used to determine the maximum number of the PSU. The triangular parking lot is in isosceles and equilateral triangles shape and implements four possible rows and five possible angles for each field. The vehicles which are considered are cars and motorcycles. The results show that the isosceles triangular parking area has 218 units of optimal PSU, which are 84 units of PSU for cars and 134 units of PSU for motorcycles. Equilateral triangular parking area has 688 units of optimal PSU, which are 175 units of PSU for cars and 513 units of PSU for motorcycles.

Maize YABBY genes drooping leaf1 and drooping leaf2 affect agronomic traits by regulating leaf architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Leaf architectural traits, such as length, width and angle, directly influence canopy structure and light penetration, photosynthate production and overall yield. We discovered and characterized a maize (Zea mays) mutant with aberrant leaf architecture we named drooping leaf1 (drl1), as leaf blades ...

Evaluating urban parking policies with agent-based model of driver parking behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martens, C.J.C.M.; Benenson, I.

2008-01-01

This paper presents an explicit agent-based model of parking search in a city. In the model, “drivers” drive toward their destination, search for parking, park, remain at the parking place, and leave. The city’s infrastructure is represented by a high-resolution geographic information system (GIS)

Analysis on Time Window of Shared Parking in Hospitals Based on Parking Behaviors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qin Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Hospitals are essential components of a city; huge traffic demand is generated and attracted, causing contradiction between parking supply and demand. By sharing parking berths, limited space can serve more demand which is beneficial to alleviating parking problems. Aimed at improving the capacity of shared parking, the paper analyzes four parking groups in typical hospitals, which are medical staff, outpatients, emergency patients, and visiting groups. The parking demand of medical staff is rigid. For outpatients and visiting groups, longer walking distance is acceptable and more attention is paid to parking fee. By contrast, emergency patients can accept shorter walking distance and focus more on convenience due to urgency. Under this circumstance, parking behaviors selection models are established by means of Multinomial Logit Model. On this basis, time value is adopted to calculate the tolerance of alterative parking time. Moreover, this paper explores the variation of time window, under different parking impedance. A case study is conducted and suggests that start and end point of a certain time window can be influenced by external factors.

Seasonal profiles of leaf ascorbic acid content and redox state in ozone-sensitive wildflowers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burkey, Kent O. [Plant Science Research Unit, USDA-ARS and North Carolina State University, 3127 Ligon Street, Raleigh, NC 27607 (United States)]. E-mail: koburkey@unity.ncsu.edu; Neufeld, Howard S. [Appalachian State University, Boone, NC (United States); Souza, Lara [Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States); Chappelka, Arthur H. [Auburn University, Auburn, AL (United States); Davison, Alan W. [University of Newcastle, Newcastle, England (United Kingdom)

2006-10-15

Cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata L.), crown-beard (Verbesina occidentalis Walt.), and tall milkweed (Asclepias exaltata L.) are wildflower species native to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (U.S.A.). Natural populations of each species were analyzed for leaf ascorbic acid (AA) and dehydroascorbic acid (DHA) to assess the role of ascorbate in protecting the plants from ozone stress. Tall milkweed contained greater quantities of AA (7-10 {mu}mol g{sup -1} fresh weight) than crown-beard (2-4 {mu}mol g{sup -1} fresh weight) or cutleaf coneflower (0.5-2 {mu}mol g{sup -1} fresh weight). DHA was elevated in crown-beard and cutleaf coneflower relative to tall milkweed suggesting a diminished capacity for converting DHA into AA. Tall milkweed accumulated AA in the leaf apoplast (30-100 nmol g{sup -1} fresh weight) with individuals expressing ozone foliar injury symptoms late in the season having less apoplast AA. In contrast, AA was not present in the leaf apoplast of either crown-beard or cutleaf coneflower. Unidentified antioxidant compounds were present in the leaf apoplast of all three species. Overall, distinct differences in antioxidant metabolism were found in the wildflower species that corresponded with differences in ozone sensitivity. - Wildflower species exhibit differences in ascorbic acid content and redox status that affect ozone sensitivity.

Estimating Leaf Water Potential of Giant Sequoia Trees from Airborne Hyperspectral Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Francis, E. J.; Asner, G. P.

2015-12-01

Recent drought-induced forest dieback events have motivated research on the mechanisms of tree survival and mortality during drought. Leaf water potential, a measure of the force exerted by the evaporation of water from the leaf surface, is an indicator of plant water stress and can help predict tree mortality in response to drought. Scientists have traditionally measured water potentials on a tree-by-tree basis, but have not been able to produce maps of tree water potential at the scale of a whole forest, leaving forest managers unaware of forest drought stress patterns and their ecosystem-level consequences. Imaging spectroscopy, a technique for remote measurement of chemical properties, has been used to successfully estimate leaf water potentials in wheat and maize crops and pinyon-pine and juniper trees, but these estimates have never been scaled to the canopy level. We used hyperspectral reflectance data collected by the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) to map leaf water potentials of giant sequoia trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in an 800-hectare grove in Sequoia National Park. During the current severe drought in California, we measured predawn and midday leaf water potentials of 48 giant sequoia trees, using the pressure bomb method on treetop foliage samples collected with tree-climbing techniques. The CAO collected hyperspectral reflectance data at 1-meter resolution from the same grove within 1-2 weeks of the tree-level measurements. A partial least squares regression was used to correlate reflectance data extracted from the 48 focal trees with their water potentials, producing a model that predicts water potential of giant sequoia trees. Results show that giant sequoia trees can be mapped in the imagery with a classification accuracy of 0.94, and we predicted the water potential of the mapped trees to assess 1) similarities and differences between a leaf water potential map and a canopy water content map produced from airborne hyperspectral data, 2

Manual for operating practice. Handbuch fuer die betriebliche Praxis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-01-01

The manual gives a practical and useful picture of suitable measures of energy conservation and environmental protection in consideration of economic, taxation, and legal aspects. The following are presented: register topical issues (x), dictionary of environment and energy A-Z; waste disposal (x), air pollution abatement (x); protection of water (x); noise abatement (x); energy conservation; legislation/insurance; taxes/financial aids (x); business economy (x); authorities/public. The dictionary is the key part of the manual, taking up 650 pages. Sections marked (x) have been left as blanks and will be supplied later. The loose-leaf collection has been compiled by 52 experts in theoretical and practical environmental protection; it will be updated up to four times a year.

Crystallographic properties of fertilizer compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frazier, A.W.; Dillard, E.F.; Thrasher, R.D.; Waerstad, K.R.; Hunter, S.R.; Kohler, J.J.; Scheib, R.M.

1991-02-01

This bulletin is a compilation of crystallographic data collected at NFERC on 450 fertilizer-related compounds. In TVA's fertilizer R and D program, petrographic examination, XRD, and infrared spectroscopy are combined with conventional chemical analysis methods in identifying the individual compounds that occur in fertilizer materials. This handbook brings together the results of these characterization studies and supplemental crystallographic data from the literature. It is in one-compound-per-page, loose-leaf format, ordered alphabetically by IUPAC name. Indexes provided include IUPAC name, formula, group, alternate formula, synonyms, x-ray data, optical data. Tables are given for solids, compounds in commercial MAP and DAP, and matrix materials in phosphate rock.

A VAX-FPS Loosely-Coupled Array of Processors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grosdidier, G.

1987-03-01

The main features of a VAX-FPS Loosely-Coupled Array of Processors (LCAP) set-up and the implementation of a High Energy Physics tracking program for off-line purposes will be described. This LCAP consists of a VAX 11/750 host and two FPS 64 bit attached processors. Before analyzing the performances of this LCAP, its characteristics will be outlined, especially from a user's point of vue, and will be briefly compared to those of the IBM-FPS LCAP

Results from Tight and Loose Coupled Multiphysics in Nuclear Fuels Performance Simulations using BISON

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

S. R. Novascone; B. W. Spencer; D. Andrs; R. L. Williamson; J. D. Hales; D. M. Perez

2013-05-01

The behavior of nuclear fuel in the reactor environment is affected by multiple physics, most notably heat conduction and solid mechanics, which can have a strong influence on each other. To provide credible solutions, a fuel performance simulation code must have the ability to obtain solutions for each of the physics, including coupling between them. Solution strategies for solving systems of coupled equations can be categorized as loosely-coupled, where the individual physics are solved separately, keeping the solutions for the other physics fixed at each iteration, or tightly coupled, where the nonlinear solver simultaneously drives down the residual for each physics, taking into account the coupling between the physics in each nonlinear iteration. In this paper, we compare the performance of loosely and tightly coupled solution algorithms for thermomechanical problems involving coupled thermal and mechanical contact, which is a primary source of interdependence between thermal and mechanical solutions in fuel performance models. The results indicate that loosely-coupled simulations require significantly more nonlinear iterations, and may lead to convergence trouble when the thermal conductivity of the gap is too small. We also apply the tightly coupled solution strategy to a nuclear fuel simulation of an experiment in a test reactor. Studying the results from these simulations indicates that perhaps convergence for either approach may be problem dependent, i.e., there may be problems for which a loose coupled approach converges, where tightly coupled won’t converge and vice versa.

Results from tight and loose coupled multiphysics in nuclear fuels performance simulations using BISON

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Novascone, S. R.; Spencer, B. W.; Andrs, D.; Williamson, R. L.; Hales, J. D.; Perez, D. M.

2013-01-01

The behavior of nuclear fuel in the reactor environment is affected by multiple physics, most notably heat conduction and solid mechanics, which can have a strong influence on each other. To provide credible solutions, a fuel performance simulation code must have the ability to obtain solutions for each of the physics, including coupling between them. Solution strategies for solving systems of coupled equations can be categorized as loosely-coupled, where the individual physics are solved separately, keeping the solutions for the other physics fixed at each iteration, or tightly coupled, where the nonlinear solver simultaneously drives down the residual for each physics, taking into account the coupling between the physics in each nonlinear iteration. In this paper, we compare the performance of loosely and tightly coupled solution algorithms for thermomechanical problems involving coupled thermal and mechanical contact, which is a primary source of interdependence between thermal and mechanical solutions in fuel performance models. The results indicate that loosely-coupled simulations require significantly more nonlinear iterations, and may lead to convergence trouble when the thermal conductivity of the gap is too small. We also apply the tightly coupled solution strategy to a nuclear fuel simulation of an experiment in a test reactor. Studying the results from these simulations indicates that perhaps convergence for either approach may be problem dependent, i.e., there may be problems for which a loose coupled approach converges, where tightly coupled won't converge and vice versa. (authors)

SMART VEHICLE PARKING

OpenAIRE

S.Bharath Ram

2016-01-01

The goal of this project is to count the number of empty car parking areas and to display them in a Website. This system consists of sensors attached to several parking areas. These sensors located in different parking area’s detects the presence of vehicle and sends information to Microcontroller, which calculates the number of available empty parking areas and uploads them in a website. This basically works on the principle of Internet of Things here the sensors are connected to internet.

Minoxidil 5% solution for topical treatment of loose anagen hair syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandran, Nisha S; Oranje, Arnold P

2014-01-01

A 2-year-old girl with a diagnosis of loose anagen hair syndrome was treated with a tapering regime of minoxidil 5% solution over 28 months, resulting in quick, significant clinical improvement with no adverse effects. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Influence of Slowly Varying Mass on Severity of Dynamics Nonlinearity of Bearing-Rotor Systems with Pedestal Looseness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mian Jiang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nonlinearity measure is proposed to investigate the influence of slowly varying mass on severity of dynamics nonlinearity of bearing-rotor systems with pedestal looseness. A nonlinear mathematical model including the effect of slowly varying disk mass is developed for a bearing-rotor system with pedestal looseness. The varying of equivalent disk mass is described by a cosine function, and the amplitude coefficient is used as a control parameter. Then, nonlinearity measure is employed to quantify the severity of dynamics nonlinearity of bearing-rotor systems. With the increasing of looseness clearances, the curves that denote the trend of nonlinearity degree are plotted for each amplitude coefficient of mass varying. It can be concluded that larger amplitude coefficients of the disk mass varying will have more influence on the severity of dynamics nonlinearity and generation of chaotic behaviors in rotor systems with pedestal looseness.

Molecular Identification of Bacteria from Aseptically Loose Implants

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Naomi; Procop, Gary W.; Krebs, Viktor; Kobayashi, Hideo

2008-01-01

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays have been used to detect bacteria adherent to failed orthopaedic implants, but some PCR assays have had problems with probable false-positive results. We used a combination of a Staphylococcus species-specific PCR and a universal PCR followed by DNA sequencing to identify bacteria on implants retrieved from 52 patients (92 implants) at revision arthroplasty. We addressed two questions in this study: (1) Is this method able to show the existence of bacterial DNA on presumed aseptic loosed implants?; and (2) What proportion of presumed aseptic or culture-negative implants was positive for bacterial DNA by PCR? Fourteen implants (15%) were believed infected, whereas 74 implants (85%) were believed aseptic. Each implant was sonicated and the resulting solution was submitted for dual real-time PCR assay and culture. All implants believed aseptically loose were culture-negative, but nine of the 74 (12%) had bacterial DNA by PCR; two (2.7%) were PCR-positive and also showed histologic findings suggestive of infection. Uniquely developed PCR and bacterial sequencing assays showed bacterial DNA on 12% of implants removed for presumed aseptic loosening. Additional studies are needed to determine the clinical importance of bacterial DNA detected by PCR but not by conventional culture. Level of Evidence: Level III, diagnostic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence. PMID:18438724

Capacity Analysis Of Parking Lot And Volume Of Vehicle Toward Sustainable Parking Convenience

Science.gov (United States)

Herdiansyah, Herdis; Sugiyanto; Guntur Octavianto, Andrew; Guntur Aritonang, Edison; Nova Imaduddin, Malya; Dedi; Rilaningrum, Magfira

2017-10-01

The development of human's population is having effect on the increase of facilities and transportation needs. One of the primary problems is the availability of parking area. This has occurred in Universitas Indonesia (UI), mainly in Salemba Campus. The availability of land is not as equal as the number of vehicles, which are to be parked, that is why the convenience of students, lecturers and employees at UI is unsatisfactory. The purpose of this paper is to know the level of parking convenience that is affected by the capacity of parking lots and the volume of vehicles in UI Salemba Campus. The results of this research indicate Salemba campus's parking index. The motor index is still in the category of medium (index 0.945) and the car parking index has less category with a parking index 0.485. While with the location of research object being behind the UI Salemba campus, the results obtained were both the motor and the car are still in the category of “enough” with the parking index of, that is 0.657 for the motor and 0.777 for the car. So theoretically, the parking management at Salemba Campus is in an unsustainable parking degree because, if there is no long-term solution, it will increase congestion in the surrounding area and intensify the dissatisfaction of existing parking users.

[Effect of Transcutaneous Acupoint Electrical Stimulation on Hemodynamic Fluctuation Caused by Loosing Tourniquet in Elderly Patients Undergoing Knee Joint Replacement].

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Han-Sheng; Feng, Yi

2017-12-25

To observe the effect of transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation (TAES) on hemodynamic fluctuation caused by loosing tourniquet in the elderly patients undergoing knee joint replacement. A total of 60 ASA (America Society Anesthesiologist) I or II elderly patients for elective knee joint replacement surgery were randomly divided into control group (30 cases) and TAES group (30 cases). Patients of both groups were treated by intravenous anesthesia, and monitored with bispectral index (BIS, between 45－60) for anesthesia depth, stroke volume variation (SVV) for fluid management, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and cardiac index (CI) for hemodynamic fluctuation evaluation, and with analgesia nociception index (ANI, between 50－70) for remifentanil dosage adjustment. TAES (2 Hz/100 Hz, 8－20 mA) was applied to bilateral Xinshu (BL 15), Feishu (BL 13), Neiguan (PC 6) and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints for 30 min first (followed by anesthesia induction and operation), and given continuously until 15 min after tourniquet loosing. Patients of the control group were only given with electrodes attachment without electrical stimulation. The levels of MAP, CI, and arterial blood pH, PaCO 2 , PaO 2 , base excess (BE) and lactic acid (Lac) 1 min before, and 5 and 15 min after tourniquet loosing, and the dosages of remifentanil and ephedrine after tourniquet loosing were recorded. The changed levels of MAP, CI and blood Lac at 5 min after tourniquet loosing (relevant to the baseline levels), and blood Lac content at 15 min after tourniquet loosing (relevant to 5 min after tourniquet loosing) were significantly lower in the TAES group than in the control group ( P 0.05). TAES has a positive effect on hemodynamics fluctuation caused by loosing tourniquet in the aged patients undergoing knee joint replacement.

Applications of the monitor of loose parts in the cycle 6 of the Laguna Verde Unit 2 power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calleros, G.; Mendez, A.; Gomez, R.A.; Castillo, R.; Bravo, J.M.

2004-01-01

The monitor of loose parts (Loose Parts Monitoring System) installed in the Unit 2 of the Laguna Verde Central is a tool to detect strange objects or parts loose in the system of refrigeration of the reactor that could be impacted in the walls of the recirculation knots or in the internal of the reactor. In this work two applications are shown carried out with the Monitor of Loose Parts, determining the characteristics of the stable nominal conditions, those which when changing, they are used to diagnose during the Cycle 6 of the Unit 2, failures in the components of the the recirculation circuits or to identify mechanical vibrations of the recirculation knots induced by a flow of recirculation bistable associated to operative conditions of the reactor. (Author)

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Flagstaff Car-Park and Park-and-Ride (P+R)

CERN Document Server

GS Department

2011-01-01

As part of the new arrangements following the arrival of the tram-line at CERN, an Automatic Number-Plate Recognition (ANPR) system has been installed restricting access to the Flagstaff Car-park and the Park-and-Ride (P+R) zone according to the conditions set out below: Holders of a valid P+R user card may enter the car-park at all hours but may only park in the area specifically designated as the P+R zone. P+R user cards can be purchased from the Fondation des Parkings de Genève (http://www.ge.ch/parkings/abonnements.html)   Members of CERN personnel and of contractors' personnel, whatever their status, may freely access the Flagstaff Car-Park at all hours, as long as their vehicle is duly registered with CERN, but they may not use the P+R zone, which is reserved for holders of P+R user cards. Please check that your vehicle number-plates are properly registered via AdaMS (http://cern.ch/adams). If this is not the case, the following action must be taken: - for private or co...

Distributed Solutions for Loosely Coupled Feasibility Problems Using Proximal Splitting Methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pakazad, Sina Khoshfetrat; Andersen, Martin Skovgaard; Hansson, Anders

2014-01-01

In this paper,we consider convex feasibility problems (CFPs) where the underlying sets are loosely coupled, and we propose several algorithms to solve such problems in a distributed manner. These algorithms are obtained by applying proximal splitting methods to convex minimization reformulations ...

Perceived Health Benefits and Willingness to Pay for Parks by Park Users: Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire Henderson-Wilson

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Whilst a growing body of evidence demonstrates people derive a range of health and wellbeing benefits from visiting parks, only a limited number of attempts have been made to provide a complementary economic assessment of parks. The aim of this exploratory study was to directly estimate the perceived health and wellbeing benefits attained from parks and the economic value assigned to parks by park users in Victoria, Australia. The research employed a mixed methods approach (survey and interviews to collect primary data from a selection of 140 park users: 100 from two metropolitan parks in Melbourne and 40 from a park on the urban fringe of Melbourne, Victoria. Our findings suggest that park users derive a range of perceived physical, mental/spiritual, and social health benefits, but park use was predominantly associated with physical health benefits. Overall, our exploratory study findings suggest that park users are willing to pay for parks, as they highly value them as places for exercising, socialising, and relaxing. Importantly, most people would miss parks if they did not exist. The findings aim to provide park managers, public health advocates, and urban policy makers with evidence about the perceived health and wellbeing benefits of park usage and the economic value park visitors place on parks.

Are TODs Over-Parked?

OpenAIRE

Cervero, Robert; Adkins, Arlie; Sullivan, Cathleen

2009-01-01

This study empirically investigates the proposition that TOD, and specifically housing near suburban rail stops, is “over-parked†in the U.S. This is done by comparing parking generation rates for 31 housing complexes near rail stops in the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon with on-site parking supplies and with ITE parking generation rates. Factors that explain parking demand for transit-oriented housing are also investigated, both statistically and through case analyses. The re...

Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Coastal Units of the National Park Service (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Beavers, R. L.

2010-12-01

83 National Park Service (NPS) units contain nearly 12,000 miles of coastal, estuarine and Great Lakes shoreline and their associated resources. Iconic natural features exist along active shorelines in NPS units, including, e.g., Cape Cod, Padre Island, Hawaii Volcanoes, and the Everglades. Iconic cultural resources managed by NPS include the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Fort Sumter, the Golden Gate, and heiaus and fish traps along the coast of Hawaii. Impacts anticipated from sea level rise include inundation and flooding of beaches and low lying marshes, shoreline erosion of coastal areas, and saltwater intrusion into the water table. These impacts and other coastal hazards will threaten park beaches, marshes, and other resources and values; alter the viability of coastal roads; and require the NPS to re-evaluate the financial, safety, and environmental implications of maintaining current projects and implementing future projects in ocean and coastal parks in the context of sea level rise. Coastal erosion will increase as sea levels rise. Barrier islands along the coast of Louisiana and North Carolina may have already passed the threshold for maintaining island integrity in any scenario of sea level rise (U.S. Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Program Report 4.1). Consequently, sea level rise is expected to hasten the disappearance of historic coastal villages, coastal wetlands, forests, and beaches, and threaten coastal roads, homes, and businesses. While sea level is rising in most coastal parks, some parks are experiencing lower water levels due to isostatic rebound and lower lake levels. NPS funded a Coastal Vulnerability Project to evaluate the physical and geologic factors affecting 25 coastal parks. The USGS Open File Reports for each park are available at http://woodshole.er.usgs.gov/project-pages/. These reports were designed to inform park planning efforts. NPS conducted a Storm Vulnerability Project to provide ocean and coastal

The influence of salinity of fly ash mixtures on energy looses during flow in pipelines

OpenAIRE

И. Собота

2017-01-01

In Polish mining for backfilling the fly ash mixtures are used. Last time for fly ash mixtures preparation the saline water from mine have been used, to thanks to that the saline water missing the surface waters. Usage of saline water for fly ash mixture preparation causes the changes in energy looses during the flow in pipelines. The paper presents the results of energy looses measurement іn laboratory pipeline installation with diameter D =50 mm. The measurements have been performed for dif...

Plant dieback under exceptional drought driven by elevation, not by plant traits, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth F. Waring

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In 2011, Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA, experienced the most severe single year drought in its recorded history, resulting in significant plant mortality. We used this event to test how perennial plant response to drought varied across elevation, plant growth form and leaf traits. In October 2010 and October 2011, we measured plant cover by species at six evenly-spaced elevations ranging from Chihuahuan desert (666 m to oak forest in the Chisos mountains (1,920 m. We asked the following questions: what was the relationship between elevation and stem dieback and did susceptibility to drought differ among functional groups or by leaf traits? In 2010, pre-drought, we measured leaf mass per area (LMA on each species. In 2011, the percent of canopy dieback for each individual was visually estimated. Living canopy cover decreased significantly after the drought of 2011 and dieback decreased with elevation. There was no relationship between LMA and dieback within elevations. The negative relationship between proportional dieback and elevation was consistent in shrub and succulent species, which were the most common growth forms across elevations, indicating that dieback was largely driven by elevation and not by species traits. Growth form turnover did not influence canopy dieback; differences in canopy cover and proportional dieback among elevations were driven primarily by differences in drought severity. These results indicate that the 2011 drought in Big Bend National Park had a large effect on communities at all elevations with average dieback for all woody plants ranging from 8% dieback at the highest elevation to 83% dieback at lowest elevations.

Loose glenoid components in revision shoulder arthroplasty: is there an association with positive cultures?

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Robert M; Hsu, Jason E; Whitney, Ian J; Wasserburger, Jory; Matsen, Frederick A

2016-08-01

Glenoid loosening is one of the most common causes of total shoulder failure. High rates of positive cultures of Propionibacterium and coagulase-negative staphylococcus have been found among shoulders having surgical revision for glenoid loosening. This study reviewed the culture results in a series of surgical revisions for failed total shoulder arthroplasty to determine the relationship between glenoid loosening and positive cultures. The medical records of 221 patients without obvious evidence of infection who underwent revision total shoulder arthroplasty were reviewed to examine the association between the security of fixation of the glenoid component and the results of cultures obtained at revision surgery. Of the revised shoulders, 53% had positive cultures; 153 of the shoulders (69%) had a loose glenoid component, whereas 68 (31%) had secure glenoid component fixation. Of the 153 loose glenoid components, 82 (54%) had at least 1 positive culture and 44 (29%) had 2 or more positive cultures of the same microorganism. Similarly, of the 68 secure glenoid components, 35 (51%) had at least 1 positive culture (P = .77) and 14 (21%) had 2 or more positive cultures of the same microorganism (P = .25). Explanted glenoid components that were loose had a higher rate of culture positivity (56% [24/43]) in comparison to explanted glenoid components that were well fixed (13% [1/8]) (P = .05). Propionibacterium and coagulase-negative staphylococcus are commonly recovered in revision shoulder arthroplasty, whether or not the glenoid components are loose. Copyright © 2016 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bark in the Park: A Review of Domestic Dogs in Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Weston, Michael A.; Fitzsimons, James A.; Wescott, Geoffrey; Miller, Kelly K.; Ekanayake, Kasun B.; Schneider, Thomas

2014-09-01

The presence of domestic dogs Canis familiaris in public open spaces is increasingly controversial. In our review of the literature, we located 133 publications of various types (papers, reports etc.) that examine some aspect of dogs in parks and open spaces (50 % focussed solely on dogs). There has been an exponential growth in the cumulative number of articles ( R 2 = 0.96; 82 % published since 1997); almost all pertain to temperate latitudes (97 %) and most to the northern hemisphere (62 %). Most articles focus on impacts on wildlife (51 %), zoonotic diseases (17 %), and people's perceptions regarding dogs (12 %). Articles mostly describe problems associated with dogs, while reports of low compliance with dog regulations are common. We outline six major findings regarding dogs in parks: (1) there is a paucity of information on dogs in parks, particularly in relation to their interactions with wildlife and regarding their management; (2) published studies are mainly restricted to a handful of locations in developed countries; (3) sectors of societies hold different views over the desirability of dogs in parks; (4) the benefits and risks of dogs to humans and park values are poorly documented and known; (5) dogs represent a notable disease risk in some but not all countries; and (6) coastal parks are over-represented in the literature in terms of potential negative impacts. Park managers globally require better information to achieve conservation outcomes from dog management in parks.

Conditions for the management of carrying capacity in the parks of Parks&Benefits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper; Holmes, Esbern

2011-01-01

Growth in the number of visitors is an upcoming problem in nature parks. Nature parks are at the same time facing increasing demand, falling public appropriations and receding focus on their conservation functions. To ensure a balancing of nature protection and economic utilization the concept...... stakeholders, balancing use and protection preferably based on scientific and/or experiential cognition. The conditions for the management of carrying capacity for the 8 nature parks in the EC Baltic Project Parks&Benefits are analysed in the report. 1. Part focus on the methodology, concentrated...... on the comparison of the common conditions related to the international nature protection obligations in the parks, primarily expressed through the management under the EU Natura2000-program. In part 2, a comparison of the 8 parks concerning extent, land use composition, population in and around the park...

Pyrosequencing reveals bacterial communities in unchlorinated drinking water distribution system: an integral study of bulk water, suspended solids, loose deposits, and pipe wall biofilm.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, G; Bakker, G L; Li, S; Vreeburg, J H G; Verberk, J Q J C; Medema, G J; Liu, W T; Van Dijk, J C

2014-05-20

The current understanding of drinking water distribution system (DWDS) microbiology is limited to pipe wall biofilm and bulk water; the contributions of particle-associated bacteria (from suspended solids and loose deposits) have long been neglected. Analyzing the composition and correlation of bacterial communities from different phases helped us to locate where most of the bacteria are and understand the interactions among these phases. In the present study, the bacteria from four critical phases of an unchlorinated DWDS, including bulk water, pipe wall biofilm, suspended solids, and loose deposits, were quantified and identified by adenosine triphosphate analysis and pyrosequencing, respectively. The results showed that the bulk water bacteria (including the contribution of suspended solids) contributed less than 2% of the total bacteria. The bacteria associated with loose deposits and pipe wall biofilm that accumulated in the DWDS accounted for over 98% of the total bacteria, and the contributions of bacteria in loose deposits and pipe wall biofilm were comparable. Depending on the amount of loose deposits, its contribution can be 7-fold higher than the pipe wall biofilm. Pyrosequencing revealed relatively stable bacterial communities in bulk water, pipe wall biofilm, and suspended solids throughout the distribution system; however, the communities present in loose deposits were dependent on the amount of loose deposits locally. Bacteria within the phases of suspended solids, loose deposits, and pipe wall biofilm were similar in phylogenetic composition. The bulk water bacteria (dominated by Polaromonas spp.) were clearly different from the bacteria from the other three phases (dominated by Sphingomonas spp.). This study highlighted that the integral DWDS ecology should include contributions from all of the four phases, especially the bacteria harbored by loose deposits. The accumulation of loose deposits and the aging process create variable microenvironments

Pyrosequencing Reveals Bacterial Communities in Unchlorinated Drinking Water Distribution System: An Integral Study of Bulk Water, Suspended Solids, Loose Deposits, and Pipe Wall Biofilm

KAUST Repository

Liu, G.

2014-05-20

The current understanding of drinking water distribution system (DWDS) microbiology is limited to pipe wall biofilm and bulk water; the contributions of particle-associated bacteria (from suspended solids and loose deposits) have long been neglected. Analyzing the composition and correlation of bacterial communities from different phases helped us to locate where most of the bacteria are and understand the interactions among these phases. In the present study, the bacteria from four critical phases of an unchlorinated DWDS, including bulk water, pipe wall biofilm, suspended solids, and loose deposits, were quantified and identified by adenosine triphosphate analysis and pyrosequencing, respectively. The results showed that the bulk water bacteria (including the contribution of suspended solids) contributed less than 2% of the total bacteria. The bacteria associated with loose deposits and pipe wall biofilm that accumulated in the DWDS accounted for over 98% of the total bacteria, and the contributions of bacteria in loose deposits and pipe wall biofilm were comparable. Depending on the amount of loose deposits, its contribution can be 7-fold higher than the pipe wall biofilm. Pyrosequencing revealed relatively stable bacterial communities in bulk water, pipe wall biofilm, and suspended solids throughout the distribution system; however, the communities present in loose deposits were dependent on the amount of loose deposits locally. Bacteria within the phases of suspended solids, loose deposits, and pipe wall biofilm were similar in phylogenetic composition. The bulk water bacteria (dominated by Polaromonas spp.) were clearly different from the bacteria from the other three phases (dominated by Sphingomonas spp.). This study highlighted that the integral DWDS ecology should include contributions from all of the four phases, especially the bacteria harbored by loose deposits. The accumulation of loose deposits and the aging process create variable microenvironments

High-density genetic mapping of a major QTL for resistance to multiple races of loose smut in a tetraploid wheat cross

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sachin; Knox, Ron E.; Singh, Asheesh K.; DePauw, Ron M.; Campbell, Heather L.; Isidro-Sanchez, Julio; Clarke, Fran R.; Pozniak, Curtis J.; N’Daye, Amidou; Meyer, Brad; Sharpe, Andrew; Ruan, Yuefeng; Cuthbert, Richard D.; Somers, Daryl; Fedak, George

2018-01-01

Loose smut, caused by Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr., is a systemic disease of tetraploid durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.). Loose smut can be economically controlled by growing resistant varieties, making it important to find and deploy new sources of resistance. Blackbird, a variety of T. turgidum L. subsp. carthlicum (Nevski) A. Love & D. Love, carries a high level of resistance to loose smut. Blackbird was crossed with the loose smut susceptible durum cultivar Strongfield to produce a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population. The parents and progenies were inoculated with U. tritici races T26, T32 and T33 individually and as a mixture at Swift Current, Canada in 2011 and 2012 and loose smut incidence (LSI) was assessed. Genotyping of the DH population and parents using an Infinium iSelect 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array identified 12,952 polymorphic SNPs. The SNPs and 426 SSRs (previously genotyped in the same population) were mapped to 16 linkage groups spanning 3008.4 cM at an average inter-marker space of 0.2 cM in a high-density genetic map. Composite interval mapping analysis revealed three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) for loose smut resistance on chromosomes 3A, 6B and 7A. The loose smut resistance QTL on 6B (QUt.spa-6B.2) and 7A (QUt.spa-7A.2) were derived from Blackbird. Strongfield contributed the minor QTL on 3A (QUt.spa-3A.2). The resistance on 6B was a stable major QTL effective against all individual races and the mixture of the three races; it explained up to 74% of the phenotypic variation. This study is the first attempt in durum wheat to identify and map loose smut resistance QTL using a high-density genetic map. The QTL QUt.spa-6B.2 would be an effective source for breeding resistance to multiple races of the loose smut pathogen because it provides near-complete broad resistance to the predominant virulence on the Canadian prairies. PMID:29485999

High-density genetic mapping of a major QTL for resistance to multiple races of loose smut in a tetraploid wheat cross.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sachin Kumar

Full Text Available Loose smut, caused by Ustilago tritici (Pers. Rostr., is a systemic disease of tetraploid durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L.. Loose smut can be economically controlled by growing resistant varieties, making it important to find and deploy new sources of resistance. Blackbird, a variety of T. turgidum L. subsp. carthlicum (Nevski A. Love & D. Love, carries a high level of resistance to loose smut. Blackbird was crossed with the loose smut susceptible durum cultivar Strongfield to produce a doubled haploid (DH mapping population. The parents and progenies were inoculated with U. tritici races T26, T32 and T33 individually and as a mixture at Swift Current, Canada in 2011 and 2012 and loose smut incidence (LSI was assessed. Genotyping of the DH population and parents using an Infinium iSelect 90K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP array identified 12,952 polymorphic SNPs. The SNPs and 426 SSRs (previously genotyped in the same population were mapped to 16 linkage groups spanning 3008.4 cM at an average inter-marker space of 0.2 cM in a high-density genetic map. Composite interval mapping analysis revealed three significant quantitative trait loci (QTL for loose smut resistance on chromosomes 3A, 6B and 7A. The loose smut resistance QTL on 6B (QUt.spa-6B.2 and 7A (QUt.spa-7A.2 were derived from Blackbird. Strongfield contributed the minor QTL on 3A (QUt.spa-3A.2. The resistance on 6B was a stable major QTL effective against all individual races and the mixture of the three races; it explained up to 74% of the phenotypic variation. This study is the first attempt in durum wheat to identify and map loose smut resistance QTL using a high-density genetic map. The QTL QUt.spa-6B.2 would be an effective source for breeding resistance to multiple races of the loose smut pathogen because it provides near-complete broad resistance to the predominant virulence on the Canadian prairies.

Exploration of Science Parks

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xiong Huibing; Sun Nengli

2005-01-01

Science parks have developed gready in the world, whereas empirical researches have showed that science parks based on linear model cannot guarantee the creation of innovation. Hi-tech innovation is derived from flow and management of information. The commercial and social interactions between in-parks and off-park firms and research institutions act as the key determinant for innovation.Industrial clustering is the rational choice for further developing Chinese science parks and solving some problems such as the lack of dear major industries and strong innovation sense, etc.

Heavy metal concentrations in ground beetles, leaf litter, and soil of a forest ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Jelaska, Lucija Serić; Blanusa, Maja; Durbesić, Paula; Jelaska, Sven D

2007-01-01

The objective of this study was to quantify the relationships between heavy metal concentrations in soil, leaf litter, and ground beetles at four sampling sites of a forest ecosystem in Medvednica Nature Park, Croatia. Ground beetles were sampled by pitfall trapping. Specimens were dry-ashed and soil and beetle samples digested with nitric acid. Lead, cadmium, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry. Statistically significant differences between plots were found for lead, cadmium, and iron in ground beetles. Correlations between ground beetles and soil or leaf litter were positive for lead and cadmium concentrations and negative for iron concentration. Differences in species metal concentrations were recorded. Higher concentrations of all studied metals were found in female beetles. However, a significant difference between sexes was found only for manganese. Significant differences in species metal concentrations were found for species that differ in feeding strategies and age based on breeding season and emergence of young adults.

"Breath figures" on leaf surfaces-formation and effects of microscopic leaf wetness.

Science.gov (United States)

Burkhardt, Juergen; Hunsche, Mauricio

2013-01-01

"Microscopic leaf wetness" means minute amounts of persistent liquid water on leaf surfaces which are invisible to the naked eye. The water is mainly maintained by transpired water vapor condensing onto the leaf surface and to attached leaf surface particles. With an estimated average thickness of less than 1 μm, microscopic leaf wetness is about two orders of magnitude thinner than morning dewfall. The most important physical processes which reduce the saturation vapor pressure and promote condensation are cuticular absorption and the deliquescence of hygroscopic leaf surface particles. Deliquescent salts form highly concentrated solutions. Depending on the type and concentration of the dissolved ions, the physicochemical properties of microscopic leaf wetness can be considerably different from those of pure water. Microscopic leaf wetness can form continuous thin layers on hydrophobic leaf surfaces and in specific cases can act similar to surfactants, enabling a strong potential influence on the foliar exchange of ions. Microscopic leaf wetness can also enhance the dissolution, the emission, and the reaction of specific atmospheric trace gases e.g., ammonia, SO2, or ozone, leading to a strong potential role for microscopic leaf wetness in plant/atmosphere interaction. Due to its difficult detection, there is little knowledge about the occurrence and the properties of microscopic leaf wetness. However, based on the existing evidence and on physicochemical reasoning it can be hypothesized that microscopic leaf wetness occurs on almost any plant worldwide and often permanently, and that it significantly influences the exchange processes of the leaf surface with its neighboring compartments, i.e., the plant interior and the atmosphere. The omission of microscopic water in general leaf wetness concepts has caused far-reaching, misleading conclusions in the past.

Parking management : strategies, evaluation and planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litman, T.A.

2006-01-01

Parking facilities are a major cost to society. Current planning practices are based on the assumption that parking should be abundant and provided free, with costs borne indirectly. This report examined parking management strategies related to integrated parking plans. Problems with current parking planning practices were reviewed. The costs of parking facilities were examined, as well as the savings that can accrue from improved management techniques. Strategies included shared parking; remote parking and shuttle services; walking and cycling improvements; improved enforcement and control; and increasing the capacity of existing parking facilities. Parking pricing methods, financial incentives and parking tax reforms were reviewed. Issues concerning user information and marketing were examined. Overflow parking plans were evaluated. Three illustrative examples of parking management programs were outlined, along with details of implementation, planning and evaluation procedures. It was concluded that cost-effective parking management programs can often reduce parking requirements by 20 to 40 per cent compared with conventional planning requirements, in addition to providing economic, social and environmental benefits. 32 refs., 7 tabs., 3 figs

Effect of Plant Growth Regulators on Leaf Number, Leaf Area and Leaf Dry Matter in Grape

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahoor Ahmad BHAT

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Influence of phenylureas (CPPU and brassinosteriod (BR along with GA (gibberellic acid were studied on seedless grape vegetative characteristics like leaf number, leaf area and leaf dry matter. Growth regulators were sprayed on the vines either once (7 days after fruit set or 15 days after fruit set or twice (7+15 days after fruit set. CPPU 2 ppm+BR 0.4 ppm+GA 25 ppm produced maximum number of leaves (18.78 while as untreated vines produced least leaf number (16.22 per shoot. Maximum leaf area (129.70 cm2 and dry matter content (26.51% was obtained with higher CPPU (3 ppm and BR (0.4 ppm combination along with GA 25 ppm. Plant growth regulators whether naturally derived or synthetic are used to improve the productivity and quality of grapes. The relatively high value of grapes justifies more expensive inputs. A relatively small improvement in yield or fruit quality can justify the field application of a very costly product. Application of new generation growth regulators like brassinosteroids and phenylureas like CPPU have been reported to increase the leaf number as well as leaf area and dry matter thereby indirectly influencing the fruit yield and quality in grapes.

Correspondence of perceived vs. objective proximity to parks and their relationship to park-based physical activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaczynski Andrew T

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Parks are key environmental resources for encouraging population-level physical activity (PA. In measuring availability of parks, studies have employed both self-reported and objective indicators of proximity, with little correspondence observed between these two types of measures. However, little research has examined how the degree of correspondence between self-reported and objectively-measured distance to parks is influenced by individual, neighborhood, and park-related variables, or which type of measure is more strongly related to physical activity outcomes. Methods We used data from 574 respondents who reported the distance to their closest park and compared this with objective measurements of proximity to the closest park. Both indicators were dichotomized as having or not having a park within 750 m. Audits of all park features within this distance were also conducted and other personal characteristics and neighborhood context variables (safety, connectedness, aesthetics were gleaned from participants' survey responses. Participants also completed detailed seven-day PA log booklets from which measures of neighborhood-based and park-based PA were derived. Results Agreement was poor in that only 18% of respondents achieved a match between perceived and objective proximity to the closest park (kappa = 0.01. Agreement was higher among certain subgroups, especially those who reported engaging in at least some park-based PA. As well, respondents with a greater number of parks nearby, whose closest park had more features, and whose closest park contained a playground or wooded area were more likely to achieve a match. Having a ball diamond or soccer field in the closest park was negatively related to achieving a match between perceived and objective proximity. Finally, engaging in at least some park-based PA was not related to either perceived or objective proximity to a park, but was more likely when a match between and

Design of a Loose Part Monitoring System Test-bed using CompactRIO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Min-seok; Lee, Kwang-Dae; Lee, Eui-Jong [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

A loose part monitoring system (LPMS) is included in the NSSS integrity monitoring system (NIMS), which serves to detect loose parts in reactor coolant systems (RCS). LPMSs at Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in Korea follow the ASME OM standard and acquire data from 18 sensors simultaneously. Data acquisition requires a sampling rate of more than 50KHz along with a 12bit A/D converter. Existing LPMS equipment is composed of several different platforms, such as a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a micro control unit (MCU), and electric circuit cards. These systems have vulnerabilities, such as discontinuance due to aging and incompatibility issues between different pieces of equipment. This paper suggests CompactRIO as a new platform. We devised a Test-bed using CompactRIO and demonstrate that the proposed method meets the criteria required by the standard. The LPMS provides an alert when an impact event occurs and provides information with which to analyze the location, energy, and mass of the loose parts. LPMSs in NPPs in Korea operate on a variety of platforms. Thus, these systems are vulnerable to discontinuances due to aging and incompatibilities arising from the use of different type of equipment. In order to solve these problems, this paper suggests CompactRIO as a new platform. It is a rugged, reconfigurable, high-performance industrial embedded system. The results of performance tests meet the criteria set by the current standard.

Parking taxes : evaluating options and impacts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litman, T.A.

2006-01-01

In addition to encouraging the use of alternative modes of transport, parking taxes can help to reduce congestion, air pollution, and urban sprawl. Various types of parking taxes were evaluated in this paper, as well as their impacts on parking supply, prices and travel patterns. Examples of various parking tax programs in major cities in Canada, Europe, the United States and Australia were presented. Parking tax programs were divided into 2 main categories: (1) per-space parking levies which distribute cost burdens and encourage property owners to manage parking supply more efficiently and (2) commercial parking taxes on parking rental transactions which discourage the pricing of parking and concentrate impacts in limited areas. Worksite parking levies were discussed, as well stormwater fees and employee parking as a taxable benefit. Typical parking facility financial costs were reviewed and best practices for structuring and implementing parking taxes to increase public acceptability were outlined. It was suggested that the tax base should be broad and well-defined. Local governments should increase parking prices to market rates before imposing special parking taxes, and taxes and fees should be structured to avoid undesirable land use. Parking tax reforms should be part of an overall parking and mobility management program. Stakeholders should be consulted to insure that regulations, administrative procedures and enforcement policies are efficient and fair. The establishment of an evaluation program to determine tax impacts on parking supply and pricing, economic activity, traffic and spillover problems was also recommended. 42 refs., 4 tabs., 1 fig

The on-street parking premium and car drivers' choice between street and garage parking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kobus, M.B.W.; Gutierrez Puigarnau, E.; Rietveld, P.; van Ommeren, J.N.

2013-01-01

We introduce a methodology to estimate the effect of parking prices on car drivers' choice between street and garage parking. Our key identifying assumption is that the marginal benefit of parking duration does not depend on this choice. The endogeneity of parking duration is acknowledged in the

Experiments in MARIUS on HTR tubular fuel with loose particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bosser, R; Langlet, G

1972-06-15

The work described on HTR tubular fuel with loose particles is the first part of a program in three points. The cell is the same in the three experiments, only particles in the fuel container are changed. The aim of the experiment is to achieve the buckling in a critical facility. A description of the techniques of measurements, calculations, and results are presented.

Thermal protection system gap analysis using a loosely coupled fluid-structural thermal numerical method

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jie; Li, Piao; Yao, Weixing

2018-05-01

A loosely coupled fluid-structural thermal numerical method is introduced for the thermal protection system (TPS) gap thermal control analysis in this paper. The aerodynamic heating and structural thermal are analyzed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and numerical heat transfer (NHT) methods respectively. An interpolation algorithm based on the control surface is adopted for the data exchanges on the coupled surface. In order to verify the analysis precision of the loosely coupled method, a circular tube example was analyzed, and the wall temperature agrees well with the test result. TPS gap thermal control performance was studied by the loosely coupled method successfully. The gap heat flux is mainly distributed in the small region at the top of the gap which is the high temperature region. Besides, TPS gap temperature and the power of the active cooling system (CCS) calculated by the traditional uncoupled method are higher than that calculated by the coupled method obviously. The reason is that the uncoupled method doesn't consider the coupled effect between the aerodynamic heating and structural thermal, however the coupled method considers it, so TPS gap thermal control performance can be analyzed more accurately by the coupled method.

Entertainment Pages.

Science.gov (United States)

Druce, Mike

1981-01-01

Notes that the planning of an effective entertainment page in a school newspaper must begin by establishing its purpose. Examines all the elements that contribute to the makeup of a good entertainment page. (RL)

Semi-automatic parking slot marking recognition for intelligent parking assist systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ho Gi Jung

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a semi-automatic parking slot marking-based target position designation method for parking assist systems in cases where the parking slot markings are of a rectangular type, and its efficient implementation for real-time operation. After the driver observes a rearview image captured by a rearward camera installed at the rear of the vehicle through a touchscreen-based human machine interface, a target parking position is designated by touching the inside of a parking slot. To ensure the proposed method operates in real-time in an embedded environment, access of the bird's-eye view image is made efficient: image-wise batch transformation is replaced with pixel-wise instantaneous transformation. The proposed method showed a 95.5% recognition rate in 378 test cases with 63 test images. Additionally, experiments confirmed that the pixel-wise instantaneous transformation reduced execution time by 92%.

Smart Parking Management Field Test: A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Parking Demonstration

OpenAIRE

Shaheen, Susan

2005-01-01

In almost every major city in the U.S. and internationally, parking problems are ubiquitous. It is well known that the limited availability of parking contributes to roadway congestion, air pollution, and driver frustration and that the cost of expanding traditional parking capacity is frequently prohibitive. However, less research has addressed the effect of insufficient parking at transit stations on transit use. In the San Francisco Bay Area, parking has recently been at or near capacity a...

Effect of different brewing times on soluble oxalate content of loose-packed black teas and tea bags.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahdavi, Reza; Lotfi Yagin, Neda; Liebman, Michael; Nikniaz, Zeinab

2013-02-01

Because of the postulated role of increased dietary oxalate intake in calcium oxalate stone formation, the effect of different brewing times on soluble oxalate contents of loose-packed black tea and tea bags was studied. The oxalate content of 25 different samples of loose-packed black teas after brewing at 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 min and of ten brands of tea bags after infusion for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 min was measured by enzymatic assay. The oxalate concentration resulting from different brewing times ranged from 4.3 to 6.2 mg/240 ml for loose-packed black teas and from 2.7 to 4.8 mg/240 ml for tea bags. There was a stepwise increase in oxalate concentration associated with increased brewing times.

A Cross-Sectional Investigation of the Importance of Park Features for Promoting Regular Physical Activity in Parks.

Science.gov (United States)

Costigan, Sarah A; Veitch, Jenny; Crawford, David; Carver, Alison; Timperio, Anna

2017-11-02

Parks in the US and Australia are generally underutilised, and park visitors typically engage in low levels of physical activity (PA). Better understanding park features that may encourage visitors to be active is important. This study examined the perceived importance of park features for encouraging park-based PA and examined differences by sex, age, parental-status and participation in PA. Cross-sectional surveys were completed by local residents ( n = 2775) living near two parks (2013/2015). Demographic variables, park visitation and leisure-time PA were self-reported, respondents rated the importance of 20 park features for encouraging park-based PA in the next fortnight. Chi-square tests of independence examined differences in importance of park features for PA among sub-groups of local residents (sex, age, parental-status, PA). Park features ranked most important for park-based PA were: well maintained (96.2%), feel safe (95.4%), relaxing atmosphere (91.2%), easy to get to (91.7%), and shady trees (90.3%). All subgroups ranked 'well maintained' as most important. Natural and built environment features of parks are important for promoting adults' park-based PA, and should be considered in park (re)design.

Loose and Tight Coupling in Educational Organizations--An Integrative Literature Review

Science.gov (United States)

Hautala, Tanja; Helander, Jaakko; Korhonen, Vesa

2018-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesize the attributes of loose and tight coupling in educational organizations. In addition, it is aimed to determine whether this phenomenon has value and strategies to offer for the current educational administration and research. Design/methodology/approach: Integrative literature review…

Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Sliwinski

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Leaf-tying caterpillars act as ecosystem engineers by building shelters between overlapping leaves, which are inhabited by other arthropods. Leaf-tiers have been observed to leave their ties and create new shelters (and thus additional microhabitats, but the ecological factors affecting shelter fidelity are poorly known. For this study, we explored the effects of resource limitation and occupant density on shelter fidelity and assessed the consequences of shelter abandonment. We first quantified the area of leaf material required for a caterpillar to fully develop for two of the most common leaf-tiers that feed on white oak, Quercus alba. On average, Psilocorsis spp. caterpillars consumed 21.65 ± 0.67 cm2 leaf material to complete development. We also measured the area of natural leaf ties found in a Maryland forest, to determine the distribution of resources available to caterpillars in situ. Of 158 natural leaf ties examined, 47% were too small to sustain an average Psilocorsis spp. caterpillar for the entirety of its development. We also manipulated caterpillar densities within experimental ties on potted trees to determine the effects of cohabitants on the likelihood of a caterpillar to leave its tie. We placed 1, 2, or 4 caterpillars in ties of a standard size and monitored the caterpillars twice daily to track their movement. In ties with more than one occupant, caterpillars showed a significantly greater propensity to leave their tie, and left sooner and at a faster rate than those in ties as single occupants. To understand the consequences of leaf tie abandonment, we observed caterpillars searching a tree for a site to build a shelter in the field. This is a risky behavior, as 17% of the caterpillars observed died while searching for a shelter site. Caterpillars that successfully built a shelter traveled 110 ± 20 cm and took 28 ± 7 min to find a suitable site to build a shelter. In conclusion, leaf-tying caterpillars must frequently

Modelling parking behaviour considering heterogeneity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

San Martin, G.A.; Ibeas Portilla, A.; Alonso Oreña, B.; Olio, L. del

2016-07-01

Most of motorized trips in cities of middle and small size are made in public transport and mainly in private vehicle, this has caused a saturation in parking systems of the cities, causing important problems to society, one of the most important problems is high occupancy of public space by parking systems. Thus, is required the estimation of models that reproduce users’ behaviour when they are choosing for parking in cities, to carry out transport policies to improve transport efficiency and parking systems in the cities. The aim of this paper is the specification and estimation of models that simulate users’ behaviour when they are choosing among alternatives of parking that there are in the city: free on street parking, paid on street parking, paid on underground parking and Park and Ride (now there isn´t). For this purpose, is proposed a multinomial logit model that consider systematic and random variations in tastes. Data of users’ behaviour from the different alternatives of parking have been obtained with a stated preference surveys campaign which have been done in May 2015 in the principal parking zones of the city of Santander. In this paper, we provide a number of improvements to previously developed methodologies because of we consider much more realism to create the scenarios stated preference survey, obtaining better adjustments. (Author)

Full page insight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cortsen, Rikke Platz

2014-01-01

Alan Moore and his collaborating artists often manipulate time and space by drawing upon the formal elements of comics and making alternative constellations. This article looks at an element that is used frequently in comics of all kinds – the full page – and discusses how it helps shape spatio......, something that it shares with the full page in comics. Through an analysis of several full pages from Moore titles like Swamp Thing, From Hell, Watchmen and Promethea, it is made clear why the full page provides an apt vehicle for an apocalypse in comics....

Impacts of national parks on tourism: a case study from a prominent alpine national park

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Getzner, M.

2008-01-01

National parks and other categories of protected areas are often assumed to enhance regional economic development due to park tourism. The current study attempts to estimate the impact of the Hohe Tauern national park (Austria) on tourism by exploring whether and to what extent the national park may have had an influence on tourism development. For most national park communities, the results suggest that the establishment of the national park had some impact by enforcing an already positive trend or by weakening or reversing a negative trend of tourism. However, breakpoint tests exhibit turning points up to several years after the establishment of the park, indicating that taking a national park as the basis for tourism development is a medium to long term development strategy. In the short term, the impact of a national park on tourism is not measurable. Tourism increased by 1 to 3% annually after the breakpoint, indicating that the establishment of a national park has to be incorporated into the tourism and development strategy of a region right from the start. The causal relationship between the establishment of the national park and tourism development may be weak, in particular in communities where the difference between the actual and the forecast numbers of overnight stays is small. Marketing national park tourism and building up a brand or distinctive label may therefore contribute to regional development particularly in the long term. [it

Parking Spoorzone Delft : Addressing expected parking challenges 2015-2017

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Piccot, C.; Groenendijk, L.; Rot, M.; Van der Meijs, P.; Rakers, T.; Negenborn, R.R.; Annema, J.A.; Pel, A.; Vleugel, J.

2014-01-01

This project is carried out on request of the BVOW, the interest group of the neighbourhoods Olofsbuurt and Westerkwartier in Delft, in order to propose solutions for the parking issue of Spoorzone Delft expected between 2015 and 2017. They are worried that parking disturbances will emerge in their

Loose part trapping device in the secondary circuit of a steam generator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poussin, C.; Ayme, H.

1993-01-01

The trap is principally formed from mesh filter placed across the annular section of the secondary circuit. The maximum mesh size is less than the distance separating the tubes so that the loose parts cannot caught between the tubular bundle tubes. 6 figs

Comparison of leaf beetle assemblages of deciduous trees canopies in Hungary (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Vig, K; Markó, V

2005-01-01

The species richness and species composition of Coleoptera assemblages were investigated in deciduous tree canopies in Hungary. Apple and pear orchards were investigated in Nagykovácsi, Kecskemét and Sárospatak in 1990-94, and limes and maples in Keszthely in 1999-2002. Faunistic results and conclusions of these investigations were published elsewhere. Examination of the fauna of parks, avenues and other planted urban plant stocks has only begun to occupy researchers in the last decade in Hungary. The proportion of leaf-beetle species in the material gathered on maples and limes ranged between 17.0 and 21.3 per cent. The commonest leaf-beetle specimens collected in the lime canopy were Aphthona euphorbiae, Chaetocnema tibialis, Longitarsus lycopi, L. pellucidus, L. pratensis and L. succineus. The commonest on maple were Aphthona euphorbiae, Chaetocnema concinna, C. tibialis, Longitarsus lycopi, L. pellucidus, L. succineus, Phyllotreta cruciferae and P. vittula. This study presents the details on the composition of the chrysomelid communities that was compared by metric ordination using the Syntax 5.1 program.

Spatial analysis related to the location characteristics of park supply. Case study: Music Park and Pendawa Park, Bandung City, Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, A.; Akbar, R.; Maryati, S.; Natalivan, P.

2018-05-01

Public space plays a role in defining the character of a city and is a valuable asset for a city and one of the indicators in assessing whether a city is considered successful or not. In the context of urban sociology, high-quality public spaces with well-maintained environments can improve the quality of the heterogeneous life of urban social communities by creating economic, social, or environmental value-added. Urban societies tend to be heterogeneous, individualistic, and characterized by high competition that often causes conflicts. Another reason for conflicts is the relatively high social differentiation because of the level of religious differences, customs, languages, and sociocultural aspects brought by immigrants from various regions. In the context of space, the city is a system that does not stand alone because internally the city is a unified system of functional activities in it. Meanwhile, externally, the city is influenced by its surrounding environment. As part of the public space, park has an important role in the environmental, aesthetic, recreational, psychological, social, educational, and economic aspects of the city. Public space can be understood as open spaces in urban areas, where everyone regardless their interests and backgrounds can be intersectional and have social contact and serve as an “urban regenerator” including educational functions through innovation and technological intervention. Moreover, park can also absorb carbon dioxide emissions, produce oxygen, improve air and water quality, regulate the microclimate, reduce noise, protect soil and water, and maintain biodiversity. However, many things cause the function of parks to decrease. One reason relates to the distribution of parks related to the characteristics of their location. Research has not seen many studies on the characteristics of locations in the planning of public space. The provision of public space should consider these location characteristics. This study

Interview with Steve Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Hitchcock, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Jennifer Hitchcock interviews community activist and director of Syracuse University's Composition and Cultural Rhetoric doctoral program, Steve Parks. They discuss Parks's working-class background, career path, influences, and activism. Parks also considers the direction of the field of composition and rhetoric and expresses optimism for the…

Automated Car Park Management System

Science.gov (United States)

Fabros, J. P.; Tabañag, D.; Espra, A.; Gerasta, O. J.

2015-06-01

This study aims to develop a prototype for an Automated Car Park Management System that will increase the quality of service of parking lots through the integration of a smart system that assists motorist in finding vacant parking lot. The research was based on implementing an operating system and a monitoring system for parking system without the use of manpower. This will include Parking Guidance and Information System concept which will efficiently assist motorists and ensures the safety of the vehicles and the valuables inside the vehicle. For monitoring, Optical Character Recognition was employed to monitor and put into list all the cars entering the parking area. All parking events in this system are visible via MATLAB GUI which contain time-in, time-out, time consumed information and also the lot number where the car parks. To put into reality, this system has a payment method, and it comes via a coin slot operation to control the exit gate. The Automated Car Park Management System was successfully built by utilizing microcontrollers specifically one PIC18f4550 and two PIC16F84s and one PIC16F628A.

Orlice Nature Park - environmental themes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hanus, L.

2002-01-01

The aim of this abstract is to outline the main characteristics of Orlice Nature Park and of the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and to evaluate public interest in the nature park and in nature protection in general. Orlice Nature Park was instituted in 1996. The function of the park is to protect the character of the area of landscape around the River Orlice. Orlice Natural Park covers an area of 115 sq. km. The main environmental risks to the park are: intensive agriculture, forest mono-culture, industry, transport, channel improvement, the building of holiday cottages, sport, and recreation. Among the conflicts of interest in the park are: nature protection, water management, building constrictions, business, fishery, water sports and recreation. During the process of Environmental Impact Assessment in Hradec Kralove, the public voiced its opinion against the building of a supermarket within the grounds of of the nature park. In this case the public showed its interest in the value of nature and landscape, the value of human health and the value of plant species. In general, the public and the local media show an interest in the park only in exceptional circumstances. (author)

Park It!

Science.gov (United States)

Sartorius, Tara Cady

2010-01-01

Many artists visit national parks to draw, paint and take photographs of some of the most amazing scenery on earth. Raw nature is one of the greatest inspirations to an artist, and artists can be credited for helping inspire the government to create the National Park System. This article features Thomas Moran (1837-1926), one of the artists who…

iPark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Bin; Fantini, Ernesto Nicolas; Jensen, Christian S.

2013-01-01

where the geo-spatial aspect is not just a tag on other content, but is the primary content, e.g., a city street map with up-to-date road construction data. Along these lines, the iPark system aims to turn volumes of GPS data obtained from vehicles into information about the locations of parking spaces...

State Park Trails

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — This data set is a collection of ArcView shapefiles (by park) of trails within statutory boundaries of individual MN State Parks, State Recreation Areas and State...

Pulsars at Parkes

OpenAIRE

Manchester, R. N.

2012-01-01

The first pulsar observations were made at Parkes on March 8, 1968, just 13 days after the publication of the discovery paper by Hewish and Bell. Since then, Parkes has become the world's most successful pulsar search machine, discovering nearly two thirds of the known pulsars, among them many highly significant objects. It has also led the world in pulsar polarisation and timing studies. In this talk I will review the highlights of pulsar work at Parkes from those 1968 observations to about ...

Parking Space Detection and Trajectory Tracking Control for Vehicle Auto-Parking

OpenAIRE

Shiuh-Jer Huang; Yu-Sheng Hsu

2017-01-01

On-board available parking space detecting system, parking trajectory planning and tracking control mechanism are the key components of vehicle backward auto-parking system. Firstly, pair of ultrasonic sensors is installed on each side of vehicle body surface to detect the relative distance between ego-car and surrounding obstacle. The dimension of a found empty space can be calculated based on vehicle speed and the time history of ultrasonic sensor detecting information. This result can be u...

Can Leaf Spectroscopy Predict Leaf and Forest Traits Along a Peruvian Tropical Forest Elevation Gradient?

Science.gov (United States)

Doughty, Christopher E.; Santos-Andrade, P. E.; Goldsmith, G. R.; Blonder, B.; Shenkin, A.; Bentley, L. P.; Chavana-Bryant, C.; Huaraca-Huasco, W.; Díaz, S.; Salinas, N.; Enquist, B. J.; Martin, R.; Asner, G. P.; Malhi, Y.

2017-11-01

High-resolution spectroscopy can be used to measure leaf chemical and structural traits. Such leaf traits are often highly correlated to other traits, such as photosynthesis, through the leaf economics spectrum. We measured VNIR (visible-near infrared) leaf reflectance (400-1,075 nm) of sunlit and shaded leaves in 150 dominant species across ten, 1 ha plots along a 3,300 m elevation gradient in Peru (on 4,284 individual leaves). We used partial least squares (PLS) regression to compare leaf reflectance to chemical traits, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, structural traits, including leaf mass per area (LMA), branch wood density and leaf venation, and "higher-level" traits such as leaf photosynthetic capacity, leaf water repellency, and woody growth rates. Empirical models using leaf reflectance predicted leaf N and LMA (r2 > 30% and %RMSE < 30%), weakly predicted leaf venation, photosynthesis, and branch density (r2 between 10 and 35% and %RMSE between 10% and 65%), and did not predict leaf water repellency or woody growth rates (r2<5%). Prediction of higher-level traits such as photosynthesis and branch density is likely due to these traits correlations with LMA, a trait readily predicted with leaf spectroscopy.

Leaf size and leaf display of thirty-eight tropical tree species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poorter, L.; Rozendaal, D.M.A.

2008-01-01

Trees forage for light through optimal leaf display. Effective leaf display is determined by metamer traits (i.e., the internode, petiole, and corresponding leaf), and thus these traits strongly co-determine carbon gain and as a result competitive advantage in a light-limited environment. We

Bodems voor vrijloopstallen = Bedding materials in loose housing systems for dairy cattle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dooren, van H.J.C.; Galama, P.J.; Smits, M.C.J.

2012-01-01

Sand, Compost and 'toemaak' (a mixture of reed, dredge and manure) had been used as bedding material for loose housing systems on three dairy research farms of Wageningen UR Livestock Research. Gaseous emissions, animal behavior and health and food safety aspects were measured and reported together

Public parks as urban tourism in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Adiati, M. P.; Lestari, N. S.; Wiastuti, R. D.

2018-03-01

Sustainable urban tourism development should provide better places for people to live in and for people to visit. Jakarta as the capital city has a potential for its urban tourism. Thus, urban tourism attribute such as Public Park should be in high- quality to cope with the needs of urban people and outside visitors. The purpose of this study is to investigate Public Park attributes and to analyze its compliance refer to Public Park that eventually supports sustainable urban tourism. This paper used a qualitative approach. Primary data obtain from direct field observation in seven Public Parks in Jakarta; Menteng Park, Suropati Park, Situ Lembang Park, Ayodhya Park, Cattleya Park, Kodok Park, and Langsat Park. Observation checks list use as guidance. The result provides an assessment of Public Park based on four categories; the accessibility, park activities, safety, and user. The implication of this study offers recommendations to enhance Public Park so that it complies with good public park design- attributes and with the obligations of sustainable urban tourism in Jakarta.

Researching Lean: Methodological Implications of Loose Definitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mikael Brännmark

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Recently, Lean Production (Lean has become a prevailing management concept in Sweden. However, previous research seems to show that the Lean concept and the impact of Lean vary considerably between organizations. This paper illustrates some key methodological issues that need to be considered when researching loosely defined management concepts such as Lean. The paper is based on a review of the literature and five comparative Swedish cases studies. Our study indicates that Lean has changed over time and that operationalization and interpretations of the concept vary considerably. This study concludes that future Lean studies should include a thorough assessment of the Lean interventions, study settings, and in particular non-Lean factors mediating the outcomes of Lean-inspired change programs.

Evaluation of Methane from Sisal Leaf Residue and Palash Leaf Litter

Science.gov (United States)

Arisutha, S.; Baredar, P.; Deshpande, D. M.; Suresh, S.

2014-12-01

The aim of this study is to evaluate methane production from sisal leaf residue and palash leaf litter mixed with different bulky materials such as vegetable market waste, hostel kitchen waste and digested biogas slurry in a laboratory scale anaerobic reactor. The mixture was prepared with 1:1 proportion. Maximum methane content of 320 ml/day was observed in the case of sisal leaf residue mixed with vegetable market waste as the feed. Methane content was minimum (47 ml/day), when palash leaf litter was used as feed. This was due to the increased content of lignin and polyphenol in the feedstock which were of complex structure and did not get degraded directly by microorganisms. Sisal leaf residue mixtures also showed highest content of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as compared to palash leaf litter mixtures. It was observed that VFA concentration in the digester first increased, reached maximum (when pH was minimum) and then decreased.

Improvement of Theme Park Marketing Mode:A Case Study of Theme Parks in Chengdu

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Min; LI; Gaoli; XIONG

2013-01-01

Construction of theme park has been launched since the early 1990s in Chengdu City,but ended up as a losing proposition after its short-term prosperity because of similar scale and similarity with those in other cities.As more international well-known theme parks entering the market,theme parks in Chengdu have been faced with the transition,and novel concepts are also introduced into the operation of these parks.To adapt to the market,it is imperative to make marketing strategies and combine marketing elements.Through analyzing current development of local theme parks and introducing successful marketing modes of domestic and overseas theme parks,a favorable marketing mode for theme parks in Chengdu was defined on the basis of fully exploring Ba-Shu culture(Ba and Shu are two ancient kingdoms in the history of Sichuan).By defining a favorable theme,focusing more on visitors’experience,devoting more in developing new products,adopting flexible price strategies,and integrating advertisement marketing,internet marketing,and other marketing methods,outstanding brands will be formed,and tourism cultures with distinguished features of Chengdu will be created.

Loose Cigarette Purchasing and Nondaily Smoking Among Young Adult Bar Patrons in New York City.

Science.gov (United States)

Guillory, Jamie; Johns, Michael; Farley, Shannon M; Ling, Pamela M

2015-08-01

We examined loose cigarette (loosie) purchasing behavior among young adult (aged 18-26 years) smokers at bars in New York City and factors associated with purchase and use. Between June and December 2013, we conducted cross-sectional surveys (n = 1916) in randomly selected bars and nightclubs. Using multivariable logistic regression models, we examined associations of loose cigarette purchasing and use with smoking frequency, price, social norms, cessation behaviors, and demographics. Forty-five percent (n = 621) of nondaily smokers and 57% (n = 133) of daily smokers had ever purchased a loosie; 15% of nondaily smokers and 4% of daily smokers reported that their last cigarette was a loosie. Nondaily smokers who never smoked daily were more likely than were daily smokers to have last smoked a loosie (odds ratio = 7.27; 95% confidence interval = 2.35, 22.48). Quitting behaviors and perceived approval of smoking were associated with ever purchasing and recently smoking loosies. Loosie purchase and use is common among young adults, especially nondaily smokers. Smoking patterns and attitudes should be considered to reduce loose cigarette purchasing among young adults in New York City.

‘Breath figures’ on leaf surfaces – formation and effects of microscopic leaf wetness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jürgen eBurkhardt

2013-10-01

Full Text Available ‘Microscopic leaf wetness’ means minute amounts of persistent liquid water on leaf surfaces which are invisible to the naked eye. The water is mainly maintained by transpired water vapor condensing onto the leaf surface and to attached leaf surface particles. With an estimated average thickness of less than 1 µm, microscopic leaf wetness it is about 2 orders of magnitude thinner than morning dewfall. The most important physical processes which reduce the saturation vapor pressure and promote condensation are cuticular absorption and the deliquescence of hygroscopic leaf surface particles. Deliquescent salts form highly concentrated solutions. Depending on the amount and concentration of the dissolved ions, the physicochemical properties of microscopic leaf wetness can be considerably different from those of pure water. Microscopic leaf wetness can form continuous thin layers on hydrophobic leaf surfaces and in specific cases can act similar to surfactants, enabling a strong potential influence on the foliar exchange of ions. Microscopic leaf wetness can also enhance the dissolution, the emission, and the reaction of specific atmospheric trace gases e.g. ammonia, SO2, or ozone, leading to a strong potential role for microscopic leaf wetness in plant/atmosphere interaction. Due to its difficult detection, there is little knowledge about the occurrence and the properties of microscopic leaf wetness. However, based on the existing evidence and on physicochemical reasoning it can be hypothesized that microscopic leaf wetness occurs on almost any plant worldwide and often permanently, and that it significantly influences the exchange processes of the leaf surface with its neighboring compartments, i.e., the plant interior and the atmosphere. The omission of microscopic water in general leaf wetness concepts has caused far-reaching, misleading conclusions in the past.

Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna - separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Archibald, S

2007-01-01

Full Text Available -arid African savanna - 583 Journal of Vegetation Science 18: 583-594, 2007 © IAVS; Opulus Press Uppsala. Leaf green-up in a semi-arid African savanna – separating tree and grass responses to environmental cues Archibald, S.1* & Scholes, R.J.1,2 1Natural... to identify tree and grass green-up dates in a semi-arid savanna system, and are there predictable environmental cues for green-up for each life form? Location: Acacia nigrescens/Combretum apiculatum savanna, Kruger National Park, South Africa (25° S, 31...

SU-E-T-247: Multi-Leaf Collimator Model Adjustments Improve Small Field Dosimetry in VMAT Plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Young, L; Yang, F [University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

2014-06-01

Purpose: The Elekta beam modulator linac employs a 4-mm micro multileaf collimator (MLC) backed by a fixed jaw. Out-of-field dose discrepancies between treatment planning system (TPS) calculations and output water phantom measurements are caused by the 1-mm leaf gap required for all moving MLCs in a VMAT arc. In this study, MLC parameters are optimized to improve TPS out-of-field dose approximations. Methods: Static 2.4 cm square fields were created with a 1-mm leaf gap for MLCs that would normally park behind the jaw. Doses in the open field and leaf gap were measured with an A16 micro ion chamber and EDR2 film for comparison with corresponding point doses in the Pinnacle TPS. The MLC offset table and tip radius were adjusted until TPS point doses agreed with photon measurements. Improvements to the beam models were tested using static arcs consisting of square fields ranging from 1.6 to 14.0 cm, with 45° collimator rotation, and 1-mm leaf gap to replicate VMAT conditions. Gamma values for the 3-mm distance, 3% dose difference criteria were evaluated using standard QA procedures with a cylindrical detector array. Results: The best agreement in point doses within the leaf gap and open field was achieved by offsetting the default rounded leaf end table by 0.1 cm and adjusting the leaf tip radius to 13 cm. Improvements in TPS models for 6 and 10 MV photon beams were more significant for smaller field sizes 3.6 cm or less where the initial gamma factors progressively increased as field size decreased, i.e. for a 1.6cm field size, the Gamma increased from 56.1% to 98.8%. Conclusion: The MLC optimization techniques developed will achieve greater dosimetric accuracy in small field VMAT treatment plans for fixed jaw linear accelerators. Accurate predictions of dose to organs at risk may reduce adverse effects of radiotherapy.

Users page feedback

CERN Multimedia

2010-01-01

In October last year the Communication Group proposed an interim redesign of the users’ web pages in order to improve the visibility of key news items, events and announcements to the CERN community. The proposed update to the users' page (right), and the current version (left, behind) This proposed redesign was seen as a small step on the way to much wider reforms of the CERN web landscape proposed in the group’s web communication plan.   The results are available here. Some of the key points: - the balance between news / events / announcements and access to links on the users’ pages was not right - many people asked to see a reversal of the order so that links appeared first, news/events/announcements last; - many people felt that we should keep the primary function of the users’ pages as an index to other CERN websites; - many people found the sections of the front page to be poorly delineated; - people do not like scrolling; - there were performance...

An Experimental Study of Portland Cement and Superfine Cement Slurry Grouting in Loose Sand and Sandy Soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijing Yao

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Grouting technology is widely applied in the fields of geotechnical engineering in infrastructure. Loose sand and sandy soil are common poor soils in tunnel and foundation treatments. It is necessary to use superfine cement slurry grouting in the micro-cracks of soil. The different effectiveness of Portland cement slurry and superfine cement slurry in sandy soil by the laboratory grouting experiment method were presented in this paper. The grouting situations of superfine cement slurry injected into sand and sandy soil were explored. The investigated parameters were the dry density, wet density, moisture content, internal friction angle, and cohesion force. The results show that the consolidation effect of superfine cement is better than that of Portland cement due to the small size of superfine cement particles. The superfine cement can diffuse into the sand by infiltration, extrusion, and splitting. When the water–cement ratio of superfine cement slurry is less than 2:1 grouting into loose sand, the dry and wet density decrease with the increase in the water–cement ratio, while the moisture content and cohesive force gradually increase. When the water–cement ratio of superfine cement slurry is 1:1 grouting into loose sand and sandy soil, the dry density, wet density, and cohesive force of loose sand are larger than those of sandy soil. The results of the experiment may be relevant for engineering applications.

Smart parking management and navigation system

KAUST Repository

Saadeldin, Mohamed

2017-11-09

Various examples are provided for smart parking management, which can include navigation. In one example, a system includes a base station controller configured to: receive a wireless signal from a parking controller located at a parking space; determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) from the wireless signal; and identify a presence of a vehicle located at the parking space based at least in part on the RSSI. In another example, a method includes receiving a wireless signals from a base station controller and a parking controller located at a parking space; determining RSSIs from the wireless signals; and determining a location of the mobile computing device in a parking facility based at least in part on the RSSIs. In another example, a RSSI can be received, a parking occupancy can be determined using the RSSI, and an electronic record can be updated based on the parking occupancy.

Sleep Apnea Information Page

Science.gov (United States)

... Page You are here Home » Disorders » All Disorders Sleep Apnea Information Page Sleep Apnea Information Page What research is being done? ... Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct research related to sleep apnea in laboratories at the NIH, and also ...

Surveillance systems (PWR) - loose parts monitoring - vibration monitoring - leakage detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuette, A.; Blaesig, H.

1982-01-01

The contribution is engaged in the task and the results of the loose parts monitoring and the vibration monitoring following from the practice at the PWR of Biblis. First a description of both systems - location and type of the sensors used, the treatment of the measurements and the indications - is given. The results of the analysis of some events picked up by the surveillance systems are presented showing applicabilty and benefit of such systems. (orig.)

Smart Parking Management Pilot Project: A Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District Parking Demonstration

OpenAIRE

Shaheen, Susan; Rodier, Caroline; Eaken, Amanda M.

2005-01-01

This report presents early findings from an application of advanced parking technologies to maximize existing parking capacity at the Rockridge BART station, which was launched in December 2004 in the East San Francisco Bay Area. The smart parking system includes traffic sensors that count the number of vehicles entering and exiting the parking lots at the station. A reservation system allows travelers to reserve spaces by Internet, personal digital assistant (PDA), phone, and cell phone. The...

Endophytic Fungi of Various Medicinal Plants Collected From Evergreen Forest Baluran National Park and Its Potential as Laboratory Manual for Mycology Course

OpenAIRE

Murdiyah, Siti

2017-01-01

Endophytic fungi found on a variety of medicinal plants may express particular benefit. These fungi provide an alternative to overcome the progressive microbial resistance and as an effort to combat infectious diseases that became one of the leading causes of mortality. The main objective of this study was to isolate endophytic fungi from leaf samples of five medicinal plants species collected from evergreen forests Baluran National Park and its use as laboratory manual for Micology. Research...

Looseness and Independence Number of Triangulations on Closed Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nakamoto Atsuhiro

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The looseness of a triangulation G on a closed surface F2, denoted by ξ (G, is defined as the minimum number k such that for any surjection c : V (G → {1, 2, . . . , k + 3}, there is a face uvw of G with c(u, c(v and c(w all distinct. We shall bound ξ (G for triangulations G on closed surfaces by the independence number of G denoted by α(G. In particular, for a triangulation G on the sphere, we have

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miroslav Milutinović

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The establishment of science and technology parks is necessarily accompanied by the establishment of a base of professional staff as the foundation of the park and the base of the potential management that will manage the park and the professional staff. Science and Technology Park is a broader term used to describe a variety of attempts directed at enhancing the entrepreneurship development by means of establishing knowledge – based, small and medium-sized enterprises. The enterprise at the top of the technology pyramid receives support in the form of capital, administration, space and access to new information technologies. The overall objective of the development of industrial enterprises in the technology park is the introduction of economically profitable production with the efficient usage of nonrenewable resources and the application of the highest environmental standards. Achieving the primary developmental objective of the Technology Park includes: creating a favorable business atmosphere in the local community, attractive to both foreign and domestic investors – providing support to the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises using different models of joint ventures and direct foreign investment.

Leaf habit and woodiness regulate different leaf economy traits at a given nutrient supply.

Science.gov (United States)

Ordoñez, Jenny C; van Bodegom, Peter M; Witte, Jan-Philip M; Bartholomeus, Ruud P; van Dobben, Han F; Aerts, Rien

2010-11-01

The large variation in the relationships between environmental factors and plant traits observed in natural communities exemplifies the alternative solutions that plants have developed in response to the same environmental limitations. Qualitative attributes, such as growth form, woodiness, and leaf habit can be used to approximate these alternative solutions. Here, we quantified the extent to which these attributes affect leaf trait values at a given resource supply level, using measured plant traits from 105 different species (254 observations) distributed across 50 sites in mesic to wet plant communities in The Netherlands. For each site, soil total N, soil total P, and water supply estimates were obtained by field measurements and modeling. Effects of growth forms, woodiness, and leaf habit on relations between leaf traits (SLA, specific leaf area; LNC, leaf nitrogen concentration; and LPC, leaf phosphorus concentration) vs. nutrient and water supply were quantified using maximum-likelihood methods and Bonferroni post hoc tests. The qualitative attributes explained 8-23% of the variance within sites in leaf traits vs. soil fertility relationships, and therefore they can potentially be used to make better predictions of global patterns of leaf traits in relation to nutrient supply. However, at a given soil fertility, the strength of the effect of each qualitative attribute was not the same for all leaf traits. These differences may imply a differential regulation of the leaf economy traits at a given nutrient supply, in which SLA and LPC seem to be regulated in accordance to changes in plant size and architecture while LNC seems to be primarily regulated at the leaf level by factors related to leaf longevity.

Effect of Addition of Moringa Leaf By-Product (Leaf-Waste) on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The effects of incorporation of Moringa leaf fibre (a by-product of leaf processing which contains 24% Crude Fibre by dry weight at 0, 5 and 10 % substitution of wheat flour in cookies was investigated. Three products containing wheat flour: Moringa leaf fibre ratios of 100:0, 95:5, and 90:10 respectively were prepared, and a ...

Understanding parking habits at CERN

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2016-01-01

The SMB department is setting up a monitoring system in certain CERN car parks in order to evaluate their occupancy rates and subsequently make them easier to use.    Vehicle registration plate readers (red triangles) are now installed at the entrances and exits of the Le Cèdres car park (in orange) and of the Building 4 and 5 one (in blue). The 2 other car parks (Building 40 in violet and “high-voltage” in green) will be equipped at a later stage. Vehicle registration plate readers are now installed at the entrances and exits of the Les Cèdres car park and of the Building 4 and 5 car park, both on the Meyrin site. The information collected by these readers will allow the occupancy levels of these car parks to be analysed throughout the day, establishing periods of peak usage and the pattern of vehicle movements. “We have been experiencing parking problems at CERN for several years n...

Acceleration Signal Characteristics for Intuitional Mass Analysis of Metallic Loose Parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Kwang-Hyun; Jung, Chang-Gyu

2016-01-01

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) have operated LPMS (Loose Parts Monitoring System) for early detection of the possible presence of metallic parts in the reactor coolant system (RCS); however, analysis of the metallic impact wave characteristics in the LPMS is an important issue because information, such as the mass of the metallic part and the impact location, is not provided. Most studies have concentrated on fieldwork using the frequency characteristics for the analysis of the metallic part mass. Thus, the field engineers cannot analyze signals without special software and access to the system. This paper is intended to introduce a process of intuitional mass analysis using the attenuation rate of the acceleration signal and the intervals between peak signals. Most studies related to mass analysis of a metallic part impact signal in LPMS have used the frequency spectrum. This paper presents a method of using the acceleration signal characteristics for intuitional mass analysis of loose metallic parts. With the method proposed in this paper, because the mass of a metallic part can be understood intuitionally without any special analysis program, intuitional analysis used in parallel with frequency spectrum analysis will be in effect

Acceleration Signal Characteristics for Intuitional Mass Analysis of Metallic Loose Parts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Kwang-Hyun; Jung, Chang-Gyu [KHNP CRI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) have operated LPMS (Loose Parts Monitoring System) for early detection of the possible presence of metallic parts in the reactor coolant system (RCS); however, analysis of the metallic impact wave characteristics in the LPMS is an important issue because information, such as the mass of the metallic part and the impact location, is not provided. Most studies have concentrated on fieldwork using the frequency characteristics for the analysis of the metallic part mass. Thus, the field engineers cannot analyze signals without special software and access to the system. This paper is intended to introduce a process of intuitional mass analysis using the attenuation rate of the acceleration signal and the intervals between peak signals. Most studies related to mass analysis of a metallic part impact signal in LPMS have used the frequency spectrum. This paper presents a method of using the acceleration signal characteristics for intuitional mass analysis of loose metallic parts. With the method proposed in this paper, because the mass of a metallic part can be understood intuitionally without any special analysis program, intuitional analysis used in parallel with frequency spectrum analysis will be in effect.

Characterisation of the loose sediments used for the 152Eu migration experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klotz, D.

2001-01-01

The Eu migration experiments were carried out in nonbinding loose sediments of different grain sizes. The five sediments used are characterised on the basis of their grain size distribution, storage and microstructure sizes, hydraulic characteristics as well as some chemical parameters that are required for understanding and modelling the migration experiments [de

The Open Space Sculptures Used in the Gençlik Park towards Visual Perception of Park Users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Polat

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Urban parks are the most important areas that allow recreational activities in our towns. Increasing the visual quality of urban parks provides positive impacts on urban quality. Besides the artistic and technical features of open space sculptures which are used for urban park designs are the visual perceptions and preferences of park users are also important. In the context of this study, six sculptures in Gençlik Park which is in the boundaries Ankara have been considered. The aim of the study, to measure the visual quality of the sculptures in the urban parks through park users and to reveal the relationship between visual landscape indicators (of being interesting, coherence, complexity, meaningfulness, and mystery and the visual quality. For this purpose, the six pieces in Ankara Youth Park of sculpture were evaluated the scope of research. According to the results of the study; it was realized that park users like sculptures visually. A statistically significant relationship was found between the visual quality of the sculptures and some landscape indicators (to be interesting, mystery and harmony. In addition to these, some suggestions were made regarding the use of sculptures in urban parks.

Model testing on rainfall-induced landslide of loose soil in Wenchuan earthquake region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Fang

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the formation process of rainfall-induced landslide for slopes composed of loose soil in the Wenchuan earthquake region. Experimental investigations have been performed on the landslide's formation and the variation of the controlling soil parameters under various artificial rainfall conditions. The landslide triggering mechanisms can be described in the following way. Firstly, the large porosity of the loose soil facilitated the infiltration of water, which increased the pore water pressure and reduced the shear strength of the soil significantly. In addition, the rainfalls probably caused the concentration of finer particles at a certain depth of the valley slopes. This concentration within the soil increased the pore water pressure significantly, and consequently reduced both the porosity ratio and permeability. Therefore, when the pore water pressure reached a critical state, the effective shear strength of the soil diminished, inducing the landslide's formation.

A Survey of Intelligent Car Parking System

OpenAIRE

Faheem; S.A. Mahmud; G.M. Khan; M. Rahman; H. Zafar

2013-01-01

The industrialization of the world, increase in population, slow paced city development and mismanagement of the available parking space has resulted in parking related problems. There is a dire need for a secure, intelligent, efficient and reliable system which can be used for searching the unoccupied parking facility, guidance towards the parking facility, negotiation of the parking fee, along with the proper management of the parking facility. Intelligent Parking Service is a part of Intel...

CALCULATION REGARDING THERMAL TRANSFER THROUGH CLOSING ELEMENTS FOR A CATTLE SHELTER KEPT IN LOOSE HOUSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ancuţa JURCO

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the calculation regarding thermal transmission due to closing elements for cattle shelter kept loose housing. The shelter is compound from 2 compartments, splitted in the middle by a cross alley. The compartments are divided in feeding area and resting area. The shelter has the opening of 16.35 m, total hall lenght is 40.95 m, with surface about 669.53 sqm and the maximum hight about 6.40 m. After analyzing the calculation of heat transfer through closing elements for a cattle shelter kept in loose housing show that the amount of heat lost through external walls with heterogeneous structure is minimal compared to the classical exterior wall with homogeneous structure.

Parking Space Verification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høg Peter Jensen, Troels; Thomsen Schmidt, Helge; Dyremose Bodin, Niels

2018-01-01

system, based on a Convolutional Neural Network, that is capable of determining if a parking space is occupied or not. A benchmark database consisting of images captured from different parking areas, under different weather and illumination conditions, has been used to train and test the system...

A Survey on PageRank Computing

OpenAIRE

Berkhin, Pavel

2005-01-01

This survey reviews the research related to PageRank computing. Components of a PageRank vector serve as authority weights for web pages independent of their textual content, solely based on the hyperlink structure of the web. PageRank is typically used as a web search ranking component. This defines the importance of the model and the data structures that underly PageRank processing. Computing even a single PageRank is a difficult computational task. Computing many PageRanks is a much mor...

Global variability in leaf respiration in relation to climate and leaf traits

Science.gov (United States)

Atkin, Owen K.

2015-04-01

Leaf respiration plays a vital role in regulating ecosystem functioning and the Earth's climate. Because of this, it is imperative that that Earth-system, climate and ecosystem-level models be able to accurately predict variations in rates of leaf respiration. In the field of photosynthesis research, the F/vC/B model has enabled modellers to accurately predict variations in photosynthesis through time and space. By contrast, we lack an equivalent biochemical model to predict variations in leaf respiration. Consequently, we need to rely on phenomenological approaches to model variations in respiration across the Earth's surface. Such approaches require that we develop a thorough understanding of how rates of respiration vary among species and whether global environmental gradients play a role in determining variations in leaf respiration. Dealing with these issues requires that data sets be assembled on rates of leaf respiration in biomes across the Earth's surface. In this talk, I will use a newly-assembled global database on leaf respiration and associated traits (including photosynthesis) to highlight variation in leaf respiration (and the balance between respiration and photosynthesis) across global gradients in growth temperature and aridity.

Export Control Guide: Loose Parts Monitoring Systems for Nuclear Power Plants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Langenberg, Donald W. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2012-12-01

This report describes a typical LPMS, emphasizing its application to the RCS of a modern NPP. The report also examines the versatility of AE monitoring technology by describing several nuclear applications other than loose parts monitoring, as well as some non-nuclear applications. In addition, LPMS implementation requirements are outlined, and LPMS suppliers are identified. Finally, U.S. export controls applicable to LPMSs are discussed.

Configuration study of large wind parks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lundberg, Stefan

2003-07-01

In this thesis, layouts of various large-scale wind parks, using both AC as well as DC, are investigated. Loss modelling of the wind park components as well as calculations of the energy capture of the turbines using various electrical systems are performed, and the energy production cost of the various park configurations is determined. The most interesting candidate for a DC transmission based wind park was investigated more in detail, the series DC wind park. Finally, the power quality impact in the PCC (point of common coupling) was studied. It was found that from an energy capture point of view, the difference in energy production between various wind turbine systems is very small. Of all the investigated wind park configurations, the wind park with the series connected DC wind turbines seems to have the best potential to give the lowest energy production cost, if the transmission distance is longer then 10-20 km. Regarding the series DC wind park it was found that it is the most difficult one to control. However, a control algorithm for the series park and its turbines was derived and successfully tested. Still, several more details regarding the control of the series wind park has to be dealt with.

SmartPark Technology Demonstration Project

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-01

The purpose of FMCSAs SmartPark initiative is to determine the feasibility of a technology for providing truck parking space availability in real time to truckers on the road. SmartPark consists of two phases. Phase I was a field operational test ...

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF EUCALYPTUS SPP. AND PISTASCIA LENTISCUS LEAF EXTRACTS.

Science.gov (United States)

Qabaha, Khaled; Ras, Sari Abu; Abbadi, Jehad; Al-Rimawi, Fuad

2016-01-01

Eucalyptus spp. and Pistascia lentiscus are among the Palestinian trees that are traditionally used in folkloric medicine in treating many diseases; leaves of which are thought to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant effects. The goal of this study is to evaluate the in vitro inhibitory effect of Eucalyptus spp . and Pistascia lentiscus extracts on Lipopolysacaride (LPS)-induced Interlukin-6 (Il-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) by polymorphonuclear Cells (PMNCs). Polymorphonuclear cells were isolated from the whole blood using Histopaque (Ficol-1077) method and then cultured in an enriched Roswell Park Memorial Institute (RBMI) medium. Supernatants' Interlukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α) levels were determined 24 hour after LPS stimulation. HPLC was employed to determine the concentration of phenolic compounds in the extracts. The concentrations of TNF-α and IL-6 were compared using paired-samples t test. Eucalyptus spp . and Pistascia lentiscus leaves extracts have shown significant reduction in the levels of both Il-6 and TNF-α Gallic acid; a strong anti-inflammatory agent was found to be the major phenolic compound in both leaf extracts. However, other anti-inflammatory phenolic compounds were detected in Pitascia lentiscus extract including syringic acid and p-coumaric acid, while chlorogenic acid was detected in Eucalyptus spp . leaf extract. Reduction in the levels of Il-6 and TNF-α upon the effect of both Eucalyptus spp . and Pistascia lentiscus extract is an indication of their anti-inflammatory effects. Our results may also indicate that the observed anti-inflammatory effect of the above extracts may be due to the presence of gallic acid and other phenolic compounds. List of Abbreviations and Nomenclature: LPS: Lipopolysacaride, Il-6: Interlukin-6, TNF-α: Tumor Necrosis Factor-α, PMNCs: Polymorphonuclear Cells, HPLC: High Performance Liquid Chromatography, ELISA: Enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay, EDTA

Effect of nitrogen supply on leaf appearance, leaf growth, leaf nitrogen economy and photosynthetic capacity in maize (Zea mays L.)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vos, J.; Putten, van der P.E.L.; Birch, C.J.

2005-01-01

Leaf area growth and nitrogen concentration per unit leaf area, Na (g m-2 N) are two options plants can use to adapt to nitrogen limitation. Previous work indicated that potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) adapts the size of leaves to maintain Na and photosynthetic capacity per unit leaf area. This paper

Method for evaluating the system instrumentation for loose part detection in the primary cooling circuit of French PWRs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerardin, J.P.; Donnette, J.E.

1995-05-01

The purpose of the loose part detection system is to trigger an alarm whenever it is warranted, to localize, and to provide information on the type of loose part involved and the damages it may provoke. It is therefore indispensable to have efficient instrumentation, beginning with the sensors which must provide us with a response to all mechanical impacts in natural trapping areas (reactor vessel and steam generator water box). A series of mass- and energy-calibrated impacts have been generated on 45 points in the primary cooling system of a nuclear plant unit in the startup phase. This test provided insights into the relationship between sensor signals and various impact parameters such as velocity of impact or loose part mass. Once these parameters were known, it was possible to define a method for evaluating the detection threshold of sensors depending on the way they are mounted. (author)

Parking regulations on the CERN sites

CERN Multimedia

General Infrastructure Services Department

2010-01-01

The site surveillance service is also responsible for supervising compliance with the parking regulations on the CERN site. In that context, it ensures that the following rules are complied with on the CERN car park: Vehicles may not be left on a CERN car park for longer than 5 consecutive working days. However, CERN users are entitled to leave their vehicles parked at CERN for a longer period in the car park near Building 588 , subject to completing the application form "Demande d'autorisation pour un stationnement de longue durée" (application for a long-term parking permit) and sending it to the Reception and Access Control Service (access.surveillance@cern.ch) prior to departure.   Parking spaces, which are in short supply in many crowded areas of the CERN site, must not be occupied by abandoned vehicles/wrecks. The service organizes the disposal of such vehicles. Any CERN users wishing to get rid of a private vehicle parked on one of the CERN car pa...

Full-Automatic Parking registration and payment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agerholm, Niels; Lahrmann, Harry; Jørgensen, Brian

2014-01-01

As part of ITS Platform North Denmark, a full-automatic GNSS-based parking payment (PP) system was developed (PP app). On the basis of the parking position and parking time, the PP app can determine the price of parking and collect the amount from the car owner’s bank account. The driver...... is informed about any initiation of PP via SMS message. If the driver finds the payment erroneous, it can be cancelled via SMS message. Parking attendants can check if the car in question has an ongoing payment for parking. To handle the problems with GNSS-based positioning in densely built-up areas......, an advanced map matching algorithm was integrated in the PP app. 24 of the participating vehicles used the PP app, and 58 parking payments were carried out without errors. In a few cases, the wrong parking area was selected. This was due to lack of information in the map rather than errors in the map matching...

In-Degree and PageRank of web pages: why do they follow similar power laws?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Litvak, Nelli; Scheinhardt, Willem R.W.; Volkovich, Y.

2009-01-01

PageRank is a popularity measure designed by Google to rank Web pages. Experiments confirm that PageRank values obey a power law with the same exponent as In-Degree values. This paper presents a novel mathematical model that explains this phenomenon. The relation between PageRank and In-Degree is

Application of GPR Method for Detection of Loose Zones in Flood Levee

Science.gov (United States)

Gołębiowski, Tomisław; Małysa, Tomasz

2018-02-01

In the paper the results of non-invasive georadar (GPR) surveys carried out for detection of loose zones located in the flood levee was presented. Terrain measurements were performed on the Vistula river flood levee in the village of Wawrzeńczyce near Cracow. In the investigation site, during the flood in 2010, leakages of levee were observed, so detection of inner water filtration paths was an important matter taking into account the stability of the levee during the next flood. GPR surveys had reconnaissance character, so they were carried out with the use of short-offset reflection profiling (SORP) technique and radargrams were subjected to standard signal processing. The results of surveys allowed to outline main loose zone in the levee which were the reason of leakages in 2010. Additionally gravel interbeddings in sand were detected which had an important influence, due to higher porosity of such zones, to water filtration inside of the levee. In the paper three solutions which allow to increase quality and resolution of radargrams were presented, i.e. changeable-polarisation surveys, advanced signal processing and DHA procedure.

Experiments on vibro-impact dynamics of loosely supported tubes under harmonic excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axisa, F.; Izquierdo, P.

1992-01-01

Computational methods have been recently developed by the authors and others to predict the working life or the acceptable vibration limit of tubular structures experiencing fretting-wear caused by impact-sliding interaction with loose supports or adjacent structures. This problem is of practical interest in various nuclear and other industrial components. This paper reports an experimental work intended to validate the numerical techniques used to compute the tube non-linear vibration in presence of impact-sliding interaction. Attention is especially focused on the local and time averaged dynamical parameters governing the rate of fretting-wear. The experiments were carried out on a straight tube excited harmonically by a pair of electromagnetic shakers. The tube motion was limited by a loose support situated at about midspan. On the other hand, numerical simulations of the tests were also performed. Comparison between test and computational data resulted in rather satisfactory agreement, based on the averaged impact forces and the wear work rate. Results are also discussed in terms of detailed time histories of tube displacement and impact forces

SU-F-T-350: Continuous Leaf Optimization (CLO) for IMRT Leaf Sequencing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Long, T; Chen, M; Jiang, S; Lu, W [UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: To study a new step-and-shoot IMRT leaf sequencing model that avoids the two main pitfalls of conventional leaf sequencing: (1) target fluence being stratified into a fixed number of discrete levels and/or (2) aperture leaf positions being restricted to a discrete set of locations. These assumptions induce error into the sequence or reduce the feasible region of potential plans, respectively. Methods: We develop a one-dimensional (single leaf pair) methodology that does not make assumptions (1) or (2) that can be easily extended to a multi-row model. The proposed continuous leaf optimization (CLO) methodology takes in an existing set of apertures and associated intensities, or solution “seed,” and improves the plan without the restrictiveness of 1or (2). It then uses a first-order descent algorithm to converge onto a locally optimal solution. A seed solution can come from models that assume (1) and (2), thus allowing the CLO model to improve upon existing leaf sequencing methodologies. Results: The CLO model was applied to 208 generated target fluence maps in one dimension. In all cases for all tested sequencing strategies, the CLO model made improvements on the starting seed objective function. The CLO model also was able to keep MUs low. Conclusion: The CLO model can improve upon existing leaf sequencing methods by avoiding the restrictions of (1) and (2). By allowing for more flexible leaf positioning, error can be reduced when matching some target fluence. This study lays the foundation for future models and solution methodologies that can incorporate continuous leaf positions explicitly into the IMRT treatment planning model. Supported by Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) - ID RP150485.

3 GeV Injector Design Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiedemann, H.; /SLAC, SSRL

2009-12-16

This Design Handbook is intended to be the main reference book for the specifications of the 3 GeV SPEAR booster synchrotron project. It is intended to be a consistent description of the project including design criteria, key technical specifications as well as current design approaches. Since a project is not complete till it's complete changes and modifications of early conceptual designs must be expected during the duration of the construction. Therefore, this Design Handbook is issued as a loose leaf binder so that individual sections can be replaced as needed. Each page will be dated to ease identification with respect to latest revisions. At the end of the project this Design Handbook will have become the 'as built' reference book of the injector for operations and maintenance personnel.

In-degree and pageRank of web pages: Why do they follow similar power laws?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Litvak, Nelli; Scheinhardt, Willem R.W.; Volkovich, Y.

The PageRank is a popularity measure designed by Google to rank Web pages. Experiments confirm that the PageRank obeys a 'power law' with the same exponent as the In-Degree. This paper presents a novel mathematical model that explains this phenomenon. The relation between the PageRank and In-Degree

Loose Coupling of Wearable-Based INSs with Automatic Heading Evaluation

OpenAIRE

Bousdar Ahmed, Dina; Munoz Diaz, Estefania

2017-01-01

Position tracking of pedestrians by means of inertial sensors is a highly explored field of research. In fact, there are already many approaches to implement inertial navigation systems (INSs). However, most of them use a single inertial measurement unit (IMU) attached to the pedestrian’s body. Since wearable-devices will be given items in the future, this work explores the implementation of an INS using two wearable-based IMUs. A loosely coupled approach is proposed to combine the outputs of...

Metal assessment in urban park soils in Sao Paulo 1. Ibirapuera Park

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figueiredo, Ana Maria G.; Camargo, Sonia P.; Pavese, Arthur C.; Gumiero, Felipe C.; Enzweiler, Jacinta; Sigolo, Joel B.

2007-01-01

In the last years urban soils received increasing attention by scientists, leading to studies focused on their description and investigation all over the world, due to the increasing metal pollution derived from incinerators, industrial waste, atmospheric deposition of dust and aerosols, and other activities. Metal contamination in Sao Paulo public parks is an important environmental question and there is little information on this subject. As part of a project which aims metal assessment in urban park soils from Sao Paulo, in the present paper the concentration of the elements As, Ba, Cr, Pb, Sb and Zn were determined in surface soil samples (0-5 cm) from Ibirapuera park of Sao Paulo. Ibirapuera park is one of the biggest and most visited parks of the city of Sao Paulo, receiving during the weekends more than 400,000 visitors. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and X-ray Fluorescence (FRX) were used for metal analysis. Preliminary results showed concentration levels of the analyzed elements higher than the values considered as reference values for soils in Sao Paulo, according to the Environmental Protection Agency of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB). For As, Ba, Cr and Sb, in some samples the concentrations were even higher than the Prevention values reported by CETESB. The high concentrations of the elements As, Ba, Cr, Pb, Sb and Zn in the Ibirapuera park top soils suggest an anthropogenic source and indicate a potential damage to soil quality. (author)

Changing perspectives in urban park management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chan, Chung-shing; Marafa, Lawal M.; Konijnendijk, Cecil Cornelis

2015-01-01

managers in Hong Kong have encountered different challenges over time, and the quest for changing park managerial strategies. In 2004, a set of indicators for urban park management in Hong Kong was produced as part of a Master's research. Local park managers were asked about their views on the respective......Urban parks provide numerous benefits to our society. In densely populated metropolises such as Hong Kong, urban parks are in high demand. A variety of indicators can be used as tools for improving park planning and management. Facing a dynamic society and increasing user expectations, urban park...... importance and performance (I–P) of the indicators. In 2012, a follow-up questionnaire survey was conducted with the managers to study if their views regarding these indicators and their performance had changed. Results from the 2004 and 2012 surveys revealed changing perceptions regarding both I...

Pre-capacity building in loosely-coupled collaborations: Setting the stage for future initiatives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl A. Hyde

2012-08-01

Full Text Available This article examines the benefits and limitations of ‘loosely-coupled’ research collaborations between university faculty and 12 grassroots community-based organisations (CBOs. The authors assert that community-based research projects that develop the knowledge base within CBOs, and can be described as ‘pre-capacity building’ work, can be an important stepping stone to the subsequent development of more formal and strategic capacity-building partnership ventures. However, such projects must be approached carefully with a clear understanding of the ‘threshold dimensions’ that must be met before proceeding with any collaboration. Written as a cautionary tale, the authors identify some of the problems that arise when the threshold stage is poorly executed, and more generally speak to the dangers of initiating even loosely-coupled collaborations in the absence of an explicit and well-established campus commitment to and support for community engagement and partnerships. Keywords: Community capacity-building, community-university partnerships, community research, collaboration

Energy intake and growth of weanling horses in a cold loose housing system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. AUTIO

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The demand for information relating to the nutrition of horses in a cold environment is increasing with the popularity of loose housing of horses. This study examined the energy intake and growth of 10 weanling horses from November to March (22 weeks in a loose housing system (paddock and insulated sleeping hall with deep-litter bed. The horses were measured weekly for body condition and body weight, and the feeding was adjusted according to a horse’s body condition. Metabolizable energy (ME intake was compared to Finnish (MTT 2006 and Swedish (SLU 2004 nutrient requirements for 6–12-month-old horses. ME intake (75.5 ± 11.8 MJ d-1, mean ± SD was on average 24.6% above the requirements. The intake varied in a non-linear fashion in the course of the winter: y = 0.086x2 – 0.902x + 71.5, where x is weeks from November to March (p

Advanced software tools for digital loose part monitoring systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Y.

1996-01-01

The paper describes two software modules as analysis tools for digital loose part monitoring systems. The first module is called acoustic module which utilizes the multi-media features of modern personal computers to replay the digital stored short-time bursts with sufficient length and in good quality. This is possible due to the so-called puzzle technique developed at ISTec. The second module is called classification module which calculates advanced burst parameters and classifies the acoustic events in pre-defined classes with the help of an artificial multi-layer perception neural network trained with the back propagation algorithm. (author). 7 refs, 7 figs

Advanced software tools for digital loose part monitoring systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ding, Y [Institute for Safety Technology (ISTec) GmbH, Garching (Germany)

1997-12-31

The paper describes two software modules as analysis tools for digital loose part monitoring systems. The first module is called acoustic module which utilizes the multi-media features of modern personal computers to replay the digital stored short-time bursts with sufficient length and in good quality. This is possible due to the so-called puzzle technique developed at ISTec. The second module is called classification module which calculates advanced burst parameters and classifies the acoustic events in pre-defined classes with the help of an artificial multi-layer perception neural network trained with the back propagation algorithm. (author). 7 refs, 7 figs.

On the temporal variation of leaf magnetic parameters: seasonal accumulation of leaf-deposited and leaf-encapsulated particles of a roadside tree crown.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofman, Jelle; Wuyts, Karen; Van Wittenberghe, Shari; Samson, Roeland

2014-09-15

Understanding the accumulation behaviour of atmospheric particles inside tree leaves is of great importance for the interpretation of biomagnetic monitoring results. In this study, we evaluated the temporal variation of the saturation isothermal remanent magnetisation (SIRM) of leaves of a roadside urban Platanus × acerifolia Willd. tree in Antwerp, Belgium. We hereby examined the seasonal development of the total leaf SIRM signal as well as the leaf-encapsulated fraction of the deposited dust, by washing the leaves before biomagnetic analysis. On average 38% of the leaf SIRM signal was exhibited by the leaf-encapsulated particles. Significant correlations were found between the SIRM and the cumulative daily average atmospheric PM10 and PM2.5 measurements. Moreover, a steady increase of the SIRM throughout the in-leaf season was observed endorsing the applicability of biomagnetic monitoring as a proxy for the time-integrated PM exposure of urban tree leaves. Strongest correlations were obtained for the SIRM of the leaf-encapsulated particles which confirms the dynamic nature of the leaf surface-accumulated particles. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phenological monitoring of Acadia National Park using Landsat, MODIS and VIIRS observations and fused data

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y.; McDonough MacKenzie, C.; Primack, R.; Zhang, X.; Schaaf, C.; Sun, Q.; Wang, Z.

2015-12-01

Monitoring phenology with remotely sensed data has become standard practice in large-plot agriculture but remains an area of research in complex terrain. Landsat data (30m) provides a more appropriate spatial resolution to describe such regions but may only capture a few cloud-free images over a growing period. Daily data from the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite(VIIRS) offer better temporal acquisitions but at coarse spatial resolutions of 250m to 1km. Thus fused data sets are being employed to provide the temporal and spatial resolutions necessary to accurately monitor vegetation phenology. This study focused on Acadia National Park, Maine, attempts to compare green-up from remote sensing and ground observations over varying topography. Three north-south field transects were established in 2013 on parallel mountains. Along these transects, researchers record the leaf out and flowering phenology for thirty plant species biweekly. These in situ spring phenological observations are compared with the dates detected by Landsat 7, Landsat 8, MODIS, and VIIRS observations, both separately and as fused data, to explore the ability of remotely sensed data to capture the subtle variations due to elevation. Daily Nadir BRDF Adjusted Reflectances(NBAR) from MODIS and VIIRS are fused with Landsat imagery to simulate 30m daily data via the Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model(ESTARFM) algorithm. Piecewise logistic functions are fit to the time series to establish spring leaf-out dates. Acadia National Park, a region frequently affected by coastal clouds, is a particularly useful study area as it falls in a Landsat overlap region and thus offers the possibility of acquiring as many as 4 Landsat observations in a 16 day period. With the recent launch of Sentinel 2A, the community will have routine access to such high spatial and temporal data for phenological monitoring.

Effect of Wind on the Relation of Leaf N, P Stoichiometry with Leaf Morphology in Quercus Species

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Zhang

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Leaf nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P stoichiometry correlates closely to leaf morphology, which is strongly impacted by wind at multiple scales. However, it is not clear how leaf N, P stoichiometry and its relationship to leaf morphology changes with wind load. We determined the leaf N and P concentrations and leaf morphology—including specific leaf area (SLA and leaf dissection index (LDI—for eight Quercus species under a simulated wind load for seven months. Leaf N and P concentrations increased significantly under these conditions for Quercus acutissima, Quercus rubra, Quercus texana, and Quercus palustris—which have elliptic leaves—due to their higher N, P requirements and a resultant leaf biomass decrease, which is a tolerance strategy for Quercus species under a wind load. Leaf N:P was relatively stable under wind for all species, which supports stoichiometric homeostasis. Leaf N concentrations showed a positive correlation to SLA, leaf N and P concentrations showed positive correlations to LDI under each wind treatment, and the slope of correlations was not affected by wind, which indicates synchronous variations between leaf stoichiometry and leaf morphology under wind. However, the intercept of correlations was affected by wind, and leaf N and P use efficiency decreased under the wind load, which suggests that the Quercus species changes from “fast investment-return” in the control to “slow investment-return” under windy conditions. These results will be valuable to understanding functional strategies for plants under varying wind loads, especially synchronous variations in leaf traits along a wind gradient.

Mirror energy difference and the structure of loosely bound proton-rich nuclei around A =20

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Cenxi; Qi, Chong; Xu, Furong; Suzuki, Toshio; Otsuka, Takaharu

2014-04-01

The properties of loosely bound proton-rich nuclei around A =20 are investigated within the framework of the nuclear shell model. In these nuclei, the strength of the effective interactions involving the loosely bound proton s1/2 orbit is significantly reduced in comparison with that of those in their mirror nuclei. We evaluate the reduction of the effective interaction by calculating the monopole-based-universal interaction (VMU) in the Woods-Saxon basis. The shell-model Hamiltonian in the sd shell, such as USD, can thus be modified to reproduce the binding energies and energy levels of the weakly bound proton-rich nuclei around A =20. The effect of the reduction of the effective interaction on the structure and decay properties of these nuclei is also discussed.

Are leaf physiological traits related to leaf water isotopic enrichment in restinga woody species?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BRUNO H.P. ROSADO

2013-09-01

Full Text Available During plant-transpiration, water molecules having the lighter stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen evaporate and diffuse at a faster rate through the stomata than molecules having the heavier isotopes, which cause isotopic enrichment of leaf water. Although previous models have assumed that leaf water is well-mixed and isotopically uniform, non-uniform stomatal closure, promoting different enrichments between cells, and different pools of water within leaves, due to morpho-physiological traits, might lead to inaccuracies in isotopic models predicting leaf water enrichment. We evaluate the role of leaf morpho-physiological traits on leaf water isotopic enrichment in woody species occurring in a coastal vegetation of Brazil known as restinga. Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope values of soil, plant stem and leaf water and leaf traits were measured in six species from restinga vegetation during a drought and a wet period. Leaf water isotopic enrichment relative to stem water was more homogeneous among species during the drought in contrast to the wet period suggesting convergent responses to deal to temporal heterogeneity in water availability. Average leaf water isotopic enrichment relative to stem water during the drought period was highly correlated with relative apoplastic water content. We discuss this observation in the context of current models of leaf water isotopic enrichment as a function of the Péclet effect. We suggest that future studies should include relative apoplastic water content in isotopic models.

Are leaf physiological traits related to leaf water isotopic enrichment in restinga woody species?

Science.gov (United States)

Rosado, Bruno H P; De Mattos, Eduardo A; Sternberg, Leonel Da S L

2013-09-01

During plant-transpiration, water molecules having the lighter stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen evaporate and diffuse at a faster rate through the stomata than molecules having the heavier isotopes, which cause isotopic enrichment of leaf water. Although previous models have assumed that leaf water is well-mixed and isotopically uniform, non-uniform stomatal closure, promoting different enrichments between cells, and different pools of water within leaves, due to morpho-physiological traits, might lead to inaccuracies in isotopic models predicting leaf water enrichment. We evaluate the role of leaf morpho-physiological traits on leaf water isotopic enrichment in woody species occurring in a coastal vegetation of Brazil known as restinga. Hydrogen and oxygen stable isotope values of soil, plant stem and leaf water and leaf traits were measured in six species from restinga vegetation during a drought and a wet period. Leaf water isotopic enrichment relative to stem water was more homogeneous among species during the drought in contrast to the wet period suggesting convergent responses to deal to temporal heterogeneity in water availability. Average leaf water isotopic enrichment relative to stem water during the drought period was highly correlated with relative apoplastic water content. We discuss this observation in the context of current models of leaf water isotopic enrichment as a function of the Péclet effect. We suggest that future studies should include relative apoplastic water content in isotopic models.

How do leaf veins influence the worldwide leaf economic spectrum? Review and synthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sack, Lawren; Scoffoni, Christine; John, Grace P; Poorter, Hendrik; Mason, Chase M; Mendez-Alonzo, Rodrigo; Donovan, Lisa A

2013-10-01

Leaf vein traits are implicated in the determination of gas exchange rates and plant performance. These traits are increasingly considered as causal factors affecting the 'leaf economic spectrum' (LES), which includes the light-saturated rate of photosynthesis, dark respiration, foliar nitrogen concentration, leaf dry mass per area (LMA) and leaf longevity. This article reviews the support for two contrasting hypotheses regarding a key vein trait, vein length per unit leaf area (VLA). Recently, Blonder et al. (2011, 2013) proposed that vein traits, including VLA, can be described as the 'origin' of the LES by structurally determining LMA and leaf thickness, and thereby vein traits would predict LES traits according to specific equations. Careful re-examination of leaf anatomy, published datasets, and a newly compiled global database for diverse species did not support the 'vein origin' hypothesis, and moreover showed that the apparent power of those equations to predict LES traits arose from circularity. This review provides a 'flux trait network' hypothesis for the effects of vein traits on the LES and on plant performance, based on a synthesis of the previous literature. According to this hypothesis, VLA, while virtually independent of LMA, strongly influences hydraulic conductance, and thus stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate. We also review (i) the specific physiological roles of VLA; (ii) the role of leaf major veins in influencing LES traits; and (iii) the role of VLA in determining photosynthetic rate per leaf dry mass and plant relative growth rate. A clear understanding of leaf vein traits provides a new perspective on plant function independently of the LES and can enhance the ability to explain and predict whole plant performance under dynamic conditions, with applications towards breeding improved crop varieties.

Parks of Chapel Hill

Data.gov (United States)

Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Hours, location, and amenity information for Chapel Hill parks as shown on the Town of Chapel Hill's website. Includes a map with points for each park location.

Statics of loose triangular embankment under Nadai’s sand hill analogy

Science.gov (United States)

Pipatpongsa, Thirapong; Heng, Sokbil; Iizuka, Atsushi; Ohta, Hideki

2010-10-01

In structural mechanics, Nadai's sand hill analogy is the interpretation of an ultimate torque applied to a given structural member with a magnitude that is analogously twice the volume of stable sand heap which can be accommodated on a transverse cross-section basis. Nadai's analogy is accompanied by his observation of a loose triangular embankment, based on the fact that gravitating loose earth is stable if inclined just under the angle of repose. However, Nadai's analysis of stress distribution in a planar sand heap was found to be inaccurate because the total pressure obtained from Nadai's solution is greater than the self-weight calculated from the heap geometry. This raises a question about the validity of his observation in relation to the analogy. To confirm his criterion, this article presents and corrects the error found in Nadai's solution by analyzing a radially symmetric stress field for a wedge-shaped sand heap with the purpose of satisfying both force balance and Nadai's closure. The fundamental equation was obtained by letting the friction state vary as a function of angular position and deduce it under the constraint that the principal stress orientation obeys Nadai's closure. The theoretical solution sufficiently agreed with the past experimental measurements.

32 CFR 634.31 - Parking.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Parking. 634.31 Section 634.31 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS MOTOR VEHICLE TRAFFIC SUPERVISION Traffic Supervision § 634.31 Parking. (a) The most efficient use of existing on- and off-street parking...

Creating Web Pages Simplified

CERN Document Server

Wooldridge, Mike

2011-01-01

The easiest way to learn how to create a Web page for your family or organization Do you want to share photos and family lore with relatives far away? Have you been put in charge of communication for your neighborhood group or nonprofit organization? A Web page is the way to get the word out, and Creating Web Pages Simplified offers an easy, visual way to learn how to build one. Full-color illustrations and concise instructions take you through all phases of Web publishing, from laying out and formatting text to enlivening pages with graphics and animation. This easy-to-follow visual guide sho

The cultural dimension of tightness-looseness: An analysis of situational constraint in Estonia and Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Realo, Anu; Linnamägi, Karmen; Gelfand, Michele J

2015-06-01

The importance of tightness-looseness as a dimension that explains a considerable amount of variance between cultures was demonstrated by Gelfand et al. (2011). Tight nations have many strong norms and a low tolerance of deviant behaviour, whereas loose nations have weak social norms and a high tolerance of deviant behaviour. The main aim of the current studies was to examine situational constraint in Estonia and Greece: that is, how the cultural dimension of tightness-looseness is manifested in everyday situations in those two countries. The findings of a questionnaire study (Study 1) suggested that, in general, there is higher constraint across everyday situations in Greece than in Estonia, but situational constraint in Greece is especially strong in school and organisational settings where people have hierarchically structured roles. The results of an observational study (Study 2) revealed a relatively high agreement between appropriateness of certain behaviours as judged by the respondents in Study 1 and the frequencies of observed behaviours in the two countries. Our findings suggest that the strength of situations may substantially vary both within and across cultures, and that the attitudes of the members about situational strength in their respective cultures are in concordance with observations of situations by neutral observers in how people in general behave in their culture. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

An evolutionary perspective on leaf economics : Phylogenetics of leaf mass per area in vascular plants

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Flores, Olivier; Garnier, Eric; Wright, Ian J.; Reich, Peter B.; Pierce, Simon; Diaz, Sandra; Pakeman, Robin J.; Rusch, Graciela M.; Bernard-Verdier, Maud; Testi, Baptiste; Bakker, Jan P.; Bekker, Renee M.; Cerabolini, Bruno E. L.; Ceriani, Roberta M.; Cornu, Guillaume; Cruz, Pablo; Delcamp, Matthieu; Dolezal, Jiri; Eriksson, Ove; Fayolle, Adeline; Freitas, Helena; Golodets, Carly; Gourlet-Fleury, Sylvie; Hodgson, John G.; Brusa, Guido; Kleyer, Michael; Kunzmann, Dieter; Lavorel, Sandra; Papanastasis, Vasilios P.; Perez-Harguindeguy, Natalia; Vendramini, Fernanda; Weiher, Evan

In plant leaves, resource use follows a trade-off between rapid resource capture and conservative storage. This "worldwide leaf economics spectrum" consists of a suite of intercorrelated leaf traits, among which leaf mass per area, LMA, is one of the most fundamental as it indicates the cost of leaf

[Magnetic Response of Dust-loaded Leaves in Parks of Shanghai to Atmospheric Heavy Metal Pollution].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Fei; Chu, Hui-min; Zheng, Xiang-min

2015-12-01

To reveal the magnetic response to the atmospheric heavy metal pollution in leaves along urban parks, Camphor leaf samples, widely distributed at urban parks, were collected along the year leading wind direction of Shanghai, by setting two vertical and horizontal sections, using rock magnetic properties and heavy metal contents analysis. The results showed that the magnetic minerals of samples were predominated by ferromagnetic minerals, and both the concentration and grain size of magnetite particles gradually decreased with the winter monsoon direction from the main industrial district. A rigorous cleaning of leaves using ultrasonic agitator washer could remove about 63%-90% of low-field susceptibility values of the leaves, and this strongly indicated that the intensity of magnetic signal was mainly controlled by the PMs accumulated on the leaves surfaces. Moreover, there was a significant linear relationship between heavy metals contents (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Cr, V and Pb) and magnetic parameters (0.442 ≤ R ≤ 0.799, P atmospheric heavy metal pollution. The results of multivariate statistical analysis showed that the content of magnetic minerals and heavy metal indust-loaded tree leaves was affected by associated pollution of industry and traffic.

Flash-Aware Page Replacement Algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangxia Xu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the limited main memory resource of consumer electronics equipped with NAND flash memory as storage device, an efficient page replacement algorithm called FAPRA is proposed for NAND flash memory in the light of its inherent characteristics. FAPRA introduces an efficient victim page selection scheme taking into account the benefit-to-cost ratio for evicting each victim page candidate and the combined recency and frequency value, as well as the erase count of the block to which each page belongs. Since the dirty victim page often contains clean data that exist in both the main memory and the NAND flash memory based storage device, FAPRA only writes the dirty data within the victim page back to the NAND flash memory based storage device in order to reduce the redundant write operations. We conduct a series of trace-driven simulations and experimental results show that our proposed FAPRA algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of page hit ratio, the number of write operations, runtime, and the degree of wear leveling.

The changing pages of comics : Page layouts across eight decades of American superhero comics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pederson, Kaitlin; Cohn, Neil

2016-01-01

Page layouts are one of the most overt features of comics’ structure. We hypothesized that American superhero comics have changed in their page layout over eight decades, and investigated this using a corpus analysis of 40 comics from 1940 through 2014. On the whole, we found that comics pages

THE SCHOOL PARK.

Science.gov (United States)

FISCHER, JOHN H.

TO ASSIST IN DESEGREGATION, VARIOUS MODELS FOR THE SCHOOL PARK ARE PROPOSED--(1) ASSEMBLING ALL STUDENTS AND SCHOOLS OF A SMALL OR MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITY ON A SINGLE CAMPUS, (2) SERVING ONE SECTION OF A LARGE CITY, (3) CENTERING ALL SCHOOL FACILITIES FOR A SINGLE LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON A SINGLE SITE, AND (4) ESTABLISHING RINGS OF SCHOOL PARKS ABOUT…

Loose fusion based on SLAM and IMU for indoor environment

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Haijiang; Wang, Zhicheng; Zhou, Jinglin; Wang, Xuejing

2018-04-01

The simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) method based on the RGB-D sensor is widely researched in recent years. However, the accuracy of the RGB-D SLAM relies heavily on correspondence feature points, and the position would be lost in case of scenes with sparse textures. Therefore, plenty of fusion methods using the RGB-D information and inertial measurement unit (IMU) data have investigated to improve the accuracy of SLAM system. However, these fusion methods usually do not take into account the size of matched feature points. The pose estimation calculated by RGB-D information may not be accurate while the number of correct matches is too few. Thus, considering the impact of matches in SLAM system and the problem of missing position in scenes with few textures, a loose fusion method combining RGB-D with IMU is proposed in this paper. In the proposed method, we design a loose fusion strategy based on the RGB-D camera information and IMU data, which is to utilize the IMU data for position estimation when the corresponding point matches are quite few. While there are a lot of matches, the RGB-D information is still used to estimate position. The final pose would be optimized by General Graph Optimization (g2o) framework to reduce error. The experimental results show that the proposed method is better than the RGB-D camera's method. And this method can continue working stably for indoor environment with sparse textures in the SLAM system.

Easy Leaf Area: Automated digital image analysis for rapid and accurate measurement of leaf area.

Science.gov (United States)

Easlon, Hsien Ming; Bloom, Arnold J

2014-07-01

Measurement of leaf areas from digital photographs has traditionally required significant user input unless backgrounds are carefully masked. Easy Leaf Area was developed to batch process hundreds of Arabidopsis rosette images in minutes, removing background artifacts and saving results to a spreadsheet-ready CSV file. • Easy Leaf Area uses the color ratios of each pixel to distinguish leaves and calibration areas from their background and compares leaf pixel counts to a red calibration area to eliminate the need for camera distance calculations or manual ruler scale measurement that other software methods typically require. Leaf areas estimated by this software from images taken with a camera phone were more accurate than ImageJ estimates from flatbed scanner images. • Easy Leaf Area provides an easy-to-use method for rapid measurement of leaf area and nondestructive estimation of canopy area from digital images.

Better parks through law and policy: a legal analysis of authorities governing public parks and open spaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Ana; Fry, Christine R

2011-01-01

Improving parks in low income and minority neighborhoods may be a key way to increase physical activity and decrease overweight and obesity prevalence among children at the greatest risk. To advocate effectively for improved recreation infrastructure, public health advocates must understand the legal and policy landscape in which public recreation decisions are made. In this descriptive legal analysis, we reviewed federal, state, and local laws to determine the authority of each level of government over parks. We then examined current practices and state laws regarding park administration in urban California and rural Texas. We identified several themes through the analysis: (1) multiple levels of governments are often involved in parks offerings in a municipality, (2) state laws governing parks vary, (3) local authority may vary substantially within a state, and (4) state law may offer greater authority than local jurisdictions use. Public health advocates who want to improve parks need to (1) think strategically about which levels of government to engage; (2) identify parks law and funding from all levels of government, including those not typically associated with local parks; and (3) partner with advocates with similar interests, including those from active living and school communities.

36 CFR 7.25 - Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. 7.25 Section 7.25 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR SPECIAL REGULATIONS, AREAS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM § 7.25 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. (a...

Maryon Park

OpenAIRE

Bertoli, Giasco

2018-01-01

Tiré du site Internet de Onestar Press: "Maryon Park is the place Michelangelo Antonioni chose, in 1966, to shoot the scenes that would become cult images from his film "Blow Up", and deservedly so. The park is located in Charlton, southeast of London, a place that's hardly changed since Antonioni shot there. I first went there to shoot a series of photos on March 7 and 8, 2007. I returned again on March 7, 2014. I called the series “Maryon Park”. I used a medium format, six by seven inch col...

Leaf anatomical traits determine the 18O enrichment of leaf water in coastal halophytes

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, J.; Lin, G., Sr.; Sternberg, L. O.

2017-12-01

Foliar anatomical adaptations to high-salinity environment in mangroves may be recorded by leaf water isotopes. Recent studies observed that a few mangrove species have lower 18O enrichment of leaf water (ΔL) relative to source water than the adjacent terrestrial trees, but what factors actually control this phenomenon is still disputable at present. To resolve this issue, we collected 15 species of true mangrove plants, 14 species of adjacent freshwater trees and 4 species of semi-mangrove plants at five study sites on the southeastern coast of China. Leaf stomatal density and pore size, water content, ΔL and other related leaf physiological traits were determined for the selected leaves of these plants. Our results confirmed that ΔL values of mangroves were generally 3 4 ‰ lower than those of the adjacent freshwater or semi-mangrove species. Higher leaf water per area (LWC) and lower leaf stomatal density (LS) of mangroves played co-dominant roles in lowering ΔL through elongating effective leaf mixing length by about 20%. The Péclet model incorporated by LWC and LS performed well in predicting ΔL. The demonstrated general law between leaf anatomy and ΔL in this paper based on a large pool of species bridges the gap between leaf functional traits and metabolic proxies derived ΔL, which will have considerable potential applications in vegetation succession and reconstruction of paleoclimate research.

Performance Analysis of Constrained Loosely Coupled GPS/INS Integration Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Dovis

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The paper investigates approaches for loosely coupled GPS/INS integration. Error performance is calculated using a reference trajectory. A performance improvement can be obtained by exploiting additional map information (for example, a road boundary. A constrained solution has been developed and its performance compared with an unconstrained one. The case of GPS outages is also investigated showing how a Kalman filter that operates on the last received GPS position and velocity measurements provides a performance benefit. Results are obtained by means of simulation studies and real data.

Smart parking management and navigation system

KAUST Repository

Saadeldin, Mohamed

2017-01-01

Various examples are provided for smart parking management, which can include navigation. In one example, a system includes a base station controller configured to: receive a wireless signal from a parking controller located at a parking space

Effects of leaf movement on leaf temperature, transpiration and radiation interception in soybean under water stress conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isoda, A.; Wang, P.

2001-01-01

Varietal differences in leaf movement were examined in terms of radiation interception, leaf temperature and transpiration under water stressed conditions. Five cultivars (Qindou 7232, Gaofei 16, Dongnong 87 - 138, 8285 - 8 and 8874) were grown in a concrete frame field in Xinjiang, China. Irrigation treatments (irrigation and no irrigation) were made from the flowering to the pod filling stage. A leaflet in the uppermost layer of the canopy was restrained horizontally. Leaf temperatures, transpiration rate (stem sap flow rate of the main stem per unit leaf area) and intercepted radiation of each leaflet were measured. There were greater varietal differences in leaf movement, leaf temperature and transpiration rate. Leaf temperature seemed to be adjusted by leaf movement and transpiration. The extent to which is adjusted by leaf movement and transpiration differed among the cultivars; leaf temperature was influenced mainly by leaf movement for Gaofei 16 and Dongnong 87 - 138, mainly by transpiration for Qindou 7232 and 8874, and by both for 8285 - 8. Intercepted radiation in the upper two layers of the canopy (20 cm from the uppermost) was greater in the irrigated plot, although the mean values of total leaflets of the irrigated plot were not different as compared to the non-irrigated plot. Although paraheliotropic leaf movement decreased radiation interception, it offers some possibilities for the improvement in radiation penetration within a dense canopy. Cumulated amount of transpiration during a day was compared between the restrained-leaf and the non-leaf-restrained plants in 8874. Paraheliotropic leaf movement reduced water loss by 23% in the irrigated and 71% in the non-irrigated plots

Mechanical behavior of embankments overlying on loose subgrade stabilized by deep mixed columns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morteza Esmaeili

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Deep mixed column (DMC is known as one of the effective methods for stabilizing the natural earth beneath road or railway embankments to control stability and settlements under traffic loads. The load distribution mechanism of embankment overlying on loose subgrades stabilized with DMCs considerably depends on the columns' mechanical and geometrical specifications. The present study uses the laboratory investigation to understand the behavior of embankments lying on loose sandy subgrade in three different conditions: (1 subgrade without reinforcement, (2 subgrade reinforced with DMCs in a triangular pattern and horizontal plan, and (3 subgrade reinforced with DMCs in a square pattern and horizontal plan. For this purpose, by adopting the scale factor of 1:10, a reference embankment with 20 cm height, 250 cm length, and 93% maximum dry density achieved in standard Proctor compaction test was constructed over a 70 cm thick loose sandy bed with the relative density of 50% in a loading chamber, and its load-displacement behavior was evaluated until the failure occurred. In the next two tests, DMCs (with 10 cm diameter, 40 cm length, and 25 cm center-to-center spacing were placed in groups in two different patterns (square and triangular in the same sandy bed beneath the embankment and, consequently, the embankments were constructed over the reinforced subgrades and gradually loaded until the failure happened. In all the three tests, the load-displacement behaviors of the embankment and the selected DMCs were instrumented for monitoring purpose. The obtained results implied 64% increase in failure load and 40% decrease in embankment crest settlement when using the square pattern of DMCs compared with those of the reference embankment, while these values were 63% and 12%, respectively, for DMCs in triangular pattern. This confirmed generally better performance of DMCs with a triangular pattern.

IoT-Based Car's Parking Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dwiputra Albertus Ega

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Internet-of-things-based technologies have advanced so much and helped public necessities. The use of IoT at a parking lot will help vehicle users to know the availability of a parking location through smartphones. This IoT-based parking system is created by using controllers, sensors, servers and cloud. Controllers and sensors will be placed on the ceiling of each parking slots to detect the presence of a car. Server collect the results of the sensors and store them in Cloud. System test is conducted by installing three sensor circuits and server in a parking lot. The tests consist of measuring time that required for data transmission and the rate of success of data transmission from the parking lot to the Cloud. Based on above tests, it is observed that the sensor circuit and Radio Frequency Identification are able to transmit the parking lot data without error. This system require maximum 1 min to update parking lot data. The process of obtaining data until the data being stored in Cloud takes 12 s and the process of acquiring parking condition data from Cloud to smartphone takes 30 s. The accuracy level of parking lot data transfer is 100 %.

Realistic page-turning of electronic books

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Chaoran; Li, Haisheng; Bai, Yannan

2014-01-01

The booming electronic books (e-books), as an extension to the paper book, are popular with readers. Recently, many efforts are put into the realistic page-turning simulation o f e-book to improve its reading experience. This paper presents a new 3D page-turning simulation approach, which employs piecewise time-dependent cylindrical surfaces to describe the turning page and constructs smooth transition method between time-dependent cylinders. The page-turning animation is produced by sequentially mapping the turning page into the cylinders with different radii and positions. Compared to the previous approaches, our method is able to imitate various effects efficiently and obtains more natural animation of turning page.

On Page Rank

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoede, C.

In this paper the concept of page rank for the world wide web is discussed. The possibility of describing the distribution of page rank by an exponential law is considered. It is shown that the concept is essentially equal to that of status score, a centrality measure discussed already in 1953 by

Rapid, high-resolution measurement of leaf area and leaf orientation using terrestrial LiDAR scanning data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, Brian N; Mahaffee, Walter F

2017-01-01

The rapid evolution of high performance computing technology has allowed for the development of extremely detailed models of the urban and natural environment. Although models can now represent sub-meter-scale variability in environmental geometry, model users are often unable to specify the geometry of real domains at this scale given available measurements. An emerging technology in this field has been the use of terrestrial LiDAR scanning data to rapidly measure the three-dimensional geometry of trees, such as the distribution of leaf area. However, current LiDAR methods suffer from the limitation that they require detailed knowledge of leaf orientation in order to translate projected leaf area into actual leaf area. Common methods for measuring leaf orientation are often tedious or inaccurate, which places constraints on the LiDAR measurement technique. This work presents a new method to simultaneously measure leaf orientation and leaf area within an arbitrarily defined volume using terrestrial LiDAR data. The novelty of the method lies in the direct measurement of the fraction of projected leaf area G from the LiDAR data which is required to relate projected leaf area to total leaf area, and in the new way in which radiation transfer theory is used to calculate leaf area from the LiDAR data. The method was validated by comparing LiDAR-measured leaf area to (1) ‘synthetic’ or computer-generated LiDAR data where the exact area was known, and (2) direct measurements of leaf area in the field using destructive sampling. Overall, agreement between the LiDAR and reference measurements was very good, showing a normalized root-mean-squared-error of about 15% for the synthetic tests, and 13% in the field. (paper)

Aftermath of Griffith Park Fire

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

In mid-May 2007, wind-driven flames raced through Griffith Park in Los Angeles, forcing hasty evacuations and threatening numerous famous landmarks and tourist spots, such as the Los Angeles Zoo and the Hollywood Sign. Ultimately, no one was injured in the fire, which may have been started by a cigarette. About 800 acres burned in the urban park, which is itself a Hollywood landmark, having been the location for several movies, including Rebel Without A Cause. This image of the park was captured by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite on June 6, 2007, about a month after the fire. ASTER detects both visible and infrared wavelengths of light, and both kinds have been used to make this image. Vegetation appears in various shades of red, while the burned areas appear charcoal. Roads and dense urban areas appear purplish-gray or white. Water is dark blue. Large burned areas are evident in the northwest and southeast parts of the park, with scattered smaller patches along the southern margin. Some botanical gardens and parts of a bird sanctuary, as well as some park structures like restrooms, were destroyed. The park's unburned, natural vegetation appears brick red, while the irrigated golf courses adjacent to the park are bright red. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

Leaf endophyte load influences fungal garden development in leaf-cutting ants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Van Bael Sunshine A

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous work has shown that leaf-cutting ants prefer to cut leaf material with relatively low fungal endophyte content. This preference suggests that fungal endophytes exact a cost on the ants or on the development of their colonies. We hypothesized that endophytes may play a role in their host plants’ defense against leaf-cutting ants. To measure the long-term cost to the ant colony of fungal endophytes in their forage material, we conducted a 20-week laboratory experiment to measure fungal garden development for colonies that foraged on leaves with low or high endophyte content. Results Colony mass and the fungal garden dry mass did not differ significantly between the low and high endophyte feeding treatments. There was, however, a marginally significant trend toward greater mass of fungal garden per ant worker in the low relative to the high endophyte treatment. This trend was driven by differences in the fungal garden mass per worker from the earliest samples, when leaf-cutting ants had been foraging on low or high endophyte leaf material for only 2 weeks. At two weeks of foraging, the mean fungal garden mass per worker was 77% greater for colonies foraging on leaves with low relative to high endophyte loads. Conclusions Our data suggest that the cost of endophyte presence in ant forage material may be greatest to fungal colony development in its earliest stages, when there are few workers available to forage and to clean leaf material. This coincides with a period of high mortality for incipient colonies in the field. We discuss how the endophyte-leaf-cutter ant interaction may parallel constitutive defenses in plants, whereby endophytes reduce the rate of colony development when its risk of mortality is greatest.

PageRank of integers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frahm, K M; Shepelyansky, D L; Chepelianskii, A D

2012-01-01

We up a directed network tracing links from a given integer to its divisors and analyze the properties of the Google matrix of this network. The PageRank vector of this matrix is computed numerically and it is shown that its probability is approximately inversely proportional to the PageRank index thus being similar to the Zipf law and the dependence established for the World Wide Web. The spectrum of the Google matrix of integers is characterized by a large gap and a relatively small number of nonzero eigenvalues. A simple semi-analytical expression for the PageRank of integers is derived that allows us to find this vector for matrices of billion size. This network provides a new PageRank order of integers. (paper)

The Faculty Web Page: Contrivance or Continuation?

Science.gov (United States)

Lennex, Lesia

2007-01-01

In an age of Internet education, what does it mean for a tenure/tenure-track faculty to have a web page? How many professors have web pages? If they have a page, what does it look like? Do they really need a web page at all? Many universities have faculty web pages. What do those collective pages look like? In what way do they represent the…

Easy Leaf Area: Automated Digital Image Analysis for Rapid and Accurate Measurement of Leaf Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsien Ming Easlon

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Premise of the study: Measurement of leaf areas from digital photographs has traditionally required significant user input unless backgrounds are carefully masked. Easy Leaf Area was developed to batch process hundreds of Arabidopsis rosette images in minutes, removing background artifacts and saving results to a spreadsheet-ready CSV file. Methods and Results: Easy Leaf Area uses the color ratios of each pixel to distinguish leaves and calibration areas from their background and compares leaf pixel counts to a red calibration area to eliminate the need for camera distance calculations or manual ruler scale measurement that other software methods typically require. Leaf areas estimated by this software from images taken with a camera phone were more accurate than ImageJ estimates from flatbed scanner images. Conclusions: Easy Leaf Area provides an easy-to-use method for rapid measurement of leaf area and nondestructive estimation of canopy area from digital images.

Dry season distribution of land crabs, Gecarcinus quadratus (Crustacea: Gecarcinidae), in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Megan E; Mohammad, Basma A; Vega, Andres

2007-03-01

The land crab Gecarcinus quadratus is an engineering species that controls nutrient cycling in tropical forests. Factors regulating their coastal distribution are not fully understood. We quantified land crab distribution during the dry season at Sirena Field Station in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica, and found that land crab burrow density decreases with increasing distance from the ocean. Leaf litter depth and tree seedling density are negatively correlated with land crab burrow density. Burrows are strongly associated with sand substrate and burrow density is comparatively low in clay substrate. Results suggest that G. quadratus is limited to a narrow coastal zone with sand substrate, and this distribution could have profound effects on plant community structure.

An approach for heterogeneous and loosely coupled geospatial data distributed computing

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bin; Huang, Fengru; Fang, Yu; Huang, Zhou; Lin, Hui

2010-07-01

Most GIS (Geographic Information System) applications tend to have heterogeneous and autonomous geospatial information resources, and the availability of these local resources is unpredictable and dynamic under a distributed computing environment. In order to make use of these local resources together to solve larger geospatial information processing problems that are related to an overall situation, in this paper, with the support of peer-to-peer computing technologies, we propose a geospatial data distributed computing mechanism that involves loosely coupled geospatial resource directories and a term named as Equivalent Distributed Program of global geospatial queries to solve geospatial distributed computing problems under heterogeneous GIS environments. First, a geospatial query process schema for distributed computing as well as a method for equivalent transformation from a global geospatial query to distributed local queries at SQL (Structured Query Language) level to solve the coordinating problem among heterogeneous resources are presented. Second, peer-to-peer technologies are used to maintain a loosely coupled network environment that consists of autonomous geospatial information resources, thus to achieve decentralized and consistent synchronization among global geospatial resource directories, and to carry out distributed transaction management of local queries. Finally, based on the developed prototype system, example applications of simple and complex geospatial data distributed queries are presented to illustrate the procedure of global geospatial information processing.

Self-evaluation System for Low carbon Industrial Park--A Case Study of TEDA Industrial Park in Tianjin

Science.gov (United States)

Wenyan, W.; Fanghua, H.; Ying, C.; Ouyang, W.; Yuan, Q.

2013-12-01

Massive fossil fuel burning caused by industrialization development is one major reason of global climate change. After Copenhagen climate summit, the studies of low-carbon city gain attentions from many countries. On 25th Nov. 2009, the State Council executive meeting announced that by 2020 China will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 40% to 45% compared with the level of 2005. Industrial Park as an important part of city, has developed rapidly in recent years, and turns into a key element and an alternative mechanism to achieve emission reduction target. Thus, establishing a low carbon development model for industrial park is one of the most effective ways to build sustainable low carbon cities. By adopting the self-evaluation system of low carbon industrial park, this research aims to summarize the low carbon concept in industrial park practice. According to The Guide for Low Carbon Industrial Development Zones, the quantitative evaluation system is divided into 4 separate categories with 23 different quantitative indicators. The 4 categories include: 1) energy and GHG management (weigh 60%), 2) circular economy and environmental protection (weigh 15%), 3) administration and incentive mechanisms of industrial parks (weigh 15%), and 4) planning and urban forms (weigh 10%). By going through the necessary stages and by leading continuous improvements low carbon development goals can be achieved. Tianjin TEDA industrial park is selected as one case study to conduct an assessment on TEDA low-carbon development condition. Tianjin TEDA Industrial Park is already an ecological demonstration industrial park in China, with good foundations on environmental protection, resource recycling, etc. Based on the self-evaluation system, the indicators, such as the energy using efficiency and the degree of land intensive utilization, are also analyzed and assessed. Through field survey and data collection, in accordance with the quantitative self

Automated Leaf Tracking using Multi-view Image Sequences of Maize Plants for Leaf-growth Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Das Choudhury, S.; Awada, T.; Samal, A.; Stoerger, V.; Bashyam, S.

2017-12-01

Extraction of phenotypes with botanical importance by analyzing plant image sequences has the desirable advantages of non-destructive temporal phenotypic measurements of a large number of plants with little or no manual intervention in a relatively short period of time. The health of a plant is best interpreted by the emergence timing and temporal growth of individual leaves. For automated leaf growth monitoring, it is essential to track each leaf throughout the life cycle of the plant. Plants are constantly changing organisms with increasing complexity in architecture due to variations in self-occlusions and phyllotaxy, i.e., arrangements of leaves around the stem. The leaf cross-overs pose challenges to accurately track each leaf using single view image sequence. Thus, we introduce a novel automated leaf tracking algorithm using a graph theoretic approach by multi-view image sequence analysis based on the determination of leaf-tips and leaf-junctions in the 3D space. The basis of the leaf tracking algorithm is: the leaves emerge using bottom-up approach in the case of a maize plant, and the direction of leaf emergence strictly alternates in terms of direction. The algorithm involves labeling of the individual parts of a plant, i.e., leaves and stem, following graphical representation of the plant skeleton, i.e., one-pixel wide connected line obtained from the binary image. The length of the leaf is measured by the number of pixels in the leaf skeleton. To evaluate the performance of the algorithm, a benchmark dataset is indispensable. Thus, we publicly release University of Nebraska-Lincoln Component Plant Phenotyping dataset-2 (UNL-CPPD-2) consisting of images of the 20 maize plants captured by visible light camera of the Lemnatec Scanalyzer 3D high throughout plant phenotyping facility once daily for 60 days from 10 different views. The dataset is aimed to facilitate the development and evaluation of leaf tracking algorithms and their uniform comparisons.

What's Ahead for our National Parks?

Science.gov (United States)

George, Jean Craighead

1972-01-01

To insure the future of our National Parks, sweeping changes must be made. Encroaching civilization at the expense of nature has forced National Park officials to consider alternatives to future development - limiting number of visitors, facilities outside the parks and curtailing vehicular traffic. (BL)

Sandboxes, Loose Parts, and Playground Equipment: A Descriptive Exploration of Outdoor Play Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Olsen, Heather; Smith, Brandy

2017-01-01

The purpose of the study was to examine outdoor environments to understand whether or not young children had access to play materials and loose parts to enhance their playful experiences. This study sought to gather the availability of SAFE and quality play opportunities in early childhood outdoor environments. The study took place in one state of…

Advanced parking management systems : a cross-cutting study : taking the stress out of parking

Science.gov (United States)

2007-01-01

This study examines advanced parking management systems (APMSs) in three venues: airports, central business districts, and transit park-and-ride locations. Specifically, the systems examined in this study provide directional and space availability in...

The perception of visitors towards the level of satisfaction on park (Case study: Singha Merjosari Park Malang)

Science.gov (United States)

Priadaniswari, R.

2017-06-01

Park is one of the public spaces which is used by people to get happiness and comfort. Singha Merjosari Park is one of the parks in Malang that is functioned as a recreational and educational park for the citizen. In weekends and national holidays Singha Merjosari park get visited by so many visitors. But if we see the reality, there are still some problems regarding visitor satisfaction. Also, there are attributes that has performance levels decrease that will become another new problem. The purpose of this study is to analyze the perception of visitors about the level of visitor satisfaction and what attributes that need to be improved and developed by managers in the future. The approach method in this research is descriptive quantitative. Primary data is based on measurement and observation. The number of samples used is 100 respondents referring to the number of samples determination by Slovin formula with the sample selection used is accidental sampling technique. The analysis technique used is Importance Performance Analysis (IPA) and Costumer Satisfaction Index (CSI). Based on the results of IPA analysis, the things that should get important attention and should be improved is the aesthetics of lighting, cleanliness of parking area and toilet, shade in park area, and availability of clean water. While the result of CSI value analysis is 65,30%. This means visitors are satisfied, but visitors are still not satisfied overall. Implications or changes that should be given is the aesthetics of lighting should be more creative and become the identity of the park (for example, lamp lanterns should be suitable with the concept of the park). Also, the change of toilet look so that visitors can enjoy the look and it can be iconic (toilet concept according to local culture of Malang) and the prevalence of lighting in the park area at night.

Protein profile of Beta vulgaris leaf apoplastic fluid and changes induced by Fe deficiency and Fe resupply

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura eCeballos-Laita

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The fluid collected by direct leaf centrifugation has been used to study the proteome of the sugar beet apoplastic fluid as well as the changes induced by Fe deficiency and Fe resupply to Fe-deficient plants in the protein profile. Plants were grown in Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient conditions, and Fe resupply was carried out with 45 μM Fe(III-EDTA for 24 h. Protein extracts of leaf apoplastic fluid were analyzed by two-dimensional isoelectric focusing-SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. Gel image analysis revealed 203 consistent spots, and proteins in 81% of them (164 were identified by nLC-MS/MS using a custom made reference repository of beet protein sequences. When redundant UniProt entries were deleted, a non-redundant leaf apoplastic proteome consisting of 109 proteins was obtained. TargetP and SecretomeP algorithms predicted that 63% of them were secretory proteins. Functional classification of the non-redundant proteins indicated that stress and defense, protein metabolism, cell wall and C metabolism accounted for approximately 75% of the identified proteome. The effects of Fe-deficiency on the leaf apoplast proteome were limited, with only five spots (2.5% changing in relative abundance, thus suggesting that protein homeostasis in the leaf apoplast fluid is well maintained upon Fe shortage. The identification of three chitinase isoforms among proteins increasing in relative abundance with Fe-deficiency suggests that one of the few effects of Fe deficiency in the leaf apoplast proteome includes cell wall modifications. Iron resupply to Fe deficient plants changed the relative abundance of 16 spots when compared to either Fe-sufficient or Fe-deficient samples. Proteins identified in these spots can be broadly classified as those responding to Fe-resupply, which included defense and cell wall related proteins, and non-responsive, which are mainly protein metabolism related proteins and whose changes in relative abundance followed the same trend as

Wireless based Smart Parking System using Zigbee

OpenAIRE

Hamzah Asyrani Bin Sulaiman; Mohd Fareez Bin Mohd Afif; Mohd Azlishah Bin Othman; Mohamad Harris Bin Misran; Maizatul Alice Binti Meor Said

2013-01-01

One of main issues of developing big parking space for shopping complexes, office complexes and other types of building that requires large parking space is to notify the visitors of occupied and nonoccupied parking space. Most of the visitors might spending up to 30 to 45 minutes just to find an empty parking space. In most recent technology, some parking lot system offered a system that could automatically count when the car entering the empty car space and blocking an infrared signal thus ...

Performance comparison of wind park configurations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lundberg, Stefan

2003-07-01

In this report, layouts of various large-scale wind parks, both AC as well as DC, are investigated. Loss modelling of the wind park components as well as calculations of the energy capture of the turbines using various electrical systems are performed, and the energy production cost of the various park configurations is determined. It was found that from an energy capture point of view, the difference in energy production between various wind turbine systems is very small. In addition, a study of the suitability of various DC/DC-converters is made. Three DC/DC-converters, Boost, Full Bridge and Full Bridge Isolated Boost, are found to be interesting candidates as the 'transformer' component in potential DC-based wind parks. Of all the investigated wind park configurations, the wind park with the series connected DC wind turbines seems to have the best potential to give the lowest energy production cost, if the transmission distance is longer then 10-20 km.

Study of Robust H∞ Filtering Application in Loosely Coupled INS/GPS System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Zhao

2014-01-01

model, unstable model case is considered. We give an explanation for Kalman filter divergence under uncertain dynamic system and simultaneously investigate the relationship between H∞ filter and Kalman filter. A loosely coupled INS/GPS simulation system is given here to verify this application. Result shows that the robust H∞ filter has a better performance when system suffers uncertainty; also it is more robust compared to the conventional Kalman filter.

Protein identification and quantification from riverbank grape, Vitis riparia: Comparing SDS-PAGE and FASP-GPF techniques for shotgun proteomic analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

George, Iniga S; Fennell, Anne Y; Haynes, Paul A

2015-09-01

Protein sample preparation optimisation is critical for establishing reproducible high throughput proteomic analysis. In this study, two different fractionation sample preparation techniques (in-gel digestion and in-solution digestion) for shotgun proteomics were used to quantitatively compare proteins identified in Vitis riparia leaf samples. The total number of proteins and peptides identified were compared between filter aided sample preparation (FASP) coupled with gas phase fractionation (GPF) and SDS-PAGE methods. There was a 24% increase in the total number of reproducibly identified proteins when FASP-GPF was used. FASP-GPF is more reproducible, less expensive and a better method than SDS-PAGE for shotgun proteomics of grapevine samples as it significantly increases protein identification across biological replicates. Total peptide and protein information from the two fractionation techniques is available in PRIDE with the identifier PXD001399 (http://proteomecentral.proteomexchange.org/dataset/PXD001399). © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Shell closures, loosely bound structures, and halos in exotic nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saxena, G.; Singh, D.

2013-01-01

Inspired by the recent experiments indicating doubly magic nuclei that lie near the drip-line and encouraged by the success of our relativistic mean-field (RMF) plus state-dependent BCS approach to the description of the ground-state properties of drip-line nuclei, we develop this approach further, across the entire periodic table, to explore magic nuclei, loosely bound structures, and halo formation in exotic nuclei. In our RMF+BCS approach, the single-particle continuum corresponding to the RMF is replaced by a set of discrete positive-energy states for the calculations of pairing energy. Detailed analysis of the single-particle spectrum, pairing energies, and densities of the nuclei predict the unusual proton shell closures at proton numbers Z = 6, 14, 16, 34, and unusual neutron shell closures at neutron numbers N = 6, 14, 16, 34, 40, 70, 112. Further, in several nuclei like the neutron-rich isotopes of Ca, Zr, Mo, etc., the gradual filling of lowlying single-particle resonant state together with weakly bound single-particle states lying close to the continuum threshold helps accommodate more neutrons but with an extremely small increase in the binding energy. This gives rise to the occurrence of loosely bound systems of neutron-rich nuclei with a large neutron-to-proton ratio. In general, the halo-like formation, irrespective of the existence of any resonant state, is seen to be due to the large spatial extension of the wave functions for the weakly bound single-particle states with low orbital angular momentum having very small or no centrifugal barriers.

Shell closures, loosely bound structures, and halos in exotic nuclei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saxena, G., E-mail: gauravphy@gmail.com [Govt. Women Engineering College, Department of Physics (India); Singh, D. [University of Rajasthan, Department of Physics (India)

2013-04-15

Inspired by the recent experiments indicating doubly magic nuclei that lie near the drip-line and encouraged by the success of our relativistic mean-field (RMF) plus state-dependent BCS approach to the description of the ground-state properties of drip-line nuclei, we develop this approach further, across the entire periodic table, to explore magic nuclei, loosely bound structures, and halo formation in exotic nuclei. In our RMF+BCS approach, the single-particle continuum corresponding to the RMF is replaced by a set of discrete positive-energy states for the calculations of pairing energy. Detailed analysis of the single-particle spectrum, pairing energies, and densities of the nuclei predict the unusual proton shell closures at proton numbers Z = 6, 14, 16, 34, and unusual neutron shell closures at neutron numbers N = 6, 14, 16, 34, 40, 70, 112. Further, in several nuclei like the neutron-rich isotopes of Ca, Zr, Mo, etc., the gradual filling of lowlying single-particle resonant state together with weakly bound single-particle states lying close to the continuum threshold helps accommodate more neutrons but with an extremely small increase in the binding energy. This gives rise to the occurrence of loosely bound systems of neutron-rich nuclei with a large neutron-to-proton ratio. In general, the halo-like formation, irrespective of the existence of any resonant state, is seen to be due to the large spatial extension of the wave functions for the weakly bound single-particle states with low orbital angular momentum having very small or no centrifugal barriers.

PARK-IT! Elementary School Land Laboratories in Toledo City Parks. Curriculum Activity Guide, Grades K-1.

Science.gov (United States)

DuFour, Marilyn Berry; Courter, Linda Kothera; Garvin, Dennis M.

The project PARK-IT! represents a unique partnership between a public elementary school and a city park in which students and teachers utilize a small naturalized area of the park as a Land Laboratory, and in return become its stewards. The project also includes this curriculum activity guide which can assist teachers in using the Land Lab with…

PARK-IT! Elementary School Land Laboratories in Toledo City Parks. Curriculum Activity Guide, Grades 2-3.

Science.gov (United States)

DuFour, Marilyn Berry; Courter, Linda Kothera; Garvin, Dennis M.

The project PARK-IT! represents a unique partnership between a public elementary school and a city park in which students and teachers utilize a small naturalized area of the park as a Land Laboratory, and in return become its stewards. The project also includes this curriculum activity guide which can assist teachers in using the Land Lab with…

PARK-IT! Elementary School Land Laboratories in Toledo City Parks. Curriculum Activity Guide, Grades 4-6.

Science.gov (United States)

DuFour, Marilyn Berry; Courter, Linda Kothera; Garvin, Dennis M.

The project PARK-IT! represents a unique partnership between a public elementary school and a city park in which students and teachers utilize a small naturalized area of the park as a Land Laboratory, and in return become its stewards. The project also includes this curriculum activity guide which can assist teachers in using the Land Lab with…

Aggressiveness of loose kernel smut isolate from Johnson grass on sorghum line BTx643

Science.gov (United States)

An isolate of loose kernel smut obtained from Johnson grass was inoculated unto six BTx643 sorghum plants in the greenhouse to determine its aggressiveness. All the BTx643 sorghum plants inoculated with the Johnson grass isolate were infected. Mean size of the teliospores from the Johnson grass, i...

The Physics of Protoplanetesimal Dust Agglomerates. VIII. Microgravity Collisions between Porous SiO2 Aggregates and Loosely Bound Agglomerates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whizin, Akbar D.; Colwell, Joshua E.; Blum, Jürgen

2017-01-01

We performed laboratory experiments colliding 0.8–1.0 mm and 1.0–1.6 mm SiO 2 dust aggregates with loosely bound centimeter-sized agglomerates of those aggregates in microgravity. This work builds on previous microgravity laboratory experiments examining the collisional properties of porous loosely bound dust aggregates. In centimeter-sized aggregates, surface forces dominate self-gravity and may play a large role in aggregate growth beyond this size range. We characterize the properties of protoplanetary aggregate analogs to help place constraints on initial formation mechanisms and environments. We determined several important physical characteristics of these aggregates in a large number of low-velocity collisions. We observed low coefficients of restitution and fragmentation thresholds near 1 m s −1 for 1–2 cm agglomerates, which are in good agreement with previous findings in the literature. We find the accretion efficiency for agglomerates of loosely bound aggregates to be higher than that for just aggregates themselves. We find sticking thresholds of 6.6 ± 2 cm s −1 , somewhat higher than those in similar studies, which have observed few aggregates stick at speeds of under 3 cm s −1 . Even with highly dissipative collisions, loosely bound agglomerates have difficulty accreting beyond centimeter-sized bodies at typical collision speeds in the disk. Our results indicate agglomerates of porous aggregates have slightly higher sticking thresholds than previously thought, allowing possible growth to decimeter-sized bodies if velocities are low enough.

Research of Subgraph Estimation Page Rank Algorithm for Web Page Rank

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LI Lan-yin

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The traditional PageRank algorithm can not efficiently perform large data Webpage scheduling problem. This paper proposes an accelerated algorithm named topK-Rank，which is based on PageRank on the MapReduce platform. It can find top k nodes efficiently for a given graph without sacrificing accuracy. In order to identify top k nodes，topK-Rank algorithm prunes unnecessary nodes and edges in each iteration to dynamically construct subgraphs，and iteratively estimates lower/upper bounds of PageRank scores through subgraphs. Theoretical analysis shows that this method guarantees result exactness. Experiments show that topK-Rank algorithm can find k nodes much faster than the existing approaches.

Measurement for the MLC leaf velocity profile by considering the leaf leakage using a radiographic film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chow, James C L; Grigorov, Grigor N

2006-01-01

A method to measure the velocity profile of a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) leaf along its travel range using a radiographic film is reported by considering the intra-leaf leakage. A specific dynamic MLC field with leaves travelling from the field edge to the isocentre line was designed. The field was used to expose a radiographic film, which was then scanned, and the dose profile along the horizontal leaf axis was measured. The velocity at a sampling point on the film can be calculated by considering the horizontal distance between the sampling point and the isocentre line, dose at the sampling point, dose rate of the linear accelerator, the total leaf travel time from the field edge to isocentre line and the pre-measured dose rate of leaf leakage. With the leaf velocities and velocity profiles for all MLC leaves measured routinely, a comprehensive and simple QA for the MLC can be set up to test the consistency of the leaf velocity performance which is essential to the IMRT delivery using a sliding window technique. (note)

Mode choice and shopping mall parking

OpenAIRE

Ersoy, Fulya Yüksel; Ersoy, Fulya Yuksel

2012-01-01

In this thesis, I analyze individuals' mode choice decisions and shopping mall's parking space pricing behavior. Individuals have three choices: first they may come to the mall by car in which case they have to park, second they may come by public transportation, or they do not visit the mall and go for their outside option. The mall determines the price of the good and the parking fee after the government sets public transportation fare. I find that the equilibrium parking fees are always le...

Page sample size in web accessibility testing: how many pages is enough?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velleman, Eric Martin; van der Geest, Thea

2013-01-01

Various countries and organizations use a different sampling approach and sample size of web pages in accessibility conformance tests. We are conducting a systematic analysis to determine how many pages is enough for testing whether a website is compliant with standard accessibility guidelines. This

Parks and their users

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Goličnik

2008-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with urban parks and their use(rs. It focuses on usage-spatial relationships from two different angles. Firstly, it discusses the actual uses mapped in places, using repeated observation on different days, times and weather conditions. Secondly, it addresses designers’ views and beliefs about usage and design of urban parks. However, the paper shows that designers’ beliefs and awareness about uses in places, in some aspects, differ from actual use. It stresses the use of empirical knowledge about usage-spatial relationships, which can be gained by using observation and behavioural mapping, in decision-making processes for parks design.

Geology of National Parks

Science.gov (United States)

Stoffer, Philip W.

2008-01-01

This is a set of two sheets of 3D images showing geologic features of many National Parks. Red-and-cyan viewing glasses are need to see the three-dimensional effect. A search on the World Wide Web will yield many sites about anaglyphs and where to get 3D glasses. Red-blue glasses will do but red-cyan glasses are a little better. This publication features a photo quiz game: Name that park! where you can explore, interpret, and identify selected park landscapes. Can you identify landscape features in the images? Can you explain processes that may have helped form the landscape features? You can get the answers online.

Park Accessibility Impacts Housing Prices in Seoul

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Han Park

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Housing prices are determined by a variety of factors, including the features of the building and the neighborhood environment, and a potential buyer decides to buy a house after reviewing these factors and concluding that it is worth the price. We used Hedonic Price Methods to find the relationship between monetary value of house and access conditions to urban parks. Two meaningful results were discovered in this study: first, as the distance from the park increases, the value of the park inherent in the housing price decreases; second, the greater walking accessibility, to the park, the higher the park value inherent in housing prices. Despite presenting shorter distances to walk and more entrances, poorly accessible zones were deemed as such due to the necessity of crossing an arterial road. This indicates that the results can define accessibility not as the Euclidian distance but as the shortest walking distance while considering crossroads and park entrances. The results of this study have significant implications for urban park economic impact analyses in Seoul. Also, the increase in housing prices closer to parks supports the idea that access is dependent on the residents’ socioeconomic status. Lastly, the results of this study can improve walking accessibility to the park.

Bicycle Parking and Locking

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Jonas

2017-01-01

. This article contributes with new insights into parking and locking - ‘moorings’ - to cycling literature. It presents an ethnography of ‘design moorings’ and practices associated with parking and locking bikes. The main case study is the very pro-cycling city of Copenhagen. Yet to explore what is unique about...

Loose excitation-secretion coupling in astrocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Vardjan, Nina; Parpura, Vladimir; Zorec, Robert

2016-05-01

Astrocytes play an important housekeeping role in the central nervous system. Additionally, as secretory cells, they actively participate in cell-to-cell communication, which can be mediated by membrane-bound vesicles. The gliosignaling molecules stored in these vesicles are discharged into the extracellular space after the vesicle membrane fuses with the plasma membrane. This process is termed exocytosis, regulated by SNARE proteins, and triggered by elevations in cytosolic calcium levels, which are necessary and sufficient for exocytosis in astrocytes. For astrocytic exocytosis, calcium is sourced from the intracellular endoplasmic reticulum store, although its entry from the extracellular space contributes to cytosolic calcium dynamics in astrocytes. Here, we discuss calcium management in astrocytic exocytosis and the properties of the membrane-bound vesicles that store gliosignaling molecules, including the vesicle fusion machinery and kinetics of vesicle content discharge. In astrocytes, the delay between the increase in cytosolic calcium activity and the discharge of secretions from the vesicular lumen is orders of magnitude longer than that in neurons. This relatively loose excitation-secretion coupling is likely tailored to the participation of astrocytes in modulating neural network processing. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

36 CFR 7.39 - Mesa Verde National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Mesa Verde National Park. 7... SPECIAL REGULATIONS, AREAS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM § 7.39 Mesa Verde National Park. (a) Visiting of... the admission of commercial automobiles and buses to Mesa Verde National Park, contained in § 5.4 of...

Enhancing Visitor Experiences Using Thematic Interpretation in Park Guiding Service in Sarawak National Parks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amin Victor Luna

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Enhancing visitor experiences is arguably the primary and most important goal for interpretation by many protected area managers and tourism business. However, little research has been conducted in Sarawak, Malaysia to directly quantify the effects of thematic interpretation has on tourist experiences. Drawing on the TORE-model of interpretation and through the inception of Park Guiding Training and Licensing System in Sarawak since 2007, this quantitative study examines the effectiveness of thematic interpretive guided tours delivered by park guides at Bako National Park, Sarawak, with the assumption that it will further enhance visitor experiences. A descriptive analysis and Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis of sub-indicators of the global evaluation of interpretation of site, and sub-indicators of elaboration surveyed from visitors of purposively sampled park guides revealed a strong measurement and correlation coefficients of visitors’ overall quality of thematic intepretive guided tours effecting visitor satisfaction and experiences. These findings provide empirical evidence that good thematic interpretive guided tour makes a positive impacts on visitor experiences, thus making training of tourism businesses' employees as park guides as a good investment. The suggestions for further research in influencing visitor attitude and shaping visitor behaviour are offered.

Assessing the risk of foliar injury from ozone on vegetation in parks in the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kohut, Robert

2007-01-01

The risk of ozone injury to plants was assessed in support of the National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network program. The assessment examined bioindicator species, evaluated levels of ozone exposure, and investigated soil moisture conditions during periods of exposure for a 5-year period in each park. The assessment assigned each park a risk rating of high, moderate, or low. For the 244 parks for which assessments were conducted, the risk of foliar injury was high in 65 parks, moderate in 46 parks, and low in 131 parks. Among the well-known parks with a high risk of ozone injury are Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Delaware Water Gap, Cape Cod, Fire Island, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Manassas, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Mammoth Cave, Shiloh, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. - An assessment of the risk of foliar ozone injury on plants was conducted for 269 parks in support of the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network Program

Geometric leaf placement strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenwick, J D; Temple, S W P; Clements, R W; Lawrence, G P; Mayles, H M O; Mayles, W P M

2004-01-01

Geometric leaf placement strategies for multileaf collimators (MLCs) typically involve the expansion of the beam's-eye-view contour of a target by a uniform MLC margin, followed by movement of the leaves until some point on each leaf end touches the expanded contour. Film-based dose-distribution measurements have been made to determine appropriate MLC margins-characterized through an index d 90 -for multileaves set using one particular strategy to straight lines lying at various angles to the direction of leaf travel. Simple trigonometric relationships exist between different geometric leaf placement strategies and are used to generalize the results of the film work into d 90 values for several different strategies. Measured d 90 values vary both with angle and leaf placement strategy. A model has been derived that explains and describes quite well the observed variations of d 90 with angle. The d 90 angular variations of the strategies studied differ substantially, and geometric and dosimetric reasoning suggests that the best strategy is the one with the least angular variation. Using this criterion, the best straightforwardly implementable strategy studied is a 'touch circle' approach for which semicircles are imagined to be inscribed within leaf ends, the leaves being moved until the semicircles just touch the expanded target outline

Ecological Resilience of Small Urban Parks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

JasmaniI, Zanariah Binti

consists of several sub-variables or attributes. The attributes of physical characteristics include park size, land use, park shape, proximity to a road and the presence of a water element. Elements relating to vegetation diversity, such as the presence and share of native and exotic species, presence....... Birds and butterflies react differently to various park maintenance practices (e.g. mowing). Based on the overall results, findings and discussion of the key features for bird and butterfly richness and abundance, study IV proposes nine recommendations for small urban parks to improve their ecological...

From Loose Groups to Effective Teams: The Nine Key Factors of the Team Landscape.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheard, A. G.; Kakabadse, A. P.

2002-01-01

A loose group of individuals working on a task differs from an effective team on nine factors: clearly defined goals, priorities, roles and responsibilities, self-awareness, leadership, group dynamics, communications, content, and infrastructure. Ways to eliminate barriers and speed formation of effective teams could be based on those factors.…

The counsellor's guide to parks inner child therapy The counsellor's guide to parks inner child therapy Parks P Souvenir 266pp £10.66 0-258-63172-1.

Science.gov (United States)

1994-07-13

The Counsellor's Guide to Parks Inner Child Therapy is the second book by Penny Parks about working with survivors of childhood abuse, the first being Rescuing the Inner Child, published in 1990, which introduced Parks Inner Child Therapy (PICT) as a specifically structured approach to inner child work.

Apparent over-investment in leaf venation relaxes leaf morphological constraints on photosynthesis in arid habitats

Science.gov (United States)

de Boer, Hugo; Drake, Paul; Veneklaas, Erik

2017-04-01

The close relationship between leaf water status and stomatal conductance implies that the hydraulic architecture of leaves poses an important constraint on transpiration, specifically in arid environments with high evaporative demands. However, it remains uncertain how morphological, hydraulic and photosynthetic traits are coordinated to achieve optimal leaf functioning in arid environments. Critical is that leaf veins supply the mesophyll with water that evaporates when stomata are open to allow CO2 uptake for photosynthesis. Theoretical analyses suggest that water is optimally distributed in the mesophyll when the lateral distance between veins (dx) is equal to the distance from these veins to the epidermis (dy), expressed as dx:dy≈1. Although this theory is supported by observations on many derived angiosperms, we hypothesize that plants in arid environments may reduce dx:dy below unity owing to climate-specific functional adaptations of increased leaf thickness and increased vein density. To test our hypothesis we assembled leaf hydraulic, morphological and photosynthetic traits of 68 species from the Eucalyptus and Corymbia genera (termed eucalypts) along an aridity gradient in southwestern Australia. We inferred the potential gas exchange advantage of reducing dx beyond dy using a model that links leaf morphology and hydraulics to photosynthesis. Our observations reveal that eucalypts in arid environments have thick amphistomatous leaves with high vein densities, resulting in dx:dy ratios that range from 1.6 to 0.15 along the aridity gradient. Our model suggests that as leaves become thicker, the effect of reducing dx beyond dy is to offset the reduction in leaf gas exchange that would result from maintaining dx:dy at unity. This apparent over-investment in leaf venation may be explained from the selective pressure of aridity, under which traits associated with long leaf lifespan, high hydraulic and thermal capacitances, and high potential rates of leaf

Effect of different brewing times on antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of loosely packed and bagged black teas (Camellia sinensis L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Nikniaz, Zeinab; Mahdavi, Reza; Ghaemmaghami, Seyed Jamal; Lotfi Yagin, Neda; Nikniaz, Leila

2016-01-01

Determination and comparison of the effect of infusion time on the antioxidant activity and total polyphenol contents of bagged and loosely packed black teas. For twenty loosely packed and eleven bagged tea samples, the antioxidant activity and total polyphenol content were analyzed using FRAP and Folin-Ciocalteau methods, respectively. The ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc test and independent t-test were used for statistical analysis. The antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of various brands of tea samples were significantly different. There were significant differences in the antioxidant activity of loosely packed teas between 5, 15(p=0.03), 30(p=0.02) and 60(p=0.007) minutes of brewing times. Besides, there was a significant difference in antioxidant activity of bagged samples infused for 1 minute with four other infusion time points (pbrewing times (p=0.15). However, in bagged samples, the polyphenol contents of samples that were brewed for 1 minute were significantly lower than samples brewed for 3, 4, and 5 minutes (pbrewing time (p<0.001). The infusion time and the form of tea (loosely packed or bagged) were shown to be important determinants of the antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of black tea infusions in addition to the variety, growing environment and manufacturing conditions.

Some aspects of identity, meaning and park sustainability research, with special reference to Kamenički park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bajić Luka

2011-01-01

Full Text Available One of the main goals of urban planning by principles of sustainable development is the pursuit of diversity in structure, form and function in planning and design of urban public space. It is therefore necessary to redefine the concept and function of urban green areas and city parks, with the recommendation of identity preservation and promotion of social cohesion of this type of public space. In a theoretical sense, there is a problem of planning and designing urban parks in Serbia. This is due to failure to recognize the complexity underlying the possible role of urban public parks as an engine of urban renewal in the city or of any of his districts. Example of Kamenički park was chosen because of its complexity - in addition to being the largest green space in the city, this park also has high natural and cultural values (the park is protected as a cultural and natural heritage. The results indicate the reduced use of urban space. Based on existing theory and insights into the local planning process, general recommendations for improving its quality is the improvement of form/design of the park and it is necessary to define and promote the identity of space through the spatial analysis. The ultimate goal is to successfully respond to existing and potential customers' needs and thus define environmental, economic, cultural and social sustainability, which are key factors in managing the park.

"South Park" vormistab roppused muusikalivormi

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2000-01-01

Animafilm "South Park : suurem, pikem ja lõikamata" ("South Park . Bigger, Longer & Uncut") : Stsenaristid Trey Parker, Matt Stone ja Pam Brady : režissöör Trey Parker : Ameerika Ühendriigid 1999

Domestic parking estimation using remotely sensed data

Science.gov (United States)

Ramzi, Ahmed

2012-10-01

Parking is an integral part of the traffic system everywhere. Provision of parking facilities to meet peak of demands parking in cities of millions is always a real challenge for traffic and transport experts. Parking demand is a function of population and car ownership which is obtained from traffic statistics. Parking supply in an area is the number of legal parking stalls available in that area. The traditional treatment of the parking studies utilizes data collected either directly from on street counting and inquiries or indirectly from local and national traffic censuses. Both methods consume time, efforts, and funds. Alternatively, it is reasonable to make use of the eventually available data based on remotely sensed data which might be flown for other purposes. The objective of this work is to develop a new approach based on utilization of integration of remotely sensed data, field measurements, censuses and traffic records of the studied area for studying domestic parking problems in residential areas especially in informal areas. Expected outcomes from the research project establish a methodology to manage the issue and to find the reasons caused the shortage in domestics and the solutions to overcome this problems.

Modular and architectural innovation in loosely coupled networks : matching customer requirements, product architecture, and supplier networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hofman, Erwin

2010-01-01

Collaborative innovation projects that involve suppliers, customers, and sometimes even competitors can be a challenging undertaking. Nonetheless, specialization and organizational loose coupling makes companies increasingly dependent upon resources that are only externally available. This study

Loose anagen hair syndrome with diffuse woolly hair phenotype: A rare association

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arshdeep

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Loose anagen hair syndrome (LAHS is an underestimated cause of noncicatricial alopecia among children, manifesting as thin, sparse or fine hair. We report a case of LAHS clinically presenting as diffuse woolly hair, an association rarely described in the literature. In addition, we review the clinical as well as genetic link between these two enigmatic hair disorders and hypothesize that both may be associated in a yet unknown manner.

Urban Park: an Integral Part of Welfare for Citizens — A Case Study of Shangzhi and Qinbin Parks in Harbin Metropolis, China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yang, Binzhang; Zhao, Chunli

2008-01-01

Abstract: As a key part of the urban green spaces, urban park plays important role in city citizens’ life. The significances of park treating as a green lung in urban area demonstrate its unique contribution to people’s life not only in physical and tangible aspects such as environment, ecology a...... management and service have been contributed by this study. Specifically, the awareness for treating the urban park as an integral part of citizens’ welfare should be arose and educated in entire society. Key words: Harbin Metropolis, urban park, activity, public life...... in their daily life, second one tries to learn what problems they meet during their visit and using, third one focuses on what problems and challenges of urban park need to be resolved by administrative officers and park managers. The research samples, Shanzhi Park and Qingbin Park, were selected in two...... spaces in both numbers and sizes as the form of park. It also showed some problems and challenges faced in park design and management had to be enhanced. Finally, some suggestions aimed to improve the situation of urban spaces included constructing new urban parks and promoting the quality of park...

The Solutions to the Problem of Temporary Vehicle Parking in the City. The Analysis of Vehicle Parking Time and Costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ričardas Mockus

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Methods of solving the problems of temporary parking of vehicles in the city by using the automatic parking systems are considered. The investigation of vehicle parking is described and the comparison of the ramp-type and automated parking lots is presented.Article in Lithuanian

Loose parts, vibration and leakage monitoring methods and systems to increase availability, transparency and lifetime of power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Streicher, V.; Jax, P.; Ruthrof, K.

1987-01-01

This paper deals with three stand-alone-systems as an aid to check the mechanical integrity of the primary circuit of nuclear power plants. The main goals of these systems are early detection of faults and malfunctions, the facilitation of fault clearance, the avoidance of sequential damage and reduction of inspection time and cost. Obviously the proper application of the systems as well as the measures they induce and make possible increase the availability of the plant and contribute to lifetime extension. In order to detect, identify and pinpoint the changes in component structure such as loosened connections, broken parts or components, loose or loosened particles, fatigued materials, cracks and leaks, specialized monitoring systems were developed by KWU (Kraftwerk Union AG) during the last ten years. Requirements concerning vibration, loose parts and leakage monitoring are part of German guidelines and safety standards. Therefore systems for these applications are implemented in most of the nuclear power plants in Western Germany. This paper presents newly developed, microprocessor-based systems for loose parts monitoring, vibration monitoring and leakage monitoring and also includes specific case histories for the different topics

Mitochondrial Alterations by PARKIN in Dopaminergic Neurons Using PARK2 Patient-Specific and PARK2 Knockout Isogenic iPSC Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Atossa Shaltouki

2015-05-01

Full Text Available In this study, we used patient-specific and isogenic PARK2-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs to show that mutations in PARK2 alter neuronal proliferation. The percentage of TH+ neurons was decreased in Parkinson’s disease (PD patient-derived neurons carrying various mutations in PARK2 compared with an age-matched control subject. This reduction was accompanied by alterations in mitochondrial:cell volume fraction (mitochondrial volume fraction. The same phenotype was confirmed in isogenic PARK2 null lines. The mitochondrial phenotype was also seen in non-midbrain neurons differentiated from the PARK2 null line, as was the functional phenotype of reduced proliferation in culture. Whole genome expression profiling at various stages of differentiation confirmed the mitochondrial phenotype and identified pathways altered by PARK2 dysfunction that include PD-related genes. Our results are consistent with current model of PARK2 function where damaged mitochondria are targeted for degradation via a PARK2/PINK1-mediated mechanism.

Exploiting link structure for web page genre identification

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Jia

2015-07-07

As the World Wide Web develops at an unprecedented pace, identifying web page genre has recently attracted increasing attention because of its importance in web search. A common approach for identifying genre is to use textual features that can be extracted directly from a web page, that is, On-Page features. The extracted features are subsequently inputted into a machine learning algorithm that will perform classification. However, these approaches may be ineffective when the web page contains limited textual information (e.g., the page is full of images). In this study, we address genre identification of web pages under the aforementioned situation. We propose a framework that uses On-Page features while simultaneously considering information in neighboring pages, that is, the pages that are connected to the original page by backward and forward links. We first introduce a graph-based model called GenreSim, which selects an appropriate set of neighboring pages. We then construct a multiple classifier combination module that utilizes information from the selected neighboring pages and On-Page features to improve performance in genre identification. Experiments are conducted on well-known corpora, and favorable results indicate that our proposed framework is effective, particularly in identifying web pages with limited textual information. © 2015 The Author(s)

Exploiting link structure for web page genre identification

KAUST Repository

Zhu, Jia; Xie, Qing; Yu, Shoou I.; Wong, Wai Hung

2015-01-01

As the World Wide Web develops at an unprecedented pace, identifying web page genre has recently attracted increasing attention because of its importance in web search. A common approach for identifying genre is to use textual features that can be extracted directly from a web page, that is, On-Page features. The extracted features are subsequently inputted into a machine learning algorithm that will perform classification. However, these approaches may be ineffective when the web page contains limited textual information (e.g., the page is full of images). In this study, we address genre identification of web pages under the aforementioned situation. We propose a framework that uses On-Page features while simultaneously considering information in neighboring pages, that is, the pages that are connected to the original page by backward and forward links. We first introduce a graph-based model called GenreSim, which selects an appropriate set of neighboring pages. We then construct a multiple classifier combination module that utilizes information from the selected neighboring pages and On-Page features to improve performance in genre identification. Experiments are conducted on well-known corpora, and favorable results indicate that our proposed framework is effective, particularly in identifying web pages with limited textual information. © 2015 The Author(s)

A Walk in the Park: The Influence of Urban Parks and Community Violence on Physical Activity in Chelsea, MA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judy Y. Ou

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Proximity to a park does not necessarily imply access or use, and the social environment may positively or negatively influence the positive intentions of the built environment. To investigate parks, park use and physical activity, and their associations with exposure to community violence, we interviewed residents (n = 354 of a densely populated urban community. Our findings indicate that proximity to any park is not associated with physical activity. However, proximity to the preferred park reported by residents to be conducive for physical activity (with walking paths, large fields, playgrounds for children and tennis courts was associated with physical activity. Conversely, knowledge of sexual assault or rape in the neighborhood is inversely associated with every type of physical activity (park-based, outdoor, and indoor. Our findings suggest that improvements to the built environment (parks, green spaces may be hindered by adverse social environments and both are necessary for consideration in the design of public health interventions.

A Brief History of Kafue National Park, Zambia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.K. Mwima

2001-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the first documentation of the history of Zambia's oldest and largest national park: Kafue National Park. The movement of people out of the park is systematically presented. Furthermore, access and resource use and exploitation rights granted to people who lived inside the park are summarised. The paper looks at park administration, wildlife management, tourism and briefly presents areas for future studies.

NARROW LEAF 7 controls leaf shape mediated by auxin in rice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fujino, Kenji; Matsuda, Yasuyuki; Ozawa, Kenjirou; Nishimura, Takeshi; Koshiba, Tomokazu; Fraaije, Marco W.; Sekiguchi, Hiroshi

Elucidation of the genetic basis of the control of leaf shape could be of use in the manipulation of crop traits, leading to more stable and increased crop production. To improve our understanding of the process controlling leaf shape, we identified a mutant gene in rice that causes a significant

Close correlation between the reaction mechanism and inner structure of loosely halo-nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jianye; Tianshui Normal Univ., Tianshui; National Laboratory of Heavy Ion Accelerator of Lanzhou, Lanzhou; Guo Wenjun; Ren Zhongzhou; National Laboratory of Heavy Ion Accelerator of Lanzhou, Lanzhou; Xing Yongzhong; National Laboratory of Heavy Ion Accelerator of Lanzhou, Lanzhou

2006-01-01

It was based on the comparisons of the variance properties of fragment multiplicities FM's and nuclear stoppings R's for the neutron-halo colliding system with those of FZ's and R's for the proton-halo colliding system with the increases of beam energy in more detail, the closely correlations between the reaction mechanism and the inner structures of halo-nuclei is found. From above comparisons it is found that the variance properties of fragment multiplicities and nuclear stopping with the increases of beam energy are quite different for the neutron-halo and proton halo colliding systems, such as the effects of loosely bound neutron-halo structure on the fragment multiplicities and nuclear stopping are obviously larger than those for the proton-halo colliding system. This is due to that the structures of halo-neutron nucleus 11 Li is more loosely than that of the proton-halo nucleus 23 Al. In this case, the fragment multiplicity and nuclear stopping of halo nuclei may be used as a possible probe for studying the reaction mechanism and the correlation between the reaction mechanism and the inner structure of halo-nuclei. (authors)

Redesign of Denggung Park as Sleman Urban Park based on Local Wisdom in Yogyakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Sanjaya, I.; Fatimah, IS

2017-10-01

Sleman Regency is one of the administrative area in Special Region of Yogyakarta Province which has increased the pace of infrastructure development activities that undertaken by the central government affects another surrounding area. The pace of infrastructure development impacts such problems in Sleman Regency such as, increasingly limited public spaces and changes in understanding the value of local wisdom. Sleman Regency has a park located in central government which is Denggung Park. This park has low visitors and less of aesthetic value which require re-design to improve the quality as public space for cultural identity space. The base concept of Urban Park adopted the philosophy that connects to four components in Javanese mythology. The four components in Javanese mythology symbolize the journey of human life in the Javanese cosmological theory, there are Mount Merapi, Keraton, Krapyak Stage, and South seas. The design concept inspired from pattern of Yogyakarta traditional clothing namely, Batik Kawung which describe of Philosophy “Four of Brotherhood and Five of Central itself” by means synergize four items creating world nature and human as life catalyzer. This study uses descriptive and spatial analysis method. The result of this research is expected to be a design recommendation for Sleman Regency governance in the urban park development.

Scaling up stomatal conductance from leaf to canopy using a dual-leaf model for estimating crop evapotranspiration.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Risheng Ding

Full Text Available The dual-source Shuttleworth-Wallace model has been widely used to estimate and partition crop evapotranspiration (λET. Canopy stomatal conductance (Gsc, an essential parameter of the model, is often calculated by scaling up leaf stomatal conductance, considering the canopy as one single leaf in a so-called "big-leaf" model. However, Gsc can be overestimated or underestimated depending on leaf area index level in the big-leaf model, due to a non-linear stomatal response to light. A dual-leaf model, scaling up Gsc from leaf to canopy, was developed in this study. The non-linear stomata-light relationship was incorporated by dividing the canopy into sunlit and shaded fractions and calculating each fraction separately according to absorbed irradiances. The model includes: (1 the absorbed irradiance, determined by separately integrating the sunlit and shaded leaves with consideration of both beam and diffuse radiation; (2 leaf area for the sunlit and shaded fractions; and (3 a leaf conductance model that accounts for the response of stomata to PAR, vapor pressure deficit and available soil water. In contrast to the significant errors of Gsc in the big-leaf model, the predicted Gsc using the dual-leaf model had a high degree of data-model agreement; the slope of the linear regression between daytime predictions and measurements was 1.01 (R2 = 0.98, with RMSE of 0.6120 mm s-1 for four clear-sky days in different growth stages. The estimates of half-hourly λET using the dual-source dual-leaf model (DSDL agreed well with measurements and the error was within 5% during two growing seasons of maize with differing hydrometeorological and management strategies. Moreover, the estimates of soil evaporation using the DSDL model closely matched actual measurements. Our results indicate that the DSDL model can produce more accurate estimation of Gsc and λET, compared to the big-leaf model, and thus is an effective alternative approach for estimating and

Learning from Millennium Park, Chicago

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guen, T. [American Society of Landscape Architects, Washington, DC (United States)]|[Terry Guen Design Associates, Chicago, IL (United States)

2006-07-01

This paper identified the value of creating green space for public use in an urban area in support of a sustainable environment. The inauguration of Chicago's Millennium Park in July 2004 marked a landmark civic achievement in greening an industrial urban centre. The Park was constructed on a 25-acre, previously vacant 100 year old rail property. In 2001, the first phase of the Park opened with the construction of the garages, train bridge, and infrastructure for future sculptural pieces. The green roof landscaping involved soil and drainage pathways, planting 11 acres of lawn and trees, and building a skating rink and restaurants. Phase 2 included new construction of donor enhancements. Among many benefits, this project stimulated investment in adjacent private development. This paper outlined the historic motivation for the park as a cultural and aesthetic benefit for the public. It reviewed the construction costs, the multiple sources of funding, and the multidisciplinary effort involving public agencies and private supporters. The landscape team included experts in soil, irrigation, planting, design and plant selection. Millennium Park has proven that current design and construction industries have the technical and physical ability to create cultural spaces of interest. 6 figs.

Family structure and park use among parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yingling; French, Simone A; Das, Kirti V

2012-11-01

Despite the increasingly diversified family structure in the U.S., little research examines differences in park use between nontraditional and traditional family structures. This study examines family-structure differences in parent park use. It was hypothesized that working single parents and dual-worker parents have lower levels of park use than parents in two-parent, single-worker families. Data from a 2010 park-use survey in three urban neighborhoods in Minneapolis MN (N=261 parents) were analyzed in 2012. Multiple variables of park use were developed, including recalled measures over the past 3 days and over the past year. Family-structure differences in these variables were examined using multivariate regression analyses. After controlling for spatial clustering effects and confounding factors, working single parents reported 32.6% (pparents in two-parent, single-worker families. Dual-worker parents did not report fewer park visits in the past 3 days than parents in two-parent, single-worker families, yet the length of time they spent in parks during these visits was 41.5% (psingle parents and dual-worker parents is needed in descriptive and intervention research aiming to promote park use among families with children. Copyright © 2012 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Insights into Facebook Pages: an early adolescent health research study page targeted at parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Amon, Krestina L; Paxton, Karen; Klineberg, Emily; Riley, Lisa; Hawke, Catherine; Steinbeck, Katharine

2016-02-01

Facebook has been used in health research, but there is a lack of literature regarding how Facebook may be used to recruit younger adolescents. A Facebook Page was created for an adolescent cohort study on the effects of puberty hormones on well-being and behaviour in early adolescence. Used as a communication tool with existing participants, it also aimed to alert potential participants to the study. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed description of the development of the study Facebook Page and present the fan response to the types of posts made on the Page using the Facebook-generated Insights data. Two types of posts were made on the study Facebook Page. The first type was study-related update posts and events. The second was relevant adolescent and family research and current news posts. Observations on the use of and response to the Page were made over 1 year across three phases (phase 1, very low Facebook use; phase 2, high Facebook use; phase 3, low Facebook use). Most Page fans were female (88.6%), with the largest group of fans aged between 35 and 44 years. Study-related update posts with photographs were the most popular. This paper provides a model on which other researchers could base Facebook communication and potential recruitment in the absence of established guidelines.

Seasonality of Leaf Carbon Isotopic Composition and Leaf Water Isotopic Enrichment in a Mixed Evergreen Forest in Southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Santiago, L. S.; Sickman, J. O.; Goulden, M.; DeVan, C.; Pasquini, S. C.; Pivovaroff, A. L.

2011-12-01

Leaf carbon isotopic composition and leaf water isotopic enrichment reflect physiological processes and are important for linking local and regional scale processes to global patterns. We investigated how seasonality affects the isotopic composition of bulk leaf carbon, leaf sugar carbon, and leaf water hydrogen under a Mediterranean climate. Leaf and stem samples were collected monthly from four tree species (Calocedrus decurrens, Pinus lambertiana, Pinus ponderosa, and Quercus chrysolepis) at the James San Jacinto Mountain Reserve in southern California. Mean monthly bulk leaf carbon isotopic composition varied from -34.5 % in P. ponderosa to -24.7 % in P. lambertiana and became more depleted in 13C from the spring to the summer. Mean monthly leaf sugar varied from -29.3 % in P. ponderosa to -21.8 % in P. lambertiana and was enriched in 13C during the winter, spring and autumn, but depleted during the mid-summer. Leaf water hydrogen isotopic composition was 28.4 to 68.8 % more enriched in deuterium than source water and this enrichment was greater as seasonal drought progressed. These data indicate that leaf carbon and leaf water hydrogen isotopic composition provide sensitive measures that connect plant physiological processes to short-term climatic variability.

Spectroscopy of Loose and Cemented Sulfate-Bearing Soils: Implications for Duricrust on Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Christopher D.; Mustard, John F.

2002-07-01

The goal of this work is to determine the spectroscopic properties of sulfate in martian soil analogs over the wavelength range 0.3 to 25 μm (which is relevant to existing and planned remotely sensed data sets for Mars). Sulfate is an abundant component of martian soil (up to 9% SO 3 by weight) and apparently exists as a particulate in the soil but also as a cement. Although previous studies have addressed the spectroscopic identity of sulfates on Mars, none have used laboratory mixtures of materials with sulfates at the abundances measured by landed spacecraft, nor have any works considered the effect of salt-cementation on spectral properties of soil materials. For this work we created mixtures of a palagonitic soil (JSC Mars-1) and sulfates (MgSO 4 and CaSO 4·2H 2O). The effects of cementation were determined and separated from the effects of packing and hydration by measuring the samples as loose powders, packed powders, cemented materials, and disaggregated materials. The results show that the presence of particulate sulfate is best observed in the 4-5 μm region. Soils cemented with sulfate exhibit a pronounced restrahlen band between 8 and 9 μm as well as well-defined absorptions in the 4-5 μm region. Cementation effects are distinct from packing effects and disaggregation of cemented samples rapidly diminishes the strength of the restrahlen bands. The results of this study show that sulfate in loose materials is more detectable in the near infrared (4-5 μm) than in the thermal infrared (8-9 μm). However, cemented materials are easily distinguished from loose mixtures in the thermal infrared because of the high values of their absorption coefficient in this region. Together these results suggest that both wavelength regions are important for determining the spatial extent and physical form of sulfates on the surface of Mars.

Allegheny County Park Rangers Outreach

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — Launched in June 2015, the Allegheny County Park Rangers program reached over 48,000 people in its first year. Park Rangers interact with residents of all ages and...

Heat‐tolerant Flowering Plants of Active Geothermal Areas in Yellowstone National Park

Science.gov (United States)

STOUT, RICHARD G.; AL‐NIEMI, THAMIR S.

2002-01-01

A broad survey of most of the major geyser basins within Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA) was conducted to identify the flowering plants which tolerate high rhizosphere temperatures (≥40 °C) in geothermally heated environments. Under such conditions, five species of monocots and four species of dicots were repeatedly found. The predominant flowering plants in hot soils (>40 °C at 2–5 cm depth) were grasses, primarily Dichanthelium lanuginosum. Long‐term (weeks to months) rhizosphere temperatures of individual D. lanuginosum above 40 °C were recorded at several different locations, both in the summer and winter. The potential role of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in the apparent adaptation of these plants to chronically high rhizosphere temperatures was examined. Antibodies to cytoplasmic class I small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) and to HSP101 were used in Western immunoblot analyses of protein extracts from plants collected from geothermally heated soils. Relatively high levels of proteins reacting with anti‐sHSP antibodies were consistently detected in root extracts from plants experiencing rhizosphere temperatures above 40 °C, though these proteins were usually not highly expressed in leaf extracts from the same plants. Proteins reacting with antibodies to HSP101 were also present both in leaf and root extracts from plants collected from geothermal soils, but their levels of expression were not as closely related to the degree of heat exposure as those of sHSPs. PMID:12197524

Fear of crime in urban parks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Maruthaveeran, Sreetheran; Konijnendijk, Cecil Cornelis

2015-01-01

This study was conducted to determine the attributes which evoke ‘fear of crime’ and to determine the defensive behaviour among the urban park users. Findings are based on qualitative studies undertaken in the city of Kuala Lumpur among the park and non-park users (N = 19) by means of semi......-structured in-depth interviews. The interview consists of respondents from various age, gender and race. The results revealed universal similarities to other cultures on fear of crime in urban green spaces. This study has highlighted eight themes on the attributes which evoke fear among the residents of Kuala...... behaviour towards crime in urban parks but this was only observed among the women. This paper has also highlighted the implications on park planning and management from the comments given by the respondents. Though the aspect of fear towards crime in urban green spaces is not a major focus in Malaysia...

Leaf sequencing algorithms for segmented multileaf collimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamath, Srijit; Sahni, Sartaj; Li, Jonathan; Palta, Jatinder; Ranka, Sanjay

2003-01-01

The delivery of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with a multileaf collimator (MLC) requires the conversion of a radiation fluence map into a leaf sequence file that controls the movement of the MLC during radiation delivery. It is imperative that the fluence map delivered using the leaf sequence file is as close as possible to the fluence map generated by the dose optimization algorithm, while satisfying hardware constraints of the delivery system. Optimization of the leaf sequencing algorithm has been the subject of several recent investigations. In this work, we present a systematic study of the optimization of leaf sequencing algorithms for segmental multileaf collimator beam delivery and provide rigorous mathematical proofs of optimized leaf sequence settings in terms of monitor unit (MU) efficiency under most common leaf movement constraints that include minimum leaf separation constraint and leaf interdigitation constraint. Our analytical analysis shows that leaf sequencing based on unidirectional movement of the MLC leaves is as MU efficient as bidirectional movement of the MLC leaves

Leaf sequencing algorithms for segmented multileaf collimation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamath, Srijit [Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); Sahni, Sartaj [Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); Li, Jonathan [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); Palta, Jatinder [Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States); Ranka, Sanjay [Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

2003-02-07

The delivery of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with a multileaf collimator (MLC) requires the conversion of a radiation fluence map into a leaf sequence file that controls the movement of the MLC during radiation delivery. It is imperative that the fluence map delivered using the leaf sequence file is as close as possible to the fluence map generated by the dose optimization algorithm, while satisfying hardware constraints of the delivery system. Optimization of the leaf sequencing algorithm has been the subject of several recent investigations. In this work, we present a systematic study of the optimization of leaf sequencing algorithms for segmental multileaf collimator beam delivery and provide rigorous mathematical proofs of optimized leaf sequence settings in terms of monitor unit (MU) efficiency under most common leaf movement constraints that include minimum leaf separation constraint and leaf interdigitation constraint. Our analytical analysis shows that leaf sequencing based on unidirectional movement of the MLC leaves is as MU efficient as bidirectional movement of the MLC leaves.

Effects of Cultural Tightness-Looseness and Social Network Density on Expression of Positive and Negative Emotions: A Large-Scale Study of Impression Management by Facebook Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Pan; Chan, David; Qiu, Lin; Tov, William; Tong, Victor Joo Chuan

2018-05-01

Using data from 13,789 Facebook users across U.S. states, this study examined the main effects of societal-level cultural tightness-looseness and its interaction effects with individuals' social network density on impression management (IM) in terms of online emotional expression. Results showed that individuals from culturally tight (vs. loose) states were more likely to express positive emotions and less likely to express negative emotions. Meanwhile, for positive emotional expression, there was a tightness-looseness by social network density interaction effect. In culturally tight states, individuals with dense (vs. sparse) networks were more likely to express positive emotions, while in culturally loose states this pattern was reversed. For negative emotional expression, however, no such interaction was observed. Our findings highlight the influence of cultural norms and social network structure on emotional expressions as IM strategies.

Study on creation of an indocalamus leaf flavor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guangyong ZHU

2015-01-01

Full Text Available AbstractFlavors represent a small but significant segment of food industry. Sensory characteristics play an important role in the process of consumer acceptance and preference. Indocalamus leaf takes on a pleasant odor and indocalamus leaf flavor can be used in many products. However, indocalamus leaf flavor formula has not been reported. Therefore, developing an indocalamus leaf flavor is of significant interests. Note is a distinct flavor or odor characteristic. This paper concentrates on preparation and creation of indocalamus leaf flavor according to the notes of indocalamus leaf. The notes were obtained by smelling indocalamus leaf, and the results showed that the notes of indocalamus leaf flavor can be classified as: green-leafy note, sweet note, beany note, aldehydic note, waxy note, woody note, roast note, creamy note, and nutty note. According to the notes of indocalamus leaf odor, a typical indocalamus leaf flavor formula was obtained. The indocalamus leaf flavor blended is pleasant, harmonious, and has characteristics of indocalamus leaf odor.

Propagation of waves at the loosely bonded interface of two porous elastic half-spaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajuddin, M.

1993-10-01

Employing Biot's theory for wave propagation in porous solids, the propagation of waves at the loosely bonded interface between two poroelastic half-spaces is examined theoretically. The analogous study of Stoneley waves for smooth interface and bonded interface form a limiting case. The results due to classical theory are shown as a special case. (author). 13 refs

THE COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS OF INDUSTRIAL PARKS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kóródi László

2014-07-01

Full Text Available 2013 Romania shows the bigger economic development than in the last years and increases the GDP by 3,5%, that was the most significant growth in the EU. The biggest contributing sector to this expansion is the industry. This sector contributed the most with 2,3% to this growth. The importance of the industry in a country’s development not only the Romania`s case, but for other economies too. More and more authors emphasise the importance of Industrial parks, they act as pull factors. The effects of the industrial placements like the industrial parks are multiple regarding a region’s development and competitiveness. The most of these benefits are well known already, but the competitiveness of the industrial parks is not a frequent theme, tough this will contribute to the competitiveness of the region. What are the basic and decisive factors that influence the final decision of the companies to choose a particular industrial park? While analysing the competitiveness factors of industrial parks I intend to emphasize the reasons and factors that influences companies in their decision to appear in the industrial parks that they are resident in. The purpose of this paper is to present all the important factors in the same place that make an industrial park competitive. First I want to present the factors that were identified by now based on theoretical, and practical experiences starting from some second hand information. The caracteristics of the successful parks will br presented with the well-kown examples, and also with caese not known to everybody. Some of the reasons why industrial companies chooses a park are well kown, for example the placement, the good accesibility, for which is essential a good infrastructure. Another decisive factor is the suport of the state and the local autorities, the most important factors are tax and other costs relief. There are more things that influance companies in choosing their sites.

Finding Specification Pages from the Web

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshinaga, Naoki; Torisawa, Kentaro

This paper presents a method of finding a specification page on the Web for a given object (e.g., ``Ch. d'Yquem'') and its class label (e.g., ``wine''). A specification page for an object is a Web page which gives concise attribute-value information about the object (e.g., ``county''-``Sauternes'') in well formatted structures. A simple unsupervised method using layout and symbolic decoration cues was applied to a large number of the Web pages to acquire candidate attributes for each class (e.g., ``county'' for a class ``wine''). We then filter out irrelevant words from the putative attributes through an author-aware scoring function that we called site frequency. We used the acquired attributes to select a representative specification page for a given object from the Web pages retrieved by a normal search engine. Experimental results revealed that our system greatly outperformed the normal search engine in terms of this specification retrieval.

Denali Park wolf studies: Implications for Yellowstone

Science.gov (United States)

Mech, L. David; Meier, Thomas J.; Burch, John W.

1991-01-01

The Northern Rocky Mountain Wolf Recovery Plan approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1987) recommends re-establishment of wolves (Canis lupus) in Yellowstone National Park. Bills proposing wolf re-establishment in the Park have been introduced into the U.S. House and Senate. However, several questions have been raised about the possible effects of wolf re-establishment on other Yellowstone Park fauna, on human use of the Park and on human use of surrounding areas. Thus the proposed wolf re-establishment remains controversial.Information pertinent to some of the above questions is available from a current study of wolf ecology in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, which we began in 1986. Although Denali Park differs from Yellowstone in several ways, it is also similar enough in important respects to provide insight into questions raised about wolf re-establishment in Yellowstone.

Vesuvium national park; Il Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iozzolino, I. [Naples Univ. (Italy)

1995-03-01

The presented paper deal with the future of Vesuvium National Park. A brief history of the park institution is stated together with geo-physical, floristical, and faunistical aspects. Some considerations are reported about human activities and economic aspects in park area. Furthermore, future problems in park management are pointed out.

The dosimetric impact of leaf interdigitation and leaf width on VMAT treatment planning in Pinnacle: comparing Pareto fronts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Kesteren, Z; Janssen, T M; Damen, E; Van Vliet-Vroegindeweij, C

2012-01-01

To evaluate in an objective way the effect of leaf interdigitation and leaf width on volumetric modulated arc therapy plans in Pinnacle. Three multileaf collimators (MLCs) were modeled: two 10 mm leaf width MLCs, with and without interdigitating leafs, and a 5 mm leaf width MLC with interdigitating leafs. Three rectum patients and three prostate patients were used for the planning study. In order to compare treatment techniques in an objective way, a Pareto front comparison was carried out. 200 plans were generated in an automated way, per patient per MLC model, resulting in a total of 3600 plans. From these plans, Pareto-optimal plans were selected which were evaluated for various dosimetric variables. The capability of leaf interdigitation showed little dosimetric impact on the treatment plans, when comparing the 10 mm leaf width MLC with and without leaf interdigitation. When comparing the 10 mm leaf width MLC with the 5 mm leaf width MLC, both with interdigitating leafs, improvement in plan quality was observed. For both patient groups, the integral dose was reduced by 0.6 J for the thin MLC. For the prostate patients, the mean dose to the anal sphincter was reduced by 1.8 Gy and the conformity of the V 95% was reduced by 0.02 using the thin MLC. The V 65% of the rectum was reduced by 0.1% and the dose homogeneity with 1.5%. For rectum patients, the mean dose to the bowel was reduced by 1.4 Gy and the mean dose to the bladder with 0.8 Gy for the thin MLC. The conformity of the V 95% was equivalent for the 10 and 5 mm leaf width MLCs for the rectum patients. We have objectively compared three types of MLCs in a planning study for prostate and rectum patients by analyzing Pareto-optimal plans which were generated in an automated way. Interdigitation of MLC leafs does not generate better plans using the SmartArc algorithm in Pinnacle. Changing the MLC leaf width from 10 to 5 mm generates better treatment plans although the clinical relevance remains to be proven

The dosimetric impact of leaf interdigitation and leaf width on VMAT treatment planning in Pinnacle: comparing Pareto fronts.

Science.gov (United States)

van Kesteren, Z; Janssen, T M; Damen, E; van Vliet-Vroegindeweij, C

2012-05-21

To evaluate in an objective way the effect of leaf interdigitation and leaf width on volumetric modulated arc therapy plans in Pinnacle. Three multileaf collimators (MLCs) were modeled: two 10 mm leaf width MLCs, with and without interdigitating leafs, and a 5 mm leaf width MLC with interdigitating leafs. Three rectum patients and three prostate patients were used for the planning study. In order to compare treatment techniques in an objective way, a Pareto front comparison was carried out. 200 plans were generated in an automated way, per patient per MLC model, resulting in a total of 3600 plans. From these plans, Pareto-optimal plans were selected which were evaluated for various dosimetric variables. The capability of leaf interdigitation showed little dosimetric impact on the treatment plans, when comparing the 10 mm leaf width MLC with and without leaf interdigitation. When comparing the 10 mm leaf width MLC with the 5 mm leaf width MLC, both with interdigitating leafs, improvement in plan quality was observed. For both patient groups, the integral dose was reduced by 0.6 J for the thin MLC. For the prostate patients, the mean dose to the anal sphincter was reduced by 1.8 Gy and the conformity of the V(95%) was reduced by 0.02 using the thin MLC. The V(65%) of the rectum was reduced by 0.1% and the dose homogeneity with 1.5%. For rectum patients, the mean dose to the bowel was reduced by 1.4 Gy and the mean dose to the bladder with 0.8 Gy for the thin MLC. The conformity of the V(95%) was equivalent for the 10 and 5 mm leaf width MLCs for the rectum patients. We have objectively compared three types of MLCs in a planning study for prostate and rectum patients by analyzing Pareto-optimal plans which were generated in an automated way. Interdigitation of MLC leafs does not generate better plans using the SmartArc algorithm in Pinnacle. Changing the MLC leaf width from 10 to 5 mm generates better treatment plans although the clinical relevance remains

Park-Use Behavior and Perceptions by Race, Hispanic Origin, and Immigrant Status in Minneapolis, MN: Implications on Park Strategies for Addressing Health Disparities.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Kirti V; Fan, Yingling; French, Simone A

2017-04-01

The study examines the connections between minority status, park use behavior, and park-related perceptions using recent survey data from three low-income neighborhoods in Minneapolis, MN. Blacks and foreign-born residents are found to underutilize parks. Blacks, Asians, and American Indians perceive fewer health benefits of parks than whites, including the benefits of parks for providing exercise/relaxation opportunities and family gathering spaces. Foreign-born residents, blacks, and Hispanics perceive greater and unique barriers to park use in terms of not feeling welcome, cultural and language restrictions, program schedule and pricing concerns, and/or facility maintenance and mismatch concerns. When designing park strategies for addressing health disparities, we recommend to focus the efforts on increasing awareness of park-related health benefits and removing specific park use barriers among minority and foreign-born communities.

PIM Pedagogy: Toward a Loosely Unified Model for Teaching and Studying Comics and Graphic Novels

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, James B.

2015-01-01

The article debuts and explains "PIM" pedagogy, a construct for teaching comics at the secondary- and post-secondary levels and for deep reading/studying comics. The PIM model for considering comics is actually based in major precepts of education studies, namely constructivist foundations of learning, and loosely unifies constructs…

Classifying web pages with visual features

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Boer, V.; van Someren, M.; Lupascu, T.; Filipe, J.; Cordeiro, J.

2010-01-01

To automatically classify and process web pages, current systems use the textual content of those pages, including both the displayed content and the underlying (HTML) code. However, a very important feature of a web page is its visual appearance. In this paper, we show that using generic visual

DIFFERENCES IN LEAF GAS EXCHANGE AND LEAF CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN TWO ALMOND CULTIVARS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George D. Nanos

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Leaf chlorophyll content, specific leaf weight (SLW, photosynthetic and transpiration rates, stomatal functioning, water use efficiency and quantum yield were assessed during the kernel filling period for two consecutive years in order to understand tissue-centered physiological profile differences between two commercial almond cultivars, ‘Ferragnès’ and ‘Texas’. Similar SLWs were observed on the studied cultivars; however, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic and transpiration rates and stomatal functioning demonstrated statistically significant differences. In both cultivars, an overall decline in the examined parameters towards fruit maturation (i.e. end of the summer was recorded. ‘Ferragnès’ leaves were found to be more efficient in leaf photosynthesis related performance during kernel filling, when irrigated sufficiently, in comparison to ‘Texas’ leaves. Low average values of leaf conductance during summer in ‘Texas’ leaves revealed its potential for adaptation in cool climates and increased carbon assimilation therein for high kernel yield.

Thermodynamic studies of a series of homologous HIV-1 TAR RNA ligands reveal that loose binders are stronger Tat competitors than tight ones.

Science.gov (United States)

Pascale, Lise; Azoulay, Stéphane; Di Giorgio, Audrey; Zenacker, Laura; Gaysinski, Marc; Clayette, Pascal; Patino, Nadia

2013-06-01

RNA is a major drug target, but the design of small molecules that modulate RNA function remains a great challenge. In this context, a series of structurally homologous 'polyamide amino acids' (PAA) was studied as HIV-1 trans-activating response (TAR) RNA ligands. An extensive thermodynamic study revealed the occurence of an enthalpy-entropy compensation phenomenon resulting in very close TAR affinities for all PAA. However, their binding modes and their ability to compete with the Tat fragment strongly differ according to their structure. Surprisingly, PAA that form loose complexes with TAR were shown to be stronger Tat competitors than those forming tight ones, and thermal denaturation studies demonstrated that loose complexes are more stable than tight ones. This could be correlated to the fact that loose and tight ligands induce distinct RNA conformational changes as revealed by circular dichroism experiments, although nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments showed that the TAR binding site is the same in all cases. Finally, some loose PAA also display promising inhibitory activities on HIV-infected cells. Altogether, these results lead to a better understanding of RNA interaction modes that could be very useful for devising new ligands of relevant RNA targets.

36 CFR 7.4 - Grand Canyon National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... point of origin of the tour, will be accorded admission to the park. (b) Colorado whitewater boat trips... conduct of a commercial or business activity in the park. (iii) An operation is commercial if any fee... will not interfere with park management or impair park resources. (i) Any permit issued will be valid...

Determining the K coefficient to leaf area index estimations in a tropical dry forest

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães, Sarah Freitas; Calvo-Rodriguez, Sofia; do Espírito Santo, Mário Marcos; Sánchez Azofeifa, Gerardo Arturo

2018-03-01

Vegetation indices are useful tools to remotely estimate several important parameters related to ecosystem functioning. However, improving and validating estimations for a wide range of vegetation types are necessary. In this study, we provide a methodology for the estimation of the leaf area index (LAI) in a tropical dry forest (TDF) using the light diffusion through the canopy as a function of the successional stage. For this purpose, we estimated the K coefficient, a parameter that relates the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to LAI, based on photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and solar radiation. The study was conducted in the Mata Seca State Park, in southeastern Brazil, from 2012 to 2013. We defined four successional stages (very early, early, intermediate, and late) and established one optical phenology tower at one plot of 20 × 20 m per stage. Towers measured the incoming and reflected solar radiation and PAR for NDVI calculation. For each plot, we established 24 points for LAI sampling through hemispherical photographs. Because leaf cover is highly seasonal in TDFs, we determined ΔK (leaf growth phase) and K max (leaf maturity phase). We detected a strong correlation between NDVI and LAI, which is necessary for a reliable determination of the K coefficient. Both NDVI and LAI varied significantly between successional stages, indicating sensitivity to structural changes in forest regeneration. Furthermore, the K values differed between successional stages and correlated significantly with other environmental variables such as air temperature and humidity, fraction of absorbed PAR, and soil moisture. Thus, we established a model based on spectral properties of the vegetation coupled with biophysical characteristics in a TDF that makes possible to estimate LAI from NDVI values. The application of the K coefficient can improve remote estimations of forest primary productivity and gases and energy exchanges between vegetation and atmosphere

Seremban Urban Park, Malaysia: a Preference Study

OpenAIRE

Maulan, Suhardi

2002-01-01

Unlike the West, where many studies have explored how peopleâ s needs are fulfilled by urban parks, Malaysia has received very little attention from researchers. One reason for this is the fact that Malaysia has only a short public park tradition. Although folk art and stories have chronicled a long history of gardens and other parks, these spaces were only accessible to royal family members and autocrats. In Malaysia, the concept of free public parks is relatively recent, having been introd...

PLC Based Automatic Multistoried Car Parking System

OpenAIRE

Swanand S .Vaze; Rohan S. Mithari

2014-01-01

This project work presents the study and design of PLC based Automatic Multistoried Car Parking System. Multistoried car parking is an arrangement which is used to park a large number of vehicles in least possible place. For making this arrangement in a real plan very high technological instruments are required. In this project a prototype of such a model is made. This prototype model is made for accommodating twelve cars at a time. Availability of the space for parking is detecte...

Using Cellular Automata for Parking Recommendations in Smart Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Horng, Gwo-Jiun

2014-01-01

In this work, we propose an innovative adaptive recommendation mechanism for smart parking. The cognitive RF module will transmit the vehicle location information and the parking space requirements to the parking congestion computing center (PCCC) when the driver must find a parking space. Moreover, for the parking spaces, we use a cellular automata (CA) model mechanism that can adjust to full and not full parking lot situations. Here, the PCCC can compute the nearest parking lot, the parking lot status and the current or opposite driving direction with the vehicle location information. By considering the driving direction, we can determine when the vehicles must turn around and thus reduce road congestion and speed up finding a parking space. The recommendation will be sent to the drivers through a wireless communication cognitive radio (CR) model after the computation and analysis by the PCCC. The current study evaluates the performance of this approach by conducting computer simulations. The simulation results show the strengths of the proposed smart parking mechanism in terms of avoiding increased congestion and decreasing the time to find a parking space. PMID:25153671

Park Districts

Data.gov (United States)

Vermont Center for Geographic Information — The Parks Districts layer is part of a dataset contains administrative boundaries for Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources. The dataset includes feature classes for...

Spectral reflectance relationships to leaf water stress

Science.gov (United States)

Ripple, William J.

1986-01-01

Spectral reflectance data were collected from detached snapbean leaves in the laboratory with a multiband radiometer. Four experiments were designed to study the spectral response resulting from changes in leaf cover, relative water content of leaves, and leaf water potential. Spectral regions included in the analysis were red (630-690 nm), NIR (760-900 nm), and mid-IR (2.08-2.35 microns). The red and mid-IR bands showed sensitivity to changes in both leaf cover and relative water content of leaves. The NIR was only highly sensitive to changes in leaf cover. Results provided evidence that mid-IR reflectance was governed primarily by leaf moisture content, although soil reflectance was an important factor when leaf cover was less than 100 percent. High correlations between leaf water potentials and reflectance were attributed to covariances with relative water content of leaves and leaf cover.

Comparison of leaf-on and leaf-off ALS data for mapping riparian tree species

Science.gov (United States)

Laslier, Marianne; Ba, Antoine; Hubert-Moy, Laurence; Dufour, Simon

2017-10-01

Forest species composition is a fundamental indicator of forest study and management. However, describing forest species composition at large scales and of highly diverse populations remains an issue for which remote sensing can provide significant contribution, in particular, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. Riparian corridors are good examples of highly valuable ecosystems, with high species richness and large surface areas that can be time consuming and expensive to monitor with in situ measurements. Remote sensing could be useful to study them, but few studies have focused on monitoring riparian tree species using ALS data. This study aimed to determine which metrics derived from ALS data are best suited to identify and map riparian tree species. We acquired very high density leaf-on and leaf-off ALS data along the Sélune River (France). In addition, we inventoried eight main riparian deciduous tree species along the study site. After manual segmentation of the inventoried trees, we extracted 68 morphological and structural metrics from both leaf-on and leaf-off ALS point clouds. Some of these metrics were then selected using Sequential Forward Selection (SFS) algorithm. Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification results showed good accuracy with 7 metrics (0.77). Both leaf-on and leafoff metrics were kept as important metrics for distinguishing tree species. Results demonstrate the ability of 3D information derived from high density ALS data to identify riparian tree species using external and internal structural metrics. They also highlight the complementarity of leaf-on and leaf-off Lidar data for distinguishing riparian tree species.

Data Analytics for Smart Parking Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Piovesan, Nicola; Turi, Leo; Toigo, Enrico; Martinez, Borja; Rossi, Michele

2016-09-23

We consider real-life smart parking systems where parking lot occupancy data are collected from field sensor devices and sent to backend servers for further processing and usage for applications. Our objective is to make these data useful to end users, such as parking managers, and, ultimately, to citizens. To this end, we concoct and validate an automated classification algorithm having two objectives: (1) outlier detection: to detect sensors with anomalous behavioral patterns, i.e., outliers; and (2) clustering: to group the parking sensors exhibiting similar patterns into distinct clusters. We first analyze the statistics of real parking data, obtaining suitable simulation models for parking traces. We then consider a simple classification algorithm based on the empirical complementary distribution function of occupancy times and show its limitations. Hence, we design a more sophisticated algorithm exploiting unsupervised learning techniques (self-organizing maps). These are tuned following a supervised approach using our trace generator and are compared against other clustering schemes, namely expectation maximization, k-means clustering and DBSCAN, considering six months of data from a real sensor deployment. Our approach is found to be superior in terms of classification accuracy, while also being capable of identifying all of the outliers in the dataset.

Data Analytics for Smart Parking Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicola Piovesan

2016-09-01

Full Text Available We consider real-life smart parking systems where parking lot occupancy data are collected from field sensor devices and sent to backend servers for further processing and usage for applications. Our objective is to make these data useful to end users, such as parking managers, and, ultimately, to citizens. To this end, we concoct and validate an automated classification algorithm having two objectives: (1 outlier detection: to detect sensors with anomalous behavioral patterns, i.e., outliers; and (2 clustering: to group the parking sensors exhibiting similar patterns into distinct clusters. We first analyze the statistics of real parking data, obtaining suitable simulation models for parking traces. We then consider a simple classification algorithm based on the empirical complementary distribution function of occupancy times and show its limitations. Hence, we design a more sophisticated algorithm exploiting unsupervised learning techniques (self-organizing maps. These are tuned following a supervised approach using our trace generator and are compared against other clustering schemes, namely expectation maximization, k-means clustering and DBSCAN, considering six months of data from a real sensor deployment. Our approach is found to be superior in terms of classification accuracy, while also being capable of identifying all of the outliers in the dataset.

Specific leaf area estimation from leaf and canopy reflectance through optimization and validation of vegetation indices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ali, A.M.; Darvishzadeh, R.; Skidmore, A.K.; van Duren, I.C.

2017-01-01

Specific leaf area (SLA), which is defined as the leaf area per unit of dry leaf mass is an important component when assessing functional diversity and plays a key role in ecosystem modeling, linking plant carbon and water cycles as well as quantifying plant physiological processes. However, studies

Elgon/Kibale National Parks carbon sequestration projects

OpenAIRE

Face Foundation

2007-01-01

Metadata only record In Uganda we are collaborating with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), one of whose tasks is to manage the country's national parks. We are jointly implementing forest restoration projects in Mount Elgon National Park and Kibale National Park. PES-1 (Payments for Environmental Services Associate Award)

36 CFR 1280.12 - Is parking available?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Market Street (in Philadelphia) and the National Archives at New York City do not have onsite parking... Section 1280.12 Parks, Forests, and Public Property NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION NARA... on Using Nara Facilities § 1280.12 Is parking available? (a) The National Archives Building. There is...

36 CFR 910.33 - Off-street parking.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... for parking spaces is as follows: (1) Hotel: One parking space for each four sleeping rooms or suites; (2) Places of public assemblage other than hotels: (i.e., arena, armory, theater, auditorium...; (3) Retail, trade, and service establishments: one parking space for each 750 square feet of gross...

36 CFR 7.33 - Voyageurs National Park.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... REGULATIONS, AREAS OF THE NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM § 7.33 Voyageurs National Park. (a) Fishing. Unless otherwise... intersection with the Black Bay to Moose Bay portage, across Locator, War Club, Quill, Loiten, and Shoepack... management, weather, and park management objectives. (4) Maps showing the designated routes are available at...

Nitrogen–use efficiency in different vegetation type at Cikaniki Research Station, Halimun-Salak Mountain National Park, West Java

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUHARNO

2007-10-01

Full Text Available A research about nitrogen–use efficiency (NUE and trees identification was conducted at different vegetation type at Cikaniki, Halimun-Salak National Park, West Java. Plot quadrate methods (20 x 50 m was used to analyze trees vegetation and Kjeldahl methods was used to analyze leaf nitrogen. The width and length of the leaf was also measured to obtain the leaf surface area. The result showed that there are 61 individual trees which consisted of 24 species was identified. The species which have 5 highest important value are Altingia excelsa (64,657, Castanopsis javanica (39,698, Platea latifolia (27,684, Garcinia rostrata (21,151, and Schima walichii (16,049. Futhermore Eugenia lineata (13,967, Melanochyla caesa (12,241, Quercus lineata (10,766, platea excelsa (10,766 have lower important value. Other trees have important value less than 10. Morphological and nitrogen content analyze were done on 4 species : Quercus lineata, G. rostrata, A. excelsa, and E. lineata. Among them, Quercus lineata has highest specific leaf area (SLA (0,01153, followed by G. rostrata (0,00821, A. excelsa (0,00579, and E. lineata (0,00984 g/cm2. The highest number of stomata was found on A. excelsa (85,10/mm2, followed by E. lineata (74,40/mm2, Q. lineata (53,70/mm2, and G. rostrata (18,4 /mm2. The emergent species (A. excelsa and Q. lineata have higher nitrogen content than the underlayer species (G. rostrata and E. lineata. A. excelsa have highest nitrogen use efficiency (28,19% compare to E. lineata (23,81% , Q. lineata (19,09%, and G. rostrata (14,87%. Although not significant, emergen species have higher NUE than underlayer species.

Leaf hydraulic conductance declines in coordination with photosynthesis, transpiration and leaf water status as soybean leaves age regardless of soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Locke, Anna M.; Ort, Donald R.

2014-01-01

Photosynthesis requires sufficient water transport through leaves for stomata to remain open as water transpires from the leaf, allowing CO2 to diffuse into the leaf. The leaf water needs of soybean change over time because of large microenvironment changes over their lifespan, as leaves mature in full sun at the top of the canopy and then become progressively shaded by younger leaves developing above. Leaf hydraulic conductance (K leaf), a measure of the leaf’s water transport capacity, can often be linked to changes in microenvironment and transpiration demand. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that K leaf would decline in coordination with transpiration demand as soybean leaves matured and aged. Photosynthesis (A), stomatal conductance (g s) and leaf water potential (Ψleaf) were also measured at various leaf ages with both field- and chamber-grown soybeans to assess transpiration demand. K leaf was found to decrease as soybean leaves aged from maturity to shading to senescence, and this decrease was strongly correlated with midday A. Decreases in K leaf were further correlated with decreases in g s, although the relationship was not as strong as that with A. Separate experiments investigating the response of K leaf to drought demonstrated no acclimation of K leaf to drought conditions to protect against cavitation or loss of g s during drought and confirmed the effect of leaf age in K leaf observed in the field. These results suggest that the decline of leaf hydraulic conductance as leaves age keeps hydraulic supply in balance with demand without K leaf becoming limiting to transpiration water flux. PMID:25281701

IoT-Based Car's Parking Monitoring System

OpenAIRE

Dwiputra Albertus Ega; Khoswanto Handry; Sutjiadi Raymond; Lim Resmana

2018-01-01

Internet-of-things-based technologies have advanced so much and helped public necessities. The use of IoT at a parking lot will help vehicle users to know the availability of a parking location through smartphones. This IoT-based parking system is created by using controllers, sensors, servers and cloud. Controllers and sensors will be placed on the ceiling of each parking slots to detect the presence of a car. Server collect the results of the sensors and store them in Cloud. System test is ...

Time-Resolved Magnetic Field Effects Distinguish Loose Ion Pairs from Exciplexes

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

We describe the experimental investigation of time-resolved magnetic field effects in exciplex-forming organic donor–acceptor systems. In these systems, the photoexcited acceptor state is predominantly deactivated by bimolecular electron transfer reactions (yielding radical ion pairs) or by direct exciplex formation. The delayed fluorescence emitted by the exciplex is magnetosensitive if the reaction pathway involves loose radical ion pair states. This magnetic field effect results from the coherent interconversion between the electronic singlet and triplet radical ion pair states as described by the radical pair mechanism. By monitoring the changes in the exciplex luminescence intensity when applying external magnetic fields, details of the reaction mechanism can be elucidated. In this work we present results obtained with the fluorophore-quencher pair 9,10-dimethylanthracene/N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) in solvents of systematically varied permittivity. A simple theoretical model is introduced that allows discriminating the initial state of quenching, viz., the loose ion pair and the exciplex, based on the time-resolved magnetic field effect. The approach is validated by applying it to the isotopologous fluorophore-quencher pairs pyrene/DMA and pyrene-d10/DMA. We detect that both the exciplex and the radical ion pair are formed during the initial quenching stage. Upon increasing the solvent polarity, the relative importance of the distant electron transfer quenching increases. However, even in comparably polar media, the exciplex pathway remains remarkably significant. We discuss our results in relation to recent findings on the involvement of exciplexes in photoinduced electron transfer reactions. PMID:24041160

Open Days: information on CERN parking

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

The organising team for the Open Days (28-29 September) would like to inform you that some parking sites in Meyrin and Prévessin will have to be kept free as of 18 September for the installation of tents and marquees.   Next week, CERN Management will address parking concerns and give you more information on other parking possibilities. The Open Day organising team thanks you for your cooperation and apologises for any inconvenience.

On-line vibration and loose parts monitoring of nuclear power stations as a preventive maintenance tool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An equipment for on-line monitoring of vibrations and loose parts of nuclear power plants is described. The unit consists of piezoelectric transducers, preamplifiers, a data processor, and peripherals. It secures on-line measurement without interfering with the operation of the power plant. A diagram is given showing the monitor of vibrations and loose parts for pressurized water reactors and the Spectra-Scan equipment for the automatic recording and computer processing of noise signals is described. A survey is given of diagnostic methods for internal vibrations, noise and oscillations and procedures for the analysis of recordings are described. The experiences of Atomica International with the observation of vibrations in nuclear power plants are described and an economic assessment is presented of the efficiency of on-line monitoring of these vibrations. A cost-benefit analysis is made of such equipment which justifies their introduction. (B.S.)

Welcome to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park!

Science.gov (United States)

Kelly, Cynthia

2017-01-01

The making of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park took more than five times longer than the Manhattan Project itself. The first efforts to preserve some of the Manhattan Project properties at Los Alamos began in 1999. Fifteen years later, Congress enacted legislation to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park in late 2014. This session will recount the how the park came into being and what to expect when you visit the park at Los Alamos, NM, Oak Ridge, TN, and Hanford, WA. Welcome to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park!

The Physics of Protoplanetesimal Dust Agglomerates. VIII. Microgravity Collisions between Porous SiO{sub 2} Aggregates and Loosely Bound Agglomerates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Whizin, Akbar D.; Colwell, Joshua E. [Dept. of Physics, Center for Microgravity Research, University of Central Florida, 4111 Libra Drive, Orlando, FL 32816 (United States); Blum, Jürgen, E-mail: Akbar.Whizin@ucf.edu [Institut für Geophysik und extraterrestrische Physik, University of Braunschweig, Mendelssohnstr. 3, D-38106 Braunschweig (Germany)

2017-02-10

We performed laboratory experiments colliding 0.8–1.0 mm and 1.0–1.6 mm SiO{sub 2} dust aggregates with loosely bound centimeter-sized agglomerates of those aggregates in microgravity. This work builds on previous microgravity laboratory experiments examining the collisional properties of porous loosely bound dust aggregates. In centimeter-sized aggregates, surface forces dominate self-gravity and may play a large role in aggregate growth beyond this size range. We characterize the properties of protoplanetary aggregate analogs to help place constraints on initial formation mechanisms and environments. We determined several important physical characteristics of these aggregates in a large number of low-velocity collisions. We observed low coefficients of restitution and fragmentation thresholds near 1 m s{sup −1} for 1–2 cm agglomerates, which are in good agreement with previous findings in the literature. We find the accretion efficiency for agglomerates of loosely bound aggregates to be higher than that for just aggregates themselves. We find sticking thresholds of 6.6 ± 2 cm s{sup −1}, somewhat higher than those in similar studies, which have observed few aggregates stick at speeds of under 3 cm s{sup −1}. Even with highly dissipative collisions, loosely bound agglomerates have difficulty accreting beyond centimeter-sized bodies at typical collision speeds in the disk. Our results indicate agglomerates of porous aggregates have slightly higher sticking thresholds than previously thought, allowing possible growth to decimeter-sized bodies if velocities are low enough.

Seagrass leaf element content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vonk, J.A.; Smulders, Fee O.H.; Christianen, Marjolijn J.A.; Govers, Laura L.

2017-01-01

Knowledge on the role of seagrass leaf elements and in particular micronutrients and their ranges is limited. We present a global database, consisting of 1126 unique leaf values for ten elements, obtained from literature and unpublished data, spanning 25 different seagrass species from 28 countries.

Estimating leaf area and leaf biomass of open-grown deciduous urban trees

Science.gov (United States)

David J. Nowak

1996-01-01

Logarithmic regression equations were developed to predict leaf area and leaf biomass for open-grown deciduous urban trees based on stem diameter and crown parameters. Equations based on crown parameters produced more reliable estimates. The equations can be used to help quantify forest structure and functions, particularly in urbanizing and urban/suburban areas.

Prophylactic effect of paw-paw leaf and bitter leaf extracts on the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-08-18

Aug 18, 2008 ... (ANOVA) and significant means separated using FLSD = LSD procedure as outlined in Obi (2002). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. In pre-soaking, paw-paw leaf (PL) extract had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on the disease incidence at. 50% anthesis. Bitter leaf (BL) extract had a high signifi- cant effect (P ...

Urban parks as green walls or green magnets? Interracial relations in neighborhood boundary parks

Science.gov (United States)

Paul H. Gobster

1998-01-01

A recent paper in this journal (Solecki and Welch, 1995) describes how urban parks that lie between racially different neighborhoods can become "green walls" or barriers to use and appreciation. Although this phenomenon is well grounded in the experience of many who plan for, manage, and live near parks in racially and ethnically segregated cities, an...

Ecological planning proposal for Kruger National Park

Science.gov (United States)

van Riet, W. F.; Cooks, J.

1990-05-01

This article discusses an application of the ecological planning model proposed by Van Riet and Cooks. The various steps outlined in this model have been applied to Kruger National Park in South Africa. The natural features of Kruger National Park, which form the basis of such an ecological planning exercise and from which the various land use categories, values, and zoning classes can be determined, are discussed in detail. The suitability of each of the various features is analyzed and a final zoning proposal for Kruger National Park is suggested. Furthermore a method for selecting a site for a new camp is illustrated by referring to the site for the new Mopane rest camp which is now under construction in the Kruger National Park. The conclusion is reached that the proposed ecological planning model can be used successfully in planning conservation areas such as Kruger National Park and for the selection of the most desirable sites for the establishment of new rest camps. Its suitability as a practical model in such planning exercises is proven by the fact that the siting proposals of two new camps based on this model have been accepted by the National Parks Board, the controlling body of Kruger National Park.

Assessing the risk of foliar injury from ozone on vegetation in parks in the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kohut, Robert [Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (United States)], E-mail: rjk9@cornell.edu

2007-10-15

The risk of ozone injury to plants was assessed in support of the National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network program. The assessment examined bioindicator species, evaluated levels of ozone exposure, and investigated soil moisture conditions during periods of exposure for a 5-year period in each park. The assessment assigned each park a risk rating of high, moderate, or low. For the 244 parks for which assessments were conducted, the risk of foliar injury was high in 65 parks, moderate in 46 parks, and low in 131 parks. Among the well-known parks with a high risk of ozone injury are Gettysburg, Valley Forge, Delaware Water Gap, Cape Cod, Fire Island, Antietam, Harpers Ferry, Manassas, Wolf Trap Farm Park, Mammoth Cave, Shiloh, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Yosemite. - An assessment of the risk of foliar ozone injury on plants was conducted for 269 parks in support of the U.S. National Park Service's Vital Signs Monitoring Network Program.

Tourists' motivations for visiting Kakum National Park, Ghana ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Tourists' motivations for visiting Kakum National Park, Ghana. ... four main motivations of tourists who visited the park, namely adventure, education, ... Park were influenced by varied combinations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors.

Joint Leaf chlorophyll and leaf area index retrieval from Landsat data using a regularized model inversion system

Science.gov (United States)

Leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll (Chl) content represent key biophysical and biochemical controls on water, energy and carbon exchange processes in the terrestrial biosphere. In combination, LAI and leaf Chl content provide critical information on vegetation density, vitality and photosynt...

Using Leaf Samples to Establish a Library of Tropical Leaf Fingerprints

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, P.; Nguyen, R.; Anderson, C.; Weiss, P.

2010-12-01

Variation in leaf chemistry is directly expressed in spectroscopic patterns of tropical canopies. The goal of the Spectranomics project is to explore this variation in the hopes of developing a method to measure tropical forest diversity remotely from airborne or space-bound spectroscopy in the future. We analyzed tomato leaves for various chemical compositions to better understand the Spectranomics approach to quantifying chemical data of tropical species. We also compared our data to standard data in each analysis. Our results allow us to give the tomato leaves a chemical signature in which we are able to use to compare to other leaf samples. Using this process, we are able to create a library of leaf signatures and document the variety of tree species in tropical forests around the world.

45 CFR 3.23 - Parking.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES GENERAL ADMINISTRATION CONDUCT OF PERSONS AND TRAFFIC ON THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH FEDERAL ENCLAVE Traffic Regulations § 3.23 Parking. (a) A person may not stand (vehicle... sign, crosswalk, or traffic control signal; (5) In a double-parked position; (6) At a curb painted...

Leaf density explains variation in leaf mass per area in rice between cultivars and nitrogen treatments.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Dongliang; Wang, Dan; Liu, Xi; Peng, Shaobing; Huang, Jianliang; Li, Yong

2016-05-01

Leaf mass per area (LMA) is an important leaf trait; however, correlations between LMA and leaf anatomical features and photosynthesis have not been fully investigated, especially in cereal crops. The objectives of this study were (a) to investigate the correlations between LMA and leaf anatomical traits; and (b) to clarify the response of LMA to nitrogen supply and its effect on photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency (PNUE). In the present study, 11 rice varieties were pot grown under sufficient nitrogen (SN) conditions, and four selected rice cultivars were grown under low nitrogen (LN) conditions. Leaf anatomical traits, gas exchange and leaf N content were measured. There was large variation in LMA across selected rice varieties. Regression analysis showed that the variation in LMA was more closely related to leaf density (LD) than to leaf thickness (LT). LMA was positively related to the percentage of mesophyll tissue area (%mesophyll), negatively related to the percentage of epidermis tissue area (%epidermis) and unrelated to the percentage of vascular tissue area (%vascular). The response of LMA to N supplementation was dependent on the variety and was also mainly determined by the response of LD to N. Compared with SN, photosynthesis was significantly decreased under LN, while PNUE was increased. The increase in PNUE was more critical in rice cultivars with a higher LMA under SN supply. Leaf density is the major cause of the variation in LMA across rice varieties and N treatments, and an increase in LMA under high N conditions would aggravate the decrease in PNUE. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Photosynthetic capacities of mature tropical forest trees in Rwanda are linked to successional group identity rather than to leaf nutrient content

Science.gov (United States)

Dusenge, Mirindi Eric; Wallin, Göran; Gårdesten, Johanna; Adolfsson, Lisa; Niyonzima, Felix; Nsabimana, Donat; Uddling, Johan

2014-05-01

Tropical forests are crucial in the global carbon balance, yet information required to estimate how much carbon that enter these ecosystems through photosynthesis is very limited, in particular for Africa and for tropical montane forests. In order to increases the knowledge of natural variability of photosynthetic capacities in tropical tree species in tropical Africa, measurements of leaf traits and gas exchange were conducted on sun and shade leaves of ten tree species growing in two tropical forests in Rwanda in central Africa. Seven species were studied in Ruhande Arboretum, a forest plantation at mid altitude (1700 m), and six species in Nyungwe National Park, a cooler and higher altitude (at 2500 m) montane rainforest. Three species were common to both sites. At Nyungwe, three species each belonged to the successional groups pioneer and climax species. Climax species had considerably lower maximum rates of photosynthetic carboxylation (Vcmax) and electron transport (Jmax) than pioneer species. This difference was not related to leaf nutrient content, but rather seemed to be caused by differences in within-leaf N allocation between the two successional groups. With respect to N, leaves of climax species invested less N into photosynthetic enzymes (as judged by lower Vcmax and Jmax values) and more N into chlorophyll (as judged by higher SPAD values). Photosynthetic capacities, (i.e., Jmax and Vcmax), Jmax to Vcmax ratio and P content were significantly higher in Nyungwe than in Arboretum. Sun leaves had higher photosynthetic capacities and nutrient content than shade leaves. Across the entire dataset, variation in photosynthetic capacities among species was not related to leaf nutrient content, although significant relationships were found within individual species. This study contributes critical tropical data for global carbon models and suggests that, for montane rainforest trees of different functional types, successional group identity is a better

7 CFR 30.2 - Leaf tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf tobacco. 30.2 Section 30.2 Agriculture... Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COMMODITY STANDARDS AND STANDARD CONTAINER REGULATIONS TOBACCO STOCKS AND STANDARDS Classification of Leaf Tobacco Covering Classes, Types and Groups of Grades § 30.2 Leaf...

7 CFR 29.3035 - Leaf structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf structure. 29.3035 Section 29.3035 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Leaf structure. The cell development of a leaf as indicated by its porosity or solidity. (See Elements...

7 CFR 29.3526 - Leaf scrap.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf scrap. 29.3526 Section 29.3526 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Type 95) § 29.3526 Leaf scrap. A byproduct of unstemmed tobacco Leaf scrap results from handling...

7 CFR 29.3034 - Leaf scrap.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf scrap. 29.3034 Section 29.3034 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Leaf scrap. A by-product of unstemmed tobacco. Leaf scrap results from handling unstemmed tobacco and...

7 CFR 29.6022 - Leaf scrap.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf scrap. 29.6022 Section 29.6022 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Definitions § 29.6022 Leaf scrap. A byproduct of unstemmed tobacco Leaf scrap results...

Infrared remote sensing for canopy temperature in paddy field and relationship between leaf temperature and leaf color

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wakiyama, Y.

2002-01-01

Infrared remote sensing is used for crop monitoring, for example evaluation of water stress, detection of infected crops and estimation of transpiration and photosynthetic rates. This study was conducted to show another application of remote sensing information. The relationship between rice leaf temperature and chlorophyll content in the leaf blade was investigated by using thermography during the ripening period. The canopy of a rice community fertilized by top dressing was cooler than that not fertilized in a 1999 field experiment. In an experiment using thermocouples to measure leaf temperature, a rice leaf with high chlorophyll content was also cooler than that with a low chlorophyll content. Transpiration resistance and transpiration rate were measured with a porometer. Transpiration rate was higher with increasing chlorophyll content in the leaf blade. Stomatal aperture is related to chlorophyll content in the leaf blade. High degree of stomatal aperture is caused by high chlorophyll content in the leaf blade. As degree of stomatal aperture increases, transpiration rate increases. Therefore the rice leaf got cooler with increasing chlorophyll content in leaf blade. Paddy rice communities with different chlorophyll contents were provided with fertilization of different nitrogen levels on basal and top dressing in a 2000 field experiment. Canopy temperature of the rice community with high chlorophyll content was 0.85°C cooler than that of the rice community with low chlorophyll content. Results of this study revealed that infrared remote sensing could detect difference in chlorophyll contents in rice communities and could be used in fertilizer management in paddy fields. (author)

An analytical approach for optimizing the leaf design of a multi-leaf collimator in a linear accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Topolnjak, R; Heide, U A van der

2008-01-01

In this study, we present an analytical approach for optimizing the leaf design of a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) in a linear accelerator. Because leaf designs vary between vendors, our goal is to characterize and quantify the effects of different compromises which have to be made between performance parameters. Subsequently, an optimal leaf design for an earlier proposed six-bank MLC which combines a high-resolution field-shaping ability with a large field size is determined. To this end a model of the linac is created that includes the following parameters: the source size, the maximum field size, the distance between source and isocenter, and the leaf's design parameters. First, the optimal radius of the leaf tip was found. This optimum was defined by the requirement that the fluence intensity should fall from 80% of the maximum value to 20% in a minimal distance, defining the width of the fluence penumbra. A second requirement was that this penumbra width should be constant when a leaf moves from one side of the field to the other. The geometric, transmission and total penumbra width (80-20%) were calculated depending on the design parameters. The analytical model is in agreement with Elekta, Varian and Siemens collimator designs. For leaves thinner than 4 cm, the transmission penumbra becomes dominant, and for leaves close to the source the geometric penumbra plays a role. Finally, by choosing the leaf thickness of 3.5 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm from the lowest to the highest bank, respectively, an optimal leaf design for a six-bank MLC is achieved

National Park Service Organic Act prohibits turning the doorstep of Canyonlands National Park into a nuclear wasteland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bryan, J.A.

1986-01-01

The protection national parks enjoy under the Organic Act of 1916 is now threatened by the enlarging and advancing needs of American society, with the most destructive threat posed by excessive or incongruent development on land adjacent to the parks. The need to store high-level nuclear waste has prompted DOE to ignore the protective mandate of the Act, and the Interior Secretary has made no move to correct DOE's error. Judicial intervention is not available until park values are immediately threatened. Federal action could violate the Act's standards and irreparably scar Canyonlands National Park. Decisions of this magnitude should be made in the open, with the federal government and public cooperating in an informed manner and acknowledging what is at stake

Lessons about parks and poverty from a decade of forest loss and economic growth around Kibale National Park, Uganda.

Science.gov (United States)

Naughton-Treves, Lisa; Alix-Garcia, Jennifer; Chapman, Colin A

2011-08-23

We use field data linked to satellite image analysis to examine the relationship between biodiversity loss, deforestation, and poverty around Kibale National Park (KNP) in western Uganda, 1996-2006. Over this decade, KNP generally maintained forest cover, tree species, and primate populations, whereas neighboring communal forest patches were reduced by half and showed substantial declines in tree species and primate populations. However, a bad decade for forest outside the park proved a prosperous one for most local residents. Panel data for 252 households show substantial improvement in welfare indicators (e.g., safer water, more durable roof material), with the greatest increases found among those with highest initial assets. A combination of regression analysis and matching estimators shows that although the poor tend to be located on the park perimeter, proximity to the park has no measureable effect on growth of productive assets. The risk for land loss among the poor was inversely correlated with proximity to the park, initial farm size, and decline in adjacent communal forests. We conclude the current disproportionate presence of poor households at the edge of the park does not signal that the park is a poverty trap. Rather, Kibale appears to provide protection against desperation sales and farm loss among those most vulnerable.

The effect of new links on Google PageRank

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Avrachenkov, Konstatin; Litvak, Nelli

2004-01-01

PageRank is one of the principle criteria according to which Google ranks Web pages. PageRank can be interpreted as a frequency of visiting a Web page by a random surfer and thus it reflects the popularity of a Web page. We study the effect of newly created links on Google PageRank. We discuss to

The effects of floor heating on body temperature, water consumption, stress response and immune competence around parturition in loose-housed sows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgaard, B M; Malmkvist, J; Pedersen, L J

2009-01-01

The aim of the present study was to study whether floor heating from 12 h after onset of nest building until 48 h after birth of the first piglet had any effect on measures related to body temperature, water consumption, stress response and immune competence in loose-housed sows (n = 23......). In conclusion, the present results indicate that floor heating for a limited period around parturition did not compromise physiological and immunological parameters, water intake and body temperature in loose-housed sows. The water intake peaked the day before parturition and the body temperature peaked...

Importance of intrinsic and non-network contribution in PageRank centrality and its effect on PageRank localization

OpenAIRE

Deyasi, Krishanu

2016-01-01

PageRank centrality is used by Google for ranking web-pages to present search result for a user query. Here, we have shown that PageRank value of a vertex also depends on its intrinsic, non-network contribution. If the intrinsic, non-network contributions of the vertices are proportional to their degrees or zeros, then their PageRank centralities become proportion to their degrees. Some simulations and empirical data are used to support our study. In addition, we have shown that localization ...

Apparent Overinvestment in Leaf Venation Relaxes Leaf Morphological Constraints on Photosynthesis in Arid Habitats1[OPEN

Science.gov (United States)

de Boer, Hugo J.; Drake, Paul L.; Wendt, Erin; Price, Charles A.; Schulze, Ernst-Detlef; Turner, Neil C.; Nicolle, Dean

2016-01-01

Leaf veins supply the mesophyll with water that evaporates when stomata are open to allow CO2 uptake for photosynthesis. Theoretical analyses suggest that water is optimally distributed in the mesophyll when the lateral distance between veins (dx) is equal to the distance from these veins to the epidermis (dy), expressed as dx:dy ≈ 1. Although this theory is supported by observations of many derived angiosperms, we hypothesize that plants in arid environments may reduce dx:dy below unity owing to climate-specific functional adaptations of increased leaf thickness and increased vein density. To test our hypothesis, we assembled leaf hydraulic, morphological, and photosynthetic traits of 68 species from the Eucalyptus and Corymbia genera (termed eucalypts) along an aridity gradient in southwestern Australia. We inferred the potential gas-exchange advantage of reducing dx beyond dy using a model that links leaf morphology and hydraulics to photosynthesis. Our observations reveal that eucalypts in arid environments have thick amphistomatous leaves with high vein densities, resulting in dx:dy ratios that range from 1.6 to 0.15 along the aridity gradient. Our model suggests that, as leaves become thicker, the effect of reducing dx beyond dy is to offset the reduction in leaf gas exchange that would result from maintaining dx:dy at unity. This apparent overinvestment in leaf venation may be explained from the selective pressure of aridity, under which traits associated with long leaf life span, high hydraulic and thermal capacitances, and high potential rates of leaf water transport confer a competitive advantage. PMID:27784769

CAR SECURITY ENHANCEMENT IN PARKING AREAS

OpenAIRE

NANYONGA BERINDA; AYESIGA LINDSEY PATRA; BYEKWASO FAISAL; NATULINDA LADAN

2017-01-01

Over time, car thefts have been reported within Kampala parking areas. This has been majorly due to inefficient security measures of the available parking systems which focus mainly on the car and not the driver, making parking management a challenge. The focus of this survey was to explore the requirements of a new system called Car to Driver Matching Security System to enhance security of cars in Kampala, in particular, from the experience of 15 people. The data collected was then analyzed ...

7 CFR 29.6023 - Leaf structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf structure. 29.6023 Section 29.6023 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... INSPECTION Standards Definitions § 29.6023 Leaf structure. The cell development of a leaf as indicated by its...

7 CFR 29.1030 - Leaf structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf structure. 29.1030 Section 29.1030 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Type 92) § 29.1030 Leaf structure. The cell development of a leaf as indicated by its porosity. (See...

7 CFR 29.3527 - Leaf structure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Leaf structure. 29.3527 Section 29.3527 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing... Type 95) § 29.3527 Leaf structure. The cell development of a leaf as indicated by its porosity. (See...

PALESTINE AUTOMOTIVE LICENSE IDENTITY RECOGNITION FOR INTELLIGENT PARKING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANEES ABU SNEINEH

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Providing employees with protection and security is one of the key concerns of any organization. This goal can be implemented mainly by managing and protecting employees’ cars in the parking area. Therefore, a parking area must be managed and organized with smart technologies and tools that can be applied and integrated in an intelligent parking system. This paper presents the tools based on image recognition technology that can be used to effectively control various parts of a parking system. An intelligent automotive parking system is effectively implemented by integrating image processing technologies and an Arduino controller. Results show that intelligent parking is successfully implemented based on car ID image capture to meet the need for managing and organizing car parking systems.

Comparison of dwarf bamboos (Indocalamus sp.) leaf parameters to determine relationship between spatial density of plants and total leaf area per plant.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Pei-Jian; Xu, Qiang; Sandhu, Hardev S; Gielis, Johan; Ding, Yu-Long; Li, Hua-Rong; Dong, Xiao-Bo

2015-10-01

The relationship between spatial density and size of plants is an important topic in plant ecology. The self-thinning rule suggests a -3/2 power between average biomass and density or a -1/2 power between stand yield and density. However, the self-thinning rule based on total leaf area per plant and density of plants has been neglected presumably because of the lack of a method that can accurately estimate the total leaf area per plant. We aimed to find the relationship between spatial density of plants and total leaf area per plant. We also attempted to provide a novel model for accurately describing the leaf shape of bamboos. We proposed a simplified Gielis equation with only two parameters to describe the leaf shape of bamboos one model parameter represented the overall ratio of leaf width to leaf length. Using this method, we compared some leaf parameters (leaf shape, number of leaves per plant, ratio of total leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and total leaf area per plant) of four bamboo species of genus Indocalamus Nakai (I. pedalis (Keng) P.C. Keng, I. pumilus Q.H. Dai and C.F. Keng, I. barbatus McClure, and I. victorialis P.C. Keng). We also explored the possible correlation between spatial density and total leaf area per plant using log-linear regression. We found that the simplified Gielis equation fit the leaf shape of four bamboo species very well. Although all these four species belonged to the same genus, there were still significant differences in leaf shape. Significant differences also existed in leaf area per plant, ratio of leaf weight to aboveground weight per plant, and leaf length. In addition, we found that the total leaf area per plant decreased with increased spatial density. Therefore, we directly demonstrated the self-thinning rule to improve light interception.

Herpetofaunal inventories of the National Parks of South Florida and the Caribbean: Volume I. Everglades National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Kenneth G.; Waddle, J. Hardin; Crockett, Marquette E.; Jeffery, Brian M.; Percival, H. Frankin

2004-01-01

Amphibian declines and extinctions have been documented around the world, often in protected natural areas. Concern for this alarming trend has prompted the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service to document all species of amphibians that occur within U.S. National Parks and to search for any signs that amphibians may be declining. This study, an inventory of amphibian species in Everglades National Park, was conducted during 2000 to 2003. The goals of the project were to create a georeferenced inventory of amphibian species, use new analytical techniques to estimate proportion of sites occupied by each species, look for any signs of amphibian decline (missing species, disease, die-offs, etc.), and to establish a protocol that could be used for future monitoring efforts. Several sampling methods were used to accomplish all of these goals. Visual encounter surveys and anuran vocalization surveys were conducted in all habitats throughout the park to estimate the proportion of sites or proportion of area occupied (PAO) by each amphibian species in each habitat. Opportunistic collections, as well as some drift fence and aquatic funnel trap data were used to augment the visual encounter methods for highly aquatic or cryptic species. A total of 562 visits to 118 sites were conducted for standard sampling alone, and 1788 individual amphibians and 413 reptiles were encountered. Data analysis was done in program PRESENCE to provide PAO estimates for each of the anuran species. All but one of the amphibian species thought to occur in Everglades National Park was detected during this project. That species, the Everglades dwarf siren (Pseudobranchus axanthus belli), is especially cryptic and probably geographically limited in its range in Everglades National Park. The other three species of salamanders and all of the anurans in the park were sampled adequately using standard herpetological sampling methods. PAO estimates were produced for each species of anuran

Current situation and countermeasures of port logistics park information construction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhen Liu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Improve work efficiency of logistics park department, and drive the economy of the park and its surrounding areas. Design/methodology/approach: Analyze the information development situation and existent questions of current national logistics park, and design proper scheme to meet the demand of port logistics park. Findings: Proposed an information construction implementation plan using technology of the Internet of things which can be applied to port logistics park. Designed a scheme for the park information construction and explained the system's implementation strategy and implementation steps. Practical implications: The proposed construction program is particularly suitable for the northwest port logistics parks in China, and also has reference function to other logistics park construction. Originality/value: Group the information construction of the logistics park into four levels, three types of users, and two requirements. The scheme is innovative and comprehensive, which can ensure the development of port logistics park.

Resistance of Hordeum chilense against loose smuts of wheat and barley (Ustilago tritici and U. nuda) and its expression in amphiploids with wheat

OpenAIRE

Rubiales, Diego; Moral, Ana

2011-01-01

Hordeum chilense is wild barley with high potential for cereal breeding purposes given its high crossability with other members of the Triticeae tribe. It is resistant to loose smuts of wheat (Ustilago tritici). The resistance is expressed in xTritordeum amphipoids, offering perspectives for its utilization both in tritordeum breeding and for its transfer to wheat. H. chilense and tritordeums are also resistant to barley loose smut (U. nuda). © 2010 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Preliminary Identification of Urban Park Infrastructure Resilience in Semarang Central Java

Science.gov (United States)

Muzdalifah, Aji Uhfatun; Maryono

2018-02-01

Park is one of the spot green infrastructure. There are two major characteristic of park, first Active parks and second passive park. Those of two open spaces have been significant on the fulfillment of urban environment. To maintenance the urban park, it is very importance to identify the characteristic of active and passive park. The identification also needs to fostering stakeholder effort to increase quality of urban park infrastructure. This study aims to explore and assess the characteristic of urban park infrastructure in Semarang City, Central Java. Data collection methods conduct by review formal document, field observation and interview with key government officer. The study founded that urban active parks infrastructure resilience could be defined by; Park Location, Garden Shape, Vegetation, Support Element, Park Function, and Expected Benefit from Park Existence. Moreover, the vegetation aspect and the supporting elements are the most importance urban park infrastructure in Semarang.

California Community Colleges Parking Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

McIntyre, Chuck

In 1990, a representative sample of 25 California community colleges was contacted by telephone to determine their parking policies and practices. The colleges were sampled on the basis of location and size. Study findings included the following: (1) 17 of the colleges reported that they had insufficient numbers of on-campus parking spaces; (2)…

Preferences, benefits, and park visits: a latent class segmentation analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kemperman, A.D.A.M.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2006-01-01

This study describes and predicts segments of urban park visitors to support park planning and policy making. A latent class analysis is used to identify segments of park users who differ regarding their preferences for park characteristics, benefits sought in park visits, and sociodemographics.

Sensor-guided parking system for a carlike robot

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Kaichum; Seneviratne, L. D.

1998-07-01

This paper presents an automated parking strategy for a car- like mobile robot. The study considers general parking manoeuvre cases for a rectangular robot, including parallel parking. The robot is constructed simulating a conventional car, which is subject to non-holonomic constraints and thus only has two degrees of freedom. The parking space is considered as rectangular, and detected by ultrasonic sensors mounted on the robot. A motion planning algorithm develops a collision-free path for parking, taking into account the non- holonomic constraints acting on the car-like robot. A research into general car maneuvers has been conducted and useful results have been achieved. The motion planning algorithm uses these results, combined with configuration space method, to produce a collision-free path for parallel parking, depending on the parking space detected. A control program in the form of a graphical user interface has been developed for users to operate the system with ease. The strategy is implemented on a modified B12 mobile robot. The strategy presented has the potential for application in automobiles.

Leaf litter copepods from a cloud forest mountain top in Honduras (Copepoda: Cyclopidae, Canthocamptidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Fiers, Frank; Jocque, Merlijn

2013-01-01

Five different species of Copepoda were extracted from a leaf litter sample collected on the top (at 2000 m a.s.l.) of a cloud forested mountain in El Cusuco National Park, Honduras. Three of them, one Cyclopidae and two Canthocamptidae are new to science, and are described herein. Olmeccyclops hondo sp. nov. is the second representative thus far known of this New World genus. Moraria catracha sp. nov. and Moraria cusuca sp. nov. are the first formally described members of the genus occurring in Central America. The concept of a "Moraria-group" is considered to be an artificial grouping and is limited here to the genera Moraria and Morariopsis only. The distributional range of this group is essentially Holarctic, with the mountainous regions in Honduras, and probably in west Nicaragua, as the southernmost limits in the New World.

Metal assessment in urban park soils in Sao Paulo. 3. Aclimacao Park

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pavese, Arthur C.; Figueiredo, Ana Maria G.; Camargo, Sonia P.; Gumiero, Felipe C.; Enzweiler, Jacinta

2007-01-01

As part of a project which aims metal assessment in urban park soils from Sao Paulo, in the present paper the concentration of the elements As, Ba, Zn, Sb, Se, Co, Cr, Cu and Pb were determined in surface soil samples (0-5 cm and 0-20 cm) from Aclimacao park of Sao Paulo. Urban soils play an important role in maintaining the environmental quality as they can act as both source and sink for pollutants that can affect human health. Parks and playgrounds are where urban children spend most of their time outdoors and are also where children most frequently come in contact with soil. Aclimacao park is located at the central region of the city, in a residential area. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) were used for metal analysis. The results obtained for Zn were higher than the values considered as reference values for soils in Sao Paulo, according to the Environmental Protection Agency of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB), but lower than the Prevention values. For Ba, Cr, and Sb, the results obtained showed concentration levels higher than Prevention value reported by CETESB. According to CETESB, metal concentration levels above the Prevention value can cause prejudicial alterations in soil and subterranean water quality. For As, in the 0-5 cm samples, the concentration levels were near or above the Intervention value for agricultural area reported by CETESB. (author)

Universal emergence of PageRank

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Frahm, K M; Georgeot, B; Shepelyansky, D L, E-mail: frahm@irsamc.ups-tlse.fr, E-mail: georgeot@irsamc.ups-tlse.fr, E-mail: dima@irsamc.ups-tlse.fr [Laboratoire de Physique Theorique du CNRS, IRSAMC, Universite de Toulouse, UPS, 31062 Toulouse (France)

2011-11-18

The PageRank algorithm enables us to rank the nodes of a network through a specific eigenvector of the Google matrix, using a damping parameter {alpha} Element-Of ]0, 1[. Using extensive numerical simulations of large web networks, with a special accent on British University networks, we determine numerically and analytically the universal features of the PageRank vector at its emergence when {alpha} {yields} 1. The whole network can be divided into a core part and a group of invariant subspaces. For {alpha} {yields} 1, PageRank converges to a universal power-law distribution on the invariant subspaces whose size distribution also follows a universal power law. The convergence of PageRank at {alpha} {yields} 1 is controlled by eigenvalues of the core part of the Google matrix, which are extremely close to unity, leading to large relaxation times as, for example, in spin glasses. (paper)

Universal emergence of PageRank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frahm, K M; Georgeot, B; Shepelyansky, D L

2011-01-01

The PageRank algorithm enables us to rank the nodes of a network through a specific eigenvector of the Google matrix, using a damping parameter α ∈ ]0, 1[. Using extensive numerical simulations of large web networks, with a special accent on British University networks, we determine numerically and analytically the universal features of the PageRank vector at its emergence when α → 1. The whole network can be divided into a core part and a group of invariant subspaces. For α → 1, PageRank converges to a universal power-law distribution on the invariant subspaces whose size distribution also follows a universal power law. The convergence of PageRank at α → 1 is controlled by eigenvalues of the core part of the Google matrix, which are extremely close to unity, leading to large relaxation times as, for example, in spin glasses. (paper)

Data Extraction Based on Page Structure Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ren Yichao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The information we need has some confusing problems such as dispersion and different organizational structure. In addition, because of the existence of unstructured data like natural language and images, extracting local content pages is extremely difficult. In the light of of the problems above, this article will apply a method combined with page structure analysis algorithm and page data extraction algorithm to accomplish the gathering of network data. In this way, the problem that traditional complex extraction model behave poorly when dealing with large-scale data is perfectly solved and the page data extraction efficiency is also boosted to a new level. In the meantime, the article will also make a comparison about pages and content of different types between the methods of DOM structure based on the page and HTML regularities of distribution. After all of those, we may find a more efficient extract method.

A thorough spring-clean for CERN's Web pages

CERN Multimedia

2001-01-01

This coming Tuesday will see the unveiling of CERN's new user pages on the Web. Their simplified layout and design will make everybody's lives a whole lot easier. Stand by for Tuesday 17 April when, as announced in the Weekly Bulletin of 2 April (n°14/2001), the new newly-designed users welcome page will be hitting our screens as the default CERN home page. But don't worry, if you've got the blues for the good old blue-green home page it's still in service and, to ensure a smooth transition, will be maintained in parallel until 25 May. But in all likelihood you'll be quickly won over by the new-look pages, which are so much simpler to use. Welcome to the new Web! The aim of this revamp, led by the WPE (Web Public Education) group, is to simplify and introduce a more logical hierarchy into the menus and welcome pages on CERN's Intranet. In a second stage, the 'General Public' pages will get a similar makeover. The fact is that the number of links on the user pages, and in particular the welcome page...

Loose-parts monitoring: present status of the technology, its implementation in U.S. reactors, and some recommendations for achieving improved performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kryter, R.C.; Ricker, C.W.; Jones, J.E.

1977-01-01

An assessment of the technical development status of loose-parts monitoring systems (LPMS) and their performance record to data in commercial light-water-cooled nuclear reactor plants was made during the spring of 1977, using an on-site personal interview and equipment demonstration approach. The study revealed that while presently demonstrated LPMS technology does indeed provide a capability for detecting the presence of those relatively massive loose parts that would likely constitute a serious operational or safety hazard to the plant, it unfortunately affords little information useful to the determination of the parts' safety significance and has not yet attained the levels of sophistication and reliability ordinarily associated with safety systems. A definite need was found for specification of the functional requirements for LPMS, in the form of a clear and comprehensive statement of NRC policy regarding the formulation and implementation of safety-oriented, yet operationally practicable, loose-parts monitoring programs for both existing and future nuclear generating stations so that overall objectives of both the utilities and the regulatory agency might be satisfied simultaneously

Factors affecting quality of social interaction park in Jakarta

Science.gov (United States)

Mangunsong, N. I.

2018-01-01

The existence of social interactions park in Jakarta is an oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle. Parks is a response to the need for open space as a place of recreation and community interaction. Often the social interaction parks built by the government does not function as expected, but other functions such as a place to sell, trash, unsafe so be rarely visited by visitors. The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors that affect the quality of social interaction parks in Jakarta by conducting descriptive analysis and correlation analysis of the variables assessment. The results of the analysis can give an idea of social interactions park based on community needs and propose the development of social interactioncity park. The object of study are 25 social interaction parks in 5 municipalities of Jakarta. The method used is descriptive analysis method, correlation analysis using SPSS 19 and using crosstab, chi-square tests. The variables are 5 aspects of Design, Plants composition: Selection type of plant (D); the beauty and harmony (Ind); Maintenance and fertility (P); Cleanliness and Environmental Health (BS); Specificity (Drainage, Multi Function garden, Means, Concern/Mutual cooperation, in dense settlements) (K). The results of analysis show that beauty is the most significant correlation with the value of the park followed by specificity, cleanliness and maintenance. Design was not the most significant variable affecting the quality of the park. The results of this study can be used by the Department of Parks and Cemeteries as input in managing park existing or to be developed and to improve the quality of social interaction park in Jakarta.

Climate Change in Voyageurs National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, M. W.

2011-12-01

Voyageurs National Park was created in 1975. This beautifully forested and lake-dominated landscape shared between Minnesota and Canada has few roads and must be seen by water. The islands and Kabetogama Peninsula are part of the Canadian Shield, some of the oldest exposed rock in the world. Voyageurs National Park boasts many unique landscape and climatic attributes, and like most mid-latitude regions of the northern hemisphere climate change is in play there. The statistical signals of change in the climate record are evident from both temperature and precipitation measurements. The history of these measurements goes back over 100 years. Additionally, studies and measurements of the lakes and general ecosystem already show some consequences of these climate changes. Mean temperature measurements are generally warmer than they once were, most notably in the winter season. Minimum temperatures have changed more than maximum temperatures. Precipitation has trended upward, but has also changed in character with greater frequency and contribution from thunderstorm rainfalls across the park. In addition variability in annual precipitation has become more amplified, as the disparity between wet and dry years has grown wider. Some changes are already in evidence in terms of bird migration patterns, earlier lake ice-out dates, warmer water temperatures with more algal blooms, decline in lake clarity, and somewhat longer frost-free seasons. Climate change will continue to have impacts on Voyageurs National Park, and likely other national parks across the nation. Furthermore scientists may find that the study, presentation, and discussion about climate impacts on our national parks is a particularly engaging way to educate citizens and improve climate literacy as we contemplate what adaptation and mitigation policies should be enacted to preserve the quality of our national parks for future generations.

A GIS based study on bank erosion by the river Brahmaputra around Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India

Science.gov (United States)

Sarma, J. N.; Acharjee, S.

2012-09-01

. The main cause of erosion of the Brahmaputra is the loose non-cohesive sediments of the bank throughout the park. The braided channel of the river strikes the bank directly and undermines the silty bank causing overhanging blocks to be carried away easily by the river current. In future deposition is likely to be more in upstream or eastern part of Kaziranga and erosion in middle part of Kaziranga national park area due to the river Brahmaputra. Antierosion measures have been adopted only in a few places to check bank erosion at Kaziranga.

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African Journals Online (AJOL)

ezra

Page 5. Stress Management By Library And Information Science Professionals In Nigerian University Libraries. BY ... relationships, and other considerations that can be ... Building a dynamic ... and maintaining current awareness of emerging.

Metal concentration in urban park soils of Sao Paulo 2. Buenos AiresPark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gumiero, Felipe C.; Figueiredo, Ana Maria G.; Camargo, Sonia P.; Pavese, Arthur; Sigolo, Joel B.

2007-01-01

As part of a project which aims metal concentration assessment in urban park soils of Sao Paulo, in the present paper the concentration of the elements As, Ba, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Sb and Zn were determined in surface soil samples (0-5 cm and 0-20 cm) from Buenos Aires park of Sao Paulo. This park is located in central region of the city, and is surrounded by avenues and streets, with different traffic volumes. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and X-ray Fluorescence (FRX) were used for metal analysis. Preliminary results showed concentration levels of the analyzed elements higher than the values considered as reference values for soils in Sao Paulo, according to the Environmental Protection Agency of the State of Sao Paulo (CETESB). These results suggest that these elements have anthropogenic origin and indicate a potential risk for soil quality. (author)

ECO-INDUSTRIAL PARK - A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BUGNAR NICOLETA GEORGETA

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Local communities embracing the concept of Eco-industrial park are looking for some additional benefits for all the interested parties – both public and private: higher economic efficiency, the increase of competitivity by applying last minute technologies, generation of additional revenues through positive regulations at the community level, the creation of jobs, solving the conflict between economy and environment, diminishing the demand on the county infrastructure, decreasing the effects of pollution, using energy from regenerating sources and replacement materials. Communities and enterprises creating Eco-industrial parks will have common grounds for industrial development, which is much more competitive, more efficient and much cleaner than traditional industrial parks. Moreover, the new business niches will be open to recruitment or new incubators. Eco-industrial parks represent a special category compared to industrial parks, a category which is different from the classical ones due to the fact that they are designed in such a way so that they promote the collaboration between companies in order to reuse recyclable materials and green energy sources. A long-term vision must reflect the focus on the creation of collaboration networks between firms and the fact that an Eco-industrial park should be a business community, not only a mathematical sum of companies located in the same geographical area. The quality, continuity and interconnection of economic flows within the firms of an Eco-industrial park are important characteristics for the success of Eco-industrial networks. The following discussion tackles the way in which an Eco-industrial park is set-up: creating and implementing an Eco-industrial park in accordance with the principles of circular economy or transforming an already existing industrial park into an Eco- industrial park. The quality, the continuity, the number of interconnected firms, the flows of resources and the

IMPLEMENTATION OF IMAGE PROCESSING IN REAL TIME CAR PARKING SYSTEM

OpenAIRE

SAYANTI BANERJEE,; PALLAVI CHOUDEKAR,; M.K.MUJU

2011-01-01

Car parking lots are an important object class in many traffic and civilian applications. With the problems of increasing urban trafficcongestion and the ever increasing shortage of space, these car parking lots are needed to be well equipped with automatic parkingInformation and Guidance systems. Goals of intelligent parking lot management include counting the number of parked cars, and identifyingthe available location. This work proposes a new system for providing parking information and g...

Transcriptional analyses of natural leaf senescence in maize.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei Yang Zhang

Full Text Available Leaf senescence is an important biological process that contributes to grain yield in crops. To study the molecular mechanisms underlying natural leaf senescence, we harvested three different developmental ear leaves of maize, mature leaves (ML, early senescent leaves (ESL, and later senescent leaves (LSL, and analyzed transcriptional changes using RNA-sequencing. Three sets of data, ESL vs. ML, LSL vs. ML, and LSL vs. ESL, were compared, respectively. In total, 4,552 genes were identified as differentially expressed. Functional classification placed these genes into 18 categories including protein metabolism, transporters, and signal transduction. At the early stage of leaf senescence, genes involved in aromatic amino acids (AAAs biosynthetic process and transport, cellular polysaccharide biosynthetic process, and the cell wall macromolecule catabolic process, were up-regulated. Whereas, genes involved in amino acid metabolism, transport, apoptosis, and response to stimulus were up-regulated at the late stage of leaf senescence. Further analyses reveals that the transport-related genes at the early stage of leaf senescence potentially take part in enzyme and amino acid transport and the genes upregulated at the late stage are involved in sugar transport, indicating nutrient recycling mainly takes place at the late stage of leaf senescence. Comparison between the data of natural leaf senescence in this study and previously reported data for Arabidopsis implies that the mechanisms of leaf senescence in maize are basically similar to those in Arabidopsis. A comparison of natural and induced leaf senescence in maize was performed. Athough many basic biological processes involved in senescence occur in both types of leaf senescence, 78.07% of differentially expressed genes in natural leaf senescence were not identifiable in induced leaf senescence, suggesting that differences in gene regulatory network may exist between these two leaf senescence

Probabilistic relation between In-Degree and PageRank

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Litvak, Nelli; Scheinhardt, Willem R.W.; Volkovich, Y.

2008-01-01

This paper presents a novel stochastic model that explains the relation between power laws of In-Degree and PageRank. PageRank is a popularity measure designed by Google to rank Web pages. We model the relation between PageRank and In-Degree through a stochastic equation, which is inspired by the

Sound and noise in urban parks

OpenAIRE

António P. O. Carvalho; Ricardo A. F. Cleto

2012-01-01

The main goal of this work is to study the soundscape of city gardens and urban parks using a sample of ten sites in Oporto, Portugal to analyze their soundscape through the acoustic characterization of the park's exterior and interior noise levels (LAeq, LA10, LA50 and LA90) and by a socio-acoustic survey to the visitors to check their perception of acoustic quality. The measurements showed gardens/parks with interior noise levels from 47 to 61 dB(A) (with exterior noise levels up to 67 dB(A...

Dependence of Parking Pricing on Land Use and Time of Day

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fang Zong

2015-07-01

Full Text Available A key strategy of sustainable transportation, parking pricing can directly contribute to decreased greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. This paper describes an optimal structure of parking rates in terms of parking locations and time of day. A two-level parking model based on game theory is established using parking survey data collected in Beijing in 2014. The model was estimated based on Stackelberg game and the Nash equilibrium. Using the two-level parking model, the optimal structure of parking rates for inside/outside business zones and during peak/off-peak hours was calculated. In addition, the relationship between the government (which represents the public benefit and car users, as well as the relationships among car users in the parking system were investigated. The results indicate that equilibrium among all of the agents in the parking system can be obtained using the proposed parking rate structure. The findings provide a better understanding of parking behavior, and the two-level parking model presented in the paper can be used to determine the optimal parking rate to balance the temporal and spatial distribution of parking demand in urban areas. This research helps reduce car use and the parking-related cruising time and thus contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions and air pollution.

Active Use of Parks in Flanders (Belgium: An Exploratory Observational Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Linde Van Hecke

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Parks have the potential to increase physical activity at the community level by providing opportunities to be active. In order to inform interventions to promote physical activity in parks, insight is needed concerning park user characteristics, the activity level of park users, the types of activities performed and associations between park areas and temporal variables with observed physical activity levels. Park user characteristics (sex, age, ethnicity and activity level were recorded within pre-defined park areas in two parks in Ghent (Belgium using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC. Most park users were male, adult, and engaged in vigorous-intensity physical activity (48%. Most popular activities were biking (38%, sitting (23% and walking (15%; accordingly, trails were used most and had the highest levels of physical activity compared to other park areas. Parks were used least frequently in the morning, during the weekend and by seniors. Therefore, active park use during morning periods, on weekend days and by seniors should be promoted and urban planners should consider that different park areas can possibly elicit varying activity levels among park users.

Role of parking in the hotel supply chain management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Maršanić

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Supply chain management in tourism has only recently become the topic of the scientific research. The hotel product as a tourist product presents a specific mix of services and products The focus of this study has been placed on the hotel company, that, in order to create such a product, builds its own network of partners (companies, co-workers, to bring together and coordinate activities intended to result in the desired features of the hotel product. This study was evaluated as a scientifically relevant because until now the position of parking services in the hotel product has not been analyzed from the perspective of the hotel efforts and abilities to provide parking places for their guests by analyzing to which extent a good and available parking space really affects the quality of the hotel product. The aim of the study was to define the framework in which the supply chain management acts with reference to the parking service and stakeholders in the network. Methods: The method of interviewing hotel managers was used to obtain necessary data. Through the simple numerical calculations including the number of parking spaces and the capacity of the hotel accommodation we tried to identify the interrelationship, i.e. the degree of alignment of the respective sizes. Results: It turned out that towns of Rijeka and Opatija are faced with a shortage of parking spaces, especially during the tourist season. The trend of providing parking services for guests in hotel-owned garages or car parks is typical for the everyday hotel operation and the shortage of such an option, is resolved through the lease of a certain number of parking spaces in public garages and car parks. These parking spaces are away from the hotel, the guests' dissatisfaction is a normal consequence of such a decision and it is mitigated through the commercial measures. Hotel management considers a provided parking space an important element of the hotel product quality

Regulating on-street parking - evidence from Danish data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Edith; Mulalic, Ismir; Pilegaard, Ninette

to prices for parking in the area of interest. In this paper the focus is on the demand elasticity for parking. Although the parking issues are treated in the literature the subject still deserves attention and is underresearched and there is hardly any empirical work. One exception is van Ommeren et al......) and these are increasing in the occupancy rate. Taking these two effects into account implies that the demand for parking will be more price elastic when the occupancy rate is relatively low (the search cost are low) whereas it will be less price elastic when the occupancy rate is relatively high (increasing the price...... in Copenhagen only react slightly to increases in parking fee (DKK/hour)....

Anatomical structure and surface micromorphology of tomatillo leaf and flower (Physalis ixocarpa Brot., Solanaceae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Dyki

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa Brot. is a newly introduced cultivated plant in Poland. Its anatomy was investigated in light and scanning electron microscopes. Tomatillo adult leaf had one layer of palisade parenchyma. The 1-2 cell layers of spongy parenchyma situated just below the palisade parenchyma showed large, tightly packed cells with great druses. The remaining spongy parenchyma was built of cells showing several extensions. Peculiarity of the sepals were the stomata situated on columns or hills formed of many cells. The petals had a very loose mesophyl. Their adaxial epidermis was composed of papillate cells. Such structure of the petal epidermis probably contributes to light dispersion and prevents glittering. There were several types of trichomes on the leaves, sepals and petals, some of them glandular and some simple. The large, very ramified, dendritic trichomes situated on the petals at the entry to the ovary might eventually protect it against excessive drying. The pollen grain was spherical, three-colpate. The style had a hollow channel inside. The stigma was of a wet, pa-pillate type. Sometimes thorny trichomes were found among papillae.

Analysis of Depedences between Using of Parking Places and Chosen Parameters of Weather on the Example of Underground Parking in Cracow

Science.gov (United States)

Parkitny, Waldemar

2017-12-01

The development of civilization is connected with the development of cities. This is particularly visible in high developed countries. Dynamic increase of the population and enlarging its grounds causes many problems. One of the problem, which is the most difficult to solve, is the problem of parking in cities as well as the problem of increasing number of cars, particularly personal cars. This problem results from several main reasons: 1. The historical form of cities, 2. Tendencies to building in city centres the main administrative centres, departments, offices, schools, universities, shopping centres etc., 3. Tendencies to transfering residences from cities to villages situated near cities. This phenomenon occurs especially in the well-off part of the society. It generates the additional traffic of personal cars and the growth of the demand on parking places. 4. Increasing price accessibility of personal cars. Observations taken by the author of the paper show that vehicles traffic in a city grows up when the weather get worse. There was submitted a proposition that this will influence on the extent of utilization of car parks and zones of paid parking in a city. The aim of the investigation was checking the dependence between the chosen weather parameters, e.g. temperature, falls, cloudiness, and the utilization of parking places. Underground car park in Cracow was chosen as the object of investigations. Cracow is one of the largest cities in Poland. About 760000 persons live there, and in Cracow Agglomeration about 1.4 million of persons. There are great parking problems in the city. Because of that the zones of paid parking have been introduced, where can be parked about 29000 personal cars. The analysed car park is the new object. It is administered by the company, which belong to the town. It may be attractive for drivers because of its position, about 1 km from Old Town Market. However, there exist another car parks, which are laid even nearer, but they

Ozone induced leaf loss and decreased leaf production of European Holly (Ilex aquifolium L.) over multiple seasons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranford, Jonathan; Reiling, Kevin

2007-01-01

European Holly (Ilex aquifolium L.) was used to study the impact of one short (28 day) ozone fumigation episode on leaf production, leaf loss and stomatal conductance (g s ), in order to explore potential longer term effects over 3 growing seasons. Young I. aquifolium plants received an episode of either charcoal-filtered air or charcoal-filtered air with 70 nl l -1 O 3 added for 7 h d -1 over a 28 day period from June 15th 1996, then placed into ambient environment, Stoke-on-Trent, U.K. Data were collected per leaf cohort over the next three growing seasons. Ozone exposure significantly increased leaf loss and stomatal conductance and reduced leaf production over all subsequent seasons. Impact of the initial ozone stress was still detected in leaves that had no direct experimental ozone exposure. This study has shown the potential of ozone to introduce long-term phenological perturbations into ecosystems by influencing productivity over a number of seasons. - Ozone significantly alters Ilex aquifolium leaf production and loss over multiple seasons

Study on environmental friendly national park management plan: concentrated on the support plan for national park residents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Yong Ha; Byun, Byoung Seol; Chung, Hoe Seong; Kim, Mi Sook; Kim, Jeong Won; Joo, Yong Joon [Korea Environment Institute, Seoul (Korea)

1999-12-01

National parks in Korea have been selected for preserving beautiful sceneries of nature or diversity of organisms. Today as the increase of population and industrialization has caused the increase of natural resource demand, it is difficult to preserve all ecosystems equally. Therefore the national park system has established to prevent the damage to an ecosystem or to preserve a region that can be damaged by selecting a valuable area. The objective of this study is to recommend an efficient support plan for national park residents, to induce their activities to be environmental friendly and to preserve an ecosystem in a national park. To achieve this, the similar systems, laws and cases in the advanced countries have compared and reviewed and a support plan for residents appropriate for Korean situation has discussed. 41 refs., 4 figs., 33 tabs.

Personal and Public Start Pages in a library setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kieft-Wondergem, Dorine

Personal and Public Start Pages are web-based resources. With these kind of tools it is possible to make your own free start page. A Start Page allows you to put all your web resources into one page, including blogs, email, podcasts, RSSfeeds. It is possible to share the content of the page with

A city park on top of shops and a dike

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Veelen, P.C.; Voorendt, M.Z.; van der Zwet, C; Kothuis, Baukje; Kok, Matthijs

2017-01-01

The Roof Park ('Dakpark’) is an elevated park on a former railway yard in the Delfshaven quarter in Rotterdam. The park is located on top of the roof of a new shopping centre, which includes a parking garage (hence its name, ‘dak’ means ‘roof’). The park is the

Photoperiod-H1 (Ppd-H1) Controls Leaf Size.

Science.gov (United States)

Digel, Benedikt; Tavakol, Elahe; Verderio, Gabriele; Tondelli, Alessandro; Xu, Xin; Cattivelli, Luigi; Rossini, Laura; von Korff, Maria

2016-09-01

Leaf size is a major determinant of plant photosynthetic activity and biomass; however, it is poorly understood how leaf size is genetically controlled in cereal crop plants like barley (Hordeum vulgare). We conducted a genome-wide association scan for flowering time, leaf width, and leaf length in a diverse panel of European winter cultivars grown in the field and genotyped with a single-nucleotide polymorphism array. The genome-wide association scan identified PHOTOPERIOD-H1 (Ppd-H1) as a candidate gene underlying the major quantitative trait loci for flowering time and leaf size in the barley population. Microscopic phenotyping of three independent introgression lines confirmed the effect of Ppd-H1 on leaf size. Differences in the duration of leaf growth and consequent variation in leaf cell number were responsible for the leaf size differences between the Ppd-H1 variants. The Ppd-H1-dependent induction of the BARLEY MADS BOX genes BM3 and BM8 in the leaf correlated with reductions in leaf size and leaf number. Our results indicate that leaf size is controlled by the Ppd-H1- and photoperiod-dependent progression of plant development. The coordination of leaf growth with flowering may be part of a reproductive strategy to optimize resource allocation to the developing inflorescences and seeds. © 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.