SKS splitting results in central Italy and Dinaric region inside the AlpArray-CASE project

Science.gov (United States)

Salimbeni, S.; Prevolnik, S.; Pondrelli, S.; Molinari, I.; Stipcevic, J.; Kissling, E.; Šipka, V.; Herak, M.

2017-12-01

In the framework of the AlpArray project (AlpArray Seismic Network, 2015), the complementary "Central Adriatic Seismic Experiment" (CASE; AlpArray Seismic Network, 2016) was established as collaboration between ETH Zürich, University of Zagreb, INGV and Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Republic of Srpska. The CASE project consists of 9 temporary stations, installed in October 2016, located in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Italy. Temporary broadband seismic stations, with the permanent stations present in the region shared by the Croatian Seismological Service and INGV, make an almost continuous transect cutting the Central-Southern Appenines, the central Adriatic region, central External Dinarides and finishing at the eastern margin of the Internal Dinarides. The presence of the the Apenninic and Dinarides slabs, verging in opposite directions and plunging along the opposite sides of the Adriatic plate, make this area a peculiar spot to understand the complex dynamic of the region. Various tomographic images (e.g. Bijwaard and Spakman, 2000; Piromallo and Morelli, 2003) shows not continuous slabs under the Appenines and the Dinarides, suggesting the presence of slab-gaps right beneath the region covered by the CASE experiment. Here we present the preliminary results of the SKS splitting analysis performed on the data recorded by the temporary and permanent seismic stations included in the CASE project. The new results, in combination with previous interpretation, will provide clues about how Northern and Southern Apennines are connected at depth, how the slab rollback of the Apennines thrust belt acted and if and how the Apennines are in relation with the Dinaric region. Together with the measurements from previous studies and from the AlpArray project, our new data will support the mapping of the seismic anisotropy deformation pattern from Western Alps to Pannonian region.

[Regional differences of ADHD diagnosis rates in health insurance data from 2005 to 2015 : Methodological considerations and results].

Science.gov (United States)

Grobe, Thomas G

2017-12-01

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) are among the most common mental disorders in children and adolescents. For a number of years there has been evidence of regional differences in Germany. This article provides current results on the frequency of diagnosis and treatment and also discusses methodological aspects. The analysis is based on routine data of a statutory health insurance company including annual diagnoses and drug prescriptions from 2005 to 2015 of at least 1.34 million children and adolescents between 0 and 19 years of age. Small-area results of ADHD diagnosis rates and methylphenidate prescriptions are presented with a standardized differentiation according to 413 districts pursuant to territorial status from the end of 2008. From 2005 to 2014, ADHD diagnoses were documented for an increasing proportion of 0 to 19-year-olds in Germany. In 2015 the proportion was 4.2%; boys aged 10 were affected most frequently with a proportion of 11.1%. Regional diagnosis rates vary considerably. Two counties showed diagnosis and prescription rates that were more than twice as high as regionally expected for all years in question; other districts showed rates that were continually lower than expected by at least a third. Analyses on the level of administratively defined districts have some advantages but alternative regional structuring would be desirable due to very heterogeneous population figures. Regarding ADHD diagnoses and documented methylphenidate prescriptions on an outpatient basis, significant regional differences in Germany were detected, for which plausible medical justifications do not yet exist. Specialist discussions seem urgently needed.

Redeployment of germ layers related TFs shows regionalized expression during two non-embryonic developments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci, Lorenzo; Cabrera, Fabien; Lotito, Sonia; Tiozzo, Stefano

2016-08-01

In all non-vertebrate metazoan phyla, species that evolved non-embryonic developmental pathways as means of propagation or regeneration can be found. In this context, new bodies arise through asexual reproduction processes (such as budding) or whole body regeneration, that lack the familiar temporal and spatial cues classically associated with embryogenesis, like maternal determinants, or gastrulation. The molecular mechanisms underlying those non-embryonic developments (i.e., regeneration and asexual reproduction), and their relationship to those deployed during embryogenesis are poorly understood. We have addressed this question in the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, which undergoes an asexual reproductive process via palleal budding (PB), as well as a whole body regeneration by vascular budding (VB). We identified early regenerative structures during VB and then followed the fate of differentiating tissues during both non-embryonic developments (PB and VB) by monitoring the expression of genes known to play key functions in germ layer specification with well conserved expression patterns in solitary ascidian embryogenesis. The expression patterns of FoxA1, GATAa, GATAb, Otx, Bra, Gsc and Tbx2/3 were analysed during both PB and VB. We found that the majority of these transcription factors were expressed during both non-embryonic developmental processes, revealing a regionalization of the palleal and vascular buds. Knockdown of GATAa by siRNA in palleal buds confirmed that preventing the correct development of one of these regions blocks further tissue specification. Our results indicate that during both normal and injury-induced budding, a similar alternative developmental program operates via early commitment of epithelial regions. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Preliminary result of P-wave speed tomography beneath North Sumatera region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jatnika, Jajat [Earth Science Study Program, Institute of Technology Bandung (Indonesia); Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (MCGA), Jakarta (Indonesia); Nugraha, Andri Dian, E-mail: nugraha@gf.itb.ac.id [Global Geophysical Research Group, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Insitute of Technology Bandung (Indonesia); Wandono [Indonesian Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (MCGA), Jakarta (Indonesia)

2015-04-24

The structure of P-wave speed beneath the North Sumatra region was determined using P-wave arrival times compiled by MCGA from time periods of January 2009 to December 2012 combining with PASSCAL data for February to May 1995. In total, there are 2,246 local earthquake events with 10,666 P-wave phases from 63 stations seismic around the study area. Ray tracing to estimate travel time from source to receiver in this study by applying pseudo-bending method while the damped LSQR method was used for the tomographic inversion. Based on assessment of ray coverage, earthquakes and stations distribution, horizontal grid nodes was set up of 30×30 km2 for inside the study area and 80×80 km2 for outside the study area. The tomographic inversion results show low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex region and around the Sumatra Fault Zones (SFZ). These features are consistent with previous study. The low Vp anomaly beneath Toba caldera complex are observed around Mt. Pusuk Bukit at depths of 5 km down to 100 km. The interpretation is these anomalies may be associated with ascending hot materials from subduction processes at depths of 80 km down to 100 km. The obtained Vp structure from local tomography will give valuable information to enhance understanding of tectonic and volcanic in this study area.

Long-term Results of the Patients with Regional Transient Osteoporosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenan Akgün

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Transient regional osteoporosis is an uncommon cause of hip pain. It affects mostly healthy middle-aged men, and women in the third trimester of pregnancy. The aetiology is unknown. Eight patients (3 females, 5males who were diagnosed as transient regional osteoporosis of hip were included in the study. Long-term results of all the patients were evaluated. Their mean follow-up duration was 5.1 years. Following every hip involvement, after a mean duration of 6.6 months, all the patients were asymptomatic and returned to full activitiy without residual effects. Both hips were affected in 5 patients, in 4 of which the involvement was migratory. Migratory involvement duration ranged from 3 months to 4 years. In conclusion, Transient regional osteoporosis is self-limiting and resolves symptomatically and radiologically within some months of presentation.

Results of observations of the tritium concentration in water fractions in the disposition regions of tritium laboratories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koval, G.N.; Kuzmina, A.I.; Kolomiets, N.F.; Svarichevskaya, E.V.; Rogosin, V.N.; Svyatun, O.V.

1995-01-01

In this paper results of the long term of control of tritium concentration in the water fractions in the region close to the tritium laboratories of INR NAS of Ukraine are presented. The regular observations for the tritium concentration in the water fractions (thawed water of the snow cover, birch juice and sewer water) in the influence region of tritium laboratories shows small amount of tritium concentration in all kinds of investigated water fractions in comparison with the tritium concentration in the reper points. The proper connection of the levels of tritium concentration of the water samples with the quantity of the technology production is observed. In common, the tritium pollution on the territory of INR shows the tendency for a considerable decrease of the environmental pollution levels from year to year. It can be explained by the perfection of the production technology of tritium structures and targets as well as the rising of the qualification of the personnel. 3 refs., 4 figs

Mathematic model of regional economy development by the final result of labor resources

Science.gov (United States)

Zaitseva, Irina; Malafeev, Oleg; Strekopytov, Sergei; Bondarenko, Galina; Lovyannikov, Denis

2018-04-01

This article presents the mathematic model of regional economy development based on the result of labor resources. The solution of a region development-planning problem is considered for the period of long-lasting planning taking into account the beginning and the end of the planned period. The challenge is to find the distribution of investments in the main and additional branches of the regional economy, which will provide simultaneous transaction of all major sectors of the regional economy from the given condition to the predetermined final state.

Regional economic impacts of changes in electricity rates resulting from Western Area Power Administration`s power marketing alternatives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Allison, T.; Griffes, P.; Edwards, B.K.

1995-03-01

This technical memorandum describes an analysis of regional economic impacts resulting from changes in retail electricity rates due to six power marketing programs proposed by Western Area Power Administration (Western). Regional economic impacts of changes in rates are estimated in terms of five key regional economic variables: population, gross regional product, disposable income, employment, and household income. The REMI (Regional Impact Models, Inc.) and IMPLAN (Impact Analysis for Planning) models simulate economic impacts in nine subregions in the area in which Western power is sold for the years 1993, 2000, and 2008. Estimates show that impacts on aggregate economic activity in any of the subregions or years would be minimal for three reasons. First, the utilities that buy power from Western sell only a relatively small proportion of the total electricity sold in any of the subregions. Second, reliance of Western customers on Western power is fairly low in each subregion. Finally, electricity is not a significant input cost for any industry or for households in any subregion.

Results of experimental electromagnetic studies of the Crimean region

OpenAIRE

Burakhovich, T. K.; Kushnir, A. M.; Nikolaev, I. Yu.; Sheremet, E. M.; Shirkov, B. I.

2017-01-01

Spatial-temporal pattern of distribution of geomagnetic variations and the electric field on the Earth’s surface was obtained as a result of the modern experimental observations conducted in 2007—2013 along 9 profiles (48 points) by the methods of magnetotelluric sounding (MTS) and magnetovariation profiling (MVP). These profiles cross various geological structures of the Crimean region. It is possible to estimate the value of the electrical conductivity and vertical and horizontal geoelectri...

Testing Delays Resulting in Increased Identification Accuracy in Line-Ups and Show-Ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Dekle, Dawn J.

1997-01-01

Investigated time delays (immediate, two-three days, one week) between viewing a staged theft and attempting an eyewitness identification. Compared lineups to one-person showups in a laboratory analogue involving 412 subjects. Results show that across all time delays, participants maintained a higher identification accuracy with the showup…

Regional energy observatory. Energy status - greenhouse effect in the Aquitaine region. First results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-06-01

The IDEA organization (information about the environmental development in Aquitaine region) has created an energy observatory, the mission of which is to supply regularly a reliable, objective and useful information about energy and greenhouse effect in the Aquitaine region (SW France). This document presents: the end-use energy consumption, the sectorial statuses (residential, tertiary sector, industry, agriculture, transports), the energy production and the renewable energy sources in Aquitaine region. Details are given in separate files at the end of the document for the 5 departements of Aquitaine (Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrennees Atlantiques). (J.S.)

Results of special radiation measurements resulting from the Chernobyl accident and regional analysis of environmental radioactivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-07-01

This report of the SCPRI exposes an interpretation of the results concerning the monitoring of the environmental radioactivity in France following Chernobyl accident. Atmospheric dusts, milk and milk products, vegetables, water and various beverages are analyzed. More than 1500 additional food samples are presented. Regional analysis of radioactivity and human gamma-spectrometric investigations are included [fr

Regional Brain Activation during Meditation Shows Time and Practice Effects: An Exploratory FMRI Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Baron Short

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Meditation involves attentional regulation and may lead to increased activity in brain regions associated with attention such as dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined whether DLPFC and ACC were activated during meditation. Subjects who meditate were recruited and scanned on a 3.0 Tesla scanner. Subjects meditated for four sessions of 12 min and performed four sessions of a 6 min control task. Individual and group t-maps were generated of overall meditation response versus control response and late meditation response versus early meditation response for each subject and time courses were plotted. For the overall group (n = 13, and using an overall brain analysis, there were no statistically significant regional activations of interest using conservative thresholds. A region of interest analysis of the entire group time courses of DLPFC and ACC were statistically more active throughout meditation in comparison to the control task. Moreover, dividing the cohort into short (n = 8 and long-term (n = 5 practitioners (>10 years revealed that the time courses of long-term practitioners had significantly more consistent and sustained activation in the DLPFC and the ACC during meditation versus control in comparison to short-term practitioners. The regional brain activations in the more practised subjects may correlate with better sustained attention and attentional error monitoring. In summary, brain regions associated with attention vary over the time of a meditation session and may differ between long- and short-term meditation practitioners.

[Potentials in the regionalization of health indicators using small-area estimation methods : Exemplary results based on the 2009, 2010 and 2012 GEDA studies].

Science.gov (United States)

Kroll, Lars Eric; Schumann, Maria; Müters, Stephan; Lampert, Thomas

2017-12-01

Nationwide health surveys can be used to estimate regional differences in health. Using traditional estimation techniques, the spatial depth for these estimates is limited due to the constrained sample size. So far - without special refreshment samples - results have only been available for larger populated federal states of Germany. An alternative is regression-based small-area estimation techniques. These models can generate smaller-scale data, but are also subject to greater statistical uncertainties because of the model assumptions. In the present article, exemplary regionalized results based on the studies "Gesundheit in Deutschland aktuell" (GEDA studies) 2009, 2010 and 2012, are compared to the self-rated health status of the respondents. The aim of the article is to analyze the range of regional estimates in order to assess the usefulness of the techniques for health reporting more adequately. The results show that the estimated prevalence is relatively stable when using different samples. Important determinants of the variation of the estimates are the achieved sample size on the district level and the type of the district (cities vs. rural regions). Overall, the present study shows that small-area modeling of prevalence is associated with additional uncertainties compared to conventional estimates, which should be taken into account when interpreting the corresponding findings.

Regional geochemical prospecting of uranium in the Amazon region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zenker, A.O.; Hohn, H.

1982-01-01

A regional geochemical prospecting program for uranium in the Serra dos Carajas area, south of Para, was performed by NUCLEBRAS using stream sediment samples obtained from other companies acting in this area. The results of the survey are presented compared to regional geology and an aerial total count map. The different data showed a good correlation, particularly in areas mapped regionally as granitic rocks. (Author) [pt

Example-based illustrations of design, conduct, analysis and result interpretation of multi-regional clinical trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Quan, Hui; Mao, Xuezhou; Tanaka, Yoko; Binkowitz, Bruce; Li, Gang; Chen, Josh; Zhang, Ji; Zhao, Peng-Liang; Ouyang, Soo Peter; Chang, Mark

2017-07-01

Extensive research has been conducted in the Multi-Regional Clinical Trial (MRCT) area. To effectively apply an appropriate approach to a MRCT, we need to synthesize and understand the features of different approaches. In this paper, examples are used to illustrate considerations regarding design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of result of MRCTs. We start with a brief discussion of region definitions and the scenarios where different regions have differing requirements for a MRCT. We then compare different designs and models as well as the corresponding interpretation of the results. We highlight the importance of paying special attention to trial monitoring and conduct to prevent potential issues associated with the final trial results. Besides evaluating the overall treatment effect for the entire MRCT, we also consider other key analyses including quantification of regional treatment effects within a MRCT, and assessment of consistency of these regional treatment effects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of Dyslipidemias in Three Regions in Venezuela: The VEMSOLS Study Results

Science.gov (United States)

González-Rivas, Juan P.; Nieto-Martínez, Ramfis; Brajkovich, Imperia; Ugel, Eunice; Rísquez, Alejandro

2018-01-01

Background The prevalence of dyslipidemia in multiple regions of Venezuela is unknown. The Venezuelan Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (VEMSOLS) was undertaken to evaluate cardiometabolic risk factors in Venezuela. Objective To determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia in five populations from three regions of Venezuela. Methods During the years 2006 to 2010, 1320 subjects aged 20 years or older were selected by multistage stratified random sampling from all households in five municipalities from 3 regions of Venezuela: Lara State (Western region), Merida State (Andean region), and Capital District (Capital region). Anthropometric measurements and biochemical analysis were obtained from each participant. Dyslipidemia was defined according to the NCEP/ATPIII definitions. Results Mean age was 44.8 ± 0.39 years and 68.5% were females. The prevalence of lipids abnormalities related to the metabolic syndrome (low HDL-c [58.6%; 95% CI 54.9 - 62.1] and elevated triglycerides [39.7%; 36.1 - 43.2]) were the most prevalent lipid alterations, followed by atherogenic dyslipidemia (25.9%; 22.7 - 29.1), elevated LDL-c (23.3%; 20.2 - 26.4), hypercholesterolemia (22.2%; 19.2 - 25.2), and mix dyslipidemia (8.9%; 6.8 - 11.0). Dyslipidemia was more prevalent with increasing body mass index. Conclusion Dyslipidemias are prevalent cardiometabolic risk factors in Venezuela. Among these, a higher prevalence of low HDL is a condition also consistently reported in Latin America. PMID:29538522

Preliminary results regarding the first map of residential radon in some regions in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cosma, C.; Cucos Dinu, A.; Dicu, T.

2013-01-01

Radon represents the most important contribution of population exposure to natural ionising radiation. This article presents the first indoor radon map in some regions of Romania based on 883 surveyed buildings in the Stei-Baita radon-prone region and 864 in other regions of Romania. Indoor radon measurements were performed in the last 10 y by using CR-39 nuclear track detectors exposed for 3-12 months on ground floor levels of dwellings. Excluding the Stei-Baita radon-prone region, an average indoor radon concentration of 126 Bq m -3 was calculated for Romanian houses. In the Stei-Baita radon-prone area, the average indoor concentration was 292 Bq m -3 . About 21 % of the investigated dwellings in the Stei-Baita radon-prone region exceed the threshold of 400 Bq m -3 , while 5 % of the dwellings in other areas of Romania exceed the same threshold. As expected, indoor radon concentration is not uniformly distributed throughout Romania. The map shows a high variability among surveyed regions, mainly due to the differences in geology. The radon emanation rate is substantially influenced by the soil characteristics, such as the soil permeability and soil gas radon concentration. Since higher permeability enables the increased migration of soil gas and radon from the soil into the building, elevated levels of indoor radon can be expected in more permeable soil environments. (authors)

Water footprint, extended water footprint and virtual water trade of the Cantabria region, Spain. A critical appraisal of results, uncertainties and methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Diaz-Alcaide, Silvia; Martinez-Santos, Pedro; Willaarts, Barbara; Hernández-Moreno, Enrique; Llamas, M. Ramon

2015-04-01

Water footprint assessments have gradually gained recognition as valuable tools for water management, to the point that they have been officially incorporated to water planning in countries such as Spain. Adequate combinations of the virtual water and water footprint concepts present the potential to link a broad range of sectors and issues, thus providing appropriate frameworks to support optimal water allocation and to inform production and trade decisions from the water perspective. We present the results of a regional study carried out in Cantabria, a 5300 km2 autonomous region located in northern Spain. Our approach deals with the municipal, shire and regional scales, combining different methods to assess each of the main components of Cantabria's water footprint (agriculture, livestock, forestry, industry, mining, tourism, domestic use and reservoirs), as well as exploring the significance of different approaches, assumptions and databases in the overall outcomes. The classic water footprint method is coupled with extended water footprint analyses in order to provide an estimate of the social and economic value of each sector. Finally, virtual water imports and exports are computed between Cantabria and the rest of Spain and between Cantabria and the world. The outcome of our work (a) highlights the paramount importance of green water (mostly embedded in pastures) in the region's water footprint and virtual water exports; (b) establishes the role of the region as a net virtual water exporter; (c) shows the productivity of water (euro/m3 and jobs/m3) to be highest in tourism and lowest in agriculture and livestock; and (d) demonstrates that statistical databases are seldom compiled with water footprint studies in mind, which is likely to introduce uncertainties in the results. Although our work shows that there is still plenty of room for improvement in regional-scale water footprint assessments, we contend that the available information is sufficient to

Status and results from the TR30 cyclotron centre region model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleeven, W.; Lanz, P.; McDonald, M.; Milton, B.F.; Schmor, P.W.; Schneider, H.R.; Jayamanna, K.; Sura, J.; Uzat, W.; Gyles, W.

1990-06-01

A full scale model for the centre region of the compact 30 MeV, 350 μA H - cyclotron (TR30) has been constructed, to test the design of critical components and to study beam properties and space charge effects out to the 5. turn (1 MeV). The ion source and injection line system duplicates that used in the TR30. The centre region can be accessed with diagnostic probes at four different angles. The normalized circulating emittances as estimated from beam profile measurements are 1.7π mm-mrad (radially) and 1.8π mm-mrad (vertically). The radial centering error of the beam is less than 1.5 mm. After initial tests the maximum intensity achieved at the 5. turn is 650 μA. This corresponds with a transmission efficiency of 12.5% for a continuous (non-bunched) input beam. No significant space charge effects are observed up to 650 μA. For the TR30 bunching is not a must because of the high current available from the source. Nevertheless, it was considered useful to study beam bunching for the Centre Region Cyclotron (CRC). Some of these results are described. (Author) 11 refs., 6 figs

Regional collaboration among Urban Area Security Initiative regions: results of the Johns Hopkins urban area survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Errett, Nicole A; Bowman, Calvin; Barnett, Daniel J; Resnick, Beth A; Frattaroli, Shannon; Rutkow, Lainie

2014-01-01

Regional collaboration has been identified as a potential facilitator of public health preparedness efforts. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2003, has provided 64 high-risk metropolitan areas funding to enhance their regional preparedness capabilities. This study describes informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure, as well as regional collaboration-related activities and assessment methods, in FFY2010 UASI regions. A cross-sectional online survey was administered via Survey Monkey from September through December 2013. Points of contact from FFY2010 funded UASI metropolitan areas completed the survey, with a response rate of 77.8% (n=49). Summary statistics were calculated to describe the current informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure. Additionally, the cross-sectional survey collected rates of agreement with 8 collaborative preparedness statements at 3 time points. The survey found that UASI regions are engaging in collaborative activities and investments to build capabilities, with most collaboration occurring in the prevention, protection, and response mission areas. Collaborative relationships in preparedness among emergency managers and municipal chief executive officers improved during the FFY2010 UASI performance period compared to the pre-UASI award period, with lasting effects. The majority of UASI regions reported conducting independent assessments of capabilities and their measurement at the UASI region level. Urban areas that received a FFY2010 UASI grant award are engaging in collaborative activities and have established interjurisdictional relationships in preparedness. The use of grant funds to encourage collaboration in preparedness has the potential to leverage limited resources and promote informed investments.

Regional Collaboration Among Urban Area Security Initiative Regions: Results of the Johns Hopkins Urban Area Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Bowman, Calvin; Barnett, Daniel J.; Resnick, Beth A.; Frattaroli, Shannon; Rutkow, Lainie

2014-01-01

Regional collaboration has been identified as a potential facilitator of public health preparedness efforts. The Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) since 2003, has provided 64 high-risk metropolitan areas funding to enhance their regional preparedness capabilities. This study describes informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure, as well as regional collaboration–related activities and assessment methods, in FFY2010 UASI regions. A cross-sectional online survey was administered via Survey Monkey from September through December 2013. Points of contact from FFY2010 funded UASI metropolitan areas completed the survey, with a response rate of 77.8% (n=49). Summary statistics were calculated to describe the current informal and formal regional collaboration infrastructure. Additionally, the cross-sectional survey collected rates of agreement with 8 collaborative preparedness statements at 3 time points. The survey found that UASI regions are engaging in collaborative activities and investments to build capabilities, with most collaboration occurring in the prevention, protection, and response mission areas. Collaborative relationships in preparedness among emergency managers and municipal chief executive officers improved during the FFY2010 UASI performance period compared to the pre-UASI award period, with lasting effects. The majority of UASI regions reported conducting independent assessments of capabilities and their measurement at the UASI region level. Urban areas that received a FFY2010 UASI grant award are engaging in collaborative activities and have established interjurisdictional relationships in preparedness. The use of grant funds to encourage collaboration in preparedness has the potential to leverage limited resources and promote informed investments. PMID:25398073

TEST RESULTS FOR LHC INSERTION REGION DEPOLE MAGNETS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MURATORE, J.; JAIN, A.; ANERELLA, M.; COSSOLINO, J.

2005-01-01

The Superconducting Magnet Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has made 20 insertion region dipoles for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. These 9.45 m-long, 8 cm aperture magnets have the same coil design as the arc dipoles now operating in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at BNL and are of single aperture, twin aperture, and double cold mass configurations. They are required to produce fields up to 4.14 T for operation at 7.56 TeV. Eighteen of these magnets have been tested at 4.5 K using either forced flow supercritical helium or liquid helium. The testing was especially important for the twin aperture models, whose construction was very different from the RHIC dipoles, except for the coil design. This paper reports on the results of these tests, including spontaneous quench performance, verification of quench protection heater operation, and magnetic field quality

Retroviral DNA integration: ASLV, HIV, and MLV show distinct target site preferences.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rick S Mitchell

2004-08-01

Full Text Available The completion of the human genome sequence has made possible genome-wide studies of retroviral DNA integration. Here we report an analysis of 3,127 integration site sequences from human cells. We compared retroviral vectors derived from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, avian sarcoma-leukosis virus (ASLV, and murine leukemia virus (MLV. Effects of gene activity on integration targeting were assessed by transcriptional profiling of infected cells. Integration by HIV vectors, analyzed in two primary cell types and several cell lines, strongly favored active genes. An analysis of the effects of tissue-specific transcription showed that it resulted in tissue-specific integration targeting by HIV, though the effect was quantitatively modest. Chromosomal regions rich in expressed genes were favored for HIV integration, but these regions were found to be interleaved with unfavorable regions at CpG islands. MLV vectors showed a strong bias in favor of integration near transcription start sites, as reported previously. ASLV vectors showed only a weak preference for active genes and no preference for transcription start regions. Thus, each of the three retroviruses studied showed unique integration site preferences, suggesting that virus-specific binding of integration complexes to chromatin features likely guides site selection.

Fiscal policy and growth: new results for the Spanish regions, 1967-1995

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Óscar Bajo Rubio

2003-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present a new assessment of the effects of fiscal policy on economic growth, focusing on the role of public expenditure. Starting from a theoretical model where only those public expenditure items strictly presumed to influence the production process (i.e., public capital and transfers are incorporated into the production function, we provide an empirical application for the case of the Spanish regions during the period 1967-1995. The results confirm the positive effect on growth from both public capital and transfers, being relatively more intense that of public capital for the more productive regions, and that of transfers for the less productive ones.

Local, Regional or Global?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geisler Asmussen, Christian

to be consistent with models of internationalization that incorporate different assumptions about strategic choice and global competition. Preliminary results show that large multinationals follow home region oriented internationalization paths, although much of the regional effect reported by previous studies...

Results of the IAEA/RCA personal dosemeter intercomparison in the Asian and Pacific region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, H.; Minami, K.; Griffith, R.V.

1994-01-01

In 1988, the International Atomic Energy Agency started the Regional Co-operative Agreement project for strengthening the radiation protection infrastructure in the Asian and Pacific region. One component of the initial programme was a regional personal dosimetry intercomparison, which was subsequently conducted in three phases over three years during the period 1990 to 1992. Seventeen organisations of all 14 member states participated in the programmes. Irradiations and data compilation were conducted by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. This paper describes the results of the intercomparison programmes and discusses some features and personal dosimetry problems in the RCA member states. (author)

Medical physics aspects of cancer care in the Asia Pacific region: 2011 survey results

Science.gov (United States)

Kron, T; Azhari, HA; Voon, EO; Cheung, KY; Ravindran, P; Soejoko, D; Inamura, K; Han, Y; Ung, NM; Bold, L; Win, UM; Srivastava, R; Meyer, J; Farrukh, S; Rodriguez, L; Kuo, M; Lee, JCL; Kumara, A; Lee, CC; Krisanachinda, A; Nguyen, XC; Ng, KH

2012-01-01

Background: Medical physicists are essential members of the radiation oncology team. Given the increasing complexity of radiotherapy delivery, it is important to ensure adequate training and staffing. The aim of the present study was to update a similar survey from 2008 and assess the situation of medical physicists in the large and diverse Asia Pacific region. Methods: Between March and July 2011, a survey on profession and practice of radiation oncology medical physicists (ROMPs) in the Asia Pacific region was performed. The survey was sent to senior physicists in 22 countries. Replies were received from countries that collectively represent more than half of the world’s population. The survey questions explored five areas: education, staffing, work patterns including research and teaching, resources available, and job satisfaction. Results and discussion: Compared to a data from a similar survey conducted three years ago, the number of medical physicists in participating countries increased by 29% on average. This increase is similar to the increase in the number of linear accelerators, showing that previously identified staff shortages have yet to be substantially addressed. This is also highlighted by the fact that most ROMPs are expected to work overtime often and without adequate compensation. While job satisfaction has stayed similar compared to the previous survey, expectations for education and training have increased somewhat. This is in line with a trend towards certification of ROMPs. Conclusion: As organisations such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) start to recognise medical physics as a profession, it is evident that despite some encouraging signs there is still a lot of work required towards establishing an adequately trained and resourced medical physics workforce in the Asia Pacific region. PMID:22970066

Relevance of PLUREL's results to policies at EU, national, regional and local level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fertner, Christian; Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick

and results to policies and policy development at the EU-level, as well as the national and regional level. PLUREL has peri-urban land use relationships as its main focus. This includes analysis of drivers, consequences, policies and scenarios for the future. Even though PLUREL aims for pan-European coverage...... of natural resources as well as an attractive development in general. Besides these spatial relevant sector policies, the EU enforces legislation which is translated into spatial explicit instruments on sub-regional level. E.g. the Habitat and Birds Directive caused the development of Natura 2000 areas......, an EU-wide network of nature protection areas. The implementation of Trans-European Networks through funding programmes is another sector policy having an impact on land-use change and rural-urban relations. On the sub-regional scale the perception on overall goals like sustainability can be very...

Russian-Iranian relations in the Caspian Region: results and prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Sergeevich Zhiltcov

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The collapse of the USSR affected the Russian-Iranian relations, governed by bilateral agreements during several centuries. The emergence of “new” independent states in the region, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, changed the geopolitical situation and put a question of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. Russian-Persian and Soviet-Iranian agreements had a centuries-old tradition but they did not draw up a legal status of the Caspian Sea or clarify the procedures of subsursafe management. Those agreements governed only laid down rules of navigation and fishery, without touching the issues of oil and gas field exploration, production and transportation, including pipelines on the floor of the Caspian Sea. It did not fit political and economic interests of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and stimulate them to unilateral actions. Russia and Iran in turn insisted on saving the former rules and agreements. The absence of Convention on legal status of the Caspian Sea introduced uncertainty in the principles of oil and gas development and export, pushing Caspian countries toward making unilateral decisions. Russia and Iran kept close positions, insisting on following the former agreements. The other Caspian countries did not support that position and adopted a policy aimed at division of the Caspian Sea and asserting a certain control over its hydrocarbons. Close Russian and Iranian positions on legal status of the Caspian Sea became a strong deterrent for Caspian countries to let them divide the sea into national sectors and launch pipeline plans on the floor of the Caspian Sea. As the result Russian and Iranian relations had stabilizing effect in the Caspian region. At the same time, the Russian Federation aimed at following a flexible policy, taking into account the interests of the other Caspian countries. The settlement of the legal status of the Caspian Sea with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan let Russia improve the

Wildland fire, risk, and recovery: results of a national survey with regional and racial perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

J. Michael Bowker; Siew Hoon Lim; H. Ken Cordell; Gary T. Green; Sandra Rideout-Hanzak; Cassandra Y. Johnson

2008-01-01

We used a national household survey to examine knowledge, attitudes, and preferences pertaining to wildland fire. First, we present nationwide results and trends. Then, we examine opinions across region and race. Despite some regional variation, respondents are fairly consistent in their beliefs about assuming personal responsibility for living in fire-prone areas and...

Innovation policies of SME's in the South Moravian and Moravian Silesian regions: results of the research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomáš Heralecký

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper was to identify the present situation in innovation policies of small and medium-sized enterprises in the South Moravian and Moravian Silesian regions. In order to achieve the specified objective, quantitative research was carried out in the small and medium-sized enterprises by way of questionnaires. The achieved results imply that the enterprises under investigation apply competitive strategy focusing on top quality of goods on offer. The research manifested that the companies focused markedly on innovations in supplying products on offer with additional functions or features. The research results show that the companies do not conduct changes in production organization frequently, not even following their earlier innovative activities. The results of the research into the innovative activity “change in product design” imply that this activity is not applied frequently in comparison with the above-mentioned activities. Based on the interviewed companies' weak points in human resources, the elementary drawbacks include lack of management's command of foreign languages as well as production staff's expert skills. The results of the research imply that the interviewed companies perceive the sphere of products (improved product quality, extension of a product range, the sphere of new technologies and the sphere of an increase in market potential as the most significant. The questionnaire inquiry shows that innovative and development activities are most frequently financed from companies' own funds, subsidies/grants, bank credits and leases. Mortgages and venture capital are only made used of occasionally.

A regional climate model for northern Europe: model description and results from the downscaling of two GCM control simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Rummukainen, M.; Räisänen, J.; Bringfelt, B.; Ullerstig, A.; Omstedt, A.; Willén, U.; Hansson, U.; Jones, C.

This work presents a regional climate model, the Rossby Centre regional Atmospheric model (RCA1), recently developed from the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM). The changes in the HIRLAM parametrizations, necessary for climate-length integrations, are described. A regional Baltic Sea ocean model and a modeling system for the Nordic inland lake systems have been coupled with RCA1. The coupled system has been used to downscale 10-year time slices from two different general circulation model (GCM) simulations to provide high-resolution regional interpretation of large-scale modeling. A selection of the results from the control runs, i.e. the present-day climate simulations, are presented: large-scale free atmospheric fields, the surface temperature and precipitation results and results for the on-line simulated regional ocean and lake surface climates. The regional model modifies the surface climate description compared to the GCM simulations, but it is also substantially affected by the biases in the GCM simulations. The regional model also improves the representation of the regional ocean and the inland lakes, compared to the GCM results.

A regional climate model for northern Europe: model description and results from the downscaling of two GCM control simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rummukainen, M.; Raeisaenen, J.; Bringfelt, B.; Ullerstig, A.; Omstedt, A.; Willen, U.; Hansson, U.; Jones, C. [Rossby Centre, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Inst., Norrkoeping (Sweden)

2001-03-01

This work presents a regional climate model, the Rossby Centre regional Atmospheric model (RCA1), recently developed from the High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM). The changes in the HIRLAM parametrizations, necessary for climate-length integrations, are described. A regional Baltic Sea ocean model and a modeling system for the Nordic inland lake systems have been coupled with RCA1. The coupled system has been used to downscale 10-year time slices from two different general circulation model (GCM) simulations to provide high-resolution regional interpretation of large-scale modeling. A selection of the results from the control runs, i.e. the present-day climate simulations, are presented: large-scale free atmospheric fields, the surface temperature and precipitation results and results for the on-line simulated regional ocean and lake surface climates. The regional model modifies the surface climate description compared to the GCM simulations, but it is also substantially affected by the biases in the GCM simulations. The regional model also improves the representation of the regional ocean and the inland lakes, compared to the GCM results. (orig.)

Employment Effects of Renewable Energy Expansion on a Regional Level—First Results of a Model-Based Approach for Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrike Lehr

2012-02-01

Full Text Available National studies have shown that both gross and net effects of the expansion of energy from renewable sources on employment are positive for Germany. These modeling approaches also revealed that this holds true for both present and future perspectives under certain assumptions on the development of exports, fossil fuel prices and national politics. Yet how are employment effects distributed within Germany? What components contribute to growth impacts on a regional level? To answer these questions (new methods of regionalization were explored and developed for the example “wind energy onshore” for Germany’s federal states. The main goal was to develop a methodology which is applicable to all renewable energy technologies in future research. For the quantification and projection, it was necessary to distinguish between jobs generated by domestic investments and exports on the one hand, and jobs for operation and maintenance of existing plants on the other hand. Further, direct and indirect employment is analyzed. The results show, that gross employment is particularly high in the northwestern regions of Germany. However, especially the indirect effects are spread out over the whole country. Regions in the south not only profit from the delivery of specific components, but also from other industry and service inputs.

AgMIP: New Results from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia Regional Integrated Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenzweig, C.

2014-12-01

AgMIP conducted the first set of comprehensive regional integrated assessments of climate change impacts on smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia led by researchers from the regions themselves. The project developed new methods integrating climate, crop, livestock and economic models to conduct climate change impact assessments that characterize impacts on smallholder groups. AgMIP projections of climate change impacts on agriculture are more realistic than previous assessments because they take agricultural development into account. Using the best available data and models, the assessments directly evaluated yield, income, and poverty outcomes including the effects of adaptation packages and development pathways. Results show that even with agricultural development, climate change generally will exert negative pressure on yields of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Without adaptation, climate change leads to increased poverty in some locations in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia compared to a future in which climate change does not occur. Adaptation can significantly improve smallholder farmer responses to climate change. AgMIP expert teams identified improved varieties, sowing practices, fertilizer application, and irrigation applications as prioritized adaptation strategies. These targeted adaptation packages were able to overcome a portion of detrimental impacts but could not compensate completely in many locations. Even in cases where average impact is near zero, vulnerability (i.e., those at risk of loss) can be substantial even when mean impacts are positive.

Children with dyslexia show cortical hyperactivation in response to increasing literacy processing demands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frøydis eMorken

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This fMRI study aimed to examine how differences in literacy processing demands may affect cortical activation patterns in 11- to 12-year-old children with dyslexia as compared to children with typical reading skills. 11 children with and 18 without dyslexia were assessed using a reading paradigm based on different stages of literacy development. In the analyses, six regions showed an interaction effect between group and condition in a factorial ANOVA. These regions were selected as regions of interest for further analyses. Overall, the dyslexia group showed cortical hyperactivation compared to the typical group. The difference between the groups tended to increase with increasing processing demands. Differences in cortical activation were not reflected in in-scanner reading performance. The six regions further grouped into three patterns, which are discussed in terms of processing demands, compensatory mechanisms, orthography and contextual facilitation. We conclude that the observed hyperactivation is chiefly a result of compensatory activity, modulated by other factors.

Sustainable manure management in the Baltic Sea Region - results, cases and project recommendations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tybirk, Knud; Luostarinen, S; Hamelin, Lorie

This magazine contains the major results, conclusions and recommendations of the project Baltic Forum for Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Manure Management (Baltic Manure) which via co-funding from Interreg Baltic Sea Region programme has been a Flagship project in the EU Strategy...

Spatiotemporal Distribution of β-Amyloid in Alzheimer Disease Is the Result of Heterogeneous Regional Carrying Capacities.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittington, Alex; Sharp, David J; Gunn, Roger N

2018-05-01

β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation in the brain is 1 of 2 pathologic hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD), and the spatial distribution of Aβ has been studied extensively ex vivo. Methods: We applied mathematical modeling to Aβ in vivo PET imaging data to investigate competing theories of Aβ spread in AD. Results: Our results provided evidence that Aβ accumulation starts in all brain regions simultaneously and that its spatiotemporal distribution is due to heterogeneous regional carrying capacities (regional maximum possible concentration of Aβ) for the aggregated protein rather than to longer-term spreading from seed regions. Conclusion: The in vivo spatiotemporal distribution of Aβ in AD can be mathematically modeled using a logistic growth model in which the Aβ carrying capacity is heterogeneous across the brain but the exponential growth rate and time of half maximal Aβ concentration are constant. © 2018 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Results of the Regional Earthquake Likelihood Models (RELM) test of earthquake forecasts in California.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ya-Ting; Turcotte, Donald L; Holliday, James R; Sachs, Michael K; Rundle, John B; Chen, Chien-Chih; Tiampo, Kristy F

2011-10-04

The Regional Earthquake Likelihood Models (RELM) test of earthquake forecasts in California was the first competitive evaluation of forecasts of future earthquake occurrence. Participants submitted expected probabilities of occurrence of M ≥ 4.95 earthquakes in 0.1° × 0.1° cells for the period 1 January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2010. Probabilities were submitted for 7,682 cells in California and adjacent regions. During this period, 31 M ≥ 4.95 earthquakes occurred in the test region. These earthquakes occurred in 22 test cells. This seismic activity was dominated by earthquakes associated with the M = 7.2, April 4, 2010, El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake in northern Mexico. This earthquake occurred in the test region, and 16 of the other 30 earthquakes in the test region could be associated with it. Nine complete forecasts were submitted by six participants. In this paper, we present the forecasts in a way that allows the reader to evaluate which forecast is the most "successful" in terms of the locations of future earthquakes. We conclude that the RELM test was a success and suggest ways in which the results can be used to improve future forecasts.

Toponymic Stratigraphy of the Middle Oka Region: The Results of a Comparison of Substrate Toponymy Areas and Archaeological Culture Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuliana Yu. Gordova

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article explores the potential of an integrative approach to ethnohistoric reconstruction. Using both onomastic and archaeological data, the author makes an attempt to reveal the correlations between the substrate toponymy of the Middle Oka Region and the areas of the archaeological cultures found on this territory. The results of the research show that the main types of non-Slavic place names of the region correlate with some important archaeological cultures: Fatyanovo-Balanovo culture, Shagar culture, Gorodets culture, cultures of Merya, Muroma, Meshchera and Mordva. Taking into account the most recent etymologies, the paper provides a toponymic stratigraphy of the territory in the remotest periods: Neolithic Era, Bronze Age and early Iron Age. The author argues that the formation of the basic hydronymic systems of the Middle Oka Region may be dated to the Bronze Age and reliably ascribed to the regional corded ware and battle axe cultures (Fatyanovo-Balanovo, Shagar whilst the formation of the basic toponymic areas of the North-Eastern part of the region may be attributed to a later period (late 1st — early 2nd millennium AD. The article points out that the toponymic data are crucial for the ethnocultural attribution of the population of the settlements poorly studied by archaeologists. They acquire a particular importance when the interpretation of archaeological materials is disputable or insufficient.

Regional Inflation and Financial Dollarization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brown, M.; de Haas, R.; Sokolov, V.

2013-01-01

Abstract: We exploit variation in consumer price inflation across 71 Russian regions to examine the relationship between the perceived stability of the local currency and financial dollarization. Our results show that regions with higher inflation experience an increase in the dollarization of

Results of the regional intercomparison on internal dosimetry – 2013: Interpretation of monitoring data for effective dose assessment due to internal exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rojo, A.M.; Puerta, N.; Gossio, S.; Gómez Parada, I.

2015-01-01

Internal dosimetry intercomparisons are essential for the verification of the models applied and the results consistency. To that aim, the 1. Regional Intercomparison Exercise was organized in 2005 in the frame of the RLA 9/049. The results of this exercise led to the 2. Regional Intercomparison Exercise in 2013, which was organized in the frame of the RLA 9/066 and coordinated by Autoridad Regulatoria Nuclear (ARN) of Argentina. Four simulated cases covering intakes of “1”3”1I, “1”3”7Cs and Tritium were proposed. The exercise counted with the participation of 19 centres from 13 countries. This report shows a complete analysis of the participant’s results in this 2nd. exercise, useful to test their skills and acquired knowledge, particularly in applying the IDEAS guidelines. It is important to highlight the improvement in the general performance of the participants. (authors) [es

Regional Synthesis and Dissemination of Research Results in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Over the past five years, IDRC's Rural Poverty and Environment (RPE) program initiative has funded a number of projects in eastern and southern Africa. While these projects have ... newsletter - January 2018. In this ROSSA bulletin: Meet Kathryn Toure, the new regional director of IDRC's sub-Saharan Africa office.

Motor units in vastus lateralis and in different vastus medialis regions show different firing properties during low-level, isometric knee extension contraction.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Leonardo Mendes Leal; Cabral, Hélio Veiga; de Oliveira, Liliam Fernandes; Vieira, Taian Martins

2018-04-01

Architectural differences along vastus medialis (VM) and between VM and vastus lateralis (VL) are considered functionally important for the patellar tracking, knee joint stability and knee joint extension. Whether these functional differences are associated with a differential activity of motor units between VM and VL is however unknown. In the present study, we, therefore, investigate neuroanatomical differences in the activity of motor units detected proximo-distally from VM and from the VL muscle. Nine healthy volunteers performed low-level isometric knee extension contractions (20% of their maximum voluntary contraction) following a trapezoidal trajectory. Surface electromyograms (EMGs) were recorded from VM proximal and distal regions and from VL using three linear adhesive arrays of eight electrodes. The firing rate and recruitment threshold of motor units decomposed from EMGs were then compared among muscle regions. Results show that VL motor units reached lower mean firing rates in comparison with VM motor units, regardless of their position within VM (P motor units (P = .997). Furthermore, no significant differences in the recruitment threshold were observed for all motor units analysed (P = .108). Our findings possibly suggest the greater potential of VL to generate force, due to its fibres arrangement, may account for the lower discharge rate observed for VL then either proximally or distally detected motor units in VM. Additionally, the present study opens new perspectives on the importance of considering muscle architecture in investigations of the neural aspects of motor behaviour. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Regional demand and supply projections for outdoor recreation

Science.gov (United States)

Donald B. K. English; Carter J. Betz; J. Mark Young; John C. Bergstrom; H. Ken Cordell

1993-01-01

This paper develops regional recreation supply and demand projections, by combining coefficients from the national 1989 RPA Assessment models with regional regressor values. Regional recreation opportunity estimates also are developed, based on regional travel behavior. Results show important regional variations in projections of recreation opportunities, trip supply,...

[Incidence of infection from catheter procedures for regional anesthesia: first results from the network of DGAI and BDA].

Science.gov (United States)

Volk, T; Engelhardt, L; Spies, C; Steinfeldt, T; Gruenewald, D; Kutter, B; Heller, A; Werner, C; Heid, F; Bürkle, H; Gastmeier, P; Wernecke, K-D; Koch, T; Vicent, O; Geiger, P; Wulf, H

2009-11-01

To analyze safety issues of regional anaesthesia and analgesia in Germany only a few single center studies are available. Therefore, the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin, DGAI) and the Professional Association of German Anaesthetists (Berufsverband Deutscher Anästhesisten, BDA) initiated a network for safety in regional anaesthesia. From this the first results on infectious complications will be reported. In a Delphi process the documentation of the setup and maintenance of regional anaesthesia and analgesia was agreed with the participants in a working group from the DGAI. After approval by the officially authorized representative for patient data privacy protection a registry was programmed to collect anonymous data. Up to October 2008 data from 6 centers could be analyzed. After testing for plausibility 8,781 regional anaesthesia procedures (22,112 catheter days) could be analyzed. The 5,057 neuraxial and 3,724 peripheral catheter-based procedures were in place for a median of 2.48 days (range 1.0-3.0 days) and 4 severe, 15 moderate and 128 mild infections were recorded. Diabetics were not found to show a statistically significant increase in risk (2.6% compared to 1.9% for non-diabetics: n.s.). Neuraxial procedures seem to have a higher rate of infections than peripheral procedures (2.7% vs. 1.3%, p<0.0001). Multiple punctures of the skin also seem to be associated with a higher infection rate than single skin punctures (4.1% vs. 1.6%, p<0.0001). Infectious complications of catheter-based regional anaesthesia are common. Strict hygienic standards must therefore be complied with. More data are necessary to calculate risk factors. The registry provided can also be used as a benchmark to reduce these rates further.

Contributions of changes in climatology and perturbation and the resulting nonlinearity to regional climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Adachi, Sachiho A; Nishizawa, Seiya; Yoshida, Ryuji; Yamaura, Tsuyoshi; Ando, Kazuto; Yashiro, Hisashi; Kajikawa, Yoshiyuki; Tomita, Hirofumi

2017-12-20

Future changes in large-scale climatology and perturbation may have different impacts on regional climate change. It is important to understand the impacts of climatology and perturbation in terms of both thermodynamic and dynamic changes. Although many studies have investigated the influence of climatology changes on regional climate, the significance of perturbation changes is still debated. The nonlinear effect of these two changes is also unknown. We propose a systematic procedure that extracts the influences of three factors: changes in climatology, changes in perturbation and the resulting nonlinear effect. We then demonstrate the usefulness of the procedure, applying it to future changes in precipitation. All three factors have the same degree of influence, especially for extreme rainfall events. Thus, regional climate assessments should consider not only the climatology change but also the perturbation change and their nonlinearity. This procedure can advance interpretations of future regional climates.

Forskning på regionshospitaler i Region Midtjylland og Region Nordjylland

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauszus, Finn Friis; Nielsen, Gunnar Lauge; Petersen, Lars Jelstrup

2013-01-01

The quantity of interest, experience, and barriers to research in non-university hospitals in Denmark is undocumented. Therefore, a questionnaire was distributed to all employees at non-university hospitals in two Danish regions. The results showed that a substantial number of medical doctors were...

Results of the regional intercomparison exercise for the determination of operational quantity Hp(d) in Latin America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saravi, M.; Zaretzky, A.; Lindner, C.; Diaz, J.; Walwyn, G.; Souza, D.; Amorin, R.; Gregory, B.; Papadopulos, S.; Meghzifene, A.; Ferruz Cruz, P.; Cruz Suarez, R.

2005-01-01

Full text: Several intercomparison exercises were organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the determination of operational quantities at the regional or interregional basis. These exercises revealed significant differences in the approach, methods and assumptions, and consequently in the measurement results obtained by participating laboratories. In the Latin America region, an intercomparison for determination of operational quantity Hp(10), organized within the frame of a technical cooperation regional project, was completed mid-2004, as a follow-up to previous exercises carried out during the 1990s. Eighteen laboratories from 19 member states participated in the first phase; the second phase grouped 15 laboratories from 16 member states. Dosimeter irradiations (5 different radiation qualities for photon simulating workplace fields) were done by 4 Secondary Standards Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDL). The preparations for the exercise involved an audit by the IAEA SSDL, where reference irradiations were provided to all participants for verification of their system. During the first phase (2002/03), only 9 out of 18 laboratories met the performance requirements for such monitoring services. Necessary corrective actions and procedure verification were implemented, and staff involved in these evaluations were subsequently trained. During the second phase (2004), 11 out of 15 laboratories fulfilled the performance criteria. The 4 laboratories still having difficulties in assessing occupational exposure participated in a results meeting, during which problem areas were identified. An ongoing technical cooperation mission is expected to assist these laboratories accordingly. There has been a definite improvement in the second phase and most laboratories demonstrated a good performance in the quantity tested. The technical results clearly show that the laboratories' capability in assessing occupational exposure from external sources of radiation is

Genomic patterns in Acropora cervicornis show extensive population structure and variable genetic diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Drury, Crawford; Schopmeyer, Stephanie; Goergen, Elizabeth; Bartels, Erich; Nedimyer, Ken; Johnson, Meaghan; Maxwell, Kerry; Galvan, Victor; Manfrino, Carrie; Lirman, Diego

2017-08-01

Threatened Caribbean coral communities can benefit from high-resolution genetic data used to inform management and conservation action. We use Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) to investigate genetic patterns in the threatened coral, Acropora cervicornis , across the Florida Reef Tract (FRT) and the western Caribbean. Results show extensive population structure at regional scales and resolve previously unknown structure within the FRT. Different regions also exhibit up to threefold differences in genetic diversity (He), suggesting targeted management based on the goals and resources of each population is needed. Patterns of genetic diversity have a strong spatial component, and our results show Broward and the Lower Keys are among the most diverse populations in Florida. The genetic diversity of Caribbean staghorn coral is concentrated within populations and within individual reefs (AMOVA), highlighting the complex mosaic of population structure. This variance structure is similar over regional and local scales, which suggests that in situ nurseries are adequately capturing natural patterns of diversity, representing a resource that can replicate the average diversity of wild assemblages, serving to increase intraspecific diversity and potentially leading to improved biodiversity and ecosystem function. Results presented here can be translated into specific goals for the recovery of A. cervicornis , including active focus on low diversity areas, protection of high diversity and connectivity, and practical thresholds for responsible restoration.

Beam test results of CMS RPCs at high eta region under high-radiation environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, S.; Ahn, S.H.; Bahk, S.Y.; Hong, B.; Hong, S.J.; Kang, D.H.; Kang, T.I.; Kim, T.J.; Kim, Y.J.; Kim, Y.U.; Koo, D.G.; Lee, H.W.; Lee, K.S.; Lee, S.J.; Lim, J.K.; Moon, D.H.; Nam, S.K.; Oh, J.K.; Park, W.J.; Rhee, J.T.; Ryu, M.S.; Shim, H.H.; Sim, K.S.

2004-01-01

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) forward resistivity plate chambers (RPCs) at the high eta region must be operated in presence of a radiation-induced rate as high as 1kHz/cm2. It is still unknown if the RPCs coated with linseed oil can be operated under such a high-radiation environment over the lifetime of CMS. Non-oiled RPCs may be one of the options since phenolic or melamine-coated bakelite is chemically stabler than linseed oil. We have constructed oiled and non-oiled RPCs at the high eta region of CMS using phenolic bakelite and tested them in the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN. While both RPCs show the same characteristics in the efficiency and the strip multiplicity, the non-oiled RPC generates an intrinsic noise rate of 50Hz/cm2, compared to only 5Hz/cm2 for the oiled RPC, both at 10.0kV which is about 100V above the 95% knee of the efficiency curve

Beam test results of CMS RPCs at high eta region under high-radiation environment

CERN Document Server

Park, S; Bahk, S Y; Hong, B; Hong, S J; Kang, D H; Kang, T I; Kim, T J; Kim, Y J; Kim, Y U; Koo, D G; Lee, H W; Lee, K S; Lee, S J; Lim, J K; Moon, D H; Nam, S K; Oh, J K; Park, W J; Rhee, J T; Ryu, M S; Shim, H H; Sim, K S

2004-01-01

The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) forward resistivity plate chambers (RPCs) at the high eta region must be operated in presence of a radiation-induced rate as high as 1 kHz/cm**2. It is still unknown if the RPCs coated with linseed oil can be operated under such a high- radiation environment over the lifetime of CMS. Non-oiled RPCs may be one of the options since phenolic or melamine-coated bakelite is chemically stabler than linseed oil. We have constructed oiled and non-oiled RPCs at the high eta region of CMS using phenolic bakelite and tested them in the Gamma Irradiation Facility at CERN. While both RPCs show the same characteristics in the efficiency and the strip multiplicity, the non-oiled RPC generates an intrinsic noise rate of 50 Hz/cm**2, compared to only 5 Hz/cm**2 for the oiled RPC, both at 10.0kV which is about 100 V above the 95% knee of the efficiency curve.

The results of the Survey of Employment in the South Moravian Region in 2009

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ondřej Konečný

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In the second half of 2008, significant impacts of the world economic crisis became evident in the Czech labour market. In 2009, employment and the number of vacancies gradually declined and the number of the unemployed continually increased. This paper aims to show the impact of the crisis on the development (2008–2009 of the structure of employment according to industries and sectors of national economy in South Moravia as revealed by the unique “Survey of Employment in the South Moravian Region on the date of 31 December 2009”. This paper is a presentation of the general parameters of this survey – the number of companies participating in this survey, the number of their employees and regional differences of these characteristics are evaluated. Brief attention is also paid to the expected development of employment in 2010, which is compiled on the basis of the assumed recruitment/release of employees of businesses participating in the survey.

Ionospheric scintillation observations over Kenyan region - Preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Olwendo, O. J.; Xiao, Yu; Ming, Ou

2016-11-01

Ionospheric scintillation refers to the rapid fluctuations in the amplitude and phase of a satellite signal as it passes through small-scale plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere. By analyzing ionospheric scintillation observation datasets from satellite signals such as GPS signals we can study the morphology of ionospheric bubbles. At low latitudes, the diurnal behavior of scintillation is driven by the formation of large-scale equatorial density depletions which form one to two hours after sunset via the Rayleigh-Taylor instability mechanism near the magnetic equator. In this work we present ionospheric scintillation activity over Kenya using data derived from a newly installed scintillation monitor developed by CRIRP at Pwani University (39.78°E, 3.24°S) during the period August to December, 2014. The results reveal the scintillation activity mainly occurs from post-sunset to post-midnight hours, and ceases around 04:00 LT. We also found that the ionospheric scintillation tends to appear at the southwest and northwest of the station. These locations coincide with the southern part of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly crest over Kenya region. The occurrence of post-midnight L-band scintillation events which are not linked to pre-midnight scintillation observations raises fundamental question on the mechanism and source of electric fields driving the plasma depletion under conditions of very low background electron density.

Balancing Relations and Results in Regional Networks of Public-Policy Implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klaster, E.; Wilderom, Celeste P.M.; Muntslag, Dennis R.

2017-01-01

Regional networks have become popular routes for central governments to translate national ambitions into regional policies and actions; but these networks face challenges, having to balance between the dual objectives of obtaining short-term goals and establishing enduring network relations. This

Consistency and Main Differences Between European Regional Climate Downscaling Intercomparison Results; From PRUDENCE and ENSEMBLES to CORDEX

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, J. H.; Larsen, M. A. D.; Christensen, O. B.; Drews, M.

2017-12-01

For more than 20 years, coordinated efforts to apply regional climate models to downscale GCM simulations for Europe have been pursued by an ever increasing group of scientists. This endeavor showed its first results during EU framework supported projects such as RACCS and MERCURE. Here, the foundation for today's advanced worldwide CORDEX approach was laid out by a core of six research teams, who conducted some of the first coordinated RCM simulations with the aim to assess regional climate change for Europe. However, it was realized at this stage that model bias in GCMs as well as RCMs made this task very challenging. As an immediate outcome, the idea was conceived to make an even more coordinated effort by constructing a well-defined and structured set of common simulations; this lead to the PRUDENCE project (2001-2004). Additional coordinated efforts involving ever increasing numbers of GCMs and RCMs followed in ENSEMBLES (2004-2009) and the ongoing Euro-CORDEX (officially commenced 2011) efforts. Along with the overall coordination, simulations have increased their standard resolution from 50km (PRUDENCE) to about 12km (Euro-CORDEX) and from time slice simulations (PRUDENCE) to transient experiments (ENSEMBLES and CORDEX); from one driving model and emission scenario (PRUDENCE) to several (Euro-CORDEX). So far, this wealth of simulations have been used to assess the potential impacts of future climate change in Europe providing a baseline change as defined by a multi-model mean change with associated uncertainties calculated from model spread in the ensemble. But how has the overall picture of state-of-the-art regional climate change projections changed over this period of almost two decades? Here we compare across scenarios, model resolutions and model vintage the results from PRUDENCE, ENSEMBLES and Euro-CORDEX. By appropriate scaling we identify robust findings about the projected future of European climate expressed by temperature and precipitation changes

Atmospheric water budget over the South Asian summer monsoon region

Science.gov (United States)

Unnikrishnan, C. K.; Rajeevan, M.

2018-04-01

High resolution hybrid atmospheric water budget over the South Asian monsoon region is examined. The regional characteristics, variability, regional controlling factors and the interrelations of the atmospheric water budget components are investigated. The surface evapotranspiration was created using the High Resolution Land Data Assimilation System (HRLDAS) with the satellite-observed rainfall and vegetation fraction. HRLDAS evapotranspiration shows significant similarity with in situ observations and MODIS satellite-observed evapotranspiration. Result highlights the fundamental importance of evapotranspiration over northwest and southeast India on atmospheric water balance. The investigation shows that the surface net radiation controls the annual evapotranspiration over those regions, where the surface evapotranspiration is lower than 550 mm. The rainfall and evapotranspiration show a linear relation over the low-rainfall regions (forcing (like surface net radiation). The lead and lag correlation of water budget components show that the water budget anomalies are interrelated in the monsoon season even up to 4 months lead. These results show the important regional interrelation of water budget anomalies on south Asian monsoon.

Self-organizing map network-based precipitation regionalization for the Tibetan Plateau and regional precipitation variability

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Nini; Yin, Jianchuan

2017-12-01

A precipitation-based regionalization for the Tibetan Plateau (TP) was investigated for regional precipitation trend analysis and frequency analysis using data from 1113 grid points covering the period 1900-2014. The results utilizing self-organizing map (SOM) network suggest that four clusters of precipitation coherent zones can be identified, including the southwestern edge, the southern edge, the southeastern region, and the north central region. Regionalization results of the SOM network satisfactorily represent the influences of the atmospheric circulation systems such as the East Asian summer monsoon, the south Asian summer monsoon, and the mid-latitude westerlies. Regionalization results also well display the direct impacts of physical geographical features of the TP such as orography, topography, and land-sea distribution. Regional-scale annual precipitation trend as well as regional differences of annual and seasonal total precipitation were investigated by precipitation index such as precipitation concentration index (PCI) and Standardized Anomaly Index (SAI). Results demonstrate significant negative long-term linear trends in southeastern TP and the north central part of the TP, indicating arid and semi-arid regions in the TP are getting drier. The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method shows an evolution of the main cycle with 4 and 12 months for all the representative grids of four sub-regions. The cross-wavelet analysis suggests that predominant and effective period of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on monthly precipitation is around ˜12 months, except for the representative grid of the northwestern region.

Modern Approaches to Continuous Audit in the Pharmacovigilance System Vinnytsia region: the Results of 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fedir Hladkykh

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The results of the pharmacovigilance system operation in Vinnytsia region during 2016 are presented based on the data of the electronic online system "Pharmacovigilance-2016", which was first introduced by us on the basis of the table editor Microsoft Excel of the file-hosting system Google Drive. The formula for calculating the efficiency of the pharmacovigilance implementation as an integral assessment of the safety oversight of medical devices in their use in Vinnytsia region during 2016 is proposed, taking into account the capacity of health facilities at the local level.

Regional collaborations and indigenous innovation capabilities in China: A multivariate method for the analysis of regional innovation systems

OpenAIRE

Zhao, S.L.; Cacciolatti, L.; Lee, Soo Hee; Song, W.

2014-01-01

In this study we analyse the emerging patterns of regional collaboration for innovation projects in China, using official government statistics of 30 Chinese regions. We propose the use of Ordinal Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster analysis as a robust method to study regional innovation systems. Our results show that regional collaborations amongst organisations can be categorised by means of eight dimensions: public versus private organisational mindset; public versus private resources; i...

Factors affecting stream nutrient loads: A synthesis of regional SPARROW model results for the continental United States

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Stephen D.; Alexander, Richard B.; Schwarz, Gregory E.; Crawford, Charles G.

2011-01-01

We compared the results of 12 recently calibrated regional SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced Regressions On Watershed attributes) models covering most of the continental United States to evaluate the consistency and regional differences in factors affecting stream nutrient loads. The models - 6 for total nitrogen and 6 for total phosphorus - all provide similar levels of prediction accuracy, but those for major river basins in the eastern half of the country were somewhat more accurate. The models simulate long-term mean annual stream nutrient loads as a function of a wide range of known sources and climatic (precipitation, temperature), landscape (e.g., soils, geology), and aquatic factors affecting nutrient fate and transport. The results confirm the dominant effects of urban and agricultural sources on stream nutrient loads nationally and regionally, but reveal considerable spatial variability in the specific types of sources that control water quality. These include regional differences in the relative importance of different types of urban (municipal and industrial point vs. diffuse urban runoff) and agriculture (crop cultivation vs. animal waste) sources, as well as the effects of atmospheric deposition, mining, and background (e.g., soil phosphorus) sources on stream nutrients. Overall, we found that the SPARROW model results provide a consistent set of information for identifying the major sources and environmental factors affecting nutrient fate and transport in United States watersheds at regional and subregional scales. ?? 2011 American Water Resources Association. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Streamflow in the upper Mississippi river basin as simulated by SWAT driven by 20{sup th} century contemporary results of global climate models and NARCCAP regional climate models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takle, Eugene S.; Jha, Manoj; Lu, Er; Arritt, Raymond W.; Gutowski, William J. [Iowa State Univ. Ames, IA (United States)

2010-06-15

We use Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) when driven by observations and results of climate models to evaluate hydrological quantities, including streamflow, in the Upper Mississippi River Basin (UMRB) for 1981-2003 in comparison to observed streamflow. Daily meteorological conditions used as input to SWAT are taken from (1) observations at weather stations in the basin, (2) daily meteorological conditions simulated by a collection of regional climate models (RCMs) driven by reanalysis boundary conditions, and (3) daily meteorological conditions simulated by a collection of global climate models (GCMs). Regional models used are those whose data are archived by the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP). Results show that regional models correctly simulate the seasonal cycle of precipitation, temperature, and streamflow within the basin. Regional models also capture interannual extremes represented by the flood of 1993 and the dry conditions of 2000. The ensemble means of both the GCM-driven and RCM-driven simulations by SWAT capture both the timing and amplitude of the seasonal cycle of streamflow with neither demonstrating significant superiority at the basin level. (orig.)

Resistivity and Seismic Surface Wave Tomography Results for the Nevşehir Kale Region: Cappadocia, Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Coşkun, Nart; Çakır, Özcan; Erduran, Murat; Arif Kutlu, Yusuf

2014-05-01

The Nevşehir Kale region located in the middle of Cappadocia with approximately cone shape is investigated for existence of an underground city using the geophysical methods of electrical resistivity and seismic surface wave tomography together. Underground cities are generally known to exist in Cappadocia. The current study has obtained important clues that there may be another one under the Nevşehir Kale region. Two-dimensional resistivity and seismic profiles approximately 4-km long surrounding the Nevşehir Kale are measured to determine the distribution of electrical resistivities and seismic velocities under the profiles. Several high resistivity anomalies with a depth range 8-20 m are discovered to associate with a systematic void structure beneath the region. Because of the high resolution resistivity measurement system currently employed we were able to isolate the void structure from the embedding structure. Low seismic velocity zones associated with the high resistivity depths are also discovered. Using three-dimensional visualization techniques we show the extension of the void structure under the measured profiles.

Idiopathic cases of male infertility from a region in India show low ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

9 (azoospermia – 8 and oligoasthenospermia – 1) showed partial deletion of AZF ... such as diabetes, obesity, varicocele, cystic fibrosis or .... ing pregnancy was maintained for each patient. .... rized as Sertoli cell only syndrome type 1 (SCO I).

The effect of regional politics on regional life expectancy in Italy (1980-2010).

Science.gov (United States)

Jonker, Marcel F; D'Ippolito, Edoardo; Eikemo, Terje A; Congdon, Peter D; Nante, Nicola; Mackenbach, Johan P; Kamphuis, Carlijn B M

2017-03-01

The evidence on the association between politics and health is scarce considering the importance of this topic for population health. Studies that investigated the effect of different political regimes on health outcomes show inconsistent results. Bayesian time-series cross-section analyses are used to examine the overall impact of regional politics on variations in Italian regional life expectancy (LE) at birth during the period 1980-2010. Our analyses control for trends in and unobserved determinants of regional LE, correct for temporal as well as spatial autocorrelation, and employ a flexible specification for the timing of the political effects. In the period from 1980 to 1995, we find no evidence that the communist, left-oriented coalitions and Christian Democratic, centre-oriented coalitions have had an effect on regional LE. In the period from 1995 onwards, after a major reconfiguration of Italy's political regimes and a major healthcare reform, we again find no evidence that the Centre-Left and Centre-Right coalitions have had a significant impact on regional LE. The presented results provide no support for the notion that different regional political regimes in Italy have had a differential effect on regional LE, even though Italian regions have had considerable and increasing autonomy over healthcare and health-related policies and expenditures.

Food Insecurity in Homeless Families in the Paris Region (France: Results from the ENFAMS Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judith Martin-Fernandez

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The number of families living in shelters in the Paris region (France has increased by a factor of three in 10 years. In 2013, a survey was performed on homeless families in order to characterize their living conditions, their health needs, and the developmental problems in children. This probability survey was conducted in 17 languages among 801 homeless families sheltered in emergency centers for asylum-seekers, emergency housing centers, social rehabilitation centers, and social hotels in the Paris region. Among the 772 families that provided data on food security only 14.0% were with food security, whereas 43.3% were with low food security and 9.8% with very low food security (a situation where children are also affected. Stratified multivariate robust Poisson models showed that some characteristics are associated with a higher risk of food insecurity and/or of falling into very low food security, such as residential instability, single parenthood, having more than three children, depressive symptoms, housing in social hostels, and difficult access to cheap or free food locally. Given the wealth of the Paris region, resources and programs should be concentrated on improving the living situation of this vulnerable population. It needs better detection of these families, a closer social follow-up, and an increase in food aid.

Food Insecurity in Homeless Families in the Paris Region (France): Results from the ENFAMS Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Fernandez, Judith; Lioret, Sandrine; Vuillermoz, Cécile; Vandentorren, Stéphanie

2018-01-01

The number of families living in shelters in the Paris region (France) has increased by a factor of three in 10 years. In 2013, a survey was performed on homeless families in order to characterize their living conditions, their health needs, and the developmental problems in children. This probability survey was conducted in 17 languages among 801 homeless families sheltered in emergency centers for asylum-seekers, emergency housing centers, social rehabilitation centers, and social hotels in the Paris region. Among the 772 families that provided data on food security only 14.0% were with food security, whereas 43.3% were with low food security and 9.8% with very low food security (a situation where children are also affected). Stratified multivariate robust Poisson models showed that some characteristics are associated with a higher risk of food insecurity and/or of falling into very low food security, such as residential instability, single parenthood, having more than three children, depressive symptoms, housing in social hostels, and difficult access to cheap or free food locally. Given the wealth of the Paris region, resources and programs should be concentrated on improving the living situation of this vulnerable population. It needs better detection of these families, a closer social follow-up, and an increase in food aid. PMID:29495563

Food Insecurity in Homeless Families in the Paris Region (France): Results from the ENFAMS Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin-Fernandez, Judith; Lioret, Sandrine; Vuillermoz, Cécile; Chauvin, Pierre; Vandentorren, Stéphanie

2018-02-28

The number of families living in shelters in the Paris region (France) has increased by a factor of three in 10 years. In 2013, a survey was performed on homeless families in order to characterize their living conditions, their health needs, and the developmental problems in children. This probability survey was conducted in 17 languages among 801 homeless families sheltered in emergency centers for asylum-seekers, emergency housing centers, social rehabilitation centers, and social hotels in the Paris region. Among the 772 families that provided data on food security only 14.0% were with food security, whereas 43.3% were with low food security and 9.8% with very low food security (a situation where children are also affected). Stratified multivariate robust Poisson models showed that some characteristics are associated with a higher risk of food insecurity and/or of falling into very low food security, such as residential instability, single parenthood, having more than three children, depressive symptoms, housing in social hostels, and difficult access to cheap or free food locally. Given the wealth of the Paris region, resources and programs should be concentrated on improving the living situation of this vulnerable population. It needs better detection of these families, a closer social follow-up, and an increase in food aid.

Meteor smoke influences on the D-region charge balance – review of recent in situ measurements and one-dimensional model results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Baumann

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This work investigates the influence of meteoric smoke particles (MSP on the charge balance in the D-region ionosphere. Both experimental in situ measurements and a one-dimensional ionospheric model reveal a clear impact of MSP on the ionospheric composition of the D-region. The study reviews rocket-borne in situ measurements of electron and positive ion density, which show a distinct deficit of electrons in comparison to positive ions between 80 and 95 km. This deficit can be explained by the ambient negatively charged MSP measured simultaneously with a Faraday cup. The influence of MSP on the D-region charge balance is addressed with a simplified ionospheric model with only six components, i.e. electrons, positive and negative ions and neutral and charged MSP (both signs. The scheme includes reactions of plasma captured by MSP and MSP photo reactions as well as the standard ionospheric processes, e.g. ion-ion recombination. The model shows that the capture of plasma constituents by MSP is an important process leading to scavenging of electrons. Since Faraday cup measurements are biased towards heavy MSP because of aerodynamical filtering, we have applied an estimate of this filter on the modelled MSP densities. By doing that, we find good qualitative agreement between the experimental data and our model results. In addition, the model study reveals an increase of positive ions in the presence of MSP. That is primarily caused by the reduced dissociative recombination with electrons which have been removed from the gas phase by the MSP.

Female Emotional Eaters Show Abnormalities in Consummatory and Anticipatory Food Reward

Science.gov (United States)

Bohon, Cara; Stice, Eric; Spoor, Sonja

2009-01-01

Objective To test the hypothesis that emotional eaters show greater neural activation in response to food intake and anticipated food intake than nonemotional eaters and whether these differences are amplified during a negative versus neutral mood state. Method Female emotional eaters and nonemotional eaters (N = 21) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during receipt and anticipated receipt of chocolate milkshake and a tasteless control solution while in a negative and neutral mood. Results Emotional eaters showed greater activation in the parahippocampal gyrus and anterior cingulate (ACC) in response to anticipated receipt of milkshake and greater activation in the pallidum, thalamus, and ACC in response to receipt of milkshake during a negative relative to a neutral mood. In contrast, nonemotional eaters showed decreased activation in reward regions during a negative versus a neutral mood. Discussion Results suggest that emotional eating is related to increased anticipatory and consummatory food reward, but only during negative mood. PMID:19040270

Temperature Changes In Poland In 21st Century – Results Of Global Simulation And Regional Downscaling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pilarski Michał

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The main source of information about future climate changes are the results of numerical simulations performed in scientific institutions around the world. Present projections from global circulation models (GCMs are too coarse and are only usefulness for the world, hemisphere or continent spatial analysis. The low horizontal resolution of global models (100–200 km, does not allow to assess climate changes at regional or local scales. Therefore it is necessary to lead studies concerning how to detail the GCMs information. The problem of information transfer from the GCMs to higher spatial scale solve: dynamical and statistical downscaling. The dynamical downscaling method based on “nesting” global information in a regional models (RCMs, which solve the equations of motion and the thermodynamic laws in a small spatial scale (10–50 km. However, the statistical downscaling models (SDMs identify the relationship between large-scale variable (predictor and small-scale variable (predictand implementing linear regression. The main goal of the study was to compare the global model scenarios of thermal condition in Poland in XXI century with the more accurate statistical and dynamical regional models outcomes. Generally studies confirmed usefulness of statistical downscaling to detail information from GCMs. Basic results present that regional models captured local aspects of thermal conditions variability especially in coastal zone.

Inflated Uncertainty in Multimodel-Based Regional Climate Projections

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, Marianne Sloth; Langen, Peter L.; Boberg, Fredrik; Christensen, Jens Hesselbjerg

2017-11-01

Multimodel ensembles are widely analyzed to estimate the range of future regional climate change projections. For an ensemble of climate models, the result is often portrayed by showing maps of the geographical distribution of the multimodel mean results and associated uncertainties represented by model spread at the grid point scale. Here we use a set of CMIP5 models to show that presenting statistics this way results in an overestimation of the projected range leading to physically implausible patterns of change on global but also on regional scales. We point out that similar inconsistencies occur in impact analyses relying on multimodel information extracted using statistics at the regional scale, for example, when a subset of CMIP models is selected to represent regional model spread. Consequently, the risk of unwanted impacts may be overestimated at larger scales as climate change impacts will never be realized as the worst (or best) case everywhere.

Results of the IRIS UV Burst Survey, Part I: Active Regions Tracked Limb to Limb

Science.gov (United States)

Madsen, C. A.; DeLuca, E.

2017-12-01

We present results from the first phase of an effort to thoroughly characterize UV bursts within the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) data catalogue. The observational signatures of these phenomena include dramatically intensified and broadened NUV/FUV emission line profiles with absorption features from cool metallic ions. These properties suggest that UV bursts originate from plasma at transition region temperatures (≥ 80,000 K) which is deeply embedded in the cool lower chromosphere ( 5,000 K). Rigorously characterizing the energetic and dynamical properties of UV bursts is crucial since they have considerable potential to heat active region chromospheres and could provide critical constraints for models of magnetic reconnection in these regions. The survey first focuses on IRIS observations of active regions tracked from limb to limb. All observations consist of large field-of-view raster scans of 320 or 400 steps each, which allow for widespread detection of many burst profiles at the expense of having limited short-term time evolution information. We detect bursts efficiently by applying a semi-automated single-Gaussian fitting technique to Si IV 1393.8 Å emission profiles that isolates the distinct burst population in a 4-D parameter space. The robust sample of NUV/FUV burst spectra allows for precise constraints of properties critical for modeling reconnection in the chromosphere, including outflow kinetic energy, density estimates from intensity ratios of Si IV 1402.8 Å and O IV 1401.2 Å emission lines, and coincident measures of emission in other wavelengths. We also track burst properties throughout the lifetimes of their host active regions, noting changes in detection rate and preferential location as the active regions evolve. Finally, the tracked active region observations provide a unique opportunity to investigate line-of-sight effects on observed UV burst spectral properties, particularly the strength of Ni II 1393.3 Å absorption

Task control signals in pediatric Tourette syndrome show evidence of immature and anomalous functional activity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica A Church

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Tourette Syndrome (TS is a pediatric movement disorder that may affect control signaling in the brain. Previous work has proposed a dual-networks architecture of control processing involving a task-maintenance network and an adaptive control network (Dosenbach et al., 2008. A prior resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI analysis in TS has revealed functional immaturity in both putative control networks, with “anomalous” correlations (i.e. correlations outside the typical developmental range limited to the adaptive control network (Church et al., 2009. The present study used functional MRI (fMRI to study brain activity related to adaptive control (by studying start-cues signals, and to task-maintenance (by studying signals sustained across a task set. Two hypotheses from the previous rs-fcMRI results were tested. First, adaptive control (i.e., start-cue activity will be altered in TS, including activity inconsistent with typical development (“anomalous”. Second, group differences found in task maintenance (i.e., sustained activity will be consistent with functional immaturity in TS. We examined regions found through a direct comparison of adolescents with and without TS, as well as regions derived from a previous investigation that showed differences between unaffected children and adults. The TS group showed decreased start-cue signal magnitude in regions where start-cue activity is unchanged over typical development, consistent with anomalous adaptive control. The TS group also had higher magnitude sustained signals in frontal cortex regions that overlapped with regions showing differences over typical development, consistent with immature task maintenance in TS. The results demonstrate task-related fMRI signal differences anticipated by the atypical functional connectivity found previously in adolescents with TS, strengthening the evidence for functional immaturity and anomalous signaling in control networks in adolescents

Results of the regional intercomparison exercise for the determination of operational quantity Hp(10) in Latin America

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saravi, M.; Zaretzky, A.; Lindner, C.; Diaz, J.; Walwyn, G.; Amorim, R.; De Souza, D.; Gregori, B.; Papadopulos, S.; Meghzifene, A.; Ferruz, P.; Suarez, R. C.

2007-01-01

Several intercomparison exercises were organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the determination of operational quantities at the regional or inter-regional basis. In the Latin American region an intercomparison for the determination of the operational quantity H p (10) was completed mid-2004, as a follow-up to previous exercises carried out during the 1990's. Eighteen individual external monitoring services from nineteen Member States participated in the first phase. The second phase grouped 15 services that had participated in the first phase. Dosemeter irradiations in photon beams were done by four Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories (SSDLs) of the region. The preparation of this exercises involved an audit by the IAEA SSDL, where reference irradiations were provided to all participants for verification of their systems. During the first phase (2002-2003) only 9 out of 18 services met the performance requirements for such monitoring services. Necessary corrective actions and procedure verification were implemented. During the second phase (2004) 11 out of 15 services fulfilled the performance criteria. This intercomparison shows that there has been improvement in the second phase and most participants demonstrated a satisfactory performance of the quantity tested. (authors)

Spatial Heterodyne Observation of Water (SHOW) from a high altitude aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Bourassa, A. E.; Langille, J.; Solheim, B.; Degenstein, D. A.; Letros, D.; Lloyd, N. D.; Loewen, P.

2017-12-01

The Spatial Heterodyne Observations of Water instrument (SHOW) is limb-sounding satellite prototype that is being developed in collaboration between the University of Saskatchewan, York University, the Canadian Space Agency and ABB. The SHOW instrument combines a field-widened SHS with an imaging system to observe limb-scattered sunlight in a vibrational band of water (1363 nm - 1366 nm). Currently, the instrument has been optimized for deployment on NASA's ER-2 aircraft. Flying at an altitude of 70, 000 ft the ER-2 configuration and SHOW viewing geometry provides high spatial resolution (limb-measurements of water vapor in the Upper troposphere and lower stratosphere region. During an observation campaign from July 15 - July 22, the SHOW instrument performed 10 hours of observations from the ER-2. This paper describes the SHOW measurement technique and presents the preliminary analysis and results from these flights. These observations are used to validate the SHOW measurement technique and demonstrate the sampling capabilities of the instrument.

Regional differences of consumer preferences when shopping for regional products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jitka Kalábová

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents partial results of a research on consumer preferences when shopping for groceries. It is focused on regional products and consumer preferences in relation to the country of origin of food products. The main objective of this paper is to find the existence of spatial relationships between spatial deployment of regional products and consumer preferences for regional products. It will be necessary to create a data model for monitoring the deployment of regional products and also a data model for tracking important indicators of consumer behavior in all regions of the Czech Republic. The results are based on questionnaire survey that was conducted within the period from October 2010 to January 2011 on a sample of 3767 respondents from the Czech Republic, via both online questionnaires and their printed version. For the data collection the questionnaire system ReLa, developed by the Department of Marketing and Trade at Faculty of Business and Economics at Mendel University in Brno, was used. Data was processed with statistical software STATISTICA (ver. 10. Spatial visualisation was processed with GIS software ArcGIS (ver. 10.1. Preferences for food of Czech origin were analysed in relation to identification criteria. The research results show that the origin of food has an important role in consumer purchase decision-making. There is no significant difference in importance of this factor based on gender of consumers, however, we could prove moderate dependence on respondent’s occupation, education and age. We could also experience regional differences in levels of preferences of local products or products of Czech origin in regard of 14 regions of the Czech Republic. χ2 (N = 3767 = 245.25; p < 0.001. Value of Pearson’s coefficient of contingency is 0.334.

EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC SECURITY NOVOSIBIRSK REGION (FOR EXAMPLE, A REGIONAL ENGINEERING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lugacheva L. I.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The article shows the importance of regional engineering for the Russian economy, it clarifies the factors of economic security of the Novosibirsk region (NSO. Analyzed the characteristics prevailing in the engineering industry, its competitive advantages. The research results of the export orientation of the regional engineering VAT: its direction and priorities; discusses the trends that influence the growth during the recovery has formed a new profile of its foreign economic relations. Threats identified in the development of engineering and to propose measures to overcome them to ensure the economic security of the region. The article deals with the problem-tional institutes provide for the sustainable development of regional engineering, discusses the possibility of using pub-lic-private partnerships. Sharing of risks and responsibilities between the subject of the Russian Federation, municipalities and entrepreneurs - one of the priorities in the creation of the necessary conditions for the economic security of the NSO.

The Regional MBA: Distinct Segments, Wants, and Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Passyn, Kirsten; Diriker, Memo

2011-01-01

MBA Programs in top-tier school differ greatly from those in regional schools. A survey that aimed at assessing segmentation, pedagogy, and satisfaction in regional MBA programs was developed and administered in three universities of the Mid Atlantic, Midwest, and Southern regions. The results show four clearly distinguished segments that…

Ocean Pollution as a Result of Onshore Offshore Petroleum Activities in the African Gulf of Guinea Region

Science.gov (United States)

Abubakar, B.

2007-05-01

The Gulf of Guinea region is located on the Atlantic side of Africa; the sub region has a total population of approximately 190million people. It comprises of five different countries and their territorial waters, which are as follows: Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Cameroon. The sub region is blessed with so many types of natural resources ranging from petroleum, Natural gas, Bitumen, Uranium Diamond and Gold to mention but a few. However the region since the last two decades started attracting the World's attention as a result of the continuous increasing discoveries of new oil fields on both its on shores and off shores. In view of this extra ordinary increasing discoveries of new oil fields in the region, the Gulf of Guinea has become a "Gold rush" to the oil companies and it has so far attracted almost all the top oil firms in the world including; Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, Texaco, Agip, Chevron, Slumberger, Stat Oil and Conoco Phillips among many other oil giants. In the more recent time even the U.S. Marine Corp have stationed their War Ship in the territorial waters of the Gulf in the name of providing protection to the "Liquid Gold" (Petroleum) underlying the beneath of the region. OIL ACTIVITIES AND ITS ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS IN THE GULF OF GUINEA As a result of the geometrically increasing oil activities in the region ranging from Drilling, Gas flaring, Bunkering and Exploration activities, there was increase in the general pollution of the region. For example recent reports released in June, 2005 by the internationally renown nongovernmental organization on environmental pollution the Netherlands based Climate Justice programme and the Nigeria's Environmental Rights Action, Under the aegis of friends of the Earth, had it that the region is ranked top on the world's total flare with Nigeria along accounting for 16 percent of the world's total flare. Another example is the increasing cases of oil spillages leading to the

CHEMICAL EVOLUTION IN HIGH-MASS STAR-FORMING REGIONS: RESULTS FROM THE MALT90 SURVEY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoq, Sadia; Jackson, James M.; Foster, Jonathan B.; Sanhueza, Patricio; Claysmith, Christopher [Institute for Astrophysical Research, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Guzmán, Andrés [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Whitaker, J. Scott [Physics Department, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States); Rathborne, Jill M. [Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Epping, NSW (Australia); Vasyunina, Tatiana; Vasyunin, Anton, E-mail: shoq@bu.edu, E-mail: jackson@bu.edu, E-mail: patricio@bu.edu, E-mail: claysmit@bu.edu, E-mail: jonathan.b.foster@yale.edu, E-mail: aguzmanf@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: scott@bu.edu, E-mail: rathborne@csiro.au, E-mail: tv3h@virginia.edu, E-mail: aiv3f@virginia.edu [Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)

2013-11-10

The chemical changes of high-mass star-forming regions provide a potential method for classifying their evolutionary stages and, ultimately, ages. In this study, we search for correlations between molecular abundances and the evolutionary stages of dense molecular clumps associated with high-mass star formation. We use the molecular line maps from Year 1 of the Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz (MALT90) Survey. The survey mapped several hundred individual star-forming clumps chosen from the ATLASGAL survey to span the complete range of evolution, from prestellar to protostellar to H II regions. The evolutionary stage of each clump is classified using the Spitzer GLIMPSE/MIPSGAL mid-IR surveys. Where possible, we determine the dust temperatures and H{sub 2} column densities for each clump from Herschel/Hi-GAL continuum data. From MALT90 data, we measure the integrated intensities of the N{sub 2}H{sup +}, HCO{sup +}, HCN and HNC (1-0) lines, and derive the column densities and abundances of N{sub 2}H{sup +} and HCO{sup +}. The Herschel dust temperatures increase as a function of the IR-based Spitzer evolutionary classification scheme, with the youngest clumps being the coldest, which gives confidence that this classification method provides a reliable way to assign evolutionary stages to clumps. Both N{sub 2}H{sup +} and HCO{sup +} abundances increase as a function of evolutionary stage, whereas the N{sub 2}H{sup +} (1-0) to HCO{sup +} (1-0) integrated intensity ratios show no discernable trend. The HCN (1-0) to HNC(1-0) integrated intensity ratios show marginal evidence of an increase as the clumps evolve.

Quantifying China's regional economic complexity

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jian; Zhou, Tao

2018-02-01

China has experienced an outstanding economic expansion during the past decades, however, literature on non-monetary metrics that reveal the status of China's regional economic development are still lacking. In this paper, we fill this gap by quantifying the economic complexity of China's provinces through analyzing 25 years' firm data. First, we estimate the regional economic complexity index (ECI), and show that the overall time evolution of provinces' ECI is relatively stable and slow. Then, after linking ECI to the economic development and the income inequality, we find that the explanatory power of ECI is positive for the former but negative for the latter. Next, we compare different measures of economic diversity and explore their relationships with monetary macroeconomic indicators. Results show that the ECI index and the non-linear iteration based Fitness index are comparative, and they both have stronger explanatory power than other benchmark measures. Further multivariate regressions suggest the robustness of our results after controlling other socioeconomic factors. Our work moves forward a step towards better understanding China's regional economic development and non-monetary macroeconomic indicators.

[Functional results of cryosurgical procedures in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment including macula region - our experience].

Science.gov (United States)

Chrapek, O; Sín, M; Jirková, B; Jarkovský, J; Rehák, J

2013-10-01

Aim of this study is to evaluate retrospectively functional results of cryosurgical treatment of uncomplicated, idiopathic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment including macula region in phakic patients operated on at the Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty Hospital, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, E.U., during the period 2002 -2013, and to evaluate the significance of the macula detachment duration for the final visual acuity. In the study group were included 56 eyes of 56 patients operated in the years 2003 - 2012 at the Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty Hospital, Palacký University, Olomouc. All patients were phakic and in all of them, the retinal detachment including the macula region was diagnosed. The mean follow-up period of the patients was 8,75 months. The initial and final visual acuity testing were performed. Comparing the initial and final visual acuity we rated the level of the visual acuity change. The result was stated as improved, if the visual acuity improved by 1 or more lines on the ETDRS chart. The result was rated as stabilized, if the visual acuity remained the same or it changed by 1 line of the ETDRS chart only. The result was evaluated as worsened, if the visual acuity decreased by 1 or more lines of the ETDRS chart. In the followed-up group, the authors compared visual acuity levels in patients with the macula detachment duration 10 days and 11 days. For the statistical evaluation of achieved results, the Mann - Whitney U test was used. The visual acuity improved in 49 (87 %), did not changed in 5 (9 %) and worsened in 2 (4 %) patients. The patients with macula detachment duration 10 days achieved statistically significant better visual acuity than patients with macula detachment duration 11 days. Patients with macula detachment duration 10 days have better prognosis for functional result than patients with macula detachment duration 11 days.

Water Energy Resources of the United States with Emphasis on Low Head/Low Power Resources: Appendix A - Assessment Results by Hydrologic Region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, Douglas [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States). Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab. (INEEL)

2004-04-01

Analytical assessments of the water energy resources in the 20 hydrologic regions of the United States were performed using state-of-the-art digital elevation models and geographic information system tools. The principal focus of the study was on low head (less than 30 ft)/low power (less than 1 MW) resources in each region. The assessments were made by estimating the power potential of all the stream segments in a region, which averaged 2 miles in length. These calculations were performed using hydrography and hydraulic heads that were obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Elevation Derivatives for National Applications dataset and stream flow predictions from a regression equation or equations developed specifically for the region. Stream segments excluded from development and developed hydropower were accounted for to produce an estimate of total available power potential. The total available power potential was subdivided into high power (1 MW or more), high head (30 ft or more)/low power, and low head/low power total potentials. The low head/low power potential was further divided to obtain the fractions of this potential corresponding to the operating envelopes of three classes of hydropower technologies: conventional turbines, unconventional systems, and microhydro (less than 100 kW). Summing information for all the regions provided total power potential in various power classes for the entire United States. Distribution maps show the location and concentrations of the various classes of low power potential. No aspect of the feasibility of developing these potential resources was evaluated. Results for each of the 20 hydrologic regions are presented in Appendix A

Regional Air Pollutions in Three Different Regions of Asia From a Transcontinental Transport Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Pochanart, P.; Kanaya, Y.; Komazaki, Y.; Liu, Y.; Akimoto, H.

2007-12-01

Asia is known as one of the regions with the fastest rate of growing in industrialization and urbanization. As a result, the rapid increases of large-scale air pollution in Asia emerge as a serious concern at both domestic and international levels. Apart from the problems of air quality degradation, emission control, environmental risk, and health effect in a domestic level, evidences from scientific studies indicate that by the long-range transport, Asian air pollution is becoming a global problem. Observations and model studies confirm that air pollution from Asia could be transported to North America or farther. In this work, we investigate the Asian air pollutions, in particular ozone and some other atmospheric components such as carbon monoxide and black carbon, from the ground- based observations in the three different regions, namely 1) background region of Siberia and central Asia, 2) highly anthropogenic region in eastern China, and 3) the rim region of the Asia-Pacific. In a transcontinental transport perspective, these regions are regarded as the inflow region, source region, and outflow region of Asia, respectively. From the results, it is found that the influences from large-scale emission in East Asia are observed clearly in the source region, and to the significant extent in the outflow region. For the inflow region of Asia, our data in Siberia and Kyrgyzstan indicate that air masses in this region are mostly intact from large-scale anthropogenic emission, and remain much of the global background atmospheric pollution characteristic. When the air masses are transported to source region, the air pollutants level increased sharply and frequent episodes of extremely high pollutions have been observed. Our results show good correlation between the residence time of air masses over the source region in eastern China and the observed levels of air pollutants verifying the strong enhancements by anthropogenic emissions from industrialization and

Results of 3-dimensional structural FE-modeling of the coil end-regions of the LHC main dipoles

CERN Document Server

Hoeck, U; Schillo, M; Perini, D; Siegel, N

2000-01-01

The transition region between the straight part and the ends of the coils of the LHC model and prototype dipole magnets are often identified as the origin of training quenches. In order to study how the discontinuities in the material properties of these regions affect coil pre-stress and possibly gain more insight in the quench behavior, a program was set up at CERN to analyze by 3D-FEM these particular regions. The ACCEL team, who performed a similar analysis for the main quadrupoles of the Superconducting Supercollider SSC, is entrusted with this program. In this paper we report on the results of 3D-modeling and analysis of the coil return end region, including the complete coil mass, of a 1-m single bore model magnet. This magnet represents all relevant features of the "two-in-one" LHC main dipole design concerning the winding configuration, the collar pack, the yoke, and the outer shell representing the He-vessel. The transition region between coil ends and straight section is modeled by slicing the magn...

Development of Distributed Research Center for monitoring and projecting regional climatic and environmental changes: first results

Science.gov (United States)

Gordov, Evgeny; Shiklomanov, Alexander; Okladinikov, Igor; Prusevich, Alex; Titov, Alexander

2016-04-01

Description and first results of the cooperative project "Development of Distributed Research Center for monitoring and projecting of regional climatic and environmental changes" recently started by SCERT IMCES and ESRC UNH are reported. The project is aimed at development of hardware and software platform prototype of Distributed Research Center (DRC) for monitoring and projecting regional climatic and environmental changes over the areas of mutual interest and demonstration the benefits of such collaboration that complements skills and regional knowledge across the northern extratropics. In the framework of the project, innovative approaches of "cloud" processing and analysis of large geospatial datasets will be developed on the technical platforms of two U.S. and Russian leading institutions involved in research of climate change and its consequences. Anticipated results will create a pathway for development and deployment of thematic international virtual research centers focused on interdisciplinary environmental studies by international research teams. DRC under development will comprise best features and functionality of earlier developed by the cooperating teams' information-computational systems RIMS (http://rims.unh.edu) and CLIMATE(http://climate.scert.ru/), which are widely used in Northern Eurasia environment studies. The project includes several major directions of research (Tasks) listed below. 1. Development of architecture and defining major hardware and software components of DRC for monitoring and projecting of regional environmental changes. 2. Development of an information database and computing software suite for distributed processing and analysis of large geospatial data hosted at ESRC and IMCES SB RAS. 3. Development of geoportal, thematic web client and web services providing international research teams with an access to "cloud" computing resources at DRC; two options will be executed: access through a basic graphical web browser and

Distance effects on regional discriminants along a seismic profile in Northwest Nevada; NPE and nuclear results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McCormack, D.A. [AWE Blacknest, Berkshire (United Kingdom); Priestley, K.F. [Univ. of Cambridge (United Kingdom); Patton, H.J. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1994-12-31

To address questions of discriminant transportability, it is important to understand how discriminants based on regional seismic phases are affected by regional variations in velocity structure. To examine this issue, we have recorded two explosions, the nuclear explosion Kinibito and the Non-Proliferation Experiment along a 300 km-long profile through western Nevada. We use these data to investigate the stability with distance of several proposed seismic discriminants. In this study we first estimate the apparent attenuation of the regional phases. We compare attenuation corrected amplitude ratios for P{sub n}/L{sub g} and P{sub g}/L{sub g}, and spectral ratios for P{sub n}, P{sub g}, and L{sub g}, as a function of distance along the profile. We make these comparisons for the vertical component and for the total vector resultant using all three components of motion.

Development of regional growth centres and impact on regional growth: A case study of Thailand’s Northeastern region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nattapon Sang-arun

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the spatial economic structure and inequality in Thailand at the national and regional levels, with a particular focus on the Northeastern region in the period from 1987 to 2007. The study has three main points: 1 examination of the economic structure and inequality at the national level and in the Northeastern region according to the Theil index, 2 determination of regional growth centres and satellite towns by using growth pole theory as a conceptual framework and incorporating spatial interaction analysis and 3 analysis of the relationship between regional growth centres and satellite towns with regard to the impact on growth and inequality. The results show that the Northeastern region is definitely the lagging region in the nation, by both gross domestic product (GDP and gross regional product (GRP per capita. It was therefore selected for a case study. Spatial analysis identified Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani and Ubon Ratchathani as regional growth centres. Each of them has its own sphere of influence (or satellite towns, and the total area of regional growth centres and satellite towns are classified as sub-regions. The development of regional growth centres has a direct impact on sub-regional economic growth through economic and social relationships: urbanisation, industrial development, per capita growth, the number of higher educational institutes and so on. However, such growth negatively correlates with economic equality among the provinces in a sub-region. The inequality trend is obviously on an upswing. This study suggests that industrial links between regional growth centres and their satellite towns should be improved in order for regional growth centre development to have a consistently desirable effect on both economic growth and equality. Such a strong process means that the growth of regional growth centres will spread, leading to the development of their surrounding areas.

THE STATE OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION DIAGNOSTICS AND TREATMENT, ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE POLL AMONG PHYSICIANS OF VOLGOGRAD AND VOLGOGRAD REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Y. Martsevich

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. Assessment and quality of diagnostics of treatment of patients with arterial hypertension (AH and their conformity with international and national recommendations on AH.Material and methods. The poll among physicians of Volgograd and Volgograd region, who took part in the regional conference, devoted to the problems of AH, was carried out in April 2004. The questionnaire included 13 questions about peculiarities of AH patients’ management 128 physicians took part in the poll, from them 90 thetapeutists (general physicians, 24 cardiologists, and 14 physicians of different therapeutic specializations.Results. Variability of conceptions of physicians on some principals of diagnostics and treatment of AH patients is revealed. Insufficient knowledge of criteria for division patients according to the risk category of cardiovascular complications. The same is observed for definition of AH grade according to the blood pressure level, and of the main approaches AH patients treatment. From all the questioned physicians only 25.2% correctly evaluated the risk level of cardiovascular diseases, 21% of physicians wrongly assessed the AH grade according to the blood pressure Level.Conclusion. Results, show that real practice of diagnostics and treatment of AH significantly deviates from international and national recommendations on AH.

THE STATE OF ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION DIAGNOSTICS AND TREATMENT, ACCORDING TO THE RESULTS OF THE POLL AMONG PHYSICIANS OF VOLGOGRAD AND VOLGOGRAD REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Y. Martsevich

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aim. Assessment and quality of diagnostics of treatment of patients with arterial hypertension (AH and their conformity with international and national recommendations on AH.Material and methods. The poll among physicians of Volgograd and Volgograd region, who took part in the regional conference, devoted to the problems of AH, was carried out in April 2004. The questionnaire included 13 questions about peculiarities of AH patients’ management 128 physicians took part in the poll, from them 90 thetapeutists (general physicians, 24 cardiologists, and 14 physicians of different therapeutic specializations.Results. Variability of conceptions of physicians on some principals of diagnostics and treatment of AH patients is revealed. Insufficient knowledge of criteria for division patients according to the risk category of cardiovascular complications. The same is observed for definition of AH grade according to the blood pressure level, and of the main approaches AH patients treatment. From all the questioned physicians only 25.2% correctly evaluated the risk level of cardiovascular diseases, 21% of physicians wrongly assessed the AH grade according to the blood pressure Level.Conclusion. Results, show that real practice of diagnostics and treatment of AH significantly deviates from international and national recommendations on AH.

Environmental radiation monitoring results for the period 1989-1999 in NAPS region using TLDs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basu, A.S.; Chougaonkar, M.P.; Mayya, Y.S.; Sadasivan, S.; Sharma, L.N.

2001-06-01

In this report, we present the results of environmental gamma radiation levels monitored around NAPS region using TLDs. The report gives quarterly environmental radiation monitoring data obtained during the period 1989-'99; i.e. during the operating phase of the reactor. Twenty eight TLD locations were selected within a radius of twenty six km. of which six were within the exclusion zone (radius 1.6 km). The mean gamma radiation level within the exclusion zone has been evaluated as 111 ± 6.6 mR/year and that for locations beyond the exclusion zone as 140 ± 14 mR/year. As these values are well within the corresponding pre-operational general background value of 142 ± 30 mR/year (Basu et. al 1989), it is concluded that the reactor operations have not contributed to any increase in the gamma radiation levels in the environs of the NAPS region. (author)

Regional differences in antihyperglycemic medication are not explained by individual socioeconomic status, regional deprivation, and regional health care services. Observational results from the German DIAB-CORE consortium.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina Bächle

Full Text Available This population-based study sought to extend knowledge on factors explaining regional differences in type 2 diabetes mellitus medication patterns in Germany.Individual baseline and follow-up data from four regional population-based German cohort studies (SHIP [northeast], CARLA [east], HNR [west], KORA [south] conducted between 1997 and 2010 were pooled and merged with both data on regional deprivation and regional health care services. To analyze regional differences in any or newer anti-hyperglycemic medication, medication prevalence ratios (PRs were estimated using multivariable Poisson regression models with a robust error variance adjusted gradually for individual and regional variables.The study population consisted of 1,437 people aged 45 to 74 years at baseline, (corresponding to 49 to 83 years at follow-up with self-reported type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of receiving any anti-hyperglycemic medication was 16% higher in KORA (PR 1.16 [1.08-1.25], 10% higher in CARLA (1.10 [1.01-1.18], and 7% higher in SHIP (PR 1.07 [1.00-1.15] than in HNR. The prevalence of receiving newer anti-hyperglycemic medication was 49% higher in KORA (1.49 [1.09-2.05], 41% higher in CARLA (1.41 [1.02-1.96] and 1% higher in SHIP (1.01 [0.72-1.41] than in HNR, respectively. After gradual adjustment for individual variables, regional deprivation and health care services, the effects only changed slightly.Neither comprehensive individual factors including socioeconomic status nor regional deprivation or indicators of regional health care services were able to sufficiently explain regional differences in anti-hyperglycemic treatment in Germany. To understand the underlying causes, further research is needed.

Search Results | Page 538 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Search Results. Showing 5371 - 5380 of 9604 results. Reports ... Business training for microfinance clients : how it matters and for whom? ... building a regional platform for political engagement and strategic action; final technical report.

Tennessee Valley region study: potential year 2000 radiological dose to population resulting from nuclear facility operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-06-01

A companion report, DOE/ET-0064/1, presents a geographic, cultural, and demographic profile of the Tennessee Valley Region study area. This report describes the calculations of radionuclide release and transport and of the resultant dose to the regional population, assuming a projected installed capacity of 220,000 MW in the year 2000, of which 144,000 MW would be nuclear. All elements of the fuel cycle were assumed to be in operation. The radiological dose was calculated as a one-year dose based on ingestion of 35 different food types as well as for nine non-food pathways, and was reported as dose to the total body and for six specific organs for each of four age groups (infant, child, teen, and adult). Results indicate that the average individual would receive an incremental dose of 7 x 10 -4 millirems in the year 2000 from the operation of nuclear facilities within and adjacent to the region, five orders of magnitude smaller than the dose from naturally occurring radiation in the area. The major contributor to dose was found to be tritium, and the most significant pathways were immersion in air, inhalation of air, transpiration of tritium (absorption through the skin), and exposure radionuclide-containing soil. 60 references

The Surface Energy Balance at Local and Regional Scales-A Comparison of General Circulation Model Results with Observations.

Science.gov (United States)

Garratt, J. R.; Krummel, P. B.; Kowalczyk, E. A.

1993-06-01

Aspects of the mean monthly energy balance at continental surfaces are examined by appeal to the results of general circulation model (GCM) simulations, climatological maps of surface fluxes, and direct observations. Emphasis is placed on net radiation and evaporation for (i) five continental regions (each approximately 20°×150°) within Africa, Australia, Eurasia, South America, and the United States; (ii) a number of continental sites in both hemispheres. Both the mean monthly values of the local and regional fluxes and the mean monthly diurnal cycles of the local fluxes are described. Mostly, GCMs tend to overestimate the mean monthly levels of net radiation by about 15% -20% on an annual basis, for observed annual values in the range 50 to 100 Wm2. This is probably the result of several deficiencies, including (i) continental surface albedos being undervalued in a number of the models, resulting in overestimates of the net shortwave flux at the surface (though this deficiency is steadily being addressed by modelers); (ii) incoming shortwave fluxes being overestimated due to uncertainties in cloud schemes and clear-sky absorption; (iii) land-surface temperatures being under-estimated resulting in an underestimate of the outgoing longwave flux. In contrast, and even allowing for the poor observational base for evaporation, there is no obvious overall bias in mean monthly levels of evaporation determined in GCMS, with one or two exceptions. Rather, and far more so than with net radiation, there is a wide range in values of evaporation for all regions investigated. For continental regions and at times of the year of low to moderate rainfall, there is a tendency for the simulated evaporation to be closely related to the precipitation-this is not surprising. In contrast, for regions where there is sufficient or excessive rainfall, the evaporation tends to follow the behavior of the net radiation. Again, this is not surprising given the close relation between

Filtered region of interest cone-beam rotational angiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schafer, Sebastian; Noeel, Peter B.; Walczak, Alan M.; Hoffmann, Kenneth R.

2010-01-01

Purpose: Cone-beam rotational angiography (CBRA) is widely used in the modern clinical settings. In a number of procedures, the area of interest is often considerably smaller than the field of view (FOV) of the detector, subjecting the patient to potentially unnecessary x-ray dose. The authors therefore propose a filter-based method to reduce the dose in the regions of low interest, while supplying high image quality in the region of interest (ROI). Methods: For such procedures, the authors propose a method of filtered region of interest (FROI)-CBRA. In the authors' approach, a gadolinium filter with a circular central opening is placed into the x-ray beam during image acquisition. The central region is imaged with high contrast, while peripheral regions are subjected to a substantial lower intensity and dose through beam filtering. The resulting images contain a high contrast/intensity ROI, as well as a low contrast/intensity peripheral region, and a transition region in between. To equalize the two regions' intensities, the first projection of the acquisition is performed with and without the filter in place. The equalization relationship, based on Beer's law, is established through linear regression using corresponding filtered and nonfiltered data. The transition region is equalized based on radial profiles. Results: Evaluations in 2D and 3D show no visible difference between conventional FROI-CBRA projection images and reconstructions in the ROI. CNR evaluations show similar image quality in the ROI, with a reduced CNR in the reconstructed peripheral region. In all filtered projection images, the scatter fraction inside the ROI was reduced. Theoretical and experimental dose evaluations show a considerable dose reduction; using a ROI half the original FOV reduces the dose by 60% for the filter thickness of 1.29 mm. Conclusions: These results indicate the potential of FROI-CBRA to reduce the dose to the patient while supplying the physician with the desired

Filtered region of interest cone-beam rotational angiography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schafer, Sebastian; Noeel, Peter B.; Walczak, Alan M.; Hoffmann, Kenneth R. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States) and Toshiba Stroke Research Center, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Computer Science, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States) and Toshiba Stroke Research Center, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 and Toshiba Stroke Research Center, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Mechanical Engineering, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Neurosurgery, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States); Department of Computer Science, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States) and Toshiba Stroke Research Center, SUNY at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14214 (United States)

2010-02-15

Purpose: Cone-beam rotational angiography (CBRA) is widely used in the modern clinical settings. In a number of procedures, the area of interest is often considerably smaller than the field of view (FOV) of the detector, subjecting the patient to potentially unnecessary x-ray dose. The authors therefore propose a filter-based method to reduce the dose in the regions of low interest, while supplying high image quality in the region of interest (ROI). Methods: For such procedures, the authors propose a method of filtered region of interest (FROI)-CBRA. In the authors' approach, a gadolinium filter with a circular central opening is placed into the x-ray beam during image acquisition. The central region is imaged with high contrast, while peripheral regions are subjected to a substantial lower intensity and dose through beam filtering. The resulting images contain a high contrast/intensity ROI, as well as a low contrast/intensity peripheral region, and a transition region in between. To equalize the two regions' intensities, the first projection of the acquisition is performed with and without the filter in place. The equalization relationship, based on Beer's law, is established through linear regression using corresponding filtered and nonfiltered data. The transition region is equalized based on radial profiles. Results: Evaluations in 2D and 3D show no visible difference between conventional FROI-CBRA projection images and reconstructions in the ROI. CNR evaluations show similar image quality in the ROI, with a reduced CNR in the reconstructed peripheral region. In all filtered projection images, the scatter fraction inside the ROI was reduced. Theoretical and experimental dose evaluations show a considerable dose reduction; using a ROI half the original FOV reduces the dose by 60% for the filter thickness of 1.29 mm. Conclusions: These results indicate the potential of FROI-CBRA to reduce the dose to the patient while supplying the physician with

Projecting twenty-first century regional sea-level changes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slangen, A.B.A.; Carson, M.; Katsman, C.A.; van de Wal, R.S.W.; Köhl, A.; Vermeersen, L.L.A.; Stammer, D.

2014-01-01

We present regional sea-level projections and associated uncertainty estimates for the end of the 21 (st) century. We show regional projections of sea-level change resulting from changing ocean circulation, increased heat uptake and atmospheric pressure in CMIP5 climate models. These are combined

Regional greenhouse climate effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, J.; Rind, D.; Delgenio, A.; Lacis, A.; Lebedeff, S.; Prather, M.; Ruedy, R.; Karl, T.

1990-01-01

The authors discuss the impact of an increasing greenhouse effect on three aspects of regional climate: droughts, storms and temperature. A continuous of current growth rates of greenhouse gases causes an increase in the frequency and severity of droughts in their climate model simulations, with the greatest impacts in broad regions of the subtropics and middle latitudes. But the greenhouse effect enhances both ends of the hydrologic cycle in the model, that is, there is an increased frequency of extreme wet situations, as well as increased drought. Model results are shown to imply that increased greenhouse warming will lead to more intense thunderstorms, that is, deeper thunderstorms with greater rainfall. Emanual has shown that the model results also imply that the greenhouse warming leads to more destructive tropical cyclones. The authors present updated records of observed temperatures and show that the observations and model results, averaged over the globe and over the US, are generally consistent. The impacts of simulated climate changes on droughts, storms and temperature provide no evidence that there will be regional winners if greenhouse gases continue to increase rapidly

Regionalization of Drought across South Korea Using Multivariate Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Azam

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Topographic and hydro-climatic features of South Korea are highly heterogeneous and able to influence the drought phenomena in the region. The complex topographical and hydro-climatic features of South Korea need a statistically accurate method to find homogeneous regions. Regionalization of drought in a bivariate framework has scarcely been applied in South Korea before. Hierarchical Classification on Principal Components (HCPC algorithm together with Principal Component Analysis (PCA method and cluster validation indices were investigated and used for the regionalization of drought across the South Korean region. Statistical homogeneity and discordancy of the region was tested on univariate and bivariate frameworks. HCPC indicate that South Korea should be divided into four regions which are closer to being homogeneous. Univariate and bivariate homogeneity and discordancy tests showed the significant difference in their results due to the inability of univariate homogeneity and discordancy measures to consider the joint behavior of duration and severity. Regionalization of drought for SPI time scale of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months showed significant variation in discordancy and homogeneity of the region with the change in SPI time scale. The results of this study can be used as basic data required to establish a drought mitigation plan on regional scales.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Resulting from Torture and Other Traumatic Events among Syrian Kurdish Refugees in Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Hawkar; Hassan, Chiya Q

2017-01-01

Political violence is known to cause psychological distress. There is a large body of empirical studies drawing correlations between war trauma, torture, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there are few studies on the effects of war-related trauma among Syrian refugees after events following the 'Arab Spring' uprisings between 2010 and 2012. This study examines the association of PTSD symptoms with torture and other traumatic events among Syrian Kurdish refugees living in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The experiences and PTSD symptoms among 91 Syrian Kurdish refugees in the Arbat camp in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, sections I, IV, and V. Results showed that the estimated levels of PTSD symptoms were high: between 35 and 38%. There were no significant gender differences in the occurrence of PTSD symptoms. However, men reported more general traumatic experiences than women. There were significant positive correlations between PTSD symptoms with traumatic events and torture ( r = 0.500, r = 0.366, respectively). Examining the mental health impact of torture and other traumatic events among refugees has possible implications for organizations managing rehabilitation programs for individuals who have been exposed to traumatic events.

Initial results from SKiYMET meteor radar at Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E): 2. Gravity wave observations in the MLT region

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Karanam Kishore; Antonita, T. Maria; Shelbi, S. T.

2007-12-01

In the present communication, allSKy interferometric METeor (SKiYMET) radar observations of gravity wave activity in the mesosphere lower thermosphere (MLT) region over Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E) are presented. The present meteor radar system provides hourly zonal and meridional winds in the MLT region, which can be readily used for studying the tides, planetary waves, gravity waves of periods 2-6 hours, and other long period oscillations in this region. However, these hourly winds are not sufficient for studying short period gravity waves having periods less than an hour, which demand high temporal resolution measurements. Even though the winds are estimated on an hourly basis, information such as zenith angle, azimuth angle, and radial velocity of each detected meteor are archived. Using these details of the meteor, an algorithm is developed to obtain the 15-min temporal resolution wind data. The output of the algorithm is compared with hourly wind data, and it showed a good agreement during the high meteor shower periods. Most of the times high meteor counts are observed during late night and early morning hours (local) over this latitude. Continuous wind measurements during the high meteor shower periods are used for studying the gravity wave activity in the MLT region. As the wave activity is intermittent and nonstationary, wavelet analysis has been used for delineating the wave features. The results showed the upward propagating intermittent gravity waves with periods 1-2 and 4-5 hours. The new aspect of the present communication is the usage of meteor radar for gravity wave studies for the first time over this latitude and studying their seasonal variability.

Analysis of Current and Future SPEI Droughts in the La Plata Basin Based on Results from the Regional Eta Climate Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alvaro Sordo-Ward

2017-11-01

Full Text Available We identified and analysed droughts in the La Plata Basin (divided into seven sub-basins for the current period (1961–2005 and estimated their expected evolution under future climate projections for the periods 2011–2040, 2041–2070, and 2071–2099. Future climate projections were analysed from results of the Eta Regional Climate Model (grid resolution of approximately 10 km forced by the global climate model HadGEM2-ES over the La Plata basin, and considering a RCP4.5 emission scenario. Within each sub-basin, we particularly focused our drought analyses on croplands and grasslands, due to their economic relevance. The three-month Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI3 was used for drought identification and characterization. Droughts were evaluated in terms of time (percentage of time from the total length of each climate scenario, space (percentage of total area, and severity (SPEI3 values of cells characterized by cropland and grassland for each sub-basin and climate scenario. Drought-severity–area–frequency curves were developed to quantitatively relate the frequency distribution of drought occurrence to drought severity and area. For the period 2011–2040, droughts dominate the northern sub-basins, whereas alternating wet and short dry periods dominate the southern sub-basins. Wet climate spread from south to north within the La Plata Basin as more distant future scenarios were analysed, due to both a greater number of wet periods and fewer droughts. The area of each sub-basin affected by drought in all climate scenarios was highly varied temporally and spatially. The likelihood of the occurrence of droughts differed significantly between the studied cover types in the Lower Paraguay sub-basin, being higher for cropland than for grassland. Mainly in the Upper Paraguay and in the Upper Paraná basins the climate projections for all scenarios showed an increase of moderate and severe droughts over large regions

Regional energy observatory. Energy status - greenhouse effect in the Aquitaine region. First results; Observatoire regional de l'energie. Bilan energie - effet de serre de la region Aquitaine. Premiers resultats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-06-01

The IDEA organization (information about the environmental development in Aquitaine region) has created an energy observatory, the mission of which is to supply regularly a reliable, objective and useful information about energy and greenhouse effect in the Aquitaine region (SW France). This document presents: the end-use energy consumption, the sectorial statuses (residential, tertiary sector, industry, agriculture, transports), the energy production and the renewable energy sources in Aquitaine region. Details are given in separate files at the end of the document for the 5 departements of Aquitaine (Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Pyrennees Atlantiques). (J.S.)

Application of eco-economy regionalization in western China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaojun; Dong, Suocheng; Weihong, Yin

2008-08-01

Ecological economics crossed extensively with some disciplines such as ecology, geography, economics, etc in China. And it is promoting the relevant disciplines to develop effectively in depth fields. The key research direction of eco-economic regionalizing is eco-economic space pattern, rule of territorial differentiation and eco-economic topological optimization. Based on GIS spatial analyze, the article elaborates the main characteristics and the problems of every eco-economic zones, districts and regions with the comprehensive geographical statistic data. The western eco-economic regionalizing was delimited by analyzing the superposition for ecological environment value and human actives value, refer to the topography and administrative boundary between provinces and the cities, the attachment of the regionalizing plans and territorial the continuity. There have several main indexes used in the regionalizing and the results to show the main character of each region, which comprise precipitation, temperature, primary production potential, while the population carrying capacity, and the index of water resources, land resources, landscape degradation, urbanization, and economic development, etc. To each type of eco-economic region, there are other analyzes respectively from the social, economic, and natural environment aspects. The result shows that there does now have serious economic development in western China, while the environmental problem still cannot be ignored.

Regional versus local influences on lead and cadmium loading to the Great Lakes region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yohn, S.; Long, D.; Fett, J.; Patino, L. [Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (United States). Dept. of Geological Science

2004-07-01

Environmental legislation has reduced the anthropogenic loadings of Pb and Cd to the Great Lakes region over the past 3 decades. However, the accumulation rates of these metals still remain above background values. Because environmental legislation was targeted at major sources (e.g., Pb in gasoline) whose influence on the environment was on a regional scale, local sources (e.g., watershed scale) for the metals may now play a more significant role. The relative importance of regional versus local scale influences on metal inputs to the environment is poorly understood. In this study, sediment chronologies of Pb and Cd were examined from 12 inland lakes that cover the broad geographic area of the State of Michigan. These chronologies were compared temporally and spatially and to watershed population densities and metal production records to gain an understanding of local and regional influences on metal inputs to the Great Lakes region. Results show that anthropogenic Pb loading during the 1930s and 1970s was dominated by regional sources. such as coal burning and use of leaded gasoline. Current loadings are now more related to local influences such as watershed population densities, rather than atmospheric deposition. Anthropogenic Cd loadings to the Great Lakes region have been dominated by both regional and local sources over time. Lead may also have shown the influence of local sources over time, if the influence of emissions from gasoline had not been present. This work shows that Pb and Cd loadings in the Great Lakes region are strongly related to watershed population densities; however, the specific sources and pathways for the metal cycling are unclear.

HUBBLE TARANTULA TREASURY PROJECT. III. PHOTOMETRIC CATALOG AND RESULTING CONSTRAINTS ON THE PROGRESSION OF STAR FORMATION IN THE 30 DORADUS REGION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sabbi, E.; Anderson, J.; Cignoni, M.; Marel, R. P. van der; Panagia, N.; Sana, H.; Aloisi, A.; Arab, H.; Gordon, K. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218 (United States); Lennon, D. J. [ESA—European Space Astronomy Center, Apdo. de Correo 78, E-28691 Associate Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid (Spain); Zaritsky, D. [Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Marchi, G. De [Space Science Department, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG Noordwijk (Netherlands); Gouliermis, D. A. [Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Albert-Ueberle-Str. 2, D-69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Grebel, E. K. [Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstr. 12-14, D-69120 Heidelberg (Germany); III, J. S. Gallagher [Department of Astronomy, University of Wisconsin, 475 North Charter Street, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Smith, L. J. [ESA/STScI, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218 (United States); Tosi, M. [Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Bologna, Via Ranzani 1, I-40127 Bologna (Italy); Evans, C. J. [UK Astronomy Technology Center, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom); Boyer, M. [Observational Cosmology Lab, Code 665, NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, 20771 (United States); Mink, S. E. de, E-mail: sabbi@stsci.edu [Astronomical Institute “Anton Pannekoek,”University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94249, NL-1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); and others

2016-01-15

We present and describe the astro-photometric catalog of more than 800,000 sources found in the Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project (HTTP). HTTP is a Hubble Space Telescope Treasury program designed to image the entire 30 Doradus region down to the sub-solar (∼0.5 M{sub ⊙}) mass regime using the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. We observed 30 Doradus in the near-ultraviolet (F275W, F336W), optical (F555W, F658N, F775W), and near-infrared (F110W, F160W) wavelengths. The stellar photometry was measured using point-spread function fitting across all bands simultaneously. The relative astrometric accuracy of the catalog is 0.4 mas. The astro-photometric catalog, results from artificial star experiments, and the mosaics for all the filters are available for download. Color–magnitude diagrams are presented showing the spatial distributions and ages of stars within 30 Dor as well as in the surrounding fields. HTTP provides the first rich and statistically significant sample of intermediate- and low-mass pre-main sequence candidates and allows us to trace how star formation has been developing through the region. The depth and high spatial resolution of our analysis highlight the dual role of stellar feedback in quenching and triggering star formation on the giant H ii region scale. Our results are consistent with stellar sub-clustering in a partially filled gaseous nebula that is offset toward our side of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Winter precipitation and cyclones in the Mediterranean region: future climate scenarios in a regional simulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Lionello

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Future climate projections show higher/lower winter (Dec-Jan-Feb precipitation in the northern/southern Mediterranean region than in present climate conditions. This paper analyzes the results of regional model simulations of the A2 and B2 scenarios, which confirm this opposite precipitation change and link it to the change of cyclone activity. The increase of the winter cyclone activity in future climate scenarios over western Europe is responsible for the larger precipitation at the northern coast of the basin, though the bulk of the change is located outside the Mediterranean region. The reduction of cyclone activity inside the Mediterranean region in future scenarios is responsible for the lower precipitation at the southern and eastern Mediterranean coast.

Maximization of regional probabilities using Optimal Surface Graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arias Lorza, Andres M.; Van Engelen, Arna; Petersen, Jens

2018-01-01

Purpose: We present a segmentation method that maximizes regional probabilities enclosed by coupled surfaces using an Optimal Surface Graph (OSG) cut approach. This OSG cut determines the globally optimal solution given a graph constructed around an initial surface. While most methods for vessel...... wall segmentation only use edge information, we show that maximizing regional probabilities using an OSG improves the segmentation results. We applied this to automatically segment the vessel wall of the carotid artery in magnetic resonance images. Methods: First, voxel-wise regional probability maps...... were obtained using a Support Vector Machine classifier trained on local image features. Then, the OSG segments the regions which maximizes the regional probabilities considering smoothness and topological constraints. Results: The method was evaluated on 49 carotid arteries from 30 subjects...

Engineering Geological Conditions of the Ignalina NPP Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buceviciute, S.

1996-01-01

During engineering geological mapping, the upper part (to 15-20 m depths) of the lithosphere was investigated at the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) for physical rock characteristics and recent exogenic geological processes and phenomena. The final result of engineering geological mapping was the division of the area into engineering geological regions. In this case five engineering geological regions have been distinguished. The Fig. shows a scheme of engineering geological regionalization of the area and the typical sections of the engineering geological regions. The sections show genesis, age, soil type, thickness of stratigraphic genetical complex for the rocks occurring in the zone of active effect of engineering buildings, as well as the conical strength and density of the distinguished soils. 1 fig., 1 tab

Construction of transport and energy networks in the Baltic region as an impetus for regional development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuznetsov Alexey

2013-11-01

Full Text Available In light of some new aspects of the EU functioning, particularly, the recovery from the 2008-2009 global crisis, transportation and energy development projects are coming to the forefront in the Baltic region. At the same time, there is a need to consider EU’s recent adoption of a common seven-year financial program (2014—2020, which serves, in effect, as the Union’s budget. Given that, one may conclude that the countries of the Baltic region are entering a new stage of development. We look at the role and significance of transportation and energy projects as an instrument of economic development. Having studied the largest transport and energy projects in the Baltic region, we were able to show that the new infrastructure networks supported the investment expansion of Swedish and Finnish companies into the post-communist countries of the Baltic Region. Which, in its turn, allowed the Nordic investors to expand their domestic markets. The analysis also shows that the experience of private businesses proves a recent theoretical concept — the pyramid of regional development factors. As a result, the actual regional policy of the EU cannot be considered in the narrow sense of the Cohesion Policy alone.

From Pixels to Region: A Salient Region Detection Algorithm for Location-Quantification Image

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengmeng Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Image saliency detection has become increasingly important with the development of intelligent identification and machine vision technology. This process is essential for many image processing algorithms such as image retrieval, image segmentation, image recognition, and adaptive image compression. We propose a salient region detection algorithm for full-resolution images. This algorithm analyzes the randomness and correlation of image pixels and pixel-to-region saliency computation mechanism. The algorithm first obtains points with more saliency probability by using the improved smallest univalue segment assimilating nucleus operator. It then reconstructs the entire saliency region detection by taking these points as reference and combining them with image spatial color distribution, as well as regional and global contrasts. The results for subjective and objective image saliency detection show that the proposed algorithm exhibits outstanding performance in terms of technology indices such as precision and recall rates.

REGIONAL AUTHORS SELF-IDENTITY DEMONSTRATION IN MEMORIAL CONTEXTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariya Victorovna Vekkesser

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The article is devoted to the pressing issue of regional identity preservation under conditions of linguoculturological globalization in modern society. The purpose of our research is to identify verbal means of expressing regional self-identification of narrators in the memorial context. The object is the self-identification of the narrator in memorial genre and the subject is verbal means of expressing regional self-identification. Methodology and methods of work. An appeal to the memorial genre, searching linguistic methods of the regional authors self-identity is considered in a context of regional linguistic from the perspective of communicative discourse approach; discursive and contextual methods are used. Results. The article theoretically describes the memorat from the standpoint of the speech genres theory. The research shows the narrators through the actualization of language tools associate themselves with their native region, the result being the formation of regional self-identification. In the era of linguistic globalization it is important to study regional self-identification, in particular, in the context of the memorial speech genre. Practical implications. Both the article materials and results can be applied in the educational process of reading special courses on regional linguistic issues.

UNEMPLOYMENT REDUCTION AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE KURSK REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. N. Dyukanova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aim. The Kursk region is the central part of European Russia. The region's economy is based on the use of fertile agricultural land. The share of the employed population in agriculture is more than 17%. The flip side is unemployment in rural areas. Basing on the statistical data we analyzed the unemployment situation between 2009 and 2014 in the administrative districts of the region.Methods. In order to study the problem of unemployment we used methods such as the collection and compilation of statistics, factor analysis, and method of comparison of the data on registered unemployment rate calculated by the ILO and GIS technology for visualization of the results.Results. Unemployment is a social and economic problem for all sectors of society which is critical for the steady development of the Kursk region. The results of study on the female unemployment among women, young people and rural population show the geographical classification of administrative districts with three main types of unemployment: 1 - predominantly female; 2 - female and youth; 3 - without priorities.Conclusions. Our results show that during the period under study only 2 regions showed an increase in registered unemployment rate and other areas showed a marked decrease (13 districts and the stabilization of the situation (13 districts. This typology can be useful for the regional employment services, as it allows to individualize the content of programs to combat unemployment in accordance with its territorial expression by taking into account the needs of specific focus groups for sustainable development of the region.

Natural radioactivity analysis in commercial marble samples of Southeast region in Espirito Santo state, Brazil: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquino, Reginaldo R.; Pecequilo, Brigitte R.S.

2011-01-01

The natural radioactivity in commercial marble samples of 6 quarries in 'Cachoeiro do Itapemirim' and 'Castelo' municipalities of the south region of Espirito Santo State, southeast Brazil, was determined from the 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K contents. In 'Cachoeiro do Itapemirim' municipality were assessed the localities of 'Alto Moledo', 'Baleeira', 'Alto Gironda' and 'Itaoca' and, in 'Castelo' municipality, was assessed the locality of 'Sao Cristovao'. Three samples of each quarry were sealed in standard 100-mL HDPE polyethylene flasks and stored in order to obtain secular equilibrium in the 238 U and 232 Th series. All samples were measured by high resolution gamma spectrometry after a 30-days ingrowth period. Preliminary results show concentrations varying from 1,0 +- 0,2 Bq.kg-1 to 6,5 +- 0,8 Bq.kg-1 for 226 Ra, from 1,5 +- 1,2 Bq.kg -1 to 3,2 +- 1,7 Bq.kg -1 for 232 Th and from 5 +- 4 Bq.kg -1 to 27 +- 5 Bq.kg -1 for 40 K. (author)

Land surveys show regional variability of historical fire regimes and dry forest structure of the western United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, William L; Williams, Mark A

2018-03-01

An understanding of how historical fire and structure in dry forests (ponderosa pine, dry mixed conifer) varied across the western United States remains incomplete. Yet, fire strongly affects ecosystem services, and forest restoration programs are underway. We used General Land Office survey reconstructions from the late 1800s across 11 landscapes covering ~1.9 million ha in four states to analyze spatial variation in fire regimes and forest structure. We first synthesized the state of validation of our methods using 20 modern validations, 53 historical cross-validations, and corroborating evidence. These show our method creates accurate reconstructions with low errors. One independent modern test reported high error, but did not replicate our method and made many calculation errors. Using reconstructed parameters of historical fire regimes and forest structure from our validated methods, forests were found to be non-uniform across the 11 landscapes, but grouped together in three geographical areas. Each had a mixture of fire severities, but dominated by low-severity fire and low median tree density in Arizona, mixed-severity fire and intermediate to high median tree density in Oregon-California, and high-severity fire and intermediate median tree density in Colorado. Programs to restore fire and forest structure could benefit from regional frameworks, rather than one size fits all. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Regional Variation of Chronic Kidney Disease in Germany: Results From Two Population-Based Surveys

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Nicole Aumann

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: Due to the increasing prevalence of risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD, kidney dysfunction becomes a major public health problem. We investigated the CKD prevalence and determined to what extent the variation of risk factors explains the different CKD prevalence in Germany. Methods: We analyzed data from 6,054 participants, aged 31 to 82 years, from the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP-1 in Northeast Germany and the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA F4 Study in Southern Germany. Regional differences in selected percentiles corresponding to the cutpoints for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR, 2 and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR, ≥30 mg/g were tested using quantile regression models that adjusted for CKD risk factors. Results: The prevalence of decreased eGFRcreatinine-cystatinC (5.9 vs. 3.1 %, p creatinine-cystatinC and high ACR. Conclusions: The CKD prevalence is higher in Northeast than in Southern Germany. Differences in the prevalence of risk factors partly explain the higher disease burden of CKD in Northeast than in Southern Germany.

ACTIVITIES RESULTS AIMED AT IMPROVED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE VASCULAR PATIENTS IN TOMSK REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. M. Plotnikov

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Acute disorders of cerebral circulation remain serious medical and social problem associated with high disability and mortality rates. Since 2011 Tomsk oblast is a participating member of the medical campaign aimed at improved medical services to the vascular patients. The preliminary implementation data analysis for 2012 revealed improvement of most of the indices of medical support to patients suffering from acute cerebral circulation; increased number of the in-patient cases (Regional Vascular Center and primary vascular department, decreased lethality rates from strokes, specifically hemorrhagic cases. Strict observance of the Regulations on Medical Assistance for stroke patients and the using of modern methods of therapy allowed to decrease hospital mortality in the Primary Vascular Departments and early mortality in the Regional Vascular Center. The active implementation of neurorehabilitation approaches resulted in the increased number of patients who do not require third parties’ assistance. Analysis of the work of the departments helped to identifying current problems and perspectives of further development of special medical care for stroke patients.

Case-control study on radon exposure and lung cancer in an Italian region. Preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bochicchio, F; Nuccetelli, C.; Forastiere, F.; Mallone, S.; Sera, F.

2000-01-01

The present estimates of the lung cancer risk for the general population due to radon exposure in dwellings are generally obtained by extrapolating the risk estimates derived from epidemiologic studies on miner cohorts. However, due to uncertainties related to this extrapolation, numerous case-control studies in Europe and North America were planned to estimate directly the risk in dwellings. Most of these studies are still underway and, thanks to their similar design and compatible protocols, it will be possible to perform a pooled analysis in order to improve statistical power. One of these projects is being conducted in the Lazio region of Italy, which is one of the Italian regions with the highest levels of radon indoors. A total of 408 cases and 424 controls older than 34 years, who lived for 25 years or longer in the Lazio Region, were recruited in a hospital of Rome. Detailed information regarding smoking, and occupational exposure of the subjects were collected by interviews in hospital. Residential histories (periods and addresses) during the 35 years preceding the enrolment were ascertained for all study members from the local Register and from a short questionnaire to the subjects or to the next-of-kin, resulting in 2068 dwellings to be monitored within the Lazio region. The distribution of the number of dwellings among cases and controls was the following: 25.7% of the cases and 27.3% of the controls had lived all the preceding 35 years in a single dwelling, whereas only a minority (7.9%) changed five addresses or more. The mean number of dwellings was very similar among cases (2.47) and controls (2.50). In each dwelling, radon dosemeters were placed in both the main bedroom and living room for two consecutive six-month periods. In the second six-month period, two thermoluminescent dosemeters were also collocated in each monitored room to measure gamma radiation emitted by the building materials, in order to evaluate more comprehensively the exposure of

A physical map of Brassica oleracea shows complexity of chromosomal changes following recursive paleopolyploidizations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giattina Emily

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evolution of the Brassica species has been recursively affected by polyploidy events, and comparison to their relative, Arabidopsis thaliana, provides means to explore their genomic complexity. Results A genome-wide physical map of a rapid-cycling strain of B. oleracea was constructed by integrating high-information-content fingerprinting (HICF of Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC clones with hybridization to sequence-tagged probes. Using 2907 contigs of two or more BACs, we performed several lines of comparative genomic analysis. Interspecific DNA synteny is much better preserved in euchromatin than heterochromatin, showing the qualitative difference in evolution of these respective genomic domains. About 67% of contigs can be aligned to the Arabidopsis genome, with 96.5% corresponding to euchromatic regions, and 3.5% (shown to contain repetitive sequences to pericentromeric regions. Overgo probe hybridization data showed that contigs aligned to Arabidopsis euchromatin contain ~80% of low-copy-number genes, while genes with high copy number are much more frequently associated with pericentromeric regions. We identified 39 interchromosomal breakpoints during the diversification of B. oleracea and Arabidopsis thaliana, a relatively high level of genomic change since their divergence. Comparison of the B. oleracea physical map with Arabidopsis and other available eudicot genomes showed appreciable 'shadowing' produced by more ancient polyploidies, resulting in a web of relatedness among contigs which increased genomic complexity. Conclusions A high-resolution genetically-anchored physical map sheds light on Brassica genome organization and advances positional cloning of specific genes, and may help to validate genome sequence assembly and alignment to chromosomes. All the physical mapping data is freely shared at a WebFPC site (http://lulu.pgml.uga.edu/fpc/WebAGCoL/brassica/WebFPC/; Temporarily password-protected: account

A physical map of Brassica oleracea shows complexity of chromosomal changes following recursive paleopolyploidizations

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Evolution of the Brassica species has been recursively affected by polyploidy events, and comparison to their relative, Arabidopsis thaliana, provides means to explore their genomic complexity. Results A genome-wide physical map of a rapid-cycling strain of B. oleracea was constructed by integrating high-information-content fingerprinting (HICF) of Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) clones with hybridization to sequence-tagged probes. Using 2907 contigs of two or more BACs, we performed several lines of comparative genomic analysis. Interspecific DNA synteny is much better preserved in euchromatin than heterochromatin, showing the qualitative difference in evolution of these respective genomic domains. About 67% of contigs can be aligned to the Arabidopsis genome, with 96.5% corresponding to euchromatic regions, and 3.5% (shown to contain repetitive sequences) to pericentromeric regions. Overgo probe hybridization data showed that contigs aligned to Arabidopsis euchromatin contain ~80% of low-copy-number genes, while genes with high copy number are much more frequently associated with pericentromeric regions. We identified 39 interchromosomal breakpoints during the diversification of B. oleracea and Arabidopsis thaliana, a relatively high level of genomic change since their divergence. Comparison of the B. oleracea physical map with Arabidopsis and other available eudicot genomes showed appreciable 'shadowing' produced by more ancient polyploidies, resulting in a web of relatedness among contigs which increased genomic complexity. Conclusions A high-resolution genetically-anchored physical map sheds light on Brassica genome organization and advances positional cloning of specific genes, and may help to validate genome sequence assembly and alignment to chromosomes. All the physical mapping data is freely shared at a WebFPC site (http://lulu.pgml.uga.edu/fpc/WebAGCoL/brassica/WebFPC/; Temporarily password-protected: account: pgml; password: 123qwe123

A thirty year, fine-scale, characterization of area burned in Canadian forests shows evidence of regionally increasing trends in the last decade.

Science.gov (United States)

Coops, Nicholas C; Hermosilla, Txomin; Wulder, Michael A; White, Joanne C; Bolton, Douglas K

2018-01-01

Fire as a dominant disturbance has profound implications on the terrestrial carbon cycle. We present the first ever multi-decadal, spatially-explicit, 30 meter assessment of fire regimes across the forested ecoregions of Canada at an annual time-step. From 1985 to 2015, 51 Mha burned, impacting over 6.5% of forested ecosystems. Mean annual area burned was 1,651,818 ha and varied markedly (σ = 1,116,119), with 25% of the total area burned occurring in three years: 1989, 1995, and 2015. Boreal forest types contained 98% of the total area burned, with the conifer-dominated Boreal Shield containing one-third of all burned area. While results confirm no significant national trend in burned area for the period of 1985 to 2015, a significant national increasing trend (α = 0.05) of 11% per year was evident for the past decade (2006 to 2015). Regionally, a significant increasing trend in total burned area from 1985 to 2015 was observed in the Montane Cordillera (2.4% increase per year), while the Taiga Plains and Taiga Shield West displayed significant increasing trends from 2006 to 2015 (26.1% and 12.7% increases per year, respectively). The Atlantic Maritime, which had the lowest burned area of all ecozones (0.01% burned per year), was the only ecozone to display a significant negative trend (2.4% decrease per year) from 1985 to 2015. Given the century-long fire return intervals in many of these ecozones, and large annual variability in burned area, short-term trends need to be interpreted with caution. Additional interpretive cautions are related to year used for trend initiation and the nature and extents of spatial regionalizations used for summarizing findings. The results of our analysis provide a baseline for monitoring future national and regional trends in burned area and offer spatially and temporally detailed insights to inform science, policy, and management.

Regional Climate Modeling and Remote Sensing to Characterize Impacts of Civil War Driven Land Use Change on Regional Hydrology and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Maksimowicz, M.; Masarik, M. T.; Brandt, J.; Flores, A. N.

2016-12-01

Land use/land cover (LULC) change directly impacts the partitioning of surface mass and energy fluxes. Regional-scale weather and climate are potentially altered by LULC if the resultant changes in partitioning of surface energy fluxes are extensive enough. Dynamics of land use, particularly those related to the social dimensions of the Earth System, are often simplified or not represented in regional land-atmosphere models. This study explores the role of LULC change on a regional hydroclimate system, focusing on potential hydroclimate changes arising from an extended civil conflict in Mozambique. Civil war from 1977-1992 in Mozambique led to land use change at a regional scale as a result of the collapse of large herbivore populations due to poaching. Since the war ended, farming has increased, poaching was curtailed, and animal populations were reintroduced. In this study LULC in a region encompassing Gorongosa is classified at three instances between 1977 to 2015 using Landsat imagery. We use these derived LULC datasets to inform lower boundary conditions in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. To quantify potential hydrometeorological changes arising from conflict-driven land use change, we performed a factorial-like experiment by mixing input LULC maps and atmospheric forcing data from before, during, and after the civil war. Analysis of the Landsat data shows measurable land cover change from 1977-present as tree cover encroached into grasslands. Initial tests show corresponding sensitivities to different LULC schemes within the WRF model. Preliminary results suggest that the war did indeed impact regional hydroclimate in a significant way via its direct and indirect impacts on land-atmosphere interactions. Results of this study suggest that LULC change arising from regional conflicts are a potentially understudied, yet important human process to capture in both regional reanalyses and climate change projections.

Regional variations in occupational exposure to radon and the resulting regulatory action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ross, B.C.; Atkinson, M.R.; Dixon, D.W.

1994-01-01

Measurements in over 3000 workplaces throughout Great Britain show that radon concentrations in about 10% of these premises exceed the level at which the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985 may apply. Most of the measurements and high results are in Cornwall and Devon, but high results have also been obtained in other counties, particularly Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Somerset. The data for workplaces are supplemented by the results of measurements in about 100,000 homes suitably transposed to indicate the likely impact of the Regulations where workplace data are scarce. (author)

Reconstruction of national distribution of indoor radon concentration in Russia using results of regional indoor radon measurement programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yarmoshenko, I.; Malinovsky, G.; Vasilyev, A.; Zhukovsky, M.

2015-01-01

The aim of the paper is a reconstruction of the national distribution and estimation of the arithmetic average indoor radon concentration in Russia using the data of official annual 4-DOZ reports. Annual 4-DOZ reports summarize results of radiation measurements in 83 regions of Russian Federation. Information on more than 400 000 indoor radon measurements includes the average indoor radon isotopes equilibrium equivalent concentration (EEC) and number of measurements by regions and by three main types of houses: wooden, one-storey non-wooden, and multi-storey non-wooden houses. To reconstruct the national distribution, all-Russian model sample was generated by integration of sub-samples created using the results of each annual regional program of indoor radon measurements in each type of buildings. According to indoor radon concentration distribution reconstruction, all-Russian average indoor radon concentration is 48 Bq/m"3. Average indoor radon concentration by region ranges from 12 to 207 Bq/m"3. The 95-th percentile of the distribution is reached at indoor radon concentration 160 Bq/m"3. - Highlights: • Reconstruction of indoor radon concentration distribution in Russia was carried out. • Data of official annual 4-DOZ reports were used. • All-Russian average indoor radon concentration is 48 Bq/m"3. • The 95-th percentile is 160 Bq/m"3.

Contributions for Repositioning a Regional Strategy for Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C): Results of a Pan-American Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Marilyn; Vizzotti, Carlos; Frassia, Romina; Vizzotti, Pablo; Akerman, Marco

2010-01-01

This article presents the results of the 1st Regional Survey of Healthy Municipalities, Cities and Communities (HM&C) carried out in 2008 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and ISALUD University of Argentina. It discusses the responses obtained from 12 countries in the Americas Region. Key informants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay were selected and encouraged to answer the survey, while informants from Canada and Honduras answered voluntarily and were included in this analysis. The discussion of the results of the Survey provides insight into the current status of HM&C in the Region and suggests key topics for repositioning the Regional strategy relative to: (1) the conceptual identity and tools for HM&C; (2) challenging areas in the implementation process (scale, legal framework, and development of capacities); (3) related strategies and participatory processes such as the ways citizen empowerment in governance is supported; (4) the need to monitor and assess the impact of the HM&C strategy on the health and quality of life of the populations involved; and (5) the need for developing a strategic research and training agenda. The analysis and discussion of these results aims to provide useful input for repositioning the strategy in the Region and contributing to the emergence of a second generation of concepts and tools capable of meeting the developing priorities and needs currently faced by the HM&C strategy. PMID:20532989

Oil and gas impacts on air quality in federal lands in the Bakken region: an overview of the Bakken Air Quality Study and first results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. J. Prenni

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The Bakken formation contains billions of barrels of oil and gas trapped in rock and shale. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing methods have allowed for extraction of these resources, leading to exponential growth of oil production in the region over the past decade. Along with this development has come an increase in associated emissions to the atmosphere. Concern about potential impacts of these emissions on federal lands in the region prompted the National Park Service to sponsor the Bakken Air Quality Study over two winters in 2013–2014. Here we provide an overview of the study and present some initial results aimed at better understanding the impact of local oil and gas emissions on regional air quality. Data from the study, along with long-term monitoring data, suggest that while power plants are still an important emissions source in the region, emissions from oil and gas activities are impacting ambient concentrations of nitrogen oxides and black carbon and may dominate recent observed trends in pollutant concentrations at some of the study sites. Measurements of volatile organic compounds also definitively show that oil and gas emissions were present in almost every air mass sampled over a period of more than 4 months.

Excessive users of violent video games do not show emotional desensitization: an fMRI study.

Science.gov (United States)

Szycik, Gregor R; Mohammadi, Bahram; Hake, Maria; Kneer, Jonas; Samii, Amir; Münte, Thomas F; Te Wildt, Bert T

2017-06-01

Playing violent video games have been linked to long-term emotional desensitization. We hypothesized that desensitization effects in excessive users of violent video games should lead to decreased brain activations to highly salient emotional pictures in emotional sensitivity brain regions. Twenty-eight male adult subjects showing excessive long-term use of violent video games and age and education matched control participants were examined in two experiments using standardized emotional pictures of positive, negative and neutral valence. No group differences were revealed even at reduced statistical thresholds which speaks against desensitization of emotion sensitive brain regions as a result of excessive use of violent video games.

Expanding Regional Airport Usage to Accommodate Increased Air Traffic Demand

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, Carl R.

2009-01-01

Small regional airports present an underutilized source of capacity in the national air transportation system. This study sought to determine whether a 50 percent increase in national operations could be achieved by limiting demand growth at large hub airports and instead growing traffic levels at the surrounding regional airports. This demand scenario for future air traffic in the United States was generated and used as input to a 24-hour simulation of the national airspace system. Results of the demand generation process and metrics predicting the simulation results are presented, in addition to the actual simulation results. The demand generation process showed that sufficient runway capacity exists at regional airports to offload a significant portion of traffic from hub airports. Predictive metrics forecast a large reduction of delays at most major airports when demand is shifted. The simulation results then show that offloading hub traffic can significantly reduce nationwide delays.

Health care and patients' migration across Spanish regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Cantarero, David

2006-06-01

This paper analyses patient mobility across Spanish regions. A model of patient migration is specified and estimated using panel observations covering mobility and other main regional quality indicators over the period 1996-1999. Empirical results show that in Spain income and supply variables determines the quality of the service offered,, and that there is quality-driven mobility.

Effects of forest cover changes in European Russia on regional weather conditions: results of numerical experiments with the COSMO-CLM model

Science.gov (United States)

Olchev, Alexander; Kuzmina, Ekaterina; Rozinkina, Inna; Nikitin, Mikhail; Rivin, Gdaly S.

2017-04-01

external boundaries of the modeling domain. For the modeling experiments the warm period (from May to September) of 2010 was selected. The first modeling experiment assumed total deforestation of the study area. The second experiment suggested complete interruption of economic activity in the region, forest regeneration and total area afforestation. It was assumed that the forest cover increase in the considered scenario was only due to increase of the fraction of pioneer small-leaved tree species (e.g. birch, aspen). Any possible changes in proportion of coniferous species were ignored. The results of the modeling experiments showed considerable influence of forest cover changes on regional weather conditions. The influence of forest cover was manifested in changes of spatial patterns of the air temperature at different levels in the atmosphere, in changes of amount and intensity of precipitation, dew point, cloud cover, relative humidity, wind speed, and in changes of a number of other meteorological parameters. It was shown that the total deforestation of the study region can result in increase of the mean air temperature in summer on 0.3°C and in reduction of precipitation by about 6%. The afforestation processes can lead to opposite effects: in case of modeling scenario imitating the total afforestation of the study area the model predicts the decrease of the mean summer temperatures on 0.1°C and increase of precipitation by 4%. The diurnal changes of meteorological parameters can be significantly higher and more heterogeneous. Whereas the changes of the surface air temperature and humidity, wind speed and some other parameters are mainly appeared within the area with changed forest cover only, the changes of precipitation and cloud cover patterns are manifested within the entire European part of Russia including the areas situated outside the study region. The study is involved in the NEESPI program and it was supported by grant of the Russian Science Foundation

Cannabis cue-induced brain activation correlates with drug craving in limbic and visual salience regions: Preliminary results

Science.gov (United States)

Charboneau, Evonne J.; Dietrich, Mary S.; Park, Sohee; Cao, Aize; Watkins, Tristan J; Blackford, Jennifer U; Benningfield, Margaret M.; Martin, Peter R.; Buchowski, Maciej S.; Cowan, Ronald L.

2013-01-01

Craving is a major motivator underlying drug use and relapse but the neural correlates of cannabis craving are not well understood. This study sought to determine whether visual cannabis cues increase cannabis craving and whether cue-induced craving is associated with regional brain activation in cannabis-dependent individuals. Cannabis craving was assessed in 16 cannabis-dependent adult volunteers while they viewed cannabis cues during a functional MRI (fMRI) scan. The Marijuana Craving Questionnaire was administered immediately before and after each of three cannabis cue-exposure fMRI runs. FMRI blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal intensity was determined in regions activated by cannabis cues to examine the relationship of regional brain activation to cannabis craving. Craving scores increased significantly following exposure to visual cannabis cues. Visual cues activated multiple brain regions, including inferior orbital frontal cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, hippocampus, amygdala, superior temporal pole, and occipital cortex. Craving scores at baseline and at the end of all three runs were significantly correlated with brain activation during the first fMRI run only, in the limbic system (including amygdala and hippocampus) and paralimbic system (superior temporal pole), and visual regions (occipital cortex). Cannabis cues increased craving in cannabis-dependent individuals and this increase was associated with activation in the limbic, paralimbic, and visual systems during the first fMRI run, but not subsequent fMRI runs. These results suggest that these regions may mediate visually cued aspects of drug craving. This study provides preliminary evidence for the neural basis of cue-induced cannabis craving and suggests possible neural targets for interventions targeted at treating cannabis dependence. PMID:24035535

Energy transitions in small-scale regions – What we can learn from a regional innovation systems perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattes, Jannika; Huber, Andreas; Koehrsen, Jens

2015-01-01

The prevalent theories in the debate on sustainability transitions have been criticised for not sufficiently addressing energy change processes at the local level. This paper aims to enhance our understanding of local energy reorganisation processes. Drawing on the Regional Innovation Systems (RIS) approach, we argue that local development dynamics result from the interaction of various subsystems: science, politics, public administration, industry, finance, intermediaries and civil society. The analysis of the involved subsystems and their interaction shows how energy transitions are shaped by different individual and organisational actors as well as institutions on the local level. Empirical evidence from case studies on the German cities of Emden and Bottrop illustrates our theoretical conceptualisation of energy transitions. We conclude by presenting characteristic interaction patterns for energy transition drawn from the two cases. - Highlights: • We highlight the importance of spatial and regional aspects for transitions. • We draw upon regional innovation systems’ subsystems to describe energy transitions. • We show how actors and institutions interact in and coordinate transition processes. • We present evidence from two small-scale regions in Germany: Emden and Bottrop

Experimental results of the consequences of sodium water reactions at the bottom tube plate region of straight tube steam generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruloff, G.

1990-01-01

Experience with sodium water reactions has shown, that the course of such a steam generator accident depends strongly on its place in the steam generator. For the EFR steam generators we have to differentiate between: weld region at the upper tube plate (gas space); bundle region; weld region at the bottom tube plate. This paper describes results of a running tests program simulating the bottom tube plate area. One main part of these tests is the investigation of the influence of wastage protection shrouds between the tubes in the weld region to avoid a fast leak propagation and to give time for leak detection and mastering of the accidents. (author). 10 figs, 2 tabs

Chronic Respiratory Diseases in the Regions of Northern Russia: Epidemiological Distinctions in the Results of a National Population Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gambaryan, Marine H; Shalnova, Svetlana A; Deev, Alexander D; Drapkina, Oxana M

2017-07-26

The aim of the study is to investigate the epidemiological situation regarding chronic respiratory diseases in populations that inhabit different climatic-geographical regions of Russia, and to develop targeted programs for prevention of these diseases. (1) a comparative analysis of the standardized mortality data in Russia and other selected regions of the Russian North using the European standard for respiratory diseases, in a population aged 25-64; and (2) data from a randomized cross-sectional epidemiological study, with subjects from three different climatic-geographical regions of Russia. (1) the respiratory disease-related mortality rates in the majority of Russian Northern regions were much higher compared to the national average. Although death rates from chronic lower respiratory diseases were higher among the Northern regions and in the whole of Russia relative to the countries of European Union (EU), the cause of death in the populations of the Northern regions tend to be lower respiratory infections and pneumonia; and (2) despite the absence of any significant differences in the prevalence of smoking, the prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases (COPD) is significantly higher in Far North Yakutsk compared to the other two regions in this study-Chelyabinsk and Vologda. The status of hyperborean had the highest chance of a significant contribution to COPD and cardiorespiratory pathology among all other risk factors. The results revealed a need for effective targeted strategies for primary and secondary prevention of chronic respiratory diseases for the populations of the Northern regions of Russia. The revealed regional distinctions regarding the prevalence of, and mortality from, chronic respiratory diseases should be taken into consideration when designing integrated programs for chronic non-communicable disease prevention in these regions.

Subintimal angioplasty in femoropopliteal region-Mid-term results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koecher, Martin; Cerna, Marie; Utikal, Petr; Kozak, Jiri; Sisola, Ivan; Thomas, Rohit P.; Bachleda, Petr; Drac, Petr; Sekanina, Zdenek; Langova, Katerina

2010-01-01

Purpose: Subintimal angioplasty is becoming more frequently used treatment option for patients with long arterial occlusions or diffuse atherosclerotic changes as an alternative to surgical treatment in claudicants especially in patients with critical limb ischemia. The aim of our article is to retrospectively assess mid-term outcomes of subintimal angioplasty of chronic arterial occlusions in femoropopliteal region followed clinically and by Doppler ultrasonography. Materials and methods: From May 2002 to December 2007, 133 femoropopliteal artery occlusions in 123 patients were indicated for subintimal recanalisation. The indications for treatment were intermittent claudications in 84 patients (63.15%) and critical limb ischemia in 49 patients (36.85%). The median length of lesions was 11.4 cm, range 2-30 cm. Except doppler ultrasonographic examination done 24 h after the procedure and clinical examination before discharge, both clinical and ultrasonographic examinations were performed 6 and 12 months after the procedure and yearly thereafter. Statistical analysis of our cohort was performed by Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test and Cox regression. Results: Technical success was achieved in 86.46%. Primary patency rate was 83.1% (SE: 3.9%), 67.5% (SE: 5%), 58% (SE: 5.9%) a 48.4% (SE: 7.1%) at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months respectively. No statistically significant difference of primary patency was found between the group of claudicants and the group of patient with critical limb ischemia. Statistically significant prediction factors for primary patency were only the quality of the run off and the length of the occlusion. Limb salvage rate in our group of patients with critical limb ischemia was 80.8% at 12 months. Conclusion: Subintimal recanalisation is a simple and safe procedure for treatment of chronic peripheral arterial occlusions with high primary technical success rate, acceptable primary patency rate, low percentage of complications and mortality is as low as

Results of the global conservation assessment of the freshwater crabs (Brachyura, Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae: The Neotropical region, with an update on diversity

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Neil Cumberlidge

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The freshwater crabs of the Neotropics comprise 311 species in two families (Pseudothelphusidae and Trichodactylidae and one or both of these families are found in all of the countries in the Neotropical region (except for Chile and some of the Caribbean islands. Colombia (102 species, 81% endemic and Mexico (67 species, 95% endemic are the biodiversity hotspots of freshwater crab species richness and country-level endemism for this region. The results of the IUCN Red List conservation assessments show that 34% of pseudothelphusids and 10% of trichodactylids have an elevated risk of extinction, 29% of pseudothelphusids and 75% of trichodactylids are not at-risk (Least Concern, and although none are actually extinct, 56% of pseudothelphusids and 17% of trichodactylids are too poorly known to assess (Data Deficient. Colombia (14 species, Venezuela (7 species, Mexico (6 species, and Ecuador (5 species are the countries with the highest number of threatened species of Neotropical freshwater crabs. The majority of threatened species are restricted-range semiterrestrial endemics living in habitats subjected to deforestation, alteration of drainage patterns, and pollution. This underlines the need to prioritize and develop conservation measures before species decline to levels from which they cannot recover. These results represent a baseline that can be used to design strategies to save threatened Neotropical species of freshwater crabs.

Estimation of the Altai region population exposure resulting from the nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk test site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Djachenko, V.I.; Gabbasov, M.N.; Laborev, V.M.; Markovtsev, A.S.; Sudakov, V.V.; Volobuyev, N.M.; Zelenov, V.I.; Lagutin, A.A.; Shoikher, J.N.

1998-01-01

The historical roots of reconstruction of doses received by populations from nuclear tests date back to the 60''s, when the world faced a problem of growing radioactive contamination by radioactive fallout resulting from atmospheric nuclear tests. Since then, only one aspect of this problem has been properly developed, namely: public-exposure doses resulting from the global radioactive fallout have been estimated. Local fallout, which occurred mainly in the territories of the test sites and regions adjacent to their boundaries, was considered and studied as an internal affair of the states. The first steps in creating the above-mentioned methodological basis were taken in Russia, where, by now, the methodology of dose estimation in regions of local radioactive fallout has been determined and acknowledged nationwide as a standard document (Federal Committee on Sanitay Epidemiological Control of RF, 1994). It was this methodology that was used for calculations and dose estimation of the exposure of the Altai population from the Semipalatinsk Test Site (STS). (orig./GL)

The Lateral Occipital Complex shows no net response to object familiarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Margalit, Eshed; Shah, Manan P; Tjan, Bosco S; Biederman, Irving; Keller, Brenton; Brenner, Rorry

2016-09-01

In 1995, Malach et al. discovered an area whose fMRI BOLD response was greater when viewing intact, familiar objects than when viewing their scrambled versions (resembling texture). Since then hundreds of studies have explored this late visual region termed the Lateral Occipital Complex (LOC), which is now known to be critical for shape perception (James, Culham, Humphrey, Milner, & Goodale, 2003). Malach et al. (1995) discounted a role of familiarity by showing that "abstract" Henry Moore sculptures, unfamiliar to the subjects, also activated this region. This characterization of LOC as a region that responds to shape independently of familiarity has been accepted but never tested with control of the same low-level features. We assessed LOC's response to objects that had identical parts in two different arrangements, one familiar and the other novel. Malach was correct: There is no net effect of familiarity in LOC. However, a multivoxel correlation analysis showed that LOC does distinguish familiar from novel objects.

Regions for Servicing Old People: Case study of Slovenia

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Drobne Samo

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Aging is one of the most serious problems that most developed countries are facing in the 21st century. In the European Union, Member States are responsible for the planning, funding and administration of health care and social protection systems. Local authorities and state governments should undertake research toward developing an appropriate array of community-based care services for old people. Objectives: This study analyses the regions of Slovenia for servicing old people in the 2000-2010 time horizon. Methods/Approach: Sets of functional regions were modelled for each year in the analysed period using the Intramax method. Functional regions were evaluated based on the attractiveness of central places for labour commuters and the propensity to commute between regions. Results: The results show that in addition to the nominally declared regional centres of Slovenia, there are also some other local centres that should be potentially included in the functional areas for servicing old people. Conclusions: The results suggest that the regionalization into seven functional regions is the most convenient for servicing old people in the region. Furthermore, some additional functional regions at a lower level are suggested.

Optimized filtering of regional and teleseismic seismograms: results of maximizing SNR measurements from the wavelet transform and filter banks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leach, R.R.; Schultz, C.; Dowla, F.

1997-07-15

Development of a worldwide network to monitor seismic activity requires deployment of seismic sensors in areas which have not been well studied or may have from available recordings. Development and testing of detection and discrimination algorithms requires a robust representative set of calibrated seismic events for a given region. Utilizing events with poor signal-to-noise (SNR) can add significant numbers to usable data sets, but these events must first be adequately filtered. Source and path effects can make this a difficult task as filtering demands are highly varied as a function of distance, event magnitude, bearing, depth etc. For a given region, conventional methods of filter selection can be quite subjective and may require intensive analysis of many events. In addition, filter parameters are often overly generalized or contain complicated switching. We have developed a method to provide an optimized filter for any regional or teleseismically recorded event. Recorded seismic signals contain arrival energy which is localized in frequency and time. Localized temporal signals whose frequency content is different from the frequency content of the pre-arrival record are identified using rms power measurements. The method is based on the decomposition of a time series into a set of time series signals or scales. Each scale represents a time-frequency band with a constant Q. SNR is calculated for a pre-event noise window and for a window estimated to contain the arrival. Scales with high SNR are used to indicate the band pass limits for the optimized filter.The results offer a significant improvement in SNR particularly for low SNR events. Our method provides a straightforward, optimized filter which can be immediately applied to unknown regions as knowledge of the geophysical characteristics is not required. The filtered signals can be used to map the seismic frequency response of a region and may provide improvements in travel-time picking, bearing estimation

Potentiality of SENTINEL-1 for landslide detection: first results in the Molise Region (Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Barra, Anna; Monserrat, Oriol; Mazzanti, Paolo; Esposito, Carlo; Crosetto, Michele; Scarascia Mugnozza, Gabriele

2016-04-01

A detailed inventory map, including information on landslide activity, is one of the most important input to landslide susceptibility and hazard analyses. The contribution of satellite SAR Interferometry in landslide risk mitigation is well-known within the scientific community. In fact, many encouraging results have been obtained, principally, in areas characterized by high coherence of the images (e.g. due to rock lithology or urban environment setting). In terms of coherence, the expected increased capabilities of Sentinel-1 for landslide mapping and monitoring are connected to both wavelength (55.5 mm) and short temporal baseline (12 days). The latter one is expected to be a key feature for increasing coherence and for defining monitoring and updating plans. With the aim of assessing these potentialities, we processed a set of 14 Sentinel-1 SLC images, acquired during a temporal span of 7 months, over the Molise region (Southern Italy), a critical area geologically susceptible to landslides. Even though Molise is mostly covered by crops and forested areas (63% and 35% respectively), that means a non-optimal coherence condition for SAR interferometry, promising results have been obtained. This has been achieved by integrating differential interferometric SAR techniques (12-days interferograms and time series) with GIS multilayer analysis (optical, geological, geomorphological, etc.). Specifically, analyzing a single burst of a Sentinel-1 frame (approximately 1875 km2), 62 landslides have been detected, thus allowing to improve the pre-existing inventory maps both in terms of landslide boundaries and state of activity. The results of our ongoing research show that Sentinel-1 can give a significant improvement in terms of exploitation of SAR data for landslide mapping and monitoring. As a matter of fact, by analyzing longer periods, it is expected to achieve a better understanding of landslide behavior and its relationship with triggering factors. This will be key

Spatial scale separation in regional climate modelling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feser, F.

2005-07-01

In this thesis the concept of scale separation is introduced as a tool for first improving regional climate model simulations and, secondly, to explicitly detect and describe the added value obtained by regional modelling. The basic idea behind this is that global and regional climate models have their best performance at different spatial scales. Therefore the regional model should not alter the global model's results at large scales. The for this purpose designed concept of nudging of large scales controls the large scales within the regional model domain and keeps them close to the global forcing model whereby the regional scales are left unchanged. For ensemble simulations nudging of large scales strongly reduces the divergence of the different simulations compared to the standard approach ensemble that occasionally shows large differences for the individual realisations. For climate hindcasts this method leads to results which are on average closer to observed states than the standard approach. Also the analysis of the regional climate model simulation can be improved by separating the results into different spatial domains. This was done by developing and applying digital filters that perform the scale separation effectively without great computational effort. The separation of the results into different spatial scales simplifies model validation and process studies. The search for 'added value' can be conducted on the spatial scales the regional climate model was designed for giving clearer results than by analysing unfiltered meteorological fields. To examine the skill of the different simulations pattern correlation coefficients were calculated between the global reanalyses, the regional climate model simulation and, as a reference, of an operational regional weather analysis. The regional climate model simulation driven with large-scale constraints achieved a high increase in similarity to the operational analyses for medium-scale 2 meter

Search Results | Page 912 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Results 9111 - 9120 of 9602 ... Trade facilitation and poverty reduction : China-ASEAN region case study. Results show that a 1 per cent increase in port efficiency results in a 1.051 ... is near the world average, but among ASEAN countries there is a big gap. ... The focus of the study is the Economic Corridors and Cross Border ...

Evaluation of results for computed tomography in head region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Himeji, Toshiharu

1983-01-01

In 2 years and 5 months from April 1980 to May 1982, I had maked examination for computed tomography (CT) in head region by TCT-60A (TOSHIBA), and so reported the evaluation of following those results; 1) The number of CT scan was 1228 patients and total 1513 scannings. The contents of its scan were plain CT (86.1%), CE (contrast enhancement) CT (7.3%) and both application methods (6.6%), and included from 1 CT time (85.3%), 2 CT times (9.6%), 3 CT times (3.3%),... til 7 CT times. Our CT scan cases were 720 males (58.6%) and 508 females (41.4%);its scan age level was mostly 40 y.o. -- over 70 y.o., but low age patients (under 10 y.o.) indicated number of 15.3%. In consideration of this fact the advantage of CT scan was very easily and safely procedure free from body lesion. 2) In number of CT scan: the most many patients were visiting department of internal medicine clinic, and following pediatric clinic, surgery and orthopedic department. Above all CT scan cases were included of other all clinical departments in our hospital. (CT scan was very useful for neurological examination). 3) In CT diagnosis our cases were it of cerebral infarction 128 (10.4%), cerebral hemorrage 19 (1.5%) and brain tumor 24 (2.3%), in small cases other craniocerebral diseases. 4) The visiting cases in internal medicine often complain of cerebrovascular symptomes, and in pediatric clinic chief complain was often suspected mental retardation and neurological sign. In surgery department it was suspected metastatic brain tumor from other malignant cancers, and in orthopedic surgery often skull injury or traffic accident. (J.P.N.)

[Living conditions: stumbling block or path to successful ageing? Results of the Augsburg regional conference "Living environment, age and health"].

Science.gov (United States)

Strobl, R; Maier, W; Mielck, A; Fuchs, J; Richter-Kornweitz, A; Gostomzyk, J; Grill, E

2014-09-01

In addition to good medical care, living environment is of central importance in encouraging social participation among older people. Therefore, municipalities should prioritise the age-appropriate design of living environments. Results of the KORA Age study were presented at the regional conference "Living environment, age and health" in the Augsburg town hall on October 1, 2013. The results on participation and living environment were discussed with local policy makers and senior citizens' representatives from Augsburg and two surrounding regions. The study examined the impact of living environment on participation using two different approaches: qualitative findings from focus group discussions and quantitative findings based on telephone interviews and the use of a geographic information system. The results were complemented by contributions from a regional and national perspective. It was stressed in the closing discussion that a senior-friendly living environment can only be created by using a broad range of different measures. On the one hand physical barriers need to be removed, while at the same time the sense of community, neighborhood cohesion and solidarity should be encouraged further.

Normalization of the collage regions of iterated function systems

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhengbing; Zhang, Wei

2012-11-01

Fractal graphics, generated with iterated function systems (IFS), have been applied in broad areas. Since the collage regions of different IFS may be different, it is difficult to respectively show the attractors of iterated function systems in a same region on a computer screen using one program without modifying the display parameters. An algorithm is proposed in this paper to solve this problem. A set of transforms are repeatedly applied to modify the coefficients of the IFS so that the collage region of the resulted IFS changes toward the unit square. Experimental results demonstrate that the collage region of any IFS can be normalized to the unit square with the proposed method.

IS THE POLAR REGION DIFFERENT FROM THE QUIET REGION OF THE SUN?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Hiroaki; Shiota, Daikou; Tokumaru, Munetoshi; Fujiki, Ken'ichi; Tsuneta, Saku

2010-01-01

Observations of the polar region of the Sun are critically important for understanding the solar dynamo and the acceleration of solar wind. We carried out precise magnetic observations on both the north polar region and the quiet Sun at the east limb with the spectropolarimeter of the Solar Optical Telescope aboard Hinode to characterize the polar region with respect to the quiet Sun. The average area and the total magnetic flux of the kilo-Gauss magnetic concentrations in the polar region appear to be larger than those of the quiet Sun. The magnetic field vectors classified as vertical in the quiet Sun have symmetric histograms around zero in the strengths, showing balanced positive and negative fluxes, while the histogram in the north polar region is clearly asymmetric, showing a predominance of the negative polarity. The total magnetic flux of the polar region is larger than that of the quiet Sun. In contrast, the histogram of the horizontal magnetic fields is exactly the same for both the polar region and the quiet Sun. This is consistent with the idea that a local dynamo process is responsible for the horizontal magnetic fields. A high-resolution potential field extrapolation shows that the majority of magnetic field lines from the kG-patches in the polar region are open with a fanning-out structure very low in the atmosphere, while in the quiet Sun, almost all the field lines are closed.

Cutaneous malignant melanoma show geographic and socioeconomic disparities in stage at diagnosis and excess mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strömberg, Ulf; Peterson, Stefan; Holmberg, Erik

2016-01-01

Background Preventive measures are needed to counteract the increasing burden of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM). As a basis for rational melanoma prevention, we investigated geographic differences and impact from socioeconomic factors related to incidence, clinical stage at diagnosis...... and the national Melanoma Quality Register. Geographic and socioeconomic differences in incidence per stage at diagnosis were mapped and correlated to excess mortality. Results Disease mapping based on 9743 cases in 99 municipalities and 20 metropolitan districts showed marked, regional disparities in stage.......37-2.40). Conclusion Residential region and educational level influenced CMM stage and, thereby, excess mortality. These observations suggest that geographic as well as socioeconomic data should be considered in prevention of CMM....

PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT LEVEL - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DISPARITIES AMONG REGIONS OF DEVELOPMENT AND MACRO-REGIONS IN ROMANIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MARIA OŢIL

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The major challenge of the regional policies is to mitigate the social and economic disparities between different territories and regions. The immediate reality shows that this is a problem which is neither simple nor for short term. For Romania, which has large lags behind compared to the economically developed countries, the intense mobilization of internal and external factors of economic growth in order to reduce and eliminate disparities compared to other countries, is a definite necessity, a regularity resulting from regional and national interests in terms of its finality - the welfare of society. The economic crisis has increased regional disparities in the European Union countries, these especially affecting the countries which are less economically efficient. The present research aims at accomplishing a comparative analysis regarding disparities among regions of development and macro-regions of Romania in order to assess the performance of the productive sector, of the structural types of economies and of their level of development.

Regional labour market dynamics in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broersma, Lourens; van Dijk, J.

This article analyzes the response of regional labor markets in the Netherlands to region-specific labor demand shocks. Previous studies show remarkable differences in response between regions in European countries and regions in the United States. The analysis shows that, in Dutch regions, the

Regional quality of living in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piet Lagas

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article sets out the conceptual framework and results of Regional Quality of Living indicators that were developed in order to benchmark European NUTS2 regions. Nine non-business-related indicators are constructed to support the goal of policy makers to improve the attractiveness of regions and cities for people or companies to settle in, and by doing so create economic growth. Each of the constructed indicators represents a pillar of the Quality of Living. The highest indicator scores are found for regions within Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Some countries show a wide divergence between regional scores. The southern regions of Italy and Spain, for example, have significantly lower scores than those in the north. In addition, capital city regions have better RQI scores. A positive correlation was found between the average RQI scores and both GDP per capita and weighted population density. Compared to GDP per capita, weighted population density has a modest influence on the RQI score. The European regions are divided into 11 clusters, based upon GDP per capita and weighted population density in order to benchmark a region with its peers.

[Regional atmospheric environment risk source identification and assessment].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiao-Chun; Chen, Wei-Ping; Ma, Chun; Zhan, Shui-Fen; Jiao, Wen-Tao

2012-12-01

Identification and assessment for atmospheric environment risk source plays an important role in regional atmospheric risk assessment and regional atmospheric pollution prevention and control. The likelihood exposure and consequence assessment method (LEC method) and the Delphi method were employed to build a fast and effective method for identification and assessment of regional atmospheric environment risk sources. This method was applied to the case study of a large coal transportation port in North China. The assessment results showed that the risk characteristics and the harm degree of regional atmospheric environment risk source were in line with the actual situation. Fast and effective identification and assessment of risk source has laid an important foundation for the regional atmospheric environmental risk assessment and regional atmospheric pollution prevention and control.

Income-related health inequalities across regions in Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahn Byung

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction In addition to economic inequalities, there has been growing concern over socioeconomic inequalities in health across income levels and/or regions. This study measures income-related health inequalities within and between regions and assesses the possibility of convergence of socioeconomic inequalities in health as regional incomes converge. Methods We considered a total of 45,233 subjects (≥ 19 years drawn from the four waves of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES. We considered true health as a latent variable following a lognormal distribution. We obtained ill-health scores by matching self-rated health (SRH to its distribution and used the Gini Coefficient (GC and an income-related ill-health Concentration Index (CI to examine inequalities in income and health, respectively. Results The GC estimates were 0.3763 and 0.0657 for overall and spatial inequalities, respectively. The overall CI was -0.1309, and the spatial CI was -0.0473. The spatial GC and CI estimates were smaller than their counterparts, indicating substantial inequalities in income (from 0.3199 in Daejeon to 0.4233 Chungnam and income-related health inequalities (from -0.1596 in Jeju and -0.0844 in Ulsan within regions. The results indicate a positive relationship between the GC and the average ill-health and a negative relationship between the CI and the average ill-health. Those regions with a low level of health tended to show an unequal distribution of income and health. In addition, there was a negative relationship between the GC and the CI, that is, the larger the income inequalities, the larger the health inequalities were. The GC was negatively related to the average regional income, indicating that an increase in a region's average income reduced income inequalities in the region. On the other hand, the CI showed a positive relationship, indicating that an increase in a region's average income reduced health

Tennessee Valley region study: potential year 2000 radiological dose to population resulting from nuclear facility operations. [Includes glossary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1978-06-01

A companion report, DOE/ET-0064/1, presents a geographic, cultural, and demographic profile of the Tennessee Valley Region study area. This report describes the calculations of radionuclide release and transport and of the resultant dose to the regional population, assuming a projected installed capacity of 220,000 MW in the year 2000, of which 144,000 MW would be nuclear. All elements of the fuel cycle were assumed to be in operation. The radiological dose was calculated as a one-year dose based on ingestion of 35 different food types as well as for nine non-food pathways, and was reported as dose to the total body and for six specific organs for each of four age groups (infant, child, teen, and adult). Results indicate that the average individual would receive an incremental dose of 7 x 10/sup -4/ millirems in the year 2000 from the operation of nuclear facilities within and adjacent to the region, five orders of magnitude smaller than the dose from naturally occurring radiation in the area. The major contributor to dose was found to be tritium, and the most significant pathways were immersion in air, inhalation of air, transpiration of tritium (absorption through the skin), and exposure radionuclide-containing soil. 60 references.

Reverberation Mapping Results from MDM Observatory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Denney, Kelly D.; Peterson, B. M.; Pogge, R. W.

2009-01-01

We present results from a multi-month reverberation mapping campaign undertaken primarily at MDM Observatory with supporting observations from around the world. We measure broad line region (BLR) radii and black hole masses for six objects. A velocity-resolved analysis of the H_beta response show...

Trends bodybuilding development in Ukraine and Kharkov region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olexandr Tyhorskyy

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Purpose: to determine the features of bodybuilding and Ukraine in Kharkiv region. Material and Methods: results conducted on the basis of archival materials and records of events, publications and other sources. Incrementally conducted research of bodybuilding Ukraine and Kharkiv from the first event to modern times. Results: bodybuilding – a sport that can be practiced at any age. This makes bodybuilding common among different population groups. Conclusions: every year in Ukraine, the growing number of athletes and their level of preparedness. Athletes of Ukraine and the Kharkiv region show good results in international competitions.

Far-infrared observations of Large Magellanic Cloud H II regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werner, M.W.; Becklin, E.E.; Gatley, I.; Ellis, M.J.; Hyland, A.R.; Robinson, G.; Thomas, J.A.

1978-01-01

Far-infrared emission has been measured from four Large Magellanic Cloud H II regions: the 30 Doradus nebula, MC75, MC76 and MC77. The far-infrared radiation is thermal emission from dust heated by starlight. The results show that the LMC H II regions, like H II regions in the Galaxy, have far-infrared luminosities comparable to the total luminosity of their exciting stars. (author)

Research status and some results of numerical system to study regional environment: SPEEDI-MP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chino, Masamichi

2004-01-01

Research status and some results of 'Numerical system to study regional environment: SPEEDI-MP', which reproduces circulations of materials in the atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial environments, are introduced. The purpose of this system are the development of various environmental models, the connection of atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial models and the construction of research bases for numerical environmental studies. In addition to the accurate prediction of environmental behavior of radionuclides, the system has been applied to the non-nuclear fields, e.g., numerical analysis of environmental effects to volcanic gases from Miyake Jima, real-time prediction of the migration of rice planthoppers from Eastern Asia. (author)

Tono regional hydrogeological study project. Annual report 2004

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iwatsuki, Teruki; Ota, Kunio; Takeuchi, Shinji; Amano, Kenji; Takeuchi, Ryuji; Saegusa, Hiromitsu; Osawa, Hideaki

2005-09-01

Tono Geoscience Center, Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute has been conducting a wide range of geoscientific research in order to build firm scientific and technological basis for the research and development of geological disposal. One of the geoscientific research programme is a Regional Hydrogeological Study (RHS) project in the Tono region, central Japan. This report mainly summarizes the results of research in DH-14 and DH-15 boreholes at Toki city and Mizunami city in fiscal year 2004 which were carried out to support and improve the results in fiscal year 2003. The research in the regional scale area shows the reliability of conceptual hydrogeological model and numerical simulation for the evaluation of regional hydrogeology. On the other hand, the geological and geophysical investigation, and borehole investigation during the surface-based investigations in the local scale area provide the pragmatic distribution of hydrogeological structure that may control regional groundwater hydrology. Hydrogeological simulations regarding the geological structure such as fault and hydrogeological property demonstrate the priority of investigation of geological structure for the evaluation of hydrogeology. The fault perpendicular to groundwater flow direction crucially affects on regional hydrology. Such fault is necessary to be investigated by priority. Hydrochemical investigation shows that chemical evolution process in this groundwater illustrated is mixing between groundwaters with different salinities. Principal component analysis and mass balance calculation reveal reliable chemistry of end-member waters for mixing. Regarding methodology development, the strategy and procedure of investigations are summarized based on the results of surface-based investigation. Moreover the multi interval monitoring system for water pressure and temperature has developed and started to monitor the in-situ condition of groundwater. The geology, geological structure, hydraulic

The regional and urban policy of the European Union : Cohesion, results-orientation and smart specialisation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

McCann, Philip

2015-01-01

The regional and urban development policy of the European Union, or more precisely, EU Cohesion Policy, is undergoing change. This development is driven by the enormous transformations in European regions and by shifts in thinking and analysis. The issues raised by the changes to regional and urban

Shifts in climate suitability for wine production as a result of climate change in a temperate climate wine region of Romania

Science.gov (United States)

Irimia, Liviu Mihai; Patriche, Cristian Valeriu; Quenol, Hervé; Sfîcă, Lucian; Foss, Chris

2018-02-01

Climate change is causing important shifts in the suitability of regions for wine production. Fine scale mapping of these shifts helps us to understand the evolution of vineyard climates, and to find solutions through viticultural adaptation. The aim of this study is to identify and map the structural and spatial shifts that occurred in the climatic suitability for wine production of the Cotnari wine growing region (Romania) between 1961 and 2013. Discontinuities in trends of temperature were identified, and the averages and trends of 13 climatic parameters for the 1961 to 1980 and 1981 to 2013 time periods were analysed. Using the averages of these climatic parameters, climate suitability for wine production was calculated at a resolution of 30 m and mapped for each time period, and the changes analysed. The results indicate shifts in the area's historic climatic profile, due to an increase of heliothermal resources and precipitation constancy. The area's climate suitability for wine production was modified by the loss of climate suitability for white table wines, sparkling wines and wine for distillates; shifts in suitability to higher altitudes by about 67 m, and a 48.6% decrease in the area suitable for quality white wines; and the occurrence of suitable climates for red wines at lower altitudes. The study showed that climate suitability for wine production has a multi-level spatial structure, with classes requiring a cooler climate being located at a higher altitude than those requiring a warmer climate. Climate change has therefore resulted in the shift of climate suitability classes for wine production to higher altitudes.

On periodic and chaotic regions in the Mandelbrot set

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pastor, G.; Romera, M.; Alvarez, G.; Arroyo, D.; Montoya, F.

2007-01-01

We show here in a graphic and simple way the relation between the periodic and chaotic regions in the Mandelbrot set. Since the relation between the periodic and chaotic regions in a one-dimensional (1D) quadratic set is already well known, we shall base on it to extend the results to the Mandelbrot set. We shall see that in the same way as the hyperbolic components of the period-doubling cascade determines the chaotic bands structure in 1D quadratic sets, the periodic region determines the chaotic region in the Mandelbrot set

Environmental Radiation Surveillance Results from over the Last Decade of Operational Experience at the Regional Radiation Monitoring Stations(RRMS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Hae Young [Daegu Regional Radiation Monitoring Station, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Yoo, Dong Han [Ulsan Regional Radiation Monitoring Station, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Sang Hoon [Kyungpook National University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

The objectives of the current program are to monitor environmental radiation/radioactivity level in Korea and to provide the base-line data on environmental radiation/radioactivity which will be useful in the case of radiological emergency situations. This program plays an important role in the view of protecting the public health against the potential hazards of radiation and maintaining a clean environment. This paper describes an introduction to the Regional Radiation Monitoring Stations (RRMS), and also presents some results of recent years (2001-2014). The environmental radiation surveillance results of years 2001-2014 have been described. It indicates normal levels of radiation in the past years. These kinds of studies are very important in providing references in understanding the environmental radioactivity level in a particular region.

International Economic Integration in the Asia Pacific Region and Russia’s Interests: Results of 25 Years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yana Valeryevna Dyomina

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In 2017 Russia marked the 25th anniversary of economic reforms. In the sphere of foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region (APR it resulted in the FTA between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union and membership in APEC. During the mentioned period Russia has not changed its role in the region: it’s still viewed as a supplier of raw materials and it’s not very attractive as FDI recipient. In recent years China has become the main trade partner of Russia and the APR’s share in the Russian foreign trade turnover has grown substantially (in imports from 11.8% in 1996 to 39.4% in 2016, in exports from 18.6% to 23.1%. As for the Russian Far East, the APR partners played a leading role in foreign trade relations throughout the studied period, however, they sharply devalued as investors (offshore territories and European countries occupied leading positions both in the Russian Far East and country as a whole. At the same time, during the years the APR’s integration area transformed significantly. Firs, there was enlargement of integration blocks. Second, integration processes became ‘deeper’ and ‘broader’ (agreements cover more and more issues. Now the formats of multilateral economic cooperation in the APR include following: APEC, NAFTA, ASEAN, TPP, etc. Among them the author emphasizes two blocs with hugest experience and ‘depth’ of integration processes development – NAFTA and ASEAN. During the period 1991–2015 each of these blocks was characterized by increasing share of mutual trade and the least developed members of the mentioned unions (Mexico in NAFTA and Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam in ASEAN had the highest growth rates of merchandise exports and imports. Although the operation of each of the associations had a positive impact on the dynamics of foreign trade of their member countries the study fails to prove a direct relationship between NAFTA and AFTA functioning and economic growth of their member states

Microbiome analysis shows enrichment for specific bacteria in separate anatomical regions of the deep-sea carnivorous sponge Chondrocladia grandis.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhoeven, Joost T P; Kavanagh, Alana N; Dufour, Suzanne C

2017-01-01

The Cladorhizidae is a unique family of carnivorous marine sponges characterised by either the absence or reduction of the aquiferous system and by the presence of specialised structures to trap and digest mesoplanktonic prey. Previous studies have postulated a key role of host-associated bacteria in enabling carnivory in this family of sponges. In this study, we employed high-throughput Illumina-based sequencing to identify the bacterial community associated with four individuals of the deep-sea sponge Chondrocladia grandis sampled in the Gulf of Maine. By characterising the V6 through V8 region of the 16S rRNA gene, we compared the bacterial community composition and diversity in three distinct anatomical regions with predicted involvement in prey capture (sphere), support (axis) and benthic substrate attachment (root). A high abundance of Tenacibaculum, a known siderophore producing bacterial genus, was present in all anatomical regions and specimens. The abundance of Colwellia and Roseobacter was greater in sphere and axis samples, and bacteria from the hydrocarbon-degrading Robiginitomaculum genus were most abundant in the root. This first description of the bacterial community associated with C. grandis provides novel insights into the contribution of bacteria to the carnivorous lifestyle while laying foundations for future cladorhizid symbiosis studies. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

MR-guided laser-induced thermotherapy of tumours of the head and neck region: First clinical results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogl, T.J.; Mack, M.G.; Mueller, P.; Philipp, C.; Juergens, M.; Knoebber, D.; Roggan, A.; Wust, P.; Jahnke, V.; Felix, R.

1995-01-01

8 patients with recurrent tumours of the head and neck region (squamous cell carcinomas n=6, pleomorphic adenomas n=2) underwent MR-controlled LITT. A 7 French laser applicator was inserted under local anaesthesia into the centre of the recurrent tumour. A Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used. Therapy was monitored on-line using special MR thermosequences. Preinterventional contrast-enhanced MRI revealed a recurrent tumour of the head and neck region for all eight patients. All patients tolerated the procedures well under local anaesthesia, with no clinically relevant side effects. The MR thermosequences depicted up to 15 mm diameter areas of less signal near the laser tip. Postinterventional contrast-enhanced MRI revealed hypovascularised areas due to the resulting coagulative necrosis. Coagulative necrosis of 4 cc to 28 cc occurred in all patients, and a reduction of clinical symptoms was achieved in five. (orig./MG) [de

[Implementation of a regional system for the emergency care of acute ischemic stroke: Initial results].

Science.gov (United States)

Soares-Oliveira, Miguel; Araújo, Fernando

2014-06-01

Implementing integrated systems for emergency care of patients with acute ischemic stroke helps reduce morbidity and mortality. We describe the process of organizing and implementing a regional system to cover around 3.7 million people and its main initial results. We performed a descriptive analysis of the implementation process and a retrospective analysis of the following parameters: number of patients prenotified by the pre-hospital system; number of times thrombolysis was performed; door-to-needle time; and functional assessment three months after stroke. The implementation process started in November 2005 and ended in December 2009, and included 11 health centers. There were 3574 prenotifications from the prehospital system. Thrombolysis was performed in 1142 patients. The percentage of patients receiving thrombolysis rose during the study period, with a maximum of 16%. Median door-to-needle time was 62 min in 2009. Functional recovery three months after stroke was total or near total in 50% of patients. The regional system implemented for emergency care of patients with acute ischemic stroke has led to health gains, with progressive improvements in patients' access to thrombolysis, and to greater equity in the health care system, thus helping to reduce mortality from cerebrovascular disease in Portugal. Our results, which are comparable with those of international studies, support the strategy adopted for implementation of this system. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

The Latin-American region and the challenges to develop one homogeneous and harmonized hazard model: preliminary results for the Caribbean and Central America regions in the GEM context

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, J.; Arcila, M.; Benito, B.; Eraso, J.; García, R.; Gomez Capera, A.; Pagani, M.; Pinho, R.; Rendon, H.; Torres, Y.

2013-05-01

Latin America is a seismically active region with complex tectonic settings that make the creation of hazard models challenging. Over the past two decades PSHA studies have been completed for this region in the context of global (Shedlock, 1999), regional (Dimaté et al., 1999) and national initiatives. Currently different research groups are developing new models for various nations. The Global Earthquake Model (GEM), an initiative aiming at the creation of a large global community working collaboratively on building hazard and risk models using open standards and tools, is promoting the collaboration between different national projects and groups so as to facilitate the creation of harmonized regional models. The creation of a harmonized hazard model can follow different approaches, varying from a simple patching of available models to a complete homogenisation of basic information and the subsequent creation of a completely new PSHA model. In this contribution we describe the process and results of a first attempt aiming at the creation of a community based model covering the Caribbean and Central America regions. It consists of five main steps: 1- Identification and collection of available PSHA input models; 2- Analysis of the consistency, transparency and reproducibility of each model; 3- Selection (if more then a model exists for the same region); 4- Representation of the models in a standardized format and incorporation of new knowledge from recent studies; 5- Proposal(s) of harmonization We consider some PHSA studies completed over the latest twenty years in the region comprising the Caribbean (CAR), Central America (CAM) and northern South America (SA), we illustrate a tentative harmonization of the seismic source geometries models and we discuss the steps needed toward a complete harmonisation of the models. Our will is to have a model based on best practices and high standards created though a combination of knowledge and competences coming from the

Regional changes in the distribution of foreign aid: An entropy approach

Science.gov (United States)

Salois, Matthew J.

2013-07-01

Foreign aid contributes significantly to the income levels and economic viability of many developing countries. This paper investigates the dispersion in the distribution of foreign aid using the Theil entropy measure of inequality. Results show that the inequality (dispersion) of foreign aid has increased substantially in recent years. The increased inequality in the total distribution of aid has been due to both increases in the regional inequality of aid and increases in the average inequality of aid within each region. As a result, the distribution of aid is becoming less alike between regions and between countries within regions.

Stem cells show promising results for lymphoedema treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Quaade, Marlene Louise; Sheikh, Søren Paludan

2015-01-01

Abstract Lymphoedema is a debilitating condition, manifesting in excess lymphatic fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues. Lymphoedema is as of yet still an incurable condition and current treatment modalities are not satisfactory. The capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to promote angiogenesis......, secrete growth factors, regulate the inflammatory process, and differentiate into multiple cell types make them a potential ideal therapy for lymphoedema. Adipose tissue is the richest and most accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells and they can be harvested, isolated, and used for therapy...... in a single stage procedure as an autologous treatment. The aim of this paper was to review all studies using mesenchymal stem cells for lymphoedema treatment with a special focus on the potential use of adipose-derived stem cells. A systematic search was performed and five preclinical and two clinical...

Different Aspects of Regional Development in East-Central Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PÁL SZABÓ

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to explore and analyze the main characteristics of East-Central Europe’s spatial structure, including its changes during the recent years. In many territorial researches, there is an intention to define different types of regions and to establish territorial regularities, create models, etc. In this case, we analysed the regions of East-Central Europe based on their comprehensive socio-economic data and described the most important characteristics of the spatial structure of this macroregion from different perspectives. Some results show that the social and economic core areas are highly separated from each other and the development “image” of East-Central Europe has remained the same viewing from the aspects of bigger, homogenous areas, but became more mosaic with the appearance of some separated and improving regions, strengthening the model of the “Bunch of Grapes”, not the "Boomerang". Other results show that it is difficult to create a spatial structure model for this macroregion, because the results may depend on the viewpoints.

Regional planning without means - search for regional leadership

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Groth, Niels Boje; Fertner, Christian

and stakeholders, not least due to its polycentric urban structure with several medium-sized towns. Besides the regional authority and the regions 22 municipalities, sub-regional collaboration is gaining momentum. Furthermore, different fora, councils and associations are engaging in regional issues. However......, collaboration is often focused on specific sectors or sub-regions, while the joint development of the region is left behind. The regional authority has changed its focus from planning to the provision of knowledge, suitable to kick-off joint action with regional stakeholders, while municipalities keep focus...... on their own territories, eventually in the context of one of the new sub-regional collaborations. Based on an empirical analysis of the regional interplay in Southern Denmark and results from the ESPON ReSSI project, we go through these new settings of regional collaboration in the search for new forms...

Implications for U.S. trade and nonindigenous species risk resulting from increased economic integration of the Asia-Pacific Region

Science.gov (United States)

Amanda M. Countryman; Travis Warziniack; Erin Grey

2018-01-01

This work investigates how potential changes in trade patterns resulting from increased economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region may affect the risk for nonindigenous species spread to the United States. We construct an invasion risk index utilizing the results from a global economic modeling framework in tandem with data for climate similarities between trade...

Therapeutic results and prognostic factors after irradiation of loco-regional prostate cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Debrigode, C.; Dubois, J.; Hay, H.M.; Astre, C.; Savu, N.M.

1994-01-01

The present study concerns 140 patients with loco-regional prostatic cancer, treated with external beam irradiation at the CRLC Val-d'Aurelle in Montpellier, France, between 1982 and 1988, with a minimum of 54 months follow-up. The local control after radiotherapy is 78.6%, all stages and histological grades combined. The median overall survival is 114 months and the median disease-free survival 59 months. The most frequent modality of treatment failure is metastatic disease, isolated (32.8%) or combined to local relapse (10%). The rate of urinary intolerance symptoms during treatment was 87.1 and 80.6% for the digestive ones. The late urinary complications and sequellae rate was 21.4% for the cystitis-type and 12.9% for post-radiotherapy urethral structures; the latter has imposed in 2/3 of cases one or more trans-urethral resections that never showed pathological signs of recurrence. Digestive complications and sequellae occurred in 31.3% of the patients; in the latter group there were two internal digestive fistulae which needed surgical treatment and three postradiotherapeutic stenosis of the anal canal. The prognostic factors revealed by statistical analysis are clinical stage, pathological grade for overall and disease-free survival, age for overall survival and trans-urethral resection for disease-free survival, the latter being equally a risk factor for cystitis-type complications and urethral structures. (authors). 26 refs., 8 figs., 7 tabs

Assessing NARCCAP climate model effects using spatial confidence regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. P. French

2017-07-01

Full Text Available We assess similarities and differences between model effects for the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP climate models using varying classes of linear regression models. Specifically, we consider how the average temperature effect differs for the various global and regional climate model combinations, including assessment of possible interaction between the effects of global and regional climate models. We use both pointwise and simultaneous inference procedures to identify regions where global and regional climate model effects differ. We also show conclusively that results from pointwise inference are misleading, and that accounting for multiple comparisons is important for making proper inference.

Thinking regionally: narrative, the medical humanities and region.

Science.gov (United States)

Waddington, Keir

2015-06-01

Drawing on multiple literatures from history, geography, anthropology, sociology and literature, this essay asks questions about what we mean by region and why narratives of region should matter to the medical humanities. The essay surveys how region can be used as a lens of analysis, exploring the various academic approaches to region and their limitations. It argues that regions are dynamic but also unstable as a category of analysis and are often used uncritically by scholars. In encouraging scholars working in the medical humanities to be aware that regions are not simple objective or analytical boxes, the essay shows how an awareness of region helps challenge metropolitan whiggism and ideas of core and periphery to give a more prominent place to hinterlands, market towns and rural environments. Furthermore, the essay considers how incorporating region into our understanding of illness can offer new insights. It demonstrates the need for scholars to be attuned to the narratives constructed around regions, suggesting that regions can be viewed as discursive formations that provide a frame for understanding both collective and personal ideas of, and responses to, health and illness, disease and healing, to create what Megan Davies calls a more nuanced 'intellectual cartography'. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

A preliminary comparison of F region plasma drifts and E region irregularity drifts in the auroral zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ecklund, W.L.; Balsley, B.B.; Carter, D.A.

1977-01-01

During several days in April--May 1976 the Chatanika, Alaska, incoherent scatter radar and a temporary Doppler auroral radar located at Aniak, Alaska, were directed toward ionospheric volumes along a common magnetic field line in order to compare E region and F region drifts and associated electric fields. The Chatanika radar measured F region plasma drifts via the incoherent scatter technique, while the Aniak radar measured the drifts of E region irregularities (i.e., the radar aurora). The radar geometry was arranged so that both radars measured approximately the same velocity component of a magnetically westward or eastward motion. Preliminary data show good agreement between the drift velocity components measured by the two techniques during most of the experimental period. This result indicates that relatively modest auroral radar systems may be used, with some qualifications, to determine auroral electric fields

Experimental results showing the internal three-component velocity field and outlet temperature contours for a model gas turbine combustor

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Meyers, BC

2011-09-01

Full Text Available by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc. All rights reserved ISABE-2011-1129 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOWING THE INTERNAL THREE-COMPONENT VELOCITY FIELD AND OUTLET TEMPERATURE CONTOURS FOR A MODEL GAS TURBINE COMBUSTOR BC Meyers*, GC... identifier c Position identifier F Fuel i Index L (Combustor) Liner OP Orifice plate Introduction There are often inconsistencies when comparing experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for gas turbine combustors [1...

Prevalence of trachoma in the Far North region of Cameroon: results of a survey in 27 Health Districts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blaise Noa Noatina

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cameroon is known to be endemic with trachoma. To appreciate the burden of the disease and facilitate the national planning of trachoma control in the integrated control program for the neglected tropical diseases, an epidemiological mapping of trachoma was conducted in the Far North region in 2010-11. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional, cluster random sampling survey was carried out. The survey focused on two target populations: children aged 1 to 9 years for the prevalence of active trachoma and those aged 15 and over for the prevalence of trichiasis (TT. The sample frame was an exhaustive list of villages and neighborhoods of Health Districts (HDs. The World Health Organization simplified trachoma grading system was used for the recognition and registration of cases of trachoma. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 48,844 children aged 1 to 9 years and 41,533 people aged 15 and over were examined. In children aged 1-9 years, the overall prevalence of trachomatous inflammation-follicular (TF was 11.2% (95% confidence intervals (CI: 11.0-11.5%. More girls were affected than boys (p = 0.003. Thirteen (13 of 27 HDs in the region showed TF prevalence of ≥10%. The overall TT prevalence was 1.0% (95% CI: 0.9-1.1%. There were estimated 17193 (95% CI: 12576-25860 TT cases in the region. The prevalence of blindness was 0.04% (95% CI: 0.03-0.07% and visual impairment was 0.09% (95% CI: 0.07-0.13%. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The survey confirmed that trachoma is a public health problem in the Far North region with 13 HDs qualified for district-level mass drug administration with azithromycin. It provided a foundation for the national program to plan and implement the SAFE strategy in the region. Effort must be made to find resources to provide the surgical operations to the 17193 TT cases and prevent them from becoming blind.

Chlorine-36 measurements in the Murray Basin; preliminary results from the Victorian and South Australian Mallee region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davie, R.F.; Calf, G.E.; Bird, J.R.; Topham, S.; Kellett, J.R.; Evans, W.R.; Fifield, L.K.; Ophel, T.R.

1989-01-01

Chlorine-36 analyses of groundwater samples from 18 wells in the Victorian and South Australian Mallee region of the Murray Basin have been carried out using the technique of accelerator mass spectrometry. Results of these analyses are discussed and presented as evidence for significant recharge from rainfall over much of the study area to the underlying Murray Group limestone aquifer. In addition, results indicate areas where further 36 Cl measurements of Murray Mallee groundwater would provide useful hydrological information on both recharge and discharge mechanisms. 34 refs., 1 tab., 7 figs

Genetic characterization of UCS region of Pneumocystis jirovecii and construction of allelic profiles of Indian isolates based on sequence typing at three regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Rashmi; Mirdha, Bijay Ranjan; Guleria, Randeep; Kumar, Lalit; Luthra, Kalpana; Agarwal, Sanjay Kumar; Sreenivas, Vishnubhatla

2013-01-01

Pneumocystis jirovecii is an opportunistic pathogen that causes severe pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. To study the genetic diversity of P. jirovecii in India the upstream conserved sequence (UCS) region of Pneumocystis genome was amplified, sequenced and genotyped from a set of respiratory specimens obtained from 50 patients with a positive result for nested mitochondrial large subunit ribosomal RNA (mtLSU rRNA) PCR during the years 2005-2008. Of these 50 cases, 45 showed a positive PCR for UCS region. Variations in the tandem repeats in UCS region were characterized by sequencing all the positive cases. Of the 45 cases, one case showed five repeats, 11 cases showed four repeats, 29 cases showed three repeats and four cases showed two repeats. By running amplified DNA from all these cases on a high-resolution gel, mixed infection was observed in 12 cases (26.7%, 12/45). Forty three of 45 cases included in this study had previously been typed at mtLSU rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region by our group. In the present study, the genotypes at those two regions were combined with UCS repeat patterns to construct allelic profiles of 43 cases. A total of 36 allelic profiles were observed in 43 isolates indicating high genetic variability. A statistically significant association was observed between mtLSU rRNA genotype 1, ITS type Ea and UCS repeat pattern 4. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Regional Heterogeneity of Productivity Determinants: Evidence from Ukrainian Firms

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Cieślik Andrzej

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper studies the determinants of the total factor productivity (TFP for Ukrainian firms in the manufacturing sector across macro-regions using recent micro-level datasets for 2013. Our empirical results show some degree of heterogeneity across Ukrainian macro-regions; in particular, the link between the total factor productivity, firm size, imports and the level of competition seems to be valid for all macro regions. However, the effects of private ownership status, capital intensity and exports seems to be region specific. In addition, we found no relationship between firm productivity and foreign ownership for any of the regions.

The heavy ion diffusion region in magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Y. H.; Mouikis, C. G.; Kistler, L. M.; Wang, S.; Roytershteyn, V.; Karimabadi, H.

2015-05-01

While the plasma in the Earth's magnetotail predominantly consists of protons and electrons, there are times when a significant amount of oxygen is present. When magnetic reconnection occurs, the behavior of these heavy ions can be significantly different from that of the protons, due to their larger gyroradius. In this study, we investigate the heavy ion distribution functions in the reconnection ion diffusion region from a 2.5D three-species particle-in-cell numerical simulation and compare those with Cluster observations from the near-Earth magnetotail. From the simulation results, we find that the heavy ions are demagnetized and accelerated in a larger diffusion region, the heavy ion diffusion region. The ion velocity distribution functions show that, inside the heavy ion diffusion region, heavy ions appear as counterstreaming beams along z in the GSM x-z plane, while drifting in y, carrying cross-tail current. We compare this result with Cluster observations in the vicinity of reconnection regions in the near-Earth magnetotail and find that the simulation predictions are consistent with the observed ion distribution functions in the ion diffusion region, as well as the inflow, exhaust, and separatrix regions. Based on the simulation and observation results, the presence of a multiscale diffusion region model, for O+ abundant reconnection events in the Earth's magnetotail, is demonstrated. A test particle simulation shows that in the diffusion region, the H+ gains energy mainly through Ex, while the O+ energy gain comes equally from Ex and Ey.

Contribution of Large Region Joint Associations to Complex Traits Genetics

Science.gov (United States)

Paré, Guillaume; Asma, Senay; Deng, Wei Q.

2015-01-01

A polygenic model of inheritance, whereby hundreds or thousands of weakly associated variants contribute to a trait’s heritability, has been proposed to underlie the genetic architecture of complex traits. However, relatively few genetic variants have been positively identified so far and they collectively explain only a small fraction of the predicted heritability. We hypothesized that joint association of multiple weakly associated variants over large chromosomal regions contributes to complex traits variance. Confirmation of such regional associations can help identify new loci and lead to a better understanding of known ones. To test this hypothesis, we first characterized the ability of commonly used genetic association models to identify large region joint associations. Through theoretical derivation and simulation, we showed that multivariate linear models where multiple SNPs are included as independent predictors have the most favorable association profile. Based on these results, we tested for large region association with height in 3,740 European participants from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) study. Adjusting for SNPs with known association with height, we demonstrated clustering of weak associations (p = 2x10-4) in regions extending up to 433.0 Kb from known height loci. The contribution of regional associations to phenotypic variance was estimated at 0.172 (95% CI 0.063-0.279; p < 0.001), which compared favorably to 0.129 explained by known height variants. Conversely, we showed that suggestively associated regions are enriched for known height loci. To extend our findings to other traits, we also tested BMI, HDLc and CRP for large region associations, with consistent results for CRP. Our results demonstrate the presence of large region joint associations and suggest these can be used to pinpoint weakly associated SNPs. PMID:25856144

Regional Economic Development Strategy Based Agro-Industries in Key Region Kandangan South of Kalimantan

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Dewi Siska

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Agroindustry has become the main pillar in South Kalimantan development, it can be found in RPJPD 2005-2025. Kandangan mainstay region as one of three leading regions in South Kalimantan which potentially improved to push economy growth through agriculture based industry activity (agroindustry. The concept of agroindustry a side is expected to drive economic growth as well as to realize the equitable distribution of income. This research aims to: (1 identify to economic development of the region in Kandangan mainstay regions, (2 identify the main commodity, (3 identify means of supporting agroindustry, and (4 formulating development strategies based agroindustry region. Entropy analysis shows the development of the economy sufficiently developed in Kandangan mainstay region dominated by the agricultural sector, namely food crops subsector. LQ an SSA analysis shows corn and rice crops become competitive commodities. There are only few of supporting infrastructure agroindustry activities. Strategy formulation in the research is the improvement of infrastructure or infrastructure that can facilitate inter regional connectivity in the region mainstay Kandangan and the government as the leading actor agroindustry development.

Vesper Sparrows and Western Meadowlarks Show a Mixed Response to Cattle Grazing in the Intermountain Region of British Columbia

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Megan L. Harrison

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Livestock grazing in the shortgrass steppe of the Intermountain region of British Columbia is predicted to have significant effects on grassland habitats and their associated ground-nesting bird communities. We tested whether grazed and ungrazed sites could be discriminated on the basis of their vegetation communities, whether the abundance of two ground-nesting bird species, Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus and Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta, differed between grazed and ungrazed sites, and whether vegetation variables found to differ between grazed and ungrazed plots could be used to predict the abundance of the two bird species at a fine scale. Grazed sites were easily distinguishable from a site that had been ungrazed for >30 years based on the structure and composition of their vegetation communities. However, more detailed grazing categories could not be distinguished on the basis of vegetation characteristics. Despite the existence of grazing effects on vegetation structure and composition, we found no consistent differences in abundance of Vesper Sparrows and Western Meadowlarks between the grazed and ungrazed sites. However, there was weak evidence that the abundance of both species was higher at fine-scale plots (100 m radius point count station with less bare ground and taller vegetation. Bare ground cover was lower on grazed plots, but vegetation was taller on ungrazed plots. Combined, our results suggest that low intensity grazing leads to grassland habitat change with both negative and positive effects on Vesper Sparrows and Western Meadowlarks, resulting in no net change in their broad-scale abundance.

The Satellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality (SAMIRA): Project summary and first results

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Philipp; Stebel, Kerstin; Ajtai, Nicolae; Diamandi, Andrei; Horalek, Jan; Nemuc, Anca; Stachlewska, Iwona; Zehner, Claus

2017-04-01

We present a summary and some first results of a new ESA-funded project entitled Satellite based Monitoring Initiative for Regional Air quality (SAMIRA), which aims at improving regional and local air quality monitoring through synergetic use of data from present and upcoming satellite instruments, traditionally used in situ air quality monitoring networks and output from chemical transport models. Through collaborative efforts in four countries, namely Romania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Norway, all with existing air quality problems, SAMIRA intends to support the involved institutions and associated users in their national monitoring and reporting mandates as well as to generate novel research in this area. The primary goal of SAMIRA is to demonstrate the usefulness of existing and future satellite products of air quality for improving monitoring and mapping of air pollution at the regional scale. A total of six core activities are being carried out in order to achieve this goal: Firstly, the project is developing and optimizing algorithms for the retrieval of hourly aerosol optical depth (AOD) maps from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) onboard of Meteosat Second Generation. As a second activity, SAMIRA aims to derive particulate matter (PM2.5) estimates from AOD data by developing robust algorithms for AOD-to-PM conversion with the support from model- and Lidar data. In a third activity, we evaluate the added value of satellite products of atmospheric composition for operational European-scale air quality mapping using geostatistics and auxiliary datasets. The additional benefit of satellite-based monitoring over existing monitoring techniques (in situ, models) is tested by combining these datasets using geostatistical methods and demonstrated for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and aerosol optical depth/particulate matter. As a fourth activity, the project is developing novel algorithms for downscaling coarse

Space Weather Research in the Equatorial Region: A Philosophical Reinforcement

Science.gov (United States)

Chukwuma, Victor; Odunaike, Rasaki; Laoye, John

Investigations using radio waves reflected from the ionosphere, at high-and mid-latitudes indicate that ionospheric absorption can strongly increase following geomagnetic storms; which appears to suggest some definite relationship between ionospheric radio wave absorption and geomagnetic storms at these latitudes. However, corresponding earlier studies in the equatorial region did not appear to show any explicit relationship between ionospheric radio wave absorption and geomagnetic storm activity. This position appeared acceptable to the existing scientific paradigm, until in an act of paradigm shift, by a change of storm selection criteria, some more recent space weather investigations in the low latitudes showed that ionospheric radio wave absorption in the equatorial region clearly increases after intense storms. Given that these results in the equatorial region stood against the earlier results, this paper presently attempts to highlight their philosophical underpinning and posit that they constitute a scientific statement.

Discrete Ramanujan transform for distinguishing the protein coding regions from other regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Wei; Wang, Jiasong; Zhao, Jian

2014-01-01

Based on the study of Ramanujan sum and Ramanujan coefficient, this paper suggests the concepts of discrete Ramanujan transform and spectrum. Using Voss numerical representation, one maps a symbolic DNA strand as a numerical DNA sequence, and deduces the discrete Ramanujan spectrum of the numerical DNA sequence. It is well known that of discrete Fourier power spectrum of protein coding sequence has an important feature of 3-base periodicity, which is widely used for DNA sequence analysis by the technique of discrete Fourier transform. It is performed by testing the signal-to-noise ratio at frequency N/3 as a criterion for the analysis, where N is the length of the sequence. The results presented in this paper show that the property of 3-base periodicity can be only identified as a prominent spike of the discrete Ramanujan spectrum at period 3 for the protein coding regions. The signal-to-noise ratio for discrete Ramanujan spectrum is defined for numerical measurement. Therefore, the discrete Ramanujan spectrum and the signal-to-noise ratio of a DNA sequence can be used for distinguishing the protein coding regions from the noncoding regions. All the exon and intron sequences in whole chromosomes 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Caenorhabditis elegans have been tested and the histograms and tables from the computational results illustrate the reliability of our method. In addition, we have analyzed theoretically and gotten the conclusion that the algorithm for calculating discrete Ramanujan spectrum owns the lower computational complexity and higher computational accuracy. The computational experiments show that the technique by using discrete Ramanujan spectrum for classifying different DNA sequences is a fast and effective method. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the Impact of Regional Marketing Projects on the Development of Regions from Different Stakeholder Perspectives

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Kunze Kim-Kathrin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In the competition for economically attractive stakeholders, regions have to implement strategies to gain and adhere those interest groups. Empirical studies concerning the migration motivations show that it is not only labor market but also soft locational factors of the social environment, nature and landscape that are of high importance: A majority of the population is willing to move or rather stay at a special place because of such soft locational factors. This study examines the impact of regional marketing projects on the development of regions from the perspectives of inhabitants and tourists as well as general attributes to measure a region’s attractiveness from the perspective of high potentials. We argue that those projects that fit to the region and its unique selling propositions contribute to positioning and building location brand value. We show that projects have a socio-economic effect on the attitude towards regions and contribute to building location brand value. An analysis of group differences shows that the project influence on the region and region attractiveness are perceived in significantly different manner depending on the knowledge level of the stakeholder group. Consequently, one should increase the awareness of marketing activities and regions and focus on soft locational factors while establishing and positioning a region brand.

Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Science.gov (United States)

Denis, Max; Mehrmohammadi, Mohammad; Song, Pengfei; Meixner, Duane D; Fazzio, Robert T; Pruthi, Sandhya; Whaley, Dana H; Chen, Shigao; Fatemi, Mostafa; Alizad, Azra

2015-01-01

To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE) for classification of breast masses. CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF) beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results. Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s) in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s). Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC). CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

Automated selection of trabecular bone regions in knee radiographs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podsiadlo, P.; Wolski, M.; Stachowiak, G. W.

2008-01-01

Osteoarthritic (OA) changes in knee joints can be assessed by analyzing the structure of trabecular bone (TB) in the tibia. This analysis is performed on TB regions selected manually by a human operator on x-ray images. Manual selection is time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Even if a radiologist expert or highly trained person is available to select regions, high inter- and intraobserver variabilities are still possible. A fully automated image segmentation method was, therefore, developed to select the bone regions for numerical analyses of changes in bone structures. The newly developed method consists of image preprocessing, delineation of cortical bone plates (active shape model), and location of regions of interest (ROI). The method was trained on an independent set of 40 x-ray images. Automatically selected regions were compared to the ''gold standard'' that contains ROIs selected manually by a radiologist expert on 132 x-ray images. All images were acquired from subjects locked in a standardized standing position using a radiography rig. The size of each ROI is 12.8x12.8 mm. The automated method results showed a good agreement with the gold standard [similarity index (SI)=0.83 (medial) and 0.81 (lateral) and the offset=[-1.78, 1.27]x[-0.65,0.26] mm (medial) and [-2.15, 1.59]x[-0.58, 0.52] mm (lateral)]. Bland and Altman plots were constructed for fractal signatures, and changes of fractal dimensions (FD) to region offsets calculated between the gold standard and automatically selected regions were calculated. The plots showed a random scatter and the 95% confidence intervals were (-0.006, 0.008) and (-0.001, 0.011). The changes of FDs to region offsets were less than 0.035. Previous studies showed that differences in FDs between non-OA and OA bone regions were greater than 0.05. ROIs were also selected by a second radiologist and then evaluated. Results indicated that the newly developed method could replace a human operator and produces bone regions

Regional scheme for the connection to the grid of renewable energies: for the Hauts-de-France region, for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, for the Picardy region, the Alsace region, the Aquitaine region, the Auvergne region, the Lower-Normandy region, the Burgundy region, the Brittany region, the Centre-Val-de-Loire region, the Champagne-Ardennes region, the Franche-Comte region, the Upper Normandy region, the Ile-de-France region, the Languedoc-Roussillon region, the Lorraine region, the Midi-Pyrenees region, the Provence-Alps-Cote d'Azur region, the Pays-de-la-Loire region, the Poitou-Charentes region, the Rhone-Alps region. Technical and financial status of the scheme implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

This document gathers reports related to all French regions. Each one addresses the elaboration of the concerned regional scheme of connection of renewable energies to the distribution network (French acronym: S3REnR) which aims at anticipating and planning evolutions of electrical networks which are necessary for the integration of renewable energies. Illustrated by maps, tables and graphs, these reports propose indications of energy production locations, an identification of planned works, a presentation of the concerned region, of its existing grid and projects, an overview of the scheme content (initial status, results of consultations, adopted strategies, planned works), and an overview of the scheme implementation status

Age-and Brain Region-Specific Differences in Mitochondrial ...

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Mitochondria are central regulators of energy homeostasis and play a pivotal role in mechanisms of cellular senescence. The objective of the present study was to evaluate mitochondrial bio­-energetic parameters in five brain regions [brainstem (BS), frontal cortex (FC), cerebellum (CER), striatum (STR), hippocampus (HIP)] of four diverse age groups [1 Month (young), 4 Month (adult), 12 Month (middle-aged), 24 Month (old age)] to understand age-related differences in selected brain regions and their contribution to age-related chemical sensitivity. Mitochondrial bioenergetics parameters and enzyme activity were measured under identical conditions across multiple age groups and brain regions in Brown Norway rats (n = 5). The results indicate age- and brain region-specific patterns in mitochondrial functional endpoints. For example, an age-specific decline in ATP synthesis (State 111 respiration) was observed in BS and HIP. Similarly, the maximal respiratory capacities (State V1 and V2) showed age-specific declines in all brain regions examined (young > adult > middle-aged > old age). Amongst all regions, HIP had the greatest change in mitochondrial bioenergetics, showing declines in the 4, 12 and 24 Month age groups. Activities of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) and electron transport chain (ETC) complexes I, II, and IV enzymes were also age- and brain-region specific. In general changes associated with age were more pronounced, with

Application of regional physically-based landslide early warning model: tuning of the input parameters and validation of the results

Science.gov (United States)

D'Ambrosio, Michele; Tofani, Veronica; Rossi, Guglielmo; Salvatici, Teresa; Tacconi Stefanelli, Carlo; Rosi, Ascanio; Benedetta Masi, Elena; Pazzi, Veronica; Vannocci, Pietro; Catani, Filippo; Casagli, Nicola

2017-04-01

runs in real-time by assimilating weather data and uses Monte Carlo simulation techniques to manage the geotechnical and hydrological input parameters. In this context, an assessment of the factors controlling the geotechnical and hydrological features is crucial in order to understand the occurrence of slope instability mechanisms and to provide reliable forecasting of the hydrogeological hazard occurrence, especially in relation to weather events. In particular, the model and the soil characterization were applied in back analysis, in order to assess the reliability of the model through validation of the results with landslide events that occurred during the period. The validation was performed on four past events of intense rainfall that have affected Valle d'Aosta region between 2008 and 2010 years triggering fast shallows landslides. The simulations show substantial improvement of the reliability of the results compared to the use of literature parameters. A statistical analysis of the HIRESSS outputs in terms of failure probability has been carried out in order to define reliable alert levels for regional landslide early warning systems.

Investigation of natural radioactivity level of the waters in the tibet autonomous region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Tianhua; Li Yankun; Yao Ke; Pan Chengchang

1995-01-01

The investigation results of natural radioactivity level in river, lake, spring, well and tap water in the Tibet Autonomous Region is reported. There were totally 46 samples collected from 53 measuring points. The results show that the radioactivity level of water bodies of the Tibet Autonomous region was within normal natural background

Investigation of natural radioactivity level of the waters in Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Mingshen; Ming Chuanbao; Dai Guozhi; Liang Runping; Chen Xiuyu; Yang Gang; Jin Mei

1993-01-01

This paper reports the investigation results of natural radioactivity level in river, lake reservoir, spring, well and tap water in Guangxi Zhuangzu Autonomous Region. There were totally 194 samples collected from 143 measuring points. The results show that the radioactivity level of varied water bodies of the region was within normal natural background

The 17 GHz active region number

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Selhorst, C. L.; Pacini, A. A. [IP and D-Universidade do Vale do Paraíba-UNIVAP, São José dos Campos (Brazil); Costa, J. E. R. [CEA, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São José dos Campos (Brazil); Giménez de Castro, C. G.; Valio, A. [CRAAM, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, São Paulo (Brazil); Shibasaki, K., E-mail: caius@univap.br [Nobeyama Solar Radio Observatory/NAOJ, Minamisaku, Nagano 384-1305 (Japan)

2014-08-01

We report the statistics of the number of active regions (NAR) observed at 17 GHz with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph between 1992, near the maximum of cycle 22, and 2013, which also includes the maximum of cycle 24, and we compare with other activity indexes. We find that NAR minima are shorter than those of the sunspot number (SSN) and radio flux at 10.7 cm (F10.7). This shorter NAR minima could reflect the presence of active regions generated by faint magnetic fields or spotless regions, which were a considerable fraction of the counted active regions. The ratio between the solar radio indexes F10.7/NAR shows a similar reduction during the two minima analyzed, which contrasts with the increase of the ratio of both radio indexes in relation to the SSN during the minimum of cycle 23-24. These results indicate that the radio indexes are more sensitive to weaker magnetic fields than those necessary to form sunspots, of the order of 1500 G. The analysis of the monthly averages of the active region brightness temperatures shows that its long-term variation mimics the solar cycle; however, due to the gyro-resonance emission, a great number of intense spikes are observed in the maximum temperature study. The decrease in the number of these spikes is also evident during the current cycle 24, a consequence of the sunspot magnetic field weakening in the last few years.

Total 2004 results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-02-01

This document presents the 2004 results of Total Group: consolidated account, special items, number of shares, market environment, adjustment for amortization of Sanofi-Aventis merger-related intangibles, 4. quarter 2004 results (operating and net incomes, cash flow), upstream (results, production, reserves, recent highlights), downstream (results, refinery throughput, recent highlights), chemicals (results, recent highlights), Total's full year 2004 results (operating and net income, cash flow), 2005 sensitivities, Total SA parent company accounts and proposed dividend, adoption of IFRS accounting, summary and outlook, main operating information by segment for the 4. quarter and full year 2004: upstream (combined liquids and gas production by region, liquids production by region, gas production by region), downstream (refined product sales by region, chemicals), Total financial statements: consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet (assets, liabilities and shareholder's equity), consolidated statements of cash flows, business segments information. (J.S.)

Comb-push ultrasound shear elastography of breast masses: initial results show promise.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Denis

Full Text Available To evaluate the performance of Comb-push Ultrasound Shear Elastography (CUSE for classification of breast masses.CUSE is an ultrasound-based quantitative two-dimensional shear wave elasticity imaging technique, which utilizes multiple laterally distributed acoustic radiation force (ARF beams to simultaneously excite the tissue and induce shear waves. Female patients who were categorized as having suspicious breast masses underwent CUSE evaluations prior to biopsy. An elasticity estimate within the breast mass was obtained from the CUSE shear wave speed map. Elasticity estimates of various types of benign and malignant masses were compared with biopsy results.Fifty-four female patients with suspicious breast masses from our ongoing study are presented. Our cohort included 31 malignant and 23 benign breast masses. Our results indicate that the mean shear wave speed was significantly higher in malignant masses (6 ± 1.58 m/s in comparison to benign masses (3.65 ± 1.36 m/s. Therefore, the stiffness of the mass quantified by the Young's modulus is significantly higher in malignant masses. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC, the optimal cut-off value of 83 kPa yields 87.10% sensitivity, 82.61% specificity, and 0.88 for the area under the curve (AUC.CUSE has the potential for clinical utility as a quantitative diagnostic imaging tool adjunct to B-mode ultrasound for differentiation of malignant and benign breast masses.

How to Apply Sustainable Competitive Advantage for Regional Developments (Case: Ostrobothnia Region of Finland

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Takala Josu

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Nowadays companies concern more about how to survive and extend their own business in future in their current marketplace. However, developing and prospering a region of the country is becoming more crucial question. Successful cooperation and partnership between different sectors of economy (for instance, between companies, public and academic sectors leads to the flourishing and prosperity of the region and consequently of a country. European Commission established smart specialization platform, which is a strategic approach to economic development of a region. By defining and developing of vision, competitive advantages and strategic preferences, region will determine knowledge-based potential. The purpose of this paper is to assign and define the collaboration/relations existed, how strong these relations are and what the expectations are between 3 sectors of economy: public, academic and business. Area of carrying out this research is Ostrobothnia region, however, connections in other regions of Finland and internationally is also presented. There have been chosen 3 industrial peaks from Ostrobothnia region: Energy, Fur and Boat industrial peaks. Analysis is conducted by implementing two core methods: Sense & Respond (S&R and Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA. The goal of this research is also to use S&R method so as to allocate efficiently resources, and to define competitive priorities in cooperation. The main results show that the most tight collaboration and partnership is observed between companies and companies in all around Finland and internationally. While concerning other relationships, companies expect to have tighter cooperation especially in Ostrobothnia and other regions of Finland.

Comparing the potential for identification of lactobacillus spp. of 16s rDNA variable regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riano Pachon, Diego Mauricio; Vanegas Lopez, Maria Consuelo; Gonzalez Garcia, Laura Natalia

2013-01-01

16s rDNA is used for bacterial identification because its variation rate between species allows differentiation. The gene for this ribosomal subunit has 9 variable regions and some of them give more information than others. We were interested in evaluating the potential for species identification of each region and their combinations. We extracted the V1 to V8 regions of 16s rDNA from different strains and species of Lactobacillus and analyzed them using STAP (ss-RNA Taxonomy Assigning Pipeline) and RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) multiclassifier packages. Phylogenetic trees obtained by maximum likelihood analyses were compared. Classification results show that many regions give the correct genus classification using RDP and STAP; however they are not enough to classify up to the level of species. V5V6 region presents the highest quantity of informative fragments but also present the highest rate of false negatives. V1V3 region presents the highest rate of true positives (species) using STAP and the region V5V8 in RDP (genus).The phylogenetic result shows that the reference topology could be obtained using different combination of regions as V1V3 and V1V8.The experimental validation was done using commercial strains from a probiotic tampon. Sequencing analysis show that the V1V3 region gives the same information and result as the complete 16s rDNA; the three isolated strains correspond to the strains indicated in the product. We conclude that the V1V3 region is the minimum required region to classify Lactobacillus spp. in the correct way and this region is useful in metagenomics to analyze probiotics samples.

Incorporating Renewable Energy Science in Regional Landscape Design: Results from a Competition in The Netherlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renée M. de Waal

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Energy transition is expected to make an important contribution to sustainable development. Although it is argued that landscape design could foster energy transition, there is scant empirical research on how practitioners approach this new challenge. The research question central to this study is: To what extent and how is renewable energy science incorporated in regional landscape design? To address this knowledge gap, a case study of a regional landscape design competition in the Netherlands, held from 2010–2012, is presented. Its focus was on integral, strategic landscape transformation with energy transition as a major theme. Content analysis of the 36 competition entries was supplemented and triangulated with a survey among the entrants, observation of the process and a study of the competition documents and website. Results indicated insufficient use of key-strategies elaborated by renewable energy science. If landscape design wants to adopt a supportive role towards energy transition, a well-informed and evidence-based approach is highly recommended. Nevertheless, promising strategies for addressing the complex process of ensuring sustainable energy transition also emerged. They include the careful cultivation of public support by developing inclusive and bottom-up processes, and balancing energy-conscious interventions with other land uses and interests.

Regional increases in [11C]flumazenil binding after epilepsy surgery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Savic, I.; Blomqvist, G.; Halldin, C.; Litton, J.E.; Gulyas, B.

1998-01-01

Introduction - Animal experiments suggest that epileptic seizures alter the expression of mRNA for neuro-receptors. PET measurements with [ 11 C]flumazenil show that patients with partial seizures have a reduced density of benzodiazepine (BZ) receptors in the epileptogenic regions (ER) and some of the target areas for seizure activity, the so called projection areas. Recent data suggest that the degree of BZ receptor reduction in ER is correlated to seizure frequency. We therefore hypothesized that seizure activity can alter the BZ receptor binding, and that some of these changes could normalize when the seizures disappeared. Methods - In 4 patients whose seizures were generated by mesial temporal lobe structures, BZ receptor density was measured with [ 11 C]flumazenil PET before, and 1 year after the epilepsy surgery and cessation of seizures. By use of a computerized anatomical brain atlas the same regions were analyzed in both PET scans, and the results related to data from 7 healthy controls. Results - Presurgical PET scans showed reductions in BZ receptor density in the epileptogenic regions and some of its primary projection areas. Other cortical regions had normal values. Postsurgically, the calculated BZ receptor density normalized (29±17% increase) in several of the affected projection areas, whereas the values in other cortical regions remained unaltered. Conclusion - Regional reductions in BZ receptor density may be dynamic and related to seizures. The present preliminary observations encourage further studies on seizure-related changes in regional receptor binding in humans. (au)

Total 2003 Results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This document presents the 2003 results of Total Group: consolidated account, special items, number of shares, market environment, 4. quarter 2003 results, full year 2003 results, upstream (key figures, proved reserves), downstream key figures, chemicals key figures, parent company accounts and proposed dividends, 2004 sensitivities, summary and outlook, operating information by segment for the 4. quarter and full year 2003: upstream (combined liquids and gas production by region, liquids production by region, gas production by region), downstream (refinery throughput by region, refined product sales by region, chemicals), impact of allocating contribution of Cepsa to net operating income by business segment: equity in income (loss) and affiliates and other items, Total financial statements: consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet (assets, liabilities and shareholder's equity), consolidated statements of cash flows, business segments information. (J.S.)

Public financing and entrepreneurship: behaviour and regional heterogeneity of SMEs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio García-Tabuenca

2009-10-01

Full Text Available The existence of restrictions for small- and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs to access long-term credit has led governments to establish institutionalsystems to facilitate such access and reduce the cost of credit, with the conditionthat its feasibility is justified (and assessed and there are no distortions as regardscompetition. Very few empirical in-depth studies exist regarding this field of academicresearch, and scarce attention has been paid from a regional perspective.Due to the characteristics of the business structures in the different regions, as wellas the existence of agglomeration economies and the regional dispersion of the entrepreneurshiprate, this paper analyses the effects of the productive financing supportmodel, provided by the Government of Spain, through the Instituto de CréditoOficial (ICO [Official Credit Institute], on the behaviours and performances of thebeneficiary companies. In the last decade, this source of financing has assigned30,000 million euro. The results show the general acceptance of this policy due toits adaptation to the interests of the companies and its contribution to the improvementof the economic-financial efficiency indicators. Regionally, no substantialdifferences have been observed, but the results of this research show a greater contributionto the dynamism of the more progressive regions.

Total 2004 results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2005-02-01

This document presents the 2004 results of Total Group: consolidated account, special items, number of shares, market environment, adjustment for amortization of Sanofi-Aventis merger-related intangibles, 4. quarter 2004 results (operating and net incomes, cash flow), upstream (results, production, reserves, recent highlights), downstream (results, refinery throughput, recent highlights), chemicals (results, recent highlights), Total's full year 2004 results (operating and net income, cash flow), 2005 sensitivities, Total SA parent company accounts and proposed dividend, adoption of IFRS accounting, summary and outlook, main operating information by segment for the 4. quarter and full year 2004: upstream (combined liquids and gas production by region, liquids production by region, gas production by region), downstream (refined product sales by region, chemicals), Total financial statements: consolidated statement of income, consolidated balance sheet (assets, liabilities and shareholder's equity), consolidated statements of cash flows, business segments information. (J.S.)

Alterations in regional homogeneity of resting-state brain activity in internet gaming addicts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong Guangheng

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Backgrounds Internet gaming addiction (IGA, as a subtype of internet addiction disorder, is rapidly becoming a prevalent mental health concern around the world. The neurobiological underpinnings of IGA should be studied to unravel the potential heterogeneity of IGA. This study investigated the brain functions in IGA patients with resting-state fMRI. Methods Fifteen IGA subjects and fourteen healthy controls participated in this study. Regional homogeneity (ReHo measures were used to detect the abnormal functional integrations. Results Comparing to the healthy controls, IGA subjects show enhanced ReHo in brainstem, inferior parietal lobule, left posterior cerebellum, and left middle frontal gyrus. All of these regions are thought related with sensory-motor coordination. In addition, IGA subjects show decreased ReHo in temporal, occipital and parietal brain regions. These regions are thought responsible for visual and auditory functions. Conclusions Our results suggest that long-time online game playing enhanced the brain synchronization in sensory-motor coordination related brain regions and decreased the excitability in visual and auditory related brain regions.

[Safety threshold of fluorine in endemic fluorosis regions in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yonghua; Wang, Wuyi; Hou, Shaofan

2002-07-01

Four endemic fluorosis regions in China and their environmental epidemiological characteristics were summarized in this paper. It shows that the epidemiology of endemic fluorosis is closely related to geochemical parameters of local environment. The food-web and dose-effect relationship of fluoride from environment to human body in different types of endemic fluorosis regions were studied. And the safety threshold of fluoride in different regions was determined. The results have provided a scientific basis for environmental risk assessment of fluoride in China.

Regional differences in waiting time to pregnancy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Juul, Svend; Karmaus, W; Olsen, Jørn

1999-01-01

of the pregnancies were planned (64%) and approximately 14% were the result of contraceptive failures. The study shows that smoking, body mass index, age and parity did not explain the differences in fecundity found between the centres. Regional differences in fecundity exist and the causes may be genetic or due...

ANALISIS SEKTOR KEUANGAN TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN EKONOMI REGIONAL DI WILAYAH JAWA: PENDEKATAN MODEL LEVINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Utami Baroroh

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this study are to analyze the influence of financial development to economic regional growth on Jawa region, using panel of province-level data on Jawa region for the period 2005-2010. The analysis method that used on this paper is panel data regression. The empirical results shown that financial asset and financial credit had a positive influence to economic regional growth on Jawa region, meanwhile third party fund had negative influence to economic regional growth on Jawa region.  The other result shown that individual effect from fixed effect model showed that DKI Jakarta, Banten and East Jawa have potential as the centre of economic growthDOI: 10.15408/etk.v11i2.1892

Dating Of Remains Of Neanderthals And Homo Sapiens From Anatolian Region By ESR-US Combined Methods Preliminary Results

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Samer Farkh

2015-08-01

Full Text Available We tried in the present study to apply the electron spin resonance method ESR combined with uranium-series method US for dating fossilized human teeth and found valuable archaeological sites such as Karain Cave in Anatolia. Karain Cave is a crucial site in a region that has yielded remains of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens our direct ancestors. The dating of these remains allowed us to trace the history since the presence of man on earth. Indeed Anatolia in Turkey is an important region of the world because it represents a passage between Africa the Middle East and Europe. Our study was conducted on faunal teeth found near human remains. The combination of ESR and US data on the teeth provides an understanding of their complex geochemical evolution and get better estimated results. Our samples were taken from the central cutting where geological layers are divided into archaeological horizons each 10 cm. The AH4 horizon of I.3 layer which represents the boundary between the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic is dated to 29 4 ka by the ESR-US model. Below two horizons AH6 and AH8 in the same layer I.4 are dated respectively 40 6 and 45 7 ka using the ESR-US model. In layer II where a stalagmite floor was taken we made two U-Th dating at the base and on the top ages oscillated around 120 ka. Since human remains were collected from AH3 horizon for Homo sapiens and AH5 and AH7 horizons for the Neanderthal man so the dates obtained in AH4 AH6 and AH8 represent maximum ages. Thus they provide the disappearance of Neanderthal man between 45 and 40 ka and the appearance of Homo sapiens in 29 ka in Anatolia region. Undoubtedly there is a chronological gap between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic represented by the disappearance of Neanderthals and the appearance of sapiens and none of our results confirm the contemporaneity of these two species in this region.

Physical and chemical differentiation of the luminous star-forming region W49A. Results from the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, Z.; van der Tak, F. F. S.; Fuller, G. A.; Plume, R.

2015-05-01

Context. The massive and luminous star-forming region W49A is a well-known Galactic candidate to probe the physical conditions and chemistry similar to those expected in external starburst galaxies. Aims: We aim to probe the physical and chemical structure of W49A on a spatial scale of ~0.8 pc based on the JCMT Spectral Legacy Survey, which covers the frequency range between 330 and 373 GHz. Methods: The wide 2 × 2 arcmin field and the high spectral resolution of the HARP instrument on JCMT provides information on the spatial structure and kinematics of the cloud traced by the observed molecular lines. For species where multiple transitions are available, we estimate excitation temperatures and column densities using a population diagram method that takes beam dilution and optical depth corrections into account. Results: We detected 255 transitions corresponding to 63 species in the 330-373 GHz range at the center position of W49A. Excitation conditions can be probed for 14 molecules, including the complex organic molecules CH3CCH, CH3CN, and CH3OH. The chemical composition suggests the importance of shock, photon-dominated region (PDR), and hot core chemistry. Many molecular lines show a significant spatial extent across the maps including CO and its isotopologues, high density tracers (e.g., HCN, HNC, CS, HCO+), and tracers of UV irradiation (e.g., CN and C2H). The spatially extended species reveal a complex velocity-structure of W49A with possible infall and outflow motions. Large variations are seen between the subregions with mostly blue-shifted emission toward the eastern tail, mostly red-shifted emission toward the northern clump, and emission peaking around the expected source velocity toward the southwest clump. Conclusions: A comparison of column density ratios of characteristic species observed toward W49A to Galactic PDRs suggests that while the chemistry toward the W49A center is driven by a combination of UV irradiation and shocks, UV irradiation

Regional Determinants of Foreign Direct Investments in Croatia

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Ines KERSAN-ŠKABIĆ

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to identify the factors that infuence the unequal distribution of FDI infows and that foreign investors identify as signifcant in making investment decisions regarding Croatian regions. Panel data analysis was applied: static (random effects and dynam-ic analysis. The results show that positive and signifcant infuences on FDI have: education, infrastructure, the manufacturing industry, dum-my variables for areas of special state concern and capital city region, while negative statistically signifcant infuences are: unemployment and dummy variable for border regions with the EU. The basic conclusion is that FDI infows follow the development path of the Croatian regions (with the highlighted agglomeration effect and that efforts in creating preconditions for econom-ic growth will, at the same time, have an impact on attractiveness of a particular region for foreign investments.

Results of radiotherapy for cancer of head and neck region, 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimura, Noriharu; Shinzato, Jintetsu; Watanabe, Keikichi; Habu, Kenjiro; Hirayama, Haruyuki

1988-01-01

From 1967 through 1985, 86 patients with cancer of the paranasal sinuses and 6 patients with cancer of the nasal cavity (excluding sarcoma) were treated by irradiation at the Department of Radiology, Kumamoto National Hospital. The mean age was 60.7. The rate of men to women was 1.2 : 1. The results were as follows ; 1) Fifty-nine patients (51 cases of maxillary sinus carcinoma, 4 of ethmoid sinus carcinoma, and 4 of cancer of the nasal cavity) were treated with antrostomy followed by radiotherapy and regional arterial infusion of 5-fluorouracil alone or a combination of 5-fluorouracil and bleomycin. In 11 cases of these, salvage with total maxillectomy was performed and 10 % of which were controlled for more than five years. In 9 cases of these, no case was salvaged with radiotherapy. An overall five-year survival rate was 32 %. 2) The survival rate of the postoperative irradiation (11 cases of maxillary sinus carcinoma, 1 of cancer of the nasal cavity) was 42 % at 2 and 4 years after the operations. 3) Twelve patients with cancer of the paranasal sinuses (11 cases of maxillary sinus carcinoma, 1 of ethmoid sinus carcinoma) survived more than five years. All of them were irradiated curatively with doses more than 40 Gy. In our series, there was no difference in long-term survival between 5-fluorouracil alone and a combination of 5-fluorouracil and bleomycin. (author)

Regional Spanish Tourism Competitiveness. A DEA-MONITUR approach

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Juan Carlos Martín

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to analyse the regional tourist competitiveness performance in Spain. We use the seven pillars of tourism from a very detailed and complete database compiled by the Spanish Government –MoniTUR 2010 as primary data. Thus, we calculate a DEA-MONITUR regional tourist competitiveness index in order to compare and rank the total 17 Spanish Autonomous Communities using data envelopment analysis (DEA. Our results show how this performance is very different among regions, and the position of each of the laggard Autonomous Communities should be analysed by their respective destination management organizations (DMOs in order to envisage adequate corrective measures.

A framework of region-based dynamic image fusion

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WANG Zhong-hua; QIN Zheng; LIU Yu

2007-01-01

A new framework of region-based dynamic image fusion is proposed. First, the technique of target detection is applied to dynamic images (image sequences) to segment images into different targets and background regions. Then different fusion rules are employed in different regions so that the target information is preserved as much as possible. In addition, steerable non-separable wavelet frame transform is used in the process of multi-resolution analysis, so the system achieves favorable characters of orientation and invariant shift. Compared with other image fusion methods, experimental results showed that the proposed method has better capabilities of target recognition and preserves clear background information.

Regional profile, energy-impacted communities: Region VIII

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

1979-03-01

This report has data on population, administration, finance, housing, health and safety, human services, education, and water and sewage for 325 energy-impacted communities. A review of current and potential energy developments in the region shows over 900 energy resource impacts listed for the 325 impacted communities. Coal development represents over one-third of the developments listed. Communities reporting coal development are distributed as follows: Colorado (36), Montana (42), North Dakota (61), South Dakota (13), Utah (73), and Wyoming (35). Energy-conversion initiatives represent another high incidence of energy-resource impact, with uranium development following closely with 83 communities reporting uranium development impact in the region. These projections indicate continued development of regional energy resources to serve national energy requirements. The 325 impacted communities as reported: Colorado (46), Montana (73), North Dakota (62), South Dakota (21), Utah (80), and Wyoming (43) follow a distribution pattern similar to that of future projects which illustrates that no area of the region will escape the impacts of energy development. (ERA citation 04:041706)

Measuring Poverty at the Regional Level in Spain: A Reflexive Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nerea Zugasti

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This article assesses the utility of adjusting the poverty threshold for regional areas of Spain and of using thresholds anchored in time. It also offers a critical review of equivalence scales as a central element in estimating poverty. To do this, data from the Income and Living Conditions Surveys from 2007 to 2012 is used. The results show that poverty rates obtained with national thresholds are strongly influenced by intra-regional inequalities in income. They also show that regional thresholds capture differences in the well-being of the population, controlling for the effects of regional disparities in economic development. In addition, they demonstrate that anchored thresholds avoid inconsistencies in poverty rates tied to changes in income levels of the general population and not to changes in socially necessary resources.

High-Resolution Observations of a Filament showing Activated Barb

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Anand; Martin, Sara F.; Mathew, Shibu; Srivastava, Nandita

2012-07-01

Analysis of a filament showing an activated barb using observations from the Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) on 2010 August 20 are presented. The DOT takes Doppler images in Hα, among other wavelengths, in a region about 110 × 110 arcsec^{2} in area, at a cadence of 30~seconds. The offline image restoration technique of speckle reconstruction is applied to obtain diffraction limited images. The filament developed a new barb in 10~minutes, which disappeared within the next 35~minutes. Such a rapid formation and disappearance of a filament barb is unusual, and has not been reported earlier. Line-of-sight velocity maps were constructed from the Doppler images of the target filament. We observe flows in the filament spine towards the barb location prior to its formation, and flows in the barb towards the spine during its disappearance. Photospheric magnetograms from Heliospheric Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory, at a cadence of 45~seconds, were used to determine the changes in magnetic flux in the region surrounding the barb location. The variation of magnetic flux in this duration supports the view that barbs are rooted in minor magnetic polarity. Our analysis shows that barbs can be short-lived and formation and disappearance of the barb was associated with cancellation of magnetic flux.

Complete replication-competent adenovirus 11p vectors with E1 or E3 insertions show improved heat stability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mei, Ya-Fang, E-mail: ya-fang.mei@umu.se [Department of Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Umeå University, SE-901 85 Umeå (Sweden); Wu, Haidong, E-mail: haidong.wu@umu.se [Department of Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Umeå University, SE-901 85 Umeå (Sweden); Hultenby, Kjell, E-mail: kjell.hultenby@ki.se [Division of Clinical Research Centre, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, SE-14186 Stockholm (Sweden); Silver, Jim, E-mail: jim.silver@umu.se [Department of Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Umeå University, SE-901 85 Umeå (Sweden)

2016-10-15

Conventional adenovirus vectors harboring E1 or E3 deletions followed by the insertion of an exogenous gene show considerably reduced virion stability. Here, we report strategies to generate complete replication-competent Ad11p(RCAd11p) vectors that overcome the above disadvantage. A GFP cassette was successfully introduced either upstream of E1A or in the E3A region. The resulting vectors showed high expression levels of the hexon and E1genes and also strongly induced the cytopathic effect in targeted cells. When harboring oversized genomes, the RCAd11pE1 and RCAd11pE3 vectors showed significantly improved heat stability in comparison to Ad11pwt;of the three, RCAd11pE3 was the most tolerant to heat treatment. Electron microscopy showed that RCAd11pE3, RCAd11pE1, Ad11pwt, and Ad11pE1 Delmanifested dominant, moderate, minimum, or no full virus particles after heat treatment at 47 °C for 5 h. Our results demonstrated that both genome size and the insertion site in the viral genome affect virion stability. -- Highlights: •Replicating adenovirus 11p GFP vectors at the E1 or E3 region were generated. •RCAd11pE3 and RCAd11pE1 vectors manifested significantly improved heat stability. •RCAd11pE3 and RCAd11pE1 showed more full viral particles than Ad11pwt after heating. •We demonstrated that both genome size and the insertion site affect virion stability.

Complete replication-competent adenovirus 11p vectors with E1 or E3 insertions show improved heat stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mei, Ya-Fang; Wu, Haidong; Hultenby, Kjell; Silver, Jim

2016-01-01

Conventional adenovirus vectors harboring E1 or E3 deletions followed by the insertion of an exogenous gene show considerably reduced virion stability. Here, we report strategies to generate complete replication-competent Ad11p(RCAd11p) vectors that overcome the above disadvantage. A GFP cassette was successfully introduced either upstream of E1A or in the E3A region. The resulting vectors showed high expression levels of the hexon and E1genes and also strongly induced the cytopathic effect in targeted cells. When harboring oversized genomes, the RCAd11pE1 and RCAd11pE3 vectors showed significantly improved heat stability in comparison to Ad11pwt;of the three, RCAd11pE3 was the most tolerant to heat treatment. Electron microscopy showed that RCAd11pE3, RCAd11pE1, Ad11pwt, and Ad11pE1 Delmanifested dominant, moderate, minimum, or no full virus particles after heat treatment at 47 °C for 5 h. Our results demonstrated that both genome size and the insertion site in the viral genome affect virion stability. -- Highlights: •Replicating adenovirus 11p GFP vectors at the E1 or E3 region were generated. •RCAd11pE3 and RCAd11pE1 vectors manifested significantly improved heat stability. •RCAd11pE3 and RCAd11pE1 showed more full viral particles than Ad11pwt after heating. •We demonstrated that both genome size and the insertion site affect virion stability.

Native trees show conservative water use relative to invasive: results from a removal experiment in a Hawaiian wet forest

Science.gov (United States)

M.A. Cavaleri; R. Ostertag; S. Cordell; L. and Sack

2014-01-01

While the supply of freshwater is expected to decline in many regions in the coming decades, invasive plant species, often 'high water spenders', are greatly expanding their ranges worldwide. In this study, we quantified the ecohydrological differences between native and invasive trees and also the effects of woody invasive removal on plot-level water use in...

Multi-regional input–output model and ecological network analysis for regional embodied energy accounting in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yan; Zheng, Hongmei; Yang, Zhifeng; Su, Meirong; Liu, Gengyuan; Li, Yanxian

2015-01-01

Chinese regions frequently exchange materials, but regional differences in economic development create unbalanced flows of these resources. In this study, we examined energy by assessing embodied energy consumption to describe the energy-flow structure in China's seven regions. Based on multi-regional monetary input–output tables and energy statistical yearbooks for Chinese provinces in 2002 and 2007, we accounted for both direct and indirect energy consumption, respectively, and the integral input and output of the provinces. Most integral inputs of energy flowed from north to south or from east to west, whereas integral output flows were mainly from northeast to southwest. This differed from the direct flows, which were predominantly from north to south and west to east. This demonstrates the importance of calculating both direct and indirect energy flows. Analysis of the distance and direction traveled by the energy consumption centers of gravity showed that the centers for embodied energy consumption and inputs moved southeast because of the movements of the centers of the Eastern region. However, the center for outputs moved northeast because the movement of the Central region. These analyses provide a basis for identifying how regional economic development policies influence the embodied energy consumption and its flows among regions. - Highlights: • We integrated multi-regional input–output analysis with ecological network analysis. • We accounted for both direct and indirect energy consumption. • The centers of gravity for embodied energy flows moved southeast from 2002 to 2007. • The results support planning of energy consumption and energy flows among regions.

Regional amplification of ground motion in central Mexico. Results from coda-length magnitude data and preliminary modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Cárdenas, Martín; Chávez-García, Francisco J.; Gusev, Alexander

Seismic ground motion in central Mexico is amplified relative to ground motion observed at the same epicentral distance along the Pacific Coast in a frequency band that includes destructive ground motion at Mexico City. Although several hypothesis have been advanced, at present there is no generally accepted explanation of such amplification. We have analyzed coda-length magnitude data reported by Servicio Sismológico Nacional (SSN) for events recorded during 1993 to increase our understanding of the spatial distribution of this phenomenon. Our results indicate that regional amplification: (a) is detected by magnitude residual computed at each station, relative to the average of SSN network;and (b) is likely related to the crustal structure under the central portion of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB). Finally, preliminary wave propagation modelling (using SH wave, finite difference method) suggests that crustal heterogeneity is a possible cause of regional amplification. However, if this is so, it is required that both geometry and velocity distribution vary between the coast and Mexico City.

Dose from Cs-137 ingestion in Italian Region in 1998-1999. A preliminary analysis of the results of a monitoring campaign

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bochicchio, F.; Magnoni, M.; Agnesod, G.

2000-01-01

A measurement programme started on 1998 in order to assess the committed effective dose for all the Italian Regions due to ingestion of Cs-137. This programme was carried out within the framework of the SICRA network, which is in ad-hoc personal computer network, set up by the Ministry of Health in order to connect the regional laboratories for the control of the environmental radioactivity and the national institutes in order to allow a fast transmission and analysis of radioactivity measurement results. The programme was jointly decided and designed by the following regional and national institutes: the regional laboratories for the control of the environmental radioactivity, most of which are Regional Agencies for the Environmental Protection (ARPA); the National Agency for the Environmental Protection (ANPA); the National Institute for Prevention and Safety in Workplaces (ISPESL), the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Health. The following five major components of the Italian diet, which use expected to significantly contribute to the total ingestion dose, were included in the sampling protocol: milk, meat, pasta, bread, and fish. In most cases the samples were taken in big stores in order to be representative of the local consumption. The sample collection started on October 1998 and continued in 1999. The designed Minimum Detectable Activity was 0.1 Bq/kg. Most of the measured values are below the MDA so that appropriate statistical techniques are used in order to estimate the average activity concentration and dose. Regional data of food consumption are taken from the Italian National Statistic Institute, and dose conversion factor for adults is used. A minimum of 24 samples for the period October-December 1998 was asked to each Region, however, more data were sent by some Regions. Preliminary results of activity concentration measurements on 1249 samples of 1998 are the following: in 439 cases the

Quantitative assessment of regional myocardial flow reserve using Tc-99m-sestamibi imaging. Comparison with results of O-15 water PET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukamoto, Takahiro; Ito, Yoshinori; Noriyasu, Kazuyuki; Morita, Koichi; Katoh, Chietsugu; Okamoto, Hiroshi; Tamaki, Nagara

2005-01-01

The aims of this study were to develop a method for quantitative estimation of the myocardial blood flow index (MBFI) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) of the whole left ventricle using 99m technetium (Tc-99m)-sestamibi imaging. Twenty-two patients with suspected coronary artery disease and 7 controls underwent both Tc-99m-sestamibi imaging and O-15 water positron emission tomography (PET). The global MBFI was calculated on the basis of the microsphere model from the ratio of the myocardial count to the area under the time-activity curve on the aortic arch. The regional MBFI was calculated from the relative distributions of Tc-99m-sestamibi uptake values. The regional MBFI and MFR (Tc-MFR) obtained using single-photon emission computed tomography were compared with the myocardial blood flow (MBF) and MFR (PET-MFR) obtained using PET as the gold standard. Regional MBFI significantly correlated with the MBF obtained using PET. Regional Tc-MFR also correlated with the regional PET-MER, with some underestimation. These results indicate that regional MBF and MFR may be estimated by dynamic Tc-99m-sestamibi imaging and can be used for the early detection and estimation of the functional severity of coronary lesions without the need for a PET camera. (author)

Sports participation, physical activity, and health in the European regions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lera-López, Fernando; Marco, Rocio

2018-08-01

In a context of stagnation of the level of health-enhancing physical activity in Europe, this study examines the geographical stratification of sports participation and physical activity (PA) at the regional level in 28 European countries. While previous research has focused on the national approach, this study considers the regional level across 208 European regions. Individual survey data from the Eurobarometer 80.2 is combined with a regional-level approach to the 208 regions to quantify sports participation and PA at the regional level. The results show important differences and a geographical stratification of sports participation and PA among the European regions, albeit following different patterns. In particular, a north-south gap is identified in terms of PA rates and an east-west gap is detected in terms of sports participation levels. Applying the cluster technique, a taxonomy of four different European regions is developed considering both types of indicators. Finally, the existence of sports spatial spillovers among regions is verified, obtaining a positive autocorrelation among neighbouring regions for being involved in PA and sporting activities. The results may have significant implications in terms of policy measures to improve health through PA and sports participation at the regional level in Europe.

Regional analysis of annual maximum rainfall using TL-moments method

Science.gov (United States)

Shabri, Ani Bin; Daud, Zalina Mohd; Ariff, Noratiqah Mohd

2011-06-01

Information related to distributions of rainfall amounts are of great importance for designs of water-related structures. One of the concerns of hydrologists and engineers is the probability distribution for modeling of regional data. In this study, a novel approach to regional frequency analysis using L-moments is revisited. Subsequently, an alternative regional frequency analysis using the TL-moments method is employed. The results from both methods were then compared. The analysis was based on daily annual maximum rainfall data from 40 stations in Selangor Malaysia. TL-moments for the generalized extreme value (GEV) and generalized logistic (GLO) distributions were derived and used to develop the regional frequency analysis procedure. TL-moment ratio diagram and Z-test were employed in determining the best-fit distribution. Comparison between the two approaches showed that the L-moments and TL-moments produced equivalent results. GLO and GEV distributions were identified as the most suitable distributions for representing the statistical properties of extreme rainfall in Selangor. Monte Carlo simulation was used for performance evaluation, and it showed that the method of TL-moments was more efficient for lower quantile estimation compared with the L-moments.

Energy Production and Regional Economic Growth in China: A More Comprehensive Analysis Using a Panel Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaobin Liu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available China has witnessed a fast economic growth in the recent two decades. However, the heavy energy exploitation seems to show a negative relation to regional economic growth. Thus, the issue is whether the energy production is a curse or blessing for the regional economic growth in China. The present study deploys a comprehensive approach to rigorously prove the validity of a proposed panel data model that includes a second generation panel unit root test and panel cointegration and a spatial panel model. The results from the second generation panel unit root test and panel cointegration allowing for cross-sectional dependences show the differenced series are stationary and there exists a cointegration relationship among these variables for all sub-regions. The results from the spatial panel data model support the conjecture of the spatial dependent and show that there is a “resource curse” only for the Western region and Central region in China.

Regionalism, Regionalization and Regional Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liviu C. Andrei

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Sustained development is a concept associating other concepts, in its turn, in the EU practice, e.g. regionalism, regionalizing and afferent policies, here including structural policies. This below text, dedicated to integration concepts, will limit on the other hand to regionalizing, otherwise an aspect typical to Europe and to the EU. On the other hand, two aspects come up to strengthen this field of ideas, i.e. the region (al-regionalism-(regional development triplet has either its own history or precise individual outline of terms.

Regional differences in the CO_2 emissions of China's iron and steel industry: Regional heterogeneity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Bin; Lin, Boqiang

2016-01-01

Identifying the key influencing factors of CO_2 emissions in China's iron and steel industry is vital for mitigating its emissions and formulating effective environmental protection measures. Most of the existing researches utilized time series data to investigate the driving factors of the industry's CO_2 emission at the national level, but regional differences have not been given appropriate attention. This paper adopts provincial panel data from 2000 to 2013 and panel data models to examine the key driving forces of CO_2 emissions at the regional levels in China. The results show that industrialization dominates the industry's CO_2 emissions, but its effect varies across regions. The impact of energy efficiency on CO_2 emissions in the eastern region is greater than in the central and western regions because of a huge difference in R&D investment. The influence of urbanization has significant regional differences due to the heterogeneity in human capital accumulation and real estate development. Energy structure has large potential to mitigate CO_2 emissions on account of increased R&D investment in energy-saving technology and expanded clean energy use. Hence, in order to effectively achieve emission reduction, local governments should consider all these factors as well as regional heterogeneity in formulating appropriate mitigation policies. - Highlights: • We explore the driving forces of CO_2 emissions in China's steel industry. • Industrialization dominates CO_2 emissions in the iron and steel industry. • Energy structure has large potential to mitigate CO_2 emissions in the steel industry. • The influence of urbanization has significant regional differences.

Building Regional Competencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Norus, Jesper

2004-01-01

This paper analyzes the foundations of regional knowledge and its long-term impact onthe region's companies' and how a particular knowledge has developed an ability tostay competitive within a specific technological field. The case illustrates how theCopenhagen region has been able to develop...... a dominating position in the global marketfor industrial enzymes from 1870-2004. The case of industrial enzymes shows how aregion has been able to build sustainable competitive advantages from its distinctivecompetencies. This is done through a mixture of outsourcing and in sourcing ofcompetencies, knowledge...

Specific metabolomics adaptations define a differential regional vulnerability in the adult human cerebral cortex

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosanna Cabré

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Brain neurons offer diverse responses to stresses and detrimental factors during development and aging, and as a result of both neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. This multiplicity of responses can be ascribed to the great diversity among neuronal populations. Here we have determined the metabolomic profile of three healthy adult human brain regions—entorhinal cortex, hippocampus, and frontal cortex—using mass spectrometry-based technologies. Our results show the existence of a lessened energy demand, mitochondrial stress, and lower one-carbon metabolism (particularly restricted to the methionine cycle specifically in frontal cortex. These findings, along with the better antioxidant capacity and lower mTOR signaling also seen in frontal cortex, suggest that this brain region is especially resistant to stress compared to the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus, which are more vulnerable regions. Globally, our results show the presence of specific metabolomics adaptations in three mature, healthy human brain regions, confirming the existence of cross-regional differences in cell vulnerability in the human cerebral cortex.

Reconstruction of regional mean temperature for East Asia since 1900s and its uncertainties

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, W.

2017-12-01

Regional average surface air temperature (SAT) is one of the key variables often used to investigate climate change. Unfortunately, because of the limited observations over East Asia, there were also some gaps in the observation data sampling for regional mean SAT analysis, which was important to estimate past climate change. In this study, the regional average temperature of East Asia since 1900s is calculated by the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF)-based optimal interpolation (OA) method with considering the data errors. The results show that our estimate is more precise and robust than the results from simple average, which provides a better way for past climate reconstruction. In addition to the reconstructed regional average SAT anomaly time series, we also estimated uncertainties of reconstruction. The root mean square error (RMSE) results show that the the error decreases with respect to time, and are not sufficiently large to alter the conclusions on the persist warming in East Asia during twenty-first century. Moreover, the test of influence of data error on reconstruction clearly shows the sensitivity of reconstruction to the size of the data error.

Regional Stability & Lessons Learned in Regional Peace Building

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vestenskov, David; Johnsen, Anton Asklund

, as none of the countries is able to deal with the intrastate and interstate conflicts on its own. The conference Regional Stability & Lessons Learned in Regional Peace Building was the result of comprehensive cooperation between Pakistan’s National Defence University and the Royal Danish Defence College......The NATO-led intervention in Afghanistan is coming to an end, and the necessity of regional peace building solutions for the region’s security issues seems more exigent than ever before. Regional states have to come to terms with each other in some ways if violent extremists are to be countered...

Italian network for human biomonitoring of metals: preliminary results from two regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beatrice Bocca

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The Italian program for human biomonitoring (HBM of chemical elements, PROgram for Biomonitoring of the Exposure (PROBE, started in 2008 with the aim to provide the knowledge about risk assessment of the Italian population following the environmental exposure to metals. The project is implemented through a HBM campaign for the production of data on 19 metals in the blood and serum of subjects living in different Italian Regions. The metals studied are: antimony, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, iridium, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, palladium, platinum, rhodium, thallium, tin, tungsten, uranium and vanadium. The first phase of the project has included the development and validation of laboratory protocols for the collection of fluids and quantification of metals. The second phase provides the HBM data expressed as the reference values (RVs for the Italian population, i.e., as the level of metals in the general population not occupationally exposed. In this paper, the experimental protocols used for the maintenance of high standards of analysis and the RVs for metals in serum of inhabitants of two Italian Regions (Calabria and Umbria are described.

Low cloud precipitation climatology in the southeastern Pacific marine stratocumulus region using CloudSat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rapp, Anita D; Lebsock, Matthew; L’Ecuyer, Tristan

2013-01-01

A climatology of low cloud surface precipitation occurrence and intensity from the new CloudSat 2C-RAIN-PROFILE algorithm is presented from June 2006 through December 2010 for the southeastern Pacific region of marine stratocumulus. Results show that over 70% of low cloud precipitation falls as drizzle. Application of an empirical evaporation model suggests that 50–80% of the precipitation evaporates before it reaches the surface. Segregation of the CloudSat ascending and descending overpasses shows that the majority of precipitation occurs at night. Examination of the seasonal cycle shows that the precipitation is most frequent during the austral winter and spring; however there is considerable regional variability. Conditional rain rates increase from east to west with a maximum occurring in the region influenced by the South Pacific Convergence Zone. Area average rain rates are highest in the region where precipitation rates are moderate, but most frequent. The area average surface rain rate for low cloud precipitation for this region is ∼0.22 mm d −1 , in good agreement with in situ estimates, and is greatly improved over earlier CloudSat precipitation products. These results provide a much-needed quantification of surface precipitation in a region that is currently underestimated in existing satellite-based precipitation climatologies. (letter)

Structure with improved self-imaging in its graded-index multimode interference region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin Rui; Jiang Xiaoqing; Yang Jianyi; Wang Minghua

2002-01-01

Propagation constant errors (PCEs) of guided modes in regions of multimode interference in optical networks were analyzed. Results show that a graded-index waveguide can effectively decrease the PCEs. An example based on an exponential function is presented. Numerical results show that addition of a graded-index waveguide greatly improves device performance in this structure

Der Steinkohlenbergbau in der Aachener Region, 1780-1860

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reckendrees, Alfred

In the early 19th century coal mining in the region of Aachen (Prussian Rhine Province) developed to an industrial scale within few decades production was mechanised and new types of industrial organization emerged that allowed for concentration on production and economies of scale. The region....... Decentralized ownership prohibited scale economics before the mid-1830s. Then, new joint stock companies allowed for concentration of ownership, rationalisation of production and efficient governance. The analysis shows that these different patterns result from different pre-industrial institutional...

Left-right cortical asymmetries of regional cerebral blood flow during listening to words

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nishizawa, Y; Olsen, T S; Larsen, B

1982-01-01

1. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured during rest and during listening to simple words. The xenon-133 intracarotid technique was used and results were obtained from 254 regions of seven right hemispheres and seven left hemispheres. The measurements were performed just after carotid...... of the entire hemisphere. The focal rCBF increases were localized to the superior part of the temporal regions, the prefrontal regions, the frontal eye fields, and the orbitofrontal regions. Significant asymmetries were found in particular in the superior temporal region with the left side showing a more...

Show-Bix &

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

Visualizing MCNP Tally Segment Geometry and Coupling Results with ABAQUS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J. R. Parry; J. A. Galbraith

2007-01-01

The Advanced Graphite Creep test, AGC-1, is planned for irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) in support of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant program. The experiment requires very detailed neutronics and thermal hydraulics analyses to show compliance with programmatic and ATR safety requirements. The MCNP model used for the neutronics analysis required hundreds of tally regions to provide the desired detail. A method for visualizing the hundreds of tally region geometries and the tally region results in 3 dimensions has been created to support the AGC-1 irradiation. Additionally, a method was created which would allow ABAQUS to access the results directly for the thermal analysis of the AGC-1 experiment

Investigation of natural radioactivity level of the waters in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jing Yupei; Wang Li; Tian Yi; Ai Xianyuan; Liang Ningbu

1995-01-01

This paper reports the investigation results of natural radioactivity level in river, lake, reservoir, spring, well and tap water in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. There were totally 117 samples collected from 84 measuring points. The results show that the radioactivity level of varied water bodies of the region was within normal natural background

Brain regions involved in observing and trying to interpret dog behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Desmet, Charlotte; van der Wiel, Alko; Brass, Marcel

2017-01-01

Humans and dogs have interacted for millennia. As a result, humans (and especially dog owners) sometimes try to interpret dog behaviour. While there is extensive research on the brain regions that are involved in mentalizing about other peoples' behaviour, surprisingly little is known of whether we use these same brain regions to mentalize about animal behaviour. In this fMRI study we investigate whether brain regions involved in mentalizing about human behaviour are also engaged when observing dog behaviour. Here we show that these brain regions are more engaged when observing dog behaviour that is difficult to interpret compared to dog behaviour that is easy to interpret. Interestingly, these results were not only obtained when participants were instructed to infer reasons for the behaviour but also when they passively viewed the behaviour, indicating that these brain regions are activated by spontaneous mentalizing processes.

Preliminary results from the orbiting solar observatory 8: Persistent velocity fields in the chromosphere and transition region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lites, B.W.; Bruner, E.C. Jr.; Chipman, E.G.; Shine, R.A.; Rottman, G.J.; White, O.R.; Athay, R.G.

1976-01-01

Velocity images, or tachograms, of the solar chromosphere and chromosphere-corona transition region were made by measuring the Si II 1816.93 A chromospheric line and the Si IV 1393.8 A transition region line with the University of Colorado spectrometer aboard OSO-8. Persistent flows are indicated in both active and quiet regions of the solar atmosphere. In quiet regions, areas of enhanced emission (the chromospheric network) are apparently systematically redshifted with respect to the areas of lower intensity. This correlation does not hold in active regions, where long-lived downflows into sunspots have been observed

Regional model of EKC for air pollution: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Soonae; Lee, Youngmi

2011-01-01

This study aims to investigate a relationship between economic development and air pollution at the regional level, and further suggest energy policies for climate change mitigation. The present study examines an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis analyzing annual panel data of 16 metropolitan regions in Korea over a 16-year time period. The analysis results show that there is no one-dominant shape of EKC for SO 2 and NO 2 ; each region has its own EKC. That is, although we find the potential existence of U-shaped and N-shaped curves, the region-specific coefficients are enormously heterogeneous across regions. For CO, on the other hand, the random coefficient model shows that there is a dominant U-shaped curve across regions. In addition, energy consumption appears to be the most significant variable in explaining air pollution. Based on these results, we assert that environmental policy should consider the different characteristics of each region and type of pollutant. - Highlights: → Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypotheses are tested for air pollution in Korea. → A relationship of economic growth and pollution is analyzed at the regional level. → No-dominant EKC is found for SO 2 and NO 2 , but a dominant U-shaped curve for CO. → Environmental Policy should consider different features of each pollutant and region.

Regional model of EKC for air pollution: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Soonae, E-mail: psoonae@snu.ac.kr [Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Youngmi, E-mail: youngmil@usc.edu [School of Policy, Planning, and Development, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089 (United States)

2011-10-15

This study aims to investigate a relationship between economic development and air pollution at the regional level, and further suggest energy policies for climate change mitigation. The present study examines an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis analyzing annual panel data of 16 metropolitan regions in Korea over a 16-year time period. The analysis results show that there is no one-dominant shape of EKC for SO{sub 2} and NO{sub 2}; each region has its own EKC. That is, although we find the potential existence of U-shaped and N-shaped curves, the region-specific coefficients are enormously heterogeneous across regions. For CO, on the other hand, the random coefficient model shows that there is a dominant U-shaped curve across regions. In addition, energy consumption appears to be the most significant variable in explaining air pollution. Based on these results, we assert that environmental policy should consider the different characteristics of each region and type of pollutant. - Highlights: > Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypotheses are tested for air pollution in Korea. > A relationship of economic growth and pollution is analyzed at the regional level. > No-dominant EKC is found for SO{sub 2} and NO{sub 2}, but a dominant U-shaped curve for CO. > Environmental Policy should consider different features of each pollutant and region.

Optimal depth-based regional frequency analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Wazneh, H.; Chebana, F.; Ouarda, T. B. M. J.

2013-06-01

Classical methods of regional frequency analysis (RFA) of hydrological variables face two drawbacks: (1) the restriction to a particular region which can lead to a loss of some information and (2) the definition of a region that generates a border effect. To reduce the impact of these drawbacks on regional modeling performance, an iterative method was proposed recently, based on the statistical notion of the depth function and a weight function φ. This depth-based RFA (DBRFA) approach was shown to be superior to traditional approaches in terms of flexibility, generality and performance. The main difficulty of the DBRFA approach is the optimal choice of the weight function ϕ (e.g., φ minimizing estimation errors). In order to avoid a subjective choice and naïve selection procedures of φ, the aim of the present paper is to propose an algorithm-based procedure to optimize the DBRFA and automate the choice of ϕ according to objective performance criteria. This procedure is applied to estimate flood quantiles in three different regions in North America. One of the findings from the application is that the optimal weight function depends on the considered region and can also quantify the region's homogeneity. By comparing the DBRFA to the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) method, results show that the DBRFA approach leads to better performances both in terms of relative bias and mean square error.

Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and attribution of extreme regional low temperature event

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

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

2015-01-01

Based on an objective identification technique for regional low temperature event (OITRLTE), the daily minimum temperature in China has been detected from 1960 to 2013. During this period, there were 60 regional extreme low temperature events (ERLTEs), which are included in the 690 regional low temperature events (RLTEs). The 60 ERLTEs are analyzed in this paper. The results show that in the last 50 years, the intensity of the ERLTEs has become weak; the number of lasted days has decreased; and, the affected area has become small. However, that situation has changed in this century. In terms of spatial distribution, the high intensity regions are mainly in Northern China while the high frequency regions concentrate in Central and Eastern China. According to the affected area of each event, the 60 ERLTEs are classified into six types. The atmospheric circulation background fields which correspond to these types are also analyzed. The results show that, influenced by stronger blocking highs of Ural and Lake Baikal, as well as stronger southward polar vortex and East Asia major trough at 500-hPa geopotential height, cold air from high latitudes is guided to move southward and abnormal northerly winds at 850 hPa makes the cold air blow into China along diverse paths, thereby forming different types of regional extreme low temperatures in winter. (paper)

Why Different Drought Indexes Show Distinct Future Drought Risk Outcomes in the U.S. Great Plains?

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, S.; Hayes, M. J.; Trnka, M.

2015-12-01

Vigorous discussions and disagreements about the future changes in drought intensity in the US Great Plains have been taking place recently within the literature. These discussions have involved widely varying estimates based on drought indices and model-based projections of the future. To investigate and understand the causes for such a disparity between these previous estimates, we analyzed 10 commonly-used drought indexes using the output from 26 state-of-the-art climate models. These drought indices were computed using potential evapotranspiration estimated by the physically-based Penman-Monteith method (PE_pm) and the empirically-based Thornthwaite method (PE_th). The results showed that the short-term drought indicators are similar to modeled surface soil moisture and show a small but consistent drying trend in the future. The long-term drought indicators and the total column soil moisture, however, are consistent in projecting more intense future drought. When normalized, the drought indices with PE_th all show unprecedented and possibly unrealistic future drying, while the drought indices with PE_pm show comparable dryness with the modeled soil moisture. Additionally, the drought indices with PE_pm are closely related to soil moisture during both the 20th and 21st Centuries. Overall, the drought indices with PE_pm, as well as the modeled total column soil moisture, suggest a widespread and very significant drying of the Great Plains region toward the end of the Century. Our results suggested that the sharp contracts about future drought risk in the Great Plains discussed in previous studies are caused by 1) comparing the projected changes in short-term droughts with that of the long-term droughts, and/or 2) computing the atmospheric evaporative demand using the empirically-based method (e.g., PE_th). Our analysis may be applied for drought projections in other regions across the globe.

Bipolar I disorder and major depressive disorder show similar brain activation during depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Cerullo, Michael A; Eliassen, James C; Smith, Christopher T; Fleck, David E; Nelson, Erik B; Strawn, Jeffrey R; Lamy, Martine; DelBello, Melissa P; Adler, Caleb M; Strakowski, Stephen M

2014-11-01

Despite different treatments and courses of illness, depressive symptoms appear similar in major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar I disorder (BP-I). This similarity of depressive symptoms suggests significant overlap in brain pathways underlying neurovegetative, mood, and cognitive symptoms of depression. These shared brain regions might be expected to exhibit similar activation in individuals with MDD and BP-I during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). fMRI was used to compare regional brain activation in participants with BP-I (n = 25) and MDD (n = 25) during a depressive episode as well as 25 healthy comparison (HC) participants. During the scans, participants performed an attentional task that incorporated emotional pictures. During the viewing of emotional images, subjects with BP-I showed decreased activation in the middle occipital gyrus, lingual gyrus, and middle temporal gyrus compared to both subjects with MDD and HC participants. During attentional processing, participants with MDD had increased activation in the parahippocampus, parietal lobe, and postcentral gyrus. However, among these regions, only the postcentral gyrus also showed differences between MDD and HC participants. No differences in cortico-limbic regions were found between participants with BP-I and MDD during depression. Instead, the major differences occurred in primary and secondary visual processing regions, with decreased activation in these regions in BP-I compared to major depression. These differences were driven by abnormal decreases in activation seen in the participants with BP-I. Posterior activation changes are a common finding in studies across mood states in participants with BP-I. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Extreme Trust Region Policy Optimization for Active Object Recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Huaping; Wu, Yupei; Sun, Fuchun; Huaping Liu; Yupei Wu; Fuchun Sun; Sun, Fuchun; Liu, Huaping; Wu, Yupei

2018-06-01

In this brief, we develop a deep reinforcement learning method to actively recognize objects by choosing a sequence of actions for an active camera that helps to discriminate between the objects. The method is realized using trust region policy optimization, in which the policy is realized by an extreme learning machine and, therefore, leads to efficient optimization algorithm. The experimental results on the publicly available data set show the advantages of the developed extreme trust region optimization method.

Regional increases in [{sup 11}C]flumazenil binding after epilepsy surgery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Savic, I. [Huddinge Hospital, Dept. of Neurology (Sweden); Blomqvist, G. [Karolinska Hospital, Dept. of Clinical Neurophysiology, Stockholm (Sweden); Halldin, C. [Karolinska Hospital, Dept. of Psychiatry, Stockholm (Sweden); Litton, J.E. [Karolinska Hospital, Dept. of Psychology, Stockholm (Sweden); Gulyas, B. [Karolinska Institute, Div. of Human Brain Research (Sweden)

1998-05-01

Introduction - Animal experiments suggest that epileptic seizures alter the expression of mRNA for neuro-receptors. PET measurements with [{sup 11}C]flumazenil show that patients with partial seizures have a reduced density of benzodiazepine (BZ) receptors in the epileptogenic regions (ER) and some of the target areas for seizure activity, the so called projection areas. Recent data suggest that the degree of BZ receptor reduction in ER is correlated to seizure frequency. We therefore hypothesized that seizure activity can alter the BZ receptor binding, and that some of these changes could normalize when the seizures disappeared. Methods - In 4 patients whose seizures were generated by mesial temporal lobe structures, BZ receptor density was measured with [{sup 11}C]flumazenil PET before, and 1 year after the epilepsy surgery and cessation of seizures. By use of a computerized anatomical brain atlas the same regions were analyzed in both PET scans, and the results related to data from 7 healthy controls. Results - Presurgical PET scans showed reductions in BZ receptor density in the epileptogenic regions and some of its primary projection areas. Other cortical regions had normal values. Postsurgically, the calculated BZ receptor density normalized (29{+-}17% increase) in several of the affected projection areas, whereas the values in other cortical regions remained unaltered. Conclusion - Regional reductions in BZ receptor density may be dynamic and related to seizures. The present preliminary observations encourage further studies on seizure-related changes in regional receptor binding in humans. (au) 41 refs.

Selection of projects in the regional energy planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ramirez P, R.; Navas M, F.

1993-01-01

The processes of regional energy planning have changed vastly in the last years and it will continue changing in the future for the new norm of the State. This work tries to show the use of systematic tools in the selection of regional energy projects. It discusses a methodology of selection of projects based on a multivariate technical. It is applied in the Southwestern region of Colombia and both selection and priority results are obtained. The designed methodology allows to make the selection of projects in an automatic way with a software designed for such an end. In the case of Southwestern it arrives to a briefcase of projects for an energy plan and made for other races

Iran’s policy in the Caspian region at the present stage: results and prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vahid Hosseinzadeh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available One of the most important players in the geopolitical process in the Caspian region is Iran. In this article, we consider Iran’s policy on a wide range of problems in the Caspian Sea region that the country has been following since the collapse of the Soviet Union. For more than two decades, one of the important tasks of the Iranian Foreign Ministry was to define the international legal regime of the Caspian Sea, which was complicated by the geopolitical changes in the region associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of new Caspian states - Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. Initially, Iran tried to justify the division of the sea, based on the former Soviet-Iranian agreements. However, the new Caspian states believed that the geopolitical status underwent fundamental changes and the previous contracts couldn’t justify modern challenges. In this connection, the tasks of preserving the national interest to the maximum extent and at the same time maintaining constructive relations with other Caspian states, especially with the Russian Federation, became urgent for Iran’s policy. Environmental pollution and lack of financial and technological resources for energy extraction are a serious problem for Iran in the Caspian Sea. The Islamic Republic of Iran is still at the stage of research into the extraction of energy resources in the region and has not entered the mass production stage due to international sanctions. However, after the agreement with the “5+1” and the lifting of sanctions, Iran has the opportunity to extract oil and gas from the Caspian. The activities of Western companies and their close cooperation with the new Caspian states are also a problem for Iran. The military presence of the West, especially the United States, in the Caspian region is considered a direct security threat from the Iranian point of view, and Iran has serious objections and fears in this regard.  

Regional decadal predictions of coupled climate-human systems

Science.gov (United States)

Curchitser, E. N.; Lawrence, P.; Felder, F.; Large, W.; Bacmeister, J. T.; Andrews, C.; Kopp, R. E.

2016-12-01

We present results from a project to develop a framework for investigating the interactions between human activity and the climate system using state-of-the-art multi-scale, climate and economic models. The model is applied to the highly industrialized and urbanized coastal region of the northeast US with an emphasis on New Jersey. The framework is developed around the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM). The CESM model capabilities are augmented with enhanced resolution of the atmosphere (25 km), land surface (I km) and ocean models (7 km) in our region of interest. To the climate model, we couple human activity models for the utility sector and a 300-equation econometric model with sectorial details of an input-output model for the New Jersey economy. We will present results to date showing the potential impact of climate change on electricity markets on its consequences on economic activity in the region.

Real Time Precise Point Positioning: Preliminary Results for the Brazilian Region

Science.gov (United States)

Marques, Haroldo; Monico, João.; Hirokazu Shimabukuro, Milton; Aquino, Marcio

2010-05-01

this paper our proposition is to present the mathematical models implemented in the PPP_RT software and some proposal to accomplish the PPP in real time as for example using tropospheric model from Brazilian Numerical Weather Forecast Model (BNWFM) and estimating the ionosphere using stochastic process. GPS data sample from the Brazilian region was processed using the PPP_RT software considering periods under low and high ionospheric activities and the results estimating the ionosphere were compared with the ion-free combination. The PPP results also were analyzed considering the strategy of the troposphere estimation, Hopfield model or using the BNWFM. For the troposphere case, the values from BNWFM can reach similar results when estimating the troposphere. For the ionosphere case, the results have shown that ionosphere estimation can improve the time convergence of the PPP processing what is very important for PPP in real time.

Relative efficiency within a tax administration: The effects of result improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Villar Rubio

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the Spanish tax administration, evaluating the relative efficiency of each of the regional offices that are its constituent parts via output-oriented two-stage data envelopment analysis. In the study, a total of 47 regional offices were analysed, considering three inputs: 1 current expenditure in goods and services; 2 number of tax returns processed in terms of the two main direct taxes; and, 3 personnel numbers. Revenue resulting from tax assessments was considered as output. The analysis shows that the efficient action of regional offices might have increased by 21.6% the results of the management of this administration.

Sistema regional de inovação: estudo das regiões brasileiras Regional innovation system: a study of brazilian regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovana F. Rossi Casali

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Este trabalho analisou o processo de formação regional do Brasil, os desequilíbrios existentes entre as regiões e as perspectivas futuras. Teve como proposta básica analisar o possível processo de convergência de renda das regiões brasileiras, utilizando o conceito de gap tecnológico. Segundo esse conceito, os desequilíbrios regionais são o resultado de diferentes taxas de desenvolvimento econômico, que, por sua vez, resultam de diferentes níveis de desenvolvimento tecnológico, os quais, por fim, são consequências de condições históricas, sociais e culturais específicas de cada região. Dessa forma, pressupôs-se a existência de relação positiva entre nível de desenvolvimento tecnológico, dependência tecnológica, dependência econômica, nível de desenvolvimento econômico e convergência de renda. Os resultados mostram que, em relação à possibilidade de as regiões e os estados menos desenvolvidos realizarem o catching up com aqueles mais desenvolvidos, as variáveis que representam tanto a geração quanto a apropriação de novas tecnologias são significativas e diretamente relacionadas com o produto. Dessa forma, pode-se afirmar que o catching up seria possível caso houvesse um maior investimento no processo de desenvolvimento e apropriação de novas tecnologias por parte dos governos regionais.This research developed an analysis on the regional imbalances at the Brazilian economy, the historic formation of the regions and perspectives. As a result of the distinctive courses followed by each region, an economical concentration process occurs in the Southeast. In this sense, this study intended to analyze the possible process of the Brazilian regional formation, using the concept of technological gap. The result show that, in relation to the possibilities of the regions and states that are less developed to accomplish the catching up with those that are more developed, the variables that represent generation

Patterned basal seismicity shows sub-ice stream bedforms

Science.gov (United States)

Barcheck, C. G.; Tulaczyk, S. M.; Schwartz, S. Y.

2017-12-01

Patterns in seismicity emanating from the bottom of fast-moving ice streams and glaciers may indicate localized patches of higher basal resistance— sometimes called 'sticky spots', or otherwise varying basal properties. These seismogenic basal areas resist an unknown portion of the total driving stress of the Whillans Ice Plain (WIP), in West Antarctica, but may play an important role in the WIP stick-slip cycle and ice stream slowdown. To better understand the mechanism and importance of basal seismicity beneath the WIP, we analyze seismic data collected by a small aperture (micro-earthquakes in Dec 2014, and we compare the resulting map of seismicity to ice bottom depth measured by airborne radar. The number of basal earthquakes per area within the network is spatially heterogeneous, but a pattern of two 400m wide streaks of high seismicity rates is evident, with >50-500 earthquakes detected per 50x50m grid cell in 2 weeks. These seismically active streaks are elongated approximately in the ice flow direction with a spacing of 750m. Independent airborne radar measurements of ice bottom depth from Jan 2013 show a low-amplitude ( 5m) undulation in the basal topography superposed on a regional gradient in ice bottom depth. The flow-perpendicular wavelength of these low-amplitude undulations is comparable to the spacing of the high seismicity bands, and the streaks of high seismicity intersect local lows in the undulating basal topography. We interpret these seismic and radar observations as showing seismically active sub-ice stream bedforms that are low amplitude and elongated in the direction of ice flow, comparable to the morphology of mega scale glacial lineations (MSGLs), with high basal seismicity rates observed in the MSGL troughs. These results have implications for understanding the formation mechanism of MSGLS and well as understanding the interplay between basal topographic roughness, spatially varying basal till and hydrologic properties, basal

NEOLITHIC PLANT USE IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN REGION: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE AGRIWESTMED PROJECT

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L. Peña-Chocarro

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This contribution focuses on the preliminary results of the AGRIWESTMED project which focuses on the archaeobotanical analyses of early Neolithic sites in the western Mediterranean region (both in Iberia and in northern Morocco. A large number of sites has been studied producing an interesting dataset of plant remains which places the earliest examples of domesticated plants in the second half of the 6th millennium cal BC. Plant diversity is high as it is shown by the large number of species represented: hulled and naked wheats, barley, peas, fava beans, vetches, lentils and grass peas. To more crops, poppy and flax, are also part of the first agricultural crops of the area. Although agriculture seems to occupy a first place in the production of food, gathering is well represented in the Moroccan sites where a large number of species has been identified. 

Features of the Regional Labor Markets in the Czech Republic

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Vít Pošta

2017-06-01

Full Text Available We use the Labor Office data for the regions of the Czech Republic to investigate some of the structural features of the respective labor markets. We build our approach on the matching function of the search model of the labor market. In the paper we show how the regional labor markets differ with respect to vacancies, unemployment, matches between unemployed and vacancies, probability of finding a job and labor market tightness. We also demonstrate how these characteristics evolved over time. We show that the labor markets were really hit the hardest several years after the great recession began to affect the Czech Republic. We go on to estimate the matching function for the respective regional labor markets and show that the sensitivity of the probability of finding a job to the labor market tightness generally increased over time, which we interpret as a positive sign. We set our results in the framework of some of the earlier work which has been done. With all the data and estimates used we are able to pinpoint the most troubled regions as far as the structural features of the labor market are concerned.

Regional Differences in Food Consumption in Urban Mozambique

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barslund, Mikkel Christoffer

A nationwide household survey for Mozambique is used to estimate a large censored food demand system with 12 food groups for the sample of urban households. Using the translog indirect utility approach, the censored nature of the data is addressed by estimating a system of Tobit equations...... with a recently suggested quasi maximum likelihood estimator. Augmenting the system with demographic and geographical variables in a theoretically consistent way, I find that differences in elasticities between regions are significant. The results show that regional variation has to be taken into account when...

Assessment of regional air quality resulting from emission control in the Pearl River Delta region, southern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, N; Lyu, X P; Deng, X J; Guo, H; Deng, T; Li, Y; Yin, C Q; Li, F; Wang, S Q

2016-12-15

To evaluate the impact of emission control measures on the air quality in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of South China, statistic data including atmospheric observations, emissions and energy consumptions during 2006-2014 were analyzed, and a Weather Research and Forecasting - Community Multi-scale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model was used for various scenario simulations. Although energy consumption doubled from 2004 to 2014 and vehicle number significantly increased from 2006 to 2014, ambient SO 2 , NO 2 and PM 10 were reduced by 66%, 20% and 24%, respectively, mainly due to emissions control efforts. In contrast, O 3 increased by 19%. Model simulations of three emission control scenarios, including a baseline (a case in 2010), a CAP (a case in 2020 assuming control strength followed past control tendency) and a REF (a case in 2020 referring to the strict control measures based on recent policy/plans) were conducted to investigate the variations of air pollutants to the changes in NO x , VOCs and NH 3 emissions. Although the area mean concentrations of NO x , nitrate and PM 2.5 decreased under both NO x CAP (reduced by 1.8%, 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively) and NO x REF (reduced by 7.2%, 1.8% and 0.3%, respectively), a rising of PM 2.5 was found in certain areas as reducing NO x emissions elevated the atmospheric oxidizability. Furthermore, scenarios with NH 3 emission reductions showed that nitrate was sensitive to NH 3 emissions, with decreasing percentages of 0-10.6% and 0-48% under CAP and REF, respectively. Controlling emissions of VOCs reduced PM 2.5 in the southwestern PRD where severe photochemical pollution frequently occurred. It was also found that O 3 formation in PRD was generally VOCs-limited while turned to be NO x -limited in the afternoon (13:00-17:00), suggesting that cutting VOCs emissions would reduce the overall O 3 concentrations while mitigating NO x emissions in the afternoon could reduce the peak O 3 levels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B

Accuracy of Invisalign® treatments in the anterior tooth region. First results.

Science.gov (United States)

Krieger, Elena; Seiferth, Jörg; Saric, Ivana; Jung, Britta A; Wehrbein, Heinrich

2011-03-01

To analyse (a) to what extent the pretreatment model at the beginning of the treatment corresponds to the initial position in the ClinCheck® and (b) to what extent the predicted treatment result corresponds to the actual result of the therapy at the end of the treatment. Pre- and posttreatment models as well as the initial and final position of the ClinCheck with a total of 35 patients aged between 15 and 59 were measured; all of whom were treated by using the Invisalign® technology (Invisalign®, Align Technology, S.C., Calif., USA). The measurement of the initial and final models was conducted by using an electronic digital calliper rule, i.e. that of ClinCheck® using the measurement tool ToothMeasure® of Invisalign® Software. The following parameters in the anterior region were measured: Overjet, Overbite, dental midline shift. Pretreament models and the initial ClinChecks® revealed slight deviations in the parameters overjet 0.08 mm (standard deviation (SD) 0.3), overbite 0.3 mm (SD 0.4) and dental midline deviation 0.1mm (SD 0.4). The final model and the final ClinCheck® revealed larger deviations: the differences for the Overjet were on average 0.4 mm (SD 0.7), Overbite 0.9 mm (SD 0.9) and dental midline shift 0.4 mm (SD 0.5). The IT-based transmission of mal-aligned teeth into the ClinCheck® presentation provides sufficiently good accuracy. Tooth corrections in the vertical plane were more difficult to realize. A vertical overcorrection in the final ClinCheck®, a case refinement at the end of the treatment or additional measures (e.g. horizontal beveled attachments or vertical elastics) seems useful to achieve the individually intended therapeutic goal.

The CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter: Results on Crystal Measurements, Quality Control and Data Management in the Rome Regional Center

CERN Document Server

Costantini, S

2004-01-01

The barrel of the CMS electromagnetic calorimeter is currently under construction and will contain 61200 PbWO4 crystals. Half of them are being fully characterized for dimensions, optical properties and light yield in the INFN-ENEA Regional Center near Rome. We describe the setup of an automatic quality control system for the crystal measurements and the present results on their qualification, as well as the REDACLE project, which has been developed to control and ease the production process. As it will not be possible to precalibrate the whole calorimeter,the crystal measurements and quality checks performed at the Regional Center will be crucial to provide a basis for fast in-situ calibration with particles. REDACLE is at the same time a fast database and a data management system, where the database and the workflow structures are decoupled, in order to obtain the best flexibility.

[Regional differences in the health care of basal cell carcinoma].

Science.gov (United States)

Augustin, J; Schäfer, I; Thiess, P; Reusch, M; Augustin, M

2016-10-01

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer in Germany. So far, it is unclear whether regional variations exist in the health care of the BCC. Analysis of regional variations in health care (e. g., skin cancer screening) and their causes using the example of BCC. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the regional health care situation of BCC based on three studies was undertaken. These studies include the analysis of n = 7015 histopathological indications whose average tumor thickness is regarded as a characteristic of the quality of care, and a secondary data analysis of GK insured (n = 6.1 million DAK-insured persons), and a nationwide survey (FORSA) of n = 1004 participants focusing on the use of skin cancer screening. Analysis of the histopathological examination showed regional variations in average tumor depth of penetration. These are associated with the rural/urban characteristics of the region and individual sociodemographic indicators (e. g., employment sector or education). The results for age- and gender-specific use (DAK data) showed higher participation rates regarding skin cancer screening in western than in eastern federal states (Bundesländer). Moreover, it was revealed that the trend for using skin cancer screening was higher in urban than in rural areas. The results of population-related surveys confirm this trend. Although it is not possible to compare the studies directly, all three showed an association between city/state and the use of skin cancer screenings. In addition, sociodemographic characteristics that are related to the quality of health care were identified.

Classical region of a trapped Bose gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Blakie, P Blair [Jack Dodd Centre for Photonics and Ultra-Cold Atoms, University of Otago, Dunedin (New Zealand); Davis, Matthew J [ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics, School of Physical Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072 (Australia)

2007-06-14

The classical region of a Bose gas consists of all single particle modes that have a high average occupation and are well described by a classical field. Highly occupied modes only occur in massive Bose gases at ultra-cold temperatures, in contrast to the photon case where there are highly occupied modes at all temperatures. For the Bose gas the number of these modes is dependent on the temperature, the total number of particles and their interaction strength. In this paper, we characterize the classical region of a harmonically trapped Bose gas over a wide parameter regime. We use a Hartree-Fock approach to account for the effects of interactions, which we observe to significantly change the classical region as compared to the idealized case. We compare our results to full classical field calculations and show that the Hartree-Fock approach provides a qualitatively accurate description of a classical region for the interacting gas.

Carnosine reverses the aging-induced down regulation of brain regional serotonergic system.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Soumyabrata; Ghosh, Tushar K; Poddar, Mrinal K

2015-12-01

The purpose of the present investigation was to study the role of carnosine, an endogenous dipeptide biomolecule, on brain regional (cerebral cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and pons-medulla) serotonergic system during aging. Results showed an aging-induced brain region specific significant (a) increase in Trp (except cerebral cortex) and their 5-HIAA steady state level with an increase in their 5-HIAA accumulation and declination, (b) decrease in their both 5-HT steady state level and 5-HT accumulation (except cerebral cortex). A significant decrease in brain regional 5-HT/Trp ratio (except cerebral cortex) and increase in 5-HIAA/5-HT ratio were also observed during aging. Carnosine at lower dosages (0.5-1.0μg/Kg/day, i.t. for 21 consecutive days) didn't produce any significant response in any of the brain regions, but higher dosages (2.0-2.5μg/Kg/day, i.t. for 21 consecutive days) showed a significant response on those aging-induced brain regional serotonergic parameters. The treatment with carnosine (2.0μg/Kg/day, i.t. for 21 consecutive days), attenuated these brain regional aging-induced serotonergic parameters and restored towards their basal levels that observed in 4 months young control rats. These results suggest that carnosine attenuates and restores the aging-induced brain regional down regulation of serotonergic system towards that observed in young rats' brain regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

How to Support Forest Management in a World of Change: Results of Some Regional Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Fürst, C.; Lorz, C.; Vacik, H.; Potocic, N.; Makeschin, F.

2010-12-01

This article presents results of several studies in Middle, Eastern and Southeastern Europe on needs and application areas, desirable attributes and marketing potentials of forest management support tools. By comparing present and future application areas, a trend from sectoral planning towards landscape planning and integration of multiple stakeholder needs is emerging. In terms of conflicts, where management support tools might provide benefit, no clear tendencies were found, neither on local nor on regional level. In contrast, on national and European levels, support of the implementation of laws, directives, and regulations was found to be of highest importance. Following the user-requirements analysis, electronic tools supporting communication are preferred against paper-based instruments. The users identified most important attributes of optimized management support tools: (i) a broad accessibility for all users at any time should be guaranteed, (ii) the possibility to integrate iteratively experiences from case studies and from regional experts into the knowledge base (learning system) should be given, and (iii) a self-explanatory user interface is demanded, which is also suitable for users rather inexperienced with electronic tools. However, a market potential analysis revealed that the willingness to pay for management tools is very limited, although the participants specified realistic ranges of maximal amounts of money, which would be invested if the products were suitable and payment inevitable. To bridge the discrepancy between unwillingness to pay and the need to use management support tools, optimized financing or cooperation models between practice and science must be found.

Potential of Agricultural Biomass: Comparative Review of Selected EU Regions and Region of Vojvodina

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Odavić Petrana

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Owing to the fact that the EU is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% below 1990 levels by 2020, and having in mind their high dependence on import of oil and oil derivatives, which, in turn, causes instability of power supply, increasing attention is being paid to renewable energy sources. Given the ongoing pre-accession process of the Republic of Serbia in relation to the EU, in order to determine the capacity of the country to increase the share of energy use from renewable sources, in this paper clustering of selected regions in the EU-28 has been carried out, after which a comparative analysis of regions was performed in terms of potential of agricultural biomass, for the purpose of generating energy. The aim of this study is to determine the level of the region of Vojvodina in relation to ten selected EU regions, based on parameters that affect the potential for using renewable energy sources, primarily residues from agriculture. By applying the K-means method, Borda count method and comparative analysis, and based on empirical data, results show that the region of Vojvodina takes a significant fifth place. Its share of agricultural land ranks it as the first, whereas production of cereals and the total number of farms larger than 100 ha rank it as the second. It could be concluded that Vojvodina is an agricultural region with large quantities of plant remains, primarily those left over from harvest, which represents a significant potential for energy generation from agricultural biomass.

Migration and regional inequality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peng, Lianqing; Swider, Sarah

2017-01-01

Scholars studying economic inequality in China have maintained that regional inequality and economic divergence across provinces have steadily increased over the past 30 years. New studies have shown that this trend is a statistical aberration; calculations show that instead of quickly and sharply...... rising, regional inequality has actually decreased, and most recently, remained stable. Our study suggests that China’s unique migratory regime is crucial to understanding these findings. We conduct a counterfactual simulation to demonstrate how migration and remittances have mitigated income inequality...... across provinces in order to show that without these processes, we would have seen more of a rise in interprovincial income inequality. We conclude by arguing that inequality in China is still increasing, but it is changing and becoming less place-based. As regional inequality decreases, there are signs...

3-D crustal P-wave velocity tomography of the Italian region using local and regional seismicity data

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F. M. Mele

1995-06-01

Full Text Available A tomographic experiment was performed in the Italian region using local and regional arrivaI times of p and S seismological phases selected from the Italian National Bulletin in the time interval 1984-1991. We deter- mined a 3-D crustal P-wave velocity model using a simultaneous inversion method that iteratively re1ocates the hypocenters and computes the unknown model parameters. A fast two-point ray tracing algorithm was adopted to compute the ray paths and travel times of P", S", P g' Sg phases with good accuracy. Synthetic tests were performed using the "true" hypocenter and station distribution to rough1y evaluate the extension of the areas most densely spanned by the ray paths; the agreement between synthetic and computed models is more satisfactory at Moho depths than in the upper crust. The qua1ity of the model resulting from inversion of real data is examined by the ca1culation of the Spread Function (Toomey and Foulger, 1989. The 3-D crustal P-wave velocity mode1 of the Italian region shows remarkab1e trends at Moho depths: the areas east of the Apennines call for positive adjustments of the initial velocity va1ue, while the west region shows negative ad- justments. The correspondence among the main features of the velocity field, the map of Moho isobaths and the map of the gravity anoma1ies is also outlined.

Source region of aurora kilometric radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morioka, Akira; Oya, Hiroshi; Tokumaru, Munetoshi

1981-01-01

This paper discusses the source region of aurora kilometric radiation (AKR), and the relation between the particle acceleration region and the polar ionosphere. The observation was made by the satellite 'Jikiken'. The AKR can be transferred to Jikiken without any interception, when the magnetic latitude of the apogee of the satellite is low. The spectra taken in June, 1980, were analyzed. The observed spectra showed the source regions of the AKR were in the aurora bands of the north and south poles. One example showed that the 200 kHz component of AKR from both poles showed the similar behavior, and another example showed that the AKR spectra from both poles showed different behavior. The altitude distribution of source regions was able to be obtained. The altitude of AKR-A was in the range between 6200 and 12000 km, and that of AKR-B was in the range of 3500 and 5200 km. The source of AKR-A was identified as that in the south hemisphere, and that of AKR-B in the north hemisphere. The asymmetric spectra of AKR-A and B showed that the spread and intensity of the electric field along magnetic lines generated above the polar ionosphere were related with the conditions of the ionosphere. (Kato, T.)

In-State and Interstate Associations Between Gun Shows and Firearm Deaths and Injuries: A Quasi-experimental Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthay, Ellicott C; Galin, Jessica; Rudolph, Kara E; Farkas, Kriszta; Wintemute, Garen J; Ahern, Jennifer

2017-12-19

Gun shows are an important source of firearms, but no adequately powered studies have examined whether they are associated with increases in firearm injuries. To determine whether gun shows are associated with short-term increases in local firearm injuries and whether this association differs by the state in which the gun show is held. Quasi-experimental. California. Persons in California within driving distance of gun shows. Gun shows in California and Nevada between 2005 and 2013 (n = 915 shows) and rates of firearm-related deaths, emergency department visits, and inpatient hospitalizations in California. Compared with the 2 weeks before, postshow firearm injury rates remained stable in regions near California gun shows but increased from 0.67 injuries (95% CI, 0.55 to 0.80 injuries) to 1.14 injuries (CI, 0.97 to 1.30 injuries) per 100 000 persons in regions near Nevada shows. After adjustment for seasonality and clustering, California shows were not associated with increases in local firearm injuries (rate ratio [RR], 0.99 [CI, 0.97 to 1.02]) but Nevada shows were associated with increased injuries in California (RR, 1.69 [CI, 1.16 to 2.45]). The pre-post difference was significantly higher for Nevada shows than California shows (ratio of RRs, 1.70 [CI, 1.17 to 2.47]). The Nevada association was driven by significant increases in firearm injuries from interpersonal violence (RR, 2.23 [CI, 1.01 to 4.89]) but corresponded to a small increase in absolute numbers. Nonfirearm injuries served as a negative control and were not associated with California or Nevada gun shows. Results were robust to sensitivity analyses. Firearm injuries were examined only in California, and gun show occurrence was not randomized. Gun shows in Nevada, but not California, were associated with local, short-term increases in firearm injuries in California. Differing associations for California versus Nevada gun shows may be due to California's stricter firearm regulations. National

DETERMININGS OF FARM WORK ALLOCATION IN BRAZILIAN REGIONS

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Filipe de Morais Cangussu Pessoa

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper was to analyze the determinings of farm work allocation in Brazilian regions, based on micro data of National Household Sample Survey 2009. For that, the empirical procedure consisted in the use of two models: Confirmatory Factor Analysis and the Logit Model. The model Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed good fit and defined two latent variables: qualification and income. As to the Logit Model, the results showed that the fact of a man living in rural areas increases the likelihood of being allocated in farm work, however if he is white this probability decrease. Besides, the variables qualification and income have a negative relation with farm work allocation, being the Midwest region that contributed most for people being allocated in farm work.

Coronary collateralization shows sex and racial-ethnic differences in obstructive artery disease patients.

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Zhi Liu

Full Text Available Coronary collateral circulation protects cardiac tissues from myocardial infarction damage and decreases sudden cardiac death. So far, it is unclear how coronary collateralization varies by race-ethnicity groups and by sex.We assessed 868 patients with obstructive CAD. Patients were assessed for collateral grades based on Rentrop grading system, as well as other covariates. DNA samples were genotyped using the Affymetrix 6.0 genotyping array. To evaluate genetic contributions to collaterals, we performed admixture mapping using logistic regression with estimated local and global ancestry.Overall, 53% of participants had collaterals. We found difference between sex and racial-ethnic groups. Men had higher rates of collaterals than women (P-value = 0.000175. White Hispanics/Latinos showed overall higher rates of collaterals than African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites (59%, 50% and 48%, respectively, P-value = 0.017, and especially higher rates in grade 1 and grade 3 collateralization than the other two populations (P-value = 0.0257. Admixture mapping showed Native American ancestry was associated with the presence of collaterals at a region on chromosome 17 (chr17:35,243,142-41,251,931, β = 0.55, P-value = 0.000127. African ancestry also showed association with collaterals at a different region on chromosome 17 (chr17: 32,266,966-34,463,323, β = 0.38, P-value = 0.00072.In our study, collateralization showed sex and racial-ethnic differences in obstructive CAD patients. We identified two regions on chromosome 17 that were likely to harbor genetic variations that influenced collateralization.

Near-surface wind variability over the broader Adriatic region: insights from an ensemble of regional climate models

Science.gov (United States)

Belušić, Andreina; Prtenjak, Maja Telišman; Güttler, Ivan; Ban, Nikolina; Leutwyler, David; Schär, Christoph

2018-06-01

Over the past few decades the horizontal resolution of regional climate models (RCMs) has steadily increased, leading to a better representation of small-scale topographic features and more details in simulating dynamical aspects, especially in coastal regions and over complex terrain. Due to its complex terrain, the broader Adriatic region represents a major challenge to state-of-the-art RCMs in simulating local wind systems realistically. The objective of this study is to identify the added value in near-surface wind due to the refined grid spacing of RCMs. For this purpose, we use a multi-model ensemble composed of CORDEX regional climate simulations at 0.11° and 0.44° grid spacing, forced by the ERA-Interim reanalysis, a COSMO convection-parameterizing simulation at 0.11° and a COSMO convection-resolving simulation at 0.02° grid spacing. Surface station observations from this region and satellite QuikSCAT data over the Adriatic Sea have been compared against daily output obtained from the available simulations. Both day-to-day wind and its frequency distribution are examined. The results indicate that the 0.44° RCMs rarely outperform ERA-Interim reanalysis, while the performance of the high-resolution simulations surpasses that of ERA-Interim. We also disclose that refining the grid spacing to a few km is needed to properly capture the small-scale wind systems. Finally, we show that the simulations frequently yield the accurate angle of local wind regimes, such as for the Bora flow, but overestimate the associated wind magnitude. Finally, spectral analysis shows good agreement between measurements and simulations, indicating the correct temporal variability of the wind speed.

Employment Performance and Convergence in the European Countries and Regions

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Cristiano Perugini

2004-12-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes the national and regional (NUTS-2 employment performance and convergence for various aggregations of 27 European countries (EU-25, plus Romania and Bulgaria, mainly using the three employment rates (total, female, older worker adopted by the European Employment Strategy (EES. At the national level, this analysis confirmed the existence of considerable differences in employment performance between and within the various country aggregations. Empirical analysis highlighted the remarkable net job creations in the EU-15 (and EMU-12 for the period 1997-2003, accompanied by a (national convergence for all three employment indicators. As regards total employment rates, significant converging trends also emerge at the regional level for both EU-15 and EMU-12 aggregations. In the eight Central European Countries, new EU members (8 CEC-NM, a  diverging trend in the total employment rate began in 1999, whereas converging dynamics were limited to the employment rate of older workers in the period 1998-2001. Regional analyses showed significant  diverging dynamics in the total employment rates (1999-2003 for the eight CEC-NM regions. At the national level of analyses, the relationship between “progress in transition” and employment performance was also briefly examined. Results show that a simple, stable correlation does not exist. However, a weak U-shaped relationship existing in 1998 shifted downward and evolved toward a positive link in 2003. The main results of cluster analysis of the 53 regions of the ten CECs confirmed a high level of regional labour market diversification, and the fact that sector structure affects employment performance significantly

Human body region enhancement method based on Kinect infrared imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Lei; Fan, Yubo; Song, Xiaowei; Cai, Wenjing

2016-10-01

To effectively improve the low contrast of human body region in the infrared images, a combing method of several enhancement methods is utilized to enhance the human body region. Firstly, for the infrared images acquired by Kinect, in order to improve the overall contrast of the infrared images, an Optimal Contrast-Tone Mapping (OCTM) method with multi-iterations is applied to balance the contrast of low-luminosity infrared images. Secondly, to enhance the human body region better, a Level Set algorithm is employed to improve the contour edges of human body region. Finally, to further improve the human body region in infrared images, Laplacian Pyramid decomposition is adopted to enhance the contour-improved human body region. Meanwhile, the background area without human body region is processed by bilateral filtering to improve the overall effect. With theoretical analysis and experimental verification, the results show that the proposed method could effectively enhance the human body region of such infrared images.

Highly syntenic regions in the genomes of soybean, Medicago truncatula, and Arabidopsis thaliana

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Roe Bruce A

2005-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Recent genome sequencing enables mega-base scale comparisons between related genomes. Comparisons between animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria demonstrate extensive synteny tempered by rearrangements. Within the legume plant family, glimpses of synteny have also been observed. Characterizing syntenic relationships in legumes is important in transferring knowledge from model legumes to crops that are important sources of protein, fixed nitrogen, and health-promoting compounds. Results We have uncovered two large soybean regions exhibiting synteny with M. truncatula and with a network of segmentally duplicated regions in Arabidopsis. In all, syntenic regions comprise over 500 predicted genes spanning 3 Mb. Up to 75% of soybean genes are colinear with M. truncatula, including one region in which 33 of 35 soybean predicted genes with database support are colinear to M. truncatula. In some regions, 60% of soybean genes share colinearity with a network of A. thaliana duplications. One region is especially interesting because this 500 kbp segment of soybean is syntenic to two paralogous regions in M. truncatula on different chromosomes. Phylogenetic analysis of individual genes within these regions demonstrates that one is orthologous to the soybean region, with which it also shows substantially denser synteny and significantly lower levels of synonymous nucleotide substitutions. The other M. truncatula region is inferred to be paralogous, presumably resulting from a duplication event preceding speciation. Conclusion The presence of well-defined M. truncatula segments showing orthologous and paralogous relationships with soybean allows us to explore the evolution of contiguous genomic regions in the context of ancient genome duplication and speciation events.

Decreased regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the prefrontal regions in adults' with internet game addiction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hyun Soo; Bang, Soong Ae; Yoon, Eun Jin; Cho, Sang Soo; Kim, Sang Hee; Kim, Yu Kyeong; Kim, Sang Eun

2007-01-01

Internet Game Addiction (IGA) is known to be associated with poor decision-making and diminished impulse control; however, the underlying neural substrates of IGA have not been identified. To investigate the neural substrates of IGA, we compared regional cerebral glucose metabolism between adults with and without IGA, primarily in the prefrontal brain regions, which have been implicated in inhibitory control. We studied 10 right-handed participants (5 controls: male, 23.8±0.75 y, 5 IGAs: male, 22.6±2.42 y) with FDG PET. A standardized questionnaire was used to assess the severity of IGA. Before scanning, all subjects carried out a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), as measures of behavioral inhibitory control. Statistical Parametric Mapping 2 (SPM2) was used to analyze differences in regional brain glucose metabolism between adults with and without IGA. Consistent with our predictions, compared to controls, significant reductions in FDG uptake in individuals with IGA were found in the bilateral orbitofrontal gyrus (BA 11, 47), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44, 48), cingulate cortex (BA 24), and bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA) (BA 6); whereas increases were found in the bilateral hippocampus. Correlation analyses within the IGA group further showed that the level of glucose metabolism in the right orbitofrontal gyrus was marginally positively correlated with task scores in BART. Our results showed that IGA is associated with reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal regions involved in inhibitory control. This finding highlights dysfunctional inhibitory brain systems in individuals with IGA and offers implications for the development for therapeutic paradigms for IGA

Groundwater Resource Assessment and Conceptualization in the Pilbara Region, Western Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas, Rodrigo; Commander, Philip; McFarlane, Don; Ali, Riasat; Dawes, Warrick; Barron, Olga; Hodgson, Geoff; Charles, Steve

2018-05-01

The Pilbara region is one of the most important mining hubs in Australia. It is also a region characterised by an extreme climate, featuring environmental assets of national significance, and considered a valued land by indigenous people. Given the arid conditions, surface water is scarce, shows large variability, and is an unreliable source of water for drinking and industrial/mining purposes. In such conditions, groundwater has become a strategic resource in the Pilbara region. To date, however, an integrated regional characterization and conceptualization of the occurrence of groundwater resources in this region were missing. This article addresses this gap by integrating disperse knowledge, collating available data on aquifer properties, by reviewing groundwater systems (aquifer types) present in the region and identifying their potential, and proposing conceptualizations for the occurrence and functioning of the groundwater systems identified. Results show that aquifers across the Pilbara Region vary substantially and can be classified in seven main types: coastal alluvial systems, concealed channel iron deposits, inland valley-fill aquifers, karstified dolomites, sandstone aquifers (West Canning Basin), Permian/Cenozoic Paleochannels, and Fractured Rock aquifers. Coastal alluvial systems show the greatest regional potential as water sources and are currently intensively utilised. Conceptually, the main recharge processes are infiltration of precipitation associated with cyclonic events and the interaction with streamflows during summer season, whereas the main discharge mechanisms correspond to evapotranspiration from riverine and coastal vegetation, discharge into the Indian Ocean, and dewatering of iron-ore bodies to facilitate mining activities. Important gaps in the knowledge relate to aquifer connectivity and accurate quantification of recharge/discharge mechanisms.

Optimal depth-based regional frequency analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Wazneh

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Classical methods of regional frequency analysis (RFA of hydrological variables face two drawbacks: (1 the restriction to a particular region which can lead to a loss of some information and (2 the definition of a region that generates a border effect. To reduce the impact of these drawbacks on regional modeling performance, an iterative method was proposed recently, based on the statistical notion of the depth function and a weight function φ. This depth-based RFA (DBRFA approach was shown to be superior to traditional approaches in terms of flexibility, generality and performance. The main difficulty of the DBRFA approach is the optimal choice of the weight function ϕ (e.g., φ minimizing estimation errors. In order to avoid a subjective choice and naïve selection procedures of φ, the aim of the present paper is to propose an algorithm-based procedure to optimize the DBRFA and automate the choice of ϕ according to objective performance criteria. This procedure is applied to estimate flood quantiles in three different regions in North America. One of the findings from the application is that the optimal weight function depends on the considered region and can also quantify the region's homogeneity. By comparing the DBRFA to the canonical correlation analysis (CCA method, results show that the DBRFA approach leads to better performances both in terms of relative bias and mean square error.

Location and regional productive specialization in Colombia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henry Antonio Mendoza Tolosa

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This document is directed to responding if Colombian regional economies restructured their productive activities from 2000 to 2014, and if so, illustrate the way that process has been effective in the different departments from the results and dynamics of their economic activities. For developing this exercise, we used a set of statistical indicators of spatial geography, among which is the factorial analysis, specifically the method of principal components, whose purpose was to identify the set activities whose performance explains more clearly the productive orientation of the departments, and complementary synthetic regional specialization indexes were employed in order to identify the degree and the changes of economic diversification, presented in those indicators. The results of this research shows that most of the Colombian regions have diversified their economic activity, with focus on service activities, among which are representative government and non-market services produced by those institutions, nowadays less dependent on few sources of growth. However, in other regions the primary sector, mainly mining activity, for many years has been the most important activity of production structures, affecting the process of full diversification, which is close to current local demands and international economic order the requests with greater intensity.

Bio-edafology of the Coleoptera order, in three Colombia Natural Regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Camero R, Edgar; Chamorro B, Clara

1997-01-01

The characterization of Coleoptera families is showed to three different Colombian Natural Regions. This is given in relation with biological and environmental factors, different vegetation covers and soil uses. In addition to it, susceptible Coleoptera taxa are determined when natural conditions are disturbed. Methodically, a literature subject research was made, and Barber and Berlesse traps were used to organism extractions from superficial and under superficial soil. Horizons diversity, riches and constancy index were determined to each family. Results show different diversity, riches and constancy values to each family, as much in each natural region, such as to each soil use

Possible existence of wormholes in the central regions of halos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahaman, Farook, E-mail: rahaman@iucaa.ernet.in [Department of Mathematics, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, West Bengal (India); Salucci, P., E-mail: salucci@sissa.it [SISSA, International School for Advanced Studies, Via Bonomea 265, 34136, Trieste (Italy); INFN, Sezione di Trieste, Via Valerio 2, 34127, Trieste (Italy); Kuhfittig, P.K.F., E-mail: kuhfitti@msoe.edu [Department of Mathematics, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, WI 53202-3109 (United States); Ray, Saibal, E-mail: saibal@iucaa.ernet.in [Department of Physics, Government College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology, Kolkata 700010, West Bengal (India); Rahaman, Mosiur, E-mail: mosiurju@gmail.com [Department of Mathematics, Meghnad Saha Institute of Technology, Kolkata 700150 (India)

2014-11-15

An earlier study (Rahaman, et al., 2014 and Kuhfittig, 2014) has demonstrated the possible existence of wormholes in the outer regions of the galactic halo, based on the Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW) density profile. This paper uses the Universal Rotation Curve (URC) dark matter model to obtain analogous results for the central parts of the halo. This result is an important compliment to the earlier result, thereby confirming the possible existence of wormholes in most of the spiral galaxies. - Highlights: • Earlier we showed possible existence of wormholes in the outer regions of halo. • We obtain here analogous results for the central parts of the galactic halo. • Our result is an important compliment to the earlier result. • This confirms possible existence of wormholes in most of the spiral galaxies.

The W40 region in the gould belt: An embedded cluster and H II region at the junction of filaments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mallick, K. K.; Ojha, D. K. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai 400005 (India); Kumar, M. S. N. [Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto, Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 s/n Porto (Portugal); Bachiller, Rafael [Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (IGN), Alfonso XII 3, E-28014 Madrid (Spain); Samal, M. R. [Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d' Astrophysique de Marseille), UMR 7326, F-13388 Marseille (France); Pirogov, L., E-mail: kshitiz@tifr.res.in [Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 46 Uljanov str., Nizhny Novgorod 603950 (Russian Federation)

2013-12-20

We present a multiwavelength study of the W40 star-forming region using infrared (IR) observations in the UKIRT JHK bands, Spitzer Infrared Array Camera bands, and Herschel PACS bands, 2.12 μm H{sub 2} narrowband imaging, and radio continuum observations from GMRT (610 and 1280 MHz), in a field of view (FoV) of ∼34' × 40'. Archival Spitzer observations in conjunction with near-IR observations are used to identify 1162 Class II/III and 40 Class I sources in the FoV. The nearest-neighbor stellar surface density analysis shows that the majority of these young stellar objects (YSOs) constitute the embedded cluster centered on the high-mass source IRS 1A South. Some YSOs, predominantly the younger population, are distributed along and trace the filamentary structures at lower stellar surface density. The cluster radius is measured to be 0.44 pc—matching well with the extent of radio emission—with a peak density of 650 pc{sup –2}. The JHK data are used to map the extinction in the region, which is subsequently used to compute the cloud mass—126 M {sub ☉} and 71 M {sub ☉} for the central cluster and the northern IRS 5 region, respectively. H{sub 2} narrowband imaging shows significant emission, which prominently resembles fluorescent emission arising at the borders of dense regions. Radio continuum analysis shows that this region has a blister morphology, with the radio peak coinciding with a protostellar source. Free-free emission spectral energy distribution analysis is used to obtain physical parameters of the overall photoionized region and the IRS 5 sub-region. This multiwavelength scenario is suggestive of star formation having resulted from the merging of multiple filaments to form a hub. Star formation seems to have taken place in two successive epochs, with the first epoch traced by the central cluster and the high-mass star(s)—followed by a second epoch that is spreading into the filaments as uncovered by the Class I sources and even

Assessment of the results of the strategic orientation on regional and local products in food retail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamil Pícha

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to assess if there is a difference in food choice behaviour between regular customers of stores of the retail chain Terno and other consumers. Consequently, the paper aims to discover, if the strategy formulated by the consumer co-operative Jednota České Budějovice was a good strategy. The core of this strategy is the orientation on the region, local and regional food and food products and the co-operation with local small and medium suppliers. Another part of this strategy is also the permanent control of quality of these products and creation of the special private label – Quality food from our region. The consumer co-operative co-operates also with the regional grouping under another label – Tastes great. Southbohemian. The assessment is done by means of the analysis of a questionnaire survey that was done among consumers in the South Bohemia in 2011. The strongest factor differentiating customers of the retail chain TERNO from other consumer is the orientation on regional or local products, which explains about 41% of variability. Other differentiating factors are environment-friendly production and selling and quality of food. All these three factors explain in total 66.5% of variability of the data set.

Contribution of the graded region of a HgCdTe diode to its saturation current

Science.gov (United States)

Schacham, S. E.; Finkman, E.

1990-01-01

Experimental results show that the contribution of the graded region to the current of Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te diodes is not negligible, as compared to that of the p type bulk. The theoretical analysis reveals the influence of the electric field present outside the depletion region on the current generated by the graded region. The analysis shows the importance of the lifetime profile in the graded region, which is a function of the specific recombination mechanism and its dependence on the local dopant concentration. The effect of parameters such as substrate concentration, surface concentration, and junction depth on this current is discussed.

Celso Furtado e o desenvolvimento regional

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clélio Campolina Diniz

2009-08-01

Full Text Available This text analyzes the contributions by Celso Furtado to interpreting the determinants of regional inequalities and to the formulation of development policies for less developed regions. It uses a backdrop the theoretical antecedents and principal global experiences of regional development policies, which served as a reference for Celso Furtado. It shows Furtado's originality when he linked questions of regional inequality with the nature of underdeveloped structures. It shows the theoretical and empirical foundations in the analysis of the Northeast question, guidelines for the future SUDENE, political pressures and the insufficiencies in the way development policies for the Northeast are carried out. Finally, it shows how Furtado's positions are still relevant, whether in the formulations prior to the creation of SUDENE or in the later theoretical developments. In these, Furtado overcomes the notion of region and begins to examine spatial structures; he introduces the central role of urban nodes, of their hierarchies and articulations; in other words, the role of the urban network in the command and structuring of the territory; of the central role of technology and innovation processes, and finally, of the need for an interdisciplinary effort for both understanding regional problems as well as for the formulation of policies and their implementation.

Regional Competitiveness and Its Implications for Development

OpenAIRE

Daryono Soebagyo; Triyono Triyono; Yuli Tri Cahyono

2015-01-01

This study was conducted to identify regional competitiveness in some areas of Central Java. Regional competitiveness became one of the issues in regional development policy since the enactment of local autonomy.Measurement of regional competitiveness has been mostly done through ranking as a benchmark the competitiveness of the region. Mapping regional competitiveness in Indonesia has been made to all counties and cities, which shows the competitiveness ranking of each region. Competitivenes...

The wind forecasting improvement project. Description and results from the Southern study region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freedman, Jeffrey [AWS Truepower LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Benjamin, Stan; Wilczak, James [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC and Boulder, CO (United States)] [and others

2012-07-01

The Wind Forecasting Improvement Project (WFIP) is a multi-year U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sponsored study whose main purpose is to demonstrate the scientific and economic benefits of additional atmospheric observations and model enhancements on wind energy production forecasts. WFIP covers two geographical regions of the U.S.: (1) the upper Great Plains, or Northern Study Area, and (2) most of Texas-the Southern Study Area. The Southern campaign is being led by AWS Truepower LLC, and includes a team of private, government, and academic partners with collective experience and expertise in all facets required to ensure a successful completion of the project. In addition presenting a summary of the state-of-the-art forecasting techniques used and phenomena-based analysis mentioned above, a brief synopsis of how ''lessons learned'' from the WFIP Southern Study Area can be articulated and applied to other wind resource regions will be described. (orig.)

Regional trends amongst Danish specialist farmland breeding birds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heldbjerg, Henning; Fox, Anthony David

2016-01-01

declining in all regions. Only Mew Gull Larus canus showed consistent increases in all regions, Western Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus and Common Whitethroat Sylvia communis showed increases in the East and West while Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica showed little change in abundance anywhere during...

Regionally-varying and regionally-uniform electricity pricing policies compared across four usage categories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Seong-Hoon; Kim, Taeyoung; Kim, Hyun Jae; Park, Kihyun; Roberts, Roland K.

2015-01-01

The objective of our research is to predict how electricity demand varies spatially between status quo regionally-uniform electricity pricing and hypothetical regionally-varying electricity pricing across usage categories. We summarize the empirical results of a case study of electricity demand in South Korea with three key findings and their related implications. First, the price elasticities of electricity demand differ across usage categories. Specifically, electricity demands for manufacturing and retail uses are price inelastic and close to unit elastic, respectively, while those for agricultural and residential uses are not statistically significant. This information is important in designing energy policy, because higher electricity prices could reduce electricity demands for manufacturing and retail uses, resulting in slower growth in those sectors. Second, spatial spillovers in electricity demand vary across uses. Understanding the spatial structure of electricity demand provides useful information to energy policy makers for anticipating changes in demand across regions via regionally-varying electricity pricing for different uses. Third, simulation results suggest that spatial variations among electricity demands by usage category under a regionally-varying electricity-pricing policy differ from those under a regionally-uniform electricity-pricing policy. Differences in spatial changes between the policies provide information for developing a realistic regionally-varying electricity-pricing policy according to usage category. - Highlights: • We compare regionally-varying and regionally-uniform electricity pricing policies. • We summarize empirical results of a case study of electricity demand in South Korea. • We confirm that spatial spillovers in electricity demands vary across different uses. • We find positive spatial spillovers in the manufacturing and residential sectors. • Our methods help policy makers evaluate regionally-varying pricing

Diet of residents of Bryansk region western areas and it's variation resulted from the Chernobyl accident

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travnikova, I.G.; Balonov, M.I.; Kaplun, I.S.

1993-01-01

The paper presents the results of the examination of 955 inhabitants of the Bryansk region areas affected greatly by the Chernobyl accident. The examination was carried out in August-September, 1987. The examination was conducted to estimate the efficiency of the protective measures taken to reduce the levels of population irradiation at the alimentary in take of radionuclides. The ratios characteristic for the urban and rural population and the variations of the rations resulted from the accident became one the objects of the investigation. Milk consumption by all groups of the population is determined to reduce abruptly thus affecting the usual structure of nutrition. Consumption of meat, of fish from local lakes and rivers, of mushrooms, of forest berries reduced, as well. The mentioned variations enabled to decrease the dose of internal irradiation of the population by several times, But protein, microelements and vitamin deficiency in combination with the stress may negative affet the health of the people

A Declining Region: Provincial Renaissance Revisited (Case of Volgograd Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drozdova Yuliya

2014-12-01

exceeds incoming migrants. Young people under 35 showed the highest rate of willingness to leave the region – 57.6 % of respondents, which arouses concern about the region’s future as this cohort capable of developing the region is the target of all plans about boosting the regional image, and these people are not going to cast in their lot with the Volgograd region. For the moment, we can point out that the region shows poor attractiveness for the main target groups in the region, which encumbers the formation of the region’s image and regional identity, indicates negative tendencies and implies great effort on the part of management entities if they want to change the situation in the Volgograd region. Our study revealed the main trends in building a positive image of the region and changing the local context; these are traditional (centre of war and history memorials – 38 % of respondents, industrial – 46.0 % of respondents, tourism – 26.8 % of respondents, and innovative (centre for training and education – 35.5 %, centre for culture – 37.9 % of respondents. The regional image and local context do not change spontaneously; they are rather a product of conscious, well-regulated conceptualization, a product of artificially organized public reflection and projection. According to the surveyed people residing in the region, the region’s development and change in local context can be helped along by such factors as “active cooperation of the authorities and business – 49.3 % of respondents; “honesty among regional and municipal officials – 38.6 % of respondents; “safety of business operations” – 34.3 % of respondents; “presence of a regional strategy that meets the region’s needs” – 33.9 % of respondents; “social and tax benefits” – 33.0 % of respondents; “the people should be informed about the project of regional development and take part in them” – 26.8 % of respondents. Revealing the factors that determine the local

Subsurface geology of the Lusi region: preliminary results from a comprehensive seismic-stratigraphic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Moscariello, Andrea; Do Couto, Damien; Lupi, Matteo; Mazzini, Adriano

2016-04-01

We investigate the subsurface data of a large sector in the Sidoarjo district (East Java, Indonesia) where the sudden catastrophic Lusi eruption started the 26th May 2006. Our goal is to understand the stratigraphic and structural features which can be genetically related to the surface manifestations of deep hydrothermal fluids and thus allow us to predict possible future similar phenomena in the region. In the framework of the Lusi Lab project (ERC grant n° 308126) we examined a series of densely spaced 2D reflection commercial seismic lines This allowed the reconstruction of the lateral variability of key stratigraphic horizons as well as the main tectonic features. In particular, we shed light on the deep structure of the Watukosek fault system and the associated fracture corridors crossing the entire stratigraphic successions. To the South-West, when approaching the volcanic complex, we could identify a clear contrast in seismic facies between chaotic volcanoclastic wedges and clastic-prone sedimentary successions as well as between the deeper stratigraphic units consisting of carbonates and lateral shales units. The latter show possible ductile deformation associated to fault-controlled diapirism which control in turns deformation of overlying stratigraphic units and deep geo-fluids circulation. Large collapse structures recognized in the study area (e.g. well PRG-1) are interpreted as the results of shale movement at depth. Similarly to Lusi, vertical deformation zones ("pipes"), likely associated with deeply rooted strike-slip systems seem to be often located at the interface between harder carbonate rocks forming isolated build ups and the laterally nearby clastic (shale-prone)-units. The mechanisms of deformation of structural features (strike vs dip slip systems) which may affect either the basement rock or the overlying deeper stratigraphic rocks is also being investigated to understand the relationship between deep and shallower (i.e. meteoric) fluid

Region based Brain Computer Interface for a home control application.

Science.gov (United States)

Akman Aydin, Eda; Bay, Omer Faruk; Guler, Inan

2015-08-01

Environment control is one of the important challenges for disabled people who suffer from neuromuscular diseases. Brain Computer Interface (BCI) provides a communication channel between the human brain and the environment without requiring any muscular activation. The most important expectation for a home control application is high accuracy and reliable control. Region-based paradigm is a stimulus paradigm based on oddball principle and requires selection of a target at two levels. This paper presents an application of region based paradigm for a smart home control application for people with neuromuscular diseases. In this study, a region based stimulus interface containing 49 commands was designed. Five non-disabled subjects were attended to the experiments. Offline analysis results of the experiments yielded 95% accuracy for five flashes. This result showed that region based paradigm can be used to select commands of a smart home control application with high accuracy in the low number of repetitions successfully. Furthermore, a statistically significant difference was not observed between the level accuracies.

A methodology for elemental and organic carbon emission inventory and results for Lombardy region, Italy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Caserini, Stefano [Politecnico di Milano, DICA Environmental Engineering Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Galante, Silvia, E-mail: silvia1.galante@polimi.it [Politecnico di Milano, DICA Environmental Engineering Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Ozgen, Senem; Cucco, Sara; Gregorio, Katia de [Politecnico di Milano, DICA Environmental Engineering Section, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano (Italy); Moretti, Marco [Environmental Protection Agency of Lombardia Region, ARPA, 20124 Milano (Italy)

2013-04-15

This paper presents a methodology and its application for the compilation of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) emission inventories. The methodology consists of the estimation of EC and OC emissions from available total suspended particulate matter (TSP) emission inventory data using EC and OC abundances in TSP derived from an extensive literature review, by taking into account the local technological context. In particular, the method is applied to the 2008 emissions of Lombardy region, Italy, considering 148 different activities and 30 types of fuels, typical of Western Europe. The abundances estimated in this study may provide a useful basis to assess the emissions also in other emission contexts with similar prevailing sources and technologies. The dominant sources of EC and OC in Lombardy are diesel vehicles for EC and the residential wood combustion (RWC) for OC which together account for about 83% of the total emissions of both pollutants. The EC and OC emissions from industrial processes and other fuel (e.g., gasoline, kerosene and LPG) combustion are significantly lower, while non-combustion sources give an almost negligible contribution. Total EC + OC contribution to regional greenhouse gas emissions is positive for every sector assuming whichever GWP100 value within the range proposed in literature. An uncertainty assessment is performed through a Monte Carlo simulation for RWC, showing a large uncertainty range (280% of the mean value for EC and 70% for OC), whereas for road transport a qualitative analysis identified a narrower range of uncertainty. - Highlights: ► Diesel and wood combustion contribute to more than 80% of total EC and OC. ► More than 50% of EC emissions come from road transport. ► Monte Carlo method is used to assess the uncertainty of wood combustion emissions. ► Residential wood combustion is the main source of uncertainty of EC OC inventory. ► In terms of CO{sub 2}eq, EC and OC correspond to 3% of CO{sub 2

Health transition in Brazil: regional variations and divergence/convergence in mortality.

Science.gov (United States)

Borges, Gabriel Mendes

2017-08-21

This study analyzes the main characteristics of the health transition in Brazil and its five major regions, using a framework that accounts for regional inequalities in mortality trends. The regional mortality divergence/convergence process is described and discussed by considering the specific contributions of age groups and causes of death in life expectancy variations. Results show that mortality change in Brazil has follow the epidemiologic transition theory to some extent during the period under analysis - for instance, the sharp decline in infant mortality in all regions (first from infectious and parasitic diseases and then from causes associated with the perinatal period) and the increase in the participation of chronic and degenerative diseases as the main cause of death. However, some features of Brazilian transition have not followed the linear and unidirectional pattern proposed by the epidemiologic transition theory, which helps to understand the periods of regional divergence in life expectancy, despite the long-term trends showing reducing regional inequalities. The emergence of HIV/AIDS, the persistence of relatively high levels of other infections and parasitic diseases, the regional differences in the unexpected mortality improvements from cardiovascular diseases, and the rapid and strong variations in mortality from external causes are some of the examples.

Regional cerebral blood flow in diagnosis of childhood onset partial epilepsy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitsuyoshi, Izuru; Tamaki, Kyoko; Mutoh, Kozo; Iwasaki, Yasushi; Konishi, Junji; Mikawa, Haruki; Okuno, Takehiko.

1993-01-01

We compared regional cerebral blood flow assessed by [ 123 I]N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine (IMP) single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and interictal surface electroencephalography (EEG) to evaluate its diagnostic potential in 24 patients with partial seizures with onset in childhood. Focal low uptake areas were observed in SPECT scans of 18 patients and were presumed to represent epileptogenic areas in 17. MRI revealed an abnormality in 12 and CT in 6 patients, and all organic lesions showed SPECT abnormalities, too. Six patients without focal structural abnormalities showed regional perfusion deficit on SPECT. Routine scalp EEG revealed an epileptic focus in 17 patients and three of them showed discordant results between SPECT and EEG, which suggested more serious brain disorders. In two patients without EEG localization only SPECT showed focal abnormalities in the probable epileptic area. [ 123 I]IMP-SPECT was useful in locating the epileptic focus, particularly during the early period after the onset of partial seizures when the EEG gave inconclusive results. (author)

Dose estimation of interventional cardiologists in different body regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borba, Iana Q. de; Luz, Renata M. da; Capaverde, Alexandre S.; Silva, Ana M. Marques da; Caramori, Paulo Ricardo Avancini

2015-01-01

Interventional radiology is one of the medical specialties that provides the highest doses to professionals, widely used in cardiology, being called interventional cardiology. In order to contribute to the optimization of occupational radiation protection in interventional cardiology procedures, the aim of this study is to evaluate the dose estimation received in different body regions by physicians in interventional cardiology procedures. Two physicians were followed, named as A and B, during one month period, performing a total of 127 procedures (70 for A and 57 for B) of interventional cardiology. During the procedures, dosimeters in different body regions beyond the full-body dosimeter were positioned. The results showed the highest values for the estimated dose received by workers were in the right wrist and left side face regions, for the physician A, and in the left knee and left side face, for the physician B. Results demonstrate the importance of using individual protection equipment by physicians in interventional cardiology, including lead glasses, besides monitoring dosimeters for other body regions, such as wrist, face and knee. (author)

Modeling for regional ecosystem sustainable development under uncertainty — A case study of Dongying, China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, K., E-mail: zhangkaibetter@126.com; Li, Y.P., E-mail: yongping.li@iseis.org; Huang, G.H., E-mail: gordon.huang@uregina.ca; You, L., E-mail: youli_ncepu@126.com; Jin, S.W., E-mail: jinshuwei2014@126.com

2015-11-15

In this study, a superiority–inferiority two-stage stochastic programming (STSP) method is developed for planning regional ecosystem sustainable development. STSP can tackle uncertainties expressed as fuzzy sets and probability distributions; it can be used to analyze various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic penalties when the promised targets are violated. STSP is applied to a real case of planning regional ecosystem sustainable development in the City of Dongying, where ecosystem services valuation approaches are incorporated within the optimization process. Regional ecosystem can provide direct and indirect services and intangible benefits to local economy. Land trading mechanism is introduced for planning the regional ecosystem's sustainable development, where wetlands are buyers who would protect regional ecosystem components and self-organization and maintain its integrity. Results of regional ecosystem activities, land use patterns, and land trading schemes have been obtained. Results reveal that, although large-scale reclamation projects can bring benefits to the local economy development, they can also bring with negative effects to the coastal ecosystem; among all industry activities oil field is the major contributor with a large number of pollutant discharges into local ecosystem. Results also show that uncertainty has an important role in successfully launching such a land trading program and trading scheme can provide more effective manner to sustain the regional ecosystem. The findings can help decision makers to realize the sustainable development of ecological resources in the process of rapid industrialization, as well as the integration of economic and ecological benefits. - Highlights: • Superiority–inferiority two-stage stochastic programming (STSP) method is developed. • STSP can tackle uncertainties expressed as fuzzy sets and probability distributions. • STSP is applied to planning

Modeling for regional ecosystem sustainable development under uncertainty — A case study of Dongying, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, K.; Li, Y.P.; Huang, G.H.; You, L.; Jin, S.W.

2015-01-01

In this study, a superiority–inferiority two-stage stochastic programming (STSP) method is developed for planning regional ecosystem sustainable development. STSP can tackle uncertainties expressed as fuzzy sets and probability distributions; it can be used to analyze various policy scenarios that are associated with different levels of economic penalties when the promised targets are violated. STSP is applied to a real case of planning regional ecosystem sustainable development in the City of Dongying, where ecosystem services valuation approaches are incorporated within the optimization process. Regional ecosystem can provide direct and indirect services and intangible benefits to local economy. Land trading mechanism is introduced for planning the regional ecosystem's sustainable development, where wetlands are buyers who would protect regional ecosystem components and self-organization and maintain its integrity. Results of regional ecosystem activities, land use patterns, and land trading schemes have been obtained. Results reveal that, although large-scale reclamation projects can bring benefits to the local economy development, they can also bring with negative effects to the coastal ecosystem; among all industry activities oil field is the major contributor with a large number of pollutant discharges into local ecosystem. Results also show that uncertainty has an important role in successfully launching such a land trading program and trading scheme can provide more effective manner to sustain the regional ecosystem. The findings can help decision makers to realize the sustainable development of ecological resources in the process of rapid industrialization, as well as the integration of economic and ecological benefits. - Highlights: • Superiority–inferiority two-stage stochastic programming (STSP) method is developed. • STSP can tackle uncertainties expressed as fuzzy sets and probability distributions. • STSP is applied to planning

In vitro activity of doripenem and other carbapenems against contemporary Gram-negative pathogens isolated from hospitalised patients in the Asia-Pacific region: results of the COMPACT Asia-Pacific Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Christiansen, K J; Ip, M; Ker, H B; Mendoza, M; Hsu, L; Kiratisin, P; Chongthaleong, A; Redjeki, I S; Quintana, A; Flamm, R; Garcia, J; Cassettari, M; Cooper, D; Okolo, P; Morrissey, I

2010-12-01

The Comparative Activity of Carbapenems Testing (COMPACT) Study was designed to determine the in vitro potency of doripenem compared with imipenem and meropenem against a large number of contemporary Gram-negative pathogens from more than 100 centres across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and to assess the reliability of Etest methodology for doripenem minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination against these pathogens. Data from eight countries within the Asia-Pacific region, which collected 1612 bacterial isolates, are presented here. Etest methodology was found to be a reliable method for MIC determination. Doripenem showed in vitro activity similar to or better than meropenem and at least four-fold better than imipenem against Enterobacteriaceae. Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, doripenem was also the most active of the three carbapenems in vitro. However, in vitro results do not necessarily correlate with clinical outcome. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Dual breath-hold magnetic resonance cine evaluation of global and regional cardiac function

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wintersperger, Bernd J.; Dietrich, Olaf; Huber, Armin; Reiser, Maximilian F.; Schoenberg, Stefan O.; Sincleair, Spencer; Runge, Val M.

2007-01-01

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of a multislice cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique with parallel imaging in regard to global and regional left ventricular function. Forty-two individuals underwent cine MRI on a 1.5-tesla scanner. Cine MRI used a steady-state free precession technique and was performed as a single-slice technique (nonTSENSE cine) and an accelerated multislice technique (TSENSE cine) with five slices per breath-hold. End diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume (ESV), and ejection fraction (EF) were evaluated for all data sets and in regard to regional wall motion and regional wall motion analysis, and quantitative regional wall thickness and systolic thickening were also assessed. EDV, ESV, and EF based on TSENSE cine showed excellent correlation to the nonTSENSE cine approach (all r 2 =0.99, P<0.001). While EDV evaluations showed a small underestimation for TSENSE cine, ESV and EF showed accurate results compared with nonTSENSE cine. Both readers showed good agreement (κ=0.72) in regional wall motion assessment comparing both techniques. Data acquisition for the multislice approach was significantly shorter (∝75%) that in single-slice cine. We conclude that accurate evaluation of regional wall motion and left ventricular EF is possible using accelerated multislice cine MR with high spatial and temporal resolution. (orig.)

Determination of the food consumption in eleven regions of the european community with a view to studying the radioactive contamination level: Methods used. Results of family enquiries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cresta, M.; Lacourly, G.

1966-01-01

In the present report are given the results obtained from food surveys carried out during the period 1963-1965 and involving 9000 families living in eleven regions spread out over the six European Community countries. A partial analysis of the results obtained covers a reduced sample of 3725 families; it makes it possible to fix the composition of the mean individual, monthly and annual food consumptions for each of the eleven regions. Details of the organisation of the survey, of the data processing methods and of the method of presenting the results are given in the first part of the report. the second part presents, in numerical table form, the consumption of various foodstuffs and the feeding principles for each region covered by the survey. Tables summarizing the data make it possible to compare the mean individual consumptions in the various regions studied. (author) [fr

Seasonal anomalies in electricity intensity across Chinese regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herrerias, M.J.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We analyze seasonal anomalies in electricity intensity in China. ► Regional and time dimensions are investigated from 2003 to 2009. ► Results suggest that seasonality is stochastic. ► We find four main effects: Summer, Winter, Spring and Lunar New Year effects. ► Differences are observed between northern regions and east-south of China. - Abstract: This paper provides evidence on the relevance of modeling the seasonal nature of electricity intensity across Chinese regions in a suitable manner with monthly data from 2003 to 2009. In contrast to previous works, this study relaxes the assumption of deterministic seasonality, allowing for time and regional variation in the Chinese economy. In doing so, unobserved-components models are used to analyze the type of seasonality – stochastic or deterministic – that prevails. Regional differences in the seasonal patterns and their evolution over time are also examined. Results provide new empirical evidence on the stochastic nature of electricity intensity in the majority of the provinces. In addition, we find four main effects as regards seasonal patterns: (i) Lunar New Year, (ii) Summer, (iii) Spring, and (iv) Winter effects. In the first two effects seasonality becomes positive, thus indicating that electricity intensity increases, and the last two are negative, showing improvements in the use of electricity per unit of output. However, differences are observed between northern regions and the east-south of China. In addition, once we control our estimates for temperature and prices, no significant differences are seen in the results. Conclusions from this analysis are useful for empirical modeling in the energy-economics literature, and also for designing energy policies to improve the efficiency of the use of energy resources across Chinese regions

Possible existence of wormholes in the galactic halo region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rahaman, Farook [Jadavpur University, Department of Mathematics, Kolkata, West Bengal (India); Kuhfittig, P.K.F. [Milwaukee School of Engineering, Department of Mathematics, Milwaukee, WI (United States); Ray, Saibal [Government College of Engineering and Ceramic Technology, Department of Physics, Kolkata, West Bengal (India); Islam, Nasarul [Danga High Madrasah, Department of Mathematics, Kolkata, West Bengal (India)

2014-02-15

Two observational results, the density profile from simulations performed in the ΛCDM scenario and the observed flat galactic rotation curves, are taken as input with the aim of showing that the galactic halo possesses some of the characteristics needed to support traversable wormholes. This result should be sufficient to provide an incentive for scientists to seek observational evidence for wormholes in the galactic halo region. (orig.)

Pilot evaluation of a media literacy program for tobacco prevention targeting early adolescents shows mixed results.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaestle, Christine E; Chen, Yvonnes; Estabrooks, Paul A; Zoellner, Jamie; Bigby, Brandon

2013-01-01

The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the impact of media literacy for tobacco prevention for youth delivered through a community site. A randomized pretest-posttest evaluation design with matched-contact treatment and control conditions. The pilot study was delivered through the YMCA in a lower-income suburban and rural area of Southwest Virginia, a region long tied, both economically and culturally, to the tobacco industry. Children ages 8 to 14 (76% white, 58% female) participated in the study (n = 38). The intervention was an antismoking media literacy program (five 1-hour lessons) compared with a matched-contact creative writing control program. General media literacy, three domains of tobacco-specific media literacy ("authors and audiences," "messages and meanings," and "representation and reality"), tobacco attitudes, and future expectations were assessed. Multiple regression modeling assessed the impact of the intervention, controlling for pretest measures, age, and sex. General media literacy and tobacco-specific "authors and audiences" media literacy improved significantly for treatment compared with control (p literacy measures and for tobacco attitudes were not significant. Future expectations of smoking increased significantly for treatment participants ages 10 and younger (p literacy are accompanied by an increase in future expectations to smoke for younger children.

RESPONSE STYLES IN CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH – EVIDENCE FROM HISTORICAL REGIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricea Elena BERTEA

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The study aims to identify differences in response styles between regions which belong to Romania, but have previously been under foreign occupation. To do that, we employ data from the European Social Survey, the 2006 round. We investigate extreme response styles as this is known as a common problem in cross-cultural research. Extreme response styles increase reliability, but affect the validity as all correlation specific methods can be biased in this case. We compare response styles across regions and inside regions using language as a factor variable to identify ethnic groups. Results show that in some cases there are significant differences between regions of the same country, whereas there are none for neighbouring regions belonging to different countries.

Region-of-interest volumetric visual hull refinement

KAUST Repository

Knoblauch, Daniel

2010-01-01

This paper introduces a region-of-interest visual hull refinement technique, based on flexible voxel grids for volumetric visual hull reconstructions. Region-of-interest refinement is based on a multipass process, beginning with a focussed visual hull reconstruction, resulting in a first 3D approximation of the target, followed by a region-of-interest estimation, tasked with identifying features of interest, which in turn are used to locally refine the voxel grid and extract a higher-resolution surface representation for those regions. This approach is illustrated for the reconstruction of avatars for use in tele-immersion environments, where head and hand regions are of higher interest. To allow reproducability and direct comparison a publicly available data set for human visual hull reconstruction is used. This paper shows that region-of-interest reconstruction of the target is faster and visually comparable to higher resolution focused visual hull reconstructions. This approach reduces the amount of data generated through the reconstruction, allowing faster post processing, as rendering or networking of the surface voxels. Reconstruction speeds support smooth interactions between the avatar and the virtual environment, while the improved resolution of its facial region and hands creates a higher-degree of immersion and potentially impacts the perception of body language, facial expressions and eye-to-eye contact. Copyright © 2010 by the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.

Single-Lung Transplant Results in Position Dependent Changes in Regional Ventilation: An Observational Case Series Using Electrical Impedance Tomography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kollengode Ramanathan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Lung transplantation is the optimal treatment for end stage lung disease. Donor shortage necessitates single-lung transplants (SLT, yet minimal data exists regarding regional ventilation in diseased versus transplanted lung measured by Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT. Method. We aimed to determine regional ventilation in six SLT outpatients using EIT. We assessed end expiratory volume and tidal volumes. End expiratory lung impedance (EELI and Global Tidal Variation of Impedance were assessed in supine, right lateral, left lateral, sitting, and standing positions in transplanted and diseased lungs. A mixed model with random intercept per subject was used for statistical analysis. Results. EELI was significantly altered between diseased and transplanted lungs whilst lying on right and left side. One patient demonstrated pendelluft between lungs and was therefore excluded for further comparison of tidal variation. Tidal variation was significantly higher in the transplanted lung for the remaining five patients in all positions, except when lying on the right side. Conclusion. Ventilation to transplanted lung is better than diseased lung, especially in lateral positions. Positioning in patients with active unilateral lung pathologies will be implicated. This is the first study demonstrating changes in regional ventilation, associated with changes of position between transplanted and diseased lung.

Brain reward region responsivity of adolescents with and without parental substance use disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Stice, Eric; Yokum, Sonja

2014-09-01

The present study tested the competing hypotheses that adolescents at risk for future substance abuse and dependence by virtue of parental substance use disorders show either weaker or stronger responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward relative to youth without parental history of substance use disorders. Adolescents (n = 52) matched on demographics with and without parental substance use disorders, as determined by diagnostic interviews, who denied substance use in the past year were compared on functional MRI (fMRI) paradigms assessing neural response to receipt and anticipated receipt of monetary and food reward. Parental-history-positive versus -negative adolescents showed greater activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and bilateral putamen, and less activation in the fusiform gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus in response to anticipating winning money, as well as greater activation in the left midbrain and right paracentral lobule, and less activation in the right middle frontal gyrus in response to milkshake receipt. Results indicate that adolescents at risk for future onset of substance use disorders show elevated responsivity of brain regions implicated in reward, extending results from 2 smaller prior studies that found that individuals with versus without parental alcohol use disorders showed greater reward region response to anticipated monetary reward and pictures of alcohol. Collectively, results provide support for the reward surfeit model of substance use disorders, rather than the reward deficit model.

Brain morphometry shows effects of long-term musical practice in middle-aged keyboard players

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanna eGärtner

2013-09-01

Full Text Available To what extent does musical practice change the structure of the brain? In order to understand how long-lasting musical training changes brain structure, 20 male right-handed, middle-aged professional musicians and 19 matched controls were investigated. Among the musicians, 13 were pianists or organists with intensive practice regimes. The others were either music teachers at schools or string instrumentalists, who had studied the piano at least as a subsidiary subject, and practiced less intensively. The study was based on T1-weighted MR images, which were analyzed using Deformation Field Morphometry. Cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps of cortical areas and subcortical nuclei as well as myeloarchitectonic maps of fiber tracts were used as regions of interest to compare volume differences in the brains of musicians and controls. In addition, maps of voxel-wise volume differences were computed and analyzed.Musicians showed a significantly better symmetric motor performance as well as a greater capability of controlling hand independence than controls. Structural MRI-data revealed significant volumetric differences between the brains of keyboard players, who practiced intensively and controls in right sensorimotor areas and the corticospinal tract as well as in the entorhinal cortex and the left superior parietal lobule. Moreover, they showed also larger volumes in a comparable set of regions than the less intensively practicing musicians. The structural changes in the sensory and motor systems correspond well to the behavioral results, and can be interpreted in terms of plasticity as a result of intensive motor training. Areas of the superior parietal lobule and the entorhinal cortex might be enlarged in musicians due to their special skills in sight-playing and memorizing of scores. In conclusion, intensive and specific musical training seems to have an impact on brain structure, not only during the sensitive period of childhood but throughout

How Do Environmental Issues Contribute to Regional Instability? and Which Regions Will Pose the Greatest Threat to U.S. Security as a Result of Environmental Degredation?

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Schantz, Blair

1998-01-01

.... The primary objective of this research is to determine and define how environmental issues contribute to regional political, economic or physical instability and then apply this definition to the regions of the world...

Decreased regional cerebral glucose metabolism in the prefrontal regions in adults' with internet game addiction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Hyun Soo; Bang, Soong Ae; Yoon, Eun Jin; Cho, Sang Soo; Kim, Sang Hee; Kim, Yu Kyeong; Kim, Sang Eun [Seoul National Univ. College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-07-01

Internet Game Addiction (IGA) is known to be associated with poor decision-making and diminished impulse control; however, the underlying neural substrates of IGA have not been identified. To investigate the neural substrates of IGA, we compared regional cerebral glucose metabolism between adults with and without IGA, primarily in the prefrontal brain regions, which have been implicated in inhibitory control. We studied 10 right-handed participants (5 controls: male, 23.8{+-}0.75 y, 5 IGAs: male, 22.6{+-}2.42 y) with FDG PET. A standardized questionnaire was used to assess the severity of IGA. Before scanning, all subjects carried out a computerized version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), as measures of behavioral inhibitory control. Statistical Parametric Mapping 2 (SPM2) was used to analyze differences in regional brain glucose metabolism between adults with and without IGA. Consistent with our predictions, compared to controls, significant reductions in FDG uptake in individuals with IGA were found in the bilateral orbitofrontal gyrus (BA 11, 47), bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (BA 44, 48), cingulate cortex (BA 24), and bilateral supplementary motor area (SMA) (BA 6); whereas increases were found in the bilateral hippocampus. Correlation analyses within the IGA group further showed that the level of glucose metabolism in the right orbitofrontal gyrus was marginally positively correlated with task scores in BART. Our results showed that IGA is associated with reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal regions involved in inhibitory control. This finding highlights dysfunctional inhibitory brain systems in individuals with IGA and offers implications for the development for therapeutic paradigms for IGA.

Crustal velocity structure of central Gansu Province from regional seismic waveform inversion using firework algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yanyang; Wang, Yanbin; Zhang, Yuansheng

2017-04-01

The firework algorithm (FWA) is a novel swarm intelligence-based method recently proposed for the optimization of multi-parameter, nonlinear functions. Numerical waveform inversion experiments using a synthetic model show that the FWA performs well in both solution quality and efficiency. We apply the FWA in this study to crustal velocity structure inversion using regional seismic waveform data of central Gansu on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Seismograms recorded from the moment magnitude ( M W) 5.4 Minxian earthquake enable obtaining an average crustal velocity model for this region. We initially carried out a series of FWA robustness tests in regional waveform inversion at the same earthquake and station positions across the study region, inverting two velocity structure models, with and without a low-velocity crustal layer; the accuracy of our average inversion results and their standard deviations reveal the advantages of the FWA for the inversion of regional seismic waveforms. We applied the FWA across our study area using three component waveform data recorded by nine broadband permanent seismic stations with epicentral distances ranging between 146 and 437 km. These inversion results show that the average thickness of the crust in this region is 46.75 km, while thicknesses of the sedimentary layer, and the upper, middle, and lower crust are 3.15, 15.69, 13.08, and 14.83 km, respectively. Results also show that the P-wave velocities of these layers and the upper mantle are 4.47, 6.07, 6.12, 6.87, and 8.18 km/s, respectively.

Creating a Regional Healthcare Network: People First.

Science.gov (United States)

Michel-Verkerke, Margreet B

2016-01-01

Care organizations in the Dutch region Apeldoorn want to collaborate more in order to improve the care provision to elderly and psychiatric patients living independently. In order to support the collaboration they intend to create a regional digital healthcare network. The research was focused on the relevance of a regional healthcare network for care providers. Eleven semi-structured interviews based on the USE IT-model, were conducted with care providers and staff members. Results show that care providers need to tune their activities for this target group and create an agreement on integrated care. The relevance of a digital communication and collaboration platform is high. The regional healthcare network should support the collaboration between care providers by: 1. Offering a communication platform to replace the time consuming communication by telephone; 2. Making patient information available for patient and care provider at patients' homes; 3. Giving insight in who is giving what care to whom; and 4. Giving access to knowledge about the target group: elderly and psychiatric patients living independently.

Estimating External Costs of Transportation in Regional Areas: Using Available Statistical Data the Case of the Region of Campania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariano Gallo

2010-04-01

health, it required to give a value to human life and to health damages. The results show as the largest costs are due to air pollution (38.0 % and accidents (28.2 %; noise amounts to 18.4 %, while less importance is assumed by congestion (10.6 % and greenhouse gas emissions (4.8 %. Moreover, the results show also as the amount of external costs overcomes 4 € billions per year and is equal about to 4.7 % of regional GDP; in particular, it is highlighted as the environmental costs (greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and noise overcome 60 % of total costs. The obtained results have shown as the external costs are significant respect to other costs of transportation systems and as they should be always evaluated when public funds are invested for improving transportation systems.

New Sodium Cooled Long-Life Cores with Axially Multi-Driver Regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hyun, Hae Ri; Hong, Ser Gi

2014-01-01

In this concept of long-life core (they are sometimes called B-B (Breed and Burn)), tall blanket is placed above the relatively short driver fuel. In the initial stage of burning, the power by fission is mostly generated in the driver region and it moves into the blanket region. The power and flux distributions that are highly peaked in the axial direction propagates slowly from the driver into the blanket region. This concept of long-life core fully utilizes the breeding of blanket in the fast spectra and it can achieve very high burnup of fuel. In this work, we introduce new sodium cooled longlife cores rating 600MWe (1800MWt). In these cores, the driver regions are heterogeneously placed into blanket region so as to achieve stabilized and less peaked axial power distribution as depletion proceeds. At present, our study is focused on only two axial driver regions but this concept can be easily extended onto the multi-driver region concept. The cores designed in this paper have two axial driver regions so as to have stabilized and less peaked axial power distributions as depletion proceeds. The results of the core design and analyses show that the cores have very long-lives longer than -49EFPYs and high discharge burnup higher than 200GWD/kg. Additionally, we considered a long-life core having no blanket. As expected, it was shown that these cores have stabilized and less peaked axial power distribution as the fuel depletes. However, the study shows that the cores having two driver regions still show high initial peaking of the axial power distributions and the core can be optimized by changing the driver fuel height

Hepatic scar in a case of healed candidiasis showing prolonged enhancement on CT

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Itai, Yuji; Yashiro, Naobumi

1987-08-01

A patient with acute myelocytic leukemia recovering from hepatic candidiasis after long-term administration of amphotericin B had large scar in the liver which showed prominent prolonged enhancement on postcontrast CT. Prolonged enhancement can occur in regions other than hepatic masses.

A trust region interior point algorithm for optimal power flow problems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Min [Hefei University of Technology (China). Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Automation; Liu Shengsong [Jiangsu Electric Power Dispatching and Telecommunication Company (China). Dept. of Automation

2005-05-01

This paper presents a new algorithm that uses the trust region interior point method to solve nonlinear optimal power flow (OPF) problems. The OPF problem is solved by a primal/dual interior point method with multiple centrality corrections as a sequence of linearized trust region sub-problems. It is the trust region that controls the linear step size and ensures the validity of the linear model. The convergence of the algorithm is improved through the modification of the trust region sub-problem. Numerical results of standard IEEE systems and two realistic networks ranging in size from 14 to 662 buses are presented. The computational results show that the proposed algorithm is very effective to optimal power flow applications, and favors the successive linear programming (SLP) method. Comparison with the predictor/corrector primal/dual interior point (PCPDIP) method is also made to demonstrate the superiority of the multiple centrality corrections technique. (author)

The SHOX region and its mutations.

Science.gov (United States)

Capone, L; Iughetti, L; Sabatini, S; Bacciaglia, A; Forabosco, A

2010-06-01

The short stature homeobox-containing (SHOX) gene lies in the pseudoautosomal region 1 (PAR1) that comprises 2.6 Mb of the short-arm tips of both the X and Y chromosomes. It is known that its heterozygous mutations cause Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) (OMIM #127300), while its homozygous mutations cause a severe form of dwarfism known as Langer mesomelic dysplasia (LMD) (OMIM #249700). The analysis of 238 LWD patients between 1998 and 2007 by multiple authors shows a prevalence of deletions (46.4%) compared to point mutations (21.2%). On the whole, deletions and point mutations account for about 67% of LWD patients. SHOX is located within a 1000 kb desert region without genes. The comparative genomic analysis of this region between genomes of different vertebrates has led to the identification of evolutionarily conserved non-coding DNA elements (CNE). Further functional studies have shown that one of these CNE downstream of the SHOX gene is necessary for the expression of SHOX; this is considered to be typical "enhancer" activity. Including the enhancer, the overall mutation of the SHOX region in LWD patients does not hold in 100% of cases. Various authors have demonstrated the existence of other CNE both downstream and upstream of SHOX regions. The resulting conclusion is that it is necessary to reanalyze all LWD/LMD patients without SHOX mutations for the presence of mutations in the 5'- and 3'-flanking SHOX regions.

Separated influence of crude oil prices on regional natural gas import prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ji, Qiang; Geng, Jiang-Bo; Fan, Ying

2014-01-01

This paper analyses the impact of global economic activity and international crude oil prices on natural gas import prices in three major natural gas markets using the panel cointegration model. It also investigates the shock impacts of the volatility and the increase and decrease of oil prices on regional natural gas import prices. The results show that both global economic activity and international crude oil prices have significant long-term positive effects on regional natural gas import prices. The volatility of international crude oil prices has a negative impact on regional natural gas import prices. The shock impact is weak in North America, lags in Europe and is most significant in Asia, which is mainly determined by different regional policies for price formation. In addition, the response of natural gas import prices to increases and decreases in international crude oil prices shows an asymmetrical mechanism, of which the decrease impact is relatively stronger. - Highlights: • Impacts of world economy and oil prices on regional natural gas prices are analysed • North American natural gas prices are mainly affected by world economy • Asian and European natural gas prices are mainly affected by oil prices • The volatility of oil prices has a negative impact on regional natural gas prices • The response of natural gas import prices to oil prices up and down shows asymmetry

Neural plasticity in amplitude of low frequency fluctuation, cortical hub construction, regional homogeneity resulting from working memory training.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeuchi, Hikaru; Taki, Yasuyuki; Nouchi, Rui; Sekiguchi, Atsushi; Kotozaki, Yuka; Nakagawa, Seishu; Makoto Miyauchi, Carlos; Sassa, Yuko; Kawashima, Ryuta

2017-05-03

Working memory training (WMT) induces changes in cognitive function and various neurological systems. Here, we investigated changes in recently developed resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging measures of global information processing [degree of the cortical hub, which may have a central role in information integration in the brain, degree centrality (DC)], the magnitude of intrinsic brain activity [fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF)], and local connectivity (regional homogeneity) in young adults, who either underwent WMT or received no intervention for 4 weeks. Compared with no intervention, WMT increased DC in the anatomical cluster, including anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Furthermore, WMT increased fALFF in the anatomical cluster including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), frontopolar area and mPFC. WMT increased regional homogeneity in the anatomical cluster that spread from the precuneus to posterior cingulate cortex and posterior parietal cortex. These results suggest WMT-induced plasticity in spontaneous brain activity and global and local information processing in areas of the major networks of the brain during rest.

Spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and attribution of extreme regional low temperature event

Science.gov (United States)

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

2015-10-01

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

Functional photoacoustic imaging to observe regional brain activation induced by cocaine hydrochloride

Science.gov (United States)

Jo, Janggun; Yang, Xinmai

2011-09-01

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) was used to detect small animal brain activation in response to drug abuse. Cocaine hydrochloride in saline solution was injected into the blood stream of Sprague Dawley rats through tail veins. The rat brain functional change in response to the injection of drug was then monitored by the PAM technique. Images in the coronal view of the rat brain at the locations of 1.2 and 3.4 mm posterior to bregma were obtained. The resulted photoacoustic (PA) images showed the regional changes in the blood volume. Additionally, the regional changes in blood oxygenation were also presented. The results demonstrated that PA imaging is capable of monitoring regional hemodynamic changes induced by drug abuse.

BnNHL18A shows a localization change by stress-inducing chemical treatments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Suk-Bae; Ham, Byung-Kook; Park, Jeong Mee; Kim, Young Jin; Paek, Kyung-Hee

2006-01-01

The two genes, named BnNHL18A and BnNHL18B, showing sequence homology with Arabidopsis NDR1/HIN1-like (NHL) genes, were isolated from cDNA library prepared with oilseed rape (Brassica napus) seedlings treated with NaCl. The transcript level of BnNHL18A was increased by sodium chloride, ethephon, hydrogen peroxide, methyl jasmonate, or salicylic acid treatment. The coding regions of BnNHL18A and BnNHL18B contain a sarcolipin (SLN)-like sequence. Analysis of the localization of smGFP fusion proteins showed that BnNHL18A is mainly localized to endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This result suggests that the SLN-like sequence plays a role in retaining proteins in ER membrane in plants. In response to NaCl, hydrogen peroxide, ethephon, and salicylic acid treatments, the protein localization of BnNHL18A was changed. Our findings suggest a common function of BnNHL18A in biotic and abiotic stresses, and demonstrate the presence of the shared mechanism of protein translocalization between the responses to plant pathogen and to osmotic stress

Lambayeque Region marketing: Improving Incoming Tourism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roger Pingo Jara

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Up to now, the marketing of the Lambayeque region as a tourist destination has been able to make important progress in the growth of domestic tourists flow. 40% of these tourists come from the capital, mostly they arrive in this region, mainly for business reasons. However, little progress is shown in relation to Incoming tourism, because from 100% of visitors who arrive to this touristic destination only 5% are of foreign origin.Furthermore, in 2011, from the total foreign tourists that visited the Moche Route - La Libertad region and Lambayeque region, 70% remained in the first one and only 30% visited both regions, completing the touristic circuit. The recommendations of the teachers of the Universidad del Pacífico, Universidad Esan and Centrum Católica, who have been interviewed are compared with the businessmen’s opinions in the region, showing the importance of targeting the tourism marketing strategy. Thus, it seeks to create value in different niches of the source markets, to prioritize potential tourists from brotherly countries, to link emotionally the tourist with the city, to build brands for each touristic product, to invest in highly specialized tourism and to improve significantly the clusters organization of the tourism sector in the region.We conclude that, in the region of Lambayeque, isolated efforts have been made regarding the incoming marketing, but, according to the needs, tastes and preferences of the potential tourist, this does not fulfill the international standards. This is demonstrated by the results achieved up to now—in terms of the foreign visitors’ number—. To that extent, It emphasizes the importance of the design and the implementation of a marketing plan connected with market reality.It should profit from the national brand and develop regional and local brand based on the international touristic demand-supply relation to market niches.

Assistive Solutions in Practice: Experiences from AAL Pilot Regions in Austria.

Science.gov (United States)

Ates, Nesrin; Aumayr, Georg; Drobics, Mario; Förster, Kristina Maria; Frauenberger, Christopher; Garschall, Markus; Kofler, Manfred; Krainer, Daniela; Kropf, Johannes; Majcen, Kurt; Oberzaucher, Johannes; Piazolo, Felix; Rzepka, Angelika; Sauskojus, Julia; Schneider, Cornelia; Stainer-Hochgatterer, Andreas; Sturm, Nadine; Waibel, Uli; Willner, Viktoria

2017-01-01

Since 2012 six AAL pilot regions were launched in Austria. The main goal of these pilot regions is to evaluate the impact of AAL technologies in daily use considering the entire value chain. Additionally, go-to market strategies for assistive technologies based on an involvement of all relevant stakeholders are developed. Within this paper an overview of the specific objectives, approaches and the status of all Austrian AAL pilot regions is given. Taking into account the different experiences of the different pilot regions, specific challenges in establishing, implementing and sustaining pilot region projects are discussed and lessons-learned are presented. Results show that a careful planning of all project phases taking into account available resources is crucial for the successful implementation of an AAL pilot region. In particular, this applies to all activities related to the active involvement of end-users.

China’s inter-regional spillover of carbon emissions and domestic supply chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meng, Bo; Xue, Jinjun; Feng, Kuishuang; Guan, Dabo; Fu, Xue

2013-01-01

In this study, we apply the inter-regional input–output model to explain the relationship between China’s inter-regional spillover of CO 2 emissions and domestic supply chains for 2002 and 2007. Based on this model, we propose alternative indicators such as the trade in CO 2 emissions, CO 2 emissions in trade and the regional trade balances of CO 2 emissions. Our results do not only reveal the nature and significance of inter-regional environmental spillover within China’s domestic regions but also demonstrate how CO 2 emissions are created and distributed across regions via domestic and global production networks. Results show that a region’s CO 2 emissions depend on its intra-regional production technology, energy use efficiency, as well as its position and participation degree in domestic and global supply chains. - Highlights: • An IO model is used to measure China’s inter-regional spillover of CO 2 emissions. • We focus on the relationship between CO 2 emissions and domestic supply chains. • New indexes for identifying the consumer–producer responsibility are proposed. • A region’s emission depends on its position and participation level in supply chains

Hepatic scar in a case of healed candidiasis showing prolonged enhancement on CT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itai, Yuji; Yashiro, Naobumi

1987-01-01

A patient with acute myelocytic leukemia recovering from hepatic candidiasis after long-term administration of amphotericin B had large scar in the liver which showed prominent prolonged enhancement on postcontrast CT. Prolonged enhancement can occur in regions other than hepatic masses. (author)

Perforating pilomatrixoma showing atypical presentation: A rare clinical variant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nevra Seyhan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Pilomatrixoma, also known as calcifying epithelioma of Malherbe, is a rare benign skin tumor arising from hair follicle stem cells. The most common localization is the head and neck region. Female/male ratio is 3/2. It shows deep subcutaneous placement and occurs in the first two decades of life. Its diameter ranges from 0.5 cm to 3 cm. Multiple lesions are rarely seen. Histopathologically it is characterized by basoloid and ghost cells. Perforating type is a rare clinical variant. Treatment is surgical excision. Our case is presented to draw attention to a rare clinical variant of pilomatrixioma.

COMBINATION OF GOALS STRATEGY REGION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denys Yu. Lapigin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Currently the tools to identify strategicallyimportant objectives of regional development is not enough to build a developmentperspective, relying on something special,what distinguishes each region from therest. The article discusses approaches to the formation of the regional developmentstrategy, which is based on goals set by the results of the analysis of the main factors inthe development of the region. The study is based on the methodology of systems theoryand methods of strategic management. The most important results should include tools tobuild the tree of strategic objectives resultingfrom the implementation of the algorithm forconstructing planes of analysis and development of the region. The results can be used to develop a strategy for the developmentof socio-economic systems of various typesand forms.

Regional cerebral blood flow in schizophrenics. Tests using the xenon Xe 133 inhalation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ariel, R.N.; Golden, C.J.; Berg, R.A.; Quaife, M.A.; Dirksen, J.W.; Forsell, T.; Wilson, J.; Graber, B.

1983-01-01

Measurements of intrahemispheric and bilateral regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) for gray and white matter were compared in 29 schizophrenic patients and 22 normal controls, using the xenon Xe 133 inhalation method. Results showed significantly lower CBF values for all brain regions in the schizophrenic group, and post hoc comparisons showed relatively greater reduced gray-matter CBF values in the anterior areas of the brain. There was also a left-hemisphere frontal loss similar to that reported previously, although it was in the context of a generalized loss in anterior functioning. Interhemispheric comparison within both groups showed no differences between homologous regions for gray matter, and greater white-matter CBF values in the right hemisphere than in the left hemisphere. The findings support a hypothesis of a bilateral anterior deficit in schizophrenia

A study on boiling water reactor regional stability from the viewpoint of higher harmonics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeuchi, Yutaka; Takigawa, Yukio; Uematsu, Hitoshi

1994-01-01

A quantitative study on a mechanism for boiling water reactor regional stability has been carried out from the viewpoint of higher harmonics. In the mechanism, the gain decrease in the void-to-power transfer function can be explained by the higher harmonics mode subcriticality. It is shown that the thermal-hydraulic feedback effect can compensate for the gain decrease, and regional oscillation can be sustained that way. For quantitative evaluations, a three-dimensional higher harmonics analysis model has been developed. The results show that the first azimuthal harmonics subcriticality has a relatively small value under a regionally unstable condition. Comparing the subcriticality and the steady-state power distribution, it is shown that the distribution exists whose first azimuthal harmonics subcriticality takes a small value. A method of decomposition for the oscillated power responses into the harmonics modes is presented. The results show that the corewide oscillation power response consists almost entirely of the fundamental mode, and the regional oscillation power response consists almost entirely of the first azimuthal harmonics mode. This indicates that regional oscillation is a phenomenon in which the first azimuthal harmonics mode oscillates on the basis of the fundamental mode

Regional seasonal warming anomalies and land-surface feedbacks

Science.gov (United States)

Coffel, E.; Horton, R. M.

2017-12-01

Significant seasonal variations in warming are projected in some regions, especially central Europe, the southeastern U.S., and central South America. Europe in particular may experience up to 2°C more warming during June, July, and August than in the annual mean, enhancing the risk of extreme summertime heat. Previous research has shown that heat waves in Europe and other regions are tied to seasonal soil moisture variations, and that in general land-surface feedbacks have a strong effect on seasonal temperature anomalies. In this study, we show that the seasonal anomalies in warming are also due in part to land-surface feedbacks. We find that in regions with amplified warming during the hot season, surface soil moisture levels generally decline and Bowen ratios increase as a result of a preferential partitioning of incoming energy into sensible vs. latent. The CMIP5 model suite shows significant variability in the strength of land-atmosphere coupling and in projections of future precipitation and soil moisture. Due to the dependence of seasonal warming on land-surface processes, these inter-model variations influence the projected summertime warming amplification and contribute to the uncertainty in projections of future extreme heat.

Food Independence of the Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasiliy Vladimirovich Tyutyunik

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article deals with such basic definitions as food security, food independence and food self- sufficiency of the region. The author shows the ambiguity problem of interpretations of these terms in the Russian legislation, which is especially evident in the transition from the national to the regional level. Using the example of legislative acts of some of the Russian Federation’s subjects the study demonstrates the incorrect use of mentioned terms. In author’s opinion, regional authorities in the Russian Federation must introduce amendments to the legislative documents concerning food security. To be more concrete, the regional authorities should either deny the goal of food independence for a particular region, or specify that the goal of reaching food independence for the region does not mean food self-sufficiency, but just import substitution on the regional level

Impacts of pollution on freshwater communities in the border region between Russia and Norway. Results of the 1990-96 monitoring programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noest, Terje; Lukin, Anatoli; Schartau, Ann Kristin Lien; Kashulin, Nikolai; Berger, Hans Mack; Yakovlev, Valeri; Sharov, Andrey; Dauvalter, Vladimir

1997-05-01

This report summarises the results and conclusions of the investigations in the border region between Russia and Norway, primary in selected monitoring lakes during 1990-96. The results of the 1996 investigations are given a more thorough presentation. Results on species composition, abundances and biomasses of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and fish communities, as well as population parameters (length and age distribution) for different fish species are presented. Pathological state and trace metal accumulation in fish are analysed. The biological results are related to analyses of chemical parameters in lake sediments and water. 46 refs., 12 figs., 6 tabs

Impacts of pollution on freshwater communities in the border region between Russia and Norway. Results of the 1990-96 monitoring programme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noest, Terje; Lukin, Anatoli; Schartau, Ann Kristin Lien; Kashulin, Nikolai; Berger, Hans Mack; Yakovlev, Valeri; Sharov, Andrey; Dauvalter, Vladimir

1997-05-01

This report summarises the results and conclusions of the investigations in the border region between Russia and Norway, primary in selected monitoring lakes during 1990-96. The results of the 1996 investigations are given a more thorough presentation. Results on species composition, abundances and biomasses of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and fish communities, as well as population parameters (length and age distribution) for different fish species are presented. Pathological state and trace metal accumulation in fish are analysed. The biological results are related to analyses of chemical parameters in lake sediments and water. 46 refs., 12 figs., 6 tabs.

The regional climate model RegCM3 performances over several regions and climate regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Coppola, E.; Rauscher, S.; Gao, X.; Giorgi, F.; Im, E. S.; Mariotti, L.; Seth, A.; Sylla, M. B.

2009-04-01

Regional Climate models are more and more needed to provide high resolution regional climate information in climate impact studies. Water availability in a future scenario is the main request of policy makers for adaptation and mitigation purposes. However precipitation changes are unlikely to be as spatially coherent as temperature changes and they are closely related to the regional model itself. In addition model skill varies regionally. An example of several ICTP regional climate model (RegCM3) simulations is reported over China, Korea, Africa, Central and Southern America, Europe and Australia. Over China, Australia, and Korea the regional model improves the simulation compared to the driving GCM when compared with CRU observations. In China, for example, the higher resolution of the regional model inhibits the penetration of the monsoon precipitation front from the southern slope of the Himalaya onto the Tibetan Plateau. In Korea the nested domain simulation (20 km) shows an encouraging performance with regard to capturing extreme precipitation episodes and the finer spatial distribution reflects the detailed geography of the Korean Peninsula. Over South America, RegCM captures the annual cycle of precipitation over Northeast Brazil and the South American Monsoon region, although the monsoon onset occurs too early in the model. Precipitation over the Amazon is not well captured, with too little precipitation associated with weak easterlies and reduced moisture transport into the interior of the continent. RegCM simulates the annual cycle of precipitation over Central America and the Caribbean fairly well; in particular, the complex spatial distribution of the Mid-Summer Drought, a decrease in precipitation that occurs during the middle of the rainy season in July and August, is better captured by RegCM than by the GCM. In addition, RegCM simulates the strength and position of the Caribbean low level jet, a mesoscale feature related to precipitation anomalies

Spatial data analysis and integration for regional-scale geothermal potential mapping, West Java, Indonesia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carranza, Emmanuel John M.; Barritt, Sally D. [Department of Earth Systems Analysis, International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Enschede (Netherlands); Wibowo, Hendro; Sumintadireja, Prihadi [Laboratory of Volcanology and Geothermal, Geology Department, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Bandung (Indonesia)

2008-06-15

Conceptual modeling and predictive mapping of potential for geothermal resources at the regional-scale in West Java are supported by analysis of the spatial distribution of geothermal prospects and thermal springs, and their spatial associations with geologic features derived from publicly available regional-scale spatial data sets. Fry analysis shows that geothermal occurrences have regional-scale spatial distributions that are related to Quaternary volcanic centers and shallow earthquake epicenters. Spatial frequency distribution analysis shows that geothermal occurrences have strong positive spatial associations with Quaternary volcanic centers, Quaternary volcanic rocks, quasi-gravity lows, and NE-, NNW-, WNW-trending faults. These geological features, with their strong positive spatial associations with geothermal occurrences, constitute spatial recognition criteria of regional-scale geothermal potential in a study area. Application of data-driven evidential belief functions in GIS-based predictive mapping of regional-scale geothermal potential resulted in delineation of high potential zones occupying 25% of West Java, which is a substantial reduction of the search area for further exploration of geothermal resources. The predicted high potential zones delineate about 53-58% of the training geothermal areas and 94% of the validated geothermal occurrences. The results of this study demonstrate the value of regional-scale geothermal potential mapping in: (a) data-poor situations, such as West Java, and (b) regions with geotectonic environments similar to the study area. (author)

SANA - project results and PIK contributions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bellmann, K; Erhard, M; Flechsig, M; Grote, R; Suckow, F

1998-03-01

This report includes the final project results of the two groups at PIK, involved in the project: Firstly, the newly developed physiologically-based forest growth model FORSANA was applied for the first time to three pine stands, which differed largely in their air pollution and deposition history. (The evaluation of the model is presented in PIK Report 32). The model was able to explain the growth during the last decades of at least two of the three stands from the climatic and deposition conditions at the sites. The third site was shown to be exceptional with respect to its relation between dimension and age, and was supposed to be exposed to major disturbances in the past, which could not be accounted for by the model. To extrapolate from the stand level to the regional level, FORSANA was initialised with spatially explicit data from forestry inventory and soil maps. Simulations were executed with measured weather records and regional distributions of deposition and air pollution, which were estimated on the basis of emission inventories and wind directions. Different assumptions about the development of air pollution had been applied to investigate different pollution abatement strategies. The results showed that a positive effect can be expected from the actual emission reductions close the main centres of emission, but showed also that this effect is decreasing with increasing distance from the emission source. (orig./KW)

Venus - Phoebe Region

Science.gov (United States)

1990-01-01

This Magellan radar image is of part of the Phoebe region of Venus. It is a mosaic of parts of revolutions 146 and 147 acquired in the first radar test on Aug. 16, 1990. The area in the image is located at 291 degrees east longitude, 19 degrees south latitude. The image shows an area 30 kilometers (19.6 miles) wide and 76 km (47 miles) long. On the basis of Pioneer Venus and Arecibo data, it is known that two major rift zones occur in southern Phoebe Regio and that they terminate at about 20 to 25 degrees south latitude, about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) apart. This image is of an area just north of the southern end of the western rift zone. The region is characterized by a complex geologic history involving both volcanism and faulting. Several of the geologic units show distinctive overlapping or cross cutting relationships that permit identification and separation of geologic events and construction of the geologic history of the region. The oldest rocks in this image form the complexly deformed and faulted, radar bright, hilly terrain in the northern half. Faults of a variety of orientations are observed. A narrow fault trough (about one-half to one km (three tenths to six tenths of a mile) wide is seen crossing the bright hills near the lower part in the middle of the image. This is one of the youngest faults in the faulted, hilly unit as it is seen to cut across many other structures. The fault trough in turn appears to be embayed and flooded by the darker plains that appear in the south half of the image. These plains are interpreted to be of volcanic origin. The dark plains may be formed of a complex of overlapping volcanic flows. For example, the somewhat darker region of plains in the lower left (southwest) corner of the image may be a different age series of plains forming volcanic lava flows. Finally, the narrow bright line crossing the image in its lower part is interpreted to be a fault which cross cuts both plains units and is thus the youngest event in

PENGARUH BELANJA MODAL, INVESTASI, DAN PRODUK DOMESTIK REGIONAL BRUTO TERHADAP PENDAPATAN ASLI DAERAH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theodora Ririn

2014-07-01

Full Text Available This research aims to examine the effect of capital expenditure, investment, gross domestic regional product toward the local original income at all provinces in Indonesia the period 2010-2012. Factors tested in this research were capital expenditure, investment, gross domestic regional product as independent variables whereas local original income as dependent one. The data was a secondary one and numbers of sample used in this research is ninety (90 local governments which is has been passed the purposive sampling used by researcher. From the data collected, then processed and analyzed using multiple regression analysis with 0.05 standard significance rate. The simultaneous result showed that the three of independent variables significantly effected the dependent one which was local original income. On the other side, partial result showed that there’s not significant the effect of capital expenditure toward the local original income. And there’s an positive significant influence between investment, gross domestic regional product toward the local original income.

Portuguese quality wine and the region-of-origin effect: consumers' and retailers' perceptions

OpenAIRE

José Cadima Ribeiro; José de Freitas Santos

2008-01-01

This study investigates the relative importance of region of origin associated with extrinsic (price, brand, promotion) and intrinsic (grape, type of wine, colour, age, special references) cues in the decisions of final consumers and small retailers to buy Portuguese quality wine. In order to attain this goal we conducted a survey through face-to-face interviews in the Minho region. The results show that the dominant factor of influence in the acquisition of wine is the region of origin, both...

Configuration interaction calculations for the region of 76Ge

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Alex

2017-09-01

I will present a short history of the configuration interaction Hamiltonians that have been developed for the (0f5 / 2 , 1p3 / 2 , 1p1 / 2 , 0g9 / 2) (jj 44) model space. This model space is appropriate for the region of nuclei bounded by the nickel isotopes for Z = 28 and the isotones with N = 50 . I will discuss results for the double-beta decay of 76Ge that lies in the jj 44 region. I will show results for the structure of nuclei around 76Ge for some selected data from gamma decay, Gamow-Teller beta decay, charge-exchange reactions, one-nucleon transfer reactions, and two-nucleon transfer reactions. This work was supported by NSF Grant PHY-1404442.

Regional scale variations of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 from satellite observation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ru, F; Lei, L; Guan, X; Bu, R; Qi, J

2014-01-01

To identify the sources, sinks and changes of atmospheric CO 2 and CH 4 , this study investigates the spatio-temporal changes of atmospheric CO 2 and CH 4 concentration on the regional scale by the satellite observations. In this paper, choosing the land region of China as the study area, we investigate the spatio-temporal changes of atmospheric CO 2 and CH 4 concentrations using the data of the CO 2 dry air mixing ratio (XCO 2 ), and the CH 4 dry air mixing ratio (XCH 4 ), retrieved by the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) from Jan. 2010 to Dec. 2012. The results show that (1) both XCO 2 and XCH 4 show higher concentrations in southeastern regions than that in the northwestern, and tend to yearly increasing from 2010 to 2013; (2) XCO 2 shows obvious seasonal change with higher values in the spring than that in summer. The seasonal peak-to-peak amplitude is 8 ppm and the annual growth is about 2 ppm. XCH 4 , however, does not show a seasonal change; (3) With regard to different land-use backgrounds, XCO 2 shows larger concentrations over the areas of urban agglomeration than that over the grasslands and deserts, and XCH 4 shows lower concentrations over deserts than that over the Yangtze River Delta region and Sichuan Basin

Q2 dependence of the spin structure function in the resonance region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Z.; Li, Z.

1994-01-01

In this paper, we show what we can learn from the CEBAF experiments on spin-structure functions, and the transition from the Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum rule in the real photon limit to the spin-dependent sum rules in deep inelastic scattering, and how the asymmetry A 1 (x,Q 2 ) approaches the scaling limit in the resonance region. The spin structure function in the resonance region alone cannot determine the spin-dependent sum rule due to the kinematic restriction of the resonance region. The integral ∫ 0 1 {A 1 (x,Q 2 )F 2 (x,Q 2 )/2x[1+R(x,Q 2 )]}dx is estimated from Q 2 =0--2.5 GeV 2 . The result shows that there is a region where both contributions from the baryon resonances and the deep inelastic scattering are important; thus it provides important information on the high twist effects on the spin-dependent sum rule

Results of the of wintering bird populations monitoring in the region of Nizhnee Prisurye

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina S. Preobrazhenskaya

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The monitoring of wintering bird populations in the region of Nizhnee Prisurie on the territory of Chuvash Republic was carried out in 1989–1990. From 2000 censuses were conducted on the territory of the nature reserve "Prisurskiy" and the National Park "Chavash Varmane". These regular censuses were called project "Parus" by the Menzbir Ornithological Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The last ten years they were also included in the overall-Russian campaign "Euro-Asian Christmas Bird Counts" project from the Russian Birds Conservation Union. During these 20 years there were 44 bird species registered in the studied area. Eleven of them are marked by single or rare. Four species - Regulus regulus, Aegithalos caudatus, Spinus spinus and Carduelis carduelis – increased their abundance from 1990 till the middle 2000-s and then – decreased. Dendrocopos minor showed the opposite trend. The abundance of 13 species in the 1990-s was higher, sometimes significantly, than in the 2000s and 2010s. The reason may be searched in the differences between the censuses areas in 1990s and 2000s. However, the decreasing of the population densities is typical for other forest species, not only in Nizhnee Prisurie, but also in other model territories. In general, during the last 25 years we can see negative trends in the population dynamics of wintering bird species within the East European plain.

Regional Lymph Node Uptake of [{sup 18}F]Fluorodeoxyglucose After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy Predicts Local-Regional Failure of Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results of ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Markovina, Stephanie [Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States); Duan, Fenghai [Department of Biostatistics and Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island (United States); Snyder, Bradley S. [Center for Statistical Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island (United States); Siegel, Barry A. [Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States); Machtay, Mitchell [Department of Radiation Oncology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (United States); Bradley, Jeffrey D., E-mail: jbradley@radonc.wustl.edu [Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri (United States)

2015-11-01

Purpose: The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6668/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0235 study demonstrated that standardized uptake values (SUV) on post-treatment [{sup 18}F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) correlated with survival in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This secondary analysis determined whether SUV of regional lymph nodes (RLNs) on post-treatment FDG-PET correlated with patient outcomes. Methods and Materials: Included for analysis were patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation therapy, using radiation doses ≥60 Gy, with identifiable FDG-avid RLNs (distinct from primary tumor) on pretreatment FDG-PET, and post-treatment FDG-PET data. ACRIN core laboratory SUV measurements were used. Event time was calculated from the date of post-treatment FDG-PET. Local-regional failure was defined as failure within the treated RT volume and reported by the treating institution. Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon signed rank test, Kaplan-Meier curves (log rank test), and Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. Results: Of 234 trial-eligible patients, 139 (59%) had uptake in both primary tumor and RLNs on pretreatment FDG-PET and had SUV data from post-treatment FDG-PET. Maximum SUV was greater for primary tumor than for RLNs before treatment (P<.001) but not different post-treatment (P=.320). Post-treatment SUV of RLNs was not associated with overall survival. However, elevated post-treatment SUV of RLNs, both the absolute value and the percentage of residual activity compared to the pretreatment SUV were associated with inferior local-regional control (P<.001). Conclusions: High residual metabolic activity in RLNs on post-treatment FDG-PET is associated with worse local-regional control. Based on these data, future trials evaluating a radiation therapy boost should consider inclusion of both primary tumor and FDG-avid RLNs in the boost volume to maximize local-regional

Regional Lymph Node Uptake of ["1"8F]Fluorodeoxyglucose After Definitive Chemoradiation Therapy Predicts Local-Regional Failure of Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results of ACRIN 6668/RTOG 0235

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markovina, Stephanie; Duan, Fenghai; Snyder, Bradley S.; Siegel, Barry A.; Machtay, Mitchell; Bradley, Jeffrey D.

2015-01-01

Purpose: The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6668/Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) 0235 study demonstrated that standardized uptake values (SUV) on post-treatment ["1"8F]fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) correlated with survival in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This secondary analysis determined whether SUV of regional lymph nodes (RLNs) on post-treatment FDG-PET correlated with patient outcomes. Methods and Materials: Included for analysis were patients treated with concurrent chemoradiation therapy, using radiation doses ≥60 Gy, with identifiable FDG-avid RLNs (distinct from primary tumor) on pretreatment FDG-PET, and post-treatment FDG-PET data. ACRIN core laboratory SUV measurements were used. Event time was calculated from the date of post-treatment FDG-PET. Local-regional failure was defined as failure within the treated RT volume and reported by the treating institution. Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon signed rank test, Kaplan-Meier curves (log rank test), and Cox proportional hazards regression modeling. Results: Of 234 trial-eligible patients, 139 (59%) had uptake in both primary tumor and RLNs on pretreatment FDG-PET and had SUV data from post-treatment FDG-PET. Maximum SUV was greater for primary tumor than for RLNs before treatment (P<.001) but not different post-treatment (P=.320). Post-treatment SUV of RLNs was not associated with overall survival. However, elevated post-treatment SUV of RLNs, both the absolute value and the percentage of residual activity compared to the pretreatment SUV were associated with inferior local-regional control (P<.001). Conclusions: High residual metabolic activity in RLNs on post-treatment FDG-PET is associated with worse local-regional control. Based on these data, future trials evaluating a radiation therapy boost should consider inclusion of both primary tumor and FDG-avid RLNs in the boost volume to maximize local-regional control.

A metric analysis of Mumbai region (India) crania.

Science.gov (United States)

Salve, Vishal M; Chandrashekhar, C H

2012-10-01

The human skull has been studied both metrically and non- metrically previously. These studies have thrown light on the functional and morphological aspect of the skull. Cranial index and other cranial indices are useful in differentiation of racial and gender difference. As studies on sexual dimorphism of cranium were very few we have taken this study to find out the differences in cranial index, vertical index and transverse vertical index of male and female crania at Mumbai region. This study was carried out on 210 (150 males and 60 females) dry human skulls available in department of anatomy of four Medical Colleges in Mumbai. The mean and SD of cranial index were 74.23 +/- 4.06; for males: 73.19 +/- 3.76, and for females: 76.84 +/- 3.63. The mean and SD of transverse vertical index were 100.84 +/- 6.31; for males: 102.19 +/- 6.15, and for females: 97.46 +/- 5.41. The difference between cranial index (p = 0.000000) and transverse vertical index (p = 0.000019) of male and female skulls were significant. The results of the present study show that majority of male skulls of Mumbai region belong to dolicocephalic group and majority of female skulls to mesocephalic.The result of present study shows that majority of male skulls of Mumbai region belong to acrocranial group (based on transverse vertical index). This data can be useful for forensic medicine experts, plastic surgeons, anatomist and oral surgeons for clinical and research purpose.

Including capabilities of local actors in regional economic development: Empirical results of local seaweed industries in Sulawesi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark T.J. Vredegoor

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Stimson, et al. (2009 developed one of the most relevant and well known model for Regional Economic Development. This model covers the most important factors related to economic development question. However, this model excludes the social components of development. Local community should be included in terms of the development of a region. This paper introduced to the Stimson model “Skills” and “Knowledge” at the individual level for local actors indicating the capabilities at the individual level and introduced “Human Coordination” for the capabilities at the collective level. In our empirical research we looked at the Indonesian seaweed market with a specific focus on the region of Baubau. This region was chosen because there are hardly any economic developments. Furthermore this study focuses on the poorer community who are trying to improve their situation by the cultivation of Seaweed. Eighteen local informants was interviewed besides additional interviews of informants from educational and governmental institutions in the cities of Jakarta, Bandung and Yogyakarta. The informants selected had a direct or indirect relationship with the region of Baubau. With the support of the empirical data from this region we can confirm that it is worthwhile to include the local community in the model for regional economic development.  The newly added variables: at the individual level; Skills and Knowledge and at the level of the collective: Human Coordination was supported by the empirical material. It is an indication that including the new variables can give regional economic an extra dimension.  In this way we think that it becomes more explicit that “endogenous” means that the people, or variables closely related to them, should be more explicitly included in models trying to capture Regional Economic Development or rephrased as Local Economic Development Keywords:Regional and endogenous development; Fisheries and seaweed

Estimating the effects of regional political climate on Russian tourists to Spain

OpenAIRE

ALVAREZ DIAZ MARCOS; MANUEL GONZÁLEZ-GÓMEZ; OTERO-GIRÁLDEZ MARÍA SOLEDAD

2017-01-01

Regional political climate has become an increasingly significant force influencing travel behaviour in many tourist destinations. This paper attempts to address impacts of regional political stability on Russian inbound tourism into Spain within a demand model framework and using a cointegration approach. The results show that visa openness as well as political instability and civil unrest in substitute destinations attract more Russian tourists boosting economic growth and reducing unemploy...

Social Facilitation: the Kaliningrad Region and Russian Mainland Regions

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Toropov Pavel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The authors look at the concept of social facilitation as a possible component of Russian social consolidation in the course of social reforms. The article focuses on the results of an empirical study of the levels and characteristics of competence in social facilitation, which is here understood as the ability to apply certain knowledge and systems of skills and as a success rate of actions based on experience in improving the conditions of social development. The study was conducted in the Kaliningrad region in 2012—2013. The data was obtained through a survey of 400 respondents using the authors’ methodology encompassing eight basic elements of competence and a structured interview aimed at a better understanding of the subject of the study and attitudes towards it. The data is compared against the results of a similar study in two regions of central Russia with similar conditions. The results suggest a disharmonic and inconsistent structure of competence in social facilitation, low motivation for social activity in youth, and a narrow range of ideas about possible areas of personal activities in the current conditions. Gender differences are identified in the level and structure of competence. The authors believe that certain differences in competence components identified through mathematical methods are determined by the geographical characteristics of the Kaliningrad region — its exclave nature, a relatively small territory, and proximity to the EU countries. It is stressed that the regional conditions affecting motivation, forms and areas of activities, and structure of experience should be taken into account in selecting means and methods of organising youth activities. They can also serve as a basis for the regional youth policy.

Regional-Scale Declines in Productivity of Pink and Chum Salmon Stocks in Western North America

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Malick, Michael J.; Cox, Sean P.

2016-01-01

Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) stocks throughout the southern part of their North American range have experienced declines in productivity over the past two decades. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that pink (O. gorbuscha) and chum (O. keta) salmon stocks have also experienced recent declines in productivity by investigating temporal and spatial trends in productivity of 99 wild North American pink and chum salmon stocks. We used a combination of population dynamics and time series models to quantify individual stock trends as well as common temporal trends in pink and chum salmon productivity across local, regional, and continental spatial scales. Our results indicated widespread declines in productivity of wild chum salmon stocks throughout Washington (WA) and British Columbia (BC) with 81% of stocks showing recent declines in productivity, although the exact form of the trends varied among regions. For pink salmon, the majority of stocks in WA and BC (65%) did not have strong temporal trends in productivity; however, all stocks that did have trends in productivity showed declining productivity since at least brood year 1996. We found weaker evidence of widespread declines in productivity for Alaska pink and chum salmon, with some regions and stocks showing declines in productivity (e.g., Kodiak chum salmon stocks) and others showing increases (e.g., Alaska Peninsula pink salmon stocks). We also found strong positive covariation between stock productivity series at the regional spatial scale for both pink and chum salmon, along with evidence that this regional-scale positive covariation has become stronger since the early 1990s in WA and BC. In general, our results suggest that common processes operating at the regional or multi-regional spatial scales drive productivity of pink and chum salmon stocks in western North America and that the effects of these process on productivity may change over time. PMID:26760510

Perception and Motivation Study as a Determinants of Ecotourism Development in Tanah Datar Region

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Adam Rachmatullah

2018-03-01

Full Text Available During the last decade, many countries are paying special concern to develop of tourism and ecotourism industry cause able to accelerate development in a region. This research aims to analyze stakeholder perceptions and motivation determinants, a long with to formulate ecotourism development strategy. The research method used in closed ended questionnaire instrument and then data were analyzed by using one score one criteria scoring system. The result of the study showed that a local community and government perceptions have as a conclusion is a good or stil the positive sphere so that it is feasible to be develop as all forms of ecotourism. Afterwards, the result of motivations data showed that stakeholders have a high interest (score 6-7 to be actively involved in any form of ecotourism development. In order to realize the integrated ecotourism development in Tanah Datar Region, then some important things that need to be optimized, among others: 1 regional development perspective; 2 social-culture perspective; 3 capacity building perspective; 4 marketing perspective.  Keywords: ecotourism, motivation, perception, Tanah Datar Region 

An Entropy Approach to Regional Differences in Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Implications for Ethanol Usage

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Dong Hee Suh

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The growth of the U.S. economy has been accompanied with a significant rise in carbon dioxide (CO2 emissions. As CO2 emissions are dependent on regional climatic conditions and energy-related activities in states, this study examines the extent to which the distribution of CO2 emissions vary across nine climatically consistent regions in the U.S. The results obtained from the entropy approach reveal that the inequalities of CO2 emissions vary across the regions. While the total inequality of CO2 emissions is determined by the between-region and the average within-region inequalities, the between-region inequality begins to dominate the average within-region inequalities around 1980s; the emission inequalities between regions increase, but those within each region decrease. Given that ethanol usage is relevant to energy-related CO2 emissions, this study also evaluates the impact of ethanol usage on the changes in the emission inequalities. The results show that an increase in the ratio of ethanol to fossil fuels is associated closely with the reductions in the inequalities of CO2 emissions.

Prestin shows divergent evolution between constant frequency echolocating bats.

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Shen, Bin; Avila-Flores, Rafael; Liu, Yang; Rossiter, Stephen J; Zhang, Shuyi

2011-10-01

The gene Prestin encodes a motor protein that is thought to confer the high-frequency sensitivity and selectivity that characterizes the mammalian auditory system. Recent research shows that the Prestin gene has undergone a burst of positive selection on the ancestral branch of the Old World horseshoe and leaf-nosed bats (Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae, respectively), and also on the branch leading to echolocating cetaceans. Moreover, these two groups share a large number of convergent amino acid sequence replacements. Horseshoe and leaf-nosed bats exhibit narrowband echolocation, in which the emitted calls are based on the second harmonic of a predominantly constant frequency (CF) component, the frequency of which is also over-represented in the cochlea. This highly specialized form of echolocation has also evolved independently in the neotropical Parnell's mustached bat (Pteronotus parnellii). To test whether the convergent evolution of CF echolocation between lineages has arisen from common changes in the Prestin gene, we sequenced the Prestin coding region (~2,212 bp, >99% coverage) in P. parnellii and several related species that use broadband echolocation calls. Our reconstructed Prestin gene tree and amino acid tree showed that P. parnellii did not group together with Old World horseshoe and leaf-nosed bats, but rather clustered within its true sister species. Comparisons of sequences confirmed that P. parnellii shared most amino acid changes with its congeners, and we found no evidence of positive selection in the branch leading to the genus of Pteronotus. Our result suggests that the adaptive changes seen in Prestin in horseshoe and leaf-nosed bats are not necessary for CF echolocation in P. parnellii.

Magneto-aerotactic bacteria deliver drug-containing nanoliposomes to tumour hypoxic regions

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Felfoul, Ouajdi; Mohammadi, Mahmood; Taherkhani, Samira; de Lanauze, Dominic; Zhong Xu, Yong; Loghin, Dumitru; Essa, Sherief; Jancik, Sylwia; Houle, Daniel; Lafleur, Michel; Gaboury, Louis; Tabrizian, Maryam; Kaou, Neila; Atkin, Michael; Vuong, Té; Batist, Gerald; Beauchemin, Nicole; Radzioch, Danuta; Martel, Sylvain

2016-11-01

Oxygen-depleted hypoxic regions in the tumour are generally resistant to therapies. Although nanocarriers have been used to deliver drugs, the targeting ratios have been very low. Here, we show that the magneto-aerotactic migration behaviour of magnetotactic bacteria, Magnetococcus marinus strain MC-1 (ref. 4), can be used to transport drug-loaded nanoliposomes into hypoxic regions of the tumour. In their natural environment, MC-1 cells, each containing a chain of magnetic iron-oxide nanocrystals, tend to swim along local magnetic field lines and towards low oxygen concentrations based on a two-state aerotactic sensing system. We show that when MC-1 cells bearing covalently bound drug-containing nanoliposomes were injected near the tumour in severe combined immunodeficient beige mice and magnetically guided, up to 55% of MC-1 cells penetrated into hypoxic regions of HCT116 colorectal xenografts. Approximately 70 drug-loaded nanoliposomes were attached to each MC-1 cell. Our results suggest that harnessing swarms of microorganisms exhibiting magneto-aerotactic behaviour can significantly improve the therapeutic index of various nanocarriers in tumour hypoxic regions.

NATIONAL AND SUB-NATIONAL OFFSHORING IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT: AN APPLICATION TO MADRID REGION

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María Ángeles Tobarra Gómez

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The effect of delocalization on a national economy has been widely studied, however subnational delocalization remains as an unvisited field for researchers. This paper studies the effects of fragmentation and the subsequent localization outside or abroad on the level of industrial and services employment in Madrid region. We work with Madrid data from regional input-output tables and estimate a labour demand function using panel data. Our results show a significant and small negative effect on regional employment of intra-industrial inputs from the national economy and abroad, while imported inputs from other sectors and origins are complementary to employment, resulting in a positive net effect on employment. The increasing specialization in main activities and the use of external providers by firms have a positive impact on the employment of Madrid region.

Understanding Mesoscale Land-Atmosphere Interactions in Arctic Region

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Hong, X.; Wang, S.; Nachamkin, J. E.

2017-12-01

Land-atmosphere interactions in Arctic region are examined using the U.S. Navy Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS©*) with the Noah Land Surface Model (LSM). Initial land surface variables in COAMPS are interpolated from the real-time NASA Land Information System (LIS). The model simulations are configured for three nest grids with 27-9-3 km horizontal resolutions. The simulation period is set for October 2015 with 12-h data assimilation update cycle and 24-h integration length. The results are compared with those simulated without using LSM and evaluated with observations from ONR Sea State R/V Sikuliaq cruise and the North Slope of Alaska (NSA). There are complex soil and vegetation types over the surface for simulation with LSM, compared to without LSM simulation. The results show substantial differences in surface heat fluxes between bulk surface scheme and LSM, which may have an important impact on the sea ice evolution over the Arctic region. Evaluations from station data show surface air temperature and relative humidity have smaller biases for simulation using LSM. Diurnal variation of land surface temperature, which is necessary for physical processes of land-atmosphere, is also better captured than without LSM.

Analysis of Regional Unemployment in Russia and Germany: Spatial-Econometric Approach

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Elena Vyacheslavovna Semerikova

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The study was supported by the Government of the Russian Federation, grant No.11.G34.31.0059. This paper analyzes the regional unemployment in Russia and Germany in 2005-2010 and addresses issues of choosing the right specification of spatial-econometric models. The analysis based on data of 75 Russian and 370 German regions showed that for Germany the choice of the spatial weighting matrix has a more significant influence on the parameter estimates than for Russia. Presumably this is due to stronger linkages between regional labor markets in Germany compared to Russia. The authors also proposed an algorithm for choosing between spatial matrices and demonstrated the application of this algorithm on simulated Russian data. The authors found that 1 the deviation of the results from the true ones increases when the spatial dependence between regions is higher and 2 the matrix of inverse distances is more preferable than the boundary one for the analysis of regional unemployment in Russia (because of the lower value of the mean squared error. The authors are also planning to apply the proposed algorithm for simulated data of Germany. These results allow accounting the spatial dependence more correctly when modeling regional unemployment which is very important for making proper regional policy

Water in Star-forming Regions with Herschel (WISH): recent results and trends

Science.gov (United States)

van Dishoeck, E. F.

2012-03-01

Water is a key molecule in the physics and chemistry of star- and planet-forming regions. In the `Water in Star-forming Regions with Herschel' (WISH) Key Program, we have obtained a comprehensive set of water data toward a large sample of well-characterized protostars, covering a wide range of masses and luminosities --from the lowest to the highest mass protostars--, as well as evolutionary stages --from pre-stellar cores to disks. Lines of both ortho- and para-H_2O and their isotopologues, as well as chemically related hydrides, are observed with the HIFI and PACS instruments. The data elucidate the physical processes responsible for the warm gas, probe dynamical processes associated with forming stars and planets (outflow, infall, expansion), test basic chemical processes and reveal the chemical evolution of water and the oxygen-reservoir into planet-forming disks. In this brief talk a few recent WISH highlights will be presented, including determinations of the water abundance in each of the different physical components (inner and outer envelope, outflow) and constraints on the ortho/para ratio. Special attention will be given to trends found across the sample, especially the similarity in profiles from low to high-mass protostars and the evolution of the gas-phase water abundance from prestellar cores to disks. More details can be found at http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/WISH, whereas overviews are given in van Dishoeck et al. (2011, PASP 123, 138), Kristensen & van Dishoeck (2011, Astronomische Nachrichten 332, 475) and Bergin & van Dishoeck (2012, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A).

Heavy Metal Pollution of Surface Soil in Thrace Region (Turkey)

CERN Document Server

Cocskun, M; Frontasyeva, M V; Munevver, C; Eidhammer Sjobakk, T; Demkina, S V

2004-01-01

Samples of surface soil were collected at 73 sites in the Thrace region, northwest part of Turkey. Two complementary analytical techniques, epithermal neutron activation analysis (ENAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with flame and graphite furnace atomization were used to determine 37 elements in the soil samples. Concentrations of Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, Mn, Co, Pb, and As were determined using AAS and GF AAS and ENAA was used for the remaining 29 elements. Results for As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Hf, I, In, K, La, Mn, Mo, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, U, and V are reported for the first time for soils from this region. The results show that concentrations of the most elements were little affected by the industrial and other anthropogenic activities performed in the region. Except for distinctly higher levels of Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn in Istanbul district than the median values for the Thrace region, the observed distributions seem to be mainly associated with lithogenic variations. S...

Latin American Perceptions of Regional Identity and Leadership in Comparative Perspective

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Janina Onuki

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Public opinion plays a growing role in foreign policy formation in democratic societies. In this study, we use survey data from The Americas and the World project to establish whether Latin Americans share a common regional identity, and regard Brazil as a regional leader. Our results indicate that the majority of Brazilians do not identify themselves as Latin Americans. Moreover, while they believe their country is the most suitable candidate for regional leadership, they are unwilling to bear the costs of assuming such a role. Our study also explores perceptions of regional identity and Brazilian leadership in other Latin American countries, based on their own respective power aspirations. It shows that less powerful Latin American nations recognise Brazil as a regional leader, but citizens in middle powers, like Argentina and Mexico, still believe their countries should play a prominent regional role.

Observational characteristics of cloud radiative effects over three arid regions in the Northern Hemisphere

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jiandong; Wang, Tianhe; Habib, Ammara

2017-08-01

Cloud-radiation processes play an important role in regional energy budgets and surface temperature changes over arid regions. Cloud radiative effects (CREs) are used to quantitatively measure the aforementioned climatic role. This study investigates the characteristics of CREs and their temporal variations over three arid regions in central Asia (CA), East Asia (EA), and North America (NA), based on recent satellite datasets. Our results show that the annual mean shortwave (SW) and net CREs (SWCRE and NCRE) over the three arid regions are weaker than those in the same latitudinal zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In most cold months (November-March), the longwave (LW) CRE is stronger than the SWCRE over the three arid regions, leading to a positive NCRE and radiative warming in the regional atmosphere-land surface system. The cold-season mean NCRE at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) averaged over EA is 4.1 W m-2, with a positive NCRE from November to March, and the intensity and duration of the positive NCRE is larger than that over CA and NA. The CREs over the arid regions of EA exhibit remarkable annual cycles due to the influence of the monsoon in the south. The TOA LWCRE over arid regions is closely related to the high-cloud fraction, and the SWCRE relates well to the total cloud fraction. In addition, the relationship between the SWCRE and the low-cloud fraction is good over NA because of the considerable occurrence of low cloud. Further results show that the interannual variation of TOA CREs is small over the arid regions of CA and EA, but their surface LWCREs show certain decreasing trends that correspond well to their decreasing total cloud fraction. It is suggested that combined studies of more observational cloud properties and meteorological elements are needed for indepth understanding of cloud-radiation processes over arid regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Spatial–Temporal Modeling for Regional Economic Development: A Quantitative Analysis with Panel Data from Western China

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Jingxiao Zhang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to analyze regional economic difference and explore the influencing factors, which would eventually provide an effective foundation to narrow the regional economic differences. In this paper, a new regional economic difference model is established considering the interactions between the spatial weight and human capital and foreign direct investment (FDI. With the panel data from twelve western provinces in China, the empirical research is conducted by adopting feasible generalized least squares (FGLS fixed effects model. The preliminary results show that: (1 the spatial spillover effect of human capital and FDI is significant to the formation of regional economic difference; and (2 the total capital formation, government expenditure, FDI, human capital and patent application authorization are positively correlated with GDP growth per capita, while the number of medical institutions is negatively correlated with GDP growth per capita. In addition, the robust test is carried out for validation by using the filter variable method, spatial lag model and spatial error model. The robustness test results show that the results of the FGLS fixed effects model are validated by the filter variable method. The other two robust test results show that: (1 the total capital formation and the fixed asset investment is of 99.9% significance, which represents that they play a key role in the formation of economic development difference; and (2 the coefficients’ symbols of the other variables are consistent with the FGLS fixed effect model but a little different on the significances, which enhance the effectiveness of the proposed regional economic difference model.

Climate change projections over three metropolitan regions in Southeast Brazil using the non-hydrostatic Eta regional climate model at 5-km resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Lyra, Andre; Tavares, Priscila; Chou, Sin Chan; Sueiro, Gustavo; Dereczynski, Claudine; Sondermann, Marcely; Silva, Adan; Marengo, José; Giarolla, Angélica

2018-04-01

The objective of this work is to assess changes in three metropolitan regions of Southeast Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Santos) based on the projections produced by the Eta Regional Climate Model (RCM) at very high spatial resolution, 5 km. The region, which is densely populated and extremely active economically, is frequently affected by intense rainfall events that trigger floods and landslides during the austral summer. The analyses are carried out for the period between 1961 and 2100. The 5-km simulations are results from a second downscaling nesting in the HadGEM2-ES RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 simulations. Prior to the assessment of the projections, the higher resolution simulations were evaluated for the historical period (1961-1990). The comparison between the 5-km and the coarser driver model simulations shows that the spatial patterns of precipitation and temperature of the 5-km Eta simulations are in good agreement with the observations. The simulated frequency distribution of the precipitation and temperature extremes from the 5-km Eta RCM is consistent with the observed structure and extreme values. Projections of future climate change using the 5-km Eta runs show stronger warming in the region, primarily during the summer season, while precipitation is strongly reduced. Projected temperature extremes show widespread heating with maximum temperatures increasing by approximately 9 °C in the three metropolitan regions by the end of the century in the RCP8.5 scenario. A trend of drier climate is also projected using indices based on daily precipitation, which reaches annual rainfall reductions of more than 50 % in the state of Rio de Janeiro and between 40 and 45 % in São Paulo and Santos. The magnitude of these changes has negative implications to the population health conditions, energy security, and economy.

Regional early flood warning system: design and implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, L. C.; Yang, S. N.; Kuo, C. L.; Wang, Y. F.

2017-12-01

This study proposes a prototype of the regional early flood inundation warning system in Tainan City, Taiwan. The AI technology is used to forecast multi-step-ahead regional flood inundation maps during storm events. The computing time is only few seconds that leads to real-time regional flood inundation forecasting. A database is built to organize data and information for building real-time forecasting models, maintaining the relations of forecasted points, and displaying forecasted results, while real-time data acquisition is another key task where the model requires immediately accessing rain gauge information to provide forecast services. All programs related database are constructed in Microsoft SQL Server by using Visual C# to extracting real-time hydrological data, managing data, storing the forecasted data and providing the information to the visual map-based display. The regional early flood inundation warning system use the up-to-date Web technologies driven by the database and real-time data acquisition to display the on-line forecasting flood inundation depths in the study area. The friendly interface includes on-line sequentially showing inundation area by Google Map, maximum inundation depth and its location, and providing KMZ file download of the results which can be watched on Google Earth. The developed system can provide all the relevant information and on-line forecast results that helps city authorities to make decisions during typhoon events and make actions to mitigate the losses.

REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS AND THE IMPACT OF EU STRUCTURAL FUNDS: THE CASE OF ROMANIA

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. Delia Anca Gabriela Gligor

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the context of internationalization and globalization of the world economy, regional competitiveness is thoroughly debated by politicians and policy makers, emphasizing measurable differences between development regions, without any clear political or conceptual framework. Romania’s accession to the European Union in 2007 provided an opportunity to recover in terms of regional performance and economic growth, namely structural funds as a form of nonrefundable European financial help to disadvantaged regions of member states. Our research is thus focused on analyzing the impact of structural funds’ absorption upon regional competitiveness in Romania, using extensive data over a period of seven years. Results show that EU funds critically influence the competitiveness of Romanian regions, providing reliable data for policy decision makers.

Visualizing Three-dimensional Slab Geometries with ShowEarthModel

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, B.; Jadamec, M. A.; Fischer, K. M.; Kreylos, O.; Yikilmaz, M. B.

2017-12-01

Seismic data that characterize the morphology of modern subducted slabs on Earth suggest that a two-dimensional paradigm is no longer adequate to describe the subduction process. Here we demonstrate the effect of data exploration of three-dimensional (3D) global slab geometries with the open source program ShowEarthModel. ShowEarthModel was designed specifically to support data exploration, by focusing on interactivity and real-time response using the Vrui toolkit. Sixteen movies are presented that explore the 3D complexity of modern subduction zones on Earth. The first movie provides a guided tour through the Earth's major subduction zones, comparing the global slab geometry data sets of Gudmundsson and Sambridge (1998), Syracuse and Abers (2006), and Hayes et al. (2012). Fifteen regional movies explore the individual subduction zones and regions intersecting slabs, using the Hayes et al. (2012) slab geometry models where available and the Engdahl and Villasenor (2002) global earthquake data set. Viewing the subduction zones in this way provides an improved conceptualization of the 3D morphology within a given subduction zone as well as the 3D spatial relations between the intersecting slabs. This approach provides a powerful tool for rendering earth properties and broadening capabilities in both Earth Science research and education by allowing for whole earth visualization. The 3D characterization of global slab geometries is placed in the context of 3D slab-driven mantle flow and observations of shear wave splitting in subduction zones. These visualizations contribute to the paradigm shift from a 2D to 3D subduction framework by facilitating the conceptualization of the modern subduction system on Earth in 3D space.

NGVLA Observations of Dense Gas Filaments in Star-Forming Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Di Francesco, James; Chen, Mike; Keown, Jared; GAS Team, KEYSTONE Team

2018-01-01

Recent observations of continuum emission from nearby star-forming regions with Herschel and JCMT have revealed that filaments are ubiquitous structures within molecular clouds. Such filaments appear to be intimately connected to star formation, with those having column densities of AV > 8 hosting the majority of prestellar cores and young protostars in clouds. Indeed, this “threshold” can be explained simply as the result of supercritical cylinder fragmentation. How specifically star-forming filaments form in molecular clouds, however, remains unclear, though gravity and turbulence are likely involved. Observations of their kinematics are needed to understand how mass flows both onto and through these filaments. We show here results from two recent surveys, the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS) and the K-band Examinations of Young Stellar Object Natal Environments (KEYSTONE) that have used the Green Bank Telescope’s K-band Focal Plane Array instrument to map NH3 (1,1) emission from dense gas in nearby star-forming regions. Data from both surveys show that NH3 emission traces extremely well the high column density gas across these star-forming regions. In particular, the GAS results for NGC 1333 show NH3-based velocity gradients either predominantly parallel or perpendicular to the filament spines. Though the GAS and KEYSTONE data are vital for probing filaments, higher resolutions than possible with the GBT alone are needed to examine the kinematic patterns on the 0.1-pc scales of star-forming cores within filaments. We describe how the Next Generation Very Large Array (NGVLA) will uniquely provide the key wide-field data of high sensitivity needed to explore how ambient gas in molecular clouds forms filaments that evolve toward star formation.

Predicting human age using regional morphometry and inter-regional morphological similarity

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xun-Heng; Li, Lihua

2016-03-01

The goal of this study is predicting human age using neuro-metrics derived from structural MRI, as well as investigating the relationships between age and predictive neuro-metrics. To this end, a cohort of healthy subjects were recruited from 1000 Functional Connectomes Project. The ages of the participations were ranging from 7 to 83 (36.17+/-20.46). The structural MRI for each subject was preprocessed using FreeSurfer, resulting in regional cortical thickness, mean curvature, regional volume and regional surface area for 148 anatomical parcellations. The individual age was predicted from the combination of regional and inter-regional neuro-metrics. The prediction accuracy is r = 0.835, p Pearson correlation coefficient between predicted ages and actual ages. Moreover, the LASSO linear regression also found certain predictive features, most of which were inter-regional features. The turning-point of the developmental trajectories in human brain was around 40 years old based on regional cortical thickness. In conclusion, structural MRI could be potential biomarkers for the aging in human brain. The human age could be successfully predicted from the combination of regional morphometry and inter-regional morphological similarity. The inter-regional measures could be beneficial to investigating human brain connectome.

The influence of carbon exchange of a large lake on regional tracer-transport inversions: results from Lake Superior

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasys, Victoria N; Desai, Ankur R; McKinley, Galen A; Bennington, Val; Michalak, Anna M; Andrews, Arlyn E

2011-01-01

Large lakes may constitute a significant component of regional surface-atmosphere fluxes, but few efforts have been made to quantify these fluxes. Tracer-transport inverse models that infer the CO 2 flux from the atmospheric concentration typically assume that the influence from large lakes is negligible. CO 2 observations from a tall tower in Wisconsin segregated by wind direction suggested a CO 2 signature from Lake Superior. To further investigate this difference, source-receptor influence functions derived using a mesoscale transport model were applied and results revealed that air masses sampled by the tower have a transit time over the lake, primarily in winter when the total lake influence on the tower can exceed 20% of the total influence of the regional domain. When the influence functions were convolved with air-lake fluxes estimated from a physical-biogeochemical lake model, the overall total contribution of lake fluxes to the tall tower CO 2 were mostly negligible, but potentially detectable in certain periods of fall and winter when lake carbon exchange can be strong and land carbon efflux weak. These findings suggest that large oligotrophic lakes would not significantly influence inverse models that incorporate tall tower CO 2 .

Improving integrated waste management at the regional level: the case of Lombardia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rigamonti, Lucia; Falbo, Alida; Grosso, Mario

2013-09-01

The article summarises the main results of the 'Gestione Rifiuti in Lombardia: Analisi del ciclo di vita' (Waste management in Lombardia region: Life cycle assessment; GERLA) project. Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been selected by Regione Lombardia as a strategic decision support tool in the drafting of its new waste management programme. The goal was to use the life cycle thinking approach to assess the current regional situation and thus to give useful strategic indications for the future waste management. The first phase of the study consisted of the LCA of the current management of municipal waste in the Lombardia region (reference year: 2009). The interpretation of such results has allowed the definition of four possible waste management scenarios for the year 2020, with the final goal being to improve the environmental performance of the regional system. The results showed that the current integrated waste management of Lombardia region is already characterised by good energy and environmental performances. However, there is still room for further improvement: actions based, on the one hand, on a further increase in recycling rates and, on the other hand, on a series of technological modifications, especially in food waste and residual waste management, can be undertaken to improve the overall system.

Analysis Of Influence Of Spatial Planning On Performance Of Regional Development At Waropen District. Papua Indonesia

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Suwandi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The various problems in regional spatial planning in Waropen District Papua shows that the Spatial Planning RTRW of Waropen District Papua drafted in 2010 has not had a positive contribution to the settlement of spatial planning problems. This is most likely caused by the inconsistency in the spatial planning. This study tried to observe the consistency of spatial planning as well as its relation to the regional development performance. The method used to observe the consistency of the preparation of guided Spatial Planning RTRW is the analysis of comparative table followed by analysis of verbal logic. In order to determine if the preparation of Spatial Planning RTRW has already paid attention on the synergy with the surrounding regions Inter-Regional Context a map overlay was conducted followed by analysis of verbal logic. To determine the performance of the regional development a Principal Components Analysis PCA was done. The analysis results showed that inconsistencies in the spatial planning had caused a variety of problems that resulted in decreased performance of the regional development. The main problems that should receive more attention are infrastructure development growth economic growth transportation aspect and new properties.

Economic regionalization and choice of strategic development directions of municipalities of the Republic of Tatarstan

Science.gov (United States)

Panasyuk, M. V.

2018-01-01

This paper shows the results of economic regionalization and zoning of the Republic of Tatarstan, conducted in 2017. The latest experience of economic regionalization and zoning of the Republic of Tatarstan in 2007 - 2015 is exposed. The economic regionalization problem is solved on the basis of new method and algorithm that uses quantitative measures which characterize spatial and economic features of generated economic regions including their internal and average connectivity, homogeneity, compactness, socio-economic development level and life quality of the population. Three nodal and one homogeneous economic region in the Republic of Tatarstan were identified. The results of economic zoning within homogeneous economic region led to the conclusion about two existing economic zones. They have the potential for developing new economic growth pole and three economic centers - growth points with specialization on agro-industrial sector.

COLLISION-AVOIDANCE FOR MOBILE ROBOTS USING REGION OF CERTAINTY: A PREDICTIVE APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. MANUP

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In on-line environment, obstacles may exhibit different trajectory. Trajectory analysis of the obstacle is essential in determining its future location. If this analysis is accurate the futuristic region where robot and obstacle collision is likely to occur can be estimated. This enables the mobile robot to take corrective action prior to collision. In this approach, the motion pattern of the obstacle is analysed by taking into account the past co-ordinates traversed by the obstacle. Then the futuristic region where the obstacle is likely to occupy is predicted. This region is termed as region of certainty. Simulation results shows that the approach gives more reliable prediction as many number of sample points representing the past positions travelled by the obstacles are taken into consideration. The algorithm yielded better performance under higher obstacle velocity conditions and the results were compared with distance time transform method.

Type and characteristics of the regional products from West Yorkshire UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Grzybek

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of studies conducted among 200 British consumers who examined the characteristics of regional products, from West Yorkshire in the UK. The opinion showed that the highest scores obtained freshness and flavour of these goods. The appearance and packing of these products were evaluated at a good level. Consumers turned their attention to relatively high prices offered to regional products. They critically commented on the advertising campaigns that affect the growth of demand.

Dynamics of Multi-Scale Intra-Provincial Regional Inequality in Zhejiang, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenze Yue

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates regional inequality in a multi-scale framework, using Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, based on the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP of counties and municipalities within the Zhejiang province in China between the years of 1990 and 2010. A Spatial Markov Chain is used to identify the dynamics of regional wealth disparity in Zhejiang. The results show that the regional inequality of Zhejiang is sensitive to the geographic scale of the analysis. In addition, the inter-county inequality shows an inverted-U shape pattern. At the same time, the inter-municipality inequality displays a more consistently upward trend, and the evolution of the interregional inequality is relatively stable over time. The regional inequality is more significant at finer (larger spatial scales. The decomposition of the Theil Index shows that the contribution of the inequalities between Northeast Zhejiang and Southwest Zhejiang increased. The increasingly larger values of the Global Moran’s I show that there is an intensifying spatial aggregation of economic development. The comparison of the traditional Markov transition matrix and the Spatial Markov transition matrix illustrates how the relative wealth or poverty of neighboring counties make a significance difference in wealth in a given county as measured using domestic GDP per capita in Zhejiang province. This space-time analysis is valuable for policy making towards sustainable economic development in China given the soaring spatial inequality.

Users guide to REGIONAL-1: a regional assessment model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davis, W.E.; Eadie, W.J.; Powell, D.C.

1979-09-01

A guide was prepared to allow a user to run the PNL long-range transport model, REGIONAL 1. REGIONAL 1 is a computer model set up to run atmospheric assessments on a regional basis. The model has the capability of being run in three modes for a single time period. The three modes are: (1) no deposition, (2) dry deposition, (3) wet and dry deposition. The guide provides the physical and mathematical basis used in the model for calculating transport, diffusion, and deposition for all three modes. Also the guide includes a program listing with an explanation of the listings and an example in the form of a short-term assessment for 48 hours. The purpose of the example is to allow a person who has past experience with programming and meteorology to operate the assessment model and compare his results with the guide results. This comparison will assure the user that the program is operating in a proper fashion

How do Dutch regional labour markets adjust to demand shocks?

OpenAIRE

Broersma, Lourens; Dijk, Jouke van

2002-01-01

This paper analyses the response of regional labour markets in The Netherlands to region specific labour demand shocks. Whereas previous studies analyse only average patterns of all regions in a country, this paper provides also a more in debt analysis of within country differences in labour market adjustment processes. Previous studies show remarkable differences in response between regions in European countries and regions in the United States. The analysis in the present paper shows that i...